Beam scanning method, communication device, and base station

Abstract

The application provides a beam scanning method, a communication device and a base station. The method comprises: the communication device generates a plurality of beams, and based on a plurality of beam position sets pre-divided for the plurality of beams, transmits SSBs to beam positions in the respective corresponding beam position sets through the plurality of beams in parallel to perform beam scanning on the beam positions in each beam position set. By performing beam scanning in parallel, the communication device can cover multiple beam positions at one time, thereby improving the coverage of the communication device. In the application, there are SSBs transmitted by the communication device through the plurality of beams carrying the same index value, and there are SSBs transmitted by one beam on beam positions in different sub-coverage areas carrying the same index value. In this way, the same set of index values of the SSBs are multiplexed between the beam positions corresponding to different beams and the beam positions in different sub-coverage areas corresponding to the same beam, thereby enabling large-scale beam scanning without the need to expand the SSB index.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of communication, and particularly relates to a beam sweeping method, a communication device and a base station. BACKGROUND

[0002] Beam sweeping refers to changing the direction of a beam over time to cover a specific spatial area, and beam sweeping is an important technology in a wireless communication system for improving signal coverage and capacity. In the 5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (5G) New Radio (NR) technology, a Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) can cover multiple beam footprints in a periodic beam sweeping manner to maintain coverage in each part of a cell. Exemplarily, the coverage range of a base station includes 8 beam footprints, and the base station sweeps the beam footprints 1 to 8 in turn in a beam sweeping period, and such cyclic sweeping is performed to maintain the coverage of the base station in each cell in the coverage range.

[0003] With the rapid development of communication technology, in some scenarios, for example, in emerging Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN), there is a higher demand for beam gain, which means that the beam width is narrower, and each beam footprint accounts for a smaller proportion of the entire cell coverage. In this case, the traditional SSB beam sweeping method cannot provide sufficient coverage. In addition, considering that the number of SSB index values specified in the existing protocol is limited, and expanding the SSB index will have a great impact on the physical layer signal design, which also brings difficulties to the implementation of large-scale beam sweeping. Therefore, how to implement large-scale beam sweeping without expanding the SSB index to improve the coverage. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a beam sweeping method, a communication device and a base station to implement large-scale beam sweeping without expanding the SSB index and improve the coverage of the communication device in each cell in the coverage range.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a beam sweeping method, comprising:

[0006] The communication device generates N beams; N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0007] The communication device uses the N beams to transmit, in parallel, synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to the N first sets of wave positions, to perform beam sweeping on the wave positions in the N first sets of wave positions.

[0008] The intersection of the N first sets of wave positions is an empty set, and the union of the N first sets of wave positions is all wave positions in a coverage area of the communication device. The coverage area of the communication device is divided into a plurality of sub-coverage areas in advance, each of the beams is responsible for covering at least one of the sub-coverage areas, any of the first sets of wave positions includes wave positions of all sub-coverage areas covered by the corresponding beam. The SSB transmitted by the communication device to any wave position through a beam carries a corresponding index value. There are SSBs transmitted by the communication device on multiple wave positions, and the index values of the SSBs are the same. The multiple wave positions with the same index values of the SSBs belong to multiple different first sets of wave positions, respectively, and / or the multiple wave positions with the same index values of the SSBs are wave positions of multiple sub-coverage areas corresponding to the same first set of wave positions.

[0009] The N first sets of wave positions respectively include the same number of wave positions or different numbers of wave positions.

[0010] In some possible designs, the index value carried by the SSB transmitted by the communication device to any wave position through a beam is obtained by mapping a wave position number of the any wave position.

[0011] In some possible designs, when the nth beam transmits an SSB on a jth wave position in a kth sub-coverage area responsible for being covered, the index value of the SSB is equal to a wave position number j of the jth wave position, where j = 1, 2,..., L(n, K); or the index value of the SSB is equal to a wave position number j-1 of the jth wave position, where j-1 = 0, 1, 2,..., L(n, K)-1.

[0012] n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N; the nth beam is responsible for covering K(n) sub-coverage areas, K(n) is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, k is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to K(n); and L(n, k) is a total number of wave positions included in the kth sub-coverage area.

[0013] In some possible designs, when performing beam sweeping on a wave position in a first set of wave positions corresponding to any of the beams, beam sweeping is performed on wave positions of each sub-coverage area responsible for being covered by the beam in turn based on sub-coverage area numbers pre-configured for the sub-coverage areas responsible for being covered by the beam.

[0014] In some possible design, when performing beam sweeping on the beams of any sub-coverage area, the beams in the sub-coverage area are sequentially swept based on the beam numbers pre-configured for the beams in the sub-coverage area.

[0015] In some possible design, the method further includes:

[0016] The communication device configures a beam sweeping period for the N beams, where the beam sweeping periods of the N beams are the same or not completely the same.

[0017] In some possible design, the method further includes:

[0018] The communication device sends a notification message to the terminal device, where the notification message includes a target beam sweeping period configured by the communication device for the beam where the terminal device is located, and the notification message is further used to instruct the terminal device to reconfigure the beam sweeping period from an initial beam sweeping period to the target beam sweeping period indicated by the notification message.

[0019] The initial beam sweeping period is a specific value pre-defined by a protocol, or the initial beam sweeping period is a maximum beam sweeping period configurable by the communication device.

[0020] In some possible design, the communication device sends a notification message to the terminal device, including:

[0021] The communication device sends a radio resource control (RRC) signaling to the terminal device, where the RRC signaling is used to indicate the target beam sweeping period, and the target beam sweeping period is one of all beam sweeping periods configurable by the communication device.

[0022] In some possible design, the all beam sweeping periods configurable by the communication device include: 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms, 320 ms and 640 ms; or,

[0023] The all beam sweeping periods configurable by the communication device include: 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms and 320 ms.

[0024] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including: a processing unit and a transceiver unit.

[0025] The processing unit is configured to generate N beams, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0026] The processing unit is further configured to control the transceiver to transmit SSBs to the beams in the N first beam sets in parallel using the N beams according to the N first beam sets corresponding to the N beams respectively, so as to perform beam sweeping on the beams in the N first beam sets.

[0027] The intersection of the N first beam sets is an empty set, and the union of the N first beam sets is all beams in the coverage area of the communication device; the coverage area of the communication device is divided into a plurality of sub-coverage areas in advance, each beam is responsible for covering at least one sub-coverage area, any first beam set includes beams of all sub-coverage areas covered by the corresponding beam; the SSB transmitted by the communication device to any beam through a beam carries a corresponding index value; and there are SSBs transmitted by the communication device on multiple beams respectively, the index values of the SSBs are the same, the multiple beams with the same index values of the SSBs respectively belong to multiple different first beam sets, and / or the multiple beams with the same index values of the SSBs are beams of multiple sub-coverage areas corresponding to the same first beam set.

