CN114286359A

CN114286359A - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN114286359A
Application number: CN202011031704.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈磊; 许斌; 李晨琬; 张荻
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-27
Filing date: 2020-09-27
Publication date: 2022-04-05
Also published as: WO2022063012A1

Abstract

The present application relates to a communication method and a communication apparatus. The terminal device receives first indication information from a second network device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that the first network device fails, or is used for indicating that the first network device is switched to the second network device, or is used for indicating that the network device serving the terminal device is switched. And the terminal equipment sends response information responding to the first indication information to the second network equipment. In a possible embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may rapidly determine whether the first network device fails with the assistance of the second network device, thereby reducing the interruption time of service transmission and improving the continuity and reliability of the service.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical Field

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

Background

Currently, wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication such as voice services, data services, and so on. The communication system comprises one or more terminal devices, which are connected to a core network through an access network to realize communication among a plurality of communication devices. In some scenarios, for example, in an industrial scenario, a reliability requirement on service transmission is high, and if a network device fails, the service transmission cannot be guaranteed, and a time for recovering from the failure directly affects whether the service is interrupted, so that the reliability requirement on the system is also high.

To improve reliability, one or more backup network devices are typically provided for the network device. For example, when an operating network device (e.g., an access network device, and/or a core network device) fails, a handoff between the operating network device and a standby network device is triggered, thereby enabling the standby network device to provide service to the terminal device. In the prior art, when the operating network device fails, the wireless link between the operating network device and the terminal device fails. For a terminal device, when detecting that a radio link failure occurs between the terminal device and an access network device, the terminal device initiates a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reestablishment procedure. And the re-establishment procedure may fail, resulting in a decrease in reliability of the service.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, so as to improve the reliability of a communication system.

In a first aspect, a communication method, a corresponding communication device and a communication system are provided. The communication method is used in a communication system comprising a terminal device, a first network device and a second network device. The terminal device receives first indication information from the second network device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that the first network device fails, or for indicating that the first network device is switched to the second network device, or for indicating that the network device serving the terminal device is switched; and the terminal equipment sends response information of the first indication information to the second network equipment. In the scheme, one network device determines whether the other network device fails and informs the terminal device, so that the terminal device can communicate with the second network device as soon as possible, the interruption time of service transmission can be reduced, and the continuity and reliability of the service are improved.

In an optional implementation manner, the terminal device receives the first indication information according to first configuration information. The first configuration information is used for configuring resources such as a time domain, a frequency domain, or a code domain, which are required for receiving the first indication information. The first configuration information includes, for example: bandwidth part (BWP) information, search space information, time domain resource information, and/or Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI), etc.

In an optional implementation manner, the terminal device receives part or all of the first configuration information from a network side. For example, the network device (the first network device, and/or the second network device) sends the first configuration information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can acquire resources required for receiving the first indication information, and the receiving efficiency is improved. The first configuration information includes some or all resources (e.g., BWP information, time domain resource information, search space information, and/or RNTI information, etc.) required for receiving the first indication information.

In another optional implementation manner, the terminal device obtains part or all of the information in the first configuration information in a default manner. For example, by means of protocol specification, pre-configuration, and the like, the terminal device obtains some or all resources (e.g., BWP information, search space information, time domain resource information, and/or RNTI and the like) required for receiving the first indication information, so that the network device does not need to send the first configuration information again, thereby saving air interface resources.

In another alternative implementation manner, the terminal device obtains part of the first configuration information by a default manner, and the other part of the first configuration information is obtained by receiving the first configuration information from the network device.

The information of the BWP is used to indicate a first BWP, which is one or more downlink BWPs scheduled for transmitting the first indication information. The terminal device receives the first indication information on the first BWP. The first BWP may be: and activating a downlink BWP for the terminal device, or initiating the downlink BWP, or controlling the downlink BWP corresponding to the resource set 0(CORESET # 0). The terminal device is informed of the BWP information used for transmitting the first indication information in a default (e.g., protocol specification, or pre-configuration) or network device indication (explicit or implicit) manner, so that the terminal device can more efficiently detect the indication information, and the receiving efficiency of the terminal device on the indication information is improved.

If the first BWP is not the activated downlink BWP of the terminal device, for example, the first BWP is the initial downlink BWP, or is a downlink BWP corresponding to CORESET #0, then, if the first BWP is different from the activated downlink BWP of the terminal device, the terminal device needs to adjust the radio frequency of the receiving antenna of the terminal device from the frequency of the activated downlink BWP to the frequency of the first BWP, so as to receive the first indication information. The terminal equipment receives the first indication information by using a proper radio frequency, so that the success rate of receiving the first indication information by the terminal equipment is improved.

The RNTI is used for scrambling the first indication information. In an alternative implementation, the RNTI may be a common RNTI (e.g., C-RNTI). For example, the second network device may scramble the first indication information by using the common RNTI by default, and the terminal device descrambles the first indication information by using the common RNTI, so that the network does not need to configure the RNTI through the signaling, thereby saving the signaling overhead. In another implementation manner, the RNTI is obtained by first configuration information received by the terminal device from a network side. And the terminal equipment descrambles the first indication information by using the RNTI obtained in the first configuration information. The RNTI may be denoted as X-RNTI, for example. The X-RNTI can be an RNTI defined in the communication standard or an RNTI newly defined in the communication standard.

The sending, by the terminal device, the response information of the first indication information to the second network device may be understood as: the terminal equipment sends a response message to respond to the first indication information; or, the terminal device sends the response information, and takes a certain process initiated after the terminal device receives the first indication information as a response to the first indication information. The response message may be a response message specified in an existing standard or may be a newly defined message. In an optional implementation manner, a process of performing random access to the second network device by the terminal device is regarded as a response of the terminal device to the first indication information. For example, a certain message sent by the terminal device to the second network device in the process of performing random access to the second network device is regarded as the response information, and the response information is, for example, preamble, message 3(Msg3) in the random access process, or MsgB in the random access process, and so on. In another optional implementation manner, the terminal device does not send the response information to the second network device, but after receiving the first indication information, switches to the second network device through other manners (for example, cell reselection, RRC connection establishment, or RRC reestablishment, and so on).

Optionally, the first indication information further includes third configuration information, where the third configuration information is used for the terminal device to communicate with the second network device, and the third configuration information includes information of a random access resource and/or information of a second BWP; alternatively, the method further comprises: the terminal device receives second configuration information from the first network device, where the second configuration information is used for the terminal device to communicate with the second network device, and the second configuration information includes one or more of the following: information of a random access resource, information of a second BWP, measurement configuration information, radio bearer configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, or physical layer configuration information.

Wherein, the second BWP is a downlink BWP applied by the terminal device in the random access process.

The second network device may send the second configuration information to the terminal device in advance, so that the terminal device does not need to wait for the second network device to issue the configuration information if the terminal device needs to switch to the second network device subsequently, and communicates with the second network device by using the second configuration information obtained in advance, which is beneficial to improving the communication efficiency of the terminal device and reducing the service interruption time. Or, the second network device does not need to send the second configuration information in advance, but sends the third configuration information through the first indication information when the terminal device is determined to need to be switched, so that the validity of the third configuration information is improved, and the time for the terminal device to wait for the configuration information can be reduced and the communication efficiency of the terminal device is improved by sending the third configuration information through the first indication information.

In an optional embodiment, the method further comprises: and the terminal equipment receives fourth configuration information from the first network equipment. The fourth configuration information includes two or more sets of configurations, that is, includes two or more sets of sub-configuration information, where each set of configuration corresponds to one network device. The fourth configuration information may be used to configure downlink reference signals corresponding to different network devices. For example, the fourth configuration information includes first sub-configuration information and second sub-configuration information, where the first sub-configuration information is used to configure a downlink reference signal of the first network device, and the second sub-configuration information is used to configure a downlink reference signal of the second network device; and the terminal equipment receives the downlink reference signal from the second network equipment according to the fourth configuration information.

Optionally, the sub-configuration information of the fourth configuration information may include information indicating to which network device the sub-configuration information corresponds. The information indicating which network device the sub-configuration information corresponds to may be explicit or implicit. For example, the second sub-configuration information includes first information, where the first information indicates that the second sub-configuration information corresponds to the second network device, or indicates that the network device corresponding to the second sub-configuration information is different from the network device corresponding to the first sub-configuration information. For another example, if the second sub-configuration information includes second information, and the second information is preset time domain information, for example, the second information is specified by a protocol, the terminal device can determine that the second sub-configuration information and the first sub-configuration information correspond to different network devices according to the second information included in the second sub-configuration information. The terminal equipment can receive corresponding downlink reference signals according to different sub-configuration information, so that the terminal equipment can complete measurement of the downlink reference signals from the first network equipment and can also complete measurement of the downlink reference signals of the second network equipment, and downlink beam training between the terminal equipment and the second network equipment is realized.

In an optional implementation manner, the second network device sends the first indication information on a sending beam corresponding to at least one receiving beam of the downlink reference signal of the second network device. The at least one receiving beam is a whole receiving beam or a part of receiving beams receiving the downlink reference signal of the second network device. The terminal device receives the downlink reference signal of the second network device through the at least one receiving beam, and receives the first indication information through the at least one receiving beam, so that the receiving success rate of the first indication information can be improved.

In an optional embodiment, the method further comprises: the terminal device receives first state information from the first network device, where the first state information includes a number of a downlink reference signal, and the downlink reference signal indicated by the number of the downlink reference signal is one or more of the downlink reference signals configured by the second sub-configuration information. The first status information may comprise numbers of downlink reference signals corresponding to the second network device, e.g. the terminal device is located in a direction to which the numbers of these downlink reference signals correspond. If the second network equipment sends the first indication information on the sending beams corresponding to the downlink reference signals indicated by the numbers of the downlink reference signals, the terminal equipment receives the first indication information on the receiving beams corresponding to the numbers of the downlink reference signals. The terminal equipment can receive more accurately, so that the receiving success rate of the terminal equipment is improved, and the second network equipment does not need to send the indication information in other directions, so that the power consumption of the second network equipment is saved. In this embodiment, the terminal device receives the first indication information on the receiving beam corresponding to the downlink reference signal based on the number of the downlink reference signal indicated by the network device, so that the receiving success rate and the receiving quality of the first indication information can be improved.

In an optional embodiment, the method further comprises: the terminal device receives second indication information from the first network device, where the second indication information includes information of a first transmission beam and information of a second transmission beam, the first transmission beam is used for transmitting information to the first network device, and the second transmission beam is used for transmitting information to the second network device.

The terminal device sends an uplink reference signal, and both the first network device and the second network device can measure the received uplink reference signal. The second network device may obtain measurements from which it can be determined on which reception beams the second network device receives information from the terminal device with better reception quality. In addition to configuring the terminal device with the first transmission beam, the first network device may also configure the terminal device with a second transmission beam, where the second transmission beam corresponds to the second network device, and the second transmission beam is determined according to a measurement result of the second network device, for example. If the terminal device sends information to the second network device on the second sending beam, the second network device can receive the information more accurately, so that the receiving success rate of the second network device is improved, and the terminal device does not need to send the indication information in other directions, thereby saving the power consumption of the terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner, based on the second indication information from the first network device, the terminal device sends response information of the first indication information to the second network device through the second sending beam, so that a receiving success rate and receiving quality of the second network device for the response information can be improved.

In a second aspect, a communication method, a corresponding communication device and a communication system are provided. The method comprises the steps that a second network device sends first indication information to a terminal device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the fault of the first network device, or indicating the switching from the first network device to the second network device, or indicating the switching of the network device serving the terminal device; the second network equipment receives response information of the first indication information from the terminal equipment. With regard to the first indication information, possible implementations and technical effects of the response information may refer to the description related to the first aspect.

In this scheme, if the second network device does not receive heartbeat information from the first network device within a first time period, the second network device determines that the first network device fails; or, if the second network device receives the measurement information from the terminal device, the second network device determines that the first network device fails according to the measurement information; or, if the second network device receives hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information from the terminal device, where the HARQ-ACK information is used to indicate that data transmission with the first network device fails, the second network device determines that the first network device fails according to the HARQ-ACK information.

The above three modes can be applied independently, that is, the second network device can determine whether the first network device fails by using only one of the modes; alternatively, any two or three of the above three manners may also be applied in combination, that is, the second network device may determine whether the first network device fails in a plurality of manners, and for the manner applied by the second network device, if the first network device is determined to be failed in each manner, the second network device determines that the first network device is failed, so that the accuracy of the determination result may be improved. Whether the second network device determines whether the first network device fails in any one or more of the above manners may be determined by the second network device itself or may be defined by a protocol. Or, in addition to the above manner, the second network device may determine whether the first network device fails in other manners, and the manner in which the second network device determines that the first network device fails is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

In an optional implementation manner, the second network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device according to first configuration information. The first configuration information includes one or more of: BWP information, search space information, or RNTI. For a related explanation of the first configuration information, reference may be made to the description of the first aspect.

