Patent Description:
To meet a requirement of a next-generation communications system on a large capacity, a high-frequency band greater than <NUM> is introduced for communication, to use high-bandwidth and high-rate transmission. Due to a high path loss of high-frequency communication, a narrow beam needs to be used to ensure a propagation distance and a high beam gain. However, the narrow beam has limited coverage. To ensure communication quality, narrow beam alignment between a network device and a terminal device is required.

System information in a long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) communications system is periodically broadcast and sent. When system information in a high-frequency system is to be sent, a network device needs to scan a plurality of beams to transmit the system information to the terminal device, to ensure coverage of an entire cell. If all system information is still periodically broadcast and sent, excessive resources of a network are occupied. In addition, because a high-frequency cell has relatively small coverage, high-frequency cells need to be distributed very densely to ensure coverage. When moving in a particular area, a terminal device hands over between different high-frequency cells very frequently, and most of content of system information in the high-frequency cells in the particular area is the same. In a schematic diagram of area distribution of high-frequency cells shown in <FIG>, an area <NUM> includes a cell <NUM>, a cell <NUM>, and a cell <NUM>, and most of system information in the three cells is the same; and similarly, an area <NUM> includes a cell <NUM> and a cell <NUM>, and most of system information in the two cells is the same. If the terminal device needs to re-obtain all system information each time the terminal device enters a cell, excessive load is caused to a network.

Therefore, how to reduce network resource overheads when the network device sends system information has become a problem that needs to be urgently resolved.

The 3GPP draft <NPL>, discusses index based approaches regarding broadcasting of system information.

This application provides system information transmission methods, a terminal device, and a network device, to reduce network resource overheads for transmitting system information.

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or in the background more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments of the present invention or the background.

A communications system in the embodiments of the present invention includes a network device and a terminal device. The communications system may be a global system for mobile communications (Global System for Mobile Communication, GSM), a code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA) system, and a wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) system, a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, WiMAX) system, a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, a <NUM> communications system (for example, a new radio (new radio, NR) system), a communications system that integrates a plurality of communications technologies (for example, a communications system integrating an LTE technology and an NR technology), or a subsequent evolved communications system.

The terminal device in the embodiments of the present invention is a device having a wireless communication function, and may be a handheld device, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a computing device, another processing device connected to a wireless modem, or the like having a wireless communication function. The terminal device may have different names in different networks, for example, user equipment (User Equipment, UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile console, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile terminal, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communications device, a user agent, a user apparatus, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (Session Initiation Protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), or a terminal device in a <NUM> network or a future evolved network.

The network device in the embodiments of the present invention is a device deployed in a radio access network and configured to provide a wireless communication function, and includes but is not limited to: a base station (for example, a BTS (Base Transceiver Station, BTS), a NodeB (NodeB, NB), an evolved NodeB (Evolutional NodeB, eNB or eNodeB), a transmission and reception point or a transceiver point (transmission reception point, TRP or TP) in an NR system, a next generation NodeB (generation nodeB, gNB), or a base station or a network device in a future communications network), a relay node, an access point, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a wireless fidelity (Wireless-Fidelity, Wi-Fi) site, a wireless backhaul node, a small cell, a micro station, and the like.

Specifically, <FIG> is a schematic architectural diagram of an example of a communications system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In <FIG>, a base station <NUM> may include a plurality of antenna groups. Each antenna group may include one or more antennas. For example, one antenna group may include antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, and another antenna group may include antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. In addition, an additional group may be further included, and the additional group may include antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. Different antenna groups in high-frequency communication may be combined into different antenna panels (panel). For example, one antenna group generates a beam, pointing to a direction, and the another antenna group generates another beam, pointing to another direction. To achieve different device capabilities, more antennas may be required. Therefore, depending on the different device capabilities, the additional group may be set to have different quantities of antennas. For example, as shown in <FIG>, each antenna group has two antennas; however, each group may use more or fewer antennas. The base station <NUM> may additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that both the transmitter chain and the receiver chain may include a plurality of components, for example, a processor, a modulator, a multiplexer, a demodulator, a demultiplexer, or an antenna, related to signal sending and receiving.

The base station <NUM> may communicate with one or more terminal devices, for example, communicate with a terminal device <NUM> and a terminal device <NUM>. However, it may be understood that, the base station <NUM> may communicate with any quantity of terminal devices similar to the terminal device <NUM> or <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the terminal device <NUM> communicates with the antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. The antennas <NUM> and <NUM> send information to the terminal device <NUM> through a forward link <NUM>, and receive information from the terminal device <NUM> through a reverse link <NUM>. In addition, the terminal device <NUM> communicates with the antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. The antennas <NUM> and <NUM> send information to the terminal device <NUM> through a forward link <NUM>, and receive information from the terminal device <NUM> through a reverse link <NUM>. In a frequency division duplex (Frequency Division Duplex, FDD) system, for example, the forward link <NUM> may use a frequency band different from that used by the reverse link <NUM>, and the forward link <NUM> may use a frequency band different from that used by the reverse link <NUM>. In addition, in a time division duplex (Time Division Duplex, TDD) system, the forward link <NUM> and the reverse link <NUM> may use a same frequency band, and the forward link <NUM> and the reverse link <NUM> may use a same frequency band.

