Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and a communication device. The method comprises: generating a first sequence of reference signals; the first sequence is mapped to M frequency domain resource units on K antenna ports, M positions of the M frequency domain resource units are indicated by a second sequence, the second sequence is generated according to a first parameter set, M and K are positive integers, and M is larger than or equal to K. Compared with predefining the position of the frequency domain resource unit for the reference signal, generating the second sequence according to the first parameter set enables the process of determining the reference signal pattern to be more flexible.

Description

Cross Reference to Related Applications

[0001] This application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 503,277 entitled “A METHOD AND APPARATUS OF PILOT DESIGN” filed on May 19, 2023, and claims priority to the U.S. Provisional Patent Application.

[0002] The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0004] In a wireless communication system, a reference signal can be transmitted between a transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus for channel estimation. The transmitting apparatus that transmits the reference signal can map a reference signal sequence onto specific physical resources, which can be referred to as reference signal resources. The locations of the reference signal resources are known to both the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus that receives the reference signal. The locations of the reference signal can be referred to as a reference signal pattern. The receiving apparatus can perform channel estimation based on the received reference signal.

[0005] In current wireless communication systems, the antenna ports used for reference signals and the locations of the time-frequency domain resources associated with each antenna port are predefined. However, as the communication system evolves, this predefined resource allocation approach can no longer be suitable or can have issues. For example, in newer systems, an increase in the number of antenna ports that support the transmission of reference signals can result in a large amount of resources that need to be predefined for reference signals.

[0006] Therefore, how to determine the reference signal pattern becomes a problem to be solved. SUMMARY Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication apparatus. These technical solutions can make the process of determining the reference signal pattern more flexible.

[0007] According to a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which can be performed by a transmitting apparatus. The method comprises: generating a first sequence of a reference signal; mapping the first sequence onto M frequency domain resource units on K antenna ports, wherein M positions of the M frequency domain resource units are indicated by a second sequence, the second sequence is generated according to at least a first parameter set and a third sequence, M and K are positive integers, and M≥K.

[0008] According to a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which can be performed by a receiving device. The method comprises: receiving a reference signal, wherein a first sequence of the reference signal is mapped onto M frequency domain resource units on K antenna ports, M positions of the M frequency domain resource units are indicated by a second sequence, the second sequence is generated according to at least a first parameter set and a third sequence, M and K are positive integers, and M≥K.

[0009] In the present application, the transmitting device can determine the M positions of the M frequency domain resource units by determining the second sequence, and associate the M frequency domain resource units with the K antenna ports. The second sequence is generated according to at least the first parameter set and the third sequence, that is, compared with predefining the positions of the frequency domain resource units for the reference signal, generating the second sequence according to the first parameter set makes the process of determining the reference signal pattern more flexible.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first parameter set comprises one or more of the following parameters: an identifier of a terminal device; a density of the reference signal; a size of a bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth comprises the M frequency domain resource units; a position of the bandwidth; a communication environment parameter; time domain information for indicating one or more time domain resource units associated with the M frequency domain resource units; and spatial domain information for indicating P antenna ports supporting transmission of the reference signal, wherein P is a positive integer.

[0011] In the present application, the first parameter set can be used to determine the second sequence, for example, the length of the second sequence or the sequence values in the second sequence can be determined according to the first parameter set. In other words, the transmitting device can consider various parameters to generate the second sequence to determine the positions of the frequency domain resource units of the reference signal, which provides a flexible way of determining resources.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method further comprises: transmitting or receiving one or more parameters in the first parameter set.

[0013] In the present application, all or part of the parameters in the first parameter set can be transmitted between the transmitting device and the receiving device (which receives the reference signal) (for example, some parameters in the first parameter set can not be transmitted if the transmitting device and the receiving device both know some parameters), so that the transmitting device and the receiving device can obtain the same reference signal pattern according to the first parameter set, and the transmission resource consumption for indicating the reference signal pattern can be reduced.

[0014] In some embodiments, in combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, a sequence value in the third sequence is selected from a value range, and a ratio of the jth sequence value in the third sequence to a size of the value range is related to a ratio of the jth sequence value in the second sequence to a number of frequency domain resource units in the bandwidth, the bandwidth including the M frequency domain resource units.

[0015] In the present application, the ratio of the sequence value in the third sequence to the size of the value range can reflect the value distribution characteristic. The ratio of the sequence value in the second sequence to the number of frequency domain resource units in the bandwidth can reflect the distribution characteristic of the M positions of the M frequency domain resource units, i.e., the distribution characteristic of the M positions of the M frequency domain resource units can be determined according to the third sequence. The distribution characteristic of the M positions of the M frequency domain resource units can be flexibly designed.

[0016] In some embodiments, in combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, the third sequence includes T sub-sequences, the T sub-sequences of the third sequence are associated with T time domain resource units, the M frequency domain resource units are divided into T frequency domain resource groups according to the T sub-sequences of the third sequence, and the T time domain resource units are respectively associated with the T frequency domain resource groups, T being a positive integer.

[0017] In the present application, by using the attribute that the sequence values are arranged in a certain order, a certain time domain resource unit can be associated with some sequence values at certain positions. The positions of the sequence values in the third sequence can be used to determine the association relationship between the M frequency domain resource units and one or more time domain resource units, reducing the design complexity of the reference signal pattern.

[0018] In some embodiments, in combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, the third sequence includes K sub-sequences, the K sub-sequences of the third sequence are associated with the K antenna ports, the M frequency domain resource units are divided into K frequency domain resource groups according to the K sub-sequences of the third sequence, and the K antenna ports are respectively associated with the K frequency domain resource groups.

[0019] In the present application, by using the attribute that the sequence values are arranged in a certain order, a certain antenna port can be associated with some sequence values at certain positions. The positions of the sequence values in the third sequence can be used to determine the association relationship between the M frequency domain resource units and the K antenna ports, reducing the design complexity of the reference signal pattern.

[0020] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the second sequence is generated based at least on the first parameter set and the third sequence, including: the second sequence having a first relationship with the first parameter set and the third sequence, the first relationship being determined at least based on a second parameter set, the second parameter set including one or more of the following parameters: an identifier of the terminal device; a first relationship type parameter indicating the type of the first relationship; a first relationship index identifying the first relationship; the density of the reference signal; the size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; the location of the bandwidth; communication environment parameters; time domain information indicating one or more time domain resource units associated with the M frequency domain resource units; and spatial domain information indicating P antenna ports supporting the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

[0021] In this application, the second sequence, the third sequence, and the first parameter set have a first relationship. For example, in some embodiments, the second sequence, the third sequence, and the first parameter set can satisfy a first function, which can be determined based on the second parameter set. For example, multiple first functions can be used to generate the second sequence, and at least one function can be selected from the multiple functions based on the second parameter set. Therefore, a more flexible way to determine the reference signal pattern is provided.

[0022] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes: sending or receiving one or more parameters from the second parameter set.

[0023] In this application, all or part of the parameters in the second parameter set can be transmitted between the transmitting device and the receiving device (for example, if the transmitting device and the receiving device know that some parameters do not need to be transmitted, some parameters in the first parameter set can be omitted), so that the transmitting device and the receiving device can determine the same relationship based on the second parameter set, thereby reducing the transmission resource consumption for indicating the reference signal pattern.

[0024] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the third sequence is determined at least based on a third parameter set, which includes one or more of the following parameters: an identifier of the terminal device; a sequence index for identifying the third sequence; a sequence type parameter for indicating the type of the third sequence; the density of the reference signal; the size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource elements; the location of the bandwidth; communication environment parameters; time domain information for indicating one or more time domain resource elements associated with the M frequency domain resource elements; and spatial domain information for indicating P antenna ports supporting the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

[0025] In this application, a third sequence can be generated based on a third parameter set. For example, the transmitting device can determine the length of the third sequence or the sequence values ​​in the third sequence based on the third parameter set. In other words, the transmitting device can consider various parameters to generate a third sequence to determine the location of the frequency domain resource unit of the reference signal, providing a flexible way to determine resources.

[0026] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes: sending or receiving one or more parameters from the third parameter set.

[0027] In this application, all or part of the parameters in the third parameter set can be transmitted between the transmitting device and the receiving device (for example, if the transmitting device and the receiving device know that some parameters do not need to be transmitted, some parameters in the first parameter set can be omitted), so that the transmitting device and the receiving device can determine the same relationship based on the second parameter set, thereby reducing the transmission resource consumption for indicating the reference signal pattern.

[0028] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the third sequence has a second relationship with the third parameter set, the second relationship being determined at least according to a fourth parameter set, the fourth parameter set including one or more of the following parameters: an identifier of the terminal device; a second relationship type parameter indicating the type of the second relationship; a second relationship index identifying the second relationship; the density of the reference signal; the size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; the location of the bandwidth; communication environment parameters; time domain information indicating one or more time domain resource units associated with the M frequency domain resource units; and spatial domain information indicating P antenna ports supporting the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

[0029] In this application, a second relationship exists between the third sequence and the third parameter set. For example, in some embodiments, the third sequence and the third parameter set may satisfy a second function, which can be determined based on a fourth parameter set. For example, multiple functions can be used to generate the third sequence, and at least one second function can be selected from the multiple functions based on the fourth parameter set. Therefore, a more flexible way to determine the reference signal pattern is provided.

[0030] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes: sending or receiving one or more parameters from the fourth parameter set.

[0031] In this application, all or part of the parameters in the fourth parameter set can be transmitted between the transmitting device and the receiving device (for example, if the transmitting device and the receiving device know that some parameters do not need to be transmitted, some parameters in the first parameter set can be omitted), so that the transmitting device and the receiving device can determine the same relationship based on the fourth parameter set, thereby reducing the transmission resource consumption for indicating the reference signal pattern.

[0032] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the length of the second sequence is greater than or equal to a threshold, which is determined at least based on the first set of parameters.

[0033] For example, in some embodiments, the threshold may be determined at least based on communication environment parameters.

[0034] For example, in some embodiments, the length of the second sequence can be determined at least based on communication environment parameters.

[0035] In this application, a minimum value for the length of the second sequence can be defined, which is equivalent to defining a minimum value for the number of frequency domain resource elements used to transmit the reference signal. For example, the number of frequency domain resource elements can be defined based on communication environment parameters. For instance, the minimum value in a complex communication environment (e.g., an urban area) can be greater than the minimum value in a simple communication environment (e.g., a rural area), and the number of frequency domain resource elements can be determined within a reasonable range for each environment.

[0036] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the second sequence is a pseudo-random sequence.

[0037] In this application, the sequence values ​​in the second sequence have random characteristics, and the M positions of the M frequency domain resource units indicated by the sequence values ​​are non-uniform in the frequency domain. In other words, multiple reference signal patterns can be supported, and different reference signal patterns can be assigned to multiple users, thereby reducing the probability of resource conflicts between multiple terminal devices.

[0038] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the K antenna ports are antenna ports among the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer and P>K.

[0039] In this application, some antenna ports can be associated with M frequency domain resource elements, that is, the transmitting device can use some antenna ports to transmit reference signals, which can reduce the consumption of spatial resources.

[0040] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the K antenna ports are indicated by a fourth sequence of length M, wherein the frequency domain resource indicated by the i-th sequence value in the second sequence is related to the antenna port indicated by the i-th sequence value in the third sequence, where i is a positive integer and i ≤ M.

[0041] In this application, the association between M frequency domain resource elements and K antenna ports can be applied after the number of frequency domain resource elements has been determined. In other words, the number of antenna ports can be disregarded when designing the location of the frequency domain resource elements, and even if the number of antenna ports is large, the frequency domain resource consumption of the reference signal can be controlled within a reasonable range.

[0042] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, K ≥ 2.

[0043] In this application, the transmitting device can generate a second sequence for all K antennas. Compared to predefining the position of frequency domain resource units for each antenna port, this method can keep the number of frequency domain resource units within a reasonable range, even in communication systems with multiple antenna ports.

[0044] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some embodiments, the second sequence is associated with the K antenna ports.

[0045] In this application, the transmitting device can generate a second sequence for all K antenna ports at once. That is, the transmitting device can first determine the positions of M frequency domain resource elements, and then associate the M frequency domain resource elements with the K antenna ports. Even in communication systems with multiple antenna ports, this method can keep the number of frequency domain resource elements within a reasonable range.

[0046] According to a third aspect, a transmitting apparatus is provided. The transmitting apparatus includes functions or units for performing the method according to the first aspect or any possible embodiment of the first aspect.

[0047] For example, the transmitting device can be a network device or a chip within a network device. As another example, the transmitting device can be a terminal device or a chip within a terminal device.

[0048] According to a fourth aspect, a receiving device is provided. The receiving device includes functions or units for performing the method according to the second aspect or any possible embodiment of the second aspect.

[0049] For example, the receiving device can be a terminal device or a chip within a terminal device. As another example, the receiving device can be a network device or a chip within a network device.

[0050] According to a fifth aspect, a system is provided. The system includes: a transmitting device according to a third aspect and a receiving device according to a fourth aspect.

[0051] According to a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes at least one processor coupled to at least one memory. The at least one memory is used to store a computer program or one or more instructions. The at least one processor is configured to: invoke the computer program or the one or more instructions from the at least one memory, and execute the computer program or the one or more instructions, causing the communication device to perform a method of the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or causing the communication device to perform a method of the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0052] In conjunction with the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication device may be a transmitting device. For example, the communication device may be a network device or a component (e.g., a chip or integrated circuit) installed in a network device. As another example, the communication device may be a terminal device or a component (e.g., a chip or integrated circuit) installed in a terminal device.

[0053] In conjunction with the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the communication device may be a receiving device. For example, the communication device may be a terminal device or a component (e.g., a chip or integrated circuit) installed in a terminal device. As another example, the communication device may be a network device or a component (e.g., a chip or integrated circuit) installed in a network device.

[0054] According to a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus includes a processor and a communication interface. The processor is connected to the communication interface. The processor is configured to execute one or more instructions, and the communication interface is configured to communicate with other network elements under the control of the processor. The processor is configured to perform the method according to the first aspect or any possible embodiment of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any possible embodiment of the second aspect.

[0055] According to an eighth aspect, a computer storage medium is provided. The computer storage medium stores program code for executing one or more instructions of the method according to the first aspect or any possible embodiment of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any possible embodiment of the second aspect.

[0056] According to a ninth aspect, this application provides a computer program product including one or more instructions, wherein, when the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer performs the method according to the first aspect or any possible embodiment of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any possible embodiment of the second aspect. Attached Figure Description

[0057] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the application scenario provided in this application; Figure 2 An exemplary communication system 100 is shown; Figure 3 Another example of ED 110 and base stations 170a, 170b and / or 170c is shown; Figure 4 This is an example of a channel model for a MIMO system; Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart of the communication method 500 provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the second sequence indicating the positions of the six frequency domain resource units; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the first function used to generate the second sequence; Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the first example provided in this application; Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the second example provided in this application; Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the third example provided in this application; Figures 11 to 15 This is a schematic block diagram of a possible device provided in the embodiments of this application; Figures 16 to 31 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating possible examples provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0058] The technical solution of this application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0059] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system, Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) system, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Fifth Generation (5G) wireless communication system, New Radio (NR) wireless communication system, Sixth Generation (6G) wireless communication system, or other evolved communication systems.

[0060] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, firstly... Figures 1 to 3 Taking the communication system shown as an example, the communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below.

[0061] refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1A simplified schematic diagram of a communication system is provided as an illustrative example without limitation. Communication system 100 includes a radio access network 120. Radio access network 120 may be a next-generation (e.g., sixth-generation, 6G, or later) radio access network, or a traditional (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) radio access network. One or more electric devices (EDs) 110a to 110j (generally referred to as 110) may be interconnected with each other or connected to one or more network nodes (170a, 170b, generally referred to as 170) in radio access network 120. Core network 130 may be part of the communication system and may depend on or be independent of the radio access technology used in communication system 100. Furthermore, communication system 100 includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0062] Figure 2 An exemplary communication system 100 is illustrated. Generally, the communication system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired components to transmit data and other content. The purpose of the communication system 100 may be to provide content such as voice, data, video, and / or text via broadcast, multicast, and unicast. The communication system 100 can operate by sharing resources such as carrier spectrum bandwidth among its constituent components. The communication system 100 may include terrestrial communication systems and / or non-terrestrial communication systems. The communication system 100 can provide a wide range of communication services and applications (e.g., earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, and mobility). The communication system 100 can provide high availability and robustness through the joint operation of terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or components thereof) into a terrestrial communication system can create a multi-layered heterogeneous network. Compared to traditional communication networks, heterogeneous networks can achieve better overall performance through efficient multi-link joint operation, more flexible function sharing, and faster physical layer link switching between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.

[0063] Terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems can be considered as subsystems of a communication system. In the example shown, communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a to 110d (generally referred to as ED 110), radio access networks (RANs) 120a and 120b, a non-terrestrial communication network 120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. RANs 120a and RAN 120b include corresponding base stations (BSs) 170a and 170b, which can generally be referred to as terrestrial transmit and receive points (T-TRPs) 170a and 170b. The non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes access nodes 120c, which can generally be referred to as non-terrestrial transmit and receive points (NT-TRPs) 172.

[0064] Alternatively or additionally, any ED 110 can be used to connect to, access, or communicate with any other T-TRP 170a, T-TRP 170b, and NT-TRP 172, Internet 150, core network 130, PSTN 140, other network 160, or any combination thereof. In some examples, ED 110a can communicate uplink and / or downlink with T-TRP 170a via interface 190a. In some examples, ED 110a, 110b, and 110d can also communicate directly with each other via one or more sidelink air interfaces 190b. In some examples, ED 110d can communicate uplink and / or downlink with NT-TRP 172 via interface 190c.

[0065] Air interfaces 190a and 190b can use similar communication technologies, such as any applicable wireless access technology. For example, communication system 100 can implement one or more channel access methods in air interfaces 190a and 190b, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). Air interfaces 190a and 190b can utilize other higher-dimensional signal spaces, which may include combinations of orthogonal and / or non-orthogonal dimensions.

[0066] The 190c air interface enables communication between the ED 110d and one or more NT-TRP172s via a wireless link or simply through a link. In some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmission, a connection for broadcast transmission, or a connection for multicast transmission between a group of EDs and one or more NT-TRPs.

