Patent Description:
The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a random access method, a terminal and a computer-readable storage medium.

In a <NUM>-th generation (<NUM>-th Generation, <NUM>) mobile communication system, which is also referred to as a new radio (New Radio, NR) system, to enhance NR uplink coverage and improve spectrum efficiency, a supplement uplink (Supplement Uplink, SUL) carrier is introduced, that is, a serving cell can be configured with both a normal uplink (Normal Uplink, NUL) carrier and an SUL carrier. Further, in a mobile communication system, an unlicensed band (unlicensed band) may serve as supplement of a licensed band (licensed band), to help an operator perform service capacity expansion. Then, when the serving cell is configured with uplink carriers of both the licensed band and the unlicensed band, the uplink carrier of the licensed band can be used as an SUL carrier and the uplink carrier of the unlicensed band can be used as another uplink carrier.

When the serving cell is configured with only one uplink carrier, the terminal can perform a random access process through the uplink carrier, for example, send a random access request message through the uplink carrier, to initiate random access. However, when the serving cell is configured with both an SUL carrier and an NUL carrier, if a network device does not explicitly indicate a carrier used by the terminal for the random access process, the terminal cannot determine a carrier used for the random access process. Furthermore, when band types of multiple uplink carriers are different, because an uplink carrier in the unlicensed band may exist, the terminal cannot determine a carrier used for the random access process. If an improper carrier is used, the random access process may fail.

D1 (<CIT>), cited under Art. <NUM>(<NUM>) EPC, discloses that in the case where the first random access procedure using a configuration of a first uplink carrier is unsuccessful, a second uplink carrier is selected for a second random access procedure based on one or more ways, e.g., predefined order-based, priority-based, random selection-based, downlink (DL) measurement-based, etc..

D2 (<CIT>), cited under Art. <NUM>(<NUM>) EPC, discloses that a transmission device performs random access on one uplink carrier of L uplink carriers configured in a cell. The uplink carrier includes at least one of the followings: a Non-SUL (NUL) carrier and an SUL carrier.

D3 (R2-<NUM>) discloses that the carrier selection step should be performed when a user equipment (UE) is configured with SUL carrier for random access channel (RACH) and is not explicitly configured to use the carrier. In this case, whether or not to select NUL/SUL is up to the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) value of DL pathloss reference measured by the UE.

D4 (<CIT>) discloses that a first target uplink carrier is determined from among a plurality of uplink carriers included in a target base station, the plurality of uplink carriers include at least one SUL carrier, and the first target uplink carrier is used to send a random access preamble to the target base station.

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a random access method and a terminal, to solve the problem that when an uplink carrier in an unlicensed frequency band exists, because an improper carrier is selected for a random access process, a success rate of the random access process is low.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a random access method which is defined in claim <NUM>.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a terminal which is defined in claim <NUM>.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium which is defined in claim <NUM>.

To describe the technical solutions in embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description show merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may still derive another drawing from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the accompanying drawings show exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and shall not be limited by embodiments described herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to enable a more thorough understanding of the present disclosure and to fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Terms "first", "second", or the like in the specification and claims of this application are used to distinguish similar objects, instead of describing a specific sequence or order. It should be understood that the data termed in such a way is interchangeable in proper circumstances so that the embodiments of this application described herein can be implemented in an order other than the order illustrated or described herein. Moreover, the terms "include", "have" and any variants thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a list of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those expressly listed steps or units, but may include other steps or units not expressly listed or inherent to such a process, method, product, or device. "And/or" used in the specification and claims means at least one of the connected objects.

The technology described herein is not limited to a long time evolution (Long Time Evolution, LTE)/LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced, LTE-A) system, and can also be used in various wireless communications systems, such as code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA), time division multiple access (Time Division Multiple Access, TDMA), frequency division multiple access (Frequency Division Multiple Access, FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access, OFDMA), single-carrier frequency-division multiple access (Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access, SC-FDMA), and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are usually used interchangeably. The technology described herein can be used in the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies as well as other systems and radio technologies. However, an NR system is described in the following description for illustrative purposes, and an NR terminology is used in most of the following description, although these technologies can also be applied to applications other than the NR system application.

