WO2025209312A1 - Communication method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: acquiring first information, wherein the first information is used for indicating the link direction of a first symbol on a first carrier, or the first information is used for indicating a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier, and a time-domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the first carrier is a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) type time unit; and on the basis of the first information, determining the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. In the embodiments of the present application, on the basis of first information, it can be determined whether the link direction of a first symbol on a first carrier is uplink or downlink; therefore, for a symbol configured with an SBFD operation, uplink and downlink conflicts that may exist on the symbol within the first carrier can be resolved.

Description

Communication method and device

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on April 3, 2024, with application number 202410408596.2 and invention name “Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and more particularly, to a communication method and apparatus.

Background Art

In the subband full-duplex (SBFD) scheme of a time division duplex (TDD) system, a component carrier includes at least one subband, and the transmission direction of each subband on the same symbol can be different, that is, the transmission direction of some subbands is uplink, and the transmission direction of some subbands is downlink. In other words, there may be differences in the transmission directions of different subbands within a component carrier.

Currently, terminal devices can be configured for half-duplex mode, meaning they can only receive or transmit on a single SBFD symbol. Simultaneous transmission and reception on different subbands is not supported. In this scenario, uplink and downlink conflicts may occur on the same symbol.

Summary of the Invention

The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. In the case of half-duplex on the terminal device side, the terminal device can determine the link direction of the SBFD symbol on a certain carrier based on the first information from the network device, thereby avoiding uplink and downlink conflicts on the symbol.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or can be executed by a component used for a terminal device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor or a circuit, etc.), which is not limited in this application.

The method includes: obtaining first information, the first information is used to indicate the link direction of the first symbol in the first carrier, or the first information is used to indicate the rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier, and the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol in the first carrier is an SBFD type time unit; according to the first information, determining the link direction of the first symbol in the first carrier.

When a symbol is configured with SBFD operation, different link directions may exist on different subbands of a certain carrier on that symbol. For half-duplex on the terminal device side, the terminal device can only receive or transmit in one symbol, and does not support simultaneous uplink and downlink transmission, which may lead to uplink and downlink conflicts within the same symbol. Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can determine whether the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is uplink or downlink based on the first information, and can handle uplink and downlink conflicts that may exist on the symbol within the first carrier.

In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method may further include: when the link direction of the first carrier is downlink, the first symbol receives downlink transmission on the SBFD subband used for downlink transmission of the first carrier on the first symbol; or, when the link direction of the first carrier is uplink, the first symbol performs uplink transmission on the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the first carrier on the first symbol.

Based on the above technical solution, taking the case where the first symbol on the first carrier is in the downlink direction as an example, on the first symbol, the terminal device receives downlink transmission in the SBFD subband of the first carrier used for downlink transmission, and does not perform uplink transmission in the SBFD subband of the first carrier used for uplink transmission. In this application, on the first symbol, on the first carrier, a half-duplex terminal device can perform uplink/downlink transmission without an uplink/downlink conflict.

In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier. The rule may include at least one of the following: on the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled downlink transmission is greater than the priority of semi-statically configured uplink transmission; or, on the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled uplink transmission is greater than the priority of semi-statically configured downlink transmission; or, the terminal device does not want to perform dynamically scheduled downlink transmission and dynamically scheduled uplink transmission at the same time in the first symbol; or, the terminal device does not want to perform semi-statically configured downlink transmission and semi-statically configured uplink transmission at the same time in the first symbol; or, on the first symbol, the channel or signal to be transmitted is determined according to the priority of the channel or signal, wherein the priority of the channel or signal is predefined or configured by the network device.

Based on the above technical solution, for determining the link direction of the first symbol in the first carrier, according to the link direction rule for determining the first carrier, the terminal device can make a judgment based on the specific circumstances of the scheduling method of the information to be transmitted, which is conducive to reducing signaling overhead.

In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first information can be carried in high-level signaling, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI) sent by a network device.

In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the high-layer signaling sent by the network device may include: time division duplex-uplink-downlink-configuration dedicated tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling. That is, the first information may be carried in the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling.

In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the DCI may carry a slot format indicator (SFI). The first information carried in the DCI may include: the first information being carried in the SFI.

In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the frequency domain resources occupied by the first symbol may include at least two carriers, where the at least two carriers include the first carrier. The terminal device may be half-duplex on the at least two carriers of the first symbol. The method may further include: determining whether the link direction of the first symbol is uplink or downlink based on the link direction of each carrier in the at least two carriers and the scheduling method of the information to be transmitted on each carrier.

In actual scenarios, the frequency domain resources occupied by a symbol may include multiple carriers, and the link directions of the symbol on different carriers may conflict. Based on the above solution, on the first symbol, the terminal device can determine the link direction of the symbol as uplink or downlink based on the link direction of each carrier and the scheduling method of the information it needs to transmit, thereby avoiding the problem of uplink and downlink conflicts between different carriers on the symbol.

In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the at least two carriers may further include a second carrier. The link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is a first direction, and the link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier is a second direction. The first direction is one of uplink and downlink, and the second direction is the other of uplink and downlink. The method may further include: when the link direction of the first symbol is the first direction, performing transmission in the first direction on the first symbol and on the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first symbol is the second direction, performing transmission in the second direction on the first symbol and on the second carrier.

Exemplarily, the second carrier may be any carrier other than the first carrier among the at least two carriers. The time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier may be an SBFD type time unit, or may not be an SBFD type time unit.

Based on the above technical solution, taking the link direction of the first symbol as uplink as an example, on the first symbol, the terminal device can perform uplink transmission in the carrier with the link direction being uplink, and not receive downlink transmission in the carrier with the link direction being downlink. In this application, a half-duplex terminal device can perform uplink/downlink transmission on the corresponding carrier in the absence of uplink/downlink conflict.

In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier is an SBFD type time unit. Performing transmission in the second direction on the second carrier based on the first symbol may include: performing transmission in the second direction on the first symbol in an SBFD subband of the second carrier used for transmission in the second direction.

Based on the above technical solution, in a scenario where the first symbol is configured with SBFD operation on the second carrier, a half-duplex terminal device can perform uplink/downlink transmission on the first symbol on the second carrier without uplink/downlink conflict.

In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information is carried in higher-layer signaling sent by a network device, and the first information is used to indicate a link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. The method may further include: determining a transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier as an uplink symbol or a downlink symbol semi-statically configured by the higher-layer signaling.

In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information is carried in higher-layer signaling or DCI sent by the network device, and the first information is used to indicate a link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. The method may also include: determining a symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier as a flexible symbol.

