Positioning method, network device, terminal and storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communications, in particular to a positioning method, a network device, a terminal and a storage medium, the positioning method comprising: sending first information to a second communication device, the first information being used for instructing the second communication device to backscatter a received broadband signal.

Description

Positioning method, network device, terminal and storage medium TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular, to a positioning method, a network device, a terminal and a storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] For ambient IoT (A-IoT) technology, a tag device is only allowed to perform uplink transmission by modulating and backscattering an unmodulated single-tone or multi-tone waveform, and obviously such backscattered signals cannot meet the demand for positioning accuracy.

[0003] SUMMARY

[0004] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a positioning method, a network device, a terminal and a storage medium to solve the technical problem that backscattered signals cannot meet the demand for positioning accuracy in ambient IoT in the related art.

[0005] According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a positioning method is provided, performed by a first communication device, and the method comprises: sending first information to a second communication device, the first information being used to instruct the second communication device to backscatter a received wideband signal.

[0006] According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a positioning method is provided, performed by a second communication device, and the method comprises: receiving first information from a first communication device, the first information being used to instruct the second communication device to backscatter a received wideband signal.

[0007] According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a positioning apparatus is provided, and the apparatus comprises: a processing module configured to determine first information, the first information being used to instruct a second communication device to backscatter a received wideband signal; and a transceiver module configured to send the first information to the second communication device.

[0008] According to a fourth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a positioning apparatus is provided, and the apparatus comprises: a transceiver module configured to receive first information from a first communication device, the first information being used to instruct a second communication device to backscatter a received wideband signal; and a processing module configured to backscatter based on the first information.

[0009] According to a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a network device is provided, comprising: one or more processors; a memory coupled to the processors, the memory having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the network device to perform the positioning method of the first aspect.

[0010] According to a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal is provided, comprising: one or more processors; a memory coupled to the processors, the memory having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the terminal to perform the positioning method of the second aspect.

[0011] According to a seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, comprising: one or more processors; a memory coupled to the processors, the memory having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the processors to invoke instructions to cause the communication device to perform the positioning method of the first aspect or the positioning method of the second aspect.

[0012] According to an eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication system is provided, comprising a network device and a terminal, wherein the network device is configured to implement the positioning method of the first aspect, and the terminal is configured to implement the positioning method of the second aspect.

[0013] According to a ninth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a storage medium is provided, the storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the positioning method of the first aspect or the positioning method of the second aspect.

[0014] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, by instructing the second communication device to backscatter the received wideband signal, the signal generated based on the backscattering can meet the demand of positioning accuracy, which helps to improve the positioning capability of the passive Internet of Things for the second communication device in positioning services or sensing services. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0015] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced as follows. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings can also be obtained by those skilled in the art without any creative effort based on these drawings.

[0016] FIG. 1 is an architecture schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 2 is an interaction schematic diagram of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 3A is a schematic flowchart of one of positioning methods according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 3B is a schematic flowchart of another of positioning methods according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 3C is a schematic flowchart of a third of positioning methods according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 3D is a schematic flowchart of a fourth of positioning methods according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 3E is a schematic flowchart of a fifth of positioning methods according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a sixth of positioning methods according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus structure of a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus structure of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a chip according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Embodiments of the present disclosure propose a positioning method, a network device, a terminal and a storage medium.

[0029] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure propose a positioning method performed by a first communication device, the method comprising: sending first information to a second communication device, the first information being used to instruct the second communication device to perform backscattering on a received wideband signal.

[0030] In the above embodiments, by instructing the second communication device to perform backscattering on the received wideband signal, the signal generated based on the backscattering can meet the demand of positioning accuracy, which helps to improve the positioning capability of the second communication device in positioning services or sensing services of the passive Internet of Things.

[0031] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, after sending the first information to the second communication device, the method further comprises: receiving a first signal from the second communication device, the first signal being a signal generated by the second communication device performing backscattering on a received second signal, the second signal being a wideband signal.

[0032] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the second signal is a wideband signal based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation.

[0033] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the first signal is an all-1 signal or an all-1 signal.

[0034] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, before receiving the first signal from the second communication device, the method further comprises: sending the second signal to the second communication device.

[0035] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the sending the second signal to the second communication device comprises: sending the second signal to the second communication device after switching a third signal to the second signal; wherein the third signal is a single frequency signal or a plurality of single frequency signals.

[0036] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, before receiving the first signal from the second communication device, the method further comprises: sending second information to the third communication device, the second information being used to instruct the third communication device to send the second signal to the second communication device.

[0037] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the second information is used to instruct the third communication device to send the second signal to the second communication device after switching a third signal to the second signal; wherein the third signal is a single frequency signal or a plurality of single frequency signals.

[0038] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the first information comprises an identifier of the second communication device.

[0039] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the sending the first information to the second communication device comprises: in a random access procedure of the second communication device, in response to receiving the identifier of the second communication device, sending the first information to the second communication device.

[0040] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, after receiving the first signal from the second communication device, the method further comprises: performing a positioning operation on the second communication device based on the first signal to obtain positioning information of the second communication device.

[0041] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the positioning operation comprises a time of arrival and / or angle of arrival based positioning operation.

[0042] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, after obtaining the positioning information of the second communication device, the method further comprises: determining a region where the second communication device is located based on the positioning information; and allocating a first identifier for indicating the region to the second communication device.

[0043] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the allocating the region identifier of the region to the second communication device comprises: sending third information indicating a success of random access to the second communication device, the third information comprising the first identifier.

[0044] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, after obtaining the positioning information of the second communication device, the method further comprises: determining a beam between the first communication device and the second communication device based on the positioning information of the second communication device.

[0045] In some embodiments of the first aspect. In some embodiments, after obtaining the positioning information of the second communication device, the method further comprises: determining positioning information of a fourth communication device connected to the second communication device; and configuring a corresponding beam for the second communication device and / or the fourth communication device based on the positioning information of the second communication device and the positioning information of the fourth communication device.

[0046] In the second aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a positioning method, performed by a second communication device, the method comprising: receiving first information from a first communication device, the first information being used to indicate that the second communication device performs backscattering on a received wideband signal.

[0047] In some embodiments of the second aspect. In some embodiments, after receiving the first information from the first communication device, the method further comprises: receiving a second signal, the second signal being a wideband signal; and sending a first signal to the first communication device, the first signal being a signal generated by backscattering the second signal.

[0048] In some embodiments of the second aspect. In some embodiments, the second signal is a wideband signal based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation.

[0049] In some embodiments of the second aspect. In some embodiments, the first signal is an all-1 signal or an all-1 signal.

[0050] In some embodiments of the second aspect. In some embodiments, the receiving the second signal comprises: receiving the second signal from the first communication device.

[0051] Some embodiments combine the second aspect. In some embodiments, the receiving the second signal comprises receiving the second signal from the third communication device.

[0052] Some embodiments combine the second aspect. In some embodiments, the first information comprises an identity of the second communication device.

