Beam control information transmission method, beam control method and related device

Abstract

Provided in an embodiment of the present invention are a beam control information transmission method, a beam control method and a related device, the beam control information transmission method comprising: sending a first message to a radio frequency unit, the first message carrying beam control information of a target beam, so that the radio frequency unit performs beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information; wherein the target beam is one or more beams concurrently sent through the radio frequency unit, and the beam control information comprises configuration parameters of the target beam and effective time of the configuration parameters. According to the invention, beam control information transmission is carried out, and beam control can be realized in a multi-beam concurrent scene.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a beam control information transmission method, a beam control method, and related devices. Background Art

[0002] Compared to terrestrial communication systems, low-orbit satellite communication systems have a wider coverage area, more beams, and can serve more users simultaneously. Specifically, the coverage area of ​​a low-orbit satellite is approximately one million square kilometers, which is usually divided into up to thousands of beam points. At the same time, due to limitations such as satellite payload and antenna capabilities, the number of beams that a satellite can send simultaneously is usually quite limited. Therefore, on the one hand, during the initial access phase, the satellite needs to scan the significantly increased number of beam directions in a reasonable manner and duration in a time-sharing manner; on the other hand, during the service data transmission phase, the satellite needs to use an appropriate "space division plus time division" method to schedule limited beams to serve the many users within the coverage area based on the user's service needs and the quality of the transmission channel during the entire service time.

[0003] Therefore, in the corresponding product implementation, the software, hardware and interfaces of the satellite base station need to support timely updates of the "information of the beam to be sent"; or, in short, they need to support beam control. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a method for transmitting beam control information, a beam control method, and related devices to implement beam control in a multi-beam concurrent scenario. The specific technical solution is as follows:

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for transmitting beam control information, which is applied to a baseband unit. The method includes:

[0006] Sending a first message to a radio frequency unit, where the first message carries beam control information of a target beam, so that the radio frequency unit performs beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information;

[0007] The target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes the configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters.

[0008] Optionally, the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters.

[0009] Optionally, for a single first time slot, the first time slot is the time slot in which the configuration parameters take effect, and the beam control information carried in the first message includes configuration parameters indicating that the radio frequency unit performs one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within the first time slot, and the effective time of the configuration parameters corresponding to each configuration; the effective time includes the frame number in which the configuration parameters begin to take effect, the time slot number within the frame, and the symbol sequence number within the time slot.

[0010] Optionally, the time at which the baseband unit starts transmitting the beam control information is within a preset range compared to the effective time included in the beam control information.

[0011] Optionally, when multiple optical fibers are provided between the radio frequency unit and the baseband unit, each optical fiber transmits a first message respectively, and a single first message carries beam control information of part of the target beam.

[0012] Optionally, when the target beam includes two types of beams, namely, a beam carrying SSB signals and a beam carrying business data, the first message transmitted on a single optical fiber in the multiple optical fibers is: a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam belonging to one of the two types of beams, or a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam including the two types of beams.

[0013] Optionally, the baseband unit transmits the first message based on a common public radio interface (CPRI) protocol.

[0014] Optionally, the single CPRI frame of the first message is used to carry beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations on the parameters of the target beam within the duration of a 10ms radio frame;

[0015] A single CPRI frame of the first message includes multiple superframe groups arranged in sequence, and a single superframe group represents a preset number of consecutive superframes; a single superframe group is used to carry beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within a preset first time unit, and the duration of the preset first time unit is consistent with the duration of the single superframe group.

[0016] Optionally, the single superframe occupied by the beam control information in the CPRI frame carries beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of the parameters of the target beam.

[0017] Optionally, the beam control information has the same relative index within the superframe group of the superframes occupied in each superframe group of the CPRI frame.

[0018] Optionally, for the target beam carrying the SSB signal, the time domain distribution of the superframe occupied by the beam control information in a single superframe group within the superframe group is determined based on the time domain distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame.

[0019] Optionally, the beam control information of different target beams occupies different basic frames in a single superframe of the CPRI frame of the first message.

[0020] Optionally, the beam control information is filled in control words on consecutive subchannels within a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

[0021] Optionally, the beam control information is filled in a control word in a manufacturer-defined field or a reserved field in the CPRI frame.

[0022] Optionally, the original sequence number X of the control word occupied by the beam control information in the superframe of the CPRI frame satisfies the following formula:

[0023] X=Ns'+q+64×Xs

[0024] Wherein, Ns' is the initial subchannel sequence number of one or more consecutive subchannels occupied by the beam control information in the superframe, q is the relative subchannel sequence number in the consecutive subchannel, and Xs is the control word sequence number in the subchannel;

[0025] The values ​​of q and Xs of the control word occupied by the target beam satisfy: Corresponding to the relative index of the target beam, Represents rounding down; the relative index is the relative beam index of the target beam in each target beam that carries the beam control information in a CPRI message, and K represents the preset number of control words occupied by the control information of a single target beam in a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

[0026] Optionally, the beam control information also includes a beam control enable field, and the beam control enable field is used to indicate whether a piece of beam control information in which the beam control enable field is located is valid. The piece of beam control information represents beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of the target beam in a single link direction.

[0027] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a beam steering method, applied to a radio frequency unit, the method comprising:

[0028] receiving a first message sent by a baseband unit, the first message carrying beam control information of a target beam, where the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and an effective time of the configuration parameters;

[0029] Based on the beam control information, beam control is performed on the target beam.

[0030] Optionally, the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters.

[0031] Optionally, for a single first time slot, the first time slot is the time slot in which the configuration parameters take effect, and the beam control information carried in the first message includes the configuration parameters required for the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within the first time slot, and the effective time of the configuration parameters corresponding to each configuration; the effective time includes the frame number in which the configuration parameters begin to take effect, the time slot number within the frame, and the symbol sequence number within the time slot.

[0032] Optionally, when multiple optical fibers are provided between the radio frequency unit and the baseband unit, each optical fiber transmits a first message respectively, and a single first message carries beam control information of part of the target beam.

[0033] Optionally, when the target beam includes two types of beams, namely, a beam carrying SSB signals and a beam carrying business data, the first message transmitted on a single optical fiber in the multiple optical fibers is: a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam belonging to one of the two types of beams, or a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam including the two types of beams.

[0034] Optionally, the first message is a message transmitted based on the CPRI protocol.

[0035] Optionally, the single CPRI frame of the first message is used to carry beam control information required for the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within the duration of a 10ms radio frame;

[0036] A single CPRI frame of the first message includes multiple superframe groups arranged in sequence, and a single superframe group represents a preset number of consecutive superframes; a single superframe group is used to carry the beam control information required for the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within a preset first time unit, and the duration of the preset first time unit is consistent with the duration of the single superframe group.

[0037] Optionally, the single superframe occupied by the beam control information in the CPRI frame carries the beam control information required for the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of the parameters of the target beam.

[0038] Optionally, the beam control information has the same relative index within the superframe group of the superframes occupied in each superframe group of the CPRI frame.

[0039] Optionally, for the target beam carrying the SSB signal, the time domain distribution of the superframe occupied by the beam control information in a single superframe group within the superframe group is determined based on the time domain distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame.

[0040] Optionally, the beam control information of different target beams occupies different basic frames in a single superframe of the CPRI frame of the first message.

[0041] Optionally, the beam control information is filled in control words on consecutive subchannels within a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

[0042] Optionally, the beam control information is filled in a control word in a manufacturer-defined field or a reserved field in the CPRI frame.

[0043] Optionally, the original sequence number X of the control word occupied by the beam control information in the superframe of the CPRI frame satisfies the following formula:

[0044] X=Ns'+q+64×Xs

[0045] Wherein, Ns' is the initial subchannel sequence number of one or more consecutive subchannels occupied by the beam control information in the superframe, q is the relative subchannel sequence number in the consecutive subchannel, and Xs is the control word sequence number in the subchannel;

[0046] The values ​​of q and Xs of the control word occupied by the target beam satisfy: Corresponding to the relative index of the target beam, Represents rounding down; the relative index is the relative beam index of the target beam in each target beam that carries the beam control information in a CPRI message, and K represents the preset number of control words occupied by the control information of a single target beam in a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

[0047] Optionally, the beam control information also includes a beam control enable field, and the beam control enable field is used to indicate whether a piece of beam control information in which the beam control enable field is located is valid. The piece of beam control information represents beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of the target beam in a single link direction.

[0048] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a device for transmitting beam control information, which is applied to a baseband unit and includes:

[0049] A sending module is used to send a first message to a radio frequency unit, wherein the first message carries beam control information of a target beam, so that the radio frequency unit performs beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information; wherein the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters.

[0050] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a beam steering device, applied to a radio frequency unit, including:

[0051] a receiving module, configured to receive a first message sent by a baseband unit, the first message carrying beam control information of a target beam, the target beam being one or more beams for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information including configuration parameters of the target beam and an effective time of the configuration parameters;

[0052] A control module is used to perform beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information.

[0053] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device, including a processor, a communication interface, a memory, and a communication bus, wherein the processor, the communication interface, and the memory communicate with each other via the communication bus;

[0054] Memory for storing computer programs;

[0055] The processor is configured to implement any of the above-mentioned beam control information transmission methods or beam control methods when executing a program stored in the memory.

[0056] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, it performs any of the above-mentioned beam control information transmission methods or beam control methods.

[0057] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute any of the above-mentioned beam control information transmission methods or beam control methods.

[0058] Beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present invention:

[0059] The beam control information transmission method, beam control method, and related apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present invention carry beam control information of a target beam in a first message sent by a baseband unit to a radio frequency unit, and the target beam is one or more beams for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit. Since in communication scenarios such as satellite communication scenarios where multi-beam concurrency is required, the radio frequency unit has an actual need to perform beam control on all concurrent beams. Therefore, by carrying the beam control information of the beams that need to be concurrently transmitted through the radio frequency unit through the first message, the radio frequency unit can timely update the parameters of each concurrent beam based on the first message sent by the baseband unit, thereby realizing timely beam control in multi-beam concurrent scenarios.

