Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and a communication device applied to the field of communication. In the technical scheme provided by the invention, at least one beam set can be determined based on one or more items of information when the reflecting surface sends the first signal, so that the network equipment can determine the beam and / or the beam set which should be used when the reflecting surface sends the communication signal based on the at least one beam set. And thus, the reflecting surface can assist the network equipment and the terminal equipment to communicate based on the wave beam and / or the wave beam set determined by the network equipment. According to the technical scheme provided by the invention, when the reflecting surface assists the network equipment to communicate with the terminal equipment, better compromise between the beam tilt effect and the beam gain is realized, and the communication performance of the system is improved.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In the field of communication, the network device and the terminal device can determine the direction and frequency of the beam to be used when communicating through beam management. Among them, when the distance between the network device and the terminal device is relatively far or there may be high-loss factors such as obstacles and shadows between them, an auxiliary node (such as a reflector) can be used to assist the network device and the terminal device in communicating to improve the communication performance of the network.

[0003] However, when the auxiliary node assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating, the beam squint effect of the auxiliary node will cause the communication performance of the network to decline. Therefore, how to reduce the beam squint effect of the auxiliary node so as to improve the communication performance of the network has become a technical problem to be solved urgently. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and a communication device to reduce the influence of the beam squint effect of the auxiliary node on the network communication performance.

[0005] In a first aspect, this application provides a communication method, which is applied to a reflector, and the reflector is used to send a first signal. The method includes: receiving first information, where the first information is used to indicate the beam and / or beam set of the reflector, and the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflector to send the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflector to send the first signal; sending the first signal based on the first information.

[0006] As an example, this method can be executed by the reflector, or can be executed by a chip system, a hardware circuit, and / or a software module applied to the reflector.

[0007] As an example, when a reflecting surface assists a network device and a terminal device in communicating, if the network device needs to interact with the terminal device, the network device needs to determine the beam and / or beam set to be used when the reflecting surface-assisted network device and the terminal device communicate. Taking downlink communication as an example, when the network device needs to send a communication signal to the terminal device, the network device can send the communication signal to the reflecting surface. The reflecting surface can receive the communication signal sent by the network device and forward the received communication signal to the terminal device, thereby realizing communication between the network device and the terminal device. In this example, the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to receive the communication signal, and / or, the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to forward the communication signal to the terminal device.

[0008] As an example, the beam of the reflecting surface can be understood as the spatial domain filtering or weight of the reflecting surface.

[0009] It should be noted that the reflecting surface sending the first signal can be understood as the reflecting surface receiving the first signal from the sending end, and / or, the reflecting surface forwarding the first signal to the receiving end. It should be noted that when the reflecting surface-assisted network device and the terminal device communicate, the number of network devices and terminal devices can be one or more, that is, the number of sending ends and receiving ends can be one or more. Therefore, the first signal can include one or more signals sent by the reflecting surface, that is, the first signal can include one or more signals received by the reflecting surface from one or more sending ends, and / or, one or more signals forwarded by the reflecting surface to one or more receiving ends.

[0010] As an example, the network device can determine the beam and / or beam set to be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal based on preconfigured beam information. The preconfigured beam information can be related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle. The preconfigured beam information can be stored in the network device. Among them, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth can also be referred to as the number of frequency domain units in the bandwidth, that is, the bandwidth can include one or more frequency domain units, and the subcarrier is an example of a frequency domain unit. In some implementation manners, the frequency domain unit can also be different granularity frequency domain resources such as a component carrier (CC), a resource block (RB), and a subband.

[0011] In this technical solution, after receiving the first information, the reflecting surface can send a communication signal based on the first information, thereby assisting the network device and the terminal device in communicating. It should be understood that the communication signal is included in the first signal.

[0012] In this technical solution, one or more pieces of information when the reflecting surface sends the first signal can be used to determine preconfigured beam information, so that the network device can determine the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends the communication signal in the preconfigured beam information, and carry the determined beam and / or beam set in the first information and send it to the reflecting surface, so that the reflecting surface can send the communication signal based on the first information to assist the communication between the network device and the terminal device. This technical solution can improve the communication performance when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communication.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, media access control layer control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI); or, the first information is carried in the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and / or the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0014] As an example, the first information can be sent down through one or more of the following messages: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, media access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI).

[0015] As an example, the first information can also be sent down through the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0016] As an example, if the first information includes the beam and beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends the communication signal, the beam and beam set can be carried in the same message for sending down, or can be carried in different messages for sending down.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving second information, where the second information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0018] As an example, the at least one beam set indicated by the second information can be understood as the preconfigured beam information described above.

[0019] In this implementation manner, the second information can be determined by the network device based on at least one of the above-mentioned information. After the network device determines the second information, it can be sent to the reflecting surface. Correspondingly, the reflecting surface can receive the second information.

[0020] As an example, after receiving the second information, the reflecting surface can store at least one beam set indicated by the second information in the register of the reflecting surface or in other devices of the reflecting surface, which is not limited here.

[0021] Combined with the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: sending third information, where the third information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0022] As an example, at least one beam set indicated by the third information can be understood as the preconfigured beam information mentioned above.

[0023] In this implementation manner, the third information can be determined independently by the reflecting surface. After the reflecting surface determines the third information, it can store the third information in the register and send the third information to the network device, so that the network device can determine the first information based on at least one beam set indicated by the third information. Correspondingly, the network device can receive the third information.

[0024] Combined with the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving fourth information, where the fourth information is used to determine the at least one beam set, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0025] In this implementation manner, when the reflecting surface determines at least one beam set, it is necessary to obtain the fourth information from the network device side, so that the reflecting surface can determine at least one beam set based on the fourth information.

[0026] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a first communication device. The method includes: determining first information, where the first information is used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a first signal, and the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal; sending the first information.

[0027] As an example, this method can be executed by a first communication device, or can be executed by a chip system, a hardware circuit, and / or a software module applied in the first communication device.

[0028] As an example, the first communication device can be a network device, such as a base station.

[0029] As an example, when a reflecting surface assists a network device and a terminal device in communicating, if the network device needs to interact with the terminal device, the network device needs to determine the beam and / or beam set to be used when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating. Taking downlink communication as an example, when the network device needs to send a communication signal to the terminal device, the network device can send the communication signal to the reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface can receive the communication signal sent by the network device and forward the received communication signal to the terminal device, thereby realizing communication between the network device and the terminal device. In this example, the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to receive the communication signal, and / or, the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to forward the communication signal to the terminal device.

[0030] As an example, the beam of the reflecting surface can be understood as the spatial domain filtering or weight of the reflecting surface.

[0031] It should be noted that the reflecting surface sending the first signal can be understood as the reflecting surface receiving the first signal from the sending end, and / or the reflecting surface forwarding the first signal to the receiving end. It should be noted that when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating, the number of network devices and terminal devices can be one or more, that is, the number of sending ends and receiving ends can be one or more. Therefore, the first signal can include one or more signals sent by the reflecting surface, that is, the first signal can include one or more signals received by the reflecting surface from one or more sending ends, and / or one or more signals forwarded by the reflecting surface to one or more receiving ends.

[0032] As an example, the network device may determine the beam and / or beam set to be used when the reflecting surface transmits a communication signal based on pre-configured beam information, and the pre-configured beam information may be related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the angle of incidence, or the angle of emergence. The pre-configured beam information may be stored in the network device. Among them, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth may also be referred to as the number of frequency domain units in the bandwidth, that is, the bandwidth may include one or more frequency domain units, and a subcarrier is an example of a frequency domain unit. In some implementation manners, the frequency domain unit may also be frequency domain resources with different granularities such as a component carrier (CC), a resource block (RB), and a subband.

[0033] In this technical solution, after receiving the first information, the reflecting surface may transmit a communication signal based on the first information, thereby assisting the network device and the terminal device in communicating. It should be understood that the communication signal is included in the first signal.

[0034] In this technical solution, pre-configured beam information may be determined for one or more pieces of information when the reflecting surface transmits the first signal, so that the network device may determine the beam and / or beam set to be used when the reflecting surface transmits the communication signal from the pre-configured beam information, and carry the determined beam and / or beam set in the first information and send it to the reflecting surface, so that the reflecting surface may transmit the communication signal based on the first information to assist the network device and the terminal device in communicating. This technical solution may improve the communication performance when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating.

[0035] Combined with the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, the first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI; or, the first information is carried in PDSCH and / or PDCCH.

[0036] As an example, the first information may be sent down through one or more of the following messages: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI information.

[0037] As an example, the first information may also be sent down through PDSCH or PDCCH.

[0038] As an example, if the first information includes the beam and beam set to be used when the reflecting surface transmits the communication signal, the beam and beam set may be carried in the same message for sending down, or may be carried in different messages for sending down.

[0039] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: determining at least one beam set based on the at least one piece of information, where the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set; sending second information, where the second information is used to indicate the at least one beam set.

[0040] As an example, the at least one beam set indicated by the second information can be understood as the pre-configured beam information described above.

[0041] In this implementation, the second information can be determined by the network device based on the above at least one piece of information. After the network device determines the second information, it can be sent to the reflecting surface. Correspondingly, the reflecting surface can receive the second information.

[0042] As an example, after the reflecting surface receives the second information, it can store the at least one beam set indicated by the second information in the register of the reflecting surface, or store it in other devices of the reflecting surface, which is not limited here.

[0043] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: receiving third information, where the third information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0044] As an example, the at least one beam set indicated by the third information can be understood as the pre-configured beam information described above.

[0045] In this implementation, the third information can be determined independently by the reflecting surface. After the reflecting surface determines the third information, it can store the third information in the register and send the third information to the network device, so that the network device can determine the first information based on the at least one beam set indicated by the third information. Correspondingly, the network device can receive the third information.

