Beam selection method and device and storage medium

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a beam selection method and device and a storage medium, relates to the technical field of communication, and can ensure the stability of a transmission rate in a beam switching process and improve the performance of a communication system. The method comprises the following steps: judging whether a first beam is adjacent to a second beam; the first beam is a service beam currently used for communication between the base station and the terminal; the second beam is a to-be-switched beam determined after beam scanning; under the condition that the judgment result is yes, the first wave beam and the second wave beam are adopted to communicate with the terminal within the time period from the first moment to the second moment; the first moment is a moment when the base station indicates the terminal to perform beam switching; the second moment is a moment when the terminal is expected to complete beam switching.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a beam selection method, apparatus, and storage medium. Background Art

[0002] The multi-input multi-output (MIMO) transmission technology is one of the key technologies for the new air interface of the 5th generation mobile communication technology (5G). A millimeter-wave communication system based on MIMO usually uses beams for communication transmission. In a millimeter-wave communication system, both the base station and the terminal have multiple beam selections, and the optimal beam pair is selected through a beam management process for data transmission. Since each beam emitted by the base station only covers a certain spatial range, when the terminal moves within the area covered by the base station, a beam switching process between the base station and the terminal is required.

[0003] In the scenario of beam switching, when the base station needs to switch from the first beam to the second beam, it will send a beam switching instruction to the terminal to indicate the terminal to perform the switch. Since it takes a certain amount of time for the terminal to parse the beam switching instruction and execute the beam switching, during this period, the base station uses the new beam after switching to transmit data, while the terminal still uses the original beam, that is, the first beam, to transmit data, that is, the beams of the two communication parties do not match. This will cause a sharp drop in data transmission efficiency and affect the performance of the communication system. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a beam selection method, apparatus, and storage medium, which can ensure the stability of the transmission rate during the beam switching process and improve the performance of the communication system.

[0005] On the one hand, a beam selection method is provided, including:

[0006] Determine whether the first beam and the second beam are adjacent; the first beam is the serving beam currently used for communication between the base station and the terminal; the second beam is the to-be-switched beam determined after beam scanning.

[0007] In the case where the determination result is yes, communicate with the terminal using the first beam and the second beam within the time period from the first moment to the second moment; the first moment is the moment when the base station instructs the terminal to perform beam switching; the second moment is the moment when it is expected that the terminal completes beam switching.

[0008] On the other hand, a communication device is provided, including: a determination module and a communication module.

[0009] The determination module is configured to determine whether the first beam is adjacent to the second beam; the first beam is the serving beam currently used for communication between the base station and the terminal; the second beam is the beam to be switched determined after beam scanning.

[0010] The communication module is configured to, when the determination result is yes, communicate with the terminal using the first beam and the second beam within the time period from the first moment to the second moment; the first moment is the moment when the base station instructs the terminal to perform beam switching; the second moment is the moment when it is expected that the terminal completes beam switching.

[0011] In one implementation, the communication module is further configured to, when the determination result is no, communicate with the terminal using the second beam after the first moment.

[0012] In another implementation, the communication module is specifically configured to, after configuring the first beam and the second beam according to the first modulation and coding strategy (MCS) value, communicate with the terminal using the first beam and the second beam; the communication module is specifically configured to, after configuring the second beam according to the second MCS value, communicate with the terminal using the second beam; the first MCS value is greater than or equal to the second MCS value.

[0013] In yet another implementation, the above device further includes: a determination module. The determination module is configured to determine the first MCS value according to the reference signal received power (RSRP) value of the first beam and the configured MCS value, and the RSRP value of the second beam.

[0014] In yet another implementation, the above device further includes: an acquisition module. The acquisition module is configured to acquire the angle information of the first beam and the angle information of the second beam; the determination module is further configured to determine whether the first beam is adjacent to the second beam according to the angle information of the first beam and the angle information of the second beam.

[0015] In yet another implementation, the angle information includes: the horizontal angle and the vertical angle; the determination module is specifically configured to use the difference between the horizontal angle of the first beam and the horizontal angle of the second beam as the first difference, and the difference between the vertical angle of the first beam and the vertical angle of the second beam as the second difference; when the sum of the first difference and the second difference is less than the first threshold, it is determined that the first beam is adjacent to the second beam; when the sum of the first difference and the second difference is greater than the first threshold, it is determined that the first beam is not adjacent to the second beam.

