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

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method, device and system, a chip module and a storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: a first device sends N beams to a second device in a first direction, wherein the distances between energy gathering points of the N beams and the first device are different; the first equipment receives first information from the second equipment, wherein the first information is used for indicating the signal quality information of the N beams measured by the second equipment; and the first device determines a target beam based on the first information, wherein the target beam is used for communication between the first device and the second device. A first device sends a plurality of near-field beams in a first direction, receives signal quality information of the plurality of near-field beams reported by a second device, and determines a target beam based on the signal quality information of the plurality of near-field beams, so that far and near-field beam scanning can be realized, accurate beam management can be realized, and beam design is matched with a channel.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] High-frequency antenna arrays usually use a hybrid beamforming method that combines analog beams with digital ports. Among them, analog beamforming generally uses the assumption of plane waves for beam management. The beam is a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) basis vector, which divides the entire cell into different areas at different angles for beam management.

[0003] As the frequency band increases and the antenna panel aperture increases, the Rayleigh distance becomes longer. The terminal device is likely to move to the near field range, increasing the possibility of mismatch between the existing beam design and the channel. The beam management scheme based on the plane wave assumption will also mismatch with the channel environment, resulting in performance loss.

[0004] In view of this, how to accurately manage the beam so that the beam design matches the channel is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method, device, system, chip module and storage medium to accurately perform beam management so that the beam design matches the channel.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be implemented by a first device, or a chip or circuit for the first device. Exemplarily, the first device can be a terminal device or a network device.

[0007] The method includes: a first device sends N beams in a first direction, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and energy focus points of the N beams are at different distances from the first device; the first device receives first information from a second device, where the first information is used to indicate signal quality information of the N beams measured by the second device; and the first device determines a target beam based on the first information, and the target beam is used for communication between the first device and the second device.

[0008] In this aspect, the first device sends multiple near-field beams in a first direction, receives signal quality information of multiple near-field beams sent by the second device, and determines the target beam based on the signal quality information of the multiple near-field beams, thereby realizing far-field and near-field beam scanning and achieving precise beam management, so that the beam design matches the channel.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: the first device sends M beams in M ​​directions respectively, M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the beamforming gain values ​​of the M beams are constants; and the first device receives second information, the second information is used to indicate a first beam, the first beam is the beam with the best signal quality among the M beams, and the first beam corresponds to the first direction.

[0010] In this implementation, this step is to perform far-field beam scanning, which can also be called first-level beam scanning. It can be a P-1 stage scan or a P-2 stage scan. The first device sends M beams to the second device in M ​​directions (i.e., M angles). After the second device receives M beams in M ​​directions, it measures the M reference signals received in M ​​beam directions or M angles to obtain the signal quality of the reference signals on the M beams, and selects the first beam with the best signal quality from the M beams.

[0011] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be implemented by a second device, or a chip or circuit for a second device. Exemplarily, the second device can be a network device or a terminal device.

[0012] The method includes: the second device receives N beams from the first device in a first direction, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the energy focus points of the N beams are at different distances from the first device; and the second device sends first information to the first device, where the first information is used to indicate signal quality information of the N beams measured by the second device.

[0013] In this aspect, the second device receives multiple near-field beams sent by the first device in a first direction, and sends signal quality information of the multiple near-field beams to the first device, so that the first device can determine the target beam based on the signal quality information of the multiple near-field beams, thereby realizing far-field and near-field beam scanning, realizing accurate beam management, and matching the beam design with the channel. In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: the second device receives M beams sent by the first device in M ​​directions respectively, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the beamforming gain values ​​of the M beams are constants; and the second device sends second information to the first device, where the second information is used to indicate the first beam, where the first beam is the beam with the best signal quality among the M beams, and the first beam corresponds to the first direction.

[0014] In this implementation, this step is to perform far-field beam scanning, which can also be called first-level beam scanning. It can be a P-1 stage scan or a P-2 stage scan. The first device sends M beams to the second device in M ​​directions (i.e., M angles). After the second device receives M beams in M ​​directions, it measures the M reference signals received in M ​​beam directions or M angles to obtain the signal quality of the reference signals on the M beams, and selects the first beam with the best signal quality from the M beams.

[0015] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device can implement the method in the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect. For example, the communication device can be a chip or a circuit. The method can be implemented by software, hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the device includes: a transceiver unit and a processing unit; wherein: the transceiver unit is used to send N beams in a first direction, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the energy focus points of the N beams are at different distances from the device; the transceiver unit is also used to receive first information, and the first information is used to indicate signal quality information of the N beams measured by the second device; and the processing unit is also used to determine a target beam based on the first information, and the target beam is used for communication between the first device and the second device.

[0017] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further used to send M beams in M ​​directions respectively, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the beamforming gain values ​​of the M beams are constants; and the transceiver unit is further used to receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate a first beam, where the first beam is the beam with the best signal quality among the M beams, and the first beam corresponds to the first direction.

[0018] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may implement the method in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect. For example, the communication device may be a chip or a circuit. The method may be implemented by software, hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the device includes: a transceiver unit, and may also include a processing unit; wherein: the transceiver unit is used to receive N beams sent by a first device in a first direction, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the energy focus points of the N beams are at different distances from the device; and the transceiver unit is also used to send first information to the first device, and the first information is used to indicate signal quality information of the N beams measured by the second device.

[0020] Optionally, the transceiver unit is also used to receive M beams sent by the first device in M ​​directions respectively, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the beamforming gain values ​​of the M beams are constants; and the transceiver unit is also used to send second information to the first device, where the second information is used to indicate the first beam, where the first beam is the beam with the best signal quality among the M beams, and the first beam corresponds to the first direction.

[0021] In combination with the first to fourth aspects or any one of the first to fourth aspects, in another possible implementation, the beamforming gain value of the energy focusing point is the largest.

