Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and a communication device, and the method comprises the steps that network equipment inputs first environment information into a first model, N precoding matrixes are obtained, the first environment information is used for indicating a communication environment in a coverage range of the network equipment, and N is a positive integer; further, the network device sends N pilot signals based on the N precoding matrixes. According to the method, the network equipment calculates the precoding matrix corresponding to the current communication environment based on the environment information (namely the first environment information) of the current communication environment and the first model, so that the adaptation degree between the precoding matrix and the current environment can be improved, and the communication performance can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] Precoding technology is a technology for transmitting / receiving signals in a specific direction through a precoding matrix. Specifically, the precoding technology adjusts the amplitudes and phases of each antenna transceiver unit through the precoding matrix, so that the transmitted / received signals of the antenna array are coherently superimposed in the specific direction, while the signals in other directions cancel each other out.

[0003] Generally, the higher the adaptability of the precoding matrix used by a communication device to the communication environment where the communication device is located, the higher the communication quality between the communication device and other communication devices. How to improve the adaptability of the precoding matrix used by a communication device to the current communication environment is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are beneficial to improving the adaptability of the precoding matrix used by a communication device to the current communication environment, thereby being beneficial to improving the communication quality.

[0005] In a first aspect, this application provides a communication method. This method is applied to a network device, or to a module in a network device (such as a chip or a chip system, etc.). Taking the application to a network device as an example, this method includes: the network device inputs first environment information into a first model to obtain N precoding matrices, where the first environment information is used to indicate the communication environment within the coverage range of the network device, and N is a positive integer; further, the network device sends N pilot signals based on the N precoding matrices.

[0006] Based on the method described in the first aspect, the network device calculates the precoding matrix corresponding to the current communication environment based on the environment information (i.e., the first environment information) of the current communication environment and the first model. It can be understood that the relationship between the communication environment and the precoding matrix is learned through the first model, and based on the first model, the precoding matrix can be adapted to the current communication environment, which is beneficial to improving the adaptability of the precoding matrix to the current environment, thereby being beneficial to improving the communication performance.

[0007] In a possible implementation manner, the N precoding matrices are used to obtain N beams corresponding to the transmission of the N pilot signals, and the pilot signals correspond to the beams one by one; wherein, each beam corresponds to at least one beam direction.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the first direction corresponding to the network device and the environmental information in the second direction corresponding to the network device; if the terminal density in the first direction is greater than the terminal density in the second direction, the beam intensity of the first beam is greater than the beam intensity of the second beam, where the first beam is the beam corresponding to the first direction among the N beams, and the second beam is the beam corresponding to the second direction among the N beams.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the third direction corresponding to the network device and the environmental information in the fourth direction corresponding to the network device, where the third direction is the direction from the network device to the first location, and the fourth direction is the direction from the network device to the second location; if the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the first location is greater than the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the second location, the beam intensity of the third beam is greater than the beam intensity of the fourth beam, where the third beam is the beam corresponding to the third direction among the N beams, and the fourth beam is the beam corresponding to the fourth direction among the N beams.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the first environmental information includes one or more of the following information: the location information of the network device, the cell division method corresponding to the network device, the antenna layout and orientation of the network device, the building layout within the coverage of the network device, the building materials within the coverage of the network device, the street layout within the coverage of the network device, the environmental map within the coverage of the network device, the vegetation layout information within the coverage of the network device, and the water system layout within the coverage of the network device.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the first environmental information further includes the location distribution information of multiple terminal devices served by the network device, and the location distribution information includes one or more of the following information: the terminal density within the coverage of the network device, the heat map of the communication environment of multiple terminal devices served by the network device within the coverage of the network device, and the movement trajectories of multiple terminal devices served by the network device within the communication environment of the network device coverage.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the output of the first model further includes N probability values, which correspond to the N precoding matrices one by one, and the probability value is used to indicate the importance of the precoding matrix corresponding to the probability value among the N precoding matrices.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the probability value associated with the first direction among the N probability values is greater than the probability value associated with the second direction; and / or, the probability value associated with the third direction among the N probability values is greater than the probability value associated with the fourth direction.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the network device sends the transmission order of N pilot signals to the first terminal device. The transmission order is determined based on the probability values output by the first model, or the transmission order is obtained based on the historical measurement data corresponding to the communication environment. Further, the network device sends the N pilot signals to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices and the transmission order. By implementing this possible implementation, the network device can send N pilot signals according to various transmission orders, which is beneficial to improving the flexibility of communication.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the network device sends the N precoding matrices to the first terminal device. The N precoding matrices are used for the first terminal device to perform the first detection task according to the second model. By implementing this possible implementation, the first detection task can be performed by combining the precoding matrices related to the current communication environment, which is beneficial to improving the detection accuracy of the first detection task.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the network device receives the measurement results from the first terminal device. The measurement results are the signal strengths of the N pilot signals. Further, the network device inputs the N precoding matrices and the signal strengths of the N pilot signals into the second model to perform the first detection task. By implementing this possible implementation, the first detection task can be performed by combining the precoding matrices related to the current communication environment, which is beneficial to improving the detection accuracy of the first detection task.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the network device sends configuration information. The configuration information is used to configure the transmission period of the pilot signals corresponding to at least one detection task, and / or the configuration information is used to configure the number of pilot signals transmitted corresponding to the at least one detection task. The number of pilot signals transmitted is the number of pilot signals transmitted within one transmission period.

[0018] Among them, the number of pilot signals transmitted corresponding to the detection task can also be understood as the number of beams in the beam combination corresponding to the detection task.

[0019] In a possible implementation, different detection tasks in the at least one detection task correspond to different transmission periods, and / or different detection tasks in the at least one detection task correspond to different numbers of transmitted signals.

[0020] In a possible implementation manner, the second detection task is any one of the at least one detection task. The second detection task corresponds to multiple transmission periods, and different detection accuracies of the second detection task respectively correspond to the respective transmission periods of the second detection task; or, the second detection task corresponds to multiple transmission quantities, and different detection accuracies of the second detection task respectively correspond to the respective transmission quantities of the second detection task.

[0021] In a possible implementation manner, the at least one detection task includes one or more of a positioning task, a beam prediction task, a channel prediction task, or an environment reconstruction task.

[0022] In a possible implementation manner, the network device obtains first data and updates model parameters of the second model based on the first data; the first data is related to the first detection task. By implementing this possible implementation manner, after the second model is deployed on the network device, the network device will perform model fine-tuning (i.e., update model parameters) on the second model based on the first data, which is beneficial to improving the adaptability of the second model to the network device and the current communication environment, and is beneficial to improving the accuracy of the second model.

[0023] In a possible implementation manner, the first detection task is an environment reconstruction task, and the first data includes pilot signal measurement results of multiple terminal devices served by the network device and environmental information within the coverage of the network device; or, the first detection task is a positioning task, and the first data includes pilot signal measurement results of the terminal devices served by the network device and location information of the terminal devices served by the network device.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner, the input of the first model further includes distribution information of multiple terminal devices served by the network device.

[0025] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method. This method is applied to a first terminal device or a module (such as a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the first terminal device. Taking the application to the first terminal device as an example, the method includes: The first terminal device receives N precoding matrices from the network device. The N precoding matrices are related to the communication environment within the coverage of the network device, and N is a positive integer; the first terminal device measures N pilot signals from the network device to obtain signal strengths of the N pilot signals. The N pilot signals are transmitted based on the N precoding matrices; further, the first terminal device inputs the signal strengths of the N pilot signals and the N precoding matrices into the second model to perform the first detection task.

[0026] Based on the method described in the second aspect, the first terminal device can perform the first detection task by combining the precoding matrix related to the current communication environment, which can be understood as taking into account the impact of the communication environment on the first detection task, thereby facilitating the improvement of the detection accuracy of the first detection task in this communication environment.

[0027] In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal device receives the transmission order of the N pilot signals from the network device; further, the first terminal device measures the first K pilot signals based on the transmission order of the N pilot signals to obtain the signal strength of the N pilot signals, where K is a positive integer less than or equal to N. By implementing this possible implementation manner, the first terminal device can flexibly select to measure the N pilot signals or a part of the N pilot signals during the execution of the first detection task, which is beneficial to saving the power consumption of the terminal device for executing the first detection task.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal device receives configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information is used to configure the transmission period of the pilot signals corresponding to at least one detection task, and / or configure the number of pilot signals transmitted corresponding to the at least one detection task, and the number of pilot signals transmitted is the number of pilot signals transmitted within one transmission period.

[0029] In a possible implementation manner, different detection tasks in the at least one detection task correspond to different transmission periods, and / or different detection tasks in the at least one detection task correspond to different numbers of transmitted signals.

[0030] In a possible implementation manner, the second detection task is any one of the at least one detection task, the second detection task corresponds to multiple transmission periods, and the respective transmission periods corresponding to the second detection task respectively correspond to different detection accuracies of the second detection task; or, the second detection task corresponds to multiple numbers of transmitted signals, and the respective numbers of transmitted signals corresponding to the second detection task respectively correspond to different detection accuracies of the second detection task.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner, the at least one detection task includes one or more of a positioning task, a beam prediction task, a channel prediction task, or an environment reconstruction task.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the first terminal device obtains first data and updates the model parameters of the second model deployed based on the first data; the first data is related to the first detection task. By implementing this possible implementation, after the second model is deployed on the first terminal device, the first terminal device will perform model fine-tuning (i.e., update model parameters) on the second model based on the first data, which is beneficial to improving the adaptability of the second model to the first terminal device and the current communication environment and beneficial to improving the accuracy of the second model.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the first detection task is a positioning task, and the first data includes the measurement results of the pilot signals of the terminal devices served by the network device and the location information of the terminal devices served by the network device.

