Communication method, device and system

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method, a communication device and a communication system, which can support flexible change of the number of ports of a reference signal in a scene of dynamic turn-off of an RF channel. In one embodiment, a network device transmits reference signals of m1 ports on part or all of a reference signal resource that can be used to transmit reference signals of at most M ports and support estimation of channels of at most K ports, the m1 ports of the reference signals being from the M ports. The terminal can perform channel estimation and send the CSI according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and the reference signal. In the method, m1 < = k1 < = K, and m1 < = M < = K. Namely, the terminal can perform channel estimation according to the reference signals of the minority of ports by using the reference channel estimation auxiliary information to obtain the channels of the majority of ports. Along with the reduction of the number of ports of the reference signal sent by the air interface, the air interface overhead brought by the reference signal is also reduced by considering port multiplexing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, and system. Background Art

[0002] In massive multiple input multiple output (Massive MIMO), a large number of antennas are used to improve wireless capacity and coverage. To send and receive data, obtain system synchronization, and feedback channel state information, the importance of channel estimation becomes increasingly evident. Channel estimation refers to the process of reconstructing or restoring the received signal to compensate for signal distortion caused by channel fading and noise-induced fading. It uses a known reference signal at both the transmitter and receiver ends to track the time-domain and frequency-domain changes of the channel. This reference signal is also known as a reference signal (RS) or a pilot. Currently, commonly used reference signals include, for example, the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for measuring the downlink channel and the sounding reference signal (SRS) for measuring the uplink channel, and so on.

[0003] In some scenarios, such as energy-saving scenarios, radio frequency (RF) channels can be dynamically turned off according to service requirements, which requires a large number of supported antenna ports and dynamic changes. However, the current standard does not support dynamic changes in the number of ports with the dynamic turning off of RF channels under a large number of ports, so it is not flexible enough. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, and system, aiming to flexibly select reference signal resources to transmit reference signals, thereby supporting dynamic changes in the number of ports with the dynamic turning off of RF channels.

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. This communication method can be applied to a communication device. The communication device can be, for example, a terminal device, a component configured in the terminal device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.), or a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. This application does not limit this.

[0006] Exemplarily, the method includes: receiving a first reference signal on a first resource, where the first resource is from a first reference signal resource for transmitting reference signals of up to M ports, and the reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of K ports, the first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, the m1 ports are from the M ports, m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, M, and K are positive integers; determining first channel state information CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the first CSI corresponds to the channels of k1 ports; the first channel estimation auxiliary information is determined according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of the K ports according to the channel measurement results of the M ports, and the first channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of k1 ports according to the channel measurement results of the m1 ports, the k1 ports are from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K; and sending the first CSI.

[0007] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, and the communication method can be applied to a communication device. The communication device can be, for example, a network device, or a component (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.) configured in the network device, or can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device, etc. This application does not make any limitation thereto.

[0008] Exemplarily, the method includes: sending a first reference signal on a first resource, where the first resource is from a first reference signal resource including R reference signal resource units for transmitting reference signals of M ports, the reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of K ports, K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports supported by channel estimation of the R reference signal resource units respectively, and greater than the number of ports supported by channel estimation of any one of the R reference signal resource units; the first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, the m1 ports are from the M ports, m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, R, M, and K are positive integers; receiving first channel state information CSI, where the first CSI corresponds to the channels of k1 ports, the k1 ports are from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K.

[0009] In summary, the following relationship can be obtained: k1 ≤ K, m1 ≤ M, m1 ≤ k1, and M ≤ K.

[0010] It is not difficult to see that there is a nested relationship between m1 ports and M ports, and between k1 ports and K ports. This nested relationship can be extended to the relationship between the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0011] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can flexibly select some or all of the resources from the first reference signal resource based on service requirements to transmit the first reference signal. Based on the received first reference signal, the terminal can obtain the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, and then estimate the channels of K ports or less than K ports. Thus, it can support flexible changes in the number of ports in the scenario where the RF channels are dynamically turned off. Since the number of ports corresponding to the first reference signal can be M ports or less than M ports, and M is less than or equal to K, the channels of a large number of ports can be estimated based on the reference signals of a small number of ports. As the number of ports of the reference signal transmitted over the air interface decreases, considering port multiplexing, the air interface overhead brought by the reference signal is also reduced.

[0012] Combined with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the first reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports supported by the R reference signal resource units for channel estimation, and greater than the number of ports supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units for channel estimation, and R is a positive integer.

[0013] In other words, the number of ports supported by the r-th reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units for channel estimation is N r , and K can satisfy: where r = 1, 2, 3,..., R.

[0014] Or rather, the number of ports included in the r-th reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is N r , K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports included in the R reference signal resource units respectively (or rather, K is the total number of ports included in the R reference signals), and greater than the number of ports included in any one of the R reference signal resource units.

[0015] Or rather, the number of ports included in the r-th reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is N r , and K can satisfy: where r = 1, 2, 3,..., R.

[0016] That is to say, the first reference signal resource can be configured in units of reference signal resource units. Moreover, multiple reference signal resource units of the same reference signal resource can be combined to obtain more ports. Thus, by combining multiple reference signal resource units, the channels of more ports can be estimated.

[0017] Combined with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units. S is a positive integer less than or equal to R

[0018] Correspondingly, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, receiving the first reference signal on the first resource includes: receiving the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

[0019] In some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, sending the first reference signal on the first resource includes: sending the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

[0020] The network device may select S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units to send the reference signal. The S reference signal resource units are an example of the first resource. It can be understood that k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, that is, the total number of ports included in the S reference signal resource units.

[0021] The network device may pre-configure the R reference signal resource units for the terminal, or may configure the S reference signal resource units for the terminal before sending the first reference signal.

[0022] Combined with the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, before receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: receiving first information.

[0023] Correspondingly, combined with the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, before sending the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: sending first information.

[0024] Wherein, the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following items of each reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports for channel estimation supported, or channel estimation assistance information; wherein, the r-th reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is used to transmit L rReference signals of L ports, where the r reference signals of L ports support channel estimation of N r ports. N r is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the r-th reference signal resource element. L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M. N r is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r . r is a positive integer from 1 to R. The resource pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the L r ports and time-frequency resources. The port pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the indices of the L r ports among the N r ports. The channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource element is used to estimate the channels of the N r ports according to the channel measurement results of the L r ports. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resources respectively.

[0025] The network device pre-configures the R reference signal resource elements for the terminal through the first information. The terminal can obtain one or more of the following according to the first information: resource pattern, port pattern, the number of ports supporting channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Among them, the resource pattern can be used by the terminal to determine the time-frequency position for receiving the first reference signal. The port pattern can be used to determine the indices of the m1 ports of the first reference signal among the M ports. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be used by the terminal to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can also be used to determine the maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the first reference signal resource.

[0026] The above items can all be configured by the network device, or some of them can be configured by the network device. The terminal determines the other items based on the partial items indicated by the network device, or they can all be determined by the terminal itself, for example, determined according to prior information. This application does not limit this.

[0027] Since the first reference signal resource includes the R reference signal resource elements, when the network device uses the first reference signal resource to send reference signals subsequently, it does not need to configure the reference signal resource for the terminal every time, thus saving signaling overhead.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource elements among the R reference signal resource elements.

[0029] Correspondingly, in some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

[0030] The network device may indicate the S reference signal resource units through the second information, so as to facilitate the terminal to receive the first reference signal in the S reference signal resource units.

[0031] A possible design is that the second information indicates a bitmap, and the bitmap includes R bit positions corresponding to the R reference signal resource units, and the value of each bit position indicates whether the corresponding bit position belongs to the S reference signal resource units.

[0032] Of course, the S reference signal resource units may be indicated by the network device through the second information, or may be determined by the terminal itself, for example, determined according to predefined rules, and this application does not make any limitation thereto.

[0033] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving indication information of each reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units.

[0034] Correspondingly, in some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending indication information of each reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units.

[0035] Wherein, the indication information of the s-th reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following items of the s-th reference signal resource unit: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or stitching identifier; wherein, the r-th s reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units is used to transmit a reference signal of ports, and the reference signal of ports supports channel estimation of s ports, is a positive integer less than or equal to M, is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to , r s represents the identifier of the s-th reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units; the resource pattern of the r-th s reference signal resource unit indicates the The mapping relationship between the reference signals of each port among the s port patterns of the r-th reference signal resource unit indicate the ports among the ports, and the index of the r-th reference signal resource unit in the s channel estimation assistance information of the reference signal resource unit is used to estimate the channel of the ports according to the channel measurement results of the ports. The reference channel estimation assistance information is determined by the channel estimation assistance information respectively corresponding to the R reference signal resource units. The S reference signal resource units have the same splicing identifier to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signal transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

[0036] If the channels corresponding to each reference signal resource unit are represented by a channel matrix, the terminal can, according to this same splicing identifier, determine that the channel matrices respectively corresponding to the S reference signal resource units support splicing, so that a channel matrix of k1 ports can be obtained through splicing, that is, the channels of k1 ports are estimated.

[0037] The network device may, before sending the first reference signal, indicate the S reference signal resource units to the terminal, so that the terminal can receive the first reference signal according to the indication information of the S reference signal resource units. In other words, the network device may, before each time of sending a reference signal, indicate to the terminal the reference signal resource unit used for sending the reference signal.

[0038] Combined with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the first CSI includes a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate the channel estimation result corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports.

[0039] In this application, the channel estimation result refers to the result obtained by estimating the channel and is used to indicate the channel, such as the channels of k1 ports here; the PMI is used to indicate the precoding matrix, such as the precoding matrix corresponding to the channels of k1 ports here. In the following, without special instructions, the channel estimation result and the PMI can be understood with reference to the description here.

[0040] Further, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information; determining the first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes: performing channel estimation according to the first reference signal received on each reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information to obtain channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; obtaining the channels of the k1 ports based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; and determining the first CSI according to the channels of the k1 ports.

[0041] Whether the terminal indicates PMI or the channel estimation result through the first CSI can be determined by the terminal itself, configured by the network device, or predefined by the protocol. This application does not limit this.

[0042] In the case where the first reference signal resource is divided into R reference signal resource units, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit may be a part of the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource. If the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is represented as a matrix, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit may be a sub-matrix in the matrix. The first channel estimation auxiliary information may include the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units respectively, that is, it may include S sub-matrices corresponding to the S reference signal resource units in the matrix. In other words, the first channel estimation auxiliary information may be determined based on the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units respectively.

[0043] Combined with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the splicing rule includes: horizontally splicing the channel matrices corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units from left to right in ascending order of the identifiers corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units.

[0044] As described above, multiple reference signal resource units of the same reference signal resource can be combined to obtain more ports, so that the channels of more ports can be estimated through the combination of multiple reference signal resource units. If the channels corresponding to each reference signal resource unit are represented by channel matrices, this splicing rule can be used to constrain the way of splicing the channel matrices corresponding to multiple reference signal resource units. Based on this splicing rule, the terminal can splice the channel matrices corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively to obtain the channel matrix of the k1 ports, that is, estimate the channels of the k1 ports.

[0045] Combined with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners, k1 is an integer greater than 1, the k1 ports include at least one reference port, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to each reference port in the at least one reference port are included in at least two of the S reference signal resource units.

[0046] Further, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, obtaining the channels of the k1 ports based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively includes: taking each reference port in the at least one reference port as a reference, and splicing the channel matrices corresponding to the S reference signal resource units according to a splicing rule to obtain the channels of the k1 ports, where the channel matrix is used to indicate the channel.

[0047] Splicing the channel matrix based on the reference port can obtain higher estimation accuracy.

[0048] Since each reference port is included in at least two reference signal resource units, k1 is less than the sum of the numbers of ports included in the S reference signal resource units respectively.

[0049] Optionally, the at least one reference port is determined according to a first rule, the first rule is predefined by the protocol, or is indicated by the network device; or, the at least one reference port is indicated by the network device.

[0050] Combined with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the first reference reference signal resource is one of the T reference reference signal resources.

[0051] Correspondingly, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, before receiving the reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: receiving third information. In some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, before sending the reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: sending third information.

[0052] Wherein, the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following items of each of the T reference reference signal resources: resource pattern, maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information; wherein, the t-th reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources is used to transmit reference signals of at most M t ports, and the reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference reference signal resource support channel estimation of at most K t ports, and K t is the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation by the t-th reference reference signal resource, and Mt is a positive integer less than or equal to M, K t is a positive integer greater than or equal to M t and t is a positive integer from 1 to T; the resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the M t ports and time-frequency resources, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference signal resource is used to estimate the channels of the K t ports according to the channel measurement results of the M t ports.

[0053] The network device pre-configures the T reference signal resources for the terminal through the third information. The terminal can obtain one or more of the following according to the third information: resource pattern, port pattern, the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Among them, the resource pattern can be used by the terminal to determine the time-frequency position for receiving the first reference signal, the port pattern can be used to determine the indices of the m1 ports of the first reference signal among the M ports, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be used by the terminal to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can also be used to determine the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation by the first reference signal resource.

[0054] All of the above items can be configured by the network device, or some of the items can be configured by the network device. The terminal determines other items based on some of the items indicated by the network device, or they can all be determined by the terminal itself, such as determining according to prior information. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0055] When the network device uses the resources in any one of the T reference signal resources to send reference signals subsequently, it does not have to configure the reference signal resources for the terminal every time, so signaling overhead can be saved.

[0056] Combined with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners, T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference signal resources satisfy: the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for transmission is different, and / or, the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

[0057] When the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is the same, the larger the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for transmission, the more accurate the channel estimation; the smaller the maximum number of ports of the reference signal, the more saving the air interface overhead. Therefore, appropriate reference signal resources can be selected according to different service requirements.

[0058] Therefore, by configuring multiple reference signal resources that meet the above conditions, different service requirements can be met.

[0059] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, before receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: receiving fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate an identifier of the first pilot reference signal resource among the T pilot reference signal resources.

[0060] Correspondingly, in combination with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, before the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: sending fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate an identifier of the first pilot reference signal resource among the T pilot reference signal resources.

[0061] By indicating the identifier of the first pilot reference signal resource, it is convenient for the terminal to determine the pilot reference signal resource actually used for the transmission of the reference signal.

[0062] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the first CSI is a PMI corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is a channel estimation result indicating the channel of the k1 ports.

[0063] Whether the terminal indicates a PMI or a channel estimation result through the first CSI can be determined by the terminal itself, configured by the network device, or predefined by the protocol. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0064] One possible case is that m1 is equal to M and k1 is less than K.

[0065] In some possible implementations of the first aspect, the determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first pilot reference signal resource includes: determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first pilot reference signal resource according to the indexes of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0066] Therefore, the channel within K ports can be estimated based on the channel measurement results of M ports.

[0067] Another possible case is that m1 is less than M and k1 is less than K.

[0068] In some possible implementations of the first aspect, the determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first pilot reference signal resource includes: determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first pilot reference signal resource based on the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports and the indexes of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0069] Therefore, based on the channel measurement results of less than M ports, the channel within K ports can be estimated. Since the number of ports m1 is less than M, the overhead of the air interface can be further reduced.

[0070] Combined with the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports, or is used to indicate the extraction rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

[0071] Correspondingly, combined with the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports, or is used to indicate the extraction rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

[0072] The terminal can obtain the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports according to the fifth information. Alternatively, the terminal can determine the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports according to the extraction rule indicated by the fifth information, and further determine which rows in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information the first channel estimation auxiliary information comes from. In fact, the terminal does not necessarily have to determine the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports according to the extraction rule. The terminal can directly extract m1 rows from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information according to the extraction rule.

[0073] Combined with the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate the indexes of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0074] Correspondingly, combined with the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate the indexes of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0075] The terminal can determine the ports of the channel for which channel estimation needs to be performed according to the indexes indicated by the sixth information.

[0076] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource is from the first reference signal resource, the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, the m2 ports are from m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; determining second channel estimation auxiliary information according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channel of k2 ports according to the channel measurement results of the m2 ports, the k2 ports are from the k1 ports, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1; determining a second CSI according to the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second CSI corresponds to the channel of the k2 ports; and sending the second CSI.

[0077] Correspondingly, in combination with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource is from the first reference signal resource, the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, the m2 ports are from m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; and receiving the second CSI, where the second CSI corresponds to the channel of k2 ports, the k2 ports are from the k1 ports, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1.

[0078] In summary, the following relationships can be obtained: m2 ≤ m1, k2 ≤ k1, and k2 ≥ m2.

[0079] It is not difficult to see that there is also a nested relationship between the m2 ports and the m1 ports, and between the k2 ports and the k1 ports. This nested relationship can be extended to the relationship between the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained from the first channel estimation auxiliary information. In this way, the computational overhead can be reduced and the execution efficiency can be improved. Also, since there is a nested relationship between the m1 ports and the M ports, and between the k1 ports and the K ports, there is also a nested relationship between the m2 ports and the M ports, and between the k2 ports and the K ports. This nested relationship can be extended to the relationship between the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can also be obtained from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. In this way, the terminal does not have to store the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and the storage overhead can be reduced.

[0080] In addition, the network device can reuse the same reference signal resource in multiple channel estimations. For example, the first reference signal resource is reused. In this way, the network device does not have to indicate the actually used reference signal resource through the second information before each channel estimation, thereby reducing the signaling overhead.

[0081] 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 manner of the first aspect. Each module or unit can implement the corresponding functions by executing a computer program.

[0082] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including a processor, and the processor is used to execute the communication method described in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0083] 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.

[0084] Exemplarily, the device in the third aspect or the fourth aspect is a terminal, or a component in a terminal, such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.

[0085] In a fifth 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. Each module or unit can implement the corresponding functions by executing a computer program.

[0086] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including a processor, and the processor is used to execute the communication method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0087] 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.

[0088] Exemplarily, the device in the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect is a network device, or a component in a network device, such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.

[0089] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor for supporting the implementation of the functions involved in the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. For example, it can receive and / or process the signals and / or information involved in the above-mentioned method.

[0090] In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data, and the memory is located inside or outside the processor.

[0091] The chip system can be composed of chips or can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0092] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor for supporting the implementation of the functions involved in the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. For example, it can receive and / or process the signals and / or information involved in the above-mentioned method.

[0093] In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data, and the memory is located inside or outside the processor.

[0094] The chip system can be composed of chips or can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0095] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes a network device and a terminal. The terminal can be used to implement the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, and the network device can be used to implement the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0096] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which includes a computer program. When it runs on a computer, it enables the computer to implement the method in any possible implementation manner of the above-mentioned aspects.

[0097] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program (which can also be called code or instruction). When the computer program runs, it enables the computer to execute the method in any possible implementation manner of the above-mentioned aspects.

[0098] The technical solutions of the third to eleventh aspects of the present application correspond to the technical solutions of the first and second aspects of the present application. The beneficial effects obtained by each aspect and the corresponding feasible implementation manners are similar and will not be elaborated here. Description of the Drawings

[0099] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applicable to the communication method provided by the present application;

[0100] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the air interface overhead of CSI-RS varying with the number of ports;

[0101] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of channel estimation auxiliary information;

[0102] Figure 4 It is a schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0103] Figure 5 It is another schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0104] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of channel splicing provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0105] Figure 7 It is another schematic diagram of channel splicing provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0106] Figure 8 It is yet another schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0107] Figure 9 It is still another schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0108] Figure 10 It is still another schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0109] Figure 11 It is a schematic diagram of reference channel estimation auxiliary information and first channel estimation auxiliary information;

[0110] Figure 12 It is another schematic diagram of reference channel estimation auxiliary information and first channel estimation auxiliary information;

[0111] Figure 13 It is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the channel matrix of m1 ports measured by the terminal and the channel matrix of k1 ports estimated;

[0112] Figure 14 It is another schematic diagram of the relationship between the channel matrix of m1 ports measured by the terminal and the channel matrix of k1 ports estimated;

[0113] Figure 15 It is a schematic block diagram of the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0114] Figure 16 It is another schematic block diagram of the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0115] Figure 17 It is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0116] Figure 18 It is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0117] Next, the technical solutions provided by the present application will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0118] For the convenience of understanding the embodiments of the present application, the following points are first explained:

[0119] First, in the present application, indication includes explicit indication (also known as direct indication) and implicit indication (also known as indirect indication). Among them, explicitly indicating information A means including the information A; implicitly indicating information A means indicating information A through the correspondence between information A and information B and directly indicating information B. The correspondence between information A and information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured; or, it can also mean indicating information A through information B and a preset rule.

[0120] Second, in the present application, information C is used for the determination of information D, which includes both the case where information D is determined only based on information C and the case where it is determined based on information C and other information. In addition, when information C is used for the determination of information D, there can also be an indirect determination case. For example, information D is determined based on information E, and information E is determined based on information C.

[0121] Third, in the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects, but does not exclude the case where it represents a "and" relationship between the front and rear associated objects. The specific meaning represented can be understood in combination with the context. "At least one (item)" or its similar expression refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item (item) or multiple items (items). For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a and b and c. Where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0122] Fourth, in this application, the use of prefixes such as "first" and "second" is only to facilitate the distinction and description of different things belonging to the same name category, and does not restrict the order, size or quantity of things. For example, "first information" and "second information" are just different information, and there is no time sequence, size relationship or priority relationship between the two.

[0123] Fifth, the "sending" and "receiving" in this application indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "sending information to the terminal" can be understood as the destination end of the information is the terminal, which can include direct sending through the air interface, and also include indirect sending through the air interface by other units or modules. "Receiving information from a network device" can be understood as the source end of the information is the network device, which can include directly receiving from the network device through the air interface, and also include indirectly receiving from the network device through the air interface from other units or modules. "Sending" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receiving" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface.

[0124] In other words, sending and receiving can be performed between devices, for example, between a terminal and a network device; it can also be performed within a device, for example, sending or receiving between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within the device through a bus, wiring or interface.