[0060] Of course, it is not necessary to achieve all of the advantages described above simultaneously in order to implement any product or method of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0061] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other embodiments can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0062] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a base station architecture in related art;

[0063] Figure 2 1 is a flow chart of a method for transmitting beam control information provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0064] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a CPRI frame structure in the related art;

[0065] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the organization of control words within a CPRI superframe in the related art;

[0066] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the distribution of beam control information of three beams carrying SSB signals concurrently transmitted over an air interface, provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0067] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the distribution of beam control information of two beams carrying service data concurrently on an air interface provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0068] Figure 7 This is another schematic diagram of the distribution of beam control information of three beams carrying SSB signals concurrently transmitted over the air interface provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0069] Figure 81 is a flow chart of a beam steering method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0070] Figure 9 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a device for transmitting beam control information provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0071] Figure 10 is a structural diagram of a beam control device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0072] Figure 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a baseband unit provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0073] Figure 12 It is a structural diagram of a radio frequency unit provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0074] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on this application are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0075] The beam control involved in the present invention is first explained below.

[0076] In actual communication systems, network-side equipment and terminal equipment are typically included. The network-side equipment's primary function is to achieve network coverage and provide access and communication services to terminal equipment. For example, network-side equipment can refer to ground-based base stations or satellite-based base stations.

[0077] The network coverage of the network-side device is achieved based on beams. For some network-side devices, multiple different beam positions may be set within the coverage range of the network-side device. Therefore, in actual applications, the network-side device may need to scan beams in different directions in sequence, or schedule beams in different directions at different times. Therefore, the network-side device needs to continuously update the information of the beam to be sent, or parameters (such as beam index / pitch angle / azimuth angle). This process of updating the beam information can be understood as beam control.

[0078] In actual applications, beam steering is implemented by the baseband function and radio frequency unit (RFU) within the network-side equipment. Specifically, the baseband unit sends beam steering information to the RFU. The baseband unit is responsible for performing functions such as channel coding, baseband signal modulation and demodulation, protocol processing, and can also implement management and control functions for the RFU. As an example, the baseband unit can be specifically referred to as a BBU (Building Baseband Unit).

[0079] The RF unit is a component used to process radio frequency signals. For example, it can refer to an RRU (Radio Remote Unit) or an AAU (Active Antenna System). Whether the network-side device uses an RRU or AAU for RF signal processing depends on the device's design architecture. The RRU is connected to the antenna unit, and the radio waves generated by the RRU after processing the digital signal are transmitted to the outside of the network-side device via the antenna unit. The AAU is the integration of the RRU and the antenna unit.

[0080] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the base station architecture in the related art. The following takes the network side equipment as a base station including BBU and RRU as an example, combined with Figure 1 The process of implementing beam steering is illustrated by way of example.

[0081] See also Figure 1 , the RRU and the BBU are specifically connected by optical fiber to realize communication transmission between the two. Exemplarily, the communication interface between the RRU and the BBU can be specifically implemented based on the CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface) protocol or the eCPRI (enhanced CPRI) protocol.

[0082] In actual applications, IQ data (In-phase / Quadrature, in-phase / quadrature modulation data) and control information can be transmitted between the BBU and the RRU. When beam control is required, the BBU sends beam control information containing beam parameters (such as beam index / pitch angle / azimuth angle) to the RRU, and the RRU performs beam control based on the received parameters.

[0083] In more complex communication scenarios (such as satellite communications), ensuring that the base station's radio frequency unit can promptly update the parameters of the transmitted beam and complete beamforming operations requires the proper design of the specific content and transmission process of beam steering information. However, the current international standard for the CPRI interface does not define beam steering information.

[0084] As for the current method of transmitting beam control information, the message transmitted from the baseband unit to the radio frequency unit only carries the parameters of a single beam. However, in some communication scenarios, there may be an actual need to implement beam control in a multi-beam communication scenario. For example, in a satellite communication scenario, due to the large network coverage and large number of wave positions of the satellite-borne base station, the satellite-borne base station usually performs multiple beams concurrently, which requires beam control for all these concurrent beams. However, the current method of transmitting beam control information cannot guarantee that the radio frequency unit can complete the update of the beam parameters in a timely manner based on the message sent by the baseband unit, and thus cannot support this multi-beam communication scenario.

[0085] In view of this, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for transmitting beam control information, which is applied to a baseband unit. Figure 2 , the method comprises the following steps:

[0086] Step S201: Send a first message to the radio frequency unit, where the first message carries beam control information of a target beam, so that the radio frequency unit performs beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information.

[0087] The target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit.

[0088] The first message is a message sent by the baseband unit based on the communication interface between the baseband unit and the radio frequency unit. In this embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information of the target beam is carried in the first message. This embodiment of the present invention does not limit the specific scope or category of the first message. The message only needs to carry the beam control information. As an example, the first message can be a message based on the CPRI protocol or a message based on the eCPRI protocol.

[0089] In this embodiment of the present invention, to enable beam control information transmitted by the baseband unit to support multi-beam concurrent transmission, the first message carries beam control information for a target beam, where the target beam is one or more beams to be transmitted concurrently by the radio frequency unit. The specific content of the beam control information can be set based on actual needs and may include, for example, a beam index, elevation angle, and azimuth angle.

[0090] It can be seen that the target beam is specifically one or more beams that need to be sent concurrently by the network-side device. It should be understood that in actual applications, it is usually necessary to make decisions on beam scanning, scheduling, updating and other strategies based on the specific distribution of beam points within the coverage area of ​​the network-side device, or the actual needs of users in different beam directions, link status and other information. The decision result includes one or more beams that the network-side device needs to send concurrently (i.e., target beams), as well as information about these beams.

[0091] Internally, to achieve this decision, the baseband unit (BBU) obtains information about one or more concurrent beams as beam control information. Based on this information, the BBU generates a message that complies with the interface protocol between the BBU and the RF, and sends it to the RF. Upon receiving the message from the BBU, the RF parses the beam control information and, using its beamforming capabilities, implements beam control actions such as beam scanning, beam switching, and beam updates.

[0092] It should be understood that the method for transmitting beam control information adopted in the embodiment of the present invention is specifically aimed at multi-beam concurrent communication scenarios, and in actual applications, the number of beams that need to be concurrently transmitted by the radio frequency unit may change. In the embodiment of the present invention, as long as the beams need to be concurrently transmitted, the concurrent beams can be carried in the first message, and the number of target beams is not specifically limited. For example, it may be necessary to scan multiple beam directions with the help of the radio frequency unit at certain times, and it may be necessary to scan only one beam direction with the help of the radio frequency unit at other times.

[0093] Therefore, after receiving the first message sent by the baseband unit, the radio frequency unit can obtain the beam control information of one or more beams that need to be concurrently transmitted from the first message, configure the information of the beams that need to be concurrently transmitted, and realize beam control in a multi-beam scenario.

[0094] Furthermore, the embodiments of the present invention do not specifically limit how the beam control information of the target beam is carried via the first message. As an example, since the baseband unit and the radio frequency unit need to transmit data based on a frame structure, the beam control information of different target beams can be carried via resources at different time domain locations in the data frame of the first message, or the beam control information of different target beams can be carried via resources at different frequency domain locations in the data frame of the first message.

[0095] The beam control process is described below with reference to a specific example. If the radio frequency unit needs to control three concurrent beams, beam 0, beam 1, and beam 2, at time t1, then according to the method for transmitting beam control information provided by an embodiment of the present invention, the baseband unit of the satellite base station can send a first message to the radio frequency unit at time t2, and the first message carries the beam control information of beam 0, beam 1, and beam 2 at the same time, so that the radio frequency unit can control the above three concurrent beams after receiving the first message. It should be understood that to ensure that the radio frequency unit can perform beam control in a timely manner, time t2 should be ahead of time t1. The specific advance amount can be designed based on actual needs. Regarding time t1, it can be determined in combination with the actual application scenario and the content of related technologies.

[0096] Specifically, the beam control information may include configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters to ensure the accuracy and control effect of the beam control.

[0097] Configuration parameters are parameters related to the specific direction of the beam. For example, they may include the beam's elevation and azimuth angles. The effective time of a configuration parameter can also be understood as the start time of execution of the corresponding configuration parameter. For example, the effective time may be a specific frame number or time slot number.

[0098] As an example, if the configuration parameter of a beam is represented as A and the effective time of the configuration parameter is recorded as t3, if the RF unit receives the parameter A sent by the baseband unit before t3, the RF unit will not immediately configure the parameter of the beam to A, but will configure the parameter of the beam to A at t3.

[0099] In the beam control information transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present invention, in the beam control method and related apparatus, the first message sent by the baseband unit to the radio frequency unit carries the beam control information of the target beam, and the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit. Since in communication scenarios such as satellite communication scenarios where multi-beam concurrency is required, the radio frequency unit has an actual need to perform beam control on all concurrent beams. Therefore, by carrying the beam control information of the beams that need to be transmitted concurrently through the radio frequency unit through the first message, the radio frequency unit can timely update the parameters of each concurrent beam based on the first message sent by the baseband unit, thereby realizing timely beam control in multi-beam concurrent scenarios.

[0100] In one embodiment of the present invention, the configuration parameters include one or more of a link direction, an elevation angle, and an azimuth angle of the target beam.

[0101] The link direction of the beam specifically refers to the uplink direction of the beam or the downlink direction of the beam. As an example, in practical applications, the uplink direction can be represented by 0, and the downlink direction can be represented by 1.

[0102] In practical applications, it is necessary to configure the parameters of the beam in both the uplink and downlink directions. By carrying the link direction of the beam in the first message, it is possible to indicate to the radio frequency unit which link direction the specific beam control information is for.

[0103] The pitch angle ranges from 0° to 90°. As an example, the calculation accuracy of the pitch angle can be set to 0.01°.

[0104] The azimuth angle ranges from 0° to 360°. As an example, the calculation accuracy of the azimuth angle can be set to 0.01°.

[0105] By carrying the elevation angle and azimuth angle in the first message, it is possible to indicate the radio frequency unit at what specific angle and direction the corresponding beam should be sent.

[0106] It should be understood that the scope of the configuration parameters is not limited to the contents listed above. In actual applications, the specific contents included in the configuration parameters can be set in combination with specific needs to ensure the beam control effect.

[0107] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information further includes a beam index of the target beam.

[0108] As an example, the beam index in the beam control information may specifically be a logical beam index Beam ID in a total of target beams that need to be concurrently transmitted in the radio frequency unit.