[0016] In yet another implementation, the obtaining module is further configured to obtain the RSRP value of the first beam and the RSRP value of the second beam; the determining module is further configured to determine whether the beam switching condition is satisfied according to the RSRP value of the first beam and the RSRP value of the second beam; the communication module is further configured to, when the beam switching condition is satisfied, send a beam switching instruction, and the beam switching instruction is used to instruct the terminal to switch the serving beam for communication from the first beam to the second beam.

[0017] In yet another implementation, the determining module is specifically configured to determine whether the first beam and the second beam are adjacent when the beam switching condition is satisfied.

[0018] In yet another implementation, the beam switching condition includes: the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than a second threshold, and the difference between the RSRP value of the second beam and the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than or equal to a third threshold; or, the RSRP value of the first beam is less than the second threshold, and the difference between the RSRP value of the second beam and the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold; the third threshold is less than the fourth threshold.

[0019] In yet another implementation, the communication module is further configured to communicate with the terminal using the second beam after the second moment.

[0020] In yet another aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which computer program instructions are stored, and when the computer program instructions are executed by a processor, the beam selection method described in any of the above embodiments is implemented.

[0021] In yet another aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes computer program instructions, and when the computer program instructions are executed by a processor, the beam selection method described in any of the above embodiments is implemented.

[0022] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a beam switching method. The method determines whether the serving beam and the beam to be switched are adjacent. In the case of adjacency, during the period after instructing the terminal to perform beam switching and before expecting the terminal to complete beam switching, communication is performed using both the serving beam and the beam to be switched. The fact that the two beams meet the adjacency condition indicates that the signal coverage ranges of the two beams are relatively close. The base station can send dual beams simultaneously to transmit data, so that there is always one beam that matches the terminal, ensuring the stability of the data transmission rate during the beam switching process of the terminal and improving the performance of the communication system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present disclosure, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in some embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only the drawings of some embodiments of the present disclosure, and those of ordinary skill in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings.

[0024] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a beam switching process in a related art provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of another beam switching process in a related art provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the architecture of a mixed analog-digital antenna array provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0027] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the process flow of a beam selection method provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0029] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the process flow of another beam selection method provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the process flow of yet another beam selection method provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0031] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the process flow of yet another beam selection method provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0032] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the process flow of yet another beam selection method provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0033] Figure 10 Schematic diagram of a dual-beam scheme provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0034] Figure 11 Schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0035] Figure 12 Schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure. Detailed implementation manners

[0036] The technical solutions in the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the present disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are only a part rather than all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present disclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0037] It should be noted that in the present disclosure, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design solution described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present disclosure should not be construed as being more preferred or having more advantages than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific manner.

[0038] Hereinafter, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features.

[0039] In the description of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, " / " means "or". For example, A / B may represent A or B. The "and / or" herein is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating 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, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more.

[0040] As described in the background art, in the scenario of beam switching, there is a situation where the beams between the base station and the terminal do not match, resulting in a decrease in data transmission efficiency.

[0041] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the beam switching process in a related technology provided for the embodiments of the present disclosure. As Figure 1As described above, after the base station performs beam scanning and obtains the feedback of the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) of the terminal, it determines a new beam. The base station sends a beam switching instruction to the terminal. At this time, both the base station and the terminal are using the original beam. After that, the base station uses the new beam to send data. After receiving the beam switching instruction sent by the base station, the terminal switches the beam. Since it takes a certain amount of time for the terminal to decode the beam switching instruction and switch the beam, the terminal still uses the original beam to receive the instruction and data first, and then uses the new beam to receive the data signal after completing the beam switching. During this period, since only the RSRP information of the new beam pair is available for reference between the base station and the terminal, and the channel information has not been measured yet, the base station usually configures the transmission parameter with a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value using a conservative scheduling when sending data. After reaching the maximum time (i.e., the expected time for the terminal to complete the beam switching) stipulated by the protocol for the terminal to complete the beam switching, the base station sends a channel measurement signal using the new beam, and the terminal receives the channel measurement signal using the new beam to perform channel measurement, and then feeds back the channel state information to the base station. At this time, the base station determines the transmission parameter configuration based on the channel information of the new beam pair and notifies the terminal through an instruction, and then sends the data signal based on the new transmission parameter.