[0053] Some embodiments combine the second aspect. In some embodiments, before receiving the first information from the first communication device, the method further comprises: sending, to the first communication device, an identity of the second communication device in a random access procedure.

[0054] Some embodiments combine the second aspect. In some embodiments, after sending the first signal to the first communication device, the method further comprises: receiving, from the first communication device, a first identity allocated for the second communication device; the first identity is used to indicate a region where the second communication device is located.

[0055] Some embodiments combine the second aspect. In some embodiments, the receiving, from the second communication device, the first identity allocated for the first communication device comprises: receiving, from the first communication device, third information indicating that the random access is successful, the third information comprising the first identity.

[0056] A third aspect provides a positioning apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a processing module configured to determine first information, the first information being used to indicate that a second communication device backscatters a received wideband signal; and a transceiver module configured to send the first information to the second communication device.

[0057] A fourth aspect provides a positioning apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a transceiver module configured to receive first information from a first communication device, the first information being used to indicate that a second communication device backscatters a received wideband signal; and a processing module configured to backscatter based on the first information.

[0058] A fifth aspect provides a network device, comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors and storing executable instructions, wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the processors, cause the network device to perform the positioning method described in the first aspect and optional embodiments of the first aspect.

[0059] A sixth aspect provides a terminal, comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors and storing executable instructions, wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the processors, cause the terminal to perform the positioning method described in the second aspect and optional embodiments of the second aspect.

[0060] In a seventh aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication device, comprising: one or more processors; a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to invoke the executable instructions to cause the communication device to perform the positioning method as described in the first aspect and the second aspect, the optional embodiments of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0061] In an eighth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication system, comprising: a network device and a terminal; wherein the network device is configured to perform the method as described in the first aspect, the optional embodiments of the first aspect, and the terminal is configured to perform the method as described in the second aspect, the optional embodiments of the second aspect.

[0062] In a ninth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a storage medium, the storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in the first aspect and the second aspect, the optional embodiments of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0063] In a tenth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a program product, the program product, when executed by a communication device, causing the communication device to perform the method as described in the first aspect and the second aspect, the optional embodiments of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0064] In an eleventh aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer program, when executed on a computer, causing the computer to perform the method as described in the first aspect and the second aspect, the optional embodiments of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0065] It can be understood that the network device, the terminal, the communication device, the communication system, the storage medium, the program product, and the computer program are all used to perform the method proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, the beneficial effects they can achieve can refer to the beneficial effects in the corresponding method, which will not be described here.

[0066] The embodiments of the present disclosure propose a positioning method, a network device, a terminal, and a storage medium. In some embodiments, the terms of information sending method, information receiving method, information processing method, and communication method can be replaced with each other, the terms of network device, terminal, information processing device, and communication device can be replaced with each other, and the terms of information processing system and communication system can be replaced with each other.

[0067] The embodiments of the present disclosure are not exhaustive, but only illustrate some embodiments, and are not specific limitations on the protection scope of the present disclosure. In the case of no contradiction, each step in an embodiment can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be combined arbitrarily, for example, the scheme after removing part of the steps in an embodiment can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in an embodiment can be exchanged arbitrarily, in addition, the optional embodiments in an embodiment can be combined arbitrarily; in addition, the embodiments can be combined arbitrarily, for example, part or all steps of different embodiments can be combined arbitrarily, an embodiment can be combined with optional embodiments of other embodiments.

[0068] In each embodiment of the present disclosure, the terms and / or descriptions between the embodiments are consistent if there is no special description and logical conflict, and can be referred to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0069] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only for the purpose of describing the specific embodiments, and not as a limitation on the present disclosure.

[0070] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the elements expressed in singular form, such as "one", "a", "the", "above", "said", "preceding", "this" and the like, can represent "one and only one", and can also represent "one or more", "at least one" and the like.

[0071] For example, in the case of using articles such as "a", "an", "the" and the like in translation, the noun after the article can be understood as singular expression, and can also be understood as plural expression.

[0072] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0073] In some embodiments, the terms "at least one of", "one or more", "a plurality of", "multiple" and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0074] In some embodiments, the description of "at least one of A, B", "A and / or B", "one of A or B", "at least one of A or B", "one of A or B" and the like, can include the following technical solutions according to the situation: in some embodiments, A is executed (A is executed regardless of B); in some embodiments, B is executed (B is executed regardless of A); in some embodiments, A and B are selectively executed (A and B are selected from A and B); in some embodiments, A and B are executed (A and B are executed). When there are more branches such as A, B, C, and the like, the above description is similar.

[0075] In some embodiments, the description of "A or B" and the like can include the following technical solutions according to the situation: in some embodiments, A is executed (A is executed regardless of B); in some embodiments, B is executed (B is executed regardless of A); in some embodiments, A and B are selectively executed (A and B are selected from A and B). When there are more branches such as A, B, C, and the like, the above description is similar.

[0076] The prefix words "first", "second" and the like in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used to distinguish different description objects, and do not constitute a limitation on the position, order, priority, quantity or content of the description objects. The description of the description objects should refer to the description in the context of the claims or embodiments, and should not constitute an unnecessary limitation because of the use of the prefix words.

[0077] For example, the description object is "field", and the ordinal words before "field" in "first field" and "second field" do not limit the position or order between "fields". "First" and "second" do not limit whether the "fields" they modify are in the same message, nor do they limit the order of "first field" and "second field". For another example, the description object is "level", and the ordinal words before "level" in "first level" and "second level" do not limit the priority between "levels". For another example, the number of description objects is not limited by ordinal words, and can be one or more. For example, "first device", where the number of "devices" can be one or more. In addition, objects modified by different prefix words can be the same or different, for example, the description object is "device", and "first device" and "second device" can be the same device or different devices, and their types can be the same or different. For another example, the description object is "information", and "first information" and "second information" can be the same information or different information, and their contents can be the same or different.

[0078] In some embodiments, "including A", "containing A", "for indicating A", "carrying A" can be interpreted as directly carrying A, or indirectly indicating A.

[0079] In some embodiments, the terms "in response to", "in response to determining", "in the case of", "when", "if", "if", etc. can be replaced with each other.

[0080] In some embodiments, the terms "greater than", "greater than or equal to", "not less than", "more than", "more than or equal to", "not less than", "higher than", "higher than or equal to", "not lower than", "above", etc. can be replaced with each other, and the terms "less than", "less than or equal to", "not greater than", "less than", "less than or equal to", "not more than", "lower than", "lower than or equal to", "not higher than", "below", etc. can be replaced with each other.

[0081] In some embodiments, the apparatus, etc. can be interpreted as physical or virtual, and the name thereof is not limited to the name described in the embodiments, and the terms "apparatus", "equipment", "device", "circuit", "network element", "node", "function", "unit", "section", "system", "network", "chip", "chip system", "entity", "subject", etc. can be replaced with each other.

[0082] In some embodiments, the terms "apparatus", "equipment", "device", "circuit", "network element", "node", "function", "unit", "section", "system", "network", "chip", "chip system", "entity", "subject", etc. can be replaced with each other.

