A beam training method and apparatus

Abstract

A beam training method of an embodiment of the present application, an access point uses a wide beam to send a first signal to a station with beamforming capability, the first signal is used for the station to perform beam training; the access point uses the wide beam to receive a first beam training completion indication from the station, the first beam training completion indication indicates that the station has completed beam training according to the first signal; the access point uses each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training to send a second signal to the station respectively, and uses each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training to receive a downlink channel quality measured by the station on the second signal; the access point determines a downlink transmission beam and an uplink reception beam after all narrow beams that need to participate in beam training complete sending and receiving, the determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmission beam and the uplink reception beam according to the downlink channel quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, specifically to a beam training method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication systems typically consist of stations (STAs) and access points (APs). Stations are the most basic component of a Wi-Fi communication system and can be ordinary terminals, terminals with beamforming capabilities, or base stations / relays. APs are usually base stations.

[0003] For Wi-Fi communication systems, access points (APs) typically have beamforming capabilities. In some systems, none of the stations have beamforming capabilities; in others, some stations have beamforming capabilities; and in still others, all stations have beamforming capabilities. Stations without beamforming capabilities use directional antennas, which can only project fixed directional beams, thus lacking beamforming ability.

[0004] Before data transmission, the access point (AP) and beamforming-capable stations need to determine the beams used for communication, i.e., they need to complete beamforming training. For systems where none of the included stations have beamforming capabilities, only the AP in the system needs to complete beamforming training, i.e., determine the beams used by the AP for transmitting and receiving information. For systems that include beamforming-capable stations, both the AP and the beamforming-capable stations need to determine their respective beams for transmitting and receiving information.

[0005] For access points (APs) and sites with beamforming capabilities, the beam can include two different beam types, such as wide beams and narrow beams. There is one wide beam. There can be one or more narrow beams, with different narrow beams pointing in different directions.

[0006] To address the beam training requirements of Wi-Fi systems, one possible solution is to apply beam training methods from New Radio Access (NR) systems to Wi-Fi. One NR beam training method involves the base station and terminal initially determining each other's wide beams during the initial access process. After successful initial access, based on the configured CSI-RS resources, the base station first determines the narrow beam used for downlink information transmission, and then determines the narrow beam used by the terminal for downlink information reception.

[0007] However, this beam training method for NR systems is mainly applicable to synchronous systems. In synchronous systems, the base station configures CSI-RS resources for the terminal, and the base station and the terminal complete beam selection within these CSI-RS resources.

[0008] Another beam training method for NR systems is based on SRS for beam management. Similar to the aforementioned training methods, this beam training method is also applicable to synchronous systems and requires a specific time-domain resource for beam training.

[0009] The WIFI system is an asynchronous system, and the AP in the WIFI system cannot configure a specific time domain resource for beam selection.

[0010] In summary, there is currently no suitable beam training method for WIFI systems that include access points (APs) and sites with beamforming capabilities. Summary of the Invention

[0011] In view of this, the main purpose of this application is to provide a beam training method that enables the WIFI system to complete beam training better.

[0012] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a beam training method, the method comprising:

[0013] The access point uses a wide beam to send a first signal to a station with beamforming capability, the first signal being used by the station for beam training.

[0014] The access point uses the wide beam to receive a first beam training completion indication from the station, the first beam training completion indication indicating that the station has completed beam training based on the first signal;

[0015] The access point sends a second signal to the station using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and receives downlink channel quality measured by the station for the second signal using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training.

[0016] After all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training have completed transmission and reception, the access point determines the downlink transmission beam and the uplink reception beam. The determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmission beam and the uplink reception beam based on the downlink channel quality.

[0017] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0018] The access point receives a second beam retraining instruction from the station and sends a response to the station; or, after determining that beam retraining needs to be performed, the access point sends a first beam retraining instruction to the station to instruct the station to re-perform beam training.

[0019] After receiving the second beam training completion instruction from the station, the access point sends a third signal to the station using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and receives downlink channel quality measured by the station for the third signal using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training.

[0020] After all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training have completed transmission and reception, the access point re-determines the downlink transmission beam and the uplink reception beam. The re-determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmission beam and the uplink reception beam based on the downlink channel quality.

[0021] Optionally, determining the uplink receive beam based on downlink channel quality includes:

[0022] Obtain the uplink channel quality obtained by measuring the received downlink channel quality;

[0023] The uplink transmission beam is determined based on the uplink channel quality.

[0024] Optionally, before the access point transmits the first signal using a wide beam, the method further includes:

[0025] The access point determines that the site has beamforming capability.

[0026] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0027] The access point receives the beam information of the site during the access process of the site, and the beam information includes beamforming capability and / or number of beams.

[0028] The access point determines that the site has beamforming capability by: determining that the site has beamforming capability based on the beam information.

[0029] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide another beam training method, which includes:

[0030] A station with beamforming capability receives a first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and the first signal is used by the station to perform beam training.

[0031] The station measures the first signal received using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and obtains the downlink channel quality corresponding to each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. The station then feeds back the corresponding downlink channel quality to the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training.

[0032] After all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training have completed transmission and reception, the station determines the downlink receiving beam and the uplink transmitting beam. The determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmitting beam and the uplink receiving beam based on the downlink channel quality, and sending a first beam training completion indication to the access point.

