Patent Description:
In Release <NUM> (R17), the New Radio (NR) system introduces a concept of a New Radio-light (NR-light) terminal device. At present, the application scenarios of the NR-light terminal device may mainly include Industrial Wireless Sensors, Video Surveillance, and Wearables. The number of NR-light terminal devices is relatively large, and the introduction of these massive terminal devices will impact the uplink capacity of the cell.

Therefore, how the NR-light terminal device accesses the network is an urgent problem to be solved <NPL>) discloses a method for configuring multiple RACH configurations on different BWPs according to the success probability or LBT history.

Embodiments of the present application provide a method for random access, a terminal device and a network device, which can increase the uplink capacity of the terminal device for random access, thus effectively improving the success rate of accessing the network by the terminal device.

In a first aspect, a method for random access is provided. The method includes: a terminal device determining a target random access resource configuration from a plurality of configured random access resource configurations to perform random access, the plurality of random access resource configurations belonging to one initial uplink bandwidth part (BWP), or the plurality of random access resource configurations being located in different uplink BWPs.

In a second aspect, a method for random access is provided. The method includes: a network device configuring a plurality of random access resource configurations, the plurality of random access resource configurations belonging to one initial UL BWP, or the plurality of random access resource configurations being located in different UL BWPs.

In a third aspect, there is provided a terminal device, configured to perform the method in the above first aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

Specifically, the terminal device includes functional modules for performing the method in the above first aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a network device, configured to perform the method in the above second aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

Specifically, the network device includes functional modules for performing the method in the above second aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a terminal device, including a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method in the above first aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a network device, including a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method in the above second aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus, configured to implement the method in any one of the above first aspect to second aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

Specifically, the chip includes a processor configured to call and run a computer program from a memory, and enable a device installed with the chip to perform the method in any one of the above first aspect to second aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium, configured to store a computer program that enables a computer to perform the method in any one of the above first aspect to second aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program product, including computer program instructions that enable a computer to perform the method in any one of the above first aspect to second aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer program, when the computer program is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method in any one of the above first aspect to second aspect or various implementation manners thereof.

In the above technical solutions, the terminal device can acquire a plurality of configured random access resource configurations belonging to one initial UL BWP or locating in different UL BWPs, thereby increasing the access capacity of the terminal device on the initial UL BWP. In this way, when a plurality of terminal devices perform random access at the same time, a probability of simultaneously selecting the same random access resource configuration by the plurality of terminal devices can be reduced, and thus the success rate of accessing the network by the terminal device can be effectively improved.

The technical solutions in embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. It is apparent that the embodiments described are some of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without paying inventive efforts are within the protection scope of the present application.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, such as a Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, an Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) system, a New Radio (NR) system, an evolution system of the NR system, an LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) system, an NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) system, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication system, Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), a next generation communication system or other communication systems, etc..

As an example, a communication system <NUM> applied in the embodiments of the present application is shown in <FIG>. The communication system <NUM> may include a network device <NUM>, and the network device <NUM> may be a device that communicates with a terminal device <NUM> (or referred to as a communication terminal, or a terminal). The network device <NUM> may provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area, and may communicate with the terminal device(s) located within the coverage area. Alternatively, the network device <NUM> may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a GSM system or a CDMA system, a NodeB (NB) in a WCDMA system, an Evolutional Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a radio controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN), or the network device may be a mobile switch center, a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a hub, a switch, a bridge, a router, or a network side device in a <NUM> network, or a network device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc..

The communication system <NUM> also includes at least one terminal device <NUM> located within the coverage area of the network device <NUM>. As used herein, the term "terminal device" includes, but is not limited to, a device configured to connect via a wired circuit, for example, via a Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN), a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), a digital cable, a direct cable; and/or another data connection/network; and/or via a wireless interface, for instance, for a cellular network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a digital television network such as a Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) network, a satellite network, and an AM-FM broadcast transmitter; and/or an apparatus of another terminal device that is configured to receive/send a communication signal; and/or an Internet of Things (IoT) device. The terminal device configured to communicate via a wireless interface may be referred to as a "wireless communication terminal", a "wireless terminal" or a "mobile terminal". Examples of the mobile terminal include, but not limited to, a satellite or cellular telephone, a Personal Communication System (PCS) terminal capable of combining with a cellular wireless telephone and data processing, faxing, and data communication capabilities, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) that may include a radio telephone, a pager, an internet/intranet access, a Web browser, a memo pad, a calendar, and/or a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and a conventional laptop and/or palmtop receiver or other electronic apparatus including a radio telephone transceiver. The terminal device may refer to an access terminal, a User Equipment (UE), a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user apparatus. The access terminal may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with a wireless communication function, a computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a <NUM> network, or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), or the like.