[0083] In some embodiments, "network" can be interpreted as an apparatus (e.g., access network device, core network device, etc.) contained in the network.

[0084] In some embodiments, the terms “access network device (AN device),” “radio access network device (RAN device),” “base station (BS),” “radio base station,” “fixed station,” “node,” “access point,” “transmission point (TP),” “reception point (RP),” “transmission / reception point (TRP),” “panel,” “antenna panel,” “antenna array,” “cell,” “macro cell,” “small cell,” “femto cell,” “pico cell,” “sector,” “cell group,” “serving cell,” “carrier,” “component carrier,” “bandwidth part (BWP),” and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0085] In some embodiments, the terms "terminal," "terminal device," "user equipment (UE)," "user terminal," "mobile station (MS)," "mobile terminal (MT)," "subscriber station," "mobile unit," "subscriber unit," "wireless unit," "remote unit," "mobile device," "wireless device," "wireless communication device," "remote device," "mobile subscriber station," "access terminal," "mobile terminal," "wireless terminal," "remote terminal," "handset," "user agent," "mobile client," "client," and so on can be replaced with each other.

[0086] In some embodiments, the access network device, the core network device, or the network device can be replaced with a terminal. For example, the embodiments of the present disclosure can also be applied to a structure in which communication between the access network device, the core network device, or the network device and the terminal is replaced with communication between a plurality of terminals (e.g., device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, the terminal can also be configured to have all or part of the functions of the access network device. In addition, the terms "uplink," "downlink," and the like can also be replaced with terms corresponding to the inter-terminal communication (e.g., "side"). For example, the uplink channel, the downlink channel, and the like can be replaced with the side channel, and the uplink, the downlink, and the like can be replaced with the sidelink.

[0087] In some embodiments, the terminal can be replaced with the access network device, the core network device, or the network device. In this case, the access network device, the core network device, or the network device can also be configured to have all or part of the functions of the terminal.

[0088] In some embodiments, the data, information, etc. can be obtained in compliance with the laws and regulations of the country in which the location is situated.

[0089] In some embodiments, the data, information, etc. can be obtained after obtaining the consent of the user.

[0090] In addition, each element, each row, or each column in the table of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and any combination of any element, any row, or any column can also be implemented as an independent embodiment.

[0091] FIG. 1 is an architecture schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0092] As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 100 includes a terminal 101 and a network device 102, wherein the network device includes at least one of the following: an access network device, a core network device.

[0093] In some embodiments, the terminal 101 includes at least one of the following, but is not limited thereto: a mobile phone, a wearable device, an Internet of Things device, a communication-capable automobile, a smart automobile, a Pad, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal device in smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in smart city, a wireless terminal device in smart home, etc.

[0094] In some embodiments, the access network device is, for example, a node or device that accesses a terminal to a wireless network, and the access network device can include at least one of an evolved NodeB (eNB) in a 5G communication system, a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a node B (NB), a home node B (HNB), a home evolved node B (HeNB), a wireless backhaul device, a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a base band unit (BBU), a mobile switching center, a base station in a 6G communication system, an Open RAN, a Cloud RAN, a base station in other communication systems, an access node in a Wi-Fi system, but is not limited thereto.

[0095] In some embodiments, the core network device can be one device including one or more network elements, or can be multiple devices or device groups including all or part of the one or more network elements described above. The network element can be virtual or physical. The core network includes, for example, at least one of an evolved packet core (EPC), a 5G core network (5GCN), and a next generation core (NGC).

[0096] In some embodiments, the technical solutions of the present disclosure can be applied to an Open RAN architecture, at which time the interfaces between or within the access network devices involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure can become internal interfaces of the Open RAN, and the processes and information interactions between these internal interfaces can be realized through software or programs.

[0097] In some embodiments, the access network device can be composed of a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), where the CU can also be referred to as a control unit. The CU-DU structure can split the protocol layers of the access network device, and some of the functions of the protocol layers are controlled by the CU, and the remaining or all of the functions of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU and controlled by the CU, but is not limited thereto.

[0098] It can be understood that the communication system described in the embodiments of the present disclosure is for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions proposed by the embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of system architecture and the appearance of new business scenarios, the technical solutions proposed by the embodiments of the present disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0099] The following embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 or part of the subjects, but are not limited thereto. The subjects shown in FIG. 1 are exemplary, and the communication system can include all or part of the subjects in FIG. 1, or other subjects other than FIG. 1. The number and form of each subject is arbitrary, each subject can be physical or virtual, the connection relationship between each subject is exemplary, each subject can not be connected or can be connected, the connection can be in any way, can be direct connection or indirect connection, can be wired connection or wireless connection.

[0100] Embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G new radio (NR), Future Radio Access (FRA), New-Radio Access Technology (RAT), New Radio (NR), New radio access (NX), Future generation radio access (FX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM (registered trademark)), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (Bluetooth (registered trademark)), Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network, Device-to-Device (D2D) system, Machine to Machine (M2M) system, Internet of Things (IoT) system, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), system using other communication methods, next-generation system expanded based on them, and the like. In addition, a plurality of systems can be combined (for example, combination of LTE or LTE-A and 5G, and the like).

[0101] FIG. 2 is an interaction diagram illustrating a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0102] As shown in FIG. 2, the positioning method includes:

[0103] In step S201, the network device sends first information to the terminal.

[0104] In some embodiments, the network device sends first information to the terminal, the first information being used to instruct the terminal to backscatter the received wideband signal.

[0105] In some embodiments, the terminal can receive first information from the network device, the first information being used to instruct the terminal to backscatter the received wideband signal.

[0106] In some embodiments, the first information comprises at least one of the following information: start of positioning procedure; start of sensing procedure; instructing the second communication device to perform backscattering; instructing the second communication device to backscatter the received wideband signal.

[0107] In some embodiments, the first information can also be used to indicate the starting time or time period of the backscattering performed by the second communication device for the positioning operation.

[0108] In some embodiments, the first information comprises an identity of the second communication device.

[0109] In some embodiments, the network device can send the first information to the terminal after receiving the identity of the terminal, such as RN16, in the random access procedure of the terminal.

[0110] In an embodiment, the first information can be contained in a newly designed message, such as the first information can be a Reader-to-Device (R2D) command corresponding to a newly designed Start Positioning / Sensing Occasion message, i.e., a DownLink (DL) command, which is used to instruct the start of the positioning / sensing procedure; or the first information can be contained in an existing message, which can be added with a function of instructing the start of the positioning / sensing procedure, or the existing message itself can be used to instruct the start of the positioning / sensing procedure.

[0111] Step S202: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

[0112] In some embodiments, the network device can receive the first signal from the terminal after sending the first information to the terminal, wherein the first signal can be a signal generated by backscattering the received second signal by the terminal, and the second signal is a wideband signal.

[0113] In some embodiments, the terminal can receive the second signal, which is a wideband signal, after receiving the first information from the network device; and send the first signal to the network device, the first signal being a signal generated by backscattering the second signal.