[0028] The N first beam sets respectively include beams in the same number or different numbers.

[0029] It should be understood that each unit performs the corresponding process described above, which can be referred to the detailed description of the specific embodiments hereinafter, and is not described here in detail for the sake of simplicity.

[0030] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a memory and a processor;

[0031] The memory is configured to store computer program instructions;

[0032] The processor is configured to run the computer program instructions, so that the communication device implements the method according to any one of the first aspect.

[0033] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a readable storage medium, comprising: computer program instructions;

[0034] The processor of the communication device runs the computer program instructions, so that the communication device implements the method according to any one of the first aspect.

[0035] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, the communication device runs the computer program product, so that the communication device implements the method according to any one of the first aspect.

[0036] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a chip, comprising: an interface circuit and a logic circuit, the interface circuit being configured to receive a signal from another chip outside the chip and transmit the signal to the logic circuit, or send a signal from the logic circuit to another chip outside the chip, and the logic circuit being configured to implement the method of any one of the first aspect.

[0037] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a base station, comprising: the apparatus of any one of the second aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0038] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a non-ground network, comprising: the apparatus of any one of the second aspect to the sixth aspect, or the base station of the seventh aspect.

[0039] The present application provides a beam scanning method, a communication device and a base station. The method comprises: the communication device generates a plurality of beams, and based on a set of beam positions pre-divided for the plurality of beams, transmits SSBs through the plurality of beams to the beam positions in the respective corresponding set of beam positions in parallel, so as to perform beam scanning on the beam positions in each set of beam positions. By performing beam scanning in parallel, the communication device can cover multiple beam positions at one time, increase the number of scanned beam positions, and thus improve the coverage rate of the coverage range of the communication device. In addition, in the present application, there are SSBs transmitted by the communication device through the plurality of beams carrying the same index value, and there are SSBs transmitted by one beam on the beam positions in different sub-coverage areas carrying the same index value. In this way, the index values of the same set of SSBs are multiplexed between the beam positions corresponding to different beams and the beam positions in different sub-coverage areas corresponding to the same beam, so that large-scale beam scanning can be realized without expanding the SSB index. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0040] Figure 1 An architecture diagram of a satellite communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Figure 2 A flowchart of a beam scanning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 3 A flowchart of a beam scanning method provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 4 A flowchart of a beam scanning method provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing the relationship between the beam scanning period, the beam number, the cell number and the beam position number of one beam provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 6Another schematic diagram of the relationship between the beam scanning period, the beam number, the cell number and the beam position number of another beam provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 2.

[0046] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 3.

[0047] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by another embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The term "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects. The term "at least one of the following" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b or c alone, can represent: a alone, b alone, c alone, combination of a and b, combination of a and c, combination of b and c, or combination of a, b and c, where a, b and c can be single or multiple. In addition, the terms "first", "second" are only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0049] The terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "back", and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application.

[0050] The terms "connected", "connected" should be broadly understood, for example, the "connected" or "connected" of the circuit structure can mean not only physical connection, but also electrical connection or signal connection, for example, it can be directly connected, that is, physically connected, or indirectly connected through at least one element in the middle, as long as the circuit is connected, it can also be the internal connection of two elements; In addition to signal connection through circuit, signal connection through media medium, such as radio waves, can also be referred to. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0051] The beam scanning method provided in the application can be applied to a satellite communication system, a high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and other NTN systems, for example, an integrated communication and navigation (IcaN) system, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), and an ultra-dense LEO satellite communication system, etc. The satellite communication system can be integrated with a traditional ground communication system. The traditional ground communication system can be a 4th generation (4G) communication system (such as a long term evolution (LTE) system), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5G communication system (such as an NR system), a 6th generation (6G) communication system, and a future mobile communication system, etc.

[0052] In the following, the satellite communication system is taken as an example, Figure 1 An architecture schematic diagram of a satellite communication system is provided in an embodiment of the application. As shown in the figure, Figure 1 The satellite communication system 10 provided in the application can include a satellite 11, a terminal device 12, and a gateway station device 13.

[0053] The satellite 11 can include one or more. The terminal device 12 can include one or more. The number of satellites 11 and terminal devices 12 included in the satellite communication system 10 is not limited in the application. In addition, in some examples, the terminal device 12 can be fixed in position or movable.

[0054] The satellite 11 and the satellite 11 communicate through an inter-satellite link (ISL). The satellite 11 and the terminal device 12 can communicate through a user link for uplink and downlink communication. The satellite 11 can be connected to the gateway station device 13, so that the satellite 11 and the gateway station device 13 can communicate through a feeder link for uplink and downlink communication. In addition, the user link can also be referred to as a service link.

[0055] The terminal device 12 and the gateway station device 13 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; or deployed on water. The application does not limit the application scenarios of the terminal device 12 and the gateway station device 13.

[0056] The satellite 11 can be a LEO satellite, a non-geostationary earth orbit (NGEO) satellite, a middle earth orbit (MEO) satellite, or a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite. In addition, the satellite 11 can be a geostationary satellite, a medium earth orbit satellite, and a low earth orbit satellite, etc.

[0057] The satellite 11 can maintain coverage of the satellite coverage area through the transmission beam, thereby providing the terminal device 12 with communication services, navigation services, positioning services, etc.

[0058] Figure 1 The satellite 11 is an example of an NTN system. In other NTN scenarios, for example, a high-altitude platform, a communication network node carried by a drone maintains coverage of the corresponding coverage area through the transmission beam.

[0059] The satellite 11 performs wireless communication with the terminal device 12 through broadcast communication signals and navigation signals, etc. The satellite 11 can perform wireless communication with the gateway device 13. The satellite 11 mentioned in the present application can be a satellite base station, can include an orbit receiver or a repeater for relaying information, or can be a network device carried on a satellite.

[0060] Generally, the satellite communication system 10 includes a transmissive satellite architecture and a non-transmissive satellite architecture. The gateway device 13 is a gateway, or a gateway and a base station.

[0061] Transmission is also called pipe-through forwarding transmission, that is, the signal only performs frequency conversion on the satellite 11, and the signal amplification process, the satellite 11 is transparent to the signal. That is, the satellite 11 only acts as a signal repeater or a radio frequency repeater, and the gateway device 13 is part of the gateway and is located on the ground, that is, the base station is deployed on the gateway device 13 as part of the ground network.