Alternatively, terminal direct connection (Device to Device, D2D) communication may be performed between the terminal devices <NUM>.

Alternatively, the <NUM> system or <NUM> network may be referred to as a New Radio (NR) system or an NR network.

<FIG> exemplarily shows one network device and two terminal devices. Alternatively, the communication system <NUM> may include a plurality of network devices, and other quantity of terminal devices may be included within the coverage area of each network device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Alternatively, the communication system <NUM> may further include other network entities such as a network controller, and a mobile management entity, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

It should be understood that, a device with a communication function in the network/system in the embodiments of the present application may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system <NUM> shown in <FIG> as an example, the communication device may include a network device <NUM> and a terminal device <NUM> which have the communication function, and the network device <NUM> and the terminal device <NUM> may be the specific devices described above, which will not be elaborated here. The communication device may also include other devices in the communication system <NUM>, such as a network controller, a mobile management entity, and other network entities, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

It should be also understood that the communication system <NUM> shown in <FIG> may also be a Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) system, that is, the network device <NUM> in <FIG> may be a satellite.

It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.

To facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, three concepts are first introduced below.

At present, with the pursuit of rate, delay, high-speed mobility, energy efficiency and the diversity and complexity of services in future life, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) International Standards Organization has begun to develop <NUM>. The main application scenarios of <NUM> are: Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliability and Low Latency Communication (URLLC), and Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC).

NR may also be deployed independently. The <NUM> network environment defines a new Radio Resource Control (RRC) state: RRC_INACTIVE state, for the purpose of reducing air interface signaling, quickly restoring wireless connection and quickly recovering data service. The RRC INACTIVE state is different from an RRC_IDLE state and an RRC ACTIVE state.

For the RRC_IDLE state, the mobility is based on cell selection reselection of the terminal device, paging is initiated by the core network, and the paging area is configured by the core network. There is no Access Stratum (AS) context of the terminal device on the network device side. There is no RRC connection in the RRC_IDLE state.

For the RRC_CONNECTED state, there is an RRC connection, the network device and the terminal device have the AS context of the terminal device, and unicast data may be transmitted between the terminal device and the network device. The network side knows that the location of the terminal device is at a specific cell level. The mobility is the mobility controlled by the network side.

For RRC _INACTIVE state, the mobility is based on the cell selection reselection of the terminal device. There is a connection between the core network and NR. The AS context of the terminal device exists on a certain network device, paging is triggered by Radio Access Network (RAN), paging area based on RAN is managed by RAN, and the network side knows that the location of the terminal device is at a level of the paging area based on RAN.

In R17, NR introduces a concept of an NR-light terminal device. At present, the NR-light terminal device mainly has the following three application scenarios:.

The above three scenarios have common requirements, which may be specifically as follows:.

For the above three scenarios, in addition to the common requirements mentioned in the above content, different scenarios have different requirements.

For the industrial wireless sensors, the requirement for reliability is <NUM>%, the requirement for end-to-end delay is <NUM>, and the requirement for Bit rate is 2Mbps. This scenario requires the NR-light terminal device to remain stationary and have a battery life of several years. For safety-related sensors, the requirement for delay is <NUM>-<NUM>.

For the video surveillance, the requirement for Bit rate is <NUM>-4Mbps, the requirement for delay is less than <NUM>, and the requirement for reliability is <NUM>% -<NUM>%.

For the wearables, the requirement for Bit rate is 150Mbps or 50Mbps.

The maximum channel bandwidth supported in the NR system may be up to <NUM>, and the power consumption of the terminal device is very large if the terminal device keeps working on the broadband carrier. Adjusting the radio frequency (RF) bandwidth of the terminal device according to the actual throughput of the terminal device can optimize the power consumption of the terminal device. Therefore, the concept of BWP is introduced in <NUM> NR, that is, the terminal device may send and receive data on a part of the continuous bandwidth (i. , BWP) within the entire large bandwidth carrier.

For the terminal device in the RRC _CONNECTED state, the network device may configure at most four Downlink (DL) BWPs and at most four Uplink (UL) BWPs for the terminal device. At most one downlink DL BWP and one uplink UL BWP may be activated at a time.

For a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, there is no association relationship between the UL BWP and the DL BWP. For example, the network device may configure four UL BWPs and four DL BWPs for one terminal device in the connected state. The indexes of the four UL BWPs are <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> respectively, and the indexes of the four DL BWPs are <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> respectively. The currently activated UL BWP index may be <NUM>, and the currently activated DL BWP index may be <NUM>. If the network device instructs the terminal device through the Downlink Control Information (DCI) to switch the DL BWP to another DL BWP, such as from the currently activated DL BWP <NUM> to the DL BWP <NUM>, the UL BWP may remain unchanged.