[0114] In some embodiments, the second signal is a wideband signal based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation.

[0115] In some embodiments, the first signal is an all-1 signal or an all-1 signal.

[0116] In some embodiments, the network device can further send a second signal to the terminal.

[0117] In some embodiments, the network device can further switch a third signal to the second signal and send the second signal to the second communication device after the switching; wherein the third signal is a single frequency signal or a plurality of single frequency signals.

[0118] In some embodiments, the network device can further send second information to a third communication device, the second information being used to instruct the third communication device to send the second signal to the terminal.

[0119] In some embodiments, the second information is used to instruct the third communication device to switch a third signal to the second signal and send the second signal to the second communication device after the switching; wherein the third signal is a single frequency signal or a plurality of single frequency signals.

[0120] Step S203: The network device performs a positioning operation.

[0121] In some embodiments, the network device can perform the positioning operation on the terminal based on the first signal received from the terminal, to obtain positioning information of the terminal.

[0122] In some embodiments, the positioning operation includes a positioning operation based on time of arrival and / or angle of arrival.

[0123] In some embodiments, after obtaining the positioning information of the terminal, the network device can further determine a region where the terminal is located based on the positioning information, and allocate a first identifier for indicating the region to the terminal.

[0124] In some embodiments, after obtaining the positioning information of the terminal, the network device can further determine a region where the terminal is located based on the positioning information, and send third information indicating a successful random access to the second communication device, the third information including the first identifier.

[0125] In some embodiments, after obtaining the positioning information of the terminal, the network device can further determine a beam between the network device and the terminal based on the positioning information of the terminal.

[0126] In some embodiments, after obtaining the positioning information of the terminal, the network device can further determine positioning information of a fourth communication device connected with the terminal; and configure corresponding beams for the terminal and / or the fourth communication device based on the positioning information of the terminal and the positioning information of the fourth communication device.

[0127] The communication method related to the embodiments of the present disclosure can include at least one of steps S201 to S203. For example, step S201, step S202 or step S203 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, any two steps of steps S201-S203 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, steps S201-S203 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, but are not limited thereto.

[0128] In some embodiments, steps S201, S202 and S203 can be exchanged in order or executed simultaneously.

[0129] In some embodiments, step S201 is optional, and one or more of the steps can be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0130] In some embodiments, step S202 is optional, and one or more of the steps can be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0131] In some embodiments, step S203 is optional, and one or more of the steps can be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0132] In some embodiments, other optional embodiments described before or after the corresponding description of FIG. 2 can be referred to.

[0133] In some embodiments, in Ambient IoT (A-IoT) technology, a passive tag device (also referred to as a non-activate device) is to be supported, which does not have radio frequency transmission capability itself and needs to obtain transmission energy through backscattering to perform uplink (UL) transmission, i.e., Device to Reader (D2R) transmission. In related technologies, the continuous wave (CW) serving as the excitation signal for backscattering can be an unmodulated single-tone or multi-tone waveform, and the tag device can perform D2R transmission by modulating the excitation signal and backscattering. However, for positioning or sensing services, the uplink transmission by backscattering of the single-tone or multi-tone waveform cannot meet the positioning accuracy requirement, and therefore, a method capable of being used for positioning in A-IoT needs to be designed.

[0134] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a positioning method. FIG. 3A is a schematic flowchart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The positioning method shown in the present embodiment can be performed by a first communication device. The first communication device can be a reader in an A-IoT system.

[0135] As shown in FIG. 3A, the positioning method can include the following steps:

[0136] In step S301, first information is sent to a second communication device, the first information being used to instruct the second communication device to backscatter a received wideband signal.

[0137] In some embodiments, Ambient IoT (A-IoT) can be an Internet of Things system based on environmental perception and adaptive technology, which can include a tag device (Device) and a reader (Reader). The tag device can be used to implement environmental perception and data collection, and send the collected environmental data to the reader through D2R transmission, so that the reader further performs intelligent analysis and application on the environmental information, thereby realizing intelligent perception, analysis and application of environmental information. The tag device can include temperature tags, humidity tags, illumination tags, sound tags, gas tags, etc., for example, a terminal integrated with the above tags. The reader can include readers based on different communication technologies, such as network devices (e.g., base stations gNB) or relay terminals (Intermediate UE), etc. It should be noted that in the present specification, the first communication device represents the reader, and the second communication device represents the tag device.

[0138] In some embodiments, the first communication device can send the first information to the second communication device to instruct the second communication device to start performing the backscattering for the positioning operation in a case that the positioning operation needs to be performed, for example, in a case that a positioning procedure or a sensing procedure included in a positioning service or a sensing service is performed.

[0139] As described above, since the single frequency waveform and the multi-single frequency waveform cannot meet the positioning accuracy requirement, in order to improve the positioning accuracy of the second communication device, the backscattering performed by the second communication device for the positioning operation can be backscattering performed on a wideband signal, so that a first signal generated based on the backscattering performed on the wideband signal can meet the positioning accuracy requirement. The first information sent by the first communication device to the second communication device can be used to instruct the second communication device to perform the backscattering on the received wideband signal.

[0140] In some embodiments, the first information sent by the first communication device to the second communication device can include at least one of the following information: start of the positioning procedure; start of the sensing procedure; instruction to the second communication device to perform the backscattering; instruction to the second communication device to perform the backscattering on the received wideband signal.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first information can also be used to instruct the second communication device to perform the backscattering for the positioning operation at a starting time or a time period. The starting time or the time period can be determined based on a protocol predefinition and / or a time identifier included in the first information. For example, a time identifier used to indicate a time offset can be included in the first information, and the starting time of the backscattering can be determined based on the time offset in combination with a receiving time or a sending time of the first information.

[0142] In some embodiments, the first information can be represented as an R2D command, i.e., a downlink (DL) command, for example, a command corresponding to a pre-defined StartPositioning / SensingOccasion message, and the command can be used to instruct the start of the positioning procedure or the sensing procedure by sending the command. After receiving the message, the second communication device can perform the backscattering on the received wideband signal.

[0143] In some embodiments, the first information can be sent directly by the first communication device to the second communication device, or can be forwarded through a relay communication device.

[0144] It should be noted that the embodiment shown in FIG. 3A can be independently implemented, or can be combined with at least one other embodiment of the present disclosure for implementation. The present disclosure does not limit the selection.

[0145] In the above embodiments, by instructing the second communication device to backscatter the received wideband signal, the signal generated based on the backscattering can meet the demand of positioning accuracy, which helps to improve the positioning capability of the second communication device in the positioning service or the sensing service of the passive Internet of Things.

[0146] In some embodiments, after the first communication device sends the first information to the second communication device, the first communication device can receive a first signal from the second communication device, where the first signal can be a signal generated by the second communication device based on backscattering a received second signal, and the second signal is a wideband signal.

[0147] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information, the second communication device can backscatter the received second signal based on the first information, generate the first signal, and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0148] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information, the second communication device can backscatter a received excitation signal.