[0033] The station uses a determined downlink receiving beam to receive a second signal multiple times from the access point, and measures the second signal received each time, feeding back the obtained downlink channel quality to the access point.

[0034] Optionally, before the station receives the first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, the method further includes:

[0035] During the access process, the site reports its beam information, which includes beamforming capability and / or the number of beams.

[0036] Optionally, before the station receives the first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, the method further includes:

[0037] The site determines that the initial beam setting of the site is wide beam;

[0038] The station uses the wide beam to receive the first signal and uses the wide beam to provide feedback on the downlink channel quality of the first signal.

[0039] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0040] The station receives a second beam retraining instruction from the access point, or, after determining that beam retraining needs to be performed, the station sends a first beam retraining instruction to the access point. The first beam retraining instruction is used to instruct the access point to re-perform beam training and to receive the response from the access point.

[0041] The station receives a third signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and the third signal is used by the station to perform beam training.

[0042] The station measures the third signal received using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and obtains the downlink channel quality corresponding to each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. The station then feeds back the corresponding downlink channel quality to the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training.

[0043] After all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training have completed transmission and reception, the station re-determines the downlink receive beam and the uplink transmit beam. The re-determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality, and sending a second beam training completion indication to the access point.

[0044] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide an access point, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit.

[0045] The transceiver unit is configured to transmit a first signal to a station with beamforming capability using a wide beam, the first signal being used by the station for beam training; receive a first beam training completion indication from the station using the wide beam, the first beam training completion indication indicating that the station has completed beam training based on the first signal; transmit a second signal to the station using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training; and receive downlink channel quality measured by the station for the second signal using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training.

[0046] The processing unit is configured to determine the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam after the transceiver unit has completed transmission and reception using all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training. The determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality.

[0047] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a second beam retraining instruction from the station and send a response to the station;

[0048] Alternatively, the processing unit may further be configured to send a first beam retraining instruction to the station through the transceiver unit after determining that beam retraining needs to be performed, so as to instruct the station to re-perform beam training.

[0049] The processing unit is further configured to, after receiving a second beam training completion indication from the site via the transceiver unit, transmit a third signal to the site using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and receive downlink channel quality measured by the site for the third signal using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training; and to re-determine the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam after the transceiver unit completes transmission and reception using all narrow beams that need to participate in beam training, wherein the re-determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality.

[0050] Optionally, the processing unit for determining the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality includes: acquiring the uplink channel quality obtained by measuring the received downlink channel quality; and determining the uplink transmit beam based on the uplink channel quality.

[0051] Optionally, the processing unit is further configured to determine that the station has beamforming capability before the transceiver unit transmits the first signal using the wide beam.

[0052] Optionally, the processing unit is configured to receive beam information of the site through the transceiver unit during the access process of the site, the beam information including beamforming capability and / or number of beams; and determine that the site has beamforming capability based on the beam information.

[0053] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a station with beamforming capability, the station including a transceiver unit and a processing unit.

[0054] The transceiver unit is used to receive a first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and the first signal is used by the site to perform beam training.

[0055] The processing unit is configured to measure the first signal received using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, obtain the downlink channel quality corresponding to the reception of each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and feed back the corresponding downlink channel quality to the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training through the transceiver unit; and to determine the downlink receiving beam and the uplink transmitting beam after the transceiver unit has completed transmission and reception using all narrow beams that need to participate in beam training, the determination including determining at least one of the downlink transmitting beam and the uplink receiving beam based on the downlink channel quality, and sending a first beam training completion indication to the access point;

[0056] The transceiver unit is also configured to receive a second signal multiple times from the access point using the determined downlink receiving beam;

[0057] The processing unit is also used to measure the second signal received each time, and to feed back the obtained downlink channel quality to the access point through the transceiver unit.

[0058] Optionally, the transceiver unit is also used to report the beam information of the site during the access process, the beam information including beamforming capability and / or the number of beams.

[0059] Optionally, the processing unit is further configured to determine that the initial beam setting of the site is a wide beam before the transceiver unit receives the first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and to receive the first signal using the wide beam through the transceiver unit, and to use the wide beam to feed back the downlink channel quality of the first signal.

[0060] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a second beam retraining instruction from the access point;

[0061] Alternatively, the processing unit is further configured to, after determining that beam retraining needs to be performed, send a first beam retraining instruction to the access point through the transceiver unit, the first beam retraining instruction being used to instruct the access point to re-perform beam training, and receive the response from the access point through the transceiver unit.

[0062] The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a third signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, the third signal being used by the site for beam training.

[0063] The processing unit is further configured to measure the third signal received using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, to obtain the downlink channel quality corresponding to the reception of each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and to feed back the corresponding downlink channel quality to the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training through the transceiver unit; and to re-determine the downlink receiving beam and the uplink transmitting beam after the transceiver unit has successfully transmitted and received all narrow beams that need to participate in beam training, the re-determination including determining at least one of the downlink transmitting beam and the uplink receiving beam based on the downlink channel quality, and to send a second beam training completion indication to the access point through the transceiver unit.

[0064] Optionally, in the various embodiments described above, the beam information may be included in an association request frame or an authentication frame.