The terminal device in the RRC_IDLE state and RRC_INACTIVE state may obtain information of Master Information Block (MIB) and System Information Block <NUM> (SIB1) through Cell Defining-Synchronization Signal Block (CD-SSB). The SIB1 may indicate relevant configuration information of initial BWP for the initial access of the terminal device, where the initial BWP may include an initial uplink BWP (initial UL BWP) and an initial downlink BWP (initial DL BWP). In the initial UL BWP configuration, the network device may configure a random access resource (RACH-ConfigCommon) for the terminal device to perform initial access, and there is a corresponding relationship between the random access resource and the SSB. The network device may control the selection of the random access resource by the terminal device by configuring one Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) threshold (rsrp-ThresholdSSB). When a random access procedure is triggered, the terminal device may select one SSB whose RSRP measurement value meets the RSRP threshold, and then determine the random access resource corresponding to the selected SSB according to the corresponding relationship between the random access resource and the SSB. Then, the terminal device may send a random access preamble, i. , message <NUM> (Msg1), by using the selected random access resource, and listen to a random access response message (i. , Msg2) sent by the network device on the selected SSB.

Currently, all terminal devices in the RRC_IDLE state and RRC _INACTIVE state may access the network via the initial UL BWP on a Normal UL (NUL) carrier or a Supplementary UL (SUL) carrier indicated in the SIB1, which is possible for scenarios such as eMBB with light load. The NR-light terminal device will be introduced in the future network deployment. Due to the large number of the NR-light terminal devices, the introduction of these massive terminal devices may impact the uplink capacity of cells, for example, it may impact the initial access resources and the uplink transmission resource used in the connected state.

In view of this, the embodiments of the present application propose a method for random access, which can increase the uplink capacity of the terminal device for random access, so as to effectively improve the success rate of the terminal device accessing the network.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a method <NUM> for random access according to an embodiment of the present application. The method described in <FIG> may be performed by a terminal device, and the terminal device may be, for example, the terminal device <NUM> shown in <FIG>. As shown in <FIG>, the method <NUM> may include at least part of the following contents.

In step <NUM>, the terminal device determines a target random access resource configuration from a plurality of configured random access resource configurations. The target random access resource configuration is used by the terminal device for random access, and the plurality of random access resource configurations may belong to one initial UL BWP, or the plurality of random access resource configurations may be located in different UL BWPs.

According to the present invention, the terminal device acquires a plurality of configured random access resource configurations belonging to one initial UL BWP or located in different UL BWPs, thereby increasing the access capacity of the terminal device on the initial UL BWP. Thus, when a plurality of terminal devices perform random access at the same time, a probability of simultaneously selecting the same random access resource configuration by the plurality of terminal devices can be reduced, and thus the success rate of the terminal device accessing the network can be effectively improved.

Alternatively, when the plurality of random access resource configurations are located in different UL BWPs, the different UL BWPs may include a plurality of initial UL BWPs. Specifically, each UL BWP in the different UL BWPs may include one initial UL BWP, and the other BWP(s) except the initial UL BWP in each UL BWP is an exclusive BWP. In this case, each initial UL BWP may include at least one random access resource configuration.

Alternatively, at least one parameter of the random access resource corresponding to each random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations may differ. Exemplarily, the parameter may be, but not limited to, a frequency domain position, a time domain position, a period, a quantity, etc..

Alternatively, the terminal device may be an NR-light terminal device.

Alternatively, the terminal device may be in an RRC idle state, or in an RRC inactive state. The terminal device may also be in an RRC connected state.

In the present invention, the network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information is used to indicate a plurality of random access resource configurations, or the configuration information may be used to indicate a target random access resource configuration.

The configuration information may be carried in a system message of a serving cell, for example, the configuration information may be carried in SIB1.

In the present embodiment, one possible manner may be that the SIB1 indicates one initial UL BWP, where the initial UL BWP includes a plurality of random access resource configurations. A specific signaling path is as follows:.

SIB1→ServingCellConfigCommonSIB→UplinkConfigCommonSIB→BWP-UplinkCom mon→List Of RACH-ConfigCommon.

As seen from the above signaling path, the network device may configure one Random Access Channel (RACH)-ConfigCommon resource configuration list in the BWP-UplinkCommon, so that the terminal device may determine the target random access resource configuration in the RACH-ConfigCommon resource configuration list.

The network device configures one initial UL BWP. The code implementation of the initial UL BWP including a plurality of random access resource configurations may be as follows:
<IMG>.