In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining a link direction of the first carrier, and the method further includes: determining the symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier as a flexible symbol.

On the second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a network device, or can be executed by a component used for a network device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor or a circuit, etc.), which is not limited in this application.

The method includes: sending first information, the first information indicating the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier, or the first information indicating a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier, and the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the first carrier is a sub-band full-duplex SBFD type time unit.

In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method may further include: when the link direction of the first carrier is downlink, performing downlink transmission on the first symbol on the SBFD subband used for downlink transmission of the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first carrier is uplink, receiving uplink transmission on the first symbol on the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the first carrier.

In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier. The rule may include at least one of the following: on the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled downlink transmission is greater than the priority of semi-statically configured uplink transmission; or, on the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled uplink transmission is greater than the priority of semi-statically configured downlink transmission; or, the terminal device does not want to perform dynamically scheduled downlink transmission and dynamically scheduled uplink transmission at the same time in the first symbol; or, the terminal device does not want to perform semi-statically configured downlink transmission and semi-statically configured uplink transmission at the same time in the first symbol; or, on the first symbol, the channel or signal to be transmitted is determined according to the priority of the channel or signal, wherein the priority of the channel or signal is predefined or configured by the network device.

In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first information can be carried in high-level signaling, MAC CE or DCI sent by the network device.

In conjunction with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the higher-layer signaling sent by the network device may include: tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling. That is, the first information may be carried in the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling.

In conjunction with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the DCI may carry the SFI. The first information being carried in the DCI may include: the first information being carried in the SFI.

In conjunction with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the frequency domain resources occupied by the first symbol may include at least two carriers, where the at least two carriers include the first carrier. The terminal device may be half-duplex on the at least two carriers of the first symbol. The link direction of the first symbol may be determined based on the link direction of the first symbol on each of the at least two carriers and a scheduling method for information to be transmitted on each carrier.

In conjunction with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the at least two carriers may further include a second carrier. The link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is a first direction, and the link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier is a second direction. The first direction is one of uplink and downlink, and the second direction is the other of uplink and downlink. The method may further include: when the link direction of the first symbol is the first direction, performing transmission in the first direction on the first symbol and on the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first symbol is the second direction, performing transmission in the second direction on the first symbol and on the second carrier.

In conjunction with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier is an SBFD type time unit. Performing transmission in the second direction on the second carrier on the first symbol may include: performing transmission in the second direction on the first symbol in an SBFD subband of the second carrier used for transmission in the second direction.

The technical effects of the method shown in the above second aspect and its possible design can refer to the technical effects in the first aspect and its possible design.

In a third aspect, a device is provided, which may include a module or unit for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

Exemplarily, the apparatus may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. For example, the transceiver unit may be configured to obtain first information; and the processing unit may be configured to determine, based on the first information, a link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier.

In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the transceiver unit can also be used to: when the link direction of the first carrier is downlink, receive downlink transmission on the first symbol, on the SBFD subband used for downlink transmission of the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first carrier is uplink, perform uplink transmission on the first symbol, on the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the first carrier.

In conjunction with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the frequency domain resources occupied by the first symbol may include at least two carriers, where the at least two carriers include the first carrier. The terminal device may be half-duplex on the at least two carriers of the first symbol. The processing unit may also be configured to: determine whether the link direction of the first symbol is uplink or downlink based on the link direction of each carrier in the at least two carriers of the first symbol and the scheduling method of the information to be transmitted on each carrier.

In conjunction with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the at least two carriers may further include a second carrier. The link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is the first direction, and the link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier is the second direction. The first direction is one of uplink and downlink, and the second direction is the other of uplink and downlink. The transceiver unit may further be configured to: when the link direction of the first symbol is the first direction, perform first-direction transmission on the first symbol on the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first symbol is the second direction, perform second-direction transmission on the first symbol on the second carrier.

In conjunction with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier is an SBFD type time unit. The transceiver unit may be configured to: perform second-direction transmission on the first symbol in an SBFD subband of the second carrier used for second-direction transmission.

In conjunction with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first information is carried in higher-layer signaling sent by a network device, and the first information is used to indicate a link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. The processing unit is further configured to determine a transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier as an uplink symbol or a downlink symbol semi-statically configured by the higher-layer signaling.

In conjunction with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first information is carried in higher-layer signaling or DCI sent by a network device, and the first information is used to indicate a link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. The processing unit is further configured to determine a symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier as a flexible symbol.

In conjunction with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining a link direction of the first carrier. The processing unit is further configured to: determine a symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier as a flexible symbol.

Regarding the first information, the first symbol, the rules for the first carrier to determine the link direction of the first carrier, and the instructions for carrying the first information, etc., reference may be made to the relevant records of the first aspect above.

In a fourth aspect, a device is provided, which may include a module or unit for implementing the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation manner thereof.

Exemplarily, the apparatus may include a transceiver unit configured to: send first information, where the first information indicates a link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier, or the first information indicates a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier, and a time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the first carrier is a sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) type time unit.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit can also be used to: when the link direction of the first carrier is downlink, perform downlink transmission on the first symbol on the SBFD subband used for downlink transmission of the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first carrier is uplink, receive uplink transmission on the first symbol on the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the first carrier.

In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the at least two carriers may further include a second carrier. The link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is the first direction, and the link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier is the second direction. The first direction is one of uplink and downlink, and the second direction is the other of uplink and downlink. The transceiver unit may further be configured to: when the link direction of the first symbol is the first direction, perform first-direction transmission on the first symbol on the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first symbol is the second direction, perform second-direction transmission on the first symbol on the second carrier.

In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier is an SBFD type time unit. The transceiver unit may be configured to: perform second-direction transmission on the first symbol in an SBFD subband of the second carrier used for second-direction transmission.

Regarding the first information, the first symbol, the rules for the first carrier to determine the link direction of the first carrier, and the instructions for carrying the first information, etc., reference may be made to the relevant records of the first aspect above.

In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory being configured to store a computer program or instructions. The at least one processor is configured to retrieve and execute the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, causing the apparatus to perform the method of the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory being configured to store a computer program or instructions. The at least one processor is configured to retrieve and execute the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, causing the apparatus to perform the method of the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

In the seventh aspect, a chip or chip system is provided, wherein the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, and the processor reads instructions through the communication interface to execute the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which computer instructions are stored. When the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect is implemented.

In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program code. When the computer program code runs on a computer, the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect is implemented.

