Communication method and device, chip, chip module and storage medium

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device, a chip, a chip module and a storage medium. The method comprises: an access network device sending first configuration information to a UE, the first configuration information comprising an index of a candidate beam identification reference signal; the UE determines information of at least one first beamforming vector; the UE determines a beam monitoring reference signal; and when the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal satisfies a beam failure condition, the UE determines an optimal first beam forming vector according to the first configuration information and the information of the at least one first beam forming vector. By adopting the scheme of the invention, the UE determines the optimal first beam forming vector through the candidate beam identification reference signal configured by the access network equipment and the information of the at least one first beam forming vector, the information of the candidate beam identification reference signal needing to be transmitted in the beam recovery process can be reduced, and the transmission overhead is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, device, chip, chip module and storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In low frequency bands, user equipment (UE) uses omnidirectional antennas for reception, so there is no need to train the UE's optimal receiving beam. However, base stations still use directional beams to send and receive uplink and downlink signals. Therefore, beam training in low frequency bands is mainly to determine the base station's optimal transmitting beam.

[0003] When the UE moves, the channel quality of the beam between the base station and the UE may deteriorate. The beam is used for uplink and downlink transmission between the base station and the UE, resulting in link failure. In order to quickly restore the available beam, the base station pre-configures a set of beam monitoring reference signals and a set of candidate beam identification reference signals to the UE, which are used to monitor beam failure events and identify candidate beams, respectively. When a beam failure event is detected, the UE actively sends a beam recovery request to the base station. After receiving the beam recovery request, the base station sends a beam recovery response to the UE, indicating that the beam recovery is successful.

[0004] However, how to reduce the overhead of the beam recovery process is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method, device, chip, chip module and storage medium to reduce the overhead of a beam recovery process.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: receiving first configuration information, the first configuration information comprising an index of a candidate beam identification reference signal; determining information of at least one first beam forming vector; determining a beam monitoring reference signal; and when a channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets a beam failure condition, determining an optimal first beam forming vector based on the first configuration information and information of the at least one first beam forming vector.

[0007] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a beam restoration request to an access network device, wherein the beam restoration request includes information of the optimal first beamforming vector; and receiving a beam restoration response from the access network device.

[0008] In another possible implementation, information of an optimal first beamforming vector is determined based on the first configuration information and information of the at least one first beamforming vector, including: obtaining original channel state information based on the candidate beam identification reference signal; obtaining equivalent channel qualities of the original channel state information after beamforming based on the at least one first beamforming vector; and determining the first beamforming vector with the best equivalent channel quality as the optimal first beamforming vector.

[0009] In yet another possible implementation, the number of ports of the candidate beam identification reference signal is greater than 2.

[0010] In yet another possible implementation, information of the at least one first beamforming vector is included in the first configuration information; or, the at least one first beamforming vector is determined according to a predefined manner.

[0011] In another possible implementation, the configuration information of the beam monitoring reference signal is included in the first configuration information; or, the beam monitoring reference signal is determined according to a default method.

[0012] In another possible implementation, the candidate beam identification reference signal and the beam monitoring reference signal are the same reference signal.

[0013] In another possible implementation, the first configuration information also includes information of at least one second beamforming vector; and the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal is determined based on the beam monitoring reference signal and the information of the at least one second beamforming vector.

[0014] In yet another possible implementation, the number of ports of the beam monitoring reference signal is greater than 2.

[0015] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: sending first configuration information, the first configuration information comprising an index of a candidate beam identification reference signal; when the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition, receiving a beam recovery request, the beam recovery request comprising information of an optimal first beam forming vector, the optimal first beam forming vector being determined based on the first configuration information and information of at least one first beam forming vector; and sending a beam recovery response.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the number of ports of the candidate beam identification reference signal is greater than 2.

[0017] In another possible implementation, information of the at least one first beamforming vector is included in the first configuration information; or, the at least one first beamforming vector is determined according to a predefined manner.