[0067] RAN 120a and RAN 120b communicate with core network 130 to provide various services, such as voice, data, and other services, to ED 110a, ED 110b, and ED 110c. RAN 120a and RAN 120b and / or core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown). One or more other RANs may or may not be directly served by core network 130, and may or may not use the same radio access technology as RAN 120a and / or RAN 120b. Core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) RAN 120a and RAN 120b and / or ED 110a, ED 110b, and ED 110c and (ii) other networks (e.g., PSTN 140, Internet 150, and other networks 160). Additionally, some or all of ED 110a, ED 110b, and ED 110c may include the ability to communicate with different wireless networks via different wireless links using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. ED 110a, ED 110b, and ED 110c may communicate with a service provider or exchange (not shown) via a wired communication channel and with the Internet 150, rather than wirelessly (or also wirelessly). PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include a network of computers and / or subnets (intranets) and incorporate protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). ED 110a, ED 110b, and ED 110c may be multimode devices capable of operating according to multiple wireless access technologies and include multiple transceivers required to support these technologies.

[0068] Figure 3Another example of the ED 110 and base stations 170a, 170b, and / or 170c is shown. The ED 110 is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. The ED 110 can be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communications (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, and mobility.

[0069] Each ED 110 represents any suitable end-user equipment for wireless operation and may include (or be referred to as): user equipment / device (UE), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile subscriber unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine type communication (MTC) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptop, computer, tablet, wireless sensor, consumer electronics device, smart book, vehicle, automobile, truck, bus, train, or IoT device, industrial equipment, or devices within the aforementioned equipment (e.g., communication module, modem, or chip). Next-generation ED 110 may be referred to using other terms. Base stations 170a and 170b are T-TRPs, hereinafter referred to as T-TRP 170. Also in Figure 3 As shown, NT-TRP is referred to below as NT-TRP 172. Each ED 110 connected to T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 can be configured to be dynamically or semi-statically turned on (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), turned off (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and / or in response to one or more of connection availability and connection necessity.

[0070] ED 110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown in the figure. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be panels. The transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may, for example, be integrated as a transceiver. The transceiver is used to modulate data or other content for transmission over at least one antenna 204 or a network interface controller (NIC). The transceiver is also used to demodulate data or other content received over at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or for processing signals received wirelessly or wiredly. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals.

[0071] ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. Memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by ED 110. For example, memory 208 may store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and executed by one or more processing units 210. Each memory 208 includes any suitable one or more volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval devices. Any suitable type of memory can be used, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, or on-processor cache.

[0072] ED 110 may also include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (e.g., Figure 1 (A wired interface connecting to the Internet 150). Input / output devices support interaction with the user or other devices on the network. Each input / output device includes any suitable structure for providing or receiving information from the user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touchscreen, including network interface communication.

[0073] ED 110 also includes a processor 210 for performing various operations, including operations related to preparing for uplink transmissions to NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, operations related to processing downlink transmissions received from NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, and operations related to processing sidelink transmissions to and from another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing for uplink transmissions may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing downlink transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. According to an embodiment, the downlink transmission may be received by receiver 203, possibly using receive beamforming, and processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding signaling). Examples of signaling may be reference signals transmitted by NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, processor 276 performs transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction indications received from T-TRP 170, such as beam angle information (BAI). In some embodiments, processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as operations related to detecting synchronization sequences, decoding, and acquiring system information. In some embodiments, processor 210 may perform channel estimation, for example, using reference signals received from NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170.

[0074] Processor 210 may be part of transmitter 201 and / or receiver 203, but is not shown in the figure. Memory 208 may be part of processor 210, but is not shown in the figure.

[0075] The processor 210, as well as the processing components in the transmitter 201 and receiver 203, may be implemented by the same or different one or more processors, which execute instructions stored in memory (e.g., memory 208). Alternatively, some or all of the processing components in the processor 210, as well as the transmitter 201 and receiver 203, may be implemented using special-purpose circuitry such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0076] In some embodiments, the T-TRP 170 may be referred to by other names, such as: base station, base transceiver station (BTS), wireless base station, network node, network device, network-side device, transmit / receive node, Node B, evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), home base station, next-generation NodeB (gNB), transmission point (TP), site controller, access point (AP) or wireless router, relay station, remote radio head, ground node, ground network device or ground base station, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), radio unit (RU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. The T-TRP 170 can be a macro BS, micro BS, relay node, host node, etc., or a combination thereof. T-TRP 170 may refer to the aforementioned device or a component within the aforementioned device (e.g., a communication module, modem, or chip).

[0077] In some embodiments, the CU (or CU control plane (CP) and CU user plane (UP)), DU, or RU may be referred to by other names. For example, in an open RAN (ORAN) system, the CU may also be called an open CU (open CU, O-CU), the DU may also be called an open DU (open DU, O-DU), the CU-CP may also be called an open CU-CP (open CU-CP, O-CU-CP), the CU-UP may also be called an open CU-UP (open CU-UP, O-CU-CP), and the RU may also be called an open RU (open RU, O-RU). Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, or RU can be implemented by software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0078] In some embodiments, the various parts of T-TRP 170 can be distributed. For example, some modules of T-TRP 170 may be located remotely from the device housing the T-TRP 170 antenna and may be coupled to the device housing the antenna via a communication link (not shown), sometimes referred to as a fronthaul, such as a common public radio interface (CPRI). Therefore, in some embodiments, the term "T-TRP 170" may also refer to modules on the network side that perform processing operations such as ED 110 location determination, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding / decoding; these modules are not necessarily part of the device housing the T-TRP 170 antenna. These modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, T-TRP 170 may actually be multiple T-TRPs operating together to serve ED 110 through cooperative multicast or similar methods.

[0079] T-TRP 170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is shown in the figure. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be panels. The transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. T-TRP 170 also includes a processor 260 for performing various operations, including operations related to: preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from ED 110, preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to NT-TRP 172, and processing a transmission received from NT-TRP 172 via backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing received uplink transmissions or transmissions received via backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. Processor 260 can also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as generating the contents of a synchronization signal block (SSB) and generating system information. In some embodiments, processor 260 also generates beam direction indications, such as BAI, which can be scheduled for transmission by scheduler 253. Processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of ED 110 and determining the location for deploying NT-TRP 172. In some embodiments, processor 260 can generate signaling, for example, for configuring one or more parameters of ED 110 and / or one or more parameters of NT-TRP 172. Any signaling generated by processor 260 is transmitted by transmitter 252. Note that "signaling" as used herein can also be referred to as control signaling. Dynamic signaling can be transmitted in control channels such as the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), while static or semi-static higher-layer signaling can be included in messages transmitted in data channels such as the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0080] Scheduler 253 may be coupled to processor 260. Scheduler 253 may be included in or operate separately from T-TRP 170. Scheduler 253 may schedule uplink, downlink, and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and / or configuring unscheduled (“configuration grants”) resources. T-TRP 170 also includes memory 258 for storing information and data. Memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by T-TRP 170. For example, memory 258 may store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and executed by processor 260.

[0081] Processor 260 may be part of transmitter 252 and / or receiver 254, but is not shown in the figure. Similarly, processor 260 may implement scheduler 253, but is not shown in the figure. Memory 258 may be part of processor 260, but is not shown in the figure.

[0082] The processing components in processor 260, scheduler 253, transmitter 252, and receiver 254 may be implemented by the same or different processors, which execute instructions stored in memory (e.g., memory 258). Alternatively, some or all of the processing components in processor 260, scheduler 253, transmitter 252, and receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry such as FPGA, GPU, or ASIC.

[0083] While the NT-TRP 172 is shown as an example of a drone only, the NT-TRP 172 can be implemented in any suitable non-terrestrial form. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 may be referred to by other names, such as a non-terrestrial node, a non-terrestrial network device, or a non-terrestrial base station. The NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is shown in the figure. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be panels. The transmitter 272 and receiver 274 may be integrated as a transceiver. The NT-TRP 172 also includes a processor 276 for performing various operations, including operations related to: preparing transmissions for downlink transmission to ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from ED 110, preparing transmissions for backhaul transmission to T-TRP 170, and processing transmissions received from T-TRP 170 via backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing received uplink transmissions or transmissions received via backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. In some embodiments, processor 276 performs transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, processor 276 may generate signaling, for example, for configuring one or more parameters of ED 110. In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 implements physical layer processing but does not implement higher-level functions such as medium access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layer functions. Since this is only an example, in general, NT-TRP 172 may implement higher-level functions in addition to physical layer processing.

[0084] The NT-TRP 172 also includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. A processor 276 may be part of the transmitter 272 and / or receiver 274, but is not shown in the figure. The memory 278 may be part of the processor 276, but is not shown in the figure.

[0085] The processor 276, as well as the processing components in the transmitter 272 and receiver 274, may be implemented by the same or different one or more processors, which execute instructions stored in memory (e.g., memory 278). Alternatively, some or all of the processing components in the processor 276, as well as the transmitter 272 and receiver 274, may be implemented using programmable special-purpose circuitry such as an FPGA, GPU, or ASIC. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 may actually be multiple NT-TRPs operating together to serve ED 110 via cooperative multicast or similar methods.

[0086] T-TRP 170, NT-TRP 172 and / or ED 110 may include other components, but these components have been omitted for clarity.

[0087] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the transmission of the reference signal and the process of channel measurement based on the reference signal are briefly described below.

[0088] Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology enables antenna arrays with multiple antennas to perform signal transmission and reception to meet high transmission rate requirements. The ED 110, T-TRP 170, and / or NT-TRP mentioned above use MIMO for communication via radio resource blocks. MIMO utilizes multiple antennas at the transmitter and / or receiver to transmit radio resource blocks via parallel radio signals. MIMO can beamform the parallel radio signals to facilitate reliable multipath transmission of radio resource blocks. MIMO can also bond parallel radio signals transmitting different data to increase the data rate of radio resource blocks.

[0089] In recent years, MIMO (Massive MIMO) wireless communication systems using the aforementioned T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 with a large number of antennas have received widespread attention from academia and industry. In massive MIMO systems, the T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 are typically configured with more than ten antenna elements (e.g., 128 or 256), simultaneously serving dozens of ED 110s (e.g., 40). The large number of antenna elements in the T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 can significantly increase the spatial freedom of wireless communication, greatly improve transmission rate, spectral efficiency, and power efficiency, and largely eliminate inter-cell interference. The increased number of antennas allows for smaller and lower-cost antenna elements per unit. Utilizing the spatial freedom provided by the large number of antenna elements, each T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 in a cell can simultaneously communicate with multiple ED 110s in the cell on the same time-frequency resources, thereby significantly improving spectral efficiency. The numerous antenna elements of the T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 also provide each user with better uplink and downlink spatial directivity, thereby reducing the transmit power of the T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 and ED110, and improving power efficiency. When the number of T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 antennas is sufficiently large, the random channels between each ED 110 and the T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 can approach orthogonality, thus eliminating interference and noise effects between the cell and the user. These advantages make large-scale MIMO systems a promising application.

[0090] A MIMO system may include a receiver connected to a receive (Rx) antenna, a transmitter connected to a transmit (Tx) antenna, and a signal processor connected to both the transmitter and receiver. Each of the Rx and Tx antennas may include multiple antennas. For example, the Rx antenna may have a ULA antenna array, in which multiple antennas are arranged in a straight line at uniform intervals. When a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted through the Tx antenna, the Rx antenna can receive signals reflected and returned from a forward target.

[0091] Figure 4 This is an example of a channel model for a MIMO system. The transmitter is connected to four TX antennas, x1 to x4, and the receiver is connected to four RX antennas, y1 to y4. A transmission channel can be formed between each TX antenna and each RX antenna. For example, an RF signal transmitted through x1 can be received by y2 through channel h21. An RF signal transmitted through x3 can be received by y1 through channel h13.

[0092] In MIMO systems, channel estimation is required to achieve functions such as system synchronization, channel information feedback, and data transmission. Channel estimation refers to the process of reconstructing or recovering the received signal to compensate for signal distortion caused by channel fading and noise. In channel estimation, the reference signal predicted by the transmitter and receiver can be used to track changes in the time and / or frequency domains of the channel, thereby reconstructing or recovering the received signal. The reference signal can also be called a pilot signal or reference sequence, etc. For ease of understanding, it is described as a reference signal below. Reference signals include channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), sounding reference signal (SRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), phase track reference signal (PT-RS), or cell reference signal (CRS), etc. The reference signals listed above are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting this application. This application does not exclude the possibility of defining other reference signals in future protocols to achieve the same or similar functions.

[0093] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, CSI-RS is described in detail below through examples. CSI-RS is mainly used for downlink channel estimation corresponding to physical antenna ports. For example, a receiving device (i.e., a terminal device) can perform channel estimation for each physical antenna port based on the CSI-RS sent by a transmitting device (i.e., a network device) to feed back channel state information (CSI) based on the channel estimation results. CSI may include information such as channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), layer indicator (LI), and rank indicator (RI). CSI is used for downlink channel reconstruction or precoding. In some embodiments, the process of a base station acquiring CSI may include: the base station sending a reference signal to the UE; the UE acquiring a CSI estimate based on the received reference signal, selecting a precoding vector from the codebook based on the CSI estimate, and feeding back information related to the index of the precoding vector to the base station; the base station determining a reconstructed CSI value based on the index of the precoding vector. The reconstructed CSI value can be the CSI that is closest to the true CSI value that the base station can acquire.

[0094] In one embodiment, the transmitting device maps a reference signal sequence to a specific physical resource and transmits the reference signal through the specific physical resource, wherein the reference signal sequence and the physical resource are known to both the transmitting device and the receiving device receiving the reference signal. Therefore, the receiving device can perform channel estimation based on the known reference signal sequence and the received signal.

[0095] The transmitting device can map sequences onto physical resources to transmit reference signals. Physical resources can include multiple resource particles, where resource particles belong to physical resources allocated for transmitting reference signals. For example, when transmitting DMRS, resource particles belong to common resource blocks allocated for transmitting the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0096] The location of the physical resources of the reference signal can be referred to as the reference signal pattern or pilot pattern. The location of physical resources is usually described by at least one of the following dimensions: time dimension, frequency dimension, and spatial dimension.

[0097] The time dimension can be represented by one or more time-domain resource units. Time-domain resource units may include, but are not limited to, symbols, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, and time slots. In some embodiments, time-domain units can be represented by symbol indices, OFDM symbol indices, or time slot indices.

[0098] A frequency dimension can be represented by one or more frequency domain resource elements. Frequency domain resource elements may include, but are not limited to, subcarriers or subbands. In some embodiments, frequency domain elements can be represented by subcarrier indices or subband indices. In some embodiments, frequency domain elements can also be represented by resource element (RE) indices, resource block (RB) indices, or resource block group (RBG) indices. An RE consists of symbols in the time domain and subcarriers in the frequency domain; the RE index can be used to indicate the position of a subcarrier. An RB consists of time slots in the time domain and 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. The RB index can be used to indicate the position of the 12 subcarriers. An RBG consists of a group of RBs; the RBG index can be used to indicate the position of a group of subcarriers.

[0099] Spatial dimension can be represented by one or more spatial resource units. Spatial resource units can be represented by antenna ports. In the embodiments of this application, the antenna port can be a Tx antenna. The antenna port can be identified by an antenna port index.

[0100] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, in the following exemplary description, symbol indexes are used to indicate the location of time-domain resource units, subcarrier indexes are used to indicate the location of frequency-domain resource units, and antenna port indexes are used to indicate the location of spatial-domain resource units.

[0101] The channel estimation process described above is merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting this application in any way. The channel estimation process is known in conventional techniques; for the sake of brevity, a detailed description of the specific process is omitted herein.

[0102] The receiving device can be an ED (i.e., a terminal device), while the transmitting device can be a T-TRP or NT-TRP (i.e., a network device); or the receiving device can be a T-TRP or NT-TRP (i.e., a network device), while the transmitting device can be an ED (i.e., a terminal device). For example, when the reference signal is a downlink signal (i.e., CSI-RS), the transmitting device can be a network device, and the receiving device can be a terminal device. When the reference signal is an uplink signal (i.e., SRS), the transmitting device can be a terminal device, and the receiving device can be a network device. Although one transmitting device can transmit the reference signal to multiple receiving devices, the following embodiments only show one transmitting device and one receiving device.

[0103] This application provides a communication method and apparatus. In this application, a second sequence can be generated based on a first parameter set and a third sequence, wherein the second sequence indicates the M positions of M frequency domain resource units, and a first sequence of a reference signal is mapped onto the M frequency domain resource units. That is, compared to predefining the positions of frequency domain resource units for the reference signal, generating the second sequence based on the first parameter set and the third sequence makes the determination of the positions of the frequency domain resource units more flexible. The following is in conjunction with... Figure 5 This describes the communication method provided in this application.

[0104] Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 500 provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication method 500 can be applied to the above-described communication system.

[0105] At S510, the transmitter generates the first sequence of reference signals.

[0106] The method of generating the first sequence is related to the type of the reference signal. For example, the first sequence can be defined by a Gold sequence of length 31. This application does not limit this.

[0107] The term "first sequence" is used for distinction only and does not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application. Similarly, the terms "second sequence," "third sequence," "first parameter set," and "second parameter set" in the following description are also used for distinction only and do not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application, and will not be elaborated further below.

[0108] At S520, the transmitter maps a first sequence of the reference signal onto M frequency domain resource elements on K antenna ports, and the M positions of the M frequency domain resource elements are indicated by a second sequence.

[0109] The second sequence is generated based on the first parameter set, where M and K are positive integers, and M ≥ K. The transmitting device can determine the M locations of the M frequency domain resource elements by determining the second sequence, and associate the M frequency domain resource elements with K antenna ports. The second sequence is generated at least based on the first parameter set; that is, generating the second sequence based on the first parameter set makes the process of determining the reference signal pattern more flexible compared to predefining the locations of the frequency domain resource elements for the reference signal.

[0110] The second sequence indicates the M locations of the M frequency domain resources. In some implementations, the length of the second sequence is M, and the M sequence values ​​in the second sequence can correspond one-to-one with the M frequency domain resources.

[0111] For example, Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram indicating the location of the second sequence of six frequency domain resource units. For example... Figure 6 As shown, the six sequence values ​​form the second sequence {13, 47, 49, 89, 125}. These six sequence values ​​are the indices of the six subcarriers, meaning the first sequence of the reference signal can be mapped to subcarrier indices 13, 47, 49, 89, and 125.