In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the apparatus according to the third aspect or the fifth aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the apparatus according to the fourth aspect or the sixth aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) in a TDD system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of DL and UL in the SBFD solution provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of DL and UL in a half-duplex (HD) TDD carrier aggregation (CA) solution provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of another device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a chip system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The terms "first", "second" and "third" in the specification and claims of this application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish different objects rather than to limit a specific order.

In the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be interpreted as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 100 used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1 , the communication system 100 includes a core network device 110, a radio access network device 120, and at least one terminal device (e.g., terminal device 130 and terminal device 140 shown in Figure 1 ). The terminal device is wirelessly connected to the radio access network device, and the radio access network device is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the core network device. The core network device and the radio access network device can be independent, distinct physical devices, or the core network device's functions and the radio access network device's logical functions can be integrated into the same physical device, or a single physical device can integrate some of the core network device's functions and some of the radio access network device's functions. The terminal device can be fixed or mobile. Figure 1 is merely a schematic diagram, and the communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1 . The embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of core network devices, radio access network devices, and terminal devices included in the mobile communication system.

Radio access network equipment is the access device used by terminals to wirelessly access a communication system. Radio access network equipment can include base stations, evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), next-generation NodeBs (gNBs) in fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, next-generation base stations in sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication systems, base stations in future mobile communication systems, or access nodes in Wi-Fi systems. It can also be modules or units that perform some of the functions of a base station, such as centralized units (CUs) or distributed units (DUs). The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the functions of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the media access control layer of the base station, and can also complete the functions of part or all of the physical layer. For the specific description of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The wireless access network device can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the wireless access network device. For the convenience of description, network device is used as the abbreviation of wireless access network device, and base station is used as an example of wireless access network device.

Terminal devices may also be referred to as terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile stations, mobile terminals, etc. A terminal device is a user-side entity used to receive or transmit signals, sending uplink signals to network devices or receiving downlink signals from network devices. Terminal devices can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminal devices can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, smart speakers, etc., as well as sensors such as train detectors and gas stations. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies and device forms used by the terminal devices.

Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

The embodiments of the present application can be applied to 5G new radio (NR) wireless communication systems, which are deployed in medium and high frequency bands and achieve high data rates and low latency by using large bandwidth. In a time division duplex system, DL usually occupies the main time resources, which causes a coverage imbalance between DL and UL, as shown in Figure 2. Compared with the frequency division duplex (FDD) system, the uplink coverage of the TDD system is poor and the latency is large. To address the problems of uplink coverage and latency in the TDD system, a sub-band full-duplex solution can be used to improve uplink coverage and reduce uplink latency.

In the SBFD scheme, a component carrier (CC) may include multiple subbands, and the transmission directions of different subbands may be different. For example, FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the subband full-duplex scheme provided by an embodiment of the present application. For example, as shown in (a) and (b) in FIG3 , a CC may be divided into three subbands. The transmission direction/link direction configured for the middle subband may be an uplink, an uplink direction, and the subband may be called an uplink subband (uplink subband), which is used for uplink transmission; the transmission direction/link direction configured for the upper and lower subbands may be a downlink, a downlink direction, and may be called a downlink subband (downlink subband), which is used for downlink transmission. For another example, as shown in (c) in FIG3 , a CC may be divided into two subbands, the upper subband may be a downlink subband, which is used for downlink transmission; the lower subband may be an uplink subband, which is used for uplink transmission.

In the SBFD scheme, transmission in different directions can be performed on a single symbol using different subbands, thereby achieving simultaneous transmission and reception. For example, as shown in Figure 3(a), in symbol #1, downlink transmission can be performed on subband #1 and subband #3, while uplink transmission can be performed on subband #2. This allows for simultaneous transmission and reception on symbol #1. In other words, in the SBFD scheme, uplink and downlink can be performed simultaneously on a single symbol using different frequency domain resources. Currently, most companies support the "full-duplex subband on the network equipment side, half-duplex on the terminal device side" scheme. Half-duplex on the terminal device side means that, in a TDD system, a terminal device can only receive or transmit on a single symbol, not simultaneously. For example, in the scenario shown in Figure 3(a), in symbol #1, the UE can only receive downlink transmissions on subband #1 and subband #3 and cannot simultaneously perform uplink transmissions on subband #2. Alternatively, the UE can only perform uplink transmissions on subband #2 and cannot simultaneously receive downlink transmissions on subband #1 and subband #3. Compared with the traditional TDD system, the uplink transmission resources available to the UE are increased, which can effectively improve the uplink coverage and reduce the uplink delay.

Through carrier aggregation, multiple continuous or non-continuous component carriers can be aggregated to obtain a larger transmission bandwidth, so that the transmission bandwidth can be the sum of the bandwidths of multiple carriers, thereby achieving higher peak rate and throughput.

Currently, the HD TDD CA scheme has been supported by the protocol. HD TDD CA may refer to CA in which the terminal device supports multiple CCs, each CC is a TDD spectrum, and the TDD uplink and downlink configurations on each CC are independently configured. The TDD uplink and downlink configurations on different CCs may be different. For example, Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of HD TDD CA. As shown in Figure 4, when the uplink and downlink transmissions of CC#1 and CC#2 are independently configured, the link directions of CC#1 and CC#2 are different on symbol #2. When the UE only supports half-duplex operation, it cannot receive and transmit at the same time. That is, on symbol #2, the UE cannot receive downlink transmission on CC#1 and perform uplink transmission on CC#2 at the same time.

For half-duplex on the terminal device side, because the UE can only receive or transmit at the same time, simultaneous uplink and downlink transmission is not supported. When a symbol is configured with SBFD operation, the link directions on different subbands in the same CC may be different, causing the UE to have uplink and downlink conflicts within the CC. In addition, when the UE supports HD TDD CA, uplink and downlink conflicts may exist between different CCs. Furthermore, when the UE supports both HD TDD CA and SBFD, uplink and downlink conflicts may exist between different CCs and uplink and downlink conflicts within the same CC on the same symbol.

In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device, which can solve the problem of uplink and downlink conflicts within a CC.

For example, FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. For ease of description, the method shown in FIG5 is illustrated by taking the execution subject as a terminal device or a network device as an example. It is understood that the execution subject of the method shown in FIG5 may also be a component of a terminal device or a network device, such as a chip, a chip system, a processor or a processing circuit, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this. The method 500 may include the following steps:

S510: The network device sends first information. Correspondingly, the terminal device obtains the first information.

The first information is used to indicate the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier, or the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier. The time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the first carrier is an SBFD type time unit.