Referring to <FIG> is a block diagram of a wireless communications system to which an embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied. The wireless communications system includes a terminal <NUM> and a network device <NUM>. The terminal <NUM> may be also referred to as a terminal device or a user equipment (User Equipment, UE). The terminal <NUM> may be a terminal-side device such as a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer (Tablet Personal Computer), a laptop computer (Laptop Computer), a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), a mobile Internet device (Mobile Internet Device, MID), a wearable device (Wearable Device), or a vehicle-mounted device. It should be noted that a specific type of the terminal <NUM> is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The network device <NUM> may be a base station or a core network. The base station may be a base station of <NUM> and later releases (for example, a gNB and a <NUM> NR NB), or a base station in other communications systems (for example, an eNB, a WLAN access point, or other access points). The base station may be referred to as a NodeB, an evolved NodeB, an access point, a base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a basic service set (Basic Service Set, BSS), an extended service set (Extended Service Set, ESS), a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a home NodeB, a home evolved NodeB, a WLAN access point, a WiFi node, or another appropriate term in the art. Provided that the same technical effects are achieved, the base station is not limited to specific technical vocabulary. It should be noted that in embodiments of the present disclosure, the base station in the NR system is merely used as an example, but does not limit a specific type of the base station.

The base station can communicate with the terminal <NUM> under the control of a base station controller. In various examples, the base station controller may be a part of the core network or some base stations. Some base stations can exchange control information or user data with the core network through backhaul. In some examples, some of these base stations may communicate directly or indirectly with each other through a backhaul link, and the backhaul link may be a wired or wireless communication link. The wireless communications system can support operations on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can simultaneously transmit a modulated signal on the multiple carriers. For example, each communication link may be a multi-carrier signal modulated based on various radio technologies. Each modulated signal can be sent over different carriers and can carry control information (for example, a reference signal or a control channel), overhead information, data, and the like.

The base station can communicate wirelessly with the terminal <NUM> via one or more access point antennas. Each base station may provide communication coverage for a corresponding coverage area. A coverage area of an access point may be divided into sectors that form merely a part of the coverage area. The wireless communications system may include different types of base stations (for example, a macro base station, a micro base station, or a pico base station). The base station can also use different radio technologies, such as cellular or WLAN radio access technologies. The base station can be associated with the same or different access networks or operator deployment. Coverage areas of different base stations (including coverage areas of base stations of the same or different types, coverage areas using the same or different radio technologies, or coverage areas belonging to the same or different access networks) may overlap.

Communications links in a wireless communication system may include an uplink for carrying an uplink (Uplink, UL) transmission (for example, a transmission from the terminal <NUM> to the network device <NUM>), or a downlink for carrying a downlink (Downlink, DL) transmission (for example, a transmission from the network device <NUM> to the terminal <NUM>). The UL transmission may also be referred to as reverse link transmission, and the DL transmission may also be referred to as forward link transmission. The downlink transmission may be performed over a licensed band, an unlicensed band, or both. Similarly, the uplink transmission may be performed in a licensed band, an unlicensed band, or both.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a random access method, applied to a terminal. As shown in <FIG>, the method includes the following steps:
Step <NUM>: Send a random access request message through a target carrier; where the target carrier is one of a first type of uplink carrier and a second type of uplink carrier.

The target carrier in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be a carrier initially selected by the terminal from the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier according to a preset selection rule. The target carrier further may be the other carrier of the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier to which the terminal changes from one carrier of the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier according to a preset change rule.

The first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier can be carriers working in an unlicensed band or carriers working in a licensed band. In addition, frequencies of the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carriers are also different. Optionally, the frequency of the first type of uplink carrier is higher than the frequency of the second type of uplink carrier. For example, the first type of uplink carrier can be a normal uplink NUL carrier, and the second type of uplink carrier may be a supplement uplink SUL carrier. Further, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first type of uplink carrier may be an uplink carrier working in an unlicensed band, and the second type of uplink carrier may be an SUL carrier. Alternatively, the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier are both uplink carriers working in an unlicensed band, and the frequency of the first type of the uplink carrier is higher than the frequency of the second type of uplink carrier. Alternatively, the first type of uplink carrier is an NUL carrier, the second type of uplink carrier is an uplink carrier working in an unlicensed band, and the frequency of the NUL carrier is higher than the frequency of the second type of uplink carrier.

Further, the random access request message mentioned in the embodiment of the present disclosure can be message <NUM> (Message <NUM>, Msgl) in a <NUM>-step random access process, or can be Msgl or message A (Message A, MsgA) in a <NUM>-step random access process.

The following embodiments of the present disclosure combine two scenarios of initially selecting the target carrier and changing the target carrier, and respectively introduce the random access method of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Scenario <NUM>: The terminal initially selects the target carrier.

As shown in <FIG>, the random access method includes the following steps:
Step <NUM>: Obtain threshold information and channel measurement information.

