Communication method and communication device

Abstract

A communication method and a communication device, the method being applied to a terminal device, the method comprising: sending first information to a network device, the first information being used for indicating a surface area or volume of a first transmit-receive chain supported by the terminal device; and processing a signal from a second transmit-receive chain or outputting a signal to the second transmit-receive chain, wherein the second transmit-receive chain is a part of or the whole transmit-receive chain of the first transmit-receive chain. According to the scheme, the signal transmission rate between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be improved, and the signal receiving success rate can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of communication systems, the types of terminal devices are becoming more and more diverse. Different types of terminal devices carry different communication capabilities, which will affect the signal transmission rate and correct reception of signals between terminal devices and network devices. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can improve the transmission rate of signals between terminal equipment and network equipment and enhance the success rate of signal reception.

[0004] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, and the execution subject of the method may be a terminal device or a chip used in the terminal device. The following description is taken as an example that the execution subject is a terminal device. The terminal device sends first information to a network device, and the first information is used to indicate the surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device; the terminal device processes a signal from a second transceiver chain or outputs a signal to the second transceiver chain, and the second transceiver chain is part or all of the first transceiver chain.

[0005] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device sends first information to the network device for indicating the surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device, which is beneficial for the network device to determine the communication method with the terminal device based on the first information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication method. In particular, for the terminal device whose channel number is the channel number corresponding to the first communication method, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication method determined by the first information, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the terminal device whose channel number is the channel number corresponding to the second communication method, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication method determined by the first information, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the terminal device and the network device.

[0006] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information includes a first index, and the first index corresponds to a surface area or a volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0007] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device indicates the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain through the first index included in the first information. The first index occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0008] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information indicates a level of a surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0009] In the embodiment of the present application, the first information indicates the level of the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain. The level of the surface area or volume occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information is carried in any one of the following information: user assistance information UAI, media access control MAC control element CE, or uplink control information UCI.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the terminal device sends second information to the network device, where the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device.

[0012] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also send second information to the network device for indicating the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device, which is beneficial for the network device to determine the communication method with the terminal device according to the second information and the first information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication method. In particular, for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication method, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication method determined by the first information and the second information, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication method, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication method determined by the first information and the second information, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the terminal device and the network device.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information includes a second index, and the second index corresponds to the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device indicates the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups through the second index included in the second information. The second index occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information indicates a level of the number of first physical antennas or a level of the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present application, the second information indicates the level of the number of first physical antennas or the level of the number of first physical antenna groups. The level of the number of first physical antennas or the level of the number of first physical antenna groups occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information is carried in any one of the following information: UAI, MAC CE, or UCI.

[0018] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, and the execution subject of the method can be a terminal device or a chip used in the terminal device. The following description is taken as an example that the execution subject is a terminal device. The terminal device sends second information to the network device, and the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device; the terminal device processes the signal from the second physical antenna or the second physical antenna group, or outputs a signal to the second physical antenna or the second physical antenna group, the second physical antenna is part or all of the physical antennas of the first physical antenna, and the second physical antenna group is part or all of the physical antenna groups of the first physical antenna group.

[0019] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device sends the second information indicating the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device to the network device, which is conducive to the network device determining the communication mode with the terminal device according to the second information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode. In particular, for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode determined by the second information, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the terminal device and the network device.

[0020] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information includes a second index, and the second index corresponds to the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0021] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device indicates the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups through the second index included in the second information. The second index occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0022] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information indicates a level of the number of first physical antennas or a level of the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0023] In an embodiment of the present application, the second information indicates the level of the number of first physical antennas or the level of the number of first physical antenna groups. The level of the number of first physical antennas or the level of the number of first physical antenna groups occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0024] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information is carried in any one of the following information: user assistance information UAI, media access control MAC control element CE, or uplink control information UCI.

[0025] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the terminal device sends first information to the network device, where the first information is used to indicate a surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device.

[0026] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also send to the network device first information indicating the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device, which is beneficial for the network device to determine the communication method with the terminal device according to the second information and the first information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication method. In particular, for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication method, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication method determined by the second information and the first information, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication method, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication method determined by the second information and the first information, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the terminal device and the network device.

[0027] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information includes a first index, and the first index corresponds to a surface area or a volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device indicates the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain through the first index included in the first information. The first index occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0029] In conjunction with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information indicates a level of a surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0030] In the embodiment of the present application, the first information indicates the level of the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain. The level of the surface area or volume occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0031] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information is carried in any one of the following information: UAI, MAC CE, or UCI.

[0032] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, wherein the execution subject of the method may be a network device, a chip applied in the network device, or a logical node, a logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the network device. The following description is made by taking the execution subject as an example. The network device receives first information from a terminal device, and the first information is used to indicate the surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device; the network device determines a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device based on the first information, and the communication mode includes a first communication mode and a second communication mode, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode.

[0033] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device receives the first information from the terminal device, and determines the communication mode with the terminal device according to the first information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode determined by the first information, which is conducive to improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode determined by the first information, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0034] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation, determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information includes: determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to a relationship between a parameter included in the first information and a threshold.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device determines the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device based on the relationship between the parameters included in the first information and the threshold, which can improve the accuracy of the network device in determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device.

[0036] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first information includes the surface area of ​​a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device, and the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined based on the relationship between the parameters included in the first information and the threshold, including: if the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or, if the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is greater than or equal to the first threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode.

[0037] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain included in the first information and the first threshold value, that is, if the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; if the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is greater than or equal to the first threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode. Thus, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode. In particular, for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which is conducive to improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode to reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0038] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first information includes the volume of the first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device, and the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined according to the relationship between the parameters included in the first information and the threshold, including: if the volume of the first transceiver chain is less than the second threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or, if the volume of the first transceiver chain is greater than or equal to the second threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode.

[0039] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the relationship between the volume of the first transceiver chain included in the first information and the second threshold value, that is, if the volume of the first transceiver chain is less than the second threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; if the volume of the first transceiver chain is greater than or equal to the second threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode. Thus, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode. In particular, for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which is conducive to improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode to reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0040] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information includes a first index, and the first index corresponds to a surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0041] In conjunction with the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information indicates a level of a surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0042] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information is carried in any one of the following information: user assistance information UAI, media access control element MAC CE, and uplink control information UCI.

[0043] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation, the communication method also includes: the network device receives second information from the terminal device, the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device; the network device determines the communication method between the network device and the terminal device based on the first information, including: determining the communication method between the network device and the terminal device based on the first information and the second information.

[0044] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the second information and the first information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode. In particular, for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which is conducive to improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0045] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first information indicates the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain, the second information indicates the number of first physical antennas, and the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined based on the first information and the second information, including: if any of the following conditions is met, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; or, if the following conditions are not met, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode; the conditions include: the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, and the number of the first physical antennas is less than the third threshold; the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, or the number of the first physical antennas is less than the third threshold.

[0046] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information includes a second index, and the second index corresponds to the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0047] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information indicates a level of the number of first physical antennas or a level of the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0048] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information is carried in any one of the following information: UAI, MAC CE, and UCI.

[0049] The beneficial effects not described in the third aspect can refer to the relevant beneficial effects in the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0050] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, wherein the execution subject of the method may be a network device, a chip applied in the network device, or a logical node, a logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the network device. The following description is made by taking the execution subject as an example. The network device receives second information from a terminal device, and the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device; the network device determines a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device based on the second information, and the communication mode includes a first communication mode and a second communication mode, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode.

