CN110945938A

CN110945938A - Method and apparatus for time cell configuration

Info

Publication number: CN110945938A
Application number: CN201880048704.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 赵振山; 沈嘉
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2017-11-29
Filing date: 2018-08-31
Publication date: 2020-03-31
Anticipated expiration: 2038-08-31
Also published as: CN110945938B; WO2019105087A1

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for time cell configuration and readable storage media are disclosed. The method comprises the following steps: transmitting configuration signaling to a User Equipment (UE), wherein the configuration signaling is to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; transmitting a time Slot Format Indicator (SFI) to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown, and the second subset does not include time units in a third subset of the set of time units, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and including at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

Description

Method and apparatus for time cell configuration

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims priority from us provisional patent application serial No. 62/592,074 filed on 29/11/2017. The entire contents of this application are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of communications technologies, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for time cell configuration.

Background

The four possible states per symbol, Downlink (DL), Uplink (UL), unknown and reserved, may be configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. A Slot Format Indicator (SFI) may be used to further configure the symbol/slot format on top of the RRC configuration. The SFI cannot cover UL, DL and reserved symbols configured by RRC signaling.

If some symbols are configured in the reserved state, but only DL, UL and unknown are defined in the SFI, when a symbol is indicated as UL, DL or unknown by the SFI, but indicated as reserved by RRC signaling, a collision will occur between the RRC configuration and the SFI, and the collision will create confusion at the UE.

Disclosure of Invention

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for time cell configuration is provided. The method can comprise the following steps: transmitting configuration signaling to a User Equipment (UE), wherein the configuration signaling is to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; transmitting a time Slot Format Indicator (SFI) to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown, and the second subset does not include time units in a third subset of the set of time units, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and including at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for time cell configuration is provided. The method can comprise the following steps: receiving configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; configuring the format of the time unit in the first subset according to the configuration signaling; receiving an SFI from a base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of a time unit in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown; according to the SFI, configuring formats of time units in the second subset other than time units in a third subset of the set of time units and keeping the formats of the time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for time cell configuration is provided. The apparatus may include: a first transmission module configured to transmit configuration signaling to the UE, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; a second transmission module configured to transmit an SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown, and the second subset does not include time units in a third subset of the set of time units, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and including at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for time cell configuration is provided. The apparatus may include: a first receiving module configured to receive configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; a first configuration module configured to configure formats of time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling; a second receiving module configured to receive an SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of a time unit in the second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown; a second configuration module configured to configure formats of time units in the second subset other than time units in a third subset of the set of time units according to the SFI and to leave formats of time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and includes at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a base station is provided. The base station may include a processor in communication with the memory, the processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, the instructions causing the processor to: transmitting configuration signaling to the UE, wherein the configuration signaling is to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; transmitting an SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown, and the second subset does not include time units in a third subset of the set of time units, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and including at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a UE is provided. The UE may include a processor in communication with the memory, the processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to: receiving configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; configuring the format of the time unit in the first subset according to the configuration signaling; receiving an SFI from a base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of a time unit in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown; according to the SFI, configuring formats of time units in the second subset other than time units in a third subset of the set of time units and keeping the formats of the time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and comprises at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a readable memory is provided. The readable memory may store instructions that, when executed, implement any of the above-described methods.

Drawings

In order to make the technical solutions described in the embodiments of the present disclosure clearer, drawings for describing the embodiments will be briefly described below. It is to be understood that the drawings described below are for illustration purposes only and are not limiting. It is understood that other figures can be derived from these figures by a person skilled in the art without inventive effort.

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a method for time cell configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of a method for time cell configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is an example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is another example of configuration signaling and SFI in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is yet another example of configuration signaling and SFI according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for time cell configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for time cell configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for time cell configuration according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for time cell configuration according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a computer-readable medium according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements for the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are exemplary only, and are meant to be illustrative of, and not limiting of, the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a flow chart of a method for time cell configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the method is performed on the base station side. The base stations may be connected to a core network and communicate wirelessly with User Equipment (UE) to provide communication coverage for respective areas. The base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station (pico base station), or a femto cell (femtocell). In some embodiments, a base station may be referred to as a radio base station, access point, node B, evolved node B (eNodeB, eNB), ng-eNB, gNB, en-gNB, or other suitable terminology. As shown in fig. 1, the method may include the following blocks.

At block S11, configuration signaling is transmitted to the UE. The configuration signaling may be used to configure the format/state of the time units in the first subset of the set of time units as Uplink (UL), Downlink (DL), reserved, or unknown. The unknown format may also be referred to as a flexible format.