[0112] An example of a second sequence composed of subcarrier indices is presented, and in some embodiments, other forms of information may have a similar meaning to the second sequence. For example, in a string of binary numbers {001010001010}, the position of the binary number "1" can indicate the position of a frequency domain resource element, such as subcarrier indices 3, 5, 9, and 11. As another example, patterns can be used to represent the position of a frequency domain resource element. That is, the position of a predefined binary number in the second sequence can represent one or more positions of a frequency domain resource element. This application does not specifically limit this aspect.

[0113] In some embodiments, the second sequence is a pseudo-random sequence. In other words, the M sequence values ​​in the second sequence have random characteristics, and the M positions of the M frequency domain resource units indicated by the M sequence values ​​can be non-uniform in the frequency domain. Unlike a uniform reference signal pattern where the interval between two adjacent frequency domain resource units is the same, the M positions of the M frequency domain resource units can have at least two different sets of intervals between two adjacent frequency domain resource units. In this embodiment, the number of reference signal pattern types is much greater than the number of reference signal pattern types defined by the subcarrier spacing. For example, if the reference signal pattern is defined by setting the subcarrier spacing to 1, there are only two pattern types: one for odd-indexed subcarriers and one for even-indexed subcarriers. However, when a pseudo-random sequence is used to indicate the position of the frequency domain resource units, the number of pattern types is much greater than 2. Therefore, the probability of two terminal devices being assigned frequency domain resource units in the same position is greatly reduced, and the probability of resource conflicts between multiple terminal devices is reduced.

[0114] The first parameter set can be used to generate the second sequence. The first parameter set includes one or more of the following: the identifier of the terminal device, the density of the reference signal, the size of the bandwidth, the location of the bandwidth, communication environment parameters, time domain information, and spatial domain information, wherein the bandwidth includes M frequency domain resource elements, the time domain information indicates one or more time domain resource elements associated with the M frequency domain resource elements, and the spatial domain information indicates P antenna ports supporting the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

[0115] In the description of this application, "to generate A from B" and "to generate A from at least B" can have the same meaning. Similarly, the phrases "to determine A from B" and "to determine A from at least B" can also have the same meaning. Further details will not be elaborated below.

[0116] The possible parameters in the first parameter set and their application in the embodiments are described in detail below.

[0117] The identifier of a terminal device can be of various types. For example, the identifier of a terminal device may include one or more of the following: UE identifier (UE-ID), cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), physical cell identifier (PCI), random access radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI), temporary C-RNTI, and transmit power control radio network temporary identifier (TPC-RNTI). Therefore, the transmitting device can generate different second sequences based on different identifiers of the terminal device, meaning different UEs can be allocated to different frequency domain resource elements for the reference signal. It should be noted that the above identifier can be a complete identifier or a part of an identifier. For example, a part of the UE-ID can be used to generate a second sequence for a specific UE. In some scenarios, this is sufficient to generate different second sequences for different UEs. This application does not limit this.

[0118] In this application, bandwidth may refer to the bandwidth allocated to the terminal. For example, bandwidth is the frequency domain resource unit allocated by the network device to the terminal for signal communication. M frequency domain resource units are some or all of the frequency domain resource units in the bandwidth.

[0119] The size of the bandwidth can be used to determine the total number of frequency domain resource units allocated within the bandwidth. For example, if the bandwidth is 200 MHz, the transmitting device can determine the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth based on this size. The value of M can be less than or equal to the number of frequency domain resource units in the bandwidth.

[0120] The location of the bandwidth can be used to determine the locations of the M frequency domain resource units used for the reference signal. The sequence values ​​in the second sequence can be determined based on the location of the bandwidth. For example, if the second sequence consists of one or more subcarrier indices, the sequence values ​​in the second sequence can be all or part of the subcarrier indices in the bandwidth.

[0121] The density of a reference signal can be used to determine the number of frequency domain resource units (RFUs) within a specific physical resource for the reference signal. For example, the density of a reference signal can represent the number of subcarriers used for the reference signal in a single symbol; for instance, six subcarriers used for the reference signal are associated with a single symbol. As another example, if the density of a reference signal represents 5% of the subcarriers in the bandwidth being used for the reference signal, then when the bandwidth allocated to the terminal device includes 240 subcarriers, the transmitting device can determine that the length (i.e., M) of the second sequence is 12.

[0122] Communication environment parameters can indicate the complexity or sophistication of the communication environment and can represent the number of frequency domain resource units to be used for the reference signal. In some embodiments, the length of the second sequence is greater than a threshold determined based on the communication environment parameters.

[0123] For example, communication environment parameters can indicate the type of communication environment, such as urban or rural areas. Different types of communication environments can correspond to different thresholds. In some embodiments, because the communication environment in urban areas may be more complex, the threshold corresponding to urban areas can be higher than the threshold corresponding to rural areas.

[0124] For example, communication environment parameters can indicate the channel rank, which can be used to determine a threshold. In some embodiments, the threshold can be greater than or equal to the ratio of the channel rank to the number of receiving antenna ports. For example, the threshold can be equal to this ratio or a multiple thereof. The channel rank can be determined based on the complexity of the communication environment (e.g., the number of reflectors in the communication environment). The channel rank can be obtained by constructing a channel space basis matrix or a similar channel state correlation matrix for the communication environment. For example, a network device can construct a channel space basis matrix for a communication area, where the rank of the channel space basis matrix can be used as the channel rank or used to derive the channel rank. The rank can represent the minimum number of frequency domain resource units required to reconstruct the target channel response for the communication area by measuring the projection of the target channel response onto the channel space basis matrix. In some embodiments, a reference signal transmitted by a transmitting device through one antenna port can be received by a receiving device through multiple receiving antenna ports. In this case, a channel estimation result can be obtained when the length of the second sequence (i.e., M) is greater than or equal to the ratio of the channel rank to the number of receiving antenna ports. Therefore, the channel rank can be used to determine the minimum value of M.

[0125] The time-domain information indicates one or more time-domain resource elements associated with the M frequency-domain resource elements. For example, the time-domain information may include time-domain resource element indices or identifiers, such as symbol indices and time slot indices. Therefore, the transmitting device can determine which time-domain resource element is associated with the M frequency-domain resource elements. This application does not limit the number of time-domain resource elements associated with the M frequency-domain resource elements. In some embodiments, when multiple symbols are allocated, the time-domain information can be used to determine how to generate a second sequence; for example, the transmitting device can generate a sequence for each symbol, and the generated sequences can constitute the second sequence.

[0126] Spatial domain information indicates multiple antenna ports supporting the transmission of a reference signal. For example, spatial domain information may include indices of multiple antenna ports. The K antenna ports (associated with M frequency domain resource elements) may be some or all of the multiple antenna ports supporting the transmission of the reference signal. In some embodiments, the transmitting device may generate a second sequence for all K antenna ports at once; that is, the transmitting device may first determine the locations of the M frequency domain resource elements and then associate the M frequency domain resource elements with the K antenna ports. Even in communication systems with multiple antenna ports, this method keeps the number of frequency domain resource elements within a reasonable range. In some embodiments, the transmitting device may generate a sequence for each antenna port, wherein the generated sequence constitutes the second sequence in this application.

[0127] In some embodiments, some of the parameters described above may be correlated, meaning the transmitting device can determine the parameters based on other parameters. For example, the transmitting device can determine the density of the reference signal based on communication environment parameters. This application does not limit this.

[0128] The third sequence provided in the embodiments of this application is described below based on the first parameter set mentioned above.

[0129] In some embodiments, the sequence values ​​in the third sequence can be generated from a range of values. The range of values ​​can represent the range of a continuous set of real numbers. For example, the sequence values ​​in the third sequence {17, 48, 98, 110, 120} are selected from the range of values ​​from 1 to 120. As another example, the sequence values ​​in the third sequence {0.21, 0.34, 0.37, 0.53, 0.79, 0.91} ​​are selected from the range of values ​​from 0 to 1.

[0130] The sequence values ​​in the third sequence can be selected from a range of values ​​in various ways. In some implementations, the sequence values ​​can be generated by a random generator. In some implementations, the sequence values ​​can be generated based on a uniform distribution. Below are some examples of third sequences generated based on a uniform distribution. The third sequence {1, 30, 59, 88, 117} is generated based on a uniform integer interval of 29, and the third sequence {0.17, 0.33, 0.50, 0.67, 0.83, 1} is generated based on a uniform decimal interval of 0.17. This application does not limit this. For example, the third sequence can also be generated by an optimal search algorithm (e.g., QR decomposition method), artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, or other possible methods. In some embodiments, the third sequence is determined at least based on a third parameter set, which is described below.

[0131] How to generate the second sequence based on the first parameter set and the third sequence will be explained in detail below.

[0132] The length of the second sequence can be determined based on the third sequence or the first parameter set. In some embodiments, the length of the second sequence is equal to the length of the third sequence. In some embodiments, the length of the second sequence is determined based on communication environment parameters.

[0133] The sequence values ​​in the second sequence can be determined based on the third sequence and the first parameter set. For example, the second sequence has a first relation with the first parameter set and the third sequence. Since the first parameter set and the third sequence are known to the transmitter, the sequence values ​​in the second sequence are generated based on the first relation.

[0134] In some embodiments, the ratio of the j-th sequence value in the third sequence to the size of the value range is related to the ratio of the j-th sequence value in the second sequence to the number of frequency domain resource units in the bandwidth. The value range represents the range of consecutive real numbers, and its size can be equal to the difference between the maximum and minimum values ​​of the consecutive real numbers. For ease of description, the size of the value range can be represented as S1, and the number of frequency domain resource units in the bandwidth can be represented as S2, where S2 can be determined based on the size of the bandwidth. The ratio of the sequence value in the third sequence to S1 can reflect the value distribution characteristics. When the second sequence consists of indices of M frequency domain resource units, the ratio of the sequence value in the second sequence to S2 can reflect the distribution characteristics of the M positions of the M frequency domain resource units. For example, the ratio of the sequence value in the third sequence to S1 is related to the ratio of the sequence value in the second sequence to S2, meaning the distribution characteristics of the M positions of the M frequency domain resource units can be determined based on the third sequence.

[0135] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the first relation can be represented as a first function, wherein the first parameter set and the third sequence are the inputs of the first function (for example, the first parameter set can be used to determine one or more coefficients of the first function), and the second sequence is the output of the first function. In the following description, the first relation will be explained in conjunction with the first function.

[0136] For example, Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the first function used to generate the second sequence. Two or more devices (e.g., a transmitting device and a receiving device) can obtain the same second sequence based on the first function, the third sequence, and the first parameter set. Therefore, the transmitting device and the receiving device do not need to directly transmit the second sequence (which may incur signaling overhead).

[0137] To facilitate understanding of the implementation of this application, a possible form of the first function that generates the second sequence will be illustrated below.

[0138] (1) The first function (i.e.) s i The output of can be represented as {s1, s2, …, s}. outputLength1}, that is, the second sequence provided in this application. x i It can be represented as { x 1, x 2, …, x outputLength1}, that is, the third sequence provided in this application. The coefficients of the first function can be expressed as { a , b , outputLengthl}. All or part of the coefficients can be determined based on the first parameter set mentioned above. In some implementations, the coefficients " a "This can represent a scaling factor, which can be determined based on the bandwidth and the range of values ​​for the third sequence. For example, the coefficient " a The value of "" can be equal to the ratio of S2 to S1. In some implementations, the coefficient " b "This can represent an offset factor, which can be determined based on the location of the bandwidth. For example, the index of the starting subcarrier of the bandwidth can be determined based on its location, and the coefficient..." b The value of "" can be equal to the index of the starting subcarrier of the bandwidth. In some embodiments, the coefficient " outputLengthl "It can be equal to the length of the third sequence."

[0139] For example, the transmitting device obtains a third sequence {0.05, 0.44, 0.53, 0.84} generated from the value range of 0 to 1 (S1=1). Therefore, the length of the third sequence is 4. The bandwidth size is used to determine that the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth is equal to 24 (S2=24). The position of the bandwidth is used to determine that the index of the starting subcarrier in the bandwidth is equal to 48. Therefore, the value of the coefficient of the first function can be expressed as { a= twenty four, b= 47, outputLengthl = outputLengthl 4}, substitute these parameters into (1) to obtain the second sequence {48, 57, 59, 67}. The second sequence is generated based on the first parameter set and the third sequence, which can indicate the location of the frequency domain resource unit that the first sequence needs to map, namely subcarrier indices 48, 57, 59 and 67.

[0140] One or more parameters in the first parameter set can be used to determine one or more coefficients of the function, for example, the coefficients in the first function (1) are " a "and" b Alternatively, one or more parameters from the first parameter set can be used to directly determine the length of the second sequence, for example, determining the length of the second sequence (equal to "") based on one or more parameters from the first parameter set. outputLengthl In some embodiments, the transmitting and receiving devices can predetermine the coefficients. a "and" b ", and one device can send " to another device outputLengthl This application does not impose any limitations on this.

[0141] The first function described above is an example provided to facilitate understanding of the implementation of this application. Different devices can generate the same second sequence based on the same first sequence, third sequence, and first function.

[0142] In some embodiments, the transmitting device may acquire more than one first function (a first relationship between the first parameter set and the third sequence and the second sequence), and the transmitting device may select one or more first functions from the plurality of first functions to generate the second sequence. In some embodiments, the plurality of first functions are stored in the transmitting device or a memory coupled to the transmitting device. In some embodiments, the transmitting device may acquire the plurality of first functions from the receiving device. This application does not limit this.

[0143] The transmitting device can generate a second sequence based on more than one first function, thereby generating multiple sequences for multiple antenna ports or multiple time-domain resource units, wherein the multiple sequences constitute the second sequence. For the sake of simplicity, the following description uses the selection of one first function as an example.

[0144] For example, the first function (relation) is determined based on the second set of parameters, which includes one or more of the following: the identifier of the terminal device, the density of the reference signal, the size of the bandwidth, the location of the bandwidth, time domain information, spatial domain information, the index of the first relation, the type parameter of the first relation, and the communication environment parameters.

[0145] The descriptions of the terminal device's identifier, reference signal density, bandwidth (size and location), time-domain information, spatial-domain information, and communication environment parameters are as described above and will not be repeated here. The transmitting device can select the first function based on the second parameter set; for example, the transmitter can select different first functions based on different identifiers.

[0146] The first relation type parameter can be used to indicate the type of the first relation. The type of the first function (relation) can be defined based on the properties of the first function. For example, if the second sequence output by the first function is a pseudo-random sequence, then the type of the first function can be called random type or non-uniform type. If the second sequence output by the first function is a uniform sequence, then the type of the first function can be called uniform type. This application does not limit this. In some embodiments, different types of first functions can correspond to different communication environments. For example, urban areas can correspond to random type first functions, and rural areas can correspond to uniform type first functions.

[0147] The first relationship index can be used to identify the first relationship. In some embodiments, the sending device can obtain the index of the first function. For example, if the sending device is a terminal device, it can receive the index of the first function from a network device or other device.

[0148] The above description of determining the first function based on the second set of parameters is for illustrative purposes only. This application does not limit its scope. For example, the transmitting device may determine a set of functions based on type parameters and select one function from the set based on communication environment parameters.

[0149] The transmitting and receiving devices can maintain a table with multiple first functions, the form of which can be related to the method of determining the first functions (i.e., the second parameter set is used to determine the first functions). For ease of understanding of the embodiments of this application, Table 1 below provides a possible table with multiple first functions.

[0150] Table 1:

[0151] In the exemplary Table 1, n is an integer greater than 1, and multiple functions are grouped according to environment type and function type. The sending device can select a function according to the second parameter (environment type and function type in Table 1) and generate a second sequence according to the selected function and the first parameter set.

[0152] The following describes how to generate a second sequence based on the first parameter set and the third sequence described above, and how to generate a third sequence based on the third parameter set provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0153] In the first embodiment ( Figure 7 In method 1), the transmitting device can acquire multiple sequences and select one or more sequences from the multiple sequences according to a third parameter set, wherein the selected sequences constitute the third sequence. The third parameter set includes one or more of the following: the identifier of the terminal device, the density of the reference signal, the size of the bandwidth, the location of the bandwidth, time domain information, spatial domain information, sequence index, sequence type parameter, and communication environment parameter.

[0154] The descriptions of the terminal device's identifier, reference signal density, bandwidth (size and location), time-domain information, spatial-domain information, and communication environment parameters are as described above and will not be repeated here. The transmitting device can select a sequence based on the third parameter set; for example, the transmitting device can select different sequences based on different identifiers.

[0155] The sequence type parameter can be used to indicate the type of the third sequence. The type of the third sequence can be defined based on its properties. For example, if the third sequence is a pseudo-random sequence, its type can be called random or non-uniform. If the third sequence is a uniform sequence, its type can be called uniform. This application does not impose any limitations on this. In some implementations, different types of third sequences can correspond to different communication environments; for example, urban areas can correspond to random third sequences, while rural areas can correspond to uniform third sequences.

[0156] A sequence index can identify a third sequence. In some embodiments, the transmitting device can obtain the index of the third sequence. For example, if the transmitting device is a terminal device, it can receive the index of the third sequence from a network device or other device.

[0157] The above description of determining the third sequence based on the third parameter set is for illustrative purposes only. This application does not limit this. For example, the transmitting device may determine a set of base sequences based on sequence type parameters and select a base sequence from the set of base sequences based on communication environment parameters.

[0158] For ease of description, multiple sequences may be referred to as base sequences in this application. These multiple base sequences may take the form of a table or a series of tables, each table having multiple rows, each row giving a base sequence. To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, Table 2 below provides examples of multiple base sequences.

[0159] Table 2:

[0160] In the exemplary Table 2, n and m are integers greater than 1. Multiple base sequences are grouped according to environment type, for example, base sequences with indices 1 to n for urban areas and base sequences with indices 1 to m for rural areas. The transmitter can select a third sequence based on a third parameter set (e.g., environment type in Table 2) and determine the M locations of frequency domain resource units.