[0109] For example, if the RF unit needs to send three target beams concurrently, 0, 1, and 2 are used as the logical beam indexes of the three target beams, respectively, so that the RF unit can more easily distinguish the beam control information of different target beams.

[0110] Since in an embodiment of the present invention, it is necessary to transmit beam control information for one or more concurrent beams, carrying beam indexes corresponding to different beam control information in the first message helps the radio frequency unit identify which beam the specific beam control information is for, thereby enabling accurate beam control.

[0111] In one embodiment of the present invention, for a single first time slot, the first time slot is the time slot in which the configuration parameters take effect. The beam control information carried in the first message includes configuration parameters indicating that the radio frequency unit performs one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within the first time slot, and the effective time of the configuration parameters corresponding to each configuration; the effective time includes the frame number in which the configuration parameters begin to take effect, the time slot number within the frame, and the symbol sequence number within the time slot.

[0112] Current methods for transmitting beam control information use a TTI (Transmission Time Interval) granularity for parameter transmission. However, in some communication scenarios, such as satellite communications, the radio frequency unit may need to configure the parameters of multiple concurrent beams more than once within a single time slot. This transmission method cannot meet the beam control granularity requirements for beam configuration in these scenarios.

[0113] In an embodiment of the present invention, in order to ensure that the transmission of beam control information can support the scenario where the parameters of the target beam need to be configured multiple times in a single time slot, for a single first time slot in which the configuration parameters are effective, the beam control information for the single first time slot carried in the first message specifically includes configuration parameters that instruct the radio frequency unit to configure the parameters of the target beam one or more times in the first time slot, and the effective time of the configuration parameters corresponding to each configuration. It should be understood that in actual applications, the communication standard adopted by the baseband unit and the radio frequency unit inside the network side device when interacting with data is different from the communication standard adopted when the network side device sends a beam to the outside. The time slot here specifically refers to the time slot defined under the communication standard applied when the network side device sends a beam to the outside.

[0114] Specifically, if the RF unit is required to configure the parameters of the target beam M times differently within a single time slot, the beam control information for a single time slot carried in the first message should include M groups of different configuration parameters and corresponding M effective times. Among them, the specific number of M and the specific effective time of each group of configuration parameters need to be determined according to the actual application scenario. It should be noted that the RF unit may need to configure the parameters of different beams in sequence. For example, it may be necessary to scan different beams in sequence. Therefore, the target beams targeted by the configuration parameters of different configuration times may be different.

[0115] For example, if the radio frequency unit is required to configure the parameters of the target beam to M1 at time T1 within time slot n, and configure the parameters of the target beam to M2 at time T2 within time slot n, the beam control information carried by the baseband unit for time slot n should include M1 and T1, and M2 and T2.

[0116] Accordingly, to ensure the time granularity of the beam steering information, the effective time of the configuration parameters specifically includes the frame number, time slot number within the frame, and symbol number within the time slot at which the configuration parameters take effect. Therefore, after receiving the first message sent by the baseband unit, the radio frequency unit can achieve precise control of the target beam at the symbol-level time granularity based on the beam steering information carried in the message.

[0117] As an example, if the network side device specifically sends a beam to the outside based on 5G (5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology), the frame number here is specifically the SFN (System Frame Number) mod4 (representing the modulo operation with 4) under NR (New Radio), and the value range is 0 to 1023. Correspondingly, the time slot number in the frame is 0 to 79, and the symbol number specifically refers to the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing) symbol number, and the value range is 0 to 13.

[0118] Therefore, for scenarios where the parameters of the beam need to be configured multiple times in a single time slot, by applying the beam control information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the radio frequency unit can obtain the configuration parameters required for each configuration based on the first message sent by the baseband unit, and achieve precise symbol-level control. That is to say, the embodiment of the present invention can meet the beam control requirement with a minimum time granularity of symbol level.

[0119] In one embodiment of the present invention, the time at which the baseband unit starts to transmit the beam control information is within a preset range in advance of the effective time included in the beam control message.

[0120] Specifically, the beam control information used to instruct the RF unit to configure the parameters of the target beam each time has a corresponding effective time. In actual applications, if the baseband unit sends the beam control information to the RF too early, the RF will need to store the beam control information for a certain period of time before executing the control. This requires the RF unit to have a sufficient number of cache devices and limits the scope of application of the beam control information transmission method.

[0121] Therefore, in an embodiment of the present invention, the preset range [Δt1, Δt2] of the advance amount of the baseband transmission beam control information can be set in advance, and the advance amount is not greater than the maximum advance amount Δt2 and not less than the minimum advance amount Δt1, so as to ensure the rationality of the control information transmission and reduce the hardware requirements on the radio frequency unit side.

[0122] During specific implementation, the value of the advance amount can be set according to actual needs. As an example, the advance amount can be set to the duration of an air interface timeslot.

[0123] In actual application scenarios, the concurrent target beams required by the radio frequency unit may include beams carrying SSB (Synchronization Signal Block) signals and / or beams carrying service data.

[0124] Among them, the beam carrying service data can be specifically understood as a beam carrying PDSCH (Physical DownLink Shared CHannel, physical downlink shared channel) / PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared CHannel, physical uplink shared channel) data.

[0125] Taking a satellite communication scenario as an example, for beams carrying SSB signals, the satellite-borne base station needs to sequentially scan different beam directions in a time-division manner. For beams carrying service data, the satellite-borne base station needs to schedule the beams using a "space division plus time division" approach. In an embodiment of the present invention, based on actual application requirements, the first message may carry beam control information for beams carrying SBB signals and / or beam control information for beams carrying service data to ensure that the beam control information transmitted by the baseband unit can support beam control in multiple scenarios.

[0126] In one embodiment of the present invention, for the target beam carrying the SSB signal, the time domain distribution of the beam control information in the first message is determined based on the time domain distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame.

[0127] In actual applications, when a network-side device communicates with the outside world, the radio frequency unit needs to configure beam parameters differently at different times. Therefore, for a specific beam, the baseband unit needs to carry the beam control information required at different times in a first message, and thus needs to determine the specific time-domain distribution of this different beam control information in the first message. In an embodiment of the present invention, for a beam carrying an SSB signal, the multiple beam control information items when the beam parameters are differently configured can correspond to the time-domain position distribution of the SSB signal in the radio frame.

[0128] Specifically, since the radio frequency unit may need to configure the parameters of the beam carrying the SSB signal when transmitting the SSB signal, the time domain distribution of the beam control information in the first message can be set to correspond to the time domain distribution of the SSB, so that the time when the baseband unit transmits different beam control information matches the time when the radio frequency unit applies different beam control information. In this case, the rationality of the transmission of the beam control information can be guaranteed, and the situation where the radio frequency unit needs to cache a large amount of beam control information for the beam carrying the SSB signal can be avoided.

[0129] In one embodiment of the present invention, when multiple optical fibers are provided between the radio frequency unit and the baseband unit, each optical fiber transmits a first message, and a single first message carries beam control information of part of the target beam.

[0130] In actual applications, the data interaction between the RF unit and the baseband unit is specifically implemented based on optical fiber. When multiple optical fibers are provided between the baseband unit and the RF unit, each optical fiber can independently transmit one first message. Therefore, the beam control information of different target beams can be transmitted through different optical fibers. Each optical fiber only needs to transmit the beam control information of part of the target beam to ensure that the RF unit obtains the required beam control information of all target beams.

[0131] It should be understood that by distributing the beam control information of different target beams to different optical fibers for transmission, the performance requirements for a single optical fiber can be reduced, thereby supporting beam control in multi-beam scenarios with a large number of beams.

[0132] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the target beam includes two types of beams, namely, a beam carrying an SSB signal and a beam carrying service data, the first message transmitted on a single optical fiber in a multi-optical fiber is: a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam belonging to one of the two types of beams, or a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam including both types of beams.

[0133] In actual applications, the time when the base station performs beam steering on the beam carrying the SSB signal is different from the time when the base station controls the beam carrying the service data. Therefore, when designing the content of the first message, it is also necessary to design separately for the two types of beams. The following describes the two cases in detail:

[0134] In a specific implementation, for a beam carrying an SSB signal, in one time slot, it may be necessary to have more than one different configuration of the parameters of one or a group of beams carrying an SSB signal that are concurrently transmitted.

[0135] For beams carrying service data, the specific situation varies depending on the resource mapping type of PDSCH / PUSCH. When slot-based scheduling is used, that is, corresponding to mapping type A (a resource mapping type), the parameters of one or a group of concurrent beams carrying service data will only be configured once in a slot. When mini-slot-based scheduling is used, that is, corresponding to mapping type B (a resource mapping type), the parameters of one or a group of concurrent beams carrying service data may be configured more than once in a slot.

[0136] In view of the above situation, each optical fiber can be used to transmit beam steering information of only one type of beam. This method is conducive to simplifying the specific process of designing how to carry beam steering information in the first message, and facilitates solution implementation.

[0137] Naturally, the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal and the beam control information of the beam carrying the business data can also be mixed in one optical fiber for propagation. In this case, part of the optical fiber between the baseband unit and the radio frequency unit may be used to transmit the beam control information of two types of beams, the beam carrying the SSB signal and the beam carrying the business data, and the other part of the optical fiber is used to transmit the beam control information of a single type of beam.

[0138] In one embodiment of the present invention, the baseband unit transmits the first message based on the CPRI protocol.

[0139] CPRI is a common public radio transceiver interface specification, which is mainly used to transmit data streams and control information between baseband units and radio frequency units.

[0140] In the embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information of the target beam can be carried in the CPRI frame, and the existing communication mechanism is used to reduce the implementation complexity of transmitting the beam control information.

[0141] Furthermore, one or more embodiments of the present invention include a universal, standardized design for appropriately transmitting beam control information based on the information transmission format defined by the CPRI interface specification. Specifically, this design defines the time domain location, superframes, and fields within the CPRI interface protocol used by the baseband unit to transmit beam control information. For ease of understanding, the following briefly describes the CPRI frame structure.

[0142] See also Figure 3A UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) radio frame (BFN in the figure represents the base station frame number), or a CPRI frame, has a duration of 10 ms and contains 150 superframes. The superframe numbers Z of these superframes range from 0 to 149, and each superframe contains 256 basic frames. The basic frame numbers X of these basic frames range from 0 to 255.

