Communication method and device, terminal equipment, readable storage medium and chip

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of communication, provides a communication method and device, terminal equipment, a readable storage medium and a chip, and solves the problem of low antenna efficiency of the terminal equipment in the direction of relatively poor antenna gain in the prior art. The method is applied to a terminal device, the terminal device resides in a first cell through an antenna, and the method comprises the following steps: using an antenna corresponding to a first antenna pattern to communicate with an access network device corresponding to the first cell; and when a preset condition is satisfied, an antenna corresponding to a second antenna pattern is used to communicate with the access network device, and the direction deviation between the orientation of a main lobe in the second antenna pattern and the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell is in a preset range.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular to a communication method and device, a terminal device, a readable storage medium, and a chip. BACKGROUND

[0002] At present, a terminal device can communicate with an access network device (such as a base station) through an antenna according to an antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna. The antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna is determined when the terminal device is manufactured. Generally, the antenna pattern is not a perfect spherical shape, but has a large difference in antenna gain in each direction, which leads to a problem of low antenna efficiency of the terminal device in a direction with poor antenna gain, thereby affecting the communication experience of a user. SUMMARY

[0003] The present application provides a communication method and device, a terminal device, a readable storage medium, and a chip, which solve the problem of low antenna efficiency of a terminal device in a direction with poor antenna gain in the prior art.

[0004] To achieve the above object, the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, applied to a terminal device, the terminal device camping on a first cell through an antenna, and the method comprising: communicating with an access network device corresponding to the first cell using the antenna corresponding to a first antenna pattern; and when a preset condition is met, communicating with the access network device using an antenna corresponding to a second antenna pattern, wherein a main lobe of the second antenna pattern is oriented in a direction deviated from an optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell by a preset range.

[0006] The communication method provided by the present application embodiment is used for the terminal device to camp on a first cell through an antenna, and to communicate with an access network device corresponding to the first cell using the antenna corresponding to a first antenna pattern; when a preset condition is met, to communicate with the access network device using an antenna corresponding to a second antenna pattern whose main lobe is oriented in a direction deviated from an optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell by a preset range, so that when the terminal device communicates with the access network device through the antenna, the main lobe of the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna is oriented in a direction aligned with the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell, thereby improving the use efficiency of the antenna and enhancing the communication experience of a user.

[0007] It should be noted that the first antenna pattern and the second antenna pattern can be the same antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna, for example, the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna is the first antenna pattern when the terminal device is in the first device posture, the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna is the second antenna pattern when the terminal device is in the second device posture, when the device posture of the terminal device is switched from the first device posture to the second device posture, the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna is switched from the first antenna pattern to the second antenna pattern, in this case, the first antenna pattern and the second antenna pattern are the same antenna pattern, but the main lobes thereof are oriented in different directions; or can be different antenna patterns, for example, when the antenna includes a plurality of antenna patterns, the terminal device switches the current first antenna pattern to the second antenna pattern when a preset condition is met, wherein the second antenna pattern is any one of the plurality of antenna patterns, in this case, the first antenna pattern and the second antenna pattern are different antenna patterns, and the main lobes thereof are oriented in different directions.

[0008] In some embodiments, the antenna includes M antenna patterns, where M≥2; the M antenna patterns have a one-to-one correspondence with M antenna states of the antenna, and in each antenna state, the main lobe of the antenna pattern is oriented in a different direction.

[0009] The antenna state can be represented by parameters (such as capacitance, inductance, etc.) of electronic components in the antenna, for example, when the capacitance is C1 and the inductance is L1, it corresponds to the first antenna state of the antenna, which corresponds to the antenna pattern with the main lobe oriented in the first direction; when the capacitance is C2 and the inductance is L2, it corresponds to the second antenna state of the antenna, which corresponds to the antenna pattern with the main lobe oriented in the second direction.

[0010] In this embodiment, each antenna pattern in the M antenna patterns included by the terminal device has a different orientation of the main lobe, i.e., corresponding to different antenna states.

[0011] In some embodiments, when the preset condition is met, the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern is used to communicate with the access network device, including: when the preset condition is met, determining the orientation of the main lobe in each antenna pattern of the M antenna patterns; determining the antenna pattern in which the orientation of the main lobe and the direction deviation of the optimal incoming wave direction are within a preset range as the second antenna pattern; switching the antenna from the first antenna state corresponding to the first antenna pattern to the second antenna state corresponding to the second antenna pattern according to the correspondence; and using the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device.

[0012] In the embodiment, the terminal device adjusts the first antenna pattern currently used when the preset condition is met, that is, determines an antenna pattern whose directional deviation from the optimal come-wave direction pattern of the first cell is within a preset range from the M antenna patterns preset, and determines the antenna pattern as the second antenna pattern, then switches the antenna from the first antenna state corresponding to the first antenna pattern to the second antenna state corresponding to the second antenna pattern according to the correspondence between the M antenna patterns and the M antenna states of the antenna, and uses the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device.

[0013] In some other embodiments, when the preset condition is met, the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern is used to communicate with the access network device, and the method further includes: when the preset condition is met, determining M reference signal received powers, the M reference signal received powers being received powers of the antenna when receiving reference signals of the access network device in different antenna states corresponding to the M antenna patterns respectively; determining a maximum value of the M reference signal received powers; determining an antenna pattern corresponding to the maximum value of the reference signal received powers as the second antenna pattern; switching the antenna from the first antenna state corresponding to the first antenna pattern to the second antenna state corresponding to the second antenna pattern according to the correspondence; and using the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device.

[0014] In the embodiment, the terminal device adjusts the first antenna pattern currently used when the preset condition is met, that is, determines an antenna pattern whose directional deviation from the optimal come-wave direction pattern of the first cell is within a preset range from the M antenna patterns preset, and determines the antenna pattern as the second antenna pattern, then switches the antenna from the first antenna state corresponding to the first antenna pattern to the second antenna state corresponding to the second antenna pattern according to the correspondence between the M antenna patterns and the M antenna states of the antenna, and uses the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device.

[0015] The above embodiments are all processes of determining the second antenna pattern from the M antenna patterns preset by the terminal device in an adaptive manner when the preset condition is met, and the process adjusts the antenna pattern without manual adjustment by the user, so that the part with greater gain in the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna, that is, the main lobe, is aligned with the optimal come-wave direction of the first cell, improving the use efficiency of the antenna, the receiving and transmitting performance of the terminal device, and the communication experience of the user.

[0016] In some embodiments, the second antenna pattern is the antenna pattern corresponding to the first antenna pattern when the direction deviation between the main lobe direction and the optimal arrival direction is within a preset range. When the preset conditions are met, the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern is used to communicate with the access network device. It also includes: when the preset conditions are met, a prompt message is displayed, and the prompt message is used to instruct the user to switch the first device posture to the second device posture, wherein the first device posture is the current device posture of the terminal device, and the second device posture is the device posture of the terminal device when the antenna corresponds to the second antenna pattern; after switching from the first device posture to the second device posture according to the user operation, the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern is used to communicate with the access network device.

[0017] In this embodiment, when a preset condition is met, the terminal device displays a prompt message to instruct the user to switch the first device posture to the second device posture, thereby converting the first antenna pattern into a second antenna pattern in which the direction of the main lobe deviates from the optimal incoming wave direction within a preset range. This approach eliminates the need to pre-set multiple antenna patterns in the antenna. Instead, it improves the current communication status by instructing the user to change the device posture, thereby increasing antenna efficiency, improving the terminal device's transceiver performance, and ultimately enhancing the user's communication experience.

[0018] In some embodiments, the process of determining the optimal arrival direction of the first cell includes: determining the first area of ​​the terminal device in the communication map based on the location information of the terminal device, wherein the communication map includes the correspondence between each sub-area and the optimal arrival direction of the cellular cell covering the sub-area, and the first area is any area in the sub-area; according to the communication map, determining the optimal arrival direction of the first cell in the first area.

[0019] The optimal direction of arrival of a cellular cell covering a sub-area in the communication map can be calculated and determined by the cloud (cloud server) through machine learning using crowdsourced data reported by terminal devices of the same or different models. When a terminal device needs to determine the optimal direction of arrival of a cell within a certain area, it can download the communication map from the cloud. Then, based on the correspondence between each sub-area in the communication map and the optimal direction of arrival of the cellular cell covering the sub-area, it can determine the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell in which the terminal device resides within the first area where the terminal device is currently located.

