Channel estimation method and device

Abstract

The invention provides a channel estimation method and device, and the method comprises the steps: a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) comprises L control channel elements (CCEs), the L CCEs are configured with control information, and network equipment uniformly configures the L CCEs on the PDCCH at a first time interval; the network equipment sends control information to the terminal equipment on the L CCEs of the PDCCH; the terminal device can estimate the downlink channel based on the detected control information. According to the method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the CCEs configured with the control information are uniformly distributed on the PDCCH at equal time intervals, and the accuracy of channel estimation can be increased by using the control information to perform channel estimation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to a channel estimation method and device. Background Art

[0002] Currently, the signal transmitted on the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) adopts a low-order modulation method (for example, quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation method), so the signal transmission on the PDCCH is relatively robust, and the signal transmitted on the PDCCH can be used for downlink channel estimation. However, the accuracy of downlink channel estimation using the signal transmitted on the PDCCH needs to be improved. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present application provides a channel estimation method and device, which can improve the estimation accuracy of downlink channel estimation using a signal transmitted on a PDCCH.

[0004] In the first aspect, a channel estimation method is provided, which can be executed by a network device, or by a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the network device, or by a logical node, logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device, and the present application does not limit this.

[0005] The method includes: a network device sends a PDCCH, the PDCCH includes L CCEs, the L CCEs are configured on the PDCCH at a first time interval, the L CCEs are configured with control information, the control information is used for estimating a downlink channel; the network device receives an estimation result of the downlink channel.

[0006] It should be understood that the above L CCEs occupy part of the PDCCH resources.

[0007] Exemplarily, the first time interval may be preset or may be specified by a protocol, which is not limited in the present application.

[0008] Exemplarily, the control information may be downlink control information (DCI). The control information may be used to control downlink transmission, or the control information may be used to schedule downlink transmission, or the control information may be used to schedule PDSCH, or the control information may include resource configuration information for downlink transmission.

[0009] Through the above method, CCEs configured with control information are evenly distributed on the PDCCH at equal time intervals. Using the control information for channel estimation can increase the estimation accuracy of channel time variability.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, a reference signal is further configured on the L CCEs, and the reference signal is used for downlink channel estimation.

[0011] Exemplarily, exemplary, the reference signal may be a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or the reference signal may be a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), or the reference signal may be a DMRS and a PTRS, or the reference signal may also be a channel-state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0012] Through the above method, a reference signal specifically used for channel estimation can be configured on the above L CCEs, which can further improve the accuracy of channel estimation.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the PDCCH occupies multiple symbols, the L CCEs are also configured with a reference signal, including: the reference signal is carried on a first symbol, the first symbol belongs to the multiple symbols, and the time corresponding to the first symbol is earlier than other symbols in the multiple symbols except the first symbol; the L CCEs are configured with control information, including: the control information is carried on other symbols in the multiple symbols except the first symbol.

[0014] Specifically, the time corresponding to the above-mentioned first symbol is earlier than the time of other symbols among the above-mentioned multiple symbols except the first symbol, which can be understood as: the start time corresponding to the above-mentioned first symbol is earlier than the start time of other symbols among the above-mentioned multiple symbols except the first symbol, or, the duration period of the above-mentioned first symbol is earlier than the duration period of other symbols among the above-mentioned multiple symbols except the first symbol.

[0015] For example, the above symbol may be any of the following symbols, which is not limited in this application:

[0016] Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (orthogonal frequency divisition multiplexing, OFDM) symbols, discrete fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (discrete fourier transform spread orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing, DFT-S-OFDM) symbols, subcarriers (subcarriers, SC) symbols, etc.

[0017] Through the above method, it is possible to align with the current protocol as much as possible and reduce changes to the current protocol.

[0018] Exemplarily, the symbols where the L CCEs are located may be determined by the following formula:

[0019]

[0020] in, A represents the index number of the symbol where each CCE in the above L CCEs is located, M represents the duration of a symbol, N represents the number of symbols in a transmission frame, L represents the number of CCEs included in the above PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, T1 represents the starting time of the first CCE in the symbol, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

[0021] Exemplarily, the starting time of the L CCEs in the symbol can be determined by the following formula:

[0022]

[0023] Wherein, B represents the starting time of each CCE in the L CCEs within the symbol in which it belongs.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the above-mentioned PDCCH occupies a second symbol, the above-mentioned L CCEs are configured with control information including: the control information is carried on the above-mentioned second symbol at a second time interval; the above-mentioned L CCEs are also configured with the above-mentioned reference signal including: the reference signal is carried between the above-mentioned control information, and the third time interval between the reference signal and the previous group of control information is equal to the fourth time interval between the reference signal and the next group of control information.

[0025] Exemplarily, the second time interval may be preset or may be specified by a protocol, which is not limited in this application. The third time interval and the fourth time interval may be preset or may be specified by a protocol, which is not limited in this application.