[0022] In combination with the first to fourth aspects or any one of the implementations of the first to fourth aspects, in another possible implementation, the second information includes an index of the first beam.

[0023] In this implementation, the second information may include an index of the first beam or an identifier of the first beam. The network device and the terminal device both know the index or identifier of the beam in advance, and thus can indicate the first beam based on the index or identifier of the first beam.

[0024] In combination with any one of the first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects, in another possible implementation, the first information includes relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam.

[0025] In this implementation, the second device sends the relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam to the first device. After the first device receives the first information, it can determine and configure the beam with the best signal quality based on the relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam.

[0026] In combination with any one of the first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects, in another possible implementation, the first information includes relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of N-1 beams and the signal qualities of the second beam, and the second beam is any one of the N beams.

[0027] In this implementation, the second device sends the relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N-1 beams and the signal qualities of the second beam to the first device. After receiving the first information, the first device can determine and configure the beam with the best signal quality based on the relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N-1 beams and the signal qualities of the second beam. The second beam is any one of the N beams, and may also be referred to as a reference beam or a reference beam. By introducing the second beam, the relative relationship value fed back can be within a quantization range. In combination with any one of the first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects, in another possible implementation, the first information includes an index of the second beam.

[0028] In this implementation, the first information may also include an index or identifier of the second beam to indicate the base beam or reference beam to which the N-1 relative relationship values ​​in the first information are directed.

[0029] In combination with any one of the first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects, in another possible implementation, the relative relationship value is a difference or a ratio.

[0030] In combination with any one of the first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects, in another possible implementation, the second information is also used to indicate that the N beams are sent in the first direction.

[0031] In this implementation, the second information is also used to instruct the network device to send N beams to the terminal device in the first direction (i.e., to start the second level beam scanning). If the terminal device receives the second information and the second information instructs the terminal device to perform the second level beam scanning, the terminal device can start the second level beam scanning after receiving the second information; otherwise, the process ends.

[0032] In combination with any one of the first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects, in another possible implementation, the first device is a network device, the second device is a terminal, and N is configured by the first device.

[0033] In another possible implementation, the communication device in the third aspect to the fourth aspect includes a processor coupled to a memory; the processor is configured to support the device to perform the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned communication method. The memory is used to couple with the processor, which stores the necessary computer programs (or computer executable instructions) and / or data for the device. Optionally, the communication device may also include a communication interface to support communication between the device and other network elements, such as sending or receiving data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface. Optionally, the memory may be located inside the communication device and integrated with the processor; it may also be located outside the communication device.

[0034] In another possible implementation, the communication device in the third to fourth aspects includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor is coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is used to execute a computer program or instruction to control the transceiver to receive and send information; when the processor executes the computer program or instruction, the processor is also used to implement the above method through a logic circuit or execute code instructions. The transceiver may be a transceiver, a transceiver circuit or an input-output interface, which is used to receive signals from other communication devices other than the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices other than the communication device. When the communication device is a chip, the transceiver is a transceiver circuit or an input-output interface.

[0035] When the communication device in the third to fourth aspects is a chip, the sending unit may be an output unit, such as an output circuit or a communication interface; the receiving unit may be an input unit, such as an input circuit or a communication interface. When the communication device is a terminal device, the sending unit may be a transmitter or a transmitter; the receiving unit may be a receiver or a receiver.

[0036] In a fifth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a communication device as described in the third aspect or any one implementation of the third aspect, and at least one communication device as described in the fourth aspect or any one implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0037] In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the method described in the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect is implemented, or the method described in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect is implemented.

[0038] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, which, when executed on a computing device, implements the method described in the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect, or implements the method described in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 applied in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of simulated beamforming;

[0041] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a terminal device in a near field range and a far field range;

[0042] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of far-field plane wave and near-field spherical wave;

[0043] Figure 5 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of an example of feedback of channel quality information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of another example of feedback of channel quality information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0049] The technical solution provided by this application can be applied to various communication systems, for example, it can be applied to the fifth generation (5 thThe technical solution provided in this application may be applied to 5G (5G generation) communication systems, future evolution systems or multiple communication convergence systems, and may also be applied to existing communication systems. The application scenarios of the technical solution provided in this application may include multiple scenarios, such as machine to machine (M2M), macro and micro communications, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-high reliability and ultra-low latency communication (ultra-reliable&low latency communication, uRLLC) and massive machine type communication (mMTC). These scenarios may include, but are not limited to: communication scenarios between terminal devices and terminal devices, communication scenarios between network devices and network devices, communication scenarios between network devices and terminal devices, etc. Among them, the network equipment includes network equipment and core network equipment. The following description will be given by taking the scenarios applied to communication between network devices and terminal devices as examples.

[0050] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the communication system includes a wireless access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. The wireless access network 100 may include at least one network device (such as Figure 1 110a and 110b), and may also include at least one terminal device (such as Figure 1 120a-120j in the figure). The terminal device is connected to the network device by wireless means, and the network device is connected to the core network by wireless or wired means. The core network device and the network device can be independent and different physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the network device can be integrated on the same physical device, or the functions of some core network devices and some network devices can be integrated on one physical device. Terminal devices and network devices can be connected to each other by wire or wireless means. Figure 1 This is just a schematic diagram. The communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices. Figure 1 Not drawn in.

[0051] A network device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc.; it can also be a module or unit that performs some functions of a network device, for example, a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). A network device can be a macro base station (such as Figure 1 110a), or a micro base station or an indoor station (such as Figure 1 110b), may also be a relay node or a donor node, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.

[0052] Terminal devices may also be referred to as terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile stations, mobile terminal devices, etc. Terminal devices can be widely used in various scenarios, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. Terminal devices may be mobile phones, tablet computers, computers with wireless transceiver functions, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal devices.