[0143] Each basic frame specifically contains 16 words, with word indices W ranging from 0 to 15. W = 0 is a control word (i.e., the shaded portion in the figure), and W = 1 to 15 are used to transmit IQ data. Y is the number of bits in each word. A control word has a bit width of 16 bytes, with each byte being 8 bits.

[0144] Specifically, regarding the timing of beam control information transmission, if the beam control information is sent from the baseband unit to the radio frequency unit too early, or if the beam control information is sent unevenly from the baseband unit to the radio frequency unit, the radio frequency unit needs to have sufficient buffering devices to buffer the beam control information. To address this issue, one or more embodiments of the present invention are designed to place beam control information within the CPRI frame based on the following principles: ensuring that the advance transmission time of the beam control information within the CPRI interface is not too long and that the beam control information is evenly distributed within the CPRI information over time.

[0145] The design content is described below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0146] In one embodiment of the present invention, a single CPRI frame of the first message is used to carry beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to configure the parameters of the target beam one or more times differently within the duration of a 10ms radio frame.

[0147] As mentioned earlier, the communication standard used for data exchange between the baseband unit and the radio frequency unit is different from the communication standard used by network-side devices when transmitting beams externally. Therefore, to ensure the rationality of transmitting beam control information, it is necessary to match the amount of beam control information actually required by the radio frequency unit within a specific time period with the amount of beam control information transmitted by the baseband unit within that specific time period, ensuring that the baseband unit can transmit beam control information to the radio frequency unit relatively evenly.

[0148] Specifically, if the baseband unit transmits a large amount of beam steering information to the radio unit in a short period of time, and the radio unit takes a longer time to apply all of this beam steering information, the radio unit will need to cache the beam steering information, which is obviously an unreasonable design. Therefore, the cadence of beam steering information transmission from the baseband unit to the radio unit should be consistent with the cadence at which the radio unit actually needs to apply the beam steering information.

[0149] Taking the network-side device sending the target beam based on NR as an example, the duration of a CPRI frame is consistent with the time domain length of an NR wireless frame, both of which are 10ms.

[0150] When the system uses an OFDM-based waveform for wireless transmission over the air interface, the SCS (Sub-Carrier Space) used is L × 15 kHz (kilohertz). Therefore, the number of time slots in 1 ms is L. If, in a time slot, the parameters of one or a group of beams carrying SSB signals can have M (M>1) different configurations, then the parameters of the beam carrying SSB signals may change L × M (L × M>1) times within 1 ms, and 10 × L × M times within 10 ms.

[0151] For beams carrying service data, if only the time slot-based scheduling of service data is considered, in a time slot, the parameters of a concurrent beam or a group of beams carrying service data will only be configured once. Therefore, the parameters of the beam carrying service data may change L times within 1ms and may change 10×L times within 10ms.

[0152] In combination with the foregoing, it should be understood that since the duration of a CPRI frame and a radio frame are both 10ms, the baseband unit needs to send the beam control information for the 10×L×M changes of the beam carrying the SSB signal within the duration of a radio frame, and the beam control information for the 10×L changes of the beam carrying the service data within one CPRI frame to the radio frequency unit.

[0153] In order to further ensure the rationality of beam control information transmission, a single CPRI frame of the first message contains multiple superframe groups arranged in sequence, and a single superframe group represents a preset number of consecutive superframes; a single superframe group is used to carry beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within a preset first time unit, and the duration of the preset first time unit is consistent with the duration of the single superframe group.

[0154] Specifically, within a single 10ms CPRI frame, it is necessary to carry beam control information for instructing the radio frequency unit to configure the beam information of the target beam multiple times within one 10ms. Therefore, in order to ensure the uniform distribution of the beam control information in the CPRI message, the 10ms can be evenly divided, and multiple superframe groups arranged in sequence can be determined within a single CPRI frame, where each superframe group is used to carry beam control information for instructing the radio frequency unit to configure the parameters of the target beam one or more times in a preset first time unit, and the duration of the preset first time unit is consistent with the duration of a single superframe group. How to determine the number of superframes contained in the superframe group and the corresponding preset third time unit can be considered in combination with actual needs.

[0155] As an example, the 150 superframes contained in a 10ms CPRI frame can be evenly divided into 10 superframe groups of 1ms duration. Each superframe group carries beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to configure the parameters of the target beam once or multiple times within a preset first time unit of 1ms. In this case, a single superframe group consists of 15 consecutive superframes.

[0156] In this case, a CPRI frame can be divided into 10 superframe groups of 1ms in length. Each superframe group of 1ms is specifically 15 consecutive superframes. Figure 3 In the example, the superframes with Z ranging from 0 to 14 are the first 1ms superframe group, the superframes with Z ranging from 15 to 29 are the second 1ms superframe group, and so on.

[0157] It should be understood that the moment when the beam carrying the SSB signal needs to be controlled is independent of the moment when the beam carrying the service data needs to be controlled. Therefore, when specifically designing the placement of the beam control information in the CPRI format message, the two categories of beams need to be considered separately. That is, in the case where each optical fiber between the baseband unit and the radio frequency unit transmits one CPRI message respectively, there are differences in the specific designs of the CPRI messages for carrying the beam control information of the target beam carrying the SSB signal, the CPRI message for carrying the beam control information of the target beam carrying the service data, the CPRI message for carrying the beam control information of the target beam carrying the SSB signal, and the CPRI message for carrying the beam control information of the target beam carrying the service data and the beam control information of the target beam carrying the SSB signal and the beam control information of the service beam.

[0158] In this case, if the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal and the beam control information of the beam carrying the service data are mixed and transmitted by a certain CPRI interface light, then each 1ms superframe group must specifically carry beam control information that instructs the RF unit to configure the parameters of the target beam L×M+L times differently. The reason is that: the baseband unit needs to send the beam control information that instructs the RF unit to configure the parameters of the SSB beam carrying L×M times differently within 1ms to the RF unit within 1ms. When only considering the time slot-based scheduling of service data, the beam control information that instructs the RF unit to configure the parameters of the beam carrying service data L times differently within 1ms also needs to be sent to the RF unit.

[0159] If the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal and the control information of the beam carrying the service data are transmitted by different CPRI interface optical fibers, for the optical fiber that transmits the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal, each 1ms superframe group in the first message must specifically carry beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to configure the beam parameters L×M times differently; if only the time slot-based scheduling of service data is considered, for the optical fiber that transmits the beam control information of the beam carrying the service data, each 1ms superframe group in the first message must specifically carry beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to configure the beam parameters L times differently.

[0160] When the target beam is carried in the Sub-6GHz frequency band, if only the time slot-based scheduling of the service beam is considered, L≤4 and M≤2, so L×M+L is less than 15. When the beam control information corresponding to different configuration times within 1ms needs to be placed in different superframes in the superframe group, determining every 15 consecutive superframes as a superframe group is a reasonable design that can ensure implementation.

[0161] In an embodiment of the present invention, the 150 superframes contained in a single CPRI frame are considered as a plurality of superframe groups arranged in sequence, and each superframe group carries protection control information instructing the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam in a preset first time unit. This makes the transmission process of the beam control information reasonable and ensures uniform distribution of the beam control information in the time domain.

[0162] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information occupies a single superframe in the CPRI frame and carries the beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of the target beam.

[0163] According to the foregoing description, each superframe group in the CPRI frame is specifically used to carry beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations on the parameters of the target beam within a preset first time unit.

[0164] like Figure 3 As shown, each CPRI frame has a fixed frame structure, and the baseband unit (BBU) inherently needs to transmit control information and IQ data to the radio frequency unit (RFU) based on CPRI information during operation. Therefore, the amount of additional beam control information that can be carried in each CPRI superframe is limited. Furthermore, the RF unit will perform multiple different configurations of beam parameters within a specific time period. In other words, the RF unit only needs to use the beam control information required to configure the beam parameters once. Therefore, it is not necessary to centralize the beam control information for different configurations in a specific superframe for transmission. Instead, each superframe only carries the beam control information required to configure the beam parameters once.

[0165] Continuing with the previous example, if each superframe group consists of 15 consecutive superframes lasting 1ms, then if the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal and the beam control information of the beam carrying the service data are mixed together for transmission in one optical fiber, since each 1ms superframe group of the first message in the optical fiber specifically carries beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to configure the parameters of the target beam L×M+L times differently, the beam control message specifically occupies Nm=L×M+L superframes in each 1ms superframe group.

[0166] If the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal and the beam control information of the beam carrying the service data are respectively transmitted by different CPRI interface optical fibers, then for the optical fiber that transmits the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal, since each 1ms superframe group of the first message in the optical fiber specifically carries the beam control information when instructing the radio frequency unit to configure the parameters of the beam L×M times differently, the beam control information specifically occupies Nm=L×M superframes in each 1ms superframe group; for the optical fiber that transmits the beam control information of the beam carrying the service data, since each 1ms superframe group of the first message in the optical fiber specifically carries the beam control information when instructing the radio frequency unit to configure the parameters of the beam L times differently, the beam control information specifically occupies Nm=L superframes in each 1ms superframe group.

[0167] In an embodiment of the present invention, each superframe group in the CPRI frame is specifically used to carry beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within a preset third time unit, and the transmission process of the beam control information is more reasonable.

[0168] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information has the same relative index within each superframe group of the CPRI frame.

[0169] As mentioned above, in a specific implementation, the distribution of beam control information in the time domain should be as uniform as possible. In the aforementioned embodiments of the present invention, beam control information is periodically carried in different superframe groups of the CPRI frame. Furthermore, according to the design principles of the present invention, the number of superframes occupied by the beam control information in each superframe group is actually consistent. Therefore, if the relative index of the superframe group occupied by the beam control information in each superframe group is further designed to be consistent, the uniform distribution of the beam control information in the time domain can be further ensured.

[0170] like Figure 3 As shown, the index Z of each superframe in each 10ms CPRI frame is specifically 0 to 149. Continuing from the previous example, if each superframe group is 15 consecutive superframes lasting 1ms, the index of the superframe occupied by the beam control information in the CPRI frame can be specified as Z = 15 × n + m, where n is an integer millisecond index, which can also be understood as the group index of each superframe group. Each CPRI frame is 10ms long and contains 10 1ms superframe groups, so n is a natural number between 0 and 9; m is the relative index of the superframe in this millisecond, or the relative index within the superframe group. For example, n = i-1 represents the i-th superframe among the 10 superframes contained in each 1ms superframe group.