[0046] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending fourth information, where the fourth information is used to determine the at least one beam set, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0047] In this implementation, when the reflecting surface independently determines at least one beam set, the network device can send the fourth information to the reflecting surface, so that the reflecting surface can determine at least one beam set based on the fourth information.

[0048] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes various modules for implementing the method in the first aspect or any one of its implementation manners, and each module can be implemented in the form of hardware and / or software.

[0049] For example, the device may include: a receiving module and a transmitting module. The receiving module is configured to receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate the beam and / or beam set of the reflecting surface, and the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal; the transmitting module is configured to transmit the first signal based on the first information.

[0050] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI; or, the first information is carried in PDSCH and / or PDCCH.

[0051] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the receiving module is further configured to receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0052] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the transmitting module is further configured to transmit third information, where the third information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0053] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the receiving module is further configured to receive fourth information, where the fourth information is used to determine the at least one beam set, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0054] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes various modules for implementing the method in the second aspect or any one of its implementation manners, and each module can be implemented in the form of hardware and / or software.

[0055] For example, the device may include: a processing module and a transmitting module. The processing module is configured to determine first information, where the first information is used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting a first signal, and the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal; the transmitting module is configured to transmit the first information.

[0056] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI; or, the first information is carried in PDSCH and / or PDCCH.

[0057] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the processing module is further configured to determine at least one beam set based on the at least one piece of information, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set; the transmitting module is further configured to transmit second information, where the second information is used to indicate the at least one beam set.

[0058] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the device may further include a receiving module. The receiving module is configured to receive third information, where the third information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0059] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the transmitting module is further configured to transmit fourth information, where the fourth information is used to determine the at least one beam set, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0060] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including a processor, where the processor may be coupled to a memory and is configured to call program code in the memory to execute the method described in the first aspect or any one of its possible implementation manners. Optionally, the device further includes a memory. Optionally, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0061] Optionally, the device may be a reflecting surface, or may be a chip system, a hardware circuit, and / or a software module applied to the reflecting surface.

[0062] Sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including a processor, which can be coupled to a memory and is used to call program code in the memory to execute the method described in the second aspect or any one of its possible implementation manners. Optionally, the device further includes a memory. Optionally, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0063] Optionally, the device can be a network device, or a chip system, a hardware circuit, and / or a software module applied to a network device.

[0064] Seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes the device in the third aspect or the fifth aspect, and the device in the fourth aspect or the sixth aspect. Optionally, the communication system can further include a terminal device.

[0065] Eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product runs on a computer, it causes the computer to execute the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, or any one of its possible implementation manners.

[0066] Ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable medium, which stores program code for a device to execute. The program code includes code for executing the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, or any one of its possible implementation manners.

[0067] For the technical effects that can be achieved by any one of the third aspect to the ninth aspect and any possible design in any one of them, please refer to the technical effects that can be brought by the first aspect to the second aspect above, and will not be repeated here. Description of the Drawings

[0068] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the present application;

[0069] Figure 2 It is another schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the present application;

[0070] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a network device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a relay provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] Figure 6Schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a reflecting surface provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0075] Figure 8 Exemplary flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] Figure 8a Schematic illustration of an incident angle and an exit angle provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] Figure 9 Exemplary illustration of beam gain provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] Figure 10 Exemplary flowchart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0079] Figure 11 Exemplary flowchart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0080] Figure 12 Exemplary flowchart of a communication method provided by yet another embodiment of the present application;

[0081] Figure 13 Schematic illustration of communication bandwidth provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] Figure 14 Schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] Figure 15 Schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by another embodiment of the present application. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0084] Here, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail, and the examples are shown in the drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. On the contrary, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the appended claims.

[0085] In a wireless communication system, beamforming technology is used to confine the energy of a transmitted signal within a certain beam direction, thereby increasing the efficiency of signal transmission and reception. Beamforming technology can effectively expand the transmission range of wireless signals, reduce signal interference, and thus achieve higher communication efficiency and obtain higher network capacity. However, in a communication network adopting beamforming technology, it is necessary to match the transmit beam or receive beam to the wireless channel so that the receive beam can obtain better signal quality from the transmit beam; otherwise, it is impossible to achieve relatively high communication efficiency or even impossible to communicate. The matching between the transmit beam / receive beam and the channel is usually accomplished by means of beam management (such as beam scanning). For example, when the transmit beam is scanned, the receive beam at the receiving end is fixed, and the transmitting end transmits signals using multiple beams respectively for the receiving end to measure. When the receive beam is scanned, the transmit beam at the transmitting end is fixed, and the receiving end receives the signals from the transmitting end using multiple receive beams respectively. The transmit beam and the receive beam can also be scanned alternately to gradually improve the matching degree with the channel. Among them, beamforming can also be called beamforming or spatial domain filtering. In downlink communication, the transmitting end can be a network device (such as a base station), and the receiving end can be a terminal device; in uplink communication, the transmitting end can be a terminal device, and the receiving end can be a network device.

[0086] As an example, in a new radio (NR) communication system, beam scanning can be performed based on downlink reference signals, so that the terminal device can obtain a downlink receive beam, and the network device can obtain a downlink transmit beam and precoding / codebook; beam management can also be performed based on uplink reference signals, so that the terminal device can obtain an uplink transmit beam and precoding / codebook, and the network device can obtain an uplink receive beam.

[0087] It should be noted that in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication system, the signals of multiple transmit antennas will be superimposed on any one receive antenna, resulting in a relatively high complexity for the receiving end to recover the transmitted signal, and the way the transmitting end transmits signals will also affect the performance of the system. Therefore, the system overhead can be reduced, the system capacity can be improved, and the complexity of eliminating the influence between channels when the receiving end recovers the transmitted signal can be reduced by using precoding technology. In a MIMO communication system using precoding, the received signal at the receiving end can be expressed by the mathematical formula: y = HPx + n, where y is the received signal, H is the MIMO channel matrix, P is the precoding matrix or vector, x is the transmitted signal, and n is the noise. Among them, precoding can include digital precoding, analog precoding, and hybrid precoding, etc. Hybrid precoding is the joint coding of digital precoding and analog precoding; P can be selected from a predefined matrix set or vector set, and this set can be called a codebook.

[0088] In some communication scenarios, when the distance between a network device and a terminal device is relatively far and there may be high-loss factors such as obstructions and shadows between them, it may cause the terminal device to be unable to communicate directly with the network device, that is, there are signal coverage blind spots or weak signal coverage areas in the network. Based on this, an auxiliary node can be used to assist the network device and the terminal device in communicating to improve the communication performance of the network. Among them, the auxiliary node can be a relay or a reflector.

[0089] Exemplarily, Figure 1 Fig. shows a schematic diagram of a communication system based on a relay to assist a network device and a terminal device. As Figure 1 shown, the communication system may include a network device 110, a terminal device 120, and a relay 130. Among them, the numbers of the network device, the terminal device, and the relay are only one example, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0090] Among them, the relay 130 can directly amplify and forward the received signal. In some relay systems, the relay may include two antenna panels, each antenna panel includes a plurality of antenna elements, and beams can be formed on the antenna panel to improve the relay transmission performance. Among them, one antenna panel is used to communicate with the sending end, such as receiving the signal sent by the network device 110, and the other antenna panel is used to communicate with the receiving end, such as sending the amplified signal to the terminal device 120. In this embodiment, the beam generated on the antenna panel communicating with the sending end can be called the backhaul side beam, and the beam generated on the antenna panel communicating with the receiving end can be called the access side beam.

[0091] Exemplarily, Figure 2 Fig. shows a schematic diagram of a communication system based on a reflector to assist a network device and a terminal device. As Figure 2 shown, the communication system may include a network device 210, a terminal device 220, and a reflector 230. Among them, the numbers of the network device, the terminal device, and the reflector are only one example, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0092] Taking downlink communication as an example, the network device 210 can send a signal to the reflector 230, and the reflector 230 reflects the received signal to the terminal device 220, thereby establishing a signal link between the network device 210 and the terminal device 220. Among them, the reflector 230 may include a plurality of antenna elements to generate beams to improve the transmission performance of the reflector. In this embodiment, the communication beam between the reflector and the sending end can be called the backhaul side beam, and the communication beam between the reflector and the receiving end can be called the access side beam, that is, the reflector can receive signals based on the backhaul side beam and forward signals based on the access side beam. In the embodiments of this application, the antenna element can also be called an antenna.

[0093] It should be noted that the reception and transmission of signals by different antennas in the auxiliary node can be different. Therefore, by adjusting the incident factors of multiple antennas, the backhaul-side beam generated by the auxiliary node can be aligned with the direction of the transmitting end, and by adjusting the reflection factors of multiple antennas, the access-side beam generated by the auxiliary node can be aligned with the direction of the receiving end, thereby improving the communication performance when the network device communicates with the terminal device. The incident factor of the antenna can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used when the auxiliary node generates the backhaul-side beam, and can also be called the incident weight. The reflection factor can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used when the auxiliary node generates the access-side beam, and can also be called the reflection weight. The incident weight and the reflection weight can be collectively referred to as the weight. As an example, the precoding matrix used when the auxiliary node generates the backhaul-side / access-side beam can be the precoding matrix of analog precoding.