[0053] The network equipment and terminal equipment can be fixed or movable. The network equipment and terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on the water surface; they can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons and artificial satellites in the air. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the network equipment and terminal equipment.

[0054] The roles of network devices and terminal devices can be relative, for example, Figure 1The helicopter or drone 120i in the figure can be configured as a mobile network device. For the terminal devices 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, the terminal device 120i is a network device; but for the network device 110a, 120i is a terminal device, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through the wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through the interface protocol between network devices. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a network device. Therefore, network devices and terminal devices can be collectively referred to as communication devices. Figure 1 110a and 110b in the figure may be referred to as communication devices having network device functions. Figure 1 120a-120j in the figure can be called communication devices with terminal equipment functions.

[0055] Network devices and terminal devices, network devices and network devices, and terminal devices and terminal devices can communicate through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; can communicate through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0056] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the network device may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the network device, or by a control subsystem including the network device function. The control subsystem including the network device function here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal device may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal device, or by a device including the terminal device function.

[0057] In this application, the network device sends a downlink signal or downlink information to the terminal device, and the downlink information is carried on the downlink channel; the terminal device sends an uplink signal or uplink information to the network device, and the uplink information is carried on the uplink channel. In order to communicate with the network device, the terminal device needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the network device. The cell with which the terminal device has established a wireless connection is called the service cell of the terminal device. When the terminal device communicates with the service cell, it will also be interfered by signals from neighboring cells.

[0058] The following are terms that may be involved in the embodiments of this application:

[0059] (1) Beam:

[0060] A beam is a communication resource. A beam can be understood as the signal strength distribution formed in different directions in space after the signal is sent out through the antenna. A beam can be understood as a spatial filter or spatial parameters. The beam used to send signals can be called a transmission beam (Txbeam), which can be a spatial domain transmit filter or a spatial domain transmit parameter; the beam used to receive signals can be called a reception beam (Rx beam), which can be a spatial domain receive filter or a spatial domain receive parameter. Beams can be divided into transmit beams and receive beams. The technology for forming beams can be beamforming technology or other technical means. Beamforming includes transmit beamforming and receive beamforming.

[0061] Transmit beam: The transmitting device transmits a signal with a certain beamforming weight, so that the transmitted signal forms a beam with spatial directivity. In the uplink direction, the transmitting device can be a terminal; in the downlink direction, the transmitting device can be a network device.

[0062] Receive beam: The receiving device receives the signal with a certain beamforming weight, so that the received signal forms a beam with spatial directivity. In the uplink direction, the receiving device can be a network device; in the downlink direction, the receiving device can be a terminal.

[0063] Different beams can be considered as different resources. The same information or different information can be sent using (or through) different beams. A beam pair is based on the concept of beams. A beam pair usually includes a transmit beam of a transmitting device and a receive beam of a receiving device.

[0064] The sending device sends a signal or information to the receiving device on the beam. It can be understood that the sending device uses a certain time-frequency resource to send a signal or information to another receiving device, but the sending of the signal or information is directional.

[0065] In a communication system such as a 5G new radio (NR) system, both network equipment and terminal equipment can generate one or more transmit beams and one or more receive beams. Before transmitting data, beam alignment is required.

[0066] (2) Beam management

[0067] Beam management includes two important functions: beam training and beam failure recovery. Beam training includes transmit beam training and receive beam training, which can be divided into three steps. The operations of each step are summarized as follows:

[0068] P-1: The network device sends a reference signal (RS) based on a transmit beam set. The transmit beams in the set correspond to different transmission directions. The UE selects the transmit beam of the network device and the receive beam of the UE by measuring and providing feedback on the beams.

[0069] P-2: Based on P-1, the network device sends RS based on a smaller set of transmit beams. The UE improves the transmit beam of the network device by measuring and providing feedback on the beam.

[0070] P-3: The network device uses a transmit beam to send RS, and the UE improves the UE's receive beam by measuring the beam.

[0071] (3) Beamforming

[0072] As low-frequency spectrum resources become scarce, high-frequency bands can provide greater bandwidth and become an important frequency band for future applications of mobile communication systems. Due to the shorter wavelength, high-frequency bands have different propagation characteristics from traditional low-frequency spectrum, such as higher propagation loss, poor reflection and diffraction performance, etc. Therefore, larger-scale antenna arrays are usually used to form shaped beams with greater gain, overcome propagation loss, and ensure system coverage. High-frequency antenna arrays, due to shorter wavelengths, smaller antenna array spacing and apertures, can allow more physical antenna arrays to be integrated into a two-dimensional antenna array of limited size; at the same time, due to the limited size of the antenna array, from the perspective of hardware complexity, cost overhead, and power consumption, it is impossible to use the digital beamforming method used in the low-frequency band. Instead, a hybrid beamforming method combining analog beams and digital ports is usually used.

[0073] For a multi-antenna array, each antenna has an independent RF link channel, but shares the same digital link channel. Each RF link needs to allow independent amplitude and phase adjustments to the transmitted signal. The formed beam is mainly achieved by adjusting the phase and amplitude of the RF channel, which is called an analog beamforming signal. For a fully digital beamforming antenna array, each antenna has an independent digital link channel, and the amplitude and phase of each signal can be controlled at the baseband. For analog beamforming, the phase of the signal sent by each antenna is generally changed by a shifter, and due to the limitation of device capabilities, analog beamforming is performed over the entire bandwidth, and cannot be performed separately for some sub-bands like digital beamforming. Therefore, analog beamforming is performed through time division multiplexing (TDM).

