WO2025167872A1 - Communication method, communication apparatus and computer-readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method, a communication apparatus and a computer-readable storage medium. The method comprises: sending first information, which comprises at least one of the following: information of a detected switching event, wherein the switching event is used for beam management or beam switching; first indication information, which is used for indicating a beam to be switched and/or a cell to be subjected to switching and/or a cell group to be subjected to switching, wherein said cell is a cell to which said beam belongs, and said cell group is a cell group to which said cell belongs; and second indication information, which is used for indicating a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, wherein the new cell is a cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group is a cell group to which the new cell belongs. By means of the solution provided in the present application, a terminal device reports more information in a beam management or beam switching scenario, such that a beam management or beam switching process is optimized.

Description

Communication method, communication device, and computer-readable storage medium

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on February 8, 2024, with application number 202410178154.3 and invention name “Communication method, communication device, computer-readable storage medium”, 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, a communication device, and a computer-readable storage medium.

Background Art

Beamforming is a signal processing technique that uses an antenna array to transmit and receive signals in a directionally controlled manner. In beamforming, signals are sent in a specific direction rather than omnidirectionally. This beam-based signal transmission method focuses signal power in a specific direction, increasing the likelihood of signal detection at the destination or improving signal reception quality.

In existing beam management or beam switching solutions, the terminal device performs beam measurement based on the configuration of the network device and sends a beam report to the network device. The beam report usually only includes beams with better quality. The role of this beam report is limited and cannot meet the needs of beam management or beam switching in more scenarios. Moreover, the beam switching caused by network device control is not timely and needs further optimization.

Summary of the Invention

One of the technical objectives of the present application is to provide a communication method, a communication device and a computer-readable storage medium that can optimize existing beam reports, thereby further optimizing beam management or beam switching processes.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method comprising: sending first information, the first information comprising at least one of the following: information of a detected switching event, the switching event being used for beam management or beam switching; first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate the beam to be switched and/or the cell to be switched and/or the cell group to be switched, the cell to be switched being the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched being the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs; second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell being the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group being the cell group to which the new beam belongs.

In the above scheme, by reporting the information of the switching event to the network device, the network device can be informed of the switching event detected by the terminal device, thereby being able to know the channel changes of the terminal device. In particular, the network device can be informed of the deterioration of the channel quality of the terminal device based on the first information, thereby being able to perform beam management or beam switching in a timely manner.

In the above scheme, by reporting the beam to be switched and/or the new beam to the network device, the network device can promptly know the beam and/or new beam with deteriorating quality in the current beam, so that the beam with deteriorating quality can be switched in a targeted manner.

In the above scheme, by reporting the cell to be switched and/or the new cell to the network device, it can meet the need to further perform cell switching during the beam switching or beam management process when multiple cells can provide beams for the terminal device.

In the above scheme, by reporting the cell group to be switched and/or the new cell group to the network equipment, it can meet the need to further perform cell group switching during beam switching or beam management when the cells of multiple cell groups can provide beams for the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the first indication information includes at least one of the following: cell identification information of the cell to be switched, identification information of the reference signal RS resource configuration associated with the cell to be switched, identification information of the RS resource set associated with the cell to be switched, identification information of the RS resources associated with the cell to be switched, and identification information of the report configuration associated with the cell to be switched; and/or, the second indication information includes at least one of the following: cell identification information of the new cell, identification information of the RS resource configuration associated with the new cell, identification information of the RS resource set associated with the new cell, identification information of the RS resources associated with the new cell, and identification information of the report configuration associated with the new cell.

Optionally, the method also includes: receiving resource configuration information, the resource configuration information including at least one RS transmission parameter, the RS transmission parameter being at least one of RS resource configuration, RS resource set, and RS resource; wherein the at least one RS transmission parameter satisfies at least one of the following: the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with one or more switching events; each RS transmission parameter includes information about the switching event associated with the RS transmission parameter; the information about each switching event includes the RS transmission parameter associated with the switching event; the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with one or more beams; each RS transmission parameter includes information about the beam associated with the RS transmission parameter; the information about each beam includes the RS transmission parameter associated with the beam; the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with one or more cells; each RS transmission parameter includes information about the cell associated with the RS transmission parameter; the information about each cell includes information about the RS transmission parameter associated with the cell; the first RS transmission parameter among the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with the current beam, and the second RS transmission parameter among the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with the alternative beam; the first RS transmission parameter is associated with the second RS transmission parameter.

Optionally, the method also includes: receiving report configuration information, the report configuration information including at least one report configuration; wherein the at least one report configuration satisfies at least one of the following: the at least one report configuration is associated with one or more switching events; each report configuration includes information about the switching event associated with the report configuration; the information about each switching event includes the report configuration associated with the switching event; the at least one report configuration is associated with one or more beams; each report configuration includes information about the beam associated with the report configuration; the information of each beam includes the report configuration associated with the beam; the at least one report configuration is associated with one or more cells; each report configuration includes information about the cell associated with the report configuration; the information of each cell includes information about the report configuration associated with the cell.

Optionally, the first information also includes at least one of the following: association indication information, the association indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the association relationship between the beam to be switched and the new beam, the association relationship between the cell to be switched and the new cell, the association relationship between the cell group to be switched and the new cell group; the new beam applicable to the first channel; the channel applicable to the new beam; the RS applicable to the new beam; the control resource set CORESET applicable to the new beam; the channel not applicable to the new beam; the RS not applicable to the new candidate beam; the CORESET not applicable to the new candidate beam; the probability information of applying the new beam; the probability information of switching to the new cell; the probability information of switching to the new cell group; the probability information of switching to the first target Probability information of the cell group; panel information corresponding to the beam to be switched; panel information corresponding to the new beam; indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; panel information corresponding to multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous uplink transmission; indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous uplink transmission; panel information corresponding to multiple new beams for simultaneous uplink transmission; recommended unified transmission configuration indication TCI state type; recommended unified TCI framework; recommended transmission scheme; recommended transmission scheme for the second channel; recommended beam training method; recommended value of parameter repetition in beam training reference signal configuration information.

Optionally, the transmission scheme is single transmission receiving point TRP transmission or multiple TRP transmission; wherein, the multiple TRP transmission includes at least one of the following: single frequency network SFN transmission, time division multiplexing TDM transmission, space division multiplexing SDM transmission, and frequency division multiplexing FDM transmission.

Optionally, the proposed unified TCI framework is a unified TCI activation or indication method for single TRP transmission or a unified TCI activation or indication method for multiple TRP transmission.

Optionally, the new beam includes a first beam, and the first beam satisfies at least one of the following: the first beam is not applicable to the first physical downlink shared channel PDSCH and/or the first physical uplink shared channel PUSCH, wherein the transmission time interval between the physical downlink control channel PDCCH that schedules the first PDSCH and the first PDSCH is less than or equal to the twenty-second threshold value, and the first PUSCH is a PUSCH indicated or activated by the downlink control information DCI format 0_0; the first beam is not applicable to the first RS, and the first RS does not apply a unified TCI state; the first beam is not applicable to the second RS, wherein the transmission time interval between the PDCCH that triggers the second RS and the second RS is less than or equal to the twenty-third threshold value; the first beam is not applicable to the first CORESET, and at least one SS in the search space SS associated with the first CORESET is a common search space CSS or a CSS other than type 3.

Optionally, the first information is transmitted to the current serving cell, and/or the cell to be switched, and/or the new cell.

Optionally, the method also includes: receiving a response to the first information, the response satisfying at least one of the following: the response is used to confirm or trigger at least one of beam switching, cell switching and cell group switching; the response includes indication information of the second target beam; the response includes indication information of the cell to which the second target beam belongs; the response includes indication information of the cell group to which the cell to which the second target beam belongs belongs; the channel to which the second target beam is applicable; the RS to which the second target beam is applicable; the CORESET to which the second target beam is applicable; the channel to which the second target beam is not applicable; the RS to which the second target beam is not applicable; the CORESET to which the second target beam is not applicable; indication information that multiple second target beams are used for simultaneous downlink reception; indication information that multiple second target beams are used for simultaneous uplink transmission; indication information that multiple second target beams are used for simultaneous uplink transmission; the second target beam applicable to the third channel; the type of unified TCI state; the unified TCI framework; the transmission scheme; the transmission scheme adopted by the fourth channel; the beam training method; the value of the parameter repetition in the beam training reference signal configuration information.

Optionally, the response to receiving the first information includes at least one of the following: receiving the response from the current serving cell; receiving the response from the cell to be switched; receiving the response from the new cell; or receiving the response from the cell to which the second target beam belongs.

Optionally, the method further includes: receiving third configuration information, where the third configuration information is used to reconfigure a physical cell identifier (PCI) list.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, the method comprising: receiving first information, the first information comprising at least one of the following: information of a detected switching event, the switching event being used for beam management or beam switching; first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate the beam to be switched and/or the cell to be switched and/or the cell group to be switched, the cell to be switched being the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched being the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs; second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell being the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group being the cell group to which the new beam belongs.

Optionally, the first indication information includes at least one of the following: cell identification information of the cell to be switched, identification information of the reference signal (RS) resource configuration associated with the cell to be switched, identification information of the RS resource set associated with the cell to be switched, identification information of the RS resources associated with the cell to be switched, and identification information of the report configuration associated with the cell to be switched; and/or, the second indication information includes at least one of the following: cell identification information of the new cell, identification information of the RS resource configuration associated with the new cell, identification information of the RS resource set associated with the new cell, identification information of the RS resources associated with the new cell, and identification information of the report configuration associated with the new cell.

Optionally, the method also includes: sending resource configuration information, the resource configuration information includes at least one RS transmission parameter, the RS transmission parameter is at least one of RS resource configuration, RS resource set, and RS resource; wherein the at least one RS transmission parameter satisfies at least one of the following: the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with one or more switching events; each RS transmission parameter includes information about the switching event associated with the RS transmission parameter; the information about each switching event includes the RS transmission parameter associated with the switching event; the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with one or more beams; each RS transmission parameter includes information about the beam associated with the RS transmission parameter; the information about each beam includes the RS transmission parameter associated with the beam; the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with one or more cells; each RS transmission parameter includes information about the cell associated with the RS transmission parameter; the information about each cell includes information about the RS transmission parameter associated with the cell; the first RS transmission parameter in the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with the current beam, and the second RS transmission parameter in the at least one RS transmission parameter is associated with the alternative beam; the first RS transmission parameter is associated with the second RS transmission parameter.

Optionally, the method also includes: sending report configuration information, the report configuration information includes at least one report configuration; wherein the at least one report configuration satisfies at least one of the following: the at least one report configuration is associated with one or more switching events; each report configuration includes information about the switching event associated with the report configuration; the information about each switching event includes the report configuration associated with the switching event; the at least one report configuration is associated with one or more beams; each report configuration includes information about the beam associated with the report configuration; the information of each beam includes the report configuration associated with the beam; the at least one report configuration is associated with one or more cells; each report configuration includes information about the cell associated with the report configuration; the information of each cell includes information about the report configuration associated with the cell.

Optionally, the first information also includes at least one of the following: association indication information, the association indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the association relationship between the beam to be switched and the new beam, the association relationship between the cell to be switched and the new cell, the association relationship between the cell group to be switched and the new cell group; the new beam applicable to the first channel; the channel applicable to the new beam; the RS applicable to the new beam; the control resource set CORESET applicable to the new beam; the channel not applicable to the new beam; the RS not applicable to the new beam; the CORESET not applicable to the new beam; the probability information of applying the new beam; the probability information of switching to the new cell; the probability information of switching to the new cell group; the Panel information corresponding to the beam to be switched; panel information corresponding to the new beam; indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; panel information corresponding to multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous uplink transmission; indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous uplink transmission; panel information corresponding to multiple new beams for simultaneous uplink transmission; recommended unified transmission configuration indication TCI state type; recommended unified TCI framework; recommended transmission scheme; recommended transmission scheme for the second channel; recommended beam training method; recommended value of parameter repetition in beam training reference signal configuration information.

Optionally, the transmission scheme is single transmission receiving point TRP transmission or multiple TRP transmission; wherein, the multiple TRP transmission includes at least one of the following: single frequency network SFN transmission, time division multiplexing TDM transmission, space division multiplexing SDM transmission, and frequency division multiplexing FDM transmission.

Optionally, the proposed unified TCI framework is a unified TCI activation or indication method for single TRP transmission or a unified TCI activation or indication method for multiple TRP transmission.

Optionally, the new beam includes a first beam, and the first beam satisfies at least one of the following: the first beam is not applicable to the first physical downlink shared channel PDSCH and/or the first physical uplink shared channel PUSCH, wherein the transmission time interval between the physical downlink control channel PDCCH that schedules the first PDSCH and the first PDSCH is less than or equal to the twenty-second threshold value, and the first PUSCH is a PUSCH indicated or activated by the downlink control information DCI format 0_0; the first beam is not applicable to the first RS, and the first RS does not apply a unified TCI state; the first beam is not applicable to the second RS, wherein the transmission time interval between the PDCCH that triggers the second RS and the second RS is less than or equal to the twenty-third threshold value; the first beam is not applicable to the first CORESET, and at least one SS in the search space SS associated with the first CORESET is a common search space CSS or a CSS other than type 3.

Optionally, the first information is transmitted to the current serving cell, and/or the cell to be switched, and/or the new cell.

Optionally, the method also includes: sending a response to the first information, the response satisfying at least one of the following: the response is used to confirm or trigger at least one of beam switching, cell switching and cell group switching; indication information of the second target beam; indication information of the cell to which the second target beam belongs; indication information of the cell group to which the cell to which the second target beam belongs belongs; the channel to which the second target beam is applicable; the RS to which the second target beam is applicable; the CORESET to which the second target beam is applicable; the channel to which the second target beam is not applicable; the RS to which the second target beam is not applicable; the CORESET to which the second target beam is not applicable; indication information that multiple second target beams are used for simultaneous downlink reception; indication information that multiple second target beams are used for simultaneous uplink transmission; indication information that multiple second target beams are used for simultaneous uplink transmission; the second target beam applicable to the third channel; the type of unified TCI state; the unified TCI framework; the transmission scheme; the transmission scheme adopted by the fourth channel; the beam training method; the value of the parameter repetition in the beam training reference signal configuration information.

Optionally, the response to sending the first information includes at least one of the following: sending the response in the current serving cell; sending the response in the cell to be switched; sending the response in the new cell; sending the response in the cell to which the second target beam belongs.

Optionally, the method further includes: sending third configuration information, where the third configuration information is used to reconfigure the physical cell identifier (PCI) list.

In the third aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which includes: a sending module for sending first information, the first information including at least one of the following: information of a detected switching event, the switching event being used for beam management or beam switching; first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate the beam to be switched and/or the cell to be switched and/or the cell group to be switched, the cell to be switched being the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched being the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs; second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell being the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group being the cell group to which the new beam belongs.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, comprising: a receiving module for receiving first information, the first information comprising at least one of the following: information of a detected switching event, the switching event being used for beam management or beam switching; first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate the beam to be switched and/or the cell to be switched and/or the cell group to be switched, the cell to be switched being the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched being the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs; second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell being the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group being the cell group to which the new beam belongs.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the communication method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect is executed.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the communication method of the first aspect when running the computer program.

In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, including a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and when the processor runs the computer program, it executes the steps of the communication method provided in the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip (or a communication device) on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by the chip, the method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect is executed.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip module having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by the chip module, the method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect is executed.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program. When the computer program runs on a computer, it enables the computer to execute the method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising an apparatus for executing the method of the first aspect and an apparatus for executing the method provided by the second aspect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction in a first communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction of a second communication method in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction of a third communication method in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction of a fourth communication method in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction of a fifth communication method in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction in a sixth communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG7 is a schematic flow chart of a beam switching method in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG8 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG11 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device in an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The communication systems to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable include, but are not limited to, long-term evolution (LTE) systems, fifth-generation (5G) systems (such as new radio (NR) systems), and future evolution systems or multiple communication convergence systems. The 5G system may be a non-standalone (NSA) 5G system or a standalone (SA) 5G system. The solutions of the embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to future new communication systems, such as sixth-generation (6G) communication systems and seventh-generation (7G) communication systems.

This application mainly relates to the communication between terminal devices (or simply referred to as terminals) and network devices.

The terminal equipment (Terminal Equipment) in the embodiments of the present application may refer to various forms of user equipment (User Equipment, abbreviated as UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (Mobile Station, abbreviated as MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal equipment (Terminal Equipment), wireless communication equipment, user agent or user device. The terminal may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal in a future 5G network or a terminal in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. In some embodiments of the present application, the terminal equipment may be an electronic device with a data wireless transmission function. In other embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a device with transceiver functions, such as a chip system, wherein the chip system may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices.

The network device in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as an access network device. For example, it may be a base station (BS) (also referred to as a base station device). The network device is a device deployed in a radio access network (RAN) to provide wireless communication functions. For example, in the second-generation (2G) network, the equipment providing base station functions includes the base transceiver station (BTS), the equipment providing base station functions in the 3G network includes the node B (NodeB), the equipment providing base station functions in the 4G network includes the evolved node B (eNB), and in wireless local area networks (WLAN), the equipment providing base station functions is the access point (AP). The equipment providing base station functions in NR includes the next generation node base station (gNB) and the evolved node B (ng-eNB). The gNB and the terminal communicate using NR technology, and the ng-eNB and the terminal communicate using evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) technology. Both gNB and ng-eNB can be connected to the 5G core network. The network devices in the embodiments of the present application also include devices that provide base station functions in future new communication systems. In some embodiments, the network devices may also be devices that provide wireless communication functions for terminal devices, such as chip systems. For example, chip systems may include chips and other discrete devices.

As described in the background technology, in existing beam management or beam switching solutions, the beam report sent by the terminal device to the network device usually only includes beams with better quality, which cannot meet the needs of beam management or beam switching in more scenarios.

In view of this, in the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device sends first information to the network device, and the first information includes at least one of the following: information about a detected switching event, the switching event is used for beam management or beam switching; first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate the beam to be switched and/or the cell to be switched and/or the cell group to be switched, the cell to be switched is the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched is the cell group to which the cell to be switched belongs; second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell is the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group is the cell group to which the new cell belongs.

In the above scheme, by reporting the information of the switching event to the network device, the network device can be informed of the switching event detected by the terminal device, thereby being able to know the channel changes of the terminal device. In particular, the network device can be informed of the deterioration of the channel quality of the terminal device based on the first information, thereby being able to perform beam management or beam switching in a timely manner.

In the above scheme, by reporting the beam to be switched and/or the new beam to the network device, the network device can promptly know the beam and/or new beam with deteriorating quality in the current beam, so that the beam with deteriorating quality can be switched in a targeted manner.

In the above scheme, by reporting the cell to be switched and/or the new cell to the network device, it can meet the need to further perform cell switching during the beam switching or beam management process when multiple cells can provide beams for the terminal device.

In the above scheme, by reporting the cell group to be switched and/or the new cell group to the network equipment, it can meet the need to further perform cell group switching during beam switching or beam management when the cells of multiple cell groups can provide beams for the terminal equipment.

In existing beam management or beam switching solutions, it is easy for beam switching to fail to occur in a timely manner.

Specifically, in the existing downlink beam management or downlink beam switching scheme, the network device configures or triggers the terminal device to report a beam report. The terminal device performs beam measurement and reports a beam report based on the reporting period configured by the network device and/or the trigger instruction sent by the network device. The beam report includes quality information of one or more beams. The network device obtains the channel quality based on the beam report. When the network device identifies that the channel quality is poor, the network device instructs the terminal device to switch to a new beam or activate a new beam.

In uplink beam management or uplink beam switching, the network device configures or triggers the terminal device to send a sounding reference signal (SRS). The terminal device sends the SRS based on the configured transmission period and/or trigger instructions sent by the network device. The network device measures the SRS and determines the terminal device's channel status based on the SRS measurement results. If the network device identifies poor channel quality, it instructs the terminal device to switch to a new beam or activate a new beam.

It can be seen that the existing beam management or beam switching are all initiated by the network device, and the terminal device only passively sends beam reports or SRS based on the configuration or triggering of the network device to assist the network device in determining the current beam quality. If the channel quality of the terminal device deteriorates, but the network device has not configured the terminal device to report beam reports or send SRS at this time, the network device cannot be informed of the deterioration of the channel quality in a timely manner, resulting in untimely beam switching, affecting the communication quality of the terminal device. If the network device obtains timely channel quality changes through frequent configuration or trigger signaling, it will increase the measurement and reporting overhead, as well as the reference signal and channel resource occupancy overhead.

In actual transmission, the terminal device usually detects changes in downlink beam quality earlier than the network device. In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. In the scheme of the embodiment of the present application, in response to detecting a trigger event, the terminal device sends a first message. In this scheme, the terminal device actively reports the first information when one or more switching events are detected. The network device can learn about the channel changes of the terminal device based on the first information. In particular, the network device can learn about the deterioration of the channel quality of the terminal device based on the first information, so that beam management or beam switching can be performed in a timely manner. Therefore, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application is conducive to reducing the delay of beam management or beam switching.

First, some of the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are introduced to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

1. Beam

A beam is a communication resource that network devices and terminal devices can use to send and receive signals. The beam in the embodiment of the present application can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams.

In communication protocols, a beam can be expressed as a spatial relation, spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial parameter, spatial domain parameter, Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state, Quasi Co-Location (QCL) parameter, etc. This article uses the term "beam," but "beam" can be replaced with other equivalent concepts and is not limited to the aforementioned ones.

2. Beam information

In the embodiments of the present application, "beam information" may refer to information that can be used to determine or indicate a beam. For example, the beam information may include any of the following: beam identification information, spatial relationship information, spatial filter information, spatial filter information, spatial parameter information, TCI information, QCL information, etc.

In a specific implementation, the identification information of the beam may be a reference signal resource indicator or a reference signal resource index (index), where the reference signal may be a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and accordingly, the reference signal resource indicator may be a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI). Alternatively, the reference signal may be a synchronization signal block (SSB), and accordingly, the reference signal resource indicator may be an SSB resource indicator (SSB RI). The reference signal resource index may be a CSI-RS resource index or an SSB resource index.

In this article, beam information is also referred to as "beam information".

For example, downlink beam information can be generally represented by TCI status information or QCL information, and uplink beam information can be generally represented by TCI information or spatial relationship information.

3. Community

In communication protocols, a cell can be expressed as a carrier, component carrier (CC), subband, frequency band, bandwidth, frequency point, physical cell, serving cell, or transmission and receiving point (TRP). This document uses the term "cell," but "cell" and its equivalents are interchangeable. "Cell" can be replaced with other equivalent concepts, such as, but not limited to, those listed above.

Furthermore, the cell information in the embodiments of the present application may include at least one of the following: cell index, cell identifier, physical cell identifier (PCI), identification information of RS resource configuration associated with the cell, identification information of RS resource set associated with the cell, identification information of RS resources associated with the cell, identification information of report configuration associated with the cell, and TRP identifier.

The TPR identifier or TRP can be at least one of the following: control resource set, control resource set pool, control resource set group, terminal capability set, terminal capability, TCI state, TCI state pool, terminal capability value, terminal capability value set, reference signal resource, reference signal resource set, reference signal resource group, number of reference signal ports, antenna panel, antenna array, antenna subarray, antenna group, antenna subgroup, antenna set, antenna subset, serving cell, physical cell. The TRP can be uniquely identified by the various TPR identifiers listed above, and "TRP" in this document can be used interchangeably with the above concepts.

4. Current beam

In the embodiment of the present application, the current beam refers to the beam currently being used by the terminal device. The number of the current beam can be one, or the number of the current beam can be multiple.

In a specific implementation, each cell may provide one or more beams. The current beam may be the beam of the serving cell of the terminal device, or the beam of a cell other than the serving cell. For example, the current beam may be the beam of a neighboring cell of the serving cell.

Exemplarily, there are multiple current beams, where some of the current beams are beams of the serving cell, and other beams are beams of other cells outside the serving cell.

As another example, the number of current beams is one or more, wherein the current beams are all beams of the serving cell.

It should be noted that, when the current beam includes beams of other cells other than the serving cell, the terminal device uses the beams provided by other cells but does not access or switch to other cells.

5. Current cell

In the embodiment of the present application, the current cell refers to the cell to which the current beam belongs. In other words, the current cell refers to the cell that provides the current beam.

Specifically, the current cell may include a serving cell and/or a non-serving cell. In a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, the serving cell may include a primary cell and at least one secondary cell, and the current beam may include the current beam of the primary cell and the current beam of each secondary cell. A non-serving cell refers to a cell other than the serving cell. For example, the current cell may include a neighboring cell. That is, the terminal device only uses the beam of the neighboring cell to transmit a channel or signal, but the neighboring cell is not the serving cell of the terminal device.

6. Alternative beams

In the embodiments of this application, an "alternative beam" refers to a beam configured by a network device. More specifically, an "alternative beam" may refer to a beam configured by a network device that is not currently in use by a terminal device. Alternatively, an "alternative beam" may refer to a beam available for measurement or selection by a terminal device.

The “alternative beam” may also be described as a measurable beam, a configured beam, a selectable beam, etc. The name of the alternative beam is not limited herein.

In a specific implementation, the network device may configure association relationships between beams, where one beam may be associated with another beam, or one beam may be associated with multiple beams, or multiple beams may be associated with multiple beams, or multiple beams may be associated with one beam.

More specifically, a current beam can be associated with one or more candidate beams. Alternatively, multiple current beams can be associated with multiple candidate beams. Alternatively, multiple current beams can be associated with the same candidate beam. For example, if a current beam is determined to be a beam to be switched, the candidate beam associated with the current beam can be used as a new beam, or a corresponding new beam can be determined or detected from the candidate beams associated with the current beam.

7. Alternative Residential Areas

In the embodiments of the present application, a "candidate cell" may refer to a cell to which a candidate beam belongs. The number of candidate cells may be one or more. The candidate cell and the current cell may be different cells. For example, the candidate cell may be a neighboring cell of the current cell.

Exemplarily, an association relationship may exist between the candidate cell and the current cell. For example, the network device may configure a candidate cell group (or candidate cell list) for the current cell, and the candidate cells in the candidate cell group are associated with the current cell. For a current cell, handover event detection and/or new beam detection may be performed on the candidate cell associated with the current cell.

8. Beam to be switched

In the embodiments of the present application, a beam to be switched may refer to a current beam that meets a switching event. In other words, a beam to be switched refers to a current beam whose beam quality has deteriorated. This term may also be referred to as a beam that needs to be switched, a beam that is about to fail, an invalid beam, an unavailable beam, or a beam whose beam quality is continuously deteriorating. This document does not limit the name of the beam to be switched.

9. Cell to be switched

In the embodiments of the present application, a cell to be switched may refer to a cell to be switched. In a specific implementation, the cell to be switched may be a serving cell to which the beam to be switched belongs. Alternatively, the cell to be switched may refer to a serving cell that satisfies a switching event. Exemplarily, the cell to be switched may include a primary cell and/or a secondary cell.

10. New Beam

A new beam can refer to an alternative beam that satisfies a handover event. In other words, a new beam can refer to a beam with improved beam quality. This document does not restrict the name of the new beam, and may also refer to a recommended beam, a recommended new beam, an available beam, or a beam with continuously improved beam quality.

Specifically, the new beam may include a beam in the current cell and/or a beam in the candidate cell.

