CN119729879A - A counting method and a communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides a counting method and a communication device, and relates to the technical field of communication. The terminal equipment receives a second message, wherein the second message is used for indicating to send a third message in time T, and when the processing time of the third message scheduled by the terminal equipment is longer than the time T, the counting rule is adjusted. The application is beneficial to reducing the waste of access opportunities in the random access process.

Description

Counting method and communication device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications. And more particularly to a counting method and communication device.

Background

In the radio communication technology of the R17 (release 17) and R18 (release 18) versions of the third generation partnership project (third generation partnership project,3 GPP), terminal devices of the reduced capability (reduced capability, redCap) type and of the enhanced reduced capability (enhanced reduced capability, eRedCap) type are introduced. The RedCap and eRedCap terminals have lower cost and complexity, smaller form factors and longer battery life than conventional NR terminals, but are more limited in processing power and time-frequency resources. For RedCap and eRedCap terminals, how to reduce the waste of access opportunities in the random access procedure is a key problem.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a counting method and a communication device, which are beneficial to reducing the waste of access opportunities in the random access process.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a counting method, where the method provided in the first aspect may be executed by a terminal device, or may be executed by a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to the terminal device, or may be implemented by a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of functions of the terminal device, which is not limited in this application.

Specifically, the method may be used for a random access procedure of the terminal device, including that the terminal device counts the number of transmissions of the first message. Wherein the first message is used to indicate receipt of the second message. The terminal equipment receives a second message, wherein the second message is used for indicating to send a third message in time T, and when the processing time of the third message scheduled by the terminal equipment is longer than the time T, the counting rule is adjusted. Or the terminal equipment receives the fourth message, and when the bandwidth which can be processed by the terminal equipment is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the fourth message, the counting rule is adjusted, wherein the first message, the second message, the third message and the fourth message are used for the random access process of the terminal equipment.

Based on the above technical solution, after receiving the second message indicating to send the third message within the time T, when the processing time of the terminal device scheduling the third message is longer than the time T, the terminal device can reduce the waste of random access opportunities caused by the limitation of the processing capability by adjusting the counting rule. On the other hand, when the bandwidth that the terminal device can process is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the fourth message, the terminal device can reduce the waste of random access opportunities caused by the limitation of the processing bandwidth by adjusting the counting rule.

In the embodiment of the application, the first message is a message 1 in the random access process, wherein the message 1 comprises a random access preamble, the second message is a message 2, the third message is a message 3, and the fourth message is a message 4.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, adjusting the counting rule includes not counting when the terminal device next sends the first message, or increasing a maximum number of times the first message is sent.

Based on the technical scheme, the counter is indicated not to count when the terminal equipment sends the first message next time, or the maximum sending times of the first message in the counter is increased, so that the terminal equipment can obtain more random access opportunities, and the random access opportunity waste caused by the random access failure is avoided.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the terminal device sends a third message, where the third message is used to indicate that the fourth message is received.

Optionally, the first message or the third message further comprises identification information of the terminal device, the identification information being used for indicating the type of the terminal device.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the terminal device receives a fifth message, where the fifth message is used to indicate that the first message is not counted when the terminal device sends the first message next time, or to increase the maximum number of times of sending the first message.

Based on the technical scheme, the embodiment of the application indicates the counting rule of the counter through the fifth message, so that the processing efficiency can be improved, and the resource waste of the terminal equipment is avoided.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the terminal devices include a reduced capability RedCap type terminal device and an enhanced reduced capability eRedCap type terminal device.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a counting method, where the method provided in the second aspect may be performed by a network device, or may be performed by a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to the network device, or may be implemented by a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device, and the application is not limited in this regard.

The method may be used in a random access procedure of a network device, including counting a number of transmissions of a first message by the network device. Wherein the first message is used for indicating to send the second message. The network device sends a second message indicating that a third message was received within time T, and adjusts the counting rule when the network device did not receive the third message within time T. Wherein the first message, the second message and the third message are used for a random access procedure of the terminal device.

In the embodiment of the application, the first message is message 1 in the random access process, the second message is message 2, and the third message is message 3.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, adjusting the counting rule includes not counting the next time the network device receives the first message, or increasing a maximum number of times the first message is received.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, when it is determined that the processing time of the third message scheduled by the terminal device is greater than time T, a fifth message is sent, where the fifth message is used to instruct the terminal device not to count when the first message is sent next time, or to increase the maximum number of times of sending the first message.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the network device receives a third message, where the third message is used to determine a fourth message, and sends a fifth message when it is determined that a bandwidth that can be processed by the terminal device is smaller than a transmission bandwidth of the fourth message, where the fourth message is used for a random access procedure of the terminal device.

Optionally, the first message or the third message further comprises information of the terminal device, the information of the terminal device comprising at least one of a type of the terminal device, a supported bandwidth and a processing capability.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the terminal devices include a reduced capability RedCap type terminal device and an enhanced reduced capability eRedCap type terminal device.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, which may comprise means for implementing the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may comprise means for implementing the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided that includes a processor. The processor may be adapted to execute instructions involved to cause the apparatus to perform the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect. Optionally, the apparatus may further comprise a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having stored therein instructions that are further involved. Optionally, the apparatus may further comprise an interface circuit coupled to the processor.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided that includes a processor. The processor may be adapted to execute instructions involved to cause the apparatus to perform the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect. Optionally, the apparatus may further comprise a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having stored therein instructions that are further involved. Optionally, the apparatus may further comprise an interface circuit coupled to the processor.

In a seventh aspect, a system on a chip is provided that includes a processor including an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal via the input circuit and transmit a signal via the output circuit, such that the processor performs the method of the first aspect to the sixth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect to the sixth aspect.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be, for example and without limitation, received and input by the receiver, the output signal may be, for example and without limitation, output to and transmitted by the transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific implementation modes of the processor and various circuits.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be implemented by hardware or software, and when implemented by hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like, and when implemented by software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, and implemented by reading software codes stored in a memory, where the memory may be integrated in the processor, may be located outside the processor, and exist independently.

Optionally, the system may further comprise a memory, the processor being configured to read a program or instructions stored in the memory and to receive a signal via the receiver and to transmit a signal via the transmitter to perform the method of the first to sixth aspects or any one of the possible implementations of the first to sixth aspects.

In one possible design, the processor is one or more and the memory is one or more.

In one possible design, the memory may be integrated with the processor or the memory may be separate from the processor.

In a specific implementation process, the memory may be a non-transient (non-transitory) memory, for example, a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately disposed on different chips.

In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions) which, when run, causes a computer to perform the method of the first and second aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first and second aspects.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium storing a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions) which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the first and second aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first and second aspects.

A tenth aspect provides a communication system comprising means for implementing the first and second aspects or any of the possible implementations of the first and second aspects, respectively.