[0125] Sixth, in the embodiments of the present application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the device will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, which does not limit the time, and does not require the device to have a judgment action when it is implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0126] Seventh, in this application, words such as "example", "exemplarily", "for example" or "such as" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "example", "exemplarily", "for example" or "such as" in this application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "example", "exemplarily", "for example" or "such as" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete way.

[0127] Eighth, this article describes the method provided by the present application by taking downlink channel measurement as an example, but this should not limit the scenarios to which this solution is applicable. In uplink channel measurement, the network device can also configure a reference signal resource group corresponding to multiple CCs for the terminal, and then receive reference signals on multiple reference signal resources in the reference signal resource group, and perform channel measurement and reporting. Based on the same concept, technicians in this field can make simple changes on the basis of the embodiments of this article to obtain the process of uplink channel measurement. For the sake of brevity, this article will not go into details.

[0128] Ninth, for the convenience of description in this text, various pieces of information are represented by matrices. For example, a channel can be represented by a channel matrix H, a resource pattern can be represented by a matrix P RE and a port pattern can be represented by a matrix P port and the base station channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented by a matrix P + and so on. It should be understood that the matrix is only a possible mathematical expression of this information and should not impose any limitation on this application. For example, it can also be represented by vectors, arrays or other forms, and matrix operations can also be correspondingly converted into operations in other forms, such as vector operations, etc. This application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0129] Tenth, for the convenience of description in this text, when referring to indexes or identifiers, they can be numbered continuously starting from 1. For example, T pilot reference signal resources include the 1st to the Tth pilot reference signal resources. Of course, the specific implementation is not limited to this. For example, it can be numbered continuously starting from 0. In this case, T pilot reference signal resources include the 0th to the (T - 1)th pilot reference signal resources.

[0130] Eleventh, channel estimation refers to the process of reconstructing or restoring a received signal in order to compensate for signal distortion caused by channel fading and noise-induced fading. It uses pilot signals known at both the transmitting and receiving ends to track the time-domain and frequency-domain variations of the channel. In this text, this pilot signal is a reference signal, such as CSI-RS. The transmitting end of CSI-RS can be a network device, and the receiving end of CSI-RS can be a terminal. For the convenience of description, hereinafter, the process from the network device transmitting a reference signal (such as CSI-RS) to the terminal feeding back CSI based on the received reference signal is denoted as one channel estimation.

[0131] Of course, the reference signal can also be other reference signals, such as SRS. In this case, the transmitting end of SRS can be a terminal, and the receiving end of SRS can be a network device. The process from the terminal transmitting a reference signal (such as SRS) to the network device feeding back CSI based on the received reference signal can also be denoted as one channel estimation.

[0132] Twelfth, this application involves channel estimation results and channel measurement results. Among them, the channel measurement result refers to the channel obtained based on the measurement of a reference signal. For example, based on the measurement of reference signals on m1 ports, the channels of m1 ports can be obtained; the channel estimation result refers to the channel estimated based on the channel measurement result, usually the channels of more ports. For example, based on the channels of m1 ports (or the channel measurement results), the channels of k1 (k1 ≥ m1) ports are estimated.

[0133] In addition, for ease of understanding and description, the content indicated by CSI is distinguished and named by channel measurement results, channel estimation results, and PMI. Among them, the difference between channel measurement results and channel estimation results has been described above and will not be elaborated here. PMI is used to indicate the precoding matrix, such as the precoding matrix corresponding to the channel of k1 ports.

[0134] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), sidelink (SL) communication systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication systems, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, or New Radio Access Technology (NR). Among them, the 5G mobile communication system can include non-standalone (NSA) and / or standalone (SA). The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as 6th generation (6G) mobile communication systems, etc. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0135] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applicable to the communication method provided in this application. Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a possible, non-limiting system architecture. As Figure 1 shown, the communication system 10 includes a Radio Access Network (RAN) 100 and a Core Network (CN) 200. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as Figure 1 110a and 110b in Figure 1 collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (such as Figure 1etc. (not shown in the figure). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 wirelessly. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or by wire. The core network devices in the core network 200 and the RAN nodes 110 in the RAN 100 can be different physical devices respectively, or can be the same physical device integrating the core network logic function and the radio access network logic function.

[0136] The RAN 100 can be a cellular system related to the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), for example, a 4G or 5G mobile communication system, or an evolved system for the future (such as a 6G mobile communication system). The RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system. The RAN 100 can also be a communication system integrating two or more of the above systems.

[0137] The RAN node 110, sometimes also called an access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, etc., is a part of the communication system and is used to help the terminal achieve wireless access. The multiple RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 10 can be of the same type of node or different types of nodes. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN node 110 and the terminal 120 are relative. For example, Figure 1 the network element 120i can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminal 120j accessing the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. The RAN node 110 and the terminal 120 are sometimes both called communication devices. For example, Figure 1 the network elements 110a and 110b in the figure can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and the network elements 120a - 120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0138] In one possible scenario, a RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. A RAN node may be a macro base station (e.g. Figure 1 110a in), micro base stations or indoor stations (such as Figure 1 110b in the example above), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an onboard device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU).

[0139] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0140] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, the CU may also be referred to as O-CU (Open CU), the DU may also be referred to as O-DU, the CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, the CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and the RU may also be referred to as O-RU. For the convenience of description, in this application, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU are used as examples for description. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0141] The terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios. For example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart home, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, drone, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc.

[0142] In the embodiments of this application, the terminal and the network device may be hardware devices, or software functions running on dedicated hardware or software functions running on general hardware. For example, they are virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform), or entities including dedicated or general hardware devices and software functions. This application does not limit the specific forms of the terminal and the network device.

[0143] The wireless communication system has experienced the evolution and research from the first-generation analog communication to 5G NR and the existing 6G technology. In this complex evolution process, high throughput and large connection have always been the core challenges of the wireless communication network. Among various solutions for 5G NR and 6G, the Massive MIMO technology that can significantly improve the system capacity will still be a key technology to meet the high-rate transmission requirements. This technology utilizes the spatial dimension resources to obtain array gain, multiplexing and diversity gain, and interference cancellation gain in space without increasing the system bandwidth, thereby multiplying the capacity and spectral efficiency of the communication system.

[0144] In Massive MIMO, using a large number of antennas can improve wireless capacity and coverage. To ensure system performance, both the transmitter and receiver can perform channel estimation, channel measurement, etc. through reference signals. As the number of antennas increases, the air interface overhead brought by the reference signals also increases sharply.

[0145] Taking CSI-RS as an example, in Release 15 (R15) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard, the supported number of ports for CSI-RS is {1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32}, and the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each port and the time-frequency resources can be defined through a resource pattern. Multiple-port CSI-RS can multiplex a group of time-frequency resources through code division, frequency division, or time division. Release 19 has considered expanding the number of ports of CSI-RS to a maximum of 64 ports. It can be seen that the number of ports is increasing, and the resulting air interface resources are also increasing. rd generation partnership project, 3GPP) standard's version 15 (release 15, R15), the supported number of ports for CSI-RS is {1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32}, and the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each port and the time-frequency resources can be defined through a resource pattern (pattern). Multiple-port CSI-RS can multiplex a group of time-frequency resources through code division, frequency division, or time division. Version 19 (release 19) has considered expanding the number of ports of CSI-RS to a maximum of 64 ports. It can be seen that the number of ports is increasing, and the resulting air interface resources are also increasing.

[0146] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the air interface overhead of CSI-RS changing with the number of ports. Figure 2 Assume that the frequency-domain density of CSI-RS is 0.5 RE / port / RB, the time is 10 transmission time intervals (TTIs), the uplink-downlink subframe ratio is 1:4, and the number of UEs is 30. The air interface overhead increases sharply with the increase in the number of CSI-RS ports. As shown in the figure, the air interface overhead when the number of CSI-RS ports is 32 is as follows: cell-specific accounts for 1.2%, UE-specific accounts for 35.7%; when the number of CSI-RS ports increases to 64, the air interface overhead is as follows: cell-specific accounts for 2.4%, UE-specific accounts for 71.4%; when the number of CSI-RS ports increases to 90, the air interface overhead is as follows: cell-specific accounts for 3.3%, UE-specific accounts for 100.4%. It can be seen that if more CSI-RS ports (such as 128 / 256 / 512 / 1024 / ...) are to be achieved, the air interface overhead will increase sharply, and the traditional evolution path is difficult to continue.

[0147] On the other hand, in some scenarios, such as the energy-saving scenario, the RF channels can be dynamically turned off according to service requirements, which requires a large number of supported antenna ports and dynamic changes. However, the current standard cannot support the dynamic change of the number of ports with the dynamic turning off of the RF channels under a large number of ports. Therefore, it is not flexible enough.

[0148] In view of this, the present application provides a method that can flexibly select reference signal resources to transmit reference signals according to requirements. In this method, a reference reference signal resource and corresponding channel estimation auxiliary information are defined, and this channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to assist the terminal in estimating the channels of a majority (such as the maximum K, where K is a positive integer greater than or equal to M) of ports based on the reference signals of a minority of ports. In this way, the network device can flexibly select some or all of the resources in the reference reference signal resource to transmit reference signals according to service requirements. The terminal can perform channel estimation based on this channel estimation auxiliary information and the received reference signals. Therefore, it is possible to support flexible changes in the number of ports in the scenario where the RF channel is dynamically turned off, and the air interface resource overhead of the reference signals is also reduced accordingly.

[0149] The method provided by the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0150] To better understand the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the terms involved in the present application will be briefly described below.

[0151] 1. Antenna port: It can be simply referred to as a port and is a logical concept. There is no direct correspondence between an antenna port and a physical antenna. An antenna port is usually associated with a reference signal, and its meaning can be understood as a transceiver interface on the channel that the reference signal experiences. For a low-frequency system, an antenna port may correspond to one or more antenna elements, and these elements jointly transmit reference signals. The receiving end can regard them as a whole and does not need to distinguish these elements. For a high-frequency system, an antenna port may correspond to a beam. Similarly, the receiving end only needs to regard this beam as an interface and does not need to distinguish each element.

[0152] 2. Channel estimation auxiliary information: It can be used to assist channel estimation. In the present application, it can be used to assist the terminal in estimating the channels of a majority of ports based on the reference signals of a minority of ports.

[0153] The channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained based on the channel. Exemplarily, the channel is denoted as matrix H, and this matrix H can be called the channel matrix. For each receiving port, this channel matrix H includes N TX columns, and N TX represents the number of transmitting ports, that is, the number of ports of the reference signal. Exemplarily, the dimension of this channel matrix H is N RE ×N TX , N REIndicates the number of resource elements (REs) for transmitting reference signals. This channel can be obtained based on prior information. For example, it can be a downlink channel obtained by estimating the uplink channel according to uplink-downlink reciprocity, or a channel in a historical period, or a channel predicted by an artificial intelligence (AI) model. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0154] Figure 3 Exemplarily, channel estimation auxiliary information is shown. Exemplarily, the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the channel matrix H is performed to obtain the spatial domain projection matrix V of the channel. H , the matrix V H has a dimension of Z×N TX , that is, it includes N TX column vectors, and each of the column vectors is the spatial domain basis vector corresponding to one of the N TX ports. This matrix V H is a matrix composed of Z row vectors in the right unitary matrix obtained by performing SVD on the channel matrix H, and Z is the rank of this channel. However, this application is not limited to this. This matrix V H can also be composed of N TX codewords determined from a predefined codebook according to prior information. Each of the N TX codewords is the spatial domain basis vector corresponding to one of the N TX ports.

[0155] Obtain a maximum linearly independent group of column vectors from the matrix V H . This maximum linearly independent group includes, for example, Z column vectors. Considering a certain amount of redundancy, N H (N aug is an integer greater than or equal to Z) column vectors can be selected from this matrix V aug . These N aug column vectors include the above Z column vectors (that is, the maximum linearly independent group). Among them, the subscript aug of N aug indicates augmented. Based on the positions of these N aug column vectors in V H , the matrix P aug can be obtained, and its dimension is N TX ×N aug , where N aug is a positive integer less than or equal to N TX . As shown in the figure, in each row of the matrix P aug , the number of non-zero elements (such as "1") does not exceed 1. This matrix P augIn each column, the number of non-zero elements (such as "1") is 1. This matrix P aug includes N aug non-zero elements (such as "1"), and each non-zero element is located in a column of the matrix P aug . The other elements are all zero, indicating that N TX relatively important ports are selected from N aug ports to send reference signals. This matrix P aug has N aug non-zero elements, and the positions of the N aug non-zero elements in their respective columns correspond to the positions of the above-mentioned N H columns in V aug . It can be used to indicate the indexes of N TX ports among N aug ports. Therefore, this matrix P

[0156] is also called the port pattern for indicating reference signals. H From the matrix V aug and the matrix P + , the channel estimation auxiliary information P + can be obtained. P H satisfies: (V aug P -1 ) H V aug , and its dimension is N TX ×N + . Among them, a column vector in P TX is the channel estimation auxiliary sub-information corresponding to one port among N aug ports. Based on this channel estimation auxiliary sub-information, the network device can send reference signals through the N aug spatial domain basis vectors corresponding to the N + ports of the maximal linearly independent group. The terminal estimates the channels of the N aug ports based on the channel estimation auxiliary information P TX and the received reference signals from the N

[0157] Specifically, the reference signals received by the terminal are the reference signals sent by the network device through N aug ports. Therefore, the reference signals received by the terminal are the reference signals that have experienced the channels corresponding to the N aug ports. The terminal can measure and obtain the channel H' according to the reference signals. H' satisfies: H' = H·P aug , and the dimension of H' is N TX ×N aug . Then, multiplying the channel H' by the channel estimation auxiliary information P + , N TXThe estimated value of the channel of the port satisfy:

[0158] It is not difficult to see that although the number of ports N sending the reference signal aug Can be less than or equal to N TX However, due to the calculation of V H The maximum linearly uncorrelated group of N aug ports, so the remaining ports are the same as the N aug At least one of the N ports is relevant, so aug The channel estimation auxiliary information P + Satisfy: (V H P aug ) -1 V H , just like V H The terminal performs a matrix division operation. When performing channel estimation, the terminal uses the measured channel (i.e., HP aug ) multiplied by the channel estimation auxiliary information P + , we can get: HP aug (V H P aug ) -1 V H , from which we can get the V H The corresponding channel matrix H, that is, N can be reconstructed TX The channels of the ports.

[0159] It should be understood that the above-mentioned method for estimating the channel based on channel estimation auxiliary information is a channel estimation method based on sparse theory.

[0160] The following will be combined Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 8 , Figure 9 and Figure 10 The communication method provided by the present application is described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. It should be understood that in the processes shown in the drawings, the method is described by taking the interaction between the network device and the terminal as an example. Figure 4 The network device in the embodiment may also be replaced by a component configured in the network device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The terminal may be replaced by a component configured in the terminal (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal.

[0161] Figure 4 It is a schematic flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.Figure 4 The communication method 400 shown includes steps 401 to 410. Each step in method 400 will be described in detail below.

[0162] In step 410, the network device sends a first reference signal on a first resource. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the first resource.

[0163] Exemplarily, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU, the specific implementation of step 410 can be: CU-CP generates a first reference signal and sends the first reference signal to the terminal through DU and RU; in ORAN, the specific implementation of step 410 can be: O-CU-CP generates a first reference signal and sends the first reference signal to the terminal through O-DU and O-RU.

[0164] Among them, the first resource comes from the first reference signal resource, that is to say, the first resource is part or all of the resources in the first reference signal resource. Since the first reference signal resource can include resources in three dimensions of time domain, frequency domain, and spatial domain, the first resource is part or all of the resources in the first reference signal resource. Specifically, it can include: the resources occupied by the first resource in the time-frequency domain are part or all of the resources of the first reference signal resource, and / or the resources occupied by the first resource in the spatial domain are part or all of the resources of the first reference signal resource. Among them, the resources occupied by the first resource in the spatial domain being part or all of the resources of the first reference signal resource can also be replaced by the ports included in the first resource being part or all of the ports included in the first reference signal resource.

[0165] In this application, the first reference signal resource includes K ports, where K is a positive integer. Some or all of the K ports can be used to transmit reference signals. For example, the first reference signal resource can be used to transmit reference signals of up to M ports, where M is a positive integer less than or equal to K.

[0166] Based on the process of obtaining the port pattern in the above term description, the M (which can correspond to N in the above term description aug ) ports can be the relatively important ports selected from the K (which can correspond to N in the above term description TX ) ports. The (K - M) ports other than the M ports among the K ports are related to at least one of the M ports in time domain. Therefore, the reference signals of the M ports can support channel estimation of up to K ports at most. In other words, the reference signals of the M ports can be used to estimate a channel with no more than K ports, that is, the maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the first reference signal resource is K ports.

[0167] Since the first resource is from the first reference signal resource, the number of ports of the first reference signal transmitted on the first resource can be no more than M, denoted as m1 in this text, where m1 is a positive integer less than or equal to M. It can be understood that these m1 ports are from the M ports. In other words, these m1 ports are some or all of the M ports. Based on the above description, it is not difficult to conclude that the reference signals of these m1 ports can be used to estimate the channels of some or all of the K ports, such as k1, where k1 is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to m1.

[0168] In this application, the first reference signal resource can be regarded as a pre-configured (specifically, it can refer to pre-configuration by the network device) reference signal resource. The network device can pre-configure the first reference signal resource to the terminal through signaling, or can also indicate to the terminal the resource actually used to transmit the reference signal when channel estimation is required. This application does not make any limitations on this.

[0169] It should be understood that the first reference signal resource can be one of one or more reference signal resources. In other words, the network device can pre-configure one or more reference signal resources, and each reference signal resource involves two numbers of ports: the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for transmission (or simply, the maximum number of ports of the reference signal, such as M above) and the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation (or simply, the maximum number supported, or the number of ports included, such as K above). This embodiment only takes the first reference signal resource as an example for illustration, and should not constitute any limitation to this application.

[0170] It should be noted that the "maximum number of ports of the reference signal" for the reference signal resource to transmit can be understood as follows: According to the above description in combination with the channel estimation auxiliary information, it can be known that the matrix for indicating the port pattern of the reference signal (i.e., the matrix P aug ) can be determined by the maximal linearly independent group of the spatial domain projection matrix of the channel. The number of non-zero elements in this matrix is denoted as the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for the above reference signal resource to transmit. Each non-zero element in this matrix is located in a column, and each column corresponds to a port. In other words, the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for the reference signal resource to transmit can be the number of columns of this matrix. Taking the first reference signal resource as an example, the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for its transmission is M, that is, the matrix for indicating the port pattern of the reference signal includes M columns. It should be understood that this does not mean that the network device can only use M ports to send the reference signal. The network device can also use more than M ports to send the reference signal, but the gain brought by this is not large, and it may bring air interface overhead, so there is no need.

[0171] Correspondingly, the "maximum number of ports supported" by the reference reference signal in channel estimation may be the number of rows of the matrix for indicating the port pattern of the reference signal described above. If the resources are defined as resources in the time domain, frequency domain, and spatial domain, then the "maximum number of ports supported" by the reference reference signal resources in channel estimation can be referred to as the number of ports included in the reference reference signal resources. Taking the first reference reference signal resources as an example, the maximum number of ports supported for its channel estimation is K, that is, the first reference reference signal resources include K ports.

[0172] In step 420, the terminal determines the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resources.

[0173] In the foregoing description of terms, the channel estimation auxiliary information has been introduced. In this embodiment, for the convenience of distinction and description, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resources is denoted as the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, and the channel estimation auxiliary information for channel estimation according to the first reference signal is denoted as the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0174] The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented by a matrix, and its dimension can correspond to the maximum number of ports M of the reference signal used for transmission by the first reference reference signal resources and the maximum number of ports K supported for channel estimation. As an example, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is a matrix with a dimension of M×K. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to estimate the channels of K ports according to the channel measurement results of M ports. Estimating the channels of K ports according to the channel measurement results of M ports can be understood as: the channel measurement results obtained by measuring the reference signals of M ports are the channels of M ports, and then according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, the channels of K ports can be reconstructed based on the channels of M ports. The same or similar descriptions in the following can be understood accordingly and will not be repeated.

[0175] The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be pre-configured to the terminal by the network device through signaling in advance, or can be determined by the terminal itself through the calculation method in the foregoing description of terms, or can also be historical channel estimation auxiliary information, or can also be pre-stored in the device before the device leaves the factory. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0176] Since the first resource is part or all of the resources in the first reference signal resource, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be determined according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. It is not difficult to obtain from the dimension M×K of the reference channel estimation auxiliary information above that the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be a matrix with dimension m1×k1, and this matrix can be determined from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and corresponds to m1 ports and k1 ports. The first channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to estimate the channels of k1 ports according to the channel measurement results of m1 channels.

[0177] Since different embodiments will be combined below to elaborate on the configuration of the first reference signal and the determination of the first channel estimation auxiliary information under different values of m1 and k1, the specific implementation process of step 420 will not be elaborated here for the time being.

[0178] In step 430, the terminal determines the first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and this first CSI corresponds to the channels of k1 ports.

[0179] In this application, the first CSI can indicate the channels of k1 ports, for example, it can be the channel estimation result indicating the channels of k1 ports; it can also indicate the precoding matrix corresponding to the k1 ports, for example, it can be the PMI corresponding to the channels of k1 ports.

[0180] Among them, the channels corresponding to the k1 ports can be obtained according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. As mentioned above, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to estimate the channels of k1 ports according to the channel measurement results of m1 ports. That is to say, the terminal can measure the channels of m1 ports according to the first reference signal, and then reconstruct the channels of k1 ports from the channels of these m1 ports according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0181] Another possible implementation method is that the terminal can measure the channels corresponding to m1 ports according to the reference signals of m1 ports, and then estimate the channels corresponding to k1 ports through the least square (LS) method or interpolation method. In this case, the terminal can determine the channels of m1 ports according to the reference signals of m1 ports (that is, the first reference signal), and then determine the channels of k1 ports, without the need to combine the first channel estimation auxiliary information for determination. Since the least square method and interpolation are both existing technologies, they will not be elaborated here.