An area covered by each group of antennas designed for communication and/or an area covered by transmission of each group of antennas is referred to as a sector of the base station <NUM>. For example, the antenna group may be designed to communicate with a terminal device in a sector within coverage of the base station <NUM>. In a process in which the base station <NUM> communicates with the terminal devices <NUM> and <NUM> respectively through the forward links <NUM> and <NUM>, signal-to-noise ratios of the forward links <NUM> and <NUM> can be improved through beamforming by a transmit antenna of the base station <NUM>. In addition, compared with a manner in which a base station sends, through a single antenna, signals to all terminal devices accessing the base station, when the base station <NUM> sends, through beamforming, signals to the terminal devices <NUM> and <NUM> that are randomly dispersed within related coverage, a mobile node in a neighboring cell is subject to less interference.

At a given time, the base station <NUM>, the terminal device <NUM>, or the terminal device <NUM> may be a wireless communications sending apparatus and/or a wireless communications receiving apparatus. When sending data, the wireless communications sending apparatus may encode the data for transmission. Specifically, the wireless communications sending apparatus may obtain, for example, generate, receive from another communications apparatus, or store in a memory, a particular quantity of data bits to be sent to the wireless communications receiving apparatus through a channel. Such a data bit may be included in a transport block or a plurality of transport blocks of data, and the transport blocks may be segmented to produce a plurality of code blocks.

It should be noted that the terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present invention may be used interchangeably. "A plurality of" means two or more, and in view of this, "a plurality of" may also be understood as "at least two" in the embodiments of the present invention. The term "and/or" describes an association relationship for describing associated objects and represents that three relationships may exist. In addition, the character "/" generally indicates an "or" relationship between the associated objects.

<FIG> is a schematic interaction flowchart of a system information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method may include the following steps.

A network device broadcasts a minimum system information message.

In this embodiment, system information is organized by using system information blocks (SIB), and each SIB aggregates parameter content related to a function. Defined SIBs mainly include: (<NUM>) a master information block (Master Information Block, MIB): a basic parameter required when UE initially accesses a network; (<NUM>) a SIB <NUM>: a parameter related to cell access and cell selection, and time domain scheduling information for another SIB; (<NUM>) a SIB <NUM>: public radio resource configuration information; (<NUM>) a SIB <NUM> to a SIB <NUM>: parameters used to control intra-frequency, inter-frequency, and inter-RAT cell reselection; (<NUM>) a home base station name; and (<NUM>) a SIB <NUM> to a SIB <NUM>: an earthquake or tsunami warning message, and the like. The MIB is carried by using a physical broadcast channel (Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH), and a transmission period is fixedly <NUM>. The SIB <NUM> is carried by using a physical downlink shared channel (Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH), and a transmission period is fixedly <NUM>. The other SIBs are included in a system information block group (an SI message) and transmitted through scheduling. Each SI message may include one or more SIBs, the SI message is carried by using a PDSCH, and a transmission period is configurable, so that it may also be considered that the system information is organized by using SI messages. Parameter content of each SIB may vary in different communications systems, and this is not limited herein.

In this embodiment, some most minimum and most important system information used by the UE to access a network is used as MSI (Minimum SI), for example, the MIB, the SIB <NUM>, and the SIB <NUM>, and is periodically broadcast and sent. Other system information is sent as OSI (Other SI) according to a requirement, sending of some OSI needs to be scheduled with a request of the UE, and sending of the other OSI is triggered on a network side, to save system resources. Minimum system information blocks such as the MIB, the SIB <NUM>, and the SIB <NUM> are broadcast in one message, and it may be considered that one MSI message includes these minimum system information blocks.

For a next-generation mobile communications system such as <NUM>, a high-frequency cell has relatively small coverage, and high-frequency cells need to be distributed very densely to ensure coverage. When moving in a particular area, the UE hands over between different high-frequency cells very frequently. Most of content of system information in the high-frequency cells in the particular area is the same. If the UE needs to re-obtain all system information each time the UE enters a cell, excessive load is caused to a network. Therefore, the MSI message includes identification information of one or more SIBs/SI messages, and the SIB/SI message may include MSI and OSI, or may include only OSI. Further, identification information of each SIB/SI message includes an identifier of the SIB/SI message and a type indication of the identifier. The identifier is, for example, an index of the SIB/SI message, namely, an index. An example in which the identifier is an index is used for description in the following descriptions. The index is used to identify a version of each SIB/SI message in a particular area (the version of the SIB/SI message corresponds to a particular parameter configuration of the SIB/SI message). The type indication of the identifier is used to indicate that a type of the identifier of the SIB/SI message is an area specific system information identifier (Area specific Index) or a cell specific system information identifier (Cell specific Index). In this way, the UE first reads an index from a broadcast MSI message when entering a cell, and if a system message version corresponding to the index is already stored by the UE, the UE does not need re-obtain content of system information corresponding to the index.

During specific implementation, the network is first divided into areas, and system information in each cell in an area is identified. A group of neighboring cells with most same system information may be divided into one area, or a tracking area (Tracking Area, TA) may be used as an area in this embodiment. Area division is not limited in this embodiment. In addition, an area within a particular range may be identified. The identifier may include an area identifier, for example, the area identifier may be an index number of the area, and the index number may be specifically a numeral (system information Area id): <NUM>, <NUM>,. , or N (N is a positive integer). Area numbers exceeding a particular range may be repeated, provided that area identifiers (Area id) of system information in cells in one area are the same, and area ids of neighboring areas (or relatively close areas) are different. Numbers of system information in one area cannot be repeated, and numbers of system information in different areas may be repeated.

