Communication method and related device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and a related device, which can be used in the technical field of communication. In the technical scheme provided by the invention, the first communication equipment can firstly determine the first bandwidth and then send the first signal. Wherein the first bandwidth can be greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device, the bandwidth of the first signal is the first bandwidth, and the first signal is used for sensing. Compared with the prior art, the bandwidth of the first signal is larger than that of the reference signal, and the perceived resolution capability is stronger.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In an existing communication system, while a communication device is communicating, it can also sense some objects that do not have communication functions.

[0003] Currently, a communication device can sense an object by using a reference signal. For example, after a network device sends a downlink reference signal to a terminal device, it can receive an echo signal formed after the downlink reference signal is reflected by the object, and then obtain a sensing result based on the echo signal.

[0004] However, based on this method, there are often situations where an actual object cannot be sensed, and the sensing resolution is poor. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method and related devices, which are used to solve the problem of poor sensing resolution when an object is sensed based on a reference signal in the prior art.

[0006] In a first aspect, this application provides a communication method, which is applied to a first communication device. The method includes: determining a first bandwidth, where the first bandwidth is greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device; and sending a first signal, where the bandwidth of the first signal is the first bandwidth, and the first signal is used for sensing.

[0007] In this method, the first communication device may be a network device. The carrier bandwidth of the first communication device may be the maximum bandwidth of a signal supported by the current carrier of the first communication device, and the current carrier of the first communication device may be a carrier supported by the current serving cell of the first communication device or a carrier used by the current serving cell of the first communication device.

[0008] Optionally, the carrier bandwidth here may also be referred to as cell bandwidth, or transmission bandwidth, or channel bandwidth, etc.

[0009] In this method, the bandwidth of the first signal for sensing is greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device, and the bandwidth of the first signal is greater than the bandwidth of the reference signal for sensing in the prior art. Since the larger the bandwidth of the sensing signal, the stronger the sensing resolution and the stronger the sensing discrimination ability, this application can improve the sensing discrimination ability.

[0010] In some possible implementation manners, the method further includes: sending first information to a second communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following information of the first signal: frequency domain position, time domain position, subcarrier spacing, cyclic prefix, or signal period.

[0011] Optionally, the second communication device may be a terminal device or a network device. When the second communication device is a network device, the second communication device and the first communication device may be different network devices.

[0012] In this method, the first information may indicate the configuration information of the first signal, so that the second communication device can receive the first signal correspondingly based on the configuration information of the first signal, and then perform sensing based on the first signal. This can avoid the situation where the second communication device does not know the configuration information of the first signal and regards the first signal as an interference signal, thereby avoiding the problem of being unable to obtain the sensing result.

[0013] In some possible implementation manners, the first information indicating the subcarrier spacing of the first signal includes: the first information includes a first field, and the first field indicates the subcarrier spacing of the first signal.

[0014] Optionally, when the second communication device is a terminal device, the terminal device may determine the subcarrier spacing of the first signal based on the first field, and then determine whether the subcarrier spacing of the first signal is consistent with the target subcarrier spacing. When it is determined that the subcarrier spacing of the first signal is consistent with the target subcarrier spacing, the first signal is received.

[0015] Wherein, the target subcarrier spacing may be the subcarrier spacing on the bandwidth part BWP or the activated BWP corresponding to the terminal device, or the subcarrier spacing supported by the terminal device. The target subcarrier spacing may be pre-configured.

[0016] This can avoid the situation where the terminal device receives the first signal but has no ability to process the first signal, which is beneficial to improving resource utilization.

[0017] In some possible implementation manners, the first information indicating the cyclic prefix of the first signal includes: the first information includes a second field, and the second field indicates the cyclic prefix type of the first signal.

[0018] In this method, the terminal device may determine the cyclic prefix type of the first signal based on the second field, and then determine whether the cyclic prefix type of the first signal is consistent with the target cyclic prefix type. When it is determined that the cyclic prefix type of the first signal is consistent with the target cyclic prefix type, the first signal is received.

[0019] Wherein, the target cyclic prefix type may be the cyclic prefix type on the BWP or the activated BWP corresponding to the terminal device, or the cyclic prefix type supported by the terminal device. The target cyclic prefix type may be pre-configured.

[0020] This can avoid the situation where the terminal device receives the first signal but has no ability to process the first signal, which is beneficial to improving resource utilization.

[0021] In some possible implementation manners, the first information indicates the frequency-domain position of the first signal, including: the first information includes a third field, and the third field indicates the frequency-domain reference point position or the first offset of the first signal, where the first offset is the offset between the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal and the frequency-domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0022] Optionally, the frequency-domain reference point position can be characterized by the absolute frequency of a reference resource block (RB). The absolute frequency of the reference RB can be calculated through the number of the global frequency grid. In this case, this third field can be used to represent the number of the global frequency grid corresponding to the first signal.

[0023] In this method, the second communication device can determine the number of the global frequency grid of the first signal based on this third field, and then calculate the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal based on the number of the global grid frequency of the first signal.

[0024] Optionally, the frequency-domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device can be pre-configured in the first communication device and the second communication device. The first communication device can first calculate this first offset, and then send this first offset to the second communication device through the third field, so that the second communication device can determine the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal based on this first offset and the frequency-domain common reference point position.

[0025] In this method, the second communication device can determine the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal based on this third field, then determine the sequence within the target frequency-domain range in the first signal based on the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal, and then perform sensing based on the sequence within the target frequency-domain range in the first signal, so as to obtain a sensing result.

[0026] Among them, the target frequency-domain range can be the frequency-domain range supported by the second communication device, and this target frequency-domain range can be pre-configured.

[0027] In some possible implementation manners, the first information indicates the time-domain position of the first signal, including: the first information includes a fourth field, and the fourth field indicates the position of the first symbol in the first time slot, where the first time slot is the time slot for sending the first signal, and the first symbol is the symbol for sending the first signal in the first time slot.

[0028] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first signal may be sent periodically. In this case, the first symbol may be the symbol at which the first signal starts to be sent in the first time slot.

[0029] In this method, the first time slot may be pre-configured, or the first time slot may be default, that is, the first communication device and the second communication device may determine that the first signal is sent in the first time slot. For example, the first time slot may default to the starting time slot, which may be the first time slot for sensing in a system frame or a radio frame, and the starting time slot may be pre-configured.

[0030] In this method, the second communication device may determine the starting transmission time of the first signal based on the fourth field, and then receive the first signal based on the starting transmission time and perform sensing based on the first signal, so as to obtain a sensing result. This can avoid the situation that the second communication device cannot receive the first signal because it does not know the transmission time of the first signal.

[0031] Optionally, in some other embodiments, the first signal may be sent aperiodically.

[0032] In this method, the second communication device may determine all the symbols for sending the first signal based on the fourth field, and then determine the transmission time of each first signal, and then receive each first signal based on the transmission time of each first signal and perform sensing based on each first signal, so as to obtain a sensing result.

[0033] In some possible implementation manners, the first information further includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second offset, where the second offset is an offset between the first time slot and the starting time slot, and the starting time slot is the first time slot for sensing.