In one possible design, the communication system may further include other devices that interact with the communication apparatus in the solution provided by the embodiments of the present application.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided by the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a random access procedure provided in the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another random access procedure provided in the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method 500 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a method 600 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a method 700 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 800 provided by the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 900 provided by the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical scheme of the application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), a fifth generation (5th generation,5G) system, a New Radio (NR) system or other communication systems possibly occurring in the future, and the like.

Fig. 1 shows an architecture diagram of a system 100 that may be applied to the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the system 100 may include one or more of a terminal device 101, an access network device 102, a user plane network element 103, a data network 104, an access and mobility management network element 105, a session management network element 106, a policy control network element 107, an application network element 108, a unified data management network element 109, and a network deployment network element 110.

The terminal apparatus 101 may be a User Equipment (UE), a user, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user apparatus. For example, it may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned (SELF DRIVING), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (SMART GRID), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (SMART CITY), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), or the like. The terminal apparatus 101 may also be an apparatus or a circuit configuration provided in the above-described various devices, for example, a chip or a chip system.

The terminal apparatus in the present application may refer to a terminal apparatus with reduced capability, for example, a type eRedCap in R18, a type RedCap in R17, or a low-capability terminal apparatus, a reduced-capability terminal apparatus, redCap UE, reduced Capacity UE, a narrowband NR (NB-NR) UE, or the like. And may also be a Regular UE (alternatively referred to as normal UE, non-RedCap UE, etc.), such as an enhanced mobile broadband (enhanced mobile broadbande, eMBB) UE. Of course, with performance of the wireless communication technology, the reduced capability terminal device may also include other types of devices, and the corresponding non-reduced capability terminal device may also include other types of devices, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the disclosure.

Optionally, the terminal device in the present application is provided with one or more of the following features:

Bandwidth, number of supported or configured resources, number of transmit and/or receive antenna ports, number of radio frequency channels, number of hybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ) processes, supported peak rate, application scenario, latency requirements, processing power, protocol version, duplex mode, traffic, etc. The first feature is described in detail below.

1. Bandwidth capability. Bandwidth capability may be expressed in terms of baseband maximum bandwidth processing capability. For example, the bandwidth supported by the terminal apparatus in the present application is not more than 40MHz. Specifically, it may be 20MHz or 10MHz or 5MHz.

2. The number of transmitting/receiving antennas. For example, the terminal apparatus in the present application may support 2-receive 1-transmit (2 receive antennas and 1 transmit antenna), or 1-receive 1-transmit (1 receive antenna and 1 transmit antenna).

3. Uplink maximum transmission power. For example, the maximum uplink transmit power of the terminal device of the present application may be 4 decibel milliwatts (dBm)Is a value of (a).

4. Protocol version. The terminal device in the present application may be a terminal device in NR version 17 (release-17, rel-17) or NRRel-17 later.

5. Carrier aggregation capability. For example, the terminal device in the present application does not support carrier aggregation, or supports carrier aggregation, but the maximum number of carrier aggregation supported at the same time is smaller than the maximum number of carrier aggregation supported at the same time by a legacy or normal or high-capability terminal device (which may also be referred to as a legacy (legacy) terminal device or a normal (normal) terminal device).

6. Duplex capability. For example, the terminal device of the present application supports half duplex frequency division duplexing (frequency division duplexing, FDD).

7. Processing time capability of data. For example, the minimum delay between a terminal device receiving downstream data and transmitting feedback for the downstream data is greater than the minimum delay between a terminal device of conventional or normal or high capability receiving downstream data and transmitting feedback for the downstream data, and/or the minimum delay between a terminal device of the present application transmitting upstream data and receiving feedback for the upstream data is greater than the minimum delay between a terminal device of conventional or normal or high capability transmitting upstream data and receiving feedback for the upstream data.

8. Processing power (ability/capability). For example, the baseband processing capability of the terminal device in the present application is lower than that of the conventional or normal or high-capability terminal device. The baseband processing capability may include at least one of a maximum number of multiple input multiple output (multiple input multiple output, MIMO) layers supported by the terminal device when transmitting data, a number of hybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ) processes supported by the terminal device, and a maximum transport block size (transmission block size, TBS) supported by the terminal device.

9. Peak rate of uplink and/or downlink transmissions. The transmission peak rate refers to the maximum data transmission rate that the terminal device can reach per unit time (e.g., per second). The upstream peak rate supported by the terminal device in the present application may be lower than the upstream peak rate supported by the conventional or normal or high-capability terminal device, and/or the downstream peak rate supported by the terminal device in the present application may be lower than the downstream peak rate supported by the conventional or normal or high-capability terminal device.

10. Buffer (buffer) size. The buffer may be understood as the Layer2 (L2) buffer total size, or the buffer may be understood as the total number of soft channel bits that can be used by the HARQ process.

11. Number of resources supported or configured. The number of resources may be a Resource Block (RB), a Resource Element (RE), a subcarrier, an RB group, a resource element group packet (resource element group bundle, REG bundle), a control channel element, a subframe, a radio frame, a slot, a mini-slot, and/or the number of symbols, where the number of resources supported or configured by the first type of device and the second type of device are different, for example, the number of resources supported by the first type of device is 48 RBs, and the number of resources supported by the second type of device is 96 RBs.

It should be understood that other types, or new types of future terminal devices that also support the technical solution of the present application are also within the scope of the present application.

The access network device 102 can manage radio resources, provide access services for the terminal device, and further complete the forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal device and the core network.

The access network device is also called a network device, and may be a transmission receiving point (transmission reception point, TRP), an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in the LTE system, a home base station (e.g. home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario, a base station (bs) and a base station (bs) in the LTE system, Relay station, access point, in-vehicle device, wearable device, next generation base station (gNB) in 5G mobile communication system, access network device in future evolution land public mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN) network, access Point (AP), etc. Or may be modules or units that perform part of the functions of the base station, for example, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU). The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (ACTIVE ANTENNA units, AAU). The CU can complete the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence layer protocol (PACKET DATA convergence protocol, PDCP) of the base station, can also complete the functions of the service data adaptation protocol (SERVICE DATA adaptation protocol, SDAP), and the DU can complete the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (medium access control, MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete the functions of part of the physical layer or all of the physical layer. The AAU realizes part of physical layer processing function, radio frequency processing and related functions of the active antenna. Since the information of the RRC layer may be eventually changed into or converted from the information of the PHY layer, under this architecture, higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or by the du+aau. It is understood that the network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which the present application is not limited to. For a detailed description of the various protocol layers described above, reference may be made to the relevant technical specifications of the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP). The radio access network device may be a macro base station, a micro base station, an indoor station, a relay node, a donor node, or the like. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology and the specific equipment form adopted by the wireless access network equipment. For convenience of description, a base station will be described below as an example of a radio access network device.

The user plane network element 103 is mainly responsible for data packet routing and forwarding.

The data network 104 may be an operator service, an internet access or a third party service, such as IP multimedia services (IP Multi-MEDIA SERVICE, IMS), the internet, etc. An application server (application server, AS) may be included in the data network, the AS being a software framework providing an environment for application execution for providing security, data, transaction support, load balancing large distributed system management, etc. services for the application. The terminal device acquires the application message by communicating with the AS.