[0034] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a network device, a device in the network device, or a device that can be used in combination with the network device. Among them, the communication device may also be a chip system. The communication device can execute the method described in the first aspect. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions. The unit or module may be software and / or hardware. The operations and beneficial effects performed by the communication device can refer to the method and beneficial effects described in the first aspect above.

[0035] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be the first terminal device, a device in the first terminal device, or a device that can be used in combination with the first terminal device. Among them, the communication device may also be a chip system. The communication device can execute the method described in the second aspect. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions. The unit or module may be software and / or hardware. The operations and beneficial effects performed by the communication device can refer to the method and beneficial effects described in the second aspect above.

[0036] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor and an interface circuit. 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. The processor uses logic circuits or executes code instructions to implement the method described in the first aspect, or the processor uses logic circuits or executes code instructions to implement the method described in the second aspect.

[0037] Sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor connected to a memory, and is configured to call the computer program or instruction stored in the memory to execute the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect above. The memory may be located inside the network device or the first terminal device, or may be located outside the network device or the first terminal device. And the processor includes one or more.

[0038] Seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the method described in the first aspect is implemented, or the method described in the second aspect is implemented.

[0039] Eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product including a computer program or instruction. When a communication device reads and executes the computer program or instruction, the communication device is caused to execute the method described in the first aspect, or the communication device is caused to execute the method described in the second aspect.

[0040] Ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, including a communication device for executing the method described in the first aspect above and a communication device for executing the method described in the second aspect above. Description of the Drawings

[0041] Figure 1a It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 1b It is another schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 2 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the signal strength of each pilot signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of transmitting a pilot signal through a precoding matrix provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 5 It is another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 6 It is yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 7 It is a schematic logical diagram of model training provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 8 Schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 9 Schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0051] For the convenience of understanding the embodiments of the present application, the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application will be introduced first.

[0052] Figure 1a is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 to which the embodiments of the present application are applied. As Figure 1a shown, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may further include the Internet 300. Among them, the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as Figure 1a 110a and 110b in Figure 1a collectively referred to as 110), and may further include at least one terminal (such as Figure 1a 120a - 120j in

[0053] collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may further include other RAN nodes, for example, wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (

[0054] Figure 1a not shown in

[0053] ). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 wirelessly, and the RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or wiredly. The core network devices in the core network 200 and the RAN nodes 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent different physical devices, or may be the same physical device integrating the logical functions of the core network devices and the logical functions of the RAN nodes. Terminals and terminals, as well as RAN nodes and RAN nodes, can be connected to each other wiredly or wirelessly.

[0053] The RAN 100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, and a future wireless access system defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The RAN 100 may further include two or more different wireless access systems as described above. The RAN 100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0054] A RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, RAN entity, or access node, may also be referred to as a network device hereinafter, and is used to help a terminal access a communication system wirelessly. In one application scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next generation NodeB in a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. A RAN node can be a macro base station (such as Figure 1a 110a in Figure 1a ), or a micro base station or an indoor station (such as

[0055] 110b in

[0056] ), or a relay node or a donor node. In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can cooperate to help a terminal achieve wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement some functions of the base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). Here, the CU completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete some or all of the functions of the physical layer. For specific descriptions of the above various protocol layers, reference can be made to the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP. The RU can be used to implement the functions of transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals. The CU and the DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or integrated in the same RAN node, such as integrated in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device, such as included in a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.RAN nodes can support one or more types of fronthaul interfaces. For different fronthaul interfaces, there are DUs and RUs with different functions respectively. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), the DU is configured to implement one or more of the baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement one or more of the radio frequency functions. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is the Enhanced Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI), compared with CPRI, some of the downlink and / or uplink baseband functions are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation. Different splitting methods between the DU and the RU correspond to different categories (Cat) of eCPRI, such as eCPRI Cat A, B, C, D, E, F.

[0057] Taking eCPRI Cat A as an example, for downlink transmission, with layer mapping as the splitting point, the DU is configured to implement one or more of the functions before layer mapping (i.e., one or more of coding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, and layer mapping), and other functions after layer mapping (e.g., one or more of Resource Element (RE) mapping, Digital Beamforming (BF), or Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) / Adding Cyclic Prefix (CP)) are moved to the RU for implementation. For uplink transmission, with de-RE mapping as the splitting point, the DU is configured to implement one or more of the functions before demapping (i.e., one or more of decoding, derate matching, descrambling, demodulation, Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT), channel equalization, and de-RE mapping), and other functions after demapping (e.g., one or more of Digital BF or Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) / Removing CP) are moved to the RU for implementation. It can be understood that for the function descriptions of DUs and RUs corresponding to various types of eCPRI, reference can be made to the eCPRI protocol, which will not be elaborated here.

[0058] In a possible design, the processing unit in the BBU for implementing the baseband function is called the Baseband High (BBH) unit, and the processing unit in the RRU / AAU / RRH for implementing the baseband function is called the Baseband Low (BBL) unit.

[0059] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in the O-RAN system, the CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), the DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and the RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN nodes in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in the form of software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software modules and hardware modules. For example, an RAN node can be a server loaded with the corresponding software module. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the RAN nodes. For ease of description, in the following text, the base station is used as an example of an RAN node for description.

[0060] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as 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 wearables, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, aircraft, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the terminal.

[0061] The base station and the terminal can be fixed in position or movable. The base station and the terminal can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on the water surface; they can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the base station and the terminal.

[0062] The roles of the base station and the terminal can be relative. For example, Figure 1aThe helicopter or drone 120i therein can be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminals 120j accessing the radio access network 100 through 120i, 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, the communication between 110a and 120i is through the radio air interface protocol. Of course, the communication between 110a and 120i can also be through the interface protocol between base stations. At this time, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be uniformly referred to as communication devices. Figure 1a 110a and 110b therein can be referred to as communication devices with base station functions. Figure 1a 120a - 120j therein can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0063] The communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations and base stations, and between terminals and terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, can also be carried out through unlicensed spectrum, or can be carried out through both authorized spectrum and unlicensed spectrum at the same time; it can communicate through the spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), can also communicate through the spectrum above 6 GHz, or can also use the spectrum below 6 GHz and the spectrum above 6 GHz at the same time. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0064] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station can also be executed by modules (such as chips) in the base station, or can be executed by a control subsystem including base station functions. The control subsystem including base station functions here can be a control center in the above application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal can also be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) in the terminal, or can be executed by a device including terminal functions.

[0065] Please refer to Figure 1b , Figure 1b which is another schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0066] Such as Figure 1bAs shown, a radio communication system includes a RAN intelligent controller (RIC). As an example, the RIC can be used to implement functions related to artificial intelligence (AI). As an example, the RIC includes a near-real time RIC (near-RT RIC) and a non-real time RIC (Non-RT RIC). Among them, the non-real time RIC mainly processes non-real time information, such as data that is not sensitive to latency, and the latency of this data can be on the order of seconds. The real-time RIC mainly processes near-real time information, such as data that is relatively sensitive to latency, and the latency of this data is on the order of dozens of milliseconds.

[0067] The near-RT RIC is used for model training and inference. For example, it is used to train an AI model and perform inference using this AI model. The near-RT RIC can obtain information on the network side and / or the terminal side from RAN nodes (such as CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and / or RU) and / or terminals. This information can be used as training data or inference data. Optionally, the near-RT RIC can submit the inference result to the RAN node and / or the terminal. Optionally, the inference result can be exchanged between the CU and the DU, and / or between the DU and the RU. For example, the near-RT RIC submits the inference result to the DU, and the DU sends it to the RU.

[0068] The non-RT RIC is also used for model training and inference. For example, it is used to train an AI model and perform inference using this model. The non-RT RIC can obtain information on the network side and / or the terminal side from RAN nodes (such as CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and / or RU) and / or terminals. This information can be used as training data or inference data, and the inference result can be submitted to the RAN node and / or the terminal. Optionally, the inference result can be exchanged between the CU and the DU, and / or between the DU and the RU. For example, the non-RT RIC submits the inference result to the DU, and the DU sends it to the RU.

[0069] The near-RT RIC and the non-RT RIC can also be separately set as a network element. Optionally, the near-RT RIC and the non-RT RIC can also be part of other devices. For example, the near-RT RIC is set in a RAN node (such as CU, DU), and the non-RT RIC is set in the network management (operation, administration and maintenance, OAM), cloud server, core network device, or other network devices.

[0070] In practical applications, the wireless communication system may include multiple network devices (also referred to as access network devices) at the same time, or may include multiple terminal devices at the same time, without limitation. A network device can serve one or more terminal devices simultaneously. A terminal device can also access one or more network devices simultaneously. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of terminal devices and network devices included in the wireless communication system.

[0071] To facilitate the understanding of the relevant content of the embodiments of the present application, some terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are further explained below. This part is only for easy understanding and cannot be regarded as a disclosure or specific limitation of the technical solution of the present application.

[0072] 1. Neural network

[0073] A neural network can be composed of neural units. A neural unit can refer to an operation unit with x s as the input. The output of the operation unit can be shown in formula (1).

[0074]

[0075] where s = 1, 2,..., n, n is a natural number greater than 1, W s is the weight of x s , b is the bias of the neural unit. f is the activation function of the neural unit, which is used to introduce non-linear characteristics into the neural network to convert the input signal in the neural unit into an output signal. The output signal of the activation function can be used as the input of the next convolutional layer. The activation function can be a sigmoid function. A neural network is a network formed by connecting many such single neural units together, that is, the output of one neural unit can be the input of another neural unit. The input of each neural unit can be connected to the local receptive field of the previous layer to extract the features of the local receptive field, and the local receptive field can be a region composed of several neural units.