The threshold information is used to indicate thresholds corresponding to different parameter items. The channel measurement information includes: at least one of first channel measurement information related to the first type of uplink carrier and second channel measurement information related to the second type of uplink carrier.

Further, the threshold information and the channel measurement information can be obtained through different methods or different processes. For example, the threshold information is obtained through a system message broadcast by a network device, and the channel measurement information is obtained by the terminal through measurement according to a measurement configuration. Optionally, step <NUM> can be implemented through the following steps: receiving the system message broadcast by the network device, where the system message carries the threshold information; and obtaining a measurement configuration of at least one of the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier; and measuring at least one of the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier according to the measurement configuration, to obtain the corresponding channel measurement information. The measurement configuration can be predefined, for example, specified in a protocol, and can also be configured by a network device, for example, configured by the network device through radio resource control (Radio Resource Control, RRC) signaling. It is worth pointing out that the process of obtaining the threshold information and the process of obtaining the channel measurement information are not strictly sequentially limited. The threshold information can be first obtained and then the channel measurement information is obtained, or the channel measurement information can be first obtained and then the threshold information is obtained, or the channel measurement information and the threshold information can also be obtained at the same time.

Step <NUM>: Select one from the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier as the target carrier according to the threshold information and the channel measurement information.

The channel measurement information herein may include: first channel measurement information related to the first type of uplink carrier and second channel measurement information related to the second type of uplink carrier.

Correspondingly, the terminal can flexibly select the target carrier according to a channel condition of the first type of uplink carrier or a channel condition of the second type of uplink carrier.

Step <NUM>: Send a random access request message through the target carrier.

The random access request message mentioned herein can be Msgl in the <NUM>-step random access process, or Msgl or MsgA in the <NUM>-step random access process.

Further, step <NUM> can be implemented in the following manner: when the threshold information and the channel measurement information satisfy a first preset condition, determining the second type of uplink carrier as the target carrier; where the first preset condition includes at least one of the following:.

Parameter items in the first channel measurement information and the second channel measurement information include: at least one of reference signal received quality RSRQ, received signal strength indicator RSSI, a channel busy ratio (Channel Busy Ratio, CBR), and a channel occupancy ratio (Channel occupancy Ratio, CR).

That is, when the threshold information and the channel measurement information meet at least one of the above conditions, the second type of uplink carrier can be determined as the target carrier. In addition, when the threshold information and the channel measurement information do not meet the first preset condition, the first type of uplink carrier can be determined as the target carrier.

In the following embodiments of the present disclosure, an example in which the first type of uplink carrier is an uplink carrier working in an unlicensed band, and the second type of uplink carrier is an SUL carrier is used for illustrative description. A serving cell is configured with at least one uplink carrier working in an unlicensed band and one SUL carrier working in a licensed band. The frequency of the SUL carrier is lower than the frequency of the uplink carrier of the unlicensed band. The random access process initiated by the terminal may be contention-based <NUM>-step random access process (<NUM>-step RACH), or contention-based <NUM>-step random access process (<NUM>-step RACH), or further may be non-contention-based random access process. The network device does not explicitly notify the terminal which uplink carrier of the serving cell is used to perform random access. In this case, the terminal needs to select the target carrier according to step <NUM>. The following uses a specific example to illustrate a specific implementation of step <NUM>.

If the terminal determines that at least one of the following conditions is met: the measured RSRP of the path loss reference signal of the target downlink carrier is less than a first threshold, a channel occupancy ratio of the first type of uplink carrier (the uplink carrier working in the unlicensed band) is greater than or equal to a second threshold, and a channel occupancy ratio of the second type of uplink carrier (an SUL carrier) is less than a third threshold; the terminal selects the SUL carrier for the random access process.

The condition includes but is not limited to one of the following:.

Alternatively, if the terminal determines that at least one of the following conditions is met: the measured RSRP of the path loss reference signal is less than a first threshold, a channel busy ratio of the first type of uplink carrier (the uplink carrier working in the unlicensed band) is greater than or equal to a second threshold, and a channel busy ratio of the second type of uplink carrier (an SUL carrier) is less than a third threshold; the terminal selects the SUL carrier for the random access process.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, only an example in which the quality parameter is RSRP is used for description, and for conditions under which the quality parameter is any combination of RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, and SINR, refer to the above examples, which are not listed herein one by one. Correspondingly, for the parameter item in the channel measurement information, this embodiment also only uses CBR and CR as an example for description. For conditions under which the parameter item in the channel measurement information is any combination of RSRQ, RSSI, CBR, and CR, also refer to the above examples, which are not listed again one by one. In addition, it is worth pointing out that specific values of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can set the values based on actual conditions.