[0034] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first time slot may not be default. In this way, the second communication device may determine the transmission time of the first signal based on the fourth field and the fifth field, and then receive the first signal based on the transmission time and perform sensing based on the first signal, so as to obtain a sensing result.

[0035] In some possible implementation manners, the first information indicates a signal period of the first signal, including: the first information includes a sixth field, and the sixth field indicates a transmission period of the first signal.

[0036] Optionally, when the first signal is a periodically sent signal, the first information may include the sixth field.

[0037] In one example, if the first time slot is the default one, the second communication device may determine all the symbols for transmitting the first signal based on the fourth field and the sixth field, and then determine the transmission time of each first signal. Then, it receives each first signal based on the transmission time of each first signal and performs sensing based on each first signal, so as to obtain a sensing result.

[0038] In another example, if the first time slot is not the default one, the second communication device may determine all the symbols for transmitting the first signal based on the fourth field, the fifth field and the sixth field, and then determine the transmission time of each first signal. Then, it receives each first signal based on the transmission time of each first signal and performs sensing based on each first signal, so as to obtain a sensing result.

[0039] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a second communication device. The method includes: receiving a first signal from a first communication device, where the bandwidth of the first signal is a first bandwidth, the first bandwidth is greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device, and the first signal is used for sensing.

[0040] In some possible implementation manners, the receiving the first signal from the first communication device includes: receiving first information from the first communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following information of the first signal: frequency domain position, time domain position, subcarrier spacing, cyclic prefix, or signal period; and receiving the first signal based on the first information.

[0041] In some possible implementation manners, the first information indicating the subcarrier spacing of the first signal includes: the first information includes a first field, and the first field indicates the subcarrier spacing of the first signal.

[0042] The receiving the first signal based on the first information includes: receiving the first signal when the subcarrier spacing of the first signal is consistent with a target subcarrier spacing.

[0043] Optionally, when the second communication device is a terminal device, the target subcarrier spacing may be the subcarrier spacing of the terminal device on the corresponding BWP or the subcarrier spacing of the terminal device on the activated BWP, or the subcarrier spacing that the terminal device can support. The target subcarrier spacing here may be pre-configured.

[0044] In some possible implementation manners, the first information indicating the cyclic prefix of the first signal includes: the first information includes a second field, and the second field indicates the cyclic prefix type of the first signal.

[0045] Receiving the first signal based on the first information includes: receiving the first signal when the cyclic prefix type of the first signal is the same as the target cyclic prefix type.

[0046] Optionally, when the second communication device is a terminal device, the target cyclic prefix type may be the cyclic prefix type of the terminal device on the corresponding BWP or the cyclic prefix type of the terminal device on the active BWP, or the cyclic prefix type supported by the terminal device. The target cyclic prefix type here may be pre-configured.

[0047] In some possible implementation manners, the first information indicates the frequency domain position of the first signal, including: the first information includes a third field, and the third field indicates the frequency domain reference point position or the first offset of the first signal, where the first offset is the offset between the frequency domain reference point position of the first signal and the frequency domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0048] The method further includes: determining a first sequence of the first signal based on a first field and the third field in the first information.

[0049] Optionally, the first signal sent by the first communication device may include multiple sequences, and the multiple sequences sent by the first communication device may be referred to as transmission sequences.

[0050] In this method, the first sequence may include at least one sequence. The at least one sequence is the sequence carried in the transmission sequence of the first signal within the target frequency domain range.

[0051] Wherein, the target frequency domain range may be pre-configured. Optionally, when the second communication device is a terminal device, the target frequency domain range may be the bandwidth of the BWP corresponding to the terminal device or the bandwidth of the currently active BWP.

[0052] In this method, the first sequence may be included in the transmission sequence. Or rather, at least one sequence in the first sequence may be included in the multiple sequences in the transmission sequence, or at least one sequence in the received sequence may be a subset of the multiple sequences in the transmission sequence.

[0053] In some possible implementation manners, the first information indicates the time domain position of the first signal, including: the first information includes a fourth field, and the fourth field indicates the position of the first symbol in the first time slot, where the first time slot is the time slot for sending the first signal, and the first symbol is the symbol for sending the first signal in the first time slot.

[0054] In some possible implementations, the first information further includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second offset, where the second offset is the offset between the first time slot and a starting time slot, and the starting time slot is the first time slot for sensing.

[0055] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the signal period of the first signal, including: the first information includes a sixth field, and the sixth field indicates the transmission period of the first signal.

[0056] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including modules or units for implementing the methods in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect. It should be understood that each module or unit can implement the corresponding functions by executing a computer program.

[0057] As an example, the communication device may include a determination module and a transmission module.

[0058] Among them, the determination module may be used to determine a first bandwidth, and the first bandwidth is greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device.

[0059] The transmission module may be used to transmit a first signal, where the bandwidth of the first signal is the first bandwidth, and the first signal is used for sensing.

[0060] In some possible implementations, the transmission module may further be used to send first information to a second communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following information of the first signal: frequency domain position, time domain position, subcarrier spacing, cyclic prefix, or signal period.

[0061] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the subcarrier spacing of the first signal, including: the first information includes a first field, and the first field indicates the subcarrier spacing of the first signal.

[0062] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the cyclic prefix of the first signal, including: the first information includes a second field, and the second field indicates the cyclic prefix type of the first signal.

[0063] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the frequency domain position of the first signal, including: the first information includes a third field, and the third field indicates the frequency domain reference point position or a first offset of the first signal, where the first offset is the offset between the frequency domain reference point position of the first signal and the frequency domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0064] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the time domain position of the first signal, including: the first information includes a fourth field, and the fourth field indicates the position of a first symbol in a first time slot, where the first time slot is the time slot for transmitting the first signal, and the first symbol is the symbol for transmitting the first signal in the first time slot.

[0065] In some possible implementations, the first information further includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second offset, where the second offset is the offset between the first time slot and a starting time slot, and the starting time slot is the first time slot for sensing.

[0066] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the signal period of the first signal, including: the first information includes a sixth field, and the sixth field indicates the transmission period of the first signal.

[0067] As an example, the communication device may be applied to a first communication device or a chip in the first communication device.

[0068] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including modules or units for implementing the methods in the second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. It should be understood that each module or unit may implement corresponding functions by executing a computer program.

[0069] As an example, the communication device may include a receiving module.

[0070] Wherein, the receiving module may be configured to receive a first signal from a first communication device, where the bandwidth of the first signal is a first bandwidth, and the first bandwidth is greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device, and the first signal is used for sensing.

[0071] In some possible implementations, the receiving module may further be configured to receive first information from the first communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following information of the first signal: frequency domain position, time domain position, subcarrier spacing, cyclic prefix, or signal period.

[0072] The receiving module may further be configured to receive the first signal based on the first information.

[0073] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the subcarrier spacing of the first signal, including: the first information includes a first field, and the first field indicates the subcarrier spacing of the first signal.

[0074] The receiving module may further be configured to receive the first signal when the subcarrier spacing of the first signal is consistent with a target subcarrier spacing.

[0075] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the cyclic prefix of the first signal, including: the first information includes a second field, and the second field indicates the cyclic prefix type of the first signal.