[0062] Non-transmission is also called regenerative (accessed / processed on the satellite) transmission, that is, the satellite 11 has part or all of the base station function. That is, the base station is deployed on the satellite 11, and the communication process between the satellite and the inter-satellite link and the Xn interface between the ground base station is similar, and the feeder link between the satellite 11 and the gateway device 13 is actually part of the backhaul network between the base station and the core network device.

[0063] In some examples, Figure 1 The satellite communication system 10 in the above can be a transmissive satellite architecture.

[0064] The terminal device 12 can be a user equipment, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. The terminal device 12 can also be a satellite phone, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a wireless data card, a wireless modem, a machine type communication device, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical treatment, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a terminal device in a 5G network, a terminal device in a 6G network, or a terminal device in a future communication network, etc. In addition, the terminal device 12 can also be a terminal device in an internet of things (IoT) system.

[0065] It should be understood that the terminal device 12 can be an apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device, or an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal. In this application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0066] The gateway station device 13 can be a fixed position receiving station in a wireless communication system, a high gain parabolic antenna, etc., and the gateway station device 13 can also be a satellite ground station. The wireless communication system can be a 5G system, a 6G system, or a future mobile communication system.

[0067] In addition, the network device can include one or more satellites 11 and gateway station devices 13. The network device can be any device having information transmission and / or processing functions, including but not limited to: an evolved NodeB (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a node base (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (such as a home evolved NodeB 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 (gNB) in a 5G, such as an NR system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a base band unit (BBU), or a distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0068] It should be understood that the network device can be an apparatus for implementing the functions of the network device, or an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the functions, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the network device.

[0069] The gateway station device 13 can also communicate with a core network device, Figure 1The core network device is not shown. The core network device can be, for example, a device in the core network (CN) of the existing mobile communication architecture or a device in the core network of the future mobile communication architecture. The core network provides an interface to a data network as a bearer network, provides a terminal device with communication connection, authentication, management, policy control, and completes a bearer for data service, etc. The CN can further include: an access and mobility management network element (AMF), a session management network element (SMF), an authentication server network element (AUSF), a policy control network element (PCF), a user plane function network element (UPF), and the like. The AMF network element is used to manage the access and mobility of the terminal device, and is mainly responsible for terminal device authentication, terminal device mobility management, terminal device paging, and the like.

[0070] In the following, the embodiments of the present application are described below with Figure 1 The satellite and the terminal device shown in the structure are taken as examples, and the embodiments of the present application are described in combination with Figures 2 to 6 The beam scanning method provided by the present application is described in detail. Figures 2 to 6 In the present application, the beam scanning method provided by the present application can be executed by a communication device, wherein the communication device can be realized by software and / or hardware, and the communication device can be a terminal device, a satellite base station, or a device in the satellite base station. Figure 1 The satellite base station or the device in the satellite base station shown in the structure is taken as an example, and the embodiments are described below with the base station as an example.

[0071] Figure 2 The flow chart of the beam scanning method provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 1. Please refer to FIG. 1. Figure 2 The method of the present embodiment includes:

[0072] S201, the base station generates N beams, N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0073] The base station includes a plurality of antennas, and the base station generates N beams by controlling the phase and amplitude of the plurality of antennas.

[0074] S202, the base station uses N beams to transmit SSBs in the N first beam positions in parallel according to the N first beam position sets corresponding to the N beams, to perform beam sweeping on the N first beam positions, wherein there are SSBs transmitted by the base station in multiple beam positions carrying the same index value, the multiple beam positions with the same index value of the SSBs belong to multiple different first beam position sets respectively, and / or the multiple beam positions with the same index value of the SSBs are beam positions of multiple sub-coverage areas corresponding to the same first beam position set.

[0075] The coverage range of the base station includes multiple beam positions, and a set formed by the multiple beam positions is a beam position set of the base station. The coverage range size and the beam position of each beam position in the beam position set of the base station are pre-planned. The coverage range size and the beam position of each beam position can be determined according to factors such as communication requirements, the width of the beam that the base station can generate, and beam gain.

[0076] Before performing beam sweeping, the network or the base station can pre-divide the multiple beam positions into N first beam position sets, and assign the N first beam position sets to N beams, each first beam position set including at least one beam position. The number of beam positions in the N first beam position sets can be the same or different.

[0077] The first beam position sets assigned to the N beams satisfy that there is no intersection between the N first beam position sets, that is, the intersection of the N first beam position sets is an empty set. In this way, a beam position is scanned only once by one beam, avoiding repeated scanning of the same beam position by multiple beams, causing waste of wireless resources of the base station and confusion of detection logic of the terminal device.

[0078] Based on this, the coverage range of the base station corresponds to the first beam position sets of the N beams; it can also be understood that the beam position set of the base station is equal to the union of the first beam position sets of the N beams.

[0079] When assigning the first beam position set to the beam, the factors such as the number of SSB index values currently supported by the ground network, the beam sweeping time length pre-configured by the base station for the N beams respectively, the geographical position of the beam position in the coverage range of the base station (that is, the beam position), and the service demand of the sub-coverage area divided by the base station can be used to determine which beam in the N beams the beam position is assigned to.

[0080] In this application, the base station can use N beams to perform beam sweeping in parallel. In this application, the beam sweeping in parallel refers to that for the N beams generated by the base station, the N beams can work at the same time, which belongs to a parallel relationship.

[0081] It should be noted that when the base station performs beam scanning through N beams, for any beam, the base station still satisfies covering one wave position through one beam at one time. However, since the beam scanning through multiple beams in parallel breaks the constraint relationship of time sequence, the base station can cover N wave positions at the same time through N beams as much as possible.

[0082] When the base station performs beam scanning, the base station generates a beam through a phased array antenna array, and transmits an SSB to a wave position to be scanned by using the beam. The SSB carries a corresponding index value (SSB index, iSSB or SSB index).

[0083] The index value carried by the SSB may be, but is not limited to, obtained according to the wave position number of the corresponding wave position.

[0084] In this application, the wave position number can be implemented in a self-defined manner, for example, it can be numbered from 0 or numbered from 1, which is not limited in this application. The wave positions in multiple sub-coverage areas within the coverage range of the base station can reuse the same wave position number.

[0085] Exemplarily, when the index value carried by the SSB is equal to the wave position number, for each sub-coverage area, the wave position number starts from 0. In this way, the SSBs transmitted by the base station on the wave positions of multiple sub-coverage areas can also reuse the same index value, and the index value is also numbered from 0, thereby matching the current 5G NR standard.