[0094] When the auxiliary node assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating, there is a time delay when the signal is transmitted to each of the multiple antennas, that is, there is a time difference between the times when the signal is transmitted to each of the multiple antennas, or in other words, the path differences of the signal transmitted to each of the multiple antennas are different. However, the auxiliary node usually determines the weight of the auxiliary node with the center frequency f cen so that the beam corresponding to the center frequency f cen will point to the preset direction, and the beams corresponding to the edge frequency domain units (such as subcarriers) on both sides of the center frequency f cen will deviate from the preset direction, resulting in the beam squint effect. Among them, the frequency f i of the edge frequency domain unit ∈ [f cen -BW / 2, f cen +BW / 2], BW is the bandwidth carrying the signal, the unit of BW can be megahertz (MHz), and the condition of the beam angle changing with frequency is called the beam squint effect. It should be noted that when the beam squint effect occurs, the beams corresponding to different frequency domain units will have different beam gains, and when the distance between the position of the frequency domain unit and the center frequency f cen is relatively large, the difference in beam gains will be relatively obvious, resulting in a reduction in the communication performance of the network. Therefore, how to reduce the beam squint effect of the auxiliary node to improve the communication performance of the network has become an urgent technical problem.

[0095] The applicant's research found that different influencing factors (such as signal bandwidth, scanning angle of the auxiliary node, etc.) and / or different weights will result in different beam squints and beam gains. Therefore, reasonable weights can be designed or selected for different influencing factors to achieve the matching between the beam and the channel, so as to achieve a better compromise between beam squint and beam gain and improve the communication performance of the network.

[0096] In view of this, the present application provides a communication method and a communication device. In the communication method provided by the present application, multiple sets of weights or multiple sets of weight sets are configured for different influencing factors, so as to select appropriate weights from the configured multiple sets of weights or multiple sets of weight sets for different communication scenarios, thereby improving the communication performance of the network. It should be noted that the communication method and the communication device provided by the present application are based on the same technical concept. Since the principles of solving problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the method and the device can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be elaborated.

[0097] The terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a terminal unit, a terminal station, a mobile station, a mobile device, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a terminal agent, or a terminal device, etc. The access terminal may 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 devices connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the terminal device may be the terminal device itself; it may also be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement its functions, such as a chip system, and this device may be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0098] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 3 shown, the terminal device 300 may include a processor 310, a memory 320, and a signal transceiver unit 330. The signal transceiver unit 330 may include a transmitter 3301, a receiver 3302, and an antenna 3303. Among them, the numbers of the processor, the memory, and the signal transceiver unit are only an example, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0099] Among them, the memory 320 is used to store computer programs or configuration information. The transmitter 3301 may be used to send transmission information to the network device 400 through the antenna 3303, and the receiver 3302 may be used to receive transmission control configuration information or indication information sent by the network device 400 through the antenna 3303.

[0100] It should be understood that the transmitter 3301 and the antenna 3303 can be collectively referred to as the output device of the terminal device 300, and the receiver 3302 and the antenna 3303 can be collectively referred to as the input device of the terminal device 300.

[0101] The network device involved in the embodiments of the present application can be a device capable of communicating with the terminal device. The network device can be a base station, a relay station or an access point. The base station can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communication (GSM) or a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, or can be a base station in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) (such as a NodeB, NB), or can also be an evolved base station in a long term evolution (LTE) (such as an evolutional NodeB, eNB or eNodeB). The network device can also be a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The network device can also be a base station device in a future fifth generation (5G) communication network or a network device of a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN). The base station device can also be a wearable device or a vehicle-mounted device. In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the network device can be the network device itself; or it can be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement its functions, such as a chip system, and this device can be installed in the network device.

[0102] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a network device provided for an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 4 shown, the network device 400 can include a processor 410, a memory 420 and a signal transceiver unit 430. The signal transceiver unit 430 includes a transmitter 4301, a receiver 4302 and an antenna 4303. Among them, the numbers of the processor, the memory and the signal transceiver unit are only an example, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0103] Among them, the memory 420 is used to store computer programs or configuration information. The transmitter 4301 can be used to send transmission control configuration information or indication information to the terminal device 300 through the antenna 4303. The receiver 4302 can be used to receive the transmission information sent by the terminal device 300 through the antenna 4303. It should be understood that the transmitter 4301 and the antenna 4303 can be collectively referred to as the output device of the network device 400, and the receiver 4302 and the antenna 4303 can be collectively referred to as the input device of the network device 400.

[0104] In the embodiments of this application, the relay involved can be called a repeater, which has a signal forwarding function and can amplify signals. In addition, the relay node can also shift the carrier frequency of the signal, or can also demodulate the signal and then re-modulate and forward it, or can also forward the signal after noise reduction. Therefore, the relay can be any of the following forms: amplify-and-forward, demodulate-and-forward, frequency-shift-and-forward, noise-reduction-and-forward. The relay can also be considered as a special form of terminal device. If considering the control ability of the network device over the relay, it can be divided into a non-intelligent relay and an intelligent relay. Among them, the network device can control the intelligent relay to perform more functions for enhanced performance. For example, relay transmission power control, relay amplification gain control, relay beam scanning control, relay precoding control.

[0105] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a relay provided by an embodiment of this application. As Figure 5 shown, the relay 500 can include a controller 510, a signal amplifier 520, a first signal transceiver unit 530, and a second signal transceiver unit 540. The relay 500 can be used to implement communication between the network device 400 and the terminal device 300, such as signaling interaction, signal amplification, etc. The first signal transceiver unit 530 can include a transmitter 5301, a receiver 5302, and an antenna 5303; the second signal transceiver unit 540 can include a transmitter 5401, a receiver 5402, and an antenna 5403.

[0106] It should be understood that the transmitter 5301 and the antenna 5303 can be collectively referred to as the output device of the relay 500, or the transmitter 5401 and the antenna 5403 can be collectively referred to as the output device of the relay 500; the receiver 5302 and the antenna 5303 can be collectively referred to as the input device of the relay 500, or the receiver 5402 and the antenna 5403 can be collectively referred to as the input device of the relay 500.

[0107] Among them, the numbers of the controller, the signal amplifier, and the signal transceiver unit are only an example, and the embodiments of this application do not limit this. When there are multiple signal amplifiers, each signal amplifier corresponds to a different polarization direction or relay radio frequency channel.

[0108] Among them, the controller 510 can also be referred to as a mobile terminal (MT). The other parts of the relay 500 except the controller 510 can be referred to as a radio unit (RU), or a distributed unit (DU), or a distributed radio unit (DRU), etc. The controller 510 can communicate with the network device 400 or the terminal device 300 based on the first signal transceiver unit 530 and the second signal transceiver unit 540. For example, the controller 510 can communicate with the network device 400 through the first signal transceiver unit 530, such as establishing a communication link and beam alignment between the relay 500 and the network device 400. The controller 510 can communicate with the terminal device 300 through the second signal transceiver unit 540, such as establishing a communication link and beam alignment between the relay 500 and the terminal device 300. The controller 510 can also be used to receive the transmission control configuration information or indication information sent by the network device 400 to facilitate the network device 400 to control the working time, working state, or working mode, etc. of the relay 500. The controller 510 can also be used to receive the trigger signal of the terminal device 300, so that the relay 500 can enter the corresponding working mode as needed. The controller 510 can also be used to determine the working state (such as amplification factor, phase) of the signal amplifier 520 according to the indication information sent by the network device 400 or its own measurement information.

[0109] Taking the downlink communication as an example, the first signal transceiver unit 530 can be used to receive the transmission control configuration information or indication information sent by the network device 400, and the second signal transceiver unit 540 can be used to forward the amplified transmission control configuration information or indication information to the terminal device 300. Or the second signal transceiver unit 540 can be used to receive the transmission control configuration information or indication information sent by the network device 400, and the first signal transceiver unit 530 can be used to forward the amplified transmission control configuration information or indication information to the terminal device 300.

[0110] The reflecting surface involved in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a reflector. For example, the reflecting surface can be an intelligent reflecting surface, a reflecting array, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), a reconfigurable reflecting surface (RRS), an intelligent reflecting array, a reflector, an intelligent reflector, a backscatter device, a passive device, a semi-passive device, or an ambient signal device, etc.

[0111] Figure 6 FIG. is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a reflecting surface provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 6 shown, the reflecting surface 600 may include a reflecting surface communication function unit 610, a reflecting element controller 620, and reflecting elements 630. Among them, the numbers of the reflecting surface communication function unit, the reflecting surface controller, and the reflecting elements are only an example, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0112] Among them, the reflecting surface communication function unit 610 is similar to the terminal device 300. The communication function unit 610 includes a processor 611, a memory 612, and a signal transceiver unit 613. The signal transceiver unit 613 may include a transmitter 6131, a receiver 6132, and an antenna 6133. Among them, the memory 612 is used to store computer programs or configuration information. The transmitter 6131 may be used to send information to the receiving end through the antenna 6133, and the receiver 6132 may be used to receive information sent by the sending end through the antenna 6133. The numbers of the processor, the memory, and the signal transceiver unit are only an example, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0113] The reflection element controller 620 is used to control the states of the respective reflection elements 630 according to the received signaling. The reflection elements 630 are used to implement signal reflection. The basic working principle of the reflection element 630 is to reflect or absorb the received signal through a simple circuit. When the reflection element 630 reflects the signal, a phase or amplitude can be superimposed on the signal before reflection. Different states of the reflection element 630 can achieve superimposing (or multiplying) different amplitudes and / or phases on the received signal. The states of the reflection elements 630 constitute the reflection state matrix (or referred to as the reflection state vector) of the reflecting surface. Some of the reflection elements 630 include two states of on and off, that is, the two states of the reflection element 630 are to reflect the signal and absorb the signal. When in the reflection state, the reflection element 630 directly reflects the received signal, and when in the absorption state, the reflection element 630 absorbs the received signal.

[0114] In some embodiments, considering that the terminal device (such as a high-frequency terminal) can face multiple directions, the terminal device can generate beams in different directions through different spatial domain filtering.

