阅读说明：本技术 物理下行控制信道监测方法、装置及存储介质 (Physical downlink control channel monitoring method, device and storage medium ) 是由 李明菊 于 2021-08-20 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开是关于一种物理下行控制信道监测方法、装置及存储介质。物理下行控制信道监测方法,应用于终端,所述物理下行控制信道监测方法包括：响应于所述终端被配置了具有链接关系的第一搜索空间集和第二搜索空间集,并确定与第二搜索空间集的第二PDCCH candidate的监测时间重叠的时域位置上存在多个PDCCH candidate,确定第一搜索空间集的第一PDCCH candidate是否被监测,其中,所述第一PDCCH candidate和所述第二PDCCH candidate具有链接关系。通过本公开能够提高PDCCH接收成功率。(The disclosure relates to a method and a device for monitoring a physical downlink control channel and a storage medium. A physical downlink control channel monitoring method is applied to a terminal, and comprises the following steps: determining whether a first PDCCH candidate of a first search space set is monitored or not in response to the terminal being configured with a first search space set and a second search space set having a link relationship and determining that a plurality of PDCCH candidates exist at time domain positions overlapping a monitoring time of a second PDCCH candidate of the second search space set, wherein the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate have a link relationship. The success rate of receiving the PDCCH can be improved through the method and the device.)

1. A physical downlink control channel monitoring method is applied to a terminal, and the physical downlink control channel monitoring method comprises the following steps:

determining whether a first physical downlink control channel candidate resource of a first search space set is monitored or not in response to the terminal being configured with a first search space set and a second search space set having a link relationship and determining that a plurality of physical downlink control channel candidate resources exist at a time domain position overlapping with a monitoring time of a second physical downlink control channel candidate resource of the second search space set, wherein the first physical downlink control channel candidate resource and the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource have a link relationship;

and monitoring the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource based on the monitoring priority of the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource in the plurality of physical downlink control channel candidate resources.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource comprises:

and monitoring the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource based on the quasi-common-site QCL type D of the control resource set corresponding to the second search space set.

3. The physical downlink control channel monitoring method according to claim 1,

in response to determining that a first physical downlink control channel candidate resource of the first search space set is monitored, the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource has a highest monitoring priority among the plurality of physical downlink control channel candidate resources.

4. The physical downlink control channel monitoring method according to claim 1,

in response to determining that a first physical downlink control channel candidate resource of the first search space set is not monitored, the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource has a lowest monitoring priority among the plurality of physical downlink control channel candidate resources.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring priority of the second candidate resource of the physical downlink control channel is determined based on a second search space set corresponding to the second candidate resource of the physical downlink control channel.

6. The method of monitoring physical downlink control channel according to claim 1, wherein determining whether the first physical downlink control channel candidate resource of the first search space set is monitored comprises:

determining the monitoring priority of a first search space set, and determining whether the first physical downlink control channel candidate resource of the first search space set is monitored according to the monitoring priority.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the monitoring priority of the first search space set and/or the second search space set is determined based on the attribute information of the search space sets.

8. The physical downlink control channel monitoring method according to claim 7, wherein the attribute information of the search space set includes at least one of:

the service cell index to which the search space set belongs, the type of the search space set, the search space set identification of the search space set, the link relation information of the search space set, and the identification of a search space set pair consisting of two search space sets with link relation and including the search space set;

wherein the type of the search space set comprises a general search space set or a terminal-specific search space set; the link relation information of the search space sets includes that the search space sets do not have a link relation with any one search space set or that the search space sets have a link relation with another search space set.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein an identifier of a search space set pair consisting of two search space sets having a link relationship and including the search space set is configured for a network device, or an identifier of a search space set corresponding to a search space set having a smaller identifier is identified for a search space set of the two search space sets.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the monitoring priority of the search space set determined based on the attribute information of the search space set satisfies at least one of the following:

the smaller the index of the service cell to which the search space set belongs is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the monitoring priority of the general search space set is higher than that of the specific search space set of the terminal;

the smaller the search space set identification of the search space set is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the smaller the identification of the search space set pair corresponding to the search space set is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the monitoring priority of the search space set which has a link relation with other search space sets is higher than that of the search space set which does not have a link relation with other search space sets;

the monitoring priority of the search space set configured with a plurality of transmission configuration indication states is higher than that of the search space set configured with only one transmission configuration indication state.

11. A physical downlink control channel monitoring device is applied to a terminal, and the physical downlink control channel monitoring device comprises:

a processing unit, configured to determine whether a first physical downlink control channel candidate resource of a first search space set is monitored or not in response to the terminal being configured with a first search space set and a second search space set having a link relationship and determining that a plurality of physical downlink control channel candidate resources exist at time domain positions overlapping with monitoring times of a second physical downlink control channel candidate resource of the second search space set, wherein the first physical downlink control channel candidate resource and the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource have a link relationship;

a monitoring unit configured to monitor the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource based on a monitoring priority of the second physical downlink control channel candidate resource in the plurality of physical downlink control channel candidate resources.

12. The pdcch monitoring apparatus according to claim 11, wherein in response to the processing unit determining that a first pdcch candidate resource of a first search space set is monitored, the monitoring unit determines that the second pdcch candidate resource has a highest monitoring priority among the plurality of pdcch candidate resources.

13. The pdcch monitoring apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said monitoring unit determines that said second pdcch candidate resource has the lowest monitoring priority among said plurality of pdcch candidate resources in response to determining that a first pdcch candidate resource of a first search space set is not monitored.