When performing uplink/downlink transmission, certain time domain and frequency domain resources need to be occupied. The first symbol may include any symbol in the time domain resources occupied by any uplink/downlink transmission, and the first carrier may include any carrier in the frequency domain resources occupied by the uplink/downlink transmission.

For example, the first carrier may include multiple SBFD subbands, including at least one SBFD uplink subband and at least one SBFD downlink subband. For example, in the first carrier, there may be no guard interval between SBFD subbands, or there may be a guard interval between SBFD subbands. For another example, the guard interval may or may not be used for uplink and downlink transmission. For another example, different SBFD subbands may or may not overlap.

Exemplarily, the first symbol is an SBFD symbol. Symbols configured with SBFD operation (or, in other words, configured with the SBFD scheme) may be referred to as SBFD symbols. Symbols not configured with SBFD operation may be referred to as non-SBFD symbols. For example, for uplink transmission, a non-SBFD symbol may be an uplink symbol or a flexible symbol; for downlink transmission, a non-SBFD symbol may be a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol.

Assuming that time slot #1 is any time slot, time slot #1 may include a plurality of symbols.

In one embodiment, the SBFD operation can be configured at the symbol level. For example, by configuring the SBFD operation for a portion of the symbols included in time slot #1, the symbols in time slot #1 can be configured as SBFD symbols, while another portion of the symbols in time slot #1 can be configured as non-SBFD symbols.

In another embodiment, SBFD operation can be configured at the time slot level. For example, by configuring SBFD operation for time slot #1, all symbols in time slot #1 can be configured as SBFD symbols. For another example, by not configuring SBFD operation for time slot #1, all symbols in time slot #1 can be configured as non-SBFD symbols.

For any time slot (e.g., time slot #1), time slot #1 may include only SBFD symbols, or may include only non-SBFD symbols, or may include a portion of SBFD symbols and a portion of non-SBFD symbols, and this is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the time slot to which the first symbol belongs may include only SBFD symbols, or may include a portion of SBFD symbols and a portion of non-SBFD symbols.

In some possible implementations, the frequency domain resources occupied by the first symbol may include only the first carrier, or may include at least two carriers. The at least one carrier includes the first carrier and may also include a second carrier. The second carrier may be any carrier other than the first carrier among the at least two carriers.

The time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the first carrier is an SBFD type time unit, which may include that the first symbol is configured with an SBFD operation on the first carrier.

For example, the first symbol may be configured with SBFD operation on the second carrier, or may not be configured with SBFD operation. In other words, the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier may be an SBFD type time unit, or may not be an SBFD type time unit, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S520: The terminal device determines the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier according to the first information.

Exemplarily, the terminal device may determine, based on the first information, that the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier may be uplink or downlink.

In one embodiment, when the link direction of the first carrier is downlink, the network device may perform downlink transmission on the first symbol and in the SBFD subband of the first carrier used for downlink transmission; accordingly, the terminal device may receive the downlink transmission. In other words, on the first symbol, the terminal device may receive the downlink transmission on the SBFD subband of the first carrier used for downlink transmission.

In another embodiment, when the link direction of the first carrier in the first symbol is uplink, the terminal device may perform uplink transmission in the first symbol on the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the first carrier; accordingly, the network device may receive the uplink transmission. In other words, in the first symbol, the terminal device may perform uplink transmission in the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the first carrier.

Exemplarily, taking the case where the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is downlink, in the first symbol, on the first carrier, the UE only performs downlink transmission but not uplink transmission.

In one embodiment, since the UE does not perform uplink transmission on the first symbol and on the first carrier, the network device may not semi-statically configure or dynamically schedule uplink transmission for the UE on the first carrier for the first symbol.

In another embodiment, for the first symbol, the network device may semi-statically configure or dynamically schedule uplink transmissions such as uplink channels/signals for the UE within the first carrier. Since the UE performs only downlink transmissions on the first carrier in the first symbol, the UE may discard the uplink channels/signals.

In some possible implementations, the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier. The rule may include at least one of the following: (1) on the same symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled downlink transmission is greater than that of semi-statically configured uplink transmission; (2) on the same symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled uplink transmission is greater than that of semi-statically configured downlink transmission; (3) the terminal device does not want to perform dynamically scheduled downlink transmission and dynamically scheduled uplink transmission simultaneously in the same symbol; (4) the terminal device does not want to perform semi-statically configured downlink transmission and semi-statically configured uplink transmission simultaneously in the same symbol; (5) on the same symbol, the channel or signal to be transmitted is determined based on the priority of the channel or signal, wherein the priority of the channel or signal may be predefined or configured by the network device.

Assuming that the rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier includes the above (1)-(5), the rule may be applied to one or more symbols including the first symbol.

In one embodiment, in a certain symbol and on a certain carrier, the network device dynamically schedules downlink transmission for the UE and semi-statically configures uplink transmission. According to the above rule (1), in this symbol and on this carrier, the UE receives downlink transmission but does not perform uplink transmission.

In another embodiment, in a certain symbol and on a certain carrier, the network device dynamically schedules uplink transmission for the UE and semi-statically configures downlink transmission. According to the above rule (2), in this symbol and on this carrier, the UE performs uplink transmission but does not receive downlink transmission.

In another embodiment, in a certain symbol and on a certain carrier, the network device dynamically schedules downlink transmission for the UE and also dynamically schedules uplink transmission. According to the above rule (3), the UE may consider that the scheduling method is incorrect.

In another embodiment, in a certain symbol and on a certain carrier, the network device semi-statically configures downlink transmission for the UE and also semi-statically configures uplink transmission. According to the above rule (4), the UE may consider that the scheduling method is incorrect.

In another embodiment, in a certain symbol and on a certain carrier, the network device semi-statically configures downlink transmission for the UE and also semi-statically configures uplink transmission. Assuming that the uplink transmission has a higher priority than the downlink transmission, according to the above rule (5), in this symbol and on this carrier, the UE performs uplink transmission but does not receive downlink transmission.

In another embodiment, on a certain symbol and on a certain carrier, the network device dynamically schedules downlink transmission for the UE, and at the same time dynamically schedules uplink transmission. Assuming that the priority of the uplink transmission is greater than the priority of the downlink transmission, according to the above rule (5), on this symbol and on this carrier, the UE performs uplink transmission but does not receive downlink transmission. That is, for rule (5), when determining the link direction of a certain symbol on a certain carrier, the channel/signal with a higher priority can be determined based on the priorities of different channels/signals to be transmitted on this symbol on this carrier. The signal/channel is the signal to be transmitted on this symbol on this carrier; the link direction of this symbol on this carrier is the same as the channel/signal to be transmitted.