[0051] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device receives the second information from the terminal device, and determines the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the second information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode. In particular, for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which is conducive to improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0052] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the second information includes: determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to a relationship between a parameter included in the second information and a threshold.

[0053] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device determines the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device based on the relationship between the parameters included in the second information and the threshold, which can improve the accuracy of the network device in determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device.

[0054] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation method, the second information includes the number of first physical antennas supported by the terminal device, and the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined based on the relationship between the parameters included in the second information and the threshold, including: if the number of first physical antennas is less than a third threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or, if the number of first physical antennas is greater than or equal to the third threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode.

[0055] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the number of the first physical antennas included in the second information and the third threshold value, that is, if the number of the first physical antennas is less than the third threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; if the number of the first physical antennas is greater than or equal to the third threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode. Thus, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode. In particular, for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which is conducive to improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode to reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0056] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first information includes the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device, and the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined according to the relationship between the parameters included in the second information and the threshold, including: if the number of first physical antenna groups is less than a fourth threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or, if the number of first physical antenna groups is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode.

[0057] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the number of the first physical antenna group included in the second information and the fourth threshold value, that is, if the number of the first physical antenna group is less than the fourth threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; if the number of the first physical antenna group is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode. Thus, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which is conducive to improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0058] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information includes a second index, and the second index corresponds to the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0059] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information indicates a level of the number of first physical antennas or a level of the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0060] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information is carried in any one of the following information: user assistance information UAI, media access control element MAC CE, and uplink control information UCI.

[0061] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the communication method also includes: the network device receives first information from the terminal device, the first information is used to indicate the surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device; the network device determines the communication method between the network device and the terminal device based on the second information, including: determining the communication method between the network device and the terminal device based on the first information and the second information.

[0062] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the second information and the first information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which is conducive to improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, in the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0063] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first information indicates the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain, the second information indicates the number of first physical antennas, and the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined based on the first information and the second information, including: if any of the following conditions is met, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; or, if the following conditions are not met, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode; the conditions include: the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, and the number of the first physical antennas is less than the third threshold; the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, or the number of the first physical antennas is less than the third threshold.

[0064] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information includes a first index, and the first index corresponds to a surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0065] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first information indicates a level of a surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0066] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second information is carried in any one of the following information: UAI, MAC CE, and UCI.

[0067] The beneficial effects not described in the fourth aspect can refer to the relevant beneficial effects in the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0068] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, and the communication device is a terminal device or a chip of a terminal device. The beneficial effects can be referred to the description of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here. The communication device has the function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the first aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware, or the corresponding software can be implemented by hardware. The hardware includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. In one possible design, the communication device includes: an interface module for sending first information to a network device, and the first information is used to indicate the surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device; a processing module for processing a signal from a second transceiver chain, and the second transceiver chain is part or all of the first transceiver chain; or, the interface module is also used to output a signal to the second transceiver chain, and the second transceiver chain is part or all of the first transceiver chain. These modules can perform the corresponding functions in the method example of the first aspect above, and refer to the detailed description in the method example for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0069] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, the communication device is a terminal device or a chip of a terminal device, and the beneficial effects can be referred to the description of the second aspect and will not be repeated here. The communication device has the function of implementing the behavior in the method example of the second aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware, or it can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. In one possible design, the communication device includes: an interface module for sending second information to a network device, the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device; a processing module for processing a signal from a second physical antenna or a second physical antenna group, the second physical antenna is part or all of the physical antennas of the first physical antenna, and the second physical antenna group is part or all of the physical antenna groups of the first physical antenna group; or, the interface module is also used to output a signal to the second physical antenna or the second physical antenna group, the second physical antenna is part or all of the physical antennas of the first physical antenna, and the second physical antenna group is part or all of the physical antenna groups of the first physical antenna group. These modules can perform the corresponding functions in the method example of the second aspect above, and refer to the detailed description in the method example for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0070] In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which is a network device or a chip of a network device, and can also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the network device. The beneficial effects can be referred to the description of the third aspect and will not be repeated here. The communication device has the function of realizing the behavior in the method example of the third aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing the corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. In one possible design, the communication device includes: an interface module for receiving first information from a terminal device, the first information is used to indicate the surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device; a processing module for determining a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information, the communication mode includes a first communication mode and a second communication mode, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode. These modules can perform the corresponding functions in the method example of the third aspect above, and refer to the detailed description in the method example for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0071] In the eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which is a network device or a chip of a network device, and can also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the network device. The beneficial effects can be referred to the description of the fourth aspect and will not be repeated here. The communication device has the function of realizing the behavior in the method example of the fourth aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware, or it can be implemented by hardware executing the corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. In one possible design, the communication device includes: an interface module for receiving second information from a terminal device, the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device; a processing module for determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the second information, the communication mode includes a first communication mode and a second communication mode, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode. These modules can perform the corresponding functions in the method example of the fourth aspect above, and refer to the detailed description in the method example for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0072] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal device in the above method embodiment, or a chip in the terminal device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program or instruction, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor executes the computer program or instruction, the communication device executes the method executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0073] In the tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a network device in the above method embodiment, or a chip in the network device, or a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor executes the computer program or instruction, the communication device executes the method executed by the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0074] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising: a computer program code, when the computer program code is run, the method performed by the terminal device in the above aspects is executed.

[0075] In a twelfth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising: a computer program code, when the computer program code is run, the method performed by the network device in the above aspects is executed.

[0076] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor for implementing the functions of the terminal device in the above-mentioned methods. In a possible design, the chip system also includes a memory for storing program instructions and / or data. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0077] Optionally, the discrete device may be an interface or an interface circuit.

[0078] Optionally, the processor may also be a processing circuit.

[0079] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor for implementing the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned methods. In a possible design, the chip system also includes a memory for storing program instructions and / or data. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0080] Optionally, the discrete device may be an interface or an interface circuit.

[0081] Optionally, the processor may also be a processing circuit.

[0082] In a fifteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed, the method performed by the terminal device in the above aspects is implemented.

[0083] In a sixteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed, the method performed by the network device in the above aspects is implemented.

[0084] In the seventeenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a device having a method for implementing the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation method of the first to fourth aspects, or all possible implementation methods of the first to fourth aspects and various possible designed functions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0085] Figure 1 A possible, non-limiting system schematic is shown.

[0086] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the architecture of the cloud VR / AR communication network.

[0087] Figure 3-Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0088] Figure 6-Figure 7 A schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0089] The technical solution in this application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0090] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system or new radio (NR) communication system and future mobile communication systems, etc.

[0091] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a possible, non-limiting system. Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g. Figure 1 110a and 110b, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (such as Figure 1RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment ( Figure 1 The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 in a wireless manner. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be different physical devices, or may be the same physical device that integrates the core network logical function and the radio access network logical function.

[0092] RAN 100 may be a cellular system related to the third generation partnership project (3GPP), for example, a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or a future evolution system (for example, a 6G mobile communication system). RAN 100 may also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, WiFi) system. RAN 100 may also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0093] The RAN node 110, which may also be sometimes referred to as an access network device, RAN entity, access node or network device, etc., constitutes a part of the communication system to help the terminal achieve wireless access. The multiple RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 10 may be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN node 110 and the terminal 120 are relative, for example, Figure 1 The network element 120i may be a helicopter or a drone, which may be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminals 120j that access the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. The RAN node 110 and the terminal 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices, for example Figure 1 The network elements 110a and 110b may be understood as communication devices having base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j may be understood as communication devices having terminal functions.