14. A physical downlink control channel monitoring device, comprising:

a processor;

a memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

wherein the processor is configured to: the method for monitoring the physical downlink control channel according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is performed.

15. A storage medium, wherein instructions are stored in the storage medium, and when executed by a processor of a terminal, the instructions enable the terminal to perform the physical downlink control channel monitoring method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for monitoring a physical downlink control channel, and a storage medium.

Background

In New Radio technology (NR), for example, when the communication frequency band is at frequency range 2, beam-based transmission and reception are required to ensure coverage because high frequency channel attenuation is fast.

In the related art, since it is considered that the terminal can receive a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmitted by the network device only with one beam, when monitoring time domain positions (monitor instances) corresponding to a plurality of PDCCH candidate resources (PDCCH candidates) overlap, when quasi-co-location (QCL) beam information of Control Resource sets (CORESET) corresponding to the plurality of PDCCH candidates is different, for example, when QCL Type (Type) D is different, the terminal needs to determine a specified CORESET at the overlapping monitor instance, and then monitors the PDCCH corresponding to the specified CORESET and other PDCCHs corresponding to other PDCCHs identical to the specified CORESET's qcd using the QCL Type D corresponding to the specified CORESET at the overlapping monitor instance.

Because at overlapping monitor occase, the terminal can only use one QCL Type D to monitor PDCCH, so, the terminal can't receive and use different QCL Type D to carry out the monitoring of PDCCH, has reduced PDCCH transmission success rate promptly. In Rel-17, the terminal will support receiving multiple PDCCHs simultaneously using multiple (typically 2) QCL types D, so on overlapping monitor occasion, one or more CORESETs need to be determined, and the terminal uses the QCL Type D corresponding to the one or more CORESETs to monitor the multiple PDCCHs on the overlapping monitor occasion. However, there is currently no solution how to determine one or more CORESET for monitoring the PDCCH.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to overcome the problems in the related art, the present disclosure provides a method, an apparatus, and a storage medium for monitoring a physical downlink control channel.

According to a first aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring a physical downlink control channel is provided, which is applied to a terminal, and the method for monitoring the physical downlink control channel includes:

determining whether a first PDCCH candidate of a first search space set is monitored or not in response to the terminal being configured with a first search space set and a second search space set having a link relationship and determining that a plurality of PDCCH candidates exist at time domain positions overlapping with a monitoring time of a second PDCCH candidate of the second search space set, wherein the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate have a link relationship;

monitoring the second PDCCH candidate based on a monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In one embodiment, monitoring the second PDCCH candidate includes:

and monitoring the second PDCCH candidate based on the quasi-common-site QCL Type D attribute of the control resource set corresponding to the second search space set.

In one embodiment, the second PDCCH candidate has the highest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first set of search spaces is monitored.

In one embodiment, the second PDCCH candidate has the lowest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first set of search spaces is not monitored.

In one embodiment, the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate is determined based on the second search space set corresponding to the second PDCCH candidate.

In one embodiment, determining whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first set of search spaces is monitored comprises: determining a monitoring priority of a first search space set, and determining whether a first PDCCH candidate of the first search space set is monitored according to the monitoring priority.

In one embodiment, the monitoring priority of the first search space set and/or the second search space set is determined based on the attribute information of the search space sets.

In one embodiment, the attribute information of the set of search spaces includes at least one of:

the service cell index to which the search space set belongs, the type of the search space set, the search space set identification of the search space set, the link relation information of the search space set, and the identification of a search space set pair consisting of two search space sets with link relation including the search space set;

wherein the type of the search space set comprises a general search space set or a terminal-specific search space set; the link relation information of the search space sets includes that the search space sets do not have a link relation with any one search space set or that the search space sets have a link relation with another search space set.

In one embodiment, the identifier of a search space set pair composed of two search space sets with a link relationship, including the search space set, is configured as a network device, or identifies a corresponding identifier of a smaller search space set for the search space sets in the two search space sets.

In one embodiment, the monitoring priority of the search space set determined based on the attribute information of the search space set satisfies at least one of the following:

the smaller the index of the service cell to which the search space set belongs is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the monitoring priority of the general search space set is higher than that of the specific search space set of the terminal;

the smaller the search space set identification of the search space set is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the smaller the identification of the search space set pair corresponding to the search space set is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the monitoring priority of the search space set which has a link relation with other search space sets is higher than that of the search space set which does not have a link relation with other search space sets;

the monitoring priority of the search space set configured with a plurality of transmission configuration indication states is higher than that of the search space set configured with only one transmission configuration indication state.

According to a second aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a physical downlink control channel monitoring device, which is applied to a terminal, the physical downlink control channel monitoring device including:

a processing unit configured to determine whether a first PDCCH candidate of a first search space set is monitored or not in response to the terminal being configured with a first search space set and a second search space set having a link relationship and determining that a plurality of PDCCH candidates exist at time domain positions overlapping with a monitoring time of a second PDCCH candidate of the second search space set, wherein the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate have a link relationship; a monitoring unit configured to monitor the second PDCCH candidate based on a monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In an embodiment, the monitoring unit monitors the second PDCCH candidate based on a quasi co-site QCL Type D attribute of a control resource set corresponding to the second search space set.

In one embodiment, in response to the processing unit determining that a first PDCCH candidate of a first set of search spaces is monitored, the monitoring unit determines that the second PDCCH candidate has the highest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In one embodiment, in response to determining that a first PDCCH candidate of a first set of search spaces is not monitored, the monitoring unit determines that the second PDCCH candidate has the lowest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In one embodiment, the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate is determined based on the second search space set corresponding to the second PDCCH candidate.