[0171] The value of m is consistent for each superframe group, and m can have multiple different values. Specifically, if the beam control information occupies Nm superframes in each 1ms superframe group, then m has Nm different values. The value of Nm can refer to the description in the previous embodiments of the present invention. The specific value of Nm can be designed based on actual application requirements and is not limited by the present invention.

[0172] In one embodiment of the present invention, for a target beam carrying an SSB signal, the time domain distribution of superframes occupied by beam control information in a single superframe group within the superframe group is determined based on the time domain distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame.

[0173] Specifically, since the existing protocol has made clear provisions for the time domain distribution of the SSB signal, the time domain distribution of the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal in the CPRI frame can correspond to the time domain position distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame, thereby ensuring the rationality of the transmission of the beam control information and avoiding the situation where the radio frequency unit side needs to cache a large amount of beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal.

[0174] It should be understood that this does not mean that the time domain distribution of the beam control information in the CPRI frame must strictly correspond to the time domain distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame. It only needs to have similar time domain distribution characteristics.

[0175] Specifically, for the case where a single superframe group consists of 15 consecutive superframes of 1ms, the time domain distribution of the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal within the 1ms superframe group can be made similar to the time domain position distribution characteristics of the SSB signal in a wireless subframe (lasting 1ms).

[0176] Continuing with the previous example, if the base station configures the SCS to 30 kHz when transmitting beams, then the number of time slots L within 1 ms is 2. If each superframe group consists of 15 consecutive superframes lasting 1 ms, then for the beam carrying the SSB signal, each superframe group needs to carry beam control information for 2×M different configurations of the beam parameters. If M = 2, then Nm = 4, and the specific values ​​of the four m's need to be determined. According to existing protocols, the SSB signal is located in symbols 2 to 5 and 8 to 11 within the 14 symbols within a time slot. Therefore, based on the time domain distribution characteristics of the SSB signal, the four values ​​of m can be set to {0, 1, 8, 9}.

[0177] The distribution of beam control information for beams carrying service data within a single superframe group, or how to determine the specific values ​​of Nm, can be determined based on specific needs and is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention. A general principle that can be followed is that the values ​​of Nm are relatively evenly distributed within the range of {0, ..., 14}.

[0178] It can be seen that the aforementioned embodiment specifically describes the design of the specific placement of the beam control information corresponding to one configuration on the "superframe position" in the CPRI message when multiple different configurations are performed on the target beam. In one or more of the following embodiments of the present invention, the design of the "specific field in the superframe" where the beam control information is placed will be further described.

[0179] In one embodiment of the present invention, beam control information of different target beams occupies different basic frames in a single superframe of a CPRI frame of the first message.

[0180] like Figure 3 As shown, each CPRI superframe consists of 256 basic frames. If the base station needs to concurrently transmit multiple beams, the beam control information for different beams can be placed in different basic frames within each superframe. Given the limited amount of data that can be carried by each basic frame, this design not only supports beam control in multi-beam concurrent scenarios with a large number of beams, but also facilitates the differentiation of beam control information for different beams.

[0181] Specifically, which basic frames in the superframe the beam control information occupies can be designed according to actual needs, and the embodiment of the present invention does not limit this.

[0182] During specific implementation, the beam control information may be filled into the control word in the basic frame included in the CPRI frame of the first message.

[0183] As mentioned above, each CPRI basic frame specifically includes a control word and data bits used to fill IQ data. In actual implementation, the control word in a basic frame is typically not fully used. Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, beam control information can be inserted into the control word. Since the control word is used to carry control information, it is more reasonable to insert beam control information into the control word.

[0184] Correspondingly, in addition to transmitting the beam control information in the control word, the beam control information may also be filled in the data bits of the basic frame included in the CPRI frame of the first message.

[0185] Among them, the data bit is Figure 3 The part where W is 1 to 15 in the basic frame shown in FIG.

[0186] Specifically, the beam control information and the IQ data may be bundled and sent together to ensure flexibility in the specific implementation of the solution. For example, the beam control information may be placed before or after the IQ data.

[0187] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information of a single target beam in the uplink direction and the beam control information in the downlink direction occupy the same basic frame within a single superframe of a CPRI frame, or the beam control information of a single target beam in the uplink direction and the beam control information in the downlink direction occupy different basic frames within a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

[0188] In practical applications, beams must support both reception and transmission. Therefore, for a single beam, parameters in both the uplink and downlink directions need to be configured. In addition, the number of bits required for beam control information in the two directions is usually the same.

[0189] In this embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information for a single beam in both the uplink and downlink directions can be comprehensively considered. That is, the beam control information for a single beam in both directions can be placed within a single basic frame. This design simplifies the specific implementation process of placing beam control information in a CPRI message and fully utilizes control word transmission resources. As an example, if the beam control information is specifically placed within a control word, as described above, the bit width of a control word is specifically 16 bytes. Therefore, for a single beam, if the beam control information in a single link direction requires 8 bytes, the first 8 bytes of each control word can be used to carry the beam control information in the uplink direction, and the last 8 bytes can be used to carry the beam control information in the downlink direction.

[0190] Similarly, different basic frames can be used to carry beam control information in the uplink and downlink directions. For example, if the beam control information in a single link direction needs to occupy a full control word, this design scheme can be adopted.

[0191] In addition, in one or more embodiments of the present invention, a specific control word for placing beam control information in a single superframe is further designed. For ease of understanding, the following is first combined with Figure 4 The organization of the control word within the CPRI superframe is described.

[0192] According to the CPRI protocol, the 256 control words within each CPRI superframe are organized into 64 subchannels, with subchannel numbers Ns = 0 to 63. The control words within each subchannel are numbered Xs = 0 to 3, with the original control word number X = Ns + 64 × Xs. Furthermore, according to the CPRI protocol, these control words include fields for the following purposes: superframe synchronization, synchronization and timing, slow C&M (Configuration & Management) link, Layer 1 (Physical Layer) in-band bus, IQ mapping control, reserved, vendor-defined, and fast C&M link. Furthermore, the control word structure includes a pointer p that indicates the start of fast C&M.

[0193] Regarding the specific uses of the various types of fields within the organizational structure of the control word, please refer to the provisions of the CPRI protocol and will not be described in detail here. The following describes the design of the control word for placing beam control information within a superframe in accordance with the present invention in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0194] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information is filled in control words on consecutive sub-channels within a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

[0195] like Figure 4 As shown, for the control words in a single superframe, the CPRI protocol stipulates the use of the control words on different sub-channels, and a single use is usually realized by the control words on consecutive sub-channels. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present invention, when the beam control information is carried by the CRPI frame, the beam control message is filled in the control words on the consecutive sub-channels. In terms of the organizational structure of the control words adopted by the CPRI protocol, this data filling method is more reasonable. And in the specific filling process, the beam control information can be made to occupy as many control words as possible on each sub-channel. In this case, it can be ensured that the beam control information occupies as few sub-channels as possible within a superframe, avoiding Figure 4 The fragmented transmission resources in each control word shown are beneficial to the subsequent effective utilization of the remaining control words.

[0196] As an example, if the beam control information specifically needs to occupy 5 control words in a single superframe, the beam control information can be placed on the subchannels with subchannel sequence numbers Ns of 16 and 17, specifically occupying five control words with original sequence numbers X of 16, 80, 144, 208 and 17.

[0197] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information is filled in a control word in a manufacturer-defined field or a reserved field in a CPRI frame.

[0198] The manufacturer-defined field is specifically the control word on the sub-channel where Ns is 16 to p-1. The specific content filled in the field is customized by the manufacturer according to needs.

[0199] Specifically, as Figure 4 As shown, the control words in each area usually have a specific purpose. Therefore, the manufacturer's customized domain not only usually has sufficient resources to fill in the beam control information, thereby ensuring that the solution can be implemented, but also facilitates the promotion and application of the beam control information transmission method provided by the present invention, which is highly reasonable.

[0200] Of course, placing the beam control information in the manufacturer-defined field is not the only implementation method of the present invention. For example, the beam control information can also be placed in the control word of the reserved field.

[0201] In one embodiment of the present invention, the original sequence number X of the control word occupied by the beam control information in the superframe of the CPRI frame satisfies the following formula:

[0202] X=Ns'+q+64×Xs

[0203] Wherein, Ns' is the initial subchannel number of one or more consecutive subchannels occupied by the beam control information in the superframe, q is the relative subchannel number within the consecutive subchannel, and Xs is the control word number within the subchannel;

[0204] Among them, the values ​​of q and Xs of the control word occupied by the target beam satisfy: Corresponding to the relative index of the target beam, represents rounding down; the relative index is the relative beam index of the target beam in each target beam that carries the beam control information in a CPRI message, and K represents the preset number of control words occupied by the control information of a single target beam in a single superframe of the CPRI frame.

[0205] Specifically, in practical applications, the relative indices of these beams can be determined based on the number of beams that need to transmit beam control information on a single optical fiber. Based on the relative indices, the beam control information of different beams can be inserted into different control words within the superframe of a CPRI message transmitted on the optical fiber. For example, if beam control information for three beams needs to be transmitted over a single optical fiber, the relative indices of the three beams are 0, 1, and 2, respectively.

[0206] In the embodiment of the present invention, assuming that one CPRI interface optical fiber carries beam control information of J beams, based on the number of control words K required for each of the J beams, it can be determined that the beam control information is Figure 4 The initial sub-channel sequence number Ns' of the sub-channels specifically occupied in the illustrated organizational structure, and the value range of the relative sub-channel sequence number q.

[0207] The following is an exemplary description of this process. Specifically, Figure 4 Each subchannel in the contains four control words, and the bit width of each control word is known. Furthermore, based on the number of bits of the beam control information and the bit width of each control word, the size of K (K ≥ 1) can be determined, i.e., the number of control words required for the beam control information of a beam in a single superframe. Thus, the total number of subchannels required for the beam control information in a single superframe and the Ns of these subchannels can be determined. For example, if the beam control information needs to occupy control words on three subchannels in a single superframe, and the beam control information needs to be specifically populated in the manufacturer-defined field, the beam control information can be specifically populated in the subchannels where Ns is 16, 17, and 18. In this case, Ns' is specifically 16, and the q of these three subchannels is 0, 1, and 2, respectively.

