WO2025247287A1 - Communication method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communications, and specifically relates to a communication method and a communication apparatus. Satellites have wide coverages and fast moving speeds, resulting in significantly increased resource overhead, duration, and power consumption during SSB measurements by terminals. In the prior art, area-level SSB measurement configurations are used. However, considering that parameters, such as movement of satellites or terminals, SSB beam ranges in which the terminals are located at different moments, and corresponding measurement windows and SSBs to be measured, are different, if the terminals continue to use original measurement configurations, inaccurate mobility determination may be caused. In the method provided in the present application, a terminal device can identify a measurement configuration change caused by movement of a satellite or the terminal, and then update the measurement configuration in a timely manner, thereby improving the accuracy of SSB measurements and reducing the paging resource overhead.

Description

Communication methods and devices Technical Field

This application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a communication method and apparatus.

Background Technology

Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) refer to networks that communicate using aerial equipment such as satellites, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or high-altitude platform stations (HAPS). NTNs are characterized by wide coverage, low latency, broadband speeds, and low cost. As a supplement and extension to terrestrial networks, NTNs can achieve wide-area seamless coverage that wired telephone networks and terrestrial mobile communication networks cannot, effectively solving the problem of internet access in areas with insufficient communication infrastructure.

Compared to terrestrial communication systems, satellite communication systems offer wider coverage. Achieving seamless coverage requires hundreds or even thousands of synchronization signal block (SSB) beams, with a single complete scan taking approximately several hundred milliseconds. Furthermore, due to the high speed of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, terminals may frequently switch between multiple satellites. However, the large number of SSB beams increases the time required for the terminal to search for and measure SSBs, and the network side needs to configure a longer measurement window in the SSB measurement timing configuration (SS/PBCH block-based measurement time configuration, SMTC).

Summary of the Invention

This application provides a communication method and apparatus for updating SSB measurement configuration, which can avoid inaccurate mobility management caused by SSB measurement deviation, thereby improving measurement performance and reducing paging resource overhead.

In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by a component of the terminal device, such as the terminal device's processor, chip, or chip system, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal device's functions.

The method provided in the first aspect includes: receiving a first measurement parameter from a network device, such as a satellite, the first measurement parameter indicating a first measurement period and a first SSB to be measured, the first measurement parameter being, for example, an SMTC parameter; measuring the first SSB to be measured during at least one measurement cycle of the first measurement period to obtain a first measurement result; determining a first SSB based on the first measurement result, the first SSB being, for example, the SSB with the highest signal quality among the first SSBs to be measured; and determining whether to receive a second measurement parameter from the network device based on attributes of the first SSB and attributes of a second SSB, the second measurement parameter indicating a second measurement period and a second SSB to be measured, the second SSB being determined during a measurement cycle prior to the at least one measurement cycle.

In this embodiment, the terminal device determines whether to receive the second measurement parameter based on whether the attributes of the first SSB have changed compared to the attributes of the second SSB. The terminal device can identify changes in the measurement configuration caused by satellite or terminal device movement and update the measurement configuration in a timely manner, avoiding inaccurate mobility judgments and cell reselection due to SSB measurement deviations. This improves measurement performance and reduces paging resource overhead.

In one possible implementation, if the attributes of the first SSB and the attributes of the second SSB are different, a second measurement parameter is received from the network device.

In one possible implementation, if the attributes of the first SSB and the attributes of the second SSB are the same, the second measurement parameter from the network device is not received.

In one possible implementation, the first measurement parameter and the second measurement parameter are different, including: the first measurement parameter indicates a different first measurable SSB and the second measurement parameter indicates a different second measurable SSB.

In one possible implementation, the attributes of the first SSB include the index of the first SSB, and the attributes of the second SSB include the index of the second SSB.

In one possible implementation, the attributes of the first SSB include the set of SSB indexes to which the index of the first SSB belongs, and the attributes of the second SSB include the set of SSB indexes to which the index of the second SSB belongs, wherein the set of SSB indexes includes at least one SSB index.

In this embodiment, when the attributes of the SSB beam covering the terminal device change, the SSB measurement configuration also changes. The terminal device can re-search the system information and obtain the updated measurement configuration parameters, which can improve the accuracy of mobility management.

To enable a terminal device to determine whether the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering its terrestrial position belongs has changed, the method provided in the first aspect further includes: receiving first indication information from a network device, the first indication information indicating at least one SSB index set, the at least one SSB index set including the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering the terminal device belongs, and the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam adjacent to the beam covering the terminal device belongs.

Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a network device, or by a component of the network device, such as the network device's processor, chip, or chip system, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the network device's functions.

The method provided in the second aspect includes: sending first indication information to a terminal device, the first indication information indicating at least one SSB index set, the at least one SSB index set including an SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering the terminal device belongs, and an SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam adjacent to the beam covering the terminal device belongs, the SSB index set including at least one SSB index.

The network device indicates the aforementioned SSB index set to the terminal device, enabling the terminal device to determine whether the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering its terrestrial position belongs to a different SSB index set. This allows the terminal device to identify whether the SSB measurement configuration has changed and determine whether to receive the second measurement parameter, thereby improving the accuracy of SSB measurement.

Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by a component of the terminal device, such as the terminal device's processor, chip, or chip system, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal device's functions.

The method provided in the third aspect includes: accessing a network device at a first time; receiving first configuration parameters from the network device, the first configuration parameters including M second times and M sets of synchronization signal block (SSB) indexes, the second times being used to indicate the update time of the network device's SSB pattern, the SSB pattern being used to indicate the correspondence between the coverage area of the beam indicated by the SSB index and the ground area, the SSB index set including at least one SSB index, M being an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the M second times corresponding to the M sets of SSB indexes; receiving first measurement parameters from the network device, the first measurement parameters being used to indicate a first measurement period and a first SSB to be measured; measuring the first SSB to be measured during the first measurement period to obtain a first measurement result, and determining a first SSB based on the first measurement result, the first SSB being, for example, the SSB with the highest signal quality among the first SSBs to be measured; and receiving second measurement parameters sent by the network device at a third time based on the first SSB and the first configuration parameters, the second measurement parameters being used to indicate a second measurement period and a second SSB to be measured.

In this embodiment, the terminal device, based on the first configuration parameter, can identify the changes in the measurement parameter configuration in some beam directions caused by the SSB transmission pattern refresh due to the movement of the network device or the terminal device. It can update the SSB measurement configuration parameter in a timely manner, which can improve the measurement performance and reduce paging resource overhead.

In one possible implementation, if the index of the first SSB belongs to the first SSB index set, and the second time corresponding to the first SSB index set is greater than or equal to the first time, then the third time is greater than or equal to the second time corresponding to the first SSB index set, wherein the first SSB index set is one of the M SSB index sets.

In one possible implementation, the second time includes a system frame number and a system subframe number; the first configuration parameter also includes M first sequence numbers, wherein the M first sequence numbers, the M second time, and the M SSB index sets correspond to each other.

In one possible implementation, the first configuration parameter further includes a second sequence number, which is the first sequence number corresponding to the update time of the most recent SSB pattern of the network device before accessing the network device.

In one possible implementation, if the index of the first SSB belongs to the first SSB index set, and the first sequence number corresponding to the first SSB index set is greater than the second sequence number, then the third time is greater than or equal to the second time corresponding to the first SSB index set. The first SSB index set is one of the M SSB index sets.

In this embodiment, the terminal device receives the correspondence between the refresh times of M SSB patterns configured by the network device and the set of M SSB indices with changing measurement parameters. This allows it to determine whether the index of the first SSB belongs to the set of SSB indices with changing measurement parameters at subsequent SSB pattern refresh times. If the first SSB index belongs to the set of SSB indices with changing measurement parameters, and the refresh time of the SSB pattern corresponding to this set of indices is after the terminal device accesses the network device, the terminal device updates the SSB measurement configuration parameters promptly. This improves measurement performance and reduces paging resource overhead.

Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a network device, or by a component of the network device, such as the network device's processor, chip, or chip system, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the network device's functions.

The method provided in the fourth aspect includes: sending a first configuration parameter to a terminal device, the first configuration parameter including M second times and M sets of synchronization signal block (SSB) indexes, the second times being used to indicate the update time of the SSB pattern, the SSB pattern being used to indicate the correspondence between the coverage area of the beam indicated by the SSB index and the ground area, the SSB index set including at least one SSB index, M being an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the M second times corresponding to the M sets of SSB indexes; sending a first measurement parameter to the terminal device, the first measurement parameter being used to indicate a first measurement period and a first SSB to be measured; and sending a second measurement parameter to the terminal device at the second time corresponding to the ground wave position covered by the beam corresponding to the SSB index in the SSB index set included in the second time, the second measurement parameter being used to indicate a second measurement period and a second SSB to be measured.

In one possible implementation, the second time includes a system frame number and a system subframe number; the first configuration parameter also includes M first sequence numbers, wherein the M first sequence numbers, the M second time, and the M SSB index sets correspond to each other.

In one possible implementation, the first configuration parameter further includes a second sequence number, which is the first sequence number corresponding to the update time of the most recent SSB pattern before the terminal device accesses the network.

In this embodiment, the network device sends a first configuration parameter to the terminal device, enabling the terminal device to identify changes in the measurement parameter configuration in some beam directions caused by the SSB transmission pattern refresh due to the movement of the network device or the terminal device, and update the SSB measurement configuration parameters in a timely manner. This can improve measurement performance and reduce paging resource overhead.

Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by a component of the terminal device, such as the terminal device's processor, chip, or chip system, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal device's functions.

The method provided in the fifth aspect includes: receiving a second configuration parameter from a network device, the second configuration parameter including: location information of the network device, threshold information, a fourth time, and a first period, wherein the first period is used to indicate the update period of the synchronization signal block (SSB) pattern of the network device, the fourth time is used to indicate the update time of the most recent SSB pattern of the network device before accessing the network device, and the SSB pattern is used to indicate the correspondence between the coverage area of the beam indicated by the SSB index and the ground area; and based on the second configuration parameter, receiving a second measurement parameter sent by the network device at a third time, the second measurement parameter being used to indicate a second measurement period and a second SSB to be measured.

In one possible implementation, a fifth time is determined based on the fourth time and the first period, and the fifth time is used to indicate the update time of the SSB pattern of the network device after the fourth time; based on the location information of the network device, the fifth time, and its own location information, it is determined whether the location relationship with the network device meets a first condition at the fifth time; if the first condition is met, then the third time is greater than or equal to the fifth time.

In one possible implementation, the threshold information includes either a distance range or an angle range. The distance range is the range of values corresponding to the distance between the terminal device and the network device; or, the distance range is the range of values corresponding to the distance between a reference point of the terminal device and the network device. The angle range is the range of values corresponding to the angle between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the tangent line between the terminal device and the Earth's surface; or, the angle range is the range of values corresponding to the angle between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the line connecting the network device and the Earth's center.

In one possible implementation, the first condition includes: the distance between the terminal device and the network device is within a distance range; or, the distance between the reference points of the terminal device and the network device is within a distance range; or, the angle between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the tangent between the terminal device and the Earth's surface is within an angle range; or, the angle between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the line connecting the network device and the Earth's center is within the angle range.

In this embodiment, the terminal device receives the decision threshold and SSB pattern refresh time parameters configured by the network device. Based on the SSB pattern refresh time parameters, it can determine the subsequent SSB pattern refresh time and judge whether its positional relationship with the network device meets the decision threshold in the subsequent SSB pattern refresh time. If the decision threshold is met, the terminal device updates the SSB measurement configuration parameters in a timely manner, which improves measurement performance and reduces paging resource overhead.

Sixthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a network device, or by a component of the network device, such as the network device's processor, chip, or chip system, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the network device's functions.

The method provided in the sixth aspect includes: sending a second configuration parameter to a terminal device, the second configuration parameter including: location information of the network device, threshold information, a fourth time and a first period, wherein the first period is used to indicate the update period of the SSB pattern, the fourth time is used to indicate the update time of the most recent SSB pattern before the terminal device accesses the network, and the SSB pattern is used to indicate the correspondence between the coverage area of the beam indicated by the SSB index and the ground area; updating the SSB pattern at a fifth time; and sending a second measurement parameter to the terminal device covering the ground position of the beam whose adjacent beam has changed, the second measurement parameter being used to indicate a second measurement period and a second SSB to be measured, and the fifth time being the update time of the SSB pattern of the network device after the fourth time.