11. New Community

In the embodiments of this application, a new cell refers to a cell to which a terminal device recommends handover or a cell to which a network device instructs handover. In specific implementations, the new cell may be the cell to which the new beam belongs. Alternatively, the new cell may be an alternative cell that satisfies the handover event. Exemplarily, the new cell may include a primary cell and/or a secondary cell.

12. Target Beam

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the target beam may refer to the beam to which the terminal device is to switch.

Specifically, the target beam may be the first target beam, wherein the first target beam may be the target beam indicated by the first information.

Alternatively, the target beam may be a second target beam, which may be a target beam indicated by the network device to the terminal device. The second target beam may be selected from the new beam indicated by the first information, or may be a beam other than the new beam indicated by the first information.

13. Measuring Reference Signal (RS)

In the embodiments of the present application, the measurement RS may be an RS used for measurement. For example, the measurement RS may be a positioning reference signal (PRS), a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), or the like.

14. Beam quality

In the embodiments of the present application, beam quality may be a measurement result obtained by measuring the measurement RS. Beam quality may include at least one of the following measurement results: Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ), Signal to Interference & Noise Ratio (SINR), Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), etc.

In a specific implementation, the measurement results included in the beam quality may be configured by the network device or may be defined by a protocol.

In a specific implementation, the network device may configure measurement RS resources for each cell, and the beam quality of a beam within the cell may be obtained based on the RS measurement of the cell to which the beam belongs.

15. Beam Interference

In the embodiments of this application, beam interference refers to interference between one beam and another. A terminal device can measure beam interference using an interference measurement resource (IMR). An IMR is a dedicated RS resource used for interference measurement.

In a specific implementation, for a beam, the beam interference of the beam can be obtained based on the IMR measurement of the cell to which the beam belongs, or based on the IMR measurement of cells other than the cell to which the beam belongs. Assuming that Beam 1 is provided by Cell 1, the terminal device can measure the IMR on Cell 1 to obtain the local beam interference of Beam 1. Alternatively, the terminal device can measure the IMR on Cell 2 to obtain the neighboring cell beam interference of Beam 1.

The following is a detailed description of the specific embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiments, the actions performed by the network device can be performed by the network device, a device in the network device (such as a processor, chip), a chip, etc., and the actions performed by the terminal device can be performed by the terminal device, a device in the terminal device (such as a processor, chip), a chip, etc., and this application does not limit them. For the convenience of description, the embodiments provided in this application are described using the execution subjects as network devices and terminal devices as examples.

Example 1

1, which is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction of a first communication method in an embodiment of the present application. The communication method shown in FIG1 may include S11 and S12. In this application, the S in each step number represents a step.

S11, the terminal device detects a switching event.

The term "switching event" in this document can be used for beam management or beam switching. It should be noted that the term "switching event" in this document can also be described or replaced with "event," "beam switching event," "beam management event," "beam event," etc., and this document does not limit the name of the "switching event."

Specifically, the terminal device may detect a switching event defined by a protocol, and/or the terminal device may detect a switching event configured by a network device.

Exemplarily, a handover event group may include at least one handover event, and the terminal device may detect the handover event in the handover event group. The handover events in the handover event group may be configured by the network device. Alternatively, the handover events in the handover event group may be defined by a protocol. Alternatively, some of the handover events in the handover event group may be configured by the network device, while other parts may be defined by a protocol.

The following takes the first event as an example to specifically describe the switching event in the embodiment of the present application. The first event may be defined by a protocol, or may be configured by a network device. It should be noted that the name of the first event is not limited herein.

The first event may include at least one of the following conditions:

Condition (1): The beam quality of the current beam is less than or equal to the first threshold value.

Assume that the number of current beams is X. The X current beams may be beams provided by different cells or beams provided by the same cell.

Exemplarily, condition (1) may mean that the beam qualities of at least X' current beams among the X current beams are less than or equal to the first threshold. That is, X' is a positive integer, X' ≤ X. In one example, X' = X. That is, condition (1) may mean that the beam qualities of all X current beams are less than or equal to the first threshold.

As another example, condition (1) may mean that the beam quality of any current beam among the X current beams is less than or equal to the first threshold value.

Condition (2): The beam quality of the candidate beam is greater than or equal to the second threshold value.

Assume that the number of candidate beams is Y. The Y candidate beams may be beams provided by different cells or beams provided by the same cell.

Exemplarily, condition (2) may mean that the beam qualities of at least Y' of the Y candidate beams are greater than or equal to the second threshold. That is, Y' is a positive integer, and Y' ≤ Y. In one example, Y' = Y. That is, condition (2) may mean that the beam qualities of all Y candidate beams are greater than or equal to the second threshold.

As another example, condition (2) may mean that the beam quality of any one of the Y candidate beams is greater than or equal to the second threshold value.

Condition (3): The beam quality of the candidate beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current beam.

In one possible implementation, the current beam in condition (3) may be a beam that satisfies condition (1), and/or the alternative beam in condition (3) may be an alternative beam that satisfies condition (2). This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

Exemplarily, condition (3) may mean that the beam quality of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of at least X” current beams. X” is a positive integer, X”≤X. That is, the beam quality of the X” current beams is compared with the beam quality of an alternative beam respectively. If the beam quality of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the X” current beams, then the alternative beam and the X” current beams meet condition (3). In one example, X”＝X. That is, condition (3) may mean that the beam quality of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of all current beams.

For example, X=4, X″=4, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4, Y=2, and the alternative beams are beam 5 and beam 6, where the beam quality of beam 5 is greater than or equal to the beam quality of beam 1, beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4, respectively. In this case, beam 5 meets condition (3). The beam quality of beam 6 is less than the beam quality of beam 1, but greater than the beam quality of beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4, respectively. In this case, beam 6 does not meet condition (3).

Exemplarily, condition (3) may mean that the beam quality of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of any current beam. That is, for any current beam, the beam quality of the current beam is compared with the beam quality of an alternative beam. If the beam quality of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current beam, then the alternative beam and the current beam meet condition (3). For example, X=4, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4, and Y=2, beam 5 and beam 6, where the beam quality of beam 5 is greater than or equal to the beam quality of beam 1, and the beam quality of beam 6 is greater than the beam quality of beam 4, then both beam 5 and beam 6 meet condition (3).

Condition (4): The beam quality of the candidate beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current beam, and the difference between the beam quality of the candidate beam and the beam quality of the current beam is greater than or equal to a third threshold value.

Among them, the current beam in condition (4) can be the current beam that meets condition (1), and/or, the alternative beam in condition (4) can be the alternative beam that meets condition (2), and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

Exemplarily, condition (4) may mean that the beam quality of the alternative beam satisfies: being greater than or equal to the beam quality of each current beam in at least X” current beams, and the difference between the beam quality of the alternative beam and the beam quality of each current beam in the X” current beams is greater than or equal to a third threshold value. That is, the beam qualities of the X” current beams are compared with the beam quality of an alternative beam respectively. If the beam quality of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the X” current beams, and the difference between the beam quality of the alternative beam and the beam quality of each current beam is greater than or equal to the third threshold value, then the alternative beam and the X” current beams satisfy condition (4).

For example, X=4, X″=4, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, Y=2, and the alternative beams are beam 5 and beam 6, wherein the beam quality of beam 5 is greater than or equal to the beam quality of beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, respectively, and the differences between the beam quality of beam 5 and the beam quality of beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, respectively, are all greater than or equal to the third threshold value, then beam 5 meets condition (4). The beam quality of beam 6 is greater than or equal to the beam quality of beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, respectively, and the differences between the beam quality of beam 6 and the beam quality of beam 1, beam 3 and beam 4, respectively, are all greater than or equal to the third threshold value, but the difference between the beam quality of beam 6 and the beam quality of beam 2 is less than the third threshold value, then beam 6 does not meet condition (4).

Exemplarily, condition (4) may mean that the beam quality of the candidate beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of any current beam, and the difference between the beam quality of the candidate beam and the beam quality of the current beam is greater than or equal to a third threshold. That is, for any current beam, the beam quality of the current beam is compared with the beam quality of an candidate beam. If the beam quality of the candidate beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current beam, and the difference between the two is greater than or equal to the third threshold, then the candidate beam and the current beam meet condition (4). For example, X=4, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, Y=2, beam 5 and beam 6, where the beam quality of beam 5 is greater than or equal to the beam quality of beam 1, and the difference between the beam quality of beam 5 and the beam quality of beam 1 is greater than or equal to the third threshold value, and the difference between the beam quality of beam 6 and the beam quality of beam 2 is greater than or equal to the third threshold value, then beam 5 and beam 6 both meet condition (4).

Condition (5): The beam interference of the current beam is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold value.

In a possible implementation, the current beam in condition (5) may be a beam that satisfies at least one of conditions (1), (3), and (4).

Assume that the number of current beams is X. The X current beams may be beams provided by different cells or beams provided by the same cell.

Exemplarily, condition (5) may mean that the beam interference of at least X'' current beams among the X current beams is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold. That is, X'' is a positive integer, X'' ≤ X. In one example, X'' = X. That is, condition (5) may mean that the beam interference of the X current beams is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold.

As another example, condition (5) may mean that the beam interference of any current beam among the X current beams is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold value.

Condition (6): The beam interference of the candidate beam is less than or equal to the fifth threshold.

In a possible implementation, the candidate beam in condition (6) may be a beam that satisfies at least one of conditions (2) to (4).

Assume that the number of candidate beams is Y. The Y candidate beams may be beams provided by different cells or beams provided by the same cell.

Exemplarily, condition (6) may mean that the beam interference of at least Y” of the Y alternative beams is less than or equal to the fifth threshold value. That is, Y” is a positive integer, Y”≤Y. In one example, Y”＝Y. That is, condition (6) may mean that the beam interference of the Y” alternative beams is less than or equal to the second threshold value.

As another example, condition (6) may mean that the beam interference of any one of the Y candidate beams is less than or equal to the fifth threshold value.

Condition (7): The beam interference of the candidate beam is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current beam.

In one possible implementation, the current beam in condition (7) may be a current beam that satisfies at least one of conditions (1), (3), (4) and (5), and/or the alternative beam in condition (7) may be an alternative beam that satisfies at least one of conditions (2) to (4) and (6). This embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

Exemplarily, condition (7) may mean that the beam interference of the alternative beam is less than or equal to the beam qualities of at least X"" current beams. X"" is a positive integer, X""≤X. In one example, X""＝X. In other words, the beam interference of X"" current beams is compared with the beam interference of an alternative beam respectively. If the beam interference of the alternative beam is less than or equal to the beam interference of X"" current beams, then the alternative beam and the X"" current beams meet condition (7).

For example, X=4, X""=4, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, Y=2, and the alternative beams are beam 5 and beam 6, where the beam interference of beam 5 is less than or equal to the beam interference of beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, respectively. Then beam 5 meets condition (7), and the beam interference of beam 6 is less than the beam interference of beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, respectively. However, the beam interference of beam 6 is greater than the beam interference of beam 1. Then beam 6 does not meet condition (7).

Exemplarily, condition (7) may mean that the beam interference of the alternative beam is less than or equal to the beam interference of any current beam. That is, for any current beam, the beam interference of the current beam is compared with the beam interference of an alternative beam. If the beam interference of the alternative beam is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current beam, then the alternative beam and the current beam meet condition (7). For example, X=4, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4, and Y=2, beam 5 and beam 6, where the beam interference of beam 5 is less than or equal to the beam interference of beam 1, and the beam quality of beam 6 is less than or equal to the beam interference of beam 4, then both beam 5 and beam 6 meet condition (7).

Condition (8): The beam interference of the candidate beam is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current beam, and the difference between the beam interference of the current beam and the beam interference of the candidate beam is greater than or equal to a sixth threshold value.

In one possible implementation, the current beam in condition (8) may be a current beam that satisfies at least one of conditions (1), (3), (4) and (5), and/or the alternative beam in condition (7) may be an alternative beam that satisfies at least one of conditions (2) to (4) and (6). For example, condition (8) may mean that the beam interference of the alternative beam satisfies: less than or equal to the beam interference of each current beam in at least X"" current beams, and the difference between the beam interference of each current beam in at least X"" current beams and the beam quality of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to the sixth threshold value. That is to say, the beam interferences of the X"" current beams are compared with the beam interference of an alternative beam respectively. If the beam interference of the alternative beam is less than or equal to the beam interference of the X"" current beams, and the differences between the beam interferences of each current beam and the beam interference of the alternative beam are greater than or equal to the sixth threshold value, then the alternative beam and the X"" current beams meet condition (8).

For example, X=4, X""=4, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, Y=2, and the alternative beams are beam 5 and beam 6, wherein the beam interference of beam 5 is less than or equal to the beam interference of beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4, respectively, and the differences between the beam interferences of beam 1, beam 2, beam 3 and beam 4 and the beam interference of beam 5 are all greater than or equal to the sixth threshold value, then beam 5 meets condition (8). The beam interference of beam 6 is less than or equal to the beam interference of beam 1, beam 3 and beam 4, respectively, and the differences between the beam interferences of beam 1, beam 3 and beam 4 and the beam interference of beam 6 are all greater than or equal to the sixth threshold value, but the difference between the beam interference of beam 2 and the beam interference of beam 6 is less than the sixth threshold value, then beam 6 does not meet condition (8).

As another example, condition (8) may mean that the alternative beam satisfies: the beam interference is less than or equal to the beam interference of any current beam, and the difference between the beam interference of the current beam and the beam interference of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to a sixth threshold value. That is, for any current beam, the beam interference of the current beam is compared with the beam interference of an alternative beam. If the beam interference of the alternative beam is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current beam, and the difference between the beam interference of the current beam and the beam interference of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to the sixth threshold value, then the alternative beam and the current beam satisfy condition (8).

For example, if X=4, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4, and if Y=2, beam 5 and beam 6, the beam interference of beam 5 is less than or equal to the beam interference of beam 1, and the difference between the beam interference of beam 1 and the beam interference of beam 5 is greater than or equal to the sixth threshold value, then beam 5 satisfies condition (7). If the beam interference of beam 6 is less than or equal to the beam interference of beam 4, and the difference between the beam interference of beam 4 and the beam interference of beam 6 is greater than or equal to the sixth threshold value, then beam 6 satisfies condition (7).

It should be noted that the value of one or more of X’, X”, X”’, X””, Y’ and Y” in this document can be configured by the network device, or can be defined by the protocol.

Condition (9): The beam quality of the current cell is less than or equal to the seventh threshold.

Specifically, the beam quality of the cell in this article can be obtained by measuring the measurement RS resources configured by the network device in the cell.

In one possible implementation, the beam quality of the current cell may be a first result obtained based on the beam quality of at least one current beam in the current cell. Wherein, M is a positive integer. That is, for a current cell, the beam quality of the current cell may be determined based on the beam quality of at least one current beam in the current cell. In this case, if the beam quality of the current cell satisfies condition (9), it can be regarded as that all current beams in the current cell satisfy condition (9), or that the current beam used to determine the first result satisfies condition (9). Assuming that cell 1 is the current cell, if the first result of cell 1 is less than or equal to the seventh threshold value, cell 1 satisfies condition (9). Conversely, if the first result of cell 1 is greater than the seventh threshold value, cell 1 does not satisfy condition (9).

Assuming that M beams in a current cell are current beams, where M is a positive integer, the first result is exemplarily described below with reference to a specific example.

Example 1: The first result is the beam quality of the beam with the best or worst beam quality among the M current beams.

Example 2: The first result is the average value of the beam qualities of M current beams.

Example 3: The first result is the average of the beam qualities of the M’ beams with the best or worst beam qualities among the M current beams, where M’ is a positive integer greater than 1, and M’≤M.

Example 4: The first result is the average value of the beam qualities of the beams in the M current beams whose beam qualities are greater than or equal to the nineteenth threshold value, or the first result is the average value of the beam qualities of the beams in the M current beams whose beam qualities are less than or equal to the nineteenth threshold value.

In another possible implementation, the beam quality of the current cell may refer to the beam quality of each current beam in the M current beams of the current cell. Specifically, for a current cell, if the beam qualities of all current beams in the current cell are less than or equal to the seventh threshold value, the current cell satisfies condition (9). Conversely, if the beam quality of any current beam in the current cell is greater than the seventh threshold value, the current cell does not satisfy condition (9). In this implementation, if the beam quality of a current cell satisfies condition (9), it can be regarded as that all current beams in the current cell satisfy condition (9). Assuming that cell 1 is the current cell and the M beams in the current cell are the current beams, if the beam qualities of the M current beams are less than or equal to the seventh threshold value, cell 1 satisfies condition (9). Conversely, if the beam quality of one or more beams in the M current beams is greater than the seventh threshold value, cell 1 does not satisfy condition (9).

In another possible implementation, the beam quality of the current cell may refer to the beam quality of K beams among the M current beams of the current cell. Wherein, K is a positive integer, and K≤M. Wherein, the value of K may be configured by a network device, or may be defined by a protocol. Specifically, for a current cell, if the beam quality of K beams among all the current beams in the current cell is less than or equal to the seventh threshold value, then the current cell satisfies condition (9). Conversely, if the number of beams among all the current beams in the current cell whose beam quality is less than or equal to the seventh threshold value is less than K, then the current cell does not satisfy condition (9).

Condition (10): The beam quality of the candidate cell is greater than or equal to the eighth threshold value.

In one possible implementation, the beam quality of the alternative cell may be a second result obtained based on the beam quality of at least one alternative beam in the alternative cell. Wherein, N is a positive integer. That is, for an alternative cell, the beam quality of the alternative cell may be determined based on the beam quality of at least one alternative beam in the alternative cell. In this case, if the beam quality of the alternative cell satisfies condition (10), it can be regarded that all alternative beams in the alternative cell satisfy condition (10), or the alternative beam used to determine the second result satisfies condition (10). Assuming that cell 2 is an alternative cell, if the second result of cell 2 is greater than or equal to the eighth threshold value, cell 2 satisfies condition (10). Conversely, if the second result of cell 2 is less than the eighth threshold value, cell 2 does not satisfy condition (10).

Assuming that N beams in a candidate cell are candidate beams, where N is a positive integer, the second result is exemplarily described below with reference to a specific example.

Example 5: The second result is the beam quality of the beam with the best or worst beam quality among the N candidate beams.

Example 6: The second result is the average value of the beam qualities of the N candidate beams.

Example 7: The second result is the average value of the beam qualities of the N’ beams with the best or worst beam qualities among the N candidate beams, where N’ is a positive integer greater than 1, and N’≤N.

Example 8: The second result is the average value of the beam qualities of the beams whose beam qualities are greater than or equal to the twentieth threshold value among the N alternative beams, or the second result is the average value of the beam qualities of the beams whose beam qualities are less than or equal to the twentieth threshold value among the N alternative beams.

In another possible implementation, the beam quality of the alternative cell may refer to the beam quality of each alternative beam in the N alternative beams of the alternative cell. Specifically, for an alternative cell, if the beam qualities of all alternative beams in the alternative cell are greater than or equal to the eighth threshold value, the alternative cell meets condition (10). Conversely, if the beam quality of any alternative beam in the alternative cell is less than the eighth threshold value, the alternative cell does not meet condition (10). In this implementation, if the beam quality of an alternative cell meets condition (10), it can be regarded as that all alternative beams in the alternative cell meet condition (10). Assuming that cell 2 is an alternative cell and the N beams in cell 2 are alternative beams, if the beam qualities of the N alternative beams are greater than or equal to the eighth threshold value, cell 2 meets condition (10). On the contrary, if the beam quality of one or more beams among the N candidate beams is less than the eighth threshold value, cell 2 does not meet condition (10).

In another possible implementation, the beam quality of the alternative cell may refer to the beam quality of K' beams among the N alternative beams of the alternative cell. K' is a positive integer, and K'≤N. The value of K' may be configured by a network device, or may be defined by a protocol. Specifically, for an alternative cell, if the beam quality of K' beams among all the alternative beams in the alternative cell is greater than or equal to the eighth threshold value, the alternative cell satisfies condition (10). Conversely, if the number of beams among all the alternative beams in the alternative cell whose beam quality is greater than or equal to the eighth threshold value is less than K', the alternative cell does not satisfy condition (10).

Condition (11): The beam quality of the candidate cell is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current cell.

In one possible implementation, the beam quality of the current cell may be a first result obtained based on the beam qualities of the M current beams of the current cell, and the beam quality of the alternative cell may be a second result obtained based on the beam qualities of the N alternative beams of the alternative cell. In this case, condition (11) may also be understood as: the second result of the alternative cell is greater than or equal to the first result of the current cell. If the beam quality of a current cell satisfies condition (11) and the beam quality of an alternative cell satisfies condition (11), it can be regarded as that all current beams in the current cell satisfy condition (11), or that the current beam in the cell used to determine the first result satisfies condition (11), and that the current beam in the alternative cell satisfies condition (11), or that the alternative beam in the alternative cell used to determine the second result satisfies condition (11). For the specific contents of the first result and the second result, please refer to the relevant description above.

Assume that cell 1 is the current cell and cell 2 is the candidate cell, the M beams in cell 1 are the current beams and the N beams in cell 2 are the candidate beams. If the second result obtained from the beam quality of the N candidate beams of cell 2 is greater than or equal to the first result obtained from the beam quality of the M current beams of cell 1, then cell 1 meets condition (11) and cell 2 meets condition (11). Conversely, if the second result obtained from the beam quality of the N candidate beams of cell 2 is less than the first result obtained from the beam quality of the M current beams of cell 1, then cell 1 and cell 2 do not meet condition (11).

In another possible implementation, the beam quality of the current cell refers to the beam quality of at least one current beam among the M current beams of the current cell, and the beam quality of the alternative cell refers to the beam quality of at least one alternative beam among the N alternative beams of the alternative cell.

Specifically, assuming that M beams in a current cell are current beams and N beams in a candidate cell are candidate beams, in this possible implementation, condition (11) can be understood as follows, but is not limited to the following understanding:

In the first example, condition (11) can be understood as: the beam quality of each of the N candidate beams in the candidate cell is greater than or equal to the beam quality of all current beams in the current cell.

In the second example, condition (11) can be understood as: the beam quality of at least N" beams among the N alternative beams in the alternative cell is greater than or equal to the beam quality of all current beams in the current cell. Wherein, N" is a positive integer and N"≤N.

In the third example, condition (11) can be understood as follows: for each current beam in the current cell, there is at least one alternative beam in the candidate cell whose beam quality is greater than the beam quality of the current beam. In other words, condition (11) can be understood as follows: the alternative beams of the candidate cell include: at least one alternative beam corresponding to each current beam in the current cell, wherein the beam quality of the at least one alternative beam corresponding to each current beam is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current beam. The at least one alternative beam corresponding to different current beams can be the same or different.

Condition (12): The beam quality of the candidate cell is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current cell, and the difference between the beam quality of the candidate cell and the beam quality of the current cell is greater than or equal to the ninth threshold value.

In one possible implementation, the beam quality of the current cell may be a first result obtained based on the beam qualities of the M current beams of the current cell, and the beam quality of the alternative cell may be a second result obtained based on the beam qualities of the N alternative beams of the alternative cell. In this case, condition (12) may also be understood as: the difference obtained by subtracting the first result of the current cell from the second result of the alternative cell is greater than or equal to the ninth threshold value. If the beam quality of a current cell satisfies condition (12) and the beam quality of an alternative cell satisfies condition (12), it can be regarded as that all current beams in the current cell satisfy condition (12), or that the current beam used to determine the first result in the cell satisfies condition (12), and that the alternative beams in the alternative cell satisfy condition (12), or that the alternative beams used to determine the second result in the alternative cell satisfy condition (12). For the specific contents of the first result and the second result, please refer to the relevant description above.

Assume that cell 1 is the current cell and cell 2 is the candidate cell, the M beams in cell 1 are the current beams and the N beams in cell 2 are the candidate beams, the beam quality of the M current beams of cell 1 obtains a first result, and the beam quality of the N candidate beams of cell 2 obtains a second result of cell 2. If the difference obtained by subtracting the first result of cell 1 from the second result of cell 2 is greater than or equal to the ninth threshold value, then cell 1 meets condition (12) and cell 2 meets condition (12). Conversely, if the difference obtained by subtracting the first result of cell 1 from the second result of cell 2 is less than the ninth threshold value, then cell 1 and cell 2 do not meet condition (12).

In another possible implementation, the beam quality of the current cell refers to the beam quality of at least one current beam among the M current beams of the current cell, and the beam quality of the alternative cell refers to the beam quality of at least one alternative beam among the N alternative beams of the alternative cell.

Specifically, assuming that M beams in a current cell are current beams and N beams in a candidate cell are candidate beams, in this possible implementation, condition (12) can be understood as follows, but is not limited to the following understanding:

In the first example, condition (12) can be understood as: the beam quality of each of the N alternative beams in the alternative cell is greater than or equal to the beam quality of all current beams in the current cell, and the difference between the beam quality of each alternative beam and the beam quality of each current beam is greater than or equal to the ninth threshold value.

In the second example, condition (12) can be understood as: the beam quality of at least N" beams among the N alternative beams in the alternative cell satisfies: the beam quality is greater than or equal to the beam quality of all current beams in the current cell, and the difference between the beam quality and the beam quality of each current beam is greater than or equal to the ninth threshold value. Wherein, N" is a positive integer, and N"≤N.

In the third example, condition (12) can be understood as: for each current beam in the current cell, there is at least one alternative beam in the alternative cell that satisfies: y-x≥threshold_9, where x represents the beam quality of the current beam, y represents the beam quality of the alternative beam, and threshold_9 represents the ninth threshold value.

In other words, in the third example above, condition (12) can also be understood as: the alternative beams of the alternative cell include: at least one alternative beam corresponding to each current beam in the current cell, wherein each current beam and each alternative beam corresponding to the current beam satisfies: y-x≥threshold_9.

Condition (13): The beam interference of the current cell is greater than or equal to the tenth threshold value.

Specifically, the beam interference of the current cell is greater than or equal to the tenth threshold value, which may mean that the beam interference of at least one current beam in the current cell is greater than or equal to the tenth threshold value. The current beam whose beam interference is greater than or equal to the tenth threshold value may be considered to meet condition (13).

In a possible implementation, for a current cell, the beam interference of the current cell may be a third result obtained based on the beam interference of at least one current beam in the current cell.

Assuming that M beams in a current cell are current beams, where M is a positive integer, the third result is exemplarily described below with reference to a specific example.

Example 1: The third result is the beam interference of the beam with the largest or smallest beam interference among the M current beams.

Example 2: The third result is the average value of the beam interferences of the M current beams.

Example 3: The third result is the average value of the beam interference of the M’ beams with the largest or smallest beam interference among the M current beams, where M’ is a positive integer greater than 1, and M’≤M.

Example 4: The third result is the average value of the beam interference of the beams in the M current beams whose beam interference is greater than or equal to the twenty-fourth threshold value, or the first result is the average value of the beam interference of the beams in the M current beams whose beam interference is less than or equal to the twenty-fourth threshold value.

In another possible implementation, for a current cell, the M beams within the current cell are current beams. If the beam interference of any one of the M current beams is greater than or equal to the tenth threshold value, the current cell meets condition (13).

In another possible implementation, for a current cell, the M beams within the current cell are current beams. If the beam interference of each beam in the M current beams is greater than or equal to the tenth threshold value, then the current cell meets condition (13).

In another possible implementation, for a current cell, M beams within the current cell are current beams. If the beam interference of at least A beams among the M current beams is greater than or equal to a tenth threshold value, then the current cell satisfies condition (13). Wherein, A is a positive integer, A≤M. The value of A may be configured by a network device or defined by a protocol.