[0076] It should be noted that the neural network models mentioned in the present application (such as the first model or the second model hereinafter) can be one or more of the network models of neural networks, the network models of deep neural networks (DNN), the network models of convolutional neural networks (CNN), the network models of recurrent neural networks (RNN), the network models of generative adversarial networks, or a deformation (or combination) of their combinations. The present application does not specifically limit this.

[0077] 2. Pilot

[0078] The pilot can also be referred to as pilot information, pilot signal, reference signal (RS), reference sequence, etc. The pilot can include uplink pilot and downlink pilot. The uplink pilot is used for uplink channel measurement to estimate the uplink channel state information (CSI) (or to estimate the uplink channel matrix). The downlink pilot is used for downlink channel measurement to estimate the downlink CSI (or the downlink channel matrix). Exemplarily, the uplink pilot can be the sounding reference signal (SRS), and the downlink pilot can be the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or the synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0079] It should be noted that the reference signals listed above are only examples and should not constitute any limitation to this application. This application does not exclude the possibility of defining other reference signals in future protocols to achieve the same or similar functions.

[0080] 3. Beam

[0081] The manifestation of the beam in the NR protocol can be a spatial filter, or spatial parameters, or a precoder. The beam used for transmitting signals can be called the transmission beam (Tx beam), which can be called a spatial transmission filter or spatial transmission parameters; the beam used for receiving signals can be called the reception beam (Rx beam), which can be called a spatial reception filter or spatial reception parameters.

[0082] The transmission beam can refer to the distribution of signal intensity formed in different directions in space after the signal is transmitted by the antenna, and the reception beam can refer to the distribution of signal intensity of the wireless signal received by the antenna in different directions in space.

[0083] It should be understood that the manifestations of the beam in the NR protocol listed above are only examples and should not constitute any limitation to this application. This application does not exclude the possibility of defining other terms in other protocols to represent the same or similar meanings.

[0084] In addition, the beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. Different beams can be considered to correspond to different resources (including one or more of time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, or space-domain resources). The same information or different information can be transmitted through different beams. The technology for forming a beam can be beamforming technology or other technologies.

[0085] Optionally, a beam can correspond to one or more antenna ports for transmitting data, control signaling, sounding signals, etc. One or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be regarded as an antenna port set. Among them, the description of antenna ports can be found in the relevant content later in this application.

[0086] 4. Beamforming Technology

[0087] In the single-antenna communication mode (i.e., the electromagnetic wave propagation from a single antenna of a network device to a single antenna of a terminal device), without physical adjustment (i.e., without adjusting the amplitude and / or phase of the signal transmitted by the antenna), the radiation direction of the antenna is fixed, and there will be a problem of limited number of simultaneously co-frequency servable users. To solve this problem of limited number of users, beamforming technology is proposed. This beamforming technology can also be called precoding technology. In beamforming technology, the network device has multiple antennas and can adjust the amplitude and / or phase of the signals transmitted by each antenna so that an effective superposition of electromagnetic waves is formed at the receiving point of the terminal device, generating a stronger signal gain to overcome the loss, thereby achieving the purpose of improving the received signal strength.

[0088] Generally, beamforming technology can include: digital beamforming (DBF) technology, analog beamforming (ABF) technology, or hybrid beamforming technology (also called hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology), etc. Among them, DBF achieves the effect of adjusting the amplitude and phase weights of the signal by means of data processing of the input signal in the digital domain; ABF achieves the effect of changing the phase of the signal by applying the phase weights to the analog signal (for example, realized at the radio frequency through a phase shifter).

[0089] 5. Beamforming Matrix

[0090] The beamforming matrix is a parameter that supports the antenna array to generate a specific beam, and the specific beam here includes but is not limited to a beam in a specific direction, a beam in a specific shape, and a beam with a specific power (or energy).

[0091] In one possibility, the beamforming matrix may also be referred to as a weight matrix. That is to say, each element in the beamforming matrix is a weight, and the weight is used to perform a vector multiplication with the wireless signal received and / or transmitted by the antenna, which is the so-called "weighting the antenna".

[0092] In some embodiments, the weight may also be replaced by other parameters for implementing beamforming, such as a steering vector, a precoding matrix, the signal amplitude and phase of an antenna port, etc.

[0093] Generally, the higher the degree of adaptation of the precoding matrix used by a communication device to the communication environment where the communication device is located, the higher the communication quality between the communication device and other communication devices. To improve the degree of adaptation of the precoding matrix used by a communication device to the current communication environment, the present application provides a communication method, which is beneficial to improving the degree of adaptation between the communication environment and the precoding matrix, and thus beneficial to improving the communication quality. The communication method and communication device provided by the present application are further introduced below with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0094] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 which is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 2 shown, the communication method includes the following S201 to S202. Figure 2 The execution subject of the method shown may be a network device and a first terminal device, or Figure 2 the execution subject of the method shown may be a module in the network device and a module in the first terminal device, or Figure 2 the execution subject of the method shown may be a chip of the network device and a chip of the first terminal device. Figure 2 Taking the network device and the first terminal device as the execution subjects of the method as an example for illustration, the first terminal device is any terminal device that provides services for the network device. It should be noted that the network device mentioned in the present application may be Figure 1a or Figure 1b the RAN node shown, and the terminal device mentioned in the present application may be Figure 1a or Figure 1b the terminal device shown, and the present application does not make specific limitations. Among them:

[0095] S201. The network device inputs first environment information into a first model to obtain N precoding matrices, where N is a positive integer. Among them, the first environment information is used to indicate the communication environment within the coverage range of the network device.

[0096] That is to say, after the network device determines the environmental information of the communication environment it is in (or understood as the communication environment within the coverage range), it records the environmental information as the first environmental information, and inputs the first environmental information into the first model to obtain N precoding matrices. Among them, the first model can be a neural network model deployed on the network device, or a neural network model deployed on a device having a communication connection with the network device. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0097] It should be noted that this application does not make specific limitations on the specific manifestation form of the environmental information (such as the first environmental information) used to indicate the communication environment. In a possible implementation manner, the first environmental information includes one or more of the location information of the network device, the cell division method corresponding to the network device, the antenna layout and orientation of the network device, the map information within the coverage range of the network device (such as satellite map, aerial photo, elevation map, drone-captured map, 2D or 3D map obtained through the network (such as obtained from a database providing map services), etc.), the environmental layout information within the coverage range of the network device (such as building layout, building material, height or volume of each building, street layout information, vegetation layout information, water system layout information, etc.), or the radar point cloud map.

[0098] It should also be noted that this application does not make specific limitations on the method for the network device to determine the first environmental information. For example, the network device can obtain the first environmental information corresponding to the communication environment within the coverage range from a database having a communication connection with the network device (such as the memory of the network device, cloud database, etc.) based on its own location information and signal coverage range. Also for example, the network device can sense the environment within the coverage range through a neural network model for environmental perception, radar detector, camera, satellite, drone, or global positioning system (GPS), etc., to obtain the first environmental information corresponding to the communication environment within the coverage range.

[0099] Optionally, the network device can serve multiple terminal devices (denoted as M terminal devices). In another possible implementation manner, the first environmental information further includes the distribution information (or called location distribution information) of the M terminal devices. Among them, the location distribution information includes one or more of the following information: the density of the M terminal devices in the communication environment within the coverage range of the network device, the heat map of the M terminal devices in the communication environment within the coverage range of the network device, and the movement trajectories of the M terminal devices in the communication environment within the coverage range of the network device. It should be noted that this application does not make specific limitations on the method for the network device to obtain the location distribution information. For example, the location distribution information can be statistically obtained by the network device based on historical data.

[0100] In a possible implementation, the N precoding matrices mentioned in this application are used to obtain N beams for transmitting pilot signals (i.e., the N pilot signals in S202). The pilot signals (or precoding matrices) and the beams correspond one by one, and each of the N beams corresponds to at least one beam direction, where the beam direction refers to the transmission direction of the beam for transmitting the pilot signal, and the beam intensity refers to the intensity of the beam for transmitting the pilot signal. Generally, the stronger the beam intensity in a certain direction, the stronger the beam in that direction.

[0101] It can be understood that there is an association relationship between the first environmental information and the N precoding matrices, and the first model is used to learn the association relationship between the environmental information (including the first environmental information) and the precoding matrices. That is to say, when the first environmental information changes, the N precoding matrices obtained by the first model may also change accordingly. It can be understood that when the first environmental information changes, the N beams also change, that is, the beam direction and / or beam intensity of the N beams change according to the change of the first environmental information.

[0102] In a possible implementation, the first environmental information includes environmental information in Q directions corresponding to the network device, where Q is a positive integer greater than or equal to N; N precoding matrices can be obtained through the first model, and each precoding matrix is used to form a beam in at least one of the Q directions to transmit a pilot signal. For example, the network device obtains the environmental information in all directions corresponding to the network device (that is, it can be understood that Q is greater than N), and the number of precoding matrices output by the first model is the first value (that is, the value of N mentioned in this application, and the first value can be adjusted by the network device according to the specific application environment). The network device inputs the environmental information in all directions (which can be regarded as the first environmental information mentioned in this application) into the first model to obtain N precoding matrices. Another example is that the network device obtains the environmental information in N directions corresponding to the network device (that is, Q is equal to N). Further, the network device inputs the environmental information in the N directions (which can be regarded as the first environmental information mentioned in this application) into the first model to obtain the precoding matrices corresponding to the N directions respectively. It should be noted that the "environmental information in all directions corresponding to the network device" mentioned in this application can be understood as the environmental information in all directions corresponding to the network device; or, it can also be understood that the environmental information is not divided by direction, and the environmental information in all directions is the environmental information in a certain area corresponding to the network device (for example, part or all of the area covered by the signal of the network device).