The set of time units may include a plurality of time units, and the first subset may include some or all of the time units in the set of time units. Each time unit may include at least one symbol or slot. The slot duration may be 14 symbols with a normal Cyclic Prefix (CP) and 12 symbols with an extended CP, and a time proportion (scale in time) that varies according to the used subcarrier spacing such that there are always an integer number of slots in a 1ms subframe.

The time units configured to UL by the configuration signaling may be referred to as UL time units; the time units configured as DL by the configuration signaling may be referred to as DL time units; time units configured to be reserved by configuration signaling may be referred to as reserved time units; a time unit configured to be unknown by configuration signaling may be referred to as an unknown time unit. If the first subset includes a portion of the time units in the set of time units, the time units that are not configured by the configuration signaling may be referred to as unconfigured time units. In some embodiments, the default format of the time unit is unknown, and thus time units that are not configured by configuration signaling may be referred to as unconfigured time units or unknown time units.

Specifically, UL time units may be used for UL transmissions (i.e., transmissions from the UE to the base station) and DL time units may be used for DL transmissions (i.e., transmissions from the base station to the UE). The reserved time unit is reserved for subsequent use or reserved for legacy transmission (legacy transmission) such as CRS (cell specific reference signaling) of the LTE system.

The configuration signaling may be used for a semi-persistent configuration time resource format in a TDD (time division duplex) system. The configuration signaling may include at least one Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Each RRC signaling may be cell-specific or UE-specific. When the configuration signaling comprises more than one RRC signaling, the time units/formats configured by the different RRC signaling may be completely different, partially the same, or the same. For example, the configuration signaling may include two RRC signaling, one RRC signaling may be used to configure the reserved format and another RRC signaling may be used to configure the UL, DL, and unknown formats. Specifically, priority may be set for RRC signaling, and a time unit format configured by RRC signaling with a lower priority may be covered by RRC signaling with a higher priority (override).

At block S12, a Slot Format Indicator (SFI) is transmitted to the UE.

The SFI may be used to dynamically configure the format of the time units in the second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown on top of the configuration signaling. The second subset does not include time units in the third subset of the set of time units. The third subset may be a subset of the first subset and include at least one of an uplink, a downlink, and a reserved time unit configured by the configuration signaling. The time cells in the third subset cannot be covered by the SFI. For example, the third subset may consist of all uplink, downlink and reserved time units in the first subset, and the second subset may consist of at least a portion of unknown time units, at least a portion of unconfigured time units, or at least a portion of unknown time units and at least a portion of unconfigured time units. Unknown and/or unconfigured time units may be covered by SFI as UL or DL.

The SFI may be carried in Downlink Control Information (DCI) transmitted on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), e.g., DCI format 2_0 with a CRC scrambled by an SFI-Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI). The information required for SFI transmission can be configured by the higher layer using the parameter slotformatdicator.

The second subset does not include time units in the third subset, so the SFI will not configure time units in the third subset and conflicts between configuration signaling and the SFI may be reduced.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method for time cell configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the method is performed at the UE side. The UE may be fixed in one example, and mobile in another example, such as a cellular phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a tablet, a laptop, a cordless phone, and so on. As shown in fig. 5, the method may include the following blocks.

At block S21, configuration signaling is received from a base station. The configuration signaling may be used to configure the format of the time units in the first subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown. The unknown format may also be referred to as a flexible format.

In this embodiment, the configuration signaling may be the configuration signaling described in the previous embodiment, and is not described herein again.

At block S22, the format of the time units in the first subset is configured according to the configuration signaling.

At block S23, an SFI is received from a base station. The SFI may be used to dynamically configure the format of the time units in the second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown on top of the configuration signaling.

The SFI may be carried in Downlink Control Information (DCI) transmitted on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), e.g., DCI format 2_0 with a CRC scrambled by an SFI-Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI). The information required for SFI transmission can be configured by the higher layer using the parameter slotformatdicator. The UE may monitor the SFI in DL time units and certain unknown time units (when configured by higher layer parameters).

At block S24, the formats of the time units in the second subset other than the time units in the third subset of the set of time units are configured according to the SFI, and the formats of the time units in the third subset are kept unchanged.

The third subset is a subset of the first subset and includes at least one of an uplink, a downlink, and a reserved time unit configured by the configuration signaling. For example, the third subset may consist of all uplink, downlink and reserved time units in the first subset.

Since the time units in the third subset cannot be covered by the SFI, a collision between the configuration signaling and the SFI may occur if the SFI includes the configuration for any time unit in the third subset and is fully applied.