Another possible manner may be that SIB1 indicates a plurality of initial UL BWPs, where each of the plurality of initial UL BWPs may include at least one random access resource configuration. A specific signaling path is as follows:.

SIB1→ ServingCellConfigCommonSIB^UplinkConfigCommonSIB^list of BWP-UplinkCommon→ RACH-ConfigCommon.

The code implementation for the network device to configure a plurality of initial UL BWPs may be as follows:
<IMG>
<IMG>.

Taking the SIB1 indicating one initial UL BWP as an example, the implementation of the terminal device determining the target random access resource configuration from the plurality of random access resource configurations is introduced.

The terminal device may randomly select the target random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations.

In the technical solution of the first manner, the terminal device randomly selects the target random access resource configuration, which can reduce the probability of selecting the same random access resource configuration by a large number of terminal devices.

The terminal device may select the target random access resource in the plurality of random access resource configurations, based on a selection factor corresponding to each random access resource configuration.

The selection factor indicates a probability that the terminal device selects each random access resource configuration. For example, the SIB1 indicates two random access resource configurations, namely a random access resource configuration <NUM> and a random access resource configuration <NUM>. The selection factor corresponding to the random access resource configuration <NUM> is <NUM> and the selection factor corresponding to the random access resource configuration <NUM> is <NUM>. Then, when the terminal device initiates random access, the probability of selecting the random access resource configuration <NUM> is <NUM>, and the probability of selecting the random access resource configuration <NUM> is <NUM>.

Alternatively, the terminal device may determine a random access resource configuration corresponding to a maximum selection factor as the target random access resource configuration. For example, SIB1 indicates two random access resource configurations, namely a random access resource configuration <NUM> and a random access resource configuration <NUM>. The selection factor corresponding to the random access resource configuration <NUM> is <NUM> and the selection factor corresponding to the random access resource configuration <NUM> is <NUM>. Since the selection factor corresponding to the random access resource configuration <NUM> is less than the selection factor corresponding to the random access resource configuration <NUM>, the terminal device may determine the random access resource configuration <NUM> as the target random access resource configuration when initiating random access, and perform the random access using the random access resource configuration <NUM>.

Alternatively, the selection factors corresponding to respective random access resource configurations may all be the same, that is, different random access resource configurations correspond to one selection factor. For example, SIB1 indicates four random access resource configurations, each with a selection factor of <NUM>, that is, when the terminal device initiates random access, the probability of selecting any one of the four random access resource configurations is the same.

Alternatively, a selection factor corresponding to a first random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations may be a, and a selection factor b corresponding to the other random access resource configuration(s) except the first random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations may satisfy:
<MAT>
where, n is the number of the other random access resource configuration(s) in the plurality of random access resource configurations except the first random access resource configuration.

The first random access resource configuration may be used for random access by all terminal devices, and the other random access resource configuration(s) may be used only for random access by a part of the terminal devices. As an example, the part of the terminal devices may be NR-light terminal devices.

Alternatively, a serving cell may additionally broadcast the selection factor corresponding to each random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations. That is, the SIB1 may include the selection factor corresponding to each random access resource configuration of the plurality of random access resource configurations.

Alternatively, the network device may separately configure the selection factor corresponding to each random access resource configuration, that is, the selection factors corresponding to respective random access resource configurations are not associated with each other. For example, the selection factors corresponding to four random access resource configurations are {a, b, c, d}, which are all configured by the network device via explicit signaling.

It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the name of the selection factor, that is, the selection factor may also be expressed as other names, such as a weight factor, a random number factor, etc..

The terminal device may select the target random access resource in the plurality of random access resource configurations based on a corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and a service type of the terminal device, and an uplink service being performed; and/or.

the terminal device may select the target random access resource in the plurality of random access resource configurations according to a corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and a type of the terminal device, and the type of the terminal device.

As an example, a WeChat service corresponds to a random access resource configuration <NUM>, and a voice service corresponds to a random access resource configuration <NUM>. If the current uplink service of the terminal device is the WeChat service, the terminal device may determine the random access resource configuration <NUM> as the target random access resource configuration.

For another example, an industrial wireless sensor terminal device corresponds to a random access resource configuration <NUM>, a video monitoring terminal device corresponds to a random access resource configuration <NUM>, and a wearable terminal device corresponds to a random access resource configuration <NUM>. If the type of terminal device is the wearable terminal device, the terminal device may determine the random access resource configuration <NUM> as the target random access resource configuration.