Condition (14): The beam interference of the candidate cell is less than or equal to the eleventh threshold.

Specifically, the beam interference of the candidate cell is less than or equal to the eleventh threshold value may mean that the beam interference of at least one candidate beam in the candidate cell is less than or equal to the eleventh threshold value. Among them, the candidate beam whose beam interference is less than or equal to the eleventh threshold value can be considered to meet condition (14).

In a possible implementation, for a candidate cell, the beam interference of the candidate cell may be a fourth result obtained based on the beam interference of at least one candidate beam in the candidate cell.

Assuming that N beams in a candidate cell are candidate beams, where N is a positive integer, the fourth result is exemplarily described below with reference to a specific example.

Example 1: The fourth result is the beam interference of the beam with the largest or smallest beam interference among the N candidate beams.

Example 2: The fourth result is the average value of the beam interferences of the N candidate beams.

Example 3: The fourth result is the average value of the beam interference of N’ beams with the largest or smallest beam interference among the N alternative beams, where N’ is a positive integer greater than 1, and N’≤N.

Example 4: The fourth result is the average value of the beam interference of the beams among the N alternative beams whose beam interference is greater than or equal to the twenty-fifth threshold value, or the first result is the average value of the beam interference of the beams among the N alternative beams whose beam interference is less than or equal to the twenty-fifth threshold value.

In one possible implementation, for a candidate cell, N beams within the candidate cell are candidate beams. If the beam interference of any one of the N candidate beams is less than or equal to the eleventh threshold value, the candidate cell meets condition (14).

In another possible implementation, for a candidate cell, N beams within the candidate cell are candidate beams. If the beam interference of each beam in the N candidate beams is less than or equal to the eleventh threshold value, then the candidate cell meets condition (14).

In another possible implementation, for a candidate cell, N beams within the candidate cell are candidate beams. If the beam interference of at least B beams among the N candidate beams is less than or equal to an eleventh threshold value, then the candidate cell meets condition (14). Wherein, B is a positive integer, B≤N. The value of B can be configured by the network device or defined by the protocol.

Condition (15): The beam interference of the candidate cell is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current cell.

Specifically, the beam interference of the candidate cell is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current cell, which may mean that the fourth result of the candidate cell is less than or equal to the third result of the current cell. Alternatively, the beam interference of the candidate cell is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current cell, which may mean that the beam interference of at least one candidate beam in the candidate cell is less than or equal to the beam interference of at least one current beam in the current cell.

In one example, for a current cell, if the beam interference of each of the N alternative beams in an alternative cell is less than or equal to the beam interference of all current beams in the current cell, then the current cell and the alternative cell meet condition (15).

In another example, for a current cell, if the beam interference of at least C candidate beams among N candidate beams in a candidate cell is less than or equal to the beam interference of all current beams in the current cell, then the current cell and the candidate cell meet condition (15). Where C is a positive integer, C ≤ N. The value of C can be configured by the network device or defined by the protocol.

In another example, for each current beam in a current cell, if the N candidate beams of a candidate cell include: at least one candidate beam corresponding to each current beam, then the current cell and the candidate cell meet condition (15). The beam interference of the candidate beam corresponding to each current beam is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current beam. The at least one candidate beam corresponding to different current beams may be the same or different.

Condition (16): The beam interference of the candidate cell is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current cell, and the difference between the beam interference of the current cell and the beam interference of the candidate cell is greater than or equal to the twelfth threshold value.

Specifically, condition (16) may mean that the fourth result of the candidate cell is less than or equal to the third result of the current cell, and the difference between the third result of the current cell and the fourth result of the candidate cell is greater than or equal to the twelfth threshold.

Alternatively, condition (16) may mean that the beam interference of at least one alternative beam in the alternative cell and the beam interference of at least one current beam in the current cell satisfy: the beam interference of the alternative beam is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current beam, and the difference between the beam interference of the current beam and the beam interference of the alternative beam is greater than or equal to the twelfth threshold value.

In one example, for a current cell, if the beam interference of each of the N candidate beams in a candidate cell and the beam interference of all current beams in the current cell satisfy: x'–y'≥threshold_12, then the current cell and the candidate cell meet condition (16), where x' represents the beam interference of the current beam, y' represents the beam interference of the candidate beam, and threshold_12 represents the twelfth threshold value.

In another example, for a current cell, if the beam interference of at least C candidate beams among N candidate beams in a candidate cell and the beam interference of all current beams in the current cell satisfy: x'–y'≥threshold_12, then the current cell and the candidate cell meet condition (16). Where C is a positive integer, C≤N. The value of C can be configured by the network device or defined by the protocol.

In another example, for each current beam in a current cell, if the N candidate beams of a candidate cell include: at least one candidate beam corresponding to each current beam, then the current cell and the candidate cell meet condition (16). Wherein, each current beam and the candidate beam corresponding to the current beam meet: x'–y'≥threshold_12, then the current cell and the candidate cell meet condition (16). Wherein, the at least one candidate beam corresponding to different current beams may be the same or different.

Condition (17): The beam quality of at least one cell in the current cell group is less than or equal to the thirteenth threshold.

In the embodiment of the present application, the current cell group refers to the cell group to which the current cell belongs. Alternatively, the current cell group may be the cell group to which the current serving cell belongs.

In one example, for a current cell group, if the beam quality of any cell in the current cell group is less than or equal to the thirteenth threshold value, then the current cell group satisfies condition (17). If the beam quality of all cells in the current cell group is greater than the thirteenth threshold value, then the current cell group does not satisfy condition (17).

In another example, for a current cell group, if the beam quality of each cell in the current cell group is less than or equal to the thirteenth threshold value, then the current cell group meets condition (17). If the beam quality of any cell in the current cell group is greater than the thirteenth threshold value, then the current cell group does not meet condition (17).

In another example, for a current cell group, if the beam qualities of at least D cells in the current cell group are less than or equal to a thirteenth threshold value, then the current cell group satisfies condition (17). If the number of cells in the current cell group whose beam qualities are less than or equal to the thirteenth threshold value is less than D, then the current cell group does not satisfy condition (17). Wherein, D is a positive integer, and the value of D can be configured by a network device or defined by a protocol.

Condition (18): The beam quality of at least one cell in the candidate cell group is greater than or equal to the fourteenth threshold value.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the candidate cell group may refer to the cell group to which the candidate cell belongs.

In one example, for a candidate cell group, if the beam quality of any cell in the candidate cell group is greater than or equal to the fourteenth threshold value, then the candidate cell group meets condition (18). If the beam quality of all cells in the candidate cell group is less than the fourteenth threshold value, then the candidate cell group does not meet condition (18).

In another example, for a candidate cell group, if the beam quality of each cell in the candidate cell group is greater than or equal to the fourteenth threshold value, then the candidate cell group meets condition (18). If the beam quality of any cell in the candidate cell group is less than the fourteenth threshold value, then the candidate cell group does not meet condition (18).

In another example, for a candidate cell group, if the beam quality of at least E cells in the candidate cell group is greater than or equal to a fourteenth threshold value, then the candidate cell group satisfies condition (18). If the number of cells in the candidate cell group whose beam quality is greater than or equal to the fourteenth threshold value is less than E, then the candidate cell group does not satisfy condition (18). Wherein, E is a positive integer, and the value of E can be configured by the network device or defined by the protocol.

Condition (19): The beam quality of at least one cell in the candidate cell group is greater than or equal to the beam quality of at least one cell in the current cell group.

In an example, condition (19) may mean that the beam quality of any candidate cell in the candidate cell group is greater than or equal to the beam quality of each current cell in the current cell group.

In another example, condition (19) may mean that the beam quality of each candidate cell in the candidate cell group is greater than or equal to the beam quality of each current cell in the current cell group.

In another example, condition (19) may mean that: for each current cell in the current cell group, there is a candidate cell in the candidate cell group whose beam quality is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current cell. In other words, condition (19) may be understood as: the candidate cells in the candidate cell group include: the candidate cells corresponding to each current cell in the current cell group, wherein the beam quality of the candidate cell corresponding to each current cell is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current cell. The candidate cells corresponding to different current cells may be the same or different.

Condition (20): The beam quality of at least one cell in the alternative cell group is greater than or equal to the beam quality of at least one cell in the current cell group, and the difference between the beam quality of at least one cell in the alternative cell group and the beam quality of at least one cell in the current cell group is greater than or equal to the fifteenth threshold value.

In an example, condition (20) may mean that any alternative cell in the alternative cell group and each current cell in the current cell group satisfy: y"-x"≥threshold_15, where x" represents the beam quality of the current cell, y" represents the beam quality of the alternative cell, and threshold_15 represents the fifteenth threshold value.

In another example, condition (20) may mean that the beam quality of each candidate cell in the candidate cell group is greater than or equal to the beam quality of each current cell in the current cell group, and the difference between the beam quality of each candidate cell and the beam quality of each current cell is greater than or equal to the fifteenth threshold. That is, each candidate cell in the candidate cell group and each current cell in the current cell group satisfies the following condition: y″-x″≥threshold_15.

In another example, condition (20) may mean that: for each current cell in the current cell group, there is a candidate cell in the candidate cell group whose beam quality is greater than or equal to the beam quality of the current cell, and the difference between the beam quality of the candidate cell and the beam quality of the current cell is greater than or equal to the fifteenth threshold value. In other words, condition (20) may be understood as: the candidate cells of the candidate cell group include: the candidate cells corresponding to each current cell in the current cell group, wherein each current cell and the candidate cell corresponding to the current cell satisfy: y″-x″≥threshold_15.

Condition (21): The beam interference of at least one cell in the current cell group is greater than or equal to the sixteenth threshold.

In one example, for a current cell group, if the beam interference of any cell in the current cell group is greater than or equal to the sixteenth threshold value, then the current cell group meets condition (21). If the beam interference of all cells in the current cell group is less than the sixteenth threshold value, then the current cell group does not meet condition (21).

In another example, for a current cell group, if the beam interference of each cell in the current cell group is greater than or equal to the sixteenth threshold value, then the current cell group meets condition (21). If the beam interference of any cell in the current cell group is less than the sixteenth threshold value, then the current cell group does not meet condition (21).

In another example, for a current cell group, if the beam interference of at least F cells in the current cell group is greater than or equal to the sixteenth threshold value, then the current cell group meets condition (21). If the number of cells in the current cell group whose beam interference is greater than or equal to the sixteenth threshold value is less than F, then the current cell group does not meet condition (21). Wherein, F is a positive integer, and the value of F can be configured by the network device or defined by the protocol.

Condition (22): The beam interference of at least one cell in the candidate cell group is less than or equal to the seventeenth threshold value.

In one example, for a candidate cell group, if the beam interference of any cell in the candidate cell group is less than or equal to the seventeenth threshold value, the candidate cell group meets condition (22). If the beam interference of all cells in the candidate cell group is greater than the seventeenth threshold value, the candidate cell group does not meet condition (22).

In another example, for a candidate cell group, if the beam interference of each cell in the candidate cell group is less than or equal to the seventeenth threshold value, then the candidate cell group meets condition (22). If the beam interference of any cell in the candidate cell group is greater than the seventeenth threshold value, then the candidate cell group does not meet condition (22).

In another example, for a candidate cell group, if the beam interference of at least G cells in the candidate cell group is less than or equal to the seventeenth threshold value, then the candidate cell group meets condition (22). If the number of cells in the candidate cell group whose beam interference is less than or equal to the seventeenth threshold value is less than G, then the candidate cell group does not meet condition (22). Wherein, G is a positive integer, and the value of G can be configured by the network device or defined by the protocol.

Condition (23): The beam interference of at least one cell in the candidate cell group is less than or equal to the beam interference of at least one cell in the current cell group.

In an example, condition (23) may mean that the beam interference of any candidate cell in the candidate cell group is less than or equal to the beam interference of each current cell in the current cell group.

In another example, condition (23) may mean that the beam interference of each candidate cell in the candidate cell group is less than or equal to the beam interference of each current cell in the current cell group.

In another example, condition (23) may mean that: for each current cell in the current cell group, there is a candidate cell in the candidate cell group whose beam interference is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current cell. In other words, condition (23) may be understood as: the candidate cells in the candidate cell group include: the candidate cells corresponding to each current cell in the current cell group, wherein the beam interference of the candidate cell corresponding to each current cell is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current cell.

Condition (24): The beam interference of at least one cell in the alternative cell group is less than or equal to the beam interference of at least one cell in the current cell group, and the difference between the beam interference of at least one cell in the current cell group and the beam interference of at least one cell in the alternative cell group is greater than or equal to the eighteenth threshold value.

In an example, condition (24) may mean that any alternative cell in the alternative cell group and each current cell in the current cell group satisfy: x”’-y”’≥threshold_18, where x”’ represents the beam interference of the current cell, y”’ represents the beam interference of the alternative cell, and threshold_18 represents the eighteenth threshold value.

In another example, condition (24) may mean that the beam interference of each alternative cell in the alternative cell group is less than or equal to the beam interference of each current cell in the current cell group, and the difference between the beam interference of each current cell and the beam interference of each alternative cell is greater than or equal to the eighteenth threshold value. That is, each alternative cell in the alternative cell group and each current cell in the current cell group satisfies: x'-y''≥threshold_18, where x'' represents the beam interference of the current cell, y'' represents the beam interference of the alternative cell, and threshold_18 represents the eighteenth threshold value.

In another example, condition (24) may mean that for each current cell in the current cell group, there is an alternative cell in the alternative cell group whose beam interference is less than or equal to the beam interference of the current cell, and the difference between the beam interference of the current cell and the beam interference of the alternative cell is greater than or equal to the eighteenth threshold value. In other words, condition (24) may be understood as follows: the alternative cells of the alternative cell group include: the alternative cells corresponding to each current cell in the current cell group, wherein each current cell and the alternative cell corresponding to the current cell satisfy: x'-y''≥threshold_18, wherein x'' represents the beam interference of the current cell, y'' represents the beam interference of the alternative cell, and threshold_18 represents the eighteenth threshold value.

It should be noted that the specific contents about the beam quality of the cell and the beam interference of the cell can be referred to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

In a specific implementation, the condition included in the first event may refer to an entry condition of the first event. After the entry condition is met, the terminal device may determine the number of consecutive times the entry condition is met based on a counter and a timer to detect the first event. For details about the counter and the timer, please refer to the relevant description of Example 4 below.

It should be noted that the "counter" and "timer" in the embodiments of the present application can be the counter and timer of the medium access control-control element (MAC CE) layer.

Furthermore, if the terminal device detects one or more switching events, the terminal device may continue to execute S12. By detecting the switching events, the terminal device may determine the beam to be switched and the new beam.

In an example, if the terminal device detects any one switching event in the switching event group, the terminal device executes S12.

In another example, if the terminal device detects all the switching events in the switching event group, the terminal device executes S12. That is, S12 is executed when all the switching events in the switching event group are satisfied.

In another example, each handover event may have a priority. If the terminal device detects at least one of the P handover events with the highest priority in the handover event group, the terminal device executes S12. Wherein, P is a positive integer, and this document does not limit the value of P. For example, if all of the P handover events with the highest priority in the handover event group are detected, S12 is executed. For another example, if any one of the P handover events with the highest priority in the handover event group is detected, S12 is executed.

In another example, if the terminal device detects at least one of the handover events in the handover event group whose priority is greater than or equal to the 21st threshold value, the terminal device executes S12. For example, if all the handover events in the handover event group whose priority is greater than or equal to the 21st threshold value are detected, S12 is executed. For another example, if any one of the handover events in the handover event group whose priority is greater than or equal to the 21st threshold value is detected, S12 is executed.

It should be noted that this document does not limit the values of the various thresholds involved in this document. The values of the various thresholds may be configured by network devices and/or defined by protocols.

S12: The terminal device sends first information to the network device, where the first information is used for beam management or beam switching. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first information.

Exemplarily, the terminal device may report the first information based on the report configuration information. It should be noted that the report configuration information in the embodiment of the present application is used for reporting the first information.

The first information may include at least one of the following: information about a detected switching event, a beam to be switched, and a new beam. For more details about the first information, please refer to the following description of other embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

In one possible implementation, the first information may be used for beam management. Beam management may include at least one of the following: beam measurement, beam reporting, beam training, and beam indication. Specifically, after receiving the first information, the network device may perform beam management.

Exemplarily, the network device may configure the terminal device to perform beam measurement based on the first information, or, after receiving the first information, the network device may configure the terminal device to report a beam report. The beam report may be a beam report defined by an existing protocol, which is not limited in this embodiment.

As another example, the network device may initiate a beam training process based on the first information.

In one possible implementation, the network device may initiate a conventional beam training process. For example, if the first information does not indicate a new beam (e.g., only includes information about a handover event and/or only indicates a beam to be switched), the network device may initiate a conventional beam training process.

In one possible implementation, the beam training process may be a P2 process or a P3 process. For example, the network device may initiate beam training using the beam training method recommended in the first information. For details about the recommended beam training method, refer to the relevant description below.

During the P2 process, beam refinement can be performed around the new beam. Specifically, the network device can perform beam scanning around the new beam. That is, the network device configures the CSI-RS with the repetition parameter set to off and transmits on multiple beams adjacent to the new beam. The terminal device receives in a fixed receiving direction to determine the optimal downlink receive beam.

During the P3 process, downlink reference signals (such as SSB or CSI-RS) are repeatedly transmitted in the direction of the new beam. Specifically, the network device configures the CSI-RS with repetition on and repeatedly transmits the downlink reference signal in the direction of the new beam. The terminal device performs beam scanning to determine the optimal downlink reception direction.

As another example, the network device can indicate the target beam to the terminal device based on the first information, so that the terminal device switches to the target beam. With this solution, the network device no longer needs to configure the terminal device to report a beam. Instead, the network device directly indicates the target beam based on the first information triggered by the switching event, which helps reduce the latency of beam switching.

In a specific implementation, beam management can be intra-cell beam management and/or inter-cell beam management. Intra-cell beam management may refer to the determination of a new beam for one or more beams to be switched in the cell where the beams to be switched are located. Inter-cell beam management may refer to the determination of a new beam for one or more beams to be switched in cells other than the cell where the beams to be switched are located.

In another possible implementation, the first information may be used for beam switching. Exemplarily, the network device may indicate one or more new beams included in the first information to the terminal device, and the terminal device may switch to the new beam indicated by the network device.

Specifically, beam switching may include intra-cell beam switching and/or inter-cell beam switching. Intra-cell beam switching may refer to switching from a current beam to a target beam, where the target beam belongs to the same cell as the current beam. Alternatively, intra-cell beam switching may refer to switching from a beam to be switched to a target beam, where the target beam belongs to the same cell as the beam to be switched. That is, the beam before switching and the beam after switching belong to the same cell.

Inter-cell beam switching may mean that the beam before switching and the beam after switching belong to different cells. Specifically, inter-cell beam switching may mean switching from a current beam to a target beam, where the target beam belongs to a different cell than the current beam. Alternatively, inter-cell beam switching may mean switching from a beam to be switched to a target beam, where the target beam belongs to a different cell than the beam to be switched.

In a possible implementation, the inter-cell beam switching may further include: switching from a current cell to a target cell, where the target cell is different from the current cell, where the current cell is a current serving cell.

It should be noted that the number of beams before switching and the number of beams after switching can be the same or different. That is, after performing beam switching or beam management, the number of beams used by the terminal device can remain unchanged or be different from the number of beams used before switching.

Specifically, for each beam to be switched, a target beam can be determined. For example, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4, where beam 1, beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4 are all beams to be switched. A target beam can be determined for each beam, and after beam switching is performed, the beams used by the terminal device are beam 5, beam 6, beam 7, and beam 8, respectively. Alternatively, for multiple beams to be switched, a target beam can be determined. For example, the current beams are beam 1, beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4, where beam 1, beam 2, beam 3, and beam 4 are all beams to be switched. A target beam can be determined for beam 1 and beam 2, and a target beam can be determined for beam 3 and beam 4. After beam switching is performed, the beams used by the terminal device are beam 5 and beam 6, respectively.

In other embodiments, if one or more handover events are detected, the terminal device may initiate random access. Specifically, the terminal device may initiate random access on the cell where the new beam is located.

In other embodiments, if the terminal device detects one or more switching events, the terminal device may perform a first operation.

As described above, in the solution of Example 1, the terminal device detects a switching event and, upon detecting one or more switching events, sends first information to the network device to assist the network device in performing beam management or beam switching. For more details about Example 1, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document and will not be repeated here.

Example 2

2, which is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction in a second communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, the communication method shown in FIG2 may include S21.

S21: The network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a handover event. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information.

Based on S21, the network device may inform the terminal device of the switching event that needs to be measured through the first configuration information.

Specifically, the first configuration information may include information about one or more switching events, wherein the information about the switching event may include at least one of the following: conditions included in the switching event, identification information of the switching event, priority information of the switching event, and service type associated with the switching event.

The conditions for the handover event can be referred to the above description of the first embodiment. The identification information of the handover event can be used to uniquely identify the handover event, that is, the identification information of different handover events is different. In this document, "identification" can also be replaced by "index".

The priority information of the handover event may be used to indicate the priority of the handover event.

The service type associated with a handover event may refer to the terminal device detecting the handover event when performing the service type associated with the handover event. For example, handover event 1 is associated with the Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (uRLLC) service, and handover event 2 is associated with the enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) service. When the terminal device is performing the uRLLC service, the terminal device detects handover event 1 but does not detect handover event 2. When the terminal device is performing the eMBB service, the terminal device detects handover event 2 but does not detect handover event 1.

In a specific implementation, the network device may send report configuration information to the terminal device, and the report configuration information may be used to configure the terminal device to report the first information. For example, the report configuration information may configure uplink resources for sending the first information. The framework of the report configuration information may be the same as the framework of the existing configuration information for configuring beam reporting, or a new framework may be adopted.

Specifically, the report configuration information may include at least one report configuration, and the report configuration may be associated with a handover event. The association relationship between the report configuration and the handover event can be understood as follows: after detecting a handover event, the terminal device may send the first information based on the report configuration associated with the handover event.

In the embodiments of the present application, a reporting configuration can be associated with one or more handover events. For example, different reporting configurations can be associated with different handover events. Alternatively, multiple reporting configurations can be associated with a single handover event. By associating a handover event with a reporting configuration, a terminal device can learn how to report the first information after detecting a handover event.

Assuming that a network device is configured with m reporting configurations and n switching events, the following situations may occur, but are not limited to these, where m and n are both positive integers:

In one case, m=1, n≥1. In this case, the reporting configuration may be associated with n handover events. After detecting at least one handover event among the n handover events, the terminal device may send first information based on the reporting configuration.

In another case, m>1, n=1. In this case, one or more reporting configurations among the m reporting configurations are associated with the handover event. After detecting the handover event, the terminal device may send the first information based on any reporting configuration associated with the handover event.

In another case, m>1, n>1. In one example, each of the m reporting configurations may be associated with n switching events. In another example, different reporting configurations in the m reporting configurations are respectively associated with different switching events in the n switching events.

Assume that the m reporting configurations are reporting configuration 1 and reporting configuration 2, and the n handover events are handover event 1, handover event 2, handover event 3, and handover event 4. In Example 1, reporting configuration 1 is associated with handover event 1, handover event 2, handover event 3, and handover event 4, and reporting configuration 2 is associated with handover event 1, handover event 2, handover event 3, and handover event 4. In Example 2, reporting configuration 1 is associated with handover event 1 and handover event 2, and reporting configuration 2 is associated with handover event 3 and handover event 4.

The following is an exemplary description of how the reporting configuration is associated with the handover event.

Example 1: The report configuration information is associated with the first configuration information, and the report configuration in the report configuration information and the switching event in the first configuration information are associated according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send the report configuration information and the first configuration information to the terminal device respectively. There is no inclusion relationship between the report configuration information and the first configuration information, but there is an association relationship. The ways in which the report configuration information and the first configuration information are associated include but are not limited to the following: the report configuration information may include an identifier of the first configuration information, or the first configuration information may include an identifier of the report configuration information, or the network device indicates the association relationship between the report configuration information and the first configuration information through signaling. It should be noted that the signaling in this article may be at least one of radio resource control (RRC) layer signaling, MAC layer signaling, and physical layer signaling.

Furthermore, the reporting configuration in the reporting configuration information and the handover event in the first configuration information are associated according to a default rule. For example, the reporting configuration and the handover event may be associated in sequence according to the order of their identifiers. For example, the reporting configuration identified as 1 is associated with the handover event identified as 1, and the reporting configuration identified as 2 is associated with the handover event identified as 2.

Example 2: The report configuration in the report configuration information may include information about a switching event associated with the report configuration.

Specifically, the report configuration information may include first configuration information, wherein one or more report configurations in the report configuration information may include information of the handover events associated with each. For example, report configuration 1 includes an identifier of handover event 1, indicating that report configuration 1 is associated with handover event 1. For another example, report configuration 1 includes identifiers of handover event 1 and handover event 2, indicating that report configuration 1 is associated with handover event 1 and handover event 2.

Example 3: The information about the handover event in the first configuration information may include a report configuration associated with the handover event, or the information about the handover event in the first configuration information may include information indicating the report configuration associated with the handover event, wherein the information indicating the report configuration may be an identifier of the report configuration.

For example, if the information of handover event 1 includes the identifier of report configuration 1, it means that handover event 1 is associated with report configuration 1. For another example, if the information of handover event 1 includes report configuration 1, it means that handover event 1 is associated with report configuration 1.

In a specific implementation, the network device may send resource configuration information to the terminal device, and the resource configuration information may be used to configure RS resources. The RS resources in this embodiment may be measurement RS resources, that is, RS resources used to measure beam quality or detect switching events.

Specifically, the resource configuration information may include at least one RS transmission parameter. The RS transmission parameter may be associated with a handover event. It should be noted that the "RS transmission parameter" herein may refer to an RS resource configuration, or may refer to an RS resource set, or may refer to an RS resource. In other words, the "RS transmission parameter" hereinbelow may be applied to or replaced by "RS resource configuration," "RS resource set," or "RS resource."

More specifically, the resource configuration information may include at least one RS resource configuration, each RS resource configuration may include at least one RS resource set, and each RS resource set may include at least one RS resource. Exemplarily, the report configuration information may include resource configuration information, for example, the report configuration information may include an RS resource configuration associated with the report configuration. Alternatively, the resource configuration information may not be included in the report configuration information, and this embodiment does not limit this.

Alternatively, the resource configuration information may include at least one RS resource set, that is, the resource configuration information is used to configure at least one RS resource set. For example, the resource configuration information may include an RS resource set list.

Alternatively, the resource configuration information may include at least one RS resource, that is, the resource configuration information may be used to configure at least one RS resource. For example, the resource configuration information may include an RS resource list.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the RS transmission parameter can be associated with the switching event. The association relationship between the RS transmission parameter and the switching event can be understood as follows: for a switching event, the terminal device uses the RS transmission parameter associated with the switching event to perform measurement to detect the switching event. For example, "RS transmission parameter" can refer to RS resource configuration, and the terminal device uses the RS resources in the RS resource configuration associated with the switching event to detect the switching event. For another example, "RS transmission parameter" can refer to an RS resource set, and the terminal device uses the RS resources in the RS resource set associated with the switching event to detect the switching event. For another example, "RS transmission parameter" can refer to RS resources, and the terminal device uses the RS resources associated with the switching event to detect the switching event.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, one RS transmission parameter can be associated with one or more switching events. For example, different RS transmission parameters can be associated with different switching events. Alternatively, multiple RS transmission parameters can be associated with one switching event. Among them, multiple RS transmission parameters associated with the same switching event can be used to detect switching events in different situations, for example, they can be used to detect switching events at different times. Alternatively, multiple RS transmission parameters associated with the same switching event can be used to measure the beam quality of different beams. By associating the switching event with the RS transmission parameter, the terminal device can be informed of the RS resources used to detect the switching event.