[0018] In another possible implementation, the configuration information of the beam monitoring reference signal is included in the first configuration information; or, the beam monitoring reference signal is determined according to a default method.

[0019] In another possible implementation, the candidate beam identification reference signal and the beam monitoring reference signal are the same reference signal.

[0020] In another possible implementation, the first configuration information also includes information of at least one second beamforming vector; and the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal is determined based on the beam monitoring reference signal and the information of the at least one second beamforming vector.

[0021] In yet another possible implementation, the number of ports of the beam monitoring reference signal is greater than 2.

[0022] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, which can implement the communication method in the first aspect. For example, the communication device can be a chip or a terminal device. The method can be implemented by software, hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit; wherein: the transceiver unit is used to receive first configuration information, the first configuration information including the index of a candidate beam identification reference signal; the processing unit is used to determine information of at least one first beamforming vector; the processing unit is also used to determine a beam monitoring reference signal; and the processing unit is also used to determine an optimal first beamforming vector based on the first configuration information and information of the at least one first beamforming vector when the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets a beam failure condition.

[0024] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further used to send a beam recovery request to the access network device, wherein the beam recovery request includes information of the optimal first beamforming vector; and the transceiver unit is further used to receive a beam recovery response from the access network device.

[0025] Optionally, the processing unit is further used to obtain original channel state information based on the candidate beam identification reference signal; the processing unit is further used to obtain equivalent channel quality of the original channel state information after beamforming based on the at least one first beamforming vector; and the processing unit is further used to determine the first beamforming vector with the best equivalent channel quality as the optimal first beamforming vector.

[0026] Optionally, the number of ports of the candidate beam identification reference signal is greater than 2.

[0027] Optionally, information of the at least one first beamforming vector is included in the first configuration information; or, the at least one first beamforming vector is determined according to a predefined manner.

[0028] Optionally, the configuration information of the beam monitoring reference signal is included in the first configuration information; or, the beam monitoring reference signal is determined according to a default method.

[0029] Optionally, the candidate beam identification reference signal and the beam monitoring reference signal are the same reference signal.

[0030] Optionally, the first configuration information also includes information of at least one second beamforming vector; and the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal is determined based on the beam monitoring reference signal and the information of the at least one second beamforming vector.

[0031] Optionally, the number of ports of the beam monitoring reference signal is greater than 2.

[0032] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which can implement the communication method in the second aspect. For example, the communication device can be a chip or a network device. The method can be implemented by software, hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver unit; wherein: the transceiver unit is used to send first configuration information, the first configuration information includes the index of a candidate beam identification reference signal; the transceiver unit is also used to receive a beam recovery request when the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition, the beam recovery request includes information of an optimal first beam forming vector, and the optimal first beam forming vector is determined based on the first configuration information and information of at least one first beam forming vector; and the transceiver unit is also used to send a beam recovery response.

[0034] Optionally, the number of ports of the candidate beam identification reference signal is greater than 2.

[0035] Optionally, information of the at least one first beamforming vector is included in the first configuration information; or, the at least one first beamforming vector is determined according to a predefined manner.

[0036] Optionally, the configuration information of the beam monitoring reference signal is included in the first configuration information; or, the beam monitoring reference signal is determined according to a default method.

[0037] Optionally, the candidate beam identification reference signal and the beam monitoring reference signal are the same reference signal.

[0038] Optionally, the first configuration information also includes information of at least one second beamforming vector; and the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal is determined based on the beam monitoring reference signal and the information of the at least one second beamforming vector.

[0039] Optionally, the number of ports of the beam monitoring reference signal is greater than 2.

[0040] In combination with any aspect of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation, the communication device in any aspect of the third aspect or the fourth aspect includes a processor coupled to a memory; the processor is configured to support the device to perform the corresponding functions in the above communication method. The memory is used to couple with the processor, which stores the necessary programs (instructions) and / or data of the device. Optionally, the communication device may also include a communication interface for supporting communication between the device and other network elements. Optionally, the memory may be located inside the communication device or outside the communication device.