Alternatively, the serving cell may additionally broadcast the corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the service type of the terminal device, and/or, the corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the type of the terminal device. That is, the SIB1 may include the corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the service type of the terminal device, and/or the corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the type of the terminal device.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" herein describes an association relationship between associated objects only, indicating that there may be three relationships, for example, A and/or B may indicate three cases: A exists alone, both A and B exists, and B exists alone.

In the technical solution of the third manner, the terminal device determines a random access resource configuration suitable for the terminal device and/or service according to the type and/or service type of the terminal device. For example, different random access resource configurations may have different view periods, different resource quantities, etc., so as to achieve the purpose and effect of matching the traffic of various terminal devices and load balancing.

It should be understood that the embodiments of the second and third manners may be implemented either separately or in combination, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be understood that when the SIB1 indicates a plurality of initial UL BWPs, the implementation of the terminal device determining the target random access resource configuration may be referred to the relevant description of the first to third manners. For example, the terminal device may randomly select one initial UL BWP from the plurality of initial UL BWPs, and determine the random access resource configuration included in the initial UL BWP as the target random access resource configuration. For the sake of brevity, details will not be repeated below.

In a second embodiment, the configuration information may be carried in an RRC connection release message.

When the terminal device is in an RRC connected state, the network device may schedule the terminal device to transmit data on a BWP exclusive to any terminal device. When the network device decides to release the terminal device to an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, the network device may indicate to the terminal device in an RRC connection release message the random access resource configuration to be used when triggering a random access procedure next time, that is, the RRC connection release message may be used to indicate a plurality of random access resource configurations.

As an example, the RRC connection release message may indicate one initial UL BWP, and the initial UL BWP may include a plurality of random access resource configurations.

As another example, the RRC connection release message may indicate a plurality of initial UL BWPs, and each initial UL BWP in the plurality of initial UL BWPs may include at least one random access resource configuration.

Further, the RRC connection release message may also be used to indicate an effective time of each random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations.

Alternatively, the effective time may be an absolute time. For example, the effective time of each random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations may be from <NUM> o'clock to <NUM> o'clock every day. If the terminal device triggers the random access at <NUM> noon, the plurality of random access resource configurations are effective, and the terminal device may select the target random access resource configuration from the plurality of random access resource configurations.

Alternatively, the effective time may be a preset time after the terminal device receives the RRC connection release message. For example, the preset time is <NUM> slots, then the plurality of random access resource configurations are effective within <NUM> slots after the terminal device receives the RRC connection release message. For another example, the effective time of a previous part of the plurality of random access resource configurations is <NUM> minutes after the terminal device receives the RRC connection release message, and the effective time of a latter part of the plurality of random access resource configurations is <NUM> minutes after the terminal device receives the RRC connection release message. If the random access is triggered at the <NUM>th minute after the terminal device receives the RRC connection release message, the latter part of the plurality of random access resource configurations is effective, and the terminal device may select the target random access resource configuration from the latter part of the plurality of random access resource configurations.

When the RRC connection release message indicates the effective time of the plurality of random access resource configurations, the plurality of random access resource configurations may be indicated as a whole, that is, the RRC connection release message may indicate only one effective time. In this way, signaling overhead can be saved. At this time, the effective time of the plurality of random access resource configurations is the same.

Alternatively, the RRC connection release message may indicate the effective time of each random access resource configuration. In this case, the effective time of the plurality of random access resource configurations may be the same or different.

If the RRC connection release message does not indicate the effective time of each random access resource configuration of the plurality of random access resource configurations, the terminal device may default that the plurality of random access resource configurations are always effective before entering the RRC connected state.

When the terminal device triggers the random access, the terminal device may determine the target random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations. The implementations of the terminal device determining the target random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations may refer to the description of the above embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

Alternatively, the RRC connection release message may be used to indicate the target random access resource configuration. Alternatively, the RRC connection release message may explicitly indicate the target random access resource configuration.

Alternatively, the RRC connection release message may also implicitly indicate the target random access resource configuration. For example, the RRC connection release message may indicate an index of the target random access resource configuration. For another example, the RRC connection release message may indicate the serial number of the target random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations. For another example, the RRC connection release message may indicate an SSB, and when the terminal device receives the SSB, the terminal device may determine the target random access resource configuration according to a corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the SSB, and according to the SSB indicated by the RRC connection release message.

The corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the SSB may be preset. Alternatively, the corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the SSB may also be determined by a signaling. As an example, the network device may send mapping information to the terminal device, and after receiving the mapping information, the terminal device may determine the corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the SSB based on the mapping information.

When the RRC connection release message is used to indicate the target random access resource configuration, the RRC connection release message may further be used to indicate the effective time of the target random access resource configuration.