[0149] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information, the second communication device can backscatter a received excitation signal.

[0150] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information, the second communication device can backscatter a received excitation signal based on the start time or time period of backscattering determined based on the first information, generate the first signal, and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0151] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information, the second communication device can backscatter a received excitation signal based on the start time or time period of backscattering determined based on the first information, generate the first signal, and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0152] In some embodiments, the second signal can be a wideband signal set according to actual needs, for example, a pulse signal, a frequency modulation (FM) signal, an amplitude modulation (AM) signal, or a wideband signal based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation, etc. For the sake of simplicity, in the following embodiments, a wideband signal based on OFDM is taken as an example for illustration.

[0153] In some embodiments, the first signal can be selected not to carry any information or to carry a small amount of information, such as an identifier of the second communication device, and the like, according to actual needs.

[0154] In some embodiments, the second communication device can directly backscatter when generating the first signal without carrying any information, or can backscatter according to a preset pattern, such as an all-1 signal or an all-1 signal, when backscattering the second signal.

[0155] In some embodiments, the second communication device can generate an all-1 or all-1 first signal by backscattering the second signal based on binary phase shift keying (BPSK) or frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation.

[0156] By receiving the first signal generated by backscattering the wideband signal from the second communication device, the first signal can meet the positioning accuracy requirement, which helps to improve the positioning capability of the passive Internet of Things for the second communication device in positioning services or sensing services.

[0157] In some embodiments, the continuous wave node (CWN) that sends the second signal to the second communication device can be the first communication device, i.e., the read-write device, or a third communication device other than the read-write device, such as a relay device, and the like.

[0158] In some embodiments, if the second signal is sent by the first communication device, as shown in FIG. 3B, the positioning method can include the following steps:

[0159] In step S311, the first communication device sends first information to the second communication device, and the first information is used to instruct the second communication device to backscatter the received wideband signal.

[0160] In step S312, the first communication device sends a second signal, such as a wideband signal based on OFDM modulation, to the second communication device.

[0161] In some embodiments, the first communication device can send the second signal to the second communication device based on the start time or time period of backscattering determined by the first information.

[0162] In some embodiments, in order to reduce the impact on other communication services in the passive Internet of Things, such as inventory services, and to realize the coexistence of positioning services or sensing services and other communication services, the first communication device can switch the third signal to the second signal and send the second signal to the second communication device after sending the first information to the second communication device; wherein the third signal is a single-frequency signal using a single-frequency waveform or a multi-single-frequency signal using a multi-single-frequency waveform, that is, an excitation signal sent to the second communication device when performing other communication services. It is equivalent to the first communication device can only switch the excitation signal sent to the second communication device to a wideband signal in the case of performing positioning operation, and still send the initial excitation signal to the second communication device when performing other communication services.

[0163] In some embodiments, the first communication device can switch the third signal to the second signal and send it to the second communication device based on the starting time or time period of backscattering determined by the first information.

[0164] In step S313, the first communication device receives the first signal from the second communication device, and the first signal can be a signal generated by backscattering the received second signal by the second communication device.

[0165] It should be noted that step S311 can implement the method embodiment corresponding to step S301 as shown in FIG. 3A, and obtain the same or similar technical effects, and the repeated parts will not be described here.

[0166] In the above embodiments, by instructing the second communication device to backscatter the received wideband signal and sending the wideband signal to the second communication device, the received first signal generated by backscattering the wideband signal can meet the demand for positioning accuracy, which helps to improve the positioning ability of the passive Internet of Things to the second communication device in positioning services or sensing services.

[0167] In some embodiments, if the second signal is sent by the third communication device, as shown in FIG. 3C, the positioning method can include the following steps:

[0168] In step S321, the first communication device sends first information to the second communication device, and the first information is used to instruct the second communication device to backscatter the received wideband signal.

[0169] In step S322, the first communication device sends second information to the third communication device, and the second information is used to instruct the third communication device to send the second signal to the second communication device.

[0170] In some embodiments, the third communication device can send a second signal, e.g., a wideband signal based on OFDM modulation, to the second communication device after receiving the second information.

[0171] In some embodiments, the second information can also be used to indicate a time range for the third communication device to send the second signal, e.g., can be used to indicate a starting time or time period for the second communication device to perform backscattering. The third communication device can send the second signal to the second communication device based on the starting time or time period for backscattering determined by the second information after receiving the second information.

[0172] In some embodiments, the third communication device can also be used to send a third signal, e.g., a single frequency signal or multiple single frequency signals, to the second communication device. The second information can be used to indicate that the third communication device sends the second signal to the second communication device after switching the third signal to the second signal. The third communication device can switch the third signal sent to the second communication device to the second signal after receiving the second information.

[0173] In step S323, the first communication device receives a first signal from the second communication device, which can be a signal generated by the second communication device by backscattering the received second signal.

[0174] It should be noted that step S321 can implement the method embodiments corresponding to step S301 as shown in FIG. 3A, and obtain the same or similar technical effects. The repeated parts will not be described here.

[0175] In some embodiments, the first information and the second information can be sent at the same time, e.g., the first information and the second information can be carried by the same message, or can be sent according to a preset order. The specific execution order is not limited here, and in this specification, the first information is sent first and the second information is sent later as an example.

[0176] In the above embodiments, by indicating the third communication device to send a wideband signal to the second communication device, and indicating the second communication device to perform backscattering on the received wideband signal, the generated first signal can meet the demand for positioning accuracy, which helps to improve the positioning ability of the second communication device in the positioning service or sensing service of the passive Internet of Things.

[0177] In some embodiments, the second signal and the third signal can be sent by the same communication device, or can also be sent by different communication devices, e.g., the second signal is sent by the first communication device R1, and the third signal is sent by the third communication device R2; the second signal is sent by the third communication device R2, and the third signal is sent by the first communication device R1; the second signal is sent by the third communication device R2, and the third signal is sent by the fourth communication device R3, etc.

[0178] In some embodiments, in the case that the second signal is sent by the first communication device R1 and the third signal is sent by the third communication device R2, after the first communication device R1 sends the first information to the second communication device D1, the first communication device R1 can send the second information to the third communication device R2 to instruct the third communication device R2 to stop sending the third signal to the second communication device D1, and at the same time, the first communication device R1 sends the second signal to the second communication device D1 so that the second communication device D1 performs backscatter on the received second signal. Correspondingly, after the positioning operation is completed, the first communication device R1 can also stop sending the second signal to the second communication device D1 and instruct the third communication device R2 to resume sending the third signal to the second communication device D1.

[0179] In some embodiments, in the case that the second signal is sent by the third communication device R2 and the third signal is sent by the first communication device R1, after the first communication device R1 sends the first information to the second communication device D1, the first communication device R1 can send the second information to the third communication device R2 to instruct the third communication device R2 to send the second signal to the second communication device D1, and at the same time, the first communication device R1 stops sending the third signal to the second communication device D1 so that the second communication device D1 performs backscatter on the received second signal. Correspondingly, after the positioning operation is completed, the first communication device R1 can also resume sending the third signal to the second communication device D1 and instruct the third communication device R2 to stop sending the second signal to the second communication device D1.