[0115] Exemplarily, Figure 7 FIG. is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device provided in another embodiment of the present application. As Figure 7 shown, the terminal device 700 may include a processor 710, a memory 720, and a signal transceiver unit 730. The signal transceiver unit 730 includes a transmitter 7301, a receiver 7302, and a plurality of antenna arrays. The plurality of antenna arrays are such as Figure 7 the antenna arrays 1 to antenna array M in, and M is a positive integer. Among them, the memory 720 is used to store computer programs or configuration information. The antenna array may include one or more of digital precoding, analog precoding, and antennas. The analog precoding can be implemented by a phase shifter. One phase shifter represents one analog channel. Each phase shifter can be connected to one or more antenna elements, or there can be cross-connections between the phase shifter and the antenna elements.

[0116] As Figure 7 shown, the antenna array 1 can generate a beam 1 in the direction 1 to radiate or transmit a signal, that is, corresponding to the first spatial domain filtering. The antenna array M can generate a beam M in the direction M to radiate or transmit a signal, that is, corresponding to the Mth spatial domain filtering, and M is a positive integer.

[0117] As an example, M directions can be determined according to the horizontal or vertical spatial coverage range, and then the coverage direction of each of the M beams can be determined. The coverage direction can also be referred to as the coverage area, coverage range or direction. Among them, the M beams correspond one-to-one with the M directions, that is, each beam corresponds to one direction. As an example, when the spatial coverage range in the horizontal direction is [-60°, 60°], the spatial coverage range can be divided into M sub-spatial coverage ranges, so as to achieve spatial coverage in the horizontal direction. The direction of the center line of each sub-spatial coverage range is used as the direction of the sub-spatial coverage range, and the direction of the sub-spatial coverage range is determined as the direction of the corresponding beam.

[0118] It should be noted that the m-th spatial filtering among the M spatial filterings can be understood as Figure 7 the digital weight F shown in m =[F m,1 ; …; F m,k , 1 ≤ m ≤ M, k represents the number of digital channels in each antenna array. The digital channel can also be referred to as a digital coding channel. F is a digital weight or a digital precoding weight. The digital weight can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used when digital precoding is performed; or the m-th spatial filtering can be understood as Figure 7 the analog weight G shown in m , and the analog weight can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used when analog precoding is performed; or the m-th spatial filtering can be understood as the hybrid digital-analog weight F m G m , and the hybrid digital-analog weight can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used when joint coding of digital precoding and analog precoding is performed.

[0119] In some implementation manners, it can be considered that the spatial filtering of any plurality of antenna arrays among the M antenna arrays of the terminal device can constitute a spatial filtering. For example, the M antenna arrays can constitute a spatial filtering, such as any one of the following spatial filterings: [F 1 ; …; F m , [G 1 ; …; G m , or [F 1 G 1 ; …; F m G m .

[0120] It should be noted that the network device, relay and reflector can also generate beams in different directions through different spatial filterings. The manner in which the network device, relay and reflector generate beams in different directions through different spatial filterings is similar to the manner in which the terminal device generates beams in different directions through different spatial filterings, and will not be elaborated here.

[0121] Taking the auxiliary node as the reflecting surface as an example, the technical solution provided by the present application will be described. It should be understood that the technical solution provided by the present application can also be applied to a relay system or other communication systems including auxiliary nodes, and the present application does not make specific limitations thereto. In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the reflecting surface can be the reflecting surface; it can also be a device capable of supporting the reflecting surface to implement this function, such as a chip system, and this device can be installed in the reflecting surface.

[0122] Figure 8 An exemplary flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 8 shown, the method may include S801, S802, and S803.

[0123] S801, the network device determines first information, where the first information is used to indicate the beam and / or beam set of the reflecting surface, and the beam and beam set of the reflecting surface are related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal.

[0124] In this embodiment, when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating, if the network device needs to interact with the terminal device, the network device needs to determine the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating.

[0125] Taking downlink communication as an example, when the network device needs to send a communication signal to the terminal device, the network device can send the communication signal to the reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface can receive the communication signal sent by the network device and forward the received communication signal to the terminal device, so as to realize the communication between the network device and the terminal device. In this example, the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to receive the communication signal, and / or, the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to forward the communication signal to the terminal device.

[0126] As an example, the beam of the reflecting surface can be understood as the spatial domain filtering or weight of the reflecting surface. Based on this, the beam set of the reflecting surface can also be understood as the spatial domain filtering set or weight set of the reflecting surface, and the beam of the reflecting surface can be included in the beam set of the reflecting surface.

[0127] In some implementations, a network device may determine first information from preconfigured beam information. The preconfigured beam information may include a beam and / or a set of beams that a reflector can use to transmit a first signal. Transmitting the first signal by the reflector may be understood as the reflector receiving the first signal from the network device and / or the reflector forwarding the first signal to a terminal device. It should be noted that when the reflector assists in communication, the number of network devices and terminal devices may be one or more, that is, the number of transmitters and receivers may be one or more. Therefore, the first signal may include one or more signals transmitted by the reflector, or in other words, the first signal may include one or more signals received by the reflector from one or more transmitters and / or one or more signals forwarded by the reflector to one or more receivers. It should be understood that communication signals may be included in the first signal. As an example, the preconfigured beam information may be configured in the network device.

[0128] In this implementation, as an example, the preconfigured beam information may be related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle. The incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflector to transmit the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflector to transmit the first signal. The number of subcarriers in the bandwidth may also be referred to as the number of frequency domain units in the bandwidth, that is, the bandwidth may include one or more frequency domain units, and a subcarrier is an example of a frequency domain unit. In some implementations, the frequency domain unit may also be a frequency domain resource with different granularities such as a component carrier (CC), a resource block (RB), a subband, etc. The incident angle used by the reflector to transmit the first signal may be understood as the incident angle that the reflector can use to receive the first signal, or in other words, the direction of the backhaul side beam that the reflector can use to receive the first signal. The direction of the backhaul side beam may be understood as the angle between the backhaul side beam and the normal line perpendicular to the reflector. The exit angle used by the reflector to transmit the first signal may be understood as the exit angle that the reflector can use to forward the first signal, or the direction of the access side beam that the reflector can use to forward the first signal. The direction of the access side beam may be understood as the angle between the access side beam and the normal line perpendicular to the reflector. It should be understood that the number of incident angles and exit angles may be one or more. Among them, the above at least one piece of information may also be referred to as the influencing factors for determining the preconfigured beam information.

[0129] In this implementation, the preconfigured beam information may include a preconfigured beam set determined based on any one or more of the above at least one piece of information.

[0130] As an example, the pre-configured beam information may include a set of pre-configured beams determined based on the incident angle and the exit angle used for transmitting the first signal by the reflecting surface, as shown in Table (1).

[0131] Table (1)

[0132]

[0133] Among them, it can be understood as a parameter for characterizing the angle that can be used for the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal, and this parameter may be related to the incident angle θ and the exit angle β that can be used for the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal. For example, the beam in the set of pre-configured beams, such as φ 10 can be understood as spatial filtering or weights. It should be understood that r is a positive integer.

[0134] In some implementation manners, the signs of the incident angle and the exit angle may be different according to different selected coordinate systems, resulting in being different.

[0135] As an example, when the incident angle and the exit angle are distributed on the same side of the normal line perpendicular to the reflecting surface, the signs of the incident angle and the exit angle may be the same; when the incident angle and the exit angle are distributed on both sides of the normal line perpendicular to the reflecting surface, the signs of the incident angle and the exit angle may be opposite. This application does not specifically limit the method for setting the signs of the incident angle and the exit angle.

[0136] Exemplarily, Figure 8a is a schematic diagram of an incident angle and an exit angle provided by an embodiment of this application. As Figure 8a shown, the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β1 are distributed on the same side of the normal line perpendicular to the reflecting surface, then the parameter related to the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β1 can be expressed as: wherein the signs of both the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β1 are positive; the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β2 are distributed on both sides of the normal line perpendicular to the reflecting surface, then the parameter related to the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β2 can be expressed as: wherein the sign of the incident angle θ1 is positive and the sign of the exit angle β2 is negative.

[0137] It should be understood that is only an example rather than a limitation, and it can also be expressed by other expressions.

[0138] In this example, the network device can determine the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting a communication signal based on the incident angle and the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to transmit the communication signal, that is, determine the first information. For example, the parameter used to characterize the angle when the reflecting surface transmits the communication signal belongs to When, the beam set of the reflecting surface can be {φ 00 , φ 01 , …, φ 0r}.

[0139] As an example, the preconfigured beam information can include a preconfigured beam set determined based on the carrier frequency f d of the first signal, as shown in Table (2).

[0140] Table (2)

[0141] <![CDATA[Carrier frequency f d > Pre-configured beam set <![CDATA[f 0 > <![CDATA[{γ 00 , γ 01 , …, γ 0r}]]> <![CDATA[f 1 > <![CDATA[{γ 10 ,γ 11 ,…,γ 1r}]]> …… ……

[0142] In this example, the network device can determine the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting a communication signal based on the carrier frequency carrying the communication signal, that is, the first information. For example, when the carrier frequency carrying the communication signal is f 1 , the beam set of the reflecting surface can be {γ 10 , γ 11 , …, γ 1r}.

[0143] As an example, the preconfigured beam information can include a preconfigured beam set determined based on the bandwidth BW of the first signal, as shown in Table (3).

[0144] Table (3)

[0145] Bandwidth BW Pre-configured beam set <![CDATA[BW 0 > <![CDATA[{η 00 ,η 01 ,…,η 0r}]]> <![CDATA[BW 1 > <![CDATA[{η 10 ,η 11 ,…,η 1r}]]> …… ……

[0146] In this example, the network device can determine the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting a communication signal based on the bandwidth of the communication signal, that is, the first information. For example, when the bandwidth of the first signal is BW 0 , the beam set of the reflecting surface can be {η 00 , η 01 , …, η 0r}.