Optionally, the second network device sends second sub-configuration information to the first network device, where the second sub-configuration information is used to configure a downlink reference signal of the second network device; the second network equipment receives a first measurement result from the terminal equipment, wherein the first measurement result is a measurement result obtained by measuring a downlink reference signal of the second network equipment; the second network equipment determines second state information according to the first measurement result, wherein the second state information comprises the number of the downlink reference signal; the second network device sends the second state information to the first network device.

Optionally, the second network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device through a sending beam corresponding to the number of the downlink reference signal.

In an optional embodiment, the method further comprises: the second network device receives configuration information for configuring an uplink reference signal from the first network device, and receives the uplink reference signal from the terminal device according to the configuration information. And the second network equipment measures the uplink reference signal to obtain a measurement result, and sends the measurement result to the first network equipment. The measurement result may be used by the terminal device to determine a transmit beam for transmitting information to the second network device. Optionally, the second network device receives the response information from the terminal device through a second receive beam.

With regard to the technical effects brought about by the partially optional embodiments of the second aspect, reference may be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect or the respective embodiments of the first aspect.

In a third aspect, a communication method, a corresponding communication device and a communication system are provided. The first network equipment receives first configuration information from the second network equipment; the first network device sends the first configuration information to a terminal device, where the first configuration information is used for the terminal device to receive first indication information from the second network device, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first network device fails, or to indicate that the terminal device switches from the first network device to the second network device, or to indicate that a network device serving the terminal device switches.

In an optional implementation, the first configuration information includes one or more of: information of BWP; searching information of a space; or, an RNTI. Reference may be made specifically to the relevant description of the first aspect with respect to the first configuration information.

In an optional embodiment, the method further comprises: the first network device sends configuration information of working parameters for supporting the terminal device to communicate with the first network device (the configuration information of the first network device is simply referred to) to the terminal device. For example, the configuration information of the first network device includes one or more of: measurement configuration information, radio bearer configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, or physical layer configuration information.

In order to support the terminal device to switch to the second network device to operate, the second network device also needs to configure corresponding operating parameters for the terminal device. In order to reduce the complexity of the configuration, an iterative configuration approach may be used. For example, the second network device configures corresponding parameters for the terminal device according to the parameters of the terminal device under the first network device. Optionally, the first network device may send the configuration information of the first network device to a second network device in addition to sending the configuration information of the first network device to a terminal device, so that the second network device is enabled to configure corresponding operating parameters for the terminal device.

Optionally, the first network device receives second sub-configuration information from the second network device, where the second sub-configuration information is used to configure a downlink reference signal of the second network device; the first network device sends fourth configuration information to the terminal device, where the fourth configuration information includes first sub-configuration information and second sub-configuration information, the first sub-configuration information is used to configure a downlink reference signal of the first network device, and the second sub-configuration information is used to configure a downlink reference signal of the second network device. Optionally, the fourth configuration information may further include one or more other sub-configuration information, where each sub-configuration information corresponds to one network device.

Optionally, the first network device receives second state information from the second network device, where the second state information includes a number of a downlink reference signal; and the first network equipment sends first state information to the terminal equipment, wherein the first state information comprises the serial number of the downlink reference signal.

Optionally, the first network device sends fifth configuration information to the terminal device, where the fifth configuration information is used to configure an uplink reference signal.

In an optional embodiment, the method further comprises: the first network device receives a measurement result from the second network device, where the measurement result is obtained by the second network device measuring an uplink reference signal. The first network device determines a second transmit beam based on the measurement from the second network device. The first network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information includes information of a first sending beam and information of a second sending beam, and the first sending beam is used for the terminal device to send information to the first network device. The second transmission beam is used for the terminal device to transmit information to the second network device.

With regard to the third aspect or various alternative embodiments and technical effects of the third aspect, reference may be made to the above description with regard to the first, and/or second aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the terminal device according to any one of the first to third aspects, or an electronic device configured in the terminal device, or a larger device including the terminal device. The terminal device comprises corresponding means or modules for performing the above method. For example, the communication device: including a processing unit (also sometimes referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (also sometimes referred to as a transceiver module). The processing unit is configured to receive, by the transceiver unit, first indication information from a second network device, and send, by the transceiver module, response information of the first indication information to the second network device.

For another example, the communication device includes: a processor, coupled to the memory, for executing the instructions in the memory to implement the method performed by the terminal device in any of the first to third aspects. Optionally, the communication device further comprises other components, such as an antenna, an input-output module, an interface, etc. These components may be hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

In a fifth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided. The communication device may be the first network device and/or the second network device according to any one of the first to third aspects. The communication apparatus has a function of the first network device, a function of the second network device, or a function of the first network device and the second network device. The communication device may be used as a first network device of a first terminal device, and may also be used as a second network device of a second terminal device. The first network device and/or second network device: for example, a base station, or a baseband device in a base station. In an alternative implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another alternative implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module).

The processing unit is used for sending first indication information to the terminal equipment through the transceiving unit and receiving response information of the first indication information from the terminal equipment through the transceiving module.

In an alternative implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit, which is coupled to the storage unit and executes a program or instructions in the storage unit, so that the communication apparatus can perform the functions of the first network device and/or the functions of the second network device.

A sixth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program or instructions which, when executed, cause the method performed by the terminal device, or the first network device, or the second network device in the above aspects to be implemented.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method of the above aspects to be carried out.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2A is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating another application scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2C is a schematic diagram of another application scenario according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5A and 5B are schematic frequency domain position relationships between a first BWP and an activated BWP of a terminal device in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is another flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The techniques provided by the embodiments of the present application may be applied to the communication system 10 shown in fig. 1, where the communication system 10 includes one or more communication apparatuses 30 (e.g., terminal devices) connected to one or more core network devices via one or more access network devices 20 to implement communication between a plurality of communication devices. The communication system may support, for example, a 2G,3G,4G, or 5G (also sometimes referred to as new radio, NR) access technology, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a 3rd generation partnership project (3 GPP) related cellular system, a communication system supporting a convergence of multiple radio technologies, or a future-oriented evolution system.

Hereinafter, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

In the present application, the terminal device is a device having a wireless transceiving function, and may be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (e.g., a mobile phone), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless apparatus (e.g., a communication module, a modem, or a chip system) built in the above-mentioned device. The terminal device is used for connecting people, objects, machines and the like, and can be widely used in various scenes, such as but not limited to the following scenes: cellular communication, device-to-device communication (D2D), vehicle-to-all (V2X), machine-to-machine/machine-type communication (M2M/MTC), internet of things (IoT), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), industrial control (industrial control), unmanned driving (self driving), remote medical (remote medical), smart grid (smart grid), smart furniture, smart office, smart wearing, smart transportation, smart city (smart city), unmanned aerial vehicle, robot, etc. scenarios. The terminal device may be sometimes referred to as a User Equipment (UE), a terminal, an access station, a UE station, a remote station, a wireless communication device, or a user equipment, and for convenience of description, the terminal device is described herein by taking the UE as an example.

The network device in the present application includes, for example, an access network device, and/or a core network device. The access network equipment is equipment with a wireless transceiving function and is used for communicating with the terminal equipment. The access network device includes, but is not limited to, a base station (BTS, Node B, eNodeB/eNB, or gnnodeb/gNB), a transmission point (TRP), a base station for subsequent 3GPP evolution, an access Node in a WiFi system, a wireless relay Node, a wireless backhaul Node, and the like in the above communication system. The base station may be: macro base stations, micro base stations, pico base stations, small stations, relay stations, etc. Multiple base stations may support the same access technology network as mentioned above, or may support different access technologies networks as mentioned above. A base station may include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission receiving points. The network device may also be a wireless controller, a Centralized Unit (CU), and/or a Distributed Unit (DU) in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario. The network device may also be a server, a wearable device, or a vehicle mounted device, etc. For example, the network device in the V2X technology may be a Road Side Unit (RSU). The following description will take the access network device as a base station as an example. The multiple network devices in the communication system may be base stations of the same type or different types. The base station may communicate with the terminal device, and may also communicate with the terminal device through the relay station. A terminal device may communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The core network equipment is used for realizing the functions of mobile management, data processing, session management, policy, charging and the like. The names of devices implementing the core network function in systems with different access technologies may be different, and this application does not limit this. Taking a 5G system as an example, the core network device includes: an access and mobility management function (AMF), a Session Management Function (SMF), or a User Plane Function (UPF), etc.

In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device for implementing the function of the network device may be a network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, for example, a system on chip, and the device may be installed in the network device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, a device for implementing a function of a network device is taken as an example of a network device, and the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described.

Different UEs have different radio frequency capabilities, and therefore, the maximum supported bandwidths are different, and a concept of bandwidth part (BWP) is introduced to allocate part of the spectrum for the UEs on a broadband to adapt to the bandwidths that can be supported by the UEs. Therefore, in a communication system, the bandwidth of the UE is dynamically variable, and this technique may be referred to as bandwidth adaptation (bandwidth adaptation). The UE is configured with a plurality of BWPs with different bandwidths, so that flexible scheduling of the UE is realized, and energy saving of the UE is realized.

In order to reduce transmission loss during communication, beamforming technology may be used. For example, both downlink and uplink are transmitted using beams. In the 5G system, a series of beam training processes are provided, so that uplink and downlink beams can be aligned. For example, in the 5G system, there is an SSB-based Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure, which is a beam training procedure in the access procedure, and through the procedure, a downlink transmission beam of the base station may be aligned with an uplink reception beam of the UE, and an uplink transmission beam of the UE may be aligned with a downlink reception beam of the base station. The 5G system also includes a downlink beam training process based on an SSB or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), which may be performed after successful access, and may align a downlink transmission beam of the base station with an uplink reception beam of the UE through the process. In addition, the 5G system also has an uplink beam training process based on Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), which may also occur after successful access, and the downlink receiving beam of the base station may be aligned with the uplink transmitting beam of the UE through the uplink beam training process.

In this application, the number of nouns means "singular nouns or plural nouns" or "one or more" unless otherwise specified. "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A/B, represents: a or B. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, represents: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple.

In the embodiments of the present application, the ordinal numbers such as "first", "second", and the like are used to distinguish a plurality of objects, and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority, importance, or the like of the plurality of objects. For example, the configuration information of the first downlink RS and the configuration information of the second downlink RS may be the same configuration information or different configuration information, and such names do not indicate the difference in the information amount, content, priority, importance, and the like of the two pieces of configuration information.

Fig. 2A illustrates a communication network architecture in the communication system 10 provided by the present application, to which the embodiments shown in fig. 4, fig. 6, or fig. 7 provided subsequently may be applied. The first network device is a source network device (or referred to as a working network device or a serving network device) of a terminal device (hereinafter, UE is taken as an example for explanation), and the second network device is a target network device (or referred to as a standby network device) of the UE, that is, a network device that provides a service for the UE after handover. It should be noted that in this application, "failure" may be understood as a failure of a network device and/or an inability to provide service to one or more UEs for other reasons, which is simply referred to as failure. The "handover" in this application refers to handover of a network device serving a UE, and is not limited to "cell handover". For convenience of description, the network device is taken as a base station for example. The "handover" may refer to a handover due to a change in a base station serving the UE. For example, when a source base station of the UE fails, the UE is served by a backup base station. For another example, during the process of switching the UE from the source base station to communicate with another base station, the target base station after the switching provides service for the UE. The accessed cells before and after the UE is switched can be changed or not. It is to be understood that the standby network device is a relative concept, e.g., with respect to one UE, base station 2 is the standby network device of base station 1, and with respect to another UE, base station 1 is the standby network device of base station 2.

The first network device and the second network device may be two different devices, e.g., the first network device and the second network device are two different base stations. Optionally, the first network device and the second network device may also be two sets of function modules in the same device. The functional modules may be hardware modules, or software modules, or both hardware modules and software modules. For example, the first network device and the second network device are located in the same base station, and are two different functional modules in the base station. In one implementation, the first network device and the second network device are not transparent to the UE. The UE, when interacting with the respective network device, can know which network device to interact with at all. In another implementation, the first network device and the second network device are transparent to the UE. The UE is able to communicate with the network devices but does not know which of the two network devices to interact with. Alternatively, it may be that only one network device is considered for the UE. In fig. 3, 4, 6 and 7, the first network device and the second network device are located in a dashed box, which indicates that the first network device and the second network device may not be transparent or transparent to the UE. In the following description, the first network device, the second network device, and the terminal device (taking UE as an example) may be the first network device, the second network device, and the UE in the network architecture shown in fig. 2A, respectively, and in the drawings corresponding to the embodiments of the present application, the steps indicated by dashed lines are optional steps, and are not described in detail in the following text.