[0161] In the second implementation method ( Figure 7 In method 2), the third sequence can have a second relation with the third parameter set. Since the third parameter set is known to the transmitter, the third sequence is generated according to the second relation. The second relation can be represented as a second function, where the third parameter set is the input of the second function (e.g., the third parameters can be used to determine one or more coefficients of the second function), and the third sequence is the output of the second function. For ease of understanding of the embodiments of this application, the second relation will be described in conjunction with the second function in the following description.

[0162] The second function may include various operations for generating the third sequence. For example, the third sequence may be selected from a range of values ​​by the second function. For example, the second function may include at least one or more of the following operations: concurrency, splicing, random number generation, and uniform distribution. This application does not limit this. Two or more devices (e.g., a transmitting device and a receiving device) can obtain the same third sequence according to the second function and the third parameter set. Therefore, the transmitter and receiver may not directly transmit the third sequence (which may incur signaling overhead).

[0163] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, a possible form of the second function that generates the third sequence will be described below by way of example.

[0164] (2) The second function (i.e.) x i The output of ) can be represented as { x 1, x 2, …, x outputLength2}, that is, the third sequence provided in this application. The coefficients of the second function can be expressed as { seed 1, c , d , m 1, m 2, outputLength2}. All or part of the coefficients can be determined based on the set of the third parameter mentioned above. For example, the coefficient " m The value "2" can be determined based on the precision of the value range (i.e., the number of decimal places). The transmitter can control the coefficient "m 1" and coefficient " m The value of "2" controls the range of sequence values ​​in the third sequence. In some embodiments, the coefficient " outputLength2 "It can be determined based on communication environment parameters. When the length of the second sequence is equal to the length of the third sequence, the coefficient..." outputLength2 The value of '" determines the number of frequency domain resource units. For example, the coefficient '" seed 1” c "or" d "It can be determined based on the identifier of the terminal device, and different third sequences can be generated for different terminal devices."

[0165] The correlation between the coefficients and the third parameter set described above is for illustrative purposes only. This correlation may be related to the form of the function and the application scenario, etc. This application does not impose any limitations on this.

[0166] In some embodiments, the transmitting device may acquire more than one second function (a second relationship between the third parameter set and the third sequence), and the transmitter may select one or more second functions from the plurality of second functions to generate the third sequence.

[0167] For example, the second function (relation) is determined based on the fourth parameter set, which includes one or more of the following: the identifier of the terminal device, the density of the reference signal, the size of the bandwidth, the location of the bandwidth, time domain information, spatial domain information, the second relation index, the second relation type parameter, and the communication environment parameter.

[0168] The description of one or more parameters in the fourth parameter set can be found above and will not be repeated here. The transmitting device can select the second function based on the fourth parameter set; for example, the transmitting device can select different second functions based on different identifiers.

[0169] The transmitting and receiving devices can maintain a table with multiple second functions, the form of which can be related to the method of determining the second functions (i.e., the fourth parameter set is used to determine the second functions). For ease of understanding of this application, Table 3 below provides a possible table with multiple second functions.

[0170] Table 3:

[0171] In the exemplary table 3, n is an integer greater than 1, and multiple second functions are grouped according to the environment type and the type of the second function. The transmitting device can select a second function according to the fourth parameter set (the environment type and the type of the second function in Table 3), and generate a third sequence according to the selected second function and the fourth parameter set.

[0172] The previous section described the second sequence of M locations indicating frequency domain resource elements. The following section will describe the relationship between the M frequency domain resource elements and the K antenna ports.

[0173] The total number of antenna ports supporting the transmission of the reference signal can be P, where P is a positive integer, and P ≥ K. In other words, the transmitting device can select all or some of the P antenna ports to transmit the reference signal. In some embodiments, the transmitting device can determine whether to select some of the P antenna ports based at least on the value of M; for example, when P is greater than M, the transmitting device can determine to select some of the P antenna ports.

[0174] Antenna ports can be determined in various ways. For example, the K antenna ports with the smallest indices out of P antenna ports can be assigned to transmit the reference signal. Alternatively, the P antenna ports can be arranged according to their indices, and each of the P antenna ports can be selected to transmit the reference signal. For instance, three antenna ports can be selected from each of the eight indices 1 to 8, meaning the selected K antenna ports are indices 1, 4, and 7. This application does not limit this approach.

[0175] The association between M frequency domain resource elements and K antenna ports can be determined in various ways. In some embodiments, the K antenna ports are indicated by a third sequence of length M, where the frequency domain resource element indicated by the i-th sequence value in the second sequence is associated with the antenna port indicated by the i-th sequence value in the third sequence, where i is a positive integer and i ≤ M. For example, the second sequence {13, 47, 49, 89, 125, 137} can be generated to indicate subcarrier indices 13, 47, 49, 89, 125, and 137. Antenna port indices 1, 4, and 7 can be selected, and the third sequence can be {1, 4, 7, 1, 4, 7}, meaning the reference signal sequence is mapped to subcarrier indices 13 on antenna port index 1, 47 on antenna port index 4, 49 on antenna port index 7, 89 on antenna port 1, 125 on antenna port 4, and 137 on antenna port 7. Alternatively, the third sequence can be {1, 1, 4, 4, 7, 7}, that is, the reference signal sequence is mapped to subcarrier index 13 on antenna port index 1, subcarrier index 47 on antenna port index 1, subcarrier index 49 on antenna port 4, subcarrier index 89 on antenna port 4, subcarrier index 125 on antenna port 7 and subcarrier index 137 on antenna port 7.

[0176] For ease of description, the second sequence (indicating M frequency domain resource elements) and the fourth sequence (indicating K antenna ports) can be in the form of a frequency-spatial domain sequence, such as {13-1, 47-4, 49-7, 89-1, 125-4, 137-7}.

[0177] It should be noted that this application does not limit the method of generating the fourth sequence. For example, the fourth sequence can be determined at least based on a fifth parameter set, which includes one or more of the following: the identifier of the terminal device, the density of the reference signal, the size of the bandwidth, the location of the bandwidth, time-domain information, spatial-domain information, relation index, relation type, and communication environment parameters. For a description of the above parameters, please refer to the description above, which will not be repeated here.

[0178] For example, the fourth sequence can have a third relationship with the fifth parameter set, and this third relationship can be represented as a third function. To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, a possible form of the third function that generates the fourth sequence will be described below: (3) The third function (i.e.) P i The output of ) can be represented as {P1, P2, …, P outputLength3}, that is, the fourth sequence provided in this application. The coefficients of the third function can be expressed as { initalportindex , offset , P , outputLength3}. All or part of the coefficients can be determined based on the fifth parameter mentioned above. For example, the coefficient " P "This can be the number of antenna ports that support the transmission of reference signals. (Coefficient)" outputLength3 "It can be determined based on communication environment parameters, which can indicate the number of frequency domain resource elements (associated with the K antenna ports). This application does not limit this."

[0179] The transmitting and receiving devices can maintain a table with multiple third functions. In some embodiments, the first function (for generating a second sequence in the frequency domain) and the third function (for generating a fourth sequence in the spatial domain) can be associated in a single table. For ease of understanding this application, Table 4 below provides one possible table.

[0180] Table 4:

[0181] In the exemplary table 4, multiple functions are grouped according to environment type and function type. The sending device can generate a second sequence and a third sequence based on table 4.

[0182] In some embodiments, the association between M frequency domain resource elements and K antenna ports can be determined based on a third sequence (used to generate the second sequence). Utilizing the property that sequence values ​​are arranged in a certain order, an antenna port can be associated with some sequence values ​​at certain locations. For example, the first Q sequence values ​​in the third sequence constitute a subsequence #1 associated with the antenna port with the smallest index, the next Q sequence values ​​in the third sequence constitute the next subsequence #1 associated with the antenna port with the second smallest index, and so on, where Q can be equal to the ratio of M to K (Q = M / K). In some embodiments, the third sequence includes K subsequences #1, and the K subsequences of the third sequence are associated with K antenna ports. The M frequency domain resource elements are divided into K frequency domain resource groups, and the K antenna ports are associated with K frequency domain resource groups respectively.

[0183] For example, the third sequence {0.05, 0.44, 0.53, 0.84} includes two subsequences #1: {0.05, 0.44} and {0.53, 0.84}. One subsequence #1, {0.05, 0.44}, composed of the first two sequence values ​​from the third sequence, is associated with antenna port 4, and the other subsequence #1, {0.53, 0.84}, composed of the last two sequence values ​​from the third sequence, is associated with antenna port 7. A second sequence {48, 57, 59, 67} is generated based on the third sequence, indicating four subcarriers: subcarrier indices 48, 57, 59, and 67. These four subcarriers are divided into two frequency domain resource groups according to the division method of the third sequence. Subcarrier indices 48 and 57 (indicated by the first two sequence values ​​from the second sequence) constitute the first frequency domain resource group, which is associated with antenna port 4. Subcarrier indices 59 and 67 (indicated by the last two sequence values ​​in the second sequence) constitute the second frequency domain resource group, which is associated with antenna port 7. In this embodiment, the position of the sequence values ​​in the third sequence can be used to determine the association between the M frequency domain resource elements and the K antenna ports, reducing the design complexity of the reference signal pattern.

[0184] The method for dividing the third sequence into multiple subsequences can be predefined or determined based on one or more parameters (e.g., K and M values). This application does not limit this.

[0185] The previous section described the relationship between M frequency domain resource elements and K antenna ports. The following section will describe the relationship between M frequency domain resource elements and one or more time domain resource elements.

[0186] In some embodiments, M frequency domain resource elements are associated with a single time domain resource element (e.g., a single symbol). Therefore, the transmitting device can determine that a first sequence of the reference signal maps to physical resources defined by the time domain resource element and the M frequency domain resource elements; that is, the first sequence can be mapped to the M frequency domain resource elements within the time domain resource element. For example, the transmitting device can generate a second sequence for each allocated symbol, and each symbol is associated with the frequency domain resource element indicated by the corresponding second sequence. As another example, the transmitting device can determine the positions of the frequency domain resource elements of other symbols based on the second sequence; for instance, the transmitting device can shift the second sequence by a certain offset to obtain the positions of the frequency domain resource elements of other symbols.

[0187] In some embodiments, the M frequency domain resource elements are associated with a plurality of symbols. For example, each of the plurality of symbols is associated with the same M locations in the M frequency domain resource elements. The transmitting device may map a first sequence of a reference signal onto the M frequency domain resource elements in each of the plurality of symbols.

[0188] This application does not specifically limit the way in which the M frequency domain units are associated with one or more time domain units. For example, a first function (used to generate a second sequence) or a third function (used to generate a fourth sequence) can be associated with a symbol, and the positions of the frequency domain resource units and antenna ports associated with other symbols can be defined by other functions.

[0189] In some embodiments, the association between M frequency domain resource units and one or more time domain resource units can be determined based on a third sequence (used to generate the second sequence). Utilizing the property that sequence values ​​are arranged in a certain order, time domain resource units can be associated with some sequence values ​​at certain positions. For example, the first R sequence values ​​in the third sequence constitute a subsequence #2 associated with the symbol with the smallest index, the next R sequence values ​​in the third sequence constitute the next subsequence #2 associated with the symbol with the second smallest index, and so on, where R can be equal to the ratio of M to R (Q=M / T). In some embodiments, the third sequence includes T subsequences #2, and the T subsequences of the third sequence are associated with T time domain resource units. The M frequency domain resource units are divided into T frequency domain resource groups, and the T time domain resource units are associated with each of the T frequency domain resource groups.

[0190] For example, the third sequence {0.05, 0.44, 0.53, 0.84} includes two subsequences #2: {0.05, 0.44} and {0.53, 0.84}. One subsequence #2 {0.05, 0.44}, composed of the first two sequence values ​​from the third sequence, is associated with symbol index 1, and the other subsequence #2 {0.53, 0.84}, composed of the last two sequence values ​​from the third sequence, is associated with symbol index 2. A second sequence {48, 57, 59, 67} is generated based on the third sequence, indicating four subcarriers: subcarrier indices 48, 57, 59, and 67. These four subcarriers are divided into two frequency domain resource groups according to the partitioning method of the third sequence. Subcarrier indices 48 and 57 (indicated by the first two sequence values ​​from the second sequence) constitute the first frequency domain resource group, which is associated with symbol index 1. Subcarrier indices 59 and 67 (indicated by the last two sequence values ​​in the second sequence) constitute the second frequency domain resource group, which is associated with symbol index 2. In this embodiment, the positions of the sequence values ​​in the third sequence can be used to determine the association between the M frequency domain resource units and one or more symbols, reducing the design complexity of the reference signal pattern.

[0191] The method for dividing the third sequence into multiple subsequences can be predefined or determined based on one or more parameters (e.g., the number of allocated time-domain resource units and the M value). This application does not limit this.

[0192] The transmitter and receiver can acquire the same second sequence. The transmitter can send a reference signal according to the second sequence, and the receiver can receive the reference signal according to the second sequence. That is, in some implementations, the transmitter and receiver can perform the following steps at S530.

[0193] Optionally, at S530, the transmitting device sends a reference signal to the receiver. Accordingly, the receiving device receives the reference signal.

[0194] The receiving device can determine that a first sequence of reference signals is mapped onto M frequency domain resource elements on K antenna ports, and the M positions of the M frequency domain resource elements are indicated by a second sequence.

[0195] The methods for generating the second sequence, indicating the M locations of the M frequency domain resource elements, associating the M frequency domain resource elements with the K antenna ports, and associating the M frequency domain resource elements with one or more time domain resource elements are described in the description of S520. They will not be repeated here.

[0196] The transmitting device can transmit a reference signal using M frequency domain resource units. The receiving device can receive the reference signal and perform signal measurements based on the determined M frequency domain resource units and the associated K antenna ports (i.e., antenna ports). The receiving device can perform different operations depending on the application. For example, the receiving device can perform a correlation test on a first sequence of the reference signal and a received sequence of the reference signal to obtain corresponding measurement results, such as, but not limited to, delay, received power, signal quality, etc. This application does not limit this.

[0197] This application does not specifically limit the operation of the receiving device in receiving the reference signal. For example, when the receiving device has multiple receiving antenna ports, the receiving device can use all or some of the receiving antenna ports to receive the reference signal.

[0198] As described above, the transmitting and receiving devices can determine the M locations of the M frequency domain resource elements by generating a second sequence based at least on the first parameter set and the third sequence. Optionally, prior to S510, the transmitting and receiving devices may perform the following steps at S540.

[0199] Optionally, at S540, the transmitting device and the receiving device acquire the first parameter set.

[0200] In some embodiments, all or some of the parameters in the first parameter set may be pre-configured on the transmitting device side or the receiving device side. In some embodiments, one or more parameters are not pre-configured on the transmitting device side or the receiving device side. Therefore, the transmitting device may determine one or more parameters and transmit one or more parameters to the receiving device, or the receiving device may determine one or more parameters and transmit one or more parameters to the transmitting device, or other devices (e.g., core network devices) may determine one or more parameters and transmit one or more parameters to both the transmitting device and the receiving device. This application does not limit this.

[0201] One or more parameters can be carried in various signals; different parameters can be carried in the same signal or different signals. In other words, the transmission process of each parameter can be determined based on its application. For example, when a terminal device requests access to a network device's network, it can send an access request to the network device. The access request carries the terminal device's identifier. The network device can receive the access request sent by the terminal device and obtain the terminal device's identifier from the access request. As another example, the network device can configure bandwidth for the terminal device.

[0202] In some embodiments, the transmitting and receiving devices may acquire a third sequence, a second parameter set (for determining the relationship between the first parameter set and the second sequence), a first function (representing the relationship between the first parameter set and the second sequence), or a third parameter set (for determining the association between M frequency domain resource elements and K antenna ports) in a manner similar to that used to acquire the first parameter set. Further details will not be elaborated here.

[0203] In this application, the second sequence can be generated based on the first parameter set, wherein the second sequence indicates the M positions of M frequency domain resource units, and the first sequence of the reference signal is mapped onto the M frequency domain resource units. That is, compared to predefining the positions of the frequency domain resource units for the reference signal, generating the second sequence based on the first parameter set makes the determination of the positions of the frequency domain resource units more flexible.

[0204] To facilitate understanding of the implementation of this application, Figures 8 to 10 Three examples are shown in the figure.

[0205] In the first example, Figure 8 This is a first schematic diagram of this application. Communication environment parameters and the identifier of the terminal device are used to select a third sequence from a plurality of pre-configured base sequences. A threshold of 4 is determined based on the communication environment parameters. The transmitting device can determine that the number of frequency domain resource elements used for the reference signal is greater than or equal to 4; in this example, the number is 4. The transmitter can determine that the length of the third sequence is 4, and can select one base sequence from a plurality of base sequences of length 4 based on the identifier of the terminal device. For example, based on UE_ID equal to 001, a base sequence {0.05, 0.44, 0.53, 0.84} with index 1 can be selected; this base sequence can be called the third sequence and used to generate the second sequence. In this example, a first function is used to generate the second sequence. The values ​​can be predefined, selected from a table, or received; this application does not limit this. The first function has already been described in detail above and will not be repeated here. For example, the bandwidth size is used to determine that the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth is equal to 24. The bandwidth position is used to determine that the index of the starting subcarrier in the bandwidth is equal to 48. Therefore, the values ​​of the coefficients of the first function can be expressed as { a= twenty four, b= 48, outputLength = outputLength4}, the second sequence {48, 57, 59, 67} is obtained according to the first function. Two antenna ports with indices 1 and 3 are assigned to transmit the reference signal. The fourth sequence {1, 3, 1, 3} can be used to represent the association between the four subcarriers and the two antenna ports. The fourth sequence can be generated in a predefined manner; for example, the antenna port with the smallest index is associated with the subcarrier with the smallest index, the antenna port with the second smallest index is associated with the subcarrier with the second smallest index, and so on. The symbol with index 10 is assigned to the reference signal, which is determined based on time-domain information. That is, the four subcarriers are associated with symbol index 10. Therefore, the first sequence of the reference signal can be mapped to subcarrier index 48 and symbol index 10 on antenna port index 1, subcarrier index 57 and symbol index 10 on antenna port index 3, subcarrier index 59 and symbol 10 on antenna port 1, and subcarrier index 67 and symbol 10 on antenna port 3. For ease of description, three-dimensional (time-frequency spatial domain) sequences can be used to represent resource locations in the time-frequency spatial domain. For example, the three-dimensional sequence {10⁻⁴⁸⁻¹, 10⁻⁵⁷⁻³, 10⁻⁵⁹⁻¹, 10⁻⁶⁷⁻³} can be used to represent... Figure 8 The example shown is illustrated below. The three-dimensional sequences in the following description represent similar meanings and will not be repeated here.