[0026] Through the above method, the reference signal can be distributed among the control information, thereby meeting the estimation accuracy of the channel time variation.

[0027] Exemplarily, the starting time of the L CCEs in the second symbol may be determined by the following formula:

[0028]

[0029] in, C represents the starting time of each of the L CCEs in the second symbol, M represents the duration of the second symbol, N represents the number of symbols in a transmission frame, L represents the number of CCEs included in the PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, R represents the minimum number of resource granularities for blind detection of a PDCCH, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

[0030] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the L CCEs correspond to different times in the time domain, and the L CCEs correspond to the same subcarrier in the frequency domain.

[0031] Exemplarily, the size of the above subcarrier may be 15KHz, 30KHz, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0032] Through the above method, single-carrier signal transmission can avoid the problem of signal linear distortion and enhance the accuracy of signal demodulation.

[0033] On the second aspect, a channel estimation method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the terminal device, or by a logical node, logical module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device functions, and the present application does not limit this.

[0034] The method includes: the terminal device detects PDCCH, the PDCCH includes L CCEs, the L CCEs are configured on the above-mentioned PDCCH at a first time interval, and the L CCEs are configured with control information; the terminal device estimates the downlink channel according to the detected control information; the terminal device sends the estimation result of the downlink channel.

[0035] Wherein, the above L is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0036] Exemplarily, the first time interval may be preset or may be specified by a protocol, which is not limited in the present application.

[0037] Exemplarily, the control information may be downlink control information (DCI). The control information may be used to control downlink transmission, or the control information may be used to schedule downlink transmission, or the control information may be used to schedule PDSCH, or the control information may include resource configuration information for downlink transmission.

[0038] Through the above method, CCEs configured with control information are evenly distributed on the PDCCH at equal time intervals. Using the control information for channel estimation can increase the accuracy of channel estimation.

[0039] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, a reference signal is further configured on the L CCEs, and the reference signal is used for downlink channel estimation.

[0040] Exemplarily, exemplary, the reference signal may be a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or the reference signal may be a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), or the reference signal may be a DMRS and a PTRS, or the reference signal may also be a channel-state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0041] Through the above method, a reference signal specifically used for channel estimation can be configured on the above L CCEs, which can further improve the accuracy of channel estimation.

[0042] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, when the PDCCH occupies multiple symbols, the L CCEs are also configured with a reference signal, including: the reference signal is carried on a first symbol, the first symbol belongs to the multiple symbols, and the time corresponding to the first symbol is earlier than other symbols in the multiple symbols except the first symbol; the L CCEs are configured with control information, including: the control information is carried on other symbols in the multiple symbols except the first symbol.

[0043] Specifically, the time corresponding to the above-mentioned first symbol is earlier than the time of other symbols among the above-mentioned multiple symbols except the first symbol, which can be understood as: the start time corresponding to the above-mentioned first symbol is earlier than the start time of other symbols among the above-mentioned multiple symbols except the first symbol, or, the duration period of the above-mentioned first symbol is earlier than the duration period of other symbols among the above-mentioned multiple symbols except the first symbol.

[0044] For example, the above symbol may be any of the following symbols, which is not limited in this application:

[0045] OFDM symbols, DFT-S-OFDM symbols, SC symbols, etc.

[0046] Through the above method, it is possible to align with the current protocol as much as possible and reduce changes to the current protocol.

[0047] Exemplarily, the symbols where the L CCEs are located may be determined by the following formula:

[0048]

[0049] in, A represents the index number of the symbol where each CCE in the above L CCEs is located, M represents the duration of a symbol, N represents the number of symbols in a transmission frame, L represents the number of CCEs included in the above PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, T1 represents the starting time of the first CCE in the symbol, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

[0050] Exemplarily, the starting time of the L CCEs in the symbol can be determined by the following formula:

[0051]

[0052] Wherein, B represents the starting time of each CCE in the L CCEs within the symbol in which it belongs.

[0053] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, when the above-mentioned PDCCH occupies a second symbol, the above-mentioned L CCEs are configured with control information including: the control information is carried on the above-mentioned second symbol at a second time interval; the above-mentioned L CCEs are also configured with the above-mentioned reference signal including: the reference signal is carried between the above-mentioned control information, and the third time interval between the reference signal and the previous group of control information is equal to the fourth time interval between the reference signal and the next group of control information.

[0054] Exemplarily, the second time interval may be preset or may be specified by a protocol, which is not limited in this application. The third time interval and the fourth time interval may be preset or may be specified by a protocol, which is not limited in this application.

[0055] Through the above method, the reference signal can be distributed among the control information, thereby meeting the estimation accuracy of the channel time variation.