Fig. 2B illustrates another communication network architecture in the communication system 10 provided herein. As shown in fig. 2B, the communication system includes a Core Network (CN) and a Radio Access Network (RAN). Wherein the network equipment (e.g., base stations) in the RAN includes baseband devices and radio frequency devices. The baseband device may be implemented by one or more nodes, and the radio frequency device may be implemented independently as a remote device, integrated into the baseband device, or partially integrated into the baseband device. Network devices in a RAN may include Centralized Units (CUs) and Distributed Units (DUs), which may be centrally controlled by one CU. The CU and the DU may be divided according to the functions of the protocol layers of the radio network provided therein, for example, the functions of the PDCP layer and the above protocol layers are provided in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer, for example, the functions of the RLC layer and the MAC layer, are provided in the DU. It should be noted that this division of the protocol layers is only an example, and may be divided in other protocol layers. The radio frequency device may be remote, not placed in the DU, or integrated in the DU, or partially remote and partially integrated in the DU, which is not limited in this application.

Fig. 2C illustrates another communication network architecture in communication system 10 provided herein. With respect to the architecture shown in fig. 2B, the Control Plane (CP) and the User Plane (UP) of a CU may also be separated and implemented as separate entities, respectively a control plane CU entity (CU-CP entity) and a user plane CU entity (CU-UP entity). In the network architecture, the signaling generated by the CU may be sent to the UE through the DU, or the signaling generated by the UE may be sent to the CU through the DU. The DU may pass through the UE or CU directly through protocol layer encapsulation without parsing the signaling. In the network architecture, the CUs may be divided into network devices on the RAN side and the CUs may be divided into network devices on the CN side, which is not limited in the present application.

Fig. 3 illustrates a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

S301, the second network equipment sends first indication information to the UE, and correspondingly, the UE receives the first indication information from the second network equipment.

For example, the second network device sends, to the UE, first indication information in a case where it is determined that the first network device fails, where the first indication information indicates that the first network device fails, or indicates that the UE is switched from the first network device to the second network device, or indicates that a network device serving the UE is changed, or indicates that the second network device is in effect (so-called in effect, it may be understood that the UE needs to be switched to operate in the second network device), or indicates that the first network device is failed (so-called in effect, it may be understood that the UE cannot continue to operate in the first network device).

The first indication information may be carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), Downlink Control Information (DCI), or other messages and transmitted to the UE.

S302, the UE sends response information corresponding to the first indication information to the second network device, and correspondingly, the second network device receives the response information from the UE.

For example, regarding a certain message sent by the UE to the second network device during the random access to the second network device as the response message, that is, regarding that the UE has responded to the first indication information when accessing the second network device, the response message may be a scheduled transmission message, for example, a third message (Msg3) during the random access, or the response message may be a message b (msgb) during the random access, and so on.

Alternatively, the UE may not send the response information to the second network device, for example, the UE may perform operations such as Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) reestablishment after receiving the first indication information, and does not send the response information to the second network device, so S302 is an optional step.

The first network device is a network device currently serving the UE. That is, in the embodiment of the present application, the other network device (e.g., the second network device) notifies that the UE cannot continue to operate under the first network device. The second network device determines whether the first network device fails or not, or the second network device enables the second network device to provide service for the UE, so that the realizability is high, the UE is switched as soon as possible, the service transmission delay is reduced, and the reliability of the communication system is improved.

Based on the scheme of fig. 3, fig. 4, fig. 6 and fig. 7 respectively show detailed examples of communication methods. Referring to fig. 4, a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

The first network device sends configuration information to the UE and the second network device, respectively (S401, S402). The configuration information includes operating parameters for supporting the UE to communicate with the first network device (for convenience of description, the configuration information of the first network device is simply referred to). The configuration information of the first network device includes one or more of: measurement configuration information, radio bearer (radio bearer) configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, or physical layer configuration information. Wherein the measurement configuration information may be used to configure a measurement behavior of the UE under the first network device. The physical layer configuration information may be used to configure one or more bandwidth parts BWPs for the UE.

S401, the UE receives the configuration information of the first network equipment. The first network device may send the configuration information to the UE when the UE and the first network device successfully perform random access, and optionally, the first network device may also send the configuration information to the UE when the UE operates under the first network device (a period of time after the random access is successful).

S402, the second network device receives the configuration information of the first network device. The second network device may also provide service to the UE. That is, the second network device may be a switched network device. The second network device may configure the operating parameters for the UE. For example, the second network device employs an iterative configuration approach. The second network device can configure corresponding parameters for the UE according to the parameters of the UE under the first network device, thereby reducing the complexity of configuration.

S403, the second network device sends configuration information (for convenience of description, abbreviated as configuration information of the second network device) for supporting the UE to communicate with the second network device to the first network device and/or the UE, or the second network device sends the configuration information of the second network device to the UE through the first network device. For example, the configuration information of the second network device may include one or more of: information of a random access resource, information of a BWP, measurement configuration information, radio bearer configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, physical layer configuration information, search space (search space) information, or Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI). The BWP information is used to indicate one or more BWPs, for example, the BWP information is an identifier of the one or more BWPs, or other information used to identify the one or more BWPs, or information used to configure the one or more BWPs (e.g., bandwidth of the BWPs, etc.).

In one implementation, the configuration information of the second network device includes: first configuration information and second configuration information. Wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring one or more of time domain resources, frequency domain resources or code domain resources, and enables the UE to receive indication information from the second network equipment. The indication information may be, for example, the first indication information in S301. The UE may know that the first network device fails, or the network device serving the UE is switched, or the UE needs to be switched from the first network device to the second network device according to the indication information. For example, the first configuration information may include one or more of: BWP information, search space information, and/or RNTI. The second configuration information is used for configuring an operating parameter of the UE corresponding to the second network device, and may include, for example, one or more of the following: information of random access resources, information of BWP related to random access, measurement configuration information, radio bearer configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, physical layer configuration information.

BWP information in the first configuration information, which is used to instruct the second network device to send one or more BWPs (referred to as a first BWP for convenience of description) indicating information to the UE. The information of the search space in the first configuration information is used to indicate the search space, for example, is an identifier of the search space, or is other information used to indicate the search space, and is used for the UE to receive the indication information in the search space. The search space may be a common search space, for example, the second network device transmits the indication information by means of beam scanning. Alternatively, the search space indicated by the identification of the search space is a dedicated search space for the UE. The RNTI in the first configuration information may be a common RNTI, such as a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI).

The first BWP is a downlink BWP, which may be a full BWP or a partial BWP configured for the UE, that is, the first BWP may include one or more BWPs configured for the UE. The UE operates under a first network device, and the first network device configures one or more BWPs for the UE, and the BWP information may indicate some or all of the one or more BWPs. If the BWP information indicates a BWP, the second network device may transmit the BWP information to the UE, and the UE may also detect and receive the BWP information; alternatively, if the information of the BWPs indicates a plurality of BWPs, the second network device may transmit the indication information on all or a part of the BWPs when transmitting the indication information to the UE, and the UE may detect all or a part of the BWPs to receive the indication information. Therefore, even if the UE detects a failure or reception failure on one of the BWPs, it is likely to detect and receive a success on the other BWPs, thereby improving the success rate of the UE receiving the indication information.

The first BWP may be predetermined for transmitting the indication information (e.g., one or more downlink BWPs of the first indication information in S301. for example, the first BWP may be specified by a protocol, or may be preset in other manners.

For example, the first BWP is an initial (initial) downlink BWP of the UE, and the initial downlink BWP is a BWP for receiving system information, paging, and performing random access from a cell (cell) when the UE is in an RRC non-connected state. Before the UE receives the system information block 1 (SIB 1), the bandwidth of the initial downlink BWP of the UE is the bandwidth of the control resource set 0(CORESET #0) indicated by the MIB, and after the UE receives the SIB1, if the SIB1 does not include the bandwidth of the initial downlink BWP, the bandwidth of the initial downlink BWP of the UE is still the bandwidth of the CORESET #0 indicated by the MIB, so it may be considered that the first BWP is the downlink BWP corresponding to the control resource set 0(CORESET # 0). The initial downlink BWP or CORESET #0 of the UE is a cell-level parameter so that the UE and the second network device can be aligned. Therefore, if the first BWP is the initial downlink BWP of the UE, both the second network device and the UE can determine which BWP is the first BWP, so that the second network device can send the indication information to the UE on the initial downlink BWP of the UE, and the UE can also detect and receive the indication information on the initial downlink BWP of the UE, thereby improving the success rate of receiving the indication information by the UE. The second network equipment only needs to send the indication information on the initial downlink BWP of the UE, and does not need to send the indication information on a plurality of BWPs, thereby reducing the power consumption of the second network equipment; the UE also only needs to detect the indication information on the initial downlink BWP of the UE, and does not need to detect the indication information on a plurality of BWPs, thereby reducing the power consumption of the UE. And the method can also reduce the signaling overhead caused by the transmission of the indication information.

For another example, the first BWP is an active downlink BWP of the UE. When a UE has a service arriving, the base station schedules the UE from an initial BWP to a BWP with a bandwidth matching the service, which is called an active BWP of the UE, and the UE can receive paging and Other System Information (OSI) on the active BWP. The OSI includes other system information than SIB 1. One UE may be configured with multiple active BWPs, but at a certain time, the UE can only use one active BWP. In this case, the information equivalent to the BWP included in the configuration information of the second network device indicates the activated downlink BWP of the UE, but if the first network device configures a plurality of downlink BWPs for the UE, the activated downlink BWP of the UE may be changed. Then, the configuration information of the second network device is equivalent to a fixed downlink BWP that is not indicated, so the second network device needs to infer which BWP the active downlink BWP of the UE is, so that the UE can transmit on the BWP when transmitting the indication information to the UE, and the UE will detect on the active downlink BWP of the UE when detecting the indication information. In this way, the UE can detect and receive the indication information without switching the rf frequency, thereby reducing power consumption and time delay caused by switching the rf frequency.

For another example, the first BWP is not the initial downlink BWP of the UE, nor the activated downlink BWP of the UE, but one BWP of the BWPs configured for the UE. Since the first BWP may be specified by the protocol, both the second network device and the UE can specify which BWP the first BWP is. Therefore, the second network device can send the indication information to the UE on the first BWP, and the UE can also detect and receive the indication information on the first BWP, thereby improving the success rate of receiving the indication information by the UE. The second network device only needs to send the indication information on the first BWP, and does not need to send the indication information on a plurality of BWPs, thereby reducing the power consumption of the second network device; the UE also only needs to detect the indication information on the first BWP and does not need to detect the indication information on a plurality of BWPs, thereby reducing the power consumption of the UE. And the method can also reduce the signaling overhead caused by the transmission of the indication information.

In another implementation, if the dynamic property of the operating parameters is considered, the second network device may not need to send some or all of the parameters to the UE in advance. The BWP information, the search space information, or the RNTI in the first configuration information are optional information. That is, the first configuration information may not include one or more of these information, and the UE may know one or more of these information by default (e.g., according to a predetermined rule, or agreed upon, or protocol specification). When the BWP information, the search space information, and the RNTI information all adopt a default manner, the configuration information of the second network device sent by the second network device to the UE may not include the first configuration information.

For example, in the following case, the second network device does not transmit information of the first BWP to the UE. (1) By default (or protocol specification), the second network device will send the indication information on all downlink BWPs configured for the UE, so the UE can detect the indication information from the second network device no matter which downlink BWP the second network device has been activated when sending the indication information. (2) By default (or protocol provisions) the second network device will send the indication information on the active downlink BWP of the UE, the UE can detect the indication information from the second network device on the active downlink BWP to receive the indication information, in which case the second network device may not need to send the information of the first BWP to the UE. (3) By default (or protocol specification), the second network device sends the indication information to the UE on the initial downlink BWP of the UE, and the UE can detect the indication information from the second network device on the initial downlink BWP of the UE, so as to receive the indication information. (4) By default (or protocol specification), the second network device will send the indication information to the UE on the first BWP, and the UE can detect the indication information from the second network device on the first BWP, and receive the indication information. In the case where the second network device does not transmit the information of the first BWP to the UE, the second network device may also transmit the first configuration information to the UE to configure information of the search space and/or information of the RNTI, and the like.