[0041] In combination with any aspect of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation, the communication device in any aspect of the third aspect or the fourth aspect includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor is coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is used to execute a computer program or instruction to control the transceiver to receive and send information; when the processor executes the computer program or instruction, the processor is also used to implement the above method through a logic circuit or execute code instructions. The transceiver may be a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or an input-output interface, which is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device. When the communication device is a chip, the transceiver is a transceiver circuit or an input-output interface.

[0042] When the communication device in any of the third or fourth aspects is a chip or a chip module, the sending unit may be an output unit, such as an output circuit or a communication interface; the receiving unit may be an input unit, such as an input circuit or a communication interface. When the communication device is a terminal device or a network device, the sending unit may be a transmitter or a transmitter; the receiving unit may be a receiver or a receiver.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the methods described in the above aspects are implemented.

[0044] According to a sixth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided. When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes the methods described in the above aspects.

[0045] In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, the communication system comprising the communication device of the third aspect and the communication device of the fourth aspect.

[0046] The above communication scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application has the following beneficial effects:

[0047] The terminal device determines the optimal first beamforming vector through the candidate beam identification reference signal and at least one first beamforming vector information configured by the access network device, which can reduce the information of the candidate beam identification reference signal that needs to be transmitted during the beam recovery process and reduce the transmission overhead;

[0048] By determining the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal based on the information of the beam monitoring reference signal and at least one second beamforming vector, the information of the beam monitoring reference signal that needs to be transmitted during the beam recovery process can be reduced, further reducing the transmission overhead. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] Figure 1A A schematic diagram of a communication system involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 1B A schematic diagram of another communication system involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of another communication system involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Figure 5 A simplified schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 6 A simplified schematic diagram of the structure of an access network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] Figure 1AA schematic diagram of a communication system involved in an embodiment of the present application is provided. The communication system may include one or more access network devices (only one is shown in the figure) and one or more terminal devices connected to the access network device. An access network device may transmit data or control signaling to one or more terminal devices. Figure 1B In another communication system shown, multiple access network devices can also transmit data or control signaling to one terminal device at the same time.

[0057] The access network device can be any device with wireless transceiver functions, including but not limited to: base station (NodeB), evolved base station (eNodeB), base station in 5G communication system, base station or access network equipment in future communication system, access node in Wi-Fi system, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, etc. The access network device can also be a wireless controller in the cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The access network device can also be a small station, a transmission reference point (TRP), etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the access network device.

[0058] The terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can be deployed on land (including indoors or outdoors), can be handheld, worn or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water, such as on a ship; can also be deployed in the air, such as on an airplane, balloon and satellite. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet (pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a whole vehicle, a functional module in a vehicle, a wireless terminal device in remote medical, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city (for example, street lights, etc.), a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios. The terminal device may also be sometimes referred to as UE, access terminal device, UE unit, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal device, mobile device, terminal device (terminal), wireless communication device, UE agent or UE apparatus, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

[0059] Optionally, in an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device or access network device includes 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 includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and a memory (also called main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through a process, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as a browser, an address book, a word processing software, and an instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. It can communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. For example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be a terminal device or an access network device, or a functional module in a terminal device or an access network device that can call and execute a program.

[0060] In other words, the relevant functions of the terminal device or access network device in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by one device, or by multiple devices together, or by one or more functional modules in one device, and the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this. It is understandable that the above functions can be network elements in hardware devices, or software functions running on dedicated hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0061] Figure 1A and Figure 1B The communication between the access network device and the terminal device in the communication system shown in FIG. 1 can also be represented in another form, such as Figure 2 As shown, the terminal device 10 includes a processor 101, a memory 102 and a transceiver 103, and the transceiver 103 includes a transmitter 1031, a receiver 1032 and an antenna 1033. The access network device 20 includes a processor 201, a memory 202 and a transceiver 203, and the transceiver 203 includes a transmitter 2031, a receiver 2032 and an antenna 2033. The receiver 1032 can be used to receive transmission control information through the antenna 1033, and the transmitter 1031 can be used to send transmission feedback information to the access network device 20 through the antenna 1033. The transmitter 2031 can be used to send transmission control information to the terminal device 10 through the antenna 2033, and the receiver 2032 can be used to receive the transmission feedback information sent by the terminal device 10 through the antenna 2033.