[0042] It can be seen from Figure 1 that during beam switching, for a period of time after the terminal receives the beam switching instruction, when the base station and the terminal perform data transmission, there is a state where the base station uses the new beam while the terminal uses the original beam, resulting in beam mismatch. At the same time, the base station can only perform channel measurement based on the new beam pair after confirming that the terminal uses the new beam. Before that, only the RSRP information of the new beam pair is available, and the channel information of the new beam pair cannot be obtained. Therefore, during the beam switching process, although the base station uses the new beam to send data, in order to avoid wasting resources, it can only perform conservative scheduling, that is, use a lower MCS value for the transmission parameter, and this MCS value may even be much lower than the MCS value of the original beam pair. In this way, although the purpose of beam switching is to select a beam pair with better channel quality, in fact, it will cause a significant steep drop and fluctuation in the data transmission rate for a period of time, seriously affecting the performance of the base station in the millimeter-wave communication system.

[0043] To solve the problems existing in the above beam switching process, there is an improved solution in the related technology. Such as Figure 2As shown in the figure, before the base station determines to perform beam switching and send a beam switching instruction, it pre-sends an instruction to the terminal to measure and feedback the channel information of the new beam pair. Then, when the base station sends the beam switching instruction, it simultaneously sends the channel information obtained based on the new beam measurement and the corresponding configured transmission parameter instruction. In this way, after the beam switching instruction is sent, the base station can use the new beam to send data to the terminal based on the new transmission parameters.

[0044] Although this improved solution solves the problem that conservative scheduling during beam switching can lead to low data transmission efficiency by pre-measuring and feeding back the channel information of the new beam pair. However, before the terminal receives the beam switching instruction and switches from the original beam to the new beam, there is still a state of beam mismatch where the base station uses the new beam while the terminal uses the original beam, and the transmission parameters of the new beam pair do not match such a state. At the same time, since the base station pre-measures the channel information of the new beam pair, the time interval between the pre-measurement time and the time when the base station sends the beam switching instruction should not be too long, otherwise the channel changes and the measured channel information is no longer applicable, and re-measurement is required. Therefore, the solution of pre-measuring the channel of the new beam pair causes the base station and the terminal to pay corresponding measurement resources and computational overhead, but still cannot solve the problem of beam mismatch during beam switching.

[0045] In summary, how to solve the problem of beam mismatch during beam switching and ensure the stability of the communication rate is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0046] Based on this, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a beam switching method. This method determines whether the serving beam and the beam to be switched are adjacent. In the case of adjacency, during the time period after instructing the terminal to perform beam switching and before expecting the terminal to complete beam switching, both the serving beam and the beam to be switched are used for communication simultaneously. The fact that the two beams meet the adjacency condition indicates that the signal coverage ranges of the two beams are relatively close. The base station can send dual beams simultaneously to transmit data, so that there is always a beam that matches the terminal, ensuring the stability of the data transmission rate during beam switching of the terminal and improving the performance of the communication system.

[0047] The present disclosure can be applied to millimeter-wave communication scenarios. During beam switching, the base station can adaptively select a beam switching scheme according to the information fed back by beam scanning. By selecting the transmit beam and adjusting the transmission parameter configuration, it is possible to maintain the stability of the communication rate during beam switching without increasing the measurement resource overhead and improve the overall performance of the system.

[0048] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of an analog-digital hybrid antenna array provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 3As shown, both the transmitting end (such as a base station) and the receiving end (such as a terminal) are configured with multiple antenna arrays using a mixed analog-digital architecture. Taking the transmitting end as an example, each digital channel is only connected to one analog antenna sub-array, and each analog antenna sub-array includes several antenna elements. In this way, multiple analog antenna sub-arrays together form the antenna array of the base station. Since each analog antenna array (or sub-array) can transmit a beam in one direction at the same time, multiple analog antenna arrays (or sub-arrays) can achieve transmitting two or more beams in different directions at the same time.

[0049] When the base station transmits a signal, unless otherwise specified, the beam transmission method is that all analog antenna sub-arrays use the same analog beam weight, that is, transmit the same beam.

[0050] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the network architecture of a communication network (including but not limited to 3G, 4G, 5G, and future mobile communication networks) may include network-side devices (such as including but not limited to base stations) and receiving-side devices (such as including but not limited to terminals).

[0051] Exemplarily, taking the network-side device as a base station and the receiving-side device as a terminal as an example, Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. As Figure 4 shown, the communication system 40 includes a base station 41 and a terminal 42. Among them, the base station 41 and the terminal 42 can be communicatively connected.