Assuming that a network device is configured with m' RS transmission parameters and n' switching events, the following situations may occur, but are not limited to these, where m' and n' are both positive integers:

In one case, m'=1, n'≥1. In this case, the RS transmission parameter can be associated with n' handover events. The terminal device uses the RS transmission parameter to perform measurements to detect n handover events.

In another case, m'>1, n'=1. In this case, m' RS transmission parameters are associated with the handover event. Different RS transmission parameters can be used for measurements in different situations to detect the handover event.

In another case, m'>1, n'>1. In one example, each of the m' RS transmission parameters can be associated with n' switching events. In another example, different RS transmission parameters in the m' RS transmission parameters are respectively associated with different switching events in the n' switching events.

Assume that the m' RS transmission parameters are RS transmission parameter 1 and RS transmission parameter 2, and the n' handover events are handover event 1, handover event 2, handover event 3, and handover event 4. In Example 3, RS transmission parameter 1 is associated with handover event 1, handover event 2, handover event 3, and handover event 4, and RS transmission parameter 2 is associated with handover event 1, handover event 2, handover event 3, and handover event 4. In Example 4, RS transmission parameter 1 is associated with handover event 1 and handover event 2, and RS transmission parameter 2 is associated with handover event 3 and handover event 4.

The following is an exemplary description of how RS transmission parameters are associated with handover events.

Example a: The resource configuration information is associated with the first configuration information, and the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information and the switching event in the first configuration information are associated according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send resource configuration information and first configuration information separately to the terminal device. The resource configuration information and the first configuration information do not contain each other, but are associated with each other. Methods for associating the resource configuration information and the first configuration information include, but are not limited to, the following: the resource configuration information may include an identifier of the first configuration information, or the first configuration information may include an identifier of the resource configuration information, or the network device may indicate the association between the resource configuration information and the first configuration information through signaling.

Furthermore, the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information and the handover event in the first configuration information are associated according to a default rule. For example, the RS transmission parameters and the handover events may be associated in sequence according to the order of their identification. For example, the RS transmission parameters identified as 1 are associated with the handover event identified as 1, and the RS transmission parameters identified as 2 are associated with the handover event identified as 2.

Example b: The RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information may include information about a switching event associated with the RS transmission parameters.

Specifically, the resource configuration information may include first configuration information, wherein one or more RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information may include information of respective associated switching events. For example, if RS transmission parameter 1 includes an identifier of switching event 1, it indicates that RS transmission parameter 1 is associated with switching event 1. For another example, if RS transmission parameter 1 includes identifiers of switching event 1 and switching event 2, it indicates that RS transmission parameter 1 is associated with switching event 1 and switching event 2.

Example c: The information about the handover event in the first configuration information may include RS transmission parameters associated with the handover event, or the information about the handover event in the first configuration information may include information indicating the RS transmission parameters associated with the handover event. The information indicating the RS transmission parameters may be an identifier of the RS transmission parameters.

For example, handover event 1 includes the identifier of RS transmission parameter 1, which means that handover event 1 is associated with RS transmission parameter 1.

In a specific implementation, a network device may send cell configuration information to a terminal device. The cell configuration information may be used to configure at least one cell. Specifically, the cell configuration information may include cell information of at least one cell. The cell configured by the cell configuration information may provide a beam for the terminal device. Exemplarily, the cell information may include a cell identifier, cell configuration, and the like.

Furthermore, cells can be associated with handover events. The association between cells and handover events can be understood as follows: for a cell or beam provided by a cell, a terminal device can detect handover events associated with that cell. For example, if the current cell is cell 1 or the current beam is the beam of cell 1, and cell 1 is associated with handover event 1, the terminal device can detect handover event 1, but will not detect handover events not associated with cell 1.

In the embodiments of the present application, a cell may be associated with one or more handover events. For example, different cells may be associated with different handover events. Alternatively, multiple cells may be associated with one handover event.

The following is an exemplary description of the manner in which cells and handover events are associated.

Example a': The cell configuration information is associated with the first configuration information, and the cell in the cell configuration information and the switching event in the first configuration information are associated according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send the cell configuration information and the first configuration information to the terminal device separately. The cell configuration information and the first configuration information do not have an inclusion relationship, but are associated with each other. The manner in which the cell configuration information and the first configuration information are associated includes, but is not limited to, the following: the cell configuration information may include an identifier of the first configuration information, or the first configuration information may include an identifier of the cell configuration information, or the network device indicates the association relationship between the cell configuration information and the first configuration information through signaling.

Furthermore, the cells in the cell configuration information and the handover events in the first configuration information are associated according to a default rule. For example, the cells and handover events may be associated in sequence according to the order of their identifiers. For example, the cell identified as 1 is associated with the handover event identified as 1, and the cell identified as 2 is associated with the handover event identified as 2.

Example b': The cell information in the cell configuration information may include information about a handover event associated with the cell.

Specifically, the cell configuration information may include first configuration information, wherein the cell information of one or more cells in the cell configuration information may include information of respective associated handover events. For example, if the cell information of cell 1 includes an identifier of handover event 1, it indicates that cell 1 is associated with handover event 1.

Example c’: The information about the handover event in the first configuration information may include cell information of the cell associated with the handover event.

Specifically, the information of one or more handover events in the first configuration information may include information of the cells associated with each. For example, if the information of handover event 1 includes the identifier of cell 1, it means that handover event 1 is associated with cell 1. For another example, if the information of handover event 1 includes the configuration of cell 1, it means that handover event 1 is associated with cell 1.

In a specific implementation, the network device may send cell group configuration information to the terminal device. The cell group configuration information may be used to configure at least one cell group. Each cell group may include one or more cells. Specifically, the cell group configuration information may include at least one cell group information. The cells in the cell group configured by the cell group configuration information may provide beams for the terminal device. The cell group information may include a cell group identifier, cell group configuration, etc., which is not limited in this embodiment.

Furthermore, cell groups can be associated with handover events. The association between cell groups and handover events can be understood as follows: for a cell group, a cell within a cell group, or a beam provided by a cell within a cell group, a terminal device can detect handover events associated with that cell group. For example, if the current cell belongs to cell group 1, and cell group 1 is associated with handover event 1, the terminal device can detect handover event 1, but will not detect handover events not associated with cell group 1.

In the embodiments of the present application, a cell group may be associated with one or more handover events. For example, different cell groups may be associated with different handover events. Alternatively, multiple cell groups may be associated with one handover event.

The following is an exemplary description of how cell groups and handover events are associated.

Example a": the cell group configuration information is associated with the first configuration information, and the cell group in the cell group configuration information and the switching event in the first configuration information are associated according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send the cell group configuration information and the first configuration information to the terminal device separately. There is no inclusion relationship between the cell group configuration information and the first configuration information, but there is an association relationship. The manner in which the cell group configuration information and the first configuration information are associated includes but is not limited to the following: the cell group configuration information may include an identifier of the first configuration information, or the first configuration information may include an identifier of the cell group configuration information, or the network device indicates the association relationship between the cell group configuration information and the first configuration information through signaling.

Furthermore, the cell group in the cell group configuration information and the handover event in the first configuration information are associated according to a default rule. For example, the cell group and the handover event may be associated in sequence according to the order of their identification. For example, the cell group identified as 1 is associated with the handover event identified as 1, and the cell group identified as 2 is associated with the handover event identified as 2.

Example b": The configuration of the cell group in the cell group configuration information may include information on a handover event associated with the cell group.

Specifically, the cell group configuration information may include first configuration information, wherein the cell group information of one or more cell groups in the cell group configuration information may include information of respective associated handover events. For example, if the configuration of cell group 1 includes an identifier of handover event 1, it indicates that cell group 1 is associated with handover event 1.

Example c": The information about the handover event in the first configuration information may include cell group information of the cell group associated with the handover event.

Specifically, the information of one or more handover events in the first configuration information may include cell group information of the respective associated cell groups. For example, the information of handover event 1 includes the identifier of cell group 1, indicating that handover event 1 is associated with cell group 1.

It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, “association” can also be understood or expressed as “correspondence” or “correlation.” Similarly, in the embodiments of the present application, “correspondence” can also be understood or expressed as association.

From the above, in the solution of embodiment 2, the network device configures a switching event to the terminal device, and the switching event can be associated with at least one of the following: report configuration, RS resource configuration, RS resource set, RS resource, cell, cell group, etc.

For more details about the second embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

Example 3

3, which is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction of a third communication method in an embodiment of the present application, the communication method shown in FIG3 may include S31 and/or S32.

S31: The network device sends report configuration information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the report configuration information.

Specifically, the report configuration information may include at least one report configuration.

In one possible implementation, a report configuration may be associated with a beam. The association between the report configuration and the beam may be understood as follows: for a beam, if the beam satisfies a switching event (e.g., determining that the beam is a beam to be switched or determining that the beam is a new beam), the first information may be sent based on the report configuration associated with the beam.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, a report configuration can be associated with one or more beams. Exemplarily, the report configuration information may include at least two report configurations, wherein one of the at least two report configurations is associated with the current beam, and another of the at least two report configurations is associated with the alternative beam. If one or more beams in the current beam are determined as beams to be switched, the terminal device may send first information based on the report configuration associated with the current beam; if one or more beams in the alternative beam are determined as new beams, the terminal device may send first information based on the report configuration associated with the alternative beam.

Alternatively, a reporting configuration associates the current beam and the alternative beam. If one or more beams in the current beam are determined as beams to be switched, and/or if one or more beams in the alternative beam are determined as new beams, the terminal device can send first information based on the reporting configuration.

Alternatively, multiple reporting configurations can be associated with one beam. Exemplarily, one beam can be associated with at least two reporting configurations, one of the at least two reporting configurations is used to send the first information when the beam is determined to be a beam to be switched, and the other of the at least two reporting configurations is used to send the first information when the beam is determined to be a new beam. For example, beam 1 is associated with reporting configuration 1 and reporting configuration 2, respectively. If the terminal device determines that beam 1 is a beam to be switched, the terminal device can send the first information based on reporting configuration 1. If the terminal device determines that beam 1 is a new beam, the terminal device can send the first information based on reporting configuration 2.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the association relationship between the report configuration and the beam can be understood as the association relationship between the report configuration and the RS resource.

The following is an exemplary description of how the reporting configuration and beam association are performed.

Exemplary: the report configuration information is associated with the beam configuration information, and the report configuration in the report configuration information and the beam in the beam configuration information are associated according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send report configuration information and beam configuration information to the terminal device respectively. The beam configuration information may include beam information of one or more beams. There is no inclusion relationship between the report configuration information and the beam configuration information, but there is an association relationship. The ways of associating the report configuration information and the beam configuration information include but are not limited to the following: the report configuration information may include an identifier of the beam configuration information, or the beam configuration information may include an identifier of the report configuration information, or the network device indicates the association relationship between the report configuration information and the beam configuration information through signaling.

Furthermore, the report configuration in the report configuration information and the beam in the beam configuration information may be associated according to a default rule. For example, the report configuration and the beam may be associated in sequence according to the order of identification.

Another example: the report configuration in the report configuration information may include beam information associated with the report configuration.

Specifically, the report configuration information may include beam configuration information, wherein one or more report configurations in the report configuration information may include respective associated beam information. For example, if report configuration 1 includes an identifier of beam 1, it means that report configuration 1 is associated with beam 1.

Another example: the beam information in the beam configuration information may include a beam-associated reporting configuration.

Specifically, the beam information of one or more beams in the beam configuration information may include the respective associated reporting configurations. For example, if the information of beam 1 includes the identifier of reporting configuration 1, it means that beam 1 is associated with reporting configuration 1.

In another possible implementation, the reporting configuration may be associated with a cell. The association between the reporting configuration and the cell may be understood as follows: for a cell, the beam quality of the cell and/or the beam quality of a beam within the cell may be carried in the first information corresponding to the reporting configuration associated with the cell.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, one reporting configuration can be associated with one or more cells. Alternatively, multiple reporting configurations can be associated with one cell. Exemplarily, in the scenario of beam switching between cells, one cell can be associated with at least two reporting configurations, one of the at least two reporting configurations can be used to send the first information when the beam of the cell is determined to be a beam to be switched, and the other of the at least two reporting configurations can be used to send the first information when the beam of the cell is determined to be a new beam. Alternatively, one cell (for example, the cell is the current cell) can be associated with at least two reporting configurations, one of the at least two reporting configurations can be used to send the first information when the beam of the cell is determined to be a beam to be switched, and the other of the at least two reporting configurations can be used to send the first information when the beam of the neighboring cell of the cell is determined to be a new beam.

The following is an exemplary description of how the reporting configuration is associated with the cell.

Exemplarily: the report configuration information is associated with the cell configuration information, and the report configuration in the report configuration information and the cell configured by the cell configuration information are associated according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send report configuration information and cell configuration information to the terminal device separately. The report configuration information and the cell configuration information do not contain each other, but are associated with each other. The manner in which the report configuration information and the cell configuration information are associated includes, but is not limited to, the following: the report configuration information may include an identifier of the cell configuration information, or the cell configuration information may include an identifier of the report configuration information, or the network device indicates the association between the report configuration information and the cell configuration information through signaling.

Furthermore, the report configuration in the report configuration information and the cell information in the cell configuration information may be associated according to a default rule. For example, the report configuration and the cell may be associated in sequence according to the order of their identifiers. For example, the report configuration identified as 1 is associated with the cell identified as 1.

As another example: the report configuration in the report configuration information may include cell information associated with the report configuration.

Specifically, the report configuration information may include cell configuration information, wherein one or more report configurations in the report configuration information may include information of respective associated cells. For example, if report configuration 1 includes an identifier of cell 1, it means that report configuration 1 is associated with cell 1.

As another example, the cell information in the cell configuration information may include a cell-associated report configuration.

Specifically, the cell information of one or more cells in the cell configuration information may include the reporting configurations associated with each cell. For example, if the information of cell 1 includes the identifier of reporting configuration 1, it means that cell 1 is associated with reporting configuration 1.

In another possible implementation, a reporting configuration may be associated with a cell group. The association between the reporting configuration and the cell group may be understood as follows: for a cell group, one or more of the following: the beam quality of the cell group, the beam quality of cells in the cell group, and the beam quality of beams within cells in the cell group may be included in the first information corresponding to the reporting configuration associated with the cell group.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, one reporting configuration may be associated with one or more cell groups, or multiple reporting configurations may be associated with one cell group.

The following is an exemplary description of how the reporting configuration is associated with the cell group.

Exemplary: the report configuration information is associated with the cell group configuration information, and the report configuration in the report configuration information and the cell group configured by the cell group configuration information are associated according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send report configuration information and cell group configuration information to the terminal device separately. There is no inclusion relationship between the report configuration information and the cell group configuration information, but there is an association relationship. The manner in which the report configuration information and the cell group configuration information are associated includes but is not limited to the following: the report configuration information may include an identifier of the cell group configuration information, or the cell group configuration information may include an identifier of the report configuration information, or the network device indicates the association relationship between the report configuration information and the cell group configuration information through signaling.

Furthermore, the report configuration in the report configuration information and the cell group configured by the cell group configuration information may be associated according to a default rule. For example, the report configuration and the cell group may be associated in sequence according to the order of their identifiers. For example, the report configuration identified as 1 is associated with the cell group identified as 1.

Another example: the report configuration in the report configuration information may include cell group information associated with the report configuration.

Specifically, one or more report configurations in the report configuration information may include information of the cell group associated therewith. For example, if report configuration 1 includes an identifier of cell group 1, it means that report configuration 1 is associated with cell group 1.

For example, the cell group information in the cell group configuration information may include a reporting configuration associated with the cell group. For example, if the information of cell group 1 includes an identifier of reporting configuration 1, it means that cell group 1 is associated with reporting configuration 1.

S32: The network device sends resource configuration information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the resource configuration information.

Specifically, the resource configuration information may include at least one RS transmission parameter.

In one possible implementation, RS transmission parameters may be associated with beams. The association relationship between RS transmission parameters and beams may be understood as follows: for a beam, the terminal device uses the RS transmission parameters associated with the beam to perform measurements to obtain the beam quality of the beam. For example, "RS transmission parameters" may refer to RS resource configurations, and the terminal device measures the RS resources in the RS resource configuration associated with the beam to obtain the beam quality of the beam. For another example, "RS transmission parameters" may refer to RS resource sets, and the terminal device uses the RS resources in the RS resource sets associated with the beam to perform measurements to obtain the beam quality of the beam. For another example, "RS transmission parameters" may refer to RS resources, and the terminal device uses the RS resources associated with the beam to perform measurements to obtain the beam quality of the beam.

In the embodiments of the present application, one RS transmission parameter can be associated with one or more beams, or multiple RS transmission parameters can be associated with one beam. Multiple RS transmission parameters associated with the same beam can be used to determine the beam quality of the beam in different situations. For example, for a beam, one of the multiple RS transmission parameters associated with the beam is used to measure the beam quality when the beam is the current beam, and another of the multiple RS transmission parameters associated with the beam is used to measure the beam quality when the beam is an alternative beam.

The following is an exemplary description of how RS transmission parameters and beams are associated.

Exemplarily, the resource configuration information is associated with the beam configuration information, and the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information and the beam in the beam configuration information are associated according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send resource configuration information and beam configuration information to the terminal device separately. The resource configuration information and beam configuration information do not contain each other, but are associated with each other. The ways in which the resource configuration information and beam configuration information are associated include, but are not limited to, the following: the resource configuration information may include an identifier of the beam configuration information, or the beam configuration information may include an identifier of the resource configuration information, or the network device may indicate the association between the resource configuration information and the beam configuration information through signaling.

Furthermore, the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information and the beams in the beam configuration information may be associated according to a default rule. For example, the RS transmission parameters and beams may be associated sequentially in the order of their identification. For example, the RS transmission parameters identified as 1 are associated with the beam identified as 1, and the RS transmission parameters identified as 2 are associated with the beam identified as 2.

As another example, the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information may include beam information of the beam associated with the RS transmission parameters.

Specifically, the resource configuration information may include beam configuration information, wherein one or more RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information may include respective associated beam information. For example, RS transmission parameter 1 includes an identifier of beam 1, indicating that RS transmission parameter 1 is associated with beam 1.

As another example, the beam information in the beam configuration information may include beam-associated RS transmission parameters, or the beam information in the beam configuration information may include information for indicating beam-associated RS transmission parameters. The information for indicating RS transmission parameters may be an identifier of the RS transmission parameters.

For example, the information of beam 1 includes the identifier of RS transmission parameter 1, which means that beam 1 is associated with RS transmission parameter 1.

In another possible implementation, RS transmission parameters may be associated with a cell. The association between RS transmission parameters and cells can be understood as follows: for a cell or a beam within a cell, a terminal device uses the RS transmission parameters associated with the cell to perform measurements to obtain the beam quality of the beam within the cell or the beam quality of the cell.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, an RS transmission parameter can be associated with one or more cells. Exemplarily, multiple RS resource sets in an RS resource configuration can be associated with multiple cells respectively. Alternatively, multiple RS transmission parameters can be associated with one cell. Exemplarily, for a cell, one RS transmission parameter among the multiple RS transmission parameters associated with the cell can be used for measurement when the beam in the cell is the current beam or the cell is the current cell, and another RS transmission parameter among the multiple RS transmission parameters associated with the cell can be used for measurement when the beam in the cell is an alternative beam or the cell is an alternative cell.

The following is an exemplary description of the manner in which RS transmission parameters are associated with cells.

Exemplarily, the resource configuration information is associated with the cell configuration information, and the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information are associated with the cell configured by the cell configuration information according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send resource configuration information and cell configuration information separately to the terminal device. The resource configuration information and the cell configuration information do not contain each other, but are associated with each other. The ways in which the resource configuration information and the cell configuration information are associated include, but are not limited to, the following: the resource configuration information may include an identifier of the cell configuration information, or the cell configuration information may include an identifier of the resource configuration information, or the network device may indicate the association between the resource configuration information and the cell configuration information through signaling.

Furthermore, the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information and the cells in the cell configuration information may be associated according to a default rule. For example, the RS transmission parameters and cells may be associated in sequence according to the order of their identifications. For example, the RS transmission parameters identified as 1 are associated with the cell identified as 1.

As another example, the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information may include cell information associated with the RS transmission parameters.

Specifically, the resource configuration information may include cell configuration information, wherein one or more RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information may include information of respective associated cells. For example, RS transmission parameter 1 includes an identifier of cell 1, indicating that RS transmission parameter 1 is associated with cell 1.

As another example, the cell information in the cell configuration information may include RS transmission parameters associated with the cell, or the cell information in the cell configuration information may include information indicating RS transmission parameters associated with the cell, wherein the information indicating RS transmission parameters may be an identifier of the RS transmission parameters.

For example, the information of cell 1 includes the identifier of RS transmission parameter 1, which means that cell 1 is associated with RS transmission parameter 1.

In another possible implementation, RS transmission parameters may be associated with a cell group. The association between RS transmission parameters and cell groups may be understood as follows: for a cell group, a cell within a cell group, or a beam within a cell within a cell group, a terminal device uses the RS transmission parameters associated with the cell group to perform measurements to obtain the beam quality of the beam within the cell within the cell group, the beam quality of the cell within the cell group, or the beam quality of the cell group.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, an RS transmission parameter can be associated with one or more cell groups. Exemplarily, an RS resource configuration can be associated with a cell group, and multiple RS resource sets in the RS resource configuration can be associated with different cells in the cell group.

Alternatively, multiple RS transmission parameters may be associated with a cell group. Exemplarily, for a cell group, one of the multiple RS transmission parameters associated with the cell group may be used for measurement when a beam within the cell group is a current beam or a cell within the cell group is a current cell, and another of the multiple RS transmission parameters associated with the cell group may be used for measurement when a beam within the cell group is a candidate beam or a cell within the cell group is a candidate cell.

The following is an exemplary description of how RS transmission parameters are associated with cell groups.

Exemplarily, the resource configuration information is associated with the cell group configuration information, and the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information and the cell group configured by the cell group configuration information are associated according to a default rule.

Specifically, the network device may send resource configuration information and cell group configuration information to the terminal device separately. The resource configuration information and the cell group configuration information do not contain each other, but are associated with each other. The ways in which the resource configuration information and the cell group configuration information are associated include but are not limited to the following: the resource configuration information may include an identifier of the cell group configuration information, or the cell group configuration information may include an identifier of the resource configuration information, or the network device indicates the association between the resource configuration information and the cell group configuration information through signaling.

Furthermore, the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information and the cell group configured by the cell group configuration information may be associated according to a default rule. For example, the RS transmission parameters and the cell groups may be associated in sequence according to the order of their identifications. For example, the RS transmission parameters identified as 1 are associated with the cell group identified as 1.

As another example, the RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information may include cell group information associated with the RS transmission parameters.

Specifically, the resource configuration information may include cell group configuration information, wherein one or more RS transmission parameters in the resource configuration information may include information of the cell groups associated therewith. For example, RS transmission parameter 1 includes an identifier of cell group 1, indicating that RS transmission parameter 1 is associated with cell group 1.

As another example, the cell group information in the cell group configuration information may include RS transmission parameters associated with the cell group, or the cell group information in the cell group configuration information may include information indicating RS transmission parameters associated with the cell group. For example, if the information of cell group 1 includes an identifier of RS transmission parameter 1, it means that cell group 1 is associated with RS transmission parameter 1.

From the above, in the solution of embodiment three, the network device configures the report configuration and/or RS transmission parameters to the terminal device, and the report configuration and/or RS transmission parameters can be associated with at least one of the following: beam, cell, cell group, etc., to meet the measurement requirements and reporting requirements of switching events of different beams, different cells, and different cell groups.

For more details about the third embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

Example 4

4, which is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction in a fourth communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, the communication method shown in FIG4 may include S41.

S41: The network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device, where the second configuration information is at least used to configure a counter and/or timer required to detect a first event.

It should be noted that the "counter required to detect the first event" can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: a counter corresponding to the first event, a counter corresponding to the first reporting configuration, a counter corresponding to the first RS resource configuration, a counter corresponding to the first RS resource set, and a counter corresponding to the first RS resource.

Correspondingly, "the timer required to detect the first event" can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: the timer corresponding to the first event, the timer corresponding to the first report configuration, the timer corresponding to the first RS resource configuration, the timer corresponding to the first RS resource set, and the timer corresponding to the first RS resource.

Among them, the first report configuration refers to the report configuration associated with the first event, the first RS resource configuration refers to the RS resource configuration associated with the first event, the first RS resource set refers to the RS resource set associated with the first event, and the first RS resource refers to the RS resource associated with the first event.

Similarly, the "counter corresponding to the condition" in the following text can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: a counter corresponding to the report configuration, a counter corresponding to the RS resource configuration, a counter corresponding to the RS resource set, and a counter corresponding to the RS resource. The "timer corresponding to the condition" in the following text can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: a timer corresponding to the report configuration, a timer corresponding to the RS resource configuration, a timer corresponding to the RS resource set, and a timer corresponding to the RS resource. Among them, the report configuration here may refer to the condition-associated report configuration, the RS resource configuration here may refer to the condition-associated RS resource configuration, the RS resource set here may refer to the condition-associated RS set configuration, and the RS resource here may refer to the condition-associated RS resource.

Similarly, the "counter corresponding to the beam" in the following text can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: a counter corresponding to the report configuration, a counter corresponding to the RS resource configuration, a counter corresponding to the RS resource set, and a counter corresponding to the RS resource. The "timer corresponding to the beam" in the following text can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: a timer corresponding to the report configuration, a timer corresponding to the RS resource configuration, a timer corresponding to the RS resource set, and a timer corresponding to the RS resource. Among them, the report configuration here may refer to the beam-associated report configuration, the RS resource configuration here may refer to the beam-associated RS resource configuration, the RS resource set here may refer to the beam-associated RS set configuration, and the RS resource here may refer to the beam-associated RS resource.

Similarly, the "counter corresponding to the cell" in the following text can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: a counter corresponding to the report configuration, a counter corresponding to the RS resource configuration, a counter corresponding to the RS resource set, and a counter corresponding to the RS resource. The "timer corresponding to the cell" in the following text can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: a timer corresponding to the report configuration, a timer corresponding to the RS resource configuration, a timer corresponding to the RS resource set, and a timer corresponding to the RS resource. Among them, the report configuration here may refer to the report configuration associated with the cell, the RS resource configuration here may refer to the RS resource configuration associated with the cell, the RS resource set here may refer to the RS set configuration associated with the cell, and the RS resource here may refer to the RS resource associated with the cell.

Similarly, the "counter corresponding to the cell group" below can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: a counter corresponding to the report configuration, a counter corresponding to the RS resource configuration, a counter corresponding to the RS resource set, and a counter corresponding to the RS resource. The "timer corresponding to the cell group" below can be replaced by any of the following descriptions: a timer corresponding to the report configuration, a timer corresponding to the RS resource configuration, a timer corresponding to the RS resource set, and a timer corresponding to the RS resource. Among them, the report configuration here may refer to the report configuration associated with the cell group, the RS resource configuration here may refer to the RS resource configuration associated with the cell group, the RS resource set here may refer to the RS set configuration associated with the cell group, and the RS resource here may refer to the RS resource associated with the cell group.

