WO2025161715A1 - Communication method and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and an apparatus therefor. A terminal device receives, on a first cell, first information from a first network device, wherein the first information is used for indicating a plurality of pieces of time-domain configuration information and a plurality of activation conditions, the plurality of pieces of time-domain configuration information and the plurality of activation conditions being in one-to-one correspondence, and the first cell is a serving cell of the terminal device; and upon determining that a first activation condition is satisfied, the terminal device receives, on a second cell and on the basis of first time-domain configuration information corresponding to the first activation condition, a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) from a second network device, wherein the second cell is a neighbor cell of the first cell, the first activation condition belongs to the plurality of activation conditions, and the first time-domain configuration information belongs to the plurality of pieces of time-domain configuration information. Compared with a network device configuring a plurality of pieces of time-domain configuration information for a terminal device multiple times, a network device configuring a plurality of pieces of time-domain configuration information for a terminal device in a single operation can reduce the processing load of both the terminal device and the network device.

Description

A communication method and device thereof

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on January 31, 2024, with application number 202410142537.5 and application name “A communication method and device thereof”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application.

Technical Field

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

Background Art

Network equipment periodically transmits synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel blocks (SSBs) in each cell to facilitate initial cell access, cell handover, and beam tracking. To ensure that terminal devices accurately and completely measure all SSBs in a cell and reduce unnecessary measurement power consumption, network equipment configures time domain resources for receiving SSBs for the terminal device's serving cell.

In non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), network equipment or some of its functions are deployed on high-altitude platforms or satellites. As the high-altitude platforms or satellites move, the distance between the network equipment and the terminal device changes, and the transmission delay between the network equipment and the terminal device also changes. This requires the network equipment to reconfigure the time domain resources for receiving SSBs for the terminal device based on the terminal device's serving cell. As shown in Figure 1, the time domain resources for the network equipment to send SSBs in the serving cell and the time domain resources for the terminal device to receive SSBs are theoretically the same. However, as the network equipment moves (assuming the terminal device does not move), the time domain resources during which the terminal device can actually receive SSBs will shift compared to the time domain resources during which the network equipment sends SSBs in the serving cell. If the terminal device still uses the previously configured time domain resources to receive SSBs, it will not be able to fully receive all SSBs. In addition, the terminal device will monitor SSBs during time domain resources when the network equipment does not send SSBs, which will generate unnecessary measurement power consumption.

In a scenario where network devices move frequently, for example, the network devices are deployed on a satellite, the frequent movement of the satellite will cause the satellite's altitude from the ground to change frequently, and the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device will also change frequently. The network device needs to frequently configure the time domain resources for receiving SSB for the terminal device based on the service cell of the terminal device.

In scenarios where the terminal device needs to search for the SSB sent by the network device in the neighboring cell, such as adding the neighboring cell as a secondary cell, cell switching, etc., the network device is also required to frequently configure the time domain resources for the terminal device to receive the SSB sent by the network device in the neighboring cell, and the processing load of the terminal device and the network device is large.

Summary of the Invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus thereof for reducing the processing load of terminal devices and network devices.

In the first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by other devices including the functions of a terminal device, or by a chip system (which can also be replaced by a chip) or other functional modules, and the chip system or functional module can realize the functions of the terminal device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the terminal device. Take the method executed by a terminal device as an example for introduction: the terminal device receives first information from a first network device on a first cell; wherein, the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple effective conditions, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple effective conditions correspond one to one; the first cell is the service cell of the terminal device; when the terminal device determines that the first effective condition is met, the terminal device receives a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block SSB from a second network device on a second cell based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first effective condition; wherein the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, the first effective condition belongs to the multiple effective conditions, and the first time domain configuration information belongs to the multiple time domain configuration information.

In this embodiment, the network device configures multiple time domain configuration information for measuring the SSB of the neighboring area and the corresponding validation conditions of each time domain configuration information for the terminal device at one time. The terminal device can periodically or in real time determine whether any of the validation conditions are met. When the terminal device determines that any of the validation conditions is met, it uses the time domain configuration information corresponding to the any validation condition to receive the SSB of the neighboring area. The network device does not need to frequently configure the time domain configuration information for measuring the neighboring area for the terminal device. Compared with configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device multiple times, the network device configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device at one time can save signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device, and can reduce the processing load of the terminal device and the network device.

In a possible implementation, any of the effectiveness conditions includes one or more of the following: a propagation delay difference PDD condition, a distance condition, a distance difference condition, a time condition, and a reception condition for the SSB sent by the first network device on the first cell; the PDD is the difference between the first transmission delay and the second transmission delay, the first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device, the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device, the first network device and the second network device are different, or the first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first satellite corresponding to the first cell, the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second satellite corresponding to the second cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite are different; the distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell; the distance difference is the difference between the first distance and the second distance, the first distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the second cell.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device also receives second information from the first network device on the first cell, where the second information is used to indicate the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to each of the multiple time domain configuration information; the terminal device receives the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first effective condition.

In this implementation, the terminal device only needs to search for the SSBs that need to be measured within the time window configured by the first time domain configuration information, and the SSBs that do not need to be measured do not need to be searched, which can save power consumption of the terminal device.

In a possible implementation, the terminal device further sends third information to the first network device on the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate the first time domain configuration information.

In this implementation, the first network device learns from the effective time domain configuration information that the terminal device will perform neighboring area measurement within the time window of the time domain configuration information, so that the first network device performs reasonable scheduling within the time window, for example, not scheduling the terminal device within certain time periods within the time window.

On the second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first network device, or by other devices including the functions of the first network device, or by a chip system (which can also be replaced by a chip) or other functional modules, and the chip system or functional module can realize the functions of the first network device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the first network device. Take the method executed by the first network device as an example for introduction: the first network device generates first information; the first network device sends the first information to the terminal device on the first cell; wherein, the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple effective conditions, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple effective conditions correspond one to one, and the first information is used for the terminal device to receive the synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block SSB from the second network device on the second cell based on any time domain configuration information corresponding to any effective condition when any effective condition is met, the first cell is the service cell of the terminal device, the second cell is the neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first network device and the second network device are the same or different.

In this embodiment, the network device configures multiple time domain configuration information for measuring the SSB of the neighboring area and the corresponding validation conditions of each time domain configuration information for the terminal device at one time. The terminal device can periodically or in real time determine whether any of the validation conditions are met. When the terminal device determines that any of the validation conditions is met, it uses the time domain configuration information corresponding to the any validation condition to receive the SSB of the neighboring area. The network device does not need to frequently configure the time domain configuration information for measuring the neighboring area for the terminal device. Compared with configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device multiple times, the network device configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device at one time can save signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device, and can reduce the processing load of the terminal device and the network device.

In a possible implementation, any of the effectiveness conditions includes one or more of the following: a propagation delay difference PDD condition, a distance condition, a distance difference condition, a time condition, and a reception condition for the SSB sent by the first network device on the first cell; the PDD is the difference between the first transmission delay and the second transmission delay, the first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device, the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device, the first network device and the second network device are different, or the first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first satellite corresponding to the first cell, the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second satellite corresponding to the second cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite are different; the distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell; the distance difference is the difference between the first distance and the second distance, the first distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the second cell.

In one possible implementation, the first network device also sends second information to the terminal device on the first cell, where the second information is used to indicate the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to each of the multiple time domain configuration information; the second information is used for the terminal device to receive the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to any time domain configuration information sent by the second network device on the second cell based on any time domain configuration information corresponding to any effective condition when any effective condition is met.

In this implementation, the terminal device only needs to search for the SSBs that need to be measured within the time window configured by the first time domain configuration information, and the SSBs that do not need to be measured do not need to be searched, which can save power consumption of the terminal device.

In one possible implementation, the first network device also receives third information from the terminal device on the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate time domain configuration information that meets the effectiveness conditions; the first network device schedules the terminal device based on the time domain configuration information that meets the effectiveness conditions.

In this implementation, the first network device learns from the effective time domain configuration information that the terminal device will perform neighboring area measurement within the time window of the time domain configuration information, so that the first network device performs reasonable scheduling within the time window, for example, not scheduling the terminal device within certain time periods within the time window.

In the third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by other devices including the functions of a terminal device, or by a chip system (which can also be replaced by a chip) or other functional modules. The chip system or functional module can realize the functions of the terminal device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the terminal device. Take the method executed by the terminal device as an example for introduction: the terminal device receives first information from a first network device on a first cell, the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple identifiers, the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple identifiers correspond one to one, and any of the time domain configuration information is used for the terminal device to receive a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block SSB; the terminal device receives second information from the first network device on the first cell, the second information is used to indicate a first identifier, the first identifier is used to indicate the first time domain configuration information, the first identifier belongs to the multiple identifiers, the first time domain configuration information belongs to the multiple time domain configuration information, and the second information is carried in a layer 1 or layer 2 message; the terminal device receives an SSB from a second network device on a second cell based on the first time domain configuration information, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first network device and the second network device are the same or different.

In this embodiment, the first network device configures multiple time domain configuration information and their corresponding identifiers for the terminal device at one time. The first network device then determines the effective time domain configuration information from the multiple configured time domain configuration information, and indicates the identifier corresponding to the effective time domain configuration information to the terminal device. The terminal device can then use the time domain configuration information corresponding to the identifier to receive the SSB of the neighboring cell. Usually, the time domain configuration information is sent to the terminal device via RRC signaling/high-layer signaling, and the identifier of the effective time domain configuration information is sent to the terminal device via layer 1 or layer 2 messages. For the terminal device and the network device, the processing load of processing RRC signaling is greater than that of processing layer 1 or layer 2 messages. Therefore, the network device configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device at one time can save signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device, and can reduce the processing load of the terminal device and the network device, compared with configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device multiple times.

In a possible implementation, the terminal device further sends third information to the first network device in the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to determine the first time domain configuration information from the multiple time domain configuration information.

In this implementation, the first network device determines the effective first time domain configuration information through the first parameter reported by the terminal device, which has high accuracy.

In a possible implementation, the first parameter specifically includes one or more of the following: a first PDD, wherein the first PDD is the difference between a first transmission delay and a second transmission delay, the first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device, the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device, the first network device and the second network device are different, or the first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first satellite corresponding to the first cell, the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second satellite corresponding to the second cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite are different; a first distance, wherein the first distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell; a first distance difference, wherein the first distance difference is the difference between the first distance and the second distance, the first distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the second cell; reception information of SSB sent by the terminal device to the first cell.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device also receives fourth information from the first network device on the first cell, and the fourth information is used to indicate the SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to each of the first time domain configuration information; based on the first time domain configuration information, the terminal device receives the SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information from the second network device on the second cell.

In this implementation, the terminal device only needs to search for the SSBs that need to be measured within the time window configured by the first time domain configuration information, and the SSBs that do not need to be measured do not need to be searched, which can save power consumption of the terminal device.

In the fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first network device, or by other devices including the functions of the first network device, or by a chip system (which can also be replaced by a chip) or other functional modules, and the chip system or functional module can realize the functions of the first network device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the first network device. Take the method executed by the first network device as an example for introduction: the first network device sends first information to the terminal device on the first cell, and the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple identifiers, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple identifiers correspond one to one; the first network device sends second information to the terminal device on the first cell, and the second information is used to indicate the first identifier, and the first identifier is used to indicate the first time domain configuration information, the first identifier belongs to the multiple identifiers, and the first time domain configuration information belongs to the multiple time domain configuration information; the first time domain configuration information is used for the terminal device to receive the synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block SSB sent by the second network device in the second cell, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the second information is carried in a layer 1 or layer 2 message.