After the terminal device enters an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, the terminal device may use the target random access resource configuration for random access.

As an example, after the terminal device enters the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the terminal device may utilize the target random access resource configuration for random access in any case.

As another example, if a first cell and a second cell are the same, the terminal device may perform the random access by using the target random access resource configuration. The first cell is a cell where the terminal device is located after entering the idle state or the inactive state, and the second cell is a cell where the terminal device is located when receiving the RRC connection release message. That is, the terminal device may use the target random access resource configuration for random access only under a same cell.

In the above technical solution, the network device knows a service type and a signal quality of the terminal device in the RRC connected state, and the network device may obtain a load situation on each random access resource configuration. For the relatively static terminal device, the network device may direct the terminal device to the random access resource configuration with a relatively light load through the control of special signaling, so as to improve the success rate of random access.

In another possible embodiment, the network device may send DCI to the terminal device, and the DCI is used to indicate the target random access resource configuration.

In the present invention, if the terminal device triggers random access on the non-initial UL BWP, and there is no random access resource on the non-initial UL BWP, the terminal device may switch to an initial UL BWP for random access, and select the target random access resource configuration from the initial UL BWP configured with a plurality of random access resource configurations. The initial UL BWP may be an initial UL BWP including the plurality of random access resource configurations, or the initial UL BWP may be an initial UL BWP included in different UL BWPs.

It should be noted that the implementations of the terminal device selecting the target random access resource configuration from the initial UL BWP configured with the plurality of random access resource configurations have been described in detail above, and will not be repeated herein for the simplicity of the content.

The method for random access according to the embodiments of the present application has been described from the perspective of the terminal device in combination with <FIG>, and the method for random access according to the embodiments of the present application will be described from the perspective of the network device in combination with <FIG>.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a method <NUM> for random access according to an embodiment of the present application. The method described in <FIG> may be performed by a network device which may be, for example, the network device <NUM> shown in <FIG>. As shown in <FIG>, the method <NUM> may include at least part of the following contents.

In step <NUM>, the network device configures a plurality of random access resource configurations, and the plurality of random access resource configurations belong to one initial UL BWP, or the plurality of random access resource configurations are located in different UL BWPs.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the different uplink BWPs include a plurality of initial uplink BWPs, and each initial uplink BWP of the plurality of initial uplink BWPs includes at least one random access resource configuration.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the method <NUM> further includes: the network device sending configuration information to a terminal device, the configuration information including the plurality of random access resource configurations.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the configuration information further includes a selection factor corresponding to each random access resource configuration of the plurality of random access resource configurations, where the selection factor represents a probability that the terminal device selects each random access resource configuration.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the selection factors corresponding to respective random access resource configurations are not associated with each other.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the selection factors corresponding to respective random access resource configuration are the same.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, a selection factor corresponding to a first random access resource configuration of the plurality of random access resource configurations is a, and a selection factor b corresponding to the other random access resource configuration(s) other than the first random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations satisfies:
<MAT>
where n is the number of the other random access resource configuration(s), the first random access resource configuration is available for random access by all terminal devices, and the other random access resource configuration(s) is available for random access by a part of the terminal devices.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the configuration information is used to indicate a corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and a service type of the terminal device, and/or the configuration information is used to indicate a corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and a type of the terminal device.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the configuration information is carried in a system message.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the configuration information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) connection release message.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the configuration information is further used to indicate an effective time of a target random access resource configuration, where the target random access resource configuration is used for the terminal device to perform random access, and the target random access resource configuration belongs to the plurality of random access resource configurations.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the method <NUM> further includes: the network device sending downlink control information (DCI) to a terminal device, the DCI being used to indicate a target random access resource configuration used for the terminal device to perform random access, and the target random access resource configuration belonging to the plurality of random access resource configurations.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is a new radio-light terminal device.

It should be understood that although the method <NUM> and method <NUM> are respectively described above and the first and second embodiments in method <NUM> are respectively described above, it does not mean that method <NUM> and method <NUM>, and the first and second embodiments in method <NUM> are independent, and descriptions of respective methods and embodiments may refer to each other. For example, the relevant description in the method <NUM> may be applicable to the method <NUM>.

The embodiments of the present application have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present application is not limited to specific details of the embodiments described above, and various simple variations may be made to the technical solutions of the present application within the technical conception scope of the present application, and these simple variations are all within the protection scope of the present application.

For example, various specific technical features described in the specific embodiments described above may be combined in any suitable manner if there is no conflict. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, various possible combination manners will not be further explained in the present application.

As another example, various different embodiments of the present application may be combined arbitrarily as long as they do not violate the idea of the present application, and the combinations should be regarded as the contents disclosed in the present application as well.