In the random access method of this scenario, the terminal can select the target carrier from the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier according to the threshold information and the channel measurement information, which can improve flexibility of selecting the random access resource.

The above describes the scenario of initially selecting the target carrier, and the following further explains the scenario of changing the target carrier with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

Scenario <NUM>: Change the target carrier.

As shown in <FIG>, the random access method includes the following steps:
Step <NUM>: In a case where a random access process corresponding to the random access message is not completed, change the target carrier if a preset change condition is met.

That the random access process is not completed mentioned herein can be: the terminal triggers the random access process, but the random access is not completed. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the preset change condition is related to channel quality, that is, when the terminal determines that the channel quality of the current target carrier is poor, the target carrier can be changed. For example, the target carrier can be changed from the first type of uplink carrier to the second type of uplink carrier; or the target carrier can be changed from the second type of uplink carrier to the first type of uplink carrier.

The random access request message is sent through the changed target carrier, so that the success rate of the random access can be improved, and the random access delay can be reduced. The random access request message mentioned herein can be Msgl in the <NUM>-step random access process, or Msgl or MsgA in the <NUM>-step random access process.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, an example in which the current target carrier is the first type of uplink carrier is used for illustrative description. That is, in a case where the target carrier is the first type of uplink carrier, step <NUM> can be implemented in but is not limited to the following manner: if the preset change condition is met, changing the target carrier from the first type of uplink carrier to the second type of uplink carrier. The preset change condition includes that a timer corresponding to the random access process expires. Optionally, the preset change condition further includes at least one of the following: a counter corresponding to the random access process is equal to a fourth threshold, a parameter item in the first channel measurement information related to the first type of uplink carrier is greater than or equal to a second threshold; and a parameter item in the second channel measurement information related to the second type of uplink carrier is less than a third threshold.

Specifically the preset change condition includes but is not limited to one of the following:.

In a case where the target carrier is the first type of uplink carrier, if the timer corresponding to the random access process expires, the target carrier is changed from the first type of uplink carrier to the second type of uplink carrier. Further, before the step of changing the target carrier from the first type of uplink carrier to the second type of uplink carrier if the timer corresponding to the random access process expires, the method further includes: after completing initial selection of the target carrier or completing previous change of the target carrier, starting the timer corresponding to the random access process.

For example, the first type of uplink carrier is the uplink carrier working in the unlicensed band, and the second type of uplink carrier is the SUL carrier. In the implementation of the random access, after the terminal selects the uplink carrier in the unlicensed band during random access initialization, the terminal starts a timer (timer), and if the random access process is not completed and the timer expires, the terminal changes/switches the target carrier to SUL carrier and then performs next random access attempt. Specifically, a serving cell is configured with at least one uplink carrier working in an unlicensed band and one SUL carrier working in a licensed band or in an unlicensed band. The random access process initiated by the terminal may be contention-based <NUM>-step random access process or contention-based <NUM>-step random access process, or further may be non-contention-based random access process. If the terminal selects the uplink carrier in the unlicensed band for the random access process, the terminal starts a first timer (timer). If the random process is not completed and the first timer expires, the terminal switches to the SUL carrier to perform a (subsequent) random access process. PCMAX configured by the network device is equal to PCMAX, f,c of the SUL carrier. A start time of the first timer can be configured on a network device side through a broadcast message.

a counter corresponding to the random access process is equal to a fourth threshold.

In a case where the target carrier is the first type of uplink carrier, if the counter corresponding to the random access process is equal to the fourth threshold, the target carrier is changed from the first type of uplink carrier to the second type of uplink carrier. Further, before the step of changing the target carrier from the first type of uplink carrier to the second type of uplink carrier if the counter corresponding to the random access process is equal to the fourth threshold, the method further includes: after completing initial selection of the target carrier or completing previous change of the target carrier, setting the counter corresponding to the random access process; and setting the counter includes initializing the counter or resetting the counter. For example, after completing initial selection of the target carrier, the counter corresponding to the random access process is initialized; and after completing previous change of the target carrier, the counter corresponding to the random access process is reset.