[0206] In the second example, Figure 9 This is a second schematic diagram of this application. In this example, communication between a receiving device and two transmitting devices is shown, wherein the receiving device is a network device, and the two transmitting devices are two UEs, denoted as UE#1 and UE#2. The network device determines pilot patterns for each of the two UEs. For UE#1, the network determines that two symbols with indices 10 and 11 are assigned to a reference signal. The density of the reference signal indicates that the number of subcarriers required for each symbol of the reference signal is 4. The identifier of UE#1 can be represented by UE_ID#1, which is equal to 001. A second function #1 is used to generate a third sequence #1 based on the above parameters, wherein the third sequence #1 can be represented as:

[0207] The third sequence #1 is represented in matrix form by two-dimensional indices, where one dimension represents the symbol and the other dimension represents the relative subcarrier index. In other words, the third sequence #1 comprises two subsequences: {1, 5, 8, 16} and {4, 10, 18, 24}. The subsequence {1, 5, 8, 16} is associated with symbol index 10, and the subsequence {4, 10, 18, 24} is associated with symbol index 11. The position of bandwidth #1 is used to determine that the index of the starting subcarrier #1 in the bandwidth is equal to 48. The first function #1 is used to generate the second sequence #1 based on the aforementioned third sequence #1 and the aforementioned parameters, where the second sequence #1 can be represented as {48, 52, 55, 63, 51, 57, 65, 71}. The first four sequence values ​​in the second sequence #1 are associated with symbol index 10, and the last four sequence values ​​in the second sequence #1 are associated with symbol index 11. Two antenna ports, indexed 1 and indexed 2, are assigned to transmit reference signals. The fourth sequence #1 {1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2} can be used to represent the association between 8 subcarriers, 2 symbols, and 2 antenna ports. The fourth sequence #1 can be generated in a predefined manner, which is not limited in this application. The three-dimensional sequence {10-48-1, 10-52-1, 10-55-2, 10-63-2, 11-51-1, 11-57-1, 11-65-2, 11-71-2} can be used to represent... Figure 9 The example shown is UE#1.

[0208] For UE#2, the network device determines that a symbol with index 10 is assigned to the reference signal. The density of the reference signal indicates that the number of subcarriers required for one symbol of the reference signal is 6. The identifier of UE#2 can be represented by UE_ID#2 equal to 002. The second function #2 is used to generate the third sequence #2 based on the above parameters, where the third sequence #2 can be represented as {3, 11, 14, 17, 19, 24}. The position of bandwidth #2 is used to determine that the index of the starting subcarrier #2 in bandwidth #2 is equal to 48. The first function #2 is used to generate the second sequence #2 based on the above third sequence #2 and the above parameters, where the second sequence #2 can be represented as {50, 58, 61, 64, 66, 71}. Three antenna ports with indices 3, 4, and 5 are assigned to transmit the reference signal, and the fourth sequence #2 {3, 4, 5, 3, 4, 5} can be used to represent the association between 6 subcarriers, 1 symbol, and 3 antenna ports. The fourth sequence #2 can be generated in a predefined manner, and this application does not impose any limitations on this. The three-dimensional sequence {10⁻⁵⁰⁻³, 10⁻⁵⁸⁻⁴, 10⁻⁶¹⁻⁵, 10⁻⁶⁴⁻³, 10⁻⁶⁶⁻⁴, 10⁻⁷¹⁻⁵} can be used to represent...Figure 9 The example shown is UE#2.

[0209] In the third example, Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of a pattern based on a second sequence. In this example, communication between a transmitting device and two receiving devices is shown, where the transmitting device is a network device and the two receiving devices are two UEs, denoted as UE#3 and UE#4. The network device determines pilot patterns for each of the two UEs. For UE#3, the network device determines that two symbols with indices 10 and 11 are assigned to a reference signal. The density of the reference signal indicates that the number of subcarriers required for each symbol of the reference signal is 4. The identifier for UE#3 can be represented by UE_ID#3, which is equal to 001. The transmitter can select two base sequences for each of the two symbols, and the two base sequences form a third sequence #3. Figure 10 As shown, two basis sequences X1={1, 5, 8, 16} and X2={4, 10, 18, 24} can be chosen as inputs to the first function #3. The meaning of the two chosen basis sequences can be related to... Figure 9 The two subsequences of the third sequence #1 corresponding to UE#1 have similar meanings. Subsequence X1={1, 5, 8, 16} is associated with symbol index 10, and subsequence X2={4, 10, 18, 24} is associated with symbol index 11. The position of bandwidth #3 is used to determine that the index of the starting subcarrier in bandwidth #3 is equal to 48. The first function #3 is used to generate the second sequence #3 based on the above third sequence #3 and the above parameters, where the second sequence #3 can be represented as {48, 52, 55, 63, 51, 57, 65, 71}. The first four sequence values ​​in the second sequence #3 are associated with symbol index 10, and the last four sequence values ​​in the second sequence #3 are associated with symbol index 11. Two antenna ports, indexed 1 and indexed 2, are assigned to transmit reference signals. The fourth sequence #3 {1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2} can be used to represent the association between 8 subcarriers, 2 symbols, and 2 antenna ports. The fourth sequence #3 can be generated in a predefined manner, which is not limited in this application. The three-dimensional sequence {10-48-1, 10-52-1, 10-55-2, 10-63-2, 11-51-1, 11-57-1, 11-65-2, 11-71-2} can be used to represent... Figure 10 The example shown is UE#3.

[0210] For UE#4, the time-domain information indicates that a symbol with index 10 is assigned to the reference signal. The density of the reference signal indicates that the number of subcarriers required for one symbol of the reference signal is 6. The identifier of UE#4 can be represented by UE_ID#4, which equals 002. The transmitter can select a base sequence {3, 11, 14, 17, 19, 24} from the sequence list according to the above parameters, where the selected base sequence can be called the third sequence #4. The position of bandwidth #4 is used to determine that the index of the starting subcarrier in bandwidth #4 is equal to 48. The first function #4 is used to generate a second sequence #4 based on the above third sequence #4 and the above parameters, where the second sequence #4 can be represented as {50, 58, 61, 64, 66, 71}. Three antenna ports with indices 3, 4, and 5 are assigned to transmit the reference signal, and the fourth sequence #4 {3, 4, 5, 3, 4, 5} can be used to represent the association between 6 subcarriers, 1 symbol, and 3 antenna ports. The fourth sequence #4 can be generated in a predefined manner, and this application does not impose any limitations on this. The three-dimensional sequence {10⁻⁵⁰⁻³, 10⁻⁵⁸⁻⁴, 10⁻⁶¹⁻⁵, 10⁻⁶⁴⁻³, 10⁻⁶⁶⁻⁴, 10⁻⁷¹⁻⁵} can be used to represent... Figure 10 The example shown is UE#4.

[0211] The above combination Figures 5 to 10 The communication method according to the embodiments of this application has been described in detail below, in conjunction with... Figures 11 to 15 The transmitting apparatus and receiving apparatus according to embodiments of this application will be described in detail.

[0212] Figure 11 This is a schematic block diagram of the transmitting device 10 provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 11 As shown, the transmitting device 10 includes: Processing module 11 is used to generate a first sequence of reference signals; The transceiver module 12 is used to map a first sequence onto M frequency domain resource elements on K antenna ports, wherein the M positions of the M frequency domain resource elements are indicated by a second sequence, which is generated based on a first parameter set and a third sequence, where M and K are positive integers and M≥K.

[0213] Therefore, the transmitting device can determine the M locations of the M frequency domain resource elements by determining the second sequence, and associate the M frequency domain resource elements with the K antenna ports. The second sequence is generated at least based on the first parameter set; that is, generating the second sequence based on the first parameter set makes the process of determining the reference signal pattern more flexible than predefining the locations of the frequency domain resource elements for the reference signal.

[0214] The transmitting device 10 in this embodiment can correspond to the transmitting device in the communication method described above. The management operations and / or functions of each module of the transmitting device 10, as well as other management operations and / or functions, are designed to implement the corresponding steps of the above method. For the sake of brevity, further details are omitted here.

[0215] In this embodiment, the transceiver module 12 can be implemented by a transceiver, and the processing module 11 can be implemented by a processor.

[0216] like Figure 12 As shown, the transmitting device 20 may include a transceiver 21. Optionally, the transmitting device 20 may also include a processor 22 and / or a memory 23. The memory 23 may be used to store instruction information, or to store code and instructions to be executed by the processor 22.

[0217] Figure 13 This is a schematic block diagram of the receiving device 30 provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 13 As shown, the receiving device 30 includes: Processing module 32 is used to determine the first sequence of the reference signal mapped onto M frequency domain resource units on K antenna ports; The transceiver module 31 is used to receive a reference signal, wherein a first sequence of the reference signal is mapped to M frequency domain resource elements on K antenna ports, and the M positions of the M frequency domain resource elements are indicated by a second sequence, which is generated based at least on a first parameter set and a third sequence, where M and K are positive integers and M≥K.

[0218] The receiving device 30 in this embodiment can correspond to the receiving device in the communication method described above. The management operations and / or functions of each module of the receiving device 30, as well as other management operations and / or functions, are designed to implement the corresponding steps of the above method. For the sake of brevity, further details are omitted here.

[0219] In this embodiment, the transceiver module 31 can be implemented by a transceiver, and the processing module 32 can be implemented by a processor.

[0220] like Figure 14 As shown, the receiving device 40 may include a transceiver 41. Optionally, the receiving device 40 may also include a processor 42 and / or a memory 43. The memory 43 may be used to store instruction information, or to store code and instructions to be executed by the processor 42.

[0221] Processor 22 or processor 42 can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In implementation, each step in the above method embodiments can be implemented through hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or through software instructions. Processing module 21 can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. All methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or the processor can be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this invention can be directly executed and completed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed and completed using a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can be located in storage media known in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers. The storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads information from the memory and combines it with the processor's hardware to complete the steps of the above methods.

[0222] In this embodiment of the invention, memory 23 or memory 43 can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, and may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM can be used, such as Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM). The storage in the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable storage.

[0223] This application also provides a system. For example... Figure 14 As shown, system 50 includes: The transmitting device 10 and the receiving device 20 according to embodiments of the present application.

[0224] This application also provides a computer storage medium that can store program instructions to execute any of the above methods.

[0225] Alternatively, the storage medium may specifically be memory 23 or 43.

[0226] Those skilled in the art will recognize that, in conjunction with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification, the various units and algorithm steps can be implemented by electronic hardware or by a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the function is performed by hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but should not consider that such embodiments are beyond the scope of this application.

[0227] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for convenience and brevity, the detailed working process of the above-described systems, devices, and units can be referred to the corresponding process in the above-described method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0228] In the several embodiments provided in this application, the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the described apparatus embodiments are merely examples. For instance, unit partitioning is a logical functional partitioning, and other partitioning methods can be used in actual embodiments. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not performed. Furthermore, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or described can be implemented through some communication interfaces. Indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units can be implemented electronically, mechanically, or in other ways.

[0229] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, these components may be located in one unit or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0230] Furthermore, the functional units in the embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically independently, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0231] When these functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The technical solution of this application can be implemented as a software product. This software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to instruct a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in the embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes any medium capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, a portable hard drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0232] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any variations or substitutions that are readily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should fall within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

[0233] Pilot design methods and apparatus This application relates to wireless communication in wireless networks.

[0234] Abbreviations and vocabulary definitions NR New Radio gNB Next Generation Base Station BS base station User equipment (UE) MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) T-MIMO Terabit MIMO QRDQR decomposition DL downlink UL uplink RE resource element RB resource block UE-ID (User Equipment Identifier) C-RNTI (Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier) TC-RNTI (temporary C-RNTI) PCI Physical Cell ID TTI (Transmission Time Interval) OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) In wireless communication systems, obtaining the characteristics of the channel is crucial. To estimate the channel, a pilot signal (reference signal) is transmitted that is known to both the transmitter and the receiver. The receiver can estimate the channel by measuring the pilot signal transmitted by the transmitter and comparing the measurement result with the known transmitted signal.

[0235] In 5G NR systems, pilots are distributed densely along the frequency direction to accommodate the constantly changing wireless channel. With multiple antenna ports, these pilots should be distributed densely along the frequency direction of each port. If we continue to apply 5G NR schemes to T-MIMO systems, increasing the number of T-MIMO antenna ports will linearly increase the total number of pilots.

[0236] T-MIMO has a large number of antenna ports, requiring very dense pilots, which leads to extremely high overhead in time-frequency radio resources that should be allocated to data transmission. Furthermore, even though 5G-NR's cyclic-shift-based multiplexing method can reduce overhead to some extent, the total acceptable number of ports multiplexed on the same subcarrier can easily reach saturation due to inherent multiplexing interference.

[0237] Since T-MIMO requires a significant increase in the number of gNB (or BS) antenna ports and UE antenna ports, a considerable portion of time-frequency radio resources would be allocated to pilots if a similar 5G-NR approach were to be adopted.

[0238] According to 5G-NR, whenever a pilot signal needs to be transmitted, the gNB should configure the pilot configuration and then indicate the pilot configuration to the associated UE. The gNB is responsible for scheduling and signaling processing of pilot usage.

[0239] 1. All MIMO channels within a certain area ( This forms a channel space that is inherently sparser than the complete channel space. m The number of receiving antenna ports. n The number of transmit antenna ports, k This represents the number of subcarriers.

[0240] 2. The basis of the MIMO channel space in this region ( It has durability.

[0241] 3. Any new MIMO channel to be measured within the same region can be represented as a channel space basis ( A weighted linear combination of columns.

[0242] 4. Measuring the new MIMO channel is almost equivalent to measuring the channel space basis ( Find the coefficients (weights) of the linear combination on the ).

[0243] 5. We can obtain the coefficients (weights) of a linear combination by arranging the pilots non-uniformly but very sparsely across the entire channel space, rather than arranging them uniformly and densely. Based on this, we can use a known basis ( Rebuild the complete channel.

[0244] This non-uniform and ultra-sparse pilot pattern (or pilot arrangement) originates from the channel spatial basis. U H ( U QR decomposition (QRD) is performed on the principal component (QR conjugate).

[0245] Simulations demonstrate that the ultra-sparse pilot pattern generated by principal component QRD of the channel space basis can significantly reduce pilot overhead.

[0246] While non-uniform and ultra-sparse pilot patterns are theoretically optimal, they often have some irregular pilot positions, making it inefficient and cumbersome to indicate and schedule patterns between devices (e.g., between gNB and UE).

[0247] Problems and Objectives T-MIMO systems require a method to design, determine, distribute, and notify users of ultra-sparse pilot patterns while ensuring efficient scheduling and low signaling overhead. This novel approach needs to address the following issues: Continue using a significantly reduced number of pilots. It is best to adopt a low-density, sparse pilot design.

[0248] It is easy to generate and describe one or more pilot patterns.

[0249] It is easy to schedule between one or more transmitters and one or more receivers.

[0250] Reduce signaling overhead between one or more transmitters and one or more receivers.

[0251] It is insensitive to pilot punching or missing information, meaning that the receiver can still have robust channel estimation performance even if some pilots are missing.

[0252] Overview In this invention, we propose a novel method for generating pilot patterns. We first obtain a sequence, and then apply a function to the sequence to generate pilot patterns.

[0253] This invention can be used to solve the pilot design problem of T-MIMO systems with a large number of transmit and receive antenna ports and a large bandwidth. The same method can also be applied to ordinary MIMO systems (e.g., 5G MIMO systems) and even single-antenna systems.

[0254] Through this invention, the system will exhibit the following characteristics: It is necessary to understand the channel state of the target environment beforehand. That is, the system obtains the channel space basis of the target environment (…). U This can be a channel state-related representation, or similar. Knowing the channel state of the target environment in advance can save on pilot usage or overhead.

[0255] One or more pilot patterns are much sparser than one or more traditional pilot patterns (5G NR pilot design) and can be non-uniformly distributed along the time-frequency space resources.

[0256] Why sparse pilot signals are feasible Before introducing the new pilot pattern design method, we will first explain the following reasons why ultra-sparse pilot design is feasible: Pre-obtained n×r Channel space basis matrix It is a very tall and fine matrix. n>>r ), 1 That is, the rank of the matrix r Much smaller than its number of rows n . number of rows ( The column number () represents the dimension of the channel. In the case of MIMO, for example, the number of rows is the product of the number of transmit antenna ports, the number of receive antenna ports, and the subcarriers. The rank of the channel indicates the "complexity" of the target environment.

[0257] The channel coefficients in the target environment can be regarded as U Multiply by the linear combination coefficients (weights).

[0258] If the pilot position is indicated by a series of rows, where these rows can form a base... U Then, the channel space basis can be calculated based on the measurement of these pilot positions. The linear combination coefficients can be used to generate the target channel coefficients.

[0259] According to matrix theory, if U The number of rows randomly selected is U rank ( r If the number is a multiple of the number, then these rows have a very high probability of forming a base. U * .

[0260] 1 In this invention, we use n×r The following discussion will be based on tall and thin matrices. Mathematically and equivalently, it can also be expressed as... r×n It is represented by a short and wide matrix.

[0261] In a MIMO system, a pilot signal transmitted by a transmit antenna on a subcarrier is received by all receive antennas on that subcarrier. That is, when a transmit antenna port transmits a pilot signal on a subcarrier, it will select... U The number of rows is equal to the number of receiving antennas.

[0262] In T-MIMO scenario (BS antenna count >> UE antenna count, BS antenna count > ...), r ( U When only a very small number of pilots are transmitted in the system, it is likely possible to ensure the selection of a certain number of rows, which is... U rank ( r () multiples of the number.

[0263] In conclusion, when the number of pilot signals transmitted in the system is extremely small, there is a very high probability that a specific pilot signal will be selected. U Sufficient number of rows to form a base U* Then, the channel space basis can be calculated. U The linear combination coefficients are then used to calculate the target channel coefficients.

[0264] 1. Therefore, 1. In a system without MIMO, the number of pilots may be... Channel estimation can be performed when the rank is several times that of the rank.