It should be understood that the sizes of the sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do not mean execution sequences in various method embodiments of the present application. The execution sequences of the processes should be determined according to functions and internal logics of the processes, and should not be construed as any limitation on the implementation processes of the embodiments of the present application.

The method for random access according to the embodiments of the application has been described in detail above, and a communication device according to an embodiment of the application will be described below with reference to <FIG>. The technical features described in the method embodiments are applicable to the following apparatus embodiments.

<FIG> shows a schematic block diagram of a terminal device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in <FIG>, the terminal device <NUM> includes:.

a processing unit <NUM>, configured to determine a target random access resource configuration from a plurality of configured random access resource configurations, the target random access resource configuration being used for the terminal device <NUM> for random access, the plurality of random access resource configurations belonging to one initial uplink bandwidth part (BWP), or the plurality of random access resource configurations being located in different uplink BWPs.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the different UL BWPs include a plurality of initial UL BWPs, and each of the plurality of initial UL BWPs includes at least one random access resource configuration.

In the present invention, the processing unit <NUM> is specifically configured to: when the random access is triggered on a non-initial uplink BWP and no random access resource is on the non-initial uplink BWP, select the target random access resource configuration in the initial uplink BWP configured with the plurality of random access resource configurations.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device <NUM> further includes: a communication unit <NUM>, configured to receive configuration information sent by a network device, the configuration information including a selection factor corresponding to each random access resource configuration of the plurality of random access resource configurations, where the selection factor represents a probability that the terminal device selects each random access resource configuration.

The processing unit <NUM> is specifically configured to: determine the target random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations based on the selection factor corresponding to each of the random access resource configurations.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, a selection factor corresponding to a first random access resource configuration of the plurality of random access resource configurations is a, and a selection factor b corresponding to the other random access resource configurations than the first random access resource configuration in the plurality of random access resource configurations satisfies:
<MAT>
where n is the number of the other random access resource configurations, the first random access resource configuration is available for all terminal devices for random access, and the other random access resource configurations are available for a part of the terminal devices for random access.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device <NUM> further includes: a communication unit <NUM>, configured to receive configuration information sent by a network device, the configuration information being used to indicate a corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and a service type of the terminal device, and/or the configuration information being used to indicate a corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and a type of the terminal device.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the processing unit <NUM> is specifically configured to: determine the target random access resource configuration in the plurality of the random access resource configurations, according to the corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the service type, and according to an uplink service being performed; and/or.

determine the target random access resource configuration in the plurality of the random access resource configurations, according to the corresponding relationship between the random access resource configuration and the type of the terminal device, and according to the type of the terminal device.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the configuration information is further used to indicate an effective time of the target random access resource configuration.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the processing unit <NUM> is further configured to: after entering an idle state or an inactive state, perform the random access by using the target random access resource configuration.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the processing unit <NUM> is specifically configured to: if a first cell and a second cell are the same, perform the random access by using the target random access resource configuration, where the first cell is a cell where the terminal device is located after entering the idle state or the inactive state, and the second cell is a cell where the terminal device is located when receiving the RRC connection release message.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device <NUM> further includes: a communication unit <NUM>, configured to receive downlink control information (DCI) sent by the network device, the DCI being used to indicate the target random access resource configuration.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device <NUM> is a new radio-light terminal device.

It should be understood that the terminal device <NUM> may correspond to the terminal device in the method <NUM>, and may implement the corresponding operations of the terminal device in the method <NUM>, which is not elaborated herein for simplicity.

<FIG> shows a schematic block diagram of a network device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in <FIG>, the network device <NUM> includes:
a processing unit <NUM>, configured to configure a plurality of random access resource configurations, the plurality of random access resource configurations belonging to one initial uplink bandwidth part BWP, or the plurality of random access resource configurations being located in different uplink BWPs.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the network device <NUM> further includes: a communication unit <NUM>, configured to send configuration information to a terminal device, the configuration information including the plurality of random access resource configurations.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the selection factors corresponding to respective random access resource configurations are the same.

Alternatively, in an embodiment of the present application, the network device <NUM> further includes: a communication unit <NUM>, configured to send downlink control information (DCI) to a terminal device, the DCI being used to indicate a target random access resource configuration used for the terminal device to perform random access, the target random access resource configuration belonging to the plurality of random access resource configurations.

It should be understood that the network device <NUM> may correspond to the network device in the method <NUM>, and may implement the corresponding operations of the network device in the method <NUM>, which is not elaborated herein for simplicity.

<FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device <NUM> provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication device <NUM> shown in <FIG> includes a processor <NUM>, and the processor <NUM> may invoke and run a computer program from a memory to implement the methods in the embodiments of the present application.