In one possible implementation, the threshold information includes either a distance range or an angle range. The distance range is the range of values corresponding to the distance between the terminal device and the network device; or, the distance range is the range of values corresponding to the distance between a reference point of the terminal device and the network device. The angle range is the range of values corresponding to the angle between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the tangent line between the terminal device and the Earth's surface; or, the angle range is the range of values corresponding to the angle between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the line connecting the network device and the Earth's center.

In this embodiment, the second configuration parameters sent by the network device to the terminal device include a decision threshold and an SSB pattern refresh time parameter. This allows the terminal device to determine the subsequent SSB pattern refresh time based on the SSB pattern refresh time parameter and to determine whether its positional relationship with the network device meets the decision threshold at the subsequent SSB pattern refresh time. If the decision threshold is met, the terminal device can update the SSB measurement configuration parameters in a timely manner, which can improve measurement performance and reduce paging resource overhead.

In a seventh aspect, this application provides a communication device that has the functions of implementing the first, third, or fifth aspects described above. For example, the communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the operations involved in the first, third, or fifth aspects described above. The modules, units, or means can be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

Eighthly, this application provides a communication device that has the functions of implementing the second, fourth, or sixth aspects described above. For example, the communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the operations involved in the second, fourth, or sixth aspects described above. The modules, units, or means can be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

Ninthly, this application provides a communication device, the communication device including a memory and one or more processors. The memory is used to store part or all of the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in the first, third, or fifth aspects described above. The one or more processors are capable of executing the computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the first, third, or fifth aspects described above.

In one possible design, the communication device may further include an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices or components through the interface circuit.

In one possible design, the communication device may also include the memory.

The aforementioned communication device may be a terminal, a communication module in a terminal, or a chip in a terminal that is responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip that contains a modem module.

Tenthly, this application provides a communication device comprising a memory and one or more processors. The memory stores part or all of the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions described in the second, fourth, or sixth aspects above. The one or more processors are capable of executing the computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the second, fourth, or sixth aspects above.

In one possible design, the communication device may further include an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices or components through the interface circuit.

In one possible design, the communication device may also include the memory.

The aforementioned communication device may be a base station, or a communication module in a base station, or a chip in a base station that is responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module.

Eleventhly, this application provides a communication system including at least one terminal device and at least one network device, wherein the terminal device is used to perform the methods in any possible design of the first, third, or fifth aspect described above, and the network device is used to perform the methods in any possible design of the second, fourth, or sixth aspect described above.

In a twelfth aspect, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when read and executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform any of the possible designs in the first to sixth aspects described above.

In a thirteenth aspect, this application provides a computer program product that, when read and executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the possible designs in the first to sixth aspects described above.

In a fourteenth aspect, this application provides a chip including a processor and a communication interface for communicating with external or internal devices, the processor for implementing any of the possible designs in the first to sixth aspects described above.

In one possible design, the chip may further include a memory storing computer programs or instructions, and a processor for executing the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, or derived from other programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the processor implements the methods in any of the possible designs described in the first to sixth aspects above.

In one possible design, the chip can be integrated into a terminal device or a network device.

Attached Figure Description

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 100 provided in an embodiment of this application;

Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of an NTN scenario based on transparent loads;

Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of an NTN scenario based on regenerative load;

Figure 3A is a schematic diagram of the process of performing SSB measurement on an IDLE-state terminal;

Figure 3B is a schematic diagram of the process of performing SSB measurement on a connected terminal;

Figure 4A is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between satellite coverage and SSB beams;

Figure 4B is a schematic diagram of an SSB pattern;

Figure 4C is a schematic diagram of the mapping relationship between an SSB beam and a ground wave position;

Figure 5A is a schematic diagram of a scanning method for binding SSB patterns to satellites in NTN;

Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of a scanning method for binding wave positions to SSB patterns in NTN;

Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating an SSB measurement configuration update method provided in an embodiment of this application;

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the first measurement period determined based on SMTC;

Figure 8A is a schematic diagram of the SSB beam variation of a coverage terminal in an NTN;

Figure 8B is a schematic diagram of a terminal measurement of a neighboring satellite SSB located in an overlapping coverage area in an NTN;

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the change in the index set to which the SSB beam of the coverage terminal belongs in an NTN.

Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating another SSB measurement configuration update method provided in an embodiment of this application;

Figure 11A is a schematic diagram of the beam range in an NTN that requires re-searching for measurement information at time T1;

Figure 11B is a schematic diagram of the beam range in an NTN where measurement information needs to be re-searched at time T2;

Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating another SSB measurement configuration update method provided in an embodiment of this application;

Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the decision threshold corresponding to terminal re-search measurement information in an NTN;

Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application.

Detailed Implementation

The embodiments of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms "first," "second," "third," and "fourth," etc., used in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or apparatuses.

In this document, the term "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It will be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 100 provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication system 100 may include at least one network device (110a, 110b, 110c) and at least one terminal device (120a-120g). The network device and the terminal device can be interconnected via wired or wireless means. Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram; the communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices.

The network device provided in this application embodiment can be an access network device, such as a base station, Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), transmission reception point (TRP), next-generation Node B (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, access network device in an open radio access network (O-RAN or open RAN), or a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, etc. Alternatively, the network device can be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station, for example, it can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a central unit control plane (CU-CP) module, or a central unit user plane (CU-UP) module, etc. Network equipment can be satellite (as shown in Figure 1, 110a) or macro base station (as shown in Figure 1, 110b). Access network equipment can also be micro base station or indoor station (as shown in Figure 1, 110c), relay node or donor node, etc. This application does not limit the specific technology or equipment form used in the access network equipment.

The terminal device provided in this application embodiment can also be referred to as a terminal, including but not limited to: user equipment (UE), mobile station, or mobile terminal. The terminal device can be widely used for communication in various scenarios. These scenarios include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, or smart cities, etc. The terminal device can be a mobile phone (as shown in Figure 1, mobile phones 120a, 120d, and 120f), a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities (as shown in Figure 1, computer 120g), a wearable device, a vehicle (as shown in Figure 1, 120b), a drone, a helicopter, an airplane (as shown in Figure 1, 120c), a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, or a smart home device (as shown in Figure 1, printer 120e), etc. This application does not limit the specific technology or form of the terminal device.

Base stations and/or terminal equipment can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; or on water; or in the air on aircraft, balloons, or satellites. This application does not limit the environment/scenario in which the base stations and terminal equipment are located. Base stations and terminal equipment can be deployed in the same or different environments/scenarios; for example, both base stations and terminal equipment can be deployed on land; or, the base station can be deployed on land and the terminal equipment on water, etc., and so on.

The technical solutions of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, 5G systems, new radio (NR) systems, non-terrestrial networks (NTN) systems, and future communication systems. This application does not limit these applications.

The following section will first introduce several concepts that may be involved in this application.

(a) NTN network.

NTN networks refer to networks that utilize radio frequency resources on satellites (or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) platforms, high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), etc.). Compared to terrestrial cellular networks (such as 5G mobile communication systems), NTN networks offer wider coverage, lower latency, broadband speeds, and lower costs. As a supplement and extension to terrestrial networks, NTN networks can achieve wide-area seamless coverage that wired telephone networks and terrestrial mobile communication networks cannot, effectively solving internet access problems in areas lacking communication infrastructure. With a large number of satellites deployed in low Earth orbit, the round-trip transmission latency between satellites and ground terminals is significantly reduced, reaching a low latency of tens of milliseconds. The use of technologies such as high-frequency bands, multi-beamforming, and frequency reuse significantly improves satellite communication capabilities, reduces unit broadband costs, and meets the demands of high-data-rate services. Compared to terrestrial 5G base stations and submarine fiber optic cables, NTN has a significant cost advantage. Modern small satellites have low R&D and manufacturing costs, and software-defined technologies can further extend the lifespan of satellites in orbit. NTN networks can be used for global coverage (such as remote areas and ocean-going vessels), emergency relief (such as disaster monitoring and emergency communications), the Internet of Things, and high-speed mobility (such as high-speed rail and airplanes).

Typical scenarios for NTN networks to provide terminal device access include transparent payloads and regenerative payloads. Figure 2A illustrates an NTN scenario based on a transparent payload. A transparent payload modifies the uplink radio frequency (RF) signal carrier, filtering and amplifying it before downlink transmission. This type of payload only has an RF processing unit and lacks baseband demodulation, decoding, and other processing. Therefore, the signal waveform remains unchanged and is repeated. Figure 2B illustrates an NTN scenario based on a regenerative payload. A regenerative payload transforms and amplifies the uplink RF signal before downlink transmission. Signal transformation refers to digital processing, which can include demodulation, decoding, recoding, remodulation, and/or filtering. This is essentially equivalent to having all or part of the base station functionality on a satellite (or UAS platform, HAPS, etc.).

In some possible implementations, the NTN network described above may have the following elements:

(1) There are one or more gateways connecting the NTN network and the common data network.

(2) Feeder link: The wireless link between the gateway station and the satellite (or UAS platform).

(3) Service link: The wireless link between the terminal device and the satellite (or UAS platform).

(4) Satellite (or UAS platform) can realize transparent payload and regenerative payload.

(5) Whether the satellite constellation has an inter-satellite link (ISL) is optional. An inter-satellite link requires the satellite to be a regenerative payload (i.e., if there is an inter-satellite link, the satellite must be a regenerative payload). ISLs can operate in RF frequencies or optical bands.

(6) The terminal equipment is provided by satellites (or UAS platforms, HAPS, etc.) within the target service area.

(II) Mobility Management:

In terrestrial communication systems, terminal movement causes the terminal to select and hand over access between different base stations. The determination of handover-related states generally relies on mobility management. Mobility management mainly refers to the measurement procedures related to radio resource management (RRM) and the mobility signaling procedures triggered based on the measurement results. In mobility management, the base station or network side issues RRM measurement tasks to the terminal, including two basic measurement configurations:

• Measurement object: The specified frequency band to be measured, the form of the reference signal, and the time domain location of the reference signal to be measured, etc.;

• Measurement reporting: Specifies the conditions for triggering measurements and the methods for reporting measurement results.

In NR systems, there are two main types of reference signals that can be used for RRM measurements: the synchronization signal block (SSB) and the channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS). The SSB is a signal with a specific structure in a frequency domain, used by terminal equipment to synchronize with and locate base stations at the physical layer. Each base station has unique identification information within the SSB. Terminal equipment can detect and identify nearby base stations by decoding the SSB's identification information, and use the SSB for time synchronization and selecting suitable cells for connection.

Measurement timing configuration based on synchronization signal blocks (SSB) is a configuration method for measurement and timing based on SSB. By properly configuring SMTC parameters, terminal devices can effectively measure and time the SSB signals of surrounding cells, enabling them to select the appropriate access cell. In the NR protocol, the base station or network side mainly enables the terminal to perform SSB measurements in the RRC (radio resource control) idle and connected states by configuring SMTC. For idle state users, SMTC can be configured through system information block 2 (SIB2) and/or system information block 4 (SIB4); for connected state users, SMTC can be configured through the measurement object in the RRC signaling.

The overall SSB measurement process is shown in Figures 3A and 3B. Figure 3A illustrates the SSB measurement process for an idle-state terminal. The terminal receives configuration information from SIB2/SIB4 to obtain the SMTC configuration parameters, then measures the SSBs and selects the SSB with the highest reference signal received power (RSRP). Based on the SSB with the highest RSRP, the terminal initiates an access request to the base station. Figure 3B illustrates the SSB measurement process for a connected-state terminal. The terminal receives RRC signaling configuration messages to obtain the SMTC configuration parameters, then measures the SSBs and selects the SSB with the highest RSRP. The terminal then reports the index of the SSB with the highest RSRP to the base station. System messages SIB2/SIB4 can be configured at the cell or region level and broadcast to the terminal via the network side; RRC signaling can be configured at the user level, meaning that the parameters configured for each user can be different.

