TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a beam management method, a terminal, a network device and a storage medium in an unlicensed frequency band for new radio (new radio, NR).

BACKGROUND

Generally, in high frequency (High frequency, HF) communication, transmission attenuation of an electromagnetic wave signal is large. Before a network device communicates with a terminal, beamforming training (Beamforming training, BFT) needs to be performed to increase a communication link budget (link budget). To be specific, an antenna beam (beam) direction between the network device and the terminal is adjusted, so that omnidirectional transmit energy of a receive antenna and/or a transmit antenna is concentrated in a relatively narrow direction, thereby increasing energy and/or a signal-to-noise ratio of a received signal.

If a location of the terminal changes or the terminal is flipped, an original beam may fail, and consequently the terminal cannot communicate with the network device. Therefore, the terminal needs to perform a subsequent beam recovery process (for example, determining a candidate beam, sending a beam recovery request, and/or receiving a response). However, relatively more resources, for example, time resources, need to be consumed in the beam recovery process. Therefore, how to accurately determine whether to start a beam recovery process is an urgent problem to be resolved.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of this application provide a beam management method, a terminal, a network device, and a storage medium, to avoid a waste of communications system resources caused because a terminal starts a beam recovery process when only a small quantity of reference signals on a beam are not received.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a beam management method. The method includes:

detecting a reference signal from a network device on a first time-frequency resource on one or more beams;

when a quantity of reference signals whose received signal strength indicators RSSIs are greater than a first preset value in reference signals received on the first time-frequency resource on one of the one or more beams is less than a second preset value, detecting a reference signal and/or downlink indication information from the network device on a second time-frequency resource on the beam, where the downlink indication information is used to indicate a sending status of the reference signal on the first time-frequency resource and/or the second time-frequency resource on the beam; and

when the downlink indication information is received on the second time-frequency resource on the beam, continuing to detect a reference signal from the network device on the beam.

In the beam management method provided in the first aspect, when the quantity of reference signals whose received signal strength indicators RSSIs are greater than the first preset value in the reference signals received on the first time-frequency resource on one of the one or more beams is less than the second preset value, a terminal detects the reference signal and/or downlink indication information (used to indicate the sending status of the reference signal on the first time-frequency resource and/or the second time-frequency resource on the beam) from the network device on the second time-frequency resource on the beam. Further, when receiving the downlink indication information on the second time-frequency resource on the beam, the terminal continues to detect a reference signal from the network device on the beam. Therefore, a problem that communications system resources are wasted because the terminal starts a beam recovery process when only a small quantity of reference signals on the beam are not received is avoided, and communications system resources are saved.

In a possible implementation, the detecting a reference signal and/or downlink indication information from the network device on a second time-frequency resource on the beam includes:

detecting the reference signal and/or downlink indication information on a part of the second time-frequency resource on the beam, where

the reference signal detected on the second time-frequency resource on the beam is a part of the reference signals detected on the first time-frequency resource on the beam.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes at least one of the following information:

an identifier of at least one reference signal that has been sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam;

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam;

a transmission resource used to resend the at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam;

an identifier of at least one reference signal that has been sent on the first time-frequency resource on the beam; and

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the first time-frequency resource on the beam.

In a possible implementation, if the downlink indication information includes the transmission resource used to resend the at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam, the method further includes:

receiving the at least one reference signal on the transmission resource of the at least one reference signal based on the downlink indication information.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes:

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam and that corresponds to the latest preset sending time.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information is carried in a physical downlink control channel PDCCH or a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

performing beam recovery when a quantity of reference signals whose RSSIs are greater than the first preset value in reference signals received on the second time-frequency resource on the beam is less than the second preset value, and the downlink indication information is not received on the second time-frequency resource on the beam.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a beam management method. The method includes:

performing idle channel listening on a second time-frequency resource on one or more beams; and

if a second time-frequency resource on one of the one or more beams is idle, sending a reference signal and/or downlink indication information to a terminal on the second time-frequency resource on the beam, where the downlink indication information is used to indicate a sending status of the reference signal on a first time-frequency resource and/or the second time-frequency resource on the beam, and the first time-frequency resource is located before the second time-frequency resource in time domain.

In the beam management method provided in the second aspect, when determining that the second time-frequency resource on one of the one or more beams is idle through idle channel listening, a network device sends the reference signal and/or downlink indication information (used to indicate the sending status of the reference signal on the first time-frequency resource and/or the second time-frequency resource on the beam) to the terminal on the second time-frequency resource on the beam, so that the terminal learns of the sending status of the reference signal on the first time-frequency resource and/or the second time-frequency resource on the beam, and can accurately determine whether to continue to detect a reference signal on the beam or start a beam recovery process, thereby saving communications system resources.