Alternatively, as shown in <FIG>, the communication device <NUM> may further include a memory <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may invoke and run the computer program from the memory <NUM> to implement the methods in the embodiments of the present application.

Alternatively, as shown in <FIG>, the communication device <NUM> may further include a transceiver <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may control the transceiver <NUM> to communicate with other device(s). Specifically, the transceiver may send information or data to other device(s) or receive information or data sent by other device(s).

The transceiver <NUM> may further include antennas, and the quantity of the antennas may be one or more.

Alternatively, the communication device <NUM> may specifically be the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device <NUM> may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

Alternatively, the communication device <NUM> may specifically be the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device <NUM> may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

<FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus <NUM> shown in <FIG> includes a processor <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may invoke and run a computer program from a memory to implement the methods in the embodiments of the present application.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. <NUM>, the apparatus <NUM> may further include a memory <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may invoke and run the computer program from the memory <NUM> to implement the methods in the embodiments of the present application.

Alternatively, the apparatus <NUM> may further include an input interface <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may control the input interface <NUM> to communicate with other device(s) or chip(s). Specifically, the processor <NUM> may acquire information or data sent by other device(s) or chip(s).

Alternatively, the apparatus <NUM> may further include an output interface <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may control the output interface <NUM> to communicate with other device(s) or chip(s). Specifically, the processor <NUM> may output information or data to other device(s) or chip(s).

Alternatively, the apparatus may be applied to the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the apparatus may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

Alternatively, the apparatus may be applied to the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the apparatus may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

Alternatively, the apparatus <NUM> may be a chip. It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip, etc..

It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having a signal processing capability. In an implementation process, each of the steps of the foregoing method embodiments may be completed through an integrated logic circuit of hardware or instructions in a form of software in the processor. The processor described above may be a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, a discrete gate or a transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The processor may implement or perform various methods, steps and logical block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may also be any conventional processor, or the like. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied to be completed by a hardware decoding processor, or may be completed by a combination of hardware in the decoding processor and a software module. The software module may be located in a storage medium which is mature in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the foregoing methods in combination with its hardware.

It may be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. Through exemplary but non-restrictive description, many forms of RAMs may be available, such as a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), an enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), a synchlink dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and a direct Rambus dynamic random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory in the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

It should be understood that the foregoing memory is described in an exemplary but non-limiting sense. For example, the memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be a Static RAM (SRAM), a Dynamic RAM (DRAM), a Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), a Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), an Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), a Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), a direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM), or the like. That is, the memory in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium configured to store a computer program.

Alternatively, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied in the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables a computer to perform the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

Alternatively, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied in the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables a computer to perform the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product including computer program instructions.

Alternatively, the computer program product may be applied in the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable a computer to perform the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

Alternatively, the computer program product may be applied in the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable a computer to perform the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program.

Alternatively, the computer program may be applied to the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program, when running on a computer, enables the computer to perform the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

Alternatively, the computer program may be applied to the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program, when running on a computer, enables the computer to perform the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated herein for brevity.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that the units and algorithm steps in various examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical scheme. Skilled artisans may use different methods to implement the described functions for each particular application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of the present application.

Those skilled in the art may clearly understand that for the sake of convenience and conciseness of description, the specific working processes of the systems, apparatuses and units described above may be described with reference to the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments and will not be repeated herein.

In several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are only illustrative, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and there may be other division manners during actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, apparatuses or units, and may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The unit described as a separate component may or may not be physically separated, and the component shown as a unit may or may not be a physical unit, i.e., it may be located in one place or may be distributed to a plurality of network units. Part or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the objective of the solutions of the embodiments.

In addition, various functional units in various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or may exist physically separately, or two or more than two units may be integrated into one unit.

Claim 1:
A method for random access, wherein the method comprises:
receiving, by a terminal device, configuration information sent by a network device, the configuration information comprising a plurality of random access resource configurations; and
determining (<NUM>), by the terminal device, a target random access resource configuration from the plurality of configured random access resource configurations, the target random access resource configuration being used for the terminal device to perform random access, and the plurality of random access resource configurations belonging to one initial uplink bandwidth part, BWP, or the plurality of random access resource configurations being located in different uplink BWPs,
characterized in that the determining, by the terminal device, the target random access resource configuration from the plurality of configured random access resource configurations, comprises:
in response to that the terminal device triggers the random access on a non-initial uplink BWP and no random access resource is on the non-initial uplink BWP, selecting, by the terminal device, the target random access resource configuration from the initial uplink BWP configured with the plurality of random access resource configurations.