Illustratively, dynamic scheduling may include uplink/downlink transmissions scheduled by DCI. Semi-static configuration may include uplink/downlink transmissions configured based on higher-layer signaling sent by a network device, such as uplink/downlink transmissions configured based on radio resource control (RRC) signaling or system information blocks (SIBs).

Exemplarily, the first information may be carried in a first signaling. For example, the first signaling may be a newly introduced signaling. In another example, the first information may be sent by reusing existing signaling. In other words, the first signaling may include signaling that carries the first information on the basis of existing signaling.

In one embodiment, the first signaling may include high-layer signaling sent by the network device. For example, the first signaling may include RRC signaling and SIB signaling. For another example, the first signaling may multiplex signaling for configuring uplink/downlink transmission (such as TDD-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling).

Take the first signaling as tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling as an example. As a possible example, the first symbol can be configured as a flexible symbol by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon on the first carrier, and tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated can indicate that the link direction of the symbol is uplink or downlink. Optionally, the symbol can also be a flexible symbol, that is, the link direction of the symbol is not specified. As another possible example, the first symbol is configured as a downlink symbol by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon on the first carrier, and tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated can indicate that the link direction of the symbol is uplink or downlink. Optionally, the symbol can also be a flexible symbol, that is, the link direction of the symbol is not specified.

In another embodiment, the first signaling may be layer 1 or layer 2 signaling. For example, the first signaling may include DCI and MAC CE. For another example, the DCI may carry SFI, and the first information may be carried in the SFI.

Take the example where the first signaling is the SFI in the DCI. As a possible example, the first symbol can be configured as a flexible symbol by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated on the first carrier, then the SFI can indicate that the link direction of the symbol is uplink or downlink, optionally, it can also be flexible, that is, the link direction is not specified. As another possible example, the first symbol is configured as a downlink symbol by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated on the first carrier, then the SFI can indicate that the link direction of the symbol is uplink or downlink, optionally, it can also be flexible, that is, the link direction is not specified.

In some possible implementations, the frequency domain resources occupied by the first symbol may include multiple carriers including the first carrier, such as at least two carriers. The terminal device may be half-duplex on at least two carriers of the first symbol. In this scenario, the link directions of the first symbol on different carriers may be different, resulting in uplink and downlink conflicts between different CCs.

Exemplarily, the method may further include: determining whether the link direction of the first symbol is uplink or downlink based on the link direction of the first symbol on each of the at least two carriers and the scheduling method of information to be transmitted on each carrier. For example, for a certain symbol and a certain carrier, the link direction of the symbol on the carrier and the scheduling method of the information to be transmitted on the carrier may be represented by the transmission type of the symbol on the carrier. In other words, the transmission type may represent the link direction of the symbol on the carrier and the scheduling method of the information to be transmitted on the carrier.

In one embodiment, a certain symbol and a certain carrier can be semi-statically configured as an uplink symbol or a downlink symbol through higher-layer signaling, such as tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon signaling or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling. In this scenario, the transmission type of the symbol on the carrier can be recorded as Semi-xxx. For example, Semi-U and Semi-D can respectively indicate that the symbol is semi-statically configured as uplink or downlink on the carrier through higher-layer signaling.

In another embodiment, for a certain symbol and a certain carrier, downlink channel/signal transmission or uplink channel/signal transmission may be semi-statically configured by higher-layer signaling. For example, uplink and downlink transmissions such as the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), physical random access channel (PRACH), sounding reference signal (SRS), and channel state information (CSI)-reference signal (RS) may be semi-statically configured. In this scenario, the transmission type of the symbol on the carrier may be denoted as RRC-xxx. For example, RRC-PUCCH may indicate that PUCCH transmission is semi-statically configured by higher-layer signaling. For another example, RRC-D and RRC-U may respectively indicate that downlink signal/channel transmission and uplink signal/channel transmission are semi-statically configured by higher layer signaling.

In another embodiment, DCI can dynamically schedule downlink channel/signal transmission or uplink channel/signal transmission for a certain symbol and a certain carrier. In this scenario, the transmission type of the symbol on the carrier can be recorded as DG-xxx. For example, DG-PDSCH can indicate that PDSCH transmission is configured by DCI in a dynamic scheduling manner. For another example, DG-D and DG-U can respectively indicate that DL transmission and UL transmission are configured by DCI in a dynamic scheduling manner.

For example, with respect to the uplink and downlink conflict between CCs of the first symbol, a method for determining the link direction of the symbol will be briefly described below in combination with each transmission type in Table 1.

In some possible implementations, the at least two carriers may further include a second carrier. The link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is the first direction, and the link direction of the first carrier on the second symbol is the second direction. The first direction may be one of uplink and downlink, and the second direction may be the other of uplink or downlink. The method may further include: when the link direction of the first symbol is the first direction, on the first symbol, the terminal device and the network device perform transmission in the first direction on the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first symbol is the second direction, on the first symbol, the terminal device and the network device perform transmission in the second direction on the second carrier.

Exemplarily, when the link directions of the first symbol in the first carrier and the second carrier are different, there is an uplink and downlink conflict problem between CCs. The link direction of the first symbol can be determined according to the transmission type of the first symbol in each carrier.

Assume that the first direction is uplink and the second direction is downlink. For example, when the link direction of the first symbol is uplink, on the first symbol, the terminal device performs uplink transmission on the first carrier, but does not receive downlink transmission on the second carrier. Correspondingly, on the first symbol, the network device receives uplink transmission on the first carrier, and may or may not perform downlink transmission on the second carrier. For another example, when the link direction of the first symbol is downlink, on the first symbol, the terminal device does not perform uplink transmission on the first carrier, but receives downlink transmission on the second carrier. Correspondingly, on the first symbol, the network device does not receive uplink transmission on the first carrier, but performs downlink transmission on the second carrier.

In some possible implementations, the first symbol may not be configured with SBFD operation on the second carrier. For example, in the first symbol, the terminal device performs an uplink transmission on the second carrier, which can be understood as the terminal device performing an uplink transmission on the frequency domain resources corresponding to the second carrier in the first symbol. For another example, in the first symbol, the terminal device receives a downlink transmission on the second carrier, which can be understood as the terminal device receives a downlink transmission on the frequency domain resources corresponding to the second carrier in the first symbol.

In some possible implementations, the first symbol may be configured with SBFD operation on the second carrier. For example, a network device may send information indicating a link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier, or indicating a rule for determining the link direction of the second carrier; a terminal device may receive the information and determine the link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier based on the information.