That is to say, the following description of the correspondence between the "first event" and counters and timers, the description of the correspondence between conditions and counters and timers, the description of beams and counters and timers, etc. can all be understood as: the correspondence between report configurations and counters and timers, the correspondence between RS resource configurations and counters and timers, the correspondence between RS resource sets and counters and timers, and the correspondence between RS resources and counters and timers.

The following takes the first event as an example to specifically describe the counter and timer required for the terminal device to detect the handover event. In the description herein, the counter may also be referred to as a counter, and the timer may also be referred to as a timer.

In the first case, the number of counters corresponding to the first event is 1, and the number of timers corresponding to the first event is 1.

In Example 1, the first event includes one condition.

Assume that the first event only includes condition 1. The counter corresponding to the first event is counter1, and the timer corresponding to the first event is timer1. Whenever condition 1 is met or detected, the value of counter1 is incremented by 1, and timer1 is restarted. Whenever timer1 times out, counter1 is reset to zero. When the value of counter1 reaches the maximum count value of counter1, it is determined that the first event has been detected.

In a specific implementation, the physical layer of the terminal device measures the RS and, based on the measurement results, determines whether the conditions included in the first event are met. If the conditions are met, the physical layer reports an indication to the MAC layer. Furthermore, based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer increments the value of the counter corresponding to the first event by 1. Furthermore, each time the MAC layer receives an indication reported by the physical layer, it restarts the timer corresponding to the first event. If the timer corresponding to the first event times out, the counter corresponding to the first event is reset to zero and restarts. When the value of the counter corresponding to the first event reaches the maximum count value, the terminal device determines that the first event has occurred.

In Example 2, the first event includes multiple conditions, and the multiple conditions share a counter and a timer. Specifically, each time multiple conditions are met, the counter corresponding to the first event is incremented by 1, and the timer corresponding to the first event is restarted. Each time the timer corresponding to the first event times out, the counter corresponding to the first event is reset to zero. When the counter corresponding to the first event reaches a maximum count value, it is determined that the first event has been detected.

Specifically, the physical layer of the terminal device measures the RS and determines whether the various conditions included in the first event are met based on the measurement results. If all conditions are met, the physical layer reports an indication to the MAC layer. Furthermore, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the first event (that is, the counter shared by multiple conditions) based on the indication reported by the physical layer. In addition, each time the MAC layer receives an indication reported by the physical layer, it restarts the timer corresponding to the first event (that is, the timer shared by multiple conditions). If the timer corresponding to the first event times out, the counter corresponding to the first event is reset to zero and restarts counting. When the value of the counter corresponding to the first event reaches the maximum count value, the terminal device determines that the first event has occurred.

Assume that the first event includes condition 1 and condition 2. The counter corresponding to the first event is counter1, and the counter corresponding to the first event is timer1. Whenever condition 1 and condition 2 are both met, the value of counter1 is incremented by 1, and timer1 is restarted. Whenever timer1 times out, counter1 is reset to zero. When the value of counter1 reaches the maximum count value of counter1, the first event is detected.

In the second case, the first event includes multiple conditions, the first event corresponds to multiple counters, and the first event corresponds to one timer.

Example 3: Each condition included in the first event corresponds to a counter, and different conditions correspond to different counters, but multiple conditions share a single timer. More specifically, whenever any one or all of the multiple conditions are met, the counter corresponding to the met condition is incremented by 1, and the timer corresponding to the first event is restarted. Whenever the timer corresponding to the first event times out, each counter corresponding to the first event is reset to zero; that is, the counters corresponding to each condition are reset to zero. When all multiple counters corresponding to the first event reach their maximum count value, it is determined that the first event has been detected.

Specifically, the physical layer of the terminal device measures the RS and determines whether the various conditions included in the first event are met based on the measurement results. If any one or all of the conditions are met, the physical layer reports an indication to the MAC layer. Furthermore, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the met condition based on the indication reported by the physical layer. In addition, each time the MAC layer receives an indication reported by the physical layer, it restarts the timer corresponding to the first event (that is, the timer shared by multiple conditions). If the timer corresponding to the first event times out, the various counters corresponding to the first event (that is, the counters corresponding to the various conditions) are reset to zero and restarted. When the values of the various counters corresponding to the first event reach the maximum count value, the terminal device determines that the first event has occurred.

For example, a first event includes conditions 1 and 2. Condition 1 corresponds to counter 1, and condition 2 corresponds to counter 2. Conditions 1 and 2 share timer 1. In response to condition 1 being met, the value of counter 1 is incremented by 1, and timer 1 is restarted. In response to condition 2 being met, the value of counter 2 is incremented by 1, and timer 1 is restarted. In response to timer 1 timing out, both counter 1 and counter 2 are reset to zero. In response to counter 1 reaching its maximum count value and counter 2 reaching its maximum count value, it is determined that the first event has been detected.

In the third case, the first event includes multiple conditions, the first event corresponds to one counter, and the first event corresponds to multiple timers.

Example 4: Each condition included in the first event corresponds to a timer, and different conditions correspond to different timers, but multiple conditions share a counter. Wherein, whenever each of the multiple conditions is met, the counter corresponding to the first event is incremented by 1, and each timer is restarted. Whenever the timer corresponding to any one or all of the conditions times out, the counter corresponding to the first event (that is, the counter shared by multiple conditions) is reset to zero. When the counter corresponding to the first event reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the first event is detected.

Specifically, the physical layer of the terminal device measures the RS and determines whether the various conditions included in the first event are met based on the measurement results. If all conditions are met, the physical layer reports an indication to the MAC layer. Furthermore, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the first event (that is, the counter shared by multiple conditions) based on the indication reported by the physical layer. In addition, each time the MAC layer receives an indication reported by the physical layer, it restarts the multiple timers corresponding to the first event (that is, the timers corresponding to the multiple conditions). If any or all of the timers time out, the counter corresponding to the first event is reset to zero and restarts counting. When the value of the counter corresponding to the first event reaches the maximum count value, the terminal device determines that the first event has occurred.

For example, a first event includes conditions 1 and 2. Conditions 1 and 2 share counter 1. Condition 1 corresponds to timer 1, and condition 2 corresponds to timer 2. In response to both condition 1 and condition 2 being met, the value of counter 1 is incremented by 1, and timer 1 and timer 2 are restarted. In response to timer 1 timing out or timer 2 timing out, counter 1 is reset to zero. In response to the value of counter 1 reaching the maximum count value of counter 1, it is determined that the first event has been detected.

In the fourth case, the first event includes multiple conditions, the first event corresponds to multiple counters, and the first event corresponds to multiple timers.

Example 5: Each condition included in the first event corresponds to a timer and a counter. Different conditions correspond to different timers, and different conditions correspond to different counters. More specifically, whenever any one of the multiple conditions is met, the value of the counter corresponding to the met condition is incremented by 1, and the timer corresponding to the met condition is restarted. Whenever the timer corresponding to any one of the multiple conditions times out, the counter corresponding to the condition is reset to zero. When the values of the counters corresponding to each condition reach the maximum count value, it is determined that the first event has been detected.

Specifically, the physical layer of the terminal device measures the RS and determines whether the various conditions included in the first event are met based on the measurement results. If any condition is met, the physical layer reports an indication to the MAC layer. Furthermore, based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the met condition and restarts the timer corresponding to the met condition. If the timer corresponding to any condition times out, the counter corresponding to the condition is reset to zero and restarts. When the values of the counters corresponding to the various conditions reach the maximum count value, the terminal device determines that the first event has occurred.

For example, a first event includes conditions 1 and 2. Condition 1 corresponds to counter 1, condition 2 corresponds to counter 2, condition 1 corresponds to timer 1, and condition 2 corresponds to timer 2. In response to condition 1 being met, the value of counter 1 is incremented by 1, and timer 1 is restarted. In response to condition 2 being met, the value of counter 2 is incremented by 1, and timer 2 is restarted. In response to timer 1 timing out, counter 1 is reset to zero. In response to timer 2 timing out, counter 2 is reset to zero. In response to counter 1 reaching its maximum count value and counter 2 reaching its maximum count value, it is determined that the first event has been detected.

Considering that there may be multiple current beams and/or multiple alternative beams, in the embodiment of the present application, the timer may be a timer corresponding to the beam, and/or the counter may be a counter corresponding to the beam.

Specifically, the counter corresponding to the first event may include a counter corresponding to each beam, and/or the timer corresponding to the first event may include a timer corresponding to each beam. Alternatively, the counter corresponding to each condition may include a counter corresponding to each beam, and/or the timer corresponding to each condition may include a timer corresponding to each beam. The counters corresponding to different beams may be the same or different, and/or the timers corresponding to different beams may be the same or different.

Exemplarily, each beam may correspond to a counter, and/or each beam may correspond to a timer. It should be noted that the beam here may be a current beam or an alternative beam.

In a first possible implementation, one beam may correspond to one counter, and one beam may correspond to one timer.

Specifically, taking a current beam as an example, if the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam quality of the current beam meets an event or condition by measuring RS, it reports an indication to the MAC layer. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the current beam, and restarts the timer corresponding to the current beam. If the timer corresponding to the current beam times out, the counter corresponding to the current beam is reset to zero and restarts the count. When the value of the counter corresponding to the current beam reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the current beam meets the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the current beam meets the event, or it is determined that the current beam is a beam to be switched.

Taking an alternative beam as an example, if the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam quality of the alternative beam meets the event or condition by measuring the RS, it reports an indication to the MAC layer. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the alternative beam and restarts the timer corresponding to the alternative beam. If the timer corresponding to the alternative beam times out, the counter corresponding to the alternative beam is reset to zero and restarts. When the value of the counter corresponding to the alternative beam reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the alternative beam meets the condition has reached the maximum count value, or it is determined that the alternative beam meets the event, or it is determined that the alternative beam is a new beam.

In a second possible implementation, multiple beams may correspond to one counter, and multiple beams may correspond to one timer, that is, multiple beams may share one counter, and multiple beams may share one timer.

Specifically, taking multiple current beams as an example, the multiple current beams can be all current beams, or can be all current beams in the same cell, or can be part of the current beams. If the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam qualities of multiple current beams meet the event or condition by measuring RS, it reports an indication to the MAC layer. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter shared by the multiple current beams, and restarts the timer shared by the multiple current beams. If the timer shared by the multiple current beams times out, the counter shared by the multiple current beams is reset to zero and restarts. When the value of the counter shared by the multiple current beams reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the multiple current beams meet the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the multiple current beams meet the event, or it is determined that the multiple current beams are all beams to be switched.

Take multiple alternative beams as an example, wherein the multiple alternative beams can be all alternative beams, or can be all alternative beams in the same cell, or can be a part of the alternative beams. If the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam qualities of multiple alternative beams meet the event or condition by measuring the RS, it reports an indication to the MAC layer, and the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter shared by the multiple alternative beams based on the indication reported by the physical layer, and restarts the timer shared by the multiple alternative beams. If the timer shared by the multiple alternative beams times out, the counter shared by the multiple alternative beams is reset to zero and restarts. When the value of the counter shared by the multiple alternative beams reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the multiple alternative beams meet the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the multiple alternative beams meet the event, or it is determined that the multiple alternative beams are all new beams.

In a third possible implementation, multiple beams correspond to one counter, and multiple beams correspond to multiple timers.

Specifically, taking multiple current beams as an example, the multiple current beams can be all current beams, or can be all current beams in the same cell, or can be part of the current beams. If the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam qualities of multiple current beams meet the event or condition by measuring RS, it reports an indication to the MAC layer. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter shared by the multiple current beams, and restarts the timer corresponding to each current beam. If the timer corresponding to any current beam or all current beams times out, the counter shared by the multiple current beams is reset to zero and restarts. When the value of the counter shared by the multiple current beams reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the multiple current beams meet the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the multiple current beams meet the event, or it is determined that the multiple current beams are all beams to be switched.

Take multiple alternative beams as an example, where the multiple alternative beams can be all alternative beams, or can be all alternative beams in the same cell, or can be part of the alternative beams. If the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam qualities of multiple alternative beams meet the event or condition by measuring the RS, it reports an indication to the MAC layer. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter shared by the multiple alternative beams, and restarts the timer corresponding to each alternative beam. If the timer corresponding to any one alternative beam or all alternative beams times out, the counter shared by the multiple alternative beams is reset to zero and restarts. When the value of the counter shared by the multiple alternative beams reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the multiple alternative beams meet the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the multiple alternative beams meet the event, or it is determined that the multiple alternative beams are all new beams.

In a fourth possible implementation, multiple beams correspond to multiple counters, and multiple beams correspond to one timer. That is, different beams correspond to different counters, and multiple beams share one timer.

Specifically, taking multiple current beams as an example, the multiple current beams can be all current beams, or can be all current beams in the same cell, or can be part of the current beams. If the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam quality of any current beam meets the event or condition by measuring RS, it reports an indication to the MAC layer. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the current beam, and restarts the timer shared by multiple current beams. If the timer shared by multiple current beams times out, the counters corresponding to each current beam are reset to zero and restarted. When the values of the counters corresponding to the multiple current beams reach the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the multiple current beams meet the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the multiple current beams meet the event, or it is determined that the multiple current beams are all beams to be switched.

Take multiple alternative beams as an example, wherein the multiple alternative beams can be all alternative beams, or can be all alternative beams in the same cell, or can be part of the alternative beams. If the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam quality of any alternative beam meets the event or condition by measuring the RS, it reports an indication to the MAC layer. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the alternative beam, and restarts the timer shared by the multiple alternative beams. If the timer shared by the multiple alternative beams times out, the counters corresponding to the various alternative beams are reset to zero and restarted. When the values of the counters corresponding to the multiple alternative beams reach the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the multiple alternative beams meet the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the multiple alternative beams meet the event, or it is determined that the multiple alternative beams are all new beams.

In the above scheme, setting a beam-level counter and/or timer can ensure that the number of times the same beam meets the conditions is counted, so as to accurately determine whether each current beam is a beam to be switched and whether each alternative beam is a new beam.

In a specific implementation, the terminal device may use a counter corresponding to a condition or event and a counter corresponding to a beam to perform event detection.

Exemplarily, each current beam corresponds to a counter, and the counter corresponding to each current beam is used to count the number of times the current beam satisfies a condition or event. If the values of the counters corresponding to all current beams are incremented by 1, the value of the counter corresponding to the condition or event is incremented by 1. When the values of the counters corresponding to all current beams reach a maximum count value, or the value of the counter corresponding to the condition or event reaches the maximum count value, it can be determined that the condition or event has been detected, or that all current beams are beams to be switched.

As another example, assuming that the terminal device needs to determine Q new beams, the terminal device can measure Q RS resources to detect whether the Q alternative beams corresponding to the Q RS resources are new beams. Q is a positive integer greater than 1. Each of the Q alternative beams corresponds to a counter, and the counter corresponding to each alternative beam can be used to count the number of times the alternative beam meets a condition or event. If the values of the counters corresponding to the Q alternative beams are all increased by 1, the value of the counter corresponding to the condition or event is increased by 1. When the value of the counter corresponding to the Q alternative beams reaches the maximum count value, or the value of the counter corresponding to the condition or event reaches the maximum count value, it can be determined that the condition or event is detected, or it is determined that the Q alternative beams are new beams.

Furthermore, the terminal device may use a timer corresponding to a beam and/or a timer corresponding to a condition or event. For example, if a timer corresponding to a condition or event times out, the counter corresponding to the condition or event and/or the counter corresponding to the beam are reset to zero and restarted. If the value of the counter corresponding to the condition or event is updated, the timer corresponding to the condition or event is restarted.

As described in the first embodiment, the process of detecting the first event may also involve determining the cell-level beam quality and/or cell-level beam interference.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the counter corresponding to the first event may include a counter corresponding to each cell, and the timer corresponding to the first event may include a timer corresponding to each cell. Alternatively, the counter corresponding to each condition may include a counter corresponding to each cell, and the timer corresponding to each condition may include a timer corresponding to each cell. Specifically, each cell may correspond to a counter, and/or each cell may correspond to a timer. It should be noted that the cell here may be a current cell or an alternative cell. The counters corresponding to different cells may be the same or different, and/or the timers corresponding to different cells may be the same or different.

Exemplarily, if the beam quality of the current cell is a first result obtained based on the beam quality of at least one current beam in the current cell, that is, whether the current cell meets the condition refers to whether the first result meets the condition, or the beam quality of the current cell refers to the beam quality of all current beams in the current cell, that is, whether the current cell meets the condition refers to whether each current beam in the current cell meets the condition, then only the counter and timer corresponding to the current cell can be used to count the number of times the current cell meets the condition or event, and there is no need to use the counter and timer corresponding to the beam in the current cell for counting.

Specifically, taking a current cell as an example, if the physical layer of the terminal device determines the beam quality of one or more current beams by measuring RS, and determines the beam quality of the current cell based on the beam quality of one or more current beams. If it is determined that the beam quality of the current cell meets the event or condition (for example, the first result of the current cell meets the condition, or each current beam in the current cell meets the condition), an indication is reported to the MAC layer. Furthermore, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the current cell based on the indication reported by the physical layer, and restarts the timer corresponding to the current cell. If the timer corresponding to the current cell times out, the counter corresponding to the current cell is reset to zero and counts again. When the value of the counter corresponding to the current cell reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the current cell meets the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the current cell meets the event, or it is determined that the current cell is a cell to be switched.

Similarly, if the beam quality of the alternative cell is a second result obtained based on the beam quality of at least one alternative beam in the alternative cell, that is, whether the alternative cell meets the condition refers to whether the second result meets the condition, or the beam quality of the alternative cell refers to the beam quality of all alternative beams in the alternative cell, that is, whether the alternative cell meets the condition refers to whether each alternative beam in the alternative cell meets the condition, then only the counter and timer corresponding to the alternative cell can be used to count the number of times the alternative cell meets the condition or event, and there is no need to use the counter and timer corresponding to the beam in the alternative cell for counting.

Specifically, taking an alternative cell as an example, if the physical layer of the terminal device determines the beam quality of one or more alternative beams by measuring RS, and determines the beam quality of the alternative cell based on the beam quality of one or more alternative beams. If it is determined that the beam quality of the alternative cell meets the event or condition (for example, the second result of the alternative cell meets the condition, or each alternative beam in the alternative cell meets the condition), an indication is reported to the MAC layer. Furthermore, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the alternative cell based on the indication reported by the physical layer, and restarts the timer corresponding to the alternative cell. If the timer corresponding to the alternative cell times out, the counter corresponding to the alternative cell is reset to zero and counts again. When the value of the counter corresponding to the alternative cell reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the alternative cell meets the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the alternative cell meets the event, or it is determined that the alternative cell is a new cell.

As another example, if the beam quality of the current cell refers to the beam quality of at least K beams out of the M current beams of the current cell, that is, whether the current cell meets the conditions refers to whether at least K current beams out of all the current beams meet the conditions, then both the counter and timer corresponding to the beams in the current cell and the counter and timer corresponding to the current cell can be used for counting.

In this case, the counter and timer corresponding to the current cell can count based on the values of the counters corresponding to one or more beams. In other words, the physical layer does not need to report to the MAC layer that the cell meets the conditions.

Specifically, if the physical layer of the terminal device determines the beam quality of each current beam in the current cell by measuring RS, if any current beam meets the conditions, then the MAC layer is reported with an indication that the current beam meets the conditions. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the current beam, and restarts the timer corresponding to the current beam. Wherein, for each current beam, if the timer of the current beam times out, the counter corresponding to the current beam is reset to zero and restarts the count. Furthermore, whenever the values of the counters corresponding to K current beams in the MAC layer are increased by 1, the value of the counter corresponding to the current cell is increased by 1, and the timer corresponding to the current cell is restarted. When the values of the counters corresponding to the K current beams in the current cell all reach the maximum count value, or when the value of the counter corresponding to the current cell reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the current cell meets the conditions reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the current cell meets the event, or it is determined that the current cell is a cell to be switched.

Similarly, if the beam quality of the alternative cell refers to the beam quality of at least K’ beams among the N alternative beams of the alternative cell, that is, whether the alternative cell meets the conditions refers to whether at least K’ alternative beams among all the alternative beams meet the conditions, then both the counters and timers corresponding to the beams in the alternative cell and the counters and timers corresponding to the alternative cell can be used for counting.

In this case, the counter and timer corresponding to the candidate cell can count based on the value of the counter corresponding to one or more beams. In other words, the physical layer does not need to report to the MAC layer that the cell meets the conditions.

Specifically, if the physical layer of the terminal device determines the beam quality of each alternative beam in the alternative cell by measuring RS, and any alternative beam meets the conditions, then the alternative beam meets the conditions indication is reported to the MAC layer. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the alternative beam, and restarts the timer corresponding to the alternative beam. Among them, for each alternative beam, if the timer of the alternative beam times out, the counter corresponding to the alternative beam is reset to zero and restarts the counting. Furthermore, whenever the value of the counter corresponding to K' alternative beams in the MAC layer is increased by 1, the value of the counter corresponding to the alternative cell is increased by 1, and the timer corresponding to the alternative cell is restarted. When the values of the counters corresponding to the K' alternative beams of the alternative cell all reach the maximum count value, or when the value of the counter corresponding to the alternative cell reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the alternative cell meets the conditions has reached the maximum count value, or it is determined that the alternative cell meets the event, or it is determined that the alternative cell is a new cell.

As described in the first embodiment, the process of detecting the first event may also involve condition determination at the cell group level.

In the solution of the embodiment of the present application, the counter corresponding to the first event may include a counter corresponding to each cell group, and the timer corresponding to the first event may include a timer corresponding to each cell group. Alternatively, the counter corresponding to each condition may include a counter corresponding to each cell group, and the timer corresponding to each condition may include a timer corresponding to each cell group. Specifically, each cell group may correspond to a counter, and/or each cell group may correspond to a timer. It should be noted that the cell group here may be the current cell group or the alternative cell group. Among them, the counters corresponding to different cell groups may be the same or different, and/or the timers corresponding to different cell groups may be the same or different.

Exemplarily, taking a cell group (the cell group is the current cell group or the alternative cell group) as an example, if the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam quality and/or beam interference of all cells in the cell group meet the event or condition by measuring RS, the indication is reported to the MAC layer. Furthermore, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the cell group based on the indication reported by the physical layer, and restarts the timer corresponding to the current cell group. If the timer corresponding to the cell group times out, the counter corresponding to the cell group is reset to zero and restarts the count. When the value of the counter corresponding to the cell group reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the cell group meets the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the cell group meets the event.

As another example, taking a cell group as an example, the physical layer of the terminal device determines that the beam quality and/or beam interference of at least H cells in the cell group meet an event or condition by measuring RS. If any cell meets the condition, the MAC layer reports an indication that the cell meets the condition. Based on the indication reported by the physical layer, the MAC layer adds 1 to the value of the counter corresponding to the cell, and restarts the timer corresponding to the cell. For each cell, if the timer of the cell times out, the counter corresponding to the cell is reset to zero and restarts. Furthermore, whenever the values of the counters corresponding to H cells in the MAC layer are increased by 1, the value of the counter corresponding to the cell group is increased by 1, and the timer corresponding to the cell group is restarted. When the values of the counters corresponding to K cells reach the maximum count value, or when the value of the counter corresponding to the cell group reaches the maximum count value, it is determined that the number of times the cell group meets the condition reaches the maximum count value, or it is determined that the cell group meets the event. Wherein, H is a positive integer, and the value of H is less than or equal to the number of cells contained in the cell group. In the scheme of the embodiment of the present application, the zeroing condition of the counter may include at least one of the following:

(1) The timer associated with the counter times out; wherein the timer associated with the counter refers to the timer that is restarted when the value of the counter is updated.

(2) The timer associated with the counter is reconfigured; that is, the network device reconfigures the timer associated with the counter.

(3) The counter value reaches the maximum count value;

(4) The maximum count value of the counter is reconfigured; that is, the network device reconfigures the maximum count value of the counter.

(5) Beam management is completed; wherein beam management refers to the beam management process triggered by the first information.

(6) Beam switching is completed; wherein, beam switching may refer to a beam switching process triggered by the first information.

(7) The random access process triggered by one or more handover events is completed.

(8) The measurement RS is updated; specifically, the network device may reconfigure or update the RS resources associated with the first event. In this case, the counter corresponding to the first event may be reset to zero.

(9) The QCL parameters of the measured RS are updated; specifically, the network device may reconfigure or update the QCL parameters of the RS resources associated with the first event. In this case, the counter corresponding to the first event may be reset to zero.

(10) The first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is received L times, where L is a positive integer. The value of L may be defined by the protocol or configured by the network device. Exemplarily, the first PDCCH may be a PDCCH scrambled with a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), or the first PDCCH is used to indicate a physical uplink shared channel (Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH) of uplink authorization and a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number of the uplink authorized PUSCH, and the uplink authorized PUSCH is used to send the first information, or the first PDCCH is used to indicate uplink authorization, and the first PDCCH indicates the same HARQ process number as the PUSCH for sending the first information; or the first PDCCH is used to indicate uplink authorization, and the first PDCCH is used to indicate the same HARQ process number as the PUSCH for sending the first information and a flipped new data indication signaling field value.

(11) The secondary cell corresponding to the first event is deactivated. Specifically, in a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, a network device uses a primary cell and at least one secondary cell to serve a terminal device. During the process of detecting a handover event on one of the secondary cells, the secondary cell is deactivated, and the counter corresponding to the secondary cell is reset to zero.

It should be noted that, in response to the zeroing condition being met, the value of the counter is set to 0. The above zeroing condition can be applied to any counter.

It should be noted that the counters and/or timers required for the first event may also be defined by the protocol. Specific contents of the counters and timers required for other switching events can refer to the relevant description of the counters and timers required for the first event, which will not be repeated here.

It should also be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the initial value of the counter is 0. The maximum count value of the counter can be configured by the network device or defined by the protocol. The maximum count values of different counters can be the same or different. The duration of the timer can be configured by the network device or defined by the protocol. If there are multiple timers corresponding to the first event, the durations of the different timers can be the same or different.

For more details about the fourth embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

Example 5

5 , which is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction in a fifth communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, the communication method shown in FIG5 may include S51 .

S51: The terminal device sends first information to the network device, where the first information includes at least one of the following: information about a detected handover event, first indication information, and second indication information. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first information.

Specifically, the first information may include information about at least one switching event among the detected switching events.

The first indication information may include at least one of the following: first beam information, first cell information, first cell indication information, first cell group information and first cell group indication information.

The first beam information may be indication information of the beam to be switched (such as beam information of the beam to be switched), that is, the first beam information may be used to indicate one or more beams to be switched.

Furthermore, the first cell information can be used to indicate information about the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs. For example, the information indicating the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs can be cell information of the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs. Exemplarily, if the first information includes information about the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, it can indicate that the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs is the cell to be switched, i.e., that the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched. In this case, the first cell information can be used to indicate the cell to be switched.

Furthermore, the first cell indication information can be used to indicate a cell that needs to be switched or to indicate that a cell needs to be switched. Exemplarily, the first cell indication information can be cell information of a cell to be switched or an indication of whether a cell to which a beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched, that is, an indication of whether the cell to which a beam to be switched belongs is a cell to be switched. Herein, the first cell indication information can also be referred to as indication information of a cell to be switched or information indicating a cell to be switched.

For example, taking a beam to be switched as an example, the beam to be switched is a beam on a serving cell. The first information may include first cell information indicating the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs. The first information may also include first cell indication information to indicate that the serving cell to which the beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched, or is recommended to be switched. If the first information only includes the first cell information indicating the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and does not include the first cell indication information, it may indicate that the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs does not need to be switched, that is, the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs still provides services for the terminal device.