[0074] When link transmission is performed through analog beamforming technology, in order to obtain the best transmission performance, it is usually necessary to use the measurement method of transmit / receive beam scanning to search for the best transmit and receive beam pair. Since analog beams can only send a limited number of shaped beams at the same time (the number of beams depends on the number of digital ports, and one digital port corresponds to one beam), and the beam width is narrow, it can usually only cover a part of the cell. In order to achieve signal coverage of the entire cell, it is necessary to adopt a transmission method of joint scanning of multiple beams in the time domain, that is, through polling in a time period, each beam relays to cover different areas of the cell in turn to achieve complete coverage of the cell. For unicast transmission between network devices and UEs, the maximum link gain can be obtained when the transmit and receive beams between the network device and the UE are aligned. The process of aligning the transmit and receive beams of the network device and the UE is called the beam management process.

[0075] like Figure 2As shown in the figure, it is a schematic diagram of analog beamforming. When a connection is established between a network device and a UE, taking downlink transmission as an example, assuming that the network device has M analog transmit beams and the UE has N analog receive beams, a total of MN transmit and receive beam pairs can be established. Usually, in high-frequency band communications, the number of beam pairs is relatively large. How to carry out effective beam measurement and reporting and reduce system overhead has become an important direction for designing large-scale antenna beam management. The downlink beam measurement process can be described as follows: If a network device can send M analog beams, a set of shaped reference signals can be configured for each beam direction for beam measurement, and the direction shaped by each reference signal is the same as the corresponding analog beam. These M reference signals are transmitted on different time domain and / or frequency domain resources so that the network device can adjust the configuration of the shifter for each beam direction to realize analog beamforming; at the same time, the UE measures the M shaped reference signals through N receive beams and selects a suitable receive beam. Therefore, a total of MN beam pairs need to be measured between the network device and the UE to find the best transmit and receive paired beams.

[0076] Transmit beamforming: When a transmitting device with an antenna array transmits a signal, a specific amplitude and phase are set on each antenna element of the antenna array so that the transmitted signal has a certain spatial directivity, that is, the signal power is high in some directions and low in some directions. The direction with the highest signal power is the direction of the transmit beam. The antenna array includes multiple antenna elements, and the specific amplitude and phase attached are the beamforming weights.

[0077] Receive beamforming: When a receiving terminal device with an antenna array receives a signal, a specific amplitude and phase are set on each antenna element of the antenna array, so that the power gain of the received signal has directionality, that is, the power gain is high when receiving signals in certain directions, and low when receiving signals in certain directions. The direction with the highest power gain when receiving signals is the direction of the receive beam. The antenna array includes multiple antenna elements, and the specific amplitude and phase added are the beamforming weights.

[0078] Sending a signal using a certain transmit beam means sending a signal using a certain beamforming weight.

[0079] Receiving a signal using a receive beam refers to receiving a signal using a certain beamforming weight.

[0080] At present, analog beamforming generally uses the plane wave assumption to manage beams. The beams are DFT basis vectors, and the entire cell is divided into different areas at different angles for beam measurement. Figure 3The diagram shows the terminal device in the near field and far field. As the frequency band increases and the antenna panel aperture increases, the Rayleigh distance increases, and the terminal device is likely to fall into the near field, and the propagation environment gradually changes from the far field to a mixed field environment. According to the electromagnetic field characteristics, the coverage range of the near field can be defined as the Fresnel boundary. Distance to Rayleigh The Rayleigh distance for distinguishing the far / near field is based on the maximum error between the actual phase of the array and the approximation of the far-field model, which is equal to Definition. In a near-field environment, the angle (or phase) from each antenna element or antenna port in the antenna array to the terminal device is different, which conforms to the spherical wave transmission model. As the frequency band increases and the antenna array aperture increases, the Rayleigh distance will increase, and the probability of the terminal device falling into the near-field range will increase.

[0081] Since radio waves no longer propagate energy in the near field as plane waves, but as spherical waves, existing beam designs may cause mismatches with the channel, and beam management schemes based on the plane wave assumption may also mismatch with the channel environment, resulting in performance loss. Figure 4 The diagram of the far-field plane wave and the near-field spherical wave shown in the figure is different from the assumption of the far-field plane wave. In the near-field environment, the channel is more likely to meet the spherical wave assumption, that is, the angle from each antenna array to the UE is different, resulting in a phase difference that is not only related to the angle information from the antenna panel to the UE, but also needs to consider the distance information between the two. Under this trend, how to design a beam management solution that better matches the channel has become a key issue.

[0082] In view of this, the present application provides a communication solution, in which a first device sends multiple near-field beams in a first direction, receives signal quality information of multiple near-field beams reported by a second device, and determines a target beam based on the signal quality information of multiple near-field beams, thereby realizing far-field and near-field beam scanning, realizing precise beam management, and matching the beam design with the channel.

[0083] The following embodiments involve interaction between a first device and a second device. In this embodiment, the first device is a network device and the second device is a terminal device. In fact, the method can also be applied to a scenario where the first device is a terminal device and the second device is a network device.

[0084] like Figure 5 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the method may include the following steps:

[0085] S501. The network device sends M beams to the terminal device in M ​​directions respectively. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives M beams in M ​​directions respectively.

[0086] This step and step S502 are for far-field beam scanning, which can also be called the first-level beam scanning. It can be the scanning of the P-1 stage or the scanning of the P-2 stage. The network device sends M beams to the terminal device in M ​​directions (i.e., M angles). Among them, M is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The beamforming gain value of the M beams is a constant, that is, the M beams are far-field beams.

[0087] Sending M beams may be sending M reference signals in M ​​beam directions or at M angles. Exemplarily, the reference signal may be a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS). The present application does not specifically limit the reference signal.

[0088] S502. The terminal device reports the second information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the second information.

[0089] After receiving M beams in M ​​directions respectively, the terminal device measures the M reference signals received in the M beam directions or at M angles, obtains the signal quality of the reference signals on the M beams, and selects the first beam with the best signal quality from the M beams. Exemplarily, the signal quality can be represented by reference signal receiving power (RSRP), reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ), etc. This embodiment is described by taking the signal quality as RSRP as an example.