[0103] Optionally, the Q directions include a first direction and a second direction, that is, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the first direction corresponding to the network device and the environmental information in the second direction corresponding to the network device. In this case, if the terminal density in the first direction (or understood as the number of terminals corresponding to the first direction within the coverage of the network device) is greater than the terminal density in the second direction, the beam intensity of the first beam is greater than the beam intensity of the second beam. The first beam is the beam corresponding to the first direction among the N beams, and the second beam is the beam corresponding to the second direction among the N beams. Conversely, if the terminal density in the first direction is less than the terminal density in the second direction, the beam intensity of the first beam is less than the beam intensity of the second beam.

[0104] In Example 1, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the direction #1 from the network device to Building A, and includes the environmental information in the direction #2 from the network device to River B. Generally, the possibility of having terminal devices in Building A (or understood as the number of terminal devices) is greater than the possibility of having terminal devices on River B. In this case, it can be understood that the terminal density in Building A (i.e., the terminal density in direction #1) is greater than the terminal density in River B (direction #2). In this case, the beam intensity of the beam formed by the precoding matrix corresponding to direction #1 is greater than the beam intensity of the beam formed by the precoding matrix corresponding to direction #2.

[0105] In Example 2, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the direction #3 from the network device to Location 1, and includes the environmental information in the direction #4 from the network device to Location 2. Location 1 and Location 2 can be determined respectively from the location distribution information in the first environmental information, and the terminal density at Location 1 is greater than the terminal density at Location 2. In this case, the beam intensity of the beam formed by the precoding matrix corresponding to direction #3 is greater than the beam intensity of the beam formed by the precoding matrix corresponding to direction #4.

[0106] Optionally, the Q directions include a third direction and a fourth direction, that is, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the third direction corresponding to the network device and the environmental information in the fourth direction corresponding to the network device. The third direction is the direction from the network device to the first location, and the fourth direction is the direction from the network device to the second location. In this case, if the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the first location is greater than the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the second location, the beam intensity of the third beam is greater than the beam intensity of the fourth beam. The third beam is the beam corresponding to the third direction among the N beams, and the fourth beam is the beam corresponding to the fourth direction among the N beams.

[0107] In Example 3, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the direction #5 from the network device to Location 3 and the environmental information in the direction #6 from the network device to Location 4. According to the first environmental information, it can be analyzed that: the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to Location 3 is 5, and the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to Location 4 is 3. In this case, the beam intensity of the beam formed by the precoding matrix corresponding to direction #5 is greater than the beam intensity of the beam formed by the precoding matrix corresponding to direction #6.

[0108] It should be noted that obtaining N precoding matrices according to the first model mentioned in this application includes any one of the following two understandings: ① The output of the first model is the N precoding matrices; that is, after inputting the first environmental information into the first model, the first model outputs the element values of each precoding matrix among the N precoding matrices; ② The output of the first model is the indication of the N precoding matrices; that is, after inputting the first environmental information into the first model to obtain the output of the first model, the network device can determine (or understand as select) the N precoding matrices from a preset multiple precoding matrices according to the output of the first model. It should also be noted that the precoding matrix mentioned in this application can be an analog precoding matrix or a digital precoding matrix. When the precoding matrix is an analog precoding matrix, the number of element values of the analog precoding matrix is the same as the number of antennas, and each element corresponds to a real part and an imaginary part; when the precoding matrix is a digital precoding matrix, the number of element values of the digital precoding matrix is the same as the product of the number of antenna ports and the number of transmission layers, and each element corresponds to a real part and an imaginary part.

[0109] In a possible implementation manner, the output of the first model further includes N probability values, and the N probability values correspond one-to-one with the N precoding matrices; the probability value is used to indicate the importance of the precoding matrix corresponding to the probability value among the N precoding matrices.

[0110] That is to say, in addition to having an association relationship with the N precoding matrices, the first environmental information also has an association relationship with the probability values corresponding to the N precoding matrices, and the first model can also be used to learn the association relationship between the environmental information and the probability values corresponding to the precoding matrices. When the first environmental information changes, the probability values corresponding to the N precoding matrices may also change accordingly.

[0111] Optionally, the Q directions include a first direction and a second direction, that is, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the first direction corresponding to the network device and the environmental information in the second direction corresponding to the network device. In this case, if the terminal density in the first direction is greater than the terminal density in the second direction, the probability value associated with the first direction among the N probability values is greater than the probability value associated with the second direction.

[0112] For example, following the above Example 1, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the direction #1 from the network device to Building A, and the environmental information in the direction #2 from the network device to River B. In Example 1, the terminal density in Building A (i.e., the terminal density in direction #1) is greater than the terminal density in River B (the terminal density in direction #2). In this case, the probability value associated with direction #1 (i.e., the probability value corresponding to the precoding matrix corresponding to this direction #1) is greater than the probability value associated with direction #2.

[0113] Also for example, following the above Example 2, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the direction #3 from the network device to Location 1, and the environmental information in the direction #4 from the network device to Location 2. In Example 2, the terminal density at Location 1 is greater than the terminal density at Location 2. In this case, the probability value associated with direction #3 is greater than the probability value associated with direction #4.

[0114] Optionally, the Q directions include a third direction and a fourth direction, that is, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the third direction corresponding to the network device and the environmental information in the fourth direction corresponding to the network device. The third direction is the direction from the network device to the first location, and the fourth direction is the direction from the network device to the second location. In this case, if the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the first location is greater than the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the second location, then the probability value associated with the third direction among the N probability values is greater than the probability value associated with the fourth direction.

[0115] For example, following the above Example 3, the first environmental information includes the environmental information in the direction #5 from the network device to Location 3, and the environmental information in the direction #6 from the network device to Location 4. In Example 3, there are 5 signal transmission paths for the signal to be transmitted from the network device to Location 3, and 3 signal transmission paths for the signal to be transmitted from the network device to Location 4. In this case, the probability value associated with direction #5 is greater than the probability value associated with direction #6.

[0116] S202. The network device sends N pilot signals to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices.

[0117] That is to say, the network device forms N beams through the N precoding matrices, and sends N pilot signals through the N beams respectively. It can be understood that the precoding matrices and the beams (or understood as beam directions) are in one-to-one correspondence, the beams and the pilot signals are in one-to-one correspondence, and the precoding matrices and the pilot signals are in one-to-one correspondence. It should be noted that, without special instructions and logical conflicts, the pilot signals and beams in this application can be replaced with each other. For example, S202 can also be described as the network device sending N beams to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices. It should also be noted that the network device sending the N pilot signals can be broadcast, unicast, or multicast, and this application does not limit this.

[0118] For example, the N precoding matrices include precoding matrix 1 and precoding matrix 2. Based on precoding matrix 1, beam 1 can be formed, and based on precoding matrix 2, beam 2 can be formed. In this case, the network device sends a pilot signal through beam 1 based on precoding matrix 1; and sends a pilot signal through beam 2 based on precoding matrix 2.

[0119] Generally, the N beams formed by the network device through the N precoding matrices correspond to beam indexes. The N beams respectively correspond to different beam directions, that is, it can be understood that different beam indexes correspond to different beam directions. In the case where the network device and the first terminal device do not interact on the sending order of the pilot signals, the network device can send the pilot signals through different beams in sequence according to the default sending order (for example, in ascending order or descending order of the beam indexes). For example, the network device can form 8 beams through 8 precoding matrices: beam #0 to beam #7, and the network device can send the pilot signals through beam #0 to beam #7 in sequence in ascending order of the beam indexes.

[0120] In a possible implementation manner, the sending order of the N pilot signals sent by the network device to the first terminal device is output by the first model, or the sending order is obtained based on the historical measurement data corresponding to the communication environment. Further, the network device sends N pilot signals to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices and the sending order.

[0121] That is to say, after the network device obtains the sending order of the N pilot signals, it sends the sending order of the N pilot signals to the first terminal device, so that the network device and the first terminal device reach an agreement on the sending order of the N pilot signals. Further, the network device sends N pilot signals to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices and the sending order; that is, the first terminal device receives the N pilot signals based on the sending order.

[0122] For example, a network device can obtain 8 pilot signals through 8 precoding matrices, and the beam indices corresponding to the 8 pilot signals are beam #0 to beam #7. Further, the network device obtains the transmission order of the 8 pilot signals: beam #1, beam #3, beam #0, beam #4, beam #5, beam #6, beam #7. According to this transmission order, the network device first sends a pilot signal to the first terminal device through the precoding matrix corresponding to beam #1, and finally sends a pilot signal to the first terminal device through the precoding matrix corresponding to beam #7.

[0123] In a possible implementation, the transmission order is related to the transmission characteristics of the N precoding matrices (or understood as the N beams) for sending pilot signals predicted (or understood as estimated, calculated) by the network device. The transmission characteristics include one or more of transmission delay, signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, or path loss. It can be understood that the lower the transmission delay, the greater the signal strength, the greater the signal-to-noise ratio, or the smaller the path loss of the pilot signal, the better the transmission characteristics of the pilot signal; or, the transmission order is related to the environmental perception ability of the pilot signals sent by the N precoding matrices predicted by the network device. It can be understood that the more diverse the wireless paths covered by the pilot signal, the stronger the environmental perception ability of the pilot signal; or, the transmission order is related to the coverage ability of the pilot signals sent by the N precoding matrices predicted by the network device. It can be understood that the more users (or the number of terminal devices) covered by the pilot signal, the stronger the coverage ability of the pilot signal. Optionally, the better the transmission characteristics, the stronger the environmental perception ability, or the stronger the coverage ability of a certain pilot signal, the earlier the transmission order of the pilot signal among the N pilot signals.