[0182] After determining the channels of k1 ports, the channel estimation result indicating the channels of these k1 ports can be obtained by quantifying the channels of these k1 ports.

[0183] The precoding matrix corresponding to the channel of k1 ports can be determined based on the channel of k1 ports. The terminal can estimate the channel of k1 ports by using the method provided above, and then perform SVD on the channel matrix of the k1 ports to obtain a precoding matrix adapted thereto. Then, the precoding matrix is quantized through PMI. For example, the type I or type II codebook feedback method defined in 3GPP technical specification (TS) 38.214 is used to quantize the precoding matrix. Since the method for the terminal to obtain the precoding matrix according to the channel matrix and the quantization method of the precoding matrix are both prior arts, they will not be elaborated here.

[0184] In step 440, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0185] Exemplarily, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU, the specific implementation of step 440 can be: the RU receives the first CSI and forwards the received first CSI to the DU for processing; in ORAN, the specific implementation of step 440 can be: the O-RU receives the first CSI and forwards the first CSI to the O-DU for processing after partial physical layer processing.

[0186] The terminal can use uplink resources to send the first CSI to the network device. Exemplarily, the first CSI is carried in the uplink control information (UCI).

[0187] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device determines a precoding matrix corresponding to the channel of k1 ports according to the first CSI.

[0188] It should be understood that the operations that the network device can perform according to the first CSI are the internal implementation of the network device, and this application does not limit the operations performed by the network device after receiving the first CSI.

[0189] In one example, the network device can determine a precoding matrix corresponding to the channel of k1 ports according to the first CSI. As already described in step 430, the first CSI determined by the terminal based on the first reference signal can be a PMI corresponding to the channel of k1 ports, or a channel estimation result that can indicate the channel corresponding to k1 ports. Based on the different contents of the first CSI, the operations of the network device to determine the precoding matrix are also different.

[0190] If the first CSI is a PMI corresponding to the channel of k1 ports, the network device can directly determine the precoding matrix according to the PMI.

[0191] If the first CSI is the channel estimation result of the channel indicating k1 ports, the network device may determine the channel matrix of the k1 ports according to the channel estimation result, and further determine the precoding matrix corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports according to the channel matrix.

[0192] It should be understood that the specific method for determining the corresponding precoding matrix according to the channel matrix of k1 ports may refer to the existing technology. For example, the conjugate transpose of the right unitary matrix obtained by performing SVD on the channel matrix of k1 ports can be determined as the precoding matrix, etc. The specific process will not be elaborated here.

[0193] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can flexibly select some or all of the resources in the reference signal resource of the benchmark according to the service requirements to transmit the reference signal. The terminal can estimate the channel according to the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the reference signal resource of the benchmark and the received reference signal. Therefore, it is possible to support flexible changes in the number of ports in the scenario where the RF channel is dynamically turned off, and the air interface resource overhead of the reference signal is also reduced accordingly.

[0194] In this application, the benchmark reference signal resource is defined in a variety of different ways.

[0195] One way is to divide the benchmark reference signal resource into multiple resources with smaller granularity (denoted as reference signal resource units). The network device can flexibly select one or more reference signal resource units from the multiple reference signal resource units to transmit the reference signal. Each reference signal resource unit can correspond to a piece of channel estimation auxiliary information. The channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units is spliced together to obtain the benchmark channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the benchmark reference signal resource. The terminal can perform channel estimation according to the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit actually used when transmitting the reference signal. The embodiments shown in Figure 5 、 Figure 8 and Figure 9 below will describe the method provided in this application in combination with this way.

[0196] Another way is to configure the benchmark reference signal resource as a whole. The network device can select some or all of the ports to send the reference signal. The benchmark reference signal resource corresponds to the benchmark channel estimation auxiliary information. The terminal can estimate the channels of any number of ports within the range of the maximum number of supported ports according to the ports of the reference signal actually used when transmitting the reference signal. The embodiments shown in Figure 10 below will describe the method provided in this application in combination with this way.

[0197] The above two ways will be described in more detail below in combination with different embodiments.

[0198] Figure 5 It is another schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 In the method shown, the first reference signal resource is divided into R (R is a positive integer greater than 1) reference signal resource units with smaller granularity. The network device pre-configures the first reference signal resource for the terminal through signaling. When performing channel estimation, the network device can use S (S is a positive integer less than or equal to R) reference signal resources among the R reference signal resources in the S reference signal resources to transmit the first reference signal.

[0199] Figure 5 The method 500 shown may include steps 510 to 560. Each step in the method 500 will be described in detail below.

[0200] In step 510, the network device sends the first information to the terminal, and the first information is used to configure the R reference signal resource units. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first information from the network device.

[0201] Exemplarily, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU, the specific implementation of step 510 may be: CU-CP generates the first information, and sends the first information to the terminal through DU and RU; in ORAN, the specific implementation of step 510 may be: O-CU-CP generates the first information, and sends the first information to the terminal through O-DU and O-RU.

[0202] In this embodiment, since the first reference signal resource is divided into R reference signal resource units, the first information is used to configure the R reference signal resource units, and can also be replaced by that the first information is used to configure the first reference signal resource. In other words, the first information can also be referred to as the configuration information of the R reference signal resource units, or rather, the configuration information of the first reference signal resource.

[0203] Exemplarily, the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each reference signal resource unit: identification, resource pattern, port pattern, the number of ports supported for channel estimation, or channel estimation assistance information. In other words, the configuration of each reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units by the network device includes the indication of one or more of the following: identification, resource pattern, port pattern, the number of ports supported for channel estimation, or channel estimation assistance information.

[0204] For ease of understanding, in the following, the r-th reference signal resource unit is taken as an example to introduce the configuration of the reference signal resource unit by the first information. It should be understood that the r-th reference signal resource unit is any one of the R reference signal resource units, and r can be any integer from 1 to R. The r-th reference signal resource unit includes Nr ports, which can be used to transmit the reference signals of L r ports, and the reference signals of these L r ports can be used to estimate the channels of N r ports, where L r ≥N r , and L r and N r are positive integers.

[0205] Identification: Different identifications can be used to identify different reference signal resource units. Each identification corresponds to a reference signal resource unit.

[0206] Resource pattern: Since the r-th reference signal resource unit contains N r ports, which can be used to transmit the reference signals of L r ports, the resource pattern of the r-th reference signal resource unit can indicate the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of these L r ports and time-frequency resources. That is to say, based on this resource pattern, it can be determined which time-frequency resources (more specifically, which REs) the reference signals of each of the L r ports are mapped to, so as to facilitate the terminal to receive at the corresponding positions.

[0207] Port pattern: Since the r-th reference signal resource unit can be used to transmit the reference signals of L r ports, estimate the channel matrix of N r ports, and these L r ports are included in N r ports, the port pattern can indicate the indices of these L r ports in the N r ports. It can be understood that through this port pattern, it implicitly indicates the number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by the r-th reference signal resource unit and the number of ports supported for channel estimation.

[0208] When this first information is used to indicate the resource pattern and the port pattern, a possible implementation is to indicate the resource pattern and the port pattern by indicating the matrix P r . Where the matrix P r satisfies: P port,r represents the port pattern of the r-th reference signal resource unit, and P RE,r represents the resource pattern of the r-th reference signal resource unit, represents the Kronecker product. Since therefore, in this article, P ris referred to as the pattern corresponding to the r-th reference signal resource element.

[0209] The matrix P will be described in detail below port,r and P RE,r .

[0210] Exemplarily, the number of REs included in the r-th reference signal resource element is N RE,r , and the number of ports supported for channel estimation is N r . For each receiving port, the observable channel matrix H r is a matrix of dimension N RE,r ×N r . The matrices P port,r and P RE,r can be obtained by performing spatial domain processing and time-frequency domain processing on the channel respectively.

[0211] 1) Spatial domain processing:

[0212] The network device can perform orthogonal triangular (QR) decomposition in the spatial domain based on the channel matrix H r to obtain the matrix P port,r . The dimension of the matrix P port,r is N r ×L r , which contains L r non-zero elements, and the other elements are all zero. These L r non-zero elements are located in L port,r columns of the matrix P r , that is, each non-zero element is located in one column of the matrix P port,r . These L r non-zero elements correspond to L r ports. The position of each non-zero element in its column can indicate the index of the corresponding port among the N r ports. This means that L r relatively important ports are selected from the N r ports. For example, if a non-zero element is in the first row of its column, it means that the port corresponding to this non-zero element is the first port among the L r ports, and thus the index of this port can be determined. It should be understood that the matrix P port,r is equivalent to the matrix P aug in the above introduction of terms related to channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0213] Multiplying the channel matrix H r on the right by the matrix P port,r , the matrix H r ' can be obtained, where H r ' = H r Pport,r The matrix H r ' has a dimension of N RE,r ×L r , that is, the number of ports is reduced from N r to L r , just like the port dimensionality reduction in the spatial domain is achieved through precoding.

[0214] 2) Time-frequency domain processing:

[0215] Further perform QR decomposition in the time-frequency domain on the transpose of the matrix H r ', and the matrix P RE,r can be obtained. The matrix P RE,r has a dimension of N RE,r ×N’ RE,r , and N’ RE,r is less than N RE,r . The matrix P RE,r contains N’ RE,r non-zero elements, and the other elements are all zero. These N’ RE,r non-zero elements are located in N’ RE,r columns of the matrix P RE,r , that is, each non-zero element is located in one column of the matrix P RE,r . These N’ RE,r non-zero elements correspond to N’ RE,r REs. The position of each non-zero element in its column can indicate the index of the corresponding RE among the N RE,r REs. This means that N’ RE,r relatively important REs are selected from the N RE,r REs. Thus, the resource overhead of the reference signal in the time-frequency domain can be reduced.

[0216] It should be understood that the above description takes the spatial domain processing first and then the time-frequency domain processing as an example to describe the process of obtaining the matrix P port,r and P RE,r (or rather, the port pattern and the resource pattern), but this should not impose any limitation on this application. In the actual processing process, the network device can also first perform QR decomposition in the time-frequency domain on the channel matrix H r , and then perform QR decomposition in the spatial domain to obtain P port,r and P RE,r , and further obtain P r . Alternatively, the network device can also obtain the port pattern and the resource pattern through other means, and this application does not make any limitation on this. The network device can obtain the matrix {P r} corresponding to each reference reference signal resource based on the above process, and indicate it to the terminal through the first information.

[0217] Since Therefore, P can be obtainedr has dimensions: (N r × N RE,r ) × (L r × N’ RE,r ).

[0218] It should also be understood that the indication of the port pattern and the resource pattern can also be implemented by the indication of the matrices P port,r and P RE,r , rather than necessarily being indicated by the matrix P r .

[0219] In another implementation, the network device may also not indicate the resource pattern and the port pattern of each reference signal resource through the first information, but let the terminal determine them. The terminal can also obtain the matrix {P r} corresponding to each reference signal resource based on the above process, or obtain the matrices {P port,r} and {P RE,r} corresponding to each reference signal resource, or obtain the resource pattern and the port pattern corresponding to each reference signal resource; or, the terminal can also obtain the historical port pattern and resource pattern of the reference signal resources that occupy the same positions as the reference signal resources, and this application does not limit this.

[0220] Alternatively, the network device may indicate P port,r or P RE,r to the terminal through the first information, and the terminal determines the other item based on the received first information.

[0221] It should be noted that the subscripts port and RE of P port,r and P RE,r here are only for distinguishing the spatial domain (i.e., port) resources and the time-frequency domain resources (such as time-frequency units). Among them, the time-frequency unit may include, but is not limited to, resource elements (REs). For example, 1 time-frequency unit may include multiple REs, and these multiple REs can be used for multiple ports to send reference signals, that is, these multiple ports can multiplex these multiple REs (such as time-division multiplexing or frequency-division multiplexing), or in other words, these multiple REs can be multiplexed by these multiple ports.

[0222] Channel estimation auxiliary information: The channel estimation auxiliary information has been introduced in the previous glossary, and the channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented by a matrix. In this embodiment, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit can be represented by a matrix with a smaller dimension than the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Since the rth reference signal resource unit can be used to transmit the reference signal of L r ports, estimating and obtaining N rFor the channel matrix of a port, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the r-th reference signal resource element can be expressed as L r ×N r matrix.

[0223] The network device can indicate the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource element to the terminal through the first information, or it can also not indicate through the first information. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource element can also be determined by the terminal itself. The terminal can also calculate the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource element based on the method provided in the foregoing term description. Or, the terminal can also obtain the historical channel estimation auxiliary information of the reference signal resource that occupies the same position as each reference signal resource element.

[0224] Number of ports supported for channel estimation: For the reference signal transmitted through this reference signal resource, the number of ports of the channel matrix that can be estimated. For example, the number of ports supported for channel estimation by the r-th reference signal resource element is N r . That is, the r-th reference signal resource element can be used to estimate the channel of N r ports.

[0225] Since the dimension of the channel estimation auxiliary information of each reference signal resource element is related to the number of ports supported for channel estimation, the number of columns of the channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource element can be the number of ports supported for channel estimation by the r-th reference signal resource element. Therefore, the number of ports supported for channel estimation can be indicated by the channel estimation auxiliary information. In other words, the channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource element is a possible form of indicating the number of ports supported for channel estimation by the r-th reference signal resource element.

[0226] It should be understood that the above R reference signal resource elements can also be predefined. For example, before the device leaves the factory, the resource pattern, port pattern, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the R reference signal resource elements are already pre-stored, and there is no need for the network device to indicate them to the terminal through the first information.

[0227] In addition, it should also be noted that in this embodiment, the first reference signal resource is divided into R reference signal resource elements. The port pattern corresponding to the first reference signal resource can be determined by the port patterns corresponding to the R reference signal resource elements respectively, and the resource pattern corresponding to the first reference signal resource can be determined by the resource patterns corresponding to the R reference signal resource elements respectively.

[0228] For example, the patterns corresponding to the R reference signal resource elements are sequentially denoted as: P1, P2,..., P R , and the pattern corresponding to the first reference signal resource can be expressed as P#1 , P #1 satisfies:

[0229]

[0230] wherein, the port pattern P port,#1 and the resource pattern P RE,#1 also respectively satisfy:

[0231] P RE,#1 = P RE,1 = P RE,2 =... = P RE,R .

[0232] wherein, P RE,#1 = P RE,1 = P RE,2 =... = P RE,R means that the time-frequency resources occupied by the R reference signal resource units are the same, and different ports can be distinguished by port multiplexing.

[0233] The reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource can be determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information respectively corresponding to the R reference signal resource units.

[0234] For example, the channel estimation auxiliary information respectively corresponding to the R reference signal resource units are sequentially denoted as: The reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource can be expressed as a matrix satisfies:

[0235]

[0236] In each of the matrices shown above, the subscript #1 indicates correspondence to the first reference reference signal resource, and the subscripts 1 to R indicate correspondence to the 1st to the Rth reference signal resource units.

[0237] Since the rth reference signal resource unit is one of the R reference signal resource units, therefore, the R reference signal resource units (i.e., the first reference reference signal) include K ports, or rather, the R reference signal resource units can be used to estimate the channels of K ports, where K is less than or equal to the sum of the port numbers supported by the channel estimations of the R reference signal resource units respectively, and greater than or equal to the port number supported by the channel estimation of any one of the R reference signal resource units, that is,

[0238] The R reference signal resource elements can be used to transmit reference signals of M ports, where M is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by the R reference signal resource elements respectively, and greater than the number of ports of the reference signal transmitted by any one of the R reference signal resource elements. That is,

[0239] It is not difficult to see that when any number of the R reference signal resource elements are combined to transmit reference signals, the number of ports of the transmitted reference signals can be related to the sum of the number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by the any number of reference signal resource elements respectively, and the number of ports supported for channel estimation can also be related to the sum of the number of ports supported by the any number of reference signal resource elements respectively. Or rather, or rather, it is also related to the sum of the number of ports included in the any number of reference signals respectively. In other words, the number of ports included in each reference signal resource element proposed in this embodiment can be accumulated, and the number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by each reference signal resource element can be accumulated.

[0240] Furthermore, the R reference signal resource elements include one or more common ports. Each common port specifically may refer to that the corresponding time-frequency resource is included in at least two reference signal resource elements. That is, the common port is a port included in different reference signal resource elements but corresponding to the same time-frequency resource. This common port can be called a reference port (or a reference benchmark port, a common port, etc.), and can be used as a benchmark for channel splicing in the subsequent channel estimation process. Since the channel splicing process will be described in combination with step 550 later, it will not be elaborated here for the time being.

[0241] If the R reference signal resource elements include one or more reference ports, then the number of ports K included in the above first reference signal resource is less than the sum of the number of ports included in the R reference signal resource elements respectively. That is, The number of ports M of the reference signal transmitted by the first reference signal resource is less than the sum of the number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by the R reference signal resource elements respectively. That is,

[0242] If the R reference signal resource elements do not include reference ports, then the number of ports K included in the above first reference signal resource is less than the sum of the number of ports included in the R reference signal resource elements respectively. That is, The number of ports M of the reference signal transmitted by the first reference signal resource is less than the sum of the number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by the R reference signal resource elements respectively. That is,

[0243] Optionally, the number of ports for channel estimation supported by each of the R reference signal resources is the same, or in other words, the number of ports included in each of the R reference signal resource units is the same.

[0244] For example, the first reference signal resource includes 1024 ports, and the number of ports for channel estimation it supports is 1024. The first reference signal resource is divided into 16 reference signal resource units, that is, R = 16, and each reference signal resource unit includes 64 ports, and the number of ports for channel estimation it supports is 64.

[0245] Optionally, the number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by each of the R reference signal resources is the same.

[0246] For example, the first reference signal resource can be used to transmit reference signals of 640 ports. The first reference signal resource is divided into 16 reference signal resource units, that is, R = 16, then each reference signal resource unit is used to transmit reference signals of 40 ports.

[0247] Of course, the number of ports for channel estimation supported by each of the R reference signal resource units can also be different. For example, the number of ports for channel estimation supported by one reference signal resource unit can be 64, and the number of ports for channel estimation supported by another reference signal resource unit can be 128.

[0248] The number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by each of the R reference signal resource units can also be different. For example, one reference signal resource unit is used to transmit reference signals of 40 ports, and another reference signal resource unit is used to transmit reference signals of 100 ports.

[0249] In other words, the granularity of the R reference signal resource units can be the same or different, and this application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0250] The network device can configure one or more reference signal resources for the terminal, such as T, where T is a positive integer. The configuration of each reference signal resource can be performed in the manner described above. The network device can configure the T reference signal resources through the first information, or can also configure the T reference signal resources through T configuration information (including the above-mentioned first information), and this application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0251] Further, when T is greater than 1, the network device can further indicate the identifier of the first reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources.

[0252] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sending fourth information to the terminal, where the fourth information is used to indicate the identifier of the first reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the fourth information from the network device.

[0253] Each of the T reference signal resources can be used to transmit reference signals of one or more ports and supports channel estimation of one or more ports. Taking the t-th reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources as an example, the t-th reference signal resource can be used to transmit reference signals of M t ports and supports channel estimation of K t ports, where K t ≥M t , K t and M t are positive integers.

[0254] Any two of the T reference signal resources satisfy: the number of ports of the reference signals used for transmission is different, and / or, the number of ports of the channel estimation supported is different. That is, for any two different values t1 and t2 of t, K t1 ≠K t2 , and / or, M t1 ≠M t2 .

[0255] In step 520, the network device sends the first reference signal on S reference signal resource units. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the S reference signal resources.

[0256] Similar to step 410, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU, the specific implementation of step 520 can be: CU-CP generates the first reference signal and sends the first reference signal to the terminal through DU and RU; in ORAN, the specific implementation of step 520 can be: O-CU-CP generates the first reference signal and sends the first reference signal to the terminal through O-DU and O-RU.

[0257] The S reference signal resource units come from the above R reference signal resource units, that is, from the first reference signal resource. The first reference signal in this embodiment is transmitted through the S reference signal resource units. In other words, the S reference signal resource units are an example of the first resource.

[0258] The number of ports m1 of the first reference signal is less than or equal to the sum of the numbers of ports of the reference signals respectively used for transmission by the S reference signal resource units.

[0259] Optionally, before step 520, the method further includes step 530, where the network device sends second information to the terminal, and the second information is used to indicate S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the second information from the network device.

[0260] That is to say, before transmitting the first reference signal through the S reference signal resource units, the network device can indicate the S reference signal resource units to the terminal through signaling, so that the terminal can receive the first reference signal on the corresponding resources.

[0261] In one example, the second information indicates a bitmap. For example, the second information can be a bitmap, or a higher-radix value used to indicate the bitmap, or an index used to indicate the bitmap. The bitmap can include R bits, which correspond one by one to the R reference signal resource units. The value of each bit is used to indicate whether the corresponding reference signal resource unit belongs to the S reference signal resource units, or in other words, whether it is used to transmit the first reference signal.

[0262] For example, the first reference signal resource includes 16 (i.e., R = 16) reference signal resource units, and the network device indicates the bitmap "0111 1000 0000 0000" through the second information, which means that the S reference signal resource units are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units among the 16 reference signal resource units.

[0263] The network device can directly send the bitmap "0111 1000 0000 0000" as the second information, or the network device can also represent the bitmap "0111 1000 0000 0000" through a higher-radix value (such as decimal, hexadecimal, etc.) and send the higher-radix value as the second information. Or, send the index corresponding to the bitmap "0111 1000 0000 0000" or its higher-radix value as the second information, thereby reducing the overhead of the second information. Among them, if the bitmap or the index corresponding to its higher-radix value is used as the second information, the network device and the terminal can pre-negotiate the corresponding relationship between different bitmaps or their higher-radix values and different indexes, such as pre-defined by the protocol, or pre-indicated through signaling. This application does not limit this.