For example, the first type of uplink carrier is the uplink carrier in the unlicensed band, and the second type of uplink carrier is the SUL carrier. In the implementation of the random access, after the terminal selects the uplink carrier in the unlicensed band during random access initialization, if the random access process is not completed and a counter at the medium access control (Medium Access Control, MAC) layer of the terminal is equal to the fourth threshold, the terminal changes/switches the target carrier to SUL carrier and then performs next random access attempt. Specifically, a serving cell is configured with at least one uplink carrier working in an unlicensed band and one SUL carrier working in a licensed band or an unlicensed band. The random access process initiated by the terminal may be contention-based <NUM>-step random access process, or contention-based <NUM>-step random access process, or further may be non-contention-based random access process. If the terminal selects the uplink carrier in the unlicensed band for the random access process, the terminal sets a first counter. If the random process is not completed, and the terminal selects the uplink carrier in the unlicensed band to continue the random access process and the first counter is equal to the fourth threshold, the terminal switches to the SUL carrier to perform a (subsequent) random access process. PCMAX configured by the network device is equal to PCMAX, f, c of the SUL carrier. The fourth threshold corresponding to the counter can be configured on the network device side through a broadcast message.

a parameter item in the first channel measurement information related to the first type of uplink carrier is greater than or equal to a second threshold.

a parameter item in the second channel measurement information related to the second type of uplink carrier is less than a third threshold.

Before step <NUM>, the method further includes: obtaining threshold information and channel measurement information; where the channel measurement information includes: at least one of the first channel measurement information and the second channel measurement information. The threshold information includes but is not limited to: a threshold corresponding to each parameter item in the channel measurement information, such as the first threshold, the second threshold, the third threshold, and the fourth threshold. Further, the threshold information and the channel measurement information can be obtained through different methods or different processes. For example, the threshold information is obtained through a system message broadcast by a network device, and the channel measurement information is obtained by the terminal through measurement according to a measurement configuration. It is worth pointing out that the process of obtaining the threshold information and the process of obtaining the channel measurement information are not strictly sequentially limited. The threshold information can be first obtained and then the channel measurement information is obtained, or the channel measurement information can be first obtained and then the threshold information is obtained, or the channel measurement information and the threshold information can also be obtained at the same time.

Further, the parameter item in the channel measurement information includes: at least one of reference signal received quality RSRQ, a received signal strength indicator RSSI, a channel busy ratio CBR, and a channel occupancy ratio CR. For the parameter item in the channel measurement information, the preset change condition in this embodiment may be conditions of any combination of RSRQ, RSSI, CBR, and CR in the channel measurement information and corresponding thresholds. In addition, it is worth pointing out that specific values of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can set the values based on actual conditions.

The above <NUM> to <NUM> are examples in which the preset change condition is a single condition, and the following <NUM> to <NUM> are examples in which the preset condition is a combined condition:.

Further, it is worth pointing out that the counter in the embodiments of the present disclosure is configured to record at least one of the following information:.

In this scenario, the terminal can change the target carrier when the random access is not completed, to increase the success rate of the random access, and reduce the random access delay.

It is worth pointing out that the above implementations of scenario <NUM> and scenario <NUM> can be implemented separately or in combination with each other, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit this. In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, scenario <NUM> and scenario <NUM> are described by using only an example in which the first type of uplink carrier can be the uplink carrier working on the unlicensed band, and the second type of uplink carrier can be the SUL carrier. The first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier are both uplink carriers working in the unlicensed band, and the frequency of the first type of uplink carrier is higher than the frequency of the second type of uplink carrier, or the first type of uplink carrier is the NUL carrier and the second type of uplink carrier is the uplink carrier working in the unlicensed band, and the frequency of the NUL carrier is higher than the frequency of the second type of uplink carrier. Both can be implemented through the implementation of the above scenario <NUM> and scenario <NUM>.

In the random access method of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the terminal can select a carrier from the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier, which can increase flexibility of selecting a random access resource. In addition, the terminal further can change a target carrier when random access is not completed. This improves a success rate of random access and reduces a random access delay.

The random access methods in different scenarios are separately described in detail in the foregoing embodiment. A terminal corresponding to the method is further described in the following embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in <FIG>, a terminal <NUM> in an embodiment of this disclosure can implement details of the method in the foregoing embodiments: sending a random access request message through a target carrier; where the target carrier is one of a first type of uplink carrier and a second type of uplink carrier. The same effect can be achieved. The terminal <NUM> specifically includes the following functional modules:
a sending module <NUM>, configured to send a random access request message through a target carrier; where the target carrier is one of a first type of uplink carrier and a second type of uplink carrier.

As shown in <FIG>, the terminal <NUM> further includes:.

The selection module includes:
a first selection submodule, configured to: when the threshold information and the channel measurement information satisfy a first preset condition, determine the second type of uplink carrier as the target carrier; where the first preset condition includes at least one of the following:.

The quality parameter information includes: at least one of reference signal received power RSRP, reference signal received quality RSRQ, a received signal strength indicator RSSI, and a signal to interference plus noise ratio SINR.