In one embodiment, the monitoring unit determines whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first search space set is monitored by: determining a monitoring priority of a first search space set, and determining whether a first PDCCH candidate of the first search space set is monitored according to the monitoring priority.

In one embodiment, the monitoring priority of the first search space set and/or the second search space set is determined based on the attribute information of the search space sets.

In one embodiment, the attribute information of the set of search spaces includes at least one of:

the service cell index to which the search space set belongs, the type of the search space set, the search space set identification of the search space set, the link relation information of the search space set, and the identification of a search space set pair consisting of two search space sets with link relation including the search space set;

wherein the type of the search space set comprises a general search space set or a terminal-specific search space set; the link relation information of the search space sets includes that the search space sets do not have a link relation with any one search space set or that the search space sets have a link relation with another search space set.

In one embodiment, the identifier of a search space set pair composed of two search space sets with a link relationship, including the search space set, is configured as a network device, or identifies a corresponding identifier of a smaller search space set for the search space sets in the two search space sets.

In one embodiment, the monitoring priority of the search space set determined based on the attribute information of the search space set satisfies at least one of the following:

the smaller the index of the service cell to which the search space set belongs is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the monitoring priority of the general search space set is higher than that of the specific search space set of the terminal;

the smaller the search space set identification of the search space set is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the smaller the identification of the search space set pair corresponding to the search space set is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the monitoring priority of the search space set which has a link relation with other search space sets is higher than that of the search space set which does not have a link relation with other search space sets;

the monitoring priority of the search space set configured with a plurality of transmission configuration indication states is higher than that of the search space set configured with only one transmission configuration indication state.

According to a third aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a physical downlink control channel monitoring apparatus, including:

a processor; a memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

wherein the processor is configured to: the method for monitoring a physical downlink control channel according to the first aspect or any one of the first aspects is performed.

According to a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a storage medium is provided, where instructions are stored in the storage medium, and when the instructions in the storage medium are executed by a processor of a terminal, the terminal is enabled to execute the method for monitoring a physical downlink control channel according to the first aspect or any one of the implementation manners of the first aspect.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can have the following beneficial effects: in the case where the terminal is configured with a first search space set and a second search space set having a link relationship, and it is determined that a plurality of PDCCH candidates exist at time domain positions overlapping with a monitoring time of a second PDCCH candidate of the second search space set, it is determined whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first search space set having a link relationship with the second search space set is monitored, and the second PDCCH candidate is monitored based on monitoring priorities of the second PDCCH candidates in the plurality of PDCCH candidates, thereby increasing a PDCCH reception success rate.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system in accordance with an example embodiment.

Fig. 2A to 2C are flowcharts illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram of a PDCCH monitoring apparatus according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for PDCCH monitoring according to an example embodiment.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the exemplary embodiments below are not intended to represent all implementations consistent with the present disclosure.

The PDCCH monitoring method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to the wireless communication system shown in fig. 1. Referring to fig. 1, the wireless communication system includes a terminal and a network device. The terminal is connected with the network equipment through wireless resources and transmits and receives data.

It is understood that the wireless communication system shown in fig. 1 is only a schematic illustration, and other network devices, such as a core network device, a wireless relay device, a wireless backhaul device, etc., may also be included in the wireless communication system, which is not shown in fig. 1. The number of network devices and the number of terminals included in the wireless communication system are not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

It is further understood that the wireless communication system of the embodiments of the present disclosure is a network providing wireless communication functions. Wireless communication systems may employ different communication technologies, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (Carrier Sense Multiple Access). Networks can be classified into 2G (english: generation) networks, 3G networks, 4G networks or future evolution networks, such as 5G networks, according to factors such as capacity, rate and delay of different networks, and the 5G networks can also be referred to as New Radio Networks (NR). For ease of description, this disclosure will sometimes simply refer to a wireless communication network as a network.

Further, the network devices referred to in this disclosure may also be referred to as radio access network devices. The radio access network device may be: a base station, an evolved node B (eNB), a home base station, an Access Point (AP), a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a Transmission Point (TP), a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, and the like, and may also be a gNB in an NR system, or may also be a component or a part of a device constituting the base station. When a vehicle networking (V2X) communication system, the network device may also be a vehicle-mounted device. It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the network device are not limited.

Further, the Terminal referred to in this disclosure may also be referred to as a Terminal device, a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), and the like, and is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a User, for example, the Terminal may be a handheld device having a wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, and the like. Currently, some examples of terminals are: a smart Phone (Mobile Phone), a Pocket Computer (PPC), a palm top Computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a notebook Computer, a tablet Computer, a wearable device, or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. Furthermore, when being a communication system of the internet of vehicles (V2X), the terminal device may also be a vehicle-mounted device. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the specific technologies and the specific device forms adopted by the terminal.

In the present disclosure, data transmission is performed between a network device and a terminal based on a beam. In Rel-15/16, during data transmission based on a beam, a terminal can only receive a PDCCH transmitted by a network device with one beam, so when the monitor sessions corresponding to multiple PDCCH candidates overlap, and when the beam information of the core sets corresponding to multiple PDCCH candidates is different, for example, QCL Type D is different, the terminal needs to determine a specified core set at the overlapping monitor session, and then monitors the PDCCH corresponding to the specified core set and the PDCCHs corresponding to other core sets that are the same as the QCL Type D of the specified core set at the overlapping monitor session using the QCL Type D corresponding to the specified core set. That is, at the overlapping monitor occasion, the terminal can monitor the PDCCH only using one QCL Type D, and thus, the terminal cannot receive the PDCCH monitored using a different QCL Type D, i.e., the PDCCH transmission success rate is reduced. In Rel-17, the terminal will support receiving multiple PDCCHs simultaneously using multiple (typically 2) QCL Type ds, so that on an overlapping monitor occasion, one or more CORESETs can be determined, and the terminal can monitor multiple PDCCHs on the overlapping monitor occasion using one or more QCL Type ds corresponding to the one or more CORESETs, so as to improve the receiving success rate of the PDCCHs.