In this embodiment, the first network device configures multiple time domain configuration information and their corresponding identifiers for the terminal device at one time. The first network device then determines the effective time domain configuration information from the multiple configured time domain configuration information, and indicates the identifier corresponding to the effective time domain configuration information to the terminal device. The terminal device can then use the time domain configuration information corresponding to the identifier to receive the SSB of the neighboring cell. Usually, the time domain configuration information is sent to the terminal device via RRC signaling/high-layer signaling, and the identifier of the effective time domain configuration information is sent to the terminal device via layer 1 or layer 2 messages. For the terminal device and the network device, the processing load of processing RRC signaling is greater than that of processing layer 1 or layer 2 messages. Therefore, the network device configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device at one time can save signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device, and can reduce the processing load of the terminal device and the network device, compared with configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device multiple times.

In a possible implementation, the first network device also receives third information from the terminal device on the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to determine the first time domain configuration information from the multiple time domain configuration information.

In this implementation, the first network device determines the effective first time domain configuration information through the first parameter reported by the terminal device, which has high accuracy.

In a possible implementation, the first parameter specifically includes one or more of the following: a first PDD, wherein the first PDD is the difference between a first transmission delay and a second transmission delay, the first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device, the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device, the first network device and the second network device are different, or the first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first satellite corresponding to the first cell, the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second satellite corresponding to the second cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite are different; a first distance, wherein the first distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell; a first distance difference, wherein the first distance difference is the difference between the first distance and the second distance, the first distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the second cell; reception information of SSB sent by the terminal device to the first cell.

In one possible implementation, the first network device also sends fourth information to the terminal device on the first cell, and the fourth information is used to indicate the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information; the fourth information is used by the terminal device to receive the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information sent by the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information.

In this implementation, the terminal device only needs to search for the SSBs that need to be measured within the time window configured by the first time domain configuration information, and the SSBs that do not need to be measured do not need to be searched, which can save power consumption of the terminal device.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the terminal device described in the first or third aspect. The communication device has the functions of the terminal device. The communication device may be, for example, a functional module in the terminal device, such as a baseband device or a chip system. Alternatively, the communication device may be the first network device described in the second or fourth aspect. The communication device has the functions of the first network device. The communication device may be, for example, a functional module in the first network device, such as a baseband device or a chip system.

In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (sometimes also referred to as a sending module). When the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and the functional module can implement a sending function and a receiving function; or, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

In one possible implementation, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, enabling the communication device to perform the functions of the terminal device described in the first or third aspect above, or to perform the functions of the first network device described in the second or fourth aspect above.

When the communication device is the terminal device described in the first aspect, at least one of the following possible implementations is included:

In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is used to receive first information from a first network device on a first cell; wherein the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple effective conditions, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple effective conditions correspond one to one; the first cell is the service cell of the communication device; and when the first effective condition is met, based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first effective condition, a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block SSB from a second network device are received on the second cell; wherein the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, the first effective condition belongs to the multiple effective conditions, and the first time domain configuration information belongs to the multiple time domain configuration information.

In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to receive second information from the first network device on the first cell, where the second information is used to indicate the SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to each of the multiple time domain configuration information; when the transceiver unit is used to receive the SSBs from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first effective condition, it is specifically used to: based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first effective condition, receive the SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information from the second network device on the second cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is further configured to send third information to the first network device on the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate the first time domain configuration information.

When the communication device is the first network device described in the second aspect, at least one of the following possible implementations is included:

In one possible implementation, the processing unit is also used to generate first information; the transceiver unit is used to send the first information to the terminal device on the first cell; wherein the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple effectiveness conditions, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple effectiveness conditions correspond one to one. The first information is used for the terminal device to receive the synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block SSB from the second network device on the second cell based on any time domain configuration information corresponding to any effectiveness condition when any effectiveness condition is met. The first cell is the service cell of the terminal device, the second cell is the neighboring cell of the first cell, and the communication device and the second network device are the same or different.

In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to send second information to the terminal device on the first cell, where the second information is used to indicate the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to each of the multiple time domain configuration information; the second information is used for the terminal device to receive the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to any time domain configuration information sent by the second network device on the second cell based on any time domain configuration information corresponding to any effective condition when any effective condition is met.

In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to receive third information from the terminal device on the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate time domain configuration information that meets the effectiveness conditions; the processing unit is further used to schedule the terminal device based on the time domain configuration information that meets the effectiveness conditions.

When the communication device is the terminal device described in the third aspect, at least one of the following possible implementations is included:

In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is used to receive first information from a first network device on a first cell, the first information being used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple identifiers, the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple identifiers corresponding one-to-one, and any of the time domain configuration information is used by the communication device to receive a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block SSB; and to receive second information from the first network device on the first cell, the second information being used to indicate a first identifier, the first identifier being used to indicate first time domain configuration information, the first identifier belonging to the multiple identifiers, the first time domain configuration information belonging to the multiple time domain configuration information, and the second information being carried in a layer 1 or layer 2 message; and to receive SSB from a second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information, the second cell being a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first network device and the second network device being the same or different.

In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to send third information to the first network device in the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to determine the first time domain configuration information from the multiple time domain configuration information.

In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to receive fourth information from the first network device on the first cell, and the fourth information is used to indicate the SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information; when the transceiver unit is used to receive the SSBs from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information, it is specifically used to: based on the first time domain configuration information, receive the SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information from the second network device on the second cell.

When the communication device is the first network device described in the fourth aspect, at least one of the following possible implementations is included:

In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is used to send first information to the terminal device on the first cell, where the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple identifiers, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple identifiers correspond one to one; and to send second information to the terminal device on the first cell, where the second information is used to indicate the first identifier, the first identifier is used to indicate the first time domain configuration information, the first identifier belongs to the multiple identifiers, and the first time domain configuration information belongs to the multiple time domain configuration information; the first time domain configuration information is used by the terminal device to receive the synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block SSB sent by the second network device in the second cell, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, the communication device and the second network device are the same or different, and the second information is carried in a layer 1 or layer 2 message.

In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to receive third information from the terminal device on the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to determine the first time domain configuration information from the multiple time domain configuration information.

In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to send fourth information to the terminal device on the first cell, where the fourth information is used to indicate the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information; the fourth information is used by the terminal device to receive the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information sent by the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising an interface circuit and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the interface circuit. When the processor reads the computer program or instruction, the communication device executes the method executed by the terminal device in the first or third aspect, or executes the method executed by the first network device in the second or fourth aspect. Exemplarily, the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor, or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device. The processor implements the method executed by the terminal device in the first or third aspect, or the method executed by the first network device in the second or fourth aspect, through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and, optionally, a memory; the processor and the memory are coupled; the memory is used to store computer programs or instructions; the processor is used to execute part or all of the computer programs or instructions in the memory, and when the part or all of the computer programs or instructions are executed, it is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the first or third aspect above, or to implement the functions of the first network device in the second or fourth aspect above.

In one possible implementation, the apparatus may further include a transceiver configured to transmit a signal processed by the processor or receive a signal input to the processor. The transceiver may perform the transmitting or receiving actions performed by the terminal device in the first or third aspect, or be configured to implement the functions of the first network device in the second or fourth aspect.

In a possible implementation, the processing unit in the fifth aspect can be implemented by the processor, the storage unit in the fifth aspect can be implemented by the memory, and the transceiver unit in the fifth aspect can be implemented by the transceiver.

In an eighth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a terminal device and a first network device, wherein the terminal device is configured to execute the method performed by the terminal device as described in the first or third aspect, and the first network device is configured to execute the method performed by the network device as described in the second or fourth aspect. For example, the terminal device may be implemented using the communication apparatus described in the fifth aspect, and the first network device may be implemented using the communication apparatus described in the fifth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is used to store computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, enables the method in the first aspect, or the second aspect, or the third aspect, or the fourth aspect to be implemented.

In a tenth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method in the first aspect, or the second aspect, or the third aspect, or the fourth aspect to be implemented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a time domain resource configuration provided by this application;

Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, and 2e are schematic diagrams of the architecture of a communication system provided by the present application;

Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6 are schematic flow charts of a communication method provided by the present application;

FIG7 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

FIG8 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in this application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solution of the present application can be applied to a terrestrial network (TN) or a non-terrestrial network (NTN), such as a satellite network. The technical solution of the present application can be applied to various wireless communication systems, including but not limited to the fourth-generation mobile communication technology (4G) system (also known as the long-term evolution (LTE) system), the fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) system (also known as the new radio (NR) system), or the next-generation mobile communication system or other similar communication systems (such as the sixth-generation mobile communication technology (6G) system), etc., without specific limitation.

In addition, the technical solution of the present application can be applied to device-to-device (D2D) scenarios, such as NR-D2D scenarios, or can be applied to V2X scenarios, such as NR-V2X scenarios. The technical solution of the present application can also be applied to fields such as intelligent driving, assisted driving, or intelligent connected vehicles, or factory manufacturing scenarios.

Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d are schematic diagrams of the architecture of a communication system to which the embodiments of the present application may be applied. The embodiments of the present application use a satellite network as an example, but can be extended to other non-terrestrial networks. Satellites are generally classified into two types based on their operating modes:

One is a transparent form, where satellites forward radio frequency signals between terminal devices and access network equipment located on the ground. Figure 2a shows a transparent satellite architecture (RAN architecture with transparent satellite). The satellite's functions include radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion, and amplification. That is, the satellite primarily acts as a Layer 1 relay, regenerating physical layer signals and lacks other higher protocol layers. Terminal devices access access network equipment through the air interface. Satellites and ground stations (ground stations can also be called non-terrestrial network gateways (NTN gateways)) forward signals between terminal devices and access network equipment located on the ground. Access network equipment is connected to the core network, and the core network communicates with the data network (DN).

The other is a regenerative form, in which the satellite has all or part of the functions of the access network device. That is, the access network device or part of the access network device functions are deployed on the satellite. As shown in Figure 2b, a regenerative satellite architecture without an inter-satellite link (ISL) has the satellite function as an access network device. As shown in Figure 2c, a regenerative satellite architecture with an inter-satellite link has the satellite function as an access network device. As shown in Figure 2d, a regenerative satellite architecture with the DU processing function of the access network device has the satellite function as the DU of the access network device.

Terminal devices access access network equipment via the air interface. The access network equipment is deployed on a satellite. The access network equipment connects to the core network deployed on the ground via a ground station, which in turn communicates with the data network (DN). The ground station forwards signaling and service data between the satellite access network equipment and the core network. The access network equipment and the ground station communicate via the NG interface. Access network equipment communicates with each other via the Xn interface. For example, inter-satellite links (ISLs) exist between satellites to facilitate communication between access network equipment.

The following is a brief introduction to the functions of some of the network elements.

A terminal device (UE), also known as user equipment (UE), is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities. It can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as ships); it can also be deployed in the air (for example, on airplanes, balloons, and satellites). A terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self-driving (self-driving), a wireless terminal in remote medicine (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), or a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home). The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form used by the terminal device.