[0056] Exemplarily, the starting time of the L CCEs in the second symbol may be determined by the following formula:

[0057]

[0058] in, C represents the starting time of each of the L CCEs in the second symbol, M represents the duration of the second symbol, N represents the number of symbols in a transmission frame, L represents the number of CCEs included in the PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, R represents the minimum number of resource granularities for blind detection of a PDCCH, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

[0059] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the L CCEs correspond to different times in the time domain, and the L CCEs correspond to the same subcarrier in the frequency domain.

[0060] Exemplarily, the size of the above subcarrier may be 15KHz, 30KHz, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0061] Through the above method, single-carrier signal transmission can avoid the problem of signal linear distortion and enhance the accuracy of signal demodulation.

[0062] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is used to enable the communication device to execute the first aspect and any possible method described in the first aspect, or to enable the communication device to execute the second aspect and any possible method described in the second aspect, by executing a computer program or instruction or through a logic circuit.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a memory for storing the computer program or instruction.

[0064] In a possible implementation manner, the communication device further includes a communication interface, which is used to input and / or output signals.

[0065] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a logic circuit and an input / output interface, the input / output interface being used to input and / or output signals, the logic circuit being used to execute the method described in the first aspect and any possibility of the first aspect, or to execute the method described in the second aspect and any possibility of the second aspect.

[0066] In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or the instruction is run on a computer, the method described in the first aspect and any possibility of the first aspect is executed, or the method described in the second aspect and any possibility of the second aspect is executed.

[0067] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the method described in the first aspect and any possible method of the first aspect to be executed, or cause the method described in the second aspect and any possible method of the second aspect to be executed.

[0068] In the seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the above-mentioned network device and the above-mentioned terminal device, the network device is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned first aspect and any possibility of the first aspect, and the terminal device is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned second aspect and any possibility of the second aspect.

[0069] For the description of the beneficial effects of the third to seventh aspects, reference can be made to the description of the first and second aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0070] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of an example of a communication system 100 applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0071] Figure 2 It is a schematic flowchart of an example of a channel estimation method 200 applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0072] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of CCE included in an example of PDCCH applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0073] Figure 4 This is a resource configuration diagram of control information and reference information in a PDCCH applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0074] Figure 5 This is another example of a resource configuration diagram of control information and reference information in a PDCCH applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0075] Figure 6 This is another example of resource configuration diagram of control information and reference information in PDCCH applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0076] Figure 7 This is another example of resource configuration diagram of control information and reference information in PDCCH applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0077] Figure 8 This is another example of resource configuration diagram of control information and reference information in PDCCH applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0078] Fig. 9 It is a schematic block diagram of an example of a communication device 700 applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0079] Fig.10 It is a schematic block diagram of an example of a communication device 800 applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0080] Fig.11 It is a schematic block diagram of an example of a communication device 900 applicable to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0081] First, a communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable is described.

[0082] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), and future communication systems, such as sixth generation (6G) system.

[0083] As an example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device may also be a subscriber unit, a terminal station, a terminal agent, a terminal device device, or a terminal in V2X communication. The terminal device may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal in a 5G network or a terminal in a future evolution network, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0084] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may also be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a holographic projector, a video player, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a tactile terminal device, a vehicle-mounted terminal device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, and a wireless terminal in a smart home.

[0085] Among them, wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for the application of wearable technology to intelligently design and develop wearable devices for daily wear, such as head-mounted XR glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that are worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also realize powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include full-featured, large-sized, and independent of smartphones to achieve complete or partial functions, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that focus on a certain type of application functions and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0086] In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a terminal device in an Internet of Things (IoT) system.

[0087] In addition, in this application, the terminal device may also include sensors such as smart printers, train detectors, gas stations, etc., and its main functions include collecting data (part of the terminal device), receiving control information and downlink data from the network device, and sending electromagnetic waves to transmit uplink data to the network device.

[0088] The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device. The network device may be a base station (base transceiver station, BTS) in a global system of mobile communication (GSM) system or code division multiple access (CDMA), or a base station (nodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, or an evolutionary node base (eNB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in a 5G network and a future communication system, or a network device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN) network, etc., may be an access point (AP) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), or may be a gNB in ​​a new radio system (NR) system, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited. It can be understood that all or part of the functions of the network device in the present application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform).

[0089] In addition, in an embodiment of the present application, the access network device provides services for a cell, and the terminal device communicates with the access network device through the transmission resources used by the cell (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources). The cell may be a cell corresponding to the access network device (for example, a base station), and the cell may belong to a macro base station or a base station corresponding to a small cell. The small cells here may include: metro cells, micro cells, pico cells, femto cells, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0090] The core network device can be connected to multiple access network devices to control the access network devices, and can distribute data received from the network side (for example, the Internet) to the access network devices.