In the related art, a Search space set (SS set) with a link relationship may be configured for a terminal, and it may be determined whether to select QCL Type D of CORESET corresponding to the SS set with the link relationship to monitor PDCCH candidate at an overlapping time. Where two SS sets have a linked relationship, it can be understood that different SS sets have candidate resources for PDCCH repeat transmission (PDCCH repetition). For example, the two SS sets having a linked relationship include a first SS set and a second SS set. The first SS set includes a first PDCCH candidate, and the second SS set includes a second PDCCH candidate. A first PDCCH candidate in the first SS set and a second PDCCH candidate in the second SS set are used for PDCCH repetition.

When two first SS sets and two second SS sets having a link relationship are time-division multiplexing (TDM), the following situations may occur due to different times of the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate:

case 1: the first PDCCH candidate does not overlap with PDCCH candidates of other SS sets, and the second PDCCH candidate overlaps with PDCCH candidates of other SS sets.

Case 2: the first PDCCH candidate overlaps with PDCCH candidates of other SS sets, and the second PDCCH candidate does not overlap with PDCCH candidates of other SS sets.

Case 3: the first PDCCH candidate overlaps with the PDCCH candidate of the first SS set, and the second PDCCH candidate overlaps with the PDCCH candidate of the second SS set.

For case 3 there are further cases as follows:

case 3-1: the first set of SS sets and the second set of SS sets are identical.

Case 3-2: the first set of SS sets and the second set of SS sets are different.

In view of the above, if there are PDCCH candidates with a plurality of SS sets overlapping in time domain for the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set, it is a problem that further optimization is required if the second PDCCH candidate needs to be monitored.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, when two PDCCH candidates (first PDCCH candidate and second PDCCH candidate) included in two SS sets (first SS set and second SS set) having a link relationship of a terminal have a link relationship, if it is determined that a plurality of PDCCH candidates exist in a time domain position where monitoring times of the second PDCCH candidate overlap, it is determined whether the first PDCCH candidate is monitored, and it is determined whether the second PDCCH candidate is monitored.

In one embodiment, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate in the plurality of PDCCH candidates may be determined based on whether the first PDCCH candidate is monitored or not monitored, and the second PDCCH candidate may be monitored based on the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate in the plurality of PDCCH candidates to determine whether the second PDCCH candidate is monitored.

The monitoring priority referred to in the embodiments of the present disclosure refers to the priority monitored at the overlapping time domain position. It will be appreciated that the higher the monitoring priority, the greater the likelihood of being monitored. The lower the monitoring priority, the less likely it is to be monitored.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal may monitor the second PDCCH candidate based on the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate among the plurality of PDCCH candidates when the first PDCCH candidate is monitored or not monitored.

Fig. 2A is a flowchart illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 2A, the PDCCH monitoring method is used in a terminal and includes the following steps.

In step S11a, in response to the terminal being configured with the first SS set and the second SS set having a linked relationship and determining that there are a plurality of PDCCH candidates at time domain positions overlapping with the monitoring time of the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set, it is determined that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored.

In step S12a, the second PDCCH candidate is monitored based on the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

Fig. 2B is a flowchart illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an exemplary embodiment, where the PDCCH monitoring method is used in a terminal, as shown in fig. 2B, and includes the following steps.

In step S11b, in response to the terminal being configured with the first SS set and the second SS set having a linked relationship and determining that there are a plurality of PDCCH candidates at time domain positions overlapping with the monitoring time of the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set, it is determined that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is not monitored.

In step S12b, the second PDCCH candidate is monitored based on the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In another implementation manner of the disclosed embodiment, the terminal may determine whether the second PDCCH candidate is monitored according to whether the first PDCCH candidate is monitored. That is, the terminal may determine whether the first PDCCH candidate is monitored in advance, and may determine whether the second PDCCH candidate is monitored based on the determination result of whether the first PDCCH candidate is monitored.

Fig. 2C is a flowchart illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an exemplary embodiment, where the PDCCH monitoring method is used in a terminal, as shown in fig. 2C, and includes the following steps.

In step S11c, in response to the terminal being configured with the first SS set and the second SS set having a linked relationship and determining that there are a plurality of PDCCH candidates at time domain positions overlapping with the monitoring time of the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set, it is determined whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored.

In step S12c, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored or determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is not monitored, the second PDCCH candidate is monitored based on the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

It is understood that, in the embodiments related to fig. 2A to 2C of the present disclosure, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate have a link relationship. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate have a link relationship, and it can be understood that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate are used for PDCCH repetition. The time context relationship between the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate may be that the first PDCCH candidate is located forward, that the second PDCCH candidate is located forward, or that the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate overlap in time domain.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first PDCCH candidate is described with reference to the second PDCCH candidate. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second PDCCH candidate is monitored based on the QCL Type D attribute of the CORESET corresponding to the second SS Set.

Wherein QCL Type D may be understood as a spatial reception parameter, sometimes also referred to as a beam.