(III) Satellite SSB beam.

Compared to terrestrial communication systems, satellite communication systems have significant advantages, including wider coverage, greater transmission loss, and faster mobility. Unlike terrestrial systems, which can cover the service area of a single base station with a maximum of 8 SSBs (for Frequency Range 1, FR1) or 64 SSBs (for Frequency Range 2, FR2), satellite communication systems may require hundreds or even thousands of SSBs.

As shown in Figure 4A, this diagram illustrates the relationship between satellite coverage and SSB beams. A satellite achieves seamless coverage using N SSB beams, where N is related to the satellite's orbital altitude and/or beamwidth. Taking a satellite communication system with an orbital altitude of 600 km as an example, the service range of a single satellite can reach hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. To overcome the path loss caused by transmission distance and ensure communication service quality, satellites generally employ large-scale antenna arrays to provide higher array gain, but this also results in a narrower main lobe. For example, a coverage radius of 3 dB beamwidth is only a few tens of kilometers, covering an area of approximately several hundred square kilometers. Using narrow beams to achieve seamless coverage of a single satellite's service range requires thousands of beams. Furthermore, even with some beam widening, hundreds of beams are still needed to maintain the gain level and achieve coverage. When hundreds of beams are scanned, a complete scan takes approximately several hundred milliseconds.

Taking the satellite transmitting 256 SSB beams as an example, according to the NR protocol configuration in FR1, for a scenario with a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 30kHz, the satellite transmits 8 SSBs in the first 2ms of every 20ms. The overall transmission method of the 256 SSB beams can be shown in Figure 4B, where SFN represents the system frame number, 1 slot represents 1 time slot, and the 256 SSBs are divided into 32 groups of 8 SSBs each, with each group lasting 20ms, for a total duration of 640ms. Within each group, the first 2ms contain the SSBs, and the remaining 18ms are used for normal data transmission.

Considering that satellites maintain a specific relative relationship with each other while flying in orbit, seamless coverage of the entire constellation can be guaranteed when each satellite's coverage area is a rectangle. Terminals primarily perform mobility management and RRM measurements at the edge of satellite coverage, i.e., in the overlapping area with adjacent satellites. Taking rectangular coverage as an example, the satellite's service area is evenly divided into 256 rectangular regions, and each SSB beam covers one rectangular region. The SSB arrangement pattern can be shown in Figure 4C, where the number in each rectangle represents the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering that region.

(iv) Satellite SSB scanning method.

A beam position (BBS) refers to the location and range of a satellite beam on the ground. It is the smallest unit for defining the coverage area of a beam on the ground in satellite communications. One BBS corresponds to a specific coverage area on the ground. The BBS number identifies each BBS, and the size of the BBS is related to the width of the beam transmitted by the satellite. For broadcast beams, the size of one BBS can be the same as the coverage area of a single SSB beam on the ground. A physical cell is the basic unit that provides communication services to terminal devices within a specific area. A physical cell may include multiple beams in different directions, meaning it can cover multiple BBSs.

SSB pattern binding satellite scanning refers to a fixed SSB pattern used by the satellite to transmit SSB beams, which does not change with the satellite's position or coverage area. The SSB pattern is used to indicate the correspondence between the coverage area of the SSB beam and the ground area. As shown in Figure 5A, which is a schematic diagram of an NTN SSB pattern binding satellite scanning method, the regular hexagons represent ground positions, and the numbers in the hexagons represent the SSB indices of the beams covering these ground positions. There is a mapping relationship between the SSB indices and the ground positions; one SSB beam covers one position. As the satellite moves, the ground positions covered by the satellite change at times T0 and T1. The positions within the dashed lines represent positions within the satellite's coverage area at both times T0 and T1. It can be seen that the SSB indices corresponding to the same position within the dashed lines are different at times T0 and T1. However, from the satellite's perspective, the SSB scanning pattern is fixed and does not change with satellite movement.

The SSB pattern binding scan method refers to a scanning method where the SSB index of a beam covering the same area of the ground remains unchanged over a period of time. As shown in Figure 5B, which is a schematic diagram of an SSB pattern binding scan method in an NTN, at time T0, the satellite's SSB scan pattern is the area indicated by the dashed line; at time T1, the satellite's SSB scan pattern is the area indicated by the solid line. From the satellite's perspective, the SSB scan pattern changes as the satellite moves. To avoid changes in the SSB index corresponding to the same beam within a single satellite, a rolling mapping method as shown in Figure 5B can be used. At time T1, the ground beams entering the satellite's coverage area are the four rightmost beams in Figure 5B, and the SSB index of the beam covering these four beams is the SSB index of the beam covering the ground beams exiting the satellite's coverage area (i.e., the four leftmost beams in Figure 5B), namely {#0, #1, #2, #3}.

In satellite communication systems, due to the high speed of low-Earth orbit satellites, terminals frequently switch between multiple satellites, making mobility management particularly important. However, the excessive number of satellite SSB beams significantly prolongs the terminal's SSB search and measurement time during mobility management. Furthermore, because the distances to the terminal from serving satellites and neighboring satellites vary, the transmission latency of SSBs to the terminal also differs. To ensure that the SMTC (Signal Management Center) can include the SSBs to be measured from both serving and neighboring satellites, a longer measurement time window is required. However, an excessively long measurement time window leads to a significant decrease in terminal measurement efficiency. On the one hand, the power consumption of the terminal continuously searching for SSBs increases significantly; on the other hand, the time and frequency resource overhead occupied by the terminal in measuring SSBs also increases, which greatly limits the terminal's data transmission.

The 3GPP Release 17 standard defines four SMTCs: SMTC1 through SMTC4. SMTC1 is defined as the primary measurement configuration, including three parameters: periodicity, offset, and duration. The periodicity specifies the frequency of SSB measurements by the terminal, the offset indicates the start time of SSB measurements, and the duration indicates the length of the time window for SSB measurements. SMTC2 mainly includes a cell list (PCI-list) and periodicity. Compared to SMTC1, SMTC2 only performs SSB measurements on specific cells, and its period is generally shorter than SMTC1, but it reuses the same offset and duration. SMTC3 not only configures the periodicity, offset, duration, and cell list separately, but also specifies the index of the SSBs to be measured. However, it is generally used in integrated access and backhaul (IAB) scenarios.

In NTN scenarios, where the number of SSB beams on a satellite is relatively large, the values of the SMTC period, offset, and duration can be appropriately expanded to ensure that the SSB to be measured can be included in the configured SMTC window. Considering that the arrival delays of serving satellites and neighboring satellites to the terminal differ in NTN scenarios, using the same offset configuration might prevent the measurement of neighboring satellite SSBs within the configured duration, leading to measurement failure. Therefore, the 3GPP Release 17 standard added SMTC4 configuration to address the different delays of various satellites. SMTC4 includes a cell list and offset, and an offset can be configured for each cell list. Compared to SMTC1, the network side typically calculates the arrival delays of different satellites based on their locations and the terminal's location, and configures the corresponding satellite cell list and offset in SMTC4 to ensure that the SSBs of neighboring satellites can be detected by the terminal at the corresponding time and location. The period and duration are shared between SMTC4 and SMTC1. In addition, the NR protocol, based on the SMTC window, configures the ssb-ToMeasure parameter, which further reduces the number of SSBs to be measured by specifying the index of the SSB to be measured.

In NTN scenarios, the number of SSBs transmitted by satellites is far greater than that of terrestrial networks, and multiple SSBs are transmitted in segments. Therefore, when a terminal is within the range of different SSB beams, the index of the SSB to be measured and its temporal location vary significantly. For terminals in IDLE/INACTIVE mode, since the network cannot obtain the terminal's accurate location, it can only send cell-level or region-level measurement window configurations to the UE via broadcast system messages. To avoid the problems of short sleep time and excessive power consumption caused by the terminal measuring too many redundant SSBs, the network side prefers to configure region-level measurements based on the SSB beam coverage area. That is, for an SSB beam in a specific direction, a window is configured to measure SSB beams in several surrounding directions, and the measurement window parameters configured for different regions are different.

Once a terminal receives a system message containing measurement configuration, it generally will not update the system message again, unless the network side uses paging resources to paging the UE and instructs the UE to re-receive the system message. In reality, due to the high speed of satellite movement, the measurement configuration corresponding to the UE's SSB beam range or SSB beam area will change frequently. If paging is used to instruct the UE to update the system message, it will result in significant paging resource overhead.

To address the aforementioned technical issues, embodiments of this application provide the following communication method to enable terminal-side measurement configuration updates, allowing the terminal to promptly acquire changes in the SSB to be measured, while reducing the amount of measurement time and frequency resources consumed.

Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method (or a method for updating the measurement configuration of a reference signal) provided in an embodiment of this application. In this embodiment, the reference signal is an SSB (Secondary Sub-Signal). It should be noted that the method provided in this embodiment is also applicable to other reference signals, such as CSI-RS, demodulation reference signal (DMRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), and sounding reference signal (SRS), etc., and this embodiment does not limit the application to these. The method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

S601. The network device sends a first measurement parameter, which is used to indicate a first measurement period and a first SSB to be measured.

Optionally, the network device may also send a second measurement parameter, which indicates a second measurement period and a second SSB to be measured. It is understood that the first and second measurement parameters can be sent simultaneously or at different times using the same message, or simultaneously or at different times using different messages; this embodiment does not limit this.

It is understood that network devices can transmit SSB measurement configuration parameters through at least one beam or beam set. For example, SSB measurement configuration parameters transmitted by a network device through a first beam or beam set can be referred to as first measurement parameters, and SSB measurement configuration parameters transmitted by a network device through a second beam or beam set can be referred to as second measurement parameters. The SSB measurement configuration parameters may include at least one configuration information related to SSB measurement. For example, the SSB measurement configuration parameters may include an SMTC, or the SSB measurement configuration parameters may include an SMTC and the SSB to be measured (ssb-ToMeasure). Optionally, the SMTC may include periodicity, offset, and duration.

Taking the first measurement period as an example, if an SMTC is received, the terminal device can determine the first measurement period based on the received SMTC. As shown in Figure 7, assuming the first measurement period includes I measurement cycles, the duration of each measurement cycle is periodicity, and the start time of the i-th measurement cycle T_start = SFN_start + (i-1)*periodicity, where SFN_start can be subframe #0 of system frame #0, i is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 1. Each measurement period in the first measurement time interval may include X measurement time windows (or SMTC windows), where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The start time of each of the X measurement time windows corresponds to one of the X offsets, that is, the start time of each of the X measurement time windows is equal to the sum of T_start and the X offsets. For example, the start time of the first measurement time window is T_start + offset #1, the start time of the second measurement time window is T_start + offset #2, and so on, with the start time of the Xth measurement time window being T_start + offset #X. The duration of each measurement time window is the same, which is the duration. In Figure 7, each measurement period includes one measurement time window (as shown by the dashed rectangle), which corresponds to one offset and has a duration of the duration.

Understandably, the above description of the first measurement period also applies to determining the second measurement period, and will not be repeated here. Understandably, the specific configurations used to determine the first and second measurement periods may differ; for example, at least one of the values of periodicity, offset, and duration may differ.

Understandably, in the above example, the first measurement parameter and the second measurement parameter indirectly indicate the first measurement period and the second measurement period, respectively. Therefore, it can be considered that the first measurement parameter and the second measurement parameter are used to indicate or determine the first measurement period and the second measurement period, respectively. It should be noted that the first measurement period can also be indicated or determined by the first measurement parameter in other ways, such as the first measurement parameter directly indicating the start time and duration of the first measurement period, or the first measurement parameter directly indicating the start time and duration of the measurement time window. Similarly, the second measurement period can also be indicated or determined by the second measurement parameter in other ways. This application does not limit this aspect.