[0264] It can be understood that if the network device indicates S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units through a bitmap, the network device does not have to indicate the identifiers of the R reference signal resource units through the first information.

[0265] In another example, the second information is the identification of S reference signal resource units among R reference signal resource units. That is to say, the network device indicates the S reference signal resource units by the identification of the S reference signal resource units. For example, the above R reference signal resource units can be distinguished by different identifications, and each identification is used to identify a reference signal resource unit. The terminal can determine the S reference signal resource units from the pre-configured R reference signal resource units according to the identification of the S reference signal resource units.

[0266] Of course, the first resource used by the network device to send the first reference signal may not be indicated by the second information. For example, the network device and the terminal can pre-negotiate which of the reference signal resource units in the first reference signal resource to use. For example, the network device and the terminal can determine which of the reference signal resource units in the first reference signal resource to use for each transmission of the reference signal according to the same rule. For example, for each transmission of the reference signal, the reference signal resource units used can be selected one or more from the R reference signal resource units in ascending order of identification according to the number of ports of the channel to be estimated. Another example is that for each transmission of the reference signal, the reference signal resource units used can be selected one or more from the R reference signal resource units with the principle of minimizing the number of selected reference signal resource units according to the number of ports of the channel to be estimated, and so on, without further examples.

[0267] In this embodiment, the network device can transmit the first reference signal through each of the S reference signal resource units. The first reference signal received by the terminal on each of the S reference signal resource units is a signal that has passed through the channel The channel satisfies: r s represents the identification of the s-th reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units, is the channel matrix corresponding to the r-th s reference signal resource unit, represents the port pattern of the r-th s reference signal resource unit.

[0268] Taking the S reference signal resource units shown above as an example, specifically the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units out of 16 reference signal resource units. The network device transmits the first reference signal on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units, and the first reference signals received by the terminal on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units are the signals that have passed through the channels H2', H3', H4', and H5' respectively, where H2' = H2·P port,2 , H3' = H3·P port,3 , H4' = H4·P port,4 , H5' = H5·P port,5 .

[0269] In another implementation, the first reference signal transmitted through the S reference signal resource units can be expressed by the formula as follows: H·P A ·x. Where H is the channel matrix, and P A is a matrix with dimensions K×m1, which can be used to reduce the dimensionality of the channel matrix from K ports to m1 ports, or in other words, select m1 ports from K ports. This P A satisfies: Where P port,A represents the port pattern corresponding to the first resource, which is used to indicate the indices of m1 ports among M ports. It can be understood that the port pattern corresponding to the first resource is determined by the port patterns corresponding to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units respectively. P port,A is used to reduce the dimensionality of the channel from M ports to m1 ports, or in other words, select m1 ports from M ports. For the terminal, the first reference signal it receives is the signal that has passed through the channel H'. It can be understood that this channel H' is the channel matrix of m1 ports.

[0270] Here, the subscript A is marked for the convenience of distinguishing from the first reference signal resource and the matrices corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the previous text, representing the port pattern corresponding to the first resource (for example, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units).

[0271] It should be noted that since the first reference signal transmitted by the network device on the S reference signal resource units can be used to obtain S spliceable channels, the network device can use the same transmission parameters to transmit this first reference signal, and the terminal can also use the same reception parameters to receive this first reference signal.

[0272] In addition, since the S reference resource units are not necessarily continuous in the time domain, the operation of the network device sending the first reference signal in step 502 may be a single sending operation or multiple sending operations. Accordingly, the operation of the terminal receiving the first reference signal may be a single receiving operation or multiple receiving operations. This application does not limit the number of operations of sending and receiving the first reference signal.

[0273] Furthermore, considering the time-varying characteristics of the channel and the high mobility of the terminal, the maximum interval in the time domain among the S reference signal resource units is no greater than a preset threshold. In other words, among the S reference signal resources, the interval between the frontmost reference signal resource unit and the backmost reference signal resource unit is no greater than a preset threshold. In other words, the time interval between the first transmission of the first reference signal and the last transmission of the first reference signal is no greater than a preset threshold, or in other words, the time interval between the first reception of the first reference signal and the last reception of the first reference signal is no greater than a preset threshold. By constraining the time interval, the channel estimated by the terminal based on the received first reference signal more accurately reflects the current channel state.

[0274] In step 540, the terminal determines first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0275] In this embodiment, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate channels of k1 ports according to reference signals of m1 ports.

[0276] The terminal may determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the positions of the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resources. For example, in the above example, the first resource includes 4 reference signal resource units, which are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units in the 16 reference signal resource units, so the first channel estimation auxiliary information may be obtained based on the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units, respectively. In order to distinguish it from the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the previous text, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is recorded as the matrix satisfy:

[0277]

[0278] It can be understood that the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units. Since the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit comes from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource. Therefore, determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information based on the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to some of the reference signal resource units can also be said to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information based on the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource.

[0279] In addition, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented in the form of a matrix , or can also be represented in the form of sub-matrices included therein (for example, and ). This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0280] In step 550, the terminal determines a first CSI based on the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and the first CSI corresponds to k1 ports.

[0281] As previously mentioned, the first CSI can indicate the channels of k1 ports. For example, it can be the channel estimation result indicating the channels of k1 ports; it can also indicate the precoding matrix corresponding to k1 ports. For example, it can be the PMI corresponding to the channels of k1 ports.

[0282] In this embodiment, the terminal can measure the channels of m1 ports based on the first reference signal, and then determine the channels of k1 ports based on the first channel estimation auxiliary information. In this embodiment, the first reference signal is transmitted through S reference signal resource units, so channel estimation can be performed based on the first reference signals respectively transmitted on the S reference signal resource units.

[0283] As previously mentioned, the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Correspondingly, step 550 can specifically include: performing channel estimation based on the first reference signal received on each reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the first channel estimation auxiliary information to obtain the channels corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units; obtaining the channels of k1 ports based on the channels corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units; and determining the first CSI based on the channels of k1 ports.

[0284] For ease of understanding, in the following text, first, the case where the ports corresponding to the reference signals transmitted by S reference signal resource units respectively do not include the reference port will be used to illustrate the specific process of determining the channels of k1 ports, and then the reference port will be introduced to further illustrate the specific process of determining the channels of k1 ports.

[0285] It should be understood that the process exemplified below takes the matrix as a possible expression form of the channel, and describes the splicing process of the channel by taking the splicing of the channel matrix as an example, but this should not constitute any limitation to this application. The channel can also be represented in other forms, such as vectors, arrays, or others, and this application does not make any limitations in this regard. In this case, the splicing process of the channel exemplified above can also be applied.

[0286] Taking the S reference signal resource units as the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units among 16 reference signal resource units respectively. For example, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units are respectively used to transmit reference signals of 40 ports, and respectively support estimating the channels of 64 ports, and there is no overlap between the ports of the reference signals transmitted by each reference signal resource unit, and there is also no overlap between the ports corresponding to the channels supported by the estimation. Then the terminal can receive reference signals of 160 (i.e., m1 = 160) ports on these 4 reference signal resource units, and estimate the channels of 256 (i.e., k1 = 256) ports.

[0287] The channels estimated by the terminal according to the first reference signals received on each reference signal resource unit are respectively: H·P port,2 、H·P port,3 、H·P port,4 、H·P port,5 . Based on the channels respectively corresponding to the S reference signal resource units, and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the first channel estimation auxiliary information The channels respectively corresponding to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units can be obtained as follows: By splicing according to the preset splicing rule, the channels of k1 ports can be obtained

[0288] Optionally, the splicing rule can be: in the order of the identifiers of the reference signal resource units from small to large, horizontally splice the channels respectively corresponding to multiple reference signal resource units from left to right in sequence.

[0289] For example, in this example, in the order of the identifiers of the reference signal resource units from small to large, horizontally splice the channels respectively corresponding to the S reference signal resource units from left to right in sequence, and the channel As follows:

[0290]

[0291] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of channel splicing provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, according to the order of the identifiers of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units from smallest to largest, the channels corresponding to each reference signal resource unit are horizontally spliced in sequence from left to right, and the channels of these k1 ports can be obtained.

[0292] In another implementation, the port patterns and channel estimation auxiliary information respectively corresponding to the above S reference signal resource units can also be spliced according to the above splicing rules, and the spliced channel estimation auxiliary information is the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Satisfy: The spliced port pattern satisfies: Thus, the channels of k1 ports can be obtained. As follows:

[0293]

[0294] Among them, are the channels estimated respectively according to the first reference signals received on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units.

[0295] It should be understood that the above-listed splicing rules are only an example and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The present application does not limit the specific content of the splicing rules. For example, the splicing rule can also be to splice the channels respectively corresponding to multiple reference signal resource units in sequence from left to right according to the order of the port numbers from smallest to largest.

[0296] In order to obtain higher estimation accuracy and reduce errors, when configuring reference signal resource units, the network device can configure a part of the same resources for two or more reference signal resource units, that is, configure one or more reference ports. When the terminal performs channel splicing, it can use the reference port as a benchmark and splice according to the above splicing rules.

[0297] For ease of understanding and explanation, Figure 7 It is another schematic diagram of channel splicing provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 In (a) and (b) respectively show the process of channel splicing when using different ports as reference ports.

[0298] Such as Figure 7As shown in (a) of , each reference port is shared by two reference signal resource units, and these two reference signal resource units are adjacent reference signal resource units. For example, the 2nd and 3rd reference signal resource units in the figure share the same reference port (denoted as reference port 1), the 3rd and 4th reference signal resource units share the same reference port (denoted as reference port 2), and the 4th and 5th reference signal resource units share the same reference port (denoted as reference port 3). A total of 3 reference ports are shown in the figure. Each reference port can be the last port of the previous reference signal resource unit among the two reference signal resource units, and the first port of the next reference signal resource unit.

[0299] Here, the first or last port of each reference signal resource unit can be determined according to the sorting of each port in the configuration information of each reference signal resource unit. For example, the resource pattern of each reference signal resource unit can be used for the mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource. In this resource pattern, the one ranked first is the first port, and the one ranked last is the last port; another example is that the channel estimation auxiliary information of each reference signal resource unit includes multiple row vectors with the same number as the number of ports of the reference signal. In this channel estimation auxiliary information, the one ranked first in the first row is the first port, and the one ranked last in the last row is the last port.

[0300] For the convenience of description in this article, the first or last port included in each reference signal resource unit is called the boundary port. In other words, the reference port can be the common boundary port included in two adjacent reference signal resource units.

[0301] The following details the specific process of the terminal splicing the channels based on the reference port according to the above splicing rules.

[0302] The terminal can respectively determine the sub-channels corresponding to reference port 1 from the channels corresponding to the 2nd and 3rd reference signal resource units. Taking one of them as a reference, correct the other one. For example, taking the sub-channel corresponding to this reference port 1 in the channel corresponding to the 2nd reference signal resource unit as a reference (denoted as reference 1), calculate the deviation of the sub-channel corresponding to this reference port 1 in the channel corresponding to the 3rd reference signal resource unit relative to this reference 1 (denoted as deviation 1), and add this deviation 1 to the channel corresponding to the 3rd reference signal resource unit.

[0303] The terminal can perform similar operations on the third and fourth reference signal resource units. For example, taking the sub-channel corresponding to the reference port 2 of the third reference signal resource unit after correcting the deviation (denoted as reference 2 for example) as a reference, calculate the deviation (denoted as deviation 2 for example) of the sub-channel corresponding to the reference port 2 in the channel corresponding to the fourth reference signal resource unit relative to this reference 2, and superimpose this deviation 2 onto the channel corresponding to the fourth reference signal resource unit.

[0304] The terminal can perform similar operations on the fourth and fifth reference signal resource units. For example, taking the sub-channel corresponding to the reference port 3 of the fourth reference signal resource unit after correcting the deviation (denoted as reference 3 for example) as a reference, calculate the deviation (denoted as deviation 3 for example) of the sub-channel corresponding to the reference port 3 in the channel corresponding to the fifth reference signal resource unit relative to this reference 3, and superimpose this deviation 3 onto the channel corresponding to the fifth reference signal resource unit.

[0305] The terminal can splice the channels corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit, the channel corresponding to the third reference signal resource unit after correcting the deviation, the channel corresponding to the fourth reference signal resource unit after correcting the deviation, and the channel corresponding to the fifth reference signal resource unit after correcting the deviation according to the splicing rule, and thus obtain the channels of k1 ports. The channels of k1 ports obtained in this way can be regarded as the channels for correcting the deviation between multiple reference signal resource units. Therefore, the estimated channels of k1 ports have higher accuracy.

[0306] It is not difficult to see that the terminal splicing the channels with the reference port as a reference described above is essentially splicing with the channel corresponding to one of the reference signal resource units as a reference. The process exemplified above describes the splicing process with the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit as a reference. The terminal can also splice with the channels corresponding to different reference signal resource units as a reference. For example, splicing with the channel corresponding to the fifth reference signal resource unit as a reference. The specific process is similar to the process described above and will not be elaborated.

[0307] As Figure 7 shown in (b) of, multiple reference signal resource units share the same reference port. The figure shows the same reference port shared by the second, third, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units.

[0308] The following details the specific process of the terminal splicing the channels with this reference port as a reference according to the above splicing rule.

[0309] The terminal can select any one of the four reference signal resource units as a reference to correct the channels corresponding to the other three reference signal resource units. For example, taking the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit as a reference, the terminal can use the subchannel corresponding to the reference port in the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit as a reference value (for example, recorded as reference value 1), calculate the deviation of the subchannel corresponding to the reference port in the channels corresponding to the third, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units respectively relative to the reference value 1, obtain the deviations corresponding to the third, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units respectively, and superimpose these deviations on the channels corresponding to each reference signal resource unit accordingly, to obtain the channels corresponding to the third, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units after superimposing the deviations.

[0310] The terminal can splice the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit and the channels corresponding to the fourth and fifth reference signal resource units after superimposing the deviation according to the splicing rule to obtain the channels of k1 ports. The channels of k1 ports thus obtained can be regarded as channels based on reference 1, so the estimated channels of k1 ports have higher accuracy.

[0311] It should be understood that the process illustrated above describes the splicing process based on the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit. The terminal may also perform splicing based on the channels corresponding to different reference signal resource units, such as splicing based on the channel corresponding to any one of the third, fourth or fifth reference signal resource units. The specific process is similar to the process described above and will not be repeated here.

[0312] Furthermore, the above-mentioned reference port can be determined according to a preset rule (referred to as the first rule for the convenience of distinction and explanation), and the first rule can be predefined by the protocol, or can be indicated to the terminal by the network device; or, the reference port can also be indicated to the terminal after being determined by the network device.

[0313] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sends seventh information to the terminal, where the seventh information is used to indicate a reference port or to indicate the first rule. Accordingly, the terminal receives the seventh information from the network device.

[0314] Exemplarily, when the seventh information is used to indicate a reference port, it may specifically indicate a port number, or an identifier of a reference signal resource unit to which the reference port belongs and a serial number of the port contained in the reference signal resource unit, etc. This application does not limit this.

[0315] The first rule for determining the reference port can be, for example: the reference port is the first port among the ports included in S reference signal resource units, or the reference port is the last port among the ports included in S reference signal resource units, or the reference port is the boundary port common to every two adjacent reference signal resource units among the S reference signal resource units. And so on, no more elaboration here.

[0316] The terminal and the network device can pre-store the correspondence between multiple rules and multiple indexes. The network device selects one of the multiple rules as the first rule, and then indicates the index of the first rule to the terminal through the seventh piece of information, facilitating the terminal to determine the first rule according to the seventh piece of information and then determine the reference port.

[0317] In step 560, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0318] For the specific process of step 560 and its specific implementation in the RAN with CU, DU, and RU deployed and in ORAN, reference can be made to the relevant description of method 400 in step 440 above, and no more elaboration here.

[0319] It can be understood that the operations in the above steps 520 to 560 can be repeatedly executed to achieve multiple channel estimations. During the multiple channel estimations, the reference signal resource units used by the network device to send the reference signal can be the same or different. For example, the network device can use one or more reference signal resource units among R reference signal resource units to send the reference signal, or can select another reference signal resource from T reference signal resources and use one or more reference signal resource units among them to send the reference signal. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0320] Since the process of each channel estimation is similar to the process described above in combination with steps 520 to 560, reference can be made to the relevant description above, and no further description will be given for the process of each channel estimation here.

[0321] Based on the technical solution provided above, the network device configures one or more reference signal resources for the terminal in units of reference signal resource units, and uses one or more reference signal resource units in the reference signal resources to transmit reference signals. Each reference signal resource unit can transmit reference signals of one or more ports and support channel estimation of one or more ports. In this way, the network device can flexibly select some or all of the resources from the reference signal resources according to service requirements to transmit reference signals. Since the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit can be used to estimate the channel corresponding to each reference signal resource unit, the terminal can estimate the channel corresponding to each reference signal resource unit based on the reference signals received on each reference signal resource unit, and then splice to obtain channels of more ports. Therefore, it can support flexible changes in the number of ports in the scenario where the RF channel is dynamically turned off, and the air interface resource overhead of the reference signal is also reduced accordingly. In addition, since the above one or more reference signal resources are pre-configured, the network device does not have to indicate the reference signal resources by signaling before each channel estimation is initiated, so it can also avoid the huge signaling overhead that may be brought by the dynamic change of the reference signal resources.

[0322] Figure 8 It is another schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 In the method shown, the first reference signal resource is also divided into R reference signal resource units with a smaller granularity. Different from Figure 5 the method shown, the network device does not have to pre-configure the first reference signal resource for the terminal by signaling, but indicates the reference signal resources used in this channel estimation by signaling before the channel estimation needs to be initiated. For ease of explanation, it is still assumed below that the first resource for the network device to send the first reference signal includes S reference signal resource units, and it is assumed that the S reference signal resource units are 2 reference signal resource units, which are the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units in the first reference signal resource respectively, and i and j are the identifiers of the 2 reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units respectively.

[0323] Figure 8 The method 800 shown includes steps 810 to step 850. Each step in the method 800 will be described in detail below.

[0324] In step 810, the network device sends the indication information of each reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units, and the indication information of each reference signal resource unit is used to configure a reference signal resource unit. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the indication information of the S reference signal resource units.

[0325] In step 820, the network device transmits a first reference signal on S reference signal resource units. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on S reference signal resources.

[0326] The specific implementations of steps 810 and 820 in the RAN with CU, DU, and RU deployed and in the ORAN are similar to steps 510 and 520 in the above method 500. For relevant descriptions, please refer to the above content and will not be elaborated here.

[0327] The S reference signal resource units are one or more reference signal resource units used to transmit the first reference signal. The network device may indicate the corresponding resources before transmitting the reference signal each time.

[0328] For example, in this embodiment, S is 2, and step 810 may include:

[0329] Step 8101, the network device sends indication information of the i-th reference signal resource unit to the terminal;

[0330] Step 8102, the network device sends indication information of the j-th reference signal resource unit to the terminal.

[0331] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the indication information of the i-th reference signal resource unit from the network device in step 8101, and receives the indication information of the j-th reference signal resource unit from the network device in step 8102.

[0332] Step 820 may include:

[0333] Step 8201, the network device transmits the first reference signal on the i-th reference signal resource unit;

[0334] Step 8202, the network device transmits the first reference signal on the j-th reference signal resource unit.

[0335] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the i-th reference signal resource unit in step 8101, and receives the second reference signal on the j-th reference signal resource unit in step 8102.

[0336] It should be understood that each step shown in the figure is only an example. Step 8101 may be executed before step 8201, step 8102 may be executed before step 8202, step 8201 may be executed before step 8102, may be executed after step 8102, or may be executed synchronously with step 8102. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0337] Considering the time-varying characteristics of the channel and the high mobility of the terminal, the maximum interval in the time domain among the S reference signal resource units is not greater than a preset threshold. In other words, among the S reference signal resources, the interval between the foremost reference signal resource unit and the rearmost reference signal resource unit is not greater than the preset threshold. That is to say, the time interval between the first transmission of the first reference signal and the last transmission of the first reference signal is not greater than the preset threshold, or the time interval between the first reception of the first reference signal and the last reception of the first reference signal is not greater than the preset threshold. For example, in the above example, the time interval between the i-th reference signal resource unit and the j-th reference signal resource unit is not greater than the preset threshold.

[0338] By constraining the time interval, the channel estimated by the terminal based on the received first reference signal can more accurately reflect the current channel state.

[0339] It is not difficult to see that in method 800, the network device does not need to pre-configure the R reference signal resource units through the first information, but configures them for each reference signal resource unit used for transmitting the reference signal.

[0340] The network device can configure one or more of the following for each reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports supporting channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or identification of the reference reference signal resource to which it belongs. Or, the indication information of each of the above reference signal resource units can be used to indicate one or more of the following: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports supporting channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or splicing identification.

[0341] Among them, since the S reference signal resource units come from the first reference reference signal resource, and the first reference reference signal resource is divided into R reference signal resource units, the S reference signal resource units come from R reference signal resource units. The s-th reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units can correspond to the r-th reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units, indicating the identification of the s-th reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units. If the identifications of the R reference signal resource units are numbered in sequence from 1 to R, r s can be any positive integer from 1 to R. For example, in this embodiment, the identifications of the 2 reference signal resource units used for transmitting the first reference signal among the R reference signal resource units are i and j respectively, where i and j can be any positive integer from 1 to R, and i≠j. It should be understood that this application does not limit how to identify the R reference signal resource units, and thus does not limit the value of r s either. s ​

[0342] Among the S reference signal resource elements, the r s -th reference signal resource element contains ports, which can be used to transmit reference signals of ports, and support channel estimation of ports. It can be understood that can be any value from L1 to L R , can be any value from N1 to N R , and ports are included in ports. L1 to L R are respectively the number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by the 1st to the R-th reference signal resource elements among the R reference signal resource elements, and N1 to N R are respectively the number of ports included in the 1st to the R-th reference signal resource elements among the R reference signal resource elements, or rather, the number of ports of the channel estimation supported by the 1st to the R-th reference signal resource elements respectively.