[0091] In addition, in the present application, the network equipment may include base stations (gNB), such as macro base stations, micro base stations, indoor hotspots, and relay nodes, etc., whose function is to send radio waves to terminal devices to realize downlink data transmission on the one hand, and send scheduling information to control uplink transmission on the other hand, and receive radio waves sent by terminal devices to receive uplink data transmission.

[0092] Among them, the functions and specific implementation methods of the terminal devices, access network devices and core network devices listed above are only exemplary descriptions, and this application is not limited to them.

[0093] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device or a network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and a memory (also called main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through a process, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as a browser, an address book, a word processing software, and an instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in a terminal device or a network device that can call a program and execute a program.

[0094] 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 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.). In addition, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable 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.

[0095] Figure 1 1 is a schematic diagram of a system 100 that can be used for the communication method of the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the system 100 includes an access network device 102, and the access network device 102 may include one antenna or multiple antennas, such as antennas 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and 114. In addition, the access network device 102 may additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that they may include multiple components related to signal transmission and reception (such as processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, or antennas, etc.).

[0096] The access network device 102 can communicate with multiple terminal devices, such as the terminal device 116 and the terminal device 122. However, it is understood that the access network device 102 can communicate with any number of terminal devices similar to the terminal device 116 or the terminal device 122. The terminal devices 116 and 122 can be, for example, head-mounted XR glasses, VR terminals, cellular phones, smart phones, portable computers, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and / or any other suitable devices for communicating on the wireless communication system 100.

[0097] like Figure 1As shown, terminal device 116 is in communication with antennas 112 and 114, where antennas 112 and 114 transmit information to terminal device 116 via forward link (also referred to as downlink) 118 and receive information from terminal device 116 via reverse link (also referred to as uplink) 120. In addition, terminal device 122 is in communication with antennas 104 and 106, where antennas 104 and 106 transmit information to terminal device 122 via forward link 124 and receive information from terminal device 122 via reverse link 126.

[0098] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0099] 1. Physical downlink control channel (PDCCH): used to transmit downlink control information (DCI), which is control information used to schedule downlink data channels (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)) or uplink data channels (e.g., physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)).

[0100] Specifically, the control channel element (CCE) is the basic unit that constitutes the PDCCH. The number of CCEs included in the PDCCH is called the aggregation degree. Different aggregation degrees of the PDCCH correspond to different numbers of CCEs. A CCE may include multiple resource element groups (REGs), and each REG includes multiple resource elements (REs).

[0101] 2. PDSCH: Mainly used for downlink data transmission, and can also be used for the transmission of paging messages and some system messages. PDSCH can be scheduled by the network equipment, and is scheduled once per time slot. The resources scheduled by the system for the terminal equipment in different time slots are flexible and variable, and are indicated to the terminal equipment through DCI. This scheduling method can be called dynamic scheduling. PDSCH can also be semi-persistent scheduling (SPS). In SPS, the network equipment configures the transmission parameters (for example, transmission period) of SPS through radio resource control (RRC), and indicates the transmission parameters to the terminal equipment through DCI. The terminal equipment periodically receives downlink data according to the transmission parameters such as the transmission period. Generally speaking, dynamic scheduling can be used for data scheduling with higher latency performance requirements, and SPS can be used for data scheduling with lower latency performance requirements. It should be understood that the scheduling methods of PDSCH listed above are only examples, and this application does not limit the scheduling methods of PDSCH.

[0102] 3. Demodulation reference signals (DMRS): Mainly used for correlation demodulation of PUSCH and PDSCH channels.

[0103] 4. Phase tracking reference signals (PTRS): mainly used to track changes in phase noise.

[0104] Currently, the signal transmitted on the PDCCH adopts a low-order modulation method (for example, quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation method), so the signal transmission on the PDCCH is relatively robust, and the signal transmitted on the PDCCH can be used for downlink channel estimation. However, the accuracy of downlink channel estimation using the signal transmitted on the PDCCH needs to be improved. Therefore, the present application provides a channel estimation method that can improve the estimation accuracy of downlink channel estimation using the signal transmitted on the PDCCH, such as Figure 2 shown.

[0105] Figure 2 is a schematic flow chart of a channel estimation method 200 according to an embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that: Figure 2 In the method, the terminal device and the network device are used as the execution subjects of the interactive indication, but the present application does not limit the execution subjects of the interactive indication. Figure 2The terminal device and network device in the communication method 200 may be a chip, a chip system or a processor that supports the implementation of the method, or a logical node, a logical module or software that implements all or part of its functions. Specifically, the communication method 200 includes:

[0106] Step S212: The network device sends a PDCCH to the terminal device. The PDCCH includes L CCEs, and the L CCEs are configured on the PDCCH at a first time interval.

[0107] Optionally, before step S212, the network device configures L CCEs on the PDCCH at equal first time intervals, and the L CCEs are configured with control information.