For another example, in the following case, the second network device may not transmit information of the RNTI to the UE. (1) The second network device is defaulted (or specified by a protocol) to scramble the indication information by using a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), so that the second network device may scramble the first indication information by using the C-RNTI, and the UE may also descramble the first indication information by using the C-RNTI. Optionally, (2) by default, the second network device may scramble the indication information using the common RNTI, and then the second network device may scramble the first indication information using the common RNTI, and the UE may also descramble the first indication information using the common RNTI.

The information of the BWP related to random access in the second configuration information (referred to as the information of the second BWP for short) is used to indicate the downlink BWP applied by the UE in the random access procedure with the second network device. The information of the second BWP is, for example, an identification of one or more BWPs, or other information for identifying one or more BWPs, or information for configuring one or more BWPs (e.g., including bandwidth of BWPs, etc.).

The information of the random access resource in the second configuration information is used to indicate a resource for the UE to perform random access with the second network device, for example, a time-frequency resource for random access, or a number of a preamble (preamble). For example, after sending the preamble to the second network device, the UE blindly detects a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) from the second network device on the BWP indicated by the information of the second BWP.

The information of the search space in the second configuration information is, for example, an identifier of the search space, or other information indicating the search space. The search space indicated by the identification of the search space may be a common search space. For example, the second network device sends the indication information by means of beam scanning. Alternatively, the search space indicated by the identification of the search space is a dedicated search space for the UE.

The RNTI in the second configuration information may be a common RNTI, or may be another type of RNTI, for example, an RNTI configured specifically for the UE. For example, in a case where the second network device transmits the indication information in a broadcast manner, the plurality of UEs may all receive the indication information, so that some or all of the plurality of UEs can be handed over to the second network device. In this case, the second network device may scramble the indication information using the common RNTI, and the UE may also descramble information from the second network device using the common RNTI.

In one implementation manner, the second network device sends some or all of the operating parameters (configuration information of the second network device) of the UE under the second network device to the UE in advance, so that the UE can apply the parameters if the UE needs to be subsequently switched to the second network device, and does not need to request or wait for the second network device to send, thereby improving the switching efficiency of the UE.

It should be noted that the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be sent through one message, or may be sent through different messages. For example, the first network device may send the configuration information of the second network device to the UE through an RRC message, or a MAC CE, or DCI, etc. The parameters included in the configuration information of the second network device may be sent together in the same message or may be sent separately in different messages. For example, one or more of the following information is carried by RRC message/MAC CE/DCI: information of random access resources, information of the second BWP, measurement configuration information, radio bearer configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, physical layer configuration information. One or more of the following information, information of BWP, information of search space, or information of RNTI is carried through another RRC message/MAC CE/DCI.

S404, the first network equipment fails.

S405, the second network equipment determines that the first network equipment fails.

In one embodiment, the second network device determines whether the first network device is malfunctioning by means of heartbeat detection. For example, the first network device periodically sends heartbeat packets to the second network device, the second network device receives the heartbeat packets from the first network device, it is determined that the first network device is operating normally, and if the second network device does not receive the heartbeat packets from the first network device within the first time period, it is determined that the first network device is faulty. Or, the second network device periodically sends a heartbeat packet to the first network device, the first network device receives the heartbeat packet from the second network device and sends heartbeat feedback to the second network device, the second network device receives the heartbeat feedback from the first network device, it is determined that the first network device is operating normally, and when the second network device sends the heartbeat packet to the first network device normally, if the heartbeat feedback from the first network device is not received within the first time period, it may be determined that the first network device is faulty. The first time length may be a time length determined by negotiation between the first network device and the second network device, or a time length set by the second network device, or may also be a time length specified by a protocol.

In another embodiment, the second network device determines whether the first network device is malfunctioning through measurement information from the UE. For example, the first network device transmits a downlink Reference Signal (RS), such as a CSI-RS. The UE may perform measurement after receiving the downlink RS from the first network device to obtain a measurement result (or referred to as measurement information), and send the measurement information to the first network device, although the UE is sent to the first network device, the second network device may also perform detection at a time-frequency domain position of the measurement information, and further the second network device may also detect and receive the measurement information from the UE. Then, the second network device can determine whether the first network device is operating normally or has failed according to the measurement information of the UE.

In another embodiment, the second network device determines whether the first network device fails through hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information from the UE. For example, the first network device sends downlink data, and the UE sends HARQ-ACK information to the first network device after receiving the downlink data from the first network device. Wherein, the HARQ-ACK information may be Acknowledgement (ACK) information if the UE successfully receives the downlink data, and the HARQ-ACK information may be Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) information if the UE fails to receive the downlink data. The second network device may also perform detection at the time-frequency domain position of the HARQ-ACK information, and further the second network device may also receive the HARQ-ACK information from the UE, so that the second network device determines whether the first network device is operating normally or has failed according to the HARQ-ACK information of the UE. For example, if the HARQ-ACK information received by the second network device is used to indicate that the data transmission between the UE and the first network device is successful, the second network device determines that the first network device is normal, or if the HARQ-ACK information received by the second network device indicates that the data transmission between the UE and the first network device is failed, the second network device determines that the first network device is faulty. Wherein the second network device may receive one or more HARQ-ACK information, which may be from one UE or multiple UEs. For example, if the number of HARQ-ACK information indicating data transmission failure with the first network device among the one or more HARQ-ACK information is greater than or equal to 50% × N, the second network device determines that the first network device is malfunctioning, N being the total number of HARQ-ACK information received by the first network device.

In another implementation, when the first network device cannot provide service for the UE any more for some reasons, the second network device may be actively notified, and when the second network device knows that the first network device cannot provide service for the UE any more, it may confirm that the first network device fails.

The above-mentioned multiple ways of determining, by the second network device, that the first network device is malfunctioning can be applied independently, i.e., the second network device can determine whether the first network device is malfunctioning using one of the ways; alternatively, any two or more of the above three ways may also be applied in combination, that is, the second network device may determine whether the first network device is faulty or not in a plurality of ways, which may improve the accuracy of the determination result. Whether the second network device determines whether the first network device fails in any one or more of the above manners may be determined by the second network device itself or may be defined by a protocol. Or, in addition to the above manner, the second network device may determine whether the first network device fails in other manners, and the manner in which the second network device determines that the first network device fails is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

S406, the second network equipment sends the first indication information to the UE. For example, the second network device sends the first indication information to the UE when determining that the first network device fails, so that the UE knows that the first network device cannot continue to provide service for the UE. The first indication information indicates that the first network equipment fails, or indicates that the first network equipment is switched to the second network equipment, or indicates that the network equipment serving the UE is switched. Wherein, the first indication information indicates that the first network device is failed, which may be understood as that the first network device is failed, and/or the first network device is failed. The first indication information indicates a handover from the first network device to the second network device, which may be understood as the second network device being in effect and/or the UE needing to handover to the second network device. In the embodiment of the present application, other network devices (e.g., the second network device) notify that the UE cannot continue to operate under the serving network device (i.e., the first network device). The second network equipment determines whether the first network equipment fails or not, and the realizability is high, so that the UE can be switched as soon as possible, and the service transmission delay is reduced. S406 may be the same step as S301 described in the embodiment shown in fig. 3.

The first indication information may be carried in a message such as an RRC message, a MAC CE, or DCI, and sent to the UE.

The second network device may send the first indication information on the selected resource and send the configuration information to inform the UE. The UE may determine on which resources to receive the first indication information according to configuration information.

For example, in S403, the UE receives the configuration information of the second network device, and then the UE knows the resource for receiving the first indication information. The UE receives first indication information from the second network device according to the configuration information of the second network device.

For example, the UE receives the BWP information from the network device, and if the BWP information indicates the full BWP or partial BWP configured for the UE, the UE detects and receives first indication information on one or more BWPs indicated by the BWP information. Or, if the information of BWP indicates the initial downlink BWP of the UE, the UE detects and receives the first indication information on the initial downlink BWP of the UE. Or, if the information of BWP indicates activated downlink BWP of the UE, the UE detects and receives the first indication information on the activated downlink BWP of the UE. Alternatively, if the information of the BWP indicates a first BWP, which is one or more of BWPs configured for the UE, the UE detects and receives the first indication information on the first BWP.

For another example, the UE receives information of the search space (e.g., a common search space and/or a dedicated search space) from the network device, and the UE detects and receives the first indication information in the search space indicated by the information of the search space.

For another example, the UE receives the information of the RNTI from the network device, and descrambles the received first indication information by using the information of the RNTI. For example, the UE receives the common RNTI and descrambles the first indication information transmitted in a broadcast manner using the common RNTI.

Optionally, if S403 is not performed, or the UE does not receive the configuration information of the second network device, or the network device does not send the configuration information of the second network device, the UE may receive the first indication information from the second network device according to a predetermined rule. For example, the default (or, protocol specification) second network device sends the first indication information through one of the following resources: (1) a first BWP, the first BWP being a predetermined one BWP; (2) configuring all downlink BWPs for the UE; (3) UE activated downlink BWP; (4) initial downlink BWP for the UE. The UE detects and receives the first indication information on the corresponding resource. Also for example, by default (or protocol specification) the second network device scrambles the first indication information with the C-RNTI, the UE descrambles the first indication information with the C-RNTI. As another example, the default (or protocol specification) second network device scrambles the indication information using the common RNTI, which the UE descrambles the first indication information.

Wherein, if the UE receives the first indication information through the first BWP, the first BWP is, for example, one of the BWPs configured for the UE. Then, if the first BWP is different from the currently activated downlink BWP of the UE, the UE needs to adjust the radio frequency of the UE, for example, the UE adjusts the radio frequency of the receiving antenna of the UE from the currently activated downlink BWP to the frequency of the first BWP, so as to complete receiving the first indication information. The second network device optionally does not schedule data for the UE during the period when the UE adjusts the radio frequency of the receiving antenna to the frequency of the first BWP, so as to reduce the packet loss rate. In addition, if the first network device fails, but has the capability of scheduling data for the UE, the first network device optionally does not schedule data for the UE during the period when the UE adjusts the radio frequency of the receiving antenna to the frequency of the first BWP, so as to reduce the packet loss rate. The first BWP is different from the activated downlink BWP of the UE, and it can be understood that the radio frequency receiving range of the UE cannot simultaneously cover the bandwidth of the first BWP and the bandwidth of the activated downlink BWP of the UE, or that the bandwidth of the first BWP and the bandwidth of the activated downlink BWP of the UE cannot simultaneously fall within the radio frequency receiving range of the UE. From another perspective, the first BWP is different from the activated downlink BWP of the UE, and it may be considered that the first BWP does not intersect with the activated downlink BWP of the UE, or the first BWP intersects with the activated downlink BWP of the UE, but the first BWP further includes a bandwidth that is not included in the activated downlink BWP of the UE, and/or the activated downlink BWP of the UE further includes a bandwidth that is not included in the first BWP.

And if the first BWP is the same as the currently activated downlink BWP of the UE, the UE can receive the first indication information on the currently activated downlink BWP without adjusting the radio frequency of the UE. If the radio frequency reception range of the UE can simultaneously cover the bandwidth of the first BWP and the bandwidth of the activated downlink BWP of the UE, or the bandwidth of the first BWP and the bandwidth of the activated downlink BWP of the UE can simultaneously fall within the radio frequency reception range of the UE, the first BWP and the activated downlink BWP of the UE are considered to be the same. Or from another perspective, if the bandwidth of the first BWP is included in the bandwidth of the active downlink BWP of the UE, the first BWP and the active downlink BWP of the UE are considered to be the same.

For example, reference may be made to fig. 5A and 5B. In fig. 5A, the bandwidth of the first BWP (the portion in which the diagonal lines are drawn in fig. 5A) is within the bandwidth of the active downlink BWP of the UE, and the first BWP and the active downlink BWP of the UE can be considered to be the same. In fig. 5B, the bandwidth of the first BWP (the portion in which the diagonal lines are drawn in fig. 5B) does not intersect with the bandwidth of the active downlink BWP of the UE, and the first BWP and the active downlink BWP of the UE may be considered to be different.

If the UE receives the first indication information through the initial downlink BWP of the UE, the adjustment manner of the UE for the radio frequency of the receiving antenna is similar to the above process, and is not repeated here.