[0076] The receiving module can also be used to receive the first signal when the cyclic prefix type of the first signal is consistent with the target cyclic prefix type.

[0077] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the frequency-domain position of the first signal, including: the first information includes a third field, and the third field indicates the frequency-domain reference point position or the first offset of the first signal, where the first offset is the offset between the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal and the frequency-domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0078] Optionally, the communication device may further include a determining module. The determining module can be used to determine the first sequence of the first signal based on the first field and the third field in the first information.

[0079] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the time-domain position of the first signal, including: the first information includes a fourth field, and the fourth field indicates the position of the first symbol in the first time slot, where the first time slot is the time slot for transmitting the first signal, and the first symbol is the symbol for transmitting the first signal in the first time slot.

[0080] In some possible implementations, the first information further includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second offset, where the second offset is the offset between the first time slot and the starting time slot, and the starting time slot is the first time slot for sensing.

[0081] In some possible implementations, the first information indicates the signal period of the first signal, including: the first information includes a sixth field, and the sixth field indicates the transmission period of the first signal.

[0082] As an example, the communication device can be applied to the second communication device or a chip in the second communication device.

[0083] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including a processor, and the processor is used to execute the method according to any one of the first aspect and the second aspect and any possible implementation manner.

[0084] The device may further include a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and when the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the methods described in the above aspects can be implemented. The device may further include a communication interface for the device to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, or other types of communication interfaces.

[0085] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program code for a device to execute, and the program code includes instructions for implementing the methods described in any one of the first aspect and the second aspect and any possible implementation manner.

[0086] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product including instructions, and when the computer program product runs on a device, the device is caused to implement the methods described in any one of the first aspect and the second aspect and any possible implementation manner.

[0087] It can be understood that the effects achievable in the second aspect to the seventh aspect can refer to the description in the first aspect and will not be elaborated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0088] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the communication system structure applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0089] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the sensing application scenario provided by the present application;

[0090] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the spectrum resources configured by a network device for a terminal device;

[0091] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0092] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the first bandwidth and the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0093] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal and the frequency-domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0094] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the communication device provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0096] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of a communication device provided by another embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0097] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0098] For the convenience of clearly describing the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish identical items or similar items with basically the same functions and effects. For example, the first information and the second information are only used to distinguish different information, and do not limit their sequence. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and terms such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit being different.

[0099] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A and B may be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after. "At least one (item)" or its similar expression below refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item (item) or plural items (items). For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a, b, and c. Where a, b, and c may be single or multiple.

[0100] The technical solutions of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication systems, Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) communication systems, 5th generation (5G) communication systems or New Radio (NR), Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), and future communication systems such as 6th generation (6G) communication systems, etc. The present invention does not limit this.

[0101] Next, the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0102] For the convenience of understanding the embodiments of the present application, first, in combination with Figure 1 describe the schematic diagram of the communication system structure applicable to the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 1As shown, the communication system includes a network device and a terminal device.

[0103] The technical solution provided by the embodiments of this application can be applied to wireless communication between communication devices. Wireless communication between communication devices may include: wireless communication between a network device and a terminal device, wireless communication between network devices, and wireless communication between terminal devices. Among them, in the embodiments of this application, the term "wireless communication" may also be abbreviated as "communication", and the term "communication" may also be described as "data transmission", "information transmission", or "transmission", etc. In the embodiments of this application, a communication device may also be referred to as a network element.

[0104] In the embodiments of this application, a network device is an entity for transmitting or receiving signals. Optionally, the network device may include a wireless access network (RAN) device and a core network device.

[0105] The terminal device can be connected to the wireless access network device wirelessly, and the wireless access network device can be connected to the core network device wirelessly or wired. The core network device and the wireless access network device may be independent different physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the wireless access network device may be integrated on the same physical device, or the functions of part of the core network device and part of the wireless access network device may be integrated on a physical device. The terminal devices and the wireless access network devices can be connected to each other wirelessly or wired. As an example, the terminal device and the wireless access network device can be connected through an air interface.

[0106] A terminal device can also be referred to as a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. It can be an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals, such as a mobile phone. The terminal device includes handheld devices, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, or computing devices with wireless communication capabilities. Exemplarily, a UE can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a computer with wireless transceiver functions. The terminal device can also be a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical treatment, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, and so on. The terminal can be widely applied in various scenarios, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver functions, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device, etc. In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the terminal can be the terminal; it can also be a device capable of supporting the terminal to implement such functions, such as a chip system, a communication module, or a modem, etc. This device can be installed in the terminal. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of chips or can also include chips and other discrete devices. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, taking the device for implementing the functions of the terminal as the terminal and taking the terminal as a UE as an example, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the terminal device.

[0107] A radio access network device can be a device that provides wireless communication function services, usually located on the network side, including but not limited to: the next-generation base station (gNodeB, gNB) in a 5G communication system, the next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, the base station in a future mobile communication system, or the access node in a WiFi system, etc. The evolved node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), transmission reception point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), base transceiver station (BTS), etc. in the long term evolution (LTE) system. In one network structure, the access network device may include at least one of a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), and a radio unit (RU). The access network device serves a cell, and the user equipment communicates with the base station through the transmission resources used by the cell (e.g., frequency domain resources, or in other words, spectrum resources). The cell can be the cell corresponding to the base station (e.g., the base station), and the cell can belong to a macro base station or the base station corresponding to a small cell. Here, the small cell can include: metro cell, micro cell, pico cell, femto cell, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage range and low transmission power and are suitable for providing high-rate data transmission services. The radio access network device can be a satellite, a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, or a relay node or a donor node, a device that provides wireless communication services for user equipment, a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, a relay station, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and network devices in future evolved networks, etc.The access network device in this embodiment may also be an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) device, which may include at least one of an Open Distributed Unit (O-DU), an Open Central Unit (O-CU), and an Open Radio Unit (O-RU).

[0108] Embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the wireless access network device. For ease of description, the base station is used as an example of the wireless access network device in the following description.

[0109] In the present application, the number of wireless access network devices and terminal devices may not be limited. For example, the number of wireless access network devices may be at least one, and each wireless access network device in the at least one wireless access network device may be connected to at least one terminal device.

[0110] In the present application, the wireless access network device and the terminal device may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they may also be deployed on the water surface; they may also be deployed on airplanes, balloons, and satellites in the air. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the wireless access network device and the terminal device.

[0111] In this communication system, according to the types of the sending node and the receiving node, the communication can be divided into different types. Generally, the process of the network device sending information to the terminal device is called downlink communication, and the process of the terminal device sending information to the network device is called uplink communication. For example, in some systems, according to the duplex mode, it can be mainly divided into the Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode and the Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode. For a wireless communication system operating in the TDD mode, the downlink carrier and the uplink carrier of the system are carriers with the same carrier frequency. The multiple access method usually adopts the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) method. The main feature of the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access method is that the transmission resources are divided into mutually orthogonal time-frequency resource units (Resource Element, RE), and the signals sent by the sending end are all carried on the REs and transmitted to the receiving end. Since different REs are mutually orthogonal, the receiving end can receive the signals sent on each RE separately.