Access and mobility management network element 105 is mainly responsible for mobility management in mobile networks, such as user location update, user registration network, user handover, etc.

Session management network element 106 is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification, release. Specific functions include assigning an IP address to a user, selecting a user plane network element that provides a message forwarding function, and the like.

Policy control network element 107 is responsible for providing policies, such as quality of service (quality of service, qoS) policies, slice selection policies, etc., to access and mobility management network elements, session management network elements.

The application network element 108 is responsible for providing services to the 3GPP network, interacting with policy control network elements for policy control, etc.

The unified data management network element 109 is configured to store user data, such as subscription information, authentication/authorization information.

Network opening network element 110 provides a framework, authentication, and interface related to the opening of network capabilities to communicate information between 5G system network functions and other network functions.

It should be understood that each device or network element may be a device with a corresponding function, may be a software/hardware module (such as a chip) inside the device, or the like. It should also be understood that any device or network element involved in the present application may be implemented in software, or a combination of software and hardware.

In one example, the system 100 shown in fig. 1 may be a 5G system as shown in fig. 2. It should be appreciated that system 100 may also be a 4G system or other system, as the application is not limited in this regard.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 5G system architecture. In the system architecture diagram, the network elements with the same reference numerals as in fig. 1 are the names of the corresponding network elements in fig. 1 in the current 5G system. Referring to fig. 2, the 5G system architecture may include one or more network elements of a UE 101, (radio) access network (R AN) 102, user plane functions (user plane function, UPF) 103, data Network (DN) 104, access and mobility management functions (ACCESS AND mobility management function, AMF) 105, session management functions (session management function, SMF) 106, policy control functions (policy control function, PCF) 107, application functions (application function, AF) 108, unified data management (unified DATA MANAGEMENT, UDM) 109, and network opening functions (network exposure function) 110.

It should be understood that the naming of each network element shown in fig. 2 is only one name, and the names do not limit the function of the network element itself. The various network elements described above may also be of other names in different networks, and embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the individual network elements described above may follow the terminology in 5G, as well as other designations. Similarly, the interfaces between network elements shown in fig. 2 are only an example, and in 5G networks and other networks in the future, the interfaces between network elements may not be the interfaces shown in the figures, which the present application is not limited to.

It should also be appreciated that embodiments of the present application are not limited to the system architecture shown in FIG. 2. For example, a communication system to which the present application may be applied may include more or fewer network elements or devices. The device or network element in fig. 2 may be hardware, or may be functionally divided software, or a combination of both. The devices or network elements in fig. 2 may communicate with each other via other devices or network elements.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to wireless communication among communication equipment. The wireless communication between the communication devices may include wireless communication between the network device and the terminal, wireless communication between the network device and the network device, and wireless communication between the terminal device and the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the term "wireless communication" may also be simply referred to as "communication", and the term "communication" may also be described as "data transmission", "information transmission" or "transmission".

In order to facilitate understanding of the aspects of the embodiments of the present application, a description will be made of related concepts.

1. Random access:

Random access is a process of establishing a radio link connection between a terminal device and a network device, and data interoperability between the network device and the terminal device can be performed normally only after the random access is completed. Random access can be classified into contention-based random access (Contention based random access procedure) and Non-contention-based random access (Non-Contention based random access procedure) according to the manner of service triggering. The main procedure of contention-based random access includes the following steps (implementation procedure steps are shown in fig. 3):

S301, the UE sends a Random Access (RA) preamble to the network device.

The random access preamble may also be referred to as message 1 (msg 1) or a random access request. The random access preamble functions to inform the network device that there is a random access request. The network device can estimate the transmission delay between itself and the terminal device from the message 1 and the size of the uplink resources required for the message 3 in step S303.

S302, the network device sends a random access response (random access response, RAR) to the UE after detecting the random access preamble.

The random access response may also be referred to as message 2 (msg 2). The random access response includes scheduling information of message 3 (message 3, msg 3), that is, RAR Uplink (UL) grant information. The random access response may also include other information such as timing advance TA (TIME ADVANCE, TA), temporary cell radio network temporary identity (temporary cell radio network temporary identity, TC-RNTI), and so forth.

After the terminal device sends the message 1, it may monitor a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH) scrambled by a random access radio network temporary identifier (random access radio network temporary identity, RA-RNTI) in a RAR window (RAR window) to receive a physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink SHARED CHANNEL, PDSCH) scheduled by the PDCCH, where the RAR message is carried in the PDSCH. Wherein, the RAR message may be scheduled using a downlink control information (download control information, DCI) format (format) 1-0.

If the terminal device does not receive the RAR message replied by the network device in the RAR window, the random access is considered to be failed. If the terminal device successfully detects the RAR message in the RAR window, and the index of the preamble carried in the RAR message is the same as the index of the preamble in the message 1, the terminal device may stop detecting the RAR message. The terminal device may descramble the RAR message using the RA-RNTI, which is related to the PRACH used by the terminal device to transmit Msg 1.

S303, the UE receives the random access response and sends a message 3 in a time-frequency resource scheduled by scheduling information in the random access response.

After receiving the RAR message, the terminal device determines whether the RAR is an RAR message belonging to itself, for example, the terminal device may check by using the preamble index, generate the message 3 in the RRC layer after determining that the RAR message is an RAR message belonging to itself, and send the message 3 to the network device, where the identifier of the terminal device may be carried. Message 3 is carried by a Physical Uplink SHARED CHANNEL (PUSCH).

After the UE transmits message 3, a contention resolution timer (ra-ContentionResolutionTimer) is started (the contention resolution timer has a duration of 64 ms) and then the PDCCH is monitored within a timer time window.

S304, the network device receives the message 3 of the UE, and returns a conflict resolution message, also called message 4 (msg 4), to the UE with successful access.

The terminal device receives the message 4 to complete the contention resolution (contention resolution). In the RRC connection setup procedure, the RRC connection setup message may be carried in message 4.

If the message 3 carries a unique identifier of the terminal device, for example, a C-RNTI or identifier information from the core network (such as an S-TMSI or a random number), the message 4 will carry the unique identifier of the terminal device to designate the terminal device that wins the contention, and the PDCCH for scheduling the message 4 may be scrambled with the C-RNTI.

And establishing uplink synchronization between the terminal equipment winning in the contention resolution and the NR cell, and obtaining uplink resources.

If the number of random access attempts of the terminal equipment which is not winning in the contention resolution is smaller than the maximum number of attempts, the random access attempt is conducted again, otherwise, the random access procedure fails.

The main procedure of non-contention based random access includes the following steps (implementation procedure steps are shown in fig. 4):

s401, the network device sends a message 0 (message 0, msg 0) to the UE, and allocates an RA preamble.