[0180] In some embodiments, in the case that the second signal is sent by the third communication device R2 and the third signal is sent by the fourth communication device R3, after the first communication device R1 sends the first information to the second communication device D1, the first communication device R1 can instruct the fourth communication device R3 to stop sending the third signal to the second communication device D1, and at the same time, send the second information to the third communication device R2 to instruct the third communication device R2 to send the second signal to the second communication device D1 so that the second communication device D1 performs backscatter on the received second signal. Correspondingly, after the positioning operation is completed, the first communication device R1 can also instruct the third communication device R2 to stop sending the second signal to the second communication device D1 and instruct the fourth communication device R3 to resume sending the third signal to the second communication device D1.

[0181] In some embodiments, after the first communication device receives the first signal from the second communication device, the first communication device can perform a positioning operation on the second communication device to obtain positioning information of the second communication device.

[0182] In some embodiments, the method of positioning operation on the second communication device can be configured according to actual needs, for example, at least one of the following methods can be used: based on signal strength indication (RSSI), based on time difference of arrival (TDOA), based on angle of arrival (AOA), based on direction of arrival, based on uplink relative time of arrival (UL-RTOA), based on fingerprinting, etc.

[0183] Since in some positioning operations, it can be necessary to continuously acquire the first signal sent by the second communication device for multiple times. In some embodiments, after receiving the first signal sent by the second communication device each time, the first communication device can determine whether a sufficient number of first signals are acquired, and if not, send the first information to the second communication device again, so that the second communication device performs backscattering on the received wideband signal again, generates and sends new first signals; ……; until the first communication device acquires a sufficient number of first signals and completes the positioning operation on the second communication device, the first communication device can instruct the second communication device to stop backscattering the wideband signal, for example, the first communication device can send a stop positioning / sensing occasion message to the second communication device.

[0184] In some embodiments, the first communication device does not need to send the first information to the second communication device multiple times, and the first information can also be used to indicate at least one of the following information when sending the first information to the second communication device: the method of positioning operation; the number of first signals; the duration of the first signal; the transmission interval between adjacent first signals, etc. The second communication device can perform backscattering on the received wideband signal based on the first information, generate and send a sufficient number of first signals to realize the positioning operation on the second communication device.

[0185] In some embodiments, after the first communication device sends the first information to the second communication device, it can control the duration and / or interval of sending the second signal to the second communication device, etc., so that the second communication device can generate and send a sufficient number of first signals by backscattering the second signal to realize the positioning operation on the second communication device.

[0186] In some embodiments, the first information sent by the first communication device and the second communication device can further include an identification of the second communication device. The second communication device can perform backscattering on the wideband signal based on the first information in a case that the received first information contains the identification of the second communication device, generate the first signal and send to the first communication device.

[0187] In some embodiments, the positioning operation on the tag device can be implemented in a random access procedure (e.g., an inventory procedure) on the tag device, i.e., the positioning operation is bound to the inventory procedure, or the positioning operation on the tag device can be implemented independently, i.e., the positioning operation is unbound to the inventory procedure, for example, the positioning operation on the specified tag device can be performed after the completion of the inventory procedure.

[0188] In some embodiments, in the process of performing random access on the second communication device, the first communication device can send the first information to the second communication device in response to receiving the identification of the second communication device, for example, receiving the random number (RN) 16 sent by the second communication device.

[0189] In some embodiments, in the contention-based random access procedure on the plurality of tag devices Device, the first communication device (e.g., a base station BS) can send a query (Query) command to the plurality of tag devices and send a single frequency signal; for each tag device, after receiving the Query command, it can set the corresponding counter Counter value according to the Q value in the command, and reduce the Counter value by 1 every time it receives a repeated query (QueryRep) command, until the value is 0, the tag device can modulate and backscatter the RN 16 of the tag device on the received single frequency signal; the first communication device sends the first information to each tag device that successfully sends the RN 16, i.e., the identification (Device ID) of the tag device, to start the positioning operation.

[0190] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 3D, the first communication device R1 can send a Query command and an unmodulated single frequency signal to the tag device in the process of inventorying a plurality of tag devices containing the second communication device D1; if the RN16 of the second communication device D1 is received, the first communication device R1 can send a Start Positioning / Sensing Occasion message containing first information to the second communication device D1 and switch the unmodulated single frequency signal to a second signal based on OFDM modulation for transmission; after the second communication device D1 receives the first information, it can backscatter the received second signal to generate a first signal of all 1s; the first communication device R1 sends a Start Positioning / Sensing Occasion message to the second communication device D1 again after receiving the first signal; …; until the first communication device completes the positioning operation of the second communication device, it sends a Stop Positioning / Sensing Occasion message to the second communication device, switches the second signal based on OFDM modulation back to the unmodulated single frequency signal, and then sends a third message (Acknowledgment, ACK) of successful random reception to the second communication device and continues to perform the inventorying process, for example, sends a QueryRep command.

[0191] In some embodiments, in the contention-based random access process of a plurality of tag devices, the first communication device can send first information together with the Query command and / or QueryRep command, and after receiving the RN16 backscattered by any tag device, it directly switches the unmodulated single frequency signal to the second signal for transmission; the tag device that successfully sends the RN16 directly backscatters the received second signal to generate a first signal of all 1s or all -1s; the first communication device performs positioning operation based on receiving the first signal, and after completing the positioning operation, sends a Stop Positioning / Sensing Occasion message, switches the second signal back to the unmodulated single frequency signal, and then sends an ACK to the second communication device and continues to perform the inventorying process, for example, sends a QueryRep command.

[0192] In some embodiments, the Stop Positioning / Sensing Occasion message can not be sent, the relevant information can be carried by the ACK message, or the Stop Positioning / Sensing Occasion message and the ACK message can be sent together.

[0193] In some embodiments, in the contention-based random access procedure for the plurality of tag devices, the second signal can be used as the excitation signal throughout the random access procedure, and after receiving the RN16 modulated and backscattered by any tag device in response to the second signal, the tag device can be positioned.

[0194] By binding the positioning operation with the inventory procedure for the tag devices, the positioning operation for each tag device can be initiated after receiving the identification of the tag device, so that the positioning operation for each tag device can be performed at the first time.

[0195] In some embodiments, after the first communication device performs the positioning operation on the second communication device based on the first signal and obtains the positioning information of the second communication device, the first communication device can determine the zone in which the second communication device is located based on the positioning information, and assign a first identification for indicating the zone to the second communication device. The first identification can be represented as a handle composed of a specific sequence of bits. As shown in FIG. 3E, the tag devices located in different zones can be assigned different first identifications, which is equivalent to grouping the tag devices assigned with different first identifications. The tag devices assigned with handle#1 belong to device set#1, and the tag devices assigned with handle#2 belong to device set#2.