As an alternative embodiment, S403 may not be performed, or in S403, the network device may not need to send the second configuration information (e.g., one or more of information of the random access resource, information of the second BWP, measurement configuration information, radio bearer configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, or physical layer configuration information) to the UE, but include the second configuration information in the first indication information for supporting communication between the UE and the second network device, so that the transmission overhead may be reduced, especially in a case where the UE does not switch for a long time. That is to say, the second network device sends the second configuration information to the UE when the UE needs to perform handover, and the configuration information is more suitable for the current network situation. If the UE receives the configuration information in S403, the configuration information may optionally not be included in the first indication information. In this case, when the UE receives the first indication information, the configuration information of the second network device received in S403 is validated, or the communication with the second network device using the configuration information of the second network device is started.

The second configuration information may refer to the relevant description in S403. For example: including one or more of: information of a random access resource, information of a second BWP, measurement configuration information, radio bearer configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, or physical layer configuration information.

In one implementation, the second configuration information may be sent separately. For example, the information related to the random access is sent through DCI, and after the UE completes the random access in the second network device, the network device sends another parameter.

In one implementation, the first indication information and the second configuration information are carried in one message. For example, the first network device sends the first indication information to the UE through a message such as an RRC message, a MAC CE, or DCI, and the message may include the second configuration information in addition to the first indication information. For example, if the first indication information occupies one or more bits (bits), and the first indication information occupies 1 bit as an example, if the value of the bit is "1", it may indicate that the first network device fails, or indicate that the first network device is switched to the second network device, or indicate that the network device serving the UE is switched. And if the value of the bit is '0', indicating that the first network equipment is normal, or indicating that the first network equipment is not switched to the second network equipment, or indicating that the network equipment serving the UE is not switched. Alternatively, the first network device may be implicitly indicated by the first indication information as being unable to serve the UE. For example, if the second network device sends the first indication information, it implies that the first network device fails, or it implies that the first network device needs to be switched to the second network device, or it implies that the network device serving the UE is switched. If the second network equipment does not send the first indication information, the first network equipment is implied to be normal, or the first network equipment is implied not to be switched to the second network equipment, or the network equipment serving the UE is implied not to be switched. In this case, the number and value of the bits occupied by the first indication information are not limited.

In another implementation, the first indication information includes the second configuration information, which may be understood as that the configuration information may be used to configure the operating parameters of the UE corresponding to the second network device, and may also implicitly indicate that the first network device fails, or implicitly indicate that the network device serving the UE is switched to the second network device, or implicitly indicate that the network device serving the UE is switched. This way signaling overhead can be saved.

It should be noted that, the second network device sends the first indication information to the UE (S406), and optionally, the second network device may also initiate the first indication information actively without assuming that the first network device fails (S404 and 405). For example, when the main device and the auxiliary device need to be switched in function, or the main device needs to be overhauled, the second network device may actively initiate the first indication information, without being limited to a scenario where the first network device is in a fault state.

S407, as an optional step, the UE sends response information corresponding to the first indication information to the second network device, and correspondingly, the second network device receives the response information from the UE. Wherein if the first network device and the second network device are opaque to the UE, the UE may explicitly send the response information to the second network device; alternatively, if the first network device and the second network device are transparent to the UE, the UE only knows to send the response information to the network device, but does not know that there are multiple network devices, in which case the UE considers to send the response information to the network device. S407 may be the same step as S302 described in the embodiment shown in fig. 3.

For example, a certain message sent by the UE to the second network device during the random access to the second network device may be regarded as the response information, that is, the UE is regarded as responding to the first indication information when accessing the second network device, for example, the response information is preamble, or the response information may be a scheduled transmission message, for example, Msg3 during the random access, or the response message may also be MsgB during the random access, and so on.

In the embodiment of the application, the determination of whether another network device (first network device) fails by one network device (second network device) is easier to implement than the determination of whether the network device fails by the UE. The UE determines the network equipment failure through the indication of the network side or needs switching, and can determine the time consumed by the first network equipment failure, thereby reducing the interruption time of service transmission, improving the continuity of the service and improving the reliability of the service.

Fig. 6 illustrates a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the embodiment shown in fig. 6 adds the process of downlink beam training, and can improve the transmission success rate of the second network device when transmitting the indication information to the UE. The embodiment shown in fig. 6 is used alone or in combination with the embodiment shown in fig. 4.

S601, the second network device sends configuration information of the second downlink RS to the first network device, and correspondingly, the first network device receives the configuration information of the second downlink RS from the second network device. In fig. 6, the configuration information of the second downlink RS is represented as the configuration information of the downlink RS 2. The configuration information of the second downlink RS may be used to configure the downlink RS of the second network device, for example, the configuration information of the second downlink RS is used to configure the transmission resource of the downlink RS of the second network device. The downlink RS of the second network device is, for example, a CSI-RS, or an SSB, or another signal. Here, the SSB can also be regarded as a special RS. The configuration information of the second downlink RS may also be referred to as second sub-configuration information for short.

For example, the configuration information of the second downlink RS includes one or more of: time domain information, bitmap (bitmap), or frequency domain information.

For example, the downlink RS is an SSB, and for a cell, the number of SSBs may correspond to a fixed number, for example, a total of 8 SSBs may be transmitted in low frequency, and a total of 64 SSBs may be transmitted in high frequency. While the second network device may not send all SSBs down, and may only send a portion of the SSBs. In a possible implementation, the configuration information of the second downlink RS may include a bitmap, where the number of bits included in the bitmap is the same as the number of SSBs that can be sent by the second network device in total, and the bitmap indicates which SSBs the second network device will send. For example, for the case of high frequency, the bitmap may include 64 bits, and if some of the 64 bits take a value of "1", it indicates that the second network device will send the SSB corresponding to the bit, and if some of the 64 bits take a value of "0", it indicates that the second network device does not send the SSB corresponding to the bit. Then the UE can determine which downlink RSs will be sent by the second network device according to the bitmap. In another possible implementation, the configuration information of the second downlink RS includes two groups of bits, for example, when there are 64 SSBs, the 64 SSBs may be divided into 8 groups, each group includes 8 SSBs, then the first group of 8 bits is used to indicate which group of SSBs the network device will send in the 8 groups, the second group of 8 bits is used to indicate which group of SSBs is sent in the group, for example, a value of "1" for a bit corresponding to the third group in the first group of 8 bits represents that the network device sends an SSB in the third group, and a value of "1" for a bit corresponding to the second SSB in the second group of 8 bits represents that the network device sends the second SSB in the third group. Wherein the number of groups and the number of RSs in each group are only examples.

The time domain information indicates a time domain position of a downlink RS of the second network device, and the frequency domain information indicates a frequency domain position of the downlink RS of the second network device. The time domain information may include one or more of: period, offset, or field indication information. The period may be a transmission period of a downlink RS of the second network device; the offset may indicate a time domain offset of the downlink RS of the second network device in a sending period, for example, if the sending period of the downlink RS of the second network device is 20ms and the offset is 2ms, it indicates that the downlink RS of the second network device will start to be sent in the 2 nd ms of the sending period; the field indication is used for indicating that a downlink RS of the second network equipment is located in a first field or a second field of a wireless frame.

S602, the first network device sends configuration information of the first downlink RS and configuration information of the second downlink RS to the UE, and accordingly, the UE receives the configuration information of the first downlink RS and the configuration information of the second downlink RS. The configuration information of the first downlink RS may be used to configure the downlink RS of the first network device, for example, the configuration information of the first downlink RS configures the transmission resource of the downlink RS of the first network device. In fig. 6, the configuration information of the first downlink RS is represented as the configuration information of the downlink RS 1. The downlink RS of the first network device is, for example, a CSI-RS, or may also be an SSB, or may also be another signal. The configuration information of the first downlink RS may also be referred to as first sub-configuration information.

In one implementation, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 may be combined with the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. For example, S602 may be the same as S401 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and the first network device may send, to the UE, the configuration information of the first downlink RS, the configuration information of the second downlink RS, and the configuration information of the first network device through one message; alternatively, S602 and S403 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 may be the same step, and the first network device may send the configuration information of the first downlink RS, the configuration information of the second downlink RS, and the configuration information of the second network device to the UE through one message. In another implementation, the first network device sends the configuration information of the first downlink RS and the configuration information of the second downlink RS to the UE without sending the configuration information of the second downlink RS together with other information. The configuration information of the first downlink RS and the configuration information of the second downlink RS may also be referred to as fourth configuration information for short.

And the first network equipment sends the configuration information of the first downlink RS and the configuration information of the second downlink RS to the UE through a system message or an RRC message. The system message is, for example, SIB1, and the RRC message is, for example, an RRC reconfiguration message. For example, the first network device defines the configuration information of the first downlink RS through a non-extension field in the SIB1 or the RRC reconfiguration message; and the configuration information of the second downlink RS is defined by a new extension field in the SIB1 or RRC reconfiguration message.

The first network device may send two sets of configurations, which are respectively used for configuring downlink RSs corresponding to different network devices. In order to distinguish the two sets of configurations, the first network device may add first information to the configuration information of the second downlink RS, where the first information indicates that the configuration information of the second downlink RS corresponds to the second network device, or indicates that the network device corresponding to the configuration information of the second downlink RS is different from the network device corresponding to the configuration information of the first downlink RS. Therefore, after the UE receives the configuration information of the first downlink RS and the configuration information of the second downlink RS, the configuration of the two sets of downlink RSs can be determined. Alternatively, the first network device may indicate the network device corresponding to the configuration information of the second downlink RS by using existing information without adding additional information to the configuration information of the second downlink RS. For example, the configuration information of the second downlink RS includes second information, and the second information is preset time domain information, for example, the second information is specified by a protocol, and then the UE can determine, according to the second information included in the configuration information of the second downlink RS, that the configuration information of the second downlink RS and the configuration information of the first downlink RS correspond to different network devices, where the second information may be a period, an offset, a half-frame indication, frequency domain information, bitmap, or the like included in the configuration information of the second downlink RS. Or, the configuration information of the first downlink RS and the configuration information of the second downlink RS may be carried by different Information Elements (IEs), and the UE can distinguish that the configuration information of the second downlink RS and the configuration information of the first downlink RS correspond to different network devices according to the corresponding IEs without adding additional information for indication.

For example, the first network device sends the configuration information of the first downlink RS and the configuration information of the second downlink RS to the UE through an RRC message. The RRC message, in addition to carrying the configuration information of the first downlink RS through the original (or non-extended) IE, adds (or extends) one or more IEs, and these added IEs can carry the configuration information of the second downlink RS. Taking the downlink RS as an SSB for example, 4 IEs are added in the RRC message, which are absolute frequency SSB2(absolute frequency SSB-2), SSB location burst (SSB-PositionInBurst-2), SSB periodic serving cell-2 (SSB-periodiciservingcell-2), and SSB physical broadcast channel block energy-2 (SSB-PBCH-BlockPower-2). The absolute frequency SSB-2 is configured to indicate frequency information of the SSB configured by the configuration information of the second downlink RS, where the indicated frequency information is, for example, an Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN) -valuenenr. SSB-PositionInBurst-2 may indicate which SSBs the second network device will send at all, for example, 64 SSBs in a cell, but the second network device may not send all the 64 SSBs, and then the SSB-PositionInBurst-2 may indicate which SSBs of the 64 SSBs the second network device will send. SSB-periodiciservingcell-2 may indicate a transmission period of the second network device for the SSB. SSB-PBCH-BlockPower-2 may indicate the transmit power of the second network device for the SSB. Of course, the names of the above IEs are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the names of the IEs.

The absolutefrequencySSB-2 is an optional IE, that is, the IE may be newly added to carry the configuration information of the second downlink RS, or the IE may not be newly added to carry the configuration information of the second downlink RS. ssb-PositionInBurst-2 is also an optional IE, that is, the IE may be newly added to carry the configuration information of the second downlink RS, or the IE may not be newly added to carry the configuration information of the second downlink RS.

For example, the 4 IEs newly added in the RRC message are as follows:

taking the following row RS as a CSI-RS as an example, one or more IEs are newly added in the RRC message, for example, one IE newly added in the RRC message is represented as follows:

csi-MeasConfig2 SetupRelease{CSI-MeasConfig}

in addition to the IE, one or more other IEs may be added, where the form of the added IE may refer to the form of an IE that is not extended in the RRC message, or may refer to the form of an IE that is used to carry configuration information of the first downlink RS in the RRC message. The names of the above IEs are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the names of the IEs.

Regarding the content included in the configuration information of the first downlink RS, reference may be made to the introduction of the content included in the second sub-configuration information, which are similar.