[0052] In some embodiments, the base station 41 is used to provide wireless access services for multiple terminals 42. Specifically, one base station 41 provides a service coverage area (also called a cell). Terminals 42 entering this area can communicate with the base station 41 through wireless signals to receive the wireless access services provided by the base station 41. There may be an overlap between the service coverage areas of the base stations 41, and terminals 42 in the overlapping area can receive wireless signals from multiple base stations 41.

[0053] In some embodiments, the base station 41 can be connected to multiple terminal devices 42, for example, the base station 41 is connected to the terminal 42 and the terminal 42. Among them, the terminal 42 and the terminal 42 can be located in the same cell, and the terminal 42 and the terminal 42 can also be located in different cells. That is, one base station 41 can provide network services to terminals 42 in one cell, or can also provide network services to terminals 42 in multiple cells at the same time.

[0054] In some embodiments, the base station 41 may be a base station in Long Term Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), or an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), a base station in a 5G network, or a base station in a future communication system, etc. The base station may include various macro base stations, micro base stations, home base stations, remote radio heads, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), routers, Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) devices, or various network-side devices such as a primary cell and a secondary cell.

[0055] In some embodiments, the terminal 42 may be a device with wireless transceiver functions, which can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as a ship, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as an airplane, a balloon, a satellite, etc.). The terminal may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiver functions, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, and so on. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios. Sometimes the terminal may also be referred to as a user, a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a UE unit, a UE station, a mobile station, a mobile unit, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a UE terminal, a wireless communication device, a UE agent, or a UE device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0056] Figure 5 It is a flowchart showing the process of a beam selection method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. Exemplarily, the beam selection method provided by the present disclosure can be applied to Figure 4 the network architecture shown in Figure 4 and specifically can be applied to the base station in

[0057] AsFigure 5 As shown, the beam selection method provided by the present disclosure may specifically include the following steps:

[0058] S501. Determine whether the first beam and the second beam are adjacent.

[0059] Among them, the first beam is the serving beam currently used for communication between the base station and the terminal, and the second beam is the beam to be switched determined after beam scanning. Here, adjacent means that the angles of the two beams satisfy a certain relationship, so that the signal coverage ranges of the two beams are relatively close.

[0060] In some embodiments, the base station adopts the Figure 3 shown analog-digital hybrid antenna array architecture, deploys two digital channels, and connects them to two analog antenna sub-arrays respectively. After the base station performs beam scanning and determines that the RSRP value of the new beam (the second beam) is greater than the RSRP value of the original beam (the first beam), it indicates that there is a beam with better quality that can be switched, and then the base station can notify the terminal to perform beam switching. Before notifying the terminal to perform beam switching, the base station can determine whether the first beam and the second beam are adjacent.

[0061] In one implementation manner, when the first beam and the second beam are adjacent, the base station may continue to execute S502 as follows.

[0062] S502. When the judgment result is yes, communicate with the terminal using the first beam and the second beam within the time period from the first moment to the second moment.

[0063] Among them, the first moment is the moment when the base station instructs the terminal to perform beam switching, and the second moment is the moment when it is expected that the terminal completes beam switching (that is, the maximum time agreed by the protocol for the terminal to complete beam switching).

[0064] It should be understood that when the original beam and the new beam are adjacent, it means that the signal coverage ranges of the two beams are relatively close, and both beams can be used as the serving beam of the terminal. Then the base station simultaneously sends dual beams to communicate with the terminal, which can ensure that during the beam switching process, there is always a beam that matches the terminal, avoiding the problem of reduced data transmission efficiency caused by beam mismatch.

[0065] In some embodiments, the above S502 may be implemented as: after configuring the first beam and the second beam according to the first MCS value, communicate with the terminal using the first beam and the second beam. Wherein the first MCS value is greater than or equal to the second MCS value, and the second MCS value is the MCS value of conservative scheduling in the related art.

[0066] It should be understood that in the related art, a new beam is used on the base station side, and the terminal side may still use the original beam because the handover may not be completed, that is, there may be a situation of beam mismatch. Therefore, a conservative scheduling MCS value is adopted to avoid resource waste. In this application, when using dual beams, there will always be a beam that matches the terminal. Therefore, a relatively large configured MCS value can be used to improve the data transmission efficiency when communicating with the terminal.

[0067] In some embodiments, before performing S502 above, the base station may perform the following steps to determine the first MCS value: Determine the first MCS value according to the RSRP value of the first beam and the configured MCS value, and the RSRP value of the second beam.