[0108] It should be noted that the PDCCH in the embodiment of the present application includes L CCEs, where L is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. For example, L can be 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, etc., and the present application does not limit this.

[0109] Currently, downlink signals are transmitted using multiple carriers. However, the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of multi-carrier signal transmission is high, which causes nonlinear distortion of the signal. In the future, the operating frequency bands of wireless communications will become higher and higher, and the use of multi-carrier transmission will lead to more serious nonlinear distortion. Optionally, an embodiment of the present application uses a single carrier for signal transmission: that is, the above-mentioned L CCEs correspond to different times in the time domain, and the L CCEs correspond to the same subcarrier in the frequency domain. This method can avoid the problem of linear distortion of the signal and enhance the accuracy of signal demodulation.

[0110] In a single carrier scenario, L CCEs may be configured on the PDCCH at equal first time intervals as follows: Figure 3 As shown. For example, Figure 3 The PDCCH shown includes 6 CCEs, namely CCE1, CCE2, CCE3, CCE4, CCE5, and CCE6. For example, Figure 3 The size of a subcarrier shown may be 15 KHz, 30 KHz, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0111] Exemplarily, the control information may be DCI. The control information may be used to control downlink transmission, or the control information may be used to schedule downlink transmission, or the control information may be used to schedule PDSCH, or the control information may include resource configuration information for downlink transmission.

[0112] Step S214: The terminal device detects the PDCCH and estimates the downlink channel according to the detected control information.

[0113] Step S216: The terminal device sends the estimation result of the downlink channel to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the estimation result of the downlink channel from the terminal device.

[0114] Through the channel estimation method 200, CCEs configured with control information are evenly distributed on the PDCCH at equal time intervals, which can increase the accuracy of channel estimation.

[0115] Optionally, the L CCEs are further configured with a reference signal, and the reference signal is used to estimate a downlink channel.

[0116] When a reference signal specifically used for estimating the downlink channel is not configured on the PDCCH, the control information on the PDCCH can be used to estimate the downlink channel; when a reference signal specifically used for estimating the downlink channel is configured on the PDCCH, the accuracy of downlink channel estimation using the information of the PDCCH can be further improved.

[0117] Exemplarily, the reference signal may be a DMRS.

[0118] There are many ways for the network device to configure control information and reference signals on the L CCEs of the PDCCH, which is not limited in the present application. Exemplarily, the present application embodiment provides the following two configuration methods (the present application uses different numbers of PDCCHs occupying OFDM symbols to illustrate different configuration methods, but the PDCCH of the present application is not limited to occupying OFDM symbols, but may also occupy DFT-S-OFDM symbols, or may also occupy SC symbols, which is not limited in the present application):

[0119] Configuration mode 1 (PDCCH occupies multiple OFDM symbols): The network device configures the reference signal on the first OFDM symbol, and the first OFDM symbol belongs to the multiple OFDM symbols. The time corresponding to the first OFDM symbol is earlier than the other OFDM symbols in the multiple OFDM symbols except the first OFDM symbol; the network device configures the control information on the other OFDM symbols in the multiple OFDM symbols except the first OFDM symbol.

[0120] For example, Figure 4 The PDCCH shown occupies 3 OFDM symbols. The network device may configure the reference signal on the first OFDM symbol, and the network device may configure the control information on the second OFDM symbol and the third OFDM symbol.

[0121] Exemplarily, the OFDM symbols where the L CCEs of the PDCCH configured by the above configuration method 1 are located can be determined by the following formula 1:

[0122]

[0123] in, A represents the index number of the OFDM symbol where each CCE in L CCEs is located, M represents the duration of an OFDM symbol, N represents the number of OFDM symbols in a transmission frame of the network device, L represents the number of CCEs included in the PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, T1 represents the start time of the first CCE in the OFDM symbol, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

[0124] Exemplarily, the starting time of the L CCEs of the PDCCH configured by the above configuration mode 1 in the OFDM symbol can be determined by the following formula 2:

[0125]

[0126] Wherein, B represents the starting time of each CCE in the L CCEs within the OFDM symbol.

[0127] Through the above configuration mode 1, it is possible to align with the current protocol as much as possible and reduce the changes to the current protocol. The terminal device can also perform channel estimation in advance based on the reference signal detected from the PDCCH and quickly complete the demodulation of the PDSCH.

[0128] Configuration method 2 (PDCCH occupies one OFDM symbol): the network device configures the control information on the second OFDM symbol at an equal second time interval; the network device configures the reference signal between the control information, and the third time interval between the reference signal and the previous group of control information is equal to the fourth time interval between the reference signal and the next group of control information.