Specifically, the base station determines system configuration information and transmits the system configuration information to the user equipment. The system configuration information comprises a random access preamble sequence retransmission mechanism and random access preamble sequence retransmission configuration information. In the embodiment of the invention, the system configuration information may further comprise a format of a random access preamble sequence and configuration information of random access resources. Wherein the random preamble sequence retransmission mechanism and the random access preamble sequence retransmission configuration information may include a maximum number of random accesses of the preamble (Preamble TransMax).

The base station allocates a dedicated preamble for non-contention random access to the UE through message 0 and PRACH resources used for random access. The non-contention random access dedicated resources are allocated through RRC signaling (e.g., handover or SCG (Secondary Cell Group, secondary cell group) addition, BFR) or physical layer signaling PDCCH.

S402, the UE sends a specified special preamble, namely a message 1, to the base station on the specified PRACH resource according to the indication of the message 0.

The UE acquires the physical random access channel PRACH configuration from the system information block SIB1 message. The UE acquires the time-frequency domain position of its transmit RA preamble through PRACH configuration. And after receiving the message 1, the base station calculates the uplink timing advance TA according to the message 1.

S403, the UE receives the random access response.

The information carried by the RA response includes Timing Alignment Information (TAI), uplink grant, and the like.

S404, the UE transmits the message 3 at the determined transmission moment based on the timing alignment information carried by the RA response.

For the embodiment of the present invention, the random access failure includes at least one of the following cases:

(1) The user equipment does not receive random access response information sent by the base station in a receiving time window of the random access response.

(2) The user equipment receives random access response information sent by the base station in a receiving time window of the random access response, but the identification of the preamble sequence carried in the random access response information is different from the identification corresponding to the preamble sequence sent by the user equipment to the base station.

(3) The user equipment receives random access response information sent by the base station in a receiving time window of the random access response, the identification of a preamble sequence carried in the random access response information is the same as the identification corresponding to the preamble sequence sent by the user equipment to the base station, but the identification of the user equipment carried in the conflict resolution information received by the user equipment is different from the identification corresponding to the conflict resolution information.

(4) Message 3 times out.

Specifically, the UL grant carried by the RA response includes a time domain resource allocation table (time domain resource allocation table, TDMA) of message 3, which is used to indicate the time required for the user equipment to receive the RA response until message 3 is transmitted. If the time is less than the minimum scheduling delay of the user equipment to the Msg3, the user equipment cannot successfully send the message 3, resulting in timeout of the message 3.

(5) The user equipment does not receive message 4 after sending message 3.

Specifically, when the transmission bandwidth of the message 4 is greater than the processing bandwidth capability of the ue, the ue cannot parse the message 4, so that it cannot determine whether to win in contention resolution, which results in random access failure. For example, the bandwidth supported by the user equipment is 20MHz and the bandwidth of message 4 is 40MHz.

It should be understood that when the random access of the terminal device fails, the next random access attempt will be continuously initiated until the random access is successful, or the random access problem is determined to occur after the maximum random access frequency of the preamble is reached. It is generally determined whether the count value reaches a set upper limit by incrementing the first count value, for example, by 1 (a specific increment may be set as needed) every time a PREAMBLE is transmitted, according to a count value of a PREAMBLE TRANSMISSION number COUNTER (preamble_transmission_counter), and in case the count value reaches the set upper limit, the MAC needs to indicate to an upper layer (for example, RRC layer) that a random access problem has occurred (random access problem). After the upper layer receives the indication, it can determine that radio link failure (radion link failure, RLF) occurs, and then can trigger the RRC connection reestablishment process, and stop sending the preamble to the base station, so as to avoid resource consumption of the user equipment and the base station caused by that the user equipment continuously resends the preamble to the base station under the condition that the user equipment determines that the base station is not successfully accessed randomly.

2. Preamble transmission number counter

The UE establishes a radio link with the network side through a random access procedure, and may be based on a non-contention RA or a contention-collision-resolved RA. In the random access procedure, the number of transmissions of the preamble in the random access procedure is counted by a preamble transmission number counter (hereinafter, simply referred to as a counter). In particular, the specific procedure related to the counter in the random access procedure may include:

Step one, a counter is started, wherein when the random access procedure is initialized/triggered, the value of the counter is set to 0 or 1, and the initial value of the counter is set to 1.

And secondly, counting the sending times of the preamble codes in the random access process, wherein when the random access fails, for example, the UE does not receive a response to the UE within a time window, and when the contention conflict resolution is unsuccessful (for example, the contention conflict resolution timer is overtime), the value of the counter is increased by 1, or after the terminal equipment sends a message 1, the value recorded by the counter is increased by 1. The value recorded by the counter is 2 after the terminal device sends the message 1 once, and the value recorded by the counter is n+1 after the terminal device sends the message 1N times.

And step three, judging whether the value of the counter is equal to the maximum sending time value plus 1.

-If the value of the counter is not equal to the maximum transmission time value plus 1, the UE may continue to transmit the preamble, i.e. message 1, and may also continue to perform step two;

If the value of the counter is equal to the maximum transmission times value plus 1, the MAC layer indicates to the upper layer of the UE that a random access problem has occurred or that a problem has occurred, which is a random access problem, herein and hereinafter collectively referred to as indicating a random access problem. After the upper layer receives the indication, it can determine that the radio link random access failure occurs, and then can trigger the RRC connection reestablishment procedure.

It should be understood that determining whether the value of the counter is equal to the maximum number of transmissions plus 1 is equivalent to determining whether the value of the counter exceeds (is greater than) the predetermined maximum number of transmissions. If the initial value of the counter is 0, the judgment here may be to judge whether the value of the counter is equal to a predetermined maximum number of transmissions. Wherein, the network device can configure the value of the maximum sending times.

3. System information (systeminformation, SI)

The system information is a message sent by the base station, which contains information required for the UE to initialize and some other related information of functions/characteristics. The system information is classified into Minimum system information (Minimum SI) and Other system information (Other SI).

The minimum system information consists of a master information block (master information block, MIB) and a system information block 1 (systeminformation block, sib1), SIB1 also called residual minimum system information (REMAINING MINIMUM SI, RMSI). The MIB is broadcast periodically on a broadcast channel (broadcast channel, BCH). SIB1 is periodically broadcast on a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) or sent to RRC CONNECTED (rrc_connected) UEs by means of dedicated signaling.

Other system information is composed of other SIBs, for example, SIB2 to SIB9, etc. Other SIBs are broadcast periodically on the DL-SCH, or on-demand (on-demand) (i.e., when an RRC IDLE state (rrc_idle) or RRC INACTIVE state (rrc_inactive) UE requests a SIB, the network broadcasts the SIB, otherwise the SIB is not sent), or by means of dedicated signaling to RRC connected state UEs.

From the above, redCap and eRedCap terminals have lower cost and complexity, smaller overall size and longer battery life than conventional NR terminals, but are more limited in processing power and time-frequency resources. For RedCap and eRedCap terminals, random access failures (e.g., random access failure cases (4) and (5) described above) may be caused by limitations in processing power and time-frequency resources, wasting access opportunities. Therefore, how to reduce the waste of access opportunities in the random access procedure is a key issue currently faced.