The identified system information may be a single SIB or a combination of a plurality of SIBs (an SI message), to be specific, each SIB corresponds to one index, or each SI message corresponds to one index. SIBs/SI messages in the area may have different versions (include different parameter content). For example, in a schematic diagram of identifiers of different versions in an area shown in <FIG>, SIBxs in a cell <NUM> and a cell <NUM> in the area <NUM> (Area <NUM>) have a same version/same content, and correspond to an identifier Index1, and a SIBx in a cell <NUM> has a version different from that in the cell <NUM> and the cell <NUM>, and corresponds to an identifier Index2. Therefore, SIBxs in different cells correspond to different indexes. In an area <NUM> (Area <NUM>), there is an index of a SIBx that is the same as that in the area <NUM>. Because indexes in different areas may be repeatedly numbered, a same index in the area <NUM> and the area <NUM> may correspond to different versions of SIBxs, to be specific, correspond to different parameter content.

However, for SIBs/SI messages in an area, some versions may exist in a plurality of cells in the area, and the other versions are applicable only to a single cell in the area, for example, the SIBxs in the area <NUM> in <FIG>, where a version of the SIBx-Index1 can be used in both cells: the cell <NUM> and the cell <NUM>, while a version of the SIBx-Index2 can be used only in one cell: the cell <NUM>. In this embodiment of the present invention, a version of a SIB/an SI message that can be used in a plurality of cells in an area is referred to as an area specific SIB/SI message, and a version of a SIB/an SI message that can be used only in one cell in the area is referred to as a cell specific SIB/SI message. The area specific SIB/SI message and the cell specific SIB/SI message are separately numbered, to be specific, an area specific version of each SIB/SI message is numbered by using an area specific index, and a cell specific version of each SIB/SI message is numbered by using a cell specific index, and <NUM> bit is added to indicate whether the index is an area specific index or a cell specific index, to form identification information of the area specific SIB/SI message or the cell specific SIB/SI message. Then one or more pieces of identification information are placed in the MSI message and broadcast (specifically, are carried in a minimum system information block in the MSI, for example, carried in the SIB1).

Therefore, area specific versions and cell specific versions of SIBs/SI messages are respectively numbered by using indexes, and fixed bit quantities may be respectively set for the two different indexes of each SIB/SI message. The area specific indexes of all the SIBs/SI messages may occupy a same quantity of bits or different quantities of bits. Similarly, the cell specific indexes of all the SIBs/SI messages may occupy a same quantity of bits or different quantities of bits. Usually, the area specific index and the cell specific index may correspondingly occupy different quantities of bits. In this way, because a number of the area specific index may be longer, more bits are required, while because a number of the cell specific index may be shorter, fewer bits are required. A length of the identification information can be reduced by corresponding to different bits based on the type of the identifier, thereby reducing network resource overheads required by the network device to broadcast the MSI message. In addition, a <NUM>-bit indication bit is added before the index, to indicate whether the index is an area specific index or a cell specific index. The identification information may be a structure parameter (SIB/SI message Index structure). The entire SIB/SI message index structure may have a word length that is dynamically adjusted, for example, a SIB/SI message index structure shown below:
<IMG>.

The MSI message may include the identification information of each SIB/SI message (certainly, the MSI message may not include the identification information of all the SIBs/SI messages, for example, the SIBs <NUM> to <NUM> are SIBs that do not need to be actively obtained by the UE, and identification information of the SIBs <NUM> to <NUM> may not be included in the MSI message; some identification information that is in MSI and that is sent by using a PBCH may not be included in the MSI message; and some identification information that is in the MSI and that is sent by using a PDSCH may not be included in the MSI message).

The identification information of each SIB/SI message includes a <NUM>-bit indication bit F, used to indicate whether the index is an area specific index or a cell specific index, and the identification information of the SIB/SI message further includes an index, where the index may be an area specific index or a cell specific index.

Optionally, the identification information of each SIB/SI message may further include a <NUM>-bit indication bit O, used to indicate whether the cell supports the SIB/SI message. Considering that a SIB/an SI message is not supported in some cells, the indication bit may be defined. Certainly, the indication bit may not be defined, and it is default that each SIB/SI message in the SIB/SI message index structure is supported in all cells.

Further, the identification information of the SIB/SI message may further include a <NUM>-bit indication bit E, used to indicate whether there is identification information of a next SIB/SI message. The indication bit may be optional. When the indication bit does not exist, the MSI message may include a fixed quantity of identification information of SIBs/SI messages, and the network device may notify the UE of the quantity of identification information. The UE reads the fixed quantity of identification information of SIBs/SI messages.

In addition, the identification information of the SIBs/SI messages in the MSI message may be arranged in a fixed order. An operation procedure of reading the SIB/SI message index structure by the UE is as follows: The UE sequentially reads the identification information of each SIB/SI message. If the indication bit O exists, the UE first determines, based on the indication bit O (<NUM> or <NUM>), whether the SIB/SI message exists in the cell. If the indication bit O indicates that the SIB/SI message does not exist, the UE does not need to read the indication bit F, and considers by default that the index corresponding to the SIB/SI message is of <NUM> bits. If the indication bit O indicates that the SIB/SI message exists in the cell, the UE determines, based on the indication bit F (<NUM> or <NUM>), whether the SIB/SI message is an area specific SIB/SI message or a cell specific SIB/SI message. If the SIB/SI message is an area specific SIB/SI message, the UE considers that a length of the index is a fixed bit quantity of an area specific version of the SIB/SI message, and reads the index of the fixed bit quantity. If the SIB/SI message is a cell specific SIB/SI message, the UE considers that a length of the index is a fixed bit quantity of a cell specific version of the SIB/SI message, and reads the index of the fixed bit quantity. In addition, if the indication bit O does not exist, the UE directly determines, based on the indication bit F (<NUM> or <NUM>), whether the SIB/SI message is an area specific SIB/SI message or a cell specific SIB/SI message, determines a length of the index, and reads the index based on a determined bit quantity. If the indication bit E exists, the UE further needs to read the indication bit E, and determines, based on the indication bit E (<NUM> or <NUM>), whether to read a next piece of identification information. If the indication bit E does not exist, the UE determines, based on a quantity of read identification information and the quantity of identification information of the SIBs/SI messages included in the MSI message, whether there is a next piece of identification information.