For another example, if the first information does not include first cell indication information but includes first cell information indicating the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, it can be indicated that the cell indicated by the first cell information needs to be switched. In other words, if the first information includes information about the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, it can be assumed that the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched.

For another example, if the first information does not include first cell indication information but includes first cell information indicating the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, it can be indicated that the cell indicated by the first cell information does not need to be switched. In other words, if the first information includes information about the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, it can be assumed that the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs does not need to be switched.

From the above, the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs may be a cell to be switched (i.e., needs to be switched) or may not be a cell to be switched (i.e., does not need to be switched). In one case, the first cell information indicates the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched.

In another case, the first cell information may only indicate the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, but does not indicate whether the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched. This needs to be further combined with the first cell indication information. If the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs is indicated by the first cell indication information, then the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs is the cell to be switched, that is, it needs to be switched. If the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs is not indicated by the first cell indication information, then the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs is not the cell to be switched, that is, it does not need to be switched.

Furthermore, the first cell group information may be used to indicate information about the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs. For example, the information indicating the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs may be cell group information of the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs. The cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs may refer to the cell group to which the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs belongs, or the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs may be the cell group to which the cell to be switched belongs.

Exemplarily, if the first information includes information about the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs, it can indicate that the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs is the cell group to be switched, that is, it indicates that the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched. The cell group to be switched refers to a cell group that needs to be switched, or a cell group that satisfies a switching event.

Furthermore, the first cell group indication information can be used to indicate a cell group that needs to be switched or to indicate that a cell group needs to be switched. Exemplarily, the first cell group indication information can be cell group information of a cell group to be switched or an indication of whether a cell group to which a beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched, that is, an indication of whether the cell group to which a beam to be switched belongs is a cell group to be switched. Herein, the first cell group indication information can also be referred to as indication information of a cell group to be switched.

For example, if the first information does not include first cell group indication information but includes first cell group information indicating the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs, it may indicate that the cell group indicated by the first cell group information needs to be switched. In other words, if the first information includes information about the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs, it may be assumed that the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched.

For another example, if the first information does not include the first cell group indication information, but includes the first cell group information for indicating the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs, it may indicate that the cell group indicated by the first cell group information does not need to be switched. In other words, if the first information includes the information of the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs, it may be assumed that the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs does not need to be switched. If the first information includes the first cell group information for indicating the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs and the first cell group indication information, it may indicate that the cell group indicated by the first cell group information needs to be switched. It should be noted that the "cell group information" herein may be at least one of the following: cell group index, cell group identifier, physical cell group identifier, identification information of RS resource configuration associated with the cell group, identification information of RS resource set associated with the cell group, identification information of RS resources associated with the cell group, and identification information of report configuration associated with the cell group.

From the above, the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs may be a cell group to be switched (i.e., needs to be switched) or may not be a cell group to be switched (i.e., does not need to be switched). In one case, the first cell group information indicates the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched.

In another case, the first cell group information only indicates the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs, and does not indicate whether the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs needs to be switched. It is necessary to further combine the first cell group indication information. If the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs is indicated by the first cell group indication information, then the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs is the cell group to be switched, that is, it needs to be switched. If the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs is not indicated by the first cell indication information, then the cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs is not the cell group to be switched, that is, it does not need to be switched.

The second indication information may include at least one of the following: second beam information, second cell information, second cell indication information, second cell group information, and second cell group indication information.

The second beam information may be information indicating a new beam (e.g., beam information of a new beam), that is, the second beam information may be used to indicate one or more new beams. Exemplarily, the first information may include second beam information corresponding to each or all beams to be switched, to indicate the new beam corresponding to the beam to be switched.

Furthermore, the second cell information may be used to indicate information about the cell to which the new beam belongs. For example, the information used to indicate the cell to which the new beam belongs may be cell information about the cell to which the new beam belongs.

Exemplarily, if the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to the same cell, that is, the corresponding new beam is found in the current cell where the beam to be switched is located, then the information indicating the cell to which the new beam belongs may or may not be omitted. If the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to different cells, that is, the corresponding new beam is found in a cell other than the current cell where the beam to be switched is located, then the second indication information may further include information indicating the cell to which the new beam belongs, that is, the information indicating the cell to which the new beam belongs is not omitted.

Exemplarily, if the first information includes second cell information of the cell to which the new beam belongs, it may indicate that it is recommended to switch to the cell to which the new beam belongs, that is, it indicates that the cell to which the new beam belongs is a new cell.

Furthermore, the second cell indication information can be used to indicate a recommended new cell. The terminal device can recommend to the network device that it switch to the cell indicated by the second cell indication information. That is, the second cell indication information can be used to indicate the recommended new cell to switch to. Exemplarily, the second cell indication information can be cell information of the new cell or an indication of whether it is recommended to switch to the cell to which the new beam belongs, that is, an indication of whether the cell to which the new beam belongs is a new cell. Herein, the second cell indication information can also be referred to as indication information of the new cell.

For example, taking a new beam as an example, the first information may include second cell information indicating the cell to which the new beam belongs. The first information may also include second cell indication information to indicate a recommended handover to the cell to which the new beam belongs. If the first information only includes the second cell information indicating the cell to which the new beam belongs, but does not include the second cell indication information, this may indicate that handover to the cell to which the new beam belongs is not required, and only the new beam is sufficient.

For another example, if the first information does not include second cell indication information but includes second cell information indicating the cell to which the new beam belongs, then it may indicate that a handover to the cell indicated by the second cell information is required. In other words, if the first information includes information about the cell to which the new beam belongs, then a handover to the cell to which the new beam belongs may be required by default.

For another example, if the first information does not include second cell indication information but includes second cell information indicating the cell to which the new beam belongs, this may indicate that handover to the cell indicated by the second cell information is not required, and only the new beam should be used. In other words, if the first information includes information about the cell to which the new beam belongs, this may be a default setting that handover to the cell to which the new beam belongs is not required, and only the new beam should be used.

From the above, the cell to which the new beam belongs can be a new cell (that is, the cell to which it is recommended to switch), or it may not be a new cell (that is, there is no need to switch to the cell, only the new beam is applied). In one case, the second cell information indicates the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the cell to which the new beam belongs is a new cell.

In another case, the second cell information only indicates the cell to which the new beam belongs, but does not indicate whether the cell to which the new beam belongs is a new cell. This needs to be further combined with the second cell indication information. If the cell to which the new beam belongs is indicated by the second cell indication information, then the cell to which the new beam belongs is a new cell, meaning that a handover to the cell to which the new beam belongs is required or recommended. If the cell to which the new beam belongs is not indicated by the second cell indication information, then the cell to which the new beam belongs is not a new cell.

Furthermore, the second cell group information may be used to indicate information about the cell group to which the new beam belongs. For example, the information indicating the cell group to which the new beam belongs may be cell group information of the cell group to which the new cell belongs. The cell group to which the new beam belongs may refer to the cell group to which the cell to which the new beam belongs belongs, or the cell group to which the new beam belongs may be the cell group to which the new cell belongs.

Exemplarily, if the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to the same cell group, that is, the corresponding new beam is found in the current cell group where the beam to be switched is located, then the information indicating the cell group to which the new beam belongs may or may not be omitted. If the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to different cell groups, that is, the corresponding new beam is found in a cell group other than the current cell group where the beam to be switched is located, then the second indication information may include information indicating the cell group to which the new beam belongs, that is, the second cell group information is not omitted.

Exemplarily, if the first information includes second cell group information of the cell group to which the new beam belongs, it may indicate that it is recommended to switch to the cell group to which the new beam belongs, that is, it indicates that the cell group to which the new beam belongs is the new cell group. The new cell group refers to the cell group to which it is recommended to switch.

Furthermore, the second cell group indication information can be used to indicate a recommended new cell group. The terminal device can suggest to the network device to switch to the cell group indicated by the second cell group information. That is, the second cell group indication information can be used to indicate the new cell group recommended to switch to. Exemplarily, the second cell group indication information can be the cell group information of the new cell group or an indication of whether to recommend switching to the cell group to which the new beam belongs, that is, an indication of whether the cell group to which the new beam belongs is a new cell group. Herein, the second cell group indication information can also be referred to as indication information of the new cell group.

For example, taking a new beam as an example, the first information may include second cell group information indicating the cell group to which the new beam belongs. The first information may also include second cell group indication information to indicate a recommendation to switch to the cell group to which the new beam belongs. If the first information only includes the second cell group information indicating the cell group to which the new beam belongs, but does not include the second cell group indication information, this may indicate that switching to the cell group to which the new beam belongs is not required, and only the new beam is sufficient.

For another example, if the first information does not include second cell group indication information but includes second cell group information indicating the cell group to which the new beam belongs, then it may indicate that a handover to the cell group indicated by the second cell group information is required. In other words, if the first information includes information about the cell group to which the new beam belongs, then it may be assumed that a handover to the cell group to which the new beam belongs is required.

For another example, if the first information does not include second cell group indication information but includes second cell group information indicating the cell group to which the new beam belongs, this may indicate that switching to the cell group indicated by the second cell group information is not necessary, and only the new beam should be applied. In other words, if the first information includes information about the cell group to which the new beam belongs, this may be a default setting that switching to the cell group to which the new beam belongs is not necessary, and only the new beam should be applied.

From the above, the cell group to which the new beam belongs may be a new cell group (i.e., the cell to which switching is recommended) or may not be a new cell group (i.e., switching to the cell group is not recommended). In one case, the second cell group information indicates the cell group to which the new beam belongs, and it is recommended to switch to the cell group to which the new beam belongs.

In another case, the second cell group information only indicates the cell group to which the new beam belongs, and does not indicate that it is recommended to switch to the cell group to which the new beam belongs. It is necessary to further combine the second cell group indication information. If the cell group to which the new beam belongs is indicated by the second cell group indication information, then the cell group to which the new beam belongs is the new cell group. If the cell group to which the new beam belongs is not indicated by the second cell indication information, then the cell group to which the new beam belongs is not a new cell group. In one possible implementation, the new beam may include a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. Exemplarily, the second beam information may include: beam information of the candidate beam and/or beam information of the first target beam. In other words, the new beam indicated by the first information may include one or more candidate beams. Exemplarily, the candidate beam may be understood as the new beam reported by the first information. Thus, the terminal device may inform the network device of the alternative beam that satisfies the switching event through the first information.

The target beam refers to the new beam to which the terminal device is to switch. The first target beam may be the target beam indicated by the first information, or the first target beam may refer to the target beam recommended by the terminal device. The network device may be informed of the target beam recommended by the terminal device or the target beam to which the terminal device is to switch. Exemplarily, the first target beam may be the new beam indicated by the first information or the beam with the best beam quality among the candidate beams. Another exemplary embodiment, the first target beam may be the beam indicated by the first target indication information in the first information. Another exemplary embodiment, the first target beam may be the new beam indicated by the first information or the default beam among the candidate beams. Among them, the default beam may be a beam with the smallest or largest identifier, etc., which is not limited in this embodiment.

Furthermore, the first information may include at least one of the following: indication information indicating the cell to which the candidate beam belongs, and indication information indicating the cell to which the first target beam belongs. Furthermore, the new cell indicated or suggested by the second cell indication information may include the cell to which the candidate beam belongs and/or the cell to which the first target beam belongs.

Furthermore, the new cell group indicated or suggested by the second cell group information may include the cell group to which the cell to which the candidate beam belongs and/or the cell group to which the cell to which the first target beam belongs.

It should be noted that for more information about the candidate beam, please refer to the relevant description about the new beam in this article, and for more information about the first target beam, please refer to the relevant description about the new beam in this article. In other words, the relevant description about the new beam in this article can be applied to the candidate beam and the first target beam. In other words, the "new beam" in this article can also be replaced by "candidate beam", "target beam", "first target beam", etc. The relevant description about the cell to which the new beam belongs in this article can be applied to the cell to which the candidate beam belongs and the cell to which the first target beam belongs. The relevant description about the cell group to which the new beam belongs in this article can be applied to the cell group to which the candidate beam belongs and the cell group to which the first target beam belongs.

In addition, the "new cell" in this article can also be replaced by "target cell", "candidate cell", "first target cell", etc., and the "new cell group" in this article can be replaced by "target cell group", "candidate cell group", "first target cell group", etc.

Optionally, the first information may also include indication information of the current beam.

In the embodiments of the present application, the signaling length of the first information may be a fixed length, where the fixed length may be defined by a protocol or configured by a network device. Alternatively, the signaling length of the first information may be a variable length. Specifically, the signaling length of the first information may depend on the content contained in the first information. Exemplarily, the signaling length of the first information may be less than or equal to a maximum length, where the maximum length may be configured by a network device or defined by a protocol.

The following is an exemplary description of the uplink resources that carry the first information.

In one possible implementation, the first information may be carried in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). For example, the first information may be carried in the PUCCH of a primary cell.

In another possible implementation, the first information may be carried on a PUSCH. Exemplarily, the terminal device may send the first information via a recently available medium access control-control element (MAC CE) signaling that can accommodate the first information. Furthermore, exemplarily, the first information may be carried in a recently available uplink grant PUSCH.

In another possible implementation, the network device may pre-configure uplink resources (such as PUCCH resources or PUSCH resources) for reporting the first information to the terminal device, and the terminal device may send the first information on the pre-configured uplink resources.

The following is an exemplary description of the recipient of the first information.

In a first possible implementation, the first information may be sent to the current serving cell, and/or to the TRP to which the current serving cell belongs or the TRP included in the current serving cell.

In a second possible implementation manner, the first information may be sent to the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs and/or the cell to which the new beam belongs.

In the first case, for example, in a beam switching scenario within a cell, if the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to the same cell, the terminal device can send the first information to the cell (i.e., the cell to which the beam to be switched and the new beam belong). In other words, the terminal device can send the first information in the current cell.

Specifically, the terminal device may use the uplink beam corresponding to the beam to be switched to send the first information. Alternatively, the terminal device may use the uplink beam corresponding to the new beam to send the first information, but is not limited thereto.

For example, in a single TRP scenario, if the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to the same cell under the same TRP, the terminal device can send the first information to the TRP (that is, the TRP to which the beam to be switched and the new beam belong). In other words, the terminal device can send the first information to the current TRP. The single TRP scenario means that for a single terminal device, resource scheduling is performed by a single TRP.

As another example, in a multi-TRP scenario, assuming that the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to the same cell, but the cell belongs to multiple TRPs or the cell includes multiple TRPs, if the beam to be switched and the new beam correspond to the same TRP in multiple TRPs (that is, the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to the same TRP), the terminal device can send the first information to the same TRP corresponding to the beam to be switched and the new beam. If the beam to be switched and the new beam correspond to different TRPs in multiple TRPs, the terminal device can send the first information to the TRP corresponding to the beam to be switched and/or send the first information to the TRP corresponding to the new beam.

In another case, for example, in an inter-cell beam switching scenario, the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to different cells. In this case, the terminal device may send the first information to the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and/or send the first information to the cell to which the new beam belongs. Sending the first information to the cell to be switched may include sending the first information using the uplink beam corresponding to the beam to be switched. Sending the first information in the cell to which the new beam belongs may include sending the first information using the uplink beam corresponding to the new beam.

Exemplarily, in a single TRP scenario, if the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to different cells under the same TRP (for example, the frequency points of the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs and the cell to which the new beam belongs are different), the terminal device can send the first information to the TRP (that is, the TRP to which the beam to be switched and the new beam belong). That is, the terminal device can send the first information at the current TRP. Alternatively, the terminal device can send the first information to the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and/or send the first information to the cell to which the new beam belongs.

As another example, in a multi-TRP scenario, assuming that the beam to be switched and the new beam belong to different cells, but the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs and the cell to which the new beam belongs belong to different TRPs, or the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs and the cell to which the new beam belongs include different TRPs, the terminal device can send the first information to the TRP corresponding to the beam to be switched, and/or send the first information to the TRP corresponding to the new beam, and/or send the first information to the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and/or send the first information to the cell to which the new beam belongs.

In a third possible implementation manner, the first information may be sent to the cell to be switched and/or the new cell.

It should be noted that when the terminal device sends the first information to multiple cells and/or to multiple TRPs, it can use one or more of single frequency network (SFN) transmission, time division multiplexing (TDM) transmission, space division multiplexing (SDM) transmission, and frequency division multiplexing (FDM) transmission to send the first information.

For more details about the fifth embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

Example 6

6, which is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, may include steps S61 and S62, wherein S62 is an optional step.

S61: The terminal device sends first information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first information.

The first information may be the first information sent in S51.

Optionally, the first information may also include at least one of the following: third indication information, probability information, panel information, fourth indication information, fifth indication information, sixth indication information, the type of recommended unified TCI state, the recommended unified TCI framework, the recommended transmission scheme, the recommended transmission scheme for the second channel, and the recommended beam training method.

The specific content of the first information is exemplarily described below.

(1) third indication information;

Specifically, the third indication information may include at least one of the following:

a). The new beam applicable to the first channel;

The first channel may be at least one of the following: PUSCH, Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), and PDCCH. In other words, the terminal device may suggest a new beam to be applied to the first channel in the first message.

More specifically, as described above, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. Correspondingly, the third indication information may include: a candidate beam applicable to the first channel, and/or a first target beam applicable to the first channel.

In a specific implementation, if the first information includes new beams on multiple cells, the third indication information may include the new beam applicable to the first channel on each cell.

b) the channel to which the new beam applies;

Taking a new beam as an example, the first information may include a channel recommended for applying the new beam.

More specifically, as described above, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. Correspondingly, the first information may include a channel to which the candidate beam is applicable and/or a channel to which the first target beam is applicable.

c) RS applicable to the new beam;

Taking a new beam as an example, the first information may include an RS that recommends application of the new beam.

More specifically, as described above, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. Correspondingly, the first information may include an RS applicable to the candidate beam and/or an RS applicable to the first target beam.

d) CORESET to which the new beam applies;

Taking a new beam as an example, the first information may include a CORESET that recommends applying the new beam.

More specifically, as described above, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. Correspondingly, the first information may include a CORESET applicable to the candidate beam and/or a CORESET applicable to the first target beam.

f) Channels for which the new beam is not applicable;

Taking a new beam as an example, the first information may include a suggestion of channels that are not applicable to the new beam.

More specifically, as described above, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. Correspondingly, the first information may include channels for which the candidate beam is not applicable and/or channels for which the first target beam is not applicable.

g) RS for which the new beam is not applicable;

Taking a new beam as an example, the first information may include a recommendation that the RS not be applicable to the new beam.

More specifically, as described above, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. Correspondingly, the first information may include an RS for which the candidate beam is not applicable and/or an RS for which the first target beam is not applicable.

h) CORESET for which the new beam is not applicable;

Taking a new beam as an example, the first information may include a CORESET that recommends not applying the new beam.

More specifically, as described above, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. Accordingly, the first information may include a CORESET to which the candidate beam is not applicable and/or a CORESET to which the first target beam is not applicable. That is, the first information may include a CORESET for which it is recommended not to apply the new beam.

More specifically, the new beam includes the candidate beam and/or the first target beam, and correspondingly,

The following uses the first beam as an example to illustrate channels, RSs, and CORESETs that are not applicable to the new beam. The first beam may be one of the new beams. Specifically, the first beam may be a new beam on the current serving cell, or a new beam on a non-serving cell (e.g., a neighboring cell); or a new beam on an alternative cell.

In one possible implementation, the first beam is not applicable to the first PDSCH and/or the first PUSCH, wherein the transmission time interval between the PDCCH that schedules the first PDSCH and the first PDSCH is less than or equal to the twenty-second threshold, and the first PUSCH is a PUSCH indicated or activated by DCI format 0_0. In other words, the channels applicable to the first beam do not include the first PDSCH and the first PUSCH.

Furthermore, if the first beam is a new beam for a non-serving cell PCI, the first beam is not applicable to the first PDSCH and/or the first PUSCH. Furthermore, the terminal device may switch the beam for the first PDSCH and/or the first PUSCH to the default beam on the serving cell. If the first beam is a new beam on the serving cell, the first beam may be applicable to the first PDSCH and/or the first PUSCH.

In another possible implementation, the first beam is not applicable to the first RS, and the first RS does not apply a unified TCI state. In other words, the first beam is not applicable to RSs that do not apply a unified TCI state. In other words, the first beam can be applicable to RSs that apply a unified TCI state.

Furthermore, if the first beam is a new beam of a non-serving cell PCI, the first beam is not applicable to the first RS. Furthermore, the terminal device may switch the beam of the first RS to the default beam on the serving cell. If the first beam is a new beam on the serving cell, the first beam may be applicable to the first RS.

In another possible implementation, the first beam is not applicable to the second RS, where the transmission time interval between the PDCCH triggering the second RS and the second RS is less than or equal to a 23rd threshold value. In other words, if the transmission time interval between the PDCCH used to trigger the RS and the RS triggered by the PDCCH is greater than the 23rd threshold value, the first beam can be applied to the RS triggered by the PDCCH.

Furthermore, if the first beam is a new beam of a non-serving cell PCI, the first beam is not applicable to the above-mentioned second RS. Furthermore, the terminal device can switch the beam of the second RS to the default beam on the serving cell. If the first beam is a new beam on the serving cell, the first beam can be applicable to the second RS.

In another possible implementation, the first beam is not applicable to the first CORESET, and at least one of the search spaces (SSs) associated with the first CORESET is a common search space (CSS) or a CSS other than Type 3. In other words, the SS associated with the first CORESET includes a CSS, and/or the SS associated with the first CORESET includes a Type 3 CSS. In other words, the first beam may be applicable to a CORESET that is not associated with a CSS and is not associated with a Type 3 CSS.

Furthermore, if the first beam is a new beam of a non-serving cell PCI, the first beam is not applicable to the first CORESET. Furthermore, the terminal device may switch the beam of the first CORESET to a default beam on the serving cell. If the first beam is a new beam on the serving cell, the first beam may be applicable to the first CORESET.

It should be noted that at least one of the channel, RS, and CORESET to which the first beam is not applicable mentioned above can be carried in the first information, or can also be defined by the protocol.

Furthermore, it may be configured by the network or agreed upon by the protocol that at least one of the first PDSCH, the first PUSCH, the first RS, the second RS, and the first CORESET always does not apply the first beam, or it may be configured by RRC signaling that at least one of the first PDSCH, the first PUSCH, the first RS, the second RS, and the first CORESET does not apply the first beam. For example, if RRC signaling configures at least one of the first PDSCH, the first PUSCH, the first RS, the second RS, and the first CORESET to apply the first beam, then at least one of the first PDSCH, the first PUSCH, the first RS, the second RS, and the first CORESET configured by RRC signaling may also apply the first beam.

Furthermore, if the beam applied by at least one of the first PDSCH, the first PUSCH, the first RS, the first RS, and the first CORESET in the above text is a beam to be switched, the beam currently applied by at least one of the first PDSCH, the first PUSCH, the first RS, the first RS, and the first CORESET may not be switched, or the beam may be switched to the default beam on the current serving cell. Alternatively, if the current serving cell is the cell to be switched, the beam used by at least one of the first PDSCH, the first PUSCH, the first RS, the first RS, and the first CORESET on the current serving cell may not be switched, or at least one of the first PDSCH, the first PUSCH, the first RS, the first RS, and the first CORESET on the current serving cell may be switched to the default beam on the current serving cell.

(2) Probability information

Specifically, the probability information may include at least one of the following: probability information of applying a new beam, probability information of switching to a new cell, and probability information of switching to a new cell group. The probability information may be obtained by applying an artificial intelligence (AI) model or a machine learning (ML) model.

More specifically, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. Accordingly, the probability information may include at least one of the following: probability information of applying the candidate beam; probability information of switching to the cell to which the candidate beam belongs; probability information of switching to the cell group to which the cell to which the candidate beam belongs; probability information of applying the first target beam; probability information of switching to the cell to which the first target beam belongs; probability information of switching to the cell group to which the cell to which the first target beam belongs.

(3) Panel information

Specifically, the panel information may include: panel information corresponding to the beam to be switched and/or panel information corresponding to the new beam.

More specifically, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam, and the panel information may include: panel information corresponding to the candidate beam and/or panel information corresponding to the first target beam.

It should be noted that, in the scheme of the embodiments of the present application, the panel information may refer to at least one of the following: control resource set, control resource set pool, control resource set group, terminal capability set information, terminal capability information, TCI status information, TCI status pool information, terminal capability value information, terminal capability value set information, reference signal resource information, reference signal resource set information, reference signal resource group information, reference signal port number information, antenna panel, antenna array information, antenna subarray information, antenna group information, antenna subgroup information, antenna set information, antenna subset information, etc.

(4) fourth instruction information;

Specifically, the number of new beams indicated by the first information may be multiple, and multiple new beams can be used for simultaneous downlink reception.

Exemplarily, the fourth indication information may include at least one of the following: indication information that multiple new beams are used for simultaneous downlink reception, indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception, and panel information of multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception. For example, the new beam includes beam 1 and beam 2, and the first information may include beam information of beam 1 and beam 2. In addition, the first information may also include an indication for indicating that beam 1 and beam 2 are used for simultaneous downlink reception. For another example, the format of the first information may include a first information element, and the first information element is used to carry beam information of multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception. Assuming that beam 1 and beam 2 in the new beam are used for simultaneous downlink reception, the first information element carries beam information of beam 1 and beam 2. In this case, there is no need to additionally carry an indication that beam 1 and beam 2 are used for simultaneous downlink reception.

More specifically, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. The number of candidate beams indicated by the first information may be multiple, and multiple candidate beams may be used for simultaneous downlink reception, and/or the number of first target beams indicated by the first information may be multiple, and multiple first target beams may be used for simultaneous downlink reception. Correspondingly, the fourth indication information may include at least one of the following: indication information of multiple candidate beams for simultaneous downlink reception, indication information of multiple candidate beams for simultaneous downlink reception, panel information corresponding to multiple candidate beams for simultaneous downlink reception, indication information of multiple first target beams for simultaneous downlink reception, indication information of multiple first target beams for simultaneous downlink reception, and panel information corresponding to multiple first target beams for simultaneous downlink reception.

(5) Fifth instruction information

Specifically, the number of new beams indicated by the first information may be multiple, and multiple new beams may be used for uplink transmission simultaneously.

Exemplarily, the fifth indication information may include at least one of the following: indication information that multiple new beams are used for simultaneous uplink transmission, indication information of multiple new beams used for simultaneous uplink transmission, and panel information of multiple new beams used for simultaneous uplink transmission. For example, the new beam includes beam 3 and beam 4, and the first information may include beam information of beam 3 and beam 4. In addition, the first information may also include an indication for indicating that beam 3 and beam 4 are used for simultaneous uplink transmission. For another example, the format of the first information may include a second information element, and the second information element is used to carry beam information of multiple new beams used for simultaneous uplink transmission. Assuming that beam 3 and beam 4 in the new beam are used for simultaneous uplink transmission, the first information element carries beam information of beam 3 and beam 4. In this case, there is no need to additionally carry an indication that beam 3 and beam 4 are used for simultaneous uplink transmission.

More specifically, the new beam includes a candidate beam and/or a first target beam. The number of candidate beams indicated by the first information may be multiple, and multiple candidate beams may be used for simultaneous uplink transmission, and/or the number of first target beams indicated by the first information may be multiple, and multiple first target beams may be used for simultaneous uplink transmission. Correspondingly, the fifth indication information may include at least one of the following: indication information of multiple candidate beams for simultaneous uplink transmission, indication information of multiple candidate beams for simultaneous uplink transmission, panel information corresponding to multiple candidate beams for simultaneous uplink transmission, indication information of multiple first target beams for simultaneous uplink transmission, indication information of multiple first target beams for simultaneous uplink transmission, and panel information corresponding to multiple first target beams for simultaneous uplink transmission.