In view of the above technical problems, the present application provides a counting method and a communication device, which are beneficial to reducing the waste of access opportunities in the random access process.

The counting method and the communication device according to the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in fig. 5, fig. 5 is a flow chart of a method 500 of an embodiment of the present application. The method 500 includes:

Optionally, S501, the terminal device sends a preamble through message 1.

In the present application, the terminal device may transmit the preamble through the message 1 in various scenarios. The message 1 may be sent by the terminal device to the network device actively, or may be sent by the network device to the terminal device after receiving the request of the terminal device. The following is an example. It should be appreciated that message 1 may be one example of a first message.

Mode one

The terminal device may send message 1 during a contention based random access procedure.

Mode two

The terminal device may send message 1 on the specified PRACH resource according to the indication of message 0 sent by the network device during the non-contention based random access procedure.

Specific procedures are referred to the above description and will not be repeated here.

The following describes the procedure of the first embodiment in detail.

S502, the terminal equipment counts the transmission times of the message 1.

It should be understood that the step S502 may be performed before S501, or when the terminal device determines that the random access fails, which is not limited by the present application.

In some embodiments, the network device counts the number of transmissions of message 1.

Specifically, the network device may count the number of transmissions of the message 1 after receiving the message 1.

S503, the terminal device receives message 2.

Wherein message 2 is used to indicate that message 3 is sent within time T.

Specifically, after sending the message 1, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH scrambled by the RA-RNTI in the RAR window to receive the PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH, where the message 2 is carried in the PDSCH. Message 2 includes scheduling information of message 3, that is, RAR uplink grant information, where the uplink grant information includes a time domain resource allocation table of message 3. The time domain resource allocation table is used to indicate the time T required for the terminal device to receive message 2 to send message 3. It should be appreciated that message 2 may be an example of a second message and message 3 may be an example of a third message.

It should be understood that the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a low-capability terminal device. A low-capability terminal device has a lower processing power than data of a conventional terminal device and can be considered to take longer to process the same data. For example, the minimum delay between a low capability terminal device receiving downstream data and transmitting feedback for the downstream data is greater than the minimum delay between a legacy terminal device receiving downstream data and transmitting feedback for the downstream data. Wherein, redCap type terminal equipment receives and processes PDSCH delay to increase than traditional terminal equipment. The eRedCap type of terminal device receives and processes PDSCH with increased latency over the RedCap type of terminal device.

In some embodiments, the low capability terminal device may be a reduced capability terminal device of type eRedCap in R18, type RedCap in R17, or the like.

In some embodiments, the network device sends message 2.

In the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, the random access scenario further includes a legacy terminal device.

Specifically, S504, the legacy terminal receives the message 2, and proceeds to step S505 within the time T, and the legacy terminal transmits the message 3. However, since the processing capability of the terminal device in this scenario is lower than that of the conventional terminal device, the time delay of the terminal device for receiving and processing the PDSCH may be considered to be increased compared with that of the conventional terminal device, so that the time T indicated in the uplink grant information is smaller than the minimum scheduling time delay of the terminal device, that is, the processing time of the terminal device scheduling message 3 is longer than the time T indicated in the message 2, and the random access procedure of the terminal device fails.

It should be appreciated that message 2 may be sent on one PDSCH simultaneously for multiple terminal devices, which may include reduced capability terminal devices of the legacy terminal device, eRedCap type, redCap type, etc. The low capability merely represents a relative concept, depending on the time T indicated in message 2 and the processing capabilities of the receiving device. When the random access scenario includes the terminal equipment with reduced capabilities such as eRedCap type, redCap type and the like and the conventional terminal equipment, if the processing time of the conventional terminal equipment scheduling message 3 is less than the time T, and the processing time of the terminal equipment scheduling message 3 of eRedCap type and RedCap type is greater than the time T, the terminal equipment in the embodiment of the present application may be eRedCap type or RedCap type terminal equipment, and if the processing time of the conventional terminal equipment and RedCap type terminal equipment scheduling message 3 is less than the time T, and the processing time of the terminal equipment scheduling message 3 of eRedCap type terminal equipment is greater than the time T, the terminal equipment in the embodiment of the present application may be eRedCap type terminal equipment. The above example only illustrates the procedure in which the time T indicated in the uplink grant information is smaller than the minimum scheduling delay of the terminal device. The time T may be specified by a protocol.

For example, when the plurality of terminal apparatuses includes the eRedCap type and RedCap type terminal apparatuses, if the time T is the minimum scheduling delay of the RedCap type terminal apparatuses, that is, t= (NT, 1) + (NT, 2) +0.5, where (NT, 1) is the scheduling delay of the message 1 and (NT, 2) is the scheduling delay of the message 2. Since the PDSCH is received and processed by the eRedCap type terminal device with longer delay, for example, delay T '= (NT, 1) + (NT, 2) +0.5+x ms of the eRedCap type terminal device, where X is the delay of the scheduling message 3 added by the eRedCap type terminal device, i.e., T' > T, when the processing time of the scheduling message 3 of the eRedCap type terminal device is longer than the time T indicated by the message 2, that is, in this scenario, the eRedCap type terminal device cannot successfully send the message 3, and the random access procedure fails.

After the random access procedure of the terminal device fails, the process proceeds to step S506.

S506, the terminal equipment adjusts the counting rule.

Optionally, after the terminal device adjusts the counting rule, the terminal device re-initiates the random access.

Specifically, when the processing time of the terminal equipment scheduling message 3 is greater than the time T indicated by the message 2, the terminal equipment adjusts the counting rule and re-initiates the random access.

It should be understood that, during the random access, the terminal device may count the number of transmissions of the preamble, i.e. the number of transmissions of the message 1, during the random access by using the preamble transmission counter. Reference is made in particular to the description above.

In the embodiment of the application, the adjustment of the counting rule comprises not counting when the terminal equipment transmits the first message next time, or increasing the maximum transmission times of the first message. Wherein the first message is message 1.

It should be understood that in the normal random access procedure, when the terminal device fails in random access, the value of the counter is incremented by 1 when the terminal device next transmits message 1. In the embodiment of the application, the adjusted counting rule is that the terminal equipment does not count when sending the message 1 next time, or the maximum sending times of the message 1 are increased. Specifically, the next time message 1 is sent, the count is not counted and may be "not increment PREAMBLE _transmission_counter by 1" in the protocol, and increasing the maximum number of sending of message 1 may increase the total number of configured "preambltransmax", for example, by 1.

S507, the network device adjusts the count rule.

Correspondingly, when the network device does not receive message 3 within time T, the counting rule is adjusted so that the counts of the network device and the terminal device are synchronized. Specifically, adjusting the counting rule includes not counting the next time the network device receives the first message, or increasing the maximum number of times the first message is received, e.g., increasing the maximum number of times the first message is received by 1.

S508, the terminal equipment sends a message 1.

It should be understood that the procedure of transmitting message 1 by the terminal device in S508 is the next transmission procedure of transmitting message 1 by the terminal device in S501. After the adjustment of the counting rule in S506, the terminal device does not count or increases the maximum number of transmissions of the message 1 according to the adjusted counting rule after transmitting the message 1 in S508.