[0124] For example, the signal strengths of the pilot signals respectively sent by beam #0 to beam #7 predicted by the network device are as Figure 3 shown. The signal strength of the pilot signal sent by beam #1 is the strongest, and the signal strength of the pilot signal sent by beam #7 is the weakest. Based on Figure 3 the transmission characteristics of each pilot signal shown, the network device can determine the transmission order of the 8 pilot signals: beam #1, beam #2, beam #0, beam #3, beam #4, beam #5, beam #6, beam #7.

[0125] It should be noted that: ①. The transmission order of the N pilot signals mentioned in this application can also be understood as the usage order of the N precoding matrices, or as the transmission order of the N beams. ②. The transmission order mentioned in this application is output by the first model. It can be understood that the network device predicts the transmission order of the N pilot signals through the first model; or, it can also be understood that the network device predicts the strength relationship of the transmission characteristics of the N pilot signals through the first model, and the network device can determine the transmission order of the N pilot signals according to the strength relationship of the transmission characteristics of the N pilot signals; or, it can also be understood that the transmission order is determined according to the N probability values output by the first model. For example, the larger the probability value, the earlier the transmission order of the pilot signal transmitted by the precoding matrix corresponding to the probability value. That is to say, the input of the first model is the first environmental information, or the first environmental information and the distribution information; the output of the first model includes, in addition to the N precoding matrices, the transmission order of the N pilot signals corresponding to the N precoding matrices, or the strength relationship of the transmission characteristics of the N pilot signals, or the N probability values. ③. The transmission order mentioned in this application is obtained based on the historical measurement data corresponding to the communication environment. It can be understood that the network device obtains (for example, obtains from the memory) the historical measurement data of the transmitted signals in multiple directions (including the beam directions corresponding to the N beams) in this communication environment, and estimates (or understood as calculates) the transmission characteristics of the pilot signals transmitted by the N precoding matrices according to the historical measurement data of the transmitted signals in these multiple directions, and obtains the transmission order of the N pilot signals. Among them, the historical measurement data of the transmitted signals in the multiple directions includes, but is not limited to, the transmission characteristics of the transmitted signals in each direction.

[0126] In summary, by implementing this application Figure 2 The described communication method enables the network device to calculate the precoding matrix corresponding to the current communication environment based on the environmental information (i.e., the first environmental information) of the current communication environment and the first model, that is, the relationship between the communication environment and the precoding matrix is learned through the first model. Compared with transmitting pilot signals according to a plurality of pre-set precoding matrices, each precoding matrix forms a beam with a preset beam direction (as shown in the comparison scheme in Figure 4 ) when transmitting pilot signals. By implementing the communication method described in this application Figure 2 A plurality of precoding matrices obtained by combining the current environmental information can be used, so that the beam formed when each precoding matrix transmits a pilot signal adapts to the current communication environment (i.e., the precoding matrix adapts to the current communication environment), and each beam can have at least one beam direction, which is beneficial to improving the adaptability of the precoding matrix to the current environment, and thus beneficial to improving communication performance.

[0127] It should be noted that the pilot signal mentioned in this application can be SRS, SSB, or CSI-RS, and this application does not specifically limit it. The pilot signal mentioned in this application can be used to perform detection tasks, and the detection tasks include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following detection tasks: positioning tasks, beam prediction tasks, channel prediction tasks, or environment reconstruction tasks, etc. Among them, the positioning task is used to position the first terminal device, the beam prediction task is used to determine the available beam pairs (such as the optimal beam pair, including the transmit beam and the receive beam) between the network device and the first terminal device, the channel prediction task is used to predict the channel information between the network device and the first terminal device, and the environment reconstruction task is used to construct a three-dimensional reconstruction model (or understood as a virtual scene) of the communication environment where the network device is located. For the sake of easy understanding, the following combines Figure 5 and Figure 6 , and details the process of performing the detection task through the pilot signal in Figure 2 , where Figure 5 is the process of the first terminal device performing the detection task based on the pilot signal, and Figure 6 is the process of the network device performing the detection task based on the pilot signal.

[0128] Please refer to Figure 5 , Figure 5 which is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 5 , this communication method includes the following S501 to S505. Figure 5 The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 5 can be the network device and the first terminal device, or the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 5 can be the module in the network device and the module in the first terminal device, or the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 5 can be the chip of the network device and the chip of the first terminal device.

[0129] S501 (optional), the network device sends configuration information to the first terminal device.

[0130] Among them, the configuration information is used to configure the transmission period of the pilot signal corresponding to at least one detection task, and / or the configuration information is used to configure the transmission quantity of the pilot signal corresponding to the at least one detection task. The transmission quantity of the pilot signal is the number of pilot signals transmitted within one transmission period. It should be understood that S502 - S505 hereinafter are described by taking a certain first detection task among the at least one detection task as an example, and the transmission quantity of the pilot signal corresponding to the first detection task is N.

[0131] For example, a network device sends configuration information to a first terminal device. The transmission periods and the number of pilot signals sent corresponding to multiple detection tasks configured by the configuration information are shown in Table 1. Among them, the transmission period corresponding to the positioning task is 20 ms, and the number of pilot signals sent corresponding to it is 12; the transmission period corresponding to the positioning task is 5 ms, and the number of pilot signals sent corresponding to it is 6; the transmission period corresponding to the channel prediction task is 40 ms, and the number of pilot signals sent corresponding to it is 18; the transmission period corresponding to the environment reconstruction task is 160 ms, and the number of pilot signals sent corresponding to it is 24.

[0132] Table 1

[0133]

[0134] It should be noted that different detection tasks may correspond to different transmission periods, and / or different detection tasks may correspond to different numbers of pilot signals sent. That is to say, different detection tasks may correspond to different transmission periods and different numbers of pilot signals sent; or, different detection tasks may correspond to the same transmission period but different numbers of pilot signals sent; or, different detection tasks may correspond to different transmission periods but the same number of pilot signals sent. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0135] It should also be noted that any one of the at least one detection task configured by the configuration information (denoted as the second detection task) may correspond to multiple transmission periods, and the respective transmission periods corresponding to the second detection task correspond to different detection accuracies of the second detection task; and / or, the second detection task corresponds to multiple numbers of signals sent, and the respective numbers of signals sent corresponding to the second detection task correspond to different detection accuracies of the second detection task.

[0136] For example, when the second detection task is the environment reconstruction task, the transmission periods and the numbers of signals sent corresponding to the second detection task are shown in Table 2. In Table 2, when the detection accuracy of the environment reconstruction task is 80%, the transmission period corresponding to the environment reconstruction task at this detection accuracy is 160 ms, and the number of signals sent corresponding to it is 24; when the detection accuracy of the environment reconstruction task is 90%, the transmission period corresponding to the environment reconstruction task at this detection accuracy is 270 ms, and the number of signals sent corresponding to it is 48.

[0137] Table 2

[0138]

[0139] Optionally, when the second detection task corresponds to one transmission period but multiple transmission quantities, the pilot signal of the second detection task can adopt a nested design, which helps avoid the additional overhead caused by multiple sorting of the pilot signals of the same detection task. For example, the transmission quantities corresponding to the beam prediction task include 6 and 10. In this case, the transmission order of the pilot signals for performing the beam prediction task is shown in Table 3.

[0140] Table 3

[0141]

[0142] That is, taking the transmission quantities corresponding to the detection task including a first quantity and a second quantity, where the first quantity is greater than the second quantity as an example, the transmission order of the pilot signals of the first quantity (such as the transmission order of 10 pilot signals in Table 3) includes the transmission order of the pilot signals of the second quantity (such as the transmission order of 6 pilot signals in Table 3).

[0143] S502. The network device inputs the first environmental information into the first model to obtain N precoding matrices, where N is a positive integer.

[0144] Among them, for the specific implementation manner of S502, reference can be made to the description of the specific implementation manner of the foregoing S201, which will not be elaborated here.

[0145] S503. The network device sends the N precoding matrices to the first terminal device.

[0146] After obtaining the N precoding matrices, the network device sends the N precoding matrices to the first terminal device (that is, it can be understood as directly sending the values of the N precoding matrices). Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the N precoding matrices from the network device.

[0147] Alternatively, after obtaining the N precoding matrices, the network device sends indication information for indicating the N precoding matrices to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the indication information for indicating the N precoding matrices from the network device and determines the N precoding matrices according to the indication information.

[0148] S504. The first terminal device measures the N pilot signals from the network device to obtain the intensities of the N pilot signals.

[0149] That is, the network device sends the N pilot signals to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices. For the specific implementation manner, reference can be made to the description of the specific implementation manner of the foregoing S202, which will not be elaborated here. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the N pilot signals and measures the N pilot signals to obtain the intensities of the N pilot signals.

[0150] It can be understood that when S501 is executed, the first terminal device knows the transmission period of the pilot signal corresponding to the first detection task and the number of pilot signals transmitted corresponding to the first detection task. The network device sends N pilot signals of the first detection task to the first terminal device based on the transmission period corresponding to the first detection task and the number of pilot signals transmitted corresponding to the first detection task. Correspondingly, the first terminal device can measure the N pilot signals based on the transmission period corresponding to the first detection task and the number of pilot signals transmitted corresponding to the first detection task.

[0151] In a possible implementation, the network device may send the transmission order of the N pilot signals to the first terminal device before sending the N pilot signals to the first terminal device. After the first terminal device receives the transmission order of the N pilot signals from the network device, the first terminal device measures the first K pilot signals based on the transmission order to obtain the strength of the N pilot signals.