The (R)AN device in this application is a device that provides wireless communication functions for terminal devices. (R)AN devices are also called access network devices. The RAN devices in this application include but are not limited to: the next-generation base station (g nodeB, gNB) in 5G, evolved node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved node B, or home node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), mobile switching center, etc. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions may be different. For example, in the fifth generation (5G) system, it is called RAN or gNB (5G NodeB); in the LTE system, it is called evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB); in the third generation (3G) system, it is called Node B, etc.

A data network (DN) can deploy a variety of services, providing data and/or voice services to terminal devices. For example, a DN is the private network of a smart factory. Sensors installed in the workshop can be terminal devices. The DN contains sensors and a control server, which provides services to the sensors. Sensors can communicate with the control server, receive instructions from the control server, and transmit collected sensor data to the control server according to the instructions. Another example is a DN that is a company's internal office network. Employees' mobile phones or computers can be terminal devices, allowing them to access information and data resources on the company's internal office network.

The core network may include one or more of the following network elements:

The access management network element (also known as the mobility management network element) is a control plane network element provided by the operator network. It is responsible for access control and mobility management of terminal devices accessing the operator network, including functions such as mobile state management, allocation of user temporary identities, authentication and user authentication. In the 5G communication system, the access management network element can be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element. In future communication systems, the access management network element can still be an AMF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

The session management network element (SME) is primarily responsible for session management in mobile networks, such as session establishment, modification, and release. Specific functions include allocating IP addresses to users and selecting user-plane SMEs that provide packet forwarding capabilities. In 5G communication systems, this SME may be a session management function (SMF) SME. In future communication systems, the SME may still be an SMF SME, or it may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

The user plane network element is responsible for forwarding and receiving user data in the terminal device. It can receive user data from the data network and transmit it to the terminal device through the access network device; the user plane network element can also receive user data from the terminal device through the access network device and forward it to the data network. The transmission resources and scheduling functions that provide services to the terminal device in the user plane network element are managed and controlled by the SMF network element. In the 5G communication system, the user plane network element can be a user plane function (UPF) network element. In future communication systems, the user plane network element can still be a UPF network element, or it can have other names, which are not limited in this application.

The core network equipment and access network equipment can be independent and different physical devices, or the functions of the core network equipment and the logical functions of the access network equipment can be integrated into the same physical device, or the functions of some core network equipment and some access network equipment can be integrated into one physical device.

Figure 2e shows a schematic diagram of a separate architecture consisting of a centralized unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU). The CU comprises the CU-control plane (CP) and the CU-user plane (UP). The CU-CP includes the radio resource control (RRC) layer and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)-C layer. The CU-UP includes the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer and the PDCP-U layer. The DU includes the radio link control (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer.

The following is an introduction to the technical terms involved in this application:

(1) Quasi-earth-fixed cell and earth-moving cell:

Satellite systems can be categorized by satellite altitude, or orbital height, into high-orbit satellites, medium-orbit satellites, and low-orbit satellites. High-orbit satellites, also known as geostationary satellites, move at the same speed as the Earth's rotational system, remaining stationary relative to the Earth. Consequently, the cells of high-orbit satellites are also stationary. High-orbit satellite cells offer wider coverage, typically with a diameter of 500 km. Low-orbit satellites move faster relative to the Earth, so the service coverage areas provided by medium- and low-orbit satellites also shift accordingly.

The beams emitted by satellites form cells on the ground. A cell can be covered by one or more beams of a satellite. For medium and low-orbit satellites, the cells covered by satellite beams can be divided into two types:

Quasi-earth-fixed cell: A moving satellite dynamically adjusts the beam direction of the cell, so that the position of the cell on the ground covered by the satellite beam remains stationary for a certain period of time.

Earth-moving cell: The moving satellite does not dynamically adjust the beam direction of the cell. The cell covered by the satellite beam moves as the satellite moves.

(2) Beam: It is divided into analog beam and digital beam. Analog beam is generated by multiple phase shifters of analog filter. The phases of multiple phase shifters are configured. The superposition of multiple phases generates signals with different signal gains in different directions, thus forming a beam in space. The digital beam forming process does not require the participation of phase shifters. Instead, the digital beam is formed by digitally weighting the multi-path signals sent from the baseband to the antenna.

(3) Radio link monitoring (RLM) and radio link recovery:

(3.1) Wireless link monitoring:

The terminal device monitors the downlink reference signal of the serving cell, evaluates the quality of the radio link, and indicates synchronization or loss of synchronization to the upper layer.

To improve detection efficiency, the network configures a set of reference signals for RLM for the terminal device. These reference signals can be called RLM display reference signals. The reference signals can be channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS), SSB, or other reference signals. It should be noted that CSI-RS or SSB can also be called by other names in this application, which is not limited in this application.

If the network does not configure a reference signal set for a terminal device, but does configure a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for receiving the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and one or more CSI-RSs are included in these TCI states, the terminal device can use one of these CSI-RSs for RLM. That is, the network implicitly configures the reference signal for radio link monitoring. The reference signal determined by the TCI state can be called the implicit reference signal for RLM. For example, if an activated TCI state corresponding to the received PDCCH includes only one reference signal, the terminal device uses this reference signal for RLM. For example, if an activated TCI state corresponding to the received PDCCH includes two reference signals, and one of the reference signals is set to quasi co-address (QCL)-Type D, the terminal device uses the reference signal set to QCL-Type D for RLM (the network does not set both reference signals to QCL-Type D for the terminal device). In addition, the network side will notify the change of the activated TCI state corresponding to the received PDCCH, which will correspondingly change the reference signal used for RLM.

The physical layer of a terminal device periodically evaluates the quality of the radio link and compares it with Qout and Qin to determine whether to send a synchronization indication or an out-of-sync indication to higher layers. Qout defines the level of out-of-sync block error rate (BLERout) at which the downlink radio link cannot be reliably received; Qin defines the level of in-sync block error rate (BLERin) at which the downlink radio link can be reliably received at a higher reliability than that corresponding to Qout. When the radio link quality corresponding to all reference signals used for RLM is worse than Qout, the physical layer of the terminal device sends an out-of-sync indication to higher layers. When the radio link quality corresponding to at least one reference signal used for RLM is better than Qin, the physical layer of the terminal device sends a synchronization indication to higher layers.

(3.2) Radio link recovery (also known as beam failure recovery (BFR) or beam failure detection (BFD)):

The network side will configure a CSI-RS resource set for the terminal device for wireless link quality assessment during the link recovery process. The CSI-RS in these CSI-RS resource sets are sent periodically, and the CSI-RS resource set includes a maximum of two RSs.

If the network side does not configure a CSI-RS resource set for the terminal device, the terminal device uses the periodic CSI-RS in the activated TCI state corresponding to the PDCCH for reception as the CSI-RS in the CSI-RS resource set, and if two RSs are included in a TCI state, the RS set to QCL-TypeD is used as the RS in the CSI-RS resource set. The set includes a maximum of two RSs, and these RSs are all single-port RSs.

The terminal device's physical layer evaluates the radio link quality based on the RSs in the set and compares it with the threshold Qout,LR. The threshold Qout,LR is defined as the level at which the downlink radio link cannot be reliably received and the bit error rate for a hypothetical PDCCH transmission is 10%. If the radio link quality assessed by all RSs in the set is worse than the threshold Qout,LR, the terminal device's physical layer sends a beam failure indication to higher layers. The terminal device's physical layer performs this process periodically.

The network configures another candidate reference signal set for the terminal device to report during link recovery. This set may include a periodic CSI-RS resource set and/or a SSB resource set. When the reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement results of the candidate reference signals in the candidate reference signal resource set are greater than or equal to the threshold Qin,LR, the terminal device provides the indexes of these candidate reference signals to the network.

For a serving cell configured for beam failure detection, when the MAC layer of a terminal device receives a beam failure indication from the physical layer for that serving cell, the MAC layer of the terminal device starts or restarts a timer. If the number of beam failure indications received by the MAC layer of the terminal device for that serving cell exceeds a set threshold, the terminal device initiates a random access procedure in that serving cell if the serving cell is a primary cell (PCell) or a primary secondary cell (PSCell). If the serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell), the terminal device triggers the beam recovery procedure for the SCell. For more details, see the link recovery procedure in Section 6 of protocol 38.213.

Terminal devices perform radio link monitoring and radio link recovery based on the reference signal set configured by network equipment. In moving cell scenarios, the satellite's movement causes the satellite beam covering a terminal's location to change. Beams are key to evaluating reference signal quality, and changes in coverage beams necessitate changes in the corresponding reference signal set (the relationship between reference signals and beams). Therefore, due to satellite movement, the network needs to frequently update the reference signal set configuration for radio link monitoring and radio link recovery, resulting in a large amount of signaling interaction between network equipment and terminal devices, increasing the processing load on both terminal and network equipment.

(4) SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) information:

SMTC information can indicate the time window for the terminal device to search for SSB. SMTC information includes: SMTC period information, SMTC duration information, and SMTC offset information. The protocol defines that SMTC information includes SMTC1 information and, optionally, SMTC2 information. SMTC1 information is for all neighboring cells or all cells corresponding to a certain measurement frequency point, while SMTC2 information is for one or several specific cells. SMTC2 information includes the cell identifier. SMTC2 is an optional configuration. Not configuring SMTC2 information is equivalent to using SMTC1 for SSB measurement in all neighboring cells.

The information element that carries SMTC1 information is the SSB-MTC. The SSB-MTC information element contains two sub-information elements, one for period and the other for offset (periodicityAndOffset) and the other for duration. Period: This indicates the repetition period of the measurement action (measurement/reception of SSBs). The SMTC offset measurement action is the starting subframe within a period. Duration: This indicates how long the measurement action should continue after it begins.

The information element that carries SMTC2 information is SSB-MTC2. The information element SSB-MTC2 contains two sub-information elements, one carrying the cell identifier list and the other carrying the period. The cell identifier list indicates which cells are measured using SMTC2. Period: Indicates the repetition period of the measurement action (measurement/reception of SSB). For the cells in the cell identifier list, the terminal device uses the duration configured in SMTC1, the period configured in SMTC2, and the offset search SSB configured in SMTC1.

For more information about SMTC information, please refer to the reference signal measurement timing configuration introduced in 5.5.2.10 of 3GPP TS 38.331V15.5.1 and the radio resource control information elements introduced in 6.3.2. No detailed introduction is given here.

In the communication systems of Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, the movement of the satellite causes the transmission delay between the access network device and the terminal device to change, which requires reconfiguring the time domain resources for receiving SSBs for the terminal device. As shown in Figure 1, the time domain resources for the access network device to send SSBs and the time domain resources for the terminal device to receive SSBs are theoretically the same. However, as the satellite moves (assuming the terminal device does not move), the time domain resources during which the terminal device can actually receive SSBs will shift compared to the time domain resources during which the access network device sends SSBs. If the terminal device still uses the previously configured time domain resources to receive SSBs, it will not be able to fully receive all SSBs. In addition, the terminal device will monitor SSBs during time domain resources when the access network device does not send SSBs, which will generate unnecessary measurement power consumption.