[0020] It should be noted that the communication map in a certain geographical space area may be multiple communication maps corresponding to each model of terminal equipment, or may be one communication map corresponding to all models of terminal equipment.

[0021] In some embodiments, the communication map further comprises correspondence between different device postures and the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell in each sub-region, and determining the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell in the first region according to the communication map comprises: determining the current first device posture of the terminal device; and determining the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell in the first region according to the communication map, where the terminal device is in the first device posture.

[0022] When the communication map comprises correspondence between different device postures and the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell in each sub-region, the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell in which the terminal device currently resides can be determined in a certain device posture in the first region. Compared with the communication map comprising only correspondence between each sub-region and the optimal incoming wave direction of the cell covering the sub-region, this kind of way can obtain more accurate and detailed information about the optimal incoming wave direction.

[0023] In some embodiments, the preset condition comprises at least one of the following: the reference signal received power of the terminal device is less than or equal to a first threshold; the device posture of the terminal device changes; and a time interval between a first time point when the last time the antenna pattern was adjusted and a second time point in the present is greater than or equal to a time threshold.

[0024] The preset region can be an underground parking lot, an elevator, a staircase, or the like, or can be an open outdoor signal weak coverage region. When the reference signal received power of the terminal device is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can improve the transceiving performance of the terminal device by adjusting the antenna pattern.

[0025] When the device posture of the terminal device changes, the main lobe of the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna also changes, so that the main lobe direction of the antenna pattern is not aligned with the incoming wave direction of the first cell, affecting the transceiving performance of the antenna. When the device posture of the terminal device changes, the terminal device can improve the transceiving performance of the terminal device by adjusting the antenna pattern.

[0026] In addition, the terminal device can adjust the antenna pattern every certain time threshold, so that the terminal device can use the antenna to communicate with the access network device according to the adjusted antenna pattern, thereby improving the transceiving performance of the terminal device.

[0027] In some embodiments, the device posture of the terminal device comprises at least one of single hand holding, double hand holding, horizontal screen, vertical screen, roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw angle.

[0028] According to a second aspect, a communication device is provided, which is applied to a terminal device, and the terminal device resides in a first cell through an antenna. The device includes: a first communication module, which is used to communicate with an access network device corresponding to the first cell using an antenna corresponding to the first antenna pattern; and a second communication module, which is used to communicate with the access network device using an antenna corresponding to a second antenna pattern when a preset condition is met, wherein the direction of the main lobe in the second antenna pattern deviates from the direction of the optimal arrival direction of the first cell within a preset range.

[0029] In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided, comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein when the processor executes the computer program, the communication method as shown in the first aspect is implemented.

[0030] In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the communication method as shown in the first aspect is implemented.

[0031] In a fifth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor, wherein the processor executes a computer program stored in a memory, and wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the communication method as shown in the first aspect.

[0032] It can be understood that the beneficial effects of the second to fifth aspects mentioned above can be found in the relevant description of the first aspect mentioned above, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 An architectural diagram of a communication system provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a cellular cell coverage scenario provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an antenna pattern provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 5 A schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 6A A schematic diagram of an antenna pattern according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 6B A schematic diagram of an antenna pattern according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 7 A schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the application;

[0041] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a communication map according to an embodiment of the application;

[0042] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of a scenario in which a terminal device displays prompt information according to an embodiment of the application;

[0043] Figure 10 A schematic diagram of a scenario in which a terminal device switches device posture according to user operation according to an embodiment of the application;

[0044] Figure 11 A schematic diagram of a scenario in which a terminal device switches holding posture according to an embodiment of the application;

[0045] Figure 12 A schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the application;

[0046] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of a scenario in which a terminal device switches antenna pattern according to an embodiment of the application;

[0047] Figure 14 A schematic flow chart of a communication method according to another embodiment of the application;

[0048] Figure 15 A schematic diagram of a scenario in which a terminal device determines M reference signal received powers according to an embodiment of the application;

[0049] Figure 16 A planar distribution diagram of a target geospatial area according to an embodiment of the application;

[0050] Figure 17 A flow diagram of a crowdsourcing library according to an embodiment of the application;

[0051] Figure 18 A flow diagram of a crowdsourcing library according to another embodiment of the application;

[0052] Figure 19 A schematic diagram of a communication map obtained after a crowdsourcing library according to an embodiment of the application;

[0053] Figure 20 A schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

[0054] Figure 21 A schematic diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0056] It should be understood that, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means the meaning of or, for example, A / B can mean A or B; "and / or" in this document only describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean that A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone.

[0057] In the embodiments, the terms "first", "second" are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with "first", "second" can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the embodiments, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more.

[0058] Figure 1 The architecture diagram of the communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 1. Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system includes a terminal device 100 and an access network device 200. The terminal device 100 can perform wireless signal transmission and reception with the access network device 200 through an antenna, so as to realize communication between the terminal device 100 and the access network device 200.

[0059] In the embodiments, the access network device 200 can be a device capable of providing a random access function for the terminal device 100 or a chip that can be arranged in the device, for example, the access network device 200 is a base station capable of accessing the terminal device 100 to a radio access network (RAN). The base station can also be referred to as a network device or an access network node. It can be understood that in systems using different wireless access technologies, the name of the device with the function of the base station can be different. For the convenience of description, the device providing wireless communication access function for the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application is collectively referred to as a base station.

[0060] In the embodiment of the present application, the access network device 200 includes but is not limited to: an evolved node B (eNB or eNodeB) in long term evolution technology (LTE), a radio network controller (RNC), a node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (home evolved node B, or home node B, HNB), a base band unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP) or a transmission and reception point (TRP), etc., and can also be a next generation base station node (next generation base station node) in a 5G system. A gNB (gNB) or transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system, network nodes that constitute a gNB or transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or distributed unit (DU), and access network equipment in future 6G networks.

[0061] The terminal device 100 can be any electronic device with wireless transceiver capabilities. The terminal device 100 can also be called user equipment (UE), access terminal, terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless access network equipment, user agent, or user device.

[0062] In embodiments of the present application, the terminal device 100 includes, but is not limited to, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a smart phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless communication function, a computing device or other devices connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a drone device, a terminal device in Internet of Things or Internet of Vehicles, and any form of terminal in future networks, a relay user equipment, or a terminal in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. The terminal device 100 can also be a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a terminal device in industrial control, a terminal device in self driving, a terminal device in remote medical treatment, a terminal device in smart grid, a terminal device in smart city, a terminal device in smart home, etc., and the present application is not limited thereto.

[0063] Exemplary, Figure 2 A structural schematic diagram of a terminal device provided for an embodiment of the present application is shown. It should be understood that, Figure 2 The terminal device 100 shown is only an example, and the terminal device 100 can have more or fewer components than those shown in Figure 2 more components, or can have a different configuration of components. Figure 2 The various components shown in the terminal device 100 can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and / or application specific integrated circuits. See Figure 2As shown, the terminal device 100 can include a processor 210, an external memory interface 220, an internal memory 221, a universal serial bus (USB) interface 230, a charging management module 240, a power management module 241, a battery 242, an antenna 1, an antenna 2, a mobile communication module 250, a wireless communication module 260, an audio module 270, a loudspeaker 270A, a receiver 270B, a microphone 270C, a headset jack 270D, a sensor module 280, a key 290, a motor 291, an indicator 292, a camera 293, a display screen 294, and a subscriber identification module (SIM) card interface 295, etc.

[0064] It can be understood that the structure shown in the embodiments of the present application does not constitute a specific limitation on the terminal device. In some other embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or split certain components, or different component arrangements. The components shown can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0065] For example, when the terminal device is a mobile phone or a tablet computer, it can include all the components shown, or only include some of the components shown.

[0066] The processor 210 can include one or more processing units. Different processing units can be independent devices, or can be integrated into one or more processors. The processor 210 can also be provided with a memory for storing instructions and data. In some embodiments, the memory in the processor 210 is a cache memory. The memory can store instructions or data that the processor 210 has just used or repeatedly used. If the processor 210 needs to use the instructions or data again, it can be directly called from the memory. This avoids repeated access and reduces the waiting time of the processor 210, thereby improving the efficiency of the system.