[0152] Wherein, K is a positive integer less than or equal to N, and the specific value of K in this application is not specifically limited. Optionally, the specific value of K is related to the requirement for the detection accuracy of the execution of the detection task, or related to the beam scanning overhead during the execution of the detection task. For example, the specific value of K is positively correlated with the requirement for the detection accuracy; that is, when the first terminal device has a higher requirement for the detection accuracy of the first detection task executed in S504, the specific value of K is larger, and the beam scanning overhead during the execution of the detection task is larger (for example, the time required for beam scanning is longer). It should be understood that the smaller the gap between the detection result obtained by executing the detection task and the true result, the higher the detection accuracy of the execution of the detection task. On the contrary, the larger the gap between the detection result obtained by executing the detection task and the true result, the lower the detection accuracy of the execution of the detection task. Optionally, the specific value of K can be determined by the network device in this application and sent to the first terminal device, or can be determined by the first terminal device itself, and this is not limited.

[0153] In a possible example, the device for executing the first detection task ( Figure 5 herein is the first terminal device, Figure 6The (network device in the middle) can determine the specific value of K according to its own requirements for detection accuracy. For example, the transmission period corresponding to the beam prediction task is 5 ms, the number of pilot signals transmitted for the beam prediction task is 10, and the transmission order of these 10 pilot signals is: beam #3, beam #4, beam #0, beam #2, beam #1, beam #5, beam #8, beam #6, beam #7, beam #9. According to calculations, when the device performing the first detection task measures the first 6 pilot signals (i.e., beam #3, beam #4, beam #0, beam #2, beam #1, beam #5), the detection accuracy corresponding to this beam prediction task is 80%; when the device performing the first detection task measures these 10 pilot signals, the detection accuracy corresponding to this beam prediction task is 100%. If the device performing the first detection task requires a detection accuracy of greater than or equal to 80%, in this case, N is 10 and K is 6.

[0154] It should be understood that if the first terminal device only measures the first K pilot signals among the N pilot signals according to the transmission order, in this case, the first terminal device sets the signal strength of the pilot signals that are not measured among the N pilot signals to 0. For example, taking K as 6, N as 8, and the transmission order of these 8 pilot signals: beam #1, beam #3, beam #0, beam #4, beam #5, beam #6, beam #7 as an example, the first terminal device sequentially measures the signal strengths of the pilot signals transmitted by beams other than beam #6 and beam #7 according to this transmission order, and sets the signal strengths of the pilot signals transmitted by beam #6 and beam #7 to 0 to obtain the signal strengths of these 8 pilot signals.

[0155] S505. The first terminal device inputs the signal strengths of the N pilot signals and the N precoding matrices into the second model to perform the first detection task.

[0156] After obtaining the signal strengths of the N pilot signals, the first terminal device inputs the signal strengths of the N pilot signals and the N precoding matrices into the second model, and performs the first detection task through the second model.

[0157] Please refer to Figure 6 , Figure 6 which is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application. As Figure 6 shown, this communication method includes the following S601 - S605. Figure 6 The execution subject of the method shown can be a network device and a first terminal device, or Figure 6 the execution subject of the method shown can be a module in the network device and a module in the first terminal device, or Figure 6 the execution subject of the method shown can be a chip of the network device and a chip of the first terminal device. Figure 6Taking the network device and the first terminal device as the execution entities of the method as an example for illustration. Among them:

[0158] S601 (optional), the network device sends configuration information to the first terminal device.

[0159] S602, the network device inputs the first environment information into the first model to obtain N precoding matrices, where N is a positive integer.

[0160] Among them, for the specific implementation manners of S601 to S602, reference can be made to the description of the specific implementation manners of the foregoing S501 to S502, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0161] S603, the network device sends the N pilot signals to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices.

[0162] Among them, for the specific implementation manner of S603, reference can be made to the description of the specific implementation manner of the foregoing S202, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0163] S604, the network device receives the measurement result from the first terminal device, and the measurement result is the signal strength of the N pilot signals.

[0164] That is to say, the terminal device receives the N pilot signals from the network device, measures the N pilot signals, and obtains the signal strength of each pilot in the N pilot signals. Further, the first terminal device sends the signal strength of the N pilot signals to the network device.

[0165] Among them, for the specific implementation manner of the first terminal device to obtain the strength of the N pilot signals, reference can be made to the description of the specific implementation manner of the foregoing S504, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0166] S605, the network device inputs the signal strength of the N pilot signals and the N precoding matrices into the second model to perform the first detection task.

[0167] After the network device obtains the signal strength of the N pilot signals, it inputs the signal strength of the N pilot signals and the N precoding matrices into the second model, and performs the first detection task through the second model.

[0168] In summary, by implementing the present application Figure 5 or Figure 6 the communication method described, the device for performing the first detection task can perform the first detection task in combination with the precoding matrix related to the current communication environment, which is beneficial to improving the detection accuracy of performing the first detection task.

[0169] In a possible application scenario, in order to improve the adaptability between the first model and the second model, the first model and the second model can be jointly trained.

[0170] Exemplarily, as Figure 7 shown, the present application also provides a model training method. Figure 7 The execution subject of the method shown can be a network device, a first terminal device, a server for model training, etc., which is not limited in the present application. It should be noted that in Figure 7 the training method shown, the input of the first model is taken as the environmental information and the distribution information as an example. In a possible implementation manner, the input of the first model can also be only the environmental information, which is not limited in the present application. For the sake of understanding, in Figure 7 it is taken as an example that the model parameters of the first model and the second model are updated according to any one data (denoted as the first training data) in the training dataset.

[0171] Among them, the first training data includes environmental information E, distribution information D corresponding to multiple terminal devices, location information and label information of the multiple terminal devices, and the first training data is any one piece of data in the training dataset. In this case, the training process of the first model and the second model according to the first training data is as Figure 7 shown. The first training data (i.e., environmental information E and distribution information D) is input into the first model to obtain a precoding matrix W corresponding to the first training data. And, multiple signal information h is obtained by simulating the environmental information E and the location information of multiple terminal devices through a ray-tracing simulation model, and a signal strength Z is calculated based on the precoding matrix W, multiple signal information h, and noise n (such as random noise). The precoding matrix W and the signal strength Z are input into the second model, and the detection task is executed to output a detection result. Based on the detection result and the label data corresponding to the first training data, the model parameters of the first model and the model parameters of the second model are updated.

[0172] Among them, the label data is related to the detection task corresponding to the second model. For example, if the detection task corresponding to the second model is a positioning task, the label information is the location information of the multiple terminal devices; if the detection task corresponding to the second model is a channel prediction task, the label information is the channel information h; if the detection task corresponding to the second model is an environmental reconstruction task, the label information is the environmental information E; if the detection task corresponding to the second model is a beam prediction task, the label information is the beam information between the network device and each terminal device, and the beam information includes beam indication information and beam strength information.

[0173] In a possible implementation manner, when the second model is deployed on a device for executing the first detection task (i.e., Figure 5 the first terminal device in Figure 6After the network device in it (hereinafter simply referred to as the deployment device), in order to improve the adaptability of the second model to the communication environment where the deployment device is located, the deployment device can obtain the first data and update the model parameters of the second model (or understood as performing model fine-tuning) based on the first data. Among them, the first data is related to the first detection task. For example, when the first detection task is an environment reconstruction task, the deployment device obtains the first data (including the signal strength of the pilot signals measured by multiple terminal devices served by the network device, and the environmental information within the coverage of the network device), inputs the signal strength of the pilot signals measured by the multiple terminal devices into the second model respectively to obtain the output of the second model; and updates the model parameters of the second model based on the output of the second model and the environmental information within the coverage of the network device. When the first detection task is a positioning task, the deployment device obtains the first data (including the signal strength of the pilot signals measured by at least one terminal device served by the network device, and the location information of the at least one terminal device), inputs the signal strength of the pilot signals measured by the at least one terminal device into the second model to obtain the output of the second model; and updates the model parameters of the second model based on the output of the second model and the location information of the at least one terminal device.

[0174] It should be noted that, without logical conflict, when the deployment device is Figure 5 the first terminal device in it, part or all of the first data can be collected by the network device and sent to the first terminal device; when the deployment device is Figure 6 the network device in it, part or all of the first data can be collected by the terminal device and sent to the network device. For example, in the case where the second model is a model for performing a positioning task and the deployment device of the second model is a network device, after the terminal device obtains the location information through a positioning system such as GPS, it can send the location information of the terminal device to the network device.

[0175] It can be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the above device includes the corresponding hardware structure and / or software module for performing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, combining the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this article, this application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the way of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but this kind of implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application.

[0176] Embodiments of the present application may divide functional modules for a network device or a first terminal device according to the above method examples. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0177] Please refer to Figure 8 , Figure 8 which shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 800 according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 The shown communication device may be a network device, a device in a network device, or a device that can be used in combination with a network device. Figure 8 The shown communication device may include a communication unit 801 and a processing unit 802; Figure 8 The shown communication device may be a first terminal device, a device in a first terminal device, or a device that can be used in combination with a first terminal device. Figure 8 The shown communication device may include a communication unit 801 and a processing unit 802. Specifically, the processing unit 802 is used to process data, which may be the data received by the communication unit 801, and the processed data may also be sent by the communication unit 801; the communication unit 801 can be understood as a transceiver unit, including a receiving module and / or a sending module, and the receiving module is used to execute Figure 2 , Figure 5 or Figure 6 any one of the receiving actions of the device (i.e., the network device or the first terminal device) in any embodiment of Figure 2 , Figure 5 or Figure 6 any one of the sending actions of the device (i.e., the network device or the first terminal device) in any embodiment of

[0178] In one embodiment, when the communication device 800 is a network device, a device in a network device (such as a chip or a chip system in the network device), or a device that can be used in combination with a network device, where:

[0179] The processing unit 802 is used to input first environment information into a first model to obtain N precoding matrices, where the first environment information is used to indicate the communication environment within the coverage of the network device, and N is a positive integer; further, the processing unit 802 is used to call the communication unit 801 to send N pilot signals based on the N precoding matrices.