In scenarios where a terminal device needs to search for SSBs in neighboring cells, such as adding a neighboring cell as a secondary cell or performing cell handover, the terminal device needs to be frequently configured with time domain resources to receive SSBs sent by the neighboring cell. This results in a large amount of signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device, increasing the processing load on both the terminal device and the network device. Furthermore, the satellite needs to point to the terminal device using a beam in order to allocate time domain resources to the terminal device. However, the coverage range of a beam is limited. The beam can only provide services to terminal devices within the beam's coverage range and cannot simultaneously schedule terminal devices in other areas, affecting the scheduling performance of the network device.

Based on this, the embodiments of the present application provide multiple communication methods to avoid network devices frequently configuring time domain resource information for receiving SSB for terminal devices, thereby reducing the processing load of terminal devices and network devices.

The methods provided in various embodiments of the present application may be applied to the network architectures shown in Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d or other network architectures. For example, the terminal devices involved in various embodiments of the present application may be the terminal devices in Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, and the network devices involved in various embodiments of the present application may be the access network devices in Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d.

In order to better describe the embodiments of the present application, the following describes the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the steps indicated by dotted lines in the accompanying drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of the present application are all optional steps.

Example 1:

The network device configures multiple time domain configuration information for measuring the SSB of the neighboring area and the effectiveness conditions corresponding to each time domain configuration information for the terminal device at one time. The terminal device can periodically or in real time determine whether any of the effectiveness conditions is met. When the terminal device determines that any of the effectiveness conditions is met, it uses the time domain configuration information corresponding to any of the effectiveness conditions to receive the SSB of the neighboring area. The network device does not need to frequently configure the time domain configuration information for measuring the neighboring area for the terminal device.

In this embodiment 1, the terminal device receiving && from the ** network device on the ## cell can be replaced by the terminal device receiving && from the ## cell in the ** network device. For example, the terminal device receiving first information from the first network device on the first cell can be replaced by the terminal device receiving first information from the first cell in the first network device. For another example, the terminal device receiving an SSB from the second network device on the second cell can be replaced by the terminal device receiving an SSB from the second cell in the second network device.

FIG3 shows a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which includes the following steps:

Step 301: The first network device sends the first information on the first cell, and accordingly, the terminal device receives the first information on the first cell; the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple effectiveness conditions, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple effectiveness conditions correspond one to one.

The first cell is a service cell of the terminal device, and the first network device is a network device currently serving the terminal device.

A time domain configuration information is used to indicate a time window/measurement window/measurement time window. In one example, any time domain configuration information includes: period, duration and offset. The period indicates the repetition period of receiving the SSB or the repetition period of the time window/measurement window/measurement time window. The period can be at ms, symbol, subframe, or time slot level. For example, the period is 20ms. The duration indicates the duration after the start of receiving the SSB or the length of the time window/measurement window/measurement time window. The duration can be an integer multiple of the period or has nothing to do with the length of the period. The offset indicates the interval between the starting point of receiving the SSB in a period and the starting point of the period. A time domain configuration information can be an SMTC information. An SMTC information includes SMTC1 information and, optionally, SMTC2 information. SMTC1 information is for all cells or all neighboring cells, while SMTC2 information is for one or several specific cells. SMTC2 information includes the cell identifier. SMTC2 is an optional configuration. Not configuring SMTC2 information is equivalent to using SMTC1 for SSB measurement in all neighboring cells. For details, please refer to the above introduction to SMTC, which will not be repeated here.

The following describes how a terminal device determines that the time window/measurement window/the first subframe of the measurement time window corresponds to the system frame number (SFN) and/or subframe number (subframe) of the current serving cell. For example, SFN mod T = (FLOOR(SMTC offset/10)), where T = CEIL(SMTC period/10), where CEIL() is rounded up. For example, if the SMTC period exceeds 5 subframes, then subframe = SMTC offset mod 10; otherwise, subframe = SMTC offset, or subframe = SMTC offset + 5. The units of period and offset here are both subframes.

The first information may be generated by the first network device. The first information may be referred to as measurement configuration information and may be carried in an RRC message/signaling, for example, an RRCReconfiguration message/signaling. The first information may also indicate one or more of the following: a measurement object, a reporting configuration, a measurement ID, a measurement quantity configuration, and a measurement gap (GAP) configuration.

In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in FIG2e , the CU in the first network device generates the first information, and the CU of the first network device sends the first information to the terminal device through the DU.

The following describes the conditions under which the time domain configuration information takes effect:

Any of the aforementioned conditions for effectiveness may include one or more of the following. It is understood that the following serial numbers 1), 2), ..., 5), etc., are only for the convenience of description and do not indicate the importance or priority of the content corresponding to the serial number:

1) Propagation delay difference PDD condition: The PDD is the difference between the first transmission delay and the second transmission delay. In a scenario where the network device is deployed on a non-ground location, for example, when applied to the communication systems of Figures 2b, 2c, and 2d, the network device is deployed on a satellite, and the network device moves with the movement of the satellite. The first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device, and the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device. The first network device and the second network device are different. In a scenario where the network device is deployed on the ground, for example, when applied to the communication system of Figure 2a, the network device will not move with the movement of the satellite, but the transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device will change with the movement of the satellite. The first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first satellite corresponding to the first cell, and the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second satellite corresponding to the second cell. The first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite are different. The first satellite corresponding to the first cell is a satellite responsible for forwarding data and signaling between the terminal device and the first cell, and the beam emitted by the first satellite covers the first cell. The second satellite corresponding to the second cell is a satellite responsible for forwarding data and signaling between the terminal device and the second cell, and the beam emitted by the second satellite covers the second cell.

The PDD condition can be understood as the PDD range. For example, the first information indicates time domain configuration information 1 and time domain configuration information 2, and indicates that the PDD condition in the effectiveness condition of time domain configuration information 1 is less than or equal to PDD1, and the PDD condition in the effectiveness condition of time domain configuration information 2 is greater than PDD1. The terminal device determines the first PDD, and when the effectiveness condition does not contain other conditions except the PDD condition, when the first PDD is less than or equal to PDD1, it is determined that time domain configuration information 1 is effective; when the first PDD is greater than PDD1, it is determined that time domain configuration information 2 is effective.

For another example, the first information indicates three time domain configuration information, and indicates that the PDD condition in the effectiveness conditions of time domain configuration information 1 is less than or equal to PDD1, the PDD condition in the effectiveness conditions of time domain configuration information 2 is greater than PDD1 and less than PDD2, and the PDD condition in the effectiveness conditions of time domain configuration information 3 is greater than PDD2. The terminal device determines the first PDD, and when the effectiveness conditions do not include other conditions besides the PDD condition, when the first PDD is less than or equal to PDD1, it determines that time domain configuration information 1 is effective; when the first PDD is greater than PDD1 and less than PDD2, it determines that time domain configuration information 2 is effective; when the first PDD is greater than PDD2, it determines that time domain configuration information 3 is effective.

The first network device and the second network device move independently, or the first satellite corresponding to the first cell and the second satellite corresponding to the second cell move independently. The network side can pre-estimate the association between the propagation delay difference and the time domain resource for the second network device to send the SSB in the second cell based on the movement trajectory of the satellite. Then, the network side can determine the association between different time domain configuration information and PDD conditions and indicate it to the terminal device. So that the terminal device can receive the SSB of the second cell based on the time domain configuration information corresponding to the satisfied PDD condition.

2) Distance condition: The distance is the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the first cell. The reference point is, for example, the center point of the coverage area of the first cell.

The distance condition can be understood as a distance range. For example, the first information indicates time domain configuration information 1 and time domain configuration information 2, and indicates that the distance condition in the effectiveness condition of time domain configuration information 1 is less than or equal to d1 or within the distance range D1, and the PDD condition in the effectiveness condition of time domain configuration information 2 is greater than d1 or within the distance range D2. The terminal device determines the first distance, and when the effectiveness condition does not include other conditions except the distance condition, when the first distance is less than or equal to d1 or within the distance range D1, it is determined that time domain configuration information 1 is effective; when the first distance is greater than d1 or within the distance range D2, it is determined that time domain configuration information 2 is effective.

In an earth-moving cell scenario, the position of the first cell changes as the satellite moves. Consequently, the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell also changes as the satellite moves. Based on the satellite's trajectory, the network can pre-estimate the relationship between the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell and the time domain resources for the second network device to transmit SSBs in the second cell. The network can then determine the relationship between different time domain configuration information and distance conditions and indicate this to the terminal device. This allows the terminal device to receive SSBs from the second cell based on the time domain configuration information corresponding to the distance conditions that are met.

In addition, this condition can also be applied to scenarios where the ground stationary cell and the terminal device are moving.

3) Distance difference condition: The distance difference is the difference between the first distance and the second distance, the first distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the second cell.

The distance difference condition can be understood as a distance difference range. For example, the first information indicates time domain configuration information 1 and time domain configuration information 2, and indicates that the distance difference condition in the effectiveness condition of time domain configuration information 1 is less than or equal to s1 or within the range S1, and the PDD condition in the effectiveness condition of time domain configuration information 2 is greater than s1 or within the range S2. The terminal device determines the first distance difference, and when the effectiveness condition does not include other conditions except the distance difference condition, when the first distance difference is less than or equal to s1 or within the range S1, it is determined that time domain configuration information 1 is effective; when the first distance difference is greater than s1 or within the range S2, it is determined that time domain configuration information 2 is effective.

In an earth-moving cell scenario, the position of the first cell and/or the second cell may change with the movement of the satellite. Therefore, the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell may change with the movement of the satellite. The distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the second cell may also change with the movement of the satellite, and thus the distance difference may change. The network side can pre-estimate the association between the distance difference and the time domain resources for the second network device to transmit an SSB in the second cell based on the satellite's motion trajectory. The network side can then determine the association between different time domain configuration information and distance difference conditions and indicate this to the terminal device. This allows the terminal device to receive the SSB from the second cell based on the time domain configuration information corresponding to the satisfied distance difference condition.

In addition, this condition can also be applied to scenarios where the ground stationary cell and the terminal device are moving.

4) Time conditions. The time conditions can be understood as a time range, or a certain time point. For example, the first information indicates time domain configuration information 1, 2, and 3. The first information indicates that the time condition in the effectiveness condition corresponding to time domain configuration information 1 is time point t1, or time period t1 to t2, the time condition in the effectiveness condition corresponding to time domain configuration information 2 is time point t2, or time end t2 to t3, and the time condition in the effectiveness condition corresponding to time domain configuration information 3 is time point t3, or time period t3 to t4. In the case that the effectiveness condition does not contain other conditions except the time difference condition, the terminal device determines that time domain configuration information 1 is effective at time point t1, and then determines that time domain configuration information 2 is effective at time point t2, and then determines that time domain configuration information 3 is effective at time point t3.

The network side pre-estimates the association between the time information and the time domain resources for the second network device to send the SSB in the second cell based on the satellite's motion trajectory. The network side can then determine the association between different time domain configuration information and time conditions and indicate it to the terminal device. This allows the terminal device to receive the SSB of the second cell based on the time domain configuration information corresponding to the satisfied time conditions.

5) Receiving conditions for the SSB sent by the first network device on the first cell.