That is to say, the first network device may configure the downlink RS of the first network device for the UE, and may also configure the downlink RS of the second network device for the UE, so that the UE can receive the downlink RS from both the first network device and the second network device.

S603, the second network device sends the downlink RS, and correspondingly, the UE receives the downlink RS from the second network device. For example, the downlink RS transmitted by the second network device is referred to as a second downlink RS (in fig. 6, the second downlink RS is denoted by a downlink RS 2), where the second downlink RS may include one or more downlink RSs, that is, the second network device may transmit one or more downlink RSs, and the downlink RSs transmitted by the second network device are referred to as the second downlink RS.

The second network device sends a second downlink RS, and the UE may receive the second downlink RS from the second network device according to the second sub-configuration information.

S604, the first network device sends a downlink RS, and correspondingly, the UE receives the downlink RS from the first network device. For example, the downlink RS transmitted by the first network device is referred to as a first downlink RS (in fig. 6, the first downlink RS is denoted by a downlink RS 1), where the first downlink RS may include one or more downlink RSs, that is, the first network device may transmit one or more downlink RSs, and the downlink RSs transmitted by the first network device are referred to as the first downlink RS.

The first network device sends the first downlink RS, and the UE may receive the first downlink RS from the first network device according to the first sub-configuration information.

In this embodiment, the steps of S603 and S604 are not limited. S603 may occur before S604, or S604 may occur before S603, or S603 and S604 may also occur simultaneously.

And S605, the UE measures the received downlink RS to obtain a measurement result. The measurement result is, for example, RS received power (RSRP), RS received quality (RSRQ), or signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

If the UE receives the first downlink RS, the UE may perform measurement on the first downlink RS to obtain a measurement result 1 (which may also be referred to as a first measurement result, or a measurement result of downlink RS 1), which is represented as a measurement result of downlink RS1 in fig. 6. The first downlink RS includes one or more downlink RSs. The measurement result 1 includes measurement results of the one or more downlink RSs, or the UE processes the measurement results of the one or more downlink RSs (e.g., selects the best measurement result of the downlink RS, or averages the measurement results), so as to obtain the measurement result 1.

If the UE receives the second downlink RS, the UE may measure the second downlink RS to obtain a measurement result 2 (which may also be referred to as a measurement result of downlink RS 2), which is represented as a measurement result of downlink RS2 in fig. 6. The second downlink RS includes one or more downlink RSs, and the measurement result 2 includes a measurement result of the one or more downlink RSs, or the UE processes the measurement result of the one or more downlink RSs (e.g., selects a best measurement result, or averages the measurement results), so as to obtain the measurement result 2.

S606, the UE sends the measurement result to the network equipment. The measurement result comprises the measurement result 1 and/or the measurement result 2.

The UE may distinguish between measurement 1 and measurement 2 when sending the measurement. For example, the UE may add information (e.g., third information) to the measurement result 2 to indicate that the measurement result 2 corresponds to the configuration information of the second downlink RS, or indicate that the measurement result 2 corresponds to the second network device, so that the first network device can clarify the correspondence between the measurement result and the network device. Or, the UE loads the measurement result 1 and the measurement result 2 in different IEs, and the first network device receives the measurement result reported by the UE, and according to the corresponding IEs, can distinguish that the measurement result 1 and the measurement result 2 correspond to different network devices, so that the UE does not need to additionally send indication information.

For example, the UE sends the measurement result to the first network device through an RRC message. The RRC message, in addition to carrying measurement 1 via the original (or non-extended) IEs, also adds (or extends) one or more IEs, which may carry measurement 2. For example, 2 IEs are added in the RRC message, where one IE is cell result 2(cellResults2) for indicating that the measurement result corresponds to the SSB and/or the CSI-RS. Where another IE is rsidexresst 2, including measurements of one or more SSBs from the second network device received by the UE, and/or including measurements of one or more CSI-RSs from the second network device received by the UE. Of course, the names of the above IEs are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the names of the IEs.

For example, the 2 IEs added in the RRC message are as follows:

s607, the first network device sends the measurement result 2 to the second network device, and correspondingly, the second network device receives the measurement result 2 from the first network device.

Since the UE distinguishes when sending the measurement results, the first network device is able to identify which measurement results are measurement results2 corresponding to the second network device. The first network device may send measurement 2 to the second network device. After the second network device obtains the measurement result 2, it can determine which downlink RS directions of the second network device the UE is located in according to the measurement result 2.

And S608, the second network equipment determines second state information according to the measurement result 2. The second status information may include a number of the downlink RS, for example, the second status information includes one or more numbers, one of which corresponds to one downlink RS of the second network device.

After obtaining the first measurement result, the second network device may determine, according to the first measurement result, which downlink RSs of the second network device the UE is located in, for example, the second network device obtains second state information, where the second state information is, for example, a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state (state), and the TCI state may include one or more numbers, one of the numbers corresponds to one downlink RS of the second network device, and downlink RSs corresponding to the numbers are downlink RSs in the direction where the UE is located. If the second network device subsequently sends the indication information in the direction corresponding to the TCI state, the UE can receive the indication information more accurately, so that the receiving success rate of the UE is improved, and the second network device does not need to send the indication information in other directions, thereby saving the power consumption of the second network device.

S609, the second network device sends the second status information to the first network device, and correspondingly, the first network device receives the second status information from the second network device.

Or, if the second network device does not transmit the indication information in a beam manner but transmits the indication information in an omni-directional manner, the second network device does not need to determine the second status information, and the second network device does not need to transmit the second status information to the first network device. Thus, S608 and S609 are optional steps.

S610, the first network device sends the first status information to the UE, and accordingly, the UE receives the first status information from the first network device.

For example, the first state information includes first sub-state information and second sub-state information, and the second sub-state information and the second state information may be the same information, or the second sub-state information is determined according to the second state information. The first sub-status information may include a number of a downlink RS, for example, the first sub-status information includes one or more numbers, where one number corresponds to one downlink RS of the first network device.

After the first network device obtains the measurement result 1, determining which downlink RS directions of the first network device the UE is located in according to the measurement result 1. For example, the first network device obtains first sub-state information, which is, for example, a TCI state, where the TCI state may include one or more numbers, one of the numbers corresponds to one downlink RS of the first network device, and the downlink RS corresponding to the numbers is a downlink RS in a direction in which the UE is located. If the first network device subsequently transmits information in the direction corresponding to the TCI state, the UE can receive the information more accurately, so that the receiving success rate of the UE is improved, and the first network device does not need to transmit the indication information in other directions, thereby saving the power consumption of the first network device.

The first network device obtains first state information according to the first sub-state information and the second state information, where the first state information is, for example, a TCI state. The TCI status includes one or more numbers, one of which corresponds to a downlink RS, and the downlink RS corresponding to the numbers includes both the downlink RS of the second network device and the downlink RS of the first network device. The first network device may distinguish a number of the downlink RS corresponding to the second network device from a number of the downlink RS corresponding to the first network device in the TCI state, e.g., the first network device adds information (e.g., fourth information) to the number of the downlink RS corresponding to the second network device in the TCI state to indicate that the corresponding number is different from the number without the fourth information. Optionally, if the first network device and the second network device are not transparent to the UE, the fourth information may also indicate that the corresponding numbers correspond to the second network device. Therefore, after receiving the TCI status, the UE can determine that the number of the downlink RS included in the first status information is different.

Alternatively, if S608 and S609 are not performed, the TCI state may not include the second substate information.

S611, the first network equipment fails.

And S612, the second network equipment determines that the first network equipment fails.

For a description that the second network device determines that the first network device fails in S612, reference may be made to the description related to S405 in fig. 4, which is not described again.

Alternatively, S612 is an optional step, and the UE determines that the first network device fails, for example, if the UE detects that a Radio Link Failure (RLF) event occurs between the UE and the first network device, the UE may determine that the first network device fails, or the UE may determine that the first network device fails in other manners.

S613, the second network device sends the first indication information to the UE, and correspondingly, the UE receives the first indication information from the second network device. In S613, the second network device sends a description about the first indication information to the UE, which may refer to the description about S301 in fig. 3 and is not described herein again.

For example, the embodiment shown in fig. 6 is applied in combination with the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and S403 is performed, then the second network device may send the first indication information to the UE, and the UE may receive the first indication information from the second network device according to the first configuration information; alternatively, the embodiment shown in fig. 6 is applied in combination with the embodiment shown in fig. 4, but S403 is not executed, or the embodiment shown in fig. 6 is not combined with the embodiment shown in fig. 4, then the second network device may send the configuration information of the indication information to the UE according to the protocol specification or according to the default rule, and the UE may receive the first indication information from the second network device according to the protocol specification or according to the default rule.

If S608 and S609 are not performed, the second network device may transmit the first indication information through at least one transmission beam, and the UE detects and receives the first indication information on at least one reception beam. The at least one receive beam corresponds to a first downlink RS. The at least one reception beam includes all reception beams or a part of reception beams used by the UE to receive the first downlink RS. The number of the at least one transmission beam may be greater than or equal to the number of the at least one reception beam, but at least one transmission beam of the at least one transmission beam corresponds to one reception beam of the at least one reception beam, so that the UE can successfully receive the first indication information.

Or, if S608 and S609 are performed and the first state information includes the second sub-state information, the second network device may transmit the first indication information on the transmission beam corresponding to the number of the downlink RS included in the second sub-state information, and the UE may also receive the first indication information on the reception beam corresponding to the number of the downlink RS included in the second sub-state information. By the method, the second network device does not need to send the first indication information on more sending beams, the UE does not need to detect the first indication information on more receiving beams, and the sending beams of the second network device and the receiving beams of the UE can be aligned, so that the power consumption of the second network device and the UE can be reduced.

Alternatively, S611 and S612 are optional steps, and the second network device may send the first indication information to the UE even if it is not determined that the first network device is out of order.

For more about S613, reference may be made to the description of S406 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4.

S614, the UE sends response information corresponding to the first indication information to the second network device, and correspondingly, the second network device receives the response information from the UE. S614 may be the same step as S302 described in the embodiment shown in fig. 3.

For more about S614, reference may be made to the description of S407 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4.

And if the UE determines that the first network equipment fails, switching to the second network equipment. In this case, S612, S613, and S614 may not be necessarily performed, i.e., are optional steps.

In the embodiment of the application, whether another network device (the first network device) fails or not is determined by one network device (the second network device), which is easier to implement than determining whether the network device fails or not by the UE, and time consumed for determining that the first network device fails can be reduced, so that interruption time of service transmission is reduced, and continuity and reliability of service are improved. In addition, the embodiment of the application introduces a downlink beam training process, and when the second network device sends the first indication information to the UE, the second network device may send the first indication information according to a result of the downlink beam training, for example, the first indication information is sent in a direction in which the UE successfully receives the downlink RS, so that a receiving success rate of the UE for the first indication information is improved, and power consumption of the second network device and the UE can be saved because the first indication information does not need to be sent on too many beams.

Fig. 7 illustrates that an embodiment of the present application provides yet another communication method, which can be applied to the network architectures illustrated in fig. 2A, 2B, and/or 2C. Compared with the embodiment shown in fig. 4 or the embodiment shown in fig. 6, the embodiment shown in fig. 7 introduces a process of uplink beam training, which can make the UE more targeted when sending the response information to the second network device. The embodiments shown in fig. 4, 6 and 7 can be used alone, in combination or in partial combination.

S701, the first network device sends configuration information (for convenience of description, abbreviated as configuration information of the uplink RS) that can be used for configuring the uplink RS to the UE. Accordingly, the UE receives configuration information of an uplink RS from the first network device. For example, the configuration information of the uplink RS may be used to configure the transmission resource of the uplink RS. The uplink RS may be, for example, an SRS or another signal. Herein, the configuration information of the uplink RS may also be referred to as fifth configuration information.

For example, the configuration information of the uplink RS includes one or more of the following items: time domain information, frequency domain information, transmission mode information, or power control parameters. And the time domain information is used for indicating the time domain position of the uplink RS. And the frequency domain information is used for indicating the frequency domain position of the uplink RS. The transmission method information includes the purpose of configuring the SRS, for example, the SRS is configured for beam management, codebook transmission, non-codebook transmission, antenna switching, or other purposes. The power control parameter may be used for power control when the UE transmits the uplink RS.

