Communication method, terminal device, and network device

A communication method, comprising:

• configuring, by a network device, configuration information of N resource areas for a terminal device, wherein the configuration information comprises first start location information used to indicate a fourth resource area in M resource areas of the N resource areas, the first start location information indicates a start location of a search space at a first aggregation level, and the search space at the first aggregation level is located in the fourth resource area, wherein N is a positive integer;
• and
• sending, by the network device, downlink scheduling information to the terminal device in the M resource areas, wherein the M resource areas comprise a first resource area and a third resource area, and wherein there is no search space in N-M resource areas, the downlink scheduling information is carried in one or more short physical downlink control channel (sPDCCH) in the M resource areas, and the downlink scheduling information comprises resource indication information of P resource areas comprising resource indication information of the first resource area and resource indication information of a second resource area, wherein the first resource area corresponds to the terminal device and the second resource area corresponds to another terminal device, and
• wherein the resource indication information of the second resource area is used to indicate a resource for transmitting downlink data from the network device to the terminal device, wherein N is a positive integer, the P resource areas are P of the N resource areas, M is a positive integer less than or equal to N, and P is a positive integer less than or equal to N.

A terminal device, comprising:

• a receiving unit, configured to receive configuration information of N resource areas, wherein the configuration information comprises first start location information used to indicate a fourth resource area in M resource areas of the N resource areas, the first start location information indicates a start location of a search space at a first aggregation level, and the search space at the first aggregation level is located in the fourth resource area;
• a detection unit, configured to detect downlink scheduling information transmitted from a network device in in the M resource areas, wherein the M resource areas comprise a first resource area and a third resource area, and wherein there is no search space in N-M resource areas, the downlink scheduling information is carried in one or more short physical downlink control channels (sPDCCH) in the M resource areas, and the downlink scheduling information comprises resource indication information of P resource areas comprising resource indication information of the first resource area and resource indication information of a second resource area, wherein the first resource area corresponds to the terminal device and the second resource area corresponds to another terminal device;
• and
• a determining unit, configured to determine, based on the resource indication information of the second resource area, a resource for transmitting downlink data from the network device to the terminal device, wherein N is a positive integer, the P resource areas are P of the N resource areas, M is a positive integer less than or equal to N, and P is a positive integer less than or equal to N.

A network device, comprising:

• a configuration unit, configured to configure configuration information of N resource areas for a terminal device, wherein the configuration information comprises first start location information used to indicate a fourth resource area in M resource areas of the N resource areas, the first start location information indicates a start location of a search space at a first aggregation level, and the search space at the first aggregation level is located in the fourth resource area, wherein N is a positive integer;
• and
• a sending unit, configured to send downlink scheduling information to the terminal device in the M resource areas, wherein the M resource areas comprise a first resource area and a third resource area, and wherein there is no search space in N-M resource areas, the downlink scheduling information is carried in one or more short physical downlink control channel (sPDCCH) in the M resource areas, and the downlink scheduling information comprises resource indication information of P resource areas comprising resource indication information of the first resource area and resource indication information of a second resource area, wherein the first resource area corresponds to the terminal device and the second resource area corresponds to another terminal device, and
• wherein the resource indication information of the second resource area is used to indicate a resource for transmitting downlink data from the network device to the terminal device, wherein N is a positive integer, the P resource areas are P of the N resource areas, M is a positive integer less than or equal to N, and P is a positive integer less than or equal to N.