[0343] The resource pattern of the r s -th reference signal resource element indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource among the ports, the port pattern of the r s -th reference signal resource element indicates the index of the ports among ports, and the channel estimation assistance information of the r s -th reference signal resource element can be used to estimate the channel of ports according to the channel measurement results of ports.

[0344] The related content of the resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports supported for channel estimation, and channel estimation assistance information of each reference signal resource has been described in detail in step 510 of method 500. You can refer to the relevant description in method 500 above for understanding and will not be elaborated here.

[0345] In this embodiment, the network device can also indicate the splicing identifier through the indication information of each reference signal resource element. This splicing identifier can be used to indicate that the S reference signal resource elements are used to transmit the first reference signal, or rather, can be used to indicate that the S reference signal resource elements belong to the first resource, or rather, the S reference signal resource elements can be combined for use to perform channel estimation, or rather, the reference signals transmitted on the S reference signal resource elements are used for the same channel estimation, or rather, the channel matrix estimated based on the reference signals transmitted on the S reference signal resource elements supports splicing.

[0346] By carrying the same splicing identifier in the indication information of S reference signal resource units respectively, the network device can implicitly notify the terminal that the reference signals transmitted on the S reference signal resource units are transmitted based on the same transmission parameters, that is, implicitly notify the terminal to receive on the S reference signal resource units using the same reception parameters, that is, implicitly notify the terminal that the first reference signals received on the S reference signal resource units are used for the same channel estimation, or in other words, the channel matrix estimated from the first reference signals received on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing. The splicing identifier can be, for example, a numerical value or a letter, etc. For example, the same numerical value or the same letter, etc. can be carried in the indication information of the S reference signal resources. In addition, the splicing identifier is only a possible name. For example, it can also be called a combination identifier, a support splicing identifier, a support combination identifier or others. The present application does not limit this.

[0347] In this embodiment, the network device can transmit the first reference signal on the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units. The first reference signals received by the terminal on the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units are signals that have passed through the channel H', and the channel H' satisfies: P port,i represents the port pattern of the i-th reference signal resource unit, and P port,j represents the port pattern of the j-th reference signal resource unit. It can be understood that the channel H' is a channel with m1 ports.

[0348] In this embodiment, the number of ports m1 of the first reference signal also satisfies: less than or equal to the sum of the numbers of ports of the reference signals transmitted by the S reference signal resource units. That is, in the example where S = 2 above, m1 is less than or equal to the sum of the numbers of ports of the reference signals transmitted by the i-th reference signal resource unit and the j-th reference signal resource unit.

[0349] In step 830, the terminal determines the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0350] For the relevant description of the first channel estimation auxiliary information, please refer to the relevant descriptions in step 420 of method 400 and step 540 of method 500 above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0351] In this embodiment, the terminal can determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the channel estimation auxiliary information respectively corresponding to the S reference signal resource units. For example, when S = 2 and the S reference signal resource units include the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained satisfies:

[0352]

[0353] It can be understood that the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to S reference signal resource units respectively. Since the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit comes from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource. Therefore, determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to some of the reference signal resource units respectively can also be said to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource.

[0354] In addition, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented in the form of a matrix , or can also be represented in the form of a sub-matrix (for example, and ) contained therein. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0355] In step 840, the terminal determines a first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and the first CSI corresponds to k1 ports.

[0356] The terminal can estimate the channels corresponding to each reference signal resource unit according to the first reference signals received on each of the S reference signal resource units. The terminal can splice the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively to obtain the channels of k1 ports.

[0357] For example, in this embodiment, according to the first reference signal received on the i-th reference signal resource unit and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the i-th reference signal resource unit, the channels of N i ports can be estimated which can satisfy

[0358] According to the first reference signal received on the j-th reference signal resource unit and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the j-th reference signal resource unit, the channels of N j ports can be estimated which can satisfy

[0359] The terminal can, according to the splicing rule, splice the channels of the N i ports and the channels of N j ports to obtain the channels of k1 ports as follows:

[0360] In another implementation, the terminal may first splice the port patterns and channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the above S reference signal resource units according to the splicing rule, so as to obtain the channel of k1 ports. As follows:

[0361]

[0362] Among them, the splicing rule is described in detail in step 550 of method 500 above in combination with Figure 6 and Figure 7 For details, please refer to the relevant description above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0363] For more detailed content about step 840, please refer to step 550 in method 500 above, and will not be elaborated here. It can be understood that in this embodiment, the number of ports k1 of the reference signal supported by the first reference signal also satisfies: less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports supported by the S reference signal resource units respectively. That is, in the above example where S = 2, k1 is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the i-th reference signal resource unit and the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the j-th reference signal resource unit.

[0364] In step 850, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0365] For the specific process of step 850 and the specific implementation in the RAN with CU, DU, and RU deployed and in ORAN, please refer to the relevant description of step 440 in method 400 above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0366] Based on the technical solution provided above, the network device configures one or more reference signal resource units for transmitting reference signals for the terminal in each time before transmitting the reference signal with the reference signal resource unit as the granularity. Each reference signal resource unit is used to transmit the reference signal of one or more ports and supports the channel estimation of one or more ports. In this way, the network device can select any number of reference signal resource units to transmit the reference signal according to the service requirements. Since the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit can be used to estimate the channel corresponding to each reference signal resource unit, the terminal can estimate the channel corresponding to each reference signal resource unit based on the reference signal received on each reference signal resource unit, and then splice to obtain the channel of more ports. Therefore, it can support the flexible change of the number of ports in the scenario of RF channel dynamic shutdown, and the air interface resource overhead of the reference signal is also reduced accordingly.

[0367] In another implementation, the terminal may also determine the channels of m1 ports after receiving the first reference signal in step 820, use the channels of the m1 ports as the channel measurement results, and carry them in the first CSI and send them to the network device. The network device may estimate the channels of k1 ports according to the received first CSI. In this case, the network device does not have to indicate the channel estimation assistance information for each reference signal resource unit to the terminal. The network device may determine the first channel estimation assistance information by itself, and then determine the channels of m1 ports according to the first CSI, and then determine the channels of k1 ports in combination with the first channel estimation assistance information.

[0368] Figure 9 is another schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. Figure 9 The method shown is similar to Figure 8 the method shown, the difference is that Figure 8 in the channel estimation of k1 ports by the terminal is Figure 9 transferred to the network device for execution. For ease of description, it is still assumed below that the first resource for the network device to send the first reference signal includes S reference signal resource units. Assume that the S reference signal resource units are 2 reference signal resource units, which are the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units in the first reference reference signal resource respectively. i and j are the identifiers of the 2 reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units respectively.

[0369] Figure 9 The method 900 shown includes steps 910 to 960. Each step in the method 900 will be described in detail below.

[0370] In step 910, the network device sends the indication information of each reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units, and the indication information of each reference signal resource unit is used to configure a reference signal resource unit. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the indication information of the S reference signal resource units.

[0371] In step 920, the network device sends the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the S reference signals.

[0372] The specific implementations of steps 810 and 820 in the RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU and in ORAN are similar to steps 510 and 520 in the above method 500, and can be referred to the above related descriptions, and will not be elaborated here.

[0373] Similar to the method 800, the network device may indicate the corresponding resources before sending the reference signal each time.

[0374] For example, in this embodiment, when S is 2, step 910 may include:

[0375] Step 9101, the network device sends indication information of the i-th reference signal resource unit to the terminal;

[0376] Step 9102, the network device sends indication information of the j-th reference signal resource unit to the terminal.

[0377] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the indication information of the i-th reference signal resource unit from the network device in step 9101 and receives the indication information of the j-th reference signal resource unit from the network device in step 9102, respectively.

[0378] Step 920 may include:

[0379] Step 9201, the network device sends a first reference signal on the i-th reference signal resource unit;

[0380] Step 9202, the network device sends a first reference signal on the j-th reference signal resource unit.

[0381] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the i-th reference signal resource unit in step 9101 and receives the second reference signal on the j-th reference signal resource unit in step 9102, respectively.

[0382] It should be understood that each step shown in the figure is only an example. Step 9101 may be executed before step 9201, step 9102 may be executed before step 9202, step 9201 may be executed before step 9102, may also be executed after step 9102, or may be executed synchronously with step 9102. This application does not make any limitation in this regard.

[0383] Considering the time-varying characteristics of the channel and the high mobility of the terminal, the maximum interval in the time domain of the S reference signal resource units is not greater than a preset threshold. In other words, among the S reference signals resources, the interval between the frontmost reference signal resource unit and the rearmost reference signal resource unit is not greater than the preset threshold. That is, the time interval between the first transmission of the first reference signal and the last transmission of the first reference signal is not greater than the preset threshold, or rather, the time interval between the first reception of the first reference signal and the last reception of the first reference signal is not greater than the preset threshold. For example, in the above example, the time interval between the i-th reference signal resource unit and the j-th reference signal resource unit is not greater than the preset threshold.

[0384] By constraining the time interval, the channel estimated by the terminal based on the received first reference signal can more accurately reflect the current channel state.

[0385] In step 930, the terminal determines a first CSI based on a first reference signal.

[0386] In this embodiment, the terminal may determine, based on the first reference signal received on each reference signal resource element, a channel measurement result corresponding to each reference signal resource element. The channel measurement result corresponding to each reference signal resource element indicates the measured channel. In this embodiment, the first CSI includes S channel measurement results, which correspond one-to-one to S reference signal resource elements.

[0387] For example, in this embodiment, the S reference signal resource elements are the i-th and j-th reference signal resource elements in a first reference reference signal resource, and the first CSI includes the channel measurement result #i corresponding to the i-th reference signal resource element and the channel measurement result #j corresponding to the j-th reference signal resource element. The channel measurement result #i indicates the channel of L i ports, where the L i ports are the ports of the reference signal transmitted on the i-th reference signal resource element, and are obtained by measuring the first reference signal received on the i-th reference signal resource element. The channel measurement result #j indicates the channel of L j ports, where the L j ports are the ports of the reference signal transmitted on the j-th reference signal resource element, and are obtained by measuring the first reference signal received on the j-th reference signal resource element.

[0388] Correspondingly, step 930 may include:

[0389] Step 9301, the terminal determines the channel measurement result #i based on the first reference signal received on the i-th reference signal resource element;

[0390] Step 9302, the terminal determines the channel measurement result #j based on the first reference signal received on the j-th reference signal resource element.

[0391] It should be understood that step 9301 and step 9302 may be executed simultaneously or may not be executed simultaneously. For example, step 9301 is executed before step 9302. In fact, step 9301 may be executed after step 9201, and step 9302 may be executed after step 9202. This application does not limit the execution order of step 9301 and step 9302.

[0392] In step 940, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0393] The specific implementation of step 940 in the RAN with CU, DU, and RU deployed and in the ORAN can refer to the relevant description of step 440 in method 400 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0394] As described above, the first CSI includes S channel measurement results corresponding to S reference signal resource units. The terminal can send the S channel measurement results to the network device. For example, in this embodiment, the S reference signal resource units are the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units in the first reference reference signal resource. The terminal can send channel measurement result #i and channel measurement result #j to the network device.

[0395] Correspondingly, step 940 may include:

[0396] Step 9401, the terminal sends channel measurement result #i to the network device;

[0397] Step 9402, the terminal sends channel measurement result #j to the network device.

[0398] Correspondingly, the network device receives channel measurement result #i from the terminal in step 9401 and receives channel measurement result #j from the terminal in step 9402.

[0399] A possible implementation is that the terminal sends the S channel measurement results as a whole, for example, carried in the same CSI (such as the first CSI). In this case, the above steps 9401 and 9402 can be combined into one step. For the terminal, it can be implemented through one sending operation, and for the network device, it can be implemented through one receiving operation.

[0400] Another possible implementation is that the terminal sends the S channel measurement results separately, for example, carried in S CSIs. In this case, the first CSI can be the S CSIs. In this case, the above steps 9401 and 9402 can be S independent steps. For the terminal, it can be implemented through S sending operations, and for the network device, it can be implemented through S receiving operations.

[0401] In step 950, the network device determines the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0402] Exemplarily, in the RAN with CU, DU, and RU deployed, the specific implementation of step 950 can be: the DU determines the first channel estimation auxiliary information; in the ORAN, the specific implementation of step 950 can be: the O-DU determines the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0403] For the relevant description of the first channel estimation auxiliary information, please refer to the relevant descriptions in step 420 of method 400 and step 540 of method 500 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0404] Since the terminal sends the S channel measurement results corresponding to the S reference signal resource units to the network device, the network device can estimate the channels of k1 ports based on this. To estimate the channels of k1 ports, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be determined first.

[0405] The specific process for the network device to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information is similar to the specific process for the terminal to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Please refer to the relevant description in step 830 of method 800 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0406] In step 960, the network device determines the channels of k1 ports according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the first CSI.

[0407] Exemplarily, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU, the specific implementation of step 960 can be: the DU determines the channels of k1 ports according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the first CSI; in ORAN, the specific implementation of step 960 can be: the O-DU determines the channels of k1 ports according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the first CSI.

[0408] In this embodiment, the first CSI includes S channel measurement results. The network device can respectively determine the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units according to the S channel measurement results.

[0409] For example, in this embodiment, the network device can obtain the channels of L i ports according to the channel measurement result #i, and then, according to the channel estimation auxiliary information of the i-th reference signal resource unit, can estimate the channels of N i ports It can satisfy

[0410] Similarly, the network device can obtain the channels of L j ports according to the channel measurement result #j, and then, according to the channel estimation auxiliary information of the j-th reference signal resource unit, can estimate the channels of N j ports

[0411] The network device can splice the channels of these N i ports and the channels of N j ports according to the splicing rule, and can obtain the channels of k1 ports as follows:

[0412] In another implementation, the network device may also splice the port patterns and channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the above S reference signal resource units according to the splicing rule, so as to obtain the channels of k1 ports as follows:

[0413]

[0414] wherein, the splicing rule is combined in step 550 of method 500 above Figure 6 and Figure 7 is described in detail. For details, refer to the relevant description above and will not be elaborated here

[0415] For more detailed content about step 960, refer to step 550 in method 500 above and will not be elaborated here. It can be understood that in this embodiment, the number of ports k1 of the reference signal supported by the first reference signal also satisfies: less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports supported by each of the S reference signal resource units. That is, in the above example where S = 2, k1 is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the i-th reference signal resource unit and the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the j-th reference signal resource unit

[0416] Based on the technical solutions provided above, the network device configures one or more reference signal resource units for transmitting reference signals for the terminal at each time before transmitting the reference signal with the reference signal resource unit as the granularity. Each reference signal resource unit is used to transmit the reference signals of one or more ports and supports the channel estimation of one or more ports. In this way, the network device can select any number of reference signal resource units to transmit the reference signal according to the service requirements. The terminal can feedback the channel measurement result obtained by measuring the reference signal to the network device, and then the network device estimates the channels corresponding to each reference signal resource unit according to the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit, and then splices to obtain the channels of more ports. Therefore, it can support the flexible change of the number of ports in the scenario of dynamic RF channel shutdown, and the air interface resource overhead of the reference signal is also reduced accordingly. In addition, since the network device completes the channel splicing by itself without the need for the terminal to splice, the computing pressure of the terminal can be reduced. And the network device does not need to send the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit to the terminal, so the signaling overhead can be reduced

[0417] It should be understood that the above combination with Figure 5 , Figure 8 and Figure 9The illustrated embodiments transmit reference signals and perform channel estimation in terms of reference signal resource units, and the channels corresponding to the respective estimated reference signal resource units have the property of being spliceable. Based on the same concept, Figure 5 , Figure 8 and Figure 9 respectively provide three different implementation manners. It can be understood that, in these embodiments, for the sake of brevity, the embodiments illustrated by Figure 5 shown, Figure 8 and Figure 9 mainly illustrate the differences from the Figure 5 embodiment. Therefore, Figure 8 and Figure 9 in the illustrated embodiments, for the same or similar steps and the same terms, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in method 500, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0418] Figure 10 is another schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. Figure 10 In the method shown, the first reference reference signal resource is configured as a whole. The network device may select some or all of the ports therefrom to transmit reference signals, and the time-frequency resources for transmitting reference signals do not change with the change in the number of ports.

[0419] Figure 10 The method 1000 shown may include steps 1010 to 1090. Each step in method 1000 will be described in detail below.

[0420] In step 1010, the network device sends third information to the terminal, and the third information is used to configure T reference reference signal resources. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the third information from the network device.

[0421] Exemplarily, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU, the specific implementation of step 1010 may be: CU-CP generates the third information and sends the third information to the terminal through DU and RU; in ORAN, the specific implementation of step 1010 may be: O-CU-CP generates the third information and sends the third information to the terminal through O-DU and O-RU.

[0422] In this embodiment, T may be a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. In other words, the third information can be used to configure one or more reference reference signal resources, and the third information may also be referred to as the configuration information of one or more reference reference signal resources.

[0423] In the implementation process, the network device may send the configuration information of the T reference signal resources as a whole. That is, the third information is the configuration information for configuring the T reference signal resources. In this case, the third information is one piece of information, and the network device can configure the T reference signal resources through one sending operation. The network device may also configure the T reference signal resources separately, that is, configure the T reference signal resources through T pieces of configuration information respectively. In this case, the third information is T pieces of information, and the network device can configure the T reference signal resources through T sending operations.

[0424] For ease of understanding, the following uses the t-th reference signal resource as an example to introduce the reference signal resources. It should be understood that the t-th reference signal resource may be one of the above at least one reference signal resource, and t may be any integer from 1 to T. The t-th reference signal resource can be used to transmit reference signals of at most M t ports. That is to say, the number of ports of the reference signal transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource can be less than or equal to M t . And the reference signals of the M t ports can support channel estimation of up to K t ports. That is to say, the reference signals of the M t ports can be used to obtain channels of up to K t ports. Or rather, the reference signals of the M t ports can be used to obtain channels with the number of ports less than or equal to K t . Or rather, the maximum number of ports of channel estimation supported by the first reference signal is K t .

[0425] In summary, it can be seen that each reference signal resource involves two port numbers: the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for transmission (for ease of description, denoted as the maximum number of ports of the reference signal, such as the above M t ) and the maximum number of ports of the estimated channel (for ease of description, denoted as the maximum number of ports of supported channel estimation, or simply, the supported maximum number of ports, such as the above K t ). In this application, for each reference signal resource, the number of ports of the reference signal for transmission can be less than or equal to the supported maximum number of ports, and the number of ports of the estimated channel matrix can be less than or equal to the maximum number of ports of the reference signal.

[0426] It should be noted that different from the previous methods 500, 800, and 900, in this embodiment, the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for transmission by the reference signal resource and the maximum number of ports of supported channel estimation are defined.

[0427] For example, the t-th reference signal resource is used to transmit reference signals for a maximum of M t ports, that is to say, the reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource can be used for reference signals of less than or equal to M t ports. In other words, when performing channel estimation using the reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource, the number of ports of the reference signals used can be less than or equal to M t ports.

[0428] For another example, the t-th reference signal resource supports channel estimation for a maximum of K t ports, that is to say, the reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource can be used to estimate channels of less than or equal to K t ports. It can be understood that the maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the t-th reference signal resource is also the number of ports included in the t-th reference signal resource. For example, the t-th reference signal resource includes K t ports. The t-th reference signal resource supports channel estimation for a maximum of K t ports, that is, the t-th reference signal resource supports channel estimation for some or all of the ports it includes.

[0429] Regarding the "maximum number of ports of the reference signal" and the "maximum number of ports supported" for transmission by the reference signal resource, refer to the detailed description in Method 400 above and will not be repeated here. Here, the t-th reference signal resource is taken as an example to help understanding: the maximum number of ports of the reference signal transmitted by the t-th reference signal resource is M t , that is, the matrix indicating the port pattern of the reference signal includes M t columns. However, this does not mean that the network device can only use M t ports to send reference signals. The network device can also use more than M t ports to send reference signals, but the gain brought by this is not large and it may bring air interface overhead, so it is not necessary. The maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the t-th reference signal resource is K t , that is, the t-th reference signal resource includes K t ports.

[0430] When T > 1, any two of the T reference signal resources can satisfy: the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for transmission is different, and / or, the maximum number of ports supported is different.

[0431] For example, the maximum number of ports for the reference signal transmitted by the reference signal resource #1 is 100, and the maximum supported number of ports is 1024; the maximum number of ports for the reference signal transmitted by the reference signal resource #2 is 200, and the maximum supported number of ports is 1024; the maximum number of ports for the reference signal transmitted by the reference signal resource #3 is 50, and the maximum supported number of ports is 256; the maximum number of ports for the reference signal transmitted by the reference signal resource #4 is 50, and the maximum supported number of ports is 128; and so on, without further listing.

[0432] It can be seen that the maximum supported number of ports of the reference signal resources #1 and #2 is the same, but the maximum number of ports of the reference signal is different. The reference signal resource #1 is more space-saving in terms of air interface overhead. Since the reference signal resource #2 has more observation ports for the reference signal, the channel estimation is more accurate. Similar relationships also exist for the reference signal resources #3 and #4, which will not be elaborated here. The network device can select an appropriate reference signal resource according to service requirements for use.

[0433] Optionally, the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the T reference signal resources: identification, resource pattern, port pattern, and reference channel estimation assistance information.

[0434] Still taking the t-th reference signal resource as an example for illustration below.