The configuration information of the uplink RS may configure one or more uplink RSs, where each uplink RS corresponds to a set of configuration information. In other words, the configuration information of the uplink RS may include one or more sub-configuration information, where one sub-configuration information is used to configure one uplink RS. In order to distinguish different sub-configuration information, each sub-configuration information is respectively identified by a number (e.g., an ID). Since the sub-configuration information corresponds to the uplink RS, the ID of the sub-configuration information may be used to indicate the uplink RS. If the configuration information of the uplink RS configures multiple types of uplink RSs, the "multiple types" herein may be understood as signals with different types, for example, an SRS is regarded as one type of uplink RS, and another type of signal other than the SRS is regarded as another type of uplink RS; alternatively, the "multiple types" may be signals of the same type, for example, multiple RSs are SRSs, but corresponding sub-configuration information may be different (for example, at least one of time domain information, frequency domain information, power control parameters, or transmission modes may be different).

The first network device may transmit the configuration information of the uplink RS through one or more RRC messages, MAC CE, DCI, or other messages. The first network device may transmit the configuration information of the uplink RS to the UE alone without transmitting the configuration information of the uplink RS together with other information, or may transmit the configuration information of the uplink RS together with other information. For example, the embodiment shown in fig. 7 may be combined with the embodiment shown in fig. 4, where S701 and S402 are combined as a step, the first network device sends the configuration information of the uplink RS and the configuration information of the first network device to the UE through a message (S402); alternatively, S701 and S403 may be combined into one step, and the first network device sends the configuration information of the uplink RS and the configuration information of the second network device to the UE together through one message.

S702, the first network device sends the configuration information of the uplink RS to the second network device, and correspondingly, the second network device receives the configuration information of the uplink RS from the first network device.

The first network device may also transmit the configuration information of the uplink RS to the second network device in addition to the UE, so that if the UE transmits an uplink signal according to the configuration information of the uplink RS, the second network device can receive the uplink signal in addition to the first network device.

Wherein S701 may occur before S702, or S701 may occur after S702, or S701 and S702 may occur simultaneously.

S703, the UE sends an uplink RS, and accordingly, the first network device receives the uplink RS from the UE, and in addition, the second network device may also receive the uplink RS from the UE.

For example, the UE transmits the uplink RS according to the configuration information of the uplink RS, and the first network device and/or the second network device may respectively receive the uplink RS from the UE according to the configuration information of the uplink RS. For example, the configuration information of the uplink RS includes time domain information, the UE may send the uplink RS according to a time domain position indicated by the time domain information, the first network device may detect and receive the uplink RS from the UE at the time domain position indicated by the time domain information, and the second network device may also detect and receive the uplink RS from the UE at the time domain position indicated by the time domain information.

S704, the first network device measures the received uplink RS to obtain a measurement result 3.

After receiving the uplink RS, the first network device measures the uplink RS to obtain a measurement result (referred to as measurement result 3). If the configuration information of the uplink RS includes multiple pieces of sub-configuration information, and the uplink RS received by the first network device corresponds to different pieces of sub-configuration information, the first network device may respectively measure the uplink RS corresponding to one or more pieces of sub-configuration information, where the one or more pieces of sub-configuration information may be all or part of sub-configuration information included in the configuration information of the uplink RS, and the measurement result 3 may include a measurement result of the first network device for the one or more pieces of sub-configuration information. The measurement result 3 is, for example, RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, or the like.

S705, the second network device measures the received uplink RS to obtain a measurement result 4.

After receiving the uplink RS, the second network device may also measure the uplink RS to obtain a measurement result (referred to as measurement result 4). If the configuration information of the uplink RS includes multiple pieces of sub-configuration information, and the uplink RS received by the second network device corresponds to different pieces of sub-configuration information, the second network device may respectively measure the uplink RS corresponding to one or more pieces of sub-configuration information, where the one or more pieces of sub-configuration information may be all or part of sub-configuration information included in the configuration information of the uplink RS, and the measurement result 4 may include a measurement result of the second network device for one or more pieces of sub-configuration information. The measurement result 4 is, for example, RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, or the like.

Wherein S704 may occur before S705, or S704 may occur after S705, or S704 and S705 may occur simultaneously.

S706, the second network device sends the measurement result 4 to the first network device, and correspondingly, the first network device receives the measurement result 4 from the second network device. The second network device may send all or part of the content of the measurement result 4 to the first network device, or may refer to a part of the measurement result 4, where the second network device sends the part to the first network device, as a second measurement result.

For example, the measurement result 4 includes measurement results of uplink RSs corresponding to a plurality of pieces of sub-configuration information, and the second network device sends all or part of the measurement results included in the measurement result 4 to the first network device. For example, the second network device may have selected to feed back the measurement results to the first network device, may have obtained multiple measurements, and may send the better measurement results to the first network device. Therefore, when the first network equipment configures the uplink beam pointing to the second network equipment for the UE, the first network equipment can configure the uplink beam corresponding to a better measurement result, and the information sending quality is improved.

Alternatively, S706 is an optional step. The second network device may not send the measurement result 4 to the first network device, but may send the measurement result 4 to the UE, and the UE may receive the measurement result 4 from the second network device.

And S707, the first network equipment determines a second transmission beam according to the measurement result 4. The second transmit beam is used to transmit information to the second network device. The second transmission beam may include one or more transmission beams, where a transmission beam for a UE refers to an uplink transmission beam of the UE.

The first network device may configure an uplink transmission direction according to the measurement result 4, or in other words, the first network device may configure an uplink beam according to the measurement result 4, and the uplink beam configured according to the measurement result 4 may be used for the UE to transmit information to the second network device, where the information is, for example, control information and may be transmitted through a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), or is data and may be transmitted through a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

For example, if the measurement result 4 includes one measurement result, the first network device determines that the transmission beam corresponding to the direction corresponding to the measurement result is the second transmission beam. For another example, if the second measurement result includes a plurality of measurement results, the first network device determines each of the plurality of transmission beams corresponding to the plurality of measurement results as the second transmission beam, or the first network device selects at least one measurement result from the plurality of measurement results and determines at least one transmission beam corresponding to the at least one measurement result as the second transmission beam. For example, the first network device may select at least one measurement result from the plurality of measurement results, and then the first network device may select a better at least one measurement result from the plurality of measurement results, thereby improving the quality of information transmitted by the UE through the second transmission beam.

In addition, the first network device may also configure the uplink transmission direction according to the measurement result 3, or in other words, the first network device may configure a transmission beam according to the measurement result 3, where the transmission beam configured according to the measurement result 3 is referred to as a first transmission beam, and the first transmission beam may include one or more transmission beams, where the transmission beam is for the UE and refers to an uplink transmission beam of the UE. The first transmit beam may be used for the UE to transmit information to the first network device, for example, control information, which may be transmitted over the PUCCH, or data, which may be transmitted over the PUSCH. As for the configuration manner, a manner in which the first network device configures the second transmission beam according to the measurement result 4 may be referred to.

If the second network device does not send the measurement result 4 to the first network device but sends the measurement result 4 to the UE, the first network device does not need to determine the second transmission beam according to the measurement result 4 but only needs to determine the first transmission beam according to the measurement result 3. In this case, the UE may determine the second transmission beam according to the measurement result 4, and the determination may refer to the description of the manner in which the first network device determines the second transmission beam.

S708, the first network device sends the second indication information to the UE, and accordingly, the UE receives the second indication information. The second indication information may include information of the first transmission beam and information of the second transmission beam, or the second indication information may indicate the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam.

In the second indication information, the transmission beam indicated by the information on the first transmission beam may correspond to the ID of the sub-configuration information one to one, and the transmission beam indicated by the information on the second transmission beam may correspond to the ID of one sub-configuration information one to one. In addition, in the second indication information, the first network device may further add fifth information to the information of the second transmission beam, the fifth information may indicate that the second transmission beam is a spare transmission beam, or the fifth information may indicate that the second transmission beam corresponds to the second network device. Therefore, after receiving the second indication information, the UE can determine, according to the fifth information, that the second transmission beam is different from the first transmission beam, or determine that the second transmission beam is applied after receiving the first indication information, or determine that the second transmission beam corresponds to the second network device.

Alternatively, if the second transmission beam is determined by the UE according to the measurement result 4, the second indication information may include information of the first transmission beam and not include information of the second transmission beam.

And S709, the first network equipment fails.

And S710, the second network equipment determines that the first network equipment fails.

For more details of the determination of the failure of the first network device by the second network device in S710, reference may be made to the description of S405 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and details are not repeated here.

Alternatively, S710 is an optional step, and the UE determines that the first network device fails, for example, if the UE detects that an RLF event occurs with the first network device, the UE determines that the first network device fails, or the UE may determine that the first network device fails in other manners.

S711, the second network device sends the first indication information to the UE, and accordingly, the UE receives the first indication information from the second network device.

For example, the embodiment shown in fig. 7 is applied in combination with the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and S403 is performed, then the second network device may send the first indication information to the UE, and the UE may receive the first indication information from the second network device according to the first configuration information; alternatively, the embodiment shown in fig. 7 is applied in combination with the embodiment shown in fig. 4, but S403 is not executed, or the embodiment shown in fig. 7 is not combined with the embodiment shown in fig. 4, then the second network device may send the first configuration information to the UE according to the protocol specification or according to the default rule, and the UE may receive the first indication information from the second network device according to the protocol specification or according to the default rule.

Alternatively, S709 and S710 are optional steps, and the second network device may send the first indication information to the UE even if it is not determined that the first network device is out of order.

For more about S711, reference may be made to the description of S406 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4.

S712, the UE sends response information corresponding to the first indication information to the second network device, and correspondingly, the second network device receives the response information from the UE.

The UE may enable the first transmission beam without enabling the second transmission beam without receiving the first indication information. The UE may activate the second transmission beam or may enable the second transmission beam after receiving the first indication information. The UE transmits response information to the second network device on the second transmission beam, and accordingly, the second network device receives the response information on a reception beam (for example, referred to as a second reception beam, where the second reception beam is referred to as a reception beam of the second network device) corresponding to the second transmission beam. For the second network device, the second receive beam may be determined from the second measurement.

S711 and S712 are optional steps. S710, S711 and S712 may also not be performed if it is determined by the UE that the first network device fails and switches to the second network device in this case.

In the embodiment of the application, the determination of whether another network device (first network device) fails by one network device (second network device) is easier to implement than the determination of whether the network device fails by the UE. The UE determines the network equipment failure through the indication of the network side or needs switching, and can determine the time consumed by the first network equipment failure, thereby reducing the interruption time of service transmission, improving the continuity of the service and improving the reliability of the service. In addition, the uplink beam training process is added, when the UE sends the response information to the second network device, the UE may send the response information according to the result of the uplink beam training, for example, the UE sends the response information in the direction in which the second network device successfully receives the uplink RS, so that the success rate of receiving the response information by the second network device is improved, and the power consumption of the second network device and the UE can be saved because the response information does not need to be sent on too many beams.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 800 may be the communication apparatus 30 in fig. 1, or may also be a terminal device in fig. 2A, fig. 2B, or fig. 2C, and is configured to implement the method for the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment. The communication device may also be the first network device or the second network device in fig. 2A, or the network devices in the RAN in fig. 2B and 2C, such as CU, DU, CU-CP, or CU-UP, for implementing the method corresponding to the first network device or the second network device in the above method embodiments. The specific functions can be seen from the description of the above method embodiments.

The communication device 800 includes one or more processors 801. The processor 801 may also be referred to as a processing unit and may perform certain control functions. The processor 801 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, or the like. For example, it includes: a baseband processor, a central processing unit, an application processor, a modem processor, a graphics processor, an image signal processor, a digital signal processor, a video codec processor, a controller, a memory, and/or a neural network processor, among others. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols as well as communication data. The central processor may be used to control the communication device 800, execute software programs and/or process data. The different processors may be separate devices or may be integrated in one or more processors, e.g., on one or more application specific integrated circuits.

Optionally, one or more memories 802 are included in the communication device 800 to store instructions 804 that are executable on the processor to cause the communication device 800 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 802 may further store data. The processor and the memory may be provided separately or may be integrated together.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 800 may include instructions 803 (which may also be sometimes referred to as code or program), and the instructions 803 may be executed on the processor, so that the communication apparatus 800 performs the method described in the above embodiments. Data may be stored in the processor 801.

Optionally, the communication device 800 may also include a transceiver 805 and an antenna 806. The transceiver 805 may be referred to as a transceiving unit, a transceiver, transceiving circuitry, a transceiver, an input/output interface, etc. for implementing transceiving functions of the communication device 800 through the antenna 806.

Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include one or more of the following components: the wireless communication module, the audio module, the external memory interface, the internal memory, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, the power management module, the antenna, the speaker, the microphone, the input/output module, the sensor module, the motor, the camera, or the display screen. It is understood that in some embodiments, the UE 800 may include more or fewer components, or some components integrated, or some components disassembled. These components may be hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware implementations.