[0068] Exemplarily, taking the RSRP value of the first beam as K1, the RSRP value of the second beam as K2, and the MCS value configured for the first beam as M1 as an example, the first MCS value can be determined using the following expression:

[0069]

[0070] Where M0 is the above-mentioned second MCS value, that is, the MCS value of conservative scheduling. C is the scheduling parameter fallback value (for example, C = 3), which is set to prevent a large difference in the channel links between the original beam and the new beam and can ensure the reliability of the dual-beam scheme. Where M2 can be determined using the following expression:

[0071] M2 = int(M1 + K2 - K1)

[0072] It should be noted that since the MCS value is an integer, the int function is used for floor rounding in both of the above two expressions.

[0073] In another implementation, as Figure 6 shown, when the first beam and the second beam are not adjacent, the base station may continue to perform S503 as follows.

[0074] S503. In the case where the judgment result is negative, communicate with the terminal using the second beam after the first moment.

[0075] It should be understood that when the original beam and the new beam are not adjacent, it indicates that the signal coverage ranges of the two beams are far apart, indicating that the terminal has moved a large distance and the original beam cannot be used as the serving beam for the terminal. Then, while instructing the terminal to perform beam handover, the base station communicates with the terminal using the new beam.

[0076] In some embodiments, S502 above may be implemented as: After configuring the second beam according to the second MCS value, communicate with the terminal using the second beam. Where the second MCS value is the above-mentioned MCS value of conservative scheduling, and the first MCS value is greater than or equal to the second MCS value.

[0077] The beam switching method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure determines whether the serving beam and the beam to be switched are adjacent. In the case of adjacency, during the period after instructing the terminal to perform beam switching and before expecting the terminal to complete beam switching, communication is performed using both the serving beam and the beam to be switched simultaneously. The fact that the two beams meet the adjacency condition indicates that the signal coverage ranges of the two beams are relatively close. The base station can transmit dual beams simultaneously to transmit data, so that there is always a beam that matches the terminal, ensuring the stability of the data transmission rate of the terminal during the beam switching process and improving the performance of the communication system.

[0078] In some embodiments, as Figure 7 shown, the above S501 can be implemented as:

[0079] S5011. Obtain the angle information of the first beam and the angle information of the second beam.

[0080] S5012. Determine whether the first beam and the second beam are adjacent according to the angle information of the first beam and the angle information of the second beam.

[0081] For the above S5011 - S5012, the above angle information includes: horizontal angle and vertical angle (the horizontal angle and vertical angle mentioned here refer to the angles of the beam center positions). The above S5012 can be implemented as the following steps a - c:

[0082] Step a. Use the difference between the horizontal angle of the first beam and the horizontal angle of the second beam as the first difference, and use the difference between the vertical angle of the first beam and the vertical angle of the second beam as the second difference. Here, the difference mentioned refers to the larger one minus the smaller one of the two, that is, both the first difference and the second difference are positive values.

[0083] Step b. Determine that the first beam and the second beam are adjacent when the sum of the first difference and the second difference is less than the first threshold.

[0084] Step c. Determine that the first beam and the second beam are not adjacent when the sum of the first difference and the second difference is greater than the first threshold.

[0085] For example, set the first threshold δ = 8°. The horizontal angle φ1 = 0° and the vertical angle θ1 = 0° of the center position of the first beam (original beam). The horizontal angle φ2 = 6° and the vertical angle θ2 = 8° of the center position of the second beam (new beam). Then the distance between the angles of the first beam and the second beam (i.e., the sum of the first difference and the second difference) is, |φ1 - φ2| + |θ1 - θ2| = 14° > δ, which indicates that the two beams are not adjacent. Another example, the horizontal angle φ1 = 0° and the vertical angle θ1 = 0° of the center position of the first beam (original beam). The horizontal angle φ2 = 6° and the vertical angle θ2 = 0° of the center position of the second beam (new beam). Then the distance between the angles of the first beam and the second beam (i.e., the sum of the first difference and the second difference) is, |φ1 - φ2| + |θ1 - θ2| = 6° < δ, which indicates that the two beams are adjacent.

[0086] In some embodiments, as Figure 8 shown, before the above S501, the beam selection method provided by the present disclosure further includes the following S801 - S803:

[0087] S801. Obtain the RSRP value of the first beam and the RSRP value of the second beam.

[0088] S802. Determine whether the beam switching condition is satisfied according to the RSRP value of the first beam and the RSRP value of the second beam.

[0089] S803. Send a beam switching instruction when the beam switching condition is satisfied.

[0090] Among them, the beam switching instruction is used to instruct the terminal to switch the serving beam used for communication from the first beam to the second beam.