As shown in <FIG>, the terminal <NUM> further includes:
a changing module <NUM>, configured to: in a case where a random access process corresponding to the random access message is not completed, change the target carrier if a preset change condition is met.

The changing module <NUM> includes:
a changing submodule, configured to: in a case where the target carrier is the first type of uplink carrier, if the preset change condition is met, change the target carrier from the first type of uplink carrier to the second type of uplink carrier; where the preset change condition includes that a timer corresponding to the random access process expires.

Optionally, the preset change condition further includes at least one of the following:.

The counter is configured to record at least one of the following information:.

The parameter item includes: at least one of reference signal received quality RSRQ, a received signal strength indicator RSSI, a channel busy ratio CBR, and a channel occupancy ratio CR.

The first type of uplink carrier is a normal uplink NUL carrier, and the second type of uplink carrier is a supplement uplink SUL carrier.

It is worth pointing out that the terminal of the embodiments of the present disclosure can select a carrier from the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier, which can increase flexibility of selecting a resource for the random access request message. In addition, the terminal further can change a target carrier when random access is not completed. This improves a success rate of random access and reduces a random access delay.

It should be noted that, division of the modules of the terminal is merely logical function division, and in actual implementation, the modules may be all or partially integrated into one physical entity, or may be physically separated. In addition, these modules may all be implemented in the form of software being invoked by processing elements; or may all be implemented in the form of hardware; or some of the modules may be implemented in the form of software being invoked by processing elements, and some of the modules may be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, the determining module may be a separately disposed processing element, or may be integrated into a chip of the foregoing apparatus for implementation. In addition, the determining module may also be stored in the memory of the foregoing apparatus in the form of program code, and a processing element of the foregoing apparatus invokes the program code and performs the functions of the foregoing determining module. The implementation of other modules are similar thereto. In addition, all or some of these modules may be integrated together or implemented independently. The processing element herein may be an integrated circuit having a signal processing capability. During implementation, the steps of the foregoing method or the foregoing modules can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor element or indications in the form of software.

For example, the above modules can be configured into one or more integrated circuits to perform the above methods, such as: one or more application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), one or more digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), one or more field programmable gate arrays (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), or the like. For another example, when one of the foregoing modules is implemented in the form of program code being scheduled by a processing element, the processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU) or another processor that can invoke program code. For another example, the modules may be integrated and implemented in a form of a system-on-a-chip (system-on-a-chip, SOC).

To better achieve the foregoing objective, further, <FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of hardware of a terminal for implementing the various embodiments of the present disclosure. The terminal <NUM> includes, but is not limited to, components such as a radio frequency unit <NUM>, a network module <NUM>, an audio output unit <NUM>, an input unit <NUM>, a sensor <NUM>, a display unit <NUM>, a user input unit <NUM>, an interface unit <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, and a power supply <NUM>. Those skilled in the art may understand that the terminal structure shown in <FIG> does not constitute a limitation to the terminal. The terminal may include more or fewer components than those shown in the figure, or some components may be combined, or there may be a different component arrangement. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the terminal includes, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a wearable device, a pedometer, or the like.

The radio frequency unit <NUM> is configured to send a random access request message through a target carrier; where the target carrier is one of a first type of uplink carrier and a second type of uplink carrier.

The processor <NUM> is configured to control the radio frequency unit <NUM> to send and receive data.

The terminal of the embodiments of the present disclosure can select a carrier from the first type of uplink carrier and the second type of uplink carrier, which can increase flexibility of selecting a random access resource. In addition, the terminal further can change a target carrier when random access is not completed. This improves a success rate of random access and reduces a random access delay.

It should be understood that in this embodiment of this disclosure, the radio frequency unit <NUM> may be configured to receive and send signals in a process of receiving and sending information or calling. Specifically, the radio frequency unit <NUM> receives downlink data from a base station for processing by the processor <NUM>, and sends uplink data to the base station. Generally, the radio frequency unit <NUM> includes but is not limited to an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like. In addition, the radio frequency unit <NUM> may further communicate with other devices through a wireless communications system and network.

The terminal provides wireless broadband Internet access to a user through the network module <NUM>, for example, helps the user receive and send e-mails, browse web pages, and access streaming media.

The audio output unit <NUM> may convert, into an audio signal, audio data received by the radio frequency unit <NUM> or the network module <NUM> or stored in the memory <NUM>, and output the audio signal as sound. Moreover, the audio output unit <NUM> may further provide audio output (for example, call signal receiving sound and message receiving sound) related to a specific function performed by the terminal <NUM>. The audio output unit <NUM> includes a loudspeaker, a buzzer, a receiver, and the like.