Even if the second subset comprises at least one first time unit belonging to the third subset, i.e. the SFI comprises a configuration of the first time unit(s), the SFI does not apply to the time units in the third subset, so that conflicts between configuration signaling and SFI may be reduced.

This embodiment may be combined with the embodiment associated with fig. 1. In this case, the SFI does not include the configuration of any time unit in the third subset and may apply to all time units in the second subset.

In one example, if the SFI includes the configuration of the first time unit(s), the UE may skip the configuration of the first time unit(s). In another example, if the SFI includes a configuration of the first time unit(s), the UE may apply a delay on the configuration of at least one first time unit in the SFI and the time unit immediately following the first time unit(s) in order to skip time units in the third subset, i.e., the UE may apply the configuration of the first time unit(s) in the SFI and the time unit immediately following the first time unit(s) to time units that immediately follow the first time unit(s) and do not belong to the third subset. If the SFI periodically configures the time units in the second subset, the actual configuration period on the UE side may be different from the configuration period in the SFI due to the delayed configuration application. For example, the SFI may include a configuration of slot a located in the third subset, in which case the UE may apply the configuration of slot a and the slot immediately following slot a to the slot immediately following slot a and not belonging to the third subset.

Examples of configuration signaling and SFI will be described in more detail below with reference to fig. 3-9 of the drawings, and common matters with the foregoing embodiments will not be described in detail. The configuration signaling and the SFI may configure the time cell format within a configuration period. In fig. 3 to 9, each box represents a time slot, a horizontal line filled region represents a DL format, a vertical line filled region represents an UL format, a dot filled region represents an unconfigured format, a slash filled region represents a reserved format, a blank region represents an unknown time unit, a grid filled region represents time resources of SFI, and an arrow represents SFI configuration.

Referring to fig. 3, in one example, there are 10 time slots within the configuration period. The format of each slot is configured by configuration signaling as follows:

DL time unit: the first 2 slots + slot # 3; UL time unit: the last time slot; unknown time unit: time slots #2, #4, # 5; retention time unit: slots #6 and # 7; unconfigured time cell: slot # 8.

Within the configuration period, the first subset includes slots #0- #7, #9, and the third subset includes slots #0, #1, #3, #6, #7, # 9.

On top of the configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate slot #4, #5 as UL and slot #8 as DL. The SFI may be applied to all configured symbols.

Referring to fig. 4, in another example, there are 10 slots within the configuration period. The format of each slot configured by the configuration signaling is the same as those in the upper part of fig. 3.

On top of the configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate time slots #4, #5, #6 as UL and time slot #8 as DL. Since the configuration signaling indicates slot #6 as reserved, the configuration of slot #6 in the SFI will not be applied to slot #6 and will be ignored by the UE.

Referring to fig. 5, in yet another example, there are 10 time slots within the configuration period. The format of each slot configured by the configuration signaling is the same as those in the upper part of fig. 3.

On top of the configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate slot #4, #5 as UL and slot #6 as DL. Since the configuration signaling indicates slot #6 as reserved, the configuration of slot #6 in the SFI will apply to slot #8 instead of slot # 6.

Referring to fig. 6, in yet another example, there are 10 slots within the configuration period. The format of each slot is configured by configuration signaling as follows:

DL time unit: some symbols of the first slot + slots #1, # 2; UL time unit: some symbols of the last slot + slot # 8; unknown/unconfigured time unit: some symbols of slots #1, #2, #6, #8 and slots #3, #4, #5, # 7; retention time unit: some symbols of slot 6.

Within the configuration period, the first subset includes slots #0- #9, and the third subset includes slots #0, #9 and some symbols of slots #1, #2, #6, # 8.

On top of the configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate some symbols of slots #4, #5, #7 as UL and some symbols of slot #8 as DL. The SFI may be applied to all configured symbols.

Referring to fig. 7, in yet another example, there are 10 slots within the configuration period. The format of each slot configured by the configuration signaling is the same as those in the upper part of fig. 6.

On top of the configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate some symbols of slots #4, #5, #7 as UL and some symbols of slots #6, #8 as DL.

Since some symbols of slot #6 are indicated as reserved by the configuration signaling, the configuration of some symbols of slot #6 (intersecting the reserved symbols) in the SFI will not be applied and will be ignored by the UE.

Referring to fig. 8, in yet another example, there are 10 slots within the configuration period. The format of each slot configured by the configuration signaling is the same as those in the upper part of fig. 6.

On top of the configuration signaling, the SFI is configured to indicate some symbols of slots #4, #5, #7 as UL and some symbols of slots #6, #7 as DL.