[0086] In order to solve the difficulty brought by SSB index expansion for large-scale beam scanning, this application solves this problem by reusing the index values in the same set of SSB indexes through multiple N beams. The reused set of SSB indexes can be specified by the current protocol or self-defined, which is not limited in this application.

[0087] The reuse of the same set of SSB indexes can include the following three cases:

[0088] Case (1): Reuse the same set of SSB indexes between the first wave position sets of different beams.

[0089] For case (1), there are SSBs transmitted by the base station on multiple wave positions, and the index values carried by the SSBs are the same, and the multiple SSBs are transmitted by the base station through different beams.

[0090] Under case (1), the wave positions of different sub-coverage areas in the same first wave position set can use different index values.

[0091] Exemplarily, taking N=2, and iSSB=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in the SSB index pre-provisioned by the protocol as an example. Among them, the two first wave position sets correspond to two sub-coverage areas respectively. The SSBs respectively transmitted by the base station on the 4 wave positions of the sub-coverage area 11 contained in the first wave position set 1 carry iSSB respectively as 0, 1, 2, 3, the SSBs respectively transmitted by the base station on the 4 wave positions of the sub-coverage area 12 contained in the first wave position set 1 carry iSSB respectively as 4, 5, 6, 7; the SSBs respectively transmitted by the base station on the 2 wave positions of the sub-coverage area 21 contained in the first wave position set 2 carry iSSB respectively as 0, 1, the SSBs respectively transmitted by the base station on the 2 wave positions of the sub-coverage area 22 contained in the first wave position set 2 carry iSSB respectively as 2, 3; in this way, the two first wave position sets multiplex the index values in the same set of SSB indexes, and the wave positions of different sub-coverage areas in the same first wave position set use different index values.

[0092] Case (2): The first wave position sets of different beams use different index values, and the wave positions between different sub-coverage areas in the same first wave position set multiplex the same set of index values.

[0093] For case (2), there are SSBs respectively transmitted by the base station on multiple wave positions, which carry the same index value, and the multiple SSBs are transmitted by the base station through the same beam to the wave positions in multiple different sub-coverage areas in sequence. Under case (2), the first wave position sets corresponding to different beams can use different index values.

[0094] Exemplarily, taking N=2, and iSSB=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in the SSB index pre-provisioned by the protocol as an example. Among them, the two first wave position sets correspond to two sub-coverage areas respectively, each sub-coverage area contains 4 wave positions, the SSBs respectively transmitted by the base station on the 4 wave positions of the sub-coverage area 11 contained in the first wave position set 1 carry iSSB respectively as 0, 1, 2, 3, the SSBs respectively transmitted by the base station on the 4 wave positions of the sub-coverage area 12 contained in the first wave position set 1 carry iSSB respectively as 0, 1, 2, 3; the SSBs respectively transmitted by the base station on the 4 wave positions of the sub-coverage area 21 contained in the first wave position set 2 carry iSSB respectively as 4, 5, 6, 7, the SSBs respectively transmitted by the base station on the 4 wave positions of the sub-coverage area 22 contained in the first wave position set 2 carry iSSB respectively as 4, 5, 6, 7; in this way, the two first wave position sets respectively use different index values in the same set of SSB indexes, and the wave positions of different sub-coverage areas in the same first wave position set multiplex several index values.

[0095] Case (3): The first wave position sets of different beams multiplex the same set of SSB indexes, and the wave positions of different sub-coverage areas under the same first wave position set also multiplex the same set of SSB indexes.

[0096] For case (3), there are both SSBs carrying the same index value sent by the base station through multiple beams on multiple wave positions respectively, and there are also SSBs carrying the same index value sent by the base station through the same beam to multiple different sub-coverage areas in turn.

[0097] Wherein, in the case that the number of wave positions contained in the N first wave position sets is the same, for the SSB on any wave position in the first wave position set, there is an SSB with the same index value in each of the other first wave position sets.

[0098] Exemplarily, taking N=2, and iSSB=0, 1, 2, 3 in a set of SSB indexes predefined by the protocol as an example; wherein, the two first wave position sets correspond to one sub-coverage area respectively, each sub-coverage area contains 4 wave positions, the SSBs sent by the base station on the 4 wave positions contained in the first wave position set 1 carry iSSB=0, 1, 2, 3 respectively, and the SSBs sent by the base station on the 4 wave positions contained in the first wave position set 2 carry iSSB=0, 1, 2, 3 respectively, so that the two first wave position sets reuse all index values in the same set of SSB indexes.

[0099] Wherein, in the case that the number of wave positions contained in the N first wave position sets is not completely the same, part of the wave positions in the N first wave position sets reuse part of the index values in the same set of SSB indexes.

[0100] Exemplarily, taking N=3, and iSSB=0, 1, 2, 3 in a set of SSB indexes predefined by the protocol as an example; wherein, the first wave position set 1 contains 4 wave positions in one sub-coverage area, the first wave position set 2 contains 2 wave positions in one sub-coverage area, and the first wave position set 3 contains 2 wave positions in one sub-coverage area. The SSBs sent by the base station on the 4 wave positions contained in the first wave position set 1 carry iSSB=0, 1, 2, 3 respectively, the SSBs sent by the base station on the 2 wave positions contained in the first wave position set 2 carry iSSB=0, 1 respectively, and the SSBs sent by the base station on the 2 wave positions contained in the first wave position set 3 carry iSSB=0, 1 respectively, so that the wave position 1 and the wave position 2 in the first wave position set reuse the index values 0, 1 in the above set of SSB indexes with the 2 wave positions in the first wave position set 2 and the 2 wave positions in the first wave position set 3.

[0101] In summary, any of the SSB index multiplexing manners described in the above case 1 to case 3 can enable beam scanning in parallel through N beams without expanding the index value. In actual application, the network and the base station can decide to use any of the SSB index multiplexing manners described in the above case 1 to case 3 according to the number of the first beam set, the number of beams contained in each first beam set, the number of SSB indexes specified in the current protocol, and the like.

[0102] The present application supports N beams to scan in parallel without expanding the index value, and realizes large-scale SSB beam scanning, by multiplexing the same set of SSB indexes on the beams of the N first beam sets sent by the base station. When the multiplexed set of SSB indexes is specified in the current 5G NR protocol, the beam scanning method provided by the present application can be well adapted to the current 5G NR network.