[0065] Optionally, the beam retraining instruction is carried in a newly added field of the A-Control subfield of the HT Control field in the MAC header of the data, or in a reserved field of the Block Response Control field (BA control field).

[0066] Optionally, the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal include NDPA and NDP.

[0067] Optionally, the downlink channel quality is included in the CBF packet, and / or the beam training completion indication is included in the CBF packet.

[0068] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described in the first or second aspect above.

[0069] Sixthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described in the first or second aspect above.

[0070] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which may include entities such as access points or sites. The communication device includes: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store instructions; the processor is used to execute the instructions in the memory, causing the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of the first or second aspects above.

[0071] Eighthly, this application provides a chip system including a processor for supporting a communication device in implementing the functions involved in the foregoing aspects, such as transmitting or processing data and / or information involved in the foregoing methods. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. This chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0072] Ninthly, this application provides a wireless communication system including an access point and a beamforming station, the access point performing the processing described in the first aspect, and the beamforming station performing the processing described in the second aspect.

[0073] The above embodiments have completed beamforming training for sites and access points with beamforming capabilities. During beamforming training, beamforming training is performed first on the site side and then on the access point side, which reduces the impact of downlink interference on the system.

[0074] Furthermore, after training is completed, the station reports the beam training completion indication of the station through uplink CBF packets, which improves the robustness of the station in downlink interference scenarios.

[0075] In addition, the site can report beam information during processes such as the access process. The access point then determines whether the site needs to perform beam training based on the beam information reported by the site. For sites without beamforming capabilities, beam training can be performed only on the AP side, thereby reducing the beam training time.

[0076] The beam retraining scheme provided in the above embodiments realizes the beam retraining mechanism triggered by the AP and the site side, which improves the completeness of beam training and the robustness of beam transmission. Attached Figure Description

[0077] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating the method of an embodiment of this application;

[0078] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall process of an embodiment of this application;

[0079] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the access process according to an embodiment of this application;

[0080] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the use of data frames for beam retraining instruction in an embodiment of this application.

[0081] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the use of block acknowledgment (BA) for beam retraining instruction in an embodiment of this application.

[0082] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the access point structure according to an embodiment of this application;

[0083] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the site structure according to an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0084] Before describing the embodiments of this application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, let's first analyze the beam training method of the NR system.

[0085] The beam training method for NR systems involves first determining the narrow beam used for downlink information transmission on the base station side, and then determining the narrow beam used for downlink information reception on the terminal side. This beam training method mainly includes the following steps:

[0086] Step A: Initial beam selection and potential beam discovery are performed through the P-1 process. The P1 process mainly involves periodic scanning, and the scanned beams are relatively wide, including the wide beam transmitted by the synchronization signal block (SSB) on the base station side and the wide beam received by the terminal side.

[0087] Step B: During P-2, the base station configures a first resource for a set of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) for the terminal, sets the repetition parameter of the radio resource control (RRC) layer to off, and transmits the CSI-RS within this first resource using different beams, such as using beam polling. The terminal receives the CSI-RS transmitted by the base station using different transmit beams using the same beam and reports the measurement results to the base station. The base station then determines the narrow beam for downlink information transmission based on the measurement results.

[0088] Step C: During the P-3 process, the base station configures the second resource for the CSI-RS group for the terminal, sets the RRC higher-layer parameter repetition to on, and the base station transmits the CSI-RS group using the narrow beam determined in the P-2 process within the second resource. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the CSI-RS group using beam polling, and the terminal determines the narrow beam used for downlink information reception based on the measurement results.

[0089] This method does not consider interference issues between base stations and terminals. However, for a Wi-Fi system, if beam training is performed on the AP side first, when the AP sends a handover instruction for beam training to the site, the site may be using a beam that is heavily affected by interference, increasing the likelihood of the AP's handover instruction transmission failing. Since the site only performs beam training upon receiving the handover instruction, the AP needs to resend the handover instruction to the site after confirming that the site has not received it. Consequently, the site performs beam training upon receiving the handover instruction, resulting in a longer time required to complete beam training.

[0090] Furthermore, the beam training method in NR systems indicates that beam training should be performed by the base station by setting the RRC higher-layer parameter repetition to off, and by setting it to on to indicate that beam training should be performed by the terminal. However, the Wi-Fi system does not have this RRC higher-layer parameter repetition, therefore a similar configuration method cannot be used to indicate which device should perform beam training.

[0091] Therefore, from this perspective, the beam training method of NR system cannot be used in WIFI system.

[0092] The embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0093] The embodiments of this application can be used in WIFI communication systems including access points (APs) and sites with beamforming capabilities. They can also be applied to other wireless communication systems that require beamforming training for devices within the system, such as LTE systems, NR systems, and other future wireless communication systems. The embodiments of this application primarily use WIFI communication systems as examples. Such WIFI communication systems can provide scenarios such as site backhaul and video backhaul.

[0094] An access point (AP) and a site with beamforming capabilities can transmit and receive signals in one or more specific beam directions. The site can be a terminal device with beamforming capabilities, or a base station / relay, etc. An AP is typically a base station. Correspondingly, in LTE and NR systems, a site corresponds to a terminal device in LTE and NR systems, while an AP corresponds to a base station in LTE and NR systems.