The indication bit O, the indication bit F, the index, and the indication bit E in each piece of identification information may be arranged and read in any arrangement order and reading order.

In this embodiment, the network device broadcasts the identification information of the SIB/SI message in the MSI message, and separately identifies the area specific version and the cell specific version of the SIB/SI message, to be specific, the identification information includes different identifiers based on the type of the identifier, so that the length of the identification information can be adjusted, thereby reducing network resource overheads.

For each high-frequency cell, identification information of each SIB/SI message in the cell is broadcast in MSI, and an area id corresponding to the cell may be further broadcast. Each time the UE enters a cell, the UE obtains identification information of each SIB/SI message in the cell and then may store the identification information of each SIB/SI message in the cell. Content stored by the UE includes a cell identifier (for example, a cell id or a physical cell identifier (Physical-layer Cell Identity, PCI)) of the cell, an area id corresponding to the cell, the identification information of each SIB/SI message in the cell. A quantity of cells in which identification information of SIBs/SI messages is to be stored by the UE is determined by the UE, and may depend on a memory size of the UE. Therefore, each time the UE enters a high-frequency cell, the UE may obtain an identifier of the cell, and read, from an MSI message, an area id and identification information of each SIB/SI message that are broadcast. The UE may further determine, based on whether the UE stores the identification information of each SIB/SI message in the cell, SIBs/SI messages that need to be obtained.

According to the system information transmission method provided in this embodiment of the present invention, the network device broadcasts the identification information of the system information block/system information block group in the minimum system information message, and the identification information corresponding to the different identifiers is included based on the type of the identifier, thereby reducing network resource overheads.

<FIG> is a schematic interaction flowchart of another system information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method may include the following steps.

A network device broadcasts a minimum system information MSI message.

This step is the same as step S101 in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, and details are not described herein again.

The terminal device obtains a type of an identifier of each SIB/system information block group in identification information of the SIB/system information block group, and obtains an identifier that is of the SIB/system information block group and that is included in a bit quantity corresponding to the type of the identifier, where the bit quantity of the identifier corresponds to the type of the identifier.

For this step, refer to the operation procedure of reading the SIB/SI message index structure by the UE in the embodiment shown in <FIG>.

In addition, in a further implementation, identification information of each SIB/SI message included in the SIB/SI message index structure may be used as an independent parameter, so that the UE may randomly obtain identification information of a SIB/an SI message, without sequentially reading the identification information of each SIB/SI message in the SIB/SI message index structure to obtain the identification information of each SIB/SI message as the operation procedure described above. An index structure of each SIB/SI message is as follows:.

A difference from the foregoing embodiment lies in that, an indication bit E does not need to be defined in the SIB/SI message index structure to indicate whether there is identification information of a next SIB/SI message. Each indication bit and content included in the index in the SIB/SI message index structure are the same as those in the foregoing embodiment, and a reading procedure of the UE is also basically the same as the operation procedure of reading the SIB/SI message index structure by the UE in the foregoing embodiment:.

The UE reads the identification information of the SIB/SI message. If an indication bit O exists, the UE first determines, based on the indication bit O (<NUM> or <NUM>), whether the SIB/SI message exists in the cell. If the SIB/SI message does not exist in the cell, the UE does not need to read an indication bit F, and considers by default that an index corresponding to the SIB/SI message is of <NUM> bits. If the indication bit O indicates that the SIB/SI message exists in the cell, the UE determines, based on an indication bit F (<NUM> or <NUM>), whether the SIB/SI message is an area specific SIB/SI message or a cell specific SIB/SI message. If the SIB/SI message is an area specific SIB/SI message, the UE considers that a length of the index is a fixed bit quantity of an area specific version of the SIB/SI message, and reads the index of the fixed bit quantity. If the SIB/SI message is a cell specific SIB/SI message, the UE considers that a length of the index is a fixed bit quantity of a cell specific version of the SIB/SI message, and reads the index of the fixed bit quantity. If the indication bit O does not exist, the UE directly determines, based on the indication bit F (<NUM> or <NUM>), whether the SIB/SI message is an area specific SIB/SI message or a cell specific SIB/SI message, determines a length of the index, and reads the index based on a determined bit quantity.

A specific implementation in which the identification information of each SIB/SI message included in the SIB/SI message index structure is used as an independent parameter may be as follows: The identification information of each SIB/SI message is located at a fixed time-frequency resource position (the fixed time-frequency resource position may not be absolute), and the time-frequency resource position may be a time-frequency resource that is fixed relative to a time-frequency resource position of a message/parameter, for example, a distance of n OFDM symbols in time domain from the message, and a distance of m subcarriers (m and n are positive integers) in frequency domain from the message; or the identification information (carried by using a PDSCH) of the SIBs/SI messages is scheduled and indicated by using different DCI (Downlink Control Information). The foregoing specific implementation is merely an example, and this is not limited thereto during specific implementation. In this way, the UE can separately read the identification information of each SIB/SI message.