[0265] 2. In a system with MIMO, the number of pilots is ( Channel estimation can be performed when the rank (or number of receive antennas) is several times that of the rank of the receiver.

[0266] Please note that the rank ( The rank is not specified as the MIMO rank (or flow). The rank represents the rank of the channel state in a given region (how many common patterns are in the MIMO channels within that region). The rank can also be seen as a description of the complexity of a region; for example, the rank would be higher in an environment with more reflectors. Figure 16 Example of using sparse pilots to measure channel state.

[0267] Examples of using sparse pilots to measure channel state include... Figure 16 As shown: U It is a pre-obtained (known) channel space basis within a certain region.

[0268] P It is a location or arrangement matrix that indicates the pilot position, i.e. where sampling or arrangement will be carried out. Each element of the matrix indicates a subcarrier between a BS antenna and a UE antenna.

[0269] P Indicates the coefficients used to reconstruct the entire channel ( Pilot pattern.

[0270] Through the U H Perform principal component QRD calculation to calculate P ,in, UIt is the channel space basis.

[0271] Position matrix P and basis matrix U When multiplying, from U Take some rows from the matrix to form a new matrix. . It can be seen as a method for generating U H A complete base for the column space.

[0272] In practical MIMO transmission, a signal transmitted from one transmit antenna can be received by all receive antennas. Therefore, it is possible to achieve [the desired result] without increasing the number of transmit pilots. P Expand to P aug .

[0273] 1. If the pilot signal is sent from the BS to the UE (DL), the measurement will not be performed on a specific subcarrier between a specific BS antenna and a specific UE antenna, but will be extended to all UE antennas from a specific BS antenna to a specific subcarrier.

[0274] 2. If the pilot signal is sent from the UE to the BS (UL), the measurement will not be performed on a single subcarrier between a BS antenna and a UE antenna, but will be extended from a UE antenna to all BS antennas.

[0275] y It is a vector containing P aug The measured channel coefficients at the indicated pilot positions.

[0276] c It is a vector containing linear combination coefficients (or spectral coefficients), representing a linear combination of the channel space basis used to generate the target channel coefficients. c= y The target channel coefficients or complete channel coefficients can be reconstructed as follows: = Uc By treating the target channel as a linear combination of channel space bases, we can prove that ultrasparse pilot patterns with a number of pilots no less than the rank of the channel space bases can achieve good channel estimation or reconstruction.

[0277] The methods and apparatus proposed in previous patent applications provide a way to generate and use sparse pilot patterns.

[0278] In addition to the pre-obtained channel space basis as described above ( UBesides performing channel estimation using sparse pilot patterns generated in QRDs, sparse pilot patterns can also be used by other methods to perform channel estimation (e.g., channel estimation or reconstruction using compressed sensing). For example, in compressed sensing, the basis is a standard basis (e.g., discrete Fourier transform) rather than a pre-obtained channel space basis. U Furthermore, the reconstruction in the underdetermined equation is accomplished by a matching detection method, where L1 minimization is an additional regularization term for sparsity.

[0279] Example Pilot pattern A pilot is a series of reference signals (a set of reference signals or a group of reference signals) whose positions and values ​​are known to both the transmitter and the receiver. Pilots are transmitted by one or more devices of the transmitting equipment to one or more devices of the receiving equipment to estimate the channel state (channel coefficients) or reconstruct the channel.

[0280] A pilot pattern is defined as a series of locations where a reference signal is transmitted to perform channel estimation. These locations typically consist of indications in three dimensions: time, frequency, and space. However, not all conditions require specifying these three dimensions. For example, the frequency dimension appears when using OFDM. The time dimension only appears when pilot patterns require specifying multiple time symbols. The spatial dimension only appears when a multi-port system is used. Therefore, The location can be represented by a series of subcarrier indices in the frequency direction. The pilot pattern can be represented by a series of subcarrier indices in the OFDM symbol. For example, the pilot pattern can be {13, 47, 49, 89, 125}, that is, pilots are transmitted on subcarrier indices 13, 47, 49, 89, and 125.

[0281] Location can be represented using a series of subcarrier indices and port indices in the frequency-space domain. When using multi-port (MIMO), the pilot pattern can assign an antenna port index to each subcarrier used to transmit the reference signal. For example, the pilot pattern can take the form of subcarrier index-port index, such as {13-1, 47-3, 49-5, 89-7, 125-1}, that is, transmitting the pilot signal on subcarrier index 13 via antenna port index 1, and on subcarrier index 47 via antenna port index 3, etc.

[0282] The location can be represented by a series of time symbol indices and subcarrier indices in the time-frequency domain. A pilot pattern can be represented by a series of subcarriers on multiple consecutive or discontinuous OFDM symbols. For example, a pilot pattern can take the form of time symbol index-subcarrier index, such as {1-13, 1-47, 1-49, 1-89, 1-125, 7-14, 7-48, 7-50, 7-90, 7-126}, meaning pilots are transmitted on subcarrier indices 13, 47, 49, 89, and 125 of OFDM symbol index 1, and on subcarrier indices 14, 48, 50, 90, and 126 of OFDM symbol index 7.

[0283] Location can be represented using a series of time symbol indices, subcarrier indices, and port indices in the time-frequency spatial domain. Pilot patterns can be represented as a series of subcarrier indices used on multiple consecutive or discontinuous OFDM symbols and an antenna port index associated with each subcarrier. For example, the pilot pattern can be in the form of time symbol index-subcarrier index-port index, such as {1-13-1, 1-47-3, 1-49-5, 1-89-7, 1-125-1, 7-14-3, 7-48-5, 7-50-7, 7-90-1, 7-126-3}, that is, the pilot is transmitted through antenna port index 1 on subcarrier index 13 of OFDM symbol index 1, through antenna port index 3 on subcarrier index 47 of OFDM symbol index 1, ... and through antenna port index 3 on subcarrier index 14 of OFDM symbol index 7, through antenna port index 5 on subcarrier index 48 of OFDM symbol index 7, ...

[0284] The time symbol index can also be a time slot index or a time symbol identifier in the time direction.

[0285] Subcarrier indexes can also be resource element (RE) indexes in the frequency direction.

[0286] Location can be represented graphically, for example, by color coding within an RE grid.

[0287] Representing the pilot pattern in any way is just one approach; what is important is to indicate the location information of each assigned pilot so that the transmitter knows how to send the pilot and the receiver knows where to receive the pilot signal based on the sent pilot.

[0288] In some cases, pilot patterns can be viewed as basic "blocks". These "blocks" can be spliced, truncated, repeated, and subjected to other operations to form larger pilot patterns.

[0289] Pilot pattern generation methods can be: Before transmitting the pilot signal, the method and its associated parameters (or variable parameters) should be aligned on both the transmitter and receiver sides. The method and its related parameters (or variable parameters) can be indicated, represented or notified directly or indirectly by some instructions (signals, control messages, commands, indications or primitives), or even without any explicit instructions from other devices (e.g., gNB); The signaling protocol or procedure that indicates, represents, or notifies the transmitter and receiver of the relevant generation methods and parameters should be at least simpler than the signaling protocol or procedure in 5G NR; Pilot patterns can be pseudo-random; identical patterns can be generated at both the transmitter and receiver.

[0290] Preferably, the number of pilots included in the pilot pattern can be greater than the theoretical minimum (the theoretical minimum can be derived from the rank of the channel basis), so that the system can tolerate the absence of some pilots on the receiver side.

[0291] Although channel estimation can be performed using only the theoretical minimum number of pilots, channel estimation performance improves with the use of more pilot signals. The system can calculate and indicate the number of pilots used based on the desired performance.

[0292] Pilot pattern generation In this patent invention, the method for generating pilot patterns may include: In the first step, one or more pseudo-random sequences are obtained through the following: One or more predefined functions or; One or more predefined sequences or pregenerated sequences In the second step, pilot patterns are generated using a function based on one or more pseudo-random sequences obtained in the first step. A function generates a sequence based on a predefined sequence. The specification may define one or more functions for obtaining sequences. A function can be viewed as receiving input parameters, performing operations on those parameters, or performing operations based on the input parameters to generate an output. In the following description, these functions are referred to as sequence obtaining functions.

[0293] Multiple sequence retrieval functions can be stored in the form of a lookup table or a series of lookup tables. Each lookup table can have multiple rows, each representing a sequence retrieval function. For example, a lookup table with pseudo-functions is shown in Table 5.

[0294] Table 5. Illustration of the sequence acquisition function lookup table

[0295] Sequence retrieval functions can be represented by configuration parameters, or they can be used to perform searches like lookup tables.

[0296] One of the sequence lookup functions can be selected by index. An index is a number or combination of numbers that uniquely identifies a specific function within a sequence lookup function. For example, if the sequence lookup functions are stored in multiple lookup tables, the index can be a combination of table indexes and row indexes.

[0297] The functions for obtaining all or part of the sequence can be pre-stored in the memory of the device and equipment (e.g., gNB, UE).

[0298] selecting from a sequence obtaining function Configuration parameters or predefined methods are used to select a sequence acquisition function from multiple predefined sequence acquisition functions of the system's devices or equipment (transmitter or receiver, gNB, UE), wherein the selection can be: 1. Configured and generated by any device in the system, and notified to relevant devices via signaling; 1. In some cases, when only one sequence acquisition function is defined in the system, no selection is required.

[0299] 2. In some cases, the specification defines multiple sequence acquisition functions. These functions are stored in the device (e.g., gNB, BS) and equipment (e.g., UE, terminal). The gNB and UE can select the sequence acquisition function to use based on the predefined principles in the specification.

[0300] Predefined principles can exist in the form of queries (or lookup tables) using configuration parameters.

[0301] Configuration parameters can be one or more indices, where the parameters can be a combination of the following: 1. Parameters related to the output of the sequence acquisition function, including but not limited to: output sequence attribute (random, uniform or other) indication, output indication of an antenna port or assigned antenna port, and output length.

[0302] 2. When a pilot signal is transmitted between at least two devices in a system, at least one specific ID (or a portion thereof) in the communication device may be used as input, including but not limited to: UE-ID, C-RNTI of a given UE, or a combination of virtual PCI and C-RNTI.

[0303] 3. Parameters related to the system parameter set (numerology) or indicators, including but not limited to: TTI index, allocated bandwidth, starting RB, number of RBs, time slot offset, allocated antenna ports, antenna port index, and time symbol index.

[0304] 4. Parameters related to pilot density or pilot quantity, which may be system environment-related parameters for gNB applications and may be used to determine the number of pilots required for an antenna port or all antenna ports on the allocated bandwidth, including but not limited to: environment indication (for indicating the environment, e.g., urban or rural areas), channel rank indication (for indicating the rank of the channel space basis), pilot density (which, in combination with bandwidth, can calculate the number of pilots required for one antenna port or all antenna ports), and the required number of pilots.

[0305] Configuration parameters are used to select one or more functions from the sequence of functions. These configurations can be device-specific or configured by other devices / appliances in the system and sent via signaling. An example of signaling is shown below. Figure 17 As shown, the parameters required for sequence acquisition function selection can be transmitted from the gNB to one or more UEs via broadcast, multicast, or unicast on the downlink. In some cases, the parameters required for sequence acquisition function selection can be transmitted from the UE to the gNB via signaling on the uplink. This signaling is not necessarily specific; the information carried by this signaling can be transmitted along with other signaling. Figure 17 Example of signaling to send parameters required for sequence selection: the left part is sent from the gNB to one or more UEs, and the right part is sent from the UE to the gNB.

[0306] If the configuration parameters are device-specific parameters and / or other parameters that do not need to be sent between the gNB and UE for sequence acquisition function selection, the gNB and UE can select the same one or more functions without sending them via signaling.

[0307] 1. In some cases, multiple sequence acquisition functions (SEFs) are defined in the specification. These SEFs are stored in the gNB and the UE. The gNB can determine which SEF(s) to use. The gNB can transmit one or more indices of the selected pilot function on the downlink using broadcast, multicast, or unicast signaling. In some cases, the UE can determine which SEF(s) to use. The UE can transmit one or more indices of the selected pilot function on the uplink using signaling.

[0308] Signaling example Figure 18As shown, one or more indices of the selected sequence acquisition functions can be sent from the gNB to one or more UEs, as shown in the left section. One or more indices of the selected sequence acquisition functions can be sent from the UE to the gNB via uplink signaling, as shown in the right section. This signaling is not necessarily specific; the information carried by this signaling can be sent along with other signaling. Figure 18 : An example of signaling that sends one or more selected sequences to obtain one or more indices of a function, where the left part is sent from the gNB to one or more UEs, and the right part is sent from the UE to the gNB.

[0309] 2. Under certain circumstances, one or more sequence acquisition functions (SEFs) can be defined by the gNB or the UE and sent to other parts of the system. The gNB can define one or more SEFs and send them to one or more UEs on the downlink via broadcast, multicast, or unicast signaling, such as... Figure 19 As shown on the left. The UE can define one or more sequence acquisition functions and send these functions to the gNB via signaling on the uplink, such as... Figure 19 As shown on the right. This signaling is not necessarily a specific signaling; the information it carries can be sent together with other signaling. Figure 19 : An example of signaling to obtain a function by sending one or more defined sequences. The left part is sent from the gNB to one or more UEs, and the right part is sent from the UE to the gNB.

[0310] sequence obtaining function input The input to the sequence acquisition function can be some configuration parameters.

[0311] Configuration parameters can be one or more indices, where the parameters can be a combination of the following: 1. When a pilot signal is transmitted between at least two devices in a system, at least one specific ID (or a portion thereof) in the communication device may be used as input, including but not limited to: UE-ID, C-RNTI of a given UE, or a combination of virtual PCI and C-RNTI.

[0312] 2. Parameters related to the system parameter set or indicators, including but not limited to: TTI index, allocated bandwidth, starting RB, number of RBs, time slot offset, allocated antenna port, antenna port index, and time symbol index.

[0313] 3. Parameters related to pilot density or pilot quantity, which may be system environment-related parameters for gNB applications and can be used to determine the number of pilots required for antenna ports or all antenna ports on the allocated bandwidth, including but not limited to: environment indication (for indicating the environment, such as urban or rural areas), channel rank indication (for indicating the rank of the channel space basis), pilot density (which, in combination with bandwidth, can calculate the number of pilots required for one antenna port or all antenna ports), and the required number of pilots.

[0314] 4. Parameters given as specific arguments to the sequence acquisition function, including but not limited to: a specified seed for generating the sequence, a specified random seed for the random generator, and a specified offset (e.g., an offset applied to the subcarrier index).

[0315] 5. Parameters related to the length of one or more generated sequences, including but not limited to: the output indication of an antenna port or an assigned antenna port, the number of pilots in the pilot pattern, and the length of the output sequence.

[0316] These configurations can be device / equipment specific configurations, or they can be configured by other devices / equipments in the system and sent via signaling. An example of signaling is shown below. Figure 20 As shown on the left, parameters that need to be input into one or more sequence acquisition functions can be sent to one or more UEs on the downlink via broadcast, multicast, or unicast signaling. Signaling examples are shown below. Figure 20 As shown on the right, parameters that need to be input into one or more sequence acquisition functions can be sent to the gNB via signaling on the uplink. This signaling is not necessarily a specific signaling; the information it carries can be sent along with other signaling. Figure 20 Example of sending signaling that requires input to one or more sequences to obtain parameters in a function. The left part is sent from the gNB to one or more UEs, and the right part is sent from the UE to the gNB.

[0317] operations performed inside the sequence obtaining function The operations performed inside the sequence acquisition function can be: 1. Receive input parameters (which can be the output of previous operations) and output a mathematical operation or some concurrent or concatenated mathematical operations as output parameters.

[0318] 2. An operation or a series of concurrent or concatenated operations defined by a language description (description operation).

[0319] 3. In some cases, one of the mathematical operations can be a random number generator, whose output is a sequence of random numbers. For example, the operation can generate a sequence of five random numbers (17, 48, 98, 110, and 120) in the range of 1 to 120 (representing 10 RB). In another example, the operation can generate a sequence of six random numbers (0.21, 0.34, 0.37, 0.53, 0.79, and 0.91) in the range of 0 to 1.

[0320] 4. In some cases, one of the mathematical operations can generate a uniformly distributed sequence. For example, the operation can generate a sequence of five numbers (1, 30, 59, 88, and 117) with uniform intervals in the range of 1 to 120 (10 RB). In another example, the operation can generate a sequence of five decimals (0.17, 0.33, 0.50, 0.67, 0.83, and 1) with uniform intervals in the range of 0 to 1.

[0321] sequence obtaining function output The output of the sequence acquisition function can be: 1. A sequence containing bitmaps or real numbers (decimals or integers). Bitmaps, decimals, or integers can be resolved directly or indirectly (through other operations or mapping functions) to any one-dimensional or any two- or three-dimensional information about positions in a pilot pattern. For example, each bit in a bitmap can represent a subcarrier (resource particle) or a resource block (RB). In another example, real numbers can be resolved to subcarrier indices, port indices, subcarrier-port indices, subcarrier-port-time symbol indices in time-frequency space resources, etc.

[0322] 2. A pseudo-random number matrix containing bitmaps or real numbers. The pseudo-random number matrix can be n-dimensional (n is a natural number), with different dimensions representing different information about the positions in the pilot pattern. For example, if multiple OFDM symbol patterns are needed, the output could be: 1. A pseudo-random number sequence, represented by a one-dimensional index of multiple OFDM symbols.

[0323] 2. A pseudo-random number matrix, represented by a two-dimensional index, where the one-dimensional index represents the OFDM symbol and the one-dimensional index represents the sequence index.

[0324] 3. Pseudo-random number sequences can be generated indefinitely, but can be cut to the desired length; 4. The output can be used for all assigned antenna ports or for a single assigned antenna port.

[0325] 5. The output can be used for all or part of the bandwidth allocation.

[0326] Generate a sequence based on a predefined sequence. In the first step of the generation method, the pre-generated sequence (or lookup table) that outputs one or more pseudo-random sequences can be: 1. One or more pre-generated sequences as defined in the specification; wherein, 1. Configure parameters and / or predefined methods to select a sequence from multiple pre-generated sequences or perform a lookup in a lookup table. 2. The selection can be configured and generated by any device in the system, and the relevant devices are notified via signaling; one or more pre-generated sequences 1. In some cases, a pre-generated sequence or multiple pre-generated sequences may be defined in the specification.