[0095] Assume a Wi-Fi system has N narrow beams that need to participate in beamforming training in an AP, and a site with beamforming capabilities has M narrow beams that need to participate in beamforming training. N and M are both integers greater than or equal to 2. In this application's embodiments, wide and narrow beams are related to the horizontal 3dB beamwidth. Generally, wide beams have a wider horizontal 3dB beamwidth, such as 45–120 degrees, and are typically used for wide coverage of broadcast signals. In contrast, narrow beams have a narrower horizontal 3dB beamwidth, such as 5–45 degrees, and can be set even narrower, such as 10–20 degrees. Narrow beams have higher beam gain and better sidelobe interference suppression capabilities than wide beams, but their coverage width is narrower, and they are generally used for point-to-point communication. Narrow beams generally need to be determined through beam scanning and beam selection processes.

[0096] See Figure 1 One embodiment of this application for beam training of the AP and the site includes the following steps:

[0097] Step 101: The AP uses a wide beam to send a first signal to the station.

[0098] For a Wi-Fi system, the first signal may include null data packet announcement (NDPA) and / or null data packet (NDP). The following example will use NDPA and NDP as the first signal.

[0099] The Wi-Fi system supports two sounding mechanisms: single-user sounding (SU sounding) and multi-user sounding (MU sounding). For SU sounding, the beamforming transmitter sends NDPA and sounding NDP to the beamforming receiver. NDPA is an NDP measurement notification frame that indicates the user to be measured and the measurement configuration, including the measurement mode, bandwidth, and number of streams. Sounding NDP is a special single-user physical protocol data unit (SU PPDU) that carries only pilot signals and no data, used by the receiver for NDP measurements. After receiving the measurement frame sequence from the beamformer, the beamformee parses the NDP Announcement to obtain the measurement configuration, parses the Sounding NDP to perform channel measurements, and feeds back the measurement results to the beamformer in the form of compressed beamforming / channel quality indicator report (CQI report) frames. For MU sounding, the Beamformer sends NDPA, sounding NDP, and Beamforming report poll (BFRP) trigger frames to multiple Beamformees. Because MU sounding involves multiple Beamformees, the BFRP trigger is used to allocate uplink transmission resources to these Beamformees, including information such as the bandwidth and number of streams involved in the transmission.

[0100] Therefore, in both transmission modes, the Beamformer needs to send NDPA and NDP to the Beamformee. That is, the AP needs to send NDPA and NDP to the site. Thus, NDPA and NDP can be used as the primary signals for beam training.

[0101] Step 102: The station receives the first signal using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training.

[0102] To complete beam training at the site, the access point repeatedly sends the first signal multiple times until it receives a beam training completion indication from the site. The access point can determine that the site has completed beam training based on the beam training completion indication. This beam training does not necessarily have to be completed within a specific time period, making this beam training method more flexible.

[0103] The narrow beams that need to participate in beam training can be all the narrow beams at the site, or only a portion of them.

[0104] The site can also divide the narrow beams into multiple groups and train each group of narrow beams separately. Each group of narrow beams is the narrow beam that needs to participate in the beam training. After the training of each group of narrow beams is completed, the narrow beams used for uplink / downlink are further determined from the narrow beams selected from each group.

[0105] The station uses a narrow beam to receive the first signal, which can be achieved through narrow beam polling, or other methods. This polling can specifically include: for each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, the station obtains the downlink channel quality based on signal measurements of the first signal, and feeds back the downlink channel quality to the AP through the same beam as that narrow beam.

[0106] For NDPA and NDP, after obtaining the downlink channel quality through signal measurement, a compressed beamforming (CBF) packet can be formed based on the downlink channel quality, and the CBF packet can be fed back to the AP through the same beam as the narrow beam.

[0107] Accordingly, the AP uses a wide beam to receive downlink channel quality feedback of the first signal received by each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. Specifically, this could be receiving each CBF packet.

[0108] Step 103: After polling is completed, the station determines the downlink receiving beam I for receiving information and / or the uplink transmitting beam J for transmitting information based on the downlink channel quality obtained by measuring the first signal received by each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and sends a beam training completion indication to the AP.

[0109] The measurement results may include signal quality and / or signal strength. Specifically, the downlink receive beam I can be determined based on the signal quality, and the uplink transmit beam J can be determined based on the signal strength.

[0110] The transmit beam for this transmit instruction can be either the last polled beam M or a determined uplink transmit beam J.

[0111] Furthermore, if only one beam in the uplink or downlink direction is determined based on the measurement results, that beam can be directly used as the beam in the other direction. For example, if the downlink receiving beam I is determined, then the uplink transmitting beam will also be determined as beam I.

[0112] Specifically, the site can indicate beam training completion via CBF. Specifically, it can use a 1-bit reserved field from the Multiple Input Multiple Output Control Field (MIMO control field) of the Compressed Beamforming / CQI frame format to indicate beam training completion. As shown in Table 3, B37-39 and B48-55 in the MIMO control field are reserved fields. This application can use one of these reserved fields, for example, using 1 bit of B39, as shown in Table 4.