[0067] The external memory interface 220 can be used to connect an external memory card, such as a Micro SD card, to expand the storage capacity of the terminal device. The external memory card communicates with the processor 210 through the external memory interface 220 to realize the data storage function. For example, files such as music and video are saved in the external memory card.

[0068] The internal memory 221 can be used to store computer executable program code, which includes instructions. The processor 210 executes various functional applications and data processing of the terminal device by running the instructions stored in the internal memory 221. The internal memory 221 may include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store an operating system and at least one application required for a function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.). The data storage area may store data created during the use of the terminal device (such as audio data, a phone book, etc.).

[0069] In addition, the internal memory 221 may include a high-speed random access memory and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, a universal flash storage (UFS), etc.

[0070] USB interface 230 is an interface that complies with USB standards and specifications, and may be a Mini USB interface, a Micro USB interface, a USB Type-C interface, or the like. USB interface 230 can be used to connect a charger to charge the terminal device, or to transfer data between the terminal device and peripheral devices. It can also be used to connect headphones to play audio. This interface can also be used to connect to other terminal devices, such as AR devices.

[0071] The charging management module 240 is configured to receive charging input from a charger. The power management module 241 is configured to connect the battery 242, the charging management module 240, and the processor 210. The power management module 241 receives input from the battery 242 and / or the charging management module 240 to power the processor 210, the internal memory 221, the external memory, the camera 293, the display 294, and the wireless communication module 260.

[0072] The wireless communication function of the terminal device can be implemented through antenna 1, antenna 2, mobile communication module 250, wireless communication module 260, modem processor and baseband processor.

[0073] Antenna 1 and Antenna 2 are used to transmit and receive electromagnetic wave signals. Each antenna in the terminal device can be used to cover a single or multiple communication frequency bands. Different antennas can also be reused to improve antenna utilization. For example, antenna 1 can be reused as a diversity antenna for a wireless local area network. In other embodiments, the antennas can be used in conjunction with a tuning switch.

[0074] The mobile communication module 250 can provide a solution for wireless communication including 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G, etc. applied to the terminal device. The mobile communication module 250 can include at least one filter, a switch, a power amplifier, a low noise amplifier (LNA), etc. The mobile communication module 250 can receive electromagnetic waves by the antenna 1, and perform filtering, amplification, etc. on the received electromagnetic waves, and transfer to the modem processor for demodulation. The mobile communication module 250 can also amplify the signal modulated by the modem processor, and radiate as electromagnetic waves through the antenna 1.

[0075] In some embodiments, at least part of the functional modules of the mobile communication module 250 can be arranged in the processor 210. In some embodiments, at least part of the functional modules of the mobile communication module 250 can be arranged in the same device as at least part of the modules of the processor 210.

[0076] The modem processor can include a modulator and a demodulator. The modulator is configured to modulate a low-frequency baseband signal to be transmitted into a medium-high frequency signal. The demodulator is configured to demodulate a received electromagnetic wave signal into a low-frequency baseband signal. The demodulator then transmits the demodulated low-frequency baseband signal to the baseband processor for processing. The low-frequency baseband signal processed by the baseband processor is transmitted to the application processor. The application processor outputs a sound signal through an audio device (not limited to the speaker 270A, the microphone 270B, etc.), or displays an image or a video through the display screen 294. In some embodiments, the modem processor can be a separate device. In other embodiments, the modem processor can be independent of the processor 210, and arranged in the same device as the mobile communication module 250 or other functional modules.

[0077] The wireless communication module 260 can provide solutions for wireless communication, including wireless local area networks (WLAN) (such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks), Bluetooth, global navigation satellite system (GNSS), frequency modulation (FM), near field communication (NFC), infrared (IR), Ultra-Wide band (UWB) technology, etc. The wireless communication module 260 can be one or more devices that integrate at least one communication processing module. The wireless communication module 260 receives electromagnetic waves via the antenna 2, frequency-modulates and filters the electromagnetic wave signals, and sends the processed signals to the processor 210. The wireless communication module 260 can also receive signals to be sent from the processor 210, frequency-modulate them, amplify them, and radiate them as electromagnetic waves via the antenna 2.

[0078] In some embodiments, the antenna 1 and the mobile communication module 250 of the terminal device are coupled, and the antenna 2 and the wireless communication module 260 are coupled, so that the terminal device can communicate with the network and other devices through wireless communication technology.

[0079] The terminal device can realize audio functions through the audio module 270, the speaker 270A, the receiver 270B, the microphone 270C, the earphone interface 270D, and the application processor, etc.

[0080] The audio module 270 is used to convert digital audio signals into analog audio signals for output, and to convert analog audio inputs into digital audio signals. The audio module 270 can also be used to encode and decode audio signals. In some embodiments, the audio module 270 can be disposed in the processor 210, or part of the functions of the audio module 270 can be disposed in the processor 210.

[0081] The speaker 270A, also known as a "loudspeaker", is used to convert audio electrical signals into sound signals. The terminal device can listen to music or take hands-free calls through the speaker 270A. In addition, the speaker 270A can also emit ultrasonic signals of a predetermined frequency (such as f1) according to the control of the processor 210.

[0082] The receiver 270B, also called "earpiece", is used to convert audio electrical signals into sound signals. When the terminal device answers a phone call or a voice message, the receiver 270B can be placed close to the human ear to listen to the voice. In addition, the receiver 270B can also emit ultrasonic signals of a preset frequency (such as f2) according to the control of the processor 210.

[0083] The microphone 270C, also called "microphone", "sound receiver", is used to convert sound signals into electrical signals. When making a phone call or sending a voice message, the user can speak into the microphone 270C close to the human mouth to input the sound signal into the microphone 270C. The terminal device can be provided with at least one microphone 270C. In some embodiments, the microphone 270C can also receive ultrasonic signals, for example, receive ultrasonic signals of different frequencies emitted by the loudspeaker and receiver of other terminal devices.

[0084] The earphone interface 270D is used to connect a wired earphone. The earphone interface 270D can be a USB interface 230, or a 3.5mm open mobile terminal platform (OMTP) standard interface, a cellular telecommunications industry association of the USA (CTIA) standard interface.

[0085] The keys 290 include a power-on key, a volume key, etc. The keys 290 can be mechanical keys. They can also be touch keys. The terminal device can receive key inputs and generate key signal inputs related to the user settings and function control of the terminal device.

[0086] The motor 291 can generate a vibration prompt. The motor 291 can be used for incoming call vibration prompts, and can also be used for touch vibration feedback. For example, touch operations acting on different applications (such as taking pictures, playing audio, etc.) can correspond to different vibration feedback effects. Touch operations acting on different regions of the display screen 294 can also correspond to different vibration feedback effects of the motor 291. Different application scenarios (such as time reminders, received messages, alarms, games, etc.) can also correspond to different vibration feedback effects. The touch vibration feedback effect can also be customized.

[0087] The indicator 292 can be an indicator light, which can be used to indicate the charging state, the power change, and can also be used to indicate messages, missed calls, notifications, etc.

[0088] The terminal device implements display functions through a GPU, a display screen 294, an application processor, and the like. The GPU is a microprocessor for image processing, connected to the display screen 294 and the application processor. The GPU is used to perform mathematical and geometric calculations for graphics rendering. The processor 210 can include one or more GPUs that execute program instructions to generate or change display information.

[0089] The display screen 294 is used to display images, videos, and the like. The display screen 294 includes a display panel. In some embodiments, the terminal device can include 1 or N display screens 294, N being a positive integer greater than 1.

[0090] The SIM card interface 295 is used to connect a SIM card. The SIM card can be inserted into or pulled out of the SIM card interface 295 to achieve contact and separation with the terminal device. The terminal device can support 1 or N SIM card interfaces, N being a positive integer greater than 1.

[0091] In this embodiment, the terminal device 100 can be configured with multiple antennas (ANT) to communicate with the access network device 200. The multiple antennas include multiple transmitter (Tx) antennas for transmitting signals and multiple receiver (Rx) antennas for receiving signals. It should be noted that, in general, the terminal device 100 or the access network device 200 includes multiple types of antennas, such as cellular antennas, Bluetooth antennas, wireless local area networks (WLAN) antennas, and global positioning system (GPS) antennas, and the like. The antennas mentioned in this embodiment refer to cellular antennas.