[0327] 2. In some cases, a device (e.g., a gNB or BS) may maintain one or more pre-generated sequences. One or more pre-generated sequences may be generated and updated according to its service environment.

[0328] 3. The pre-generated sequence can take the form of a lookup table or a series of lookup tables. Each lookup table can have multiple rows, each representing a pre-generated sequence.

[0329] 4. Pre-generated sequences can be represented by configuration parameters or searched like a lookup table.

[0330] 5. A sequence in the pre-generated sequence can be selected by index. An index is a number or combination of numbers that uniquely identifies a specific sequence in the pre-generated sequence. For example, if the pre-generated sequence is stored in multiple lookup tables, the index can be a table index plus a row index.

[0331] 6. All or part of the pre-generated sequence may be pre-stored in the memory of the device and equipment (e.g., gNB, UE).

[0332] 7. The numbers in the sequence can be: 1. Represented as a series of real numbers (decimals or integers). When a number is represented as a decimal, it can be rounded to different precision levels in subsequent operations.

[0333] 2. In some cases, the numbers in a sequence can be represented as a bitmap containing a series of binary numbers "0" or "1". The index of each number in the sequence corresponds to the index of a position. A "0" or "1" indicates that a pilot signal is transmitted at that position. For example, a series of binary numbers "01001...0" can indicate that a pilot signal is transmitted at subcarrier indices 2, 5, etc.

[0334] 3. The pre-generated sequence can be listed as a series of real number indices, such as... Figure 21 As shown. Figure 21 : Pre-generated sequence diagram.

[0335] 4. The pre-generated sequence can be grouped according to parameters such as subcarrier spacing and bandwidth. Examples are shown in Table 6.

[0336] Table 6. Illustration of the pregenerated sequence list

[0337] 1. The pre-generated sequence can be defined in n-dimensional (n is a natural number) matrix form, with different dimensions representing different information. For example, if pilot patterns for multiple time symbols are needed, the pre-generated sequence can be designed as follows: 1. A one-dimensional pre-generated sequence, represented by a one-dimensional index. This sequence can be segmented into different sections for use with multiple time symbols.

[0338] 2. The pre-generated sequence adopts a two-dimensional matrix form represented by two-dimensional indices, where one-dimensional indices represent indices in the time symbol direction and one-dimensional indices represent indices in the frequency direction.

[0339] 2. One or more pre-generated sequences can be generated by a random number generator, an optimal search algorithm (e.g., the QRD method in previous inventions), an AI algorithm, etc.

[0340] The pre-generated sequences can be generated according to certain application conditions, such as subcarrier spacing, a certain bandwidth, and / or other conditions. The system can retain the application condition information for each sequence in the pre-generated sequences.

[0341] 3. One or more pre-generated sequences may include a port index associated with each subcarrier: 1. When the pre-generated sequence is represented as a series of integers, we can use algorithms to make each integer in the sequence simultaneously represent information about both the subcarrier index and the port index. When using such a pre-generated sequence, it is easy to resolve it into a series of pilot subcarrier indices and a port index associated with each subcarrier index.

[0342] For example, we can concatenate two numbers together. We can define the last two digits of an integer to represent the port index and define other integers to represent the subcarrier index. In this case, the integer "17418" indicates the subcarrier index "174" and the associated port index "18".

[0343] 2. When the pre-generated sequence is represented as a series of binary numbers "0" or "1", we can replace the "1" with the associated "port index". When using this pre-generated sequence, it is easy to resolve it into a series of pilot subcarrier indices and a port index associated with each subcarrier index.

[0344] For example, the pre-generated sequence can be a series of integers "0" and "port index", where "0" indicates that no pilot is transmitted on the indicated subcarrier, and "port index" indicates that the pilot is transmitted on the indicated subcarrier via the port at the "port index". The pre-generated sequence "00 01 00 00 07 00 00 00 … 23" can indicate that a pilot is transmitted on subcarrier index 2 via port index 1, a pilot is transmitted on subcarrier index 5 via port index 7, and a pilot is transmitted on the last subcarrier via port index 23.

[0345] 4. In the case of MIMO, we can also use a separate set of pre-generated port sequences to indicate the allocation of antenna ports. These pre-generated port sequences are very similar to the pre-generated sequences described above. These pre-generated port sequences can take the form of a lookup table or a series of lookup tables. One port sequence in the pre-generated port sequence can be selected by index. The index design of the pre-generated port sequence can be the same as the index design of the pre-generated sequence. All or part of the pre-generated port sequences can be pre-stored in the memory of the device (e.g., gNB, UE). The integers in these pre-generated port sequences are port indices.

[0346] 5. Compression can be used to save storage costs for pre-generated sequences and pre-generated port sequences. Source coding or other methods can also be used to improve transmission accuracy.

[0347] 6. For a set of pre-generated sequences that can be assigned to different UEs, a small amount of position overlap is allowed.

[0348] selecting from one or more pre-generated sequences 1. When there is only one pre-generated sequence in the system, no selection is required. If the pre-generated sequence is stored only on the device side (e.g., gNB, BS, network), the gNB can broadcast, multicast, or unicast the pre-generated sequence to devices (e.g., UE, terminal) within the gNB's coverage area.

[0349] 2. In some cases, pre-generated sequences are already stored in the gNB and UE, and the gNB and UE can select one or more sequences to use through predefined operations in the specification.

[0350] Predefined operations can exist in the form of queries (or lookup tables) using configuration parameters.

[0351] Predefined operations can take the form of functions. The input to the function is the configuration parameters, and the output is one or more indices of the selected pre-generated sequence.

[0352] Configuration parameters can be one or more indices, where the parameters can be a combination of the following: 1. When a pilot signal is transmitted between at least two devices in a system, at least one specific ID (or a portion thereof) in the communication device may be used as input, including but not limited to: UE-ID, C-RNTI of a given UE, or a combination of virtual PCI and C-RNTI.

[0353] 2. Parameters related to the system parameter set or indicators, including but not limited to: TTI index, allocated bandwidth, starting RB, number of RBs, time slot offset, allocated antenna port, antenna port index, and time symbol index.

[0354] 3. Parameters related to pilot density or pilot quantity, which may be system environment-related parameters for gNB applications and can be used to determine the number of pilots required for antenna ports or all antenna ports on the allocated bandwidth, including but not limited to: environment indication (for indicating the environment, such as urban or rural areas), channel rank indication (for indicating the rank of the channel space basis), pilot density (which, in combination with bandwidth, can calculate the number of pilots required for one antenna port or all antenna ports), and the required number of pilots.

[0355] Configuration parameters are used to select one or more sequences from the pre-generated sequences. These configurations can be device-specific or configured by other devices / appliances in the system and sent via signaling. An example of signaling is shown below. Figure 22 As shown, the parameters required for selecting one or more pre-generated sequences can be sent to one or more UEs on the downlink via broadcast, multicast, or unicast signaling. In another example, the parameters required for selecting one or more pre-generated sequences can be sent from the UE to the gNB on the uplink via signaling. This signaling is not necessarily specific; the information carried by this signaling can be sent along with other signaling. Figure 22 Example of signaling to send parameters required for selecting one or more pre-generated sequences. The left part is sent from the gNB to one or more UEs, and the right part is sent from the UE to the gNB.

[0356] If the configuration parameters are device-specific parameters and / or other parameters that do not need to be sent between the gNB and the UE for sequence selection, the gNB and the UE can select the same one or more sequences without sending them via signaling.

[0357] In the case of MIMO, if a separate set of pre-generated port sequences exists, we can use a method similar to that described above to assign selection port sequences to port indices. If the index design of the pre-generated port sequences is the same as that of the pre-generated sequences, we can use the same indexes to select from both the pre-generated sequences and the pre-generated port sequences.

[0358] 3. In some cases, pre-generated sequences are already stored in the gNB and the UE. The gNB can determine which sequence or set of sequences should be used by the UE. The gNB can send the selection of a sequence or set of sequences for the UE by sending one or more indices of the selected sequence or set of sequences on the downlink using signaling. If one or more port indices in the pre-generated port sequence are required, the gNB can send the selection of a port sequence or set of port sequences for the UE by sending one or more indices of the selected port sequence or set of port sequences on the downlink using signaling. If the index design of the pre-generated port sequence is the same as the index design of the pre-generated sequence, one or more indices on the signaling are sufficient. Signaling examples are as follows... Figure 23 As shown, one or more selected sequences / one or more indexes of one or more port sequences can be sent to one or more UEs on the downlink via broadcast, multicast, or unicast signaling. This signaling is not necessarily specific; the information carried by this signaling can be sent together with other signaling. Figure 23 Example of signaling from gNB to one or more UEs for one or more selected sequences / one or more port sequences and one or more indices.

[0359] 4. In some cases, pre-generated sequences are already stored in the gNB and the UE. The UE can determine which sequence or set of sequences to use. The UE can send the selection of a sequence or set of sequences by transmitting one or more indices of the selected sequence or set of sequences on the uplink using signaling. If one or more port indices in the pre-generated port sequence are required, the UE can send the selection of a port sequence or set of port sequences by transmitting one or more indices of the selected port sequence or set of port sequences on the uplink using signaling. If the index design of the pre-generated port sequence is the same as the index design of the pre-generated sequence, one or more indices on the signaling are sufficient. An example of signaling is shown below. Figure 24 As shown, one or more selected sequences / one or more indexes of one or more port sequences can be sent to the gNB on the uplink. This signaling is not necessarily specific; the information it carries can be sent along with other signaling. Figure 24 Example of signaling from UE to gNB of one or more selected sequences / one or more indexes of one or more port sequences.

[0360] 5. In some cases, the pre-generated sequence is stored only in the gNB. When it is necessary to provide a selected pre-generated sequence or a set of selected pre-generated sequences to one or more UEs, the gNB can send the selected pre-generated sequence or a set of selected pre-generated sequences to one or more UEs via signaling on the downlink. If a pre-generated port sequence is required, the gNB can send the selected pre-generated port sequence or a set of selected port sequences to one or more UEs via the same signaling or different signaling as when sending one or more pre-generated sequences on the downlink.

[0361] In some cases, the pre-generated sequence is stored only in the UE. When it is necessary to provide a selected pre-generated sequence or a set of selected pre-generated sequences to the gNB, the UE can send the selected pre-generated sequence or a set of selected pre-generated sequences to the gNB via signaling on the uplink. If a pre-generated port sequence is required, the UE can send the selected pre-generated port sequence or a set of selected port sequences to the gNB via the same signaling or different signaling as when sending one or more pre-generated sequences on the uplink.

[0362] When sending one or more pre-generated sequences or one or more pre-generated port sequences, compression can be used to save storage costs, or source coding or other methods can be used to improve transmission accuracy.

[0363] Signaling example Figure 25 As shown, one or more pre-generated sequences / one or more pre-generated port sequences can be transmitted from the gNB to one or more UEs (left part) on the downlink via broadcast, multicast, or unicast signaling. One or more pre-generated sequences / one or more pre-generated port sequences can be transmitted from the UE to the gNB on the uplink via signaling (right part). This signaling is not necessarily specific; the information carried by this signaling can be sent together with other signaling. Figure 25 Example of signaling that sends one or more pre-generated sequences / one or more pre-generated port sequences from the gNB to one or more UEs (left part) or from the UE to the gNB (right part).

[0364] Pilot patterns are generated using mapping functions. In the second step of the generation method, the mapping function for generating the pilot pattern can be one of the following: 1. One or more predefined functions defined in the specification; wherein, 1. Configuration parameters and / or predefined methods are used to select the mapping function. 2. Configuration parameters and selections can be configured and generated by any device in the system and notified to the relevant devices via signaling.

[0365] 2. The specification may define one or more functions for generating pilot patterns based on the pseudo-random sequence generated in previous steps. A function can be viewed as receiving input parameters, performing some operations on the input parameters, or performing some operations based on the input parameters to generate an output. In the following description, these functions are referred to as mapping functions.

[0366] Multiple mapping functions can be stored in the form of a lookup table or a series of lookup tables. Each lookup table can have multiple rows, and each row represents a mapping function.

[0367] 3. Mapping functions can be represented by configuration parameters, or they can be searched like a lookup table.

[0368] 4. Functions within a mapping function can be selected by index. An index is a number or combination of numbers that uniquely identifies a specific function within the mapping function. For example, if the mapping function is stored in multiple lookup tables, the index can be a combination of table indexes and row indexes.

[0369] 5. All or part of the mapping functions may be pre-stored in the memory of the device and equipment (e.g., gNB, UE).

[0370] selecting from a mapping function Configuration parameters or predefined methods are used to select a mapping function from multiple predefined mapping functions of the system's devices or equipment (transmitter or receiver, gNB, UE), where the selection can be: 1. Configured and generated by any device in the system, and notified to relevant devices via signaling; 1. In some cases, when only one mapping function is defined in the system, no selection is required.

[0371] 2. In some cases, the specification defines multiple mapping functions. These mapping functions are already stored in the device (e.g., gNB, BS) and equipment (e.g., UE, terminal). The gNB and UE can select the mapping function to use based on the predefined principles in the specification.

[0372] Predefined principles can exist in the form of queries (or lookup tables) using configuration parameters.

[0373] Configuration parameters can be one or more indices, where the parameters can be a combination of the following: 1. Parameters associated with the mapping function, including but not limited to: output type indication (e.g., subcarrier index, port index), output indication of an antenna port or assigned antenna port, sequence index, and output sequence length.

[0374] 2. When a pilot signal is transmitted between at least two devices in a system, at least one specific ID (or a portion thereof) in the communication device may be used as input, including but not limited to: UE-ID, C-RNTI of a given UE, or a combination of virtual PCI and C-RNTI.

[0375] 3. Parameters related to the system parameter set or indicators, including but not limited to: TTI index, allocated bandwidth, starting RB, number of RBs, time slot offset, allocated antenna port, antenna port index, and time symbol index.

[0376] 4. Parameters related to pilot density or pilot quantity, which may be system environment-related parameters for gNB applications and may be used to determine the number of pilots required for an antenna port or all antenna ports on the allocated bandwidth, including but not limited to: environment indication (for indicating the environment, e.g., urban or rural areas), channel rank indication (for indicating the rank of the channel space basis), pilot density (which, in combination with bandwidth, can calculate the number of pilots required for one antenna port or all antenna ports), and the required number of pilots.

[0377] Configuration parameters are used to select one or more functions from the mapping functions. These configurations can be device-specific or configured by other devices / appliances in the system and sent via signaling. An example of signaling is shown below. Figure 26 As shown, the parameters required for mapping function selection can be sent from the gNB to one or more UEs via broadcast, multicast, or unicast on the downlink. In some cases, the parameters required for mapping function selection can be sent from the UE to the gNB via uplink signaling. This signaling is not necessarily specific; the information it carries can be sent along with other signaling. Figure 26 Example of signaling to send parameters required for mapping function selection. The left part is sent from the gNB to one or more UEs, and the right part is sent from the UE to the gNB.

[0378] If the configuration parameters are device-specific parameters and / or other parameters that do not need to be sent between the gNB and UE for mapping function selection, the gNB and UE can select the same one or more functions without sending them via signaling.

[0379] 3. In some cases, multiple mapping functions are defined in the specification. These mapping functions are already stored in the gNB and the UE. The gNB can determine which mapping functions(s) should be used for one or more UEs. The gNB can send one or more indices of one or more mapping functions selected for one or more UEs by sending one or more indices of the selected mapping functions on the downlink using broadcast, multicast, or unicast signaling. Signaling examples are as follows... Figure 27As shown in the left section, one or more indices of one or more selected mapping functions can be sent to one or more UEs on the downlink via broadcast, multicast, or unicast. This signaling is not necessarily specific; the information it carries can be sent along with other signaling.

[0380] In some cases, multiple mapping functions are defined in the specification. These mapping functions are stored in the gNB and the UE. The UE can determine which mapping functions(s) to use. The UE can send one or more indices of the selected mapping functions(s) to the gNB via signaling on the uplink. An example of the signaling is shown below. Figure 27 As shown in the right-hand section, one or more indices of one or more selected mapping functions can be sent to the gNB on the uplink. This signaling is not necessarily specific; the information it carries can be sent along with other signaling. Figure 27 : An example of signaling that sends one or more indices of one or more selected mapping functions, where the left part is sent from the gNB to one or more UEs, and the right part is sent from the UE to the gNB.

[0381] 4. Under certain circumstances, one or more mapping functions may be defined by the gNB or the UE and sent to other parts of the system. The gNB may define one or more mapping functions and send the defined one or more mapping functions to one or more UEs on the downlink via broadcast, multicast, or unicast signaling, such as... Figure 28 As shown in the left part. Under certain circumstances, the UE can define one or more mapping functions and send these functions to the gNB via signaling on the uplink, such as... Figure 28 As shown on the right. This signaling is not necessarily a specific signaling; the information it carries can be sent together with other signaling. Figure 28 Example of sending one or more defined mapping functions, where the left part is sent from the gNB to one or more UEs, and the right part is sent from the UE to the gNB.

[0382] mapping function input 1. In the second step of the generation method, after determining the mapping function, the pilot pattern is generated based on the selected mapping function through the following steps: 1. Input the parameters into the selected mapping function; 2. Input one or more sequences generated by the sequence-obtaining function or selected from the pre-generated sequences into the selected mapping function; 1. Only one sequence can be input into the mapping function, or; 2. More than one sequence can be input into the mapping function; for example, one sequence can be used to map the subcarrier index and another sequence can be used to map the port index.

[0383] The input parameters to the mapping function can be configuration parameters. Configuration parameters can be one or more indices, where each parameter can be a combination of the following: 3. When a pilot signal is transmitted between at least two devices in the system, at least one specific ID (or a portion thereof) of the communication device may be used as input; one or more device-specific IDs may include, but are not limited to: UE-ID, TC-RNTI, C-RNTI of a given UE, or a combination of virtual PCI and C-RNTI.

[0384] 4. Parameters related to the system parameter set or indicators, including but not limited to: TTI index, allocated bandwidth, starting RB, number of RBs, time slot offset, allocated antenna port, antenna port index, and time symbol index.

[0385] 5. Parameters related to pilot density or pilot quantity, which may be system environment-related parameters for gNB applications and may be used to determine the number of pilots required for an antenna port or all antenna ports on the allocated bandwidth, including but not limited to: environment indication (for indicating the environment, e.g., urban or rural areas), channel rank indication (for indicating the rank of the channel space basis), pilot density (which, in combination with bandwidth, can calculate the number of pilots required for one antenna port or all antenna ports), and the required number of pilots.