[0147] It should be understood that the content in Table (1), Table (2) and Table (3) is only an example of the preconfigured beam information, and the content in Table (1), Table (2) and Table (3) can all be modified according to actual needs, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0148] In a possible implementation, the preconfigured beam information can also be related to the position of the frequency corresponding to each frequency domain unit (such as subcarriers) in the bandwidth of the first signal relative to the center frequency.

[0149] In one possible implementation, the preconfigured beam information may also be related to the antenna array information of the reflector. Among them, the antenna array information of the reflector may include one or more of the following information: the number N of antenna elements f , the spacing d between each antenna element, the number N of phase shifters p , the number of digital channels, the number of analog channels, or the number of ports.

[0150] As an example, after determining the beam set to be used when the reflector transmits a communication signal, the frequency response of each beam in the beam set can be further determined, the gain of each beam can be determined based on the frequency response of each beam in the beam set, so as to determine the level of the beam tilt effect of each beam, and then the beam to be used when the reflector transmits a communication signal can be determined. For example, the beam with the lowest beam tilt effect in the beam set can be used as the beam to be used when the reflector transmits a communication signal, thereby improving the communication performance of the system during reflector-assisted communication. It should be noted that the frequency response can be understood as the product of the steering vector of the reflector and the weight. Among them, the steering vector is used to describe the spatial phase difference of the reflector, and the spatial phase difference means that there is a certain difference in phase or time between the signals received by the antenna elements at different positions in space.

[0151] As an example, when the reflector transmits a certain signal, the frequency response Q of the signal beam can be expressed as:

[0152]

[0153] Among them, N f is the number of antenna elements included in the reflector, d is the spacing of the antenna elements of the reflector, λ is the carrier wavelength carrying the signal, f i is the frequency corresponding to the i-th frequency domain unit (such as subcarrier) in the bandwidth carrying the signal, f i ∈[f cen -BW / 2, f cen +BW / 2], BW can be the bandwidth carrying the signal, f cen is the center frequency of the bandwidth carrying the signal, θ is the incident angle used by the reflector to transmit the signal, and β is the exit angle used by the reflector to transmit the signal.

[0154] As an example, after determining the set of beams that the reflecting surface should use to transmit communication signals, the network device can further determine the beams that the reflecting surface should use to transmit communication signals, and send the determined beams to the reflecting surface, or send the determined beams and the set of beams to the reflecting surface together, so that the reflecting surface can communicate based on the determined beams. It should be understood that in this example, the first information may include the beams that the reflecting surface should use to transmit communication signals, or the first information may include the beams and the set of beams that the reflecting surface should use to transmit communication signals.

[0155] As an example, after determining the set of beams that the reflecting surface should use to transmit communication signals, the network device can directly send the determined set of beams to the reflecting surface. After receiving the set of beams, the reflecting surface can autonomously determine the beams that the reflecting surface should use to transmit communication signals from the set of beams, so as to communicate based on the determined beams. It should be understood that in this example, the first information may include the set of beams that the reflecting surface should use to transmit communication signals.

[0156] It should be understood that the preconfigured beam set can also be referred to as a preconfigured weight set. In some implementation manners, the preconfigured weight set may include narrow beam weights and wide beam weights, and the wide beam weights can also be referred to as widened beam weights. Among them, the reflecting surface can generate beams with a width of the coverage range less than the width threshold and an interval between beams less than the first interval threshold based on the narrow beam weights, or the reflecting surface can generate beams with a width of the coverage range less than the width threshold and an interval between beams greater than or equal to the first interval threshold but less than the second interval threshold based on the narrow beam weights; the reflecting surface can generate beams with a width of the coverage range greater than or equal to the width threshold based on the wide beam weights, that is, the reflecting surface can widen the beams based on the wide beam weights. Since the widened beams have a greater tolerance for beam angle deviation, the beam tilt effect can be reduced, and thus the communication efficiency of the system can be improved. Beam widening can be understood as changing the shape of the antenna pattern by changing various parameters of the antenna to make it have a wider main lobe. It should be noted that the width threshold, the first interval threshold, and the second interval threshold can all be set according to actual needs, and the present application does not make specific limitations thereto.

[0157] Among them, the narrow beam weights can be applicable to communication scenarios where the beam tilt effect is lower than a preset condition. When the reflecting surface communicates based on the narrow beam weights, good beam gain can be achieved, and the output power of the signal is relatively high; the wide beam weights can be applicable to communication scenarios where the beam tilt effect is higher than or equal to the preset condition. When the reflecting surface communicates based on the wide beam weights, the effective bandwidth of the signal can be increased, thereby improving the communication performance of the system. Among them, the preset condition can be set according to actual needs, and the present application does not make specific limitations thereto. For example, the preset condition can be that the average gain of the beam is greater than or equal to the gain threshold, and the gain threshold can be set according to actual needs.

[0158] It should be noted that the present application does not limit the specific implementation manners of the narrow beam weights and the wide beam weights.

[0159] As an example, the narrow beam weights can be determined based on discrete fourier transform (DFT) vectors. The narrow beam weights can also be referred to as DFT weights. For example, the narrow beam weights determined based on the DFT vectors can be:

[0160]

[0161] where j is the imaginary unit, e is the base of the natural logarithm, s is the weight index, s is a positive integer, 1 ≤ s ≤ N, and N is the number of beams in different directions that the reflector can generate, similar to Figure 7 the number of M beams in different directions that the terminal device can generate in 1 It can be understood that u s can be the weight used when the reflector generates beam 1 in direction 1. It should be understood that u s can be one of the above pre-configured beam sets. As an example, u f can be an N f ×1 column vector, and each element in this column vector can be the weight corresponding to each antenna element among the N antenna elements of the reflector. For example, f it can be the weight corresponding to the first antenna element among the N

[0162] In a possible implementation manner, the narrow beam weights can be extended to obtain the wide beam weights. For example, the narrow beam weights can be extended by square-law extension or virtual subarray extension to obtain the wide beam weights, and the present application does not make specific limitations thereto.

[0163] As an example, the wide beam weights obtained by square-law extension of the narrow beam weights can be:

[0164]

[0165] Or it can be:

[0166]

[0167] where α 0 is the broadening coefficient, and the width of the beam can be adjusted by adjusting the value of α 0 so as to reduce the beam tilt effect. It should be noted that the value of α 0 can be set according to actual requirements, and the present application does not make specific limitations thereto.

[0168] As an example, the narrow beam weights can also be determined based on an angle, which can be the direction of the beam generated by the reflecting surface. For example, the narrow beam weights determined based on the angle can be:

[0169]

[0170] where f cen is the center frequency, c is the speed of light, θ s is the direction of the s-th beam that the reflecting surface can generate, 1 ≤ s ≤ N, and d is the spacing between the antenna elements of the reflecting surface.

[0171] In this example, the wide beam weights obtained after square-law expansion of the narrow beam weights can be:

[0172]

[0173] Exemplarily, Figure 9 is an exemplary illustration diagram of a beam gain provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 9 At least one piece of information (such as the incident angle, exit angle, etc.) of the a beam and the b beam shown in is the same. The a beam is the beam generated by the reflecting surface based on the narrow beam weights, and the b beam is the beam generated by the reflecting surface based on the wide beam weights. The b beam can be understood as the beam obtained by broadening the a beam. Figure 9 In , the unit of beam gain is taken as decibels (dB) as an example.

[0174] Such as Figure 9 shown, the gain of the a beam is relatively high at the center frequency (such as 0 MHz), but the gain of the edge frequency domain units on both sides of the center frequency decreases rapidly, the beam tilt effect is relatively high, and the communication performance is poor; compared with the a beam, the gain of the b beam at the center frequency (such as 0 MHz) decreases, the beam tilt effect decreases, and the communication performance improves. It can be understood that when the beam tilt effect is relatively high, when using the narrow beam weights to generate a beam, the beam gain corresponding to the center frequency is relatively high, but the beam gains corresponding to the edge frequency domain units on both sides of the center frequency are relatively low, resulting in a relatively low average gain of the beam, low spectral efficiency of the beam, and poor communication performance; when using the wide beam weights to generate a beam, the average gain of the beam can be increased, the effective bandwidth of the signal can be increased, and thus the communication performance of the system can be improved.

[0175] S802, the network device sends the first information to the reflecting surface.

[0176] In this embodiment, after the network device determines the first information, it can send the first information to the reflecting surface. Correspondingly, the reflecting surface can receive the first information.

[0177] In some implementation manners, the first information may be sent down through one or more of the following messages: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, media access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI).

[0178] In some other implementable manners, the first information may also be sent down through a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0179] As an example, when the first information includes the beams and beam sets that should be used when the reflecting surface sends communication signals, the beams and beam sets may be carried in the same message for sending down, or may be carried in different messages for sending down. This application does not make specific restrictions on this.

[0180] S803, the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device to communicate based on the first information.

[0181] In this embodiment, after receiving the first information, the reflecting surface may send communication signals based on the first information, so as to assist the network device and the terminal device to communicate. It should be understood that the communication signals are included in the first signal.

[0182] As an example, in uplink communication, the reflecting surface may receive communication signals from the terminal device based on the backhaul-side beam indicated by the first information, and / or forward the communication signals to the network device based on the access-side beam indicated by the first information; in downlink communication, the reflecting surface may receive communication signals from the network device based on the backhaul-side beam indicated by the first information, and / or forward the communication signals to the terminal device based on the access-side beam indicated by the first information.