[0092] In the cellular mobile communication system formed by the terminal device 100 and the access network device 200, the signal coverage area of the access network device 200 or a part (such as a sector antenna) of the access network device 200 is called a cell (also referred to as a cellular cell). For example, see Figure 3As shown, in order to ensure that the terminal device at the edge of the cell can search the cell, the cells are usually distributed in an overlapping manner, and the overlapping part between the two adjacent cells accounts for about one third of a single cell. Therefore, the terminal device can search multiple cells at some positions (for example, the overlapping area of multiple cells). After searching multiple cells, the terminal device will default to select a cell with the maximum reference signal receiving power (RSRP) from the multiple cells for camping. After successfully camping in the cell, the terminal device can communicate with the access network device corresponding to the cell using the antenna corresponding to the antenna pattern, access the cellular network, and thus make a cellular call or use cellular data.

[0093] Currently, when the terminal device 100 is shipped, the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna is determined after the position of the antenna in the terminal device 100 is determined, that is, the relative position relationship between the antenna and the antenna pattern is determined. In general, the antenna pattern is not a perfect spherical shape, and the antenna gain is significantly different in different directions. For example, referring to the antenna pattern shown in FIG. 1B, the antenna gain is significantly large in some directions (for example, the first direction shown in FIG. 1B), and the antenna gain is significantly small in some other directions (for example, the second direction shown in FIG. 1B). Figure 4 Figure 4 Figure 4

[0094] When the direction with large antenna gain in the antenna pattern is aligned with the direction of arrival of the base station signal, the terminal device obtains a large signal strength, and at this time, the terminal device can obtain the maximum antenna gain, thereby improving the receiving performance of the terminal device. Based on the certain reciprocity between the uplink and downlink propagation paths of the terminal device and the base station, the uplink transmission performance of the terminal device can also be improved. When the direction with large antenna gain of the terminal device is aligned with the direction of arrival of the base station signal, the terminal device obtains a strong signal strength; and at the same position, when the direction with small antenna gain in the antenna pattern is aligned with the direction of arrival of the base station signal, the terminal device obtains a small signal strength, at this time, the terminal device can only obtain a small antenna gain, thereby affecting the receiving performance of the terminal device, and in addition, the uplink transmission performance of the terminal device is also affected. At the same time, based on the different hand holding postures of the user when using the terminal device, such as single hand holding (left hand holding, right hand holding), double hand holding, horizontal screen, vertical screen, and the like, and the dynamic change of the relative position between the access network device and the terminal device, it is easy to cause the terminal device to have very low antenna transmission performance in some specific hand holding postures or some use scenarios, thereby affecting the communication experience of the user.

[0095] ​​​To this end, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, through which the terminal device can, when the preset conditions are met, use an antenna with an antenna pattern corresponding to the direction of the main lobe and the direction deviation from the optimal arrival direction of the first cell in which it resides within a preset range to communicate with the access network device corresponding to the first cell in which the antenna resides, thereby improving the receiving and transmitting performance of the terminal device and enhancing the user's communication experience.

[0096] Figure 5 This is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in one embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a terminal device, which resides in a first cell through an antenna. Figure 5 As shown, the method includes the following steps S501-S502.

[0097] S501: The terminal device communicates with the access network device corresponding to the first cell using an antenna corresponding to the first antenna pattern.

[0098] In this embodiment, the first antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna may be a fixed antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna after the position of the antenna in the terminal device is determined when the terminal device leaves the factory. Figure 6A As shown in the figure, antenna 1 corresponds to a fixed antenna direction Figure 1 , the terminal device uses the direction corresponding to the antenna Figure 1 Antenna 1 of the first cell communicates with the access network device corresponding to the first cell; it can also be one of the M antenna patterns corresponding to the antenna, where M≥2. For example, see Figure 6B As shown in , antenna 1 corresponds to three antenna patterns, which are antenna directions Figure 1 , antenna direction Figure 2 and antenna direction Figure 3 , the terminal device communicates with the access network device through the antenna in the antenna state corresponding to one of the three antenna patterns. It should be understood that, in combination with Figure 6B As shown, when there are M antenna patterns for an antenna, the M antenna patterns have a one-to-one correspondence with the M antenna states of the antenna, and in each antenna state, the direction of the main lobe (i.e., the part with larger gain) in the antenna pattern is different.

[0099] That is to say, before the terminal device adjusts the antenna pattern or the device posture, the first antenna pattern used by it can be a fixed antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna, or any one of the multiple antenna patterns corresponding to the antenna, or when there are multiple antenna patterns for the antenna, the antenna pattern obtained after the last antenna pattern adjustment.

[0100] S502, when a preset condition is met, the terminal device communicates with the access network device using an antenna corresponding to a second antenna pattern, wherein a direction of a main lobe of the second antenna pattern deviates from a direction of an optimal direction of arrival of the first cell by a preset range.

[0101] The preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0102] (1) a reference signal received power of the terminal device is less than or equal to a first threshold value, wherein the first threshold value includes -110 dBm.

[0103] In some application scenarios, when the terminal device is in a preset area, the reference signal received power of the terminal device is less than or equal to the first threshold value. The preset area can be an underground parking lot, an elevator, a stairwell, or the like; or an open outdoor signal weak coverage area. When the reference signal received power is less than or equal to the first threshold value, the terminal device can improve the receiving and transmitting performance of the terminal device by adjusting the antenna pattern.

[0104] (2) a device posture of the terminal device changes.

[0105] In this embodiment, the device posture of the terminal device can be represented by at least one of single-handed holding, double-handed holding, horizontal screen, vertical screen, roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw angle. For example, when the terminal device is in a first device posture, such as single-handed holding or horizontal screen, the outer surface at the antenna position of the terminal device is not covered or the direction of the main lobe of the antenna pattern of the antenna is aligned with the direction of arrival of the first cell, and at this time, the receiving and transmitting performance of the terminal device is high; when the terminal device is in a second device posture, such as double-handed holding or vertical screen, the outer surface at the antenna position of the terminal device is partially or completely covered or the direction of the main lobe of the antenna pattern of the antenna is not aligned with the direction of arrival of the first cell, and at this time, the receiving and transmitting performance of the terminal device is low, wherein the first cell is a cell currently camped by the terminal device. That is, when the device posture of the terminal device changes, there is a problem of affecting the antenna receiving and transmitting performance, and based on this, the terminal device can improve the receiving and transmitting performance of the terminal device by adjusting the antenna pattern when the device posture changes.

[0106] (3) the terminal device detects that a time interval between a first time point of last time adjusting the antenna pattern and a second time point of current time is greater than or equal to a time threshold value.

[0107] The time threshold value can be 10-15 minutes, and for example, can be 12 minutes. That is, the terminal device can adjust the antenna pattern at a certain time threshold value, so that the terminal device can use the antenna to communicate with the access network device according to the adjusted antenna pattern, thereby improving the receiving and transmitting performance of the terminal device.

[0108] In this embodiment, when the preset condition is met, the terminal device can adjust the device posture so that the orientation of the main lobe in the first antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna changes, thereby switching from the first antenna pattern to the second antenna pattern. In this case, the first antenna pattern and the second antenna pattern are the same antenna pattern, but the orientations of the main lobes thereof are different, and the second antenna pattern is the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna when the orientation deviation of the main lobe of the first antenna pattern from the optimal incoming wave direction is within the preset range. Alternatively, the terminal device can select one of the M antenna patterns preset for the antenna in an adaptive manner, and switch the antenna pattern so that the orientation of the main lobe in the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna changes, thereby switching from the first antenna pattern to the second antenna pattern. In this case, the first antenna pattern and the second antenna pattern are different antenna patterns, and the orientations of the main lobes thereof are different, and the orientation of the main lobe in the second antenna pattern deviates from the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell by a preset range.

[0109] In some embodiments, the terminal device indicates the user to adjust the device posture in such a manner that the orientation of the main lobe in the first antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna changes, by displaying prompt information on the display interface. Specifically, the terminal device displays prompt information on the display interface, which includes the current first device posture of the terminal device and the adjusted second device posture, for prompting the user to adjust the first device posture to the second device posture. The first device posture is the current device posture of the terminal device, and in the first device posture, the antenna pattern of the antenna is the first antenna pattern. The second device posture is the device posture of the terminal device when the antenna corresponds to the second antenna pattern, and in the second device posture, the orientation of the main lobe in the second antenna pattern of the antenna deviates from the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell by a preset range. After the terminal device switches from the first device posture to the second device posture according to the user operation, the terminal device communicates with the access network device using the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern. This method can be applied to the case where the antenna of the terminal device includes one fixed antenna pattern, and also can be applied to the case where the antenna includes M antenna patterns, but only one of the antenna patterns is used.