In another implementation, the MSI message may further include OSI scheduling information (which may be schedulingInfoList). The scheduling information may include scheduling information for each SIB/SI message, and the scheduling information for each SIB/SI message is arranged in total scheduling information in a particular fixed order. Therefore, an arrangement order of identification information of various pieces of OSI may be the same as an arrangement order of scheduling information for the various pieces of OSI in the scheduling information. If a SIB in MSI also needs to be numbered by using an index, identification information of the MSI is arranged before the identification information of the OSI in order. Therefore, a format of the identification information of each SIB/SI message is shown below:.

In this implementation, because the scheduling information indicates a quantity of and/or an arrangement order of identification information of other system information blocks/other system information block groups, the identification information of the SIB/SI message may include the indication bit F and content of the index. The indication bit F is used to indicate whether the SIB/SI message is an area specific SIB/SI message or a cell specific SIB/SI message. The content of the index is the same as that in the descriptions of the foregoing embodiment.

An operation procedure of reading the identification information of each SIB/SI message by the UE is as follows: The UE first learns, based on the scheduling information for the OSI included in the MSI message, of a total quantity of OSI whose identification information exists in the SIB/SI message index structure, and an arrangement order of the identification information of the SIBs/SI messages. Then the UE sequentially reads indexes of the SIBs/SI messages from the SIB/SI message index structure. The UE determines, based on the indication bit F (<NUM> or <NUM>), whether the SIB/SI message is an area specific SIB/SI message or a cell specific SIB/SI message. If the SIB/SI message is an area specific SIB/SI message, the UE considers that a length of the index is a fixed bit quantity of an area specific version of the SIB/SI message, and reads the index of the fixed bit quantity. If the SIB/SI message is a cell specific SIB/SI message, the UE considers that a length of the index is a fixed bit quantity of a cell specific version of the SIB/SI message, and reads the index of the fixed bit quantity.

The terminal device compares, based on a type of an identifier of at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell, an identifier of at least one piece of cell specific system information in the target cell with a stored identifier of at least one piece of cell specific system information in the target cell, and an identifier of at least one piece of area specific system information in the target cell with a stored identifier of at least one piece of area specific system information in the cell in the area respectively, to determine whether the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell is the same as the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group.

Whether the identifier of the SIB/SI message in the target cell is the same as the identifier that is of the SIB/SI message and that is stored by the UE is determined based on the type of the identification information of the SIB/SI message, to determine whether the UE stores the SIB/SI message in the target cell. Specifically, for a cell specific SIB/SI message, the UE may determine whether the UE stores a SIB/an SI message corresponding to the cell identifier. If the UE already stores the SIB/SI message corresponding to the cell identifier, the UE further determines through comparison whether the identifier of the cell specific SIB/SI message in the target cell is the same as an identifier that is of the cell specific SIB/SI message in the target cell and that is stored by the UE. If same indexes exist, the UE does not need to re-obtain a cell specific SIB/SI message corresponding to the same indexes, and the UE only needs to obtain a cell specific SIB/SI message corresponding to an index different from the indexes. For an area specific SIB/SI message, the UE may determine whether an area specific SIB/SI message corresponding to the area id is stored. If the UE already stores the area specific SIB/SI message corresponding to the area id, the UE further determines whether an index of an area specific SIB/SI message in the target cell is the same as an index that is of the area specific SIB/SI message corresponding to the area id and that is stored by the UE. If same indexes of an area specific SIB/SI message exist, the UE does not need to re-obtain a SIB/an SI message corresponding to the same indexes, and the UE only needs to obtain an area specific SIB/SI message corresponding to an index different from the indexes.

The terminal device further performs at least one of the following steps:
if an identifier of at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell is partially the same as an identifier that is of at least one SIB/system information block group in a cell in an area and that is stored by the terminal device, obtaining, by the terminal device, at least one SIB/system information block group corresponding to an identifier that is in the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell and that is different from the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group; or if an identifier of at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell is different from all of the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group, obtaining, by the terminal device, all SIBs/system information block groups in the target cell.

Whether the identifier of the SIB/SI message in the target cell is the same as the identifier that is of the SIB/SI message and that is stored by the UE is determined through step S203. Based on a determining result, if the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell is partially the same as the identifier that is of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the cell in the area and that is stored by the terminal device, the terminal device obtains the at least one SIB/system information block group corresponding to the identifier that is in the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell and that is different from the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group; or if the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell is different from all of the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group, the terminal device obtains all the SIBs/system information block groups in the target cell. It should be noted that, if the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell is the same as all of the identifier that is of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the cell in the area and that is stored by the terminal device, the terminal device does not need to obtain the at least one SIB/system information block group, and the terminal device does not need to perform the obtaining operation.

For the SIB/SI message that needs to be obtained by the UE, in a possible case, if the SIB/SI message is MSI, the UE reads the SIB/SI message from the broadcast MSI message. In another possible case, if the SIB/SI message is OSI, the UE may send an SI obtaining request to the network device to obtain the SIB/SI message, and the network device receives the obtaining request from the UE. If the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group is partially the same as the identifier that is of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the cell in the area and that is stored by the terminal device, the obtaining request is used to obtain the at least one SIB/system information block group corresponding to the identifier that is in the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group and that is different from the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group; or if an identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group is different from all of the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group, the obtaining request is used to obtain all the SIBs/system information block groups. In still another possible case, the scheduling information for the SIB/SI message is read from the MSI, to obtain the SIB/SI message at the corresponding resource position. For example, if it is learned, based on the scheduling information, that the SIB/SI message is being broadcast in the cell at the resource position corresponding to the scheduling information, the UE may receive the broadcast SIB/SI message.