[0091] For the above S801 - S803, the base station can receive the RSRP value of the first beam and the RSRP value of the second beam measured and fed back by the terminal through beam scanning. Further, by comparing the RSRP values of the two beams, it is determined whether the beam switching condition is satisfied. If not, no beam switching is performed. If satisfied, a beam switching instruction is sent to the terminal to instruct the terminal to switch to use the new beam.

[0092] In addition, when the beam switching condition is satisfied, the base station can continue to execute the above S501.

[0093] In some embodiments, the beam switching condition includes: the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than the second threshold, and the difference between the RSRP value of the second beam and the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than or equal to the third threshold;

[0094] Or,

[0095] The RSRP value of the first beam is less than the second threshold, and the difference between the RSRP value of the second beam and the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold; wherein, the third threshold is less than the fourth threshold.

[0096] It should be noted that, based on the beam switching strategy of the RSRP value, if the RSRP value of the original beam is high, it indicates that the terminal is probably in the near-field area, the channel quality is good, the communication rate is high, and the probability of being in the line-of-sight propagation (Los) scenario is high. Therefore, the probability of adjacent beam switching is high, and the distance between the signal coverage ranges of adjacent beams is relatively close. Then, the third threshold for beam switching can be set smaller, so as to ensure that the terminal maintains a high communication rate before, during, and after the handover. If the RSRP value of the original beam is low, it indicates that the terminal is probably in the far-field area, the channel quality is poor, the communication rate is low, and the probability of being in the NLos scenario is high. Therefore, the probability of adjacent beam switching is low, and the distance between the signal coverage ranges of adjacent beams is relatively far. Then, the fourth threshold for beam switching can be set larger, so as to reduce the ping-pong effect of the terminal during beam switching (i.e., switching back and forth between beams), or adopt conservative scheduling for non-adjacent beam switching to ensure the communication reliability during the handover process.

[0097] In addition, when the beam switching condition is not met, beam switching is not performed. It can be seen from the judgment condition that if the RSRP difference between the new beam and the original beam is less than the set threshold (the above-mentioned third threshold or fourth threshold), switching is not performed. This is because in the actual scenario, the wireless channel is constantly changing, and the measurement value at a certain time or the measurement value within a short period of time cannot accurately represent the wireless channel quality. If the threshold is set small, or no threshold is set, then it may switch from beam A to beam B during this measurement, and then switch back from beam B to beam A during the next measurement, which will cause the ping-pong effect of frequent beam switching. Since there is a transition time process for beam switching, this frequent switching situation will cause the overhead of signaling resources and the fluctuation of traffic, affecting the user's network usage experience. Therefore, setting the threshold for the beam switching condition can avoid relatively frequent beam switching.

[0098] In some embodiments, as Figure 9 shown, the beam selection method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure further includes the following:

[0099] S504. After the second moment, communicate with the terminal using the second beam.

[0100] Among them, the second moment is the moment when it is expected that the terminal completes beam switching. After the second moment, the base station can determine that the first beam has been switched to the second beam, and then the base station can communicate with the terminal using the second beam with better signal quality to ensure communication performance.

[0101] Figure 10 It is a schematic diagram of a dual-beam scheme provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 10 shown, first, if the new beam of the base station is adjacent to the original beam, when the base station performs beam switching, it adopts a dual-beam scheme, that is, when the base station performs data transmission after sending a beam switching instruction ( Figure 10 at the T2 moment in it), it simultaneously transmits the original beam and the new beam until the maximum moment when it is expected that the terminal completes beam switching ( Figure 10 at the T3 moment in it), and then the base station uses the new beam for data transmission. It should be understood that in the dual-beam scheme, between the T2 moment and the T3 moment, the base station configures the dual beam with a first MCS value, and the first MCS value is calculated based on the MCS value and RSRP value of the original beam, and the RSRP of the new beam.

[0102] The beam switching method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure judges whether the serving beam and the beam to be switched are adjacent. In the case of adjacency, during the period after instructing the terminal to perform beam switching and before it is expected that the terminal completes beam switching, the serving beam and the beam to be switched are simultaneously used for communication. The fact that the two beams meet the adjacency condition indicates that the signal coverage ranges of the two beams are relatively close. The base station can simultaneously transmit the dual beam to transmit data, so that there is always a beam that matches the terminal, ensuring the stability of the data transmission rate of the terminal during the beam switching process and improving the performance of the communication system.