[0110] In some embodiments, the terminal device determines a second antenna pattern from the M antenna patterns, and then uses an antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device. The terminal device can determine the second antenna pattern in the following ways: the terminal device determines an antenna pattern whose main lobe direction deviates from the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell by a preset range as the second antenna pattern; or the terminal device determines an antenna pattern corresponding to a maximum reference signal received power among M reference signal received powers corresponding to the M antenna patterns as the second antenna pattern.

[0111] It should be understood that when the reference signal received power is greater than the first threshold, for example, the reference signal received power of the terminal device is -85 dBm, it indicates that the terminal device is in a scenario of a strong signal area. In this case, the terminal device has strong signal transmission and reception capability in every direction in the area where the terminal device is located. At this time, the first cell in which the terminal device is located can have multiple optimal directions of arrival.

[0112] When the reference signal received power is less than or equal to the first threshold, for example, the reference signal received power of the terminal device is -110 dBm, it indicates that the terminal device is in a scenario of a weak signal area. In this case, there can be a situation that the signal strength in the first direction of the terminal device is strong, while the signal strength in other directions is weak. The first direction can be the orientation of the access network device corresponding to the first cell relative to the terminal device. For example, the first direction is the one o'clock direction in the current posture of the terminal device. At this time, the first direction is the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell.

[0113] In some embodiments, the main lobe direction of the second antenna pattern deviates from the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell by a preset range, where the preset range can be 0°-50°.

[0114] The terminal device uses the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device when the preset condition is met. Based on the fact that the main lobe direction of the second antenna pattern deviates from the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell by a preset range, when the terminal device uses the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device, the antenna efficiency can be improved, thereby improving the user's communication experience.

[0115] The following will illustrate the communication method provided by the present embodiment in an exemplary manner by combining specific examples in different ways in which the terminal device adjusts the antenna pattern.

[0116] Example 1: Adjusting the device posture.

[0117] Figure 7An illustrative flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 7, which is applied to a terminal device, and the terminal device camps on a first cell through an antenna, as shown in FIG. 8, the method comprises the following steps S701-S708. Figure 7

[0118] S701, the terminal device communicates with an access network device corresponding to the first cell using an antenna corresponding to a first antenna pattern.

[0119] The first antenna pattern can be a fixed antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna of the terminal device, or one of M antenna patterns corresponding to the antenna of the terminal device.

[0120] In the process of the terminal device communicating with the access network device using the antenna, the antenna gain of the first antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna can be greater in the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell where the terminal device camps, or in other directions. When the antenna gain is greater in the direction other than the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell, the efficiency of the antenna is affected.

[0121] S702, the terminal device acquires the location information of the terminal device and a communication map when a preset condition is met.

[0122] The location information of the terminal device can be acquired by positioning the terminal device. The positioning methods include GPS positioning, Wi-Fi positioning, Bluetooth positioning, UWB positioning, operator base station positioning, visual positioning, radar positioning, etc. The positioning accuracy is different, and can be selected according to actual needs. The embodiment does not limit this.

[0123] The communication map comprises the correspondence between each sub-region and the optimal direction of arrival of the cell covering the sub-region in a target geographical space region, wherein the target geographical space region is a large range region under the region where the terminal device is located, such as a weak signal coverage region, which comprises N adjacent sub-regions, N≥1, and the first region where the terminal device is located is any sub-region in the target geographical space region. For example, the communication map can be seen in FIG. 9. The communication map can be pre-stored in the terminal device, or acquired from the server when the terminal device meets the preset condition. Figure 8

[0124] In some embodiments, the correspondence between each sub-region and the optimal direction of arrival of the cell covering the sub-region in the communication map can be seen in Table 1.

[0125] Table 1

[0126]

[0127] ​​As shown in Table 1 above, the optimal direction of arrival of Cell 1 in sub-region 1 is direction 1, and the optimal direction of arrival of Cell 2 is direction 2; in sub-region 2, the optimal direction of arrival of Cell 1 is direction 3. That is, a sub-region can be covered by multiple cells, such as sub-region 1 in Table 1 above; or a sub-region can be covered by one cell, such as sub-region 2 and sub-region 3 in Table 1 above. When a sub-region is covered by multiple cells, the optimal direction of arrival of the multiple cells in the sub-region is recorded in the communication map.

[0128] In some embodiments, the correspondence between each sub-region and the optimal direction of arrival of the cell covering the sub-region in the communication map is shown in Table 2 below.

[0129] Table 2

[0130]

[0131] As shown in Table 2 above, in this embodiment, the communication map further includes the correspondence between each sub-region, different device models of terminal devices, and the optimal direction of arrival of the cell covering the sub-region. The optimal direction of arrival of the cell corresponding to different models of terminal devices is different.

[0132] In some embodiments, the correspondence between each sub-region and the optimal direction of arrival of the cell covering the sub-region in the communication map is shown in Table 3 below.

[0133] Table 3

[0134]

[0135] As shown in Table 3 above, in this embodiment, the communication map further includes the correspondence between each sub-region, different device models of terminal devices, and the optimal direction of arrival of the cell covering the sub-region. The optimal direction of arrival of the cell corresponding to different models of terminal devices is different.

[0136] In this embodiment, the correspondence between each sub-region and the optimal direction of arrival of the cell covering the sub-region recorded in the communication map can be determined by a crowdsourcing library, and the specific process will be described in detail in the following embodiments, and this embodiment will not be described in detail.

[0137] In some implementations, different models of terminal devices have a communication map corresponding to each model. For example, see Table 4 below.

[0138] Table 4

[0139] Device model Communication map 1# terminal device communicatively Figure 1 2# terminal device communicatively Figure 2 3# terminal device communicatively Figure 3 …… ……

[0140] In combination with the correspondence between the terminal device model and the communication map shown in Table 4, when the terminal device acquires the communication map, it can acquire the communication map corresponding to the model of the terminal device itself from the preset communication map or the server.

[0141] In some other implementations, for terminal devices of different models and different device postures, there are communication maps corresponding to the model and the device posture of the terminal device. For example, see Table 5 shown below.

[0142] Table 5

[0143]

[0144] In combination with the correspondence between the terminal device model, device posture and communication map shown in Table 5, when the terminal device acquires the communication map, it can acquire the communication map matching the device model and the current device posture of the terminal device from the preset communication map or the server. It should be understood that when the terminal device acquires the communication map, the preset or server-side communication map of the terminal device may not completely match the current device state of the terminal device, for example, the current device posture of the terminal device is single-handed and the yaw angle is 80°, and the terminal device preset or server-side communication map corresponding to the single-handed and yaw angle of 90° best matches the current state of the terminal device. In this case, the terminal device acquires the best matching communication map. It should be noted that in this embodiment, whether the communication map matches can be determined according to whether the direction deviation between the current device posture and the device posture corresponding to the communication map is within the preset range.

[0145] S703, the terminal device determines a first region in which the terminal device is located according to the position information.

[0146] As described in the foregoing embodiments, the communication map includes N adjacent sub-regions in a certain geographical space region, where N≥1. The terminal device determines the first region in which it is located according to its position information.

[0147] S704, the terminal device determines the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell in the first region according to the communication map.

[0148] In some embodiments, in combination with the description shown in Table 6, the terminal device determines that it is in the first region shown in Table 6 according to the current position information, and the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell cell 1 corresponding to the first region is the northeast corner 320°. Figure 8 Figure 8 In some embodiments, in combination with the description shown in Table 6, the terminal device determines that it is in the first region shown in Table 6 according to the current position information, and the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell cell 1 corresponding to the first region is the northeast corner 320°.

[0149] ​In some embodiments, the terminal device determines a current first device posture, and then determines, according to the communication map, an optimal direction of arrival of the first cell in the first device posture within the first region.

[0150] In S705, the terminal device acquires a current first device posture.

[0151] In some embodiments, the terminal device acquires the current first device posture by means of an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a magnetometer or other devices. For example, the first device posture can be 90° northwest, or 90° northwest in a left-hand holding state.

[0152] In S706, the terminal device determines a second device posture of the terminal device according to the optimal direction of arrival, wherein the second device posture is a device posture of the terminal device when an antenna corresponds to a second antenna pattern, and the second antenna pattern is an antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna when a direction deviation between a main lobe direction of the first antenna pattern and the optimal direction of arrival is within a preset range.

