Optionally, the communication system 100 may also include other network entities such as a network controller and a mobility management entity, which are not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

It should be understood that a device with a communication function in the network/system in the embodiment of the present application may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 as an example, the communication device may include a network device 110 and a terminal device 120 which have communication functions, and the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may be the specific devices described above, which will not be repeated here. The communication device may also include other devices in the communication system 100, for example, a network controller, a mobility management entity and other network entities, which are not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

It should be understood that the terms “system” and “network” are often used interchangeably herein. The term “and/or” herein is only an association relationship describing the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B can mean: there are three cases of A exists alone, both A and B exist, and B exists alone. In addition, the character “/” used herein generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an “or” relationship.

The method in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to communication in an unlicensed spectrum, and may also be applied to other communication scenarios, such as a scenario of communication in a licensed spectrum.