[0103] In a mobile communication network, in the initial access stage, in order to optimize the process of establishing a connection, a beam scanning period is usually configured, and the base station performs beam scanning according to the configured beam scanning period, and the terminal device performs SSB searching, measurement, and the like according to the configured beam scanning period. In the present application, the N first beam sets need to be pre-configured with corresponding beam scanning periods, so that the N beams generated by the base station perform beam scanning in parallel in the respective corresponding beam scanning periods.

[0104] Figure 3 Flowchart of the beam scanning method shown in another embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 The embodiment mainly introduces the implementation manner of the base station configuring the beam scanning period for the N beams. Please refer to Figure 3 The method of the present embodiment includes:

[0105] S301, the first network device sends beam scanning period configuration information to the base station.

[0106] The first network device can be a network management device or a core network device. The first network device sends the beam scanning period configuration information to the base station through the communication link between the first network device and the base station, and correspondingly, the base station receives the beam scanning period configuration information.

[0107] The beam scanning period configuration information includes N beam scanning period values, and the N beam scanning period values correspond to the N beams one by one. The N beam scanning period values can be completely the same, completely different, or partially the same, which is not limited by the present application.

[0108] In some embodiments, the first network device determines the size of the N beam scanning period values according to the number of beams in the first beam set corresponding to each of the N beams, the total beam scanning period values that can be configured by the base station, the residence time of the beam in one beam, and the like.

[0109] wherein a beam continuously covers a wave position for a time duration, which is referred to as a dwell time of the beam at the wave position.

[0110] In some embodiments, all the beam sweeping period values configurable by the base station include 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms, 320 ms, and 640 ms. In other embodiments, all the beam sweeping periods configurable by the base station include 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms, and 320 ms.

[0111] The manner of the present application can flexibly configure the beam sweeping period for N beams. When configuring the beam sweeping period, if a larger beam sweeping period is configured, the time interval for the wave position to obtain SSB irradiation is longer, and the total number of wave positions that can be covered by the beam is larger, which is beneficial to improve the coverage rate of the beam, thereby realizing large-scale beam sweeping. In the present application, a smaller beam sweeping period can also be configured for the beam, and the wave position can obtain SSB irradiation at a faster frequency, which is beneficial to improve the communication service quality of the region.

[0112] Based on this, in actual application, according to the different regions, the service quality and coverage rate requirements can be considered under one base station, and the beam sweeping period is configured for the beam.

[0113] In addition, compared with the configurable beam sweeping period in the current protocol, in the present application, the two beam sweeping period values of 320 ms and 640 ms are newly added, which provides more choices.

[0114] S302, the base station configures a beam sweeping period for N beams.

[0115] The base station configures a beam sweeping period for N beams according to the indication of the beam sweeping period configuration information.

[0116] S303, the base station generates N beams, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0117] S304, the base station uses N beams to send a synchronization signal block SSB to the wave positions in the N first wave position sets in parallel according to the N first wave position sets corresponding to the N beams, so as to perform beam sweeping on the wave positions in the N first wave position sets.

[0118] The steps S303 and S304 of the present embodiment are similar to the steps S201 and S202 of the embodiment shown in Figure 2 and can refer to the detailed description of the embodiment shown in Figure 2 for brevity, the details are not repeated here.

[0119] Through the method of the embodiment, the beam scanning period of the N beams can be flexibly configured to balance the quality of service and coverage.

[0120] In some other embodiments, the base station and the network (such as a network manager) can agree on the beam scanning period of the N beams in advance and store the beam scanning period configuration of the N beams. When beam scanning is needed, the base station directly configures according to the pre-stored beam scanning period configuration of the N beams, without interaction with the network, thereby improving the efficiency of beam scanning period configuration.

[0121] In some other embodiments, the base station can pre-store all configurable beam scanning periods, and when beam scanning is needed, the base station decides the beam scanning period of the N beams. In addition, considering that the network needs to manage the base station, the base station can report the beam scanning period configuration of the N beams to the network (such as a network manager).

[0122] Figure 4 A flowchart of a beam scanning method provided by another embodiment of the application is shown in FIG. 6. Figure 4 The method of the embodiment can be used in the system shown in FIG. 1. Figure 3 On the basis of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the method of the embodiment can further include:

[0123] S305, the base station sends a notification message to the terminal device, and the notification message includes the beam scanning period configured by the base station for the beam position where the terminal device is located.

[0124] S306, the terminal device reconfigures the beam scanning period according to the notification message.

[0125] The notification message is used to instruct the terminal device to reconfigure the beam scanning period of the terminal device from an initial beam scanning period to a target beam scanning period value indicated by the notification message.

[0126] Before the terminal device accesses the network, SSB search and measurement are performed according to the initial beam scanning period. The initial beam scanning period value is a specific value pre-defined by a protocol, or the initial beam scanning period value is the maximum value (i.e., the maximum beam scanning period) in the configurable beam scanning period.

[0127] The specific value is one of the beam scanning periods. For example, in 5G NR, the protocol specifies that the configurable beam scanning periods include 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, and 160 ms, and the current protocol specifies that the specific value is 20 ms.

[0128] In some embodiments, the base station can send RRC signaling to the terminal device, the RRC signaling being ENUMERATED, the base station determining a target beam sweeping period from the optional beam sweeping periods and generating the RRC signaling according to the target beam sweeping period, wherein the RRC signaling carries indication information of the target beam sweeping period. The terminal device receives the RRC signaling and parses the indication information, and then determines the target beam sweeping period according to the mapping relationship between the indication information and the beam sweeping period. In some embodiments, the indication information carried by the RRC signaling is an index value corresponding to the target beam sweeping period.

[0129] For example, the RRC signaling is as follows:

[0130] ssb-Periodicity ENUMERATED { ms5, ms10, ms20, ms40, ms80, ms160, ms320, spare};

[0131] Then the base station can select 320 milliseconds as the target beam sweeping period to be configured to the terminal device.

[0132] For another example, the RRC signaling is as follows:

[0133] ssb-Periodicity ENUMERATED { ms5, ms10, ms20, ms40, ms80, ms160, ms320, ms640};

[0134] Then the base station can select 640 milliseconds as the target beam sweeping period to be configured to the terminal device.

[0135] In the above examples, ssb-Periodicity represents the beam sweeping period. “ms” represents millisecond, for example, “ms5” represents 5 milliseconds.

[0136] Based on this, the terminal device can perform SSB search and measurement according to the reconfigured beam sweeping period, thereby improving the beam sweeping efficiency.

[0137] In Figure 2 and Figure 3 Based on the embodiments shown in the above examples, N beams can work at the same time, which breaks the time sequence constraint relationship. For the scanning order of any beam, the present application also proposes a corresponding solution.