[0153] For example, the terminal device determines that the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell is 320° northeast, or the optimal direction of arrival is 320° northeast and the device posture corresponds to a left-hand holding state. In order to make the direction deviation between the main lobe direction of the first antenna pattern of the antenna and the optimal direction of arrival within the preset range when the terminal device is in the second device posture, i.e., to switch the first antenna pattern to the second antenna pattern, the terminal device needs to be adjusted to the device posture corresponding to the optimal direction of arrival, i.e., the second device posture, for example, the device posture is 320° northeast, or the device posture is a left-hand holding state and the direction is 320° northeast.

[0154] In S707, the terminal device displays prompt information for instructing a user to switch the first device posture to the second device posture.

[0155] For example, the prompt information can refer to that shown in FIG. 6. Optionally, the prompt information further includes text information, such as “Please rotate the phone according to the arrow direction”. Figure 9

[0156] In some embodiments, the terminal device determines a direction and an angle that need to be adjusted by the user according to the first device posture and the second device posture. For example, the first device posture is 90° northeast and the second device posture is 120° northeast, and the prompt information displayed by the terminal device includes the direction and the angle of the first device posture, the direction and the angle of the second device posture, and the direction and the angle that need to be adjusted, for example, a 30° deviation to the northeast.​

[0157] S708, after the terminal device switches from the first device posture to the second device posture according to the user operation, the terminal device uses the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device.

[0158] For example, see Figure 10 As shown in , when the terminal device is in a first device posture, the main lobe orientation of its antenna pattern is a first orientation. When the terminal device switches from the first device posture to a second device posture according to a user operation, the main lobe orientation of its antenna pattern is a second orientation. This second orientation corresponds to the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell.

[0159] The communication method provided in this embodiment is that after the terminal device determines the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell, it indicates by displaying a prompt message to adjust the current device posture of the terminal device, so that under the adjusted device posture, the antenna radiation pattern corresponding to the antenna used by the terminal device, the direction of the main lobe can deviate from the direction of the optimal incoming wave direction within a preset range, thereby improving the antenna efficiency and obtaining a better communication experience.

[0160] It should be understood that in some usage scenarios, the antenna's main lobe orientation may deviate from the optimal incoming wave direction within a preset range, but the user's grip on the terminal device may affect antenna efficiency. For example, when a user holds the device with both hands, the hand position overlaps the antenna position, thus affecting the antenna's transmit and receive efficiency. Based on this, the terminal device can determine the user's desired adjustment method by identifying the user's grip position to achieve the purpose of adjusting the antenna pattern.

[0161] In this embodiment, the terminal device can detect the user's holding posture through a sensor. For example, see Figure 11 As shown in , the terminal device recognizes that the current first device posture is left-handed, and according to the correspondence between the terminal devices of different device models in each sub-area in the communication map and the optimal arrival direction of the first cell under different device postures, the corresponding best device posture under the optimal arrival direction is right-handed, then the second device posture is determined to be right-handed, and a prompt message is displayed. The prompt message is used to instruct the user to adjust the holding posture from left-handed to right-handed, so that the terminal device reduces the impact of the holding posture on the antenna efficiency.

[0162] It should be noted that the communication manner provided in this embodiment can be applied to both the application scenario in which the antenna includes one fixed antenna pattern and the application scenario in which the antenna includes M antenna patterns. When the antenna includes M antenna patterns, the terminal device uses the antenna to communicate with the access network device according to one of the M antenna patterns, and when the antenna pattern is adjusted, the terminal device does not need to select one of the M antenna patterns, but displays prompt information to instruct the user to adjust the device posture to adjust the main lobe direction of the antenna pattern currently used by the antenna.

[0163] Example 2, switching antenna patterns.

[0164] Figure 12 The schematic flowchart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a terminal device, and the terminal device camps on a first cell through an antenna. The antenna includes M antenna patterns, the M antenna patterns have a one-to-one corresponding relationship with M antenna states of the antenna, and the main lobe direction of each antenna pattern is different in each antenna state. Referring to FIG. 12, the method includes the following steps S1201-S1208. Figure 12

[0165] S1201, the terminal device uses the antenna corresponding to the first antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device corresponding to the first cell.

[0166] In this embodiment, the terminal device uses one of the M antenna patterns as the first antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device through the antenna. For example, referring to FIG. 11, the terminal device uses the antenna 1 corresponding to the antenna pattern Figure 6B to communicate with the access network device. Figure 1

[0167] S1202, the terminal device acquires the position information of the terminal device and a communication map when a preset condition is met.

[0168] S1203, the terminal device determines a first region in which the terminal device is located according to the position information.

[0169] S1204, the terminal device determines an optimal incoming direction of the first cell in the first region according to the communication map.

[0170] S1205, the terminal device determines the main lobe direction of each antenna pattern in the M antenna patterns.

[0171] For example, referring to FIG. 11, the main lobe directions of the three antenna patterns of the antenna 1 are shown in FIG. 10. Figure 6B Figure 6B

[0172] ​​​​S1206, the terminal device determines, as the second antenna pattern, an antenna pattern whose main lobe orientation deviates from the direction of the optimal incoming wave direction by a preset range.

[0173] The terminal device determines, as the second antenna pattern, an antenna pattern whose main lobe orientation deviates from the direction of the optimal incoming wave direction by a preset range, according to the optimal incoming wave direction and the main lobe orientations of the M antenna patterns determined in the foregoing steps. The preset range can be 0°-50°.

[0174] S1207, the terminal device switches the antenna from the first antenna state corresponding to the first antenna pattern to the second antenna state corresponding to the second antenna pattern, according to the correspondence between the M antenna patterns and the M antenna states of the antenna.

[0175] The antenna state can be represented by parameters (such as capacitance, inductance, etc.) of electronic components in the antenna. For example, the one-to-one correspondence between the M antenna patterns and the M antenna states of the antenna can be represented by Table 6 below.

[0176] Table 6

[0177]

[0178] The terminal device adjusts the antenna state to adjust the first antenna pattern currently used by the antenna to the second antenna pattern. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the terminal device adjusts the antenna direction Figure 13 currently used by the antenna to the antenna direction Figure 2 , so that the main lobe orientation of the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna is adjusted from the first orientation to the second orientation. Figure 3

[0179] S1208, the terminal device communicates with the access network device using the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern.

[0180] In this embodiment, the specific contents in steps S1202-S1204 can refer to those described in the foregoing embodiments, and will not be described herein.

[0181] ​The communication method provided in the embodiment is used by the terminal device to determine the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell in which the terminal device is located in the first area, and then determine a second antenna pattern whose main lobe direction deviates from the optimal direction of arrival within a preset range according to the optimal direction of arrival and the main lobe direction of the antenna pattern of the built-in antenna of the terminal device, and adjust the antenna pattern currently used by the antenna to the second antenna pattern, so that the antenna has higher transceiving efficiency, thereby improving the communication capability of the terminal device. The embodiment adjusts the antenna pattern in an adaptive manner, and the whole process does not need manual participation of the user, and the purpose of improving the communication capability can be achieved, and the embodiment is beneficial to be widely used.

[0182] Figure 14 The schematic flowchart of the communication method provided in another embodiment of the application is applied to a terminal device, the terminal device camps on a first cell through an antenna, the antenna includes M antenna patterns, the M antenna patterns have a one-to-one corresponding relationship with M antenna states of the antenna, and the orientation of the main lobe of the antenna pattern is different in each antenna state. As shown in Figure 14 , the method includes the following steps S1401-S1406.

[0183] S1401, the terminal device communicates with an access network device corresponding to the first cell using an antenna corresponding to the first antenna pattern.

[0184] S1402, when a preset condition is met, the terminal device determines M reference signal received powers, which are obtained when the terminal device communicates with the access network device according to the M antenna patterns respectively.

[0185] In some embodiments, if the antenna used by the terminal device includes three antenna patterns, the terminal device determines three reference signal received powers when the terminal device communicates with the access network device according to the three antenna patterns respectively. As shown in Figure 15 , the terminal device first determines the RSRP corresponding to the antenna direction Figure 1 , and then switches the antenna direction Figure 1 to the antenna direction Figure 2 , determines the RSRP corresponding to the antenna direction Figure 2 , and finally switches the antenna direction Figure 2 to the antenna direction Figure 3 , and determines the RSRP corresponding to the antenna direction Figure 3 .