[0129] For example, Figure 5 The CCE1, CCE3, and CCE5 shown are used to carry control information. The time interval between the control information in CCE1 and the control information in CCE3 is the second time interval, and the time interval between the control information in CCE3 and the control information in CCE5 is also the second time interval. Figure 5 The shown CCE2, CCE4, and CCE6 are used to carry reference signals. The time interval between the reference signal in CCE2 and the control information in CCE1 is the third time interval, and the time interval between the reference signal in CCE2 and the control information in CCE3 is the fourth time interval. The third time interval is equal to the fourth time interval.

[0130] Or, if Figure 6 shown. Figure 6Each CCE in the PDCCH is configured with two groups of control information, and 12 groups of control information of 6 CCEs of the PDCCH are configured on the second OFDM symbol at equal second time intervals; Figure 6 Each CCE in the UE is configured with a group of reference signals, and the third time interval between each group of reference signals and a previous group of control information is equal to the fourth time interval between the group of reference signals and a subsequent group of control information.

[0131] Exemplarily, the starting time of the L CCEs of the PDCCH configured by the second configuration method in the second OFDM symbol may be determined by the following formula 3:

[0132]

[0133] in, C represents the start time of each CCE in the second OFDM symbol of L CCEs, M represents the duration of the second OFDM symbol, N represents the number of OFDM symbols in a transmission frame of the network device, L represents the number of CCEs included in the PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, R represents the minimum number of resource granularities for a terminal device to blindly detect a PDCCH, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

[0134] By distributing the reference signal between the control information through the above configuration mode 2, the estimation accuracy of the channel time variation can be met.

[0135] Optionally, the network device may indicate the configuration mode 1 or the configuration mode 2 to the terminal device. In addition, the configuration mode 1 and the configuration mode 2 may be statically configured, dynamically configured, or semi-dynamically configured by the network device, which is not limited in this application.

[0136] Specifically, the above terminal device can detect PDCCH in the following two ways:

[0137] Detection method 1: The network device indicates parameter R to the terminal device, and the terminal device can blindly detect the number of resource blocks, which is X*L / R.

[0138] Detection method 2: The network device indicates the number of resource blocks X*L / R to the terminal device, and the terminal device can blindly detect the parameter R.

[0139] Next, the network device performs downlink transmission according to the above control information; and the terminal device receives the downlink transmission according to the above control information, and demodulates the downlink transmission according to the above estimation result.

[0140] The embodiment of the present application can configure a reference signal specifically used for channel estimation on the PDCCH, so that the terminal device can complete the channel estimation in advance and demodulate the downlink data in time.

[0141] In addition, when a subcarrier where the PDCCH is located is in a high frequency band, the impact of phase noise is also greatly increased due to the significant increase in the frequency multiplication of the reference clock source and various factors such as the process level and power consumption of the device. When the network device queries whether the resources included in the L CCEs of the PDCCH are still remaining, the network device can also configure phase tracking reference signals (PTRS) in the remaining resources to track the changes in phase noise.

[0142] For example, in the above configuration, Figure 7 As shown, the network device finds that there are still remaining resources of CCE5, and configures PTRS on CCE5.

[0143] Further, the network device configures the PTRS between the control information, and the fifth time interval between the PTRS and the previous group of control information is equal to the sixth time interval between the PTRS and the next group of control information.

[0144] For example, in the above configuration mode 2, if Figure 8 As shown, the network finds that there are still remaining resources of CCE4, and PTRS is configured on CCE4.

[0145] Further, the network device configures the PTRS between the control information, and the fifth time interval between the PTRS and the previous group of control information is equal to the sixth time interval between the PTRS and the next group of control information.

[0146] By configuring PTRS in the remaining resources of L CCEs of PDCCH, it can be used to evaluate the impact of phase noise and increase the accuracy of downlink data demodulation.

[0147] Exemplarily, the reference signal may be a DMRS, or the reference signal may be a PTRS, or the reference signal may be a DMRS and a PTRS, or the reference signal may also be a channel-state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0148] In addition, the reference signal may also be a positioning reference signal (PRS). The present application does not limit the reference signal to be a reference signal for evaluating a downlink channel, but may also be a reference signal for other purposes such as positioning.

[0149] Finally, the device embodiment of the embodiment of the present application is introduced.

[0150] In order to implement the functions in the method provided in this application, the terminal device and the network device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module, and implement the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether one of the above functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0151] Fig. 9 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 700 includes a processor 710 and a communication interface 720. Optionally, the processor 710 and the communication interface 720 may be interconnected via a bus 730. The communication device 700 may be a network device or a terminal device.

[0152] Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a memory 740. The memory 740 includes, but is not limited to, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or a portable read-only memory (CD-ROM), and the memory 740 is used to store relevant instructions and data.

[0153] The processor 710 may be one or more central processing units (CPUs). When the processor 710 is a CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

[0154] When the communication device 700 is a network device, illustratively, the communication device 700 is used to perform the following operations: configuring the reference signal and the control information on the PDCCH, etc.