[0062] The processor 101 / processor 201 may be a CPU, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application.

[0063] The memory 102 / memory 202 may be a device with a storage function. For example, it may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory may exist independently and be connected to the processor through a communication line. The memory may also be integrated with the processor.

[0064] The memory 102 / memory 202 is used to store computer-executable instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 101 / processor 201. The processor 101 / processor 201 is used to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 102 / memory 202, thereby realizing the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0065] Alternatively, in the embodiment of the present application, the processor 101 / processor 201 may also perform processing-related functions in the communication method provided in the following embodiments of the present application.

[0066] The computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application program codes, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0067] It should be noted that the terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "Multiple" refers to two or more. In view of this, in the embodiments of the present application, "multiple" can also be understood as "at least two". "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / ", unless otherwise specified, generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0068] In a cell, the access network equipment and UE determine the optimal transmit and receive beams through the beam training process, so as to use the optimal transmit and receive beams to improve the transmission quality of uplink and downlink signals. During the beam training process, the access network equipment sends multiple reference signals, each of which contains up to 2 ports and uses a candidate beam for transmission. Correspondingly, for each reference signal, the UE uses a candidate beam for reception. By measuring the received power of each reference signal, the UE determines a set of optimal transmit and receive beams.

[0069] In low-frequency bands, UEs only use omnidirectional antennas for reception, so there is no need to train the UE's optimal receiving beam. However, access network equipment still uses directional beams to send and receive uplink and downlink signals. Therefore, beam training in low-frequency bands is mainly to determine the optimal transmitting beam of access network equipment.

[0070] When the UE moves, the channel quality of the beam used for uplink and downlink transmission between the access network device and the UE may deteriorate, resulting in link failure. According to the new radio (NR) protocol, in order to quickly restore available beams, the access network device will pre-configure a set of beam monitoring reference signals and a set of candidate beam identification reference signals to the UE through radio resource control (RRC) signaling, which are used to monitor beam failure events and identify candidate beams, respectively. When a beam failure event is detected, the UE actively sends a beam recovery request to the access network device. After receiving the beam recovery request, the access network device sends a beam recovery response to the UE, indicating that the beam recovery is successful.

[0071] When access network equipment adopts large-scale antenna arrays, the number of candidate beams will increase greatly. Correspondingly, the number of reference signals that need to be sent during beam training will also increase accordingly, thereby increasing the overhead of beam training. In the prior art, each candidate beam identification reference and beam monitoring reference signal corresponds to a beam. When the number of beams increases, the resource overhead of the reference signal will increase. In the low frequency band, a possible way to reduce the overhead of beam training is for the UE to measure the original channel of the antenna subarray used to construct the beam, and then multiply the original channel with the beamforming vector of each candidate beam to obtain the equivalent channel state under each candidate beam, thereby reducing the overhead of beam training. For example, the number of antennas in the antenna subarray used to construct the beam is 4, and the number of candidate beams is 8. Then, measuring the original channel of the antenna subarray used to construct the beam can reduce the overhead by 50%. However, there is currently no corresponding solution for how to reduce the overhead of the beam recovery process.

[0072] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication solution, in which a terminal device determines an optimal first beamforming vector through information of a candidate beam identification reference signal and at least one first beamforming vector configured by an access network device, thereby reducing information of the candidate beam identification reference signal that needs to be transmitted during beam recovery and reducing transmission overhead;

[0073] By determining the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal based on the information of the beam monitoring reference signal and at least one second beamforming vector, the information of the beam monitoring reference signal that needs to be transmitted during the beam recovery process can be reduced, further reducing the transmission overhead.

[0074] like Figure 3 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the method may include the following steps:

[0075] S301. The access network device sends first configuration information to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the first configuration information.