[0186] S1403, the terminal device determines the maximum value of the M reference signal received powers.

[0187] S1404, the terminal device determines the antenna pattern corresponding to the maximum reference signal received power as the second antenna pattern.

[0188] For example, among the M reference signal received powers, the antenna pattern corresponding to the maximum reference signal received power Figure 3 RSRP3, the terminal device determines the antenna pattern corresponding to the maximum reference signal received power as the second antenna pattern. Figure 3 determination as the second antenna pattern.

[0189] S1405, the terminal device switches the antenna from the first antenna state corresponding to the first antenna pattern to the second antenna state corresponding to the second antenna pattern according to the correspondence between the M antenna patterns and the M antenna states of the antenna.

[0190] The terminal device adjusts the antenna state to adjust the antenna pattern currently used by the antenna to the second antenna pattern.

[0191] In this embodiment, the terminal device periodically determines the second antenna pattern corresponding to the maximum reference signal received power from the M antenna patterns when the preset condition is met, and adjusts the antenna pattern to the second antenna pattern.

[0192] In some embodiments, the preset condition is that the device posture of the terminal device changes. It should be understood that when the device posture changes, the main lobe of the antenna pattern currently used by the terminal device changes accordingly, so that the main lobe is offset from the optimal direction of arrival, thereby affecting the communication effect. Based on this, the terminal device can perform the above steps S1402 to S1405 when the device posture of the terminal device changes to adjust the antenna pattern to the best state, so that the terminal device has a better communication experience.

[0193] In other embodiments, the preset condition is that the terminal device detects that the time interval between the first time when the antenna pattern was last adjusted and the current second time is greater than or equal to a time threshold, i.e., the terminal device periodically performs the above steps S1402 to S1405 every preset time threshold to adjust the antenna pattern to the best state, so that the terminal device has a better communication experience.

[0194] S1406, the terminal device uses the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern to communicate with the access network device.

[0195] The above is the specific implementation process of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. The following explains in detail the determination process of the correspondence between each sub-region in the communication map and the optimal direction of arrival of the cell covering the sub-region in the technical solution of the present application.

[0196] It should be understood that the antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna in the terminal device is not ideal, but rather has high gain in certain directions and low gain in other directions. In other words, if the direction of high antenna gain in the antenna pattern is aligned with the direction of arrival of the access network device-side signal, the terminal device will receive a stronger signal strength. Meanwhile, if the direction of low antenna gain in the antenna pattern is aligned with the direction of arrival of the access network device-side signal at the same location, the terminal device will receive a weaker signal strength. Therefore, the direction of arrival of the access network device-side signal can be calculated based on the orientations and signal strengths reported by a large number of terminal devices.

[0197] In this embodiment, the target geographic space area to be determined is divided into grids, each grid representing a sub-area, and then the optimal direction of arrival of the cellular cell covering each sub-area is determined through crowdsourcing.

[0198] For example, see Figure 16 As shown in , it is a planar distribution map of the target geographic space area, which is divided into 16 4*4 grids of size 10m*10m, and each grid represents a sub-area. Through the crowdsourcing training method, the wave direction information of each cellular cell covering each grid in each grid is determined to obtain the communication map of the target geographic space area. It should be noted that if some grids or some cellular cells do not generate wave directions due to lack of data, such as areas with fewer users, the wave direction information in these grids or some cellular cells will not be recorded; if a cell in a certain grid does not have a consistent wave direction, for example, in some specific environments, such as floor obstruction or building reflection, resulting in the wave direction of the cell in the grid coming from all directions, the wave direction information of the cell will not be recorded in the grid.

[0199] Before crowdsourcing training, the terminal device first reports the basic information of the terminal device (also known as crowdsourcing data) to the cloud (also known as the cloud server or server). The basic information includes: device model, device posture, Cell ID of the resident cell, antenna identifier corresponding to each antenna and RSRP value of the received signal of the antenna (if there are multiple antennas, multiple pairs of <antenna ID, RSRP> will be reported), location information, etc. Among them, the device model can be Huawei mate50, Huawei mate60, Huawei X5, etc.; the device posture can be the device orientation of the terminal device, such as landscape (pitch angle α1, roll angle β1, yaw angle θ1), portrait (pitch angle α2, roll angle β2, yaw angle θ2), etc., or the holding state of the terminal device, such as single-handed (left hand or right hand) or double-handed; the location information can be the latitude and longitude information or positioning information of the device. For example, the following Table 7 shows the relevant content of the basic information reported by the terminal device.

[0200] Table 7

[0201]

[0202] It should be noted that the basic information reported by the terminal device can include only the device orientation of the terminal device, or only the holding state of the terminal device, or both the device orientation and the holding state of the terminal device, for example, the basic information reported by the terminal device includes single-hand holding and horizontal screen (pitch angle a1, roll angle b1, yaw angle q1). Specifically, in actual application, the actual needs of the crowd sourcing library process can be set, and the present embodiment does not limit this.

[0203] In some embodiments, after the cloud receives the basic information sent by the terminal device, the crowd sourcing database is generated according to the basic information, and when determining the optimal direction of arrival of each cell in each grid, first, for a cell in a certain grid, the crowd sourcing data reported by the terminal of the same model in the grid is extracted in the crowd sourcing database. After the cloud extracts the crowd sourcing data, the control displays each crowd sourcing data on the compass, and the planar display effect is shown in FIG. a of Figure 17 For ease of illustration, in the present embodiment, the display effect on a two-dimensional plane is taken as an example, and it can be understood that in a three-dimensional space, the compass plane can be displayed in the form of a compass sphere.

[0204] In the present embodiment, in combination with FIG. a of Figure 17 The scale on the compass includes 0-360 degrees, which can be used to represent the yaw angle of the terminal device, where 0 degrees can be exemplarily represented as the true north direction, and 90 degrees represents the positive east direction; the radial direction of the compass represents the RSRP, and the closer to the center of the compass, the smaller the RSRP.

[0205] In order to make the determination result more accurate, the cloud can preprocess the crowd sourcing data to process the abnormal data in the crowd sourcing data. For example, in combination with FIG. b of Figure 17 The values of RSRP in the crowd sourcing data that exceed the actual possible range are deleted, and the data within the normal range is retained. According to this method, the cloud determines the crowd sourcing data in the first time period, such as the crowd sourcing data in one month, and averages the RSRP in the same direction.

[0206] After the above processing, the following two results can be obtained in each grid:

[0207] (1) The RSRP of a certain cell in a certain direction is obviously larger than the RSRP in other directions, as shown in FIG. c of Figure 17

[0208] ​(2) A certain cell, in all directions, the RSRP is not much different, see Figure 17 Figure (d) in the middle.

[0209] For the above result (1), the cloud will be a certain cell, RSRP is significantly greater than the RSRP in other directions of the direction of the grid in the cell is the optimal incoming direction, and the cell ID and the optimal incoming direction are recorded in the communication map.

[0210] For the above result (2), the cloud will be a certain cell, in all directions, the RSRP is not much different, which is determined as the cell does not exist in the grid. In this case, the signal reception effect in the grid is good, and the communication effect in all directions is good.

[0211] Through the crowd-sourcing database mode in this embodiment, the communication map of the incoming direction corresponding to each type of terminal device can be obtained.

[0212] In other embodiments, after the cloud receives the basic information sent by the terminal device, the crowd-sourcing database is generated according to the basic information, and when determining the optimal incoming direction of each cell in each grid, the crowd-sourcing data reported by the terminal device in the grid is extracted in the crowd-sourcing database for a certain cell in a certain grid. And in a similar way, the crowd-sourcing data is displayed on the compass, and the planar display effect is shown in Figure (a) of Figure 18 Figure (a) in the middle, where different shapes of symbols represent different types of terminal devices.

[0213] Similarly, the cloud can preprocess the crowd-sourcing data to process abnormal data in the crowd-sourcing data. For example, as shown in Figure (b) of Figure 18 (b) in the middle, delete the values in the crowd-sourcing data whose RSRP exceeds the actual possible range, and keep the data within the normal range.

