A communication method, comprising: generating, by a base station, an identifier of a current discovery frame of a current discovery time period; and broadcasting, by the base station, the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period, so that a terminal that receives the broadcast sent by the base station acquires, according to the identifier, in the broadcast, of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period, a frequency-time pattern of the current discovery time period or a frequency-time pattern of a discovery time period that is after the current discovery time period; wherein each terminal has a different frequency-time location in each discovery time period; characterized in that generating, by a base station, an identifier of a current discovery frame of a current discovery time period comprises: calculating, by the base station, the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period according to a sequence number of the current discovery time period and a cycle period of a discovery frame; wherein the calculating, by the base station, the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period according to a sequence number of the current discovery time period and a cycle period of a discovery frame comprises: calculating, by the base station, the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period according to a formula index=t mod N; wherein index is the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period, t is the sequence number of the current discovery time period, N is the cycle period of a discovery frame, and mod is a modulo operation. generating, by a base station, an identifier of a current discovery frame of a current discovery time period; and broadcasting, by the base station, the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period, so that a terminal that receives the broadcast sent by the base station acquires, according to the identifier, in the broadcast, of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period, a frequency-time pattern of the current discovery time period or a frequency-time pattern of a discovery time period that is after the current discovery time period; wherein each terminal has a different frequency-time location in each discovery time period; characterized in that generating, by a base station, an identifier of a current discovery frame of a current discovery time period comprises: calculating, by the base station, the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period according to a sequence number of the current discovery time period and a cycle period of a discovery frame; wherein the calculating, by the base station, the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period according to a sequence number of the current discovery time period and a cycle period of a discovery frame comprises: calculating, by the base station, the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period according to a formula index=t mod N; wherein index is the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period, t is the sequence number of the current discovery time period, N is the cycle period of a discovery frame, and mod is a modulo operation. calculating, by the base station, the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period according to a formula index=t mod N; wherein index is the identifier of the current discovery frame of the current discovery time period, t is the sequence number of the current discovery time period, N is the cycle period of a discovery frame, and mod is a modulo operation.