[0113]

[0114] Table 3

[0115]

[0116] Table 4

[0117] Step 104: The AP uses a wide beam to receive the beam training completion instruction, and after receiving the instruction, sends a second signal to the station through narrow beam polling.

[0118] For a Wi-Fi system, the second signal is similar to the first signal and may include NDPA and / or NDP. The second signal may be the same as or different from the first signal. This application also uses the example of a second signal including NDPA and NDP.

[0119] Similar to beam training on the site side, beam training on the AP side can also target a subset of narrow beams. That is, only a portion of the narrow beams on the AP side need to participate in beam training. The AP can also divide the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training into multiple groups, perform beam training on each group of narrow beams separately, and after all groups of narrow beams have been trained, further determine the narrow beams used for uplink / downlink from the narrow beams selected from each group.

[0120] Step 105: The station uses the downlink receiving beam I determined in step 103 for reception.

[0121] Step 106: The station obtains the downlink channel quality based on the signal measurement of the second signal, and feeds back the downlink channel quality to the AP through the uplink transmission beam J determined in step 103.

[0122] As mentioned earlier, the station can specifically compose a CBF packet based on the downlink channel quality and feed the CBF packet back to the AP through the uplink transmission beam J.

[0123] Step 107: The AP uses the same receive beam as the transmit beam that sent the second signal to receive downlink channel quality.

[0124] As mentioned earlier, this downlink channel can be carried in the CBF packet.

[0125] The AP can obtain the downlink channel quality carried in the CBF packet and / or measure the CBF packet to obtain the uplink channel quality.

[0126] Step 108: After polling is completed, the AP determines the downlink transmit beam V and the uplink receive beam U. This determination includes determining the downlink transmit beam V and / or determining the uplink receive beam U based on the downlink channel quality.

[0127] Specifically, if it is necessary to determine the uplink transmission beam based on the downlink channel quality, then the downlink channel quality needs to be measured to obtain the uplink channel quality, and then the uplink transmission beam needs to be determined based on the uplink channel quality.

[0128] Similar to the site side, the AP side can also determine the transmit or receive beam solely based on the downlink channel quality. For example, if the downlink transmit beam V is determined only based on the downlink channel quality carried in the CBF packet, then the uplink receive beam is also directly set to beam V. The reverse is also true.

[0129] Through the above steps, both the site and the access point (AP) have completed beam training, determining their respective transmit and receive beams. A schematic diagram of the above implementation is shown below. Figure 2 As shown.

[0130] In addition, before step 101, the AP can determine whether the site has beamforming capability. If it does, step 101 is executed. If not, the AP directly performs beam training on its own side, and the site side can also process the signal reception according to the normal procedure, thereby reducing the overhead of beam training.

[0131] The AP can determine whether a site has beamforming capability by using the beam information reported by the site. Beam information can specifically include beamforming capability and / or the number of beams. If it is the number of beams, a number greater than 1 confirms that the site has beamforming capability.

[0132] This site can report its beam information during the access process. For example, it can include this beam information in an association request frame or an authentication frame. The access process is as follows: Figure 3 As shown.

[0133] The access process includes the following steps:

[0134] Step a) The AP sends a beacon frame to the station (STA);

[0135] Step b) The STA sends an Authentication Frame to the AP, and the AP replies with an ACK;

[0136] Step c) The AP sends an Authentication Frame to the STA, and the STA replies with an ACK;

[0137] Step d) The STA sends an Association Request Frame to the AP.

[0138] In this embodiment, the AP determines whether the STA has beamforming capability based on the beam information carried by the STA in step b) or step d, and executes different beam training strategies in the subsequent beam training process. For example, for STAs with beamforming capability, STA beam training is performed first, followed by AP beam training; for STAs without beamforming capability, AP beam training is performed directly.

[0139] When carrying beam information in the Association Request Frame, beamforming capability can be represented by a 1-bit field, such as the B0 field shown in Table 1. Alternatively, the number of beams can be represented by a 6-bit or more field, such as B0-B5 shown in Table 2. Of course, both beamforming capability and the number of beams can be carried simultaneously, using a similar method with 7-bit or more fields, such as B0-B6.

[0140]

[0141] Table 1

[0142]

[0143] Table 2

[0144] In this embodiment, the station can determine whether it has beamforming capability before executing step 102. Only stations with beamforming capability will execute step 102. For example, if the initial beam setting of the station is a directional beam, then it can only use the directional beam, does not have beamforming capability, and does not need beam training, so the station does not execute steps 102 and 103.

[0145] If the AP has confirmed that the site does not have beamforming capability, the AP will directly perform beam training on its own side, and the site will use the directional beam for uplink feedback.

[0146] If the AP does not confirm whether the site has beamforming capabilities, the site can replace steps 102 and 103 with: receiving NDPA and NDP once using the directional beam, sending the corresponding CBF, and sending a training completion indication. Similarly, the training completion indication can be carried in the CBF. Accordingly, the AP performs beam training on the AP side after receiving the beam training completion indication.

[0147] For a site with beamforming capabilities, although the site includes narrow beams, the initial beam setting can be either a wide beam or a narrow beam. In step 102 above, the site can perform different processing based on the initial beam setting.

[0148] If the initial beam configuration is a wide beam, then the processing at this site in step 102 may specifically include the following steps:

[0149] Step 1: After receiving NDPA and NDP using the wide beam, the station sends CBF using the wide beam, thus completing the first beam training, without sending a training completion indication.