[0112] In this communication system, while the network device and the terminal device are communicating, they can also sense some targets that do not have communication functions to obtain sensing results.

[0113] There are certain differences between the technical principles of sensing and communication. In communication, the sending end modulates information onto radio waves and sends it to the receiving end, and the receiving end demodulates the signal carried on the radio waves to obtain information. While for sensing, the sending end sends radio waves in a specific direction. When the radio waves irradiate the target surface, reflected radio waves will be formed. Thus, the receiving end receives and processes the reflected radio waves to obtain information such as the position, speed, and type of the target. The targets to be sensed can include but are not limited to vehicles, low-altitude drones, pedestrians, and other moving or stationary objects, etc.

[0114] Sensing can generally be divided into two modes: single-station sensing and dual-station sensing. Among them, in single-station sensing, the sending end and the receiving end of the sensing signal are the same device. From the perspective of the sensing signal flow, this sensing station needs to both send the sensing signal and receive the signal reflected on the target surface. Therefore, the single-station sensing mode is also called the self-transmitting and self-receiving mode. For dual-station sensing, the sending end and the receiving end of the sensing signal are two different devices. From the perspective of the sensing signal flow, after sensing station A sends the sensing signal, the signal reflected on the target surface is received by sensing station B. Therefore, the dual-station sensing mode is also called the A-transmitting and B-receiving mode.

[0115] Optionally, the sensing mode can include multiple application scenarios. For example, base station self-transmitting and self-receiving (such as (a) in Figure 2 ), base station A transmitting and base station B receiving (such as (b) in Figure 2 ), base station transmitting and terminal receiving (such as shown as (c) in Figure 2 ), terminal self-transmitting and self-receiving (such as (d) in Figure 2 ), terminal A transmitting and terminal B receiving (such as (e) in Figure 2 ), terminal transmitting and base station receiving (such as shown as (f) in Figure 2 ), etc. It should be noted that the above specific sensing application scenarios are only examples and do not impose limitations.

[0116] The quality of the sensing result can be characterized by the sensing resolution. The smaller the value of the sensing resolution, the stronger the sensing resolution and the stronger the sensing ability.

[0117] As an example, assume that when the distance between two perceived targets is greater than or equal to 2 meters, two targets can be distinguished based on sensing signal 1; when the distance between two perceived targets is less than 2 meters, two targets cannot be distinguished based on sensing signal 1. Then sensing signal 1 can be used to sense objects at a distance of more than 2 meters. And assume that when the distance between two perceived targets is greater than or equal to 1 meter, two targets can be distinguished based on sensing signal 2; when the distance between two perceived targets is less than 1 meter, two targets cannot be distinguished based on sensing signal 2. Then sensing signal 2 can be used to sense objects at a distance of more than 1 meter.

[0118] In this example, the sensing resolution corresponding to sensing signal 2 is smaller and the sensing ability is stronger.

[0119] In this application, the sensing resolution can also be referred to as the distance dimension resolution of sensing or the distance dimension resolution.

[0120] Among them, the sensing resolution can be associated with the bandwidth of the sensing signal, and the sensing resolution can satisfy: , where B represents the bandwidth of the signal, c represents the speed of light, and ΔR represents the sensing resolution.

[0121] Therefore, the larger the signal bandwidth, the smaller the sensing resolution, and the stronger the distance resolution ability of sensing, that is, objects at a relatively close distance can also be detected.

[0122] Currently, communication devices can sense objects through reference signals. For example, after the network device sends a downlink reference signal to the terminal device, it can receive the echo signal formed after the downlink reference signal is reflected by the object, and then obtain the sensing result based on the echo signal. Another example is that after the network device sends a downlink reference signal to the terminal device, the terminal device can receive the echo signal formed after the downlink reference signal is reflected by the object, and then obtain the sensing result based on the echo signal.

[0123] It can be understood that the echo signal here is to emphasize the transmission path of the reference signal, that is, the signal formed after the reference signal sent by the network device is reflected by the object. The signal type of the echo signal does not change, so the essence of the echo signal here is still a kind of reference signal. Therefore, when the terminal device receives the echo signal, it can also be understood that the terminal device receives the reference signal.

[0124] In existing communication systems, limited by the capabilities of terminal devices, a network device allocates a continuous spectrum resource, i.e., a bandwidth part (BWP), to a terminal device. The terminal device can receive data based on the BWP. Taking the downlink reference signal as a positioning reference signal (PRS) signal as an example, the network device configures the PRS signal based on the serving cell and notifies the terminal device of the relevant information (such as configuration information) of the PRS signal through RRC signaling or other means. Then, the terminal device receives the PRS signal according to the configuration of the network device.

[0125] The configuration of the network device can be used to indicate the receiving mode of the terminal device. As an example, the configuration of the network device can indicate that the terminal device receives the PRS signal on the BWP. As another example, the configuration of the network device can indicate that the terminal device receives the PRS signal on the full bandwidth supported by the terminal device.

[0126] Different terminal devices can be configured with different BWPs. As Figure 3 shown, assume that BWP1 is the spectrum resource configured by the network device for terminal device 1, and BWP2 is the spectrum resource configured by the network device for terminal device 2. Then, terminal device 1 can receive the PRS signal based on BWP1, and terminal device 2 can receive the PRS signal based on BWP2.

[0127] It should be noted that when no measurement gap is configured, the terminal device only receives the corresponding PRS signal based on the currently active BWP. Here, the corresponding PRS signal can be the PRS signal located within the active BWP. In this case, the terminal device needs to determine the PRS signal located within the BWP according to the relevant information of the PRS signal sent by the network device and receive the PRS signal located within the BWP.

[0128] In the prior art, the network device or the terminal device can perform sensing based on the reference signal. However, the bandwidth of the reference signal is usually limited by the carrier bandwidth (or cell bandwidth) of the network device, or rather, the bandwidth of the reference signal is usually smaller than the carrier bandwidth of the network device. Since the bandwidth of the reference signal is small, there are often situations where an actual object cannot be sensed, resulting in poor sensing resolution.

[0129] Therefore, this application provides a new technical solution to solve the problem of poor sensing resolution in the prior art.

[0130] In the technical solution of this application, the network device can first determine a first bandwidth, which can be greater than the carrier bandwidth of the network device, and then send a first signal with the first bandwidth for sensing. Compared with the prior art, the bandwidth of the first signal in this application is larger than that of the reference signal, and the sensing resolution is stronger, that is, the discrimination ability of sensing is stronger.

[0131] Among them, the carrier bandwidth of the network device can be the maximum signal bandwidth supported by the current carrier of the network device, and the current carrier of the network device can be the carrier supported by the serving cell of the current network device or used by the serving cell of the current network device.

[0132] Optionally, the carrier bandwidth here can also be referred to as cell bandwidth, or transmission bandwidth, or channel bandwidth, etc.

[0133] Next, this application will be combined with Figures 4 to 9 , and the method of this application will be introduced in detail.

[0134] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the communication method flow provided by the embodiment of this application. As Figure 4 shown, the method can include S401 and S402.

[0135] S401, the first communication device determines a first bandwidth, which is greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device.