If an SMTC is received, the terminal device can determine the SSB to be measured based on the received SMTC. For example, taking the first SSB to be measured as an example, the terminal device measures the SSB within each of the X measurement time windows in each measurement cycle of the first measurement period. That is, the first SSB to be measured includes the SSBs within the X measurement time windows of each measurement cycle of the first measurement period. Understandably, the above description of determining the first SSB to be measured also applies to determining the second SSB to be measured, and will not be repeated here. Understandably, the specific configurations used to determine the first SSB to be measured and the second SSB to be measured may differ; for example, at least one of the values of periodicity, offset, and duration may differ.

Understandably, in the above example, the first measurement parameter and the second measurement parameter indirectly indicate the first SSB to be measured and the second SSB to be measured, respectively. Therefore, it can be considered that the first measurement parameter and the second measurement parameter are used to indicate or determine the first SSB to be measured and the second SSB to be measured, respectively. It should be noted that the first SSB to be measured can also be indicated or determined by the first measurement parameter in other ways, such as the first measurement parameter directly indicating the index of the first SSB to be measured. Similarly, the second SSB to be measured can also be indicated or determined by the second measurement parameter in other ways. This application does not limit this aspect.

For example, taking a first SSB to be measured as an example, the first measurement parameter may also include an ssb-ToMeasure parameter, which includes at least one SSB index. The SSB corresponding to this at least one SSB is then the first SSB to be measured. If the terminal device receives the ssb-ToMeasure parameter, it can determine the first SSB to be measured based on the received ssb-ToMeasure parameter. It is understood that the above description of determining the first SSB to be measured also applies to determining the second SSB to be measured, and will not be repeated here. It is understood that the specific configurations used to determine the first SSB to be measured and the second SSB to be measured may differ; for example, at least one of the SSB indices included in the ssb-ToMeasure parameter may be different.

As mentioned earlier, network devices can transmit SSB measurement configuration parameters through at least one beam or a set of beams. When a network device transmits SSB measurement configuration parameters through at least one beam, each beam can have its own corresponding measurement parameters. Taking the first and second measurement parameters as examples, one possible implementation is that the network device transmits the first and second measurement parameters, which correspond to the first and second beams, respectively. Understandably, the same applies to multiple measurement parameters; for example, a third measurement parameter might correspond to a third beam, which will not be listed here. The measurement parameters corresponding to each beam may be different.

The different measurement parameters corresponding to each beam can refer to at least one difference in the measurement configuration information indicated by the measurement parameters. Taking the difference between the first and second measurement parameters as an example, this could be due to: the first SSB to be measured indicated by the first measurement parameter being different from the second SSB to be measured indicated by the second measurement parameter; the first measurement time period indicated by the first measurement parameter being different from the second measurement time period indicated by the second measurement parameter; or the measurement time window indicated by the first measurement parameter being different from the measurement time window indicated by the second measurement parameter. Specifically, the difference between the first SSB to be measured indicated by the first measurement parameter and the second SSB to be measured indicated by the second measurement parameter can mean that at least one SSB is different between the SSBs included in the first SSB and the SSBs included in the second SSB.

For example, as shown in Figure 8A, the network device is a satellite, the arrow indicates the direction of satellite movement, the rectangle represents the ground band position, and the number in the rectangle represents the SSB index of the beam covering this band position. The satellite transmits 256 SSBs in each SSB cycle. The 256 SSBs are divided into 32 groups, with 8 SSBs per group. Each group lasts for 20ms, and the 256 SSBs last for a total of 640ms. The SSB cycle is 640ms.

Assuming the SSB#17 beam is the first beam, the first measurement parameter corresponding to this beam may include:

smtc1: {period, bias {0ms, 40ms, 80ms}, duration};

ssb-ToMeasure: {0, 1, 2, 16, 17, 18, 32, 33, 34};

The terminal device measures SSB#{0, 1, 2}, SSB#{16, 17, 18}, and SSB#{32, 33, 34} within three measurement time windows determined based on biases of 0ms, 40ms, and 80ms, respectively. The method for determining the start time of the measurement time window based on the bias can be found in the previous description and will not be repeated here. The first SSB to be measured is the SSB corresponding to the SSB index included in the above ssb-ToMeasure. The method for determining the first measurement period can be found in the previous description.

Network devices can broadcast system messages to terminal devices on terrestrial bands covered by the SSB#17 beam. These system messages include the aforementioned smtc1 configuration and ssb-ToMeasure parameters. For example, these system messages could be SIB2, SIB4, etc.

Assuming SSB#16 is the second beam, and since it is an edge beam of the satellite, the terminal equipment on the ground level covered by SSB#16 needs to measure not only the SSBs of the serving satellite but also the SSBs of neighboring satellites to execute satellite handover, cell handover, or cell reselection procedures. As shown in Figure 8B, which is a schematic diagram of the SSB arrangement of a serving satellite (also called the local satellite) and neighboring satellites (also called neighboring satellites), the overlapping area represents the overlap between the coverage areas of the local satellite and the neighboring satellites. Both the local satellite and the neighboring satellites have 256 SSBs, grouped into sets of 8, each group lasting 20ms. For SSB#16, in addition to the local satellite's SSB#{0, 1, 17, 32, 33} beams, there are also the neighboring satellite's SSB#{222, 223, 238, 239, 254, 255} beams. Therefore, the second measurement parameter corresponding to the SSB#16 beam may include:

smtc1: {period, bias {0ms, 40ms, 80ms}, duration};

smtc4: {neighbor PCI, bias {540ms, 580ms, 620ms}};

ssb-ToMeasure: {0, 1, 16, 17, 32, 33, 222, 223, 238, 239, 254, 255};

The terminal device measures the SSB#{0, 1}, SSB#{16, 17}, and SSB#{32, 33} of the local satellite within three measurement time windows determined based on offsets of 0ms, 40ms, and 80ms, respectively. Within another three measurement time windows determined based on offsets of 540ms, 580ms, and 620ms, it measures the SSB#{222, 223}, SSB#{238, 239}, and SSB#{254, 255} of neighboring satellites, respectively. The method for determining the start time of the measurement time window based on the offset can be found in the previous description and will not be repeated here. The second SSB to be measured is the SSB corresponding to the SSB index included in the above ssb-ToMeasure. The method for determining the second measurement period can be found in the previous description.

Therefore, for an edge beam, the measurement parameters corresponding to that beam include not only the SSB measurement configuration parameters of the local satellite but also the SSB measurement configuration parameters of neighboring satellites. It can be understood that the above example uses the second beam as an edge beam. For cases where the second beam is not an edge beam, similar to the first beam, the second measurement parameters corresponding to the second beam may include the SSB measurement configuration parameters of the local satellite but not the SSB measurement configuration parameters of neighboring satellites.

Network devices can broadcast system messages to terminal devices on terrestrial bands covered by the SSB#16 beam. These system messages include the aforementioned smtc1 configuration, smtc4 configuration, and ssb-ToMeasure parameters. For example, these system messages could be SIB2, SIB4, etc.

For network devices to transmit SSB measurement configuration parameters through at least one beam set, each beam set can have its own corresponding measurement parameters. Each beam set includes at least one beam, and this at least one beam corresponds to the same measurement parameter. The SSB indices of the beams in the beam set can form an SSB index set, and each SSB index set has its own corresponding measurement parameter. Taking the first measurement parameter and the second measurement parameter as examples, one possible implementation is as follows: the network device transmits the first measurement parameter and the second measurement parameter, which correspond to the first SSB index set and the second SSB index set, respectively. The first SSB index set and the second SSB index set include at least one SSB index, and the intersection of the first SSB index set and the second SSB index set can be an empty set, meaning that there are no identical SSB indices between the SSB indices included in the first SSB index set and the SSB index sets. Understandably, the same applies to multiple measurement parameters. For example, the third measurement parameter corresponds to the third SSB index set. The intersection of the third SSB index set and the first SSB index set, as well as the intersection of the third SSB index set and the second SSB index set, can be empty sets. These will not be listed here. The measurement parameters corresponding to each SSB index set may differ; please refer to the relevant descriptions above.

For example, as shown in Figure 9, the network device is a satellite, the arrow indicates the direction of satellite movement, the rectangle represents the ground wave position, the number in the rectangle represents the SSB index of the beam covering this wave position, and the shading in the rectangle is used to distinguish different sets of SSB indices. The SSB indices corresponding to the same shading pattern belong to the same set of SSB indices.

Assume the satellite transmits 256 SSBs per SSB cycle, divided into 32 groups of 8 SSBs each, with each group lasting 20ms. For example, SSB#{16-23} is one group of SSBs, and SSB#{24-31} is another group. For terminal equipment located within the coverage area of SSB#25, SSB#{24-31}, SSB#{8-15}, and SSB#{40-47} need to be measured. For terminal equipment located within the coverage area of SSB#24, in addition to measuring SSB#{24-31}, SSB#{8-15}, and SSB#{40-47}, SSB#{0-7}, SSB#{16-23}, and SSB#{32-39} also need to be measured. Although SSB#24 and SSB#25 belong to the same group SSB#{24-31}, they are different SSBs that need to be measured, have different corresponding SSB measurement configuration parameters, and belong to different SSB index sets.

For example, as shown in Figure 9, the first 48 SSB indexes can be divided into 12 SSB index sets, namely: {0}, {1-7}, {8}, {9-15}, {16}, {17-23}, {24}, {25-31}, {32}, {33-39}, {40}, and {41-47}. Understandably, other SSB indexes can also be divided into multiple SSB index sets using the same or similar methods, which will not be elaborated upon here.

It should be noted that the above method for determining the configuration of the SSB index set is exemplary. The configuration of the SSB index set is related to the arrangement of SSB beams within the satellite coverage area and the direction of satellite motion. This application embodiment does not limit this.

Assuming the SSB index set {25-31} is the first SSB index set, the first measurement parameter corresponding to this SSB index set may include:

smtc1: {period, bias {20ms, 60ms, 100ms}, duration};

ssb-ToMeasure: {8-15, 24-31, 40-47};

The terminal device measures SSB#{8-15}, SSB#{24-31}, and SSB#{40-47} within three measurement time windows determined based on biases of 20ms, 60ms, and 100ms, respectively.

Network devices can broadcast system messages (e.g., SIB2, SIB4, etc.) to terminal devices whose terrestrial positions are covered by the beams corresponding to the SSB indexes included in the SSB index set {25-31}. These system messages include the aforementioned smtc1 configuration and ssb-ToMeasure parameters. In other words, the measurement configuration parameters broadcast by the network device to the aforementioned terminal devices are identical.

Assuming the SSB index set {24} is the second SSB index set, the second measurement parameter corresponding to this SSB index set may include:

smtc1: {period, bias {0ms, 20ms, 40ms, 60ms, 80ms, 100ms}, duration};

ssb-ToMeasure: {0-7, 8-15, 16-23, 24-31, 32-39, 40-47};

The terminal device measures SSB#{0-7}, SSB#{8-15}, SSB#{16-23}, SSB#{24-31}, SSB#{32-39} and SSB#{40-47} respectively within six measurement time windows determined based on the bias of 0ms, 20ms, 40ms, 60ms, 80ms and 100ms.

In the example above, for the smallest SSB index in a set of SSBs, compared to the other SSB indices in that set, the beam corresponding to the smallest SSB index is adjacent to beams from more SSB groups. Therefore, the terminal device covered by the beam corresponding to the smallest SSB index can measure more SSBs. Thus, the smallest SSB index and the other SSB indices in that set belong to two separate SSB index sets, and the measurement parameters corresponding to the SSB index set to which the smallest SSB index belongs include more offsets and more SSBs to be measured, which can improve the accuracy of SSB measurement by the terminal device.

As mentioned earlier, the configuration of the SSB index set is related to the arrangement of SSB beams within the satellite coverage area and the satellite's direction of motion. Assuming the satellite's direction of motion is opposite to that shown in Figure 9, then the largest SSB index and the other SSB indices in that group belong to two separate SSB index sets. The reason for this is explained above and will not be repeated here.

Network devices can broadcast system messages (e.g., SIB2, SIB4, etc.) to terminal devices on terrestrial bands covered by the SSB#24 beam. These system messages include the aforementioned smtc1 configuration and ssb-ToMeasure parameters.