[0155] When the communication device 700 is a terminal device, illustratively, the communication device 700 is used to perform the following operations: detect the PDCCH, and estimate the downlink channel according to the detected reference signal, etc.

[0156] The above contents are only exemplary descriptions. When the communication device 700 is a network device / terminal device, it will be responsible for executing the methods or steps related to the network device / terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0157] The above description is only an exemplary description. For specific content, please refer to the content shown in the above method embodiment. Fig. 9 The implementation of each operation in can also refer to Figures 2 to 8 The corresponding description of the method embodiment shown.

[0158] Fig.10 8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 800 of an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 800 may be a network device or a terminal device, or may be a chip or module in the network device or the terminal device, for implementing the method involved in the above embodiment. The communication device 800 includes a transceiver unit 810. The transceiver unit 810 and the processing unit 820 are exemplarily introduced below.

[0159] The transceiver unit 810 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit. The sending unit is used to perform the sending action of the communication device 800, and the receiving unit is used to perform the receiving action of the communication device 800. For ease of description, the embodiment of the present application combines the sending unit and the receiving unit into one transceiver unit. A unified description is given here, and no further description is given later.

[0160] When the communication device 800 is a network device, illustratively, the transceiver unit 810 is used to send the reference signal and the control information on the PDCCH according to the configuration, and the processing unit 820 is used to configure the reference signal and the control information on the PDCCH.

[0161] When the communication apparatus 800 is a terminal device, illustratively, the transceiver unit 810 is used to detect the PDCCH, and the processing unit 820 is used to estimate the downlink channel according to the detected reference signal.

[0162] The above contents are only exemplary descriptions. When the communication device 800 is a network device or a terminal device, it will be responsible for executing the methods or steps related to the network device or the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0163] Optionally, the communication device 800 further includes a storage unit 830, and the storage unit 830 is used to store a program or code for executing the aforementioned method.

[0164] Fig. 9 and Fig.10 The device embodiment shown is used to implement Figures 2 to 8 The content described. Fig. 9 and Fig.10The specific execution steps and methods of the device shown can refer to the contents described in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0165] Fig.11 1 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 900 is used to implement the functions of a network device / terminal device. The communication device 900 may be a chip in a network device / terminal device.

[0166] The communication device 900 includes: an input / output interface 920 and a processor 910. The input / output interface 920 may be an input / output circuit. The processor 910 may be a signal processor, a chip, or other integrated circuit that can implement the method of the present application. The input / output interface 920 is used for inputting or outputting signals or data.

[0167] For example, when the communication device 900 is a network device, the input / output interface 920 is used to send the reference signal and the control information on the PDCCH according to the configuration. The processor 910 is used to configure the reference signal and the control information on the PDCCH.

[0168] For example, when the communication device 900 is a terminal device, the input / output interface 920 is used to detect the PDCCH. The processor 910 is used to estimate the downlink channel according to the detected reference signal.

[0169] In one possible implementation, the processor 910 implements the functions implemented by the network device or the terminal device by executing instructions stored in the memory.

[0170] Optionally, the communication device 900 also includes a memory.

[0171] Optionally, the processor and memory are integrated together.

[0172] Optionally, the memory is outside the communication device 900 .

[0173] In a possible implementation, the processor 910 may be a logic circuit, and the processor 910 inputs / outputs messages or signals through the input / output interface 920. The logic circuit may be a signal processor, a chip, or other integrated circuit that can implement the method of the embodiment of the present application.

[0174] The above description of the communication device 900 is only an exemplary description. The communication device 900 can be used to execute the method described in the above embodiment. The specific content can be found in the description of the above method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0175] The present application also provides a chip, including a processor, for calling and executing instructions stored in a memory from the memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip executes the methods in the above examples.

[0176] The present application also provides a chip, including: an input interface, an output interface, and a processor, wherein the input interface, the output interface, and the processor are connected via an internal connection path, and the processor is used to execute the code in the memory, and when the code is executed, the processor is used to execute the method in each of the above examples. Optionally, the chip also includes a memory, and the memory is used to store computer programs or codes.

[0177] The present application also provides a processor, which is coupled to a memory and is used to execute the methods and functions involving a network device or a terminal device in any of the above embodiments.

[0178] The present application provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the method of the above embodiment is implemented.

[0179] The present application also provides a computer program. When the computer program is executed in a computer, the method of the above embodiment is implemented.

[0180] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the method described in the above embodiment is implemented.

[0181] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm 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 be beyond the scope of this application.

[0182] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0183] In several embodiments provided in the present application, the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that 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.

[0184] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed 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 achieve the purpose of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application.