In one embodiment, when two PDCCH candidates of the terminal have a link relationship, when QCL types D of CORESET configurations corresponding to a plurality of PDCCH candidates to be monitored on an overlapping PDCCH monitoring occasion of a second PDCCH candidate are the same or different, the terminal determines one or more specified CORESET, and monitors PDCCH candidates of the specified CORESET and PDCCH candidates of other CORESET same as QCL Type D of the specified CORESET on the overlapping PDCCH monitoring occasion, thereby improving a PDCCH reception success rate.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal determines the first SS set and the second SS set as two SS sets having a link relationship, and when there are PDCCH candidates with overlapping time domains of multiple SS sets in the monitoring time of the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set, the terminal determines whether to monitor the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set according to whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored, that is, sets the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate among the multiple PDCCH candidates according to whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored.

In one embodiment, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate have a link relationship, so that in the case where the first PDCCH candidate that determines the first SS set is monitored, the second PDCCH candidate needs to be monitored for PDCCH repetition performance.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 3, the PDCCH monitoring method is used in a terminal and includes the following steps.

In step S21, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored, it is determined that the second PDCCH candidate has the highest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In step S22, the PDCCH candidate is monitored using the second QCL Type D corresponding to the second SS set at a time domain position where the monitoring times of the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set overlap.

In the disclosed embodiment, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored, it is determined that the second PDCCH candidate has the highest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates. The second PDCCH candidate having the highest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates may be understood as the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set needs to be monitored. Wherein, the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set needs to be monitored, that is, in an overlapping time domain, the PDCCH candidate needs to be monitored by using the second QCL Type D corresponding to the second SS set. Wherein the PDCCH candidate monitored using the second QCL Type D corresponding to the second SS set includes the PDCCH candidate of the second SS set and PDCCH candidates of other SS sets having QCL types D identical to the second QCL Type D.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored, it is determined that the second PDCCH candidate has the highest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates. The second PDCCH candidate having the highest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates may be understood as the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set needs to be monitored. However, when there are a plurality of first PDCCH candidates being monitored and each first PDCCH candidate has a corresponding second PDCCH candidate, if the plurality of second PDCCH candidates overlap in the time domain, it is necessary to further determine the monitoring priorities of the plurality of second PDCCH candidates. Wherein the method for further determining the monitoring priorities of the plurality of second PDCCH candidates comprises the following first and/or second terms:

the first item: is determined according to the monitoring priority of one or more first SS sets corresponding to the plurality of first PDCCH candidates. Wherein the second PDCCH candidate corresponding to the first PDCCH candidate with the highest monitoring priority corresponding to the first SS set needs to be monitored. And the monitoring priority of the first SS set is determined based on the attribute information of the first SS set.

The second term is: is determined according to the monitoring priority of one or more second SS sets corresponding to the plurality of second PDCCH candidates. Wherein the monitoring priority of the second SS set is determined based on the attribute information of the second SS set. Wherein, the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set needs to be monitored, that is, in an overlapping time domain, the PDCCH candidate needs to be monitored by using the second QCL Type D corresponding to the second SS set. Wherein the PDCCH candidate monitored using the second QCL Type D corresponding to the second SS set includes the PDCCH candidate of the second SS set and PDCCH candidates of other SS sets having QCL types D identical to the second QCL Type D.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate have a link relationship. In the case where it is determined that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is not monitored, even if the second PDCCH candidate is monitored, the performance of PDCCH repetition cannot be guaranteed, and thus the second PDCCH candidate does not need to be monitored any more.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 4, the PDCCH monitoring method is used in a terminal and includes the following steps.

In step S31, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is not monitored, it is determined that the second PDCCH candidate has the lowest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In step S32, the PDCCH candidate is not monitored at a time domain position where the monitoring times of the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set overlap.

In the disclosed embodiment, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is not monitored, it is determined that the second PDCCH candidate has the lowest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates. The second PDCCH candidate having the lowest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates may be understood as the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set does not need to be monitored. Wherein, the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set does not need to be monitored, i.e., in the overlapping time domain, and the PDCCH candidate of the second SS set and the PDCCH candidates of other SS sets having the same QCL Type D as the second QCL Type D do not need to be monitored by using the second QCL Type D corresponding to the second SS set.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal determines the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate among the plurality of PDCCH candidates according to whether the first PDCCH candidate is monitored, and further determines whether one or more specified CORESET needs to be determined, and monitors the specified CORESET and PDCCH candidates of other CORESETs that are the same as QCL Type D of the specified CORESET in the overlapped PDCCH monitoring occasion, so that the PDCCH receiving success rate can be improved.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, it is determined whether the first PDCCH candidate is monitored, and the monitoring priority determination is based on the first PDCCH candidate. It is determined whether the second PDCCH candidate is monitored, based on the monitoring priority determination of the second PDCCH candidate. In determining whether PDCCH candidate is monitored, the monitoring priority of PDCCH candidate may be determined based on the attribute information of SS set to which PDCCH candidate belongs, and whether PDCCH candidate is monitored may be determined based on the monitoring priority of PDCCH candidate.

For convenience of description, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to a process of determining a monitoring priority of a PDCCH candidate without distinguishing between a first PDCCH candidate and a second PDCCH candidate. That is, the PDCCH candidate according to the following embodiment may be the first PDCCH candidate or the second PDCCH candidate. It is understood that the SS sets referred to in the following embodiments also do not distinguish between a first SS set corresponding to a first PDCCH candidate and a second SS set corresponding to a second PDCCH candidate. For monitoring priority determination of the first PDCCH candidate, the SS set involved is the first SS set. For monitoring priority determination of the second PDCCH candidate, the SS set involved is the second SS set.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a PDCCH monitoring method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 5, the PDCCH monitoring method is used in a terminal and includes the following steps.

