Alternatively, when the preamble signal includes N types of sequences, a time-length for the terminal device to detect the preamble signal is greater than or equal to a length of 2*N information segments, or the time-length for the terminal device to detect the preamble signal is greater than or equal to N preamble signal symbols (with CPs), or the time-length for the terminal device to detect the preamble signal is greater than or equal to a length of N downlink signal symbols, wherein N is a positive integer.
Alternatively, the time-length for transmitting the preamble signal is a fixed length, and when the preamble signal includes N types of sequences, a time-length for detecting the preamble signal is S*N preamble signal symbols, or the time-length for detecting the preamble signal is S*N downlink signals, or the time-length for detecting the preamble signal is (S+1)*N information segments, where S is a positive integer.
Alternatively, after detecting the preamble signal, the terminal device receives a downlink signal on a channel where the channel detection succeeds starting from a second time-point.
In some cases, the terminal device may receive a downlink signal after detecting the preamble signal. At this time, the second time-point is a time-point at which the preamble signal has been detected successfully.
In other cases, the terminal device detects the preamble signal, and then sends a response signal of the preamble signal to a network device, instead of receiving a downlink signal. After sending the response signal of the preamble signal, the terminal device receives a downlink signal. If the terminal device does not send the response signal of the preamble signal, the terminal device may choose not to receive the downlink signal.