[0136] In this method, the first communication device can be a network device in the communication system as Figure 1 shown, such as a base station.

[0137] The carrier bandwidth of the first communication device can be the maximum signal bandwidth supported by the current carrier of the first communication device, and the current carrier of the first communication device can be the carrier supported by the serving cell of the current first communication device or used by the serving cell of the current first communication device.

[0138] Optionally, the carrier bandwidth here can also be referred to as cell bandwidth, or transmission bandwidth, or channel bandwidth, etc.

[0139] Optionally, the carrier bandwidth can be configured by high-layer signaling, and the carrier bandwidths corresponding to different frequency bands can be different. For example, for low-frequency bands (FR1 bands), the carrier bandwidth can be 5 MHz, 15 MHz, or 30 MHz, etc.; for millimeter-wave high-frequency bands (FR2 bands), the carrier bandwidth can be 100 MHz, 200 MHz, etc.

[0140] As an example, the first bandwidth and the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device can be as Figure 5 shown.

[0141] It can be understood that the first bandwidth does not exceed the maximum bandwidth supported by the first communication device.

[0142] S402, the first communication device sends a first signal, the bandwidth of the first signal is the first bandwidth, and the first signal is used for sensing.

[0143] In this method, the type of the first signal may not be limited. Optionally, the first signal may be a signal specifically used for sensing, and the first signal may be referred to as a sensing signal. Optionally, the first signal may also be a reference signal.

[0144] Before sending the first signal, the first communication device may first generate the first signal.

[0145] Optionally, the generation method of the first signal may be predefined. As an example, the generation method of the first signal may be similar to that of a reference signal (for example, a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a PRS, etc.), and is defined by a pseudo-random sequence.

[0146] As an example, the first signal may satisfy formula (1):

[0147]

[0148] Among them, r(m) may represent the sequence of the first signal, and c(i) represents the pseudo-random sequence.

[0149] An example of the pseudo-random sequence is the gold sequence. Optionally, the first signal may be defined by a 31st-order gold sequence.

[0150] The pseudo-random sequence may be determined by the initial value. As an example, when the first signal is defined by a 31st-order gold sequence, the initial value may be c init =(2 10 n ID )mod2 31 , n ID is the cell ID, and c init is the initial value. At this time, the generating polynomial of the pseudo-random sequence may satisfy formula (2):

[0151]

[0152] Among them, N c= 1600, x1(0) = 1, x1(n) = 0, n = 1, 2, …, 30, x2(n) depends on the initial value, and the formula (3) can be satisfied between x2(n) and the initial value:

[0153]

[0154] In a possible implementation, after the first communication device sends the first signal, the first communication device can receive the echo signal formed after the first signal is reflected by the target, and then perform sensing based on the echo signal.

[0155] In another possible implementation, the first communication device can send the first signal to the second communication device, then the second communication device can receive the echo signal of the first signal, and then perform sensing based on the echo signal of the first signal.

[0156] In this application, the echo signal of the first signal is to emphasize the transmission path of the first signal, that is, the echo signal formed after the first signal sent by the first communication device of the network is reflected by the target. The signal type of this echo signal will not change. Therefore, when the second communication device receives the echo signal of the first signal, it can also be understood that the second communication device receives the first signal.

[0157] As an example, when the first communication device is a network device, the second communication device can be a type of terminal device or a type of network device. When the second communication device is a network device, the second communication device and the first communication device are different network devices.

[0158] In this method, the bandwidth of the first signal for sensing is greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device, and the bandwidth of the first signal is greater than the bandwidth of the reference signal for sensing in the prior art. Since the larger the bandwidth of the sensing signal, the stronger the sensing resolution and the stronger the sensing discrimination ability, this application can improve the sensing discrimination ability.

[0159] Optionally, when the first communication device sends the first signal to the second communication device, the first communication device can also send the first information to the second communication device, and the first information is used to indicate at least one of the following information of the first signal: frequency domain position, time domain position, subcarrier spacing, cyclic prefix, or signal period, etc.

[0160] In this method, the first information can indicate the configuration information of the first signal, so that the second communication device can receive the first signal correspondingly based on the first information, and then perform sensing based on the first signal. This can avoid the problem that the second communication device regards the first signal as an interference signal because it does not know the configuration information of the first signal, thus avoiding the problem of being unable to obtain the sensing result.

[0161] Optionally, when the second communication device is a terminal device, the terminal device may determine whether to receive the first signal based on its signal reception capability. Among them, the signal reception capability of the terminal device may be associated with information such as the target subcarrier spacing and / or the target cyclic prefix (CP) type.

[0162] Among them, the target subcarrier spacing may be the subcarrier spacing of the terminal device on the corresponding BWP or the subcarrier spacing of the terminal device on the activated BWP, or the subcarrier spacing that the terminal device can support. The target subcarrier spacing may be pre-configured.

[0163] The target cyclic prefix type may be the cyclic prefix type of the terminal device on the corresponding BWP or the cyclic prefix type of the terminal device on the activated BWP, or the cyclic prefix type that the terminal device can support. The target cyclic prefix type may be pre-configured.

[0164] In this case, the first information may include a first field, and the first field may be used to indicate the subcarrier spacing of the first signal. As an example, the first field may include 3 bits, corresponding to eight values, and each of these eight values may respectively correspond to a subcarrier spacing. Optionally, the values and meanings of the first field may be as shown in Table 1.

[0165] Table 1: Values and Meanings of the First Field

[0166] Value Meaning 000 Subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz 001 Subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz 010 Subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz 011 Subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz 100 Subcarrier spacing of 240 kHz 101 Subcarrier spacing of 480 kHz 110 Subcarrier spacing of 960 kHz 111 Reserved

[0167] In this method, the terminal device may determine the subcarrier spacing of the first signal based on the first field, and then determine whether the subcarrier spacing of the first signal is consistent with the target subcarrier spacing. Only when it is determined that the subcarrier spacing of the first signal is consistent with the target subcarrier spacing, the terminal device will receive the first signal. This can avoid the situation where the terminal device receives the first signal but has no ability to process it, which is beneficial to improving resource utilization.

[0168] Optionally, the first information may further include a second field, and the second field may be used to indicate the cyclic prefix type of the first signal. As an example, the second field may include 1 bit, corresponding to two values, and each of these two values may respectively correspond to a cyclic prefix type. Optionally, the values and meanings of the second field may be as shown in Table 2.

[0169] Table 2: Values and Meanings of the Second Field

[0170] Value Meaning 0 Normal cyclic prefix type 1 Extended cyclic prefix type

[0171] In this example, when the value of the second field is 0, it indicates that the cyclic prefix type of the first signal is the normal cyclic prefix type. When the value of the second field is 1, it indicates that the cyclic prefix type of the first signal is the extended cyclic prefix type.

[0172] In this method, the terminal device can determine the cyclic prefix type of the first signal based on the second field, and then determine whether the cyclic prefix type of the first signal is consistent with the target cyclic prefix type. Only when it is determined that the cyclic prefix type of the first signal is consistent with the target cyclic prefix type, the terminal device receives the first signal. This can avoid the situation where the terminal device receives the first signal but has no ability to process it, which is beneficial to improving resource utilization.