[0138] In the present application, the coverage area of a base station can be divided into multiple sub-coverage areas, each of which includes at least one wave position, and the network or base station pre-allocates corresponding sub-coverage area numbers to these sub-coverage areas. Further, the multiple sub-coverage areas are pre-divided into N beams, so that each beam includes at least one sub-coverage area, and the intersection of the sub-coverage areas corresponding to any two beams is an empty set. It can be understood that for any beam, the union of the wave positions in the sub-coverage areas corresponding to the beam constitutes the first wave position set of the beam.

[0139] It should be noted that each beam is planned by the network or base station to have its corresponding sub-coverage area and wave position, and remains stable within a time period. When the coverage requirement of the base station changes, the sub-coverage area corresponding to the beam can be adjusted accordingly, and the wave position corresponding to the beam will also change accordingly.

[0140] For the geographical position relationship between the wave positions in the sub-coverage area, the geographical positions can be adjacent, and the sub-coverage area can be formed by connecting multiple wave positions, i.e., the wave positions connected together as wave positions in the same sub-coverage area. However, the present application is not limited to this way, and other specific ways can also be used.

[0141] In some embodiments, one sub-coverage area is one cell, and the following will be introduced by taking the cell as an example. Therefore, the first wave position set corresponding to one beam includes one or more second wave position sets, each of which includes at least one wave position, and each of which corresponds to one cell. Therefore, the second wave position set can also be referred to as the wave position set of the cell, the cell wave position set, or other names.

[0142] Different cells can use different or the same physical cell identifier as the cell number, which is not limited in the present application.

[0143] Based on the relationship between the first wave position set of the beam and the cell, the present application proposes a scheme in which the beam scans according to the cell number and the wave position number of each wave position in the cell.

[0144] In which, in combination with the foregoing, each beam has its specific beam scanning period, and it needs to complete the scanning coverage of all the wave positions responsible for it within its beam scanning period. The scanning order of the beam is: first, scan the wave positions of the first cell, then scan the wave positions of the second cell, and so on, until the scanning coverage of the wave positions of the last cell responsible for it is completed. Then, enter the next scanning period; so it continues to circulate.

[0145] Exemplarily, the base station generates N beams, numbers the N beams, denoted as Beam(n), n=1, 2, …, N.

[0146] Beam(n) is responsible for covering K(n) cells, and K(n) cells are numbered and denoted as Cell(n, k), k = 1, 2, …, K(n).

[0147] Cell(n, k) contains L(n, k) beams, and L(n, k) beams are numbered and denoted as P(n, k, j), j = 1, 2, …, L(n, k); or L(n, k) beams are numbered and denoted as P(n, k, j-1), j-1 = 0, 1, 2, …, L(n, k)-1. It should be noted that the beam numbering method shown in the former is numbered from 1, and the beam numbering method shown in the latter is numbered from 0. Based on the beam numbering method shown in the latter, the beam number is used as the index value of the SSB, which matches the current 5G NR standard.

[0148] Based on this, the number of beams responsible for covering Beam(n) is satisfies formula (1):

[0149] Formula (1)

[0150] The total number of beams responsible for covering the base station is satisfies formula (2):

[0151] Formula (2)

[0152] For any beam Beam(n), in its beam scanning period T(n), first scan L(n, 1) beams P(n, 1, j) in its first cell Cell(n, 1), the scanning order is j = 1, 2, …, L(n, 1), then scan L(n, 2) beams P(n, 1, j) in its second cell Cell(n, 2), the scanning order is j = 1, 2, …, L(n, 2), and so on, until all M(n) beams are scanned, then enter the next beam scanning period, scan M(n) beams responsible for the beam in the same way, and continuously cycle.

[0153] In this embodiment, N beams can scan the beams responsible for themselves in parallel according to the above method, and independently cycle according to their beam scanning periods, realizing large-scale beam scanning and solving the problem of low coverage rate caused by the traditional beam scanning method. In addition, the beam scans in the above manner, which can make the SSB scanning mode in a cell compatible with the existing 5G NR technology.

[0154] Next, the index value used by the base station using Beam(n) to send SSB on M(n) beams is exemplarily described.

[0155] In this embodiment, the base station directly uses the pre-allocated beam position number as the index value of the SSB.

[0156] When the base station uses Beam (n) to transmit SSB on the jth beam position of the kth cell, the SSB uses iSSB = j = 1, 2,..., L (n, k), or, to match the existing 5G NR standard, the SSB uses iSSB = j-1 = 0, 1,..., L (n, k)-1.

[0157] In this embodiment, the base station adopts the SSB index mapping mode shown in the latter, which can be compatible with the existing 5G NR technology.

[0158] Next, taking the number of beams simultaneously transmitted by the base station N = 2 as an example. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the beam scanning period, beam number, cell number, and beam position number of Beam (1). Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the beam scanning period, beam number, cell number, and beam position number of Beam (2).

[0159] Please refer to Figure 5 As shown in the figure, the beam number of Beam (1) is 1, and the beam scanning period of Beam (1) is 40 ms. Beam (1) is responsible for scanning 2 cells, and the cell numbers of the 2 cells are (1, 1) and (1, 2), respectively. Each cell includes 4 beam positions, and the beam position numbers of the 4 beam positions included in cell (1, 1) are (1, 1, 1), (1, 1, 2), (1, 1, 3), and (1, 1, 4), respectively; the beam position numbers of the 4 beam positions included in cell (1, 2) are (1, 2, 1), (1, 2, 2), (1, 2, 3), and (1, 2, 4), respectively. The duration corresponding to the scanning of a cell by Beam (1) is 20 ms. Beam (1) transmits SSBs to the 4 beam positions in each cell it is responsible for one by one.

[0160] Among them, the 4 SSBs transmitted by the base station to a cell can be sequentially distributed in the 4 residence times within 20 ms according to the mode specified in the existing protocol, and the index values of the 4 SSBs are 0, 1, 2, and 3 in time order, respectively. As shown in Figure 5 As shown in the figure, the index values of the SSBs transmitted by the base station to the 4 beam positions in cell (1, 1) and the index values of the SSBs transmitted by the base station to the 4 beam positions in cell (1, 2) are the same in time order within a beam scanning period. It can be seen that the 4 beam positions in cell (1, 1) and the 4 beam positions in cell (1, 2) reuse the four index values 0, 1, 2, and 3 in the same set of SSB index.

[0161] And in the next beam scanning period, the relationship between the beam scanning period, beam number, cell number and wave position number of Beam (1) is similar to that of the previous beam scanning period.