In step S41, the monitoring priority of PDCCH candidate is determined based on the attribute information of SS set to which PDCCH candidate belongs.

In step S42, it is determined whether PDCCH candidate is monitored based on the monitoring priority of PDCCH candidate.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, it is necessary to determine the monitoring priority of the first PDCCH candidate and/or the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate.

For example, in determining whether the first PDCCH candidate is monitored, it may be determined whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored based on the attribute information of the first SS set, and it may be determined whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored according to the monitoring priority of the first SS set.

In determining whether the second PDCCH candidate is monitored, it may be determined whether the second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set is monitored based on the attribute information of the second SS set, according to which it is determined whether the second SS set is monitored. The above-mentioned attribute information of the SS set for determining the PDCCH candidate monitoring priority includes at least one of: a serving cell index (serving cell index) to which the SS set belongs, a type of the SS set, an SS set Identification (ID), link relationship information of the SS set, and an ID of an SS set pair (pair) consisting of two SS sets having a link relationship including the SS set.

The terminal may be configured with one or more serving cells, and each serving cell is configured with a serving cell index. The serving cell index to which the SS set belongs may be understood as a serving cell index corresponding to one or more serving cells to which the terminal is configured.

The type of SS set is used to indicate whether the SS set is a Common Search space set (CSS set) or a terminal-specific Search space set (USS set).

SS set IDs are understood to be sequential numbering of SS sets. For example, the ID of SS set #0 is # 0.

The link relationship information of the SS set includes that the SS set does not have a link relationship with any one SS set, or the SS set has a link relationship with another SS set.

The ID of the SS set pair may be configured by a network device such as a base station, or may be an ID corresponding to an SS set with a smaller SS set ID of two SS sets included in the SS set pair.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the CORESET corresponding to multiple PDCCH candidates that the terminal needs to monitor on the overlapping PDCCH monitoring event may be configured with CSS set, and the CSS set corresponds to a CSS set index (CSS set index). The CORESET corresponding to a plurality of PDCCH candidates that the terminal needs to monitor on the overlapping PDCCH monitoring occasion may be configured with USS set. The USS set corresponds to a USS set index (USS set index). Here, the ID of the SS set pair is also understood to be an index of the SS set pair.

In one example, the index of each CSS set pair in the CSS set pair having the link relationship is the index of the CSS set with the smaller CSS set index. In an example of the present disclosure, for a CSS set that is one of two CSS sets having a link relationship, if two CSS sets having a link relationship are taken as one CSS set pair, an index of the CSS set pair is the same as an index of a CSS set having a smaller index within the CSS set pair. Alternatively, CSS sets with a linked relationship are also treated as separate CSS sets, i.e. index is determined from the CSS Set ID of the CSS Set itself.

Further, for CSS sets having no link relationship, index is determined from the CSS Set ID of the CSS Set itself.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the CSS set of the CORESET corresponding to multiple PDCCH candidates that the terminal needs to monitor on the overlapping PDCCH monitoring event may be configured with one or more transmission configuration indication states (TCI states). For CSS sets configured with multiple TCI states, the monitoring priority is determined according to its own index. Or for CSS sets with multiple TCI states, the monitoring priority is higher than that of CSS sets with only one TCI state. Wherein the TCI state of CSS set is the TCI state of CORESET associated with CSS set.

In one example, the index of each USS set pair in the sets of USS set pairs having a link relationship is the index of the USS set with the smaller USS set index. In an example of the present disclosure, if two linked USS sets are used as one USS set pair, the index of the USS set pair is the same as the index of the USS set with a smaller index in the USS set pair. Alternatively, USS sets with a linked relationship are also treated as independent USS sets, i.e., determined from their Set IDs.

Further, for USS sets that do not have a link relationship, an index is determined from its Set ID.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the USS set of the CORESET corresponding to multiple PDCCH candidates that need to be monitored on the overlapped PDCCH monitoring event is configured with one or more TCI states, the terminal is configured with the CSS sets of the multiple TCI states, and determines the monitoring priority according to its index. Or for USS sets configured with a plurality of TCI states, the monitoring priority is higher than that of the USS sets configured with only one TCI state. Wherein the TCI state of USS set is the TCI state of CORESET associated with USS set.

In the PDCCH monitoring method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the monitoring priority of the SS set is determined based on the attribute information of the SS set, the determination may be performed in one or more of the following manners.

The first method is as follows: the smaller the serving cell index to which the SS set belongs, the higher the monitoring priority of the SS set.

The second method comprises the following steps: the monitoring priority of CSS set is higher than that of USS set.

The third method comprises the following steps: the smaller the SS set ID of the SS set, the higher the monitoring priority of the SS set.

The method is as follows: the smaller the ID of the SS set pair corresponding to the SS set, the higher the monitoring priority of the SS set.

The fifth mode is as follows: SS sets that have a linking relationship with other SS sets have a higher monitoring priority than SS sets that do not have a linking relationship with other SS sets.

The method six: the monitoring priority of SS sets configured with a plurality of TCI states is higher than that of SS sets configured with only one TCI state.