[0214] It should be understood that because the antenna patterns of the antennas of terminal devices of different types are different, that is, in the same direction, the antenna gains of terminal devices of different types are different. If the antenna gain of a certain type of terminal device in a certain direction is very small, the RSRP received by the terminal device of this type in the above direction will be very small, although this direction may be exactly the incoming direction, which will lead to incorrect identification of the incoming direction. Therefore, the antenna gain needs to be corrected and supplemented. For example, if the crowd-sourcing RSRP in a certain direction is X dB, and the antenna gain of a certain type of terminal device in this direction is Y dB, then the RSRP of the terminal device of this type in this direction is corrected to X-Y dB. See Figure 18 Figure (c) in the middle shows the display effect after correction.

[0215] The cloud determines the crowdsourcing data in a first period, such as the crowdsourcing data in a month, and averages the RSRP in the same direction.

[0216] Similarly, after the processing by the above method, the following two results can be obtained in each grid:

[0217] (1) In a certain cell, the RSRP in a certain direction is obviously greater than the RSRP in other directions, see the (d) figure in Figure 18 .

[0218] (2) In a certain cell, the RSRP in each direction is not much different, see the (e) figure in Figure 18 .

[0219] For the above result (1), the cloud determines the direction in which the RSRP of a certain cell is obviously greater than the RSRP in other directions as the optimal incoming wave direction of the cell in the grid, and records the Cell ID and the optimal incoming wave direction of the cell in the communication map.

[0220] For the above result (2), the cloud determines that the case in which the RSRP of a certain cell in each direction is not much different as the case in which there is no obvious incoming wave direction of the cell in the grid. In this case, it indicates that the signal reception effect in the grid is good, and the communication effect in each direction is good.

[0221] The crowdsourcing database method in the embodiment can generate an incoming wave direction communication map using the crowdsourcing data of all types of terminal devices. On the one hand, more crowdsourcing data is used, and the generated incoming wave direction is more accurate; on the other hand, the communication map data storage space is saved.

[0222] The cloud can determine the optimal incoming wave direction of different cells in each grid in the target geographical space region by any one of the above two implementation manners, and generate a communication map corresponding to the target geographical space region according to the determined information. The communication map can be seen in Figure 19 . After generating the communication map, the cloud can send the communication map to the terminal device, or store it in the cloud. When the terminal device needs to use the communication map, it can be downloaded from the cloud.

[0223] It should be understood that the size of the serial number of each step in the above embodiment does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined according to its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the application.

[0224] The embodiment of the application also provides a communication device applied to a terminal device. The terminal device includes an antenna. The terminal device camps on a first cell through the antenna, see Figure 20As shown, the apparatus includes a first communication module 2001 and a second communication module 2002.

[0225] The first communication module 2001 is configured to communicate with the access network device corresponding to the first cell using an antenna corresponding to the first antenna pattern.

[0226] The second communication module 2002 is configured to communicate with the access network device using an antenna corresponding to a second antenna pattern when a preset condition is met, where a direction deviation of a main lobe of the second antenna pattern from a direction of the optimal incoming wave direction of the first cell is within a preset range.

[0227] The embodiments of the present application also provide a terminal device, which includes an antenna, and the terminal device camps on a first cell through the antenna. The terminal device is configured to perform the communication method shown in the above embodiments.

[0228] The embodiments of the present application also provide a chip, which includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores a computer program, and the computer program is executed by the processor to implement the communication method in the above embodiments. Figure 21 As shown, the chip includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores a computer program, and the computer program is executed by the processor to implement the communication method in the above embodiments.

[0229] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. The computer program is executed by a processor to implement the communication method provided in the above embodiments.

[0230] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which includes a computer program. When the computer program is run by a terminal device, the terminal device implements the communication method provided in the above embodiments.

[0231] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor.

[0232] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM) and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0233] In the embodiments provided in the present application, the division of each framework or module is only a logical function division, and another division mode can be used in actual implementation, for example, multiple frameworks or modules can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed.

[0234] In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing module, or each module can exist physically alone, or two or more modules can be integrated in one module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module.

[0235] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the system, device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0236] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the application. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" or "in a various embodiment" or "in some embodiments" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment, but can, but not necessarily, refer to different embodiments. The terms "including," "comprising," "having" and variations thereof are meant to encompass the items listed thereafter, but do not exclude other items from also being present. The term "consisting of" is meant to exclude any item not specified, but "consisting essentially of" does not exclude other items that do not "materially" affect the essential characteristics of the application.

[0237] The above-described embodiments are merely intended to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, but not to limit the same; even though the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that: they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or make equivalent replacements to some technical features therein; and these modifications or replacements do not make the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a terminal device, the terminal device resides in a first cell through an antenna, and the method includes: communicating with an access network device corresponding to the first cell using the antenna corresponding to the first antenna pattern; When the preset conditions are met, the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern is used to communicate with the access network device, wherein the direction deviation of the main lobe in the second antenna pattern and the optimal arrival direction of the first cell is within a preset range.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The antenna includes M antenna patterns, where M ≥ 2; The M antenna patterns have a one-to-one correspondence with the M antenna states of the antenna, and in each of the antenna states, the orientation of the main lobe in the antenna pattern is different.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method of communicating with the access network device using the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern when a preset condition is met includes: When a preset condition is met, determining the direction of a main lobe in each of the M antenna patterns; Determine an antenna pattern in which the direction of the main lobe in the M antenna patterns deviates from the direction of the optimal incoming wave direction within a preset range as the second antenna pattern; switching the antenna from a first antenna state corresponding to the first antenna pattern to a second antenna state corresponding to the second antenna pattern according to the corresponding relationship; Communicate with the access network device using the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method of communicating with the access network device using the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern when a preset condition is met further includes: When a preset condition is met, determining M reference signal received powers, where the M reference signal received powers are received powers when the antenna receives the reference signal of the access network device in different antenna states corresponding to the M antenna patterns; Determining a maximum reference signal received power among the M reference signal received powers; Determining the antenna pattern corresponding to the maximum reference signal received power as the second antenna pattern; switching the antenna from a first antenna state corresponding to the first antenna pattern to a second antenna state corresponding to the second antenna pattern according to the corresponding relationship; Communicate with the access network device using the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein The second antenna pattern is an antenna pattern corresponding to the antenna when the direction of the main lobe of the first antenna pattern deviates from the direction of the optimal arrival direction within a preset range. When the preset condition is met, the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern is used to communicate with the access network device, further comprising: When a preset condition is met, a prompt message is displayed, wherein the prompt message is used to instruct the user to switch the first device posture to the second device posture, wherein the first device posture is the current device posture of the terminal device, and the second device posture is the device posture of the terminal device when the antenna corresponds to the second antenna pattern; After the first device posture is switched to the second device posture according to a user operation, the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern is used to communicate with the access network device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The process of determining the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell includes: Determining a first area of ​​the terminal device in a communication map based on the location information of the terminal device, wherein the communication map includes a correspondence between each sub-area and an optimal direction of arrival of a cellular cell covering the sub-area, and the first area is any area in the sub-areas; Determine the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell in the first area according to the communication map.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The communication map further includes a correspondence between different device postures and an optimal direction of arrival of the first cell in each of the sub-areas. Determining the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell in the first area based on the communication map includes: Determining a current first device posture of the terminal device; According to the communication map, the optimal direction of arrival of the first cell of the terminal device in the first area is determined when the terminal device is in the first device posture.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The preset condition includes at least one of the following: The reference signal received power of the terminal device is less than or equal to a first threshold; The device posture of the terminal device changes; It is detected that the time interval between a first moment when the antenna pattern was last adjusted and a current second moment is greater than or equal to a time threshold.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The device posture of the terminal device includes at least one of single-handed holding, double-handed holding, horizontal screen, vertical screen, roll angle, pitch angle and yaw angle.

10. A communication device, characterized in that: Applied to a terminal device, the terminal device resides in a first cell through an antenna, and the apparatus includes: a first communication module, configured to communicate with an access network device corresponding to the first cell using the antenna corresponding to the first antenna pattern; The second communication module is used to communicate with the access network device using the antenna corresponding to the second antenna pattern when a preset condition is met, wherein the direction deviation of the main lobe in the second antenna pattern and the optimal arrival direction of the first cell is within a preset range.

11. A terminal device, characterized in that: The method comprises a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 when executing the computer program.

12. 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 communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is implemented.

13. A chip, characterized in that: The chip includes a processor, and the processor executes a computer program stored in a memory. When the computer program is executed by the processor, the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is implemented.

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