[0162] Please refer to Figure 6 As shown in FIG. 2B, the beam number of Beam (2) is 2, and the beam scanning period of Beam (2) is 320 ms. Beam (2) is responsible for scanning 16 cells, and the cell numbers of the 16 cells are (2, 1), (2, 2), (2, 3), (2, 4), (2, 5), …, (2, 16) respectively. Each cell includes 4 wave positions, and the wave position numbers of the 4 wave positions included in cell (2, 1) are (2, 1, 1), (2, 1, 2), (2, 1, 3), (2, 1, 4) respectively, the wave position numbers of the 4 wave positions included in cell (2, 2) are (2, 2, 1), (2, 2, 2), (2, 2, 3), (2, 2, 4) respectively, and so on, and the wave position numbers of the 4 wave positions included in cell (2, 16) are (2, 16, 1), (2, 16, 2), (2, 16, 3), (2, 16, 4) respectively. The time length corresponding to the scanning of a cell by Beam (2) is 20 ms. Beam (2) sends SSBs to the 4 wave positions in each cell it is responsible for one by one.

[0163] Similar to Beam (1), the 4 SSBs sent by the base station to a cell can be distributed in the 4 residence times within 20 ms according to the mode specified in the existing protocol, and the index values of the 4 SSBs are 0, 1, 2, 3 in time order respectively. As shown in FIG. 2C, Figure 6 As shown in FIG. 2D, in a beam scanning period, the index values of the SSBs sent by the base station to the 4 wave positions in cell (2, 1) and the index values of the SSBs sent by the base station to the 4 wave positions in cell (2, 2) are the same in time order. It can be seen that the 4 wave positions in cell (2, 1) to the 4 wave positions in cell (2, 16) reuse the four index values 0, 1, 2, 3 in the same set of SSB index.

[0164] And in the next beam scanning period, the relationship between the beam scanning period, beam number, cell number and wave position number of Beam (2) is similar to that of the previous beam scanning period.

[0165] In combination with Figure 5 and Figure 6As shown, the two beams generated by the base station can operate simultaneously, breaking the time constraint and increasing the number of beams the base station covers at the same time. This enables large-scale beam scanning and improves coverage. Furthermore, the beams in the 18 cells share a single set of four index values ​​(0, 1, 2, and 3) in the SSB index, allowing for large-scale beam scanning without expanding the SSB index and without requiring redesign of the existing physical layer signals.

[0166] By way of example, this application also provides a communication device.

[0167] Figure 7 This is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in one embodiment of this application. Figure 7 As shown, the communication device 100 can exist independently or be integrated into other devices. It can communicate with the terminal devices, gateways, and core network devices mentioned above to implement the operations corresponding to the base station in any of the above method embodiments.

[0168] The communication device 100 may include a processing unit 101 and a transceiver unit 102. The processing unit 101 is used for data processing, and the transceiver unit 102 can implement corresponding communication functions. The transceiver unit 102 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0169] Optionally, the communication device 100 may further include a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit 101 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the communication device 100 can implement the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0170] The communication device 100 can be used to perform the actions performed by the base station in the aforementioned method embodiments. The communication device 100 can be a base station or a component configurable on a base station. The transceiver unit 102 is used to perform reception-related operations of the base station in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0171] Optionally, the transceiver unit 102 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit. The sending unit is used to perform the sending operation in the foregoing method embodiments. The receiving unit is used to perform the receiving operation in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0172] It should be noted that the communication device 100 may include a transmitting unit but not a receiving unit. Alternatively, the communication device 100 may include a receiving unit but not a transmitting unit. Specifically, it depends on whether the above-described scheme executed by the communication device 100 includes both transmitting and receiving actions.

[0173] As an example, communication device 100 is used to perform the foregoing. Figure 2 The actions performed by the base station in the illustrated embodiment.

[0174] The communication device 100 can include a processing unit 101 and a transceiver unit 102.

[0175] The processing unit 101 is configured to generate N beams, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0176] The processing unit 101 is further configured to control the transceiver unit 102 to transmit SSBs to beams in N first beam sets corresponding to the N beams in parallel, so as to perform beam sweeping on the beams in the N first beam sets, according to the N first beam sets corresponding to the N beams.

[0177] The intersection of the N first beam sets is an empty set, and the union of the N first beam sets is all beams in a coverage area of the communication device. The coverage area of the communication device is divided into a plurality of sub-coverage areas in advance, each beam is responsible for covering at least one sub-coverage area, any first beam set includes beams of all sub-coverage areas covered by the corresponding beam, the number of beams included in the N first beam sets is completely identical or not completely identical, the SSB transmitted by the communication device to any beam through a beam carries a corresponding index value, and there are SSBs transmitted by the communication device on multiple beams with the same index value, the multiple beams with the same index value belong to multiple different first beam sets respectively, and / or the multiple beams with the same index value are beams of multiple sub-coverage areas corresponding to the same first beam set.

[0178] It should be understood that the above-mentioned respective processes performed by each unit have been described in detail in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and thus will not be described here again for the sake of brevity.

[0179] The processing unit in the above-mentioned embodiments can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuit. The transceiver unit 102 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit. The transceiver unit 102 can also be referred to as a communication unit or a communication interface. The storage unit can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0180] Exemplarily, the embodiments of the present application also provide a communication device.

[0181] Figure 8 A hardware structure schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 1.

[0182] As Figure 8As shown, the communication device 200 includes a 210 part, a 220 part, and a 230 part. The 210 part is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the base station, etc. The 210 part is usually the control center of the base station, and can be referred to as a processor or a processing unit, for controlling the processing operation on the base station side. The 220 part is mainly used for storing computer program codes and data, and can be referred to as a memory or a storage unit. The 230 part is mainly used for transceiving radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals and baseband signals. The 230 part can be referred to as a transceiving unit, a transceiver, a transceiving circuit, or a transceiver, etc. The transceiving unit of the 230 part can also be referred to as a transceiver or a transceiver, etc., which includes an antenna 233 and a radio frequency circuit (not shown in the figure), where the radio frequency circuit is mainly used for radio frequency processing. Optionally, the devices in the 230 part used for realizing the receiving function can be regarded as a receiver, and the devices used for realizing the sending function can be regarded as a transmitter, that is, the 230 part includes a receiver 232 and a transmitter 231. The receiver can also be referred to as a receiving unit, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitter can be referred to as a transmitting unit, a transmitting unit, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0183] The 210 part and the 220 part can include one or more single boards, and each single board can include one or more processors and one or more memories. The processor is used to read and execute the program in the memory to realize the baseband processing function and the control of the base station. If there are multiple single boards, the single boards can be interconnected to enhance the processing capability. As an optional implementation, multiple single boards can also share one or more processors, or multiple single boards can share one or more memories, or multiple single boards can share one or more processors at the same time.