[0103] Furthermore, when transmitting the dual beam, configuring the dual beam with a first MCS value greater than the second MCS value can effectively ensure the stability of the communication rate of the terminal during the beam switching process, improve the performance of the communication system and the mobile communication experience of the terminal. In addition, by setting a threshold during the beam switching process, the ping-pong effect of the terminal switching between beams can be reduced, further ensuring the user's network usage experience.

[0104] It can be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the communication device (which can be the above base station) includes the corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the present disclosure can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present disclosure.

[0105] The embodiments of the present disclosure can divide the communication device into functional modules according to the above method embodiments. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or software. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrative, only a logical function division, and there can be other division methods in actual implementation. The following takes the example of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function for illustration.

[0106] Figure 11 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication device can execute the beam selection method provided by the above method embodiments. As Figure 11 shown, the communication device includes a judgment module 1101 and a communication module 1102.

[0107] The judgment module 1101 is used to judge whether the first beam is adjacent to the second beam; the first beam is the serving beam currently used for communication between the base station and the terminal; the second beam is the beam to be switched determined after beam scanning.

[0108] The communication module 1102 is used to, when the judgment result is yes, communicate with the terminal using the first beam and the second beam within the time period from the first moment to the second moment; the first moment is the moment when the base station instructs the terminal to perform beam switching; the second moment is the moment when it is expected that the terminal completes beam switching.

[0109] In some embodiments, the communication module 1102 is further used to, when the judgment result is no, communicate with the terminal using the second beam after the first moment.

[0110] In some embodiments, the communication module 1102 is specifically configured to communicate with the terminal by using the first beam and the second beam after configuring the first beam and the second beam according to the first modulation and coding strategy (MCS) value; the communication module 1102 is specifically configured to communicate with the terminal by using the second beam after configuring the second beam according to the second MCS value; the first MCS value is greater than or equal to the second MCS value.

[0111] In some embodiments, the above device further includes: a determination module 1103. The determination module 1103 is configured to determine the first MCS value according to the reference signal received power (RSRP) value of the first beam and the configured MCS value, and the RSRP value of the second beam.

[0112] In some embodiments, the above device further includes: an acquisition module 1104. The acquisition module 1104 is configured to acquire the angle information of the first beam and the angle information of the second beam; the determination module 1103 is further configured to determine whether the first beam and the second beam are adjacent according to the angle information of the first beam and the angle information of the second beam.

[0113] In some embodiments, the angle information includes: a horizontal angle and a vertical angle; the determination module 1103 is specifically configured to use the difference between the horizontal angle of the first beam and the horizontal angle of the second beam as the first difference, and the difference between the vertical angle of the first beam and the vertical angle of the second beam as the second difference; in the case where the sum of the first difference and the second difference is less than the first threshold, it is determined that the first beam and the second beam are adjacent; in the case where the sum of the first difference and the second difference is greater than the first threshold, it is determined that the first beam and the second beam are not adjacent.

[0114] In some embodiments, the acquisition module 1104 is further configured to acquire the RSRP value of the first beam and the RSRP value of the second beam; the judgment module 1101 is further configured to judge whether the beam switching condition is satisfied according to the RSRP value of the first beam and the RSRP value of the second beam; the communication module 1102 is further configured to send a beam switching instruction in the case where the beam switching condition is satisfied, and the beam switching instruction is used to instruct the terminal to switch the serving beam for communication from the first beam to the second beam.

[0115] In some embodiments, the judgment module 1101 is specifically configured to judge whether the first beam and the second beam are adjacent in the case where the beam switching condition is satisfied.

[0116] In some embodiments, the beam switching condition includes: the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than a second threshold, and the difference between the RSRP value of the second beam and the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than or equal to a third threshold; or, the RSRP value of the first beam is less than the second threshold, and the difference between the RSRP value of the second beam and the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold; the third threshold is less than the fourth threshold.

[0117] In some embodiments, the communication module 1102 is further configured to communicate with the terminal using the second beam after the second moment.

[0118] In the case where the functions of the above integrated modules are implemented in the form of hardware, embodiments of the present disclosure provide another possible structure of the communication device involved in the above embodiments. As Figure 12 shown, the communication device 120 includes: a processor 1202, a bus 1204. Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory 1201; optionally, the communication device may further include a communication interface 1203.

[0119] The processor 1202 may be configured to implement or execute various exemplary logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 1202 may be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array, or other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component, or any combination thereof. It may implement or execute various exemplary logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 1202 may also be a combination of computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, etc.