[0076] The first configuration information includes an index of a candidate beam identification reference signal. For example, the first configuration information may include an index of one or more candidate beam identification reference signals (or a group of candidate beam identification reference signals).

[0077] Exemplarily, the number of ports of the candidate beam identification reference signal is greater than 2.

[0078] Exemplarily, the access network device may carry the first configuration information via RRC signaling or the like.

[0079] S302. The UE determines information of at least one first beamforming vector.

[0080] In this embodiment, at least one first beamforming vector is used to determine a candidate beam.

[0081] In an example, information of the at least one first beamforming vector may be included in the above-mentioned first configuration information.

[0082] In another example, the information of the at least one first beamforming vector may be determined according to a predefined method. That is, when the UE leaves the factory, the information of the at least one first beamforming vector may be pre-burned into the UE; or the UE may pre-negotiate the information of the at least one first beamforming vector with the access network device. For example, the first beamforming vector is a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vector of length P, where P (or 2*P) is the number of ports of the candidate beam identification reference signal.

[0083] S303. The UE determines a beam monitoring reference signal.

[0084] In one example, the configuration information of the beam monitoring reference signal may be included in the first configuration information. For example, the first configuration information may also include an index of one or more beam monitoring reference signals (or a group of beam monitoring reference signals).

[0085] In another example, the beam monitoring reference signal may be determined in a default manner, for example, by default as a reference signal corresponding to a transmit beam of a downlink control channel.

[0086] Exemplarily, the candidate beam identification reference signal and the beam monitoring reference signal may be the same reference signal.

[0087] Exemplarily, the number of ports of the beam monitoring reference signal is greater than 2.

[0088] S304. When the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition, the UE determines the optimal first beamforming vector according to the first configuration information and information of at least one first beamforming vector.

[0089] Exemplarily, the above-mentioned first configuration information may also include information of at least one second beamforming vector, and the at least one second beamforming vector is used to determine the monitoring beam. In specific implementation, the UE may determine the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal based on the beam monitoring reference signal and the information of at least one second beamforming vector. Exemplarily, the UE may obtain the original channel state information based on the beam monitoring reference signal, and obtain the equivalent channel quality of the original channel state information after beamforming based on at least one second beamforming vector, thereby obtaining the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal. In the beam monitoring process, the required beam monitoring reference signal is reduced relative to the prior art, thereby reducing the transmission overhead of the beam monitoring reference signal.

[0090] After determining the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal, the UE determines whether the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition, for example, whether the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal is less than or equal to a set channel quality threshold.

[0091] When the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition, the optimal first beam forming vector is determined according to the first configuration information and the information of at least one first beam forming vector, so that the access network device can re-determine the optimal transmission beam. Exemplarily, the UE can obtain the original channel state information according to the candidate beam identification reference signal, obtain the equivalent channel quality of the original channel state information after beamforming according to at least one first beam forming vector, and determine the first beam forming vector with the best equivalent channel quality as the optimal first beam forming vector. In the beam recovery process, the required candidate beam identification reference signals are reduced compared with the prior art, thereby reducing the transmission overhead of the candidate beam identification reference signals.

[0092] Furthermore, the method may also include the following steps (indicated by dotted lines in the figure):

[0093] S305. The UE sends a beam restoration request to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the beam restoration request.

[0094] Since it is monitored that the current channel quality has deteriorated, the UE sends a beam recovery request to the access network device, where the beam recovery request is used to request an update of the transmission beam.

[0095] In this embodiment, the beam recovery request includes information of the optimal first beamforming vector, which is used by the access network device to determine the optimal transmission beam according to the information of the optimal first beamforming vector.

[0096] S306. The access network device sends a beam recovery response to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the beam recovery response.

[0097] After receiving the beam recovery request from the UE, the access network device determines the optimal transmit beam according to the information of the above-mentioned optimal first beamforming vector, and sends a beam recovery response to the UE to indicate that the UE beam recovery is successful.