[0150] Step II: After the first beam training, the site switches to narrow beam for narrow beam polling.

[0151] Then, step 103 is executed, which is to determine the transmit and receive beams after the polling is completed and send a training completion indication.

[0152] If the initial beam setting is a narrow beam, then proceed directly to step 102 for narrow beam polling.

[0153] In the beam training process, the embodiments of this application prioritize the determination of the site's beam, thereby reducing the impact of downlink interference on the system.

[0154] This application embodiment further improves the robustness of the site in downlink interference scenarios by reporting beam training completion indications to the site via uplink CBF packets. Additionally, the site can report beam information during processes such as access procedures. The AP then determines whether the site needs to perform beam training based on the reported beam information. For sites without beamforming capabilities, beam training can be skipped, and only performed on the AP side, thereby reducing beam training time.

[0155] Additionally, several factors may trigger a retraining process after beam training. These factors could include: the site detecting poor signal quality on its side, or the AP detecting a high downlink data transmission packet error rate.

[0156] If a site initiates beam retraining, it needs to send a beam retraining instruction to the access point (AP); similarly, if an AP initiates beam retraining, the AP needs to send a beam retraining instruction to the site. This instruction can be specifically communicated through a data frame, as illustrated in the diagram below. Figure 4 As shown. Instructions can also be given via BA, as illustrated in the diagram below. Figure 5 As shown.

[0157] The high throughput control field (HT Control field) in the media access control (MAC) header of uplink and downlink data contains an A-Control subfield. The beam retraining indicator can use 1 bit of this subfield to carry the beam retraining indicator, for example, B0 can be used to carry the beam retraining indicator.

[0158] The Block Response Control (BA) field has 7 reserved bits, B5-B11. One bit of these reserved bits can be used to carry the beam retraining instruction. For example, B11 can be used to carry the beam retraining instruction.

[0159] Once beam retraining is determined to be necessary, the AP will send a measurement signal to the station, such as a third signal. This third signal is similar to the first and second signals mentioned earlier, or it can be the first and / or second signal directly. The subsequent beam retraining process is similar to the beam training process described above and will not be repeated here.

[0160] The aforementioned beam retraining scheme implements a beam retraining mechanism triggered by both the AP and the site side, thereby improving the completeness of beam training and the robustness of beam transmission.

[0161] The structure of the access point in this embodiment is as follows: Figure 6 As shown, it includes a transceiver unit 601 and a processing unit 602.

[0162] Specifically, the transceiver unit 601 is used to transmit a first signal to a station with beamforming capability using a wide beam, the first signal being used by the station for beam training; to receive a first beam training completion indication from the station using the wide beam, the first beam training completion indication indicating that the station has completed beam training based on the first signal; to transmit a second signal to the station using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training; and to receive downlink channel quality measured by the station for the second signal using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training.

[0163] The processing unit 602 is used to determine the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam after the transceiver unit has completed transmission and reception using all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training. The determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality.

[0164] In the above method embodiments, the sending and receiving processes of the access point can be performed by the transceiver unit 601, while other processes can be performed by the processing unit 602. The settings for each piece of information can also be found in the method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0165] The structure of the site in this embodiment is as follows: Figure 7 As shown. The station includes a transceiver unit 701 and a processing unit 702.

[0166] Specifically, the transceiver unit 701 is used to receive a first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and the first signal is used by the site to perform beam training.

[0167] The processing unit 702 is configured to measure the first signal received using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, obtain the downlink channel quality corresponding to the reception of each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and feed back the corresponding downlink channel quality to the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training through the transceiver unit; and to determine the downlink receiving beam and the uplink transmitting beam after the transceiver unit has completed transmission and reception using all narrow beams that need to participate in beam training, the determination including determining at least one of the downlink transmitting beam and the uplink receiving beam based on the downlink channel quality, and sending a first beam training completion indication to the access point;

[0168] The transceiver unit 701 is also configured to receive a second signal multiple times from the access point using the determined downlink receiving beam;

[0169] The processing unit 702 is also used to measure the second signal received each time, and feed back the obtained downlink channel quality to the access point through the transceiver unit 701.

[0170] In the above method embodiment, the sending and receiving processes of this station can be performed by the transceiver unit 701, while other processes can be performed by the processing unit 702. The settings for each piece of information can also be found in the method embodiment. They will not be repeated here.

[0171] The transceiver unit of the aforementioned access point and site can be a transceiver, and the processing unit can be a processor.

[0172] The aforementioned transceiver unit and processing unit can be housed in a chip, meaning that the chip implements each processing step of the above method embodiment.

[0173] The aforementioned processor may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of a program for the wireless communication method described in the first aspect.

[0174] The access point and site may further include a storage unit, specifically a memory, for storing computer-executable program code, which includes instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the processing steps in the above method embodiments.

[0175] Regarding access points, embodiments of this application also provide a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores a program that executes some or all of the processing steps involving access points described in the above method embodiments.

[0176] For a site, this application embodiment also provides another computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores a program that performs some or all of the processing steps involving the site described in the above method embodiments.