[0184] In an implementation, the transceiving unit of the 230 part is used to perform the transceiving related process performed by the base station in the embodiments shown in the above method embodiments. Figures 2 to 6 The processor of the 210 part is used to perform the processing related process performed by the base station in the embodiments shown in the above method embodiments. Figures 2 to 6 The processor of the 210 part is used to perform the processing related process performed by the base station in the embodiments shown in the above method embodiments.

[0185] It should be understood that, Figure 8 The communication device including the processor, the memory, and the transceiver described above can not depend on Figure 8 The structure shown in the figure.

[0186] When the communication device 200 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit, a communication interface; the processor is an integrated processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit on the chip. The sending operation of the base station in the above method embodiments can be understood as the output of the chip, and the receiving operation of the base station in the above method embodiments can be understood as the input of the chip.

[0187] Exemplarily, the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, having stored thereon computer instructions for implementing the technical solutions of any of the method embodiments.

[0188] For example, the computer program is executed by a computer, so that the computer can implement the technical solutions of any of the method embodiments.

[0189] Exemplarily, the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the technical solutions of any of the method embodiments.

[0190] Exemplarily, the present application further provides a base station, comprising: Figure 7 Or Figure 8 The communication device provided by the embodiment shown is used to execute the technical solutions of any of the method embodiments.

[0191] Exemplarily, the present application further provides a satellite communication system, comprising a satellite and a communication device. The communication device is used to execute the technical solutions of any of the method embodiments.

[0192] Exemplarily, the present application further provides a chip device, comprising a processor, which is used to invoke computer degrees or computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the beam scanning method of the above embodiments.

[0193] In a possible implementation manner, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in the above Figures 2 to 6 embodiments, and the output of the chip device corresponds to the sending operation in the above Figures 2 to 6 embodiments.

[0194] Optionally, the processor is coupled with the memory through an interface.

[0195] Optionally, the chip device further comprises a memory, in which computer degrees or computer instructions are stored.

[0196] The processor mentioned in any of the above can be a general central processor, a microprocessor, a baseband processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the program execution of the reference signal processing method of the above embodiments. The memory mentioned in any of the above can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0197] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the explanation and beneficial effects of the related content in any of the communication devices provided above can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above for the convenience and brevity of description, and will not be repeated here.

[0198] In the present application, the communication device can include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer can include a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and a memory (also known as main memory), and the like. The operating system of the operating system layer can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as Linux operating system, Unix operating system, Android operating system, iOS operating system, or windows operating system, and the like. The application layer can include browsers, address books, word processing software, instant messaging software, and the like.

[0199] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the system, device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0200] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0201] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0202] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional unit.

[0203] The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software function unit and sold or used as an independent product, can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the part of the technical solutions of the present application that essentially makes contributions or the whole or part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the processes of the embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0204] The above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than limit them; although 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 replacement for part of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of beam sweeping, the method comprising: The method comprises: The communication device generates N beams; N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; wherein the communication device is a base station, and the base station comprises a plurality of antennas, and the base station generates N beams by controlling the phases and amplitudes of the plurality of antennas; The communication device uses the N beams to transmit a synchronization signal block (SSB) to a wave position in each of the N first wave position sets in parallel according to the N first wave position sets corresponding to the N beams, so as to perform beam sweeping on the wave positions in the N first wave position sets; Wherein, the intersection of the N first wave position sets is an empty set, and the union of the N first wave position sets is all wave positions in the coverage area of the communication device; the coverage area of the communication device is divided into a plurality of sub-coverage areas in advance, each beam is responsible for covering at least one sub-coverage area, any first wave position set comprises wave positions of all sub-coverage areas covered by the corresponding beam; the SSB transmitted by the communication device to any wave position through a beam carries a corresponding index value; there are index values of SSBs transmitted by the communication device on multiple wave positions respectively, the multiple wave positions with the same index value of SSBs respectively belong to multiple different first wave position sets, and / or the multiple wave positions with the same index value of SSBs are wave positions of multiple sub-coverage areas corresponding to the same first wave position set.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The index value carried by the SSB transmitted by the communication device to any wave position through a beam is obtained by mapping the wave position number of the any wave position.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, When the communication device transmits an SSB on the jth wave position in the kth sub-coverage area covered by the nth beam, the index value of the SSB is equal to the wave position number j of the jth wave position, wherein j=1, 2,..., L(n, k); or the index value of the SSB is equal to the wave position number j-1 of the jth wave position, wherein j-1=0, 1, 2,..., L(n, k)-1. Wherein, n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N; the nth beam is responsible for covering K(n) sub-coverage areas, K(n) is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, k is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to K(n); L(n, k) is the total number of wave positions contained in the kth sub-coverage area.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, When performing beam sweeping on the wave positions in the first wave position set corresponding to any beam, the wave positions of each sub-coverage area covered by the beam are sequentially swept based on the sub-coverage area numbers pre-configured for the sub-coverage areas; And when performing beam sweeping on the wave positions of any sub-coverage area, the wave positions in the sub-coverage area are sequentially swept based on the wave position numbers pre-configured for the wave positions in the sub-coverage area.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: The communication device configures a beam sweeping period for the N beams, wherein the beam sweeping periods of the N beams are the same or not completely the same.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: The communication device sends a notification message to a terminal device, the notification message comprising: a target beam sweeping period configured by the communication device for a wave position where the terminal device is located; the notification message is also used to instruct the terminal device to reconfigure a beam sweeping period from an initial beam sweeping period to the target beam sweeping period indicated by the notification message. The initial beam sweeping period is a specific value pre-defined by a protocol; or the initial beam sweeping period is a maximum beam sweeping period configurable by the communication device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The communication device sends a notification message to a terminal device, comprising: The communication device sends a radio resource control (RRC) signaling to the terminal device, the RRC signaling being used to indicate the target beam sweeping period, the target beam sweeping period being one of all beam sweeping periods configurable by the communication device.

8. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that The all beam sweeping periods configurable by the communication device comprise: 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms, 320 ms and 640 ms; or The all beam sweeping periods configurable by the communication device comprise: 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms and 320 ms.

9. A communication device, characterized by Comprise: A memory and a processor; The memory is configured to store computer program instructions; The processor is configured to run the computer program instructions, so that the communication device implements the method in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A base station, characterized by, Comprise: The communication device in claim 9.

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