[0173] In this method, the first information may further include a third field, and the third field may indicate the position of the frequency domain reference point of the first signal.

[0174] Optionally, the position of the frequency domain reference point can be characterized by the absolute frequency of a reference resource block (RB). The absolute frequency of the reference RB can be calculated through the number of the global frequency grid. That is to say, the position of the frequency domain reference point of the first signal can be calculated through the number of the global frequency grid of the first signal.

[0175] In this method, the third field may include N bits, corresponding to 2 N states, where each state may correspond to a value, and each value may correspond to a number of the global frequency grid.

[0176] As an example, assuming N is equal to 3, each value of the third field and its corresponding meaning can be shown in Table 3.

[0177] Table 3: Values and Meanings of the Third Field

[0178] Value Meaning Number 000 The value of the third field is 0 0 001 The value of the third field is 1 1 010 The value of the third field is 2 2 011 The value of the third field is 3 3 100 The value of the third field is 4 4 101 The value of the third field is 5 5 110 The value of the third field is 6 6 111 The value of the third field is 7 7

[0179] It can be understood that the values and meanings of the third field are only a simple example, which does not limit the scope of this application. As an example, the range of the number of the global frequency grid can be from 0 to 3279165, and at this time N can be other values.

[0180] In this method, after receiving the first information, the second communication device can determine the corresponding global frequency grid number (i.e., the global frequency grid number of the first signal) based on the third field in the first information, and then calculate the position of the frequency domain reference point of the first signal based on the global grid frequency number of the first signal.

[0181] As an example, the position of the frequency domain reference point can satisfy formula (4):

[0182] F REF = F REF-Offs + ΔF Global (N REF - N REF-Offs ) (4)

[0183] Wherein, F REF represents the position of the frequency domain reference point, N REF represents the global frequency grid number, ΔF Global represents the global frequency grid interval, F REF-Offs represents the starting frequency, N REF-Offs represents the starting point of the global frequency grid.

[0184] In one example, the global frequency grid is defined from 0 Hz to 100 GHz, and its frequency domain grid interval can take different values according to different frequency ranges, as shown in Table 4 specifically.

[0185] Table 4: Global Frequency Grid

[0186] Frequency range (MHz) <![CDATA[ΔF Global (kHz)]]> <![CDATA[F REF-Offs (MHz)]]> <![CDATA[N REF-Offs > <![CDATA[N REF > 0-3000 5 0 0 0-599999 3000-24250 15 3000 600000 600000-2016666 24250-100000 60 24250.08 2016667 2016667-3279165

[0187] As an example, assuming that the third field indicates that the global frequency grid number is 600001, the absolute frequency of the reference RB of the first signal can be calculated as 3015 MHz based on formula (4) and Table 4.

[0188] Optionally, in some embodiments, the third field may indicate a first offset, which is the offset between the frequency domain reference point position of the first signal and the frequency domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0189] As an example, the frequency domain reference point position of the first signal and the frequency domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device may be as Figure 6 shown.

[0190] In this method, the frequency domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device may be pre-configured in the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0191] Optionally, the first communication device may first calculate the first offset, and then send the first offset to the second communication device through the third field, so that the second communication device can determine the frequency domain reference point position of the first signal based on the first offset and the frequency domain common reference point position.

[0192] Optionally, the first offset may be characterized by an offset coefficient. In this case, the third field may be used to indicate the offset coefficient.

[0193] As an example, the third field may include 4 bits, corresponding to 16 values, and each of these 16 values may correspond to an offset coefficient. Optionally, the values and meanings of the third field may be as shown in Table 5.

[0194] Table 5: Values and Meanings of the Third Field

[0195] Value Meaning Value Meaning 0000 Offset coefficient is 1 1000 Offset coefficient is -1 0001 Offset coefficient is 2 1001 Offset coefficient is -2 0010 Offset coefficient is 3 1010 Offset coefficient is -3 0011 Offset coefficient is 4 1011 Offset coefficient is -4 0100 Offset coefficient is 5 1100 Offset coefficient is -5 0101 Offset coefficient is 6 1101 Offset coefficient is -6 0110 Offset coefficient is 7 1110 Offset coefficient is -7 0111 Offset coefficient is 8 1111 Offset coefficient is -8

[0196] It can be understood that the values and meanings of the third field are only a simple example and do not limit the scope of the first field in this application.

[0197] In this method, the frequency domain reference point position of the first signal may satisfy: S = S1 + t × a, where S represents the frequency domain reference point position of the first signal, S1 represents the frequency domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device, t represents the offset coefficient, and a represents the frequency offset corresponding to the unit offset coefficient.

[0198] Optionally, the value of a may be different in different frequency domain ranges. For example, the value of a in the FR1 frequency range may be 15 kHz, and the value of a in the FR2 frequency range may be 60 kHz.

[0199] Optionally, the value of a may also correspond to the value of the global frequency grid interval. For example, the value of a may be the same as the value of the global frequency grid interval in Table 4.

[0200] Optionally, if the third field is not included in the first information, it may indicate that the offset coefficient is zero.

[0201] Optionally, the second communication device may also determine the first sequence of the first signal based on the first field and the third field in the first information.

[0202] In a possible implementation, the second communication device may determine the frequency domain reference point position of the first signal based on the third field in the first information, and then determine the first sequence of the first signal based on the subcarrier spacing indicated by the first field and the frequency domain reference point position of the first signal.

[0203] In this method, the first sequence may include at least one sequence.

[0204] In this application, the first signal sent by the first communication device may include multiple sequences, and the multiple sequences sent by the first communication device may be referred to as transmission sequences.

[0205] In this method, the first sequence may be included in the transmission sequence. Or rather, at least one sequence in the first sequence may be included in the multiple sequences in the transmission sequence, or at least one sequence in the first sequence may be a subset of the multiple sequences in the transmission sequence.

[0206] Among them, the method in which the second communication device first determines whether to receive the first signal based on the first field and / or the second field in the first information, and the second communication device determines the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal based on the third field in the first information can refer to the foregoing embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0207] Optionally, the method for the second communication device to determine the first sequence of the first signal based on the subcarrier spacing indicated by the first field and the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal may include: the second communication device determines the frequency carried by each sequence in the transmission sequence of the first signal based on the subcarrier spacing and the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal, and then determines at least one sequence carried in the target frequency-domain range in the transmission sequence of the first signal as the first sequence.

[0208] Among them, the target frequency-domain range may be pre-configured. Optionally, when the second communication device is a terminal device, the target frequency-domain range may be the bandwidth on the BWP corresponding to the terminal device or the bandwidth on the currently active BWP.

[0209] As an example, assume that the frequency-domain range of the transmission sequence of the first signal is [0, 1000 Hz], and the target frequency-domain range is [600 Hz, 800 Hz]. Assume that the second communication device determines that there are M sequences in the transmission sequence of the first signal carried in the target frequency-domain range, then the second communication device may determine these M sequences as the first sequence, where M is an integer greater than 1.