[0208] In this embodiment of the present invention, if a single optical fiber is to carry beam control information for J beams, the filling of the beam control information within a single superframe can be divided into the following two cases:

[0209] when That is, the number of control words that the beam control information needs to occupy in a single superframe is no more than 4. That is, when only one subchannel is needed, q = 0, and for the control words on the subchannel, Xs∈{0,…,(K×J-1)}, Corresponding to the relative index of the beam. As an example, if there are three target beams, K = 1, and the beam control information needs to occupy a total of 3 control words in a single superframe, then the beam control information of the beam with relative index Beam ID' = 0 among the three target beams can be filled in the control word with Xs = 0, the beam control information of the beam with Beam ID' = 1 can be filled in the control word with Xs = 1, and the beam control information of the beam with Beam ID' = 2 can be filled in the control word with Xs = 2.

[0210] when That is, the beam control information needs to occupy more than 4 control words in a single superframe, that is, when multiple sub-channels are needed, against The beam control information occupies the number of control words on these sub-channels. At this time, Xs∈{0,1,2,3}, for The subchannel of the target subchannel group is the last subchannel, Xs∈{0,..,(K×J)mod4-1}, where mod is the remainder operator. For the control words on these subchannels, Corresponding to the relative index of the beam. As an example, if there are a total of five target beams, K = 1, and the beam control information needs to occupy a total of five control words in a single superframe, for the subchannel q = 0, the beam control information of the beams with Beam ID's 0, 1, 2, and 3 in these five target beams can be filled into the control words where Xs is 0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively. For the subchannel q = 1, 5 = 0 + 1 × 4, the beam control information of the beam with Beam ID' = 4 can be filled into the control word where Xs = 0.

[0211] Regarding how to determine the target sub-channel group, reference may be made to the description in the aforementioned embodiment, and the target sub-channel group may be determined in the manufacturer-defined domain of Ns=16 to p-1 according to the number of sub-channels actually required by the beam control information.

[0212] In an embodiment of the present invention, the Xs of the control word occupied by the beam control message in the target sub-channel group is determined based on the relative index of the beam, which helps to ensure that the beam control information of different beams is smoothly filled into different control words in the specific implementation of the solution.

[0213] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information also includes a beam control enable field, which is used to indicate whether a piece of beam control information in which the beam control enable field is located is valid. A piece of beam control information represents beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of a target beam in a single link direction.

[0214] Although, as previously mentioned, the RF can theoretically configure the target beam's parameters M times in each time slot, in practice, it may not be necessary to change the parameters of a specific beam in some situations. In other words, the RF does not need to reconfigure the parameters of that beam based on the beam control information; the beam maintains its original parameters. To address this issue, in an embodiment of the present invention, each piece of beam control information may also carry a corresponding beam control word information enable field to indicate whether the beam control information is valid.

[0215] In actual applications, after the radio frequency unit receives the first message sent by the baseband unit, if the beam control enable field of any beam control information carried therein indicates that the beam control information is invalid, the radio frequency unit does not need to decode the specific configuration parameters and other information contained in the beam control information, and also performs beam control according to the beam control information.

[0216] As an example, 11 can be used to indicate that the beam control information is valid, and 00 can be used to indicate that the beam control information is invalid. In addition, 01 and 10 can be used as reserved fields and can be used to carry enablement-related information in other situations. In this embodiment of the present invention, when the beam control enable field is 01 or 10, the radio frequency unit / antenna does not perform any operation.

[0217] In this embodiment of the present invention, by including the beam steering enable field corresponding to the beam steering message in the first message, a unified design can be applied to each CPRI frame regarding the placement of beam steering information in the CPRI frame during implementation. If beam parameters do not need to be changed, the corresponding beam steering enable field can be disabled without adjusting the placement of the beam steering information. This facilitates flexible application of beam steering information transmission in practical communication scenarios.

[0218] To facilitate understanding of the beam control information transmission method provided by the present invention, the beam control information transmission method will be further described below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0219] In this embodiment, it is considered that a group of 3 beams carrying SSB signals will be transmitted concurrently on the air interface, and a group of 9 beams carrying service data will be transmitted concurrently at most.

[0220] The CPRI interface includes four concurrent optical fibers. In this embodiment, one of these fibers carries beam control information for three concurrent SSB beams on the air interface. The remaining three fibers carry beam control information for up to nine concurrent service data beams on the air interface. Each of these three fibers carries beam control information for up to three concurrent service data beams on the air interface. Furthermore, the CPRI interface operates at a line rate of 10.1376 Gbps (gigabits per second). At this line rate, the bit width of a control word in each basic frame within a superframe is 128 bits.

[0221] When the air interface uses an OFDM-based waveform for wireless transmission, the SCS is configured at 30kHz, meaning the number of time slots in a 1ms slot is L, which is 2. Within a time slot, the parameters of the three concurrent beams carrying SSB signals may have M = 2 different configurations (specifically, beams carrying SSB signals with different beam configurations are transmitted within the symbol-level durations of 2-5 and 8-11 of each time slot). Consequently, the parameters of the beams carrying SSB signals change L × M = 4 times within 1ms, and 10 × L × M = 40 times within 10ms. Service data is scheduled based on time slots. Within a time slot, the parameters of up to nine concurrent beams carrying service data are configured only once. Consequently, the parameters of the beams carrying service data may change L = 2 times within 1ms, and 10 × L = 20 times within 10ms.

[0222] In this embodiment, the beam control information specifically includes the content shown in Table 1, which specifically shows the sequence number, IE (Information Element) name, width, and corresponding description of each specific content included in a piece of beam control information:

[0223] Table 1

[0224]

[0225]

[0226] For the specific contents of the fields numbered 1 to 9 shown in Table 1, reference may be made to the contents in the aforementioned embodiments of the present invention. In addition, the data checksum is specifically used to verify whether the current beam control information is filled in or parsed correctly.

[0227] Furthermore, the bit widths of the various items shown in Table 1 are merely examples. In specific implementations, the present invention does not limit the bit width, specific indication method, or order of arrangement within the beam control information when indicating any of the above items via the CPRI interface. As an example, the above items can be indicated jointly or separately. A joint indication can be understood as encoding the items 1-10 together and inserting them into the CPRI frame. Separate indications can be understood as encoding each item 1-10 separately and inserting them into the corresponding position in the CPRI frame.

[0228] According to Table 1, the beam control information for a beam in a single link direction is represented by 64 bits. Considering both the uplink and downlink directions, the beam control information for each beam requires 128 bits. That is, at the CPRI interface line rate considered in this embodiment, 128 bits of information is required, representing 1 control word, equal to 128 / the bit width of a control word.

[0229] Each of the four optical fibers included in the CPRI interface carries beam control information for up to three beams. Transmitting the beam control information for three beams requires a total of 284 bits, which means that a total of 3 control words are required: 384 / the bit width of a control word = 384 / 128 = 3 control words.

[0230] In this embodiment, the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal and the beam control information of the beam carrying the service data are transmitted by different CPRI interface optical fibers. Therefore, the messages sent by the two types of optical fibers are described separately below:

[0231] For the CPRI interface light that transmits the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal, as mentioned above, the index of the superframe occupied by the beam control information in the CPRI frame is specifically Z = 15 × n + m, where m has a total of Nm = L × M = 4 values, and these 4 values ​​can be set to {0, 1, 8, 9}.

[0232] The beam control information distribution of the three SSB signals carried concurrently on the air interface is as follows: Figure 5 As shown, Figure 5 The figure specifically shows the distribution of beam control information in an SFN frame, or a 10ms CPRI frame. For each value of n from 1 to 9, the values ​​of the index Z of the four superframes can be determined, and the corresponding superframes all carry beam control information. Figure 5, the beam control information is specifically placed on the subchannel with subchannel number Ns=17, and the four superframes with superframe index Z of 0, 1, 8, and 9 carry the beam control information, corresponding to the case of n=0, and each superframe is specifically filled with beam control information of three different beams, corresponding to Figure 5 The three rectangular areas within the superframe shown in the figure are shown; the four superframes with superframe indices Z of 45, 46, 53, and 54 carry beam control information, corresponding to the case where n = 3; the four superframes with superframe indices Z of 135, 136, 143, and 144 carry beam control information, corresponding to the case where n = 9. The same applies to other values ​​of n. For other 10ms CPRI frames, such as the next 10ms frame numbered SFN+1, the distribution of beam control information within the frame is similar to the diagram.

[0233] For each of the three CPRI interface optical fibers that transmit the beam control information of the beam carrying service data, as described above, the corresponding beam control information occupies an index Z = 15 × n + m of the superframe in the CPRI frame, where m has a total of Nm = L = 2 values, and these two values ​​can be set to {0, 8}.

[0234] The beam control information distribution of the three beams carrying service signals concurrently on the air interface is as follows: Figure 6 As shown, Figure 6 The figure specifically shows the distribution of beam control information in an SFN frame, or a 10ms CPRI frame. For each value of n from 1 to 9, the values ​​of the index Z of the two superframes can be determined, and the corresponding superframes all carry beam control information. Figure 6 , the beam control information is specifically placed on the subchannel with subchannel number Ns=17, and the two superframes with superframe index Z of 0 and 8 carry the beam control information, corresponding to the case of n=0, and each superframe is specifically filled with beam control information of three different beams, corresponding to Figure 5 The three rectangular areas in the superframe shown in the figure; the two superframes with superframe index Z of 15 and 23 carry beam control information, corresponding to the case of n=1; the two superframes with superframe index Z of 135 and 143 carry beam control information, corresponding to the case of n=9, and the same applies to the cases where n takes other values.

[0235] The specific placement of the beam control information on the control word within the superframe in this embodiment is described below.

[0236] In this embodiment, after integrating the beam control information in the uplink and downlink directions, the beam control information for one beam can be contained using K = 1 control word bits. Each CPRI interface optical fiber carries the beam control information for J (J ≥ 1) beams. Therefore:

[0237] For the CPRI interface fiber that transmits the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal, K = 1, J = 3, so that So q = 0, Xs = {0, 1, 2}, and Xs corresponds to the relative index of the beam.