The receiving condition can be understood as the optimal receiving beam condition. For example, the first information indicates time domain configuration information 1 and time domain configuration information 2, and indicates that the optimal receiving beam in the effective condition corresponding to time domain configuration information 1 is beam 1, and the optimal receiving beam in the effective condition corresponding to time domain configuration information 2 is beam 2. When the effective condition does not contain other conditions except the receiving condition, when the terminal device determines that the optimal receiving beam for receiving the SSB from the first network device on the first cell is beam 1, time domain configuration information 1 takes effect. When the terminal device determines that the optimal receiving beam for receiving the SSB from the first network device on the first cell is beam 2, time domain configuration information 2 takes effect.

In an earth-moving cell scenario, the location of the first cell changes as the satellite moves. Consequently, the optimal beam for a terminal device to receive SSBs from the first cell may change as the satellite moves. Based on the satellite's trajectory, the network can pre-estimate the relationship between the optimal receive beam and the time domain resources for the second network device to transmit SSBs in the second cell. The network can then determine the relationship between different time domain configuration information and receive beam conditions and indicate this to the terminal device. This allows the terminal device to receive SSBs from the second cell based on the time domain configuration information corresponding to the satisfied receive beam conditions.

Step 302: When the terminal device determines that the first validation condition is met, the terminal device receives an SSB from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first validation condition.

It can be understood that if the first effectiveness condition is met, the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first effectiveness condition will take effect, and the terminal device can receive SSB based on the effective first time domain configuration information.

Step 302 can be replaced by, when the terminal device determines that any one of the effectiveness conditions is met, receiving the SSB from the second network device in the second cell based on the time domain configuration information corresponding to any one of the effectiveness conditions.

The terminal device can judge the effectiveness conditions once at intervals, periodically, or in real time. As long as one of the multiple effectiveness conditions is met, the SSB from the second network device can be received in the second cell based on the time domain configuration information corresponding to one of the effectiveness conditions.

The second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first network device and the second network device are the same or different. For example, in a scenario where carrier aggregation requires the addition of a secondary cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same, the first cell is the primary cell of the terminal device, and the second cell is the secondary cell of the terminal device. For example, in a scenario where a secondary node is added, the first network device and the second network device are different, the first network device is the primary node of the terminal device, and the second network device is the secondary node of the terminal device. For another example, in a cell handover scenario, the first network device and the second network device can be the same or different.

In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in FIG2e , the DU in the network device generates and sends the SSB.

Compared with configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device multiple times, the network device configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device at one time can save signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device and reduce the processing load of the terminal device and the network device.

Step 302 describes how a terminal device receives an SSB from a second network device on a second cell based on the first time domain configuration information. The terminal device can continuously search for SSBs within the time window configured by the first time domain configuration information. In one possible implementation, the first network device indicates to the terminal device the SSBs to be measured (SSB-to-measure), and the terminal device searches for these SSBs to be measured within the time window configured by the first time domain configuration information. SSBs that do not need to be measured do not need to be searched, which can save power consumption of the terminal device. This example is typically for a moving cell scenario. Exemplarily, the first network device sends second information to the terminal device on the first cell. In response, the terminal device receives the second information from the first network device on the first cell, where the second information indicates the SSBs to be measured corresponding to each of the multiple time domain configuration information. The terminal device then receives the SSBs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information.

The second network device periodically transmits an SSB on the second cell. The second information may indicate the index of the SSB to be measured in a period. In one example, the second information may indicate the SSB to be measured in the form of a bitmap. A bit set to 1 indicates the index of the SSB to be measured, and a bit set to 0 indicates the index of the SSB not to be measured. For example, 00110000 indicates that SSBs with indices 2 and 3 need to be measured.

The SSB to be measured is associated with the time domain configuration information. When the time domain configuration information takes effect, the SSB to be measured also takes effect. Alternatively, an independent effectiveness condition is configured for the SSB to be measured. When the independent effectiveness condition is met, the SSB to be measured will take effect.

The correspondence between the SSBs to be measured and the time domain configuration information has the following possibilities: One possibility is that the SSBs to be measured corresponding to all time domain configuration information are the same. For example, the second network device periodically sends SSBs on the second cell, sending 32 SSBs in one period, with indexes divided into 0-31, and the SSBs to be measured corresponding to the three time domain configuration information are all SSBs with indexes of 10-20. Another possibility is that the SSBs to be measured corresponding to some of the time domain configuration information are the same. For example, among the three time domain configuration information, the SSBs to be measured corresponding to two of the time domain configuration information are the same, and the SSB to be measured corresponding to the other time domain configuration information is different from or completely different from the other two parts. For example, the second network device periodically sends SSBs on the second cell, sending 32 SSBs in one period, with indexes divided into 0-31, the SSBs to be measured corresponding to time domain configuration information 1 and 3 are SSBs 10-20, and the SSB to be measured corresponding to time domain configuration information 2 is SSBs 15-25. Another possibility is that the SSBs to be measured corresponding to all the time domain configuration information are different or completely different. For example, the second network device periodically sends SSB on the second cell, sending 32 SSBs in one cycle, with indexes divided into 0-31. The SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to time domain configuration information 1 are SSB10-20, the SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to time domain configuration information 2 are SSB15-25, and the SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to time domain configuration information 1 are SSB20-30.

In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in FIG2e , the CU in the first network device generates the second information, and the CU sends the second information to the terminal device through the DU.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device informs the first network device of the effective time domain configuration information. For example, when the first effectiveness condition is met, the terminal device sends third information to the first network device on the first cell. Accordingly, the first network device receives the third information on the first cell, and the third information is used to indicate the first time domain configuration information. The third information indicates the first identifier of the first time domain configuration information. For example, in step 301, the first information also indicates the identifiers corresponding to the multiple time domain configuration information. Then, the third information can indicate the identifier of the effective time domain configuration information, and the identifier is, for example, an index. Alternatively, the third information can indicate the effectiveness condition that is met. For example, for the propagation delay difference PDD condition, the third information can indicate the difference between the first transmission delay and the second transmission delay; for the distance condition, the third information can indicate the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell. For the distance difference condition, the third information can indicate the difference between the first distance and the second distance. For the SSB reception condition, the third information can indicate the optimal receiving beam of the terminal device. The terminal device informs the first network device of the effective time domain configuration information, so that the first network device can reasonably schedule the terminal device. For example, the first network device learns from the effective time domain configuration information that the terminal device will perform neighboring area measurement within the time window of the time domain configuration information, so that the first network device can reasonably schedule within the time window, for example, not scheduling the terminal device within certain time periods within the time window.

The third information can be sent to the first network device through an RRC message. In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the third information can be sent to the CU in the first network device through an RRC message. After the CU parses the third information, it informs the DU of the specific content of the effective time domain configuration information. Based on the specific content of the effective time domain configuration information, the DU reasonably schedules the terminal device.

The third information can be sent to the first network device via an L1/L2 message. In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the third information can be sent to the DU in the first network device via an L1/L2 message. After the DU parses the third information, it appropriately schedules the terminal device based on the specific content of the effective time domain configuration information. For example, the third information indicates the identifier of the effective time domain configuration information. The CU has previously notified the DU of multiple time domain configuration information and their corresponding identifiers. The DU can find the corresponding effective time domain configuration information based on the identifier indicated by the third information.

Step 302 above describes that when the terminal device determines that the first validation condition is met, the terminal device receives the SSB from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first validation condition. In one example, in a scenario where the terminal device sends third information to the first network device, the terminal device may not need to consider the order of receiving the SSB from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information and sending the third information. In another example, when the terminal device determines that the first validation condition is met and the terminal device successfully sends the third information, the terminal device receives the SSB from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first validation condition.

In addition, even if the terminal device does not inform the first network device of the effective time domain configuration information, the first network device can also infer the time domain configuration information that is effective at different times or different time periods. The first network device learns from the effective time domain configuration information that the terminal device will perform neighboring area measurements within the time window of the time domain configuration information, so that the first network device performs reasonable scheduling within the time window, for example, not scheduling the terminal device within certain time periods within the time window.

Example 2: The network device configures multiple time domain configuration information and their corresponding identifiers for the terminal device at one time. The network device then determines the effective time domain configuration information from the multiple configured time domain configuration information, and indicates the identifier corresponding to the effective time domain configuration information to the terminal device. The terminal device can then use the time domain configuration information corresponding to the identifier to receive the SSB of the neighboring area.

FIG4 shows a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which includes the following steps:

Step 401: The first network device sends first information to the terminal device on the first cell. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information on the first cell, where the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple identifiers, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple identifiers correspond one to one.

The first cell is a service cell of the terminal device, and the first network device is a network device currently serving the terminal device.

For the first information indicating multiple identifiers, it can be indicated in an explicit manner or in an implicit manner. The implicit manner, for example, implicitly indicates the identifier of the time domain configuration information through the order of multiple time domain configuration information. For example, the identifier of the time domain configuration information with the highest order is index 0.

For the relevant content indicating the multiple time domain configuration information in step 401, reference can be made to the description in step 301. The difference from step 301 is that the first information in step 401 does not indicate the validity condition.

The identifier of the time domain configuration information may be an index of the time domain configuration information.

The first information may be generated by the first network device. The first information may be referred to as measurement configuration information and may be carried in an RRC message/signaling, for example, an RRCReconfiguration message/signaling. The first information may also indicate one or more of the following: a measurement object, a reporting configuration, a measurement ID, a measurement quantity configuration, and a measurement gap (GAP) configuration.

In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the CU in the first network device generates the first information, and the first network device in step 301 sends the first information to the terminal device. The CU of the first network device can send the first information to the terminal device through the DU.

Optionally, step 402: the terminal device sends third information to the first network device in the first cell, and accordingly, the first network device receives the third information in the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to determine the first time domain configuration information from the multiple time domain configuration information.

The third information is used to indicate the first parameter, including one or more of the following. It is understood that the following serial numbers 1), 2), ..., 5), etc. are only for the convenience of description, and the serial numbers do not indicate the importance and priority of the content corresponding to the serial numbers:

1) The third information indicates the location information of the terminal device. For example, GPS location information. The first network device and the second network device move separately, or the first satellite corresponding to the first cell and the second satellite corresponding to the second cell move separately. The network side can pre-estimate the relationship between the location information of the terminal device, the location information of the first cell, the location information of the second cell, and the time domain resources for the second network device to send SSB in the second cell based on the movement trajectory of the satellite. After the terminal device reports the location information of the terminal device to the first network device, the first network device can determine the effective time domain configuration information based on the location information of the terminal device and indicate it to the terminal device. So that the terminal device receives the SSB of the second cell based on the indicated time domain configuration information.

2) The third information is used to indicate a first PDD, which is the difference between the first transmission delay and the second transmission delay. In a scenario where the network device is deployed on a non-ground surface, for example, when applied to the communication systems of Figures 2b, 2c, and 2d, the network device is deployed on a satellite, and the network device moves with the movement of the satellite. The first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device, and the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device. The first network device and the second network device are different. In a scenario where the network device is deployed on the ground, for example, when applied to the communication system of Figure 2a, the network device does not move with the movement of the satellite, but the transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device will change with the movement of the satellite. The first transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the first satellite corresponding to the first cell, and the second transmission delay is the transmission delay between the terminal device and the second satellite corresponding to the second cell. The first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite are different. The satellite corresponding to the first cell is responsible for forwarding data and signaling between the terminal device and the first cell. The beam emitted by the first satellite covers the first cell. The satellite corresponding to the second cell is responsible for forwarding data and signaling between the terminal device and the second cell. The beam emitted by the second satellite covers the second cell. The first network device and the second network device move independently, or the first satellite corresponding to the first cell and the second satellite corresponding to the second cell move independently. The network side can pre-estimate the association between the PDD information and the time domain resources for the second network device to send the SSB in the second cell based on the satellite's movement trajectory. When the terminal device reports the PDD information to the first network device, the first network device can determine the effective time domain configuration information based on the PDD information and indicate it to the terminal device. This allows the terminal device to receive the SSB of the second cell based on the indicated time domain configuration information.