[0094] In one possible scenario, a RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. A RAN node may be a macro base station (e.g. Figure 1 110a in), micro base stations or indoor stations (such as Figure 1 110b in the present application), a relay node or a donor node (also called a host node), or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in the present application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The RAN node in the present application may also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

[0095] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0096] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are described as examples in this application. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0097] As mentioned above, RAN nodes may sometimes also be referred to as network devices. Unless otherwise specified in this application, network devices are used to represent the network devices.

[0098] The terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely used in various scenarios, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0099] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the 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 browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be a terminal device, or a functional module in the terminal device that can call and execute a program.

[0100] In addition, various aspects or features of the present application can be implemented as methods, devices, or products using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "product" used in this application covers computer programs that can be accessed from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, or tapes, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.).

[0101] In addition, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable storage media for storing information. The term "machine-readable storage medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0102] It should be understood that the methods, situations, categories and divisions of the embodiments in the present application are only for the convenience of description and should not constitute special limitations. The features of various methods, categories, situations and embodiments can be combined without contradiction.

[0103] It should also be understood that the “first”, “second” and “third” in the embodiments of the present application are only for distinction and should not constitute any limitation to the present application.

[0104] It should be noted that "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0105] With the continuous development of communication systems, the types of terminal devices are becoming more and more diverse, such as extended reality (XR) glasses, where XR includes VR and AR.

[0106] At present, VR technology, as a kind of XR, has entered various fields closely related to people's production and life. Compared with traditional video services, VR has the advantages of multiple perspectives and strong interactivity, providing users with a new visual experience. VR combines a variety of technologies such as computer graphics and multimedia to simulate the functions of human visual, auditory, tactile and other sensory organs, making people feel as if they are in the virtual world generated by the computer, and can communicate in real time through language, gestures, etc., to enhance the sense of immersion. Through VR technology, people can feel the real world realistically while breaking through the limitations of time and space and feel the wonderful experience of entering the virtual world. AR uses computer technology to superimpose virtual information on the real world, and displays it through mobile phones, tablets, glasses and other devices, so that people can perceive it, thereby realizing the great integration of reality and virtuality and enriching the real world. In short, it is to give more information to physical objects, enhance the three-dimensional sense, and enhance the visual effect and interactive experience.

[0107] Cloud virtual reality and cloud augmented reality introduce the concepts and technologies of cloud computing and cloud rendering into VR / AR business applications. With the help of high-speed and stable networks, the display output and sound output of the cloud are encoded and compressed and transmitted to the UE, realizing the cloud-based VR / AR business content and rendering. VR / AR terminal devices can also meet the requirements of lightweight and mobility. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the cloud VR / AR communication network. VR / AR terminal devices are connected to the network through base stations or other access points to obtain VR / AR services from the cloud.

[0108] As mentioned above, the types of terminal devices are becoming more and more diverse, and different types of terminal devices carry different communication capabilities, which will affect the rate of signal transmission between the terminal devices and network devices and the correct reception of signals.

[0109] It should be noted that this application uses network devices and terminal devices as examples of the execution subjects of the interactive illustration to illustrate the method provided by this application, but this application does not limit the execution subjects of the interactive illustration. For example, the method executed by the network device can also be executed by a module of the network device (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor), and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the network device. The method executed by the terminal device can also be executed by a module of the terminal device (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor), and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device functions.

[0110] like Figure 3 As shown, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method 300, which is applied to a terminal device and a network device. The communication method 300 includes steps 310-350.

[0111] 310. The terminal device sends first information to the network device, where the first information is used to indicate a surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device.

[0112] In the embodiment of the present application, the number of transceiver chains supported by the terminal device may be one or more. If the number of transceiver chains supported by the terminal device is one, the surface area or volume of the one transceiver chain supported by the terminal device is the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain in the embodiment of the present application; if the number of transceiver chains supported by the terminal device is multiple, the sum of the surface areas or the sum of the volumes of the multiple transceiver chains supported by the terminal device is the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain in the embodiment of the present application.

[0113] 320. The network device receives first information.

[0114] 330. The network device determines a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information. The communication mode includes a first communication mode and a second communication mode. The number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode.

[0115] 340. The network device transmits a signal to the terminal device through the second transceiver chain based on the determined communication mode.

[0116] In an embodiment of the present application, after the network device receives the first information sent by the terminal device, it can determine the communication method with the terminal device based on the first information. For example, if the network device determines that the communication method with the terminal device is the first communication method based on the first information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication method; if the network device determines that the communication method with the terminal device is the second communication method based on the first information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the second communication method.

[0117] Exemplarily, the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is set to 2RX, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is set to 4RX. If the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the communication mode corresponding to 2RX according to the first information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the communication mode of 2RX; if the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the communication mode corresponding to 4RX according to the first information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the communication mode of 4RX; thereby, the transmission rate of the signal between the terminal device and the network device and the success rate of signal reception can be improved. This is because if the terminal device does not report the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain supported by itself to the network device, the network device is not sure about the communication mode with the terminal device, and it may communicate with it in the communication mode of 4RX or in the communication mode of 2RX. For a terminal device with a channel number of 2RX, if the network device communicates with it in the communication mode of 4RX, the terminal device cannot correctly receive the transmitted signal; for a terminal device with a channel number of 4RX, if the network device communicates with it in the communication mode of 2RX, the signal transmission rate is reduced.

[0118] In addition, the terminal device reporting the first information to the network device can also reduce the processing complexity of the network device. This is because if the terminal device does not report the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain supported by itself to the network device, the network device is not sure about the communication method with the terminal device, and may communicate with it in a 4RX communication method or a 2RX communication method. For a terminal device with 2RX channels, if the network device communicates with it in a 4RX communication method, the processing complexity of the network device increases.

[0119] 350. The terminal device processes a signal from a second transceiver chain or outputs a signal to the second transceiver chain, where the second transceiver chain is part or all of the first transceiver chain.

[0120] The second transceiver chain in the embodiment of the present application is part or all of the first transceiver chain, that is, the terminal device can output signals through part of the first transceiver chain, or through all of the first transceiver chain; or, the terminal device can process signals from part of the first transceiver chain, or from all of the first transceiver chain.

[0121] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may process the signal from the second transceiver chain by: power amplification, digital frequency conversion, analog frequency conversion, demodulation, decoding, etc.

[0122] In the embodiment of the present application, the first transceiver chain or the second transceiver chain belongs to the transceiver chain, and the transceiver chain includes three parts: antenna, connection line, and radio frequency integrated circuit. Taking a mobile phone as an example, a mobile phone generally has multiple groups of antennas, such as 3 groups of antennas. Among them, the first group of antennas is responsible for receiving signals less than or equal to the 1GHz frequency band; the second group of antennas is responsible for receiving signals in the 2-3GHz or 1.5-3GHz frequency band; the third group of antennas is responsible for receiving signals greater than or equal to the 3GHz frequency band.

[0123] Table 1 shows the relationship between some bands and specific frequency ranges. Referring to Table 1, it can be seen that each group of antennas can span multiple frequency bands. For example, the third group of antennas spans four frequency bands: n48, n77, n78, and n79. The coverage width of each band is also different. For example, the n7 band is 70MHz; the n77 band is 900MHz.