[0098] According to a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device determines an optimal first beamforming vector through information of a candidate beam identification reference signal and at least one first beamforming vector configured by an access network device, thereby reducing information of the candidate beam identification reference signal that needs to be transmitted during beam recovery and reducing transmission overhead;

[0099] By determining the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal based on the information of the beam monitoring reference signal and at least one second beamforming vector, the information of the beam monitoring reference signal that needs to be transmitted during the beam recovery process can be reduced, further reducing the transmission overhead.

[0100] It can be understood that in the above embodiments, the methods and / or steps implemented by the terminal device can also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) that can be used for the terminal device; the methods and / or steps implemented by the access network device can also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) that can be used for the access network device.

[0101] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of interaction between various network elements. Accordingly, the embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which is used to implement the above various methods. The communication device can be a terminal device in the above method embodiment, or a component that can be used for a terminal device; or, the communication device can be an access network device in the above method embodiment, or a component that can be used for an access network device. It can be understood that in order to implement the above functions, the communication device includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present application.

[0102] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0103] Based on the same concept of the above communication method, the present application also provides the following communication device:

[0104] like Figure 4 , which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, the communication device 400 includes: a transceiver unit 41 and a processing unit 42.

[0105] In which, when the communication device 400 is used to implement the function of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, the transceiver unit 41 is used to receive first configuration information, and the first configuration information includes the index of the candidate beam identification reference signal; the processing unit 42 is used to determine the information of at least one first beam forming vector; the processing unit 42 is also used to determine the beam monitoring reference signal; and the processing unit 42 is also used to determine the optimal first beam forming vector according to the first configuration information and the information of the at least one first beam forming vector when the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition.

[0106] Optionally, the transceiver unit 41 is further used to send a beam recovery request to the access network device, wherein the beam recovery request includes information of the optimal first beamforming vector; and the transceiver unit 41 is further used to receive a beam recovery response from the access network device.

[0107] Optionally, the processing unit 42 is further used to obtain original channel state information based on the candidate beam identification reference signal; the processing unit 42 is further used to obtain equivalent channel quality of the original channel state information after beamforming based on the at least one first beamforming vector; and the processing unit 42 is further used to determine the first beamforming vector with the best equivalent channel quality as the optimal first beamforming vector.

[0108] Optionally, the number of ports of the candidate beam identification reference signal is greater than 2.

[0109] Optionally, information of the at least one first beamforming vector is included in the first configuration information; or, the at least one first beamforming vector is determined according to a predefined manner.

[0110] Optionally, the configuration information of the beam monitoring reference signal is included in the first configuration information; or, the beam monitoring reference signal is determined according to a default method.

[0111] Optionally, the candidate beam identification reference signal and the beam monitoring reference signal are the same reference signal.

[0112] Optionally, the first configuration information also includes information of at least one second beamforming vector; and the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal is determined based on the beam monitoring reference signal and the information of the at least one second beamforming vector.

[0113] Optionally, the number of ports of the beam monitoring reference signal is greater than 2.

[0114] In which, when the communication device 400 is used to implement the function of the access network device in the above method embodiment, the transceiver unit 41 is used to send first configuration information, and the first configuration information includes the index of the candidate beam identification reference signal; the transceiver unit 41 is also used to receive a beam recovery request when the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition, and the beam recovery request includes information of the optimal first beam forming vector, and the optimal first beam forming vector is determined based on the first configuration information and information of at least one first beam forming vector; and the transceiver unit 41 is also used to send a beam recovery response.

[0115] Optionally, the number of ports of the candidate beam identification reference signal is greater than 2.

[0116] Optionally, information of the at least one first beamforming vector is included in the first configuration information; or, the at least one first beamforming vector is determined according to a predefined manner.

[0117] Optionally, the configuration information of the beam monitoring reference signal is included in the first configuration information; or, the beam monitoring reference signal is determined according to a default method.

[0118] Optionally, the candidate beam identification reference signal and the beam monitoring reference signal are the same reference signal.