[0386] 6. Parameters given as specific arguments to the mapping function, including but not limited to: a specified seed for generating the sequence, a specified offset (e.g., an offset applied to the subcarrier index).

[0387] 7. Output-related parameters, including but not limited to: output indication of an antenna port or assigned antenna port, pilot pattern format (e.g., if the pilot pattern is for multiple time symbols, the pilot pattern adopts a subcarrier index-port index format, etc.), number of pilots in the pilot pattern, and output sequence length.

[0388] These configurations can be device-specific or configured by other devices / apps in the system and sent via signaling. An example of signaling is shown below. Figure 29 As shown in the left section, parameters that need to be input into one or more mapping functions can be sent from the gNB to one or more UEs on the downlink via broadcast, multicast, or unicast signaling. Another example of signaling is... Figure 29As shown on the right, parameters that need to be input into one or more mapping functions can be sent from the UE to the gNB via uplink signaling. This signaling is not necessarily a specific signaling; the information it carries can be sent along with other signaling. Figure 29 Example of sending signaling that requires parameters to be input into one or more mapping functions. The left part is from the gNB to one or more UEs, and the right part is from the UE to the gNB.

[0389] 2. The input parameters of the mapping function may include one or more sequences generated by the sequence acquisition function or selected from the pre-generated sequences.

[0390] 1. Only one sequence can be input into the mapping function, or; 2. More than one sequence can be input into the mapping function. For example, one sequence can be used to map the subcarrier index and another sequence can be used to map the port index.

[0391] operations performed inside the mapping function One or more mapping functions are used to generate pilot patterns based on input parameters and one or more input sequences. The operations performed inside the mapping function can be: 1. A mathematical operation that receives input parameters (which can be the output of a previous operation) and outputs a mathematical operation or some concurrent or concatenated mathematical operations.

[0392] 2. An operation or a series of concurrent or concatenated operations defined by a language description (description operation).

[0393] 3. In some cases, one of the operations can be concatenation, repetition, or other operations performed on the input sequence.

[0394] 4. In some cases, one of the mathematical operations can be applied to the input sequence to convert the input sequence into a one-dimensional pilot pattern.

[0395] The operations inside the mapping function can be a process that focuses on assigning pilot subcarrier indices and associating pilot port indices (if needed) and time symbol indices (if needed) with each pilot subcarrier index.

[0396] Generate pilot subcarrier index: In some cases, absolute or relative subcarrier indices can be generated by performing mathematical operations on one or more input sequences. Alternatively, one or more input sequences can be concatenated, repeated, or used in other operations to generate absolute or relative subcarrier indices.

[0397] In some cases, the relative subcarrier index is further processed (e.g., by adding an offset) to generate the absolute subcarrier index (pilot subcarrier index).

[0398] Generate a time symbol index (if needed): In some cases, one or more input sequences contain information from multiple time symbols. The one or more input sequences are parsed into multiple time symbols according to the definitions in the operation. After parsing the input sequences into a single time symbol, further operations can be performed to calculate the subcarrier index.

[0399] In some cases, the operations within the mapping function can treat each of the multiple time symbols as an independent time symbol. Further operations can be performed to calculate the subcarrier index associated with each time symbol separately. In other cases, there is a relationship between the pilot subcarrier index assignments of multiple time symbols. One or more input sequences can contain information from a single time symbol. We can extend this to multiple time symbols specified in the specification. For example, an operation could be "copying the same subcarrier index to other time symbols," or an operation could be "shifting all subcarrier indices by a certain value to apply to other time symbols," and so on.

[0400] After generating pilot subcarrier indices for each time symbol, we can assign time symbol indices to these time symbols.

[0401] Generate pilot port index (if needed): In some cases, one or more input sequences may contain a subcarrier sequence and a port sequence, the port sequence of which can be used to indicate the use of a port index for each pilot subcarrier. An operation can be defined by associating the corresponding port index in the port sequence with the subcarrier index in the input subcarrier sequence.

[0402] In some cases, the input sequence includes information about the port indices associated with the subcarrier indices. The selected pre-generated sequence is resolved into pilot subcarrier indices and associated port indices according to the definitions in the operation.

[0403] In some cases, we can first generate pilot subcarrier indices, and then associate port indices with each pilot subcarrier using a predefined pilot pattern in the specification. An example of a pilot pattern might be shown below: 1. A port index has been defined in the specification; other port indices are derived from the known indices. For example, the port index of the minimum subcarrier index is defined as... P1 Port index of the second smallest subcarrier index P2 By P1 Add fixed offset n To calculate, that is, [( P1 + n[) mod (total number of allocated ports)]. We can continue this process until all pilot subcarrier indices are associated with port indices.

[0404] mapping function output The output of the mapping function is a pilot pattern, which can be used to determine the location of the pilots.

[0405] 1. Pilot patterns can be represented by a series of subcarrier indices in the frequency direction.

[0406] 2. Pilot patterns can be represented by a series of subcarrier indices and port indices in the frequency-space domain.

[0407] 3. Pilot patterns can be represented by a series of time symbol indices and subcarrier indices in the time-frequency domain.

[0408] 4. Pilot patterns can be represented by a series of time symbol indices, subcarrier indices, and port indices in the time-frequency spatial domain.

[0409] 5. Subcarrier indexes can also be resource element (RE) indexes in the frequency direction.

[0410] Example Example 1 In Example 1, we show the process of generating a sequence through a sequence acquisition function, and then inputting that sequence along with other parameters into a mapping function to obtain a pilot pattern.

[0411] In this simple example, the pilot signal will be sent from the UE to the gNB. We show two UEs sending the pilot signal, such as... Figure 30 As shown. Figure 30 Example diagram of pilot pattern generation.

[0412] In this example, the sequence acquisition functions for UE1 and UE2 are determined by gNB and sent to the UE.

[0413] The output of the sequence acquisition function of UE1 is a matrix represented by two-dimensional indices, where one-dimensional indices represent OFDM symbols and one-dimensional indices represent relative subcarrier indices. The output of the sequence acquisition function of UE2 is a sequence containing relative subcarrier indices.

[0414] The input to the mapping function is the sequence and other parameters from the sequence acquisition function. For the mapping function of UE1, the input 2-d sequence contains information for two time symbols. The operation, by definition, resolves the input 2-d sequence into two time symbols. After resolving the input sequence into a single time symbol, the operation applies an offset (assigned subcarrier start index) to calculate the pilot subcarrier index (absolute subcarrier index) for each time symbol. Then, the operation associates the port index with each pilot subcarrier index specified in the mapping function. Finally, a pilot pattern is generated in the form of time symbol index - subcarrier index - port index.

[0415] For the mapping function of UE2, the input sequence contains information for a single time symbol. The operation applies an offset (assigned subcarrier start index) to calculate the pilot subcarrier index (absolute subcarrier index) for each single time symbol. Then, the operation associates the port index with each pilot subcarrier index specified in the mapping function. Finally, the pilot pattern is generated in the form of subcarrier index - port index.

[0416] Example 2 In Example 2, we show the process of selecting one or more sequences from one or more pre-generated sequences, and then inputting one or more sequences and other parameters into a mapping function to obtain a pilot pattern.

[0417] In this simple example, the pilot signal will be sent from the UE to the gNB. We show two UEs sending the pilot signal, such as... Figure 31 As shown. Figure 31 Example diagram of pilot pattern generation.

[0418] In this example, the sequence selection for UE1 and UE2 is determined by the gNB and sent to the UE.

[0419] UE1 has four selection sequences: s1 represents the subcarrier index of the first time symbol, s2 represents the subcarrier index of the second time symbol, s3 represents the port index of the first time symbol, and s4 represents the port index of the second time symbol. UE2's selection sequence is a series of decimals. We first calculate the sequence index based on some parameters. Then, using the calculated index number and other parameters, we select a sequence from the pre-generated sequence table.

[0420] The input to the mapping function is one or more selected sequences and other parameters. For the mapping function of UE1, the operation applies an offset (assigned subcarrier start index) to s1 and s2 to calculate the pilot subcarrier indices (absolute subcarrier indices) for the first and second time symbols. Then, the operation associates the port index sequences s3 and s4 with the offset versions of s1 and s2. Finally, the pilot pattern is generated in the form of time symbol index - subcarrier index - port index.

[0421] For the mapping function in UE2, the input sequence contains information about a single time symbol. The mapping function performs some mathematical operations on the input sequence to generate a relative subcarrier index. This operation then applies an offset (the assigned subcarrier start index) to calculate the pilot subcarrier index (absolute subcarrier index) for each single time symbol. This operation then associates the port index with each pilot subcarrier index specified in the mapping function. Finally, a pilot pattern is generated in the form of subcarrier index - port index.

[0422] This application proposes a sparse pilot pattern generation method, which, compared to the NR method, produces sparser and non-uniform pilot patterns. The generation method and related parameters can be indicated by simple instructions from other devices, or even without instructions from other devices (e.g., gNB). The signal becomes less complex and simpler. The gNB requires significantly less scheduling work. In conventional methods, pilots require careful scheduling to avoid overlap in the time-frequency spatial domain. Despite the sparse pilots, the design of the number of pilots in the system always has redundancy, meaning that the absence of a small number of pilots on the receiver side does not affect the channel estimation performance. In conventional designs, each pilot is critical; they cannot overlap or be discarded. Sequence and function separation facilitates pilot pattern generation and saves signaling costs associated with transmitting pilot patterns between the transmitter and receiver.

[0423] The methods described herein are executed by a device or apparatus, for example, by a processor of a device or apparatus that executes instructions stored in memory. The instructions, when executed, cause the device or apparatus to perform these methods.

[0424] The options and embodiments described herein can be combined in different arrangements. Furthermore, although the invention has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, various modifications and combinations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the foregoing description and drawings are to be considered merely as illustrations of some embodiments of the invention, and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents.

[0425] The following content also forms part of this invention.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Generate the first sequence of reference signals; The first sequence is mapped onto M frequency domain resource elements on K antenna ports, wherein the M positions of the M frequency domain resource elements are indicated by the second sequence. The second sequence is generated based at least on the first parameter set and the third sequence, where M and K are positive integers and M ≥ K.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first parameter set includes one or more of the following parameters: The identifier of the terminal device; The density of the reference signal; The size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; The location of the bandwidth; Communication environment parameters; Time-domain information, used to indicate one or more time-domain resource units associated with the M frequency-domain resource units; Spatial information is used to indicate the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Also includes: Send or receive one or more parameters from the first parameter set.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The sequence values ​​in the third sequence are selected from a range of values. The ratio of the j-th sequence value in the third sequence to the size of the range of values ​​is related to the ratio of the j-th sequence value in the second sequence to the number of frequency domain resource units in the bandwidth. The bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The third sequence includes T subsequences, and the T subsequences of the third sequence are associated with T time-domain resource units. The M frequency-domain resource units are divided into T frequency-domain resource groups according to the T subsequences of the third sequence. The T time-domain resource units are associated with the T frequency-domain resource groups respectively, and T is a positive integer.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The third sequence includes K sub-sequences, and the K sub-sequences of the third sequence are associated with the K antenna ports. The M frequency domain resource elements are divided into K frequency domain resource groups according to the K sub-sequences of the third sequence, and the K antenna ports are associated with the K frequency domain resource groups respectively.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The second sequence is generated based at least on the first parameter set and the third sequence, including: the second sequence having a first relationship with the first parameter set and the third sequence, the first relationship being determined at least based on a second parameter set, the second parameter set including one or more of the following parameters: The identifier of the terminal device; The first relation type parameter is used to indicate the type of the first relation; The first relation index is used to identify the first relation; The density of the reference signal; The size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; The location of the bandwidth; Communication environment parameters; Time-domain information, used to indicate one or more time-domain resource units associated with the M frequency-domain resource units; Spatial information is used to indicate the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, Also includes: Send or receive one or more parameters from the second parameter set.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The third sequence is determined at least based on a third parameter set, which includes one or more of the following parameters: The identifier of the terminal device; A sequence index is used to identify the third sequence; The sequence type parameter indicates the type of the third sequence; The density of the reference signal; The size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; The location of the bandwidth; Communication environment parameters; Time-domain information, used to indicate one or more time-domain resource units associated with the M frequency-domain resource units; Spatial information is used to indicate the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, Also includes: Send or receive one or more parameters from the third parameter set.

11. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The third sequence has a second relationship with the third parameter set, the second relationship being determined at least based on a fourth parameter set, the fourth parameter set including one or more of the following parameters: The identifier of the terminal device; The second relation type parameter is used to indicate the type of the second relation; The second relation index is used to identify the second relation; The density of the reference signal; The size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; The location of the bandwidth; Communication environment parameters; Time-domain information, used to indicate one or more time-domain resource units associated with the M frequency-domain resource units; Spatial information is used to indicate the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, Also includes: Send or receive one or more parameters from the fourth parameter set.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that, The length of the second sequence is greater than or equal to a threshold, which is determined at least based on the first set of parameters.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The sequence values ​​in the second sequence are determined at least based on the position of the bandwidth, which includes the M frequency domain resource units.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that, The second sequence is a pseudo-random sequence.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that, The K antenna ports are antenna ports among the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer and P>K.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The K antenna ports are indicated by a fourth sequence of length M. The frequency domain resource indicated by the i-th sequence value in the second sequence is related to the antenna port indicated by the i-th sequence value in the third sequence, where i is a positive integer and i ≤ M.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that, K≥2。 19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that, The second sequence is associated with the K antenna ports.

20. A communication method, characterized in that, include: A reference signal is received, wherein a first sequence of the reference signal is mapped onto M frequency domain resource elements on K antenna ports, and the M positions of the M frequency domain resource elements are indicated by a second sequence. The second sequence is generated based at least on the first parameter set, where M and K are positive integers and M ≥ K.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The first parameter set includes one or more of the following parameters: The identifier of the terminal device; The density of the reference signal; The size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; The location of the bandwidth; Communication environment parameters; Time-domain information, used to indicate one or more time-domain resource units associated with the M frequency-domain resource units; Spatial information is used to indicate the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that, Also includes: Send or receive one or more parameters from the first parameter set.

23. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 22, characterized in that, The sequence values ​​in the third sequence are selected from a range of values. The ratio of the j-th sequence value in the third sequence to the size of the range of values ​​is related to the ratio of the j-th sequence value in the second sequence to the number of frequency domain resource units in the bandwidth. The bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units.

24. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 23, characterized in that, The third sequence includes T subsequences, and the T subsequences of the third sequence are associated with T time-domain resource units. The M frequency-domain resource units are divided into T frequency-domain resource groups according to the T subsequences of the third sequence. The T time-domain resource units are associated with the T frequency-domain resource groups respectively, and T is a positive integer.

25. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 24, characterized in that, The third sequence includes K sub-sequences, and the K sub-sequences of the third sequence are associated with the K antenna ports. The M frequency domain resource elements are divided into K frequency domain resource groups according to the K sub-sequences of the third sequence, and the K antenna ports are associated with the K frequency domain resource groups respectively.

26. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 25, characterized in that, The second sequence is generated based at least on the first parameter set and the third sequence, including: the second sequence having a first relationship with the first parameter set and the third sequence, the first relationship being determined at least based on a second parameter set, the second parameter set including one or more of the following parameters: The identifier of the terminal device; The first relation type parameter is used to indicate the type of the first relation; The first relation index is used to identify the first relation; The density of the reference signal; The size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; The location of the bandwidth; Communication environment parameters; Time-domain information, used to indicate one or more time-domain resource units associated with the M frequency-domain resource units; Spatial information is used to indicate the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that, Also includes: Send or receive one or more parameters from the second parameter set.

28. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 27, characterized in that, The third sequence is determined at least based on a third parameter set, which includes one or more of the following parameters: The identifier of the terminal device; A sequence index is used to identify the third sequence; The sequence type parameter indicates the type of the third sequence; The density of the reference signal; The size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; The location of the bandwidth; Communication environment parameters; Time-domain information, used to indicate one or more time-domain resource units associated with the M frequency-domain resource units; Spatial information is used to indicate the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

29. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that, Also includes: Send or receive one or more parameters from the third parameter set.

30. The method according to claim 28 or 29, characterized in that, The third sequence has a second relationship with the third parameter set, the second relationship being determined at least based on a fourth parameter set, the fourth parameter set including one or more of the following parameters: The identifier of the terminal device; The second relation type parameter is used to indicate the type of the second relation; The second relation index is used to identify the second relation; The density of the reference signal; The size of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth includes the M frequency domain resource units; The location of the bandwidth; Communication environment parameters; Time-domain information, used to indicate one or more time-domain resource units associated with the M frequency-domain resource units; Spatial information is used to indicate the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer.

31. The method according to claim 30, characterized in that, Also includes: Send or receive one or more parameters from the fourth parameter set.

32. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 31, characterized in that, If M is greater than or equal to a threshold, the second sequence is determined at least based on the threshold.

33. The method according to claim 32, characterized in that, The threshold is determined based at least on the communication environment parameters.

34. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 33, characterized in that, The second sequence is a pseudo-random sequence.

35. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 34, characterized in that, The K antenna ports are antenna ports among the P antenna ports that support the transmission of the reference signal, where P is a positive integer and P>K.

36. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 35, characterized in that, The K antenna ports are indicated by a fourth sequence of length M. The frequency domain resource indicated by the i-th sequence value in the second sequence is related to the antenna port indicated by the i-th sequence value in the third sequence, where i is a positive integer and i ≤ M.

37. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 36, characterized in that, K≥2。 38. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 37, characterized in that, The second sequence is associated with the K antenna ports.

39. An apparatus, characterized in that, The apparatus includes a processor coupled to a memory storing one or more instructions executable on the processor, the one or more instructions, when executed, causing the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 or the method according to any one of claims 20 to 38.

40. An apparatus, characterized in that, The apparatus includes functions or units for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 or for performing the method according to any one of claims 20 to 38.

41. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a transmitting device and a receiving device, wherein the transmitting device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, and the receiving device performs the method according to any one of claims 20 to 38.

42. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, It includes one or more instructions, wherein when the one or more instructions are executed on a computer, the computer performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 or the method according to any one of claims 20 to 38.

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