[0124] Table 1

[0125] NR Band Uplink Downlink duplex n7 2500MHz–2570MHz 2620MHz–2690MHz FDD n38 2500MHz–2570MHz 2620MHz–2690MHz FDD n41 2496MHz–2690MHz 2496MHz–2690MHz TDD n48 3550MHz–3700MHz 3550MHz–3700MHz TDD n77 3300MHz–4200MHz 3300MHz–4200MHz TDD n78 3300MHz–3800MHz 3300MHz–3800MHz TDD n79 4400MHz–5000MHz 4400MHz–5000MHz TDD n104 6425MHz–7125MHz 6425MHz–7125MHz TDD

[0126] In the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, since the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application sends the first information indicating the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device to the network device, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the first information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode. In particular, for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can also reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0127] In one embodiment, the first information includes a first index, and the first index corresponds to a surface area or a volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0128] In the embodiment of the present application, the first index corresponds to the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain. It can be understood that the first index corresponds to a specific value of the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain, or the first index corresponds to a range of the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0129] For example, the first index includes values ​​0, 1, 2, ..., where the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "0" is 0.3 mm 2 , volume is 0.3mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "1" is 0.6mm 2 , volume is 0.6mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "2" is 0.9mm 2 , volume is 0.9mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "3" is 1.2mm 2 , volume is 1.2mm 3 .

[0130] Alternatively, the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "0" ranges from 0 to 0.3 mm 2 , the volume range is 0~0.3mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "1" ranges from 0.3 to 0.6 mm 2 , the volume range is 0.3~0.6mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "2" ranges from 0.6 to 0.9 mm 2 , the volume range is 0.3~0.9mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "3" ranges from 0.9 to 1.2 mm 2 , the volume range is 0.9~1.2mm 3 wait.

[0131] For another example, the first index includes binary "0000", "0001", "0010", "0011", etc., wherein the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to the index "0000" is 0.3 mm 2 , volume is 0.3mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "0001" is 0.6mm 2 , volume is 0.6mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "0010" is 0.9mm 2 , volume is 0.9mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "0011" is 1.2mm 2 , volume is 1.2mm 3 .

[0132] Alternatively, the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to the index "0000" ranges from 0 to 0.3 mm 2 , the volume range is 0~0.3mm 3; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "0001" ranges from 0.3 to 0.6 mm 2 , the volume range is 0.3~0.6mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "0010" ranges from 0.6 to 0.9 mm 2 , the volume range is 0.3~0.9mm 3 ; The surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain corresponding to index "0011" ranges from 0.9 to 1.2 mm 2 , the volume range is 0.9~1.2mm 3 wait.

[0133] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device indicates the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain through the first index included in the first information. The first index occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0134] In one embodiment, the first information indicates a level of surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0135] In the embodiment of the present application, the first information varies with the level of the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0136] For example, the surface area of ​​the transceiver chain is divided into a low level and a high level, and the first information may indicate that the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is a low level, or that the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is a high level. The volume of the transceiver chain is divided into a low level and a high level, and the first information may indicate that the volume of the first transceiver chain is a low level, or that the volume of the first transceiver chain is a high level.

[0137] For another example, the surface area of ​​the transceiver chain is divided into low level, medium level and high level, and the first information may indicate that the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is low level, or indicates that the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is medium level, or indicates that the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is high level. The volume of the transceiver chain is divided into low level and high level, and the first information may indicate that the volume of the first transceiver chain is low level, or indicates that the volume of the first transceiver chain is medium level, or indicates that the volume of the first transceiver chain is high level.

[0138] In the embodiment of the present application, the first information indicates the level of the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain. The level of the surface area or volume occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0139] In one embodiment, the first information is carried in any one of the following information: user assistance information (UAI), medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and uplink control information (UCI).

[0140] The above step 330 points out that the network device determines the communication method between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information. Please refer to the following for details.

[0141] In one embodiment, determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information includes: determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to a relationship between a parameter included in the first information and a threshold.

[0142] The parameter in the embodiment of the present application is the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device. In other words, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the relationship between the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain and the threshold, or the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the volume of the first transceiver chain. The specific determination method will be described below according to different situations.

[0143] Case 1:

[0144] In one embodiment, the first information includes a surface area of ​​a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device, and determining a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to a relationship between a parameter included in the first information and a threshold value includes:

[0145] If the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or,

[0146] If the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is greater than or equal to the first threshold, it is determined that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode.

[0147] In the embodiment of the present application, taking the communication mode corresponding to 2RX as the first communication mode and the communication mode corresponding to 4RX as the second communication mode as an example, assuming that the first threshold is 0.5 mm 2 , if the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is 0.3mm 2 , which is less than the first threshold, the network device may consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 2RX, and the network device may communicate with the terminal device in a 2RX manner; if the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is 0.8mm 2, is greater than the first threshold, the network device may consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 4RX, and the network device may communicate with the terminal device in a 4RX manner.

[0148] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain included in the first information and the first threshold value, that is, if the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; if the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is greater than or equal to the first threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode. Thus, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0149] Case 2:

[0150] The first information includes a volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device, and determining a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to a relationship between a parameter included in the first information and a threshold value includes:

[0151] If the volume of the first transceiver chain is less than the second threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or,

[0152] If the volume of the first transceiver chain is greater than or equal to the second threshold, it is determined that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode.

[0153] In the embodiment of the present application, taking the communication mode corresponding to 2RX as the first communication mode and the communication mode corresponding to 4RX as the second communication mode as an example, assuming that the second threshold is 0.5 mm 3 , if the volume of the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is 0.3mm 3 , is less than the second threshold, the network device may consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 2RX, and the network device may communicate with the terminal device in a 2RX manner; if the volume of the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is 0.8mm 3, is greater than the first threshold, the network device may consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 4RX, and the network device may communicate with the terminal device in a 4RX manner.

[0154] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the relationship between the volume of the first transceiver chain included in the first information and the second threshold value, that is, if the volume of the first transceiver chain is less than the second threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; if the volume of the first transceiver chain is greater than or equal to the second threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode. Thus, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode to reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0155] Optionally, in some embodiments, the communication method 300 further includes: the terminal device sends second information to the network device, the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device. Accordingly, for the network device side, the second information is received from the terminal device, the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device. Determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information includes: determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information and the second information.

[0156] In the embodiment of the present application, a physical antenna group includes multiple physical antennas. The antenna group can send and receive signals on the corresponding frequency band, and one antenna group can support multiple bands.

[0157] In an embodiment of the present application, in some implementations, the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas supported by the terminal device, the number of first physical antennas supported by the terminal device is the actual number of antennas supported by the terminal device, and the first physical antenna is an antenna in the first transceiver chain.

[0158] In some other implementations, the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device, and the first physical antenna group may include multiple physical antennas, the number of the multiple physical antennas is the actual number of antennas supported by the terminal device, and the multiple physical antennas are antennas in the first transceiver chain.

[0159] In an embodiment of the present application, after the network device receives the second information sent by the terminal device, it can determine the communication method with the terminal device based on the second information and the first information. For example, if the network device determines that the communication method with the terminal device is the first communication method based on the second information and the first information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication method; if the network device determines that the communication method with the terminal device is the second communication method based on the second information and the first information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the second communication method.