[0180] In a possible implementation, the N precoding matrices are used to obtain N beams corresponding to the transmission of the N pilot signals, and the pilot signals correspond to the beams one by one; wherein, each beam corresponds to at least one beam direction.

[0181] In a possible implementation, the first environmental information includes environmental information in a first direction corresponding to the network device and environmental information in a second direction corresponding to the network device; if the terminal density in the first direction is greater than the terminal density in the second direction, the beam intensity of the first beam is greater than the beam intensity of the second beam, the first beam is the beam corresponding to the first direction among the N beams, and the second beam is the beam corresponding to the second direction among the N beams.

[0182] In a possible implementation, the first environmental information includes environmental information in a third direction corresponding to the network device and environmental information in a fourth direction corresponding to the network device, the third direction is the direction from the network device to a first location, and the fourth direction is the direction from the network device to a second location; if the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the first location is greater than the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the second location, the beam intensity of the third beam is greater than the beam intensity of the fourth beam, the third beam is the beam corresponding to the third direction among the N beams, and the fourth beam is the beam corresponding to the fourth direction among the N beams.

[0183] In a possible implementation, the first environmental information includes one or more of the following information: the location information of the network device, the cell division method corresponding to the network device, the antenna layout and orientation of the network device, the building layout within the coverage of the network device, the building materials within the coverage of the network device, the street layout within the coverage of the network device, the environmental map within the coverage of the network device, the vegetation layout information within the coverage of the network device, and the water system layout within the coverage of the network device.

[0184] In a possible implementation, the first environmental information further includes the location distribution information of multiple terminal devices served by the network device, and the location distribution information includes one or more of the following information: the terminal density within the coverage of the network device, the heat map of the communication environment of the multiple terminal devices served by the network device within the coverage of the network device, and the movement trajectories of the multiple terminal devices served by the network device within the communication environment of the network device coverage.

[0185] In a possible implementation, the output of the first model further includes N probability values, the N probability values correspond to the N precoding matrices one by one, and the probability value is used to indicate the importance of the precoding matrix corresponding to the probability value among the N precoding matrices.

[0186] In a possible implementation, among the N probability values, the probability value associated with the first direction is greater than the probability value associated with the second direction; and / or, among the N probability values, the probability value associated with the third direction is greater than the probability value associated with the fourth direction.

[0187] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 801 is further configured to send the transmission order of the N pilot signals to the first terminal device, where the transmission order is determined based on the probability values output by the first model, or the transmission order is obtained based on the historical measurement data corresponding to the communication environment; further, the communication unit 801 is further configured to send the N pilot signals to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices and the transmission order.

[0188] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 801 is further configured to send the N precoding matrices to the first terminal device, where the N precoding matrices are used by the first terminal device to perform the first detection task according to the second model.

[0189] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 801 is further configured to receive the measurement results from the first terminal device, where the measurement results are the signal strengths of the N pilot signals; further, the processing unit 802 is further configured to input the N precoding matrices and the signal strengths of the N pilot signals into the second model to perform the first detection task.

[0190] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 801 is further configured to send configuration information, where the configuration information is used to configure the transmission period of the pilot signals corresponding to at least one detection task, and / or, the configuration information is used to configure the number of pilot signals transmitted corresponding to the at least one detection task, and the number of pilot signals transmitted is the number of pilot signals transmitted within one transmission period.

[0191] In a possible implementation, different detection tasks among the at least one detection task correspond to different transmission periods, and / or, different detection tasks among the at least one detection task correspond to different numbers of transmitted signals.

[0192] In a possible implementation, the second detection task is any one of the at least one detection task, the second detection task corresponds to multiple transmission periods, and each transmission period corresponding to the second detection task corresponds to a different detection accuracy of the second detection task; or, the second detection task corresponds to multiple numbers of transmitted signals, and each number of transmitted signals corresponding to the second detection task corresponds to a different detection accuracy of the second detection task.

[0193] In a possible implementation, the at least one detection task includes one or more of a positioning task, a beam prediction task, a channel prediction task, or an environment reconstruction task.

[0194] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 802 is further configured to obtain first data and update the model parameters of the second model based on the first data; the first data is related to the first detection task.

[0195] In a possible implementation, the first detection task is an environment reconstruction task, and the first data includes the pilot signal measurement results of multiple terminal devices served by the network device and the environmental information within the coverage of the network device; or, the first detection task is a positioning task, and the first data includes the pilot signal measurement results of the terminal devices served by the network device and the location information of the terminal devices served by the network device.

[0196] In a possible implementation, the input of the first model further includes the distribution information of multiple terminal devices served by the network device.

[0197] For a more detailed description of the above communication unit 801 and processing unit 802, reference can be made to Figure 2 、 Figure 5 or Figure 6 the relevant description of the network device in the method embodiments shown.

[0198] In an implementation manner, when the communication device 800 is a device in the first terminal device, the first terminal device, or a device that can be used in matching with the first terminal device, where:

[0199] The communication unit 801 is configured to receive N precoding matrices from the network device, where the N precoding matrices are related to the communication environment within the coverage of the network device, and N is a positive integer; the processing unit 802 is configured to measure N pilot signals from the network device to obtain the signal strengths of the N pilot signals, and the N pilot signals are sent based on the N precoding matrices; further, the processing unit 802 is further configured to input the signal strengths of the N pilot signals and the N precoding matrices into the second model to perform the first detection task.

[0200] In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 801 is further configured to receive the sending order of the N pilot signals from the network device; further, the processing unit 802 is further configured to measure the first K pilot signals based on the sending order of the N pilot signals to obtain the signal strengths of the N pilot signals, where K is a positive integer less than or equal to N.

[0201] In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 801 is further configured to receive configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information is used to configure the sending period of the pilot signals corresponding to at least one detection task, and / or configure the sending quantity of the pilot signals corresponding to the at least one detection task, and the sending quantity of the pilot signals is the quantity of pilot signals sent within one sending period.

[0202] In a possible implementation, different detection tasks in the at least one detection task correspond to different transmission periods, and / or different detection tasks in the at least one detection task correspond to different transmission quantities.

[0203] In a possible implementation, the second detection task is any one of the at least one detection task. The second detection task corresponds to multiple transmission periods, and each transmission period corresponding to the second detection task respectively corresponds to different detection accuracies of the second detection task; or, the second detection task corresponds to multiple transmission quantities, and each transmission quantity corresponding to the second detection task respectively corresponds to different detection accuracies of the second detection task.

[0204] In a possible implementation, the at least one detection task includes one or more of a positioning task, a beam prediction task, a channel prediction task, or an environment reconstruction task.

[0205] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 802 is further configured to obtain first data, and update model parameters of the second model based on the first data; the first data is related to the first detection task.

[0206] In a possible implementation, the first detection task is a positioning task, and the first data includes measurement results of pilot signals of terminal devices served by the network device, and location information of the terminal devices served by the network device.

[0207] For a more detailed description of the above communication unit 801 and processing unit 802, reference can be made to Figure 2 、 Figure 5 or Figure 6 the relevant description of the first terminal device in the method embodiment shown.

[0208] In a possible implementation, when the communication device 800 is a chip, the communication unit 801 can be a communication interface, a pin, a circuit, etc. The communication interface can be used to input data to be processed to the processor, and can output the processing result of the processor outward. In a specific implementation, the communication interface can be a general purpose input output (GPIO) interface, and can be connected to multiple peripheral devices (such as a display (LCD), a camera, a radio frequency (RF) module, an antenna, etc.). The communication interface is connected to the processor through a bus.

[0209] The processing unit 802 can be a processor, and the processor can execute a computer program or instruction stored in the storage module to enable the chip to execute Figure 2 、 Figure 5or Figure 6 The method involved in any of the embodiments shown. Further, the processor may include a controller, an arithmetic unit, and registers. Exemplarily, the controller is mainly responsible for decoding computer programs or instructions and issuing control signals for the operations corresponding to the computer programs or instructions. The arithmetic unit is mainly responsible for performing fixed-point or floating-point arithmetic operations, shift operations, and logical operations, etc., and can also perform address operations and conversions. The registers are mainly responsible for storing register operands and intermediate operation results temporarily stored during the execution of computer programs or instructions, etc. In a specific implementation, the hardware architecture of the processor may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) architecture, a microprocessor without interlocked piped stages architecture (MIPS) architecture, an advanced RISC machines (ARM) architecture, or a network processor (NP) architecture, etc. The processor can be single-core or multi-core. The storage module may be a storage module within the chip, such as registers, caches, etc. The storage module may also be a storage module located outside the chip, such as a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and computer programs or instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0210] It should be noted that the functions corresponding to the processor and the interface can be implemented through hardware design, software design, or a combination of software and hardware, and there is no limitation here.

[0211] Figure 9 It is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application. It can be understood that the communication device 900 includes means in the necessary forms such as modules, units, elements, circuits, or interfaces, which are appropriately configured together to execute the present solution. The communication device 900 may be the above-mentioned network device or the first terminal device, or a component (such as a chip) in these devices, for implementing the method described in the above method embodiments.

[0212] In a possible design, as Figure 9 shown, the communication device 900 includes a processor 910 and an interface circuit 920. The processor 910 and the interface circuit 920 are coupled to each other.

[0213] Optionally, the communication device 900 may include one or more processors 910. The processor 910 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, etc. For example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit may be used to control the communication device (such as a terminal device, a network device, or a chip, etc.), execute computer programs or instructions, and process data of the computer programs or instructions.

[0214] It can be understood that the interface circuit 920 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. When the communication device 900 is a network device or a first terminal device, the interface circuit 920 is a transceiver, including a transmitter and / or a receiver. Among them, the transmitter may be referred to as a sending unit, a transmitter, or a sending circuit, etc., for implementing the sending function, and the receiver may be referred to as a receiving unit, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, etc., for implementing the receiving function. When the communication device 900 is a chip in a network device or a first terminal device, the interface circuit 920 is the input / output interface of the chip. Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include an antenna (not shown in the figure), and the interface circuit 920 may sometimes also be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver, etc., for implementing the transceiver function of the communication device through the antenna.