Since some symbols of slot #6 are indicated as reserved by the configuration signaling, the configuration of some symbols of slot #6 (intersecting the reserved symbols) and subsequent symbols of slot #7 in the SFI will apply to the symbols following the reserved symbols. The interval between the configuration in the SFI and the delayed configuration is the duration of the reserved symbol.

Referring to fig. 9, in yet another example, there are 10 slots within the configuration period. The format of each slot configured by the configuration signaling is the same as those in the upper part of fig. 6.

Since some symbols of slot #6 are indicated as reserved by the configuration signaling, the configuration of some symbols of slot #6 (intersecting with the reserved symbols) and the subsequent symbols of slot #7 in the SFI will be applied to the symbols following the reserved symbols, thus prolonging the actual configuration time of the SFI. The interval between the arrangement of the reserved symbol and the subsequent symbol of the slot #7 in the SFI and the delay arrangement is equal to or larger than the slot.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for time cell configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus 100 may include a first transmission module 110 and a second transmission module 120.

The first transmission module 110 may be configured to transmit configuration signaling to the UE, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of a time unit in the first subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown.

The second transmission module 120 may be configured to transmit an SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown, and the second subset does not include time units in a third subset of the set of time units, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and including at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

It should be noted that the above description of the method in the above embodiments also applies to the apparatus of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and is not repeated here.

In one example, the apparatus 100 may be a base station. In another example, the apparatus 100 may be a stand-alone component integrated in a base station, such as a baseband board.

Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for time cell configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 200 may include a first receiving module 210, a first configuration module 220, a second receiving module 230, and a second configuration module 240.

The first receiving module 210 may be configured to receive configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure the format of the time units in the first subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown.

The first configuration module 220 may be configured to configure the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling.

The second receiving module 230 may be configured to receive an SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of a time unit in the second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown.

The second configuration module 240 may be configured to configure formats of time units in the second subset other than the time units in the third subset of the set of time units according to the SFI and leave the formats of the time units in the third subset unchanged. The third subset may be a subset of the first subset and include at least one of an uplink, a downlink, and a reserved time unit configured by the configuration signaling.

In particular, when the SFI includes a configuration of at least one first time unit belonging to the third subset, the second configuration module 240 may be configured to apply the configuration of the at least one first time unit and the time unit immediately following the at least one first time unit in the SFI to time units following the at least one time unit and not belonging to the third subset.

In particular, when the SFI includes a configuration of at least one first time unit, the second configuration module 240 may be configured to skip the configuration of at least one first time unit belonging to the third subset.

In one example, the apparatus 200 may be a UE. In another example, the apparatus 200 may be a separate component integrated in the UE, such as a baseband chip.

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for time cell configuration according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 300 may include a processor 310, communication circuitry 320, and memory 330 coupled together.

The communication circuit 320 may be configured to transmit and receive data, which is an interface for communication between the apparatus 300 and other communication devices.

The memory 330 is configured to store executable program instructions. The processor 310 may be configured to read executable program instructions stored in the memory 330 to implement processes corresponding to the executable program instructions to perform any of the methods for time cell configuration performed at the base station side as described in the previous embodiments, or to perform methods performed at the base station side with any and conflict-free combination of the previous embodiments.

In one example, apparatus 300 may be a base station. In another example, the apparatus 300 may be a separate component integrated in a base station, such as a baseband board.

Referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for time cell configuration according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 400 may include a processor 410, a communication circuit 420, and a memory 430 coupled together.

The communication circuit 420 may be configured to transmit and receive data, which is an interface for communication between the apparatus 400 and other communication devices.

The memory 430 is configured to store executable program instructions. The processor 410 may be configured to read executable program instructions stored in the memory 430 to implement processes corresponding to the executable program instructions to perform any of the methods for time cell configuration performed at the UE side as described in the previous embodiments, or to perform methods performed at the UE side with any and conflict-free combination of the previous embodiments.

In one example, apparatus 400 may be a UE. In another example, the apparatus 400 may be a separate component integrated in the UE, such as a baseband chip.

Referring to fig. 14, fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a computer-readable medium 500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The computer readable medium may include a memory 510. The memory 510 may store instructions that, when executed, may implement any of the methods of time cell configuration as described in the previous embodiments, or methods having any and non-conflicting combination of the preceding embodiments.

The memory 510 may be Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, a hard disk or optical disk, etc.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various components and steps of each embodiment have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working processes of the above systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding processes in the method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and the actual implementation may have another division, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. Further, the couplings or direct couplings or communicative connections shown or discussed with respect to each other may be through some interface. The indirect coupling or communicative connection of the devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or otherwise.