In this way, after the terminal device receives the second message indicating that the third message is sent within the time T, when the processing time of the terminal device scheduling the third message is greater than the time T, the terminal device can reduce the waste of the random access opportunity caused by the limitation of the processing capability by adjusting the counting rule.

In some embodiments, the terminal device receives the fourth message, and adjusts the count rule when the bandwidth that the terminal device is capable of handling is less than the transmission bandwidth of the fourth message. Optionally, the fourth message is message 2 or message 4, and the detailed description will be given below taking message 4 as an example.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a method 600 provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the method 600 includes:

S601, the terminal device sends message 1.

S602, the terminal equipment receives the message 2.

S603, the terminal device sends message 3.

Wherein message 3 is used to determine message 4. It is understood that message 4 may be an example of a fourth message.

The steps S601 to S603 are the same as the steps S301 to S303, and reference may be made to the descriptions of the steps S301 to S303, and the description thereof will not be repeated here.

S604, the terminal equipment receives the message 4.

It should be appreciated that message 4 may be sent on one PDSCH for multiple terminal devices simultaneously, where the multiple terminal devices may include legacy terminal devices as well as reduced capability terminal devices of eRedCap types, redCap types, and so on. Since the bandwidth capability of the low-capability terminal device is limited, for example, the supported bandwidth of the legacy terminal device is greater than 40MHz, the supported bandwidth of the RedCap type terminal device is 20MHz, the supported bandwidth of the eRedCap type terminal device is 5MHz, when the transmission bandwidth of the message 4 sent by the network device is 20MHz, the bandwidth that the eRedCap type terminal device can process is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the message 4, that is, the message 4 with large bandwidth cannot be received and processed, which results in failure of the random access procedure of the eRedCap type terminal device.

That is, when the bandwidth that the terminal device can process is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the message 4, i.e., after the random access procedure of the terminal device fails, step S605 is entered.

S605, when the bandwidth that the terminal device can process is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the message 4, the counting rule is adjusted, and the random access is restarted.

Specifically, adjusting the counting rule includes not counting the next time the terminal device transmits the first message, or increasing the maximum number of transmissions of the first message. Wherein the first message is message 1.

S606, the terminal device sends message 1.

The steps S605 to S606 are the same as the steps S505 to S506, and reference may be made to the descriptions of the steps S505 to S506, and the description thereof will not be repeated here.

In this way, when the bandwidth that the terminal device can process is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the fourth message, the terminal device can reduce the waste of random access opportunities caused by the limitation of the processing bandwidth by adjusting the counting rule.

In some embodiments, the first message or the third message contains information of the terminal device including at least one of a type of the terminal device, a supported bandwidth and a processing capability.

This may enable the network device to determine the type of terminal device. The following description will take an example in which the message 1 contains information of the terminal device.

The counting method of the terminal device when the network device can determine the type of the terminal device is described below with reference to fig. 7.

As shown in fig. 7, fig. 7 is a flow chart of a method 700 of an embodiment of the present application. The method 700 includes:

s701, the terminal device sends a preamble through message 1.

In some embodiments, message 1 also contains information of the terminal device. For example, the information of the terminal device includes at least one of a type of the terminal device, a supported bandwidth, and a processing capability. Optionally, the information of the terminal device may also contain other information, so that the network device can distinguish the type of the terminal device.

The types of terminal devices include, by way of example, conventional terminal devices, redCap type terminal devices, eRedCap type terminal devices, and the like, to which the present application is not limited.

In particular, the capability information of the UE may be used to indicate the processing capability of the UE for PDSCH channels carrying system message 1 (Systeminformation block, sib1), other system messages (Other systeminformation, OSI), paging, random access response, and message 4. And, the capability information of the UE may be used to indicate the processing capability of the UE for all PDSCH channels.

And S704, the network equipment determines a fifth message according to the information of the terminal equipment.

In some embodiments, the network device may determine the information of the terminal device through the message 1, and determine a fifth message when the network device determines, according to the information of the terminal device, that the processing time of the terminal device scheduling message 3 is greater than the time T indicated by the message 2, or that the bandwidth that the terminal device can process is less than the transmission bandwidth of the message 4, where the fifth message is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the count rule. Specifically, the count is not performed when the terminal device next transmits the first message, or the maximum number of transmissions of the first message is increased. Wherein the first message is message 1.

Optionally, the fifth message is a system message SIB.

S705, the network device sends a fifth message, and the terminal device receives the fifth message.

The fifth message is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not count when sending the message 1 next time, or increasing the maximum sending times of the message 1.

S706, the terminal equipment adjusts the counting rule according to the fifth message, and reinitiates the random access.

S707, the network device adjusts the count rule.

In the embodiment of the application, the network device judges that the processing time of the scheduling message 3 of the terminal device is longer than the time T indicated by the message 2 or the bandwidth which can be processed by the terminal device is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the message 4 according to the information of the terminal device, sends a fifth message, and adjusts the counting rule of the network device so that the counting of the network device and the terminal device are synchronous. Specifically, adjusting the counting rule includes not counting the next time the network device receives the first message, or increasing the maximum number of times the first message is received, e.g., increasing the maximum number of times the first message is received by 1.

In some embodiments, S707 precedes S705.

S708, the terminal device sends message 1.

Steps S706 to S708 are similar to steps S505 to S507, and reference may be made to descriptions of steps S505 to S507, which are not repeated here.

In some embodiments, the terminal device sends the information of the terminal device via message 3.

The method 700 may further comprise the steps of,

S702, the network device sends a message 2, and the terminal device receives the message 2.

In some embodiments, the network device sends message 2, message 2 being used to indicate that message 3 was received within time T, and when the network device did not receive message 3 within time T, the counting rules of the network device are adjusted.

It will be appreciated that when the network device does not obtain information of the terminal device, the terminal device may not send message 3 within time T due to the capability limitation, at which point the network device may maintain consistency with the terminal device count by means of the adjusted count rules.

S703, the terminal device sends message 3, and the network device receives message 3.

Message 3 is used to determine message 4. Wherein the message 3 further contains information of the terminal device including at least one of a type of the terminal device, a supported bandwidth and a processing capability. Optionally, the information of the terminal device may also contain other information, so that the network device can distinguish the type of the terminal device. When the network device judges that the bandwidth which can be processed by the terminal device is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the message 4 according to the information of the terminal device, the counting rule of the network device is adjusted, and a fifth message is sent.

In some embodiments, when the network device determines that the terminal device wins contention resolution, and determines that the bandwidth that the terminal device can process is less than the transmission bandwidth of the message 4 according to the information of the terminal device, the counting rule of the network device is adjusted, and a fifth message is sent.