[0090] After the terminal device selects the first beam with the best signal quality, the terminal device reports the second information to the network device. The second information is used to indicate the first beam. The first beam is the beam with the best signal quality among the M beams. The first beam corresponds to the first direction, or the first beam corresponds to the first angle.

[0091] Exemplarily, the second information may include an index of the first beam or an identity (ID) of the first beam. The network device and the terminal device both know the index or ID of the beam in advance, and thus may indicate the first beam based on the index or identity of the first beam.

[0092] It is understandable that the above steps S501 and S502 are optional, which are represented by dotted lines in the figure. The network device may also predetermine the first beam or the first direction. For example, the network device may determine the first direction based on historical communication data, or determine the first direction through network planning data. The present application does not specifically limit how the network device determines the first direction. In this case, in this embodiment, the terminal device is within the near field range, and the network device only needs to manage the beam within the near field range. Therefore, steps S501 and S502 (i.e., the first level beam scanning) may not be performed, and subsequent steps may be performed directly, i.e., the second level beam scanning may be performed directly.

[0093] In addition, the present embodiment can also enable the second level beam scanning based on the indication information. In one example, the second information is also used to instruct the network device to send N beams to the terminal device in the first direction (i.e., enable the second level beam scanning). The network device receives the second information, and the second information instructs the network device to perform the second level beam scanning. After the network device receives the second information, the second level beam scanning can be enabled; otherwise, the process ends.

[0094] Exemplarily, the second information may use 1 bit to indicate whether to perform the second-level beam scanning. For example, when the value of the 1 bit is "1", it is used to indicate that the second-level beam scanning is turned on; when the value of the 1 bit is "0", it is used to indicate that the second-level beam scanning is not turned on. The opposite is also possible.

[0095] S503. The network device sends N beams to the terminal device in a first direction. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the N beams in the first direction.

[0096] This step and step S504 are for performing near-field beam scanning, also known as second-level beam scanning.

[0097] After receiving the second information, the network device obtains the first beam indicated by the second information, and the first beam corresponds to the first direction. Alternatively, further, after receiving the instruction of the terminal device to start the second-level beam scanning, the network device sends N beams to the terminal device in the first direction, that is, the directions of the N beams are the same, that is, they are all in the first direction. Wherein, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The beamforming gain of the N beams can vary with the distance from the network device, and the beamforming gain value is the largest at the energy concentration point, that is, the N beams are near-field beams.

[0098] The energy focusing points of the N beams sent by the network device are at different distances from the network device. The N beams can also be understood as near-field beams, where each beam has an energy focusing point, and the energy focusing point of each beam is at a different distance from the terminal device. The energy focusing point means that the beam has a certain directionality, especially for near-field beams, refer to Figure 4 As shown in the right figure, due to the characteristics of spherical wave beam focusing, the beam energy will be concentrated in a small distance range, which can be called the energy focusing point. The beamforming gain of a near-field beam changes with the distance from the network device. The change is usually not linear. The energy focusing point of the beam corresponds to the maximum beamforming gain of the beam. For example, Figure 6 Several near-field beams are given (such as beam 1 To beam 4 )’s beamforming gain versus distance, where the distance corresponds to the distance from the network device. 2 For example, it can be seen that beam 2 The beamforming gain varies with distance. For example, at about 20 meters from the network device, the beam 2 The beamforming gain of 2 For example, the beam energy focus point is approximately 20 meters away from the example network device.

[0099] The network device sends N beams with different distances in the same direction or angle to detect which beam distance has the best signal quality received by the terminal device.

[0100] The network device may transmit N beams in a line of sight (LOS) or non-line of sight (NLOS) scenario.

[0101] Exemplarily, N may be configured by a network device, for example, it may be indicated by one or more configurations in radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI); or N may be reported by a terminal device, for example, reported by channel state information (CSI), or indicated by a UE capability parameter; or N may be predefined by a protocol; or N may be a default value.

[0102] S504. The terminal device sends the first information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first information.

[0103] The network device sends N beams with different distances in the same direction or angle, and the terminal device receives the N beams in a first direction and measures signal quality information of the N beams.

[0104] After obtaining the signal quality information of the N beams through measurement, the terminal device sends first information to the network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate the signal quality information of the N beams obtained through measurement by the terminal device.

[0105] The terminal device indicates the signal quality information of N beams through the first information, which may be implemented in the following ways:

[0106] In a first implementation, the first information includes relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam. The first beam is the beam with the best signal quality determined by the terminal device in the first level beam scanning. The terminal device carries the N relative relationship values ​​in the first information.

[0107] In one example, the relative relationship value may be a difference value. That is, the first information includes the difference between the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam. For example, the first beam is beam, and the N beams are beam 1 , beam 2 , …beam N , then the difference between the signal quality of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam is: (RSRP beam1 -RSRP beam )、(RSRP beam2 -RSRP beam ),…(RSRP beamN -RSRP beam ).

[0108] In another example, the relative relationship value may be a ratio. That is, the first information includes the ratio of the signal quality of the N beams to the signal quality of the first beam. For example, the first beam is beam, and the N beams are beam 1 , beam 2 , …beam N , then the difference between the signal quality of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam is: RSRP beam1 / RSRP beam 、RSRP beam2 / RSRP beam ,…RSRP beamN / RSRP beam .

[0109] The following is an exemplary description using the relative relationship value as a ratio. Figure 6 As shown, it is a schematic diagram of an example of the feedback of the channel quality information provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first beam (ie, the far-field beam) is beam, and the four beams (ie, the near-field beams) are beam 1 , beam2 , beam 3 , beam 4 , the terminal device sends first information to the network device, where the first information includes the ratio of the signal qualities of the four beams to the signal quality of the first beam: r 1 、r 2 、r 3 and r 4 Among them, r 1 =RSRP beam1 / RSRP beam , r 2 =RSRP beam2 / RSRP beam , r 3 =RSRP beam3 / RSRP beam , r 4 =RSRP beam4 / RSRP beam . Figure 6 The example of r 1 and r 2 For each intersection of the beam and the position of the terminal device, it represents the RSRP of the beam measured by the terminal device at that position.