[0238] As previously mentioned, at the line rate of the CPRI interface considered in this embodiment, the length of the control word in each basic frame within a superframe is 128 bits, that is, 16 bytes. The beam control information for TX (i.e., downlink direction) can be placed in the first 8 bytes, and the beam control information for RX (i.e., uplink direction) can be placed in the last 8 bytes. If the subchannel number Ns (16≤Ns≤p-1) of the subchannel where the beam control information is placed is configured to be 17, then the transmission of the beam control information in the CPRI optical fiber that transmits the beam control information of the beam carrying the SSB signal is as follows: Figure 7 shown.

[0239] See also Figure 7 , which specifically shows the specific situation of the resources occupied by the beam control information in superframes with superframe numbers 45 and 46. Here, X is the original sequence number of the control word (that is, the basic frame sequence number), and Y is the number of bits contained in each control word. It can be seen that the beam control information of beam 0 is placed in the control word with Xs=0, and the corresponding original sequence number of the control word is specifically X=Ns+64×Xs=17+64×0=17; the beam control information of beam 1 is placed in the control word with Xs=1, and the corresponding original sequence number of the control word is specifically X=Ns+64×Xs=17+64×1=81; the beam control information of beam 2 is placed in the control word with Xs=2, and the corresponding original sequence number of the control word is specifically X=Ns+64×Xs=17+64×2=145.

[0240] For each of the three CPRI interface optical fibers that transmit the beam control information of the beam carrying service data, K = 1, J ≤ 3, so that Therefore, q = 0, Xs∈{0,…,(K×J-1)}, and Xs corresponds to the beam number. Similarly, the first 8 bytes of the control word can be used to place the beam control information in the downlink direction, and the last 8 bytes can be used to place the beam control information in the uplink direction. After properly configuring the value of Ns, the transmission diagram of the beam control information in the corresponding CPRI interface fiber is the same as Figure 7 are similar and will not be described in detail here.

[0241] Based on the above content, it can be seen that the transmission method of beam control messages provided by the embodiment of the present invention can support beam control in a multi-beam concurrent scenario, and can support beam control requirements with a minimum time granularity of symbol level. Moreover, under the condition that the above requirements can be met, a universal and standardized design is performed on how to properly transmit the beam control information based on the information transmission format defined in the CPRI interface specification.

[0242] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a beam control method, which is applied to a radio frequency unit. Figure 8 , the method specifically comprises the following steps:

[0243] Step S801: Receive a first message sent by a baseband unit, the first message carrying beam control information of a target beam, where the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission via a radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and an effective time of the configuration parameters;

[0244] Step S802: Perform beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information.

[0245] In the beam control method provided by an embodiment of the present invention, the first message sent by the baseband unit to the radio frequency unit carries beam control information of the target beam, and the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit. Since in communication scenarios such as satellite communication scenarios where multi-beam concurrency is required, the radio frequency unit has an actual need to perform beam control on all concurrent beams. Therefore, by carrying the beam control information of the beams that need to be transmitted concurrently through the radio frequency unit through the first message, the radio frequency unit can timely update the parameters of each concurrent beam based on the first message sent by the baseband unit, thereby realizing timely beam control in multi-beam concurrent scenarios.

[0246] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters.

[0247] In one embodiment of the present invention, for a single first time slot, the first time slot is the time slot in which the configuration parameters take effect. The beam control information carried in the first message includes the configuration parameters required for the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within the first time slot, and the effective time of the configuration parameters corresponding to each configuration; the effective time includes the frame number in which the configuration parameters begin to take effect, the time slot number within the frame, and the symbol sequence number within the time slot.

[0248] In one embodiment of the present invention, when multiple optical fibers are provided between the radio frequency unit and the baseband unit, each optical fiber transmits a first message, and a single first message carries beam control information of part of the target beam.

[0249] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the target beam includes two types of beams, namely, a beam carrying an SSB signal and a beam carrying service data, the first message transmitted on a single optical fiber in a multi-optical fiber is: a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam belonging to one of the two types of beams, or a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam including both types of beams.

[0250] In one embodiment of the present invention, the first message is a message transmitted based on the CPRI protocol.

[0251] In one embodiment of the present invention, a single CPRI frame of the first message is used to carry beam control information required for the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of parameters of the target beam within the duration of a 10ms radio frame;

[0252] A single CPRI frame of the first message contains multiple superframe groups arranged in sequence, and a single superframe group represents a preset number of consecutive superframes; a single superframe group is used to carry the beam control information required for the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within a preset first time unit, and the duration of the preset first time unit is consistent with the duration of the single superframe group.

[0253] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information occupies a single superframe in the CPRI frame, and carries the beam control information required for the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of the target beam.

[0254] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information has the same relative index within each superframe group of the CPRI frame.

[0255] In one embodiment of the present invention, for a target beam carrying an SSB signal, the time domain distribution of superframes occupied by beam control information in a single superframe group within the superframe group is determined based on the time domain distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame.

[0256] In one embodiment of the present invention, beam control information of different target beams occupies different basic frames in a single superframe of a CPRI frame of the first message.

[0257] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information is filled in control words on consecutive sub-channels within a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

[0258] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information is filled in a control word in a manufacturer-defined field or a reserved field in a CPRI frame.

[0259] In one embodiment of the present invention, the original sequence number X of the control word occupied by the beam control information in the superframe of the CPRI frame satisfies the following formula:

[0260] X=Ns'+q+64×Xs

[0261] Wherein, Ns' is the initial subchannel number of one or more consecutive subchannels occupied by the beam control information in the superframe, q is the relative subchannel number within the consecutive subchannel, and Xs is the control word number within the subchannel;

[0262] Among them, the values ​​of q and Xs of the control word occupied by the target beam satisfy: Corresponding to the relative index of the target beam, represents rounding down; the relative index is the relative beam index of the target beam in each target beam that carries the beam control information in a CPRI message, and K represents the preset number of control words occupied by the control information of a single target beam in a single superframe of the CPRI frame.

[0263] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information also includes a beam control enable field, which is used to indicate whether a piece of beam control information in which the beam control enable field is located is valid. A piece of beam control information represents beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of a target beam in a single link direction.

[0264] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a device for transmitting beam control information, which is applied to a baseband unit. Figure 9 , the device comprises:

[0265] The sending module 901 is used to send a first message to the radio frequency unit, where the first message carries beam control information of the target beam, so that the radio frequency unit performs beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information; wherein the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes the configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters.

[0266] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first message sent by the baseband unit to the radio frequency unit carries beam control information of a target beam, and the target beam is one or more beams for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit. Since the radio frequency unit has an actual need to perform beam control on all concurrent beams in communication scenarios such as satellite communication scenarios where multi-beam concurrency is required, the first message carries the beam control information of the beams that need to be transmitted concurrently through the radio frequency unit. The radio frequency unit can promptly update the parameters of each concurrent beam based on the first message sent by the baseband unit, thereby achieving timely beam control in multi-beam concurrent scenarios.

[0267] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters.

[0268] In one embodiment of the present invention, for a single first time slot, the first time slot is the time slot in which the configuration parameters take effect. The beam control information carried in the first message includes configuration parameters indicating that the radio frequency unit performs one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within the first time slot, and the effective time of the configuration parameters corresponding to each configuration; the effective time includes the frame number in which the configuration parameters begin to take effect, the time slot number within the frame, and the symbol sequence number within the time slot.

[0269] In one embodiment of the present invention, the time at which the baseband unit starts to transmit the beam control information is within a preset range compared to the effective time included in the beam control information.

[0270] In one embodiment of the present invention, when multiple optical fibers are provided between the radio frequency unit and the baseband unit, each optical fiber transmits a first message, and a single first message carries beam control information of part of the target beam.

[0271] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the target beam includes two types of beams, namely, a beam carrying an SSB signal and a beam carrying service data, the first message transmitted on a single optical fiber in a multi-optical fiber is: a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam belonging to one of the two types of beams, or a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam including both types of beams.

[0272] In one embodiment of the present invention, the baseband unit transmits the first message based on the CPRI protocol.

[0273] In one embodiment of the present invention, a single CPRI frame of the first message is used to carry beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to configure parameters of the target beam one or more times differently within the duration of a 10ms radio frame;

[0274] A single CPRI frame of the first message contains multiple superframe groups arranged in sequence, and a single superframe group represents a preset number of consecutive superframes; a single superframe group is used to carry beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within a preset first time unit, and the duration of the preset first time unit is consistent with the duration of the single superframe group.

[0275] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information occupies a single superframe in the CPRI frame, and carries the beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration on the parameters of the target beam.

[0276] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information has the same relative index within each superframe group of the CPRI frame.

[0277] In one embodiment of the present invention, for a target beam carrying an SSB signal, the time domain distribution of superframes occupied by beam control information in a single superframe group within the superframe group is determined based on the time domain distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame.

[0278] In one embodiment of the present invention, beam control information of different target beams occupies different basic frames in a single superframe of a CPRI frame of the first message.

[0279] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information is filled in control words on consecutive sub-channels within a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

[0280] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information is filled in a control word in a manufacturer-defined field or a reserved field in a CPRI frame.

[0281] In one embodiment of the present invention, the original sequence number X of the control word occupied by the beam control information in the superframe of the CPRI frame satisfies the following formula:

[0282] X=Ns'+q+64×Xs

[0283] Wherein, Ns' is the initial subchannel sequence number of one or more consecutive subchannels occupied by the beam control information in the superframe, q is the relative subchannel sequence number in the consecutive subchannel, and Xs is the control word sequence number in the subchannel;

[0284] The values ​​of q and Xs of the control word occupied by the target beam satisfy: Corresponding to the relative index of the target beam, Represents rounding down; the relative index is the relative beam index of the target beam in each target beam that carries the beam control information in a CPRI message, and K represents the preset number of control words occupied by the control information of a single target beam in a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

[0285] In one embodiment of the present invention, the beam control information also includes a beam control enable field, which is used to indicate whether a piece of beam control information in which the beam control enable field is located is valid. A piece of beam control information represents beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of a target beam in a single link direction.

[0286] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a beam control device, which is applied to a radio frequency unit. Figure 10 , the device comprises:

[0287] A receiving module 1001 is configured to receive a first message sent by a baseband unit, the first message carrying beam control information of a target beam, where the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through a radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and an effective time of the configuration parameters;

[0288] The control module 1002 is configured to perform beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information.