[0210] In this method, the second communication device may determine the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal based on the third field, then determine the sequences in the first signal located in the target frequency-domain range based on the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal, and then perform sensing based on the sequences in the first signal located in the target frequency-domain range to obtain a sensing result.

[0211] Optionally, the first information may further include a fourth field, and the fourth field may indicate the position of the first symbol in the first time slot, the first time slot may be the time slot for transmitting the first signal, and the first symbol may be the symbol for transmitting the first signal in the first time slot.

[0212] In this application, the symbols in the first time slot may be orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

[0213] In this method, the first communication device may continuously transmit a first signal within the coherent processing time. Optionally, in some embodiments, the first signal may be transmitted periodically. At this time, the fourth field may be used to indicate the symbol at which the first signal starts to be transmitted in the first time slot, and the first symbol may be the symbol at which the first signal starts to be transmitted in the first time slot.

[0214] As an example, assuming that a time slot includes 14 symbols, the fourth field may include 4 bits, corresponding to 16 values, and each of these 16 values may correspond to a symbol. Optionally, the values and meanings of the fourth field may be as shown in Table 4.

[0215] Table 6: Values and Meanings of the Fourth Field

[0216] Value Meaning Value Meaning 0000 Start transmitting from the 1st symbol 1000 Start transmitting from the 9th symbol 0001 Start transmitting from the 2nd symbol 1001 Start transmitting from the 10th symbol 0010 Start transmitting from the 3rd symbol 1010 Start transmitting from the 11th symbol 0011 Start transmitting from the 4th symbol 1011 Start transmitting from the 12th symbol 0100 Start transmitting from the 5th symbol 1100 Start transmitting from the 13th symbol 0101 Start transmitting from the 6th symbol 1101 Start transmitting from the 14th symbol 0110 Start transmitting from the 7th symbol 1110 Reserved 0111 Start transmitting from the 8th symbol 1111 Reserved

[0217] In this embodiment, the first time slot may be pre-configured, or in other words, the first time slot may be default, that is, the first communication device and the second communication device may determine that the first signal is transmitted in the first time slot. For example, the first time slot may be default as the starting time slot, and this starting time slot may be the first time slot for sensing in a system frame (or a radio frame), and this first time slot for sensing may be the starting sensing time slot scheduled by the first communication device.

[0218] In this method, the second communication device may determine the starting transmission time of the first signal based on the fourth field, and then receive the first signal based on the starting transmission time and perform sensing based on the first signal, so as to obtain a sensing result. This can avoid the situation that the second communication device cannot receive the first signal because it does not know the transmission time of the first signal.

[0219] Optionally, if the first time slot is not default, the first information may further include a fifth field, and this fifth field is used to indicate a second offset, and this second offset may be the offset between the first time slot and the starting time slot.

[0220] As an example, the fifth field may include 2 bits, corresponding to four values, and each of these four values may correspond to a time slot. Optionally, the values and meanings of the fifth field may be as shown in Table 7.

[0221] Table 7: Values and Meanings of the Fifth Field

[0222] Value Meaning 00 Relative offset of 1 time slot 01 Relative offset of 2 time slots 10 Relative offset of 3 time slots 11 Relative offset of 4 time slots

[0223] In this example, when the first time slot is relatively offset from the starting time slot by 1 time slot, it means that the first time slot is the first time slot after the starting time slot. When the first time slot is relatively offset from the starting time slot by 2 time slots, it means that the first time slot is the second time slot after the starting time slot. When the first time slot is relatively offset from the starting time slot by 3 time slots, it means that the first time slot is the third time slot after the starting time slot. When the first time slot is relatively offset from the starting time slot by 4 time slots, it means that the first time slot is the fourth time slot after the starting time slot.

[0224] Optionally, if the fifth field is not included in the first information, it may indicate that the first time slot is relatively offset from the starting time slot by zero time slots, that is, the first time slot is the starting time slot.

[0225] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first information may further indicate the length of the first time slot.

[0226] Optionally, the first time slot may include at least one time slot.

[0227] In this method, the second communication device may determine the starting transmission time of the first signal based on the fourth field and the fifth field, then receive the first signal based on the transmission time and sense based on the first signal, so as to obtain a sensing result.

[0228] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first information may further include a sixth field, and the sixth field may be used to indicate the transmission period of the first signal.

[0229] As an example, assuming that a time slot may include 14 symbols, the sixth field may include 4 bits, corresponding to 16 values, and each of the 16 values may correspond to a transmission period. Optionally, the values and meanings of the sixth field may be as shown in Table 8.

[0230] Table 8: Values and Meanings of the Sixth Field

[0231] Value Meaning Value Meaning 0000 Continuous transmission 1000 Transmission period is 9 symbols 0001 Transmission period is 2 symbols 1001 Transmission period is 10 symbols 0010 Transmission period is 3 symbols 1010 Transmission period is 11 symbols 0011 Transmission period is 4 symbols 1011 Transmission period is 12 symbols 0100 Transmission period is 5 symbols 1100 Transmission period is 13 symbols 0101 Transmission period is 6 symbols 1101 Transmission period is 14 symbols 0110 Transmission period is 7 symbols 1110 0111 Transmission period is 8 symbols 1111

[0232] Among them, when the value of the sixth field is 0001, it may indicate that the transmission period of the first signal is 2 symbols, that is, the first signal is transmitted every other symbol.

[0233] In one example, if the first time slot is default, the second communication device may determine all the symbols for transmitting the first signal based on the fourth field and the sixth field, and then determine the transmission time of each first signal, then receive each first signal based on the transmission time of each first signal, and then sense the target based on each first signal, so as to obtain a sensing result.

[0234] In another example, if the first time slot is not the default one, the second communication device may determine all the symbols for transmitting the first signal based on the fourth field, the fifth field, and the sixth field, and then determine the transmission time of each first signal. Then, it receives each first signal based on the transmission time of each first signal, and then senses the target based on each first signal to obtain a sensing result.

[0235] Optionally, when the transmission period of the first signal is 2 symbols, the sixth field may include 1 bit, corresponding to two values, and these two values may respectively correspond to two states. For example, these two values may respectively correspond to state 0 and state 1. State 0 indicates that the first signal is transmitted on the symbols with odd numbers, and state 1 indicates that the first signal is transmitted on the symbols with even numbers.

[0236] In this example, the number of bits occupied by the sixth field is small. When the first communication device sends the sixth field to the second communication device, the transmission overhead can be reduced.

[0237] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first signal may be transmitted aperiodically. At this time, the fourth field may indicate all the symbols for transmitting the first signal in the first time slot, and the first symbol may include all the symbols for transmitting the first signal in the first time slot.

[0238] As an example, assume that the first time slot includes 14 symbols. The fourth field may include 14 bits, and these 14 bits may correspond one by one to these 14 symbols. Each bit value among these 14 bit values may indicate the state of the symbol corresponding to each bit value.

[0239] For any one symbol, the bit corresponding to the any one symbol may correspond to two values, and each of these two values may respectively correspond to a state. For example, these two values may be 1 or 0. When the bit value corresponding to any one symbol is 1, it indicates that the any one symbol transmits the first signal. When the bit value corresponding to any one symbol is 0, it indicates that the any one symbol does not transmit the first signal.