Understandably, the above example illustrates the situation where the beams corresponding to the SSB indices included in the SSB index set do not include edge beams. In the case where the beams corresponding to the SSB indices included in the SSB index set do include edge beams, the measurement parameters corresponding to the SSB index set include not only the SSB measurement configuration parameters of the local satellite but also the SSB measurement configuration parameters of neighboring satellites.

To enable a terminal device to determine whether the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering its terrestrial position belongs has changed, the network device can also send a first indication message to the terminal device. This first indication message indicates at least one SSB index set, which includes at least the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering the terminal device belongs, and the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam adjacent to the beam covering the terminal device belongs. In one possible implementation, the network device can send the first indication message to the terminal device via system messages (e.g., SIB1, SIB2, or SIB4).

In one possible implementation, the first indication information is used to indicate the configuration of the SSB index set or the configuration rules of the SSB index set. The configuration of the SSB index set includes the SSB indexes included in each SSB index set, and the configuration rules of the SSB index set are rules used to determine the configuration of the SSB index set.

Optionally, the first indication information may include the configuration of the SSB index set. Upon receiving the first indication information, the terminal device can directly determine the SSB indexes included in each SSB index set.

For example, the configuration of the SSB index set may include 64 SSB index sets. The network device may send the 64 SSB index sets to the terminal device. Each SSB index set includes 1 SSB index or 7 SSB indexes, and the total number of SSB indexes included in the 64 SSB index sets is 256.

It should be noted that the configuration of the SSB index set described above is exemplary, and this application embodiment does not limit it.

Optionally, the first indication information may include the index of the configuration rule of the SSB index set. Assuming the total number of configuration rules for the SSB index set is S, where S is an integer greater than or equal to 1, when the terminal device receives the first indication information, it can obtain the index of the configuration rule of the SSB index set, determine the configuration rule of the SSB index set indicated by that index from the preset S S SSB index set configuration rules, and thus determine the configuration of the SSB index set.

One possible configuration rule for the SSB index set is as follows: S1 SSBs are divided into S2 groups of SSBs, and each group of SSBs includes S3 SSBs; the indexes of the S3 SSBs in each group of SSBs are divided into two SSB index sets, wherein the minimum or maximum value among the S3 SSB indexes in each group of SSBs forms one SSB index set, and the other S3-1 SSB indexes form the other SSB index set.

For example, the 256 SSBs are divided into 32 groups of SSBs, with each group containing 8 SSBs. The indices of the 8 SSBs in each group are divided into two sets of SSB indices. One set of SSB indices consists of the minimum or maximum value among the 8 SSB indices in each group, and the other 7 SSB indices form the other set of SSB indices. Thus, the 256 SSBs are divided into 64 sets of SSB indices.

Optionally, the first indication information may include parameters of the configuration rules for the SSB index set. Upon receiving the first indication information, the terminal device can obtain the parameters of the configuration rules for the SSB index set, and based on these parameters, can further determine the configuration of the SSB index set.

For example, the configuration rules for the SSB index set include at least one of the following parameters: the number of SSBs S1, the number of SSB index sets S2, the number of SSBs included in each group of SSBs S3, and a bit-map consisting of S3 bits, wherein the indexes of the SSBs indicated by the "0" bits in the bit-map form one SSB index set, and the indexes of the SSBs indicated by the "1" bits in the bit-map form another SSB index set.

For example, the number of SSBs, S1, is 256; the number of SSB index sets, S2, is 64; the number of SSBs included in each SSB group, S3, is 8; and the bitmap is "01111111". The terminal device can determine the configuration of the SSB index sets based on these parameters, including: dividing the 256 SSBs into 32 groups of 8 SSBs each; based on the bitmap, determining the minimum value among the 8 SSB indices in each group to form one SSB index set, and the other 7 SSB indices to form another SSB index set; thus, the 256 SSBs are divided into 64 SSB index sets.

It should be noted that the configuration rules and parameters of the above-mentioned SSB index set are exemplary, and this application embodiment does not limit them.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information is used to indicate the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the ground wave position where the covering terminal device is located belongs, and the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam adjacent to the beam covering the terminal device belongs.

For example, taking Figure 9 as an example, the network device can send first indication information to the terminal device of the ground position covered by the SSB#24 beam. The SSB index set indicated by the first indication information includes: {1-7}, {8}, {9-15}, {17-23}, {24}, {25-31}, {33-39}, {40} and {41-47}. Among them, the SSB index set {24} is the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the SSB#24 beam belongs, and the other SSB index sets are the SSB index sets to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam adjacent to the SSB#24 beam belongs.

In some possible implementations, the configuration of the SSB index set or the configuration rules for the SSB index set are predefined or pre-configured. For example, 64 SSB index sets can be predefined in the protocol, each SSB index set including 1 SSB index or 7 SSB indexes, and the total number of SSB indexes included in the 64 SSB index sets is 256; alternatively, the configuration rules for the SSB index sets can be predefined in the protocol. Some possible configuration rules for SSB index sets or the parameters of the configuration rules can be found in the previous description and will not be repeated here. Based on the predefined configuration of the SSB index sets, the configuration rules for SSB index sets, or the parameters of the configuration rules for SSB index sets in the protocol, the terminal device can at least determine the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering the terrestrial wave position where the terminal device is located belongs, and the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam adjacent to the beam covering the terminal device belongs.

Understandably, for a terminal device that has received the first measurement parameter, the network device sending the second measurement parameter via broadcast does not necessarily mean that the terminal device will receive the second measurement parameter. Optionally, the terminal device can determine whether to receive the second measurement parameter through S602 and S603.

S602. The terminal device determines the first SSB and the second SSB.

For a terminal device that has received the first measurement parameters, the terminal device can determine a first measurement period and a first SSB to be measured based on the first measurement parameters, and measure the first SSB to be measured during the first measurement period to obtain a first measurement result. The terminal device can determine the first SSB based on the first measurement result. The method for determining the first SSB to be measured and the first measurement period is described in the relevant section of S601.

In some possible implementations, the terminal device measures the first SSB to be measured in at least one measurement cycle during the first measurement period to determine the first SSB. This at least one measurement cycle may be referred to as the third measurement cycle.

In the case where the third measurement cycle includes one measurement cycle, the terminal device can measure the first SSB to be measured in that measurement cycle to obtain the corresponding measurement result. This measurement result can include the signal quality of at least one SSB. Then, the terminal device can determine the first SSB based on the SSB with the highest signal quality among the above measurement results.

In some possible implementations, the above signal quality can be characterized by RSRP, reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc., and the embodiments of this application do not limit this.

Assuming that the number of SSBs with the highest signal quality in the above measurement results is 1, then the terminal device can determine that the first SSB is the SSB with the highest signal quality.

Assume that the number of SSBs with the highest signal quality in the above measurement results is more than 1, for example, L (L>1).

Optionally, the terminal device may designate any one of the L SSBs as the first SSB;

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the SSB with the smallest SSB index among the L SSBs as the first SSB;

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the SSB with the largest SSB index among the L SSBs as the first SSB;

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the earliest measured SSB among the L SSBs as the first SSB;

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the latest measured SSB among the L SSBs as the first SSB.

It should be noted that the method by which the terminal device determines the first SSB is exemplary, and the terminal device may also determine the first SSB through other methods. This application embodiment does not limit this method.

For example, as shown in Figure 8A, assuming the terminal device is within the coverage area of the SSB#17 beam at time T1, the terminal device can receive a system message (e.g., SIB2 or SIB4) corresponding to the SSB#17 beam, thereby obtaining the first measurement parameter corresponding to that beam. The first measurement parameter includes the smtc1 configuration and the ssb-ToMeasure parameter, which can be found in S601. The terminal device can determine the first measurement period and the first SSB to be measured based on the aforementioned smtc1 configuration and ssb-ToMeasure parameter.

Assuming the network equipment is a satellite, satellite movement will cause changes in the beam covering the terminal equipment. Furthermore, the movement of the terminal equipment itself will also cause changes in the beam covering it. Considering these factors, assuming the terminal equipment is within the coverage area of SSB#16 beam at time T2, and time T2 falls within the time frame of the third measurement cycle, the terminal equipment can measure the first SSB to be measured during the third measurement cycle.

In the example above, the terminal device is within the coverage area of SSB#16 at time T2. SSB#16 has the highest signal quality, so the first SSB is determined to be SSB#16.

Another example is given below. As shown in Figure 9, assuming the terminal device is within the coverage area of the SSB#25 beam at time T1, the terminal device can receive the system message (e.g., SIB2 or SIB4) corresponding to the SSB#25 beam, thereby obtaining the first measurement parameter corresponding to the SSB index set {25-31} to which SSB#25 belongs. The smtc1 configuration and ssb-ToMeasure parameter included in the first measurement parameter can be found in S601. The terminal device can determine the first measurement period and the first SSB to be measured based on the above smtc1 configuration and ssb-ToMeasure parameter.

Considering satellite movement or terminal movement, assuming that the terminal device is within the coverage area of SSB#24 beam at time T2, where time T2 is within the time range of the third measurement cycle, the terminal device can measure the first SSB to be measured in the third measurement cycle.

In the example above, the terminal device is located within the coverage area of SSB#24 at time T2. SSB#24 has the highest signal quality, so the first SSB is determined to be SSB#24.

In the case where the third measurement cycle includes multiple (e.g., K, K>1) measurement cycles, the terminal device measures the first SSB to be measured in each of the K measurement cycles, and can obtain K measurement results.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device can determine the highest quality signal SSB in each measurement result. Assuming the terminal device can obtain P highest quality signal SSBs from the measurement results of K measurement cycles, since the highest quality signal SSB determined in each measurement cycle can be greater than or equal to 1, then P is greater than or equal to K.

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the first SSB as the SSB that appears most frequently among the P SSBs with the highest signal quality.

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the first SSB as any one of the SSBs that appears most frequently among the P SSBs with the highest signal quality.

Optionally, the terminal device may determine that the first SSB is the one with the smallest SSB index among the SSBs that appear most frequently among the P SSBs with the highest signal quality.

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the first SSB as the SSB with the largest SSB index among the P SSBs with the highest signal quality that appear most frequently.

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the first SSB as the SSB with the highest signal quality among the P SSBs with the highest signal quality.

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the first SSB as any one of the P SSBs with the highest signal quality.

Optionally, the terminal device may determine that the first SSB is the one with the smallest SSB index among the P SSBs with the highest signal quality.

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the first SSB as the one with the largest SSB index among the P SSBs with the highest signal quality.

It should be noted that the method by which the terminal device determines the first SSB from the P SSBs with the highest signal quality is exemplary. The terminal device can also determine the first SSB by other methods, and this application embodiment does not limit this.

In another possible implementation, the terminal device can determine the statistical value of the signal quality of each SSB in the K measurement results. The statistical value can be, for example, the average, maximum, or minimum value; this embodiment does not limit this. Assuming the terminal device determines the statistical values of the signal quality of Q SSBs, if there is only one maximum value among the statistical values of the signal quality of the Q SSBs, the terminal device can determine the SSB corresponding to the maximum value among the statistical values of the signal quality as the first SSB. If there are more than one maximum value among the statistical values of the signal quality of the Q SSBs, the description of determining the first SSB from the L SSBs with the highest signal quality can be referred to above, and will not be repeated here.

The network device can send indication information to the terminal device, which indicates the value of K. The terminal device receives the indication information and can determine the value of K. It is understood that the indication information can be included in the first measurement parameter or can be independent of the first measurement parameter; this application embodiment does not limit this.

Optionally, the network device can send the value of K to the terminal device through system messages (such as SIB1, SIB2, SIB4, etc.).

Optionally, the value of K is predefined or preconfigured, such as by a protocol definition. The terminal device can determine that the value of K is this predefined or preconfigured value.

In some possible implementations, the terminal device determines the second SSB before determining the first SSB. For example, the terminal device measures the first SSB in N measurement cycles prior to the aforementioned third measurement cycle, and determines the second SSB based on the measurement results. Here, the N measurement cycles belong to the first measurement period, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The method by which the terminal device determines the second SSB can be similar to that used to determine the first SSB, and will not be elaborated further here.