[0289] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first message sent by the baseband unit to the radio frequency unit carries beam control information of a target beam, and the target beam is one or more beams for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit. Since the radio frequency unit has an actual need to perform beam control on all concurrent beams in communication scenarios such as satellite communication scenarios where multi-beam concurrency is required, the first message carries the beam control information of the beams that need to be transmitted concurrently through the radio frequency unit. The radio frequency unit can promptly update the parameters of each concurrent beam based on the first message sent by the baseband unit, thereby achieving timely beam control in multi-beam concurrent scenarios.

[0290] The embodiment of the present invention further provides a baseband unit, such as Figure 11 As shown, it includes a processor 1101, a communication interface 1102, a memory 1103 and a communication bus 1104, wherein the processor 1101, the communication interface 1102, and the memory 1103 communicate with each other through the communication bus 1104.

[0291] Memory 1103, used for storing computer programs;

[0292] The processor 1101 is configured to execute the program stored in the memory 1103 to implement the following steps:

[0293] A first message is sent to the radio frequency unit, where the first message carries beam control information of a target beam, so that the radio frequency unit performs beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information; wherein the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and an effective time of the configuration parameters.

[0294] The embodiment of the present invention also provides another radio frequency unit, such as Figure 12 As shown, it includes a processor 1201, a communication interface 1202, a memory 1203 and a communication bus 1204, wherein the processor 1201, the communication interface 1202, and the memory 1203 communicate with each other through the communication bus 1204.

[0295] Memory 1203, used for storing computer programs;

[0296] The processor 1201 is configured to execute the program stored in the memory 1203, and implement the following steps:

[0297] receiving a first message sent by a baseband unit, the first message carrying beam control information of a target beam, where the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through a radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and an effective time of the configuration parameters;

[0298] Based on the beam steering information, the target beam is beam steered.

[0299] The communication bus mentioned in the electronic device mentioned above may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. This communication bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in the figure, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0300] The communication interface is used for communication between the above electronic device and other devices.

[0301] The memory may include random access memory (RAM) or non-volatile memory (NVM), such as at least one disk storage. Alternatively, the memory may be at least one storage device located away from the processor.

[0302] The above-mentioned processor can be a general-purpose processor, including a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), etc.; it can also be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, and discrete hardware components.

[0303] In another embodiment of the present invention, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of any of the above-mentioned beam control information transmission methods or beam control methods.

[0304] In another embodiment provided by the present invention, a computer program product containing instructions is also provided. When the computer program product is run on a computer, it enables the computer to execute any beam control information transmission method or beam control method in the above embodiments.

[0305] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present invention are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state drive (SSD)).

[0306] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, etc., are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply the existence of any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article, or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or device. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or device comprising the element.

[0307] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a related manner. Similar portions between embodiments can be referenced across them. Each embodiment focuses on the differences between the other embodiments. In particular, the beam steering method, apparatus, and electronic device embodiments are generally similar to the method embodiments, so their description is relatively simplified. For related portions, reference can be made to the description of the method embodiments.

[0308] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention are included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting beam control information, characterized in that: Applied to a baseband unit, the method includes: Sending a first message to a radio frequency unit, where the first message carries beam control information of a target beam, so that the radio frequency unit performs beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information; The target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes the configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that For a single first time slot, the first time slot is the time slot in which the configuration parameters take effect. The beam control information carried in the first message includes configuration parameters indicating that the radio frequency unit performs one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within the first time slot, and the effective time of the configuration parameters corresponding to each configuration; the effective time includes the frame number in which the configuration parameters begin to take effect, the time slot number within the frame, and the symbol sequence number within the time slot.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The time at which the baseband unit starts to transmit the beam control information is within a preset range compared to the effective time included in the beam control information.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein When multiple optical fibers are provided between the radio frequency unit and the baseband unit, each optical fiber transmits a first message, and a single first message carries beam control information of part of the target beam.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that When the target beam includes two types of beams, namely, a beam carrying SSB signals and a beam carrying business data, the first message transmitted on a single optical fiber in the multiple optical fibers is: a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam belonging to one of the two types of beams, or a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam including the two types of beams.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The baseband unit transmits the first message based on a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The single CPRI frame of the first message is used to carry beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to configure the parameters of the target beam one or more times in different ways within the duration of a 10ms radio frame; A single CPRI frame of the first message includes multiple superframe groups arranged in sequence, and a single superframe group represents a preset number of consecutive superframes; a single superframe group is used to carry beam control information instructing the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within a preset first time unit, and the duration of the preset first time unit is consistent with the duration of the single superframe group.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The beam control information occupies a single superframe in the CPRI frame, and carries beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of the target beam.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The beam control information has the same relative index in each superframe group of the superframes occupied by the beam control information.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that For the target beam carrying the SSB signal, the time domain distribution of the superframes occupied by the beam control information in a single superframe group within the superframe group is determined based on the time domain distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame.

11. The method according to claim 6 or 8, characterized in that The beam control information of different target beams occupies different basic frames in a single superframe of the CPRI frame of the first message.

12. The method according to claim 6 or 8, characterized in that The beam control information is filled in control words on consecutive sub-channels within a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The beam control information is filled in the control word in the manufacturer-defined field or the reserved field in the CPRI frame.

14. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The original sequence number X of the control word occupied by the beam control information in the superframe of the CPRI frame satisfies the following formula: X=Ns'+q+64×Xs Wherein, Ns' is the initial subchannel sequence number of one or more consecutive subchannels occupied by the beam control information in the superframe, q is the relative subchannel sequence number in the consecutive subchannel, and Xs is the control word sequence number in the subchannel; The values ​​of q and Xs of the control word occupied by the target beam satisfy: Corresponding to the relative index of the target beam, Represents rounding down; the relative index is the relative beam index of the target beam in each target beam that carries the beam control information in a CPRI message, and K represents the preset number of control words occupied by the control information of a single target beam in a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein The beam control information also includes a beam control enable field, which is used to indicate whether a piece of beam control information in which the beam control enable field is located is valid. The piece of beam control information represents beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of the target beam in a single link direction.

16. A beam steering method, characterized in that: Applied to a radio frequency unit, the method includes: receiving a first message sent by a baseband unit, the first message carrying beam control information of a target beam, where the target beam is one or more beams used for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and an effective time of the configuration parameters; Based on the beam control information, beam control is performed on the target beam.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that For a single first time slot, the first time slot is the time slot in which the configuration parameters take effect. The beam control information carried in the first message includes the configuration parameters required for the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within the first time slot, and the effective time of the configuration parameters corresponding to each configuration; the effective time includes the frame number in which the configuration parameters begin to take effect, the time slot number within the frame, and the symbol sequence number within the time slot.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that When multiple optical fibers are provided between the radio frequency unit and the baseband unit, each optical fiber transmits a first message, and a single first message carries beam control information of part of the target beam.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that When the target beam includes two types of beams, namely, a beam carrying SSB signals and a beam carrying business data, the first message transmitted on a single optical fiber in the multiple optical fibers is: a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam belonging to one of the two types of beams, or a first message for carrying beam control information of a target beam including the two types of beams.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein The first message is a message transmitted based on the CPRI protocol.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The single CPRI frame of the first message is used to carry the beam control information required by the radio frequency unit to configure the parameters of the target beam one or more times in a duration of a 10ms radio frame; A single CPRI frame of the first message includes multiple superframe groups arranged in sequence, and a single superframe group represents a preset number of consecutive superframes; a single superframe group is used to carry the beam control information required for the radio frequency unit to perform one or more different configurations of the parameters of the target beam within a preset first time unit, and the duration of the preset first time unit is consistent with the duration of the single superframe group.

22. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The single superframe occupied by the beam control information in the CPRI frame carries the beam control information required for the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of the parameters of the target beam.

23. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The beam control information has the same relative index in each superframe group of the superframes occupied by the beam control information.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein For the target beam carrying the SSB signal, the time domain distribution of the superframes occupied by the beam control information in a single superframe group within the superframe group is determined based on the time domain distribution of the SSB signal in the wireless frame.

25. The method according to claim 20 or 22, characterized in that The beam control information of different target beams occupies different basic frames in a single superframe of the CPRI frame of the first message.

26. The method according to claim 20 or 22, characterized in that The beam control information is filled in control words on consecutive sub-channels within a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The beam control information is filled in the control word in the manufacturer-defined field or the reserved field in the CPRI frame.

28. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The original sequence number X of the control word occupied by the beam control information in the superframe of the CPRI frame satisfies the following formula: X=Ns'+q+64×Xs Wherein, Ns' is the initial subchannel sequence number of one or more consecutive subchannels occupied by the beam control information in the superframe, q is the relative subchannel sequence number in the consecutive subchannel, and Xs is the control word sequence number in the subchannel; The values ​​of q and Xs of the control word occupied by the target beam satisfy: Corresponding to the relative index of the target beam, Represents rounding down; the relative index is the relative beam index of the target beam in each target beam that carries the beam control information in a CPRI message, and K represents the preset number of control words occupied by the control information of a single target beam in a single superframe of a CPRI frame.

29. The method according to claim 16, wherein The beam control information also includes a beam control enable field, which is used to indicate whether a piece of beam control information in which the beam control enable field is located is valid. The piece of beam control information represents beam control information that instructs the radio frequency unit to perform a single configuration of parameters of the target beam in a single link direction.

30. A device for transmitting beam control information, characterized in that: Applied to baseband units, including: A sending module is used to send a first message to a radio frequency unit, wherein the first message carries beam control information of a target beam, so that the radio frequency unit performs beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information; wherein the target beam is used to concurrently send one or more beams through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information includes configuration parameters of the target beam and the effective time of the configuration parameters.

31. A beam control device, characterized in that: Applied to radio frequency units, including: a receiving module, configured to receive a first message sent by a baseband unit, the first message carrying beam control information of a target beam, the target beam being one or more beams for concurrent transmission through the radio frequency unit; the beam control information including configuration parameters of the target beam and an effective time of the configuration parameters; A control module is used to perform beam control on the target beam based on the beam control information.

32. An electronic device, characterized in that: It includes a processor, a communication interface, a memory and a communication bus, wherein the processor, the communication interface and the memory communicate with each other via the communication bus; Memory for storing computer programs; A processor, configured to implement the method steps described in any one of claims 1-15 or 16-29 when executing a program stored in a memory.

33. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the method steps of any one of claims 1 to 15 or 16 to 29 are implemented.

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