[0183] As an example, the reflecting surface may communicate with the network device based on the narrow beam weights, and communicate with the terminal device based on the narrow beam weights, wide beam weights, or a combination of the narrow beam weights and wide beam weights.

[0184] In this embodiment, one or more pieces of information when the reflecting surface transmits the first signal can be used to pre-configure one or more sets of beam sets. The beam set can include narrow beam weights and / or wide beam weights, so that the network device can select a suitable beam and / or beam set from the pre-configured beam sets based on the information when the reflecting surface transmits the communication signal, and send the selected beam and / or beam set to the reflecting surface to improve the communication performance when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communication. In the method provided in this embodiment, a better compromise can be achieved between the beam tilt effect and the beam gain, improving the communication performance of the system.

[0185] In some implementation manners, the pre-configured beam information can be pre-configured in the reflecting surface, so that after the network device determines the first information, it can indicate the beam and / or beam set to be used when the reflecting surface transmits the communication signal by sending an index value, so as to save signaling overhead.

[0186] Exemplarily, Figure 10 is an exemplary flowchart of a communication method provided in another embodiment of this application. As Figure 10 shown, the method can include S1001 to S1007.

[0187] S1001, the network device obtains the antenna array information of the reflecting surface.

[0188] In this embodiment, the pre-configured beam information can be related to the array information of the reflecting surface, so the network device needs to obtain the antenna array information of the reflecting surface. Among them, the antenna array information of the reflecting surface can include one or more of the following information: the number N of antenna elements f , the spacing d between each antenna element, the number N of phase shifters p , the number of digital channels, the number of analog channels, or the number of ports.

[0189] Optionally, the information or parameters in the antenna array information of the reflecting surface can be characterized by data in the first dimension and / or data in the second dimension. Among them, the first dimension can be the horizontal direction, the second dimension can be the vertical direction, or the first dimension can be the vertical direction, and the second dimension can be the horizontal direction.

[0190] As an example, when the information or parameters in the antenna array information of the reflecting surface are characterized by data in the horizontal direction, the number N of antenna elements f can be expressed as N f,H . Among them, one of the beams (such as φ 10 ) in the pre-configured beam sets shown in Table (1) to Table (3) can be a column vector of N f,H ×1, and each element in the column vector can be the weight corresponding to each antenna element among N f,H antenna elements.

[0191] As an example, when the information or parameters in the antenna array information of the reflecting surface are characterized by the data in the first dimension and the data in the second dimension, the number N of antenna elements in the reflecting surface f can be expressed as (N f,H , N f,V ), where N f,H is used to represent the number of antenna elements in the horizontal direction, and N f,V is used to represent the number of antenna elements in the vertical direction; the antenna element spacing of the reflecting surface can be expressed as (d H , d V ), where d H is used to represent the antenna element spacing d in the horizontal direction H , and d V is used to represent the antenna element spacing in the vertical direction; the number of phase shifters in the reflecting surface can be expressed as (N p,H , N p,V ), where N p,H is used to represent the number of phase shifters in the horizontal direction, and N p,V is used to represent the number of phase shifters in the vertical direction.

[0192] S1002. The network device determines the preconfigured beam information.

[0193] As an example, the preconfigured beam information may include one or more preconfigured beam sets, such as the preconfigured beam sets shown in Tables (1) to (3). A preconfigured beam set may include one or more beams. The beam may include a backhaul-side beam and / or an access-side beam that can be used when the reflecting surface sends the first signal. The beam may be a beam generated by a narrow beam weight and / or a beam generated by a wide beam weight.

[0194] As an example, the preconfigured beam information can be used to indicate the relationship between the backhaul-side beam direction and the access-side beam direction. This relationship can be represented by a parameter for characterizing the angle. The backhaul-side beam direction can be understood as the incident angle (such as θ) used when the reflecting surface sends the first signal, and the access-side beam direction can be understood as the exit angle (such as β) used when the reflecting surface sends the first signal. As an example, can be related to the sine value of the incident angle (such as θ) and the sine value of the exit angle (such as β). For example, in this example, the preconfigured beam information may include the preconfigured beam set shown in Table (1).

[0195] Optionally, the preconfigured beam information may also include the number of beam sets and / or the number of beams included in each beam set.

[0196] As an example, the number of beam sets or the number of beams can be any value in {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16, 24, 32}.

[0197] As an example, the number of beam sets or the number of beams can be a value not exceeding K, where K is a positive integer and can be set according to actual requirements. This application does not make specific restrictions on this. For example, K can be 8 or 32.

[0198] As an example, the preconfigured beam information can also include the index of the beam set and the set of beam indices.

[0199] As an example, Table (4) is an example of the preconfigured beam information.

[0200] Table (4)

[0201] Index of the beam set Set of beam indices A <![CDATA[{a 0 ,a 1 ,a 2 ,…}]]> B <![CDATA[{b 0 , b 1 , b 2 , …}]]> C <![CDATA[{c 0 ,c 1 ,c 2 ,…}]]> …… ……

[0202] As an example, the index of the beam set can include the index values of the preconfigured beam sets in Tables (1) to (3). For example, A can be the index value of the preconfigured beam set {φ 00 , φ 01 , …, φ 0r} in Table (1). Correspondingly, a 0 can be the index value of φ 00 ; Another example is that A can be the index values of all preconfigured beam sets in Table (1), that is, {{φ 00 , φ 01 , …, φ 0r}, {φ 10 , φ 11 , …, φ 1r}, …}. Correspondingly, a 0 can be the index value of one of the preconfigured beam sets in Table (1). For example, a 0 can be the index value of {φ 00 , φ 01 , …, φ 0r}, a 0 can include {a 00 , a 01 , a 02 , …}, a 00 can be the index value of φ 00 . In this example, a 0 can be called the index value of the beam subset / beam group, and a 00 can be called the index value of the beam; Another example is that A can be the index values of all preconfigured beam sets in Tables (1) to (3). Correspondingly, a 0It can be the index value of all preconfigured beam sets in any one of Table (1), Table (2), or Table (3). This application does not make specific restrictions on the configuration of the index value.

[0203] As an example, the preconfigured beam information may further include the number of indexes of the beam set, such as the number of indexes of the beam set {A, B, C,...} in Table (4), and the number of sets of beam indexes, such as the number of beam indexes in {a 0 , a 1 , a 2 ,...} in Table (4), the number of beam indexes in {b 0 , b 1 , b 2 ,...}, the number of beam indexes in {c 0 , c 1 , c 2 ,...} in Table (4).

[0204] In this embodiment, the method for the network device to determine the preconfigured beam information can refer to the relevant description in Figure 8 , which will not be elaborated here. The network device can generate multiple or various different beams to meet different communication requirements.

[0205] As an example, the preconfigured beam information may further include the quasi co-location (QCL) information of each beam set, as shown in Table (5). Among them, the QCL information can be configured by transmission configuration indicator (TCI). The QCL information can be the TCI-state number (stateid). The TCI-state number is used to indicate the QCL relationship between multiple downlink reference signals and the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The QCL relationship is used to indicate that multiple resources have one or more identical or similar communication characteristics. For multiple resources with a quasi co-location relationship, the same or similar communication configurations can be adopted.

[0206] Table (5)

[0207] Beam set or set index QCL information A TCI-State number - A B TCI-State number - B C TCI-State number - C …… ……

[0208] As shown in Table (5), each beam set can correspond to a QCL information. The TCI-state coding-A can be used to indicate the TCI information of beam set A, or to indicate the set of TCI information.

[0209] As an example, the preconfigured beam information may further include the QCL information of the beams in the beam set, as shown in Table (6).

[0210] Table (6)

[0211] Beams in the beam set or beam indices QCL information <![CDATA[a 0 > <![CDATA[TCI - Status Number - a 0 > <![CDATA[a 1 > <![CDATA[TCI - Status Number - a 1 > <![CDATA[a 2 > <![CDATA[TCI - Status Number - a 2 > …… ……

[0212] As shown in Table (6), each beam may correspond to a QCL information, and the TCI-state coding-a 0 can be used to indicate the TCI information of beam a 0 or a set of TCI information.

[0213] It should be understood that the contents in Table (4), Table (5) and Table (6) are only examples of the preconfigured beam information, and the contents in Table (4), Table (5) and Table (6) can all be modified according to actual needs, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0214] S1003. The network device sends second information to the reflecting surface, and the second information is used to indicate the preconfigured beam information.

[0215] In this embodiment, after the network device determines the preconfigured beam information, it can send the preconfigured beam information to the reflecting surface. Correspondingly, the network device can receive the second information.

[0216] As an example, the preconfigured beam information can be preconfigured in the register of the reflecting surface or configured in other devices of the reflecting surface for subsequent use.

[0217] S1004. The network device obtains measurement information, and the measurement information is used to indicate the incident angle and the exit angle that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal.

[0218] As an example, the network device can obtain the incident angle and the exit angle that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal according to the beam measurement information reported by the terminal device. For example, after the terminal device receives the scanning beam information of the reflecting surface, it records the energy of different scanning beams and reports the beam index with the strongest energy in the scanning beams to the network device, so that the network device can obtain the exit angle information; for another example, the reflecting surface can measure the scanning beam sent by the network device and report the beam index with the strongest energy in the scanning beams to the network device, so that the network device can obtain the incident angle information. Optionally, the incident angle when the reflecting surface sends the first signal can also be calculated and determined according to the network planning information.

[0219] S1005. The network device determines first information, and the first information is used to indicate the beam and / or beam set of the reflecting surface.

[0220] Among them, the specific implementation of S1005 can refer to S801, which will not be elaborated here.

[0221] S1006, the network device sends the first information to the reflecting surface.