[0177] It should also be noted that the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings of the device embodiments provided in this application, the connection relationships between modules indicate that they have communication connections, which can be specifically implemented as one or more communication buses or signal lines. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement this without any creative effort.

[0178] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that this application can be implemented by means of software plus necessary general-purpose hardware, or it can be implemented by special-purpose hardware including application-specific integrated circuits, special-purpose CPUs, special-purpose memory, special-purpose components, etc. Generally, any function performed by a computer program can be easily implemented by corresponding hardware, and the specific hardware structure used to implement the same function can also be diverse, such as analog circuits, digital circuits, or special-purpose circuits. However, for this application, software program implementation is more often the preferred implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, such as a computer floppy disk, USB flash drive, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk, or optical disk, etc., including several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the various embodiments of this application.

[0179] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product.

[0180] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A beam training method, characterized in that, include: The access point uses a wide beam to send a first signal to a station with beamforming capability, the first signal being used by the station for beam training. The access point uses the wide beam to receive a first beam training completion indication from the station, the first beam training completion indication indicating that the station has completed beam training based on the first signal; The access point sends a second signal to the station using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and receives downlink channel quality measured by the station for the second signal using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. After all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training have completed transmission and reception, the access point determines the downlink transmission beam and the uplink reception beam. The determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmission beam and the uplink reception beam based on the downlink channel quality.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: The access point receives a second beam retraining instruction from the station and sends a response to the station; or, after determining that beam retraining needs to be performed, the access point sends a first beam retraining instruction to the station to instruct the station to re-perform beam training. After receiving the second beam training completion instruction from the station, the access point sends a third signal to the station using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and receives downlink channel quality measured by the station for the third signal using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. After all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training have completed transmission and reception, the access point re-determines the downlink transmission beam and the uplink reception beam. The re-determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmission beam and the uplink reception beam based on the downlink channel quality.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first beam retraining indication or the second beam retraining indication is carried in the A-Control subfield of the High Capacity Control field (HT Control field) in the Media Access Control (MAC) header of the data, or in a reserved field of the Block Response Control (BAControl) field.

4. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that, Determining the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality includes: Obtain the uplink channel quality obtained by measuring the received downlink channel quality; The uplink transmission beam is determined based on the uplink channel quality.

5. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The first signal, the second signal, and the third signal include Empty Packet Notification (NDPA) and Empty Packet Notification (NDP).

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The downlink channel quality is included in the Compressed Beamforming (CBF) packet, and / or, the first beam training completion indication or the second beam training completion indication is included in the CBF packet.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, Before the access point transmits the first signal using a wide beam, the method further includes: The access point determines that the site has beamforming capability.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: The access point receives the beam information of the site during the access process of the site, and the beam information includes beamforming capability and / or number of beams. The access point determines that the site has beamforming capability by: determining that the site has beamforming capability based on the beam information.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The beam information is included in the association request frame or the authentication frame.

10. A beam training method, characterized in that, include: A station with beamforming capability receives a first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and the first signal is used by the station to perform beam training. The station measures the first signal received using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and obtains the downlink channel quality corresponding to each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. The station then feeds back the corresponding downlink channel quality to the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. After all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training have completed transmission and reception, the station determines the downlink receiving beam and the uplink transmitting beam. The determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmitting beam and the uplink receiving beam based on the downlink channel quality, and sending a first beam training completion indication to the access point. The station uses a determined downlink receiving beam to receive a second signal multiple times from the access point, and measures the second signal received each time, feeding back the obtained downlink channel quality to the access point.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, Before the station receives the first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, the method further includes: During the access process, the site reports its beam information, which includes beamforming capability and / or the number of beams.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The beam information is included in the association request frame or the authentication frame.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that, Before the station receives the first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, the method further includes: The site determines that the initial beam setting of the site is wide beam; The station uses the wide beam to receive the first signal and uses the wide beam to provide feedback on the downlink channel quality of the first signal.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that, The method further includes: The station receives a second beam retraining instruction from the access point, or, after determining that beam retraining needs to be performed, the station sends a first beam retraining instruction to the access point. The first beam retraining instruction is used to instruct the access point to re-perform beam training and to receive the response from the access point. The station receives a third signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and the third signal is used by the station to perform beam training. The station measures the third signal received using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and obtains the downlink channel quality corresponding to each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. The station then feeds back the corresponding downlink channel quality to the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. After all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training have completed transmission and reception, the station re-determines the downlink receive beam and the uplink transmit beam. The re-determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality, and sending a second beam training completion indication to the access point.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The first beam retraining instruction or the second beam retraining instruction is carried in the A-Control subfield of the HT Control field in the MAC header of the data, or in a reserved field of the BAcontrol field of the block response control field.

16. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The first signal, the second signal, and the third signal include NDPA and NDP.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The downlink channel quality is included in the CBF packet, and / or the first beam training completion indication or the second beam training completion indication is included in the CBF packet.

18. An access point, characterized in that, Includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is configured to transmit a first signal to a station with beamforming capability using a wide beam, the first signal being used by the station for beam training; receive a first beam training completion indication from the station using the wide beam, the first beam training completion indication indicating that the station has completed beam training based on the first signal; transmit a second signal to the station using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training; and receive downlink channel quality measured by the station for the second signal using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. The processing unit is configured to determine the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam after the transceiver unit has completed transmission and reception using all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training. The determination includes determining at least one of the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality.