[0240] In this embodiment, the first time slot may be pre-configured, or the first time slot may be the default one, that is, the first communication device and the second communication device may determine that the first signal is transmitted in the first time slot. For example, the first time slot may be the starting time slot by default.

[0241] In this embodiment, the second communication device may determine the transmission time of all the first signals based on the fourth field, then receive each first signal based on the transmission time of each first signal, and then sense the target based on each first signal to obtain a sensing result.

[0242] Optionally, the first time slot may not be the default. Then, the first information may further include a fifth field, which is used to indicate a second offset, and the second offset may be the offset between the first time slot and the starting time slot.

[0243] The relevant content of the fifth field may refer to the fifth field in the foregoing embodiments, and will not be elaborated herein.

[0244] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first information may further indicate the length of the first time slot.

[0245] Optionally, the first time slot may include at least one time slot.

[0246] In this embodiment, the second communication device may determine the transmission time of all first signals based on the fourth field and the fifth field, then receive each first signal based on the transmission time of each first signal, and then sense the target based on each first signal to obtain a sensing result.

[0247] Optionally, when the second communication device is a terminal device, the first information may be carried in broadcast information, or carried in system information, or carried in radio resource control (RRC) layer signaling, or carried in a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) message, or carried in a downlink control information (DCI) message.

[0248] Optionally, when the second communication device is a network device, the first information may be carried in the Xn interface between base stations.

[0249] The foregoing embodiments are described by taking the first communication device as a network device as an example. Optionally, in some future communication systems, the first communication device may also be a terminal device, that is, the terminal device may send a sensing signal with a first bandwidth.

[0250] Optionally, when the first communication device is a terminal device, the second communication device may be a network device or another terminal device.

[0251] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 7 shown, the communication device 700 may include a determination module 701 and a transmission module 702.

[0252] As an example, the communication device 700 may be used to implement Figure 4The method of the illustrated embodiment. Among them, the determination module 701 can be used to execute S401, and the sending module 702 can be used to execute S402.

[0253] In this example, the communication device 700 can be applied to the first communication device or the chip in the first communication device.

[0254] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of a communication device provided by another embodiment of the present application. As Figure 8 shown, the communication device 800 may include a receiving module 801.

[0255] As an example, the communication device 800 can be used to implement Figure 4 the method of the illustrated embodiment. Among them, the receiving module 801 can be used to execute S402.

[0256] In this example, the communication device 800 can be applied to the second communication device or the chip in the second communication device.

[0257] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of a communication device provided by yet another embodiment of the present application. As Figure 9 shown, the communication device 900 includes a processor 901 and an interface circuit 902. The processor 901 and the interface circuit 902 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 902 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a memory 903 for storing instructions executed by the processor 901 or storing input data required for the processor 901 to run instructions or storing data generated after the processor 901 runs instructions.

[0258] As an example, the processor 901 can be used to implement the function of the above-mentioned determination module 701, and the interface circuit 902 can be used to implement the function of the above-mentioned sending module 702.

[0259] In this example, the communication device 900 can be the first communication device or the chip applied to the first communication device.

[0260] As another example, the interface circuit 902 can be used to implement the function of the above-mentioned receiving module 801.

[0261] In this example, the communication device 900 can be the second communication device or the chip applied to the second communication device.

[0262] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in a hardware manner or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can 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, register, 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, enabling the processor to read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC can be located in a network device or a terminal device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a network device or a terminal device.

[0263] 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 computer-readable storage medium. 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 the computer can access 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, hard disk, or 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.

[0264] In the various embodiments of the present application, if there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0265] It is understood that the various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The magnitude of the sequence numbers of the above processes does not mean the sequence of execution, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined according to its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first communication device, the method includes: Determine a first bandwidth, where the first bandwidth is greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device; Transmit a first signal, where the bandwidth of the first signal is the first bandwidth, and the first signal is used for sensing.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send first information to a second communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following information of the first signal: frequency-domain position, time-domain position, subcarrier spacing, cyclic prefix, or signal period.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The first information indicating the subcarrier spacing of the first signal includes: the first information includes a first field, and the first field indicates the subcarrier spacing of the first signal.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The first information indicating the cyclic prefix of the first signal includes: the first information includes a second field, and the second field indicates the cyclic prefix type of the first signal.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that The first information indicating the frequency-domain position of the first signal includes: the first information includes a third field, and the third field indicates the frequency-domain reference point position or a first offset of the first signal, where the first offset is the offset between the frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal and the frequency-domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that The first information indicating the time-domain position of the first signal includes: the first information includes a fourth field, and the fourth field indicates the position of the first symbol in the first time slot, where the first time slot is the time slot for transmitting the first signal, and the first symbol is the symbol for transmitting the first signal in the first time slot.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first information further includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second offset, where the second offset is the offset between the first time slot and the starting time slot, and the starting time slot is the first time slot for sensing.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that, The first information indicating the signal period of the first signal includes: the first information includes a sixth field, and the sixth field indicates the transmission period of the first signal.

9. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a second communication device, the method includes: Receive a first signal from the first communication device, where the bandwidth of the first signal is the first bandwidth, the first bandwidth is greater than the carrier bandwidth of the first communication device, and the first signal is used for sensing.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The receiving the first signal from the first communication device includes: Receive first information from the first communication device, where the first information indicates at least one of the following information of the first signal: frequency-domain position, time-domain position, subcarrier spacing, cyclic prefix, or signal period; Receive the first signal based on the first information.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The first information indicating the subcarrier spacing of the first signal includes: the first information includes a first field, and the first field indicates the subcarrier spacing of the first signal; The receiving the first signal based on the first information includes: When the subcarrier spacing of the first signal is consistent with the target subcarrier spacing, receive the first signal.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that The first information indicating the cyclic prefix of the first signal includes: the first information includes a second field, and the second field indicates the cyclic prefix type of the first signal; Receiving the first signal based on the first information includes: Receiving the first signal when a cyclic prefix type of the first signal is consistent with a target cyclic prefix type.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that, The first information indicating a frequency-domain position of the first signal includes: The first information includes a third field, and the third field indicates a frequency-domain reference point position or a first offset of the first signal, where the first offset is an offset between a frequency-domain reference point position of the first signal and a frequency-domain common reference point position of the first communication device and the second communication device. The method further includes: Determining a first sequence of the first signal based on a first field and the third field in the first information.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that, The first information indicating a time-domain position of the first signal includes: The first information includes a fourth field, and the fourth field indicates a position of a first symbol in a first time slot, where the first time slot is a time slot for transmitting the first signal, and the first symbol is a symbol for transmitting the first signal in the first time slot.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein The first information further includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second offset, where the second offset is an offset between the first time slot and a starting time slot, and the starting time slot is a first time slot for sensing.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, characterized in that The first information indicating a signal period of the first signal includes: The first information includes a sixth field, and the sixth field indicates a transmission period of the first signal.

17. A communication device, characterized in that, Including a functional module for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, Including: A memory and a processor; The memory is configured to store program instructions; The processor is configured to execute the program instructions in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

19. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores program code for computer execution, and the program code includes instructions for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

20. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes instructions for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

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