[0119] Optionally, the first configuration information also includes information of at least one second beamforming vector; and the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal is determined based on the beam monitoring reference signal and the information of the at least one second beamforming vector.

[0120] Optionally, the number of ports of the beam monitoring reference signal is greater than 2.

[0121] For the specific implementation of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 41 and the processing unit 42, please refer to Figure 3 Relevant description of the terminal device / access network device in the illustrated embodiment.

[0122] Figure 5 A simplified schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device is shown. For ease of understanding and illustration, Figure 5 In the example, a mobile phone is used as the terminal device. Figure 5 As shown, the terminal device includes a processor, a memory, a radio frequency circuit, an antenna, and an input-output device. The processor is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, as well as to control the terminal device, execute software programs, process software program data, etc. The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for conversion between baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing of radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used to send and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input-output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are mainly used to receive data input by users and output data to users. It should be noted that some types of terminal devices may not have input-output devices.

[0123] When data needs to be sent, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit performs RF processing on the baseband signal and then sends the RF signal outward in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal device, the RF circuit receives the RF signal through the antenna, converts the RF signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor. The processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data. For ease of explanation, Figure 5 Only one memory and processor are shown. In an actual terminal device product, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device. The memory may be set independently of the processor or may be integrated with the processor, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0124] In the embodiments of the present application, the antenna and the radio frequency circuit with transceiver functions may be regarded as the receiving unit and the sending unit of the terminal device (also collectively referred to as the transceiver unit), and the processor with processing function may be regarded as the processing unit of the terminal device. Figure 5 As shown, the terminal device includes a transceiver unit 51 and a processing unit 52. The transceiver unit 51 can also be called a receiver / transmitter (transmitter), a receiver / transmitter, a receiver / transmitter circuit, etc. The processing unit 52 can also be called a processor, a processing board, a processing module, a processing device, etc. The transceiver unit 51 is used to implement Figure 4 In the embodiment shown, the functions of the transceiver unit 41 are as follows; and the processing unit 52 is used to implement Figure 4 Functionality of processing unit 42 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0125] Figure 6 A simplified schematic diagram of the structure of an access network device is shown. The access network device includes a radio frequency signal transceiver and conversion part and part 62, and the radio frequency signal transceiver and conversion part includes a transceiver unit 61 part. The radio frequency signal transceiver and conversion part is mainly used for the transceiver of radio frequency signals and the conversion of radio frequency signals and baseband signals; part 62 is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the access network device, etc. The transceiver unit 61 can also be called a receiver / transmitter, a receiver / transmitter, a receiving / transmitting circuit, etc. Part 62 is usually the control center of the access network device, which can usually be called a processing unit, and is used to control the access network device to execute the above Figure 3 The steps performed by the access network device in the embodiment. For details, please refer to the description of the relevant parts above. The transceiver unit 61 can be used to implement Figure 4 In the embodiment shown, the functions of the transceiver unit 41 and the part 62 are used to implement Figure 4 Functionality of processing unit 42 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0126] Part 62 may include one or more boards, each of which may include one or more processors and one or more memories, and the processor is used to read and execute programs in the memory to implement baseband processing functions and control of access network equipment. If there are multiple boards, each board can be interconnected to increase processing capabilities. As an optional implementation, multiple boards may share one or more processors, or multiple boards may share one or more memories, or multiple boards may share one or more processors at the same time.

[0127] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method in the above embodiment is implemented.

[0128] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in the above embodiments.

[0129] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including the above-mentioned communication device.

[0130] It should be noted that the above units or one or more of the units can be implemented by software, hardware or a combination of the two. When any of the above units or units is implemented by software, the software exists in the form of computer program instructions and is stored in a memory, and the processor can be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flow. The processor can be built into a system on chip (SoC) or ASIC, or it can be an independent semiconductor chip. In addition to the core used to execute software instructions for calculation or processing in the processor, it can also further include necessary hardware accelerators, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), programmable logic devices (PLD), or logic circuits that implement dedicated logic operations.