(6) Recommended unified TCI status types

Specifically, the recommended unified TCI state type can be a joint TCI state or a separate TCI state. It should be noted that the unified TCI state type can also refer to a unified TCI state mode. The joint TCI state means that the downlink TCI state and the uplink TCI state correspond to the same beam, while the separate TCI state means that the downlink TCI state and the uplink TCI state correspond to different beams.

For example, if the terminal device currently uses the jointTCI state and detects a switching event, the terminal device may suggest continuing to use the jointTCI state and report a new beam. If the terminal device detects a switching event and does not detect a Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) event in the direction corresponding to the new beam (that is, the uplink beam needs to be switched because the uplink signal radiates the human body to a certain extent), the terminal device may suggest using the jointTCI state in the first information. At this time, the network device can configure or instruct beam training and beam reporting based on the jointTCI state recommended in the first information, and perform beam indication on the terminal device. The beam indicated by the network device is the new jointTCI state to which the uplink beam and the downlink beam are switched.

If the terminal device detects an MPE event in the direction corresponding to the new beam, the terminal device may suggest adopting the separateTCI state in the first information. At this time, the network device may configure or indicate beam training and beam reporting based on the separateTCI state suggested in the first information, and perform beam indication on the terminal device. In this case, the beam indicated by the network device is only the new downlink separateTCI state to which the downlink beam is switched.

(7) Proposed unified TCI framework

Specifically, the recommended unified TCI framework is a unified TCI activation or indication method for single TRP transmission, or the recommended unified TCI framework is a unified TCI activation or indication method for multiple TRP transmissions.

For example, the proposed unified TCI framework may be a method of using a unified TCI state to indicate or activate a beam in a single TRP scenario. For example, the proposed unified TCI framework may be a method of activating or indicating a beam in a single TRP scenario using a joint TCI state or an independent TCI state.

As another example, the proposed unified TCI framework may be a method for using a unified TCI state to indicate or activate beams in a multi-TRP scenario based on a single downlink control information (DCI). For example, the proposed unified TCI framework may be a method for using a joint TCI state or an independent TCI state to activate or indicate beams in a multi-TRP scenario based on a single DCI.

As another example, the proposed unified TCI framework may be a method of using a unified TCI state to indicate or activate a beam in a multi-TRP scenario based on multi-DCI. For example, the proposed unified TCI framework may be a method of using a joint TCI state or an independent TCI state to activate or indicate a beam in a multi-TRP scenario based on multi-DCI.

It should be noted that the multi-TRP scenario based on single DCI may refer to a scenario in which multiple TRPs use the same DCI to schedule terminal devices, and the multi-TRP scenario based on multiple DCIs may refer to a scenario in which multiple TRPs use different DCIs to schedule terminal devices.

(8) Recommended transmission scheme

The recommended transmission scheme refers to the transmission scheme recommended by the terminal device to the network device, where the transmission scheme is single-TRP transmission or multi-TRP transmission. Single-TRP transmission refers to the transmission of channels or signals between the terminal device and the TRP in a single-TRP scenario, and multi-TRP transmission refers to the transmission of channels or signals between the terminal device and multiple TRPs in a multi-TRP scenario.

Multiple TRP transmission includes at least one of the following: single frequency network (SFN) transmission, time division multiplexing (TDM) transmission, space division multiplexing (SDM) transmission, and frequency division multiplexing (FDM) transmission. That is, a terminal device can use at least one of SFN, TDM, SDM, and FDM to transmit with multiple TRPs.

The above-mentioned recommended transmission scheme may be applicable to all channels, or may be applicable to the transmission of one or more specific channels among PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH and PDCCH, and/or may be applicable to the transmission of any one or more RSs.

For more information about single TRP transmission, please refer to the relevant description of the single TRP scenario in this article. For more information about multi-TRP transmission, please refer to the relevant description of the multi-TRP scenario in this article.

(9) Recommend the transmission scheme to be adopted for the second channel;

Specifically, the terminal device may suggest a transmission scheme for a specific channel (ie, a second channel) in the first information, wherein the second channel may be at least one of PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH.

For example, the terminal device may suggest in the first information that the second channel adopts a single TRP transmission, or, in the second information, suggest that the second channel adopt at least one of SFN, TDM, SDM, and FDM and multiple TRPs to transmit the second channel.

For more information about the transmission scheme, please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

(10) Recommended beam training method

The beam training method may also be referred to as a “beam training strategy.” In other words, the first information may include: a value of a parameter “repetition” in the recommended beam training reference signal configuration information.

Specifically, the recommended beam training method may be the P2 process or the P3 process. Specific contents of the P2 process and the P3 process can be referred to the above description of the first embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

(11) Quality information

Specifically, the first information may include the beam quality of the new beam. More specifically, the first information may also include the beam quality of the candidate beam and the beam quality of the first target beam.

S62: The network device sends a response to the first information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the response to the first information.

Exemplarily, the response to the first information may be carried in the DCI.

In one possible implementation, the response to the first information may be used to confirm at least one or more of the following: beam switching, cell switching, and cell group switching.

In another possible implementation, the response to the first information may be used to trigger at least one of the following: beam switching, cell switching, and cell group switching.

Exemplarily, the first information may include a new beam, and the response to the first information may be used to confirm or trigger switching to the new beam in the first information. For example, the first information may include a first target beam, and the response to the first information may include beam confirmation information. After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to the first target beam. For another example, the first information may include at least one candidate beam, and the response to the first information may include beam confirmation information. After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to one or more of the at least one candidate beam.

Alternatively, the first information may not include a new beam. For example, the first information may include information about a switching event and/or a beam to be switched. The response to the first information may include beam information of a new beam (such as the second target beam described below). After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to the new beam in the response. Alternatively, the first information indicates a new beam, and the response to the first information also indicates a new beam. After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to the new beam indicated by the first information or the response to the first information. The new beam indicated by the response may be the same as or different from the new beam indicated by the first information.

Exemplarily, the response to the first information may be used to confirm or trigger switching to the new cell indicated by the first information. For example, the first information may include second cell information or second cell indication information (such as cell information of the new cell) to indicate the new cell, and the response to the first information may include cell confirmation information. After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to the new cell indicated by the first information.

Alternatively, the first information may not indicate a new cell, and the response to the first information may indicate a new cell. For example, the new cell may be the cell to which the second target beam belongs. After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to the new cell indicated by the response. Alternatively, the first information indicates a new cell, and the response to the first information also indicates a new cell. After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to the new cell indicated by the first information or the response to the first information. The new cell indicated by the response may be the same as or different from the new cell indicated by the first information.

Exemplarily, the response to the first information may be used to confirm or trigger switching to the new cell group indicated by the first information. For example, the first information may include second cell group information to indicate the new cell group, and the response to the first information may include cell group confirmation information. After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to the new cell group indicated by the first information.

Alternatively, the first information may not indicate a new cell group, and the response to the first information may indicate a new cell group. For example, the new cell group may be the cell group to which the cell to which the second target beam belongs. After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to the new cell group indicated by the response. Alternatively, the first information indicates a new cell group, and the response to the first information also indicates a new cell group. After receiving the response, the terminal device may switch to the new cell group indicated by the first information or the response to the first information. The new cell group indicated by the response may be the same as or different from the new cell group indicated by the first information.

Specifically, the response to the first information may include at least one of the following:

a’) The seventh indication information is used to indicate the second target beam. For example, the seventh indication information may be beam information of the second target beam. In particular, as distinguished from the first target beam, the second target beam refers to the target beam indicated by the network device in the response to the first information. The second target beam may be selected from the new beam indicated in the first information. For example, the second target beam may be the same as the first target beam, or the second target beam may be one or more of the candidate beams. Alternatively, the second target beam may be a beam other than the new beam indicated by the first information, which is not limited herein.

Furthermore, the response to the first information may further include information indicating the cell to which the second target beam belongs. For example, the response to the first information may include cell information of the cell to which the second target beam belongs.

In a specific implementation, the cell to which the second target beam belongs may or may not be a new cell. For example, if the response to the first information includes information indicating the cell to which the second target beam belongs, the cell to which the second target beam belongs is a new cell, and the terminal device may switch to the cell to which the second target beam belongs. If the response to the first information does not include information indicating the cell to which the second target beam belongs, the cell to which the second target beam belongs is not a new cell, and the terminal device may not switch to the cell to which the second target beam belongs.

b’) Eighth indication information: the eighth indication information is used to indicate a new cell.

The new cell indicated by the eighth indication information and the new cell indicated by the first indication information may be the same or different. Exemplarily, the new cell indicated in the response may be the cell to which the second target beam belongs.

If the response includes the eighth indication information, the terminal device may switch to the cell indicated by the eighth indication information. If the response does not include the eighth indication information, the terminal device may not perform cell switching.

Exemplarily, the eighth indication information may be used to indicate whether the cell to which the second target beam belongs is a new cell. For example, the response to the first information may include indication information of the cell to which the second target beam belongs. If the eighth indication information indicates that the cell to which the second target beam belongs is a new cell, or the cell to which the second target beam belongs is indicated by the eighth indication information, then the cell to which the second target beam belongs is a new cell. If the indication information of the cell to which the second target beam belongs is not indicated by the eighth indication information, then the cell to which the second target beam belongs is not a new cell.

c’) The ninth indication information is used to indicate a new cell group. The new cell indicated in the response may be the cell group to which the cell to which the second target beam belongs.

d’) The channels to which the second target beam is applicable; that is, the response may include the channels to which the second target beam is applied.

e’) RS to which the second target beam is applicable; that is, the response may include the RS to which the second target beam is applied.

f’) A CORESET to which the second target beam applies; that is, the response may include a CORESET to which the second target beam applies.

g’) Channels for which the second target beam is not applicable; that is, the response may include channels for which the second target beam is not applied.

h’) RS to which the second target beam is not applicable; that is, the response may include an RS to which the second target beam is not applied.

i') A CORESET to which the second target beam is not applicable; that is, the response may include a CORESET to which the second target beam is not applied.

j’) indication information that multiple second target beams are used for simultaneous downlink reception; specifically, the number of second target beams indicated in the response can be multiple, and multiple second target beams can be used for simultaneous downlink reception. The network device can further indicate in the response that multiple second target beams can be used for simultaneous downlink reception.

k’) indicates information of multiple second target beams for simultaneous downlink reception; exemplarily, the format of the response may include a third information element, and the third information element is used to carry beam information of multiple second target beams for simultaneous downlink reception, thereby, the terminal device can know that multiple second target beams can be used for simultaneous downlink reception.

l’) Indication information that multiple second target beams are used for simultaneous uplink transmission; specifically, the number of second target beams indicated in the response can be multiple, and multiple second target beams can be used for simultaneous uplink transmission. The network device can further indicate in the response that multiple second target beams can be used for simultaneous uplink transmission.

m’) indicates information of multiple second target beams for simultaneous uplink transmission; exemplarily, the format of the response may include a fourth information element, and the fourth information element is used to carry beam information of multiple second target beams for simultaneous uplink transmission, thereby, the terminal device can know that multiple second target beams can be used for simultaneous uplink transmission.

n') A second target beam for a third channel; the third channel can be at least one of the following: PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH. That is, the response for the first channel can include the target beam for the specific channel. The third channel can be the same as or different from the first channel.

1') unified TCI state type; that is, the network device may indicate the type of unified TCI state adopted to the terminal device in the response;

o') Unified TCI framework; that is, the network device can indicate the adopted unified TCI state framework to the terminal device in the response;

p') transmission scheme; that is, the network device may indicate the adopted transmission scheme to the terminal device in the response;

q') The transmission scheme used by the fourth channel; the fourth channel can be at least one of the following: PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH. That is, the network device can indicate the transmission scheme used by a specific channel to the terminal device in the response; the fourth channel can be the same as or different from the second channel.

r') beam training mode, that is, the value of the parameter repetition in the beam training reference signal configuration information. The beam training mode indicated in the response can be the same as or different from the beam training mode recommended in the first information. That is, the value of the parameter repetition in the beam training reference signal configuration information indicated in the response can be the same as or different from the value recommended in the first information.

The following is an exemplary description of the sender of the response to the first information.

In one possible implementation, the response to the first information may come from the current serving cell, and/or from the TRP to which the current serving cell belongs or the TRP included in the current serving cell.

In another possible implementation, the response to the first information may come from the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs and/or the cell to which the new beam belongs. For example, the response may come from the cell to which the new beam indicated by the first information belongs, and/or the response may come from the cell to which the new beam indicated by the response belongs.

In another possible implementation, the response to the first information may come from the cell to be handed over and/or the new cell. For example, the response may come from the new cell indicated by the first information, and/or the response may come from the new cell indicated by the response.

In one embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may further receive third configuration information, where the third configuration information is used to reconfigure the PCI list or the candidate cell list. Specifically, the network device may reconfigure the PCI list or the candidate cell list to update the candidate cell (such as a neighboring cell) to which the alternative beam or the new beam can be provided for the terminal device.

Furthermore, the terminal device may perform the first operation after sending the first information, or the terminal device may perform the first operation after receiving a response to the first information, or the terminal device may perform the first operation before sending the first information, or the terminal device may perform the first operation independently of the first information or the response to the first information. For details about the content of the first operation performed by the terminal device and the timing of performing the first operation, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments herein.

For more details about the sixth embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

Example 7

7, which is a flow chart of a beam switching method according to an embodiment of the present application. The steps shown in FIG7 can be applied to a terminal device. The communication method shown in FIG7 may include S71 and S72.

S71: Detect a switching event.

For the specific content of S71, please refer to the relevant description of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

S72, execute the first operation.

In one possible implementation, in response to detecting one or more switching events, the terminal device sends first information and performs a first operation. That is, if the terminal device detects one or more switching events, the terminal device may send first information to the network device and perform a first operation.

The terminal device may first send the first information and then perform the first operation. Alternatively, the terminal device may first perform the first operation and then send the first information. Alternatively, the terminal device may simultaneously perform the first operation and send the first information.

In another possible implementation, in response to detecting one or more switching events, the terminal device performs the first operation. That is, different from the previous implementation, if the terminal device detects one or more switching events, the terminal device can directly perform the first operation without sending the first information to the network device.

The specific content of the first operation is exemplarily described below.

Specifically, the first operation may include at least one of the following:

(1) Activate the new beam;

The activated new beam may be the new beam indicated in the first information (eg, a candidate beam, a first target beam), or the activated new beam may be the new beam indicated in a response to the first information.

In a specific implementation, the new beam may be an inactive beam.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device may only activate the new beam but not switch to the new beam. The terminal device may wait for other signaling from the network device before switching to the activated new beam.

In another possible implementation, the terminal device may switch to the new beam after activating the new beam (in this case, the new beam is the target beam). For example, the terminal device may switch to the new beam without relying on a response or confirmation from the network device.

(2) Switch to the target beam.

In a specific implementation, the target beam may be a new beam or an optimal beam among candidate beams. Alternatively, the target beam may be a new beam or a default beam among candidate beams. The new beam may be the new beam indicated by the first information above, or may be the new beam indicated by a response to the first information.

Alternatively, the target beam may be the default beam of the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, or the target beam may be the default beam of the current serving cell, or the target beam may be the optimal beam or the default beam of the new cell. The new cell may be the new cell indicated by the first information, or the new cell indicated by the response to the first information. The default beam may be the beam with the smallest or largest identifier, etc., which is not limited in this embodiment.

Alternatively, the target beam may be a default beam or an optimal beam on a default cell. The default cell may be a current serving cell. Alternatively, the default cell may be a serving cell with the largest or smallest identifier or with the largest or smallest frequency.

The target beam may be either the first target beam or the second target beam. The description herein of the target beam may apply to both the first target beam and the second target beam. For more information regarding the first target beam and the second target beam, please refer to the description herein of the target beam.

In one possible implementation, the first information does not indicate a new beam, for example, the first information only includes information about a detected switching event and/or a beam to be switched, and the terminal device may switch to a default beam. For example, the terminal device may switch to a default beam on a current serving cell.

In another possible implementation, if the beam used by the first PDSCH in Example 6 is a beam to be switched, and/or the beam used by the first PUSCH is a beam to be switched, the beam of the first PDSCH and/or the first PUSCH can be switched to a second beam, and the second beam can be a default beam on the current serving cell. The first PDSCH and/or the first PUSCH can be the PDSCH and/or PUSCH on the current serving cell.

If the beam used by the first RS is a beam to be switched, the beam of the first RS may be switched to a third beam, which may be a default beam on the current serving cell.

If the beam used by the second RS is a beam to be switched, the beam of the second RS may be switched to a fourth beam, which may be a default beam on the current serving cell.

If the beam used by the first CORESET is the beam to be switched, the beam of the first CORESET may be switched to the fifth beam, which may be the default beam on the current serving cell.

In another possible implementation, for the beam to be switched on a non-service cell, the target beam corresponding to the beam to be switched can be one or more of the default beam on the non-service cell (such as the non-service cell where the beam to be switched is located), the default beam on the current service cell, and the new beam indicated by the first information.

Taking the first beam to be switched as an example, the first beam to be switched is a beam of a non-serving cell. The terminal device can switch the first beam to be switched to a sixth beam, where the sixth beam is a new beam indicated by the first information, or the sixth beam can be a default beam of a non-serving cell, or the sixth beam can be a default beam of a current serving cell.

In another possible implementation, the terminal device may switch to multiple target beams for simultaneous downlink reception, and/or the terminal device may switch to multiple target beams for simultaneous uplink transmission. Exemplarily, the multiple new beams indicated by the first information are used for simultaneous downlink reception, and the terminal device may switch to multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception. And/or, the multiple new beams indicated by the first information are used for simultaneous uplink transmission, and the terminal device may switch to multiple new beams for simultaneous uplink transmission. Exemplarily, before switching, the terminal device may not apply multiple beams for simultaneous downlink reception and/or may not apply multiple beams for simultaneous uplink transmission.

(3) Transmission plan fallback

Specifically, the terminal device can switch the transmission scheme of the fifth channel from the first transmission scheme to the second transmission scheme. The fifth channel can be one or more specific channels among PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH and PDCCH, or any one or more channels among PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH and PDCCH. Exemplarily, the fifth channel can be a channel (such as the second channel) that recommends single TRP transmission in the first information, or the fifth channel can be a channel (such as the fourth channel) that indicates single TRP transmission in the response to the first information, or the fifth channel can be a channel that does not indicate a transmission scheme in the first information and/or the response to the first information, but is not limited to this.

Among them, the first transmission scheme is a transmission scheme using multiple beams or a transmission scheme using multiple TRPs. Among them, the multiple beams can belong to multiple cells or multiple TRPs. For example, the terminal device and multiple TRPs use at least one of SFN, TDM, SDM, and FDM to transmit the fifth channel. Alternatively, the multiple beams can also be beams of the same cell. In addition, the second transmission scheme is a transmission scheme using a single beam or a transmission scheme using a single TRP, that is, after switching to the second transmission scheme, the terminal device uses a single beam to transmit the fifth channel. Among them, the single beam can be the above-mentioned target beam.

(4) Activate the new cell and/or the cell to which the new beam belongs;

The activated cell may be at least one of the following: the new cell indicated in the first information, the cell to which the new beam indicated in the first information belongs, the new cell indicated in the response to the first information, and the cell to which the new beam indicated in the response to the first information belongs. In this case, the terminal device only activates the new cell but does not switch to the new cell. The terminal device can wait for other signaling from the network device before switching to the activated new cell.

(5) Switch to the target cell;

Specifically, the terminal device may perform cell switching to switch to a target cell.

The target cell may be at least one of the following: a cell to which the target beam belongs, a new cell indicated in the first information, a cell to which the new beam indicated in the first information belongs, a new cell indicated in a response to the first information, a cell to which the new beam indicated in a response to the first information belongs, or a default cell. The default cell may be, but is not limited to, a current serving cell.

(6) Activate the new cell group;

The activated cell group may be at least one of the following: the new cell group indicated in the first information, the cell group to which the new beam indicated in the first information belongs, the new cell group indicated in the response to the first information, and the cell group to which the new beam indicated in the response to the first information belongs. In this case, the terminal device only activates the new cell group but does not switch to the new cell group. The terminal device needs to wait for other signaling from the network device before switching to the activated new cell group.

(7) Switch to the target cell group;

Specifically, the terminal device may perform cell group switching to switch to the target cell group.

Among them, the target cell group can be at least one of the following: the cell group to which the target cell belongs, the new cell group indicated in the first information, the cell group to which the cell to which the new beam indicated in the first information belongs, the new cell group indicated in the response to the first information, and the cell group to which the cell to which the new beam indicated in the response to the first information belongs.

(8) Cell deactivation;

Among them, the deactivated cells may include at least one of the following: the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, the cell to be switched, and the cell not indicated in the first information.

(9) Cell group deactivation;

Among them, the deactivated cell group may include at least one of the following: the cell group to which the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs belongs, the cell group to which the cell to be switched belongs, and the cell group not indicated in the first information.

(10) Switch the type of unified TCI state;

Specifically, the type of unified TCI state may be switched to the type of unified TCI state suggested by the first information, or the type of unified TCI state indicated in the response.

(11) Switch to a unified TCI framework;

Specifically, it can be switched to the framework of the unified TCI state suggested by the first information, or it can be switched to the framework of the unified TCI state indicated in the response.

(12) Switching transmission scheme;

Specifically, the transmission scheme may be switched to the transmission scheme suggested by the first information, or may be switched to the transmission scheme indicated in the response.

(13) Switching the transmission scheme of the sixth channel

Exemplarily, the sixth channel may be the second channel, and the terminal device may switch the transmission scheme of the second channel to the transmission scheme adopted by the second channel suggested by the first information, or the transmission scheme indicated by the response to the first information.

Exemplarily, the sixth channel may be the fourth channel, and the terminal device may switch the transmission scheme of the fourth channel to the transmission scheme indicated by the response to the first information.

Exemplarily, the sixth channel may be one or more specific channels among PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH, or the sixth channel may be any one or more channels among PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH. After the transmission scheme is switched, the transmission scheme adopted by the sixth channel may be single TRP transmission, or may be multi-TRP transmission.

For example, before performing the first operation, the sixth channel uses multiple TRP transmission. If the first information indicates multiple new beams, the terminal device can select multiple new beams with the best beam quality among the multiple new beams to continue using multiple TRP transmission.

For another example, before executing the first operation, the sixth channel adopts multi-TRP transmission. If the first information only indicates a new beam, the terminal device can switch the transmission scheme of the sixth channel to single TRP transmission.

Exemplarily, the sixth channel may be the fifth channel mentioned above. For more information on the transmission scheme for switching the sixth channel, refer to the above description on transmission scheme fallback.

(14) Switching the beam of the seventh channel to the target beam;

Exemplarily, the first information indicates that the seventh channel is applicable to the first target beam. In S72, the terminal device may switch the beam of the seventh channel to the first target beam.

(15) Switching the beam of the eighth channel to the target beam;

Illustratively, the first information indicates that the eighth channel is applicable to a new beam, a candidate beam, or the first target beam. In S72, the terminal device may switch the eighth channel to the target beam. The target beam to which the eighth channel is switched may be one or more of the target beams described above. For example, the eighth channel may be switched to the beam with the best beam quality among the new beams indicated by the first information, or the eighth channel may be switched to the default beam.

The following is an exemplary description of the execution timing of the first operation, wherein the first time unit hereinafter refers to the execution timing of the first operation.

In some implementations, the terminal device performs the first operation upon receiving a response to the first information.

In a first possible implementation, in response to receiving a response to the first information before the second time unit, the first operation is performed in the first time unit, wherein the duration between the transmission time unit of the first information and the first time unit is a first preset duration. The transmission time unit of the first information or the starting time unit of the first preset duration may refer to a symbol occupied by a channel resource carrying the first information (e.g., the last symbol occupied by the channel resource carrying the first information).

That is, in a first possible implementation manner, after the terminal device sends the first information, if the terminal device receives a response within a response time window, the terminal device may perform the first operation a period of time after sending the first information.

Exemplarily, the time unit for a terminal device to send a first message is t1. If the terminal device receives a response to the first message before a second time unit, the terminal device may perform the first operation at time unit (t1+T1), where T1 represents a first preset duration. The second time unit may be the end time of a response time window. The start time of the response time window may be the transmission time unit of the first message.

In a second embodiment, in response to receiving a response to the first information before the second time unit, the first operation is performed in the first time unit, wherein the duration between the transmission time unit of the response and the first time unit is a second preset duration. The transmission time unit of the response or the starting time unit of the second preset duration may refer to a symbol occupied by a channel resource carrying the response (e.g., the last symbol occupied by the channel resource carrying the response).

That is, in the second embodiment, after the terminal device sends the first information, if it receives a response within the response time window, the terminal device may perform the first operation some time after receiving the response.

Exemplarily, the time unit in which the terminal device sends the first information is t1. If the terminal device receives a response to the first information before the second time unit, the terminal device may perform the first operation at the time unit (t2 + T2). Here, t2 represents the transmission time unit of the response to the first information, and T2 represents the second preset duration. The second time unit may be the end time of the response time window. The start time of the response time window may be the transmission time unit of the first information.

In a third embodiment, in response to receiving a response to the first information before the second time unit, the first operation is performed in the first time unit, wherein the duration between the second time unit and the first time unit is a third preset duration.

That is, in the third embodiment, after the terminal device sends the first information, if it receives a response within the response time window, the terminal device may perform the first operation after a second preset time period after the end of the response time window.

Exemplarily, the time unit in which the terminal device sends the first information is t1. If the terminal device receives a response to the first information before the second time unit, the terminal device may perform the first operation at the time unit (t3 + T3). Here, t3 represents the second time unit, and T3 represents the third preset duration. The second time unit may be the end time of the response time window. The start time of the response time window may be the transmission time unit of the first information.

In some implementations, the terminal device performs the first operation when not receiving a response to the first information. Exemplarily, not receiving a response to the first information may indicate that the network device confirms the first information, or confirms starting beam management or beam switching.

In a fourth embodiment, in response to not receiving a response to the first information before the second time unit, the first operation is performed in the first time unit, wherein the duration between the transmission time unit of the first information and the first time unit is a fourth preset duration. The transmission time unit of the first information or the starting time unit of the fourth preset duration may refer to a symbol occupied by the channel resource carrying the first information (e.g., the last symbol occupied by the channel resource carrying the first information).

That is, in the fourth possible implementation, after the terminal device sends the first information, if no response is received within the response time window, the terminal device may perform the first operation a period of time after sending the first information.

Exemplarily, the time unit for the terminal device to send the first information is t1. If the terminal device does not receive a response to the first information before the second time unit, the terminal device may perform the first operation at the time unit (t1+T4), where T4 represents a fourth preset duration. The second time unit may be the end time of the response time window. The start time of the response time window may be the time unit for the terminal device to send the first information.

In a fifth embodiment, in response to not receiving a response to the first information before the second time unit, the first operation is performed in the first time unit, wherein the duration between the second time unit and the first time unit is a fifth preset duration.

That is, in the fifth embodiment, after the terminal device sends the first information, if no response is received within the response time window, the terminal device may perform the first operation some time after the end of the response time window.

