The present disclosure provides a method including: determining, by a network device, a resource element group corresponding to a control channel, where the resource element group includes a first resource element for carrying downlink control information and a second resource element for carrying a reference signal, and the reference signal is used to demodulate the downlink control information carried by the resource element group; and sending the downlink control information by using the control channel, wherein resource elements comprised in the resource element group are distributed in all symbols of a time domain resource occupied by the control channel. This provides a possibility of supporting forward compatibility.