[0131] When the above units or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a digital signal processing (DSP) chip, a microcontroller unit (MCU), an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, a SoC, an FPGA, a PLD, a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator or a non-integrated discrete device, which can run the necessary software or not rely on the software to execute the above method flow.

[0132] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, including: at least one processor and an interface, the at least one processor is coupled to a memory via the interface, and when the at least one processor runs a computer program or instruction in the memory, the chip system executes a method in any of the above method embodiments. Optionally, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0133] It should be understood that in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; wherein A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" refers to two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, wherein a, b, c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art can understand that the words "first", "second", etc. do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words "first", "second", etc. do not limit them to be necessarily different. Meanwhile, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete manner for ease of understanding.

[0134] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or may contain one or more servers, data centers and other data storage devices that can be integrated with the medium. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0135] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art may understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments by viewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "one" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit may implement several functions listed in a claim. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receiving first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information includes an index of a candidate beam identification reference signal; determining information of at least one first beamforming vector; determining a beam monitoring reference signal; When the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition, an optimal first beamforming vector is determined according to the first configuration information and information of the at least one first beamforming vector.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a beam restoration request to an access network device, where the beam restoration request includes information about the optimal first beamforming vector; A beam recovery response is received from the access network device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that Determining information of an optimal first beamforming vector according to the first configuration information and information of the at least one first beamforming vector includes: Obtaining original channel state information according to the candidate beam identification reference signal; Obtaining, according to the at least one first beamforming vector, equivalent channel qualities of the original channel state information after beamforming; The first beamforming vector with the best equivalent channel quality is determined as the optimal first beamforming vector.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The number of ports of the candidate beam identification reference signal is greater than 2.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The information of the at least one first beamforming vector is included in the first configuration information; or, The at least one first beamforming vector is determined according to a predefined manner.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The configuration information of the beam monitoring reference signal is included in the first configuration information; or, The beam monitoring reference signal is determined according to a default method.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The candidate beam identification reference signal and the beam monitoring reference signal are the same reference signal.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The first configuration information further includes information of at least one second beamforming vector; The channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal is determined according to information of the beam monitoring reference signal and the at least one second beamforming vector.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The number of ports of the beam monitoring reference signal is greater than 2.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information includes an index of a candidate beam identification reference signal; When the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition, receiving a beam recovery request, the beam recovery request including information of an optimal first beamforming vector, the optimal first beamforming vector being determined according to the first configuration information and information of at least one first beamforming vector; Send beam recovery response.

11. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: a transceiver unit and a processing unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is configured to receive first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes an index of a candidate beam identification reference signal; The processing unit is configured to determine information of at least one first beamforming vector; The processing unit is further used to determine a beam monitoring reference signal; The processing unit is further configured to determine an optimal first beamforming vector according to the first configuration information and information of the at least one first beamforming vector when the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition.

12. The device according to claim 11, characterized in that The transceiver unit is further configured to send a beam restoration request to the access network device, wherein the beam restoration request includes information of the optimal first beamforming vector; The transceiver unit is also used to receive a beam recovery response from the access network device.

13. The device according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that The processing unit is further configured to obtain original channel state information according to the candidate beam identification reference signal; The processing unit is further configured to obtain, according to the at least one first beamforming vector, the equivalent channel quality of the original channel state information after beamforming; The processing unit is further configured to determine the first beamforming vector with the best equivalent channel quality as the optimal first beamforming vector.

14. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: a transceiver unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is configured to send first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes an index of a candidate beam identification reference signal; The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a beam recovery request when the channel quality corresponding to the beam monitoring reference signal meets the beam failure condition, wherein the beam recovery request includes information of an optimal first beamforming vector, and the optimal first beamforming vector is determined according to the first configuration information and information of at least one first beamforming vector; The transceiver unit is also used to send a beam recovery response.

15. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 when executing the computer program.

16. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

17. A chip module, characterized in that: The invention comprises an interface component and a chip, wherein the chip is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction. When the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is implemented.

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