Exemplarily, when the second carrier is configured with SBFD operation in the first symbol, the manner in which uplink/downlink transmission is performed on the second carrier in the first symbol is similar to the manner in which uplink/downlink transmission is performed on the first carrier. For example, in the first symbol, the terminal device performs an uplink transmission on the second carrier, which may include: in the first symbol, the terminal device performs an uplink transmission in the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the second carrier. For another example, in the first symbol, the terminal device receives a downlink transmission on the second carrier, which may include, in the first symbol, the terminal device receives a downlink transmission in the SBFD subband used for downlink transmission of the second carrier.

That is, performing transmission in the second direction on the second carrier on the first symbol may include: performing transmission in the second direction on the SBFD subband of the second carrier used for transmission in the second direction on the first symbol.

In some possible implementations, the first information is carried in high-layer signaling sent by a network device, such as tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated, and the first information is used to indicate the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. The method may also include: determining the transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier as an uplink symbol or a downlink symbol semi-statically configured by high-layer signaling. That is, in this scenario, when processing uplink and downlink conflicts between CCs, the transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier can be regarded as Semi-U or Semi-D.

In some possible implementations, the first information is carried in high-level signaling sent by a network device, such as tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated, etc., and the first information is used to indicate the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. The method may also include: determining the symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier as a flexible symbol. Furthermore, the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier can be determined based on the first information, and the transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier can be determined as RRC-D/RRC-U/DG-D/DG-U in combination with the scheduling method of the channel/signal to be transmitted on the first carrier of the first symbol. Based on this, the uplink and downlink conflicts between CCs on the first symbol are processed.

In some possible implementations, the first information is carried in DCI, and the first information is used to indicate the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. The method may also include: determining the symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier as a flexible symbol. Furthermore, the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier can be determined based on the first information, and combined with the scheduling method of the channel/signal to be transmitted by the first symbol on the first carrier, the transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier can be determined as RRC-D/RRC-U/DG-D/DG-U. Based on this, the link direction of the first symbol is determined.

In some possible implementations, the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier. The method may also include: determining the symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier as a flexible symbol. Furthermore, based on the scheduling method of the channel/signal to be transmitted on the first carrier by the first symbol, the transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier may be determined as RRC-D/RRC-U/DG-D/DG-U. Based on this, uplink and downlink conflicts between CCs on the first symbol are processed.

For the convenience of explanation and illustration, the following briefly introduces the rules for handling uplink and downlink conflicts between CCs in conjunction with Table 1.

For example, Table 1 shows an example of HD TDD CA provided by an embodiment of the present application. The reference cell may refer to the CC with the smallest index among all CCs in HD TDD CA, and other cells may refer to cells other than the reference cell. For example, on the first symbol, the reference cell may be the CC with the smallest index among at least two CCs, and other cells may include other CCs among the at least two CCs.

Table 1 HD TDD CA

It is assumed that the first carrier is a reference cell and the second carrier is other cells.

In one embodiment, assume that the transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier is determined to be Semi-D. When a PUCCH is semi-statically configured for the first symbol on the second carrier by higher-layer signaling, the transmission type of the first symbol on the second carrier can be determined to be RRC-PUCCH. According to the rules in Table 1, regardless of whether the first and second carriers use inter-band CA or intra-band CA, the UE can discard the uplink PUCCH and perform downlink transmission only on this symbol.

In another embodiment, assuming that uplink transmission is dynamically scheduled for a first symbol on a first carrier by DCI, the transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier may be determined as DG-U. When downlink transmission is dynamically scheduled for a first symbol on a second carrier by DCI, the transmission type of the first symbol on the second carrier may be determined as DG-D. According to the rules in Table 1, regardless of whether the first and second carriers utilize inter-band CA or intra-band CA, the UE may deem that there is an error in the scheduling method for the symbol and may not perform the corresponding uplink and downlink transmissions on the first and second carriers.

The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with FIG5 . The communication method is primarily described from the perspective of interaction between a terminal device and a network device. It is understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the terminal device and the network device include hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to the respective functions.

Those skilled in the art should be aware that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

The following describes the device embodiment of the present application in detail with reference to Figures 6 to 8. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, reference can be made to the method embodiment above. For the sake of brevity, some contents will not be repeated.

Figure 6 is an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, the apparatus 10 may include modules or units for implementing the above method embodiments.

Exemplarily, the apparatus 10 may include a transceiver unit 11. The transceiver unit 11 may implement corresponding communication functions. The transceiver unit 11 may also be referred to as a transceiver module, a communication interface, or a communication module.

In some possible implementations, the apparatus 10 may further include a processing unit 12. The processing unit 12 may also be referred to as a processing module.

In one design, the apparatus 10 may correspond to the terminal device in the above method embodiment, or a component of the terminal device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor or a circuit, etc.).

The device 10 can implement the steps or processes executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment, wherein the transceiver unit 11 can be used to execute the transceiver-related operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 12 can be used to execute the processing-related operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 11 is configured to obtain first information. The processing unit 12 is configured to determine, based on the first information, the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. That is, when the apparatus 10 is configured to perform method 500 of FIG. 5 , the transceiver unit 11 may be configured to perform steps of transmitting and receiving information in the method, such as step S510; and the processing unit 12 may be configured to perform processing steps in the method, such as step S520.

In some possible implementations, the transceiver unit 11 can also be used to: when the link direction of the first carrier is downlink, receive downlink transmission on the first symbol, on the SBFD subband used for downlink transmission of the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first carrier is uplink, perform uplink transmission on the first symbol, on the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the first carrier.

In some possible implementations, the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier. The rule may include at least one of the following: on the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled downlink transmission is greater than the priority of semi-statically configured uplink transmission; or, on the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled uplink transmission is greater than the priority of semi-statically configured downlink transmission; or, the terminal device does not want to perform dynamically scheduled downlink transmission and dynamically scheduled uplink transmission at the same time in the first symbol; or, the terminal device does not want to perform semi-statically configured downlink transmission and semi-statically configured uplink transmission at the same time in the first symbol; or, on the first symbol, the channel or signal to be transmitted is determined according to the priority of the channel or signal, wherein the priority of the channel or signal is predefined or configured by the network device.

In some possible implementations, the first information can be carried in high-level signaling, MAC CE or DCI sent by the network device.

In some possible implementations, the first information is carried in high-layer signaling sent by the network device, which may include: the first information is carried in tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling.