[0435] Identification: Different identifications can be used to identify different reference signal resources. Each identification corresponds to a reference signal resource. Different from the identification indicated by the first information in method 500, this identification can be called the identification of the reference signal resource, and the identification indicated by the first information in method 500 can be called the identification of the reference signal resource unit.

[0436] Resource pattern: Since the t-th reference signal resource can be used to transmit reference signals for up to M t ports, the resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource can indicate the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the M t ports and the time-frequency resources. That is to say, based on this resource pattern, it can be determined to which time-frequency resources (more specifically, to which REs) the reference signals of each port are mapped, so as to facilitate the terminal to receive at the corresponding positions.

[0437] Port pattern: Since the t-th reference signal resource can be used to transmit reference signals for up to M t ports, the channel matrix of up to K t ports is estimated, and the M t ports are included in the K tAmong the ports, so the port pattern can indicate the M t ports in K t ports. It can be understood that through this port pattern, the maximum number of ports of the reference signal used for transmission by the t-th reference signal resource and the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation are implicitly indicated.

[0438] When this third information is used to indicate the resource pattern and the port pattern, a possible implementation is to indicate the resource pattern and the port pattern by indicating the matrix P t . Among them, the matrix P t satisfies: P port,t represents the port pattern of the t-th reference signal resource, and P RE,t represents the resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource.

[0439] The following details the matrix P port,t and P RE,t .

[0440] Exemplarily, the number of REs included in the t-th reference signal resource is N RE,t , the maximum number of supported ports is K t . For each receiving port, the observable channel matrix H t is a matrix of dimension N RE,t ×K t . The matrices P port,t and P RE,t can be obtained by processing the channel in the spatial domain and the time-frequency domain, respectively.

[0441] 1) Spatial domain processing:

[0442] The network device can perform QR decomposition in the spatial domain based on the channel matrix H t to obtain the matrix P port,t . The dimension of the matrix P port,t is K t ×M t , containing M t non-zero elements, and the other elements are all zero. These M t non-zero elements are located in the M port,t columns of the matrix P t , that is, each non-zero element is located in one column of the matrix P port,t . These M t non-zero elements correspond to M t ports. The position of each non-zero element in its column can indicate the index of the corresponding port among the K t ports. This means that M relatively important ones are selected from the K t ports.t ports. For example, if a non-zero element is in the first row of its column, it means that the port corresponding to this non-zero element is the first port among the K t ports, and thus the index of this port can be determined. It should be understood that this matrix P port,t is equivalent to the matrix P in the above introduction of terms related to channel estimation auxiliary information. aug

[0443] Right-multiply the channel matrix H t by the matrix P port,t , to obtain the matrix H t ', where H t ' = H t P port,t . The dimension of this matrix H t ' is N RE,t × M t , that is, the number of ports is reduced from K t to M t ports, which is like achieving spatial domain port dimension reduction through precoding.

[0444] 2) Time-frequency domain processing:

[0445] Further perform QR decomposition in the time-frequency domain on the transpose of the matrix H t ', to obtain the matrix P RE,t , the dimension of the matrix P RE,t is M t × N' RE,t , where N' RE,t is less than N RE,t . This matrix P RE,t contains N' RE,t non-zero elements, and the other elements are all zero. These N' RE,t non-zero elements are located in N' RE,t columns of the matrix P RE,t , that is, each non-zero element is located in a column of the matrix P RE,t . These N' RE,t non-zero elements correspond to N' RE,t REs, and the position of each non-zero element in its column can indicate the index of the corresponding RE among the N RE,t REs. This means selecting the more important N' RE,t REs from the N RE,t REs. Thus, the resource overhead of the reference signal in the time-frequency domain can be reduced.

[0446] It should be understood that the above describes the matrices P port,t and P RE,t ​(That is, the process of obtaining the port pattern and the resource pattern), but this should not impose any limitation on this application. In the actual processing, the network device may also first perform QR decomposition on the channel matrix H in the time-frequency domain, and then perform QR decomposition in the spatial domain to obtain P t and P port,t and P RE,t , and further obtain P t . Alternatively, the network device may also obtain the port pattern and the resource pattern through other means, and this application does not make any limitation thereto. The network device may obtain the matrix {P t} corresponding to each reference signal resource based on the above process, and indicate it to the terminal through the third information.

[0447] It should also be understood that the indication of the port pattern and the resource pattern may also be realized by indicating the matrices P port,t and P RE,t , rather than necessarily indicating through the matrix P t .

[0448] In another implementation, the network device may also not indicate the resource pattern and the port pattern of each reference signal resource through the third information, but let the terminal determine them. The terminal may also obtain the matrix {P t} corresponding to each reference signal resource based on the above process, or obtain the matrices {P port,t} and {P RE,t} corresponding to each reference signal resource, or obtain the resource pattern and the port pattern corresponding to each reference signal resource; or the terminal may also obtain the historical port pattern and resource pattern of the reference signal resources that occupy the same positions as each reference signal resource, and this application does not make any limitation thereto.

[0449] Alternatively, the network device may indicate P port,t or P RE,t to the terminal through the third information, and the terminal determines the other item based on the received third information.

[0450] It should be noted that the subscripts port and RE of P port,t and P RE,t here are only used to distinguish the spatial domain (i.e., port) resources and the time-frequency domain resources (such as time-frequency units). Among them, the time-frequency unit includes but is not limited to RE. For example, 1 time-frequency unit may include multiple REs, and these multiple REs may be used for multiple ports to send reference signals. That is, these multiple ports may multiplex these multiple REs (such as time-division multiplexing or frequency-division multiplexing), or in other words, these multiple REs may be multiplexed by multiple ports.

[0451] Pilot channel estimation auxiliary information: The channel estimation auxiliary information has been introduced in the previous glossary. In this embodiment, the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information is named only for the convenience of distinguishing it from the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the second channel estimation auxiliary information in the following text. The pilot channel estimation auxiliary information corresponds to the pilot reference signal resource. For the t-th pilot reference signal resource, the corresponding pilot channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channel matrix of K t ports according to the channel measurement results of M t ports. Among them, estimating the channel matrix of K t ports according to the channel measurement results of M t ports specifically means that, based on the channel measurement results obtained from the reference signals of M t ports, the channel of M t ports is obtained, and then based on the channel of this M t ports and this pilot channel estimation auxiliary information, the channel matrix of K t ports is reconstructed.

[0452] The network device can indicate the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each pilot reference signal resource to the terminal through the third information, or it can also not indicate through the third information. The pilot channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each pilot reference signal resource can also be determined by the terminal itself. The terminal can also calculate the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each pilot reference signal resource based on the method provided in the previous glossary. Or, the terminal can also obtain the historical channel estimation auxiliary information of the reference signal resources that occupy the same positions as each pilot reference signal resource.

[0453] Maximum number of ports for supported channel estimation: The maximum number of ports of the channel matrix that can be estimated from the reference signals transmitted through this pilot reference signal resource. For example, the maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the t-th pilot reference signal resource is K t . That is, this t-th pilot reference signal resource can be used to estimate the channels of less than or equal to K t ports.

[0454] Since the dimension of the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information is related to the maximum number of ports for supported channel estimation, the number of columns of the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information can be the maximum number of ports for supported channel estimation. Therefore, the maximum number of ports for supported channel estimation can be indicated through the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information. In other words, the pilot channel estimation auxiliary information is a possible form of indicating the maximum number of ports for supported channel estimation.

[0455] It should be understood that the above T reference signal resources may also be predefined. For example, before the device leaves the factory, the resource pattern, port pattern, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the T reference signal resources are pre-stored, and there is no need for the network device to indicate them to the terminal through the third information. In other words, the above step 1010 is an optional step.

[0456] In step 1020, the network device sends a first reference signal on a first resource. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the first resource.

[0457] The specific implementation of step 1020 in the RAN with CU, DU, and RU deployed and in ORAN is similar to step 410 in the above method 400. For details, please refer to the relevant description above and will not be elaborated here.

[0458] It should be understood that the first resource comes from a first reference signal resource, and the first reference signal resource can be any one of the above T reference signal resources. This application does not limit which reference signal resource the network device selects to transmit the reference signal.

[0459] Since the first reference signal resource is one of the above T reference signal resources, the maximum number of ports M for the reference signal transmitted by it can be one of M1 to M above. The supported maximum number of ports K can be one of K1 to K above. T Since the following mainly takes the first reference signal resource as an example to describe this embodiment, for the convenience of description, the subscripts used to distinguish the reference signal resources in each parameter are omitted. That is, the channel matrix is H, and the dimension is N T ×K, and N RE RE is the number of REs included in the first reference signal resource.

[0460] The first resource comes from the first reference signal resource. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the first resource can be used to transmit the reference signal of m1 (m1 is a positive integer less than or equal to M) ports. In other words, the first reference signal transmitted on the first resource is the reference signal of m1 ports. It can be understood that the m1 ports come from the M ports, or the m1 ports are included in the M ports, or the m1 ports are part or all of the M ports. The first reference signal resource includes K ports, and K is any one of K1 to K above. The above M ports come from the K ports. Therefore, the first resource is part or all of the first reference signal resource. T

[0461] In summary, the following relationship can be obtained: k1≤K, m1<M, m1≤k1, and M≤K.

[0462] ​​It should be understood that, for the convenience of distinction and description in this application, the reference signal resource is defined as a time-frequency resource to distinguish it from the spatial domain resource (such as a port). In another implementation, the reference signal resource can also be defined as a resource in the three dimensions of time domain, frequency domain, and spatial domain. In this case, the resource for transmitting the first reference signal can be a part of the first reference signal resource. Step 402 can also be expressed as: receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, where the first resource comes from the first reference signal resource. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the first resource.

[0463] It can be understood that since the first reference signal resource is one of the above-mentioned T reference signal resources, the maximum number of ports M of the corresponding reference signal can be one of M1 to M above, and the supported maximum number of ports K can be one of K1 to K above. T above. Since the reference signal received on the first reference signal resource is mainly used as an example to describe this embodiment in the following, for the convenience of description, the subscripts used to distinguish the reference signal resources in each parameter are omitted, that is, the channel matrix H includes K column vectors, the maximum number of ports of the reference signal corresponding to the first reference signal resource is M, and the supported maximum number of ports is K. T The first reference signal transmitted by the network device through the first resource is a reference signal of m1 ports, and the channel experienced by the first reference signal can be expressed by the formula as follows: H·P

[0464] . That is, the terminal can obtain the channel H' based on the received first reference signal, satisfying: H' = H·P #1 . Where H is the channel matrix, and P #1 is a matrix of dimension K×m1, which can be used to reduce the dimension of the channel matrix from K ports to m1 ports, or in other words, select m1 ports from K ports. m1 is a positive integer less than or equal to M. Multiplying the channel H on the right by P #1 is like achieving port dimension reduction in the spatial domain through precoding. #1

[0465] Optionally, m1 is equal to M. At this time, P #1 satisfies: P #1 = P port , so H·P #1 = H·P port . Where P port is a matrix of dimension K×M, representing the port pattern corresponding to the first reference signal resource, and is used to indicate the index of M ports among K ports.

[0466] Optionally, m1 is less than M. At this time, P #1 satisfies: Therefore Where Indicates the use of on the matrix P port for weighted dimensionality reduction, is a weighted dimensionality reduction matrix obtained based on an extraction rule, with a dimension of M×m1, used to reduce the dimensionality of the first reference signal from M ports to m1 ports, or in other words, select m1 ports from M ports. That is, by right-multiplying P port by the number of ports can be reduced from M to m1.

[0467] Among them, the extraction rule for extracting the channel estimation auxiliary information P + can be, for example, obtaining a maximal linearly independent group of the row vectors of P + or, alternatively, arranging the row vectors of P + in descending order of the 2-norm, and extracting several rows that reach a preset threshold, etc. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0468] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sends fourth information, which is used to indicate the identity of the first reference signal resource among the above T reference signal resources. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the fourth information.

[0469] When T>1, the reference signal resources can be distinguished by different identities. The network device can indicate the identity of the actually used reference signal resource (such as the first reference signal resource) through the fourth information. The terminal can determine the first reference signal resource based on the fourth information, and then receive the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource.

[0470] It can be understood that when T = 1, even if the network device does not indicate the identity of the one reference signal resource, the terminal can determine the first reference signal resource according to the configuration information. Therefore, the network device does not necessarily have to send the fourth information.

[0471] In addition, the network device can also indicate the terminal through a signaling in the case of switching the reference signal resource, and in the case where there is no need to switch the reference signal resource, it can also not indicate additionally through a signaling. For example, if the resource used by the network device for the previous reference signal transmission comes from the first reference signal resource, and the resource required for the next reference signal transmission also comes from the first reference signal resource, in this case, the network device does not have to send the fourth information; or for another example, if the resource used by the network device for the previous reference signal transmission comes from the first reference signal resource, and the resource required for the next reference signal transmission comes from the second reference signal resource, in this case, the network device can indicate the identity of the second reference signal resource through the fourth information. In this way, unnecessary signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0472] In step 1030, the terminal determines first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource.

[0473] As previously mentioned, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource is used to estimate the channel matrix of K ports according to the channel measurement results of M ports. In this embodiment, m1 ports of the first reference signal come from M ports. Therefore, the terminal can determine the channel estimation auxiliary information for obtaining the channel corresponding to the port to be estimated based on the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource.

[0474] In step 1040, the terminal determines first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0475] The terminal can measure the channels of m1 ports according to the first reference signal, and then determine k1 ports according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information, thereby determining the first CSI. The first CSI can be a PMI corresponding to the channels of k1 ports, or can indicate the channel estimation results corresponding to the channels of k1 ports.

[0476] The following will separately describe the specific processes of the terminal executing step 1030 and step 1040 in combination with two cases where m1 is equal to M (case one) and m2 is less than M (case two).

[0477] Case one: m1 is equal to M:

[0478] As previously mentioned, the channels of M ports H·P can be obtained from the first reference signal received by the terminal on the first resource port .

[0479] In step 1030, the terminal can determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource according to the indices of k1 ports of the channel to be estimated among K ports.

[0480] Exemplarily, the terminal can perform column extraction on the reference channel estimation auxiliary information P + according to the indices of the k1 ports among K ports, so as to extract the columns corresponding to the k1 ports from the K columns to form a matrix P + (:,{k1}). P + (:,{k1}) represents a matrix obtained by extracting k1 columns from the K columns of the matrix P + and combining them according to the sorting in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information P + . Its dimension is M×k1. Thus, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained Meet

[0481] To better understand the relationship between the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, Figure 11 The reference channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information are exemplarily shown. As can be seen from the figure, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented as a matrix with dimensions of M (the maximum number of ports of the reference signal) × K (the maximum number of supported ports), which can be used to estimate the channel matrix of K ports based on the channel measurement results of M ports. It can be understood that these M ports are included in the K ports, that is, the channel matrix of the K ports is estimated based on the channel measurement results of some of the K ports. The first channel estimation auxiliary information is a matrix obtained by combining k1 columns extracted from the K columns of the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, the k1 ports are included in the K ports. Also, since the reference signals of the M ports are used to estimate the reference signals of the k1 ports, the M ports are further included in the k1 ports.

[0482] Optionally, the ports of the channel matrix to be estimated by the terminal can be indicated by the network device.

[0483] A possible implementation is that the network device can determine the ports of the channel matrix to be estimated and indicate them to the terminal through the sixth information.

[0484] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sends the sixth information to the terminal, and the sixth information is used to indicate the indexes of the k1 ports in the K ports. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the sixth information from the network device.

[0485] In a possible design, the indexes of the k1 ports in the K ports can be indicated by a bitmap of K bits. For example, in the order of the port numbers of the K ports from small to large, they correspond one by one to the K bits in the bitmap, and the value of each bit is used to indicate whether the corresponding port is selected. As an example, assuming that the value of the bit corresponding to the selected port is set to "1" and the value of the bit corresponding to the unselected port is set to "0", K is 12, and k1 is 4, the bitmap can be expressed as "001111000000". This bitmap can be regarded as an explicit indication of the indexes of the k1 ports in the K ports.

[0486] In another possible design, the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports can also be indicated by the value k1. For example, the network device and the terminal can pre - agree on the rule for selecting the ports of the estimated channel matrix from the K ports. For example, this rule can be to select several ports in ascending order of port numbers. In this case, the network device only needs to indicate the number of ports k1 to be estimated to the terminal, and the terminal can determine the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports. Therefore, this value k1 can also be regarded as an implicit indication of the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0487] It should be understood that the method of indicating the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports by the sixth information is not limited to the two methods listed above, and this application does not limit the specific method of the sixth information indicating the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0488] In step 1040, the terminal determines the channels of the k1 ports based on the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and further determines the first CSI.

[0489] As described above, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is P + (:,{k1}), and the channels of the M ports measured by the terminal based on the first reference signal are H·P port , from which the channels of the k1 ports can be obtained Satisfy:

[0490] The terminal can quantize the channels of the k1 ports through the channel estimation result quantization, and this channel estimation result indicates the channels of the k1 ports. The terminal can also continue to determine the precoding matrix adapted to the channels of the k1 ports, and then quantize this precoding matrix through PMI. Since the two implementation methods of determining the channel estimation result and determining PMI in step 430 of method 400 above have been described, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions above and will not be elaborated here.

[0491] Case 2: m1 is less than M:

[0492] In step 1030, the terminal can determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource according to the indices of the k1 ports of the channel to be estimated among the K ports and the indices of the m1 ports among the M ports.

[0493] Exemplarily, the terminal can, according to the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports, process the reference channel estimation auxiliary information P + ​Perform column extraction to extract the columns corresponding to k1 ports from K columns to form matrix P + (:,{k1}). P + (:,{k1}) represents extracting k1 columns from the K columns of matrix P + and combining them according to the sorting in matrix P + to obtain a matrix with dimensions M×k1.

[0494] The terminal can, based on the indices of m1 ports among M ports, perform row extraction on port pattern P port and combine the extracted row vectors according to the sorting in matrix P port to obtain matrix P sub , with dimensions m1×M. This matrix P sub includes m1 non-zero elements (such as "1"), and the positions (i.e., column numbers) of these m1 non-zero elements among M columns can be determined by the indices of m1 ports among M ports. For example, if the indices of m1 ports among M ports are 1 and 3, then this matrix P sub includes two non-zero elements, located in the first row and first column and the second row and third column respectively.

[0495] The terminal can, based on P sub , obtain matrix This formula represents using P sub to perform row extraction on P + (:,{k1}), and the resulting matrix after extraction has dimensions m1×k1. Matrix is also a matrix obtained by extracting m1 row vectors from the M row vectors of matrix P + (:,{k1}) and combining them according to the sorting of these m1 row vectors in matrix P + (:,{k1}). It can be understood that the column numbers where the m1 non-zero elements in matrix P sub are located are also the row numbers of the m1 row vectors in matrix in matrix P + (:,{k1}).

[0496] Thus, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained satisfies:

[0497] To better understand the relationship between the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, Figure 12Exemplarily, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information are shown. As can be seen from the figure, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented as a matrix with dimensions of M (the maximum number of ports of the reference signal) × K (the maximum number of supported ports), and can be used to estimate the channel matrix of K ports based on the channel measurement results of M ports. It can be understood that these M ports are included in the K ports, that is, the channel matrix of the K ports is estimated based on the channel measurement results of some of the K ports. The first channel estimation auxiliary information is k1 columns and m1 rows extracted from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, that is, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is obtained by column extraction and then row extraction. Since the k1 columns are extracted from the K columns, the k1 ports are included in the K ports, the m1 rows are extracted from the M rows, so the m1 ports are included in the M ports, and because the M ports are included in the K ports, the m1 ports are also included in the K ports. Also, since the reference signals of the m1 ports are used to estimate the reference signals of the k1 ports, the m1 ports are further included in the k1 ports.

[0498] Among them, the determination of the indexes of the k1 ports in the K ports can be obtained with reference to the description in Case 1 and will not be elaborated here. Similarly, the indexes of the m1 ports in the M ports can be indicated by the network device or determined by the terminal itself.

[0499] A possible implementation is that the network device sends the fifth information to the terminal, and the fifth information is used to indicate the indexes of the m1 ports in the M ports. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the fifth information from the network device.

[0500] That is to say, the network device can determine m1 relatively important ports from the M ports to send reference signals, and indicate these m1 ports to the terminal. The network device can determine m1 relatively important ports from the M ports based on a predefined extraction rule, and indicate the indexes of these m1 ports in the M ports to the terminal. A possible way for the network device to indicate the indexes of the m1 ports in the M ports to the terminal is to indicate the matrix P sub to the terminal. Regarding the description of the matrix P sub , reference can be made to the above description of determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information and will not be elaborated here.

[0501] It should be understood that the specific process for the network device to determine m1 ports from the M ports has been described in detail in step 1020 above. Reference can be made to the relevant description above and will not be elaborated here.

[0502] In another possible implementation, the network device sends fifth information to the terminal, and the fifth information is used to indicate the extraction rule for extracting m1 ports from M ports. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the fifth information from the network device.

[0503] That is to say, the network device can also hand over the extraction task to the terminal for execution. The network device can indicate to the terminal the specific extraction rule based on which to perform the extraction. The extraction rule can be, for example, to extract the rows that reach a preset threshold by arranging the 2-norms of the matrix row vectors from largest to smallest, or to extract according to the maximal linearly independent group of the matrix row vectors, or it can also be other rules, which are not limited in this application.

[0504] Exemplarily, the terminal can obtain matrix P based on the extraction rule indicated by the network device sub . For example, the extraction rule is to extract according to the maximal linearly independent group of the row vectors of matrix P + (:,{k1}). The terminal can calculate the maximal linearly independent group according to the row vectors of P + (:,{k1}) to obtain matrix P sub .

[0505] Matrix P sub has m1 non-zero elements, and the column numbers where the m1 non-zero elements are located are the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports.