The processor 801 and the transceiver 805 described herein may be implemented on an Integrated Circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFID), a mixed signal IC, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), an electronic device, or the like. The communication apparatus implementing the present description may be a standalone device (e.g., a standalone integrated circuit, a mobile phone, etc.), or may be a part of a larger device (e.g., a module that can be embedded in other devices), and may refer to the foregoing description about the terminal device and the network device, which is not described herein again.

The embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, which (for convenience of description, referred to as UE) may be used in the foregoing embodiments. The terminal device comprises corresponding means, units and/or circuitry to implement the UE functionality described in the embodiments of fig. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3, 4, 6 and/or 7. For example, the terminal device includes a transceiver module for supporting the terminal device to implement a transceiver function, and a processing module for supporting the terminal device to process a signal.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

The terminal device 900 may be adapted to the system shown in fig. 1, fig. 2A, fig. 2B, fig. 2C. For ease of illustration, fig. 9 shows only the main components of terminal device 900. As shown in fig. 9, the terminal apparatus 900 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input-output device. The processor is mainly used for processing a communication protocol and communication data, controlling the entire terminal device 900, executing a software program, and processing data of the software program. The memory is used primarily for storing software programs and data. The control circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, microphones, keyboards, etc., are mainly used for receiving data input by users and outputting data to users.

Taking the terminal device 900 as a mobile phone as an example, when the terminal device 900 is turned on, the processor may read the software program in the storage unit, interpret and execute the instruction of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs baseband signals to the control circuit, and the control circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signals and sends the radio frequency signals to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is transmitted to the terminal apparatus 900, the control circuit receives a radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor, and the processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that fig. 9 shows only one memory and processor for ease of illustration. In some embodiments, terminal device 900 can include multiple processors and memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, and the like, which is not limited in this respect in the embodiment of the present invention.

As an alternative implementation manner, the processor may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit, where the baseband processor is mainly used to process the communication protocol and the communication data, and the central processing unit is mainly used to control the whole terminal device 900, execute a software program, and process data of the software program. The processor in fig. 9 integrates the functions of the baseband processor and the central processing unit, and those skilled in the art will understand that the baseband processor and the central processing unit may also be independent processors, and are interconnected through a bus or the like. Terminal device 900 may include multiple baseband processors to accommodate different network formats, terminal device 900 may include multiple central processors to enhance its processing capabilities, and various components of terminal device 900 may be connected by various buses. The baseband processor can also be expressed as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processing unit can also be expressed as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing the communication protocol and the communication data may be built in the processor, or may be stored in the storage unit in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to realize the baseband processing function.

In one example, the antenna and the control circuit with transceiving functions may be considered as the transceiving unit 910 of the terminal device 900, and the processor with processing functions may be considered as the processing unit 920 of the terminal device 900. As shown in fig. 9, the terminal apparatus 900 includes a transceiving unit 910 and a processing unit 920. A transceiver unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiving device, etc. Optionally, a device for implementing a receiving function in the transceiving unit 910 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device for implementing a transmitting function in the transceiving unit 910 may be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the transceiving unit 910 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. For example, the receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving circuit, etc., and the sending unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitting circuit, etc.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a network device, which can be used in the foregoing embodiments. The network device comprises means (means), units and/or circuits to implement the functionality of the first network device or the second network device as described in the embodiments shown in fig. 2A, fig. 2B, fig. 2C, fig. 3, fig. 4, fig. 6, and/or fig. 7. For example, the network device includes a transceiver module for supporting the terminal device to implement a transceiver function, and a processing module for supporting the network device to process the signal. It is to be understood that the first network device and the second network device are interchangeable with respect to the UE or UEs and the first network device and the second network device with respect to other UEs.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, the network device 20 may be adapted for use in the systems shown in fig. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C. The network device 20 is, for example, an access network device 20 shown in fig. 1. The network device 20 may function as a first network device for one or some UEs or as a second network device for one or some UEs. The network device includes: baseband device 201, rf device 202, antenna 203. In the uplink direction, rf apparatus 202 receives information transmitted by the terminal device through antenna 203, and transmits the information transmitted by the terminal device to baseband apparatus 201 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 201 processes the information of the terminal device and sends the information to the radio frequency device 202, and the radio frequency device 202 processes the information of the terminal device and sends the information to the terminal device through the antenna 203.

The baseband device 201 includes one or more processing units 2011, a storage unit 2012, and an interface 2013. Wherein the processing unit 2011 is configured to support the network device to perform the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The storage unit 2012 stores software programs and/or data. Interface 2013 is used for exchanging information with RF device 202 and includes interface circuitry for the input and output of information. In one implementation, the processing unit is an integrated circuit, such as one or more ASICs, or one or more DSPs, or one or more FPGAs, or a combination of these types of integrated circuits. These integrated circuits may be integrated together to form a chip. The memory unit 2012 and the processing unit 2011 may be located in the same chip, i.e., on-chip memory devices. Alternatively, the memory unit 2012 and the processing unit 2011 can be on a different chip than the processing unit 2011, i.e., an off-chip memory unit. The storage unit 2012 may be a single memory or a combination of multiple memories or storage elements.

A network device may implement some or all of the steps in the above-described method embodiments in the form of one or more processing unit schedulers. For example, to implement the corresponding functionality of the network devices of fig. 3, 4, 6, and/or 7. The one or more processing units may support wireless access technologies of the same system, and may also support wireless access systems of different systems.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. 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.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, for example, the division of the units is only one logical functional division, the units illustrated as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may 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 embodiment.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing 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 according to the embodiments of the present application. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limiting: a computer-readable medium may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a universal serial bus flash disk (universal serial bus flash disk), a removable hard disk, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. In addition, by way of illustration and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), or direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

The above description is only for the specific implementation of the present application, but the scope of the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the embodiments of the present application, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered by the scope of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the terminal equipment receives first indication information from second network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that the first network equipment fails, or is used for indicating that the first network equipment is switched to the second network equipment, or is used for indicating that the network equipment serving the terminal equipment is switched;

and the terminal equipment sends response information of the first indication information to the second network equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives the first indication information from the second network device, and wherein the method comprises:

the terminal device receives the first indication information according to first configuration information from the first network device, where the first configuration information includes one or more of the following: information of the bandwidth part BWP, information of the search space, or a radio network temporary identity RNTI.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,

the information of the BWP is used to indicate a first BWP, which is one or more downlink BWPs scheduled for transmitting the first indication information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives the first indication information from the second network device, and wherein the method comprises:

and the terminal equipment receives the first indication information on the initial downlink BWP of the terminal equipment.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the initial downlink BWP is different from an active downlink BWP of the end device, the method further comprising:

and the terminal equipment adjusts the radio frequency of a receiving antenna from the frequency of the activated downlink BWP to the frequency of the initial downlink BWP.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, further comprising:

the terminal equipment descrambles the first indication information by using a public RNTI; or the like, or, alternatively,

and the terminal equipment descrambles the first indication information by using the RNTI included in the first configuration information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the response information is a random access preamble sequence or a third message in a random access procedure.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

the first indication information further includes third configuration information, the third configuration information is used for the terminal device to communicate with the second network device, and the third configuration information includes information of a random access resource and/or information of a second BWP; alternatively, the method further comprises: the terminal device receives second configuration information from the first network device, where the second configuration information is used for the terminal device to communicate with the second network device, and the second configuration information includes one or more of the following: information of a random access resource, information of a second BWP, measurement configuration information, radio bearer configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, or physical layer configuration information;

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:

the terminal device receives fourth configuration information from the first network device, where the fourth configuration information includes first sub-configuration information and second sub-configuration information, the first sub-configuration information is used to configure a downlink reference signal of the first network device, and the second sub-configuration information is used to configure a downlink reference signal of the second network device;

and the terminal equipment receives the downlink reference signal from the second network equipment according to the fourth configuration information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the terminal device receives the first indication information from the second network device, and wherein the method comprises:

the terminal device receives the first indication information on at least one receiving beam corresponding to the downlink reference signal of the second network device, where the at least one receiving beam is a whole receiving beam or a part of receiving beams that receive the downlink reference signal of the second network device.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

the terminal device receives first state information from the first network device, where the first state information includes a number of a downlink reference signal, and the downlink reference signal indicated by the number of the downlink reference signal is one or more of the downlink reference signals configured by the second sub-configuration information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the terminal device receives the first indication information from the second network device, and wherein the method comprises:

and the terminal equipment receives the first indication information on the receiving beam corresponding to the number of the downlink reference signal.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising:

the terminal device receives second indication information from the first network device, where the second indication information includes information of a first transmission beam and information of a second transmission beam, the first transmission beam is used for transmitting information to the first network device, and the second transmission beam is used for transmitting information to the second network device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the sending, by the terminal device, the response information of the first indication information to the second network device comprises:

and the terminal equipment sends the response information to the second network equipment through the second sending beam.

15. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a second network device sends first indication information to a terminal device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the fault of the first network device, or indicating the switching from the first network device to the second network device, or indicating the switching of the network device serving the terminal device;

the second network equipment receives response information of the first indication information from the terminal equipment.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

if the second network equipment does not receive heartbeat information from the first network equipment within a first time length, the second network equipment determines that the first network equipment fails; or the like, or, alternatively,

if the second network equipment receives the measurement information from the terminal equipment, the second network equipment determines that the first network equipment fails according to the measurement information; or the like, or, alternatively,

and if the second network equipment receives hybrid automatic repeat request response (HARQ-ACK) information from the terminal equipment, the HARQ-ACK information is used for indicating that data transmission with the first network equipment fails, and the second network equipment determines that the first network equipment fails according to the HARQ-ACK information.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the second network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, and the method comprises:

the second network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device according to first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes one or more of the following: information of the bandwidth part BWP, information of the search space, or a radio network temporary identity RNTI.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the second network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device according to first configuration information, and wherein the sending comprises:

the second network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device on one or more downlink BWPs configured for the terminal device; or the like, or, alternatively,

the second network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device on a first BWP, where the first BWP is one or more downlink BWPs predetermined for transmitting the first indication information.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the second network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, and wherein the sending comprises:

and the second network equipment sends the first indication information to the terminal equipment on the initial downlink BWP of the terminal equipment.

20. The method of any one of claims 17 to 19, further comprising:

the second network equipment scrambles the first indication information by using a public RNTI; or the like, or, alternatively,

and the second network equipment scrambles the first indication information by using the RNTI included in the first configuration information.

21. The method according to any of claims 15 to 20, wherein the response information is a random access preamble sequence or a third message in a random access procedure.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 21,

the first indication information further includes third configuration information, the third configuration information is used for the terminal device to communicate with the second network device, and the third configuration information includes information of a random access resource and/or information of a second BWP; alternatively, the method further comprises: the second network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device, where the second configuration information is used for the terminal device to communicate with the second network device, and the second configuration information includes one or more of the following: information of a random access resource, information of a second BWP, measurement configuration information, radio bearer configuration information, MAC layer configuration information, or physical layer configuration information;

23. The method of any one of claims 15 to 22, further comprising:

the second network device sends second sub-configuration information to the first network device, where the second sub-configuration information is used to configure a downlink reference signal of the second network device;

the second network equipment receives a first measurement result from the terminal equipment, wherein the first measurement result is a measurement result obtained by measuring a downlink reference signal of the second network equipment;

the second network equipment determines second state information according to the first measurement result, wherein the second state information comprises the number of the downlink reference signal; and

the second network device sends the second state information to the first network device.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the second network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, and wherein the sending comprises:

and the second network equipment sends the first indication information to the terminal equipment through the sending wave beam corresponding to the number of the downlink reference signal.

25. The method of any one of claims 15 to 24, further comprising:

the second network device receives fifth configuration information from the first network device, where the fifth configuration information is used to configure an uplink reference signal;

the second network device receives the uplink reference signal from the terminal device according to the fifth configuration information;

the second network equipment measures the uplink reference signal to obtain a second measurement result;

and the second network equipment sends the second measurement result to the first network equipment, wherein the second measurement result is used for determining a sending beam for sending information to the second network equipment.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the second network device receives response information corresponding to the first indication information from the terminal device, and wherein the response information comprises:

the second network device receives the response information through a second receive beam, the second receive beam determined from the second measurement.

27. A communication device comprising a processor and a memory; the memory is for storing one or more computer programs that, when executed, cause the method of any of claims 1-14 to be performed, or cause the method of any of claims 15-26 to be performed.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 14 or causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 15 to 26.