3) The third information is used to indicate a first distance, which is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell. In the earth-moving cell scenario, the position of the first cell will change with the movement of the satellite, and the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell will also change with the movement of the satellite. The network side can pre-estimate the association between the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell and the time domain resources for the second network device to send SSB in the second cell based on the satellite's motion trajectory. After the terminal device reports the distance information between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell to the first network device, the first network device can determine the effective time domain configuration information based on the distance information and indicate it to the terminal device. So that the terminal device receives the SSB of the second cell based on the indicated time domain configuration information. In addition, this example can also be applied to scenarios where the terminal device is moving in a ground stationary cell.

4) The third information is used to indicate a first distance difference, where the first distance difference is the difference between the first distance and the second distance. The first distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the second cell. In a terrestrial mobile cell scenario, the position of the first cell and/or the second cell may change with the movement of the satellite. The distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the first cell may change with the movement of the satellite. The distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the second cell may also change with the movement of the satellite, and thus the distance difference may change. The network side can pre-estimate the association between the distance difference information and the time domain resources for the second network device to transmit the SSB in the second cell based on the satellite's motion trajectory. After the terminal device reports the distance difference information to the first network device, the first network device can determine the effective time domain configuration information based on the distance difference information and indicate it to the terminal device. This allows the terminal device to receive the SSB of the second cell based on the indicated time domain configuration information. In addition, this example is also applicable to scenarios where the terminal device is moving in a terrestrial stationary cell.

5) The third information is used to indicate the reception information of the SSB sent by the terminal device to the first cell. The reception information can be understood as the information of the optimal reception beam. In the earth-moving cell scenario, the position of the first cell will change with the movement of the satellite, and the optimal beam for the terminal device to receive the SSB of the first cell may change with the movement of the satellite. The network side can pre-estimate the association between the optimal reception beam information and the time domain resources for the second network device to send the SSB in the second cell based on the satellite's motion trajectory. After the terminal device reports the optimal reception beam information to the first network device, the first network device can determine the effective time domain configuration information based on the optimal reception beam information and indicate it to the terminal device. So that the terminal device receives the SSB of the second cell based on the indicated time domain configuration information.

Step 403: The first network device sends second information to the terminal device on the first cell. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives second information from the first network device on the first cell, where the second information is used to indicate a first identifier, where the first identifier is an identifier corresponding to the first time domain configuration information, and the second information is carried in a layer 1 or layer 2 message.

The first network device can determine the effective first time domain configuration information based on the time information. The first network device can also determine the effective first time domain configuration information from the multiple time domain configuration information indicated by the first information based on the first parameter indicated in the third information, and indicate the effective first time domain configuration information to the terminal device. The effective first time domain configuration information is determined by the first parameter reported by the terminal device, with high accuracy.

The second information can indicate the first identifier, that is, the effective time domain configuration information, through the value of the bit. For example, the first information indicates 3 time domain configuration information, and the second information occupies at least 2 bits. For example, the first information indicates 5 time domain configuration information, and the second information occupies at least 3 bits. Taking 2 bits as an example, 00 represents the identifier corresponding to time domain configuration information 1, 01 represents the identifier corresponding to time domain configuration information 2, and 10 represents the identifier corresponding to time domain configuration information 3. For another example, the second information indicates the first identifier in the form of a bitmap, that is, the effective time domain configuration information, wherein the time domain configuration information corresponding to the bit with a value of 1 is the effective time domain configuration information. For example, the first information indicates 3 time domain configuration information, and the bitmap of the second information is 001, which indicates the identifier corresponding to time domain configuration information 3.

The terminal device can send the third information to the first network device through an RRC message or an L1\L2 message, and the first network device can send the second information to the terminal device through an L1\L2 message. For example, the second information is carried in the downlink physical control channel or the second information is carried by the control unit of the MAC layer. For example, in the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the third information can be sent to the CU in the first network device. After the CU parses the third information, it determines the effective time domain configuration information and informs the DU of the identifier of the effective time domain configuration information. The CU sends the second information to the terminal device. For another example, in the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the second information can be sent to the DU in the first network device. The CU in the first network device sends the first information to the DU in the first network device. The DU in the first network device determines the second information based on the first information and sends the second information to the terminal device.

Step 404: The terminal device receives the SSB from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first identifier.

The second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first network device and the second network device are the same or different. For example, in a scenario where carrier aggregation requires the addition of a secondary cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same, the first cell is the primary cell of the terminal device, and the second cell is the secondary cell of the terminal device. For example, in a scenario where a secondary node is added, the first network device and the second network device are different, the first network device is the primary node of the terminal device, and the second network device is the secondary node of the terminal device. For another example, in a cell handover scenario, the first network device and the second network device can be the same or different.

In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in FIG2e , the DU in the network device generates and sends the SSB.

Step 404 describes the terminal device receiving an SSB from a second network device on a second cell based on the first time domain configuration information. The terminal device may continuously search for SSBs within the time window configured by the first time domain configuration information. In one possible implementation, the first network device indicates to the terminal device the SSBs to be measured (SSB-to-measure) based on the first time domain configuration information. The terminal device then searches for these SSBs to be measured within the time window configured by the first time domain configuration information. SSBs that do not need to be measured do not need to be searched, which can save power consumption of the terminal device. This example is typically for a moving cell scenario. Exemplarily, the first network device sends fifth information to the terminal device on the first cell. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the fifth information from the first network device on the first cell, indicating the SSBs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information. The terminal device then receives the SSBs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information from the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information.

The second network device periodically transmits an SSB on the second cell. The fifth information may indicate the index of the SSB to be measured in a period. In one example, the fifth information may indicate the SSB to be measured via a bitmap image. A bit set to 1 indicates the index of the SSB to be measured, and a bit set to 0 indicates the index of the SSB not to be measured. For example, 00110000 indicates that SSBs with indices 2 and 3 need to be measured.

The SSB to be measured is associated with the time domain configuration information. When the time domain configuration information takes effect, the SSB to be measured also takes effect. Alternatively, an independent effectiveness condition is configured for the SSB to be measured. When the independent effectiveness condition is met, the SSB to be measured will take effect.

The correspondence between the SSB to be measured and the time domain configuration information has the following possibilities: One possibility is that the SSB to be measured corresponding to all time domain configuration information is the same. Another possibility is that the SSB to be measured corresponding to some time domain configuration information is the same. For example, there are three time domain configuration information, two of which correspond to the same SSB to be measured, and the SSB to be measured corresponding to another time domain configuration information is different from or completely different from the other two parts. Another possibility is that the SSB to be measured corresponding to all time domain configuration information is different or completely different.

Typically, time domain configuration information is sent to a terminal device via RRC signaling/high-layer signaling, and an identifier of the effective time domain configuration information is sent to the terminal device via a layer 1 or layer 2 message. For the terminal device and the network device, processing RRC signaling has a greater processing load than processing layer 1 or layer 2 messages. Therefore, if the network device configures multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device at one time, compared to configuring multiple time domain configuration information for the terminal device multiple times, the signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device can be saved, and the processing load of the terminal device and the network device can be reduced.

Example 3:

The network device configures multiple reference signal sets and the corresponding effectiveness conditions of each reference signal set for the terminal device at one time. The terminal device can determine whether any of the effectiveness conditions is met. When the terminal device determines that any of the effectiveness conditions is met, it uses the reference signal set corresponding to any of the effectiveness conditions to perform wireless link monitoring and/or wireless link recovery. The network device does not need to frequently configure reference signal sets for the terminal device.

FIG5 shows a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which includes the following steps:

Step 501: The network device sends first information, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information; the first information is used to indicate multiple reference signal sets and multiple validity conditions, and the multiple reference signal sets and the multiple validity conditions correspond one to one.

When a network device sends a reference signal to a terminal device, it does so in the form of a beam. For multiple reference signals in a reference signal set, different reference signals are typically sent in different beams. The reference signals in different reference signal sets may have different or completely different reference signal components.

The first information may be carried in an RRC message/signaling, for example, carried in an RRCReconfiguration message/signaling.

The reference signal may be a CSI-RS or an SSB.

In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the DU in the network device generates the first information, and the network device in step 501 sends the first information to the terminal device. This can be replaced by the DU of the network device generating the first information, the DU of the network device sending the first information to the CU of the network device, and then the CU of the network device sends the first information to the terminal device. For example, the first information is carried in RRC signaling.

Step 502: When the terminal device determines that the first validation condition is met, the terminal device performs radio link monitoring and/or radio link recovery based on the first reference signal set corresponding to the first validation condition.

The first validation condition belongs to the multiple validation conditions, and the first reference signal set belongs to the multiple reference signal sets.

The relevant contents of radio link monitoring and/or radio link recovery based on the reference signals in the reference signal set are previously described and will not be repeated here. In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the DU in the network device generates a reference signal and sends the reference signal.

The following describes the conditions under which the time domain configuration information takes effect:

Any of the aforementioned conditions for effectiveness may include one or more of the following. It is understood that the following serial numbers 1), 2), and 3) are only for the convenience of description and do not indicate the importance or priority of the content corresponding to the serial number:

1) Distance condition: The distance is the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the serving cell. The reference point is, for example, the center point of the coverage area of the serving cell.

The distance condition can be understood as a distance range. For example, the first information indicates reference signal set 1 and reference signal set 2, and indicates that the distance condition in the effectiveness condition of reference signal set 1 is less than or equal to d1 or within the distance range D1, and the PDD condition in the effectiveness condition of reference signal set 2 is greater than d1 or within the distance range D2. The terminal device determines the first distance, and when the effectiveness condition does not contain other conditions except the distance condition, when the first distance is less than or equal to d1 or within the distance range D1, it is determined that reference signal set 1 is effective; when the first distance is greater than d1 or within the distance range D2, it is determined that reference signal set 2 is effective.

In an earth-moving cell scenario, the location of the serving cell changes as the satellite moves. Consequently, the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the serving cell also changes with the satellite's movement. Based on the satellite's trajectory, the network can pre-estimate the relationship between the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the serving cell and the reference signal beam. The network can then determine the relationship between different reference signal sets and distance conditions and indicate this to the terminal device. This allows the terminal device to perform radio link detection and/or radio link recovery based on the reference signal set corresponding to the distance condition that is met.

In addition, this condition can also be applied to scenarios where the ground stationary cell and the terminal device are moving.

2) Regional location conditions. The regional location is the regional location of the terminal device. For example, the first information indicates reference signal set 1 and reference signal set 2, and indicates that the regional location condition in the validity condition of reference signal set 1 is regional location 1, and the regional location condition in the validity condition of reference signal set 2 is regional location 2. When the validity condition does not contain other conditions except the regional location condition, when the terminal device determines that it is in regional location 1, it determines that reference signal set 1 is valid; when the terminal device determines that it is in regional location 2, it determines that reference signal set 2 is valid.