In some possible implementations, the first information is carried in the DCI, which may include: the first information is carried in the SFI.

In some possible implementations, the frequency domain resources occupied by the first symbol may include at least two carriers, including the first carrier. The terminal device may be half-duplex on the at least two carriers of the first symbol. The processing unit 12 may also be configured to determine whether the link direction of the first symbol is uplink or downlink based on the link direction of each carrier in the at least two carriers and the scheduling method of the information to be transmitted on each carrier.

In some possible implementations, the at least two carriers may further include a second carrier. The link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is the first direction, and the link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier is the second direction. The first direction is one of uplink and downlink, and the second direction is the other of uplink and downlink. The transceiver unit 11 may also be configured to: when the link direction of the first symbol is the first direction, perform first-direction transmission on the first symbol on the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first symbol is the second direction, perform second-direction transmission on the first symbol on the second carrier.

In some possible implementations, the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier is an SBFD type time unit. The transceiver unit 11 can be configured to: perform second direction transmission on the first symbol in the SBFD subband of the second carrier used for second direction transmission.

In some possible implementations, the first information is carried in higher-layer signaling sent by a network device, and the first information is used to indicate a link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. The processing unit 12 is further configured to determine a transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier as an uplink symbol or a downlink symbol semi-statically configured by the higher-layer signaling.

In some possible implementations, the first information is carried in high-layer signaling or DCI sent by the network device, and the first information is used to indicate the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier. The processing unit 12 is further configured to determine the symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier as a flexible symbol.

In some possible implementations, the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining a link direction of the first carrier. The processing unit 12 is further configured to: determine a symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier as a flexible symbol.

It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

In another design, the apparatus 10 may correspond to the network device in the above method embodiment, or a component of the network device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor or a circuit, etc.).

The apparatus 10 can implement the steps or processes executed by the network device in the above method embodiment. The transceiver unit 11 can be used to perform the operations related to transceiver transmission of the network device in the above method embodiment.

Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 11 is configured to send the first information. That is, when the apparatus 10 is configured to execute the method 500 of FIG5 , the transceiver unit 11 may be configured to execute the steps of sending and receiving information in the method, such as step S510.

In some possible implementations, the transceiver unit 11 can also be used to: when the link direction of the first carrier is downlink, perform downlink transmission on the first symbol on the SBFD subband used for downlink transmission of the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first carrier is uplink, receive uplink transmission on the first symbol on the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the first carrier.

In some possible implementations, the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier. The rule may include at least one of the following: on the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled downlink transmission is greater than the priority of semi-statically configured uplink transmission; or, on the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled uplink transmission is greater than the priority of semi-statically configured downlink transmission; or, the terminal device does not want to perform dynamically scheduled downlink transmission and dynamically scheduled uplink transmission at the same time in the first symbol; or, the terminal device does not want to perform semi-statically configured downlink transmission and semi-statically configured uplink transmission at the same time in the first symbol; or, on the first symbol, the channel or signal to be transmitted is determined according to the priority of the channel or signal, wherein the priority of the channel or signal is predefined or configured by the network device.

In some possible implementations, the first information can be carried in high-level signaling, MAC CE or DCI sent by the network device.

In some possible implementations, the first information is carried in high-layer signaling sent by the network device, which may include: the first information is carried in tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling.

In some possible implementations, the first information is carried in the DCI, which may include: the first information is carried in the SFI.

In some possible implementations, the frequency domain resources occupied by the first symbol may include at least two carriers, including the first carrier. The terminal device may be half-duplex on the at least two carriers of the first symbol. The link direction of the first symbol is determined based on the link direction of the first symbol on each of the at least two carriers and the scheduling method of the information to be transmitted on each carrier.

In some possible implementations, the at least two carriers may further include a second carrier. The link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is the first direction, and the link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier is the second direction. The first direction is one of uplink and downlink, and the second direction is the other of uplink and downlink. The transceiver unit 11 may also be configured to: when the link direction of the first symbol is the first direction, perform first-direction transmission on the first symbol on the first carrier; or, when the link direction of the first symbol is the second direction, perform second-direction transmission on the first symbol on the second carrier.

In some possible implementations, the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier is an SBFD type time unit. The transceiver unit 11 can be configured to: perform second direction transmission on the first symbol in the SBFD subband of the second carrier used for second direction transmission.

It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

It should also be understood that the device 10 here is embodied in the form of a functional module. The terms "unit" and "module" here can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combined logic circuit and/or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art will understand that the device 10 can be specifically the terminal device in the above embodiment, and can be used to execute the various processes and/or steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above method embodiments; or, the device 10 can be specifically the network device in the above embodiment, and can be used to execute the various processes and/or steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above method embodiments. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

The apparatus 10 of each of the above-described solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the devices (such as terminal devices and network devices) in the above-described methods. This function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions; for example, the transceiver module can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the transmitting unit in the transceiver module can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver module can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing module, can be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the transceiver operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

In addition, the transceiver unit 11 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit 12 may be a processing circuit.

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 20 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Device 20 includes a processor 21, which is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in memory 22, or read data/signaling stored in memory 22, to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, there may be one or more processors 21.

Optionally, as shown in FIG7 , the apparatus 20 further includes a memory 22 for storing computer programs or instructions and/or data. The memory 22 may be integrated with the processor 21 or may be separately provided. Optionally, there may be one or more memories 22 .

Optionally, as shown in Figure 7, the device 20 further includes a transceiver 23, which is used to receive and/or send signals. For example, the processor 21 is used to control the transceiver 23 to receive and/or send signals.

As a solution, the apparatus 20 is used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device in each of the above method embodiments.

As another solution, the apparatus 20 may be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in the above various method embodiments.

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

It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory and/or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM includes the following forms: static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronized DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 30 provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application. The chip system 30 (or processing system) includes a logic circuit 31 and an input/output interface 32.

The logic circuit 31 may be a processing circuit in the chip system 30. The logic circuit 31 may be coupled to a storage unit and call instructions in the storage unit so that the chip system 30 can implement the methods and functions of the various embodiments of the present application. The input/output interface 32 may be an input/output circuit in the chip system 30, outputting information processed by the chip system 30 or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system 30 for processing.

As a solution, the chip system 30 can be used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device in the above various method embodiments.

For example, the logic circuit 31 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment; the input/output interface 32 is used to implement the sending and/or receiving-related operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

As another solution, the chip system 30 may be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in the above various method embodiments.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions for implementing the methods executed by the device in the above-mentioned method embodiments are stored.