[0110] The network device pre-stores Figure 6 The curve shown in the figure, or by calculation, we can get Figure 6 As shown in the curve graph, after receiving the first information, the network device can determine and configure the beam with the best signal quality based on the ratios of the signal qualities of the four beams to the signal quality of the first beam.

[0111] In a second implementation manner, the first information includes relative relationship values ​​of signal qualities of N-1 beams and signal qualities of a second beam, and the second beam is any one of the N beams.

[0112] In the first implementation, the terminal device feeds back the relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam. However, it is possible that the relative relationship values ​​may exceed the quantization range of the feedback, resulting in excessive feedback overhead.

[0113] In this implementation, the terminal device may also feed back relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N-1 beams and the signal quality of the second beam. The second beam is any one of the N beams, and may also be referred to as a reference beam or a benchmark beam.

[0114] Furthermore, the first information may also include an index or ID of the second beam to indicate the base beam or reference beam to which the N-1 relative relationship values ​​in the first information are directed.

[0115] In one example, the relative relationship value may be a difference value. That is, the first information includes the difference between the signal quality of the N-1 beams and the signal quality of the second beam. That is, the first information includes the difference between the signal quality of the N-1 beams and the signal quality of the second beam. For example, the second beam is beam 2 , N-1 beams are beam 1 , beam 3 , …beam N , then the difference between the signal quality of the N-1 beams and the signal quality of the second beam is: (RSRP beam1 -RSRP beam2 )、(RSRP beam3 -RSRP beam2 ),…(RSRP beamN -RSRP beam2 ).

[0116] In another example, the relative relationship value may be a ratio. That is, the first information includes the ratio of the signal quality of the N-1 beams to the signal quality of the second beam. That is, the first information includes the ratio of the signal quality of the N-1 beams to the signal quality of the second beam. For example, the second beam is beam 2 , N-1 beams are beam 1 , beam 3 , …beam N , then the difference between the signal quality of the N-1 beams and the signal quality of the second beam is: RSRP beam1 / RSRP beam2 、RSRP beam3 / RSRP beam2 ,…RSRP beamN / RSRP beam2 .

[0117] The following is an exemplary description using the relative relationship value as a ratio. Figure 7 As shown, it is a schematic diagram of another example of the feedback of the channel quality information provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first beam (ie, the far-field beam) is beam, and the second beam (the reference beam or the reference beam) is beam 2 , the remaining three near-field beams are beam 1 , beam 3 , beam 4 , the terminal device sends the first information to the network device, the first information including the ratio of the signal quality of the three beams to the signal quality of the second beam: r′ 1 , r′ 3 , and r′ 4 Among them, r′1 =RSRP beam1 / RSRP beam2 , r′ 3 =RSRP beam3 / RSRP beam2 , r′ 4 =RSRP beam4 / RSRP beam2 . Figure 7 The example of r′ 1 For each intersection of the beam and the position of the terminal device, it represents the RSRP of the beam measured by the terminal device at that position.

[0118] The network device pre-stores Figure 7 The curve shown in the figure, or by calculation, we can get Figure 7 As shown in the curve graph, after receiving the first information, the network device can determine and configure the beam with the best signal quality based on the ratios of the signal qualities of the three beams to the signal quality of the second beam.

[0119] S505. The network device determines a target beam based on the first information.

[0120] After receiving the first information, the network device can determine the target beam based on the first information. The target beam is used for communication between the terminal device and the network device. When determining the target beam, the far-field beam scanning result and the near-field beam scanning result are comprehensively considered, so that it can better match the channel.

[0121] Exemplarily, the network device can determine that the target beam can have its energy focusing point located as close to the terminal device as possible based on the relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam, or the relative relationship values ​​of the signal qualities of the N-1 beams and the signal quality of the second beam, that is, the distance from the location where the beamforming gain of the target beam is at its maximum value to the network device is as equal as possible to the distance from the terminal device to the network device.

[0122] It can be seen that the time domain resource overhead of the above two-stage beam scanning network equipment is M + N. Thus, accurate beam scanning is achieved with a small overhead, and the beam design can be matched with the channel.

[0123] According to a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application, a network device sends multiple near-field beams in a first direction, receives signal quality information of multiple near-field beams reported by a terminal device, and determines a target beam based on the signal quality information of multiple near-field beams, thereby realizing far-field and near-field beam scanning and achieving precise beam management, so that the beam design matches the channel.

[0124] In this application, "sending information to... (for example, the first device)" or the related illustrations in the drawings can be understood as the destination end of the information is the first device. It can include sending information to the first device directly or indirectly. "Receiving information from... (for example, the first device)" or "receiving information from... (for example, the first device)", or the related illustrations in the drawings can be understood as the source end of the information is the first device, which can include receiving information from the first device directly or indirectly. The information may be processed as necessary between the source end and the destination end of the information transmission, such as format changes, etc., but the destination end can understand the valid information from the source end. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be repeated here.

[0125] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above. It can be understood that the present application uses the first device and the second device as an example to illustrate the execution subject of the interactive diagram, but the present application does not limit the execution subject of the interactive diagram. For example, the first device in the method provided by the present application may also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor applied to the first device, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first device; the second device in the method provided by the present application may also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor applied to the second device, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second device.

[0126] It is understandable that, in order to implement the functions in the above-mentioned embodiments, the first device and the second device include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0127] Figure 8 and Fig. 9 The following is a schematic diagram of the structure of possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the first device or the second device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be as follows: Figure 1 One of the terminal devices 120a-120j shown may also be Figure 1 The network device 110a or 110b shown may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the first device or the second device.

