A control channel resource indication method, comprising: receiving, by the user equipment (800, 900), higher layer signaling, that is, a Message 4, from a network device (1000, 1100), wherein the higher layer signaling is indicated by downlink control information carried in common search space; and determining, by the user equipment (800, 900), frequency domain resource location information of user equipment-dedicated search space based on the higher layer signaling, wherein the frequency domain resource location information comprises a quantity of frequency domain resource units occupied by the user equipment-dedicated search space in frequency domain and a location of the frequency domain resource unit; wherein indication information of a control channel time-frequency resource is carried in the Message 4 and the control channel time-frequency resource comprises the common search space and the user equipment-dedicated search space; wherein, after sending, by the user equipment (800, 900), a Message 1 to the network device (1000, 1100), and after receiving a Message 2 from the network device (1000, 1100), the user equipment sends uplink acknowledgement information, namely, a Message 3, to the network device (1000, 1100), the Message 3 includes a bandwidth access capability or other user capability information of the user equipment (800, 900), the Message 4 follows the Message 3 and carries a unique identifier to indicate the user equipment (800, 900), and when a size of the control channel time-frequency resource is greater than a predefined threshold, a control channel aggregation level set is a first set; or when a size of the control channel time-frequency resource is less than a predefined threshold, a control channel aggregation level set is a second set, and wherein the higher layer signaling further comprises a mapping manner of the user equipment-dedicated search space in frequency domain, and the mapping manner is continuous mapping or discrete mapping; and when the mapping manner is the continuous mapping, the frequency domain resource location further comprises start location information of the frequency domain resource unit; or when the mapping manner is the discrete mapping, the frequency domain resource location further comprises a location of at least one frequency domain resource unit. receiving, by the user equipment (800, 900), higher layer signaling, that is, a Message 4, from a network device (1000, 1100), wherein the higher layer signaling is indicated by downlink control information carried in common search space; and determining, by the user equipment (800, 900), frequency domain resource location information of user equipment-dedicated search space based on the higher layer signaling, wherein the frequency domain resource location information comprises a quantity of frequency domain resource units occupied by the user equipment-dedicated search space in frequency domain and a location of the frequency domain resource unit; wherein indication information of a control channel time-frequency resource is carried in the Message 4 and the control channel time-frequency resource comprises the common search space and the user equipment-dedicated search space; wherein, after sending, by the user equipment (800, 900), a Message 1 to the network device (1000, 1100), and after receiving a Message 2 from the network device (1000, 1100), the user equipment sends uplink acknowledgement information, namely, a Message 3, to the network device (1000, 1100), the Message 3 includes a bandwidth access capability or other user capability information of the user equipment (800, 900), the Message 4 follows the Message 3 and carries a unique identifier to indicate the user equipment (800, 900), and when a size of the control channel time-frequency resource is greater than a predefined threshold, a control channel aggregation level set is a first set; or when a size of the control channel time-frequency resource is less than a predefined threshold, a control channel aggregation level set is a second set, and wherein the higher layer signaling further comprises a mapping manner of the user equipment-dedicated search space in frequency domain, and the mapping manner is continuous mapping or discrete mapping; and when the mapping manner is the continuous mapping, the frequency domain resource location further comprises start location information of the frequency domain resource unit; or when the mapping manner is the discrete mapping, the frequency domain resource location further comprises a location of at least one frequency domain resource unit.