It should be noted that, the SIB/SI message obtained by the terminal device should be a SIB/an SI message that needs to be obtained by the terminal device, and the SIB/SI message corresponding to the identifier of the SIB/SI message in the target cell that is compared by the terminal device with the identifier stored by the terminal device should also be a SIB/an SI message that needs to be obtained by the terminal device (because other SI that needs to be obtained by the terminal device is defined in a protocol, and some other SI may not be obtained by the terminal device).

In conclusion, the network device broadcasts the identification information of the system information block/system information block group in the minimum system information message, and identification information corresponding to different identifiers is included based on the type of the identifier, where a quantity of bits occupied by the identifier corresponds to the type of the identifier, thereby saving network system resources; and the terminal device determines, based on the type of the identifier, an identifier to be obtained, to obtain a system information block/system information block group not stored by the terminal device, thereby further saving network system resources.

Further, if the terminal device camps on the target cell, the SIB/SI message in the target cell may be updated. Therefore, in an implementation, after the terminal device obtains the at least one SIB/system information block group, the method may further include the following steps (not shown):.

During specific implementation, in a possible case, the update indication may be a paging message (paging message). However, after receiving the update indication, the UE does not learn of updated SIBs/SI messages. The UE receives the MSI message broadcast by the network device. The MSI message includes identification information of the updated SIB/SI message. Then the UE determines, based on a type of the identification information of the SIB/SI message, whether the identifier of the updated SIB/SI message in the target cell is the same as the identifier that is of the SIB/SI message and that is stored by the UE, to determine whether the UE stores the updated SIB/SI message in the target cell. For a cell specific SIB/SI message, the UE determines through comparison whether an identifier of the updated cell specific SIB/SI message in the target cell is the same as an identifier that is of the cell specific SIB/SI message in the target cell and that is stored by the UE. If same indexes exist, the UE does not need to re-obtain a cell specific SIB/SI message corresponding to the same indexes, and the UE only needs to obtain a cell specific SIB/SI message corresponding to an index different from the indexes. For an area specific SIB/SI message, the UE may determine whether an updated area specific SIB/SI message corresponding to the area id is stored. If the UE already stores the area specific SIB/SI message corresponding to the area id, the UE further determines whether an index of an updated area specific SIB/SI message in the target cell is the same as an index that is of the area specific SIB/SI message corresponding to the area id and that is stored by the UE. If same indexes of an area specific SIB/SI message exist, the UE does not need to re-obtain a SIB/an SI message corresponding to the same indexes, and the UE only needs to obtain an updated area specific SIB/SI message corresponding to an index different from the indexes.

In another possible case, the paging message may be used to indicate one updated SIB/SI message or several updated SIBs/SI messages. After the UE receives system information update indication indicating updated SIBs/SI messages, the UE first obtains an index of the updated SIB/SI message from the MSI message (in an obtaining manner, the MSI message carries identification information of an independent SIB/SI message, so that the UE does not need to obtain identification information of all SIBs/SI messages; in another obtaining manner, the MSI message includes identification information of all SIBs/SI messages, and the UE sequentially reads the identification information of all the SIBs/SI messages, and then obtains the index of the updated SIB/SI message). Then the UE determines whether a version corresponding to the index is already stored, and a determining method is the same as the foregoing determining, so that a SIB/an SI message corresponding to a stored index does not need to be re-obtained. For a step of obtaining, by the UE, a SIB/SI message that is not stored, in an implementation, if the SIB/SI message is MSI, the UE reads the SIB/SI message from the broadcast MSI message. In another implementation, if the SIB/SI message is OSI, the UE may send an SI obtaining request to the network device to obtain the SIB/SI message, and the network device receives the obtaining request from the UE. If the identifier of the at least one updated SIB/system information block group is partially the same as the identifier that is of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell and that is stored by the terminal device, the obtaining request is used to obtain the at least one SIB/system information block group corresponding to the identifier that is in the identifier of the at least one updated SIB/system information block group and that is different from the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell; or if the identifier of the at least one updated SIB/system information block group is different from all of the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell, the obtaining request is used to obtain all the updated SIBs/system information block groups. In still another implementation, scheduling information for the SIB/SI message is read from MSI, to obtain the SIB/SI message at a corresponding resource position. For example, if it is learned, based on the scheduling information, that the SIB/SI message is being broadcast in another cell at the resource position corresponding to the scheduling information, the UE may receive the broadcast SIB/SI message.

Similarly, for the SIB/SI message that needs to be obtained by the UE, if the SIB/SI message is MSI, the UE reads the SIB/SI message from the broadcast MSI message, or if the SIB/SI message is OSI, the UE may obtain the SIB/SI message by sending an SI request, or reads scheduling information for the SIB/SI message in the MSI, to obtain the SIB/SI message at a corresponding resource position.

According to the system information transmission method provided in this embodiment of the present invention, the network device broadcasts the identification information of the system information block/system information block group in the minimum system information message, and identification information corresponding to different identifiers is included based on the type of the identifier, where a quantity of bits occupied by the identifier corresponds to the type of the identifier, thereby saving network system resources; and the terminal device determines, based on the type of the identifier, an identifier to be obtained, and when the terminal device moves to the target cell or receives the update indication of the system information block/system information block group, the terminal device obtains, from the network device, a system information block/system information block group not stored by the terminal device, thereby further saving network system resources.