[0215] Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a memory 930, for storing computer programs or instructions executed by the processor 910, or storing input data required for the processor 910 to run the computer programs or instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 910 runs the computer programs or instructions. Optionally, the processor 910 and the memory 930 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0216] When the communication device 900 is used to implement Figure 2 、 Figure 5 or Figure 6 the method shown, the processor 910 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 802, and the interface circuit 920 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned communication unit 801.

[0217] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a network device, the terminal chip implements the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The network device chip receives information from the first terminal device. It can be understood that the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and then sent by these modules to the network device chip. The network device chip sends information to the first terminal device. It can be understood that the information is first sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and then sent by these modules to the first terminal device.

[0218] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a first terminal device, the first terminal device chip implements the functions of the first terminal device in the above method embodiments. The first terminal device chip receives information from a network device, which can be understood as the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first terminal device, and then sent by these modules to the first terminal device chip. The first terminal device chip sends information to the network device, which can be understood as the information is sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first terminal device, and then sent by these modules to the network device.

[0219] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the computer is caused to execute the method described in any item of any embodiment as Figure 2 、 Figure 5 or Figure 6 above.

[0220] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, which includes: computer program code. When the computer program code is run by a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method described in any item of any embodiment as Figure 2 、 Figure 5 or Figure 6 above.

[0221] In the present application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be that A directly sends it to B, or A indirectly sends it to B through other entities. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be that entity B directly receives the information sent by entity A, or entity B indirectly receives the information sent by entity A through other entities. Here, entity A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules inside RAN nodes or terminals. The sending and receiving of information can be information interaction between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, information interaction between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be information interaction between two RAN nodes, for example, information interaction between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be information interaction between different modules inside a device, for example, information interaction between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or information interaction between a base station chip and other modules in the base station.

[0222] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), 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.

[0223] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions may be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules may be stored in a random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, removable hard disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium may also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may be located in an ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC may be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium may also exist as discrete components in the base station or the terminal.

[0224] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are executed in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable devices. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired or wireless manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center integrating one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile types of storage media.

[0225] Reference to "embodiments" in this document means that the specific features, structures, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiments can be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The phrase appears in various places in the specification and does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. Those skilled in the art will explicitly and implicitly understand that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0226] In various embodiments of the present application, if there is no special indication and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0227] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between associated objects and indicates that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the written description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after; in the formulas of this application, the character " / " indicates a "division" relationship between the associated objects before and after. "Including at least one of A, B, and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.

[0228] In the description, claims, and drawings of this application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of operations or units is not limited to the listed operations or units, but optionally also includes operations or units not listed, or optionally also includes other operations or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or devices.

[0229] In this application, "send" and "receive" represent the direction of signal transmission. For example, "send information to XX" can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, which can include directly sending through the air interface, or indirectly sending by other units or modules through the air interface. "Receive information from YY" can be understood as the source of the information being YY, which can include directly receiving from YY through the air interface, or indirectly receiving from YY through the air interface via other units or modules. "Send" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receive" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface. In other words, sending and receiving can be carried out between devices, for example, between a network device and a terminal device, or can be carried out within a device, for example, sending or receiving between components, modules, chips, software modules, or hardware modules within a device through a bus, trace, or interface. It can be understood that necessary processing, such as encoding and modulation, may be performed on the information between the source and destination of the information transmission, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be elaborated further.

[0230] The "indication" in this application may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. If the information indicated by a certain piece of information (such as the indication information described below) is called the information to be indicated, then in the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated, etc. It is also possible to indirectly indicate the information to be indicated by indicating other information, where there is an association relationship between the other information and the information to be indicated; it is also possible to only indicate a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or pre-agreed. For example, the arrangement order of each piece of information pre-agreed (such as protocol pre-definition) can be used to implement the indication of specific information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. This application does not limit the specific manner of indication. It can be understood that for the sender of the indication information, the indication information can be used to indicate the information to be indicated, and for the receiver of the indication information, the indication information can be used to determine the information to be indicated.

[0231] It can be understood that the various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of this application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The magnitudes of the sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Inputting first environment information into a first model to obtain N precoding matrices, where the first environment information is used to indicate the communication environment within the coverage of a network device, and N is a positive integer; Sending N pilot signals based on the N precoding matrices.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The N precoding matrices are used to obtain N beams corresponding to the transmission of the N pilot signals, and the pilot signals correspond to the beams one by one; wherein, each beam corresponds to at least one beam direction.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first environment information includes the environment information in a first direction corresponding to the network device and the environment information in a second direction corresponding to the network device; If the terminal density in the first direction is greater than the terminal density in the second direction, the beam intensity of a first beam is greater than the beam intensity of a second beam, where the first beam is the beam corresponding to the first direction among the N beams, and the second beam is the beam corresponding to the second direction among the N beams.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The first environment information includes the environment information in a third direction corresponding to the network device and the environment information in a fourth direction corresponding to the network device, where the third direction is the direction from the network device to a first location, and the fourth direction is the direction from the network device to a second location; If the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the first location is greater than the number of signal transmission paths from the network device to the second location, the beam intensity of a third beam is greater than the beam intensity of a fourth beam, where the third beam is the beam corresponding to the third direction among the N beams, and the fourth beam is the beam corresponding to the fourth direction among the N beams.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The first environment information includes one or more of the following information: The location information of the network device, the cell division method corresponding to the network device, the antenna layout and orientation of the network device, the building layout within the coverage of the network device, the building materials within the coverage of the network device, the street layout within the coverage of the network device, the environmental map within the coverage of the network device, the vegetation layout information within the coverage of the network device, the water system layout within the coverage of the network device.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The first environment information further includes the location distribution information of multiple terminal devices served by the network device, and the location distribution information includes one or more of the following information: The terminal density within the coverage of the network device, the heat map of the communication environment of the multiple terminal devices served by the network device within the coverage of the network device, the movement trajectories of the multiple terminal devices served by the network device within the communication environment of the network device coverage.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The output of the first model further includes N probability values, and the N probability values correspond to the N precoding matrices one by one. The probability value is used to indicate the importance of the precoding matrix corresponding to the probability value among the N precoding matrices.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein The probability value associated with the first direction among the N probability values is greater than the probability value associated with the second direction; And / or, the probability value associated with the third direction among the N probability values is greater than the probability value associated with the fourth direction.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 8, characterized in that The method further includes: Sending the transmission order of the N pilot signals to the first terminal device, where the transmission order is determined based on the probability values output by the first model, or the transmission order is obtained based on the historical measurement data corresponding to the communication environment; Sending the N pilot signals to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices includes: Sending the N pilot signals to the first terminal device based on the N precoding matrices and the transmission order.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending the N precoding matrices to the first terminal device, where the N precoding matrices are used for the first terminal device to perform a first detection task according to a second model.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving measurement results from the first terminal device, where the measurement results are the signal strengths of the N pilot signals; Inputting the N precoding matrices and the signal strengths of the N pilot signals into a second model to perform a first detection task.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending configuration information, where the configuration information is used to configure the transmission period of the pilot signals corresponding to at least one detection task, and / or, the configuration information is used to configure the number of pilot signals transmitted corresponding to the at least one detection task, and the number of pilot signals transmitted is the number of pilot signals transmitted within one transmission period.

13. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receiving N precoding matrices from a network device, where the N precoding matrices are related to the communication environment within the coverage of the network device, and N is a positive integer; Measuring N pilot signals from the network device to obtain the signal strengths of the N pilot signals, where the N pilot signals are transmitted based on the N precoding matrices; Inputting the signal strengths of the N pilot signals and the N precoding matrices into a second model to perform a first detection task.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The method further includes: Receiving the transmission order of the N pilot signals from the network device; The measuring the N pilot signals from the network device to obtain the signal strengths of the N pilot signals includes: Measuring the first K pilot signals based on the transmission order of the N pilot signals to obtain the signal strengths of the N pilot signals, where K is a positive integer less than or equal to N.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information is used to configure the transmission period of the pilot signals corresponding to at least one detection task, and / or, configure the number of pilot signals transmitted corresponding to the at least one detection task, and the number of pilot signals transmitted is the number of pilot signals transmitted within one transmission period.

16. The method according to claim 12 or 15, characterized in that For different detection tasks in the at least one detection task, different transmission periods are corresponding, and / or, different numbers of pilot signals transmitted are corresponding for different detection tasks in the at least one detection task.

17. The method according to claim 12, 15 or 16, characterized in that, The second detection task is any one of the at least one detection task, the second detection task corresponds to multiple transmission periods, and different detection accuracies of the second detection task are respectively corresponding to the respective transmission periods of the second detection task; Alternatively, the second detection task corresponds to multiple transmission quantities, and the respective transmission quantities corresponding to the second detection task correspond to different detection precisions of the second detection task.

18. The method according to claim 12, 15, 16 or 17, characterized in that, The at least one detection task includes one or more of a positioning task, a beam prediction task, a channel prediction task, or an environment reconstruction task.

19. The method according to any one of claims 10 - 18, characterized in that, The method further includes: Obtaining first data; Updating model parameters of the second model based on the first data, where the first data is related to the first detection task.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The first detection task is an environment reconstruction task, and the first data includes pilot signal measurement results of multiple terminal devices served by the network device and environment information within the coverage of the network device; Alternatively, the first detection task is a positioning task, and the first data includes pilot signal measurement results of a terminal device served by the network device and location information of the terminal device served by the network device.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-20.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a processor and an interface circuit, where the interface circuit is configured 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 configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-20 through logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

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