When network devices move, the network side can pre-estimate the association between the regional location of the terminal device and the reference signal beam based on the satellite's motion trajectory. The network side can then determine the association between different reference signal sets and regional location conditions and indicate this to the terminal device. This allows the terminal device to perform wireless link detection and/or wireless link recovery based on the reference signal set corresponding to the satisfied regional location conditions. When determining the effective reference signal set based on the regional location of the terminal device, the satellite's position can also be referenced.

3) Time conditions. The time conditions can be understood as a time range, or a certain time point. For example, the first information indicates reference signal sets 1, 2, and 3. The first information indicates that the time condition in the effectiveness condition corresponding to reference signal set 1 is time point t1, or time period t1 to t2, the time condition in the effectiveness condition corresponding to reference signal set 2 is time point t2, or time end t2 to t3, and the time condition in the effectiveness condition corresponding to reference signal set 3 is time point t3, or time period t3 to t4. In the case that the effectiveness condition does not contain other conditions except the time difference condition, the terminal device determines that reference signal set 1 is effective at time point t1, and determines that reference signal set 2 is effective at time point t2, and determines that reference signal set 3 is effective at time point t3.

The network can pre-estimate the relationship between time information and the beam associated with the reference signal based on the satellite's trajectory. The network can then determine the relationship between different reference signal sets and time conditions and indicate this to the terminal device. The terminal device can then perform radio link detection and/or radio link recovery based on the reference signal set corresponding to the time condition that is met.

5) Receiving conditions for the SSB sent by the network device.

The receiving condition can be understood as the optimal receiving beam condition. For example, the first information indicates reference signal set 1 and reference signal set 2, and indicates that the optimal receiving beam in the effective condition corresponding to reference signal set 1 is beam 1, and the optimal receiving beam in the effective condition corresponding to reference signal set 2 is beam 2. When the effective condition does not contain other conditions except the receiving condition, when the terminal device determines that the optimal receiving beam for receiving the SSB from the network device on the first cell is beam 1, reference signal set 1 is effective, and when the terminal device determines that the optimal receiving beam for receiving the SSB from the network device on the first cell is beam 2, reference signal set 2 is effective.

In an earth-moving cell scenario, the location of the primary cell changes as the satellite moves. Consequently, the optimal beam for a terminal device to receive the SSB of the primary cell may change as the satellite moves. Based on the satellite's trajectory, the network can pre-estimate the relationship between the optimal receive beam and the reference signal transmit beam. Furthermore, the network can determine the relationship between different reference signal sets and receive beam conditions and indicate this to the terminal device. This allows the terminal device to perform radio link detection and/or radio link recovery based on the reference signal set corresponding to the satisfied receive beam conditions.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device informs the network device of the effective reference signal set. For example, when the first effectiveness condition is met, the terminal device sends the second information to the network device. Accordingly, the network device receives the second information, and the second information is used to indicate the first reference signal set. The second information indicates the first identifier of the first reference signal set. For example, in step 501, the first information also indicates the identifiers corresponding to the multiple reference signal sets. Then, the second information can indicate the identifier of the effective reference signal set, and the identifier is, for example, an index. Or the second information can indicate the effectiveness condition that is met. For example, for the distance condition, the second information can indicate the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the serving cell. For the regional location condition, the second information can indicate the regional location of the terminal device. For the reception condition of SSB, the second information can indicate the optimal receiving beam of the terminal device. The terminal device informs the network device of the effective reference signal set, so that the network device can know which reference signals currently need to be sent for the terminal device to measure.

The second information can be sent to the network device through an RRC message. In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the second information can be sent to the CU in the network device through an RRC message. After the CU parses the second information, it informs the DU of the specific content of the effective reference signal set. Based on the specific content of the effective reference signal set, the DU knows which reference signals need to be sent to the terminal device.

The second information can be sent to the network device via an L1/L2 message. In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the second information can be sent to the DU in the network device via an L1/L2 message. After the DU parses the second information, it learns which reference signals need to be sent to the terminal device based on the specific content of the effective reference signal set. For example, the second information indicates the identifier of the effective reference signal set. The CU has previously informed the DU of multiple reference signal sets and their corresponding identifiers. The DU can find the corresponding effective reference signal set based on the identifier indicated by the second information.

Step 502 above introduces that when the terminal device determines that the first validation condition is met, the terminal device performs wireless link monitoring and/or wireless link recovery based on the first reference signal set corresponding to the first validation condition. In one example, in a scenario where the terminal device sends the second information to the network device, the terminal device may not need to consider the order of wireless link monitoring and/or wireless link recovery based on the first reference signal set and sending the second information. In another example, when the terminal device determines that the first validation condition is met and after the terminal device successfully sends the second information, the terminal device performs wireless link monitoring and/or wireless link recovery based on the first reference signal set corresponding to the first validation condition.

In addition, even if the terminal device does not inform the network device of the effective reference signal set, the network device can also infer the reference signal set that is effective at different times or in different time periods. The network device knows which reference signals need to be sent to the terminal device based on the effective reference signal set.

Example 4:

The network device configures multiple reference signal sets and their corresponding identifiers for the terminal device at one time. The network device then determines the effective reference signal set from the configured multiple reference signal sets, and indicates the identifier corresponding to the effective reference signal set to the terminal device. The terminal device uses the reference signal set corresponding to the identifier indicated by the network device to perform wireless link monitoring and/or wireless link recovery.

FIG6 shows a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which includes the following steps:

Step 601: The network device sends first information, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information; the first information is used to indicate multiple reference signal sets and multiple identifiers, and the multiple reference signal sets and the multiple identifiers correspond one to one.

When a network device sends a reference signal to a terminal device, it is sent in the form of a beam. For multiple reference signals in a reference signal set, different reference signals are generally sent through different beams. The reference signals in different reference signal sets may have different or completely different parts. The reference signal may be a CSI-RS or an SSB. The first information may be carried in an RRC message/signaling, for example, in an RRCReconfiguration message/signaling.

In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the DU in the network device generates the first information, and the network device in step 601 sends the first information to the terminal device. This can be replaced by the DU of the network device generating the first information, the DU of the network device sending the first information to the CU of the network device, and then the CU of the network device sends the first information to the terminal device.

Optionally, step 602: the terminal device sends third information to the network device, and accordingly, the network device receives the third information, where the third information is used to indicate a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to determine a first reference signal set from multiple reference signal sets.

The second information is used to indicate the first parameter, including one or more of the following. It is understood that the following serial numbers 1), 2), ..., 5), etc. are only for the convenience of description, and the serial numbers do not indicate the importance and priority of the content corresponding to the serial numbers:

1) The second information is used to indicate a first distance, which is the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the serving cell. The reference point is, for example, the center point of the coverage range of the serving cell. In the earth-moving cell scenario, the position of the serving cell will change with the movement of the satellite, and the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the serving cell will also change with the movement of the satellite. The network side can pre-estimate the correlation between the distance between the terminal device and the reference point corresponding to the serving cell and the beam of the reference signal based on the motion trajectory of the satellite, and then the network side can determine the correlation between different reference signal sets and distance conditions, and indicate it to the terminal device. So that the terminal device can perform wireless link detection and/or wireless link recovery based on the reference signal set corresponding to the distance condition that is met.

In addition, this condition can also be applied to scenarios where the ground stationary cell and the terminal device are moving.

2) The second information is used to indicate the first regional location of the terminal device. When the network device moves, the network side can pre-estimate the correlation between the regional location of the terminal device and the beam of the reference signal based on the movement trajectory of the satellite. Then, the network side can determine the correlation between different reference signal sets and regional location conditions, and indicate it to the terminal device. So that the terminal device can perform wireless link detection and/or wireless link recovery based on the reference signal set corresponding to the satisfied regional location condition. When determining the effective reference signal set based on the regional location of the terminal device, the movement of the satellite can also be referred to.

3) The second information is used to indicate the reception information of the SSB sent by the network device to the terminal device. The reception information can be understood as the optimal reception beam information. In the earth-moving cell scenario, the position of the first cell will change with the movement of the satellite, and the optimal beam for the terminal device to receive the SSB of the first cell may change with the movement of the satellite. The network side can pre-estimate the correlation between the optimal reception beam and the transmission beam of the reference signal based on the movement trajectory of the satellite, and then the network side can determine the correlation between different reference signal sets and reception beam conditions, and indicate it to the terminal device. So that the terminal device can perform wireless link detection and/or wireless link recovery based on the reference signal set corresponding to the satisfied reception beam condition.

Step 603: The network device sends second information to the terminal device. In response, the terminal device receives the second information. The second information indicates a first identifier, where the first identifier is an identifier of a first reference signal set. The first identifier belongs to the multiple identifiers, the first reference signal set belongs to the multiple reference signal sets, and the second information is carried in a layer 1 or layer 2 message.

The network device can determine the effective first reference signal set based on time information. The network device can also determine the effective first reference signal set from multiple reference signal sets indicated by the first information based on the first parameter indicated in the third information, and indicate the effective first reference signal set to the terminal device. The effective first reference signal set is determined by the first parameter reported by the terminal device, with high accuracy.

The second information can indicate the first identifier, that is, the effective reference signal set, through the value of a bit. For example, the first information indicates 3 reference signal sets, and the second information occupies at least 2 bits. For example, the first information indicates 5 reference signal sets, and the second information occupies at least 3 bits. Taking 2 bits as an example, 00 represents the identifier corresponding to reference signal set 1, 01 represents the identifier corresponding to reference signal set 2, and 10 represents the identifier corresponding to reference signal set 3. For another example, the second information indicates the first identifier, that is, the effective reference signal set, in the form of a bitmap, wherein the reference signal set corresponding to the bit with a value of 1 is the effective reference signal set. For example, the first information indicates 3 reference signal sets, and the bitmap of the second information is 001, which indicates the identifier corresponding to reference signal set 3.

The terminal device can send the third information to the network device through an RRC message or an L1\L2 message, and the network device can send the second information to the terminal device through an L1\L2 message. For example, by carrying the second information in the downlink physical channel or by carrying the second information through the control unit of the MAC layer. For example, in the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the third information can be sent to the CU in the network device. After the CU parses the third information, it determines the effective reference signal set and informs the CU of the identifier of the effective reference signal set. The CU sends the second information to the terminal device. For another example, in the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the second information can be sent to the DU in the network device. The CU in the network device sends the first information to the DU in the network device. The DU in the network device determines the second information based on the first information and sends the second information to the terminal device.

Step 604: The terminal device performs wireless link monitoring and/or wireless link recovery based on the first reference signal set corresponding to the first identifier.

The relevant contents of radio link monitoring and/or radio link recovery based on the reference signals in the reference signal set are previously described and will not be repeated here. In the scenario where the CU and DU are separated as shown in Figure 2e, the DU in the network device generates a reference signal and sends the reference signal.

Typically, a reference signal set is configured for a terminal device via RRC signaling/high-layer signaling, and the identifier of the effective reference signal set is sent to the terminal device via a layer 1 or layer 2 message. For the terminal device and the network device, processing RRC signaling incurs a greater processing load than processing layer 1 or layer 2 messages. Therefore, configuring multiple reference signal sets for a terminal device at one time by the network device can save signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device, thereby reducing the processing load on both the terminal device and the network device, compared to configuring multiple reference signal sets for the terminal device multiple times.