[0128] like Figure 8As shown, the communication device 800 includes a processing unit 810 and a transceiver unit 820. The communication device 800 is used to implement the above Figure 5 The functions of the first device or the second device in the method embodiments shown in FIG.

[0129] When the communication device 800 is used to implement Figure 5 In the method embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , the function of the first device is as follows: the transceiver unit 820 is used to implement Figure 5 The functions of the network device in steps S501 to S504 in the embodiment shown, and the processing unit 810 are used to implement the following Figure 5 Step S505 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0130] When the communication device 800 is used to implement Figure 5 In the method embodiment shown, the function of the second device is: the transceiver unit 820 is used to implement the following Figure 5 Functions of the terminal device in steps S501 to S504 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0131] For more detailed description of the processing unit 810 and the transceiver unit 820, please refer to Figure 5 The relevant description in the method embodiment shown is directly obtained and will not be repeated here.

[0132] When the above communication device is a chip applied to the first device, the first device chip implements the function of the first device in the above method embodiment. The first device chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first device, and the information is sent by the second device to the first device; or the first device chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first device, and the information is sent by the first device to the second device.

[0133] When the above communication device is a chip applied to the second device, the second device chip implements the function of the second device in the above method embodiment. The second device chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the second device, and the information is sent by the first device to the second device; or the second device chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the second device, and the information is sent by the second device to the first device.

[0134] In addition, it should be noted that the aforementioned transceiver unit and / or processing unit can be implemented through a virtual module, for example, the processing unit can be implemented through a software function unit or a virtual device, and the transceiver unit can be implemented through a software function or a virtual device. Alternatively, the processing unit or the transceiver unit can also be implemented through a physical device, for example, if the device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the transceiver unit can be an input-output circuit and / or a communication interface, performing input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operations) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operations); the processing unit is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit.

[0135] like Fig. 9 As shown, the communication device 900 includes a processor 910 and may also include an interface circuit 920. The processor 910 and the interface circuit 920 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 920 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 900 may also include a memory 930 (indicated by a dotted line in the figure) for storing instructions executed by the processor 910 or storing input data required by the processor 910 to execute instructions or storing data generated after the processor 910 executes instructions.

[0136] When the communication device 800 is used to implement Figure 5 In the method embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , the function of the first device is as follows: the interface circuit 920 is used to implement the following Figure 5 The functions of the network device in steps S501 to S504 in the embodiment shown, and the processor 910 are used to implement the following Figure 5 Step S505 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0137] When the communication device 800 is used to implement Figure 5 The function of the second device in the method embodiment shown is: the interface circuit 920 is used to implement the following Figure 5 Functions of the terminal device in steps S501 to S504 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0138] For a more detailed description of the processor 910 and the interface circuit 920, please refer to Figure 5 The relevant description in the method embodiment shown is directly obtained and will not be repeated here.

[0139] The division of modules in this application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. In addition, each functional module in each example of this application may be integrated into one processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module. The above-mentioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules.

[0140] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0141] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method in the above embodiment is implemented.

[0142] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in the above embodiments.

[0143] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including the above-mentioned communication device.

[0144] The embodiment of the present application also provides a circuit, which is coupled to a memory and is used to execute the method shown in the above embodiment. The circuit may include a chip circuit.

[0145] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to the first device, the first device module implements the function of the first device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The first device module receives information from other modules in the first device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent from the second device to the first device; or, the first device module sends information to other modules in the first device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent from the first device to the second device. The first device module here can be the baseband chip of the first device, or it can be a CU, DU or other module, or it can be a device under the open radio access network (open radio access network, O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, open DU and other devices.

[0146] It should be noted that the above units or one or more of the units can be implemented by software, hardware or a combination of the two. When any of the above units or units is implemented by software, the software exists in the form of computer program instructions and is stored in a memory, and a processor can be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flow.

[0147] In this application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or all or part of the circuits in the aforementioned devices for implementing processing functions, which may implement or execute the methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in this application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in this application may be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0148] When the above units or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a digital signal processing (DSP) chip, a microcontroller unit (MCU), an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, a SoC, an FPGA, a PLD, a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator or a non-integrated discrete device, which can run the necessary software or not rely on the software to execute the above method flow.

[0149] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, including: at least one processor and an interface, the at least one processor is coupled to a memory via the interface, and when the at least one processor runs a computer program or instruction in the memory, the chip system executes a method in any of the above method embodiments. Optionally, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0150] The memory in the present application may also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. For example, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a digital versatile disc (DVD), a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., or a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as a random-access memory (RAM).

[0151] It should be understood that in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; wherein A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" refers to two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, wherein a, b, c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art can understand that the words "first", "second", etc. do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words "first", "second", etc. do not limit them to be necessarily different. Meanwhile, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete manner for ease of understanding.

[0152] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loading and executing computer program instructions on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center.

[0153] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art may understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments by viewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "one" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit may implement several functions listed in a claim. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0154] It is understood that the various 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. The size of the sequence number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

[0155] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0156] The components in the device of the embodiment of the present application can be merged, divided and deleted according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can combine or combine the different embodiments and features of the different embodiments described in this specification.

[0157] In the present application, under the premise of no logical contradiction, the examples may reference each other, for example, the methods and / or terms between method embodiments may reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device embodiments may reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device examples and method examples may reference each other.

Claims

1. A communication method, It is characterized in that The method comprises: The first device sends N beams in a first direction, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and energy focus points of the N beams are at different distances from the first device; The first device receives first information from the second device, where the first information is used to indicate signal quality information of the N beams measured by the second device; The first device determines a target beam based on the first information, where the target beam is used for communication between the first device and the second device.

2. The method according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The beamforming gain value of the energy concentration point is the largest.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: The first device sends M beams in M ​​directions respectively, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and beamforming gain values ​​of the M beams are constants; The first device receives second information, where the second information is used to indicate a first beam, where the first beam is a beam with the best signal quality among the M beams, and the first beam corresponds to the first direction.