[0160] Exemplarily, the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is set to 2RX, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is set to 4RX. If the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the communication mode corresponding to 2RX according to the second information and the first information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the communication mode of 2RX; if the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the communication mode corresponding to 4RX according to the second information and the first information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the communication mode of 4RX; thereby, the transmission rate of the signal between the terminal device and the network device and the success rate of signal reception can be improved. This is because, if the terminal device does not report its own surface area or volume indicating the first transceiver chain it supports to the network device, the network device is not sure about the communication mode with the terminal device, and may communicate with it in the communication mode of 4RX or in the communication mode of 2RX. For a terminal device with a channel number of 2RX, if the network device communicates with it in the communication mode of 4RX, the terminal device cannot correctly receive the transmitted signal; for a terminal device with a channel number of 4RX, if the network device communicates with it in the communication mode of 2RX, the signal transmission rate is reduced.

[0161] Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the second information and the first information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0162] In one embodiment, the second information includes a second index, and the second index corresponds to the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0163] In the embodiment of the present application, the second index corresponds to the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups. It can be understood that the second index corresponds to a specific value of the number of first physical antennas or the first physical antenna group, or the second index corresponds to a range of the number of first physical antennas or the first physical antenna group.

[0164] For example, the second index includes numerical values ​​0, 1, 2, ..., where the number of first physical antennas corresponding to index "0" is 1, and the number of first physical antenna groups is 1; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to index "1" is 2, and the number of first physical antenna groups is 2; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to index "2" is 3, and the number of first physical antenna groups is 3; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to index "3" is 4, and the number of first physical antenna groups is 4; and so on.

[0165] Alternatively, the number of first physical antennas corresponding to index "0" ranges from 1 to 2, and the number of first physical antenna groups ranges from 1 to 2; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to index "1" ranges from 2 to 4, and the number of first physical antenna groups ranges from 2 to 4; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to index "2" ranges from 4 to 6, and the number of first physical antenna groups ranges from 4 to 6; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to index "3" ranges from 6 to 8, and the number of first physical antenna groups ranges from 6 to 8; and so on.

[0166] For another example, the second index includes binary "0000", "0001", "0010", "0011"..., where the number of first physical antennas corresponding to the index "0000" is 1, and the number of first physical antenna groups is 1; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to the index "0001" is 2, and the number of first physical antenna groups is 2; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to the index "0010" is 3, and the number of first physical antenna groups is 3; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to the index "0011" is 4, and the number of first physical antenna groups is 4; and so on.

[0167] Alternatively, the number of first physical antennas corresponding to the index "0000" ranges from 1 to 2, and the number of first physical antenna groups ranges from 1 to 2; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to the index "0001" ranges from 2 to 4, and the number of first physical antenna groups ranges from 2 to 4; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to the index "0010" ranges from 4 to 6, and the number of first physical antenna groups ranges from 4 to 6; the number of first physical antennas corresponding to the index "0011" ranges from 6 to 8, and the number of first physical antenna groups ranges from 6 to 8; and so on.

[0168] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device indicates the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups through the second index included in the second information. The second index occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0169] In one embodiment, the second information indicates a level of the number of first physical antennas or a level of the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0170] In the embodiment of the present application, the second information varies depending on the level of the number of first physical antennas or the level of the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0171] For example, the number of physical antennas is divided into a low level and a high level, and the second information may indicate that the number of the first physical antenna is a low level, or indicate that the number of the first physical antenna is a high level. The number of physical antenna groups is divided into a low level and a high level, and the second information may indicate that the number of the first physical antenna group is a low level, or indicate that the number of the first physical antenna group is a high level.

[0172] For another example, the number of physical antennas is divided into a low level, a medium level, and a high level, and the second information may indicate that the number of the first physical antenna is a low level, or indicates that the number of the first physical antenna is a medium level, or indicates that the number of the first physical antenna is a high level. The number of physical antenna groups is divided into a low level, a medium level, and a high level, and the second information may indicate that the number of the first physical antenna group is a low level, or indicates that the number of the first physical antenna group is a medium level, or indicates that the number of the first physical antenna group is a high level.

[0173] In an embodiment of the present application, the second information indicates the level of the number of first physical antennas or the level of the number of first physical antenna groups. The level of the number of first physical antennas or the level of the number of first physical antenna groups occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0174] In one embodiment, the second information is carried in any one of the following information: UAI, MAC CE, UCI.

[0175] As mentioned above, the network device can determine the communication method with the terminal device based on the first information and the second information. Please see below for details.

[0176] In one embodiment, the first information indicates a surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain, the second information indicates the number of first physical antennas, and determining a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information and the second information includes:

[0177] If any of the following conditions is met, it is determined that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or,

[0178] If the following conditions are not met, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode;

[0179] The conditions include: the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, and the number of first physical antennas is less than the third threshold; the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, or the number of first physical antennas is less than the third threshold.

[0180] In the embodiment of the present application, taking the communication mode corresponding to 2RX as the first communication mode and the communication mode corresponding to 4RX as the second communication mode as an example, assuming that the first threshold is 0.5 mm 2 , the third threshold is 4 as an example.

[0181] In one implementation, the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain and the number of the first physical antennas must be smaller than the corresponding thresholds. If the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is 0.3 mm 2 , the number of the first physical antennas is 2. Since the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is less than the first threshold, and the number of the first physical antennas is less than the third threshold, the network device can consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 2RX, and the network device can communicate with the terminal device in a 2RX manner. If the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is 0.3mm 2 , the number of the first physical antennas is 6. Since the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is less than the first threshold, and the number of the first physical antennas is greater than the third threshold, the network device can consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 4RX, and the network device can communicate with the terminal device in a 4RX manner.

[0182] In another implementation, the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain or the number of the first physical antennas is smaller than the corresponding threshold. For example, if the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is 0.3 mm 2 , the number of the first physical antennas is 6. Since the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is less than the first threshold, the network device can consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 2RX, and the network device can communicate with the terminal device in a 2RX manner. If the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is 0.6mm 2 , the number of the first physical antennas is 2. Since the number of the first physical antennas supported by the terminal device is less than the third threshold, the network device can consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 2RX, and the network device can communicate with the terminal device in a 2RX manner. If the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is 0.3mm 2 , the number of the first physical antennas is 2. Since the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain of the terminal device is less than the first threshold, and the number of the first physical antennas is less than the third threshold, the network device can consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 4RX, and the network device can communicate with the terminal device in a 4RX manner.

[0183] It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the terminal device may send the number of physical antennas supported by the terminal device and the surface area of ​​the terminal device used to place a single physical antenna to the network device. In this case, the condition for the network device to determine that its communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode may include any of the following conditions: the number of physical antennas supported by the terminal device is less than the third threshold, and the surface area used to place a single physical antenna is less than the fifth threshold; or, the number of physical antennas supported by the terminal device is less than the third threshold, or the surface area used to place a single physical antenna is less than the fifth threshold; or, the product of the number of physical antennas supported by the terminal device and the surface area used to place a single physical antenna is less than the product of the third threshold and the fifth threshold. If the above conditions are not met, the network device determines that its communication mode with the terminal device is the second communication mode.

[0184] like Figure 4 As shown, the embodiment of the present application further provides another communication method 400, which is applied to a terminal device and a network device, and includes steps 410-450.

[0185] 410. The terminal device sends second information to the network device, where the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device.

[0186] In the embodiment of the present application, for the content of the first physical antenna or the first physical antenna group supported by the terminal device, please refer to the relevant content in the above method 300 and will not be repeated here.

[0187] 420. The network device receives second information.