It is understandable that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the terminal devices and network devices include hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a computer software-driven hardware manner depends on the specific application scenario of the technical solution and the conditions under which the design constraints take effect.

Figures 7 and 8 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device and the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above-mentioned method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be a terminal device as shown in Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, or an access network device as shown in Figures 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, or a module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal device or a network device.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the communication device 700 includes a processing unit 710 and a transceiver unit 720 .

For example, the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or the first network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6. The transceiver unit 720 can perform the receiving and sending actions performed by the terminal device or the first network device in the method embodiments described above. The processing unit 710 can perform other actions, except for the sending and receiving actions, among the actions performed by the terminal device or the first network device in the method embodiments described above.

Exemplarily, when the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3, the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive the first information on the first cell and receive the SSB on the second cell. The processing unit 710 is used to parse the first information.

Exemplarily, when the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG3 , the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive the first information sent to the terminal device on the first cell and send the SSB to the terminal device on the second cell. The processing unit 710 is used to generate the first information.

A more detailed description of the processing unit 710 and the transceiver unit 720 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant descriptions of the method embodiments shown in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6, and will not be repeated here. The processing unit 710 can be implemented by a processor, and the transceiver unit 720 can be implemented by a transceiver.

As shown in Figure 8, communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and an interface circuit 820. Processor 810 and interface circuit 820 are coupled to each other. It is understood that interface circuit 820 can be a transceiver or an input/output interface. Optionally, communication device 800 may also include a memory 830 for storing instructions executed by processor 810, or storing input data required by processor 810 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after processor 810 executes instructions. Sometimes, interface circuit 820 can also be understood as part of processor 810, in which case communication device 800 includes processor 810.

When the communication device 800 is used to implement the methods shown in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 above, the processor 810 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 710, and the interface circuit 820 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 720.

When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the terminal device chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. When the terminal device chip receives information from the network device, it can be understood that the information is first received by other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal device chip by these modules. When the terminal device chip sends information to the network device, it can be understood that the information is first sent to other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the network device by these modules.

When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a network device, the network device chip implements the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The network device chip receives information from the terminal device, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the network device chip by these modules. The network device chip sends information to the terminal device, which can be understood as the information being sent to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal device by these modules. The network device module here can be a baseband chip of the network device, or it can be a DU or other module. The DU here can be a DU under the open radio access network O-RAN architecture.

In the present application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be that A sends it directly to B, or that A sends it to B indirectly through other entities. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be that entity B directly receives the information sent by entity A, or that entity B indirectly receives the information sent by entity A through other entities. Entities A and B here can be network devices or terminal devices, or modules within a network device or modules within a terminal device. The sending and receiving of information can be information interaction between a network device and a terminal device, or information interaction between two network devices, such as information interaction between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be information interaction between different modules within a device, such as information interaction between a terminal device chip and other modules of the terminal device, or information interaction between a network device chip and other modules in the network device.

It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to perform the above-mentioned communication method. In other words, the computer program includes instructions for implementing the above-mentioned communication.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, including: computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the communication method provided above.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes: a network device and a terminal device that execute the above-mentioned communication method.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, mobile hard disks, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) (also known as read-only optical discs) or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also exist in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, they can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a first control plane network element, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and/or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plural" means two or more. "And/or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and/or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A or B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A/B means: A or B. "At least one of the following items" or "one or more of them" and other similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c, or one or more of a, b, or c, means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c. Each of a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

The ordinal numbers "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority, or importance of multiple objects. Moreover, such names do not indicate differences in the content, sender/receiver, transmission order, size, application scenario, priority, or importance of the two pieces of information. In addition, the numbering of the steps in the various embodiments introduced in this application is only for distinguishing different steps and is not used to define the order of the steps.

Claims (22)

A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to a terminal device, comprising: Receiving first information from a first network device on a first cell; wherein the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple validation conditions, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple validation conditions correspond one to one; the first cell is a serving cell of the terminal device; When the first effectiveness condition is met, a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block SSB are received from a second network device on a second cell based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first effectiveness condition; wherein, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, the first effectiveness condition belongs to the multiple effectiveness conditions, and the first time domain configuration information belongs to the multiple time domain configuration information. The method according to claim 1, wherein any of the validation conditions includes one or more of the following: Propagation delay difference (PDD) condition, distance condition, distance difference condition, time condition, and reception condition for the SSB sent by the first network device on the first cell; The PDD is a difference between a first transmission delay and a second transmission delay, where the first transmission delay is a transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device; wherein the second transmission delay is a transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device, and the first network device and the second network device are different; or, the first transmission delay is a transmission delay between the terminal device and a first satellite corresponding to the first cell, and the second transmission delay is a transmission delay between the terminal device and a second satellite corresponding to the second cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite are different; The distance is the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the first cell; The distance difference is the difference between a first distance and a second distance, the first distance being the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance being the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the second cell. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: receiving, on the first cell, second information from the first network device, where the second information is used to indicate an SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to each of the plurality of time domain configuration information; The receiving, on the second cell, the SSB from the second network device based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first validation condition includes: Based on the first time domain configuration information corresponding to the first validation condition, the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information is received from the second network device on the second cell. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: Third information is sent to the first network device on the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate the first time domain configuration information. A communication method, characterized by being applied to a first network device, comprising: generating first information; A first information is sent to a terminal device on a first cell; wherein the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple effectiveness conditions, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple effectiveness conditions correspond one to one. The first information is used for the terminal device to receive a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block SSB from a second network device on a second cell based on any time domain configuration information corresponding to any effectiveness condition when any effectiveness condition is met. The first cell is a service cell of the terminal device, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first network device and the second network device are the same or different. The method according to claim 5, wherein any of the validation conditions includes one or more of the following: Propagation delay difference (PDD) condition, distance condition, distance difference condition, time condition, and reception condition for the SSB sent by the first network device on the first cell; The PDD is a difference between a first transmission delay and a second transmission delay; wherein the first transmission delay is a transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device, the second transmission delay is a transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device, and the first network device and the second network device are different; or, the first transmission delay is a transmission delay between the terminal device and a first satellite corresponding to the first cell, the second transmission delay is a transmission delay between the terminal device and a second satellite corresponding to the second cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite are different; The distance is the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the first cell; The distance difference is the difference between a first distance and a second distance, the first distance being the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance being the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the second cell. The method according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising: Sending second information to the terminal device on the first cell, the second information is used to indicate the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to each of the multiple time domain configuration information; the second information is used for the terminal device to receive the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to any time domain configuration information sent by the second network device on the second cell based on any time domain configuration information corresponding to any effective condition when any effective condition is met. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, further comprising: receiving, on the first cell, third information from the terminal device, where the third information is used to indicate time domain configuration information that meets a validation condition; The terminal device is scheduled based on the time domain configuration information that meets the effectiveness conditions. A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to a terminal device, comprising: receiving, on a first cell, first information from a first network device, where the first information is used to indicate a plurality of time domain configuration information and a plurality of identifiers, where the plurality of time domain configuration information and the plurality of identifiers correspond one to one, and any of the time domain configuration information is used by the terminal device to receive a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block (SSB); receiving, on the first cell, second information from the first network device, where the second information is used to indicate a first identifier, the first identifier is used to indicate first time domain configuration information, the first identifier belongs to the multiple identifiers, the first time domain configuration information belongs to the multiple time domain configuration information, and the second information is carried in a layer 1 or layer 2 message; Based on the first time domain configuration information, an SSB is received from a second network device on a second cell, where the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first network device and the second network device are the same or different. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: Third information is sent to the first network device in the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to determine the first time domain configuration information from the multiple time domain configuration information. The method according to claim 10, wherein the first parameter specifically includes one or more of the following: a first PDD, wherein the first PDD is a difference between a first transmission delay and a second transmission delay, the first transmission delay being a transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device, the second transmission delay being a transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device, and the first network device and the second network device being different; or, the first transmission delay being a transmission delay between the terminal device and a first satellite corresponding to the first cell, the second transmission delay being a transmission delay between the terminal device and a second satellite corresponding to the second cell, the first network device and the second network device being the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite being different; a first distance, wherein the first distance is a distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the first cell; a first distance difference, wherein the first distance difference is a difference between a first distance and a second distance, the first distance being the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance being the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the second cell; The terminal device sends SSB reception information to the first cell. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising: receiving, on the first cell, fourth information from the first network device, where the fourth information is used to indicate SSBs that need to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information; The receiving an SSB from a second network device on a second cell based on the first time domain configuration information includes: Based on the first time domain configuration information, the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information is received from the second network device on the second cell. A communication method, characterized by being applied to a first network device, comprising: A first information is sent to a terminal device on a first cell, where the first information is used to indicate multiple time domain configuration information and multiple identifiers, and the multiple time domain configuration information and the multiple identifiers correspond one to one; a second information is sent to the terminal device on the first cell, where the second information is used to indicate a first identifier, the first identifier is used to indicate a first time domain configuration information, the first identifier belongs to the multiple identifiers, and the first time domain configuration information belongs to the multiple time domain configuration information; the first time domain configuration information is used by the terminal device to receive a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block SSB sent by a second network device in a second cell, where the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, the first network device and the second network device are the same or different, and the second information is carried in a layer 1 or layer 2 message. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: Third information is received from the terminal device on the first cell, where the third information is used to indicate a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to determine the first time domain configuration information from the multiple time domain configuration information. The method according to claim 14, wherein the first parameter specifically includes one or more of the following: a first PDD, wherein the first PDD is a difference between a first transmission delay and a second transmission delay, the first transmission delay being a transmission delay between the terminal device and the first network device, the second transmission delay being a transmission delay between the terminal device and the second network device, and the first network device and the second network device being different; or, the first transmission delay being a transmission delay between the terminal device and a first satellite corresponding to the first cell, the second transmission delay being a transmission delay between the terminal device and a second satellite corresponding to the second cell, the first network device and the second network device being the same or different, and the first satellite and the second satellite being different; a first distance, wherein the first distance is a distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the first cell; a first distance difference, wherein the first distance difference is a difference between a first distance and a second distance, the first distance being the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the first cell, and the second distance being the distance between the terminal device and a reference point corresponding to the second cell; The terminal device sends SSB reception information to the first cell. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, further comprising: Sending fourth information to the terminal device on the first cell, the fourth information is used to indicate the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information; the fourth information is used by the terminal device to receive the SSB that needs to be measured corresponding to the first time domain configuration information sent by the second network device on the second cell based on the first time domain configuration information. A communication device, characterized by comprising a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16. A communication device, comprising a processor coupled to a memory; The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions; The processor is configured to execute part or all of the computer programs or instructions in the memory, and when the part or all of the computer programs or instructions are executed, is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16. A communication device, comprising a processor and a memory; The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions; The processor is configured to execute part or all of the computer programs or instructions in the memory, and when the part or all of the computer programs or instructions are executed, is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16. A communication device, characterized in that it includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a computer program or instruction is stored in the storage medium, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16 is implemented. A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product comprises: computer instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16 to be implemented.