[0196] In some embodiments, in the case that the positioning operation for the tag devices is located in the inventory procedure for the tag devices, the first identification assigned to each tag device can be carried by the StopPositioning / SensingOccasion message and / or ACK.

[0197] In some embodiments, the determination of the first identification can be set according to actual needs, for example, it can be determined by the pre-defined correspondence between the protocol and the zone.

[0198] In some embodiments, the zone can be defined according to actual needs, for example, it can be defined as a coordinate range in a two-dimensional coordinate system.

[0199] In the above embodiments, by assigning each tag device with a first identification for indicating the zone in which the tag device is located, the subsequent unified processing for the tag devices in the same zone can be facilitated.

[0200] In some embodiments, the first communication device can perform positioning operation on all or part of the plurality of tag devices according to actual needs after completing the inventory process of the plurality of tag devices. For example, the first communication device performs specific positioning operation on a second communication device in the plurality of tag devices. In this case, the first communication device can perform positioning operation on the plurality of tag devices completing the inventory process by using a non-contention-based random access method, such as polling, or can carry the identification of the tag device in the first information sent by the first communication device to indicate that the positioning operation is performed on the tag device.

[0201] In some embodiments, after obtaining the positioning information of the second communication device, the beam between the first communication device and the second communication device can be determined based on the positioning information of the second communication device. For example, the beam from the first communication device to the second communication device can be determined by subsequent commands.

[0202] In some embodiments, for an Internet of Things system using a T1 topology mode, the beam from the first communication device to the second communication device can be set according to actual needs, or can be determined according to the association relationship between the corresponding beam or beam index and the region as specified in the protocol.

[0203] In some embodiments, for an Internet of Things system using a T2 topology mode, since the second communication device can be connected to the first communication device through a fourth communication device, the first communication device can also obtain the positioning information of the fourth communication device connected to the second communication device, for example, by reporting the positioning information of the fourth communication device, and then based on the positioning information of the second communication device and the positioning information of the fourth communication device, the corresponding beam is configured for the second communication device and / or the fourth communication device.

[0204] By decoupling the positioning process of the tag device from the inventory process of the tag device, the positioning of the required part of the tag device can be performed after the completion of the inventory process, reducing unnecessary positioning process and saving resources.

[0205] In some embodiments, a new R2D(DL) command (corresponding to the first information) can be designed to realize the switching between the communication service and the positioning / sensing service.

[0206] A new StartPositioning / SensingOccasion message corresponding to the R2D(DL) command is designed, which is used to indicate the start of the positioning / sensing process.

[0207] After sending the message containing the command to the tag device Device, the behavior of the reader device Reader side is to switch from unmodulated single frequency signal to wideband signal based on OFDM modulation for transmission; wherein, if the CWN sending the wideband signal is not the reader device Reader, the Reader needs to instruct the CWN to switch the wideband signal; the Reader can be a base station or an intermediate UE.

[0208] After receiving the message containing the command, the tag device Device can not carry any information on the received signal that follows, but directly backscatters, or backscatters according to all 1 or all -1 (corresponding to BPSK or FSK) to generate the first signal.

[0209] After receiving the backscattered first signal, the reader device Reader performs a positioning operation, and can also send a StartPositioning / SensingOccasion message again, and after completing the positioning operation, can send a StopPositioning / SensingOccasion message to the tag device Device.

[0210] In some embodiments, the positioning operation can be implemented in the inventory process.

[0211] In the multiple tag device Device contention-based random access process, for each tag device that successfully sends RN16 and Deviece ID, a positioning operation is performed.

[0212] The positioning operation can be performed using UL-RTOA, AOA, and the node sending the continuous wave and the node receiving the backscatter can be different nodes.

[0213] After the tag device sends the Device ID, the Reader can assign the same handle (a sequence of bit sequences) to the Device in the same area at the same time or after sending the acknowledgement, so as to facilitate subsequent unified command processing for the Device in the same area Zone.

[0214] The handle can be determined based on implementation, or can be pre-defined by the protocol and the relationship between the area; the definition of Zone is a coordinate range of (x, y) coordinates.

[0215] In some embodiments, the positioning operation can be unbundled from the inventory process.

[0216] The plurality of tag devices Device are unbundled from the contention-based random access procedure and the positioning operation, i.e. after the entire inventory process is completed, certain tag devices Device can be positioned specifically.

[0217] The positioning operation can be performed using UL-RTOA, AOA, and the node transmitting the continuous wave and the node receiving the backscatter can be different nodes.

[0218] The positioning operation can be based on contention-free RA, or the Device ID of the corresponding tag device can be directly indicated in the command command sent by the reader to trigger the positioning process or the sensing process.

[0219] The positioning operation can be used to determine the beam from the reader to the Device for subsequent commands.

[0220] For T1, the beam can be determined based on implementation, or the corresponding beam or beam index and the association relationship with the zone can be specified according to the protocol.

[0221] For T2, the intermediate UE needs to report the corresponding position information, and the base station gNB serving as the reader and writer can configure the corresponding beam for the intermediate UE.

[0222] The definition of the zone is a coordinate range of (x, y) coordinates.

[0223] Embodiments of the present disclosure propose a positioning method. FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The positioning method shown in the present embodiment can be performed by a network device.

[0224] As shown in FIG. 4, the positioning method can include the following steps:

[0225] In step S401, first information is received from a first communication device, the first information being used to instruct a second communication device to backscatter a received wideband signal.

[0226] The first communication device can be a reader and writer, and the second communication device can be a tag device.

[0227] In some embodiments, the second communication device can receive first information from the first communication device, and the first information can be used to instruct the second communication device to start performing backscattering for a positioning operation.

[0228] In some embodiments, the first information can comprise at least one of the following: an indication of starting of a positioning procedure; an indication of starting of a sensing procedure; an indication of performing backscatter by the second communication device; an indication of performing backscatter on the received wideband signal by the second communication device.

[0229] In some embodiments, the first information can further indicate a starting time or time period for the second communication device to perform backscatter for the positioning operation. The starting time or time period can be determined based on a protocol predefinition and / or a time identity contained in the first information.

[0230] In some embodiments, the first information can be represented as a R2D (DL) command from the first communication device to the second communication device, for example, a command corresponding to a pre-defined starting positioning / sensing occasion message. After receiving the message from the first communication device, the second communication device can perform backscatter on the received wideband signal.

[0231] It should be noted that the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 can be implemented independently, or in combination with at least one other embodiment of the present disclosure. The specific implementation can be selected as needed, and the present disclosure does not limit it.

[0232] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, by receiving the first information from the first communication device, backscatter on the received wideband signal is triggered, and the signal generated based on the backscatter can meet the positioning accuracy requirement, which helps to improve the positioning capability of the second communication device in the positioning service or sensing service of the passive Internet of Things.

[0233] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information from the first communication device, the second communication device can receive a second signal, which is a wideband signal; perform backscatter on the second signal to generate a first signal, and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0234] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information, the second communication device can perform backscatter on the received second signal based on the first information to generate a first signal, and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0235] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information, the second communication device can perform backscatter on the received excitation signal.