[0188] 430. The network device determines a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the second information. The communication mode includes a first communication mode and a second communication mode. The number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode.

[0189] 440. The network device transmits a signal to the terminal device through the second physical antenna or the second physical antenna group based on the determined communication mode.

[0190] In an embodiment of the present application, after the network device receives the second information sent by the terminal device, it can determine the communication method with the terminal device based on the second information. For example, if the network device determines that the communication method with the terminal device is the first communication method based on the first information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication method; if the network device determines that the communication method with the terminal device is the second communication method based on the second information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the second communication method.

[0191] Exemplarily, the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is set to 2RX, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is set to 4RX. If the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the communication mode corresponding to 2RX according to the second information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the communication mode of 2RX; if the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the communication mode corresponding to 4RX according to the second information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the communication mode of 4RX; thereby, the transmission rate of the signal between the terminal device and the network device and the success rate of signal reception can be improved. This is because if the terminal device does not report the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain supported by itself to the network device, the network device is not sure about the communication mode with the terminal device, and it may communicate with it in the communication mode of 4RX or in the communication mode of 2RX. For a terminal device with a channel number of 2RX, if the network device communicates with it in the communication mode of 4RX, the terminal device cannot correctly receive the transmitted signal; for a terminal device with a channel number of 4RX, if the network device communicates with it in the communication mode of 2RX, the signal transmission rate is reduced.

[0192] In addition, the terminal device reporting the second information to the network device can also reduce the processing complexity of the network device. This is because if the terminal device does not report the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by itself to the network device, the network device is not sure about the communication method with the terminal device, and may communicate with it in a 4RX communication method or a 2RX communication method. For a terminal device with a channel number of 2RX, if the network device communicates with it in a 4RX communication method, the processing complexity of the network device increases.

[0193] 450, the terminal device processes a signal from a second physical antenna or a second physical antenna group, or outputs a signal to a second physical antenna or a second physical antenna group, the second physical antenna is part or all of the first physical antenna, and the second physical antenna group is part or all of the first physical antenna group.

[0194] The second physical antenna in the embodiment of the present application is part or all of the first physical antenna, that is, the terminal device can output signals through part of the physical antenna of the first physical antenna, and can also output signals through all of the transmitting and receiving physical antennas of the first physical antenna; or, the terminal device can process signals from part of the physical antenna of the first physical antenna, and can also process signals from all of the physical antennas of the first physical antenna.

[0195] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may process the signal from the second physical antenna by: power amplification, digital frequency conversion, analog frequency conversion, demodulation, decoding, etc.

[0196] Since the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application sends the second information indicating the number of the first physical antennas or the number of the first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device to the network device, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the second information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0197] In one embodiment, the second information includes a second index, and the second index corresponds to the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0198] In one embodiment, the second information indicates a level of the number of first physical antennas or a level of the number of first physical antenna groups.

[0199] In one embodiment, the second information is carried in any one of the following information: UAI, MAC CE, or UCI.

[0200] For the content related to the second information, please refer to the relevant content in the above method 300 and will not be repeated here.

[0201] As mentioned above, the network device can determine the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the second information. Please refer to the following for details.

[0202] In one embodiment, determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the second information includes:

[0203] The communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined according to the relationship between the parameter included in the first information and the threshold.

[0204] The parameter in the embodiment of the present application is the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device. In other words, the network device can determine the communication method with the terminal device based on the relationship between the number of first physical antennas and the threshold, or the network device can determine the communication method with the terminal device based on the number of first physical antenna groups. The specific determination method will be introduced below according to different situations.

[0205] Case 1:

[0206] In one embodiment, the second information includes the number of first physical antennas supported by the terminal device, and determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the relationship between the parameter included in the second information and the threshold value includes:

[0207] If the number of the first physical antennas is less than the third threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or,

[0208] If the number of the first physical antennas is greater than or equal to the third threshold, it is determined that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode.

[0209] In an embodiment of the present application, taking the communication mode corresponding to the first communication mode being 2RX and the communication mode corresponding to the second communication mode being 4RX as an example, assuming that the third threshold is 6, if the number of first physical antennas supported by the terminal device is 4, which is less than the third threshold, the network device may consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 2RX, and the network device may communicate with the terminal device in a 2RX manner; if the number of first physical antennas of the terminal device is 8, which is greater than the third threshold, the network device may consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 4RX, and the network device may communicate with the terminal device in a 4RX manner.

[0210] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the number of the first physical antennas included in the second information and the third threshold value, that is, if the number of the first physical antennas is less than the third threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; if the number of the first physical antennas is greater than or equal to the third threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode. Thus, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0211] Case 2:

[0212] In one embodiment, the first information includes the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device, and determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the relationship between the parameter included in the second information and the threshold value includes:

[0213] If the number of the first physical antenna group is less than the fourth threshold, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or,

[0214] If the number of the first physical antenna groups is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold, it is determined that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode.

[0215] In an embodiment of the present application, taking the communication mode corresponding to the first communication mode being 2RX and the communication mode corresponding to the second communication mode being 4RX as an example, assuming that the fourth threshold is 4, if the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device is 2, which is less than the fourth threshold, the network device may consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 2RX, and the network device may communicate with the terminal device in a 2RX manner; if the number of first physical antenna groups of the terminal device is 8, which is greater than the fourth threshold, the network device may consider that the number of channels of the terminal device is 4RX, and the network device may communicate with the terminal device in a 4RX manner.

[0216] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the number of the first physical antenna group included in the second information and the fourth threshold value, that is, if the number of the first physical antenna group is less than the fourth threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the first communication mode; if the number of the first physical antenna group is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold value, the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is determined to be the second communication mode. Thus, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0217] In one embodiment, the communication method 400 further includes: receiving first information from a terminal device, where the first information is used to indicate a surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device.

[0218] Determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the second information includes: determining the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information and the second information.

[0219] In one embodiment, the first information indicates a surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain, the second information indicates the number of first physical antennas, and determining a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information and the second information includes:

[0220] If any of the following conditions is met, it is determined that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the first communication mode; or,

[0221] If the following conditions are not met, determining that the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device is the second communication mode;

[0222] The conditions include: the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, and the number of first physical antennas is less than the third threshold; the surface area of ​​the first transceiver chain is less than the first threshold, or the number of first physical antennas is less than the third threshold.

[0223] In one embodiment, the first information includes a first index, and the first index corresponds to a surface area or a volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0224] In one embodiment, the first information indicates a level of surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

[0225] In one embodiment, the second information is carried in any one of the following information: UAI, MAC CE, UCI.

[0226] For the content related to the first information, please refer to the relevant content in the above method 300 and will not be repeated here.

[0227] like Figure 5 As shown, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication method 500, which is applied to a terminal device and a network device, and includes steps 510 to 550.

[0228] 510. The terminal device sends third information to the network device, where the third information is used to indicate the number of first frequency bands supported by the terminal device.

[0229] The frequency bands in the embodiment of the present application may refer to the above Table 1, such as n7, n38, n41, n48, etc. The number of frequency bands supported by the terminal device may be one or more.

[0230] 520. The network device receives third information.

[0231] 530. Determine a communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the third information. The communication mode includes a first communication mode and a second communication mode. The number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode.

[0232] 540. The network device transmits a signal to the terminal device through the second frequency band based on the determined communication method.

