Communication method and apparatus, and system

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a terminal, time-frequency configuration information from a network side, wherein the time-frequency configuration information indicates a random access channel (RACH) time-frequency resource;

receiving, by the terminal, spatial configuration information from the network side, wherein the spatial configuration information indicates an RACH spatial resource, comprises a beam identifier, and further comprises an antenna weight or precoding information corresponding to the beam identifier;

sending, by the terminal, a random access preamble to the network side according to the time-frequency configuration information and the spatial configuration information; and

receiving, by the terminal, a random access response (RAR) corresponding to the random access preamble from the network side comprising:

determining an RAR window, wherein a starting position of the RAR window is a kth symbol of an (n+m)th subframe, the RAR window has a length of L*N*M, n is a subframe in which a first beam used by the terminal to send the random access preamble is located, k is a symbol on which the first beam is located, m is a preset quantity of subframes, L is a maximum quantity of opportunities for receiving an RAR in the RAR window and for one beam used to send the random access preamble, N is a quantity of symbols or subframes occupied by the RAR, and M is a quantity of beams used to send the RAR, wherein the quantity of beams corresponds to an opportunity for receiving the RAR; and

receiving the RAR in the RAR window.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein sending, by the terminal, a random access preamble to the network side according to the time-frequency configuration information and the spatial configuration information comprises:

obtaining, by the terminal, a beam according to the spatial configuration information; and

sending, using the beam, the random access preamble to the network side on at least part of the RACH time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency configuration information.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, by the terminal, information reflecting a correspondence between the RACH time-frequency resource and the RACH spatial resource, wherein:

sending, by the terminal, the random access preamble comprises:

sending the random access preamble to the network side using the beam on at least part of the RACH time-frequency resource corresponding to the beam.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the information reflecting the correspondence between the RACH time-frequency resource and the RACH spatial resource comprises a correspondence between the RACH time-frequency resource and a beam identifier.

5. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, by the terminal, activation information from the network side, wherein the activation information instructs the terminal to activate at least part of the RACH time-frequency resource on a target beam; and

activating, by the terminal according to the activation information, the at least part of the RACH time-frequency resource on the target beam.

6. An apparatus, comprising a processor, configured to execute a program stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium to perform:

receiving time-frequency configuration information from a network side, wherein the time-frequency configuration information indicates a random access channel (RACH) time-frequency resource;

receiving spatial configuration information from the network side, wherein the spatial configuration information indicates an RACH spatial resource, comprises a beam identifier, and further comprises an antenna weight or precoding information corresponding to the beam identifier;

sending a random access preamble to the network side according to the time-frequency configuration information and the spatial configuration information; and

receiving a random access response (RAR) corresponding to the random access preamble from the network side comprising:

determining an RAR window, wherein a starting position of the RAR window is a kth symbol of an (n+m)th subframe, the RAR window has a length of L*N*M, n is a subframe in which a first beam used by the terminal to send the random access preamble is located, k is a symbol on which the first beam is located, m is a preset quantity of subframes, L is a maximum quantity of opportunities for receiving an RAR in the RAR window and for one beam used to send the random access preamble, N is a quantity of symbols or subframes occupied by the RAR, and M is a quantity of beams used to send the RAR, wherein the quantity of beams corresponds to an opportunity for receiving the RAR; and

receiving the RAR in the RAR window.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein when the program is executed by the processor, the following are performed for sending the random access preamble:

obtaining a beam according to the spatial configuration information; and

sending, using the beam, the random access preamble to the network side on at least part of the RACH time-frequency resource indicated by the time-frequency configuration information.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein when the program is executed by the processor, the following is further performed:

receiving information reflecting a correspondence between the RACH time-frequency resource and the RACH spatial resource, wherein:

sending the random access preamble comprises:

sending the random access preamble to the network side using the beam and on at least part of the RACH time-frequency resource corresponding to the beam.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the information reflecting the correspondence between the RACH time-frequency resource and the RACH spatial resource comprises a correspondence between the RACH time-frequency resource and a beam identifier.

10. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein when the program is executed by the processor, the following is further performed:

receiving activation information from the network side, wherein the activation information instructs the apparatus to activate at least part of the RACH time-frequency resource on a target beam; and

activating, according to the activation information, the at least part of the RACH time-frequency resource on the target beam.

11. An apparatus, comprising a processor, configured to execute a program stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium to perform:

sending time-frequency configuration information to a terminal, wherein the time-frequency configuration information indicates a random access channel (RACH) time-frequency resource;

sending spatial configuration information to the terminal, wherein the spatial configuration information indicates an RACH spatial resource, comprises a beam identifier, and further comprises an antenna weight or precoding information corresponding to the beam identifier, and wherein the terminal initiates random access according to the time-frequency configuration information and the spatial configuration information; and

sending, to the terminal, information reflecting a correspondence between the RACH time-frequency resource and the RACH spatial resource, wherein the information reflecting the correspondence between the RACH time-frequency resource and the RACH spatial resource comprises a correspondence between the RACH time-frequency resource and a beam identifier.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein when the program is executed by the processor, the following is further performed:

sending activation information to the terminal, wherein the activation information instructs the terminal to activate at least part of the RACH time-frequency resource on a target beam, and the target beam comprises at least part of one or more beams indicated by the spatial configuration information.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the activation information comprises an activation signal, and the activation signal comprises a synchronization signal or a reference signal.