[0222] Among them, the specific implementation of S1006 can refer to S802, which will not be elaborated here.

[0223] In some implementation manners, the first information may be an index value of a beam that the reflecting surface should use when sending a communication signal in the pre-configured beam information; or the first information may be an index value of a beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending a communication signal in the pre-configured beam information, or the first information may be a two-level index value. The first-level index value is used to indicate the index value of the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending a communication signal in the pre-configured beam information, and the second-level index value is used to indicate the index value of the beam that the reflecting surface should use in the beam set indicated by the first-level index value. Among them, when the first information is a two-level index value, the first-level index value and the second-level index value may be carried in the same message for distribution, or may be carried in different messages for distribution. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0224] S1007, the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device to communicate based on the first information.

[0225] In this embodiment, after receiving the first information, the reflecting surface may determine the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending a communication signal from the pre-configured beam information based on the first information, so as to assist the network device and the terminal device to communicate. Among them, the specific implementation of S1007 can refer to S803, which will not be elaborated here.

[0226] In this embodiment, the network device pre-configures beam information for the reflecting surface and stores the pre-configured beam information in the reflecting surface in advance, so that after determining the first information, the network device can indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending a communication signal by sending an index value, saving signaling overhead.

[0227] In a possible implementation manner, the reflecting surface may also autonomously determine the pre-configured beam information and send the pre-configured beam information to the network device, so that the network device can determine the first information from the pre-configured beam information, that is, the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending a communication signal.

[0228] Exemplarily, Figure 11 is an exemplary flowchart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of this application. As Figure 11 shown, the method may include S1101 to S1107.

[0229] S1101, The reflecting surface receives fourth information from the network device. The fourth information is used to determine pre-configured beam information, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0230] In this embodiment, when the reflecting surface autonomously determines the pre-configured beam information, it can obtain the fourth information from the network device side, so that the reflecting surface can determine the pre-configured beam information based on the fourth information and the array information of the reflecting surface.

[0231] S1102, Determine the pre-configured beam information.

[0232] Among them, the specific implementation method for the reflecting surface to determine the pre-configured beam information can refer to S801 and S1002, which will not be elaborated here.

[0233] In this embodiment, after the reflecting surface determines the pre-configured beam information, it can store the pre-configured beam information for subsequent invocation.

[0234] S1103, Send third information. The third information is used to indicate the pre-configured beam information.

[0235] In this embodiment, after the reflecting surface determines the pre-configured beam information, it can carry the pre-configured beam information in the third information and send it to the network device; correspondingly, the network device can receive the third information, so that after the network device determines the first information, it can directly use the index value to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending communication signals, so as to reduce signaling overhead.

[0236] In some implementation manners, the third information can also be used to indicate the antenna array information of the reflecting surface.

[0237] S1104, The network device obtains measurement information. The measurement information is used to indicate the incident angle and the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send communication signals.

[0238] S1105, The network device determines first information. The first information is used to indicate the beam and / or beam set of the reflecting surface.

[0239] S1106, The network device sends the first information to the reflecting surface.

[0240] S1107, The reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device to communicate based on the first information.

[0241] Among them, the specific implementation methods of S1104 to S1107 can respectively refer to S1004 to S1007, which will not be elaborated here.

[0242] In this embodiment, the reflecting surface can autonomously determine the preconfigured beam information. When storing the preconfigured beam information in the reflecting surface in advance, the preconfigured beam information is also sent to the network device, so that after the network device determines the first information, it can indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending a communication signal by sending an index value, saving signaling overhead.

[0243] In the field of communications, multiple component carriers (CCs) can be aggregated through carrier aggregation (CA) to increase the transmission bandwidth of the system, thereby effectively improving the uplink and downlink transmission rates of the system. In this communication method, when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating, the bandwidth carrying the communication signal can include multiple CCs. To achieve the matching between the beams of each CC in the multiple CCs and the radio channel, it is necessary to scan the beams of each CC in the multiple CCs, resulting in a large beam scanning overhead for the reflecting surface. Based on this, the present application provides the following technical solution: Determine an initial CC among the multiple CCs, and by establishing a mapping relationship between the beam of the initial CC and the beams of other CCs, it is possible to determine the beams of other CCs when the initial CC and the beam of the initial CC are obtained. This method can perform beam scanning only once, thereby reducing the beam scanning overhead of the reflecting surface.

[0244] Exemplarily, Figure 12 This is an exemplary flowchart of a communication method provided in another embodiment of the present application. As Figure 12 shown, the method may include S1201, S1202, S1203, and S1204.

[0245] S1201, the network device sends fifth information to the reflecting surface, and the fifth information is used to indicate the initial weight set of the reflecting surface and the weight of the initial CC.

[0246] In this embodiment, when the bandwidth carrying the communication signal includes multiple CCs, the bandwidths of the multiple CCs may be the same.

[0247] Exemplarily, Figure 13 This is a schematic illustration of a communication bandwidth provided in an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 13 shown, the communication bandwidth may be the bandwidth carrying the communication signal, and the communication bandwidth may include 3 CCs, such as CC01, CC02, and CC03 in the figure, and the bandwidth of each CC may be the same. Among them, the initial CC may be any one of CC01, CC02, and CC03, and the present application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0248] As an example, the initial CC can be determined by the terminal device and reported to the network device, or determined by the network device, or predefined by the protocol. This application does not make specific restrictions on this.

[0249] As an example, the position of the initial CC can be indicated by the information of one bit. For example, when the indication bit is "0", it means that the initial CC is the first CC, such as Figure 13 CC01 in, when the indication bit is "1", it means that the initial CC is the central CC, such as Figure 13 CC02 in. It should be noted that the mapping relationship between the indication bit information and the position of the initial CC can be set according to actual needs, and this application does not make specific limitations.

[0250] In some implementation manners, the network device can only scan the beam of the initial CC to implement the matching between the beam of the initial CC and the wireless channel, so as to determine the beam direction of the initial CC, and then determine the beam directions of other CCs. It should be noted that when the bandwidth of each CC among multiple CCs is less than or equal to the bandwidth threshold, the beam tilt effect of each CC is relatively low. Therefore, the beam direction corresponding to the center frequency of each CC can be used as the beam direction of each CC, and the bandwidth threshold can be set according to actual needs.

[0251] As an example, assuming that the initial CC is CC0a, the beam direction of CC0b can be determined based on the beam direction of the initial CC through the following formula, where a and b are positive integers:

[0252]

[0253] where f CC0a is the center frequency of the initial CC, θ CC0a is the beam direction of the initial CC, f CC0b is the center frequency of CC0b, and θ CC0b is the beam direction of CC0b.

[0254] In some other implementation manners, the network device can scan the beam of the communication bandwidth, so as to determine the beam direction of the communication bandwidth. It should be noted that when the bandwidth of the communication bandwidth is greater than the bandwidth threshold, the beam tilt effect of the communication bandwidth is relatively high, and the beam direction of the communication bandwidth can be understood as the direction of the beam of the center frequency of the communication bandwidth.

[0255] As an example, if the communication bandwidth contains an odd number of CCs, the beam direction of the communication bandwidth can be understood as the beam direction of the central CC. For example, if the communication bandwidth contains CC01, CC02, and CC03, the beam direction of the communication bandwidth can be the beam direction of CC02. Therefore, the beam directions of other CCs can be determined based on the beam direction of the central CC.

[0256] As an example, if the communication bandwidth contains an even number of CCs, the beam direction of the initial CC needs to be determined based on the beam direction of the communication bandwidth, and the beam directions of other CCs are determined based on the beam direction of the initial CC. For example, the network device can determine the beam direction of the initial CC based on the beam direction of the communication bandwidth, the center frequency of the communication bandwidth, and the center frequency of the initial CC. For example, the formula used to determine the beam direction of CC0b based on the beam direction of CC0a as described above will not be elaborated here.

[0257] Thus, the beam direction of each CC among multiple CCs can be determined.

[0258] Furthermore, the network device can determine the weight of each CC based on the beam direction of each CC, thereby determining the initial weight set, and carrying the determined initial weight set in the fifth information and sending it to the reflecting surface. Correspondingly, the reflecting surface receives the fifth information. Among them, the initial weight set can also be referred to as the initial beam set or the initial spatial domain filtering set.

[0259] Optionally, the fifth information may further include one or more of the following information: the index value of the weight of each CC in the initial weight set, the weight of the initial CC, or the serial number of the initial CC.

[0260] It should be noted that the implementation method of determining the weight based on the angle can refer to the relevant description in Figure 8 and will not be elaborated here. The network device can also determine the weight of each CC based on other methods, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0261] S1202. The network device sends the sixth information to the reflecting surface, and the sixth information is used to indicate the CC that the reflecting surface should use when sending the communication signal.

[0262] In this embodiment, the sixth information can be the serial number of the CC that the reflecting surface should use when sending the communication signal. Correspondingly, the reflecting surface can receive the sixth information.

[0263] S1203. The reflecting surface determines the weight of the CC that the reflecting surface should use when sending the communication signal based on the fifth information and the sixth information.

[0264] As an example, the reflecting surface can determine the beam direction and beam width of the initial CC based on the weight of the initial CC, so that the beam direction of the CC that should be used when sending the communication signal can be determined based on the beam direction of the initial CC, and further, the weight of the CC that should be used when sending the communication signal can be determined based on the weight set indicated in the fifth information.