[0233] In an embodiment of the present application, after the network device receives the third information sent by the terminal device, it can determine the communication method with the terminal device based on the third information. For example, if the network device determines that the communication method with the terminal device is the first communication method based on the third information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication method; if the network device determines that the communication method with the terminal device is the second communication method based on the third information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the second communication method.

[0234] Exemplarily, the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is set to 2RX, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is set to 4RX. If the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the communication mode corresponding to 2RX according to the third information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the communication mode of 2RX; if the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the communication mode corresponding to 4RX according to the third information, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the communication mode of 4RX; thereby, the transmission rate of the signal between the terminal device and the network device and the success rate of signal reception can be improved. This is because, if the terminal device does not report the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain supported by itself to the network device, the network device is not sure about the communication mode with the terminal device, and it may communicate with it in the communication mode of 4RX or in the communication mode of 2RX. For a terminal device with a channel number of 2RX, if the network device communicates with it in the communication mode of 4RX, the terminal device cannot correctly receive the transmitted signal; for a terminal device with a channel number of 4RX, if the network device communicates with it in the communication mode of 2RX, the signal transmission rate is reduced.

[0235] In addition, the terminal device reporting the third information to the network device can also reduce the processing complexity of the network device. This is because if the terminal device does not report the number of first frequency bands it supports to the network device, the network device is not sure about the communication method with the terminal device, and may communicate with it in a 4RX communication method or a 2RX communication method. For a terminal device with 2RX channels, if the network device communicates with it in a 4RX communication method, the processing complexity of the network device increases.

[0236] 550, process the signal from the second frequency band, or output the signal through the second frequency band, where the second frequency band is part or all of the first frequency band.

[0237] The second frequency band in the embodiment of the present application is part or all of the first frequency band, that is, the terminal device can output signals through part of the first frequency band, or through all of the first frequency band; or, the terminal device can process signals from part of the first frequency band, or process signals from all of the first frequency band.

[0238] In the embodiment of the present application, the processing of the signal from the second frequency band by the terminal device may include: power amplification, digital frequency conversion, analog frequency conversion, demodulation, decoding, etc.

[0239] Since the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application sends the third information indicating the number of first frequency bands supported by the terminal device to the network device, the network device can determine the communication mode with the terminal device according to the third information, so that the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the corresponding communication mode, especially for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the first communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can improve the success rate of the terminal device receiving the signal from the network device; for the number of channels of the terminal device corresponding to the second communication mode, the network device can communicate with the terminal device according to the second communication mode, which can improve the transmission rate of the signal between the network device and the terminal device. In addition, for the case where the network device determines that the communication mode with the terminal device is the first communication mode, because the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode is less than the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode, therefore, the network device communicates with the terminal device according to the first communication mode, which can reduce the processing complexity of the network device.

[0240] In one embodiment, the third information includes a third index, and the third index corresponds to the number of the first frequency band.

[0241] In the embodiment of the present application, the number of the first frequency bands corresponding to the third index can be understood as a specific numerical value of the number of the first frequency bands corresponding to the third index, or a range of the number of the first frequency bands corresponding to the third index.

[0242] For example, the third index includes numerical values ​​0, 1, 2, ..., where the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "0" is 1; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "1" is 2; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "2" is 3; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "3" is 4; and so on.

[0243] Alternatively, the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "0" ranges from 1 to 2; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "1" ranges from 2 to 4; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "2" ranges from 4 to 6; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "3" ranges from 6 to 8; and so on.

[0244] For another example, the third index includes a binary system of "0000", "0001", "0010", "0011"..., wherein the number of first frequency bands corresponding to the index "0000" is 1; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to the index "0001" is 2; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to the index "0010" is 3; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to the index "0011" is 4; and so on.

[0245] Alternatively, the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "0000" ranges from 1 to 2; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "0001" ranges from 2 to 4; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "0010" ranges from 4 to 6; the number of first frequency bands corresponding to index "0011" ranges from 6 to 8; and so on.

[0246] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device indicates the number of the first frequency band through the third index included in the third information. The third index occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0247] In one embodiment, the third information indicates a level of the quantity of the first frequency bands.

[0248] In the embodiment of the present application, the third information varies with the level of the number of first frequency bands.

[0249] For example, the number of frequency bands is divided into a low level and a high level, and the third information may indicate that the number of the first frequency bands is a low level, or indicate that the number of the first frequency bands is a high level.

[0250] For another example, the number of frequency bands is divided into low level, medium level and high level, and the second information may indicate that the number of first frequency bands is low level, or indicates that the number of first frequency bands is medium level, or indicates that the number of first frequency bands is high level.

[0251] In the embodiment of the present application, the second information indicates the level of the number of first frequency bands, and the level of the number of first frequency bands occupies fewer bits, which can save bit overhead.

[0252] In one embodiment, the third information is carried in any one of the following information: UAI, MAC CE, or UCI.

[0253] It should be noted that the thresholds in the above embodiments (such as the first threshold, the second threshold, the third threshold, and the fourth threshold) may be specified by the protocol or may be reported in advance by the terminal device to the network device.

[0254] It should also be noted that in this application, "sending first information to a network device" can be understood as the destination of the information being the network device. It can include sending information to the network device directly or indirectly. "Receiving first information from a terminal device" can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal device, which can include receiving information from the terminal device directly or indirectly. The information may be processed as necessary between the source and destination of the information, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be repeated here. "

[0255] The above describes the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. The above communication method is mainly introduced from the perspective of terminal equipment and network equipment. It can be understood that in order to realize the above functions, the terminal equipment or network equipment includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to each function.

[0256] Those skilled in the art should be aware 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 performed 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 be beyond the scope of this application.

[0257] It should be understood that in the above embodiments, the terminal device can perform some or all of the steps in each embodiment. These steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, each step can be performed in a different order presented in each embodiment, and it is possible not to perform all the operations in the embodiments of the present application. Moreover, the size of the sequence number of each step does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0258] The following, combined Figure 6 and Figure 7 It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment, so the contents not described in detail can be referred to the method embodiment above, and some contents will not be repeated for brevity.

[0259] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the device according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding 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. The following is an example of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function.

[0260] Figure 6 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 600 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 600 may be a terminal device or a chip of a terminal device, or may be a network device or a chip of a network device, or a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of a network device. The device 600 includes an interface module 610 and a processing module 620. The interface module 610 is used for signal transmission, and the processing module 620 is used for signal processing.

[0261] Optionally, the device 600 may further include a storage module, which may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 620 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage module so that the device implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0262] The device 600 can be used to execute the actions performed by the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiments, the interface module 610 is used to execute related operations of information transmission on the terminal device side or the network device side in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 620 is used to execute related operations of processing on the terminal device side or the network device side in the above method embodiments.

[0263] When the communication device 600 is used to implement Figure 3 In the method embodiment, when the terminal device functions, the interface module 610 is used to send first information to the network device, and the first information is used to indicate the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device. The processing module 620 is used to process the signal from the second transceiver chain, and the second transceiver chain is part or all of the first transceiver chain; or the interface module 610 is also used to output a signal to the second transceiver chain, and the second transceiver chain is part or all of the first transceiver chain.

[0264] When the communication device 600 is used to implement Figure 3When the function of the network device in the method embodiment is used, the interface module 610 is used to receive the first information from the terminal device, and the first information is used to indicate the surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device. The processing module 620 is used to determine the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the first information, and the communication mode includes the first communication mode and the second communication mode, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode. The interface module 610 is also used to transmit a signal to the terminal device through the second transceiver chain based on the determined communication mode.