The method in the embodiments of the present invention is described in detail above, and an apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention is provided below.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of modules of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network device is applicable to the communications system described above. The network device <NUM> may include a sending unit <NUM>, and may further include a receiving unit <NUM> (a connection is indicated by a dashed line in the figure).

The sending unit <NUM> is configured to broadcast a minimum system information MSI message, where the MSI message includes identification information of at least one system information block SIB/system information block group, identification information of each SIB/system information block group includes an identifier of the SIB/system information block group and a type indication of the identifier, the identifier of each SIB/system information block group is used to indicate a version of the SIB/system information block group, and the type indication of the identifier is used to indicate that a type of the identifier of the SIB/system information block group is an area specific system information identifier or a cell specific system information identifier.

In an implementation, a bit quantity of the identifier corresponds to the type of the identifier.

In another implementation, the identification information of each SIB/system information block group further includes at least one of the following information: an indication indicating whether there is an identifier of a next SIB/system information block group, and an indication indicating whether the cell supports the system information.

In still another implementation, the MSI message further includes scheduling information for at least one other system information block/other system information block group, and the other system information block/other system information block group is a SIB/system information block group other than a minimum system information block/minimum system information block group.

In still another implementation, the scheduling information is further used to indicate a quantity and/or an arrangement order of identification information of the at least one other system information block/other system information block group.

In still another implementation, the receiving unit <NUM> is configured to receive an obtaining request for at least one SIB/system information block group from a terminal device, where if an identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group is partially the same as an identifier that is of at least one SIB/system information block group in a cell in an area and that is stored by the terminal device, the obtaining request is used to request to obtain at least one SIB/system information block group corresponding to an identifier that is in the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group and that is different from the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group; or if an identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group is different from all of the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group, the obtaining request is used to request to obtain all SIBs/system information block groups.

The sending unit <NUM> is further configured to send the at least one requested SIB/system information block group to the terminal device.

According to the network device provided in this embodiment of the present invention, the network device broadcasts the identification information of the system information block/system information block group in the minimum system information message, and identification information corresponding to different identifiers is included based on the type of the identifier, thereby reducing network resource overheads.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of modules of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device is applicable to the communications system described above. The terminal device <NUM> may include a receiving unit <NUM> and a first obtaining unit <NUM>.

The receiving unit <NUM> is configured to: when the terminal device moves to a target cell, receive a minimum system information MSI message from a network device corresponding to the target cell, where the MSI message includes identification information of at least one system information block SIB/system information block group, identification information of each SIB/system information block group includes an identifier of the SIB/system information block group and a type indication of the identifier, the identifier of each SIB/system information block group is used to indicate a version of the SIB/system information block group, and the type indication of the identifier is used to indicate that a type of the identifier of the SIB/system information block group is an area specific system information identifier or a cell specific system information identifier.

The first obtaining unit <NUM> is configured to: if an identifier of at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell is partially the same as an identifier that is of at least one SIB/system information block group in a cell in an area and that is stored by the terminal device, obtain at least one SIB/system information block group corresponding to an identifier that is in the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell and that is different from the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group; or if an identifier of at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell is different from all of the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group, obtain all SIBs/system information block groups in the target cell.

According to the terminal device provided in this embodiment of the present invention, the terminal device receives the identification information that is of the system information block/system information block group and that is broadcast by the network device in the minimum system information message, and identification information corresponding to different identifiers is included based on the type of the identifier, thereby reducing network resource overheads.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of modules of another terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device is applicable to the communications system described above. The terminal device <NUM> may include a receiving unit <NUM>, a second obtaining unit <NUM>, a determining unit <NUM>, and a first obtaining unit <NUM>.

The second obtaining unit <NUM> is configured to: obtain a type of an identifier of each SIB/system information block group in identification information of the SIB/system information block group, and obtain an identifier that is of the SIB/system information block group and that is included in a bit quantity corresponding to the type of the identifier, where the bit quantity of the identifier corresponds to the type of the identifier.

The determining unit <NUM> is configured to compare, based on the type of the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell, an identifier of at least one piece of cell specific system information in the target cell with a stored identifier of at least one piece of cell specific system information in the target cell, and an identifier of at least one piece of area specific system information in the target cell with a stored identifier of at least one piece of area specific system information in the cell in the area respectively, to determine whether the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target high-frequency cell is the same as the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group.

Further, in an implementation, the receiving unit <NUM> is further configured to: when receiving an update indication of a SIB/system information block group from the network device, receive an MSI message from the network device, to obtain an identifier of at least one updated SIB/system information block group.

The first obtaining unit <NUM> is further configured to: if the identifier of the at least one updated SIB/system information block group is partially the same as the identifier that is of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell and that is stored by the terminal device, obtain at least one SIB/system information block group corresponding to an identifier that is in the identifier of the at least one updated SIB/system information block group and that is different from the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell; or if the identifier of the at least one updated SIB/system information block group is different from all of the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell, obtain all the updated SIBs/system information block groups.