Based on the above monitoring priority manner of the SS set, when determining the monitoring priority of the SS set in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the following examples may be included:

in one example, multiple sets of CSS sets with a link relationship determine monitoring priorities based on indexes of each set of CSS set pair, and sequentially determine indexes of smaller CSS sets in the CSS set pair, where the smaller the index of the CSS set pair is, the higher the monitoring priority is.

In one example, CSS sets that have a link relationship with other CSS sets are monitored at a higher priority than USS sets that have a link relationship with other USS sets.

In one example, CSS sets in which a plurality of TCI states are configured have a higher monitoring priority than CSS sets in which only one TCI state is configured.

In one example, multiple sets of USS sets with a link relationship determine monitoring priorities based on the indexes of each set of USS set pair, and sequentially determine the indexes of the smaller USS sets in the USS set pair, wherein the smaller the index of the USS set pair is, the higher the monitoring priority is.

In one example, USS sets that are linked to other USS sets have a higher monitoring priority than USS sets that are linked to other USS sets.

In one example, USS sets linked to other USS sets have a higher monitoring priority than independent CSS sets, and/or USS sets linked to other USS sets have a lower monitoring priority than independent CSS sets. Wherein an independent CSS set refers to a CSS set that does not have a linking relationship with other CSS sets, and an independent USS set refers to a USS set that does not have a linking relationship with other USS sets.

In one example, the USS sets configured with a plurality of TCI states have higher monitoring priority than the USS sets configured with one TCI state.

In one example, the monitoring priority of QCL Type D of CORESET configured with two TCI states is higher than the monitoring priority of QCL Type D of CORESET configured with one TCI state.

In one example, CSS #0 has the highest priority for monitoring.

In one example, the index of a CSS set with a small index within a CSS set pair is greater than the index of an independent CSS set, and the monitoring priority of the CSS set pair is also higher than the monitoring priority of the independent CSS set.

In one example, the index of the USS set with a small index in the USS set pair is greater than the index of the independent USS set, and the monitoring priority of the USS set pair is also higher than the monitoring priority of the independent USS set. Further, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, when monitoring PDCCH candidate based on the monitoring priority of SS set determined based on the attribute information of SS set and on the monitoring priority of SS set, one or more specified CORESET may be determined and PDCCHs of the specified CORESET and other CORESETs identical to QCL Type D of the specified CORESET may be monitored on the overlapped PDCCH monitoring occasion. Or the terminal determines one or more designated QCL types D and monitors the PDCCH of the same CORESET as the designated QCL types D in the overlapped PDCCH monitoring session.

Wherein, the terminal can be configured with one or more serving cells.

In an example, embodiments of the present disclosure may determine the specified CORESET based on the serving cell index.

In response to the terminal being configured with one serving cell, it is determined whether there is a core set including CSS sets among the core sets corresponding to the multiple PDCCHs candidate. If there is a CORESET containing CSS set, the specified CORESET is determined based on the index of the CORESET including CSS set. If there is no CORESET containing CSS set, the specified CORESET is determined based on the index of CORESET including USS set.

And determining whether the CORESET containing the CSS set exists in CORESETs corresponding to the PDCCH candidates in response to the terminal being configured with a plurality of serving cells. And if the CORESET containing the CSS set exists, selecting the serving cell with the minimum serving cell index from the CORESETs containing the CSS set, determining the CORESET corresponding to the CSS set with the minimum CSS set index in the serving cells with the minimum serving cell index as the specified CORESET, and/or determining the CORESET corresponding to the CSS set which has a link relation with other CSS sets in the serving cells with the minimum serving cell index as the specified CORESET. If the CORESET containing the CSS set does not exist, selecting the serving cell with the minimum serving cell index from the CORESETs containing the USS set, determining the CORESET corresponding to the USS set with the minimum USS set index in the serving cells with the minimum serving cell index as the specified CORESET, and/or determining the CORESET corresponding to the USS set with the link relation with other USS sets in the serving cells with the minimum serving cell index as the specified CORESET.

The PDCCH monitoring method provided by the embodiment of the disclosure determines one or more QCL types D corresponding to one or more CORESETs according to whether the PDCCH candidates linked with the PDCCH candidates are monitored when the plurality of PDCCH candidates are overlapped on the monitor occasion, can improve the PDCCH repetition reception success rate,

it should be noted that, as can be understood by those skilled in the art, the various embodiments/examples related to the embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to determining whether a first PDCCH candidate is monitored, and also applicable to determining whether a second PDCCH candidate is monitored. While the embodiment of determining whether the first PDCCH candidate is monitored may be the same as or different from the embodiment of determining whether the second PDCCH candidate is monitored, i.e., its monitoring priority determination method may be used independently.

It should be noted that, as can be understood by those skilled in the art, the various embodiments/examples related to the embodiments of the present disclosure may be used in combination with the foregoing embodiments, or may be used independently. Whether used alone or in conjunction with the foregoing embodiments, implement principles similar thereto. In the practice of the present disclosure, some examples are described in terms of embodiments used together. Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that such illustration is not a limitation of the disclosed embodiments.

Based on the same conception, the embodiment of the disclosure also provides a PDCCH monitoring device.

It can be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the PDCCH monitoring apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure includes a corresponding hardware structure and/or software module for performing each function. The disclosed embodiments can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software, in combination with the exemplary elements and algorithm steps disclosed in the disclosed embodiments. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a PDCCH monitoring apparatus according to an example embodiment. Referring to fig. 6, the PDCCH monitoring apparatus 100 includes a processing unit 101 and a monitoring unit 102.