Network devices can indicate the value of N to terminal devices, as described earlier regarding the indication of the value of K by network devices, and will not be repeated here. Optionally, the value of N can be predefined or preconfigured, such as by protocol definition.

For example, as shown in Figure 8A, assuming that time T1 is within the time range of one measurement cycle before the third measurement cycle, the terminal device is located within the range covered by the SSB#17 beam at time T1, and the signal quality of SSB#17 is the highest. Therefore, the second SSB is determined to be SSB#17.

For example, as shown in Figure 9, assuming that time T1 is within the time range of one measurement cycle before the third measurement cycle, the terminal device is within the coverage area of SSB#25 at time T1, and the signal quality of SSB#25 is the highest. Therefore, the second SSB is determined to be SSB#25.

It is understandable that the above description of the terminal device measuring the first SSB to be measured in the first measurement period also applies to the terminal device measuring the second SSB to be measured in the second measurement period, and will not be repeated here.

S603. The terminal device determines whether to receive the second measurement parameter based on the attributes of the first SSB and the second SSB.

After the terminal device determines the first SSB and the second SSB, it can determine whether the attributes of the first SSB and the second SSB are the same. If the attributes of the first SSB and the second SSB are different, the terminal device can re-search the system information to obtain the updated SSB measurement configuration parameters, i.e., the second measurement parameters. If the attributes of the first SSB and the second SSB are the same, the terminal device will not re-search the system information and will not receive the second measurement parameters. Alternatively, the terminal device can ignore the second measurement parameters after re-searching the system information.

In some possible implementations, the attributes of the first SSB include the index of the first SSB, and the attributes of the second SSB include the index of the second SSB.

For example, referring to the example in S602, the attribute of the first SSB is index #16, and the attribute of the second SSB is index #17. Therefore, the terminal device determines that the attributes of the first SSB and the second SSB are different. The terminal device can receive the system message corresponding to the SSB#16 beam, thereby obtaining the second measurement parameters corresponding to the SSB#16 beam. The second measurement parameters, including the SMTC1 configuration, SMTC4 configuration, and SSB-ToMeasure parameters, can be found in S601. The terminal device performs corresponding measurements based on the second measurement parameters in a manner similar to performing corresponding measurements based on the first measurement parameters. Refer to the relevant descriptions in the preceding sections of the embodiments; they will not be repeated here.

In some possible implementations, the attributes of the first SSB include the set of SSB indexes to which the index of the first SSB belongs, and the attributes of the second SSB include the set of SSB indexes to which the index of the second SSB belongs.

The terminal device also receives first indication information sent by the network device. This first indication information can at least indicate the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering the terrestrial band where the terminal device is located belongs, and the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam adjacent to the beam covering the terminal device belongs. Refer to the description in S601 for relevant details. Further, based on this indication information, the terminal device can determine the SSB index set to which the index of the first SSB belongs and the SSB index set to which the index of the second SSB belongs.

For example, in another example of S602, if the first SSB is SSB#24, then the attribute of the first SSB is the SSB index set {24}, and the second SSB is SSB#25, then the attribute of the second SSB is the SSB index set {25-31}. The terminal device then determines that the attributes of the first SSB and the second SSB are different. The terminal device can receive a system message (e.g., SIB2 or SIB4) corresponding to the SSB#24 beam, thereby obtaining the second measurement parameter corresponding to the SSB index set {24}. The second measurement parameter includes the smtc1 configuration and the ssb-ToMeasure parameter, which can be found in S601. The terminal device performs corresponding measurements based on the second measurement parameter in a similar manner to performing corresponding measurements based on the first measurement parameter; please refer to the relevant description in the preceding section of the embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

In the above embodiments, when the attributes of the SSB beam covering the terminal device change, the SSB measurement configuration also changes. The terminal device can re-search system information to obtain updated measurement configuration parameters. The terminal device can identify whether the SSB measurement configuration has changed based on whether the attributes of the SSB with the highest signal quality determined in at least one measurement cycle and the attributes of the SSB with the highest signal quality determined in the measurement cycles prior to that at least one measurement cycle have changed. The index of the SSB with the highest signal quality measured by the terminal device is generally the SSB index of the beam within its coverage area. This index often changes due to satellite movement or terminal device movement, especially when the satellite's SSB transmission pattern is bound to the satellite and moves with it. Due to the high speed of satellite movement, this change can occur at a frequency on the order of seconds.

Using the methods described in the above embodiments, the terminal device can identify changes in the measurement configuration caused by satellite movement or the movement of the terminal device, and update the measurement configuration in a timely manner. This can avoid inaccurate mobility judgment and cell reselection caused by SSB measurement deviation, thereby improving measurement performance and reducing paging resource overhead.

As shown in Figure 10, Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method (or another method for updating the measurement configuration of a reference signal) provided in an embodiment of this application. In this embodiment, the reference signal is taken as SSB. The method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

S1001. The network device sends the first configuration parameters.

Assuming the network equipment is a satellite, and the satellite uses a SSB pattern-bound scanning method, meaning that the SSB index of beams covering the same area (wavelength) on the ground remains unchanged over a period of time. As the satellite moves, some wavelengths at the edge of its coverage area disappear or are added. For these changing wavelengths, the satellite can associate the SSB index of the disappearing ground wavelength with the newly added ground wavelength within the coverage area. That is, the SSB index of the beam covering the newly added ground wavelength is the same as the SSB index of the beam covering the disappearing ground wavelength. In other words, the satellite's SSB pattern is updated iteratively, and the SSB index of the beams covering the unchanged wavelengths remains unchanged with each update.

For example, as shown in Figure 11A, the arrows indicate the direction of satellite movement, the rectangles represent ground positions, and the numbers within the rectangles represent the SSB indices of the beams covering these positions. Compared to time T1, the ground position where the terminal device is located remains unchanged at time T2, and the SSB indices of the beams covering these positions also remain unchanged. The satellite no longer covers the ground positions originally covered by the SSB#{0, 16, ..., 224, 240} beams. Instead, the SSB indices {0, 16, ..., 224, 240} are associated with newly added ground positions; that is, the beams corresponding to the SSB indices {0, 16, ..., 224, 240} are adjusted to cover these newly added ground positions.

After each SSB pattern update, the adjacent beams of the satellite edge beams perpendicular to the satellite's direction of movement change, while the adjacent beams of other beams remain unchanged. For example, as shown in Figure 11A, compared to time T1, the adjacent beams of the SSB#{1, 17, ..., 241} beams and the SSB#{15, 31, ..., 255} beams perpendicular to the satellite's direction of movement change at time T2.

As shown in the embodiment corresponding to Figure 6, for network devices to transmit SSB measurement configuration parameters through at least one beam, each beam may have its own corresponding measurement parameters. In this embodiment, as mentioned earlier, after each SSB pattern update, the adjacent beams of the satellite edge beam perpendicular to the satellite's movement direction will change, causing the SSB measurement configuration parameters corresponding to that edge beam to also change. The satellite can send updated measurement parameters to terminal devices at ground positions covered by that edge beam. Furthermore, the satellite can also send a first configuration parameter to the terminal device, indicating the time when the SSB measurement configuration parameters corresponding to the beam covering the ground position where the terminal device is located change. The terminal device can receive the updated measurement parameters and perform SSB measurements at that time.

The first configuration parameter may include M second times and M SSB index sets. The second times indicate the update time of the network device's SSB pattern. The SSB index sets include at least one SSB index, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the M second times and M SSB index sets correspond to each other. When the network device updates the SSB pattern at the second time, the SSB index of the beam whose adjacent beam changes is the SSB index included in the SSB index set corresponding to that second time. The terminal device receives the first configuration parameter and, based on the obtained correspondence between the M second times and M SSB index sets, can determine the SSB index of the beam whose SSB measurement configuration parameter changes after each SSB pattern update by the network device.

For example, as shown in Figure 11A, assuming that time T1 and time T2 are the times when the network device updates the SSB pattern, the SSB index of the adjacent beam that changed at time T1 compared with the previous SSB pattern update time is {0, 16, ..., 240, 14, 30, ..., 254}; the SSB index of the adjacent beam that changed at time T2 compared with time T1 is {1, 17, ..., 241, 15, 31, ..., 255}. Therefore, in this example, the first configuration parameter may include two second times {T1, T2} and two sets of SSB indices: {0, 16, ..., 240, 14, 30, ..., 254} and {1, 17, ..., 241, 15, 31, ..., 255}, where time T1 corresponds to {0, 16, ..., 240, 14, 30, ..., 254} and time T2 corresponds to {1, 17, ..., 241, 15, 31, ..., 255}.

In some possible implementations, the second time is an absolute time, such as Universal Time (UT), Dynamical Time (DT), Temps Atomique Internationale (TAI), Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) time. Table 1 provides an example of the correspondence between M possible second times and M SSB index sets, where the M second times are arranged in chronological order. The terminal device can then determine the second time corresponding to each SSB index set.

Table 1

In some possible implementations, the second time can be indicated by the system frame number (SFN) and the system subframe number (SSFN). Considering that frame numbers and system subframe numbers are reused in wireless systems, to avoid confusion between frame numbers and subframe numbers at different times, a first sequence number can be used to distinguish the order of the second times indicated by two identical system frame numbers and system subframe numbers. For example, it can be specified that the first configuration parameter includes M second times (indicated by system frame numbers and system subframe numbers) arranged in chronological order, with each of the M second times corresponding to M first sequence numbers, which are also arranged in chronological order. Therefore, the first configuration parameter can include M first sequence numbers, M second times, and M sets of SSB indexes, where the M first sequence numbers, M second times, and M sets of SSB indexes correspond to each other.

Furthermore, since the terminal device can only update the SSB measurement configuration after accessing the network, the network device can indicate to the terminal device the most recent SSB pattern update time before the terminal device accessed the network. The terminal device can then determine whether to re-receive the SSB measurement configuration at an SSB pattern update time after that most recent SSB pattern update time. As mentioned earlier, the second time can be indicated by the system frame number (SFN) and the system subframe number. To avoid confusion between system frame numbers and subframe numbers at different times, the network device can indicate to the terminal device the first sequence number corresponding to the most recent SSB pattern update time before the terminal device accessed the network. For ease of description, this corresponding first sequence number can be referred to as the second sequence number. Therefore, the first configuration parameter can also include the second sequence number.

Table 2 provides an example of the possible correspondence between M first sequence numbers, M second times, and M third SSB index sets. The M second times are arranged in chronological order: time T1 is indicated by SFN#1 and SSFN#1, time T2 by SFN#2 and SSFN#2, and time T3 by SFN#3 and SSFN#3. Furthermore, assuming the terminal device receives the first configuration parameters sent by the network device at time T1, then the terminal device's network access time is before time T1. Therefore, the second sequence number should be less than the first sequence number #9 corresponding to time T1; for example, the second sequence number could be 8.

Table 2

It is understood that the correspondences shown in Tables 1 and 2 are not limited to being represented by tables. For example, they can also be represented by lists or other methods. This application embodiment does not limit this.

Network devices can send the aforementioned first configuration parameters to terminal devices via system messages (such as SIB1, SIB2, SIB4, etc.).

S1002. The network device sends the first measurement parameters.

As described in S601, the SSB measurement configuration parameters transmitted by the network device through the first beam can be referred to as the first measurement parameters. The first measurement parameters are used to indicate the first measurement period and the first SSB to be measured. The SSB measurement configuration information included in the first measurement parameters, as well as the method for determining the first measurement period and the first SSB to be measured, can be referred to the relevant description in S601, and will not be repeated here.

For example, as shown in Figure 11A, at time T1, assuming the SSB#17 beam is the first beam, the first measurement parameter corresponding to this beam may include:

smtc1: {period, bias {0ms, 40ms, 80ms}, duration};

ssb-ToMeasure: {0, 1, 2, 16, 17, 18, 32, 33, 34};

Network devices can broadcast system messages to terminal devices on terrestrial bands covered by the SSB#17 beam. These system messages include the aforementioned smtc1 configuration and ssb-ToMeasure parameters. For example, these system messages could be SIB2, SIB4, etc.