[0506] It should be understood that the extraction rules exemplified above are only examples. For example, the extraction rule can also be to arrange the 2-norms of the row vectors of matrix P + (:,{k1}) from largest to smallest and extract several rows that reach a preset threshold. This application includes but is not limited to this.

[0507] It should also be understood that the extraction rule for the terminal to extract m1 row vectors from M row vectors should be the same as the extraction rule for the network device to extract m1 ports from M ports. For example, both can be to obtain the maximal linearly independent group, or both can be to extract in the order of the 2-norms of the vectors from largest to smallest.

[0508] It is not difficult to see that the fifth information can be used to explicitly or implicitly indicate the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports.

[0509] In step 1040, the terminal determines the channels of k1 ports based on the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and further determines the first CSI.

[0510] As described above, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is The channels of the M ports measured by the terminal according to the first reference signal are Thus, the channels of k1 ports can be obtained. Satisfy: Substitute into It can be obtained that Satisfy:

[0511]

[0512] For easy understanding, Figure 13 A schematic diagram showing the relationship between the channel measurement results of m1 ports measured by the terminal and the channel matrix of k1 ports estimated is shown. As Figure 13 shown, the channels of the m1 ports measured by the terminal based on the reference signals of the m1 ports are According to the first channel estimation auxiliary information P sub ·P + (:,{k1}), the channels of k1 ports can be estimated

[0513] The terminal can quantize the channels of the k1 ports through the channel estimation results, and the channel estimation results indicate the channels of the k1 ports. The terminal can also continue to determine the precoding matrix adapted thereto based on the channels of the k1 ports, and then quantize the precoding matrix through PMI. Since the two implementation methods of determining the channel estimation results and determining PMI have been described in step 430 of method 400 above, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions above and will not be elaborated here.

[0514] Based on the above scheme, the terminal is pre-configured with a first reference reference signal resource, and the first reference reference signal resource can estimate the channels of up to K (K≥M) ports through the reference signals of at most M ports; the network device can select some or all of the ports from the M ports to transmit reference signals according to requirements to estimate the channels of some or all of the K ports. In this way, the network device can flexibly select the reference signals of any number of ports within M ports based on the reference signal resource and service requirements for channel estimation to estimate the channels of any number of ports within K ports, so as to support flexible changes in the number of ports in the scenario of dynamic RF channel shutdown. Moreover, the network device does not have to configure the transmission resources of the reference signals for the terminal every time it sends the reference signals, such as including the time-frequency pattern of the resources, the port pattern, and the channel estimation auxiliary information, etc., thus reducing the signaling overhead caused by resource configuration.

[0515] In addition, the terminal can be pre-configured with multiple reference signal resources including a first reference signal resource. The maximum number of ports of the reference signals transmitted by different reference signal resources is different, and / or the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation by different reference signal resources is different. The network device can select an appropriate reference signal resource to transmit the reference signal according to the requirements. For example, in the case where the number of ports to be estimated is small, a reference signal resource with a smaller maximum number of ports supported can be selected; in the case where the number of ports to be estimated is small but a higher estimation accuracy is required, a reference signal resource with a smaller maximum number of ports supported and a larger number of ports of the reference signal transmitted can be selected; and so on, which will not be enumerated here. It can be seen that the network device can flexibly select a reference signal resource to transmit the reference signal according to the requirements, so as to obtain a higher resource utilization rate.

[0516] In step 1050, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0517] The specific implementation of step 1050 in the RAN with CU, DU, and RU deployed and in ORAN is similar to step 440 in method 400 above. For details, please refer to the relevant description above and will not be elaborated here.

[0518] For the specific process of step 1050, please refer to the relevant description of step 440 in method 400 above and will not be elaborated here.

[0519] One channel estimation can be completed by performing the above steps 1020 to 1050.

[0520] It should be understood that the T reference signal resources configured by the network device in step 1010 can be used for one or multiple channel estimations. Therefore, multiple channel estimations can be completed by repeatedly performing steps 1020 to 1050. To better understand this embodiment, the process of the next channel estimation will be described below through steps 1060 to 1090. It can be understood that the process of steps 1060 to 1090 is similar to the process of steps 1020 to 1050.

[0521] In step 1060, the network device sends a second reference signal on a second resource. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the second reference signal on the second resource.

[0522] The specific implementation of step 1060 in the RAN with CU, DU, and RU deployed and in ORAN is similar to step 410 in method 400 above. For details, please refer to the relevant description above and will not be elaborated here.

[0523] The second resource may be a resource from the first reference signal resource. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the second resource can be used to transmit reference signals for m2 ports. In other words, the second reference signal is a reference signal for m2 ports. A possible design is that the m2 ports are from m1 ports, where m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1. In other words, the reference signal for the m2 ports is the reference signal corresponding to some or all of the above m1 ports. Or rather, the reference signal for the m2 ports is a multiplexing of the reference signals for some or all of the ports in the reference signal for the above m1 ports. Since m1 is less than or equal to M, m2 is also less than or equal to M. The reference signal for the m2 ports is the reference signal for some or all of the ports in the M reference signals.

[0524] Of course, the network device may also not multiplex the above m1 ports, but instead re-select m2 ports from the M ports to transmit the second reference signal. This application does not limit this. In this case, the terminal can perform operations according to the above steps 1030 to 1050, which will not be elaborated here. The following mainly discusses the case where the m2 ports are from the m1 ports.

[0525] In step 1070, the terminal determines second channel estimation auxiliary information according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0526] Similar to the first channel estimation auxiliary information, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to estimate the channels of k2 ports based on the channel estimation of m2 ports. In this embodiment, the k2 ports are from k1 ports, the m2 ports are from k2 ports, and k2 is a positive integer less than or equal to k1 and greater than or equal to m2. Since the m2 ports are from m1 ports and the k2 ports are from k1 ports, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be determined from the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0527] In summary, the following relationships can be obtained: m2 ≤ m1, k2 ≤ k1, and k2 ≥ m2. It is not difficult to see that there is also a nested relationship between the m2 ports and the m1 ports, and between the k2 ports and the k1 ports. This nested relationship can be extended to the relationship between the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained from the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0528] The following still elaborates in combination with two cases: m2 equals m1 (Case A) and m2 is less than m1 (Case B).

[0529] Case A: m2 equals m1:

[0530] If m2 is equal to m1, that is, the network device re-uses the m1 ports used in the previous time to transmit the second reference signal. In other words, the first resource and the second resource are the same resource. In this case, the k2 ports can be part or all of the k1 ports. If the k2 ports are all of the k1 ports, the second channel estimation auxiliary information is the same as the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be directly determined as the second channel estimation auxiliary information. If the k2 ports are part of the k1 ports, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained by extracting k2 columns from the k1 columns of the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the indices of the k2 ports in the k1 ports, and combining them according to the sorting in the first channel estimation auxiliary information of the k1 columns, and obtaining a matrix in accordance with the sorting combination satisfying whose dimension is M×k2. This matrix is the second channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0531] Case B: m2 is less than m1:

[0532] If m2 is less than m1, that is, the network device re-uses a part of the m1 ports used in the previous time to transmit the second reference signal. In other words, the second resource is a partial resource of the first resource. In this case, the k2 ports can be part or all of the k1 ports.

[0533] The terminal can determine the second channel estimation auxiliary information from the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the indices of the m2 ports in the m1 ports and the indices of the k2 ports in the k1 ports.

[0534] Exemplarily, the terminal can perform column extraction on the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the indices of the k2 ports in the k1 ports, so as to extract the columns corresponding to the k2 ports from the k1 columns to form a matrix (P sub ·P + (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}). (P sub ·P + (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}) represents a matrix obtained by extracting k2 columns from the k1 columns of the first channel estimation auxiliary information and combining them according to the sorting in the matrix and its dimension is m1×k2. The terminal can obtain a matrix P

[0535] according to the indices of the m2 ports in the m1 ports, and its dimension is m2×m1. The terminal obtains the matrix P from the indices of the m2 ports in the m1 ports sub,A→B ​sub,A→B The process is similar to the previous step 1030 in which the matrix P is obtained by the index of the m1 port in the M ports. sub The process is similar, please refer to the relevant instructions above and I will not go into details here.

[0536] The terminal can be based on P sub,A→B Get the matrix This formula represents the use of P sub,A→B Yes (P sub ·P + (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}) performs row extraction, and the matrix obtained after extraction Its dimensions are m2×k2. That is, from the matrix (P sub ·P + (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}) extracts m2 row vectors from the m1 row vectors and adds the m2 row vectors to the matrix (P sub ·P + The matrix obtained by sorting and combining (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}).

[0537] Thus, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained satisfy

[0538] The process of the terminal determining the second channel estimation auxiliary information from the first channel estimation auxiliary information is similar to the process of the terminal determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information in step 1030. For more specific details, please refer to the relevant description in the previous step 1030, which will not be repeated here.

[0539] Among them, the index of m2 ports in m1 ports and the index of k2 ports in k1 port can be indicated by the network device through signaling, or can be determined by the terminal itself according to the extraction rules indicated by the network device. For details, please refer to the relevant instructions in the above text combined with the fifth information and the sixth information, which will not be repeated here.

[0540] Moreover, since there is a nested relationship between the m1 ports and the M ports, and between the k1 ports and the K ports, there is also a nested relationship between the m2 ports and the M ports, and between the k2 ports and the K ports. This nested relationship can be extended to the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can also be obtained from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. The terminal can determine the second channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information according to the indices of the k2 ports among the K ports and the indices of the m2 ports among the M ports. The specific process is similar to the process of determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. For the sake of brevity, it will not be elaborated here.

[0541] In step 1080, the terminal determines a second CSI according to the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information. This second CSI is used to determine the precoding matrix corresponding to the channels of the k2 ports.

[0542] Similar to the first CSI, this second CSI can be a channel estimation result indicating the channels of the k2 ports, or a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k2 ports.

[0543] The process by which the terminal determines the second CSI according to the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information is similar to the process in step 1040 by which the terminal determines the first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Refer to the relevant description in step 1040 above and it will not be elaborated again.

[0544] For ease of understanding, Figure 14 a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the channel matrix of the m2 ports measured by the terminal and the channel matrix of the k2 ports estimated is shown. As Figure 14 shown, the channels of the m2 ports measured by the terminal based on the reference signals of the m2 ports are According to the second channel estimation auxiliary information P sub,A→B ·(P sub ·P + (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}), the channels of the k2 ports can be estimated

[0545] The process by which the terminal determines the second CSI is similar to the process in step 1040 by which the terminal determines the first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Refer to the descriptions of step 1040 in combination with case one and case two above and it will not be elaborated again.

[0546] In 1090, the terminal sends the second CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the second CSI from the terminal.

[0547] The specific process of step 1090, and the specific implementation of step 1090 in the RAN with CU, DU, and RU deployed and in the ORAN are similar to step 440 in method 400 above. For details, refer to the relevant description above and will not be elaborated here.

[0548] Thus, another channel estimation is completed.

[0549] Since in these two channel estimations, the network device uses the resources in the same benchmark reference signal resource to transmit the reference signal, and since the mapping relationship between the ports and time-frequency resources of the reference signal transmitted each time remains unchanged, the network device does not need to indicate the transmission resources of the reference signal for each channel estimation. That is, the network device can use the resources in the same benchmark reference signal resource to perform multiple channel estimations without indicating the transmission resources for the reference signal transmitted each time, which can save signaling overhead. Moreover, since the ports of the reference signal transmitted in the latter time are a subset of the ports of the reference signal transmitted in the previous time, the terminal can use the previous channel estimation as a reference for the next channel estimation. For example, the terminal can use the first channel estimation auxiliary information determined in the previous channel estimation process to determine the second channel estimation auxiliary information. This reduces the computational complexity and improves the execution efficiency compared with directly determining the second channel estimation auxiliary information from the benchmark channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0550] It should be noted that the first channel estimation auxiliary information is used to determine the first CSI, and the second channel estimation auxiliary information is used to determine the second CSI. Therefore, in some implementation manners, the steps of determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information and determining the first CSI (such as steps 420 and 430 in method 400, steps 540 and 550 in method 500, steps 830 and 840 in method 800, steps 1030 and 1040 in method 1000) can all be regarded as the process of determining the first CSI, and the steps of determining the second channel estimation auxiliary information and determining the second CSI (such as steps 1070 and 1080 in method 1000) can also be regarded as the process of determining the second CSI. In this article, for the convenience of understanding and explanation, the determination of the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the determination of the first CSI, as well as the determination of the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the determination of the second CSI, are described separately. Similarly, steps 950 and 960 in method 900 can also be regarded as the process of the network device determining the channels of k1 ports, or can also be regarded as part of the process of the network device determining the precoding matrix. In this article, for the convenience of understanding and explanation, steps 950 and 960 are described separately.

[0551] Above, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application has been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Next, the device provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0552] Figures 15 to 18 Schematic block diagrams of possible communication devices provided for embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or network device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device can be, for example, as Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 8 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 shown in the method embodiments of the terminal or network device, or can be a component (such as a chip, chip system, processor, etc.) configured in the terminal or network device, or can also be a logical module or software capable of implementing part or all of the functions of the terminal or network device.

[0553] A communication device provided in this application is as Figure 15 shown. The communication device 1500 includes a transceiver unit 1510 and a processing unit 1520.

[0554] In a possible design, the device 1500 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the above Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 8 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 shown method embodiments.

[0555] Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1510 is used to receive a first reference signal on a first resource, where the first resource comes from a first reference signal resource for transmitting reference signals of at most M ports, and the reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of at most K ports. The first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, and the m1 ports are from the M ports, where m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, M, and K are positive integers. The processing unit 1520 is used to determine a first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the first CSI corresponds to the channel of k1 ports. The first channel estimation auxiliary information is determined according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource, where the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channel of the K ports according to the channel measurement results of the M ports, and the first channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channel of k1 ports according to the channel measurement results of the m1 ports, where the k1 ports are from the K ports and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K. The transceiver unit 1510 is further used to send the first CSI.

[0556] Optionally, the first reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, where K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units, and R is a positive integer.

[0557] Optionally, the first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units, where S is a positive integer less than or equal to R; and the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

[0558] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the R reference signal resource units: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports for channel estimation supported, or channel estimation auxiliary information; where the r-th reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is used to transmit a reference signal of L r ports, and the reference signal of the L r ports supports channel estimation of N r ports, where N r is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the r-th reference signal resource unit, L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M, N r is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r , and r is a positive integer from 1 to R; the resource pattern of the r-th reference signal resource unit indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signal of each of the L r ports and time-frequency resources, the port pattern of the r-th reference signal resource unit indicates the index of the L r ports among the N r ports, and the channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource unit is used to estimate the channel of the N r ports according to the channel measurement results of the L r ports, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resources respectively.

[0559] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

[0560] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further used to receive indication information of each reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units, where the indication information of the sth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following of the sth reference signal resource unit: a resource pattern, a number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or a splicing identifier; wherein the S reference signal resource units are from the R reference signal resource units, and the rth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units s Reference signal resource units are used to transmit The reference signal of the port Reference signal support for ports The channel estimation of the ports is For this r s The number of ports for channel estimation supported by the reference signal resource unit, is a positive integer less than or equal to M, is less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to A positive integer, r s represents the identifier of the sth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units; the rth s The resource pattern of the reference signal resource unit indicates the The mapping relationship between the reference signal and the time-frequency resource of each port in the rth port s The port pattern of the reference signal resource unit indicates the The port in this The index of the port s The channel estimation auxiliary information of the reference signal resource unit is used to The channel measurement results of the ports estimate the The reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resource units respectively, and the S reference signal resource units have the same splicing identifier to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signal transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

[0561] Optionally, the first CSI includes a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate the channel estimation result corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports; the first channel estimation assistance information includes the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively in the reference channel estimation assistance information; the processing unit 1520 is further configured to perform channel estimation according to the first reference signal received on each of the S reference signal resource units and the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the reference channel estimation assistance information, to obtain the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; the processing unit 1520 is further configured to obtain the channels of the k1 ports based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; the processing unit 1520 is further configured to determine the first CSI according to the channels of the k1 ports.

[0562] Optionally, the k1 ports include at least one reference port, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to each reference port in the at least one reference port are included in at least two of the S reference signal resource units; the processing unit 1520 is further configured to take each reference port in the at least one reference port as a reference, and splice the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively according to the splicing rule.

[0563] Optionally, the at least one reference port is determined according to a first rule, the first rule is predefined by the protocol or is indicated by the network device; or the at least one reference port is indicated by the network device.

[0564] Optionally, the splicing rule includes: splicing the channels corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units horizontally from left to right in ascending order of the identifiers corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units.

[0565] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive the first reference signal on the first reference reference signal resource.

[0566] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive third information, where the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following items for each of the T reference reference signal resources: resource pattern, maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation assistance information; where the t-th reference reference signal resource in the T reference reference signal resources is used to transmit reference signals of at most M t ports, and the reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference reference signal resource support channel estimation of a maximum of K t ports, K t is the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation by the t-th reference reference signal resource, and M tis a positive integer less than or equal to M, K t is a positive integer greater than or equal to M t of positive integers, t is a positive integer from 1 to T; the resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the M t ports and time-frequency resources, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference signal resource is used to estimate the channels of the K t ports based on the channel measurement results of the M t ports.

[0567] Optionally, T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference signal resources satisfy: the maximum number of ports for the reference signals for transmission is different, and / or, the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

[0568] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate an identifier of the first reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources.

[0569] Optionally, the first CSI is a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is a channel estimation result indicating the channels of the k1 ports; m1 is equal to M, k1 is less than K, and the processing unit 1520 is further configured to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource according to the indexes of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0570] Optionally, the first CSI is a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is a channel estimation result indicating the channels of the k1 ports, m1 is less than M, k1 is less than K; and the processing unit 1520 is further configured to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource based on the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports and the indexes of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0571] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports, or the extraction rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

[0572] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate the indexes of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0573] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource is from the first reference signal resource, and the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, and the m2 ports are from m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; the processing unit 1520 is further configured to determine second channel estimation auxiliary information according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of k2 ports according to the channel measurement results of the m2 ports, and the k2 ports are from k1 ports, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1; the processing unit 1520 is further configured to determine a second CSI according to the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second CSI corresponds to the channels of the k2 ports; the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send the second CSI.

[0574] For a more detailed description of the above transceiver unit 1510 and processing unit 1520, reference can be directly made to Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 9 or Figure 10 the relevant descriptions in the embodiments shown, which will not be elaborated here.

[0575] Another possible design is that the device 1500 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown above Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 9 or Figure 10 shown.

[0576] Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1510 is configured to send a first reference signal on a first resource, where the first resource is from a first reference signal resource, and the first reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units for transmitting reference signals of M ports, and the reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of K ports, where K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by each of the R reference signal resource units, and greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units; the first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, and the m1 ports are from the M ports, m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, R, M, and K are positive integers; the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive a first CSI, where the first CSI corresponds to the channels of k1 ports, and the k1 ports are from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K.

[0577] Optionally, the first reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units, and R is a positive integer.

[0578] Optionally, the first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units, S is a positive integer less than or equal to R; and the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

[0579] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send first information, where the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the R reference signal resource units: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports for channel estimation supported, or channel estimation assistance information; where the r-th reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is used to transmit a reference signal for L r ports, the reference signal for the L r ports supports channel estimation for N r ports, N r is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the r-th reference signal resource unit, L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M, N r is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r , r is a positive integer from 1 to R; the resource pattern of the r-th reference signal resource unit indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signal of each of the L r ports and time-frequency resources, the port pattern of the r-th reference signal resource unit indicates the index of the L r ports among the N r ports, the channel estimation assistance information of the r-th reference signal resource unit is used to estimate the channel of the N r ports according to the channel measurement results of the L r ports, and the reference channel estimation assistance information is determined by the channel estimation assistance information respectively corresponding to the R reference signal resources.

[0580] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

[0581] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send indication information of each of the S reference signal resource units, and the indication information of the s-th reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following items of the s-th reference signal resource unit: resource pattern, number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or identifier of the first reference signal resource; wherein, the S reference signal resource units are from the R reference signal resource units, and the r-th s reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units is used to transmit reference signals of ports, and the reference signals of ports support channel estimation of ports, is the number of ports of the channel estimation supported by the r-th s reference signal resource unit, is a positive integer less than or equal to M, is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to , r s represents the identifier of the s-th reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units; the resource pattern of the r-th s reference signal resource unit indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each port and time-frequency resources among the ports, the port pattern of the r-th s reference signal resource unit indicates the index of the ports among the ports, the channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th s reference signal resource unit is used to estimate the channel of the ports according to the channel measurement results of the pair of ports, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information respectively corresponding to the R reference signal resource units. The S reference signal resource units have the same splicing identifier to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signals transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

[0582] Optionally, the first CSI includes a PMI corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate a channel estimation result corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports; the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes the channel estimation auxiliary information respectively corresponding to the S reference signal resource units in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, and the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information are used to determine the first CSI.

[0583] Optionally, the k1 ports include at least one reference port. For each reference port among the at least one reference port, the time-frequency resource corresponding thereto is included in at least two of the S reference signal resource units. The S reference signal resource units are used to splice the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively based on each reference port among the at least one reference port according to the splicing rule, so as to obtain the channels of the k1 ports.

[0584] Optionally, the at least one reference port is determined according to a first rule, where the first rule is predefined by the protocol or indicated by a network device; or the at least one reference port is indicated by the network device.

[0585] Optionally, the splicing rule includes: splicing the channels corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units horizontally from left to right in ascending order of the identifiers corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units.

[0586] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send the first reference signal on the first reference signal resource of the reference.