[0265] When the communication device 600 is used to implement Figure 4 When the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment is performed, the interface module 610 is used to send second information to the network device, where the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device; the processing module 620 is used to process the signal from the second physical antenna or the second physical antenna group, where the second physical antenna is part or all of the physical antennas of the first physical antenna, and the second physical antenna group is part or all of the physical antenna groups of the first physical antenna group; or, the interface module 610 is also used to output a signal to the second physical antenna or the second physical antenna group, where the second physical antenna is part or all of the physical antennas of the first physical antenna, and the second physical antenna group is part or all of the physical antenna groups of the first physical antenna group.

[0266] When the communication device 600 is used to implement Figure 4 When the function of the network device in the method embodiment is used, the interface module 610 is used to receive the second information from the terminal device, and the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device. The processing module 620 is used to determine the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the second information, and the communication mode includes the first communication mode and the second communication mode, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode. The interface module 610 is also used to transmit a signal to the terminal device through the second physical antenna or the second physical antenna group based on the determined communication mode.

[0267] When the communication device 600 is used to implement Figure 5 In the method embodiment, when the terminal device functions, the interface module 610 is used to send third information to the network device, and the third information is used to indicate the number of first frequency bands supported by the terminal device. The processing module 620 is used to process the signal from the second frequency band, and the second frequency band is part or all of the first frequency band; or the interface module 610 is also used to output the signal through the second frequency band, and the second frequency band is part or all of the first frequency band.

[0268] When the communication device 600 is used to implement Figure 5When the function of the network device in the method embodiment is performed, the interface module 610 is used to receive third information from the terminal device, and the third information is used to indicate the number of first frequency bands supported by the terminal device. The processing module 620 is used to determine the communication mode between the network device and the terminal device according to the third information, and the communication mode includes a first communication mode and a second communication mode, and the number of channels corresponding to the second communication mode is greater than the number of channels corresponding to the first communication mode. The interface module 610 is also used to transmit a signal to the terminal device through the second frequency band based on the determined communication mode.

[0269] For a more detailed description of the above-mentioned interface module 610 and processing module 620, please refer to the relevant description in the above-mentioned method embodiment, which will not be described again here.

[0270] like Figure 7 As shown, the embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device 1200. The device 1200 includes a processor 1210 and may also include one or more memories 1220. The processor 1210 is coupled to the memory 1220, and the memory 1220 is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processor 1210 is used to execute the computer programs or instructions and / or data stored in the memory 1220, so that the method in the above method embodiment is executed. Optionally, the device 1200 includes one or more processors 1210.

[0271] Optionally, the memory 1220 may be integrated with the processor 1210 or provided separately.

[0272] Alternatively, if Figure 7 As shown, the device 1200 may further include an interface circuit 1230, and the interface circuit 1230 is used for receiving and / or sending signals. For example, the processor 1210 is used to control the interface circuit 1230 to receive and / or send signals.

[0273] As a solution, the device 1200 is used to implement the operations performed by the above-mentioned terminal device or network device in the above method embodiment.

[0274] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which are stored computer instructions for implementing the method executed by a terminal device or a network device in the above method embodiment.

[0275] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0276] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method executed by a terminal device or a network device in the above method embodiment.

[0277] The explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the above-mentioned devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which will not be repeated here.

[0278] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0279] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM may include the following forms: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0280] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0281] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0282] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software 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 protection of this application.

[0283] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0284] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to implement the solution provided by the present application.

[0285] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0286] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, 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 can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. For example, the computer can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, 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 can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media integrations. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state disk (SSD)). For example, the aforementioned available medium may include, but is not limited to, various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0287] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method comprises: Sending first information to a network device, where the first information is used to indicate a surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device; Process a signal from a second transceiver chain or output a signal to the second transceiver chain, where the second transceiver chain is part of or all of the first transceiver chain.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first information includes a first index, where the first index corresponds to a surface area or a volume of the first transceiver chain.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first information indicates a level of surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first information is carried in any of the following information: User assistance information UAI, media access control MAC control element CE, or uplink control information UCI.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending second information to the network device, where the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The second information includes a second index corresponding to the number of the first physical antennas or the number of the first physical antenna groups.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: The second information indicates a level of the number of the first physical antennas or a level of the number of the first physical antenna groups.

8. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method comprises: Sending second information to the network device, where the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device; Processing a signal from a second physical antenna or a second physical antenna group, or outputting a signal to the second physical antenna or the second physical antenna group, where the second physical antenna is part or all of the first physical antenna, and the second physical antenna group is part or all of the first physical antenna group.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The second information includes a second index corresponding to the number of the first physical antennas or the number of the first physical antenna groups.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The second information indicates a level of the number of the first physical antennas or a level of the number of the first physical antenna groups.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that The second information is carried in any of the following information: User assistance information UAI, media access control MAC control element CE, or uplink control information UCI.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: First information is sent to the network device, where the first information is used to indicate a surface area or a volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first information includes a first index, where the first index corresponds to a surface area or a volume of the first transceiver chain.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The first information indicates a level of surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

15. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device is a terminal device or a chip of the terminal device, including: An interface module, configured to send first information to a network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate a surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device; The processing module is used to process a signal from a second transceiver chain, where the second transceiver chain is part or all of the first transceiver chain; or the interface module is also used to output a signal to the second transceiver chain, where the second transceiver chain is part or all of the first transceiver chain.

16. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that The first information includes a first index, where the first index corresponds to a surface area or a volume of the first transceiver chain.

17. The device according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The first information indicates a level of surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

18. The device according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that The first information is carried in any of the following information: User assistance information UAI, media access control MAC control element CE, or uplink control information UCI.

19. The device according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that The interface module is further used to send second information to the network device, where the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device.

20. The device according to claim 19, characterized in that The second information includes a second index corresponding to the number of the first physical antennas or the number of the first physical antenna groups.

21. The device according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that The second information indicates a level of the number of the first physical antennas or a level of the number of the first physical antenna groups.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device is a terminal device or a chip of the terminal device, including: An interface module, used to send second information to a network device, where the second information is used to indicate the number of first physical antennas or the number of first physical antenna groups supported by the terminal device; a processing module, configured to process a signal from a second physical antenna or a second physical antenna group, where the second physical antenna is part or all of the first physical antenna, and the second physical antenna group is part or all of the first physical antenna group; or The interface module is further used to output a signal to the second physical antenna or the second physical antenna group, where the second physical antenna is part or all of the first physical antenna, and the second physical antenna group is part or all of the first physical antenna group.

23. The device according to claim 22, characterized in that The second information includes a second index corresponding to the number of the first physical antennas or the number of the first physical antenna groups.

24. The device according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that The second information indicates a level of the number of the first physical antennas or a level of the number of the first physical antenna groups.

25. The device according to any one of claims 22 to 24, characterized in that The second information is carried in any of the following information: User assistance information UAI, media access control MAC control element CE, or uplink control information UCI.

26. The device according to any one of claims 22 to 25, characterized in that The interface module is further used to send first information to the network device, where the first information is used to indicate the surface area or volume of a first transceiver chain supported by the terminal device.

27. The device according to claim 26, characterized in that The first information includes a first index, where the first index corresponds to a surface area or a volume of the first transceiver chain.

28. The device according to claim 26 or 27, characterized in that The first information indicates a level of surface area or volume of the first transceiver chain.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14 is executed.

30. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises program instructions, which, when executed, causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 to be executed, or causes the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14 to be executed.

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