For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the methods executed by the terminal device or the network device in each embodiment of the above method.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, implement the methods performed by a terminal device or a network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including the aforementioned terminal device and network device.

The explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the above-mentioned devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which will not be repeated here.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims (26)

A communication method, comprising: Acquire first information, where the first information is used to indicate a link direction of a first symbol on a first carrier, or the first information is used to indicate a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier, and a time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the first carrier is a sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) type time unit; Determine a link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier according to the first information. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: When the link direction of the first carrier is downlink, receiving downlink transmission on the first symbol in the SBFD subband used for downlink transmission of the first carrier; or When the link direction of the first carrier is uplink, the first symbol is uplink transmitted on the SBFD subband of the first carrier used for uplink transmission. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first information is used to indicate the rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier, and the rule includes at least one of the following: On the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled downlink transmission is higher than that of semi-statically configured uplink transmission; or, On the first symbol, the priority of the dynamically scheduled uplink transmission is higher than the priority of the semi-statically configured downlink transmission; or, The terminal device does not wish to perform dynamically scheduled downlink transmission and dynamically scheduled uplink transmission simultaneously in the first symbol; or, The terminal device does not want to perform both the semi-statically configured downlink transmission and the semi-statically configured uplink transmission in the first symbol; or, On the first symbol, a channel or signal to be transmitted is determined according to a priority of the channel or signal, wherein the priority of the channel or signal is predefined or configured by a network device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is characterized in that the first information is carried in high-level signaling, media access control layer control unit MAC CE or downlink control information DCI sent by the network device. The method according to claim 4 is characterized in that the first information is carried in the high-layer signaling sent by the network device, including: the first information is carried in time division duplex-uplink-downlink-configuration dedicated tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling. The method according to claim 4 is characterized in that the first information is carried in the DCI, including: the first information is carried in the time slot format indication SFI carried by the DCI. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the frequency domain resources occupied by the first symbol include at least two carriers, the at least two carriers include the first carrier, and the terminal device is half-duplex on the at least two carriers of the first symbol, and the method further comprises: The link direction of the first symbol is determined to be uplink or downlink according to the link direction of each carrier in the at least two carriers and the scheduling mode of the information to be transmitted by each carrier. The method according to claim 7, wherein the at least two carriers further include a second carrier, the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is a first direction, the link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier is a second direction, the first direction is one of uplink and downlink, and the second direction is the other of uplink and downlink, and the method further includes: When the link direction of the first symbol is the first direction, transmission in the first direction is performed on the first carrier on the first symbol; or When the link direction of the first symbol is the second direction, transmission in the second direction is performed on the first symbol and the second carrier. The method according to claim 8, wherein the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier is an SBFD type time unit, and the transmitting in the second direction on the second carrier on the first symbol includes: On the first symbol, transmission in the second direction is performed in the SBFD subband of the second carrier used for transmission in the second direction. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the first information is carried in the high-layer signaling sent by the network device, and the first information is used to indicate the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier, and the method further comprises: The transmission type of the first symbol on the first carrier is determined to be an uplink symbol or a downlink symbol semi-statically configured by the higher layer signaling. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the first information is carried in the higher-layer signaling or the DCI sent by the network device, and the first information is used to indicate the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier, and the method further includes: The symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier is determined to be a flexible symbol. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the first information is used to indicate the rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier, and the method further comprises: The symbol type of the first symbol on the first carrier is determined to be a flexible symbol. A communication method, comprising: First information is sent, where the first information indicates a link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier, or the first information indicates a rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier, and the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the first carrier is a sub-band full-duplex SBFD type time unit. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: When the link direction of the first carrier is downlink, the first symbol is downlinked on the SBFD subband of the first carrier used for downlink transmission; or When the link direction of the first carrier is uplink, the first symbol receives uplink transmission on the SBFD subband used for uplink transmission of the first carrier. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the first information is used to indicate the rule for determining the link direction of the first carrier, and the rule includes at least one of the following: On the first symbol, the priority of dynamically scheduled downlink transmission is higher than that of semi-statically configured uplink transmission; or, On the first symbol, the priority of the dynamically scheduled uplink transmission is higher than the priority of the semi-statically configured downlink transmission; or, The terminal device does not wish to perform dynamically scheduled downlink transmission and dynamically scheduled uplink transmission simultaneously in the first symbol; or, The terminal device does not want to perform both the semi-statically configured downlink transmission and the semi-statically configured uplink transmission in the first symbol; On the first symbol, a channel or signal to be transmitted is determined according to a priority of the channel or signal, wherein the priority of the channel or signal is predefined or configured by a network device. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15 is characterized in that the first information is carried in high-level signaling, media access control layer control unit MAC CE or downlink control information DCI sent by the network device. The method according to claim 16 is characterized in that the first information is carried in the high-layer signaling sent by the network device, including: the first information is carried in tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated signaling. The method according to claim 16 is characterized in that the first information is carried in the DCI, including: the first information is carried in the time slot format indication SFI carried by the DCI. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 18 is characterized in that the frequency domain resources occupied by the first symbol include at least two carriers, the at least two carriers include the first carrier, the terminal device is half-duplex on the at least two carriers of the first symbol, and the link direction of the first symbol is determined according to the link direction of each carrier in the at least two carriers and the scheduling method of the information required to be transmitted on each carrier. The method according to claim 19, wherein the at least two carriers further include a second carrier, the link direction of the first symbol on the first carrier is a first direction, the link direction of the first symbol on the second carrier is a second direction, the first direction is one of uplink and downlink, and the second direction is the other of uplink and downlink, and the method further comprises: When the link direction of the first symbol is the first direction, transmission in the first direction is performed on the first carrier on the first symbol; or When the link direction of the first symbol is the second direction, transmission in the second direction is performed on the first symbol and the second carrier. The method according to claim 20, wherein the time domain resource corresponding to the first symbol on the second carrier is an SBFD type time unit, and the transmitting in the second direction on the second carrier on the first symbol includes: On the first symbol, transmission in the second direction is performed in the SBFD subband of the second carrier used for transmission in the second direction. A device, characterized in that it comprises at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is coupled to at least one memory and is configured to execute computer instructions stored in the memory so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21. A communication system, characterized by comprising the device according to claim 22. A chip or chip system, characterized in that it comprises at least one processing circuit, wherein the at least one processing circuit is used to run a computer program so that the chip or chip system performs the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a computer program or instruction is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program or instruction is run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21. A computer program product, characterized in that when the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.