[0587] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send third information, where the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following items for each of the T reference signal resources of the reference: resource pattern, maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information;

[0588] Wherein, the t-th reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources of the reference is used to transmit reference signals of at most M t ports. The reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource of the reference support channel estimation of a maximum of K t ports. K t is the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation of the t-th reference signal resource of the reference. M t is a positive integer less than or equal to M. K t is a positive integer greater than or equal to M t and t is a positive integer from 1 to T. The resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource of the reference indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each port among the M t ports and the time-frequency resources. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference signal resource of the reference is used to estimate the channels of the K t ports according to the channel measurement results of the M t ports.

[0589] Optionally, T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference signal resources satisfy: the maximum number of ports for transmitting the reference signal is different, and / or the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

[0590] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send a fourth piece of information, where the fourth piece of information is used to indicate an identifier of the first reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources.

[0591] Optionally, the first CSI is a PMI corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is a channel estimation result indicating the channel of the k1 ports; m1 is less than or equal to M, k1 is less than K, and the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference signal resource is used to determine the first channel estimation assistance information.

[0592] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send a fifth piece of information, where the fifth piece of information is used to indicate an index of the m1 ports among the M ports, or a rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

[0593] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send a sixth piece of information, where the sixth piece of information is used to indicate an index of the k1 ports among the K ports.

[0594] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource is from the first reference signal resource, the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, the m2 ports are from the m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive the second CSI, where the second CSI corresponds to the channel of k2 ports, the k2 ports are from the k1 ports, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1.

[0595] For a more detailed description of the above transceiver unit 1510 and processing unit 1520, reference can be directly made to Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 9 or Figure 10 the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown, which will not be elaborated here.

[0596] In another possible design, the apparatus 1500 is configured to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown in the above Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 9 or Figure 10 .

[0597] Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1510 is configured to transmit a first reference signal on a first reference signal resource, where the first reference signal resource is used to transmit reference signals of at most M ports, and the reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of at most K ports; the first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, and the m1 ports are from the M ports, where m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, M, and K are positive integers; the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive first channel state information CSI, where the first CSI corresponds to the channels of k1 ports, and the k1 ports are from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K.

[0598] It should be noted that the transceiver unit may also be referred to as a transceiver module, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a transceiver device, etc. The processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, a processing board, a processing module, or a processing device, etc. Optionally, the transceiver unit is configured to perform the sending operation and the receiving operation of the terminal or the network device in the foregoing method. The devices used to implement the receiving function in the communication module may be regarded as the receiving unit, and the devices used to implement the sending function in the communication module may be regarded as the sending unit. That is, the transceiver unit includes a receiving unit and a sending unit.

[0599] It should also be noted that in a possible design, the foregoing transceiver unit and / or processing unit may be implemented by a virtual module. For example, the processing unit may be implemented by a software functional unit or a virtual device, and the transceiver unit may be implemented by a software function or a virtual device. In another possible design, the processing unit or the transceiver unit may also be implemented by a physical device. For example, if the device is implemented by a chip / chip circuit, the transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface, performing an input operation (corresponding to the foregoing receiving operation) and an output operation (corresponding to the foregoing sending operation); the processing unit is an integrated processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit.

[0600] The division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. In addition, in each example of the embodiments of the present application, each functional module may be integrated in a processor, or may exist separately physically, or two or more modules may be integrated in one module. The foregoing integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules.

[0601] Another communication device provided by the present application is as Figure 16 shown. The communication device 1600 includes a processor 1610. The processor 1210 may be configured to execute computer programs or instructions in a memory to implement Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 9 orFigure 10 Steps executed by the terminal or steps executed by the network device in the illustrated method embodiments.

[0602] Optionally, the device 1600 further includes a communication interface 1630. The processor 1610 and the communication interface 1630 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the communication interface 1630 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the device 1600 further includes an antenna 1640, and the communication interface 1630 can implement the transceiver function of the communication device 1600 through the antenna 1640.

[0603] Optionally, the communication device 1600 may further include a memory 1620, which is used to store instructions executed by the processor 1610 or input data required for the processor 1610 to run instructions or data generated after the processor 1610 runs instructions.

[0604] When the communication device 1600 is used to implement Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 8 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 the illustrated method, the processor 1610 is used to execute the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit, and the communication interface 1630 is used to execute the functions of the above-mentioned transceiver unit. Whether the communication interface 1630 and the antenna 1640 are used for sending or receiving specifically depends on whether the communication device 1600 executes a sending action or a receiving action in the implemented solution.

[0605] When the above-mentioned communication device 1600 is a chip applied to a terminal, the chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above-mentioned method embodiments. The chip of the terminal receives a signal from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, and this signal can be sent by the network device to the terminal; or, the chip of the terminal sends a signal to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, and this signal can be sent by the terminal to the network device.

[0606] When the above-mentioned communication device 1600 is a chip applied to a network device, the chip implements the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. The chip of the network device receives a signal from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and this signal can be sent by the terminal to the network device; or, the chip of the network device sends a signal to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and this signal can be sent by the network device to the terminal.

[0607] It can be understood that when the communication device 1600 is a terminal or a network device, the communication interface 1630 can be a transceiver, which can specifically include a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter is used to send signals, and the receiver is used to receive signals. When the communication device 1600 is a chip applied to a terminal or a network device, the communication interface 1630 can be an input / output circuit, a bus, a module, a pin, or other types of communication interfaces. Among them, the input circuit in the input / output circuit can be used for receiving, and the output interface can be used for sending.

[0608] It should be understood that Figure 16 In the communication device 1600 shown, the processor 1610 can correspond to the processing unit 1520 in the communication device 1500 above, and the communication interface 1630 and the antenna 1640 can correspond to the transceiver unit 1510 in the communication device 1500 above.

[0609] It should also be understood that the coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information interaction between devices, units, or modules. The processor 1610 may cooperate with the memory 1620, the communication interface 1630, and the antenna 1640. In the embodiments of the present application, the specific connection media between the above-mentioned processor 1610 and the communication interface 1630, the memory 1620, and between the communication interface 1630 and the antenna 1640 are not limited.

[0610] Optionally, the processor 1610, the communication interface 1630, and the memory 1620 are interconnected with each other through a bus. The bus can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc.

[0611] Figure 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 17 shown, the terminal 1700 can be applied to such as Figure 1In the system shown, the functions of the terminal in the foregoing method embodiments are performed. As shown in the figure, the terminal 1700 includes a processor 1701 and a transceiver 1702. Optionally, the terminal 1700 further includes a memory 1703. Among them, the processor 1701, the transceiver 1702, and the memory 1703 can communicate with each other through an internal connection path to transmit control and / or data signals. The memory 1703 is used to store a computer program, and the processor 1701 is used to call and run the computer program from the memory 1703 to control the transceiver 1702 to transmit and receive signals. Optionally, the terminal 1700 may further include an antenna 1704, which is used to transmit the uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 1702 through a wireless signal.

[0612] The foregoing processor 1701 and the memory 1703 may be integrated into a processing device. The processor 1701 is used to execute the program code stored in the memory 1703 to implement the foregoing functions. Specifically, the memory 1703 may also be integrated in the processor 1701 or independent of the processor 1701. The processor 1701 may correspond to Figure 11 the processing unit in or Figure 12 the processor in.

[0613] The foregoing transceiver 1702 may correspond to Figure 11 the transceiver unit in or Figure 12 the communication interface in, and may also be referred to as a transceiver unit. The transceiver 1702 may include a receiver (or a receiver, a receiving circuit) and a transmitter (or a transmitter, a transmitting circuit). Among them, the receiver is used to receive signals, and the transmitter is used to transmit signals.

[0614] It should be understood that Figure 17 the terminal 1700 shown is capable of implementing Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 8 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 each process related to the terminal in the method embodiments shown. The operations and / or functions of each module in the terminal 1700 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments. Specifically, reference may be made to the description in the foregoing method embodiments. To avoid repetition, the detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

[0615] The foregoing processor 1701 may be used to perform the actions implemented inside the terminal described in the foregoing method embodiments, and the transceiver 1702 may be used to perform the actions of the terminal sending to or receiving from the network device described in the foregoing method embodiments. For specific details, please refer to the description in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0616] Optionally, the above terminal 1700 may further include a power supply 1705 for supplying power to various devices or circuits in the terminal. In the embodiment of the present application, a rectifier may be connected between the power supply 1705 and the antenna 1704. After the electromagnetic wave signal is received by the antenna 1704 and converted into an alternating current signal, it can be further converted into a direct current signal through the rectifier and then output to the power supply 1705.

[0617] In addition, to make the functions of the terminal more complete, the terminal 1700 may further include one or more of an input unit 1706, a display unit 1707, an audio circuit 1708, a camera 1709, and a sensor 1710, etc. The audio circuit may further include a speaker 1708a, a microphone 1708b, etc.

[0618] Figure 18 It is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided by an example of the present application, which may be, for example, a schematic structural diagram of a base station. Figure 18 The shown base station 1800 can be applied to, for example, Figure 1 The shown system, and execute the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. As shown in the figure, the base station 1800 may include one or more of the following: one or more (DU+RU) 1810, one or more CUs 1820. The CU 1820 can communicate with the next generation core network (NG core). The DU may include at least one antenna 1811, at least one radio frequency unit 1812, at least one processor 1813, and at least one memory 1818. The DU part is mainly used for the transceiver of radio frequency signals and the conversion between radio frequency signals and baseband signals, as well as partial baseband processing. The CU 1820 may include at least one processor 1822 and at least one memory 1821. Communication can be carried out between the CU 1820 and the DU through an interface. Among them, the control plane (CP) interface can be Fs-C, such as F1-C, and the user plane (UP) interface can be Fs-U, such as F1-U. The DU and the RU can cooperate to jointly implement the functions of the physical (PHY) layer. One DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of the DU and the RU can be configured in various ways according to the design. For example, the DU is configured to implement baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement medium radio frequency functions. For another example, the DU is configured to implement the high-layer functions in the PHY layer, and the RU is configured to implement the low-layer functions and radio frequency functions in the PHY layer. The high-layer functions in the PHY layer may include a part of the functions of the PHY layer, and this part of the functions is closer to the MAC layer. The low-layer functions in the PHY layer may include another part of the functions of the PHY layer, and this part of the functions is closer to the medium radio frequency side.

[0619] The CU 1820 is mainly used for baseband processing and controlling the base station, etc. The DU and the CU 1820 can be physically set together or physically separated, that is, a distributed base station. The CU 1820 is the control center of the base station and can correspond to Figure 11 the processing unit in Figure 12 or the processor in

[0620] and can also be called a processing unit, which is mainly used to complete the baseband processing function. For example, the CU 1820 can be used to control the base station to execute the operation process of the access network device in the above method embodiments.

[0621] Specifically, the baseband processing on the CU and the DU can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network. For example, the functions of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and above protocol layers are set on the CU, and the protocol layers below PDCP, such as the RLC layer and the MAC layer, etc., are set on the DU. Another example is that the CU implements the functions of the RRC layer and the PDCP layer, and the DU implements the functions of the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer.

[0622] In addition, optionally, the base station 1800 may include one or more radio frequency units (RUs), one or more DUs, and one or more CUs. Among them, the DU may include at least one processor 1813 and at least one memory 1818, the RU may include at least one antenna 1811 and at least one radio frequency unit 1812, and the CU may include at least one processor 1822 and at least one memory 1821.

[0623] It should be understood thatFigure 18 The base station 1800 shown can implement Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 8 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 each process involving a network device in the method embodiments shown. The operations and / or functions of each module in the base station 1800 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments. To avoid repetition, the detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted here.

[0624] The above BBU 1820 can be used to execute the actions implemented inside the network device described in the previous method embodiments, while the RRU 1810 can be used to execute the actions of the network device sending to or receiving from the terminal described in the previous method embodiments. For details, refer to the descriptions in the previous method embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0625] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0626] The memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include but not be limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0627] The present application also provides a communication system, which includes the aforementioned network device and terminal.

[0628] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instruction). When the computer program is run, it causes the computer to execute the method executed by the terminal or the method executed by the network device in the embodiments shown in Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 8 , Figure 9 or Figure 10 .

[0629] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instruction). When the computer program is run, it causes the computer to execute the method executed by the terminal or the method executed by the network device in the embodiments shown in Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 8 , Figure 9 or Figure 10The method executed by the terminal or the method executed by the network device in the illustrated embodiments.

[0630] As used in this specification, terms such as "unit" and "module" can be used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, combinations of hardware and software, software, or software in execution.

[0631] Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in either electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functions in different ways for each particular application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application. In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus, device, and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the unit is only a logical functional division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the couplings or direct couplings or communication connections shown or discussed with each other can be through some interfaces, and the indirect couplings or communication connections of the devices or units can be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0632] The unit described as a separate component may or may not be physically separated, and the component shown as a unit may or may not be a physical unit, that is, it may be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0633] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0634] In the above embodiments, the functions of each functional unit 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 instructions (programs). When the computer program instructions (programs) are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). 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 that includes one or more integrated available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (for example, solid-state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0635] If this function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a part of this technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods in the various embodiments of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: various media such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical discs that can store program codes.

[0636] As described above, the above are only the specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present application, and all of them should be covered by the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Comprising: Receiving a first reference signal on a first resource, where the first resource is from a first reference signal resource for transmitting reference signals of up to M ports, and the reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of up to K ports. The first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, where the m1 ports are from the M ports, m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, M, and K are positive integers; Determining first channel state information CSI according to the first reference signal and first channel estimation assistance information, where the first CSI corresponds to the channel of k1 ports; The first channel estimation assistance information is determined according to the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference signal resource. The reference channel estimation assistance information is used to estimate the channel of the K ports according to the channel measurement results of the M ports. The first channel estimation assistance information is used to estimate the channel of k1 ports according to the channel measurement results of the m1 ports. The k1 ports are from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K; Transmitting the first CSI.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, and K is less than or equal to the sum of the port numbers of channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units, and greater than the port number of channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units. R is a positive integer.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units. k1 is the port number of channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the port number of channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units. S is a positive integer less than or equal to R; And The receiving the first reference signal on the first resource includes: Receiving the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, Before receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Receiving first information, where the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the R reference signal resource units: resource pattern, port pattern, port number of supported channel estimation, or channel estimation assistance information; Among them, the r-th reference signal resource element among the R reference signal resource elements is used to transmit reference signals of L r ports, the reference signals of the L r ports support channel estimation of N r ports, N r is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the r-th reference signal resource element, L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M, N r is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r , and r is a positive integer from 1 to R; the resource pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the L r ports and time-frequency resources, the port pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the indices of the L r ports among the N r ports, and the channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource element is used to estimate the channels of the N r ports according to the channel measurement results of the L r ports, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resources respectively.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

6. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further includes: Receiving indication information for each of the S reference signal resource units. The indication information for the s-th reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following for the s-th reference signal resource unit: resource pattern, port number of supported channel estimation, channel estimation assistance information, or splicing identifier; The S reference signal resource units are from the R reference signal resource units, and the rth one of the S reference signal resource units s Reference signal resource units are used to transmit L rs The reference signal of each port, the L rs The reference signal of each port supports N rs Channel estimation for N ports, rs For the r s The number of ports for channel estimation supported by the reference signal resource unit, L rs is a positive integer less than or equal to M, N rs is less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L rs A positive integer, r s represents the identifier of the sth reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units; the rth s The resource pattern of the reference signal resource units indicates the L rs The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource of the rth port s The port pattern of the reference signal resource unit indicates the L rs ports in the N rs The index of the rth port s The channel estimation auxiliary information of the reference signal resource units is used to rs The channel measurement results of the N ports estimate the rs The reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resource units respectively, and the S reference signal resource units have the same splicing identifier to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signal transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

7. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that The first CSI includes a PMI corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate the channel estimation result corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports. The first channel estimation assistance information includes the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units in the reference channel estimation assistance information; Determining first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation assistance information includes: Performing channel estimation based on the first reference signal received on each of the S reference signal resource units and the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the reference channel estimation assistance information to obtain channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; Obtaining the channels of the k1 ports based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; Determining the first CSI according to the channels of the k1 ports.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first reference reference signal resource is one of the T reference reference signal resources. Before receiving the reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Receiving third information, where the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the T reference reference signal resources: resource pattern, maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation assistance information; Among them, the t-th of the T reference signal resources is used to transmit reference signals for at most M t ports. The reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource support channel estimation for a maximum of K t ports. K t is the maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the t-th reference signal resource, M t is a positive integer less than or equal to M, K t is a positive integer greater than or equal to M t , and t is a positive integer from 1 to T. The resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the M t ports and time-frequency resources. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference signal resource is used to estimate the channels of the K t ports according to the channel measurement results of the M t ports.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference reference signal resources satisfy: the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for transmission is different, and / or the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that Before receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Receiving fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate the identifier of the first reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that The first CSI is the PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is the channel estimation result indicating the channels of the k1 ports; m1 is equal to M, k1 is less than K, and Determining the first channel estimation assistance information according to the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource includes: Determining the first channel estimation assistance information from the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource according to the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The first CSI is the PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is the channel estimation result indicating the channels of the k1 ports, m1 is less than M, k1 is less than K; And Determining the first channel estimation assistance information according to the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource includes: Determining the first channel estimation assistance information from the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource based on the indices of the m1 ports among the M ports and the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate the indices of the m1 ports among the M ports or the extraction rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that The method further includes: Receive a sixth piece of information, where the sixth piece of information is used to indicate the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports.

15. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 14, characterized in that The method further includes: Receiving a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource is from the first reference signal resource for benchmarking, the second reference signal is a reference signal for m2 ports, and the m2 ports are from the m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; Determining second channel estimation auxiliary information according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of k2 ports according to the channel measurement results of the m2 ports, the k2 ports are from the k1 ports, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1; Determining a second CSI according to the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second CSI corresponds to the channels of the k2 ports; Transmitting the second CSI.

16. A communication method, characterized in that, Including: Transmitting a first reference signal on a first resource, where the first resource is from a first reference signal resource for benchmarking, the first reference signal resource for benchmarking is used to transmit reference signals for at most M ports, the reference signals for the M ports can support channel estimation for K ports at most, the first reference signal is a reference signal for m1 ports, and the m1 ports are from the M ports, m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, M, and K are positive integers; Receiving a first channel state information CSI, where the first CSI corresponds to the channels of k1 ports, the k1 ports are from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The first reference signal resource for benchmarking includes R reference signal resource units, K is less than or equal to the sum of the numbers of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units, and R is a positive integer.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units, and S is a positive integer less than or equal to R; And The transmitting the first reference signal on the first resource includes: Transmitting the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that Before transmitting the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Transmitting a first piece of information, where the first piece of information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the R reference signal resource units: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports for supported channel estimation, or channel estimation auxiliary information; Among them, the r-th reference signal resource element in the R reference signal resource elements is used to transmit reference signals of L r ports, and the reference signals of the L r ports support channel estimation of N r ports. N r is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the r-th reference signal resource element. L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M. N r is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r . r is a positive integer from 1 to R. The resource pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the L r ports and time-frequency resources. The port pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the indexes of the L r ports among the N r ports. The channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource element is used to estimate the channels of the N r ports according to the channel measurement results of the L r ports.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein Before transmitting the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Transmitting a second piece of information, where the second piece of information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein Before sending the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Sending indication information for each of the S reference signal resource units, where the indication information for the s-th reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following for the s-th reference signal resource unit: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation assistance information, or stitching identifier; Among them, the r-th reference signal resource element in the S reference signal resource elements s is used to transmit reference signals of L rs ports. The reference signals of the L rs ports support channel estimation of N rs ports. r s represents the identification of the s-th reference signal resource element in the S reference signal resource elements in the R reference signal resource elements. N rs is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the r-th s reference signal resource element. L rs is a positive integer less than or equal to M. N rs is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L rs . The resource pattern of the r-th s reference signal resource element indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the L rs ports and time-frequency resources. The port pattern of the r-th s reference signal resource element indicates the indexes of the L rs ports among the N rs ports. The channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th s reference signal resource element is used to estimate the channels of the N rs ports according to the channel measurement results of the L rs ports. The S reference signal resource elements have the same splicing identification to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signal transmitted on the S reference signal resource elements supports splicing.

22. The method according to claim 16, wherein The first reference signal resource is one of the T reference signal resources. Before sending the reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Sending third information, where the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the T reference signal resources: resource pattern, port pattern, maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation assistance information; Among them, the t-th reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources is used to transmit reference signals of at most M t ports. The reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource support channel estimation of a maximum of K t ports. K t is the maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the t-th reference signal resource. M t is a positive integer less than or equal to K t . t is a positive integer from 1 to T. The resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the M t ports and time-frequency resources. The port pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the indices of the M t ports among the K t ports. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference signal resource is used to estimate the channels of the K t ports according to the channel measurement results of the M t ports.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference signal resources satisfy: the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for transmission is different, and / or, the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that, Before sending the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Sending fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate the first reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources.

25. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 24, characterized in that The method further includes: Sending fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate the index of the m1 ports among the M ports, or the extraction rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

26. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 25, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate the index of the k1 ports among the K ports.

27. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 26, characterized in that The method further includes: Sending a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource is from the first reference signal resource, and the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, and the m2 ports are from the m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; Receiving a second CSI, where the second CSI corresponds to the channels of k2 ports, and the k2 ports are from the k1 ports, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1.

28. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 27, characterized in that The first CSI includes a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate the channel estimation result corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports.

29. A communication device, characterized in that, Including a unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or a unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 16 to 28.

30. A communication device, characterized in that, Including a processor, where the processor is configured to execute program code to cause the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 16 to 28.

31. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by the processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 is caused to be executed, or, the method according to any one of claims 16 to 28 is caused to be executed.

32. A computer program product, characterized in that, Comprising a computer program which, when run, causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 to be executed, or causes the method according to any one of claims 16 to 28 to be executed.

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