[0185] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0186] If the function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be essentially or partly embodied in the form of a software product that contributes to the prior art. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of each method embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0187] 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 channel estimation method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, the PDCCH comprising L control channel elements CCE, the L CCEs being configured on the PDCCH at a first time interval, the L CCEs being configured with control information, the control information being used for downlink channel estimation; receiving an estimation result of the downlink channel, Wherein, L is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The L CCEs are also configured with a reference signal, and the reference signal is used to estimate a downlink channel.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that When the PDCCH occupies multiple symbols, The L CCEs are also configured with a reference signal, including: the reference signal is carried on a first symbol, the first symbol belongs to the multiple symbols, the time corresponding to the first symbol is earlier than the time corresponding to other symbols in the multiple symbols except the first symbol; the L CCEs are configured with control information, including: the control information is carried on other symbols in the multiple symbols except the first symbol.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The symbols where the L CCEs are located are determined by the following formula: in, A represents the index number of the symbol where each CCE in the L CCEs is located, M represents the duration of a symbol, N represents the number of symbols in a transmission frame, L represents the number of CCEs included in the PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, T1 represents the start time of the first CCE in the symbol, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The starting time of the L CCEs in the symbol is determined by the following formula: Wherein, B represents the starting time of each CCE in the L CCEs within the symbol in which it belongs.

6. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that When the PDCCH occupies a second symbol, The L CCEs are configured with control information, including: the control information is carried on the second symbol at a second time interval; the L CCEs are also configured with the reference signal, including: the reference signal is carried between the control information, and the third time interval between the reference signal and the previous group of control information is equal to the fourth time interval between the reference signal and the next group of control information.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The starting time of the L CCEs in the second symbol is determined by the following formula: in, C represents the start time of each of the L CCEs in the second symbol, M represents the duration of the second symbol, N represents the number of symbols in a transmission frame, L represents the number of CCEs included in the PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, R represents the minimum number of resource granularities for blindly detecting the PDCCH once, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The L CCEs correspond to different times in the time domain, and the L CCEs correspond to the same subcarrier in the frequency domain.

9. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that The reference signal is a demodulation reference signal DMRS, or the reference signal is a phase tracking reference signal PTRS, or the reference signal is a demodulation reference signal DMRS and a phase tracking reference signal PTRS, or the reference signal is a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Detecting a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, where the PDCCH includes L control channel elements CCE, where the L CCEs are configured on the PDCCH at a first time interval, and where control information is configured on the L CCEs; Estimating a downlink channel according to the detected control information; sending the estimation result of the downlink channel, Wherein, L is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The L CCEs are also configured with a reference signal, and the reference signal is used to estimate a downlink channel.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that When the PDCCH occupies multiple symbols, The L CCEs are further configured with a reference signal, including: the reference signal is carried on a first symbol, the first symbol belongs to the multiple symbols, a time corresponding to the first symbol is earlier than a time corresponding to other symbols in the multiple symbols except the first symbol, The L CCEs are configured with control information, including: the control information is carried on other symbols among the multiple symbols except the first symbol.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The symbols where the L CCEs are located are determined by the following formula: in, A represents the index number of the symbol where each CCE in the L CCEs is located, M represents the duration of a symbol, N represents the number of symbols in a transmission frame, L represents the number of CCEs included in the PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, T1 represents the start time of the first CCE in the symbol, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The starting time of the L CCEs in the symbol is determined by the following formula: Wherein, B represents the starting time of each CCE in the L CCEs within the symbol in which it belongs.

15. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that When the PDCCH occupies a second symbol, The L CCEs are configured with control information, including: the control information is carried on the second symbol at a second time interval, The L CCEs are also configured with the reference signal, including: the reference signal is carried between the control information, and a third time interval between the reference signal and a previous group of the control information is equal to a fourth time interval between the reference signal and a subsequent group of the control information.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The starting time of the L CCEs in the second symbol is determined by the following formula: in, C represents the start time of each of the L CCEs in the second symbol, M represents the duration of the second symbol, N represents the number of symbols in a transmission frame, L represents the number of CCEs included in the PDCCH, X represents the duration of each CCE, R represents the minimum number of resource granularities for blindly detecting the PDCCH once, the value range of x is [1, L], and floor() represents rounding down.

17. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, characterized in that The L CCEs correspond to different times in the time domain, and the L CCEs correspond to the same subcarrier in the frequency domain.

18. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, characterized in that The reference signal is a demodulation reference signal DMRS, or the reference signal is a phase tracking reference signal PTRS, or the reference signal is a demodulation reference signal DMRS and a phase tracking reference signal PTRS, or the reference signal is a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: comprising a processor configured to, by executing a computer program or instructions, The communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or the communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

20. The communication device according to claim 19, characterized in that The communication device further comprises a memory for storing the computer program or instructions.

21. The communication device according to claim 19, characterized in that: The communication device further comprises a communication interface, and the communication interface is used for inputting and / or outputting signals.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed on a computer, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is performed, or the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18 is performed.

23. A computer program product, characterized in that Contains instructions that, when executed on a computer, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is performed, or the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18 is performed.

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