[0120] The communication interface 1203 is used to connect to other devices through a communication network. The communication network may be an Ethernet, a radio access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN), etc.

[0121] The memory 1201 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or can also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disk storage medium, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto.

[0122] As a possible implementation, the memory 1201 can exist independently of the processor 1202. The memory 1201 can be connected to the processor 1202 through the bus 1204 and is used to store instructions or program code. When the processor 1202 calls and executes the instructions or program code stored in the memory 1201, the beam selection method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0123] In another possible implementation, the memory 1201 can also be integrated with the processor 1202.

[0124] The bus 1204 can be an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus 1204 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 12 only a thick line is used to represent it in the figure, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0125] In some embodiments, executable instructions are stored in the memory 1201. When the processor 1202 executes the executable instructions, the communication device is caused to execute the beam selection method described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0126] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium (for example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). Computer program instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program instructions run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the beam selection method described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0127] Exemplarily, the above computer-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to: magnetic storage devices (such as hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes, etc.), optical discs (such as Compact Discs (CDs), Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (such as Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memories (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). The various computer-readable storage media described in this disclosure may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable storage media for storing information. The term "machine-readable storage medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data).

[0128] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer program product containing instructions. When the computer program product runs on a computer, it causes the computer to execute the beam selection method described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0129] As described above, the above are only specific embodiments of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present disclosure should be covered by the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A beam selection method, characterized in that, the method includes: judging whether a first beam is adjacent to a second beam; the first beam is the serving beam currently used for communication between the base station and the terminal; the second beam is the to-be-switched beam determined after beam scanning; when the judgment result is yes, communicating with the terminal using the first beam and the second beam within a time period from a first moment to a second moment; the first moment is the moment when the base station instructs the terminal to perform beam switching; the second moment is the moment when it is expected that the terminal completes beam switching.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the method further includes: when the judgment result is no, communicating with the terminal using the second beam after the first moment.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, communicating with the terminal using the first beam and the second beam includes: after configuring the first beam and the second beam according to a first modulation and coding strategy (MCS) value, communicating with the terminal using the first beam and the second beam; communicating with the terminal using the second beam includes: after configuring the second beam according to a second MCS value, communicating with the terminal using the second beam; the first MCS value is greater than or equal to the second MCS value.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, before configuring the first beam and the second beam according to the first MCS value, the method further includes: determining the first MCS value according to the reference signal received power (RSRP) value and the configured MCS value of the first beam, and the RSRP value of the second beam.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, judging whether the first beam is adjacent to the second beam includes; acquiring the angle information of the first beam and the angle information of the second beam; determining whether the first beam is adjacent to the second beam according to the angle information of the first beam and the angle information of the second beam.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, the angle information includes: horizontal angle and vertical angle; determining whether the first beam is adjacent to the second beam according to the angle information of the first beam and the angle information of the second beam includes: taking the difference between the horizontal angle of the first beam and the horizontal angle of the second beam as a first difference, and taking the difference between the vertical angle of the first beam and the vertical angle of the second beam as a second difference; when the sum of the first difference and the second difference is less than a first threshold, determining that the first beam is adjacent to the second beam; when the sum of the first difference and the second difference is greater than the first threshold, determining that the first beam is not adjacent to the second beam.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, before judging whether the first beam is adjacent to the second beam, the method further includes: Obtain the RSRP value of the first beam and the RSRP value of the second beam; Judge whether the beam switching condition is satisfied according to the RSRP value of the first beam and the RSRP value of the second beam; When the beam switching condition is satisfied, send a beam switching instruction, and the beam switching instruction is used to instruct the terminal to switch the serving beam for communication from the first beam to the second beam.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, judging whether the first beam and the second beam are adjacent includes: when the beam switching condition is satisfied, judging whether the first beam and the second beam are adjacent.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein, the beam switching condition includes: the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than a second threshold, and the difference between the RSRP value of the second beam and the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than or equal to a third threshold; or, the RSRP value of the first beam is less than a second threshold, and the difference between the RSRP value of the second beam and the RSRP value of the first beam is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold; the third threshold is less than the fourth threshold.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the method further includes: after the second moment, communicate with the terminal using the second beam.

11. A communication device, wherein, comprising: a processor and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor; wherein, the processor is configured to execute the instructions, so that the communication device executes the beam selection method according to any one of claims 1-10.

12. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein, computer instructions are stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer instructions run on the communication device, the communication device executes the beam selection method according to any one of claims 1-10.

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