[0265] As an example, the reflecting surface can determine the beam direction and beam width of the initial CC based on the weights of the initial CC, so that the beam direction of the CC to be used when transmitting the communication signal can be determined based on the beam direction of the initial CC, and the weight index value of the CC to be used when transmitting the communication signal can be determined. For example, the reflecting surface can determine the weight index value of the CC to be used when transmitting the communication signal through the following formula:

[0266]

[0267] c 0 = a 0 + Δ

[0268] where θ CC0a is the beam direction of the initial CC, θ CC0c is the beam direction of the CC to be used when transmitting the communication signal, W is the beam width of the initial CC, Δ is the index offset value, a 0 is the index value of the weight of the initial CC in the weight set, c 0 is the index value of the weight of the CC to be used when transmitting the communication signal in the weight set, and the symbol can be understood as rounding down.

[0269] In a possible implementation, Δ can also be expressed as:

[0270]

[0271] where the symbol can be understood as rounding up.

[0272] In a possible implementation, Δ can also be expressed as:

[0273]

[0274] where the symbol can be understood as rounding.

[0275] So far, the reflecting surface can determine the weight of the CC to be used when transmitting the communication signal.

[0276] As an example, the index offset value can be related to the index value of the weight of the initial CC in the weight set, as shown in Table (7).

[0277] Table (7)

[0278]

[0279] As shown in Table (7), when the sequence numbers of the CCs used for sending communication signals are the same, but the index values of the weights of the initial CC in the weight set are different, the index offset values of the weights of the CCs that should be used for sending communication signals in the weight set relative to the index values of the weights of the initial CC in the weight set are different.

[0280] As an example, the index offset value can be related to the sequence number of the CC that should be used for sending communication signals, as shown in Table (8).

[0281] Table (8)

[0282]

[0283]

[0284] As shown in Table (8), when the index values of the weights of the initial CC in the weight set are the same, but the sequence numbers of the CCs used for sending communication signals are different, the index offset values of the weights of the CCs that should be used for sending communication signals in the weight set relative to the index values of the weights of the initial CC in the weight set are different.

[0285] S1204, the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device to communicate based on the determined weights of the CCs that should be used for sending communication signals.

[0286] In this embodiment, after the reflecting surface determines the weights of the CCs that should be used for sending communication signals, corresponding beams can be generated to assist the network device and the terminal device to communicate.

[0287] As an example, the weights of the CCs that should be used for sending communication signals can include incident weights and / or reflecting surface weights, and the present application does not make specific limitations thereon.

[0288] In this embodiment, by establishing the mapping relationship between the beams of the initial CC and the beams of other CCs, the beam of the initial CC can be determined only through one beam scan, and then the beams of other CCs can be determined, reducing the beam scan overhead of the reflecting surface and improving the communication efficiency.

[0289] In some implementation manners, after the network device determines the CCs that the reflecting surface should use for sending communication signals, it can directly determine the weights of the CCs that the reflecting surface should use for sending communication signals and send them to the reflecting surface together with the sixth information.

[0290] In some implementations, after determining the CC that the network device should use when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal, the network device can directly determine the index value of the weight of the CC that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal in the weight set, or determine the index offset value of the index value of the weight of the CC that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal in the weight set relative to the index value of the weight of the initial CC in the weight set, so that the reflecting surface can determine the weight of the CC that should be used when sending a communication signal based on the information sent by the network device.

[0291] In some implementations, the network device can also calculate the index offset value between the index value of the weight of each CC in the weight set and the index value of the weight of the initial CC in the weight set, establish a mapping relationship between each CC and the index offset value, generate an index offset value set and send it to the reflecting surface. Accordingly, the reflecting surface can determine the weight of the CC that should be used when sending a communication signal based on the mapping relationship between the CC that should be used when sending a communication signal and the index offset value in the index offset value set.

[0292] Figure 14 The structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 14 The shown device can be used to implement Figure 8 、 Figure 10 、 Figure 11 or Figure 12 each step performed by the network device or the reflecting surface. As Figure 14 shown, the device 1400 in this embodiment can include: a receiving module 1410, a sending module 1420, and a processing module 1430.

[0293] When the device 1400 is used to implement Figure 8 the method implemented by the network device, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S802, and the processing module 1430 can be used to implement S801.

[0294] When the device 1400 is used to implement Figure 8 the method implemented by the reflecting surface, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S802, and the receiving module 1410 and / or the sending module 1420 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S803.

[0295] When the device 1400 is used to implement Figure 10When the method implemented by the network device, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1001, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1003 and S1006, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement S1002 and S1005, and the processing module 1430 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1004.

[0296] The apparatus 1400 is used to implement Figure 10 When the method implemented by the reflecting surface, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1003 and S1006, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1001, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1004, and the receiving module 1410 and / or the sending module 1420 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1007.

[0297] The apparatus 1400 is used to implement Figure 11 When the method implemented by the network device, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1103, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1101 and S1106, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement S1005, and the processing module 1430 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1104.

[0298] The apparatus 1400 is used to implement Figure 11 When the method implemented by the reflecting surface, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1101 and S1106, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1103, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement S1102, the processing module 1430 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1104, and the receiving module 1410 and / or the sending module 1420 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1107.

[0299] The apparatus 1400 is used to implement Figure 12 When the method implemented by the network device, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1201 and S1202.

[0300] The apparatus 1400 is used to implement Figure 12 When the method implemented by the reflecting surface, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1201 and S1202, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement S1203, and the receiving module 1410 and / or the sending module 1420 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1204.

[0301] It should be noted that the apparatus 1400 can also perform the relevant steps or operations executed by the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application.

[0302] Figure 15 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus provided for another embodiment of the present application. Figure 15 The illustrated apparatus 1500 can be used to implement the methods executed by the network device or the reflecting surface in any of the foregoing embodiments.

[0303] Such as Figure 15 As shown, the apparatus 1500 of this embodiment includes: a memory 1510, a processor 1520, a communication interface 1530, and a bus 1540. Among them, the memory 1510, the processor 1520, and the communication interface 1530 are communicatively connected to each other through the bus 1540.

[0304] The memory 1510 can be a read only memory (ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device, or a random access memory (RAM). The memory 1510 can store a program. When the program stored in the memory 1510 is executed by the processor 1520, the processor 1520 is used to execute each step / operation executed by the network device or the reflecting surface in any of the foregoing embodiments.

[0305] The processor 1520 can be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits, and is used to execute relevant programs to implement the communication method shown in the method embodiments of the present application.

[0306] The processor 1520 can also be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the communication method shown in the method embodiments of the present application can be completed by the integrated logic circuit in the hardware of the processor 1520 or the instructions in the form of software.

[0307] The aforementioned processor 1520 may also be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0308] The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed and completed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed and completed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in a mature storage medium in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. This storage medium is located in the memory 1510, and the processor 1520 reads the information in the memory 1510 and combines its hardware to complete the functions required to be executed by the units included in the communication device of the present application. For example, it can execute Figure 8 , Figure 10 , Figure 11 or Figure 12 each step / function executed by a network device or a reflecting surface.

[0309] Optionally, the memory 1510 and the processor 1520 may be integrated together.

[0310] The communication interface 1530 may use, but is not limited to, a transceiver device such as a transceiver to implement communication between the device 1500 and other devices or apparatuses.

[0311] The bus 1540 may include a path for transmitting information between the various components of the device 1500 (for example, the memory 1510, the processor 1520, the communication interface 1530).

[0312] In some embodiments of the present application, a computer program product is also provided. When the computer program product runs on a processor, it can implement the method shown in the foregoing embodiments. In some embodiments of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided. The computer-readable storage medium contains computer instructions, and when the computer instructions run on a processor, they can implement the method shown in the foregoing embodiments.

[0313] It should be noted that the modules or components shown in the above embodiments may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods. For example: one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or, one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc. Again, when a certain module above is implemented in the form of a processing element calling program code, the processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processors that can call program code, such as a controller. Again, these modules may be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0314] In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, software modules, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it may 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 processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that the computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more integrated available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0315] As used herein, the term "a plurality of" means two or more. The term "and / or" herein merely describes an associated relationship between associated objects and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " herein generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after; in a formula, the character " / " represents a "division" relationship between the associated objects before and after. In addition, it should be understood that in the description of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, nor as indicating or implying an order.

[0316] It can be understood that the various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0317] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the magnitude of the serial numbers of the above processes does not mean the sequence of execution. The execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, the method is applied to a reflecting surface for transmitting a first signal, and the method includes: receiving first information for indicating a beam and / or a beam set of the reflecting surface, where the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal; transmitting the first signal based on the first information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control layer Control Element (MAC CE) signaling, or Downlink Control Information (DCI); or, the first information is carried in the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and / or the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, the method further includes: receiving second information for indicating at least one beam set, where the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, the method further includes: transmitting third information for indicating at least one beam set, where the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, the method further includes: receiving fourth information for determining the at least one beam set, where the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

6. A communication method, characterized in that, the method is applied to a first communication device, and the method includes: determining first information for indicating a beam and / or a beam set that should be used by a reflecting surface when transmitting a first signal, where the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to transmit the first signal; transmitting the first information.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control layer Control Element (MAC CE) signaling, or Downlink Control Information (DCI); or, The first information is carried in a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and / or a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein, the method further includes: determining at least one beam set based on the at least one piece of information, the beam and the beam set being included in the at least one beam set; transmitting second information for indicating the at least one beam set.

9. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein, the method further includes: receiving third information for indicating at least one beam set, the beam and the beam set being included in the at least one beam set.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, the method further includes: transmitting fourth information for determining the at least one beam set, the fourth information including at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

11. A communication device, wherein, it includes respective functional modules for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 10.

12. A communication device, wherein, it includes: a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory for storing a computer program, and when the processor calls the computer program, the device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 10.

13. A computer program product, wherein, it includes computer program code which, when running on a computer, causes the computer to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 10.

14. A computer-readable medium, wherein, the computer-readable medium stores program code for execution by a computer, the program code including instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 10.

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