The input unit <NUM> is configured to receive audio or video signals. The input unit <NUM> may include a graphics processing unit (Graphics Processing Unit, GPU) <NUM> and a microphone <NUM>. The graphics processing unit <NUM> processes image data of a static image or video obtained by an image capture apparatus (such as, a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. A processed image frame may be displayed on the display unit <NUM>. The image frame processed by the graphics processing unit <NUM> may be stored in the memory <NUM> (or another storage medium) or sent through the radio frequency unit <NUM> or the network module <NUM>. The microphone <NUM> can receive sound and can process such sound into audio data. The audio data obtained through processing may be converted, in a telephone call mode, into a format that can be sent to a mobile communications base station via the radio frequency unit <NUM> for output.

The terminal <NUM> further includes at least one sensor <NUM>, for example, an optical sensor, a motion sensor, and other sensors. Specifically, the optical sensor includes an ambient optical sensor and a proximity sensor, where the ambient optical sensor can adjust brightness of the display panel <NUM> according to brightness of ambient light, and the proximity sensor can turn off the display panel <NUM> and/or backlight when the terminal <NUM> moves towards the ear. As a type of the motion sensor, an accelerometer sensor may detect magnitude of an acceleration in each direction (generally three axes), and may detect magnitude and a direction of gravity when being static. The accelerometer sensor may be used for recognizing a terminal gesture (for example, horizontal and vertical screen switching, a related game, or magnetometer posture calibration), a function related to vibration recognition (for example, a pedometer or a strike), or the like. The sensor <NUM> may further include a fingerprint sensor, a pressure sensor, an iris sensor, a molecular sensor, a gyroscope, a barometer, a hygrometer, a thermometer, an infrared sensor, and the like. This is not described herein.

The display unit <NUM> is configured to display information input by a user or information provided to a user. The display unit <NUM> may include a display panel <NUM>.

The user input unit <NUM> may be configured to receive inputted digit or character information and generate key signal input related to user setting and function control of the terminal. Specifically, the user input unit <NUM> includes a touch panel <NUM> and another input device <NUM>. The touch panel <NUM> is also referred to as a touchscreen, and may collect a touch operation performed by a user on or near the touch panel <NUM> (such as an operation performed by a user on the touch panel <NUM> or near the touch panel <NUM> by using any proper object or accessory, such as a finger or a stylus). The touch panel <NUM> may include two parts: a touch detection apparatus and a touch controller. The touch detection apparatus detects a touch position of the user, detects a signal brought by the touch operation, and transmits the signal to the touch controller. The touch controller receives touch information from the touch detection apparatus, converts the touch information into contact coordinates, sends the contact coordinates to the processor <NUM>, and can receive and execute a command sent by the processor <NUM>. In addition, the touch panel <NUM> can be implemented by using multiple types such as a resistance type, a capacitance type, infrared rays, and surface acoustic waves. In addition to the touch panel <NUM>, the user input unit <NUM> may also include the another input device <NUM>. Specifically, the another input device <NUM> may include, but is not limited to, a physical keyboard, functional keys (for example, a volume control key and a switch key), a trackball, a mouse, and a joystick.

Further, the touch panel <NUM> may cover the display panel <NUM>. When the touch panel <NUM> detects a touch operation on or near the touch panel <NUM>, the touch operation is transmitted to the processor <NUM> to determine a type of a touch event, and then the processor <NUM> provides corresponding visual output on the display panel <NUM> according to the type of the touch event. In <FIG>, the touch panel <NUM> and the display panel <NUM> are used as two independent components to implement input and output functions of the terminal. However, in some embodiments, the touch panel <NUM> and the display panel <NUM> may be integrated to implement the input and output functions of the terminal. This is not specifically limited herein.

The interface unit <NUM> is an interface connecting an external apparatus to the terminal <NUM>. For example, the external apparatus may include a wired or wireless headset port, an external power supply (or a battery charger) port, a wired or wireless data port, a memory card port, a port for connecting an apparatus having an identification module, an audio input/output (I/O) port, a video I/O port, a headset port, and the like. The interface unit <NUM> may be configured to receive an input (for example, data information and power) from an external apparatus and transmit the received input to one or more elements within the terminal <NUM>, or may be configured to transmit data between the terminal <NUM> and the external apparatus.

The memory <NUM> may be configured to store software programs and various data. The memory <NUM> may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store an operating system, an application required by at least one function (such as a sound play function or an image play function), and the like. The data storage area may store data (such as audio data or an address book) created based on use of the mobile phone, and the like. In addition, the memory <NUM> may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state memory devices.