For example, when the network device determines that UE1 wins when performing contention resolution of UE1 and UE2, the network device adjusts the counting rule of the network device when determining that the bandwidth that UE1 can process is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of message 4 according to the information of UE1, and broadcasts the counting rule to the terminal through a fifth message, where the fifth message is used to instruct UE1 to adjust the counting rule. Specifically, the UE1 does not count the next time it transmits the message 1, or increases the maximum number of transmissions of the message 1.

In some embodiments, the network device sends the fifth message when the transmission bandwidth of message 4 is greater than any terminal device can handle.

It will be appreciated that there may be multiple terminal devices sending message 3 to the network device, that is, the network device may send message 4 to multiple terminal devices simultaneously, where the multiple terminal devices may include legacy terminal devices as well as reduced capability terminal devices of the eRedCap type, redCap type, etc. Since the bandwidth capability of the low capability terminal device is limited, for example, the supported bandwidth of the legacy terminal device is greater than 40MHz, the supported bandwidth of the RedCap type terminal device is 20MHz, the supported bandwidth of the eRedCap type terminal device is 5MHz, when the transmission bandwidth of the message 4 transmitted by the network device is 20MHz, the legacy terminal device and the RedCap type terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices can process the message 4 at this time, and the eRedCap type terminal device cannot receive the processed message 4 because the processable bandwidth is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the message 4, resulting in failure of the random access procedure of the eRedCap type terminal device.

That is, when the network device determines that the bandwidth that the terminal device can process is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the message 4 based on the information of the terminal device, the fifth message is transmitted.

The steps S702 to S703 are the same as the steps S302 to S303, and reference may be made to the descriptions of the steps S302 to S303, and the description thereof will not be repeated here.

In some embodiments, the terminal device may send the information of the terminal device by other means. The following is an example.

Mode one

The terminal device may carry information of the terminal device in an RRC message sent to the access network device.

The RRC message is, for example, an RRC connection setup request message.

Mode two

The terminal device may send radio capability information of the terminal device to the access network equipment, and the access network equipment may determine information of the terminal device according to the radio capability information. For example, the wireless capability information may carry information of the terminal device. Or the access network device may determine the information of the terminal device according to the parameters in the wireless capability information, for example, the access network device may determine REDCAP information used by the terminal device according to the parameters such as the corresponding access frequency point in the wireless capability information, and use the determined REDCAP information as the information of the terminal device.

This approach may be applied, for example, in the case where the terminal device is first registered when powered on.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 5 to 7. Hereinafter, the apparatus provided by the present application will be described. It should be understood that the descriptions of the apparatus embodiments and the descriptions of the method embodiments correspond to each other, and thus, descriptions of details not described may be referred to the above method embodiments, which are not repeated herein for brevity.

Fig. 8 shows an apparatus 800 for transmitting information provided by an embodiment of the present application. In one design, the apparatus 800 may be a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device. In another design, the apparatus 800 may be a network device or a chip in a network device. The apparatus 800 includes an interface unit 810 and a processing unit 820. The interface unit 810 may implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit 820 is used for data processing. The interface unit 810 may also be referred to as a communication interface or communication unit.

Optionally, apparatus 800 may also include a storage unit that may be used to store instructions and/or data. Processing unit 820 may read the instructions and/or data in the memory unit to cause the communication device to implement the foregoing method embodiments.

Alternatively, the interface unit 810 may include a transmitting unit and a receiving unit. The transmitting unit is configured to perform the transmitting operation in the above-described method embodiment. The receiving unit is configured to perform the receiving operation in the above-described method embodiment.

In a possible implementation manner, the apparatus 800 is configured to execute each flow and step corresponding to the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

The interface unit 810 is configured to receive a second message indicating that a third message is to be sent within time T.

The processing unit 820 is configured to count the number of transmissions of the first message. Wherein the first message is used to indicate receipt of the second message.

The processing unit 820 is further configured to adjust the counting rule when the processing time of the interface unit 810 for scheduling the third message is greater than time T.

Optionally, the interface unit 810 is configured to receive a fourth message.

The processing unit 820 is further configured to adjust the counting rule when the bandwidth that the processing unit 820 is capable of processing is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the fourth message.

Wherein the first message, the second message, the third message and the fourth message are used for a random access procedure of the terminal device.

Optionally, adjusting the count rule includes processing unit 820 not counting the next time interface unit 810 sends the first message, or increasing the maximum number of transmissions of the first message.

Optionally, the interface unit 810 is configured to send a third message, where the third message is configured to indicate that the fourth message is received.

Optionally, the first message or the third message further contains identification information of the device 800, the identification information being used to indicate the type of the device 800.

Optionally, the interface unit 810 is configured to receive a fifth message, where the fifth message is configured to instruct the processing unit 820 not to count when the interface unit 810 next sends the first message, or to increase the maximum number of times the first message is sent.

Optionally, the apparatus 800 includes a reduced capability RedCap type of terminal device and an enhanced reduced capability eRedCap type of terminal device.

In another possible implementation manner, the apparatus 800 is configured to perform the respective flows and steps corresponding to the network device in the above method embodiment.

The interface unit 810 is configured to send a second message indicating receipt of a third message within time T.

The processing unit 820 is configured to adjust the counting rule when the interface unit 810 does not receive the third message within the time T. Wherein the first message, the second message and the third message are used for a random access procedure of the terminal device.

Optionally, adjusting the count rule includes processing unit 820 not counting the next time interface unit 810 receives the first message or increasing the maximum number of times the first message is received.

Optionally, when it is determined that the processing time of the terminal device scheduling the third message is greater than the time T, the interface unit 810 is configured to send a fifth message, where the fifth message is used to instruct the terminal device not to count when the first message is sent next time, or to increase the maximum number of times of sending the first message.

Optionally, the interface unit 810 is configured to receive a third message, where the third message is used to determine a fourth message, and when it is determined that the bandwidth that can be processed by the terminal device is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the fourth message, the interface unit 810 is configured to send a fifth message, where the fourth message is used for a random access procedure of the terminal device.

Optionally, the first message or the third message further comprises information of the terminal device, the information of the terminal device comprising at least one of a type of the terminal device, a supported bandwidth and a processing capability.

Optionally, the terminal devices include a reduced capability RedCap type terminal device and an enhanced reduced capability eRedCap type terminal device.

It should be appreciated that the apparatus 800 herein is embodied in the form of functional units. The term "unit" herein may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor, etc.) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality. In an alternative example, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the apparatus 800 may be specifically a terminal device or a network device in the foregoing embodiment, and the apparatus 800 may be used to perform each flow and/or step corresponding to the terminal device or the network device in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not repeated herein.

The apparatus 800 of each of the above embodiments has a function of implementing the corresponding steps executed by the terminal device or the network device in the above method, where the above function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above. For example, the interface unit 810 may include a transmitting unit that may be used to implement respective steps and/or flows for performing a transmitting action corresponding to the interface unit, and a receiving unit that may be used to implement respective steps and/or flows for performing a receiving action corresponding to the interface unit. The transmitting unit may be replaced by a transmitter and the receiving unit may be replaced by a receiver, performing the transceiving operations and the associated processing operations in the respective method embodiments, respectively.