Units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may also be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiments of the present application.

In addition, the functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or may be implemented in the form of a software functional unit.

When the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a separate product, the integrated unit may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application may be embodied in the form of software products, in essence, or in a part that contributes to the prior art, or in whole or in part. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in the embodiments of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: any medium that can store program code, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The foregoing description is of specific embodiments of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Any equivalent modifications or substitutions that a person skilled in the art would think of within the technical scope of this application would fall within the protective scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for time cell configuration, comprising:

transmitting configuration signaling to a User Equipment (UE), wherein the configuration signaling is used for configuring a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; and

transmitting a time Slot Format Indicator (SFI) to a UE, wherein the SFI is to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown, and the second subset excludes time units in a third subset of the set of time units, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and including at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the time unit comprises at least one symbol or slot.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration signaling comprises at least one Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the SFI is carried in downlink control information, DCI.

5. A method for time cell configuration, comprising:

receiving configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown;

configuring the format of the time unit in the first subset according to the configuration signaling;

receiving an SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is configured to configure a format of time units in the second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown; and

configuring formats of time units in the second subset other than time units in a third subset of the set of time units and keeping formats of time units in the third subset unchanged according to the SFI, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and includes at least one of uplink, downlink and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the configuring the format of the time units in the second subset other than the time units in the third subset of the set of time units in accordance with the SFI comprises:

applying the configuration of the at least one first time unit and the time unit immediately following the at least one first time unit in the SFI to time units that are subsequent to the at least one first time unit and that do not belong to the third subset when the SFI comprises a configuration of at least one first time unit that belongs to the third subset.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the configuring the format of the time units in the second subset other than the time units in the third subset of the set of time units in accordance with the SFI comprises:

skipping configuration of at least one first time unit belonging to the third subset when the SFI includes the configuration of the at least one first time unit.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the time unit comprises at least one symbol or slot.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the configuration signaling comprises at least one Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the SFI is carried in Downlink Control Information (DCI).

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the SFI does not include a configuration of any time cell in the third subset.

12. An apparatus for time cell configuration, comprising:

a first transmission module configured to transmit configuration signaling to the UE, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; and

a second transmission module configured to transmit an SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown, and the second subset does not include time units in a third subset of the set of time units, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and including at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

13. An apparatus for time cell configuration, comprising:

a first receiving module configured to receive configuration signaling from a base station, wherein the configuration signaling is used to configure a format of a time unit in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown;

a first configuration module configured to configure formats of time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling;

a second receiving module configured to receive an SFI from the base station, wherein the SFI is used to configure a format of a time unit in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown; and

a second configuration module configured to configure formats of time units in the second subset other than time units in a third subset of the set of time units according to the SFI and to leave formats of time units in the third subset unchanged, wherein the third subset is a subset of the first subset and includes at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein, when the SFI includes a configuration of at least one first time unit belonging to the third subset, the second configuration module is configured to apply the configuration of the at least one first time unit and a time unit immediately following the at least one first time unit in the SFI to time units that are subsequent to the at least one first time unit and that do not belong to the third subset.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein when the SFI comprises a configuration of at least one first time unit belonging to the third subset, the second configuration module is configured to skip the configuration of the at least one first time unit.

16. A base station comprising a processor in communication with a memory, the processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, the instructions causing the processor to:

transmitting configuration signaling to the UE, wherein the configuration signaling is to configure a format of time units in a first subset of a set of time units as uplink, downlink, reserved, or unknown; and

transmitting an SFI to the UE, wherein the SFI is to configure a format of time units in a second subset of the set of time units as uplink, downlink, or unknown, and the second subset excludes time units in a third subset of the set of time units, the third subset being a subset of the first subset and including at least one of uplink, downlink, and reserved time units configured by the configuration signaling.

17. A base station comprising a processor in communication with a memory, the processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, the instructions causing the processor to perform the method for time cell configuration of any of claims 1-4.

18. A computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for time cell configuration, the method comprising:

19. A computer readable medium storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed, implement the method of any of claims 1-4.

20. A user device comprising a processor in communication with a memory, the processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to:

configuring the format of the time units in the first subset according to the configuration signaling;

21. The user equipment of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to:

22. The user equipment of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory that cause the processor to:

23. A user equipment comprising a processor in communication with a memory, the processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, the instructions causing the processor to perform the method for time cell configuration according to any of claims 5-11.

24. A computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for time cell configuration, the method comprising:

25. A computer readable medium storing instructions, wherein the instructions when executed implement the method of any of claims 5 to 11.