It is understood that the first configuration parameter and the first measurement parameter can be sent simultaneously or at different times through the same message, or they can be sent simultaneously or at different times through different messages. This application embodiment does not limit this.

1003. The network device sends the second measurement parameter.

The network device updates the SSB pattern in the second instance. If, after this SSB pattern update, the first beam is included among the beams whose adjacent beams change, the network device sends updated measurement parameters, i.e., second measurement parameters, to the terminal equipment at the ground position covered by the first beam. The second measurement parameters are used to indicate the second measurement period and the second SSB to be measured. The SSB measurement configuration information included in the second measurement parameters, as well as the method for determining the second measurement period and the second SSB to be measured, can be found in the relevant description in S601, and will not be repeated here.

For example, as shown in Figure 11A, assuming the satellite updates its SSB pattern at time T2, the SSB#17 beam becomes the satellite's edge beam. The terminal equipment on the ground waveband covered by the SSB#17 beam needs to measure not only the SSB of the local satellite but also the SSB of neighboring satellites. As shown in Figure 11B, which is a schematic diagram of the SSB arrangement of the local and neighboring satellites, the overlapping area represents the overlapping portion of the coverage areas of the local and neighboring satellites. For the SSB#17 beam, in addition to the local satellite's SSB#{1, 2, 18, 33, 34} beams, there are also the neighboring satellite's SSB#{222, 223, 238, 239, 254, 255} beams. Therefore, the measurement parameters corresponding to the SSB#17 beam are updated to second measurement parameters, which may include:

smtc1: {period, bias {0ms, 40ms, 80ms}, duration};

smtc4: {neighbor PCI, bias {620ms, 580ms, 540ms}};

ssb-ToMeasure: {0, 1, 16, 17, 32, 33, 222, 223, 238, 239, 254, 255}.

S1004. The terminal device receives the second measurement parameter at the third time.

Based on the first configuration parameters received from the network device, the terminal device can obtain the correspondence between M second times and M SSB index sets. Furthermore, based on the first measurement parameters received from the network device, the terminal device can determine a first measurement period and a first SSB to be measured, and measure the first SSB to be measured during the first measurement period, thereby determining the first SSB. The methods for determining the first SSB to be measured and the first measurement period can be referred to the relevant description in S601; the methods for determining the first SSB can be referred to the relevant description in S602.

In some possible implementations, when the first configuration parameters include M second times and M SSB index sets, the terminal device can determine the SSB index set to which the first SSB index belongs based on the index of the first SSB and the correspondence between the M second times and the M SSB index sets, thereby determining the second time corresponding to that SSB index set. The network device updates the SSB pattern at this second time, and the SSB measurement configuration corresponding to the SSB index in this SSB index set will change. If the second time is greater than or equal to the first time, the terminal device can re-receive the SSB measurement configuration after the second time, i.e., receive the second measurement parameters. Here, the first time is the time the terminal device accesses the network; the terminal device can only update the SSB measurement configuration after accessing the network. The time when the terminal device receives the second measurement parameters can be called the third time, and the third time is greater than or equal to the second time.

After receiving the second measurement parameters, the terminal device can determine the second measurement period and the second SSB to be measured, and measure the second SSB to be measured during the second measurement period. The terminal device performs corresponding measurements based on the second measurement parameters in a manner similar to the terminal device performs corresponding measurements based on the first measurement parameters, and can be referred to the relevant description in S602, which will not be repeated here.

Taking the first measurement parameter received by the terminal device at time T1 in S1002 as an example, it is assumed that the signal quality of SSB#17 obtained by the terminal device according to the first measurement parameter is the highest, so the first SSB is determined to be SSB#17.

For example, according to Table 1 above, the terminal device can determine that the index #17 of the first SSB belongs to the first SSB index set {1, 17, ..., 241, 15, 31, ..., 255}, and the second time corresponding to the first SSB index set is T2. Then the terminal device can receive the second measurement parameter sent by the network device after T2.

In some possible implementations, where the first configuration parameters include M first sequence numbers, M second times, and M SSB index sets, the network device also indicates second sequence numbers to the terminal device. In this case, the terminal device can determine the SSB index set to which the first SSB index belongs, and the corresponding second time, based on the index of the first SSB and the correspondence between the M first sequence numbers, M second times, and M SSB index sets. If the first sequence number corresponding to the second time is greater than the second sequence number, the terminal device can receive the second measurement parameter after that second time. The time at which the terminal device receives the second measurement parameter can be called the third time, and the third time is greater than or equal to the second time.

For example, assuming the second sequence number is equal to 8, according to Table 2 above, the terminal device can determine that the index #17 of the first SSB belongs to the SSB index set {1, 17, ..., 241, 15, 31, ..., 255}. The second time corresponding to this SSB index set is indicated by SFN#2 and SSFN#2, and its corresponding first sequence number is 10, which is greater than the second sequence number. Then, the terminal device can receive the second measurement parameter sent by the network device after the time indicated by SFN#2 and SSFN#2.

In the above embodiments, the terminal device can identify changes in measurement parameter configurations in some beam directions caused by SSB pattern updates due to satellite movement, and update the SSB measurement configuration parameters in a timely manner. This avoids inaccurate mobility management caused by SSB measurement deviations, improving measurement performance and reducing paging resource overhead. This technical effect is achieved by the terminal device receiving the correspondence between the M SSB pattern update times configured by the network device and the M sets of SSB indexes with changed measurement parameters. It then determines whether the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering the current ground position belongs to the set of SSB indexes with changed measurement parameters at the subsequent SSB pattern update time, and further determines whether it is necessary to re-search the system message corresponding to the current beam to obtain updated SSB measurement configuration parameters.

As shown in Figure 12, Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method (or another method for updating the measurement configuration of a reference signal) provided in an embodiment of this application. In this embodiment, the reference signal is taken as SSB. The method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

S1201. The network device sends the second configuration parameters.

As described in S1001, after each SSB pattern update, the adjacent beams of the satellite edge beam perpendicular to the satellite's movement direction change, causing the SSB measurement configuration parameters corresponding to that edge beam to also change. The satellite can send updated measurement parameters to the terminal equipment at the ground position covered by that edge beam. Furthermore, the satellite can also send a second configuration parameter to the terminal equipment, allowing the terminal equipment to determine the time when the SSB measurement configuration parameters corresponding to the beam covering the ground position where the terminal equipment is located change. The terminal equipment can then receive the updated measurement parameters and perform SSB measurements after that time.

The second configuration parameter may include the location information of the network device, threshold information, fourth time and first period, wherein the first period is used to indicate the update period of the SSB pattern, the fourth time is used to indicate the update time of the most recent SSB pattern before the terminal device accesses the network, and the SSB pattern is used to indicate the correspondence between the coverage area of the beam indicated by the SSB index and the ground area.

In some possible implementations, the network device is a satellite, and the location information of the network device can be the ephemeris information of the satellite.

For example, ephemeris information can be orbital parameter ephemeris or position and velocity state vector ephemeris. Orbital parameter ephemeris includes parameters such as the satellite's semi-major axis, eccentricity, argument of periapsis, longitude of ascending node, inclination, and mean anomaly at the reference epoch time. Velocity state vector ephemeris includes the satellite's 3D position vector and 3D velocity vector at the reference epoch time. Based on the ephemeris information at the reference epoch time, the terminal device can determine the position of the network device within a certain period after the reference epoch, and thus determine the distance and elevation angle between the terminal device and the network device.

It should be noted that the configuration of the location information of the network device described above is exemplary, and the location information of the network device can also be indicated in other ways, which are not limited in this application embodiment.

In some possible implementations, the threshold information is related to the positional relationship between the terminal device and the network device. This positional relationship can be the distance between the two, the angle between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the tangent between the terminal device and the Earth's surface, or the angle between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the line connecting the network device and the Earth's center.

In some possible implementations, the threshold information may include a range of values corresponding to the distance between the terminal device and the network device, or a range of values corresponding to the distance between the terminal device and a reference point of the network device. The reference point of the network device may be, for example, a nadir point, which is the intersection of the line connecting the Earth's center and the satellite on the Earth's surface, and can be represented by longitude and latitude. The number of distance ranges included in the threshold information is related to the satellite's coverage area and its direction of motion. Assuming the satellite's coverage area is rectangular, and the satellite's direction of motion is perpendicular or parallel to two sides of the rectangular coverage area, the threshold information may include two distance ranges, [d1, d2] and [d1', d2']. [d1, d2] may be the distance range corresponding to ground positions no longer covered by the satellite after the SSB pattern update, and [d1', d2'] may be the distance range corresponding to ground positions now covered by the satellite after the SSB pattern update.

In other possible implementations, the threshold information may include the range of angles between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the tangent line between the terminal device and the Earth's surface, or the range of angles between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the line connecting the network device and the Earth's center. The minimum value of the angle range is greater than or equal to zero degrees, and the maximum value is less than or equal to ninety degrees. Similar to the number of distance ranges included in the threshold information, the number of angle ranges included in the threshold information is also related to the satellite's coverage area and its direction of motion, which will not be elaborated upon here.

For example, taking the threshold information including distance ranges [d1, d2] and [d1’, d2’] as an example, as shown in Figure 13, [d1, d2] is the distance range corresponding to the ground wave positions covered by the SSB#{15, 31, ..., 255} beams, where d1 is the lower bound of the range and d2 is the upper bound of the range; [d1’, d2’] is the distance range corresponding to the ground wave positions covered by the SSB#{1, 17, ..., 241} beams, where d1’ is the lower bound of the range and d2’ is the upper bound of the range.

Understandably, the above example illustrates the threshold information including distance ranges [d1, d2] and [d1’, d2’]. For the case where the threshold information includes angle ranges [a1, a2] and [a1’, a2’], similar to the example above, [a1, a2] can be the angle range corresponding to the ground wave positions covered by the SSB#{15, 31, ..., 255} beams, where a1 is the lower bound of this range and a2 is the upper bound; [a1’, a2’] can be the angle range corresponding to the ground wave positions covered by the SSB#{1, 17, ..., 241} beams, where a1’ is the lower bound of this range and a2’ is the upper bound.

It should be noted that the above threshold information is exemplary, and the threshold information may also include other information, such as signal strength range, which is not limited in this application embodiment.

To enable terminal devices to determine the SSB pattern update time after they access the network, defined as the fifth time, network devices can send the terminal device the SSB pattern update cycle (the first cycle) and the time of the most recent SSB pattern update before the terminal device accessed the network (the fourth time). Network devices can send the aforementioned second configuration parameter to the terminal device via system messages (such as SIB1, SIB2, SIB4, etc.).

Considering satellite movement and SSB pattern updates, the location information of network devices and the fourth time, included in the second configuration parameters, may differ at different times. Assuming the network device's location information is ephemeris information, the terminal device automatically retrieves the ephemeris information after its validity period expires; changes in ephemeris information do not trigger the system message update process. Furthermore, the terminal obtains the fourth time after accessing the network and does not need to re-obtain it. Therefore, changes in the network device's location information or the fourth time resulting in system message changes will not trigger the system message update process.

S1202. The network device sends the second measurement parameter.

Regarding the method by which the network device sends measurement configuration parameters, refer to the embodiment corresponding to Figure 6, which describes the method by which the network device sends SSB measurement configuration parameters through at least one beam. For example, the network device sends first measurement parameters through a first beam. The first measurement parameters include SSB measurement configuration information, as well as the method for determining the first measurement period and the first SSB to be measured. Refer to the relevant description in S601, which will not be repeated here. Here, we can still take Figure 11A as an example. At time T1, assume that SSB#17 beam is the first beam, and the first measurement parameters corresponding to this beam can be referred to the aforementioned description. If the network device updates the SSB pattern and the first beam is included among the beams whose adjacent beams have changed, the network device sends updated measurement parameters, i.e., second measurement parameters, to the terminal devices of the ground wave positions covered by the first beam. The second measurement parameters are used to indicate the second measurement period and the second SSB to be measured. The second measurement parameters include SSB measurement configuration information, as well as the method for determining the second measurement period and the second SSB to be measured. Refer to the relevant description in S601, which will not be repeated here.