In an embodiment of the present application, the apparatus 800 in FIG. 8 may also be a chip or a system-on-chip (SoC), for example. Correspondingly, the interface unit 810 may be a transceiver circuit of the chip, which is not limited herein.

Fig. 9 shows another information sending apparatus 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 900 includes a processor 910, a communication interface 920, and a memory 930. Wherein the processor 910, the communication interface 920, and the memory 930 communicate with each other through an internal connection path, the memory 930 is configured to store instructions, and the processor 910 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 930 to control the communication interface 920 to transmit signals and/or receive signals.

In a possible implementation manner, the apparatus 900 is configured to perform the respective processes and steps corresponding to the terminal device in fig. 5 to fig. 7.

Wherein the communication interface 920 is configured to receive a second message, the second message being configured to instruct transmission of a third message within a time T, and the processor 910 is configured to count a number of transmissions of the first message. When the communication interface 920 schedules the processing time of the third message to be longer than the time T, the counting rule is adjusted.

Optionally, the communication interface 920 is configured to receive a fourth message and the processor 910 is configured to count a number of transmissions of the first message. When the bandwidth that the processor 910 can process is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the fourth message, the counting rule is adjusted.

In another possible implementation manner, the apparatus 900 is configured to perform the respective flows and steps corresponding to the network devices in fig. 5 to fig. 7.

Wherein the communication interface 920 is configured to send a second message indicating that a third message was received within time T and the processor 910 is configured to count the number of transmissions of the first message. When the communication interface 1020 does not receive the third message within time T, the count rule is adjusted.

It should be understood that the apparatus 900 may be specifically a terminal device or a network device in the foregoing embodiment, and may be configured to perform each step and/or flow corresponding to the terminal device or the network device in the foregoing method embodiment. The memory 930 may optionally include read-only memory and random access memory and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may also store information of the device type. The processor 910 may be configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, and when the processor 910 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 910 is configured to perform the steps and/or flows of the method embodiments corresponding to the terminal device or the network device described above. The communication interface 920 may include a transmitter that may be used to implement the steps and/or processes for performing the sending actions corresponding to the communication interface and a receiver that may be used to implement the steps and/or processes for performing the receiving actions corresponding to the communication interface.

It should be appreciated that in embodiments of the present application, the processor of the apparatus described above may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), which may also be other general purpose processors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The application also provides a chip comprising a processor for calling from a memory and executing instructions stored in said memory, so that a communication device on which said chip is mounted performs the methods of the examples above.

The application also provides another chip which comprises an input interface, an output interface and a processor, wherein the input interface, the output interface and the processor are connected through an internal connection path, the processor is used for executing codes in a memory, and when the codes are executed, the processor is used for executing the methods in the examples. Optionally, the chip further comprises a memory for storing a computer program or code.

The application also provides a processor, coupled to the memory, for performing the methods and functions of any of the embodiments described above in relation to a network device or a terminal device.

In another embodiment of the application a computer program product is provided comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, implement the method of the previous embodiment.

The application also provides a computer program which, when run in a computer, implements the method of the preceding embodiments.

In another embodiment of the application a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program which, when executed by a computer, implements the method according to the previous embodiment.

The present application further provides a communication system, which may include the terminal device (apparatus 800 or apparatus 900 is embodied as a terminal device) shown in fig. 8 or fig. 9, and the network device (apparatus 800 or apparatus 900 is embodied as a network device) shown in fig. 8 or fig. 9.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software elements in the processor for execution. The software elements may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor executes instructions in the memory to perform the steps of the method described above in conjunction with its hardware. To avoid repetition, a detailed description is not provided herein.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various method steps and elements described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both, and that the steps and components of the various embodiments have been described generally in terms of functionality in the foregoing description to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Those of ordinary skill in the art may implement the described functionality using different approaches for each particular application, but such implementation is not considered to be beyond the scope of the present application.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the above-described division of units is merely a logical function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the above-described division of units is merely a logical function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not performed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices, or elements, or may be an electrical, mechanical, or other form of connection.

The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed over a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment of the present application.

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

The integrated units described above, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as stand-alone products, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or a part contributing to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, comprising several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. The storage medium includes a U disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (random access memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions (programs). When the computer program instructions (program) are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are fully or partially produced. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains an integration of one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid state disk Solid STATE DISK (SSD)), etc.

While the application has been described with respect to the preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of the application. Therefore, the protection scope of the application is subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (16)

1. A counting method, comprising:

the terminal equipment counts the transmission times of the first message;

The terminal equipment receives a second message, wherein the second message is used for indicating to send a third message in time T, and when the processing time of the third message scheduled by the terminal equipment is longer than the time T, the counting rule is adjusted, or

And the terminal equipment receives a fourth message, and adjusts a counting rule when the bandwidth which can be processed by the terminal equipment is smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the fourth message, wherein the first message, the second message, the third message and the fourth message are used for the random access process of the terminal equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting the count rule comprises:

And not counting when the terminal equipment transmits the first message next time, or increasing the maximum transmission times of the first message.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that after the terminal device receives the second message, the method further comprises:

The terminal equipment sends the third message, wherein the third message is used for indicating to receive the fourth message.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising,

The terminal device receives a fifth message, where the fifth message is used to indicate that the first message is not counted when the terminal device sends the first message next time, or increase the maximum sending number of the first message.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the terminal devices comprise a reduced capability RedCap type terminal device and an enhanced reduced capability eRedCap type terminal device.

6. A counting method, comprising:

the network equipment counts the transmission times of the first message;

the network device sends a second message, wherein the second message is used for indicating that a third message is received in time T, and when the network device does not receive the third message in the time T, a counting rule is adjusted, and the first message, the second message and the third message are used for a random access process of the terminal device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the adjusting the count rule comprises:

the network device does not count the next time the first message is received, or increases the maximum number of times the first message is received.

8. A method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that when it is determined that the processing time for the terminal device to schedule the third message is longer than the time T, a fifth message is sent, the fifth message being used to instruct the terminal device not to count the next time the first message is sent, or to increase the maximum number of transmissions of the first message.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein after the network device sends the second message, the method further comprises:

The network device receives the third message, wherein the third message is used for determining a fourth message, and when the bandwidth which can be processed by the terminal device is determined to be smaller than the transmission bandwidth of the fourth message, the fifth message is sent, and the fourth message is used for a random access process of the terminal device.

10. The method according to any of claims 6-9, characterized in that the terminal devices comprise a reduced capability RedCap type terminal device and an enhanced reduced capability eRedCap type terminal device.

11. A communication device comprising means for implementing the method of any of claims 1-5.

12. A communication device comprising means for implementing the method according to any of claims 6-10.

13. A communication device, comprising:

A processor coupled to a memory for storing a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-5.

14. A communication device, comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory for storing a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 6-10.

15. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium has stored thereon a computer program which, when run, causes the computer to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 10.

16. A chip system comprising a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, such that a device on which the chip system is installed performs the method according to any of claims 1 to 10.