The processor <NUM> is a control center of the terminal. The processor <NUM> uses various interfaces and lines to connect the various parts of the entire terminal, and performs various functions of the terminal and processes data by running or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the memory <NUM> and invoking data stored in the memory <NUM>, to monitor the terminal as a whole. The processor <NUM> may include one or more processing units. Optionally, the processor <NUM> may integrate an application processor and a modem processor. The application processor mainly deals with an operating system, a user interface, an application program, and the like. The modem processor mainly deals with wireless communication. It can be understood that alternatively, the modem processor may not be integrated into the processor <NUM>.

The terminal <NUM> may further include a power supply <NUM> (for example, a battery) that supplies power to various components. Optionally, the power supply <NUM> may be logically connected to the processor <NUM> by using a power supply management system, to perform functions of managing charging, discharging, and power consumption by using the power supply management system.

In addition, the terminal <NUM> includes some functional modules not shown.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a terminal, including a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, and a computer program that is stored in the memory <NUM> and executable on the processor <NUM>. When the computer program is executed by the processor <NUM>, each process of the embodiment of the foregoing random access method can be implemented, and a same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein again. The terminal may be a wireless terminal or a wired terminal. The wireless terminal may be a device providing voice and/or other service data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or another processing device connected to a wireless modem. The wireless terminal may communicate with one or more core networks through a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN). The wireless terminal may be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (also referred to as a "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal, for example, may be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer built-in, or in-vehicle mobile apparatus, which exchanges voice and/or data with the radio access network. For example, the wireless terminal is a device such as a personal communication service (Personal Communication Service, PCS) telephone, a cordless telephone, a session initiation protocol (Session Initiation Protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) station, or a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA). The wireless terminal may also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit (Subscriber Unit), a subscriber station (Subscriber Station), a mobile station (Mobile Station), a mobile (Mobile) console, a remote station (Remote Station), a remote terminal (Remote Terminal), an access terminal (Access Terminal), a user terminal (User Terminal), a user agent (User Agent), or a user device (User Device or User Equipment). This is not limited herein.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium. A computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium. When being executed by a processor, the computer program implements each process of the embodiment of the foregoing random access method, and a same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein. The computer-readable storage medium is, for example, a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, in combination with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification, units and algorithm steps may be implemented by using electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. A person skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for each particular application, but it should not be considered that the implementation goes beyond the scope of the present disclosure.

A person skilled in the art can clearly understand that to describe conveniently and concisely, for a specific working process of the system, apparatus, and unit described above, refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments.

In the embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners.

In addition, function units in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

If the function is implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, the function may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the present disclosure essentially, or the part contributing to the related art, or some of the technical solutions may be implemented in a form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) to perform all or some of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes various mediums, such as a USB flash disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disc, that can store program code.

In addition, it should be noted that in the apparatus and method of the present disclosure, apparently, the components or steps may be divided and/or recombined. These divisions and/or recombinations should be considered as equivalent solutions of the present disclosure. Moreover, the steps for performing the foregoing series of processing may be performed naturally in chronological order according to a described sequence, but do not necessarily need to be performed in chronological order, and some steps may be performed in parallel or independently. Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or any of the steps or the components of the methods and the apparatuses of the present disclosure may be implemented in any computing apparatus (including a processor, a storage medium, and the like) or a computing apparatus network in the form of hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. Those of ordinary skill in the art can implement this by using their basic programming skills after reading the description of the present disclosure.

Claim 1:
A random access method, performed by a terminal side (<NUM>) and comprising:
sending (<NUM>) a random access request message through a target carrier; wherein the target carrier is one of a first type of uplink carrier and a second type of uplink carrier;
characterized in that
before the step of sending (<NUM>) a random access request message through a target carrier, further comprising:
in a case where a random access process corresponding to the random access message is not completed, changing (<NUM>) the target carrier if a preset change condition is met; wherein
the step of changing (<NUM>) the target carrier if a preset change condition is met comprises:
in a case where the target carrier is the first type of uplink carrier, if the preset change condition is met, changing the target carrier from the first type of uplink carrier to the second type of uplink carrier; wherein the preset change condition comprises that a timer corresponding to the random access process expires; and
before the step of changing the target carrier from the first type of uplink carrier to the second type of uplink carrier if the preset change condition is met, the method further comprises:
after completing initial selection of the target carrier or completing previous change of the target carrier, starting the timer corresponding to the random access process.