A processing unit 101, configured to determine whether a first PDCCH candidate of a first SS set is monitored or not in response to a terminal being configured with a first SS set and a second SS set having a link relationship and determining that a plurality of PDCCH candidates exist at time domain positions overlapping with a monitoring time of a second PDCCH candidate of the second SS set, wherein the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate have a link relationship; a monitoring unit 102 configured to monitor the second PDCCH candidate based on a monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In an embodiment, the monitoring unit 102 monitors the second PDCCH candidate based on the quasi-common-site QCL Type D attribute of the control resource set corresponding to the second SS set.

In one embodiment, in response to processing unit 101 determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored, monitoring unit 102 determines that the second PDCCH candidate has the highest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In one embodiment, in response to determining that the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is not monitored, the monitoring unit 102 determines that the second PDCCH candidate has the lowest monitoring priority among the plurality of PDCCH candidates.

In one embodiment, the monitoring priority of the second PDCCH candidate is determined based on the second SS set corresponding to the second PDCCH candidate.

In one embodiment, the monitoring unit 102 determines whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored as follows: determining a monitoring priority of the first SS set, and determining whether the first PDCCH candidate of the first SS set is monitored according to the monitoring priority.

In one embodiment, the monitoring priority of the first SS set and/or the second SS set is determined based on attribute information of the SS sets.

In one embodiment, the attribute information of the SS set includes at least one of:

the service cell index to which the SS set belongs, the type of the SS set, the SS set identification of the SS set, the linkage relationship information of the SS set, and the identification of an SS set pair consisting of two SS sets with linkage relationship including the SS set;

wherein the type of SS set comprises CSS set or USS set; the linkage relationship information of the SS set includes that the SS set does not have a linkage relationship with any one SS set, or the SS set has a linkage relationship with another SS set.

In one embodiment, the identifier of the SS set pair consisting of two SS sets with a link relationship including the SS set is configured as a network device, or is an identifier corresponding to an SS set with a smaller SS set identifier in the two SS sets.

In one embodiment, the monitoring priority of the SS set determined based on the attribute information of the SS set satisfies at least one of:

the smaller the index of the service cell to which the SS set belongs is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the monitoring priority of the CSS set is higher than that of the USS set;

the smaller the SS set mark of the SS set is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

the smaller the identification of the SS set pair corresponding to the SS set is, the higher the monitoring priority is;

SS sets having a link relationship with other SS sets have a higher monitoring priority than SS sets not having a link relationship with other SS sets;

the monitoring priority of SS sets configured with a plurality of TCI states is higher than that of SS sets configured with only one TCI state.

With regard to the apparatus in the above-described embodiment, the specific manner in which each module performs the operation has been described in detail in the embodiment related to the method, and will not be elaborated here.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus 200 for PDCCH monitoring according to an example embodiment. For example, the apparatus 200 may be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, an exercise device, a personal digital assistant, and the like.

Referring to fig. 7, the apparatus 200 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 202, a memory 204, a power component 206, a multimedia component 208, an audio component 210, an input/output (I/O) interface 212, a sensor component 214, and a communication component 216.

The processing component 202 generally controls overall operation of the device 200, such as operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing components 202 may include one or more processors 220 to execute instructions to perform all or a portion of the steps of the methods described above. Further, the processing component 202 can include one or more modules that facilitate interaction between the processing component 202 and other components. For example, the processing component 202 can include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component 208 and the processing component 202.

The memory 204 is configured to store various types of data to support operations at the apparatus 200. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the device 200, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and so forth. The memory 204 may be implemented by any type or combination of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic or optical disks.

Power components 206 provide power to the various components of device 200. Power components 206 may include a power management system, one or more power sources, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for device 200.

The multimedia component 208 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the device 200 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a Touch Panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive an input signal from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, slide, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundary of a touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 208 includes a front facing camera and/or a rear facing camera. The front camera and/or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data when the device 200 is in an operating mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode. Each front camera and rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zoom capability.

The audio component 210 is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, audio component 210 includes a Microphone (MIC) configured to receive external audio signals when apparatus 200 is in an operational mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signals may further be stored in the memory 204 or transmitted via the communication component 216. In some embodiments, audio component 210 also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

The I/O interface 212 provides an interface between the processing component 202 and peripheral interface modules, which may be keyboards, click wheels, buttons, etc. These buttons may include, but are not limited to: a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

The sensor component 214 includes one or more sensors for providing various aspects of status assessment for the device 200. For example, the sensor assembly 214 may detect an open/closed state of the device 200, the relative positioning of components, such as a display and keypad of the device 200, the sensor assembly 214 may also detect a change in the position of the device 200 or a component of the device 200, the presence or absence of user contact with the device 200, the orientation or acceleration/deceleration of the device 200, and a change in the temperature of the device 200. The sensor assembly 214 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of a nearby object without any physical contact. The sensor assembly 214 may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor assembly 214 may also include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The communication component 216 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the apparatus 200 and other devices. The device 200 may access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 216 receives a broadcast signal or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 216 further includes a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communications. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus 200 may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors or other electrically designated elements for performing the above-described methods.

In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions, such as memory 204, comprising instructions executable by processor 220 of device 200 to perform the above-described method is also provided. For example, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium may be a ROM, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

It is further understood that the use of "a plurality" in this disclosure means two or more, as other terms are analogous. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. The singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It will be further understood that the terms "first," "second," and the like are used to describe various information and that such information should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another and do not denote a particular order or importance. Indeed, the terms "first," "second," and the like are fully interchangeable. For example, first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

It is further to be understood that while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this is not to be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in serial order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain environments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains.

It will be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements described above and shown in the drawings and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.