According to the terminal device provided in this embodiment of the present invention, the terminal device receives the identification information that is of the system information block/system information block group and that is broadcast by the network device in the minimum system information message, and identification information corresponding to different identifiers is included based on the type of the identifier, where a quantity of bits occupied by the identifier corresponds to the type of the identifier, thereby saving network system resources; and the terminal device determines, based on the type of the identifier, an identifier to be obtained, and when the terminal device moves to the target cell or receives the update indication of the system information block/system information block group, the terminal device obtains, from the network device, a system information block/system information block group not stored by the terminal device, thereby further saving network system resources.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network device. The network device may be the network device in the foregoing communications system, and the network device may use a hardware architecture shown in <FIG>. The network device may include a receiver, a transmitter, a memory, and a processor. The receiver, the transmitter, the memory, and the processor are connected to each other by using a bus. A related function implemented by the sending unit <NUM> in <FIG> may be implemented by the transmitter, and a related function implemented by the receiving unit <NUM> may be implemented by the receiver.

The memory includes but is not limited to a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory, EPROM), or a compact disc read-only Memory (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory, CD-ROM), and the memory is configured to store a related instruction and related data.

The receiver is configured to receive data and/or a signal, and the transmitter is configured to send data and/or a signal. The transmitter and the receiver may be independent devices or an integral device such as a transceiver.

The processor may include one or more processors, for example, include one or more central processing units (Central Processing Unit, CPU). When the processor is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The memory is configured to store program code and data of the network device, and may be a separate device or integrated into the processor.

The foregoing components may be integrated into a chip for implementation, for example, integrated into a baseband chip for implementation.

Specifically, the processor performs the following operation: broadcasting, by using the transmitter, a minimum system information MSI message, where the MSI message includes identification information of at least one system information block SIB/system information block group, identification information of each SIB/system information block group includes an identifier of the SIB/system information block group and a type indication of the identifier, the identifier of each SIB/system information block group is used to indicate a version of the SIB/system information block group, and the type indication of the identifier is used to indicate that a type of the identifier of the SIB/system information block group is an area specific system information identifier or a cell specific system information identifier.

In still another implementation, the processor is further configured to perform the following operation:.

For details, refer to the descriptions in the method embodiment.

It may be understood that, <FIG> merely shows a simplified design of the network device. During actual application, the network device may also include other necessary components, including but not limited to any quantity of transceivers, processors, controllers, memories, and the like, and all network devices that can implement this embodiment of the present invention shall all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal device. The terminal device may be the terminal device in the foregoing communications system, and the terminal device may use the hardware architecture shown in <FIG>. The terminal device may include a receiver, a transmitter, a memory, and a processor. The receiver, the transmitter, the memory, and the processor are connected to each other by using a bus. A related function implemented by the receiving unit <NUM> in <FIG> or the receiving unit <NUM> in <FIG> may be implemented by the transmitter, a related function implemented by the first obtaining unit <NUM> in <FIG> or the second obtaining unit <NUM>, the determining unit <NUM>, and the first obtaining unit <NUM> in <FIG> may be implemented by one or more processors.

The memory includes but is not limited to a RAM, a ROM, an EPROM, or a CD-ROM, and the memory is configured to store a related instruction and related data.

The processor may include one or more processors, for example, include one or more CPUs. When the processor is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The memory is configured to store program code and data of the terminal device, and may be a separate device or integrated into the processor.

Specifically, the processor performs the following operation: when the terminal device moves to a target cell, receiving, by using the receiver, a minimum system information MSI message from a network device corresponding to the target cell, where the MSI message includes identification information of at least one system information block SIB/system information block group, identification information of each SIB/system information block group includes an identifier of the SIB/system information block group and a type indication of the identifier, the identifier of each SIB/system information block group is used to indicate a version of the SIB/system information block group, and the type indication of the identifier is used to indicate that a type of the identifier of the SIB/system information block group is an area specific system information identifier or a cell specific system information identifier.

The processor is further configured to perform at least one of the following steps:.

In an implementation, the processor is further configured to perform the following operation:
comparing, based on the type of the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target cell, an identifier of at least one piece of cell specific system information in the target cell with a stored identifier of at least one piece of cell specific system information in the target cell, and an identifier of at least one piece of area specific system information in the target cell with a stored identifier of at least one piece of area specific system information in the cell in the area respectively, to determine whether the identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group in the target high-frequency cell is the same as the stored identifier of the at least one SIB/system information block group.

In another implementation, the processor is further configured to perform the following operation:
obtaining a type of an identifier of each SIB/system information block group in identification information of the SIB/system information block group, and obtaining an identifier that is of the SIB/system information block group and that is included in a bit quantity corresponding to the type of the identifier, where the bit quantity of the identifier corresponds to the type of the identifier.

In still another implementation, the processor is further configured to perform the following operations:.

It may be understood that, <FIG> merely shows a simplified design of the terminal device. During actual application, the terminal device may also include other necessary components, including but not limited to any quantity of transceivers, processors, controllers, memories, and the like, and all terminal devices that can implement the present invention shall all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

All or some of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement the embodiments, the embodiments may be implemented completely or partially in a form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, the procedure or functions according to the embodiments of the present invention are all or partially generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatuses. The computer instruction may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or may be transmitted by using the computer-readable storage medium. The computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired (for example, a coaxial cable, an optical fiber, or a digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared, radio, or microwave) manner. The computer-readable storage medium may be any usable medium accessible by a computer, or a data storage device, such as a server or a data center, integrating one or more usable media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid-state drive (Solid State Disk, SSD)), or the like.

Claim 1:
A system information transmission method, wherein the method comprises:
broadcasting (S201), by a network device (<NUM>, <NUM>), a minimum system information, MSI, message, wherein the MSI message comprises identification information of at least one system information block, SIB, characterized in that the identification information of each SIB comprises an identifier of the SIB and a type indication of the SIB, the type indication of the SIB indicating that a type of the SIB is area specific system information or cell specific system information.