In a possible implementation, the sending a reference signal and/or downlink indication information to a terminal on the second time-frequency resource on the beam includes:

sending the reference signal and/or downlink indication information to the terminal on a part of the second time-frequency resource on the beam, where

the reference signal sent to the terminal on the second time-frequency resource on the beam is a part of reference signals sent to the terminal on the first time-frequency resource on the beam.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes at least one of the following information:

an identifier of at least one reference signal that has been sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam:

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam:

a transmission resource used to resend the at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam:

an identifier of at least one reference signal that has been sent on the first time-frequency resource on the beam; and

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the first time-frequency resource on the beam.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam and that corresponds to the latest preset sending time.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information is carried in a physical downlink control channel PDCCH or a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a terminal, including:

a first detection module, configured to detect a reference signal from a network device on a first time-frequency resource on one or more beams:

a second detection module, configured to: when a quantity of reference signals whose received signal strength indicators RSSIs are greater than a first preset value in reference signals received on the first time-frequency resource on one of the one or more beams is less than a second preset value, detect a reference signal and/or downlink indication information from the network device on a second time-frequency resource on the beam, where the downlink indication information is used to indicate a sending status of the reference signal on the first time-frequency resource and/or the second time-frequency resource on the beam; and

a third detection module, configured to: when the downlink indication information is received on the second time-frequency resource on the beam, continue to detect a reference signal from the network device on the beam.

In a possible implementation, the second detection module is specifically configured to:

detect the reference signal and/or downlink indication information on a part of the second time-frequency resource on the beam, where

the reference signal detected on the second time-frequency resource on the beam is a part of the reference signals detected on the first time-frequency resource on the beam.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes at least one of the following information:

an identifier of at least one reference signal that has been sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam;

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam;

a transmission resource used to resend the at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam;

an identifier of at least one reference signal that has been sent on the first time-frequency resource on the beam; and

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the first time-frequency resource on the beam.

In a possible implementation, if the downlink indication information includes the transmission resource used to resend the at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam, the terminal further includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive the at least one reference signal on the transmission resource of the at least one reference signal based on the downlink indication information.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes:

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam and that corresponds to the latest preset sending time.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information is carried in a physical downlink control channel PDCCH or a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

In a possible implementation, the terminal further includes:

a recovery module, configured to perform beam recovery when a quantity of reference signals whose RSSIs are greater than the first preset value in reference signals received on the second time-frequency resource on the beam is less than the second preset value, and the downlink indication information is not received on the second time-frequency resource on the beam.

For beneficial effects of the terminal provided in the implementations of the third aspect, refer to the beneficial effects brought by the implementations of the first aspect. Details are not described herein again.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a network device, including:

a listening module, configured to perform idle channel listening on a second time-frequency resource on one or more beams; and

a sending module, configured to: if a second time-frequency resource on one of the one or more beams is idle send a reference signal and/or downlink indication information to a terminal on the second time-frequency resource on the beam, where the downlink indication information is used to indicate a sending status of the reference signal on a first time-frequency resource and/or the second time-frequency resource on the beam, and the first time-frequency resource is located before the second time-frequency resource in time domain.

In a possible implementation, the sending module is specifically configured to:

send the reference signal and/or downlink indication information to the terminal on a part of the second time-frequency resource on the beam, where

the reference signal sent to the terminal on the second time-frequency resource on the beam is a part of reference signals sent to the terminal on the first time-frequency resource on the beam.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes at least one of the following information:

an identifier of at least one reference signal that has been sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam;

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam;

a transmission resource used to resend the at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam;

an identifier of at least one reference signal that has been sent on the first time-frequency resource on the beam; and

an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the first time-frequency resource on the beam.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes an identifier of at least one reference signal that is not sent on the second time-frequency resource on the beam and that corresponds to the latest preset sending time.

In a possible implementation, the downlink indication information is carried in a physical downlink control channel PDCCH or a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

For beneficial effects of the network device provided in the implementations of the fourth aspect, refer to the beneficial effects brought by the implementations of the second aspect. Details are not described herein again.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a terminal, including a processor and a memory, where

the memory is configured to store a program instruction; and

the processor is configured to invoke and execute the program instruction stored in the memory; and when the processor executes the program instruction stored in the memory, the terminal is configured to perform the method according to any one of the implementations of the first aspect.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a network device, including a processor and a memory, where

the memory is configured to store a program instruction; and

the processor is configured to invoke and execute the program instruction stored in the memory; and when the processor executes the program instruction stored in the memory, the network device is configured to perform the method according to any one of the implementations of the second aspect.

According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a chip system. The chip system includes a processor, and may further include a memory. The chip system is configured to implement the method according to any one of the implementations of the first aspect. The chip system may include a chip, or may include a chip and another discrete component.

According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a program. When being executed by a processor, the program is configured to perform the method according to any one of the implementations of the first aspect.

According to a ninth aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a computer program product including an instruction. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to any one of the implementations of the first aspect.

According to a tenth aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores an instruction. When the instruction is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to any one of the implementations of the first aspect.

According to an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a chip system. The chip system includes a processor, and may further include a memory. The chip system is configured to implement the method according to any one of the implementations of the second aspect. The chip system may include a chip, or may include a chip and another discrete component.

According to a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a program. When being executed by a processor, the program is configured to perform the method according to any one of the implementations of the second aspect.

According to a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a computer program product including an instruction. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to any one of the implementations of the second aspect.

According to a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores an instruction. When the instruction is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to any one of the implementations of the second aspect.