4. The method according to claim 3, It is characterized in that The second information includes an index of the first beam.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, It is characterized in that The first information includes relative relationship values ​​between the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam.

6. The method according to claim 3 or 4, It is characterized in that The first information includes relative relationship values ​​of signal qualities of N-1 beams and signal qualities of a second beam, where the second beam is any one of the N beams.

7. The method according to claim 6, It is characterized in that The first information includes an index of the second beam.

8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, It is characterized in that The relative relationship value is a difference or a ratio.

9. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 8, It is characterized in that The second information is also used to instruct the first device to send the N beams in the first direction.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, It is characterized in that The first device is a network device, the second device is a terminal, and N is configured by the first device.

11. A communication method, It is characterized in that The method comprises: The second device receives N beams from the first device in a first direction, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and energy focus points of the N beams are at different distances from the first device; The second device sends first information to the first device, where the first information is used to indicate signal quality information of the N beams measured by the second device.

12. The method according to claim 11, It is characterized in that The beamforming gain value of the energy concentration point is the largest.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: The second device receives M beams respectively sent by the first device in M ​​directions, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and beamforming gain values ​​of the M beams are constants; The second device sends second information to the first device, where the second information is used to indicate a first beam, where the first beam is a beam with the best signal quality among the M beams, and the first beam corresponds to the first direction.

14. The method according to claim 13, It is characterized in that The second information includes an index of the first beam.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, It is characterized in that The first information includes relative relationship values ​​between the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam.

16. The method according to claim 13 or 14, It is characterized in that The first information includes relative relationship values ​​of signal qualities of N-1 beams and signal qualities of a second beam, where the second beam is any one of the N beams.

17. The method of claim 16, It is characterized in that The first information includes an index of the second beam.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, It is characterized in that The relative relationship value is a difference or a ratio.

19. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 18, It is characterized in that The second information is also used to instruct the first device to send the N beams in the first direction.

20. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 19, It is characterized in that The first device is a network device, the second device is a terminal, and N is configured by the first device.

21. A communication device, It is characterized in that The device comprises: a transceiver unit and a processing unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is configured to send N beams in a first direction, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and energy focus points of the N beams are at different distances from the device; The transceiver unit is further used to receive first information from a second device, where the first information is used to indicate signal quality information of the N beams measured by the second device; The processing unit is used to determine a target beam based on the first information, where the target beam is used for communication between the apparatus and the second device.

22. The device according to claim 21, It is characterized in that The beamforming gain value of the energy concentration point is the largest.

23. The device according to claim 21 or 22, Features: The transceiver unit is further used to send M beams in M ​​directions respectively, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the beamforming gain values ​​of the M beams are constants; The transceiver unit is further used to receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate a first beam, where the first beam is a beam with the best signal quality among the M beams, and the first beam corresponds to the first direction.

24. The device according to claim 23, It is characterized in that The second information includes an index of the first beam.

25. The device according to claim 23 or 24, It is characterized in that The first information includes relative relationship values ​​between the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam.

26. The device according to claim 23 or 24, It is characterized in that The first information includes relative relationship values ​​of signal qualities of N-1 beams and signal qualities of a second beam, where the second beam is any one of the N beams.

27. The device according to claim 26, It is characterized in that The first information includes an index of the second beam.

28. The device according to any one of claims 25 to 27, It is characterized in that The relative relationship value is a difference or a ratio.

29. The device according to any one of claims 23 to 28, It is characterized in that The second information is also used to instruct the device to send the N beams in the first direction.

30. The device according to any one of claims 21 to 29, It is characterized in that The apparatus is a network device, the second device is a terminal, and N is configured by the apparatus.

31. A communication device, It is characterized in that The device comprises: a transceiver unit and a processing unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is configured to receive N beams from a first device in a first direction, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and energy focus points of the N beams are at different distances from the first device; a processing unit, configured to determine first information, wherein the first information is used to indicate signal quality information of the N beams measured by the device; The transceiver unit is further configured to send the first information to the first device.

32. The device of claim 31, It is characterized in that The beamforming gain value of the energy concentration point is the largest.

33. The device according to claim 31 or 32, Features: The transceiver unit is further used to receive M beams respectively sent by the first device in M ​​directions, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and beamforming gain values ​​of the M beams are constants; The transceiver unit is further used to send second information to the first device, where the second information is used to indicate a first beam, where the first beam is the beam with the best signal quality among the M beams, and the first beam corresponds to the first direction.

34. The device of claim 33, It is characterized in that The second information includes an index of the first beam.

35. The device according to claim 33 or 34, It is characterized in that The first information includes relative relationship values ​​between the signal qualities of the N beams and the signal quality of the first beam.

36. The device of claim 33 or 34, It is characterized in that The first information includes relative relationship values ​​of signal qualities of N-1 beams and signal qualities of a second beam, where the second beam is any one of the N beams.

37. The device of claim 36, It is characterized in that The first information includes an index of the second beam.

38. The device according to any one of claims 35 to 37, It is characterized in that The relative relationship value is a difference or a ratio.

39. The device according to any one of claims 33 to 38, It is characterized in that The second information is also used to indicate that the N beams are sent in the first direction.

40. The device according to any one of claims 31 to 39, It is characterized in that The first device is a network device, the apparatus is a terminal, and N is configured by the first device.

41. A communication system, It is characterized in that The system comprises a first device and a second device, wherein the first device is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, and the second device is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

42. A communication device, It is characterized in that It includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-10 or implement the method as described in any one of claims 11-20 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

43. The device of claim 42, It is characterized in that The device is a chip.

44. A chip module, It is characterized in that It comprises a transceiver component and a chip, wherein the chip is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

45. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, It is characterized in that When the program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 is implemented.

46. ​​A computer program product, It is characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program code, and when the computer program code is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 is implemented.

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