19. The access point according to claim 18, characterized in that, The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a second beam retraining instruction from the station and send a response to the station; Alternatively, the processing unit may further be configured to send a first beam retraining instruction to the station through the transceiver unit after determining that beam retraining needs to be performed, so as to instruct the station to re-perform beam training. The processing unit is further configured to, after receiving the second beam training completion indication from the station through the transceiver unit, send a third signal to the station using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and receive downlink channel quality measured by the station for the third signal from the station using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. And after the transceiver unit has completed transmission and reception using all the narrow beams required for beam training, it redetermines the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam, the redetermining including determining at least one of the downlink transmit beam and the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality.

20. The access point according to claim 19, characterized in that, The first beam retraining instruction or the second beam retraining instruction is carried in the A-Control subfield of the HTControl field in the MAC header of the data, or in a reserved field of the BAcontrol field of the block response control field.

21. The access point according to any one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that, The processing unit for determining the uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality includes: acquiring the uplink channel quality obtained by measuring the received downlink channel quality; and determining the uplink transmit beam based on the uplink channel quality.

22. The access point according to any one of claims 19 to 20, characterized in that, The first signal, the second signal, and the third signal include NDPA and NDP.

23. The access point according to claim 22, characterized in that, The downlink channel quality is included in the CBF packet, and / or, the first beam training completion indication or the second beam training completion indication is included in the CBF packet.

24. The access point according to any one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that, The processing unit is further configured to determine that the station has beamforming capability before the transceiver unit transmits the first signal using the wide beam.

25. The access point according to claim 24, characterized in that, The processing unit is configured to receive beam information of the site through the transceiver unit during the access process of the site, the beam information including beamforming capability and / or number of beams; and to determine that the site has beamforming capability based on the beam information.

26. The access point according to claim 25, characterized in that, The beam information is included in the association request frame or the authentication frame.

27. A site, characterized in that, The station has beamforming capabilities and includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is used to receive a first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and the first signal is used by the site to perform beam training. The processing unit is configured to measure the first signal received using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, obtain the downlink channel quality corresponding to the reception of each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and feed back the corresponding downlink channel quality to the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training through the transceiver unit; and to determine the downlink receiving beam and the uplink transmitting beam after the transceiver unit has completed transmission and reception using all narrow beams that need to participate in beam training, the determination including determining at least one of the downlink transmitting beam and the uplink receiving beam based on the downlink channel quality, and sending a first beam training completion indication to the access point; The transceiver unit is also configured to receive a second signal multiple times from the access point using the determined downlink receiving beam; The processing unit is also used to measure the second signal received each time, and to feed back the obtained downlink channel quality to the access point through the transceiver unit.

28. The site according to claim 27, characterized in that, The transceiver unit is also used to report the beam information of the site during the access process, the beam information including beamforming capability and / or the number of beams.

29. The site according to claim 28, characterized in that, The beam information is included in the association request frame or the authentication frame.

30. The site according to claim 27, 28 or 29, characterized in that, The processing unit is further configured to, before the transceiver unit receives the first signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, determine that the initial beam setting of the site is a wide beam, and receive the first signal using the wide beam through the transceiver unit, and use the wide beam to feed back the downlink channel quality of the first signal.

31. The site according to any one of claims 27 to 29, characterized in that, The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a second beam retraining instruction from the access point; Alternatively, the processing unit is further configured to, after determining that beam retraining needs to be performed, send a first beam retraining instruction to the access point through the transceiver unit, the first beam retraining instruction being used to instruct the access point to re-perform beam training, and receive the response from the access point through the transceiver unit. The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a third signal from the access point using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, the third signal being used by the site for beam training. The processing unit is further configured to measure the third signal received using each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training, and obtain the downlink channel quality corresponding to each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training. The transceiver unit then uses each narrow beam that needs to participate in beam training to feed back the corresponding downlink channel quality to the access point. And for re-determining the downlink receive beam and uplink transmit beam after the transceiver unit has transmitted and received all the narrow beams that need to participate in beam training, the re-determination including determining at least one of the downlink transmit beam and uplink receive beam based on the downlink channel quality, and sending a second beam training completion indication to the access point through the transceiver unit.

32. The site according to claim 31, characterized in that, The first beam retraining instruction or the second beam retraining instruction is carried in the A-Control subfield of the HT Control field in the MAC header of the data, or in a reserved field of the BAcontrol field of the block response control field.

33. The site according to claim 31, characterized in that, The first signal, the second signal, and the third signal include NDPA and NDP.

34. The site according to claim 33, characterized in that, The downlink channel quality is included in the CBF packet, and / or the first beam training completion indication or the second beam training completion indication is included in the CBF packet.

35. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory being used to store instructions, and the processor being used to execute the instructions to cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

36. A chip system, characterized in that, The chip system includes a processor, the processor being configured to support the chip system in implementing the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

37. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

38. A computer program product comprising instructions, characterized in that, When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-17.

39. A wireless communication system, characterized in that, The system includes an access point and a station with beamforming capability, the access point being used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-9, and the station being used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 10-17.

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