For example, as shown in Figures 11A and 11B, assuming the fifth time is time T2, the satellite updates the SSB pattern at time T2, the SSB#17 beam becomes the edge beam of the satellite, and the measurement parameters corresponding to the SSB#17 beam are updated to second measurement parameters, which may include:

smtc1: {period, bias {0ms, 40ms, 80ms}, duration};

smtc4: {neighbor PCI, bias {620ms, 580ms, 540ms}};

ssb-ToMeasure: {0, 1, 16, 17, 32, 33, 222, 223, 238, 239, 254, 255}.

S1203. The terminal device receives the second measurement parameter at the third time.

The terminal device receives the second configuration parameters sent by the network device, thereby obtaining the network device's location information, threshold information, fourth time, and first period. Further, based on the fourth time and first period, the terminal device can determine the fifth time t5 = t4 + i*T, where t4 represents the fourth time, T represents the first period, and i is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

Furthermore, the terminal device can determine its positional relationship with the network device at the fifth time point based on the network device's location information and its own location information. The terminal device can then determine whether the SSB measurement configuration parameters corresponding to the beam covering its terrestrial position have changed. If a change has occurred, the terminal device can receive updated measurement parameters, i.e., the second measurement parameters, after the fifth time point. The time at which the terminal device receives the second measurement parameters can be referred to as the third time point, and this third time point is greater than or equal to the fifth time point.

After receiving the second measurement parameters, the terminal device can determine the second measurement period and the second SSB to be measured, and measure the second SSB to be measured during the second measurement period. The terminal device performs corresponding measurements based on the second measurement parameters in a manner similar to the terminal device performs corresponding measurements based on the first measurement parameters, and can be referred to the relevant description in S602, which will not be repeated here.

The terminal device determines the time when the SSB measurement configuration parameters corresponding to the beam covering the ground wave position where the terminal device is located changes based on the above positional relationship. This can be achieved in the following way: The terminal device determines whether the above positional relationship meets the first condition at the fifth time. If the first condition is met, the terminal device can receive the second measurement parameters after the fifth time. If the above positional relationship does not meet the first condition at the fifth time, it means that after the network device updates the SSB pattern at the fifth time, the adjacent beams of the beam covering the terminal device have not changed. Therefore, the SSB measurement configuration parameters corresponding to the beam covering the terminal device have not changed, and the terminal device does not receive the second measurement parameters. In other words, the terminal device will not re-search the system information to obtain updated measurement parameters.

The first condition may include: the distance d between the terminal device and the network device is within the range of [d1, d2] or [d1’, d2’]; or the distance d’ between the reference point of the terminal device and the network device is within the range of [d1, d2] or [d1’, d2’]; or the angle α between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the tangent between the terminal device and the Earth's surface is within the range of [a1, a2] or [a1’, a2’]; or the angle α’ between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the line connecting the network device and the Earth's center is within the range of [a1, a2] or [a1’, a2’].

For example, as shown in Figure 13, assuming the fifth time is time T2, the network device is a satellite. The terminal device can determine the satellite's position at time T2 based on the received ephemeris information, and based on its own position and the satellite's position, it can determine the distance d between itself and the satellite, which satisfies d>=d1' and d<=d2', that is, the value of d is within the distance range [d1', d2']. The terminal device can receive the second measurement parameter after time T2.

Understandably, the above example illustrates the threshold information as including the distance range [d1, d2] and [d1’, d2’]. The case where the threshold information includes the angle range [a1, a2] and [a1’, a2’] is similar to the above example and will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that the threshold information may include distance range and/or angle range. For threshold ranges that include both distance and angle ranges, the first condition may be: the distance between the terminal device and the network device (or the reference point of the network device) is within this distance range, and the angle between the line connecting the terminal device and the network device and the tangent to the Earth's surface (or the line connecting the network device and the Earth's center) is within this angle range.

In the above embodiments, the network device transmits SSB measurement configuration parameters at the beam level, enabling the terminal device to identify parameter configuration changes in some beam directions caused by SSB transmission pattern updates due to satellite movement, and to update the SSB measurement configuration parameters in a timely manner. This avoids inaccurate mobility management caused by SSB measurement deviations, improving measurement performance and reducing paging resource overhead. This technical effect is achieved by the terminal device receiving the network device's location information, threshold information, and SSB pattern update time parameters to determine the SSB pattern update time and whether its positional relationship with the network device meets a first condition. If the positional relationship meets the first condition, the terminal device re-searches the system message corresponding to its current beam to obtain the updated SSB measurement configuration parameters.

It should be noted that some steps in the above embodiments are not essential; that is, some steps are optional and can be omitted or replaced by other steps. Furthermore, the above embodiments do not limit the execution order of the method steps. In addition, this application describes the embodiments using terminal devices and network devices as examples of execution subjects. It can be understood that the method executed by the terminal device can also be executed by components suitable for the terminal device (e.g., chips, circuits, etc.), and the method executed by the network device can also be executed by components suitable for the network device (e.g., chips, circuits, etc.).

Based on the same concept as the above-mentioned SSB measurement configuration update method, this application also provides the following communication device.

Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1400 includes at least one module, which is used to implement the methods corresponding to terminal devices or network devices in the aforementioned method embodiments.

In one possible implementation, the communication device may include a transceiver unit 1401 and a processing unit 1402; wherein:

When the communication device is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the embodiments of this application, the transceiver unit 1401 is used to perform operations related to the transmission and reception of information by the terminal device in the embodiments shown in FIG6, FIG10 and FIG12; the processing unit 1402 is used to perform the operations of the terminal device in S602 and S603 in the embodiment shown in FIG6; or, the processing unit 1402 is used to perform the operations of the terminal device in S1004 in the embodiment shown in FIG10; or, the processing unit 1402 is used to perform the operations of the terminal device in S1203 in the embodiment shown in FIG12.

When the communication device is used to implement the functions of the network device in the embodiments of this application, the transceiver unit 1401 is used to perform the operation of the network device in S601 of the embodiment shown in FIG6; or, the transceiver unit 1401 is used to perform the operation of the network device in S1001, S1002 and S1003 of the embodiment shown in FIG10; or, the transceiver unit 1401 is used to perform the operation of the network device in S1201 and S1202 of the embodiment shown in FIG12.

Optionally, the aforementioned processing unit can be implemented using at least one processor, and the aforementioned transceiver unit can be implemented using interface circuitry (e.g., input/output circuitry and/or communication interface). Furthermore, the aforementioned communication device may further include a storage unit, which can be implemented using at least one memory for storing data or instructions, and for coupling or communicating with other units to implement the methods in the various embodiments of this application.

Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1500 includes one or more processors 1501 (a processor is illustrated in the figure). Optionally, the communication device 1500 may also include a memory 1503 (shown as dashed lines in the figure). The memory 1503 is used to store instructions executed by the processor 1501, or to store input data required by the processor 1501 to execute instructions, or to store data generated after the processor 1501 executes instructions. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may also include an interface circuit 1502 (shown as dashed lines in the figure), and the processor 1501 and the interface circuit 1502 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1502 may be a transceiver or an input/output interface. The processor 1501 is used to implement the function of the processing unit 1402 in the embodiment shown in Figure 14; and the interface circuit 1502 is used to implement the function of the transceiver unit 1401 in the embodiment shown in Figure 14.

When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. In one possible implementation, the chip can receive information from other modules (such as an RF module or antenna) in the terminal device, the information being sent to the terminal device by the network device; or, the chip can send information to other modules (such as an RF module or antenna) in the terminal device, the information being sent to the network device by the terminal device.

When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a network device, the chip implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. In one possible implementation, the chip can receive information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the network device, the information being sent by the terminal device to the network device; or, the chip can send information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the network device, the information being sent by the network device to the terminal device.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the aforementioned transceiver unit and/or processing unit can be implemented through functional modules. For example, the processing unit can be implemented through software functional units, and the transceiver unit can be implemented through software functions. Alternatively, the processing unit or transceiver unit can also be implemented through physical devices. For example, if the device is implemented using a chip/chip circuit, the transceiver unit can be an input/output circuit and/or a communication interface, performing input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operation) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operation); the processing unit is an integrated processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit.

The module division in this application is illustrative and represents only one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods are possible. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various examples of this application can be integrated into a single processor, exist as separate physical entities, or be integrated into a single module. The integrated modules described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules.

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

This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed, implement the methods described in the above embodiments.

This application also provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described in the above embodiments.

This application also provides a communication system, including a terminal device and a network device.

This application also provides a circuit coupled to a memory, which is used to perform the methods shown in the above embodiments. The circuit may include a chip circuit or may be a chip itself.

It should be noted that one or more of the above units can be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination of both. When any of the above units is implemented by software, the software exists as computer program instructions and is stored in memory. The processor can be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flow.

In this application, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or all or part of the circuitry in the aforementioned devices used to implement the processing functions, capable of implementing or executing the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in this application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in this application can be directly embodied in the execution of the hardware processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules within the processor.

When the above units or components are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of a CPU, microprocessor, digital signal processing (DSP) chip, microcontroller unit (MCU), artificial intelligence processor, ASIC, SoC, FPGA, PLD, application-specific digital circuit, hardware accelerator, or non-integrated discrete device, which can run the necessary software or perform the above method flow independently of software.

Optionally, embodiments of this application also provide a chip system, including: at least one processor and an interface, wherein the at least one processor is coupled to a memory via the interface, and when the at least one processor executes a computer program or instructions in the memory, the chip system performs the method in any of the above method embodiments. Optionally, the chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices; embodiments of this application do not specifically limit this.

The memory in this application can also be a circuit or any other device capable of performing storage functions, used to store program instructions and/or data. Memory is any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures, and accessible by a computer, but is not limited thereto. For example, memory can be non-volatile memory, such as digital versatile disc (DVD), hard disk drive (HDD), or solid-state drive (SSD), or it can be volatile memory, such as random-access memory (RAM).

The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of this application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. "And/or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and/or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, "at least one of A, B, or C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC; "at least one of A, B, and C" can also be understood as including A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC.

Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to this application. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart illustrations and/or one or more blocks of the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and/or one or more block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and/or one or more block diagrams.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

Claims (11)

A communication method, characterized in that the method includes: Receive a first measurement parameter from a network device, the first measurement parameter being used to indicate a first measurement period and a first synchronization signal block (SSB) to be measured; The first SSB to be measured is measured in at least one measurement cycle during the first measurement period to obtain a first measurement result, and the first SSB is determined based on the first measurement result; Based on the attributes of the first SSB and the second SSB, it is determined whether to receive a second measurement parameter from the network device, wherein the second measurement parameter is used to indicate a second measurement period and a second SSB to be measured, the second SSB being determined in a measurement period prior to the at least one measurement period. The method according to claim 1 is characterized in that, when the attributes of the first SSB and the attributes of the second SSB are different, the second measurement parameter is received from the network device. The method according to claim 1 or 2 is characterized in that, if the attributes of the first SSB and the attributes of the second SSB are the same, the second measurement parameter from the network device is not received. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is characterized in that, The attributes of the first SSB include the index of the first SSB; The attributes of the second SSB include the index of the second SSB. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is characterized in that, The attributes of the first SSB include the set of SSB indexes to which the index of the first SSB belongs; The attributes of the second SSB include the set of SSB indexes to which the index of the second SSB belongs; The SSB index set includes at least one SSB index. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The system also receives first indication information from the network device, the first indication information indicating at least one SSB index set, the at least one SSB index set including the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam covering the terminal device belongs, and the SSB index set to which the SSB index corresponding to the beam adjacent to the beam covering the terminal device belongs. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The first SSB is the SSB with the highest signal quality among the first SSBs to be measured. A communication device, characterized in that it includes a module for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, characterized in that, when the instructions are executed, they cause a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7. A computer program product comprising instructions, characterized in that, when executed, the instructions cause a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7. A chip, characterized in that the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being used to communicate with external or internal devices, and the processor being used to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.