Exemplarily, the time unit in which the terminal device sends the first information is t1. If the terminal device does not receive a response to the first information before the second time unit, the terminal device may perform the first operation in the time unit (t3+T5). t3 represents the second time unit, and T5 represents the fifth preset duration. The second time unit may be the end moment of the response time window. The starting moment of the response time window may be the transmission time unit of the first information. In a sixth embodiment, in response to not receiving a response to the first information before the second time unit, the first operation is performed in the first time unit, wherein the first time unit is the second time unit.

That is, in the sixth embodiment, after the terminal device sends the first information, if no response is received within the response time window, the terminal device may perform the first operation at the end of the response time window.

For example, the terminal device sends the first information at time t1. If the terminal device does not receive a response to the first information before the second time, the terminal device may perform the first operation at time t3. t3 represents the second time. The second time may be the end of the response time window.

In a seventh embodiment, the first operation is performed in a first time unit, and the duration between the transmission time unit of the first information and the first time unit is a sixth preset duration. That is, the transmission time unit of the first information or the starting time unit of the sixth preset duration is the symbol occupied by the channel resource carrying the first information (e.g., the last symbol occupied by the channel resource carrying the first information). The first time unit may be later than the transmission time unit of the first information.

That is, in the seventh implementation, the terminal device performs the first operation independently of the response to the first information.

Exemplarily, the time unit for the terminal device to send the first information is t1, and the terminal device may perform the first operation in the time unit (t1+T6), where T6 represents the sixth preset time length.

It should be noted that the time unit in this article may refer to a symbol, a time slot, a frame, a subframe, etc., but is not limited thereto.

It should also be noted that this document does not limit the length of the above-mentioned response time window, the first preset time window, the second preset time window, the third preset time window, the fourth preset time window, the fifth preset time window and the sixth preset time window. At least one of the length of the response time window, the first preset time window, the second preset time window, the third preset time window, the fourth preset time window, the fifth preset time window and the sixth preset time window can be configured by the network device and/or can be defined by the protocol.

In a possible implementation, in a CA scenario, multiple CCs may adopt a unified TCI framework, that is, multiple CCs may use the same one or more beams. If the same beam used by multiple CCs is the beam to be switched, the terminal device may perform beam switching on multiple CCs corresponding to the beam to be switched. In this case, the preset duration may be determined based on the minimum value of the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of all bandwidth parts (Bandwidth Part, BWP) of the multiple CCs corresponding to the beam to be switched, or the preset duration may be determined based on the minimum value of the SCS of the currently activated BWP of the multiple CCs corresponding to the beam to be switched. The preset duration may be at least one of the first preset duration, the second preset duration, the third preset duration, the fourth preset duration, the fifth preset duration, and the sixth preset duration.

In another possible implementation, in a CA scenario, multiple CCs may adopt a unified TCI framework, that is, multiple CCs may use the same one or more beams. If the target beams to which multiple CCs are switched are the same one or more beams, that is, the target beam can be applied to multiple CCs, in this case, the preset duration may be determined based on the minimum value of the SCS of all BWPs of the multiple CCs to which the target beam is applied, or the preset duration may be determined based on the minimum value of the SCS of the currently activated BWPs of the multiple CCs to which the target beam is applied.

As can be seen from the above, the first operation may include beam switching. In the scenario of performing beam switching, the preset duration mentioned above may be referred to as beam application time (BAT). In the scenario of performing cell switching, the preset duration may also be referred to as cell switching time.

Exemplarily, the BAT of the target beam may include at least one of the following:

1) The cell switching duration required to switch to the cell to which the target beam belongs; that is, the terminal device performs beam switching between cells, and switches not only to the target beam, but also to the cell to which the target beam belongs. In this case, the BAT of the target beam needs to include the cell switching duration.

2) The duration of the configuration of the cell to which the target beam belongs;

Among them, the configuration validity period may include: the transmission duration of the configuration signaling containing the RRC pre-configuration of the cell to which the target beam belongs and/or the validity period of the RRC pre-configuration of the cell to which the target beam belongs.

Specifically, the terminal device performs inter-cell beam switching, and switches not only to the target beam, but also to the cell to which the target beam belongs. In this case, it is also necessary to consider: the transmission duration of the configuration signaling containing the RRC pre-configuration of the cell to which the target beam belongs and/or the validity duration of the RRC pre-configuration of the cell to which the target beam belongs.

In one example, after receiving the first information, the network device can determine the target beam based on the first information and determine that the terminal device switches to the cell to which the target beam belongs. Thus, the network device can send the RRC preconfiguration information of the cell to which the target beam belongs to the terminal device. Compared with sending the RRC preconfiguration information of multiple cells before receiving the first information, with such a solution, the network device only needs to configure the RRC preconfiguration information of the cell to be switched to, which is conducive to reducing signaling overhead.

3) RF tuning time;

4) The activation duration of the cell to which the target beam belongs;

In S72, the terminal device not only switches to the target beam, but also activates the cell to which the target beam belongs. In this case, the BAT of the target beam may include the activation duration of the cell to which the target beam belongs.

5) Secondary cell activation duration;

Specifically, if the target beam is a beam of a secondary cell and the secondary cell is in a deactivated state, in this case, the BAT of the target beam may include the activation duration of the secondary cell to which the target beam belongs.

6) The activation duration of the TCI state corresponding to the target beam;

Specifically, before beam switching, if the TCI state corresponding to the target beam is in a deactivated state, the BAT of the target beam may include the activation duration of the TCI state corresponding to the target beam.

7) Deactivation duration of the currently activated TCI state;

Specifically, before applying the target beam, the terminal device may deactivate the currently activated TCI state (such as the TCI state corresponding to the beam to be switched). To this end, the BAT of the target beam may include the deactivation duration of the currently activated TCI state.

8) The deactivation duration of all currently activated TCI states except the TCI state corresponding to the target beam;

Specifically, before applying the target beam, the activated TCI state may include the TCI state corresponding to the target beam, and may also include TCI states corresponding to beams other than the target beam. In this case, the terminal device may deactivate other activated TCI states in the currently activated TCI state except the TCI state corresponding to the target beam before applying the target beam. To this end, the BAT of the target beam may include the deactivation duration of other activated TCI states in the currently activated TCI state except the TCI state corresponding to the target beam.

9) The deactivation duration of the current cell;

Specifically, when the first operation includes cell switching, the current cell may be deactivated before applying the target beam. To this end, the BAT of the target beam may include the deactivation duration of the current cell.

10) The deactivation duration of other candidate cells except the cell to which the target beam belongs.

Specifically, before applying the target beam, the terminal device may deactivate the candidate cells that do not provide the target beam. To this end, the BAT of the target beam may include the deactivation duration of other candidate cells in the candidate cells except the cell to which the target beam belongs.

For more details about the seventh embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

Example 8

8 is a flow chart of a fourth communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The steps shown in FIG8 can be applied to a terminal device. The communication method shown in FIG8 can include S81.

S81, send first information, the first information includes at least one of the following: information about a detected switching event, the switching event is used for beam management or beam switching; first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate the beam to be switched and/or the cell to be switched and/or the cell group to be switched, the cell to be switched is the cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched is the cell group to which the cell to be switched belongs; second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell is the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group is the cell group to which the new cell belongs.

In one case, the network device may pre-configure the association relationship between beams.

Exemplarily, the first information may include indication information of the new beam, but does not include indication information of the beam to be switched. The network device may determine the beam to be switched associated with the new beam based on the new beam and the association relationship between the beams.

As another example, the first information may include indication information of the beam to be switched, but does not include indication information of the new beam. The network device may determine the new beam associated with the beam to be switched based on the beam to be switched and the association relationship between the beams.

As another example, the first information may include indication information of the beam to be switched and indication information of the new beam. Furthermore, the first information may also indicate an association relationship between the beam to be switched and the new beam, and the association relationship between the beam to be switched and the new beam may be indicated explicitly or implicitly.

As a possible implementation manner, the first information may include association indication information, and the association indication information may be used to indicate at least one of the following: an association relationship between the beam to be switched and the new beam, an association relationship between the cell to be switched and the new cell, and an association relationship between the cell group to be switched and the new cell group. The association relationship between the beam to be switched and the new beam refers to switching from the beam to be switched to the associated new beam, the association relationship between the cell to be switched and the new cell refers to switching from the cell to be switched to the associated new cell, and the association relationship between the cell group to be switched and the new cell group refers to switching from the cell group to be switched to the associated new cell group.

As another possible implementation, the first information implicitly indicates at least one of the following: an association relationship between the beam to be switched and the new beam, an association relationship between the cell to be switched and the new cell, and an association relationship between the cell group to be switched and the new cell group. The implicit method may be to carry the mutually associated information in the first information according to a preset order and position.

As can be seen from the above, in some embodiments, the new beam and the beam to be switched may be associated with each other. In other words, the new beam and the current beam may be associated with each other.

Furthermore, the terminal device can switch to a new beam. Specifically, the terminal device can switch to a new beam associated with the beam to be switched or a new beam associated with the current beam. For example, if beam 1 is the beam to be switched, beam 1 is associated with beam 2, and beam 2 is a new beam, the terminal device can switch from beam 1 to beam 2.

Alternatively, the terminal device may no longer use all current beams associated with the new beam or the beam to be switched associated with the new beam. For example, Beam 1 is the new beam, and Beam 2 and Beam 3 associated with Beam 1 are the current beams. Beam 2 is the beam to be switched, and Beam 3 is not. The terminal device may switch Beam 2 to Beam 1. Furthermore, the terminal device may not switch Beam 3 to Beam 1, or it may switch Beam 3 to Beam 1.

In a specific implementation, the network device can configure the association relationship between RS transmission parameters to configure the association relationship between beams.

Specifically, the resource configuration information may include configuration information of a first RS transmission parameter and configuration information of a second RS transmission parameter, wherein the first RS transmission parameter is associated with the current beam, the second RS transmission parameter is associated with the alternative beam, and the first RS transmission parameter and the second RS transmission parameter are associated. The first RS transmission parameter may be at least one of the following: a first RS resource, a first RS resource set, or a first RS resource configuration, and the second RS transmission parameter may be at least one of the following: a second RS resource, a second RS resource set, or a second RS resource configuration. The RS transmission parameter may be represented by an index or identifier of the RS transmission parameter.

In a specific implementation, the first RS transmission parameter and the second RS transmission parameter can be associated in at least one of the following ways: the configuration information of the first RS transmission parameter includes the configuration information of the second RS transmission parameter, the configuration information of the second RS transmission parameter includes the configuration information of the first RS transmission parameter, and the network device indicates the association relationship between the first RS transmission parameter and the second RS transmission parameter through signaling.

Furthermore, if the current beam associated with the first RS transmission parameter is the beam to be switched, the terminal device can use the alternative beam associated with the second RS transmission parameter as the new beam corresponding to the beam to be switched, or the terminal device can measure the second RS transmission parameter to determine the new beam corresponding to the beam to be switched.

In the first example, one RS resource can be associated with another RS resource.

For example, if the terminal device determines that beam 1 is the beam to be switched by measuring RS resource 1, it can measure RS resource 2 associated with RS resource 1 to determine whether beam 2 is the corresponding new beam.

In the second example, an RS resource can be associated with multiple RS resources. For example, an RS resource can be associated with an RS resource set, thereby being associated with the RS resources in the RS resource set. For another example, an RS resource can be associated with an RS resource configuration, thereby being associated with the RS resources in the RS resource configuration.

For example, if the terminal device determines that beam 1 is the beam to be switched by measuring RS resource 1, it can measure RS resource 2 and RS resource 3 associated with RS resource 1 to determine whether beam 2 corresponding to RS resource 2 and beam 3 corresponding to RS resource 3 are corresponding new beams.

In a third example, multiple RS resources can be associated with multiple RS resources. For example, an RS resource set can be associated with another RS resource set. For another example, an RS resource set can be associated with an RS resource configuration. For another example, an RS resource configuration can be associated with another RS resource configuration. For another example, an RS resource configuration can be associated with an RS resource set.

For example, if the terminal device determines that beam 1 is the beam to be switched by measuring RS resource 1, and RS resource set 1 and RS resource set 2 to which RS resource 1 belongs are associated, the terminal device can measure the RS resources in RS resource set 2 to determine the new beam.

It should be noted that the network device may not configure the association relationship between beams. For example, after receiving the first information, the network device may start a beam training process.

For more details about the eighth embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that the various embodiments, various possible implementation methods, various examples, various cases, solutions, etc. provided in this document can be used alone or in combination with each other to achieve different technical effects.

It can be understood that, in a specific implementation, the above method can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs in a processor integrated inside a chip or chip module; or, the method can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and software, for example, using a dedicated chip or chip module, or using a dedicated chip or chip module in combination with a software program.

Referring to Figure 9, Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device shown in Figure 9 can be deployed in a terminal device. The device shown in Figure 9 may include:

The sending module 91 is configured to send first information, where the first information includes at least one of the following:

Information about a detected switching event, the switching event being used for beam management or beam switching;

First indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a beam to be switched and/or a cell to be switched and/or a cell group to be switched, where the cell to be switched is a cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched is a cell group to which the cell to be switched belongs;

Second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell is the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group is the cell group to which the new cell belongs.

Optionally, the sending module 91 may be a communication interface, a transceiver, etc.

In a specific implementation, the communication device shown in Figure 9 may correspond to a chip with communication function in a terminal device; or correspond to a chip or chip module with communication function in a terminal device, or correspond to a terminal device.

Referring to Figure 10, Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device shown in Figure 10 can be deployed in a network device. The device shown in Figure 10 may include:

The receiving module 101 is configured to receive first information, where the first information includes at least one of the following:

Information about a detected switching event, the switching event being used for beam management or beam switching;

First indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a beam to be switched and/or a cell to be switched and/or a cell group to be switched, where the cell to be switched is a cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched is a cell group to which the cell to be switched belongs;

Second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell is the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group is the cell group to which the new cell belongs.

Optionally, the receiving module 101 may be a communication interface, a transceiver, etc.

In a specific implementation, the communication device shown in FIG10 may correspond to a chip with a communication function in a network device; or correspond to a chip or chip module with a communication function in a network device, or correspond to a network device.

For more information about the working principle, working method, beneficial effects, etc. of the communication device in the embodiment of the present application, please refer to the relevant description of the method above and will not be repeated here.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the above method is executed. The storage medium may include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk. The storage medium may also include a non-volatile memory or a non-transitory memory.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program executable on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the above method when executing the computer program. The communication device may be a terminal device or a network device, wherein the terminal device may be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet computer, an in-vehicle terminal, or a wearable device.

Referring to Figure 11, Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device shown in Figure 11 can be the above-mentioned terminal device or the above-mentioned network device. The communication device shown in Figure 11 includes a memory 111, a processor 112 and a transceiver 113. The processor 112 is coupled to the memory 111 and the transceiver 113. The memory 111 can be located inside the communication device or outside the communication device. The memory 111, the processor 112 and the transceiver 113 can be connected via a communication bus. The transceiver 113 is used to communicate with other devices.

Optionally, the transceiver 113 may be a transmitter or a receiver. The memory 111 stores a computer program that can be executed on the processor 112. When the processor 112 executes the computer program, the transceiver 113 executes the steps of the method provided in the above embodiment, and/or when the processor 112 executes the computer program, the transceiver 113 executes the steps of the method provided in the above embodiment.

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

It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer program can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center by wired or wireless means.

It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

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

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

In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may be physically included separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units. For example, for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip, the various modules/units contained therein may all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, or at least some of the modules/units may be implemented in the form of software programs, which run on the processor integrated inside the chip, and the remaining (if any) modules/units may be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip module, the various modules/units contained therein may all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules/units may be located in the same component (such as a chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least some of the modules/units may be located in the same component (such as a chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least some of the modules/units may be located in the same component (such as a chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module. The element can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the chip module, and the remaining (if any) modules/units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated in the terminal, the various modules/units contained therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules/units can be located in the same component (for example, chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components in the terminal, or, at least some modules/units can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the terminal, and the remaining (if any) modules/units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits.

The above-mentioned integrated unit implemented in the form of a software functional unit can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The above-mentioned software functional unit is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform some steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, ROM, random access memory RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc., various media that can store program code.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein simply describes an association between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and/or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character "/" as used herein indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

The term "plurality" used in the embodiments of the present application refers to two or more.

In this application, "equal to" can be used in conjunction with "less than" or "greater than", but not with both "less than" and "greater than". When "equal to" is used in conjunction with "less than", the technical solution used for "less than" applies. When "equal to" is used in conjunction with "greater than", the technical solution used for "greater than" applies.

The first, second, etc. descriptions appearing in the embodiments of this application are only for illustration and distinction of the description objects. There is no order, nor does it indicate any special limitation on the number of devices in the embodiments of this application, and cannot constitute any limitation on the embodiments of this application.

Although the present application is disclosed as above, the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be based on the scope defined by the claims.

Claims (25)

A communication method, characterized in that the method comprises: Sending first information, where the first information includes at least one of the following: Information about a detected switching event, the switching event being used for beam management or beam switching; First indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a beam to be switched and/or a cell to be switched and/or a cell group to be switched, where the cell to be switched is a cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched is a cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs; Second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell is the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group is the cell group to which the new beam belongs. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the first indication information includes at least one of the following: cell identification information of the cell to be switched, identification information of the reference signal (RS) resource configuration associated with the cell to be switched, identification information of the RS resource set associated with the cell to be switched, identification information of the RS resource associated with the cell to be switched, and identification information of the report configuration associated with the cell to be switched; And/or, the second indication information includes at least one of the following: cell identification information of the new cell, identification information of the RS resource configuration associated with the new cell, identification information of the RS resource set associated with the new cell, identification information of the RS resources associated with the new cell, and identification information of the report configuration associated with the new cell. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the first information further includes at least one of the following: Association indication information, where the association indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: an association relationship between the beam to be switched and the new beam, an association relationship between the cell to be switched and the new cell, and an association relationship between the cell group to be switched and the new cell group; The new beam to which the first channel applies; The channel to which the new beam is applicable; The RS to which the new beam is applicable; The control resource set CORESET applicable to the new beam; Channels for which the new beam is not applicable; RSs to which the new beam is not applicable; CORESET to which the new beam is not applicable; Probability information of applying the new beam; Probability information of switching to the new cell; Probability information of switching to the new cell group; Panel information corresponding to the beam to be switched; Panel information corresponding to the new beam; Indication information indicating that the multiple new beams are used for simultaneous downlink reception; Indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; Panel information corresponding to multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; Indication information indicating that the multiple new beams are used for uplink simultaneous transmission; Indication information for multiple new beams sent simultaneously in uplink; Panel information corresponding to multiple new beams sent simultaneously in uplink; The proposed unified transport configuration indicates the type of TCI state; The proposed unified TCI framework; Proposed transmission scheme; Recommended transmission scheme for the second channel; Recommended beam training method; Recommended value of the repetition parameter in the beam training reference signal configuration information. The communication method according to claim 3, wherein the transmission scheme is single transmission reception point (TRP) transmission or multi-TRP transmission; Among them, the multi-TRP transmission includes at least one of the following: single frequency network SFN transmission, time division multiplexing TDM transmission, space division multiplexing SDM transmission, and frequency division multiplexing FDM transmission. The communication method according to claim 3 is characterized in that the proposed unified TCI framework is a unified TCI activation or indication method for single TRP transmission or a unified TCI activation or indication method for multiple TRP transmission. The communication method according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the new beam includes a first beam, and the first beam satisfies at least one of the following: The first beam is not applicable to a first physical downlink shared channel PDSCH and/or a first physical uplink shared channel PUSCH, wherein a transmission time interval between a physical downlink control channel PDCCH that schedules the first PDSCH and the first PDSCH is less than or equal to a twenty-second threshold, and the first PUSCH is a PUSCH indicated or activated by downlink control information DCI format 0_0; The first beam is not applicable to a first RS, and a unified TCI state is not applied to the first RS; The first beam is not applicable to a second RS, wherein a transmission time interval between a PDCCH triggering the second RS and the second RS is less than or equal to a twenty-third threshold value; The first beam is not applicable to a first CORESET, and at least one SS in a search space SS associated with the first CORESET is a common search space CSS or a CSS other than type 3. The communication method according to claim 1 is characterized in that the first information is transmitted to the current serving cell, and/or the cell to be switched, and/or the new cell. The communication method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a response to the first information, the response satisfying at least one of the following: The response is used to confirm or trigger at least one of beam switching, cell switching and cell group switching; indication information of a second target beam; indication information of the cell to which the second target beam belongs; Indication information of the cell group to which the cell to which the second target beam belongs belongs; a channel to which the second target beam is applicable; The RS to which the second target beam applies; The CORESET to which the second target beam applies; a channel to which the second target beam is not applicable; RS to which the second target beam is not applicable; The CORESET to which the second target beam is not applicable; indication information indicating that a plurality of the second target beams are used for simultaneous downlink reception; Indication information of a plurality of the second target beams for simultaneous downlink reception; Indication information for simultaneous uplink transmission of multiple second target beams; Indication information of a plurality of the second target beams for simultaneous uplink transmission; a second target beam applicable to the third channel; Unify the types of TCI status; Unified TCI framework; transmission scheme; The transmission scheme adopted by the fourth channel; Beam training method; The value of the repetition parameter in the beam training reference signal configuration information. The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the response to receiving the first information includes at least one of the following: receiving the response from the current serving cell; receiving the response from the cell to be handed over; receiving the response from the new cell; The response is received from the cell to which the second target beam belongs. The communication method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving third configuration information, wherein the third configuration information is used to reconfigure the physical cell identifier (PCI) list. A communication method, characterized in that the method comprises: Receive first information, where the first information includes at least one of the following: Information about a detected switching event, the switching event being used for beam management or beam switching; First indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a beam to be switched and/or a cell to be switched and/or a cell group to be switched, where the cell to be switched is a cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched is a cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs; Second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell is the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group is the cell group to which the new beam belongs. The communication method according to claim 11, characterized in that the first indication information includes at least one of the following: cell identification information of the cell to be switched, identification information of the reference signal RS resource configuration associated with the cell to be switched, identification information of the RS resource set associated with the cell to be switched, identification information of the RS resource associated with the cell to be switched, and identification information of the report configuration associated with the cell to be switched; And/or, the second indication information includes at least one of the following: cell identification information of the new cell, identification information of the RS resource configuration associated with the new cell, identification information of the RS resource set associated with the new cell, identification information of the RS resources associated with the new cell, and identification information of the report configuration associated with the new cell. The communication method according to claim 11, wherein the first information further includes at least one of the following: Association indication information, where the association indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: an association relationship between the beam to be switched and the new beam, an association relationship between the cell to be switched and the new cell, and an association relationship between the cell group to be switched and the new cell group; The new beam to which the first channel applies; The channel to which the new beam is applicable; The RS to which the new beam is applicable; The control resource set CORESET applicable to the new beam; Channels for which the new beam is not applicable; RSs to which the new beam is not applicable; CORESET to which the new beam is not applicable; Probability information of applying the new beam; Probability information of switching to the new cell; Probability information of switching to the new cell group; Panel information corresponding to the beam to be switched; Panel information corresponding to the new beam; Indication information indicating that the multiple new beams are used for simultaneous downlink reception; Indication information of multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; Panel information corresponding to multiple new beams for simultaneous downlink reception; Indication information indicating that the multiple new beams are used for uplink simultaneous transmission; Indication information for multiple new beams sent simultaneously in uplink; Panel information corresponding to multiple new beams sent simultaneously in uplink; The proposed unified transport configuration indicates the type of TCI state; The proposed unified TCI framework; Proposed transmission scheme; Recommended transmission scheme for the second channel; Recommended beam training method; Recommended value of the repetition parameter in the beam training reference signal configuration information. The communication method according to claim 13, wherein the transmission scheme is single transmission reception point (TRP) transmission or multi-TRP transmission; Among them, the multi-TRP transmission includes at least one of the following: single frequency network SFN transmission, time division multiplexing TDM transmission, space division multiplexing SDM transmission, and frequency division multiplexing FDM transmission. The communication method according to claim 13 is characterized in that the proposed unified TCI framework is a unified TCI activation or indication method for single TRP transmission or a unified TCI activation or indication method for multiple TRP transmission. The communication method according to claim 11 or 13, wherein the new beam includes a first beam, and the first beam satisfies at least one of the following: The first beam is not applicable to a first physical downlink shared channel PDSCH and/or a first physical uplink shared channel PUSCH, wherein a transmission time interval between a physical downlink control channel PDCCH that schedules the first PDSCH and the first PDSCH is less than or equal to a twenty-second threshold, and the first PUSCH is a PUSCH indicated or activated by downlink control information DCI format 0_0; The first beam is not applicable to a first RS, and a unified TCI state is not applied to the first RS; The first beam is not applicable to a second RS, wherein a transmission time interval between a PDCCH triggering the second RS and the second RS is less than or equal to a twenty-third threshold value; The first beam is not applicable to a first CORESET, and at least one SS in a search space SS associated with the first CORESET is a common search space CSS or a CSS other than type 3. The communication method according to claim 11 is characterized in that the first information is transmitted to the current serving cell, and/or the cell to be switched, and/or the new cell. The communication method according to claim 11, further comprising: sending a response to the first information, wherein the response satisfies at least one of the following: The response is used to confirm or trigger at least one of beam switching, cell switching and cell group switching; indication information of a second target beam; indication information of the cell to which the second target beam belongs; Indication information of the cell group to which the cell to which the second target beam belongs belongs; a channel to which the second target beam is applicable; The RS to which the second target beam applies; The CORESET to which the second target beam applies; a channel to which the second target beam is not applicable; RS to which the second target beam is not applicable; The CORESET to which the second target beam is not applicable; indication information indicating that a plurality of the second target beams are used for simultaneous downlink reception; Indication information of a plurality of the second target beams for simultaneous downlink reception; Indication information for simultaneous uplink transmission of multiple second target beams; Indication information of a plurality of the second target beams for simultaneous uplink transmission; a second target beam applicable to the third channel; Unify the types of TCI status; Unified TCI framework; transmission scheme; The transmission scheme adopted by the fourth channel; Beam training method; The value of the repetition parameter in the beam training reference signal configuration information. The communication method according to claim 18, wherein the response to sending the first information includes at least one of the following: Sending the response in the current serving cell; Sending the response in the cell to be switched; sending the response in the new cell; The response is sent in the cell to which the second target beam belongs. The communication method according to claim 11, characterized in that the method further comprises: sending third configuration information, wherein the third configuration information is used to reconfigure the physical cell identifier (PCI) list. A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises: a sending module, configured to send first information, where the first information includes at least one of the following: information about a detected switching event, where the switching event is used for beam management or beam switching; First indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a beam to be switched and/or a cell to be switched and/or a cell group to be switched, where the cell to be switched is a cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched is a cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs; Second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell is the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group is the cell group to which the new beam belongs. A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises: A receiving module, configured to receive first information, where the first information includes at least one of the following: information about a detected switching event, where the switching event is used for beam management or beam switching; First indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a beam to be switched and/or a cell to be switched and/or a cell group to be switched, where the cell to be switched is a cell to which the beam to be switched belongs, and the cell group to be switched is a cell group to which the beam to be switched belongs; Second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate a new beam and/or a new cell and/or a new cell group, the new cell is the cell to which the new beam belongs, and the new cell group is the cell group to which the new beam belongs. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that when the computer program is executed by a processor, the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 or the communication method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 is executed. A communication device comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and is characterized in that when the processor runs the computer program, it executes the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10. A communication device comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and is characterized in that when the processor runs the computer program, it executes the steps of the communication method described in any one of claims 11 to 20.