[0236] In some embodiments, after receiving the first information, the second communication device can perform backscatter on the received wideband signal to generate a first signal and send the first signal to the first communication device, in a case that the received excitation signal is determined to be a wideband signal.

[0237] In some embodiments, the second communication device can backscatter the received excitation signal based on the starting time or time period of backscattering determined by the first information after receiving the first information, generate the first signal, and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0238] In some embodiments, the second communication device can backscatter the received excitation signal based on the starting time or time period of backscattering determined by the first information after receiving the first information, generate the first signal, and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0239] In some embodiments, the second signal can be a wideband signal set according to actual needs, for example, a wideband signal based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation.

[0240] In some embodiments, the first signal can be selected not to carry any information or carry a small amount of information, such as the identity of the second communication device, according to actual needs.

[0241] In some embodiments, the second communication device can not carry any information in the generated first signal when backscattering the second signal, but directly backscatter, or can backscatter according to a preset pattern, such as an all-1 signal or an all-1 signal.

[0242] In some embodiments, the second communication device can backscatter the all-1 or all-1 first signal generated by the second signal based on binary phase shift keying (BPSK) or frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation.

[0243] By backscattering the wideband signal to generate the first signal and sending it to the first communication device, the positioning operation of the first communication device based on the first signal can meet the demand for positioning accuracy, which helps to improve the positioning capability of the second communication device in the positioning service or sensing service of the passive Internet of Things.

[0244] In some embodiments, the second signal received by the second communication device can be sent by the first communication device or a third communication device other than the read-write device.

[0245] In some embodiments, if the second signal is sent by the first communication device, the second communication device can receive the second signal from the first communication device after receiving the first information from the first communication device, then backscatter the second signal, generate the first signal, and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0246] In some embodiments, if the second signal is sent by a third communication device, the second communication device can receive the second signal from the third communication device after receiving the first information from the first communication device, then reflect and scatter the second signal to generate and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0247] In some embodiments, the first information can further include an identification of the second communication device.

[0248] In some embodiments, in a random access procedure of the second communication device, the second communication device can send an identification of the second communication device, such as RN16, to the first communication device, receive the first information from the first communication device, and reflect and scatter the received second signal to generate and send the first signal to the first communication device.

[0249] In some embodiments, in a contention-based random access procedure, the tag device can set a corresponding counter value based on a Q value contained in a Query command received from the first communication device, and decrease the counter value by 1 each time a QueryRep command is received, until the value is 0. When the value is 0, the tag device can modulate and backscatter the RN16 of the tag device on the received single frequency signal. Then, the tag device can receive first information from the first communication device, which indicates that the tag device starts a positioning operation. At this time, the tag device can reflect and scatter the received second signal to generate and send the first signal, so that the first communication device performs a positioning operation on the tag device based on the first signal.

[0250] In some embodiments, after the second communication device sends the first signal to the first communication device, the second communication device can receive a first identification allocated by the first communication device for the second communication device; the first identification indicates an area where the second communication device is located.

[0251] In some embodiments, in the case that the positioning operation on the second communication device is located in a random access procedure of the second communication device, after the second communication device sends the first signal to the first communication device, the second communication device can receive third information, such as ACK, from the first communication device, which indicates that the random access is successful, and the third information includes the first identification.

[0252] In some embodiments, the names of information and the like are not limited to the names described in the embodiments, and the terms of "information", "message", "signal", "signaling", "report", "configuration", "indication", "instruction", "command", "channel", "parameter", "domain", "field", "symbol", "symbol", "codebook", "codeword", "codepoint", "bit", "data", "program", "chip", and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0253] In some embodiments, the terms of "time", "time point", "time", "time position", and the like can be replaced with each other, and the terms of "time length", "time period", "time window", "window", "time", and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0254] In some embodiments, the terms of "component carrier (CC)", "cell", "frequency carrier", "carrier frequency", and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0255] In some embodiments, "acquire", "obtain", "get", "receive", "transmit", "bidirectional transmission", "send and / or receive" can be replaced with each other, which can be interpreted as receiving from other subjects, acquiring from protocols, acquiring from high layers, obtaining by self-processing, and the like.

[0256] In some embodiments, the terms of "send", "transmit", "report", "issue", "transmit", "bidirectional transmission", "send and / or receive", and the like can be replaced with each other.

[0257] Corresponding to the foregoing embodiments of the positioning method, the present disclosure also provides embodiments of a terminal and a network device.

[0258] Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a network device, comprising: one or more processors; a memory coupled to the processors, the memory having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the network device to perform the positioning method described in the foregoing embodiments.

[0259] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus structure of a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the network device can be a positioning apparatus, and the apparatus includes a processing module 501 and a transceiver module 502.

[0260] In some embodiments, the processing module 501 is configured to determine first information, the first information being used to instruct the second communication device to backscatter a received wideband signal; and the transceiver module 502 is configured to send the first information to the second communication device.

[0261] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 502 is further configured to receive, from the second communication device, a first signal, the first signal being a signal generated by the second communication device backscattering a received second signal, the second signal being a wideband signal.

[0262] In some embodiments, the second signal is a wideband signal based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation.

[0263] In some embodiments, the first signal is an all-1 signal or an all- -1 signal.

[0264] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 502 is further configured to send, to the second communication device, the second signal.

[0265] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 502 is configured to switch the third signal to the second signal and send the second signal to the second communication device; wherein the third signal is a single-frequency signal or a plurality of single-frequency signals.

[0266] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 502 is further configured to send, to the third communication device, second information, the second information being used to instruct the third communication device to send the second signal to the second communication device.

[0267] In some embodiments, the second information is used to instruct the third communication device to switch the third signal to the second signal and send the second signal to the second communication device; wherein the third signal is a single-frequency signal or a plurality of single-frequency signals.

[0268] In some embodiments, the first information includes an identifier of the second communication device.

[0269] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 502 is further configured to, in a random access procedure of the second communication device, send the first information to the second communication device in response to receiving the identifier of the second communication device.

[0270] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 502 is further configured to perform a positioning operation on the second communication device based on the first signal to obtain positioning information of the second communication device.

[0271] In some embodiments, the positioning operation includes a positioning operation based on arrival time and / or arrival angle.

[0272] In some embodiments, the processing module 501 is further configured to determine the area where the second communication device is located based on the location information; the transceiver module 502 is further configured to assign a first identifier to the second communication device for indicating the area.

[0273] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 502 is configured to send third information to the second communication device to indicate successful random access, the third information including the first identifier.

[0274] In some embodiments, the processing module 501 is further configured to determine the beam between the first communication device and the second communication device based on the positioning information of the second communication device.

[0275] In some embodiments, the processing module 501 is further configured to determine the location information of the fourth communication device connected to the second communication device; and configure a corresponding beam for the second communication device and / or the fourth communication device based on the location information of the second communication device and the location information of the fourth communication device.

[0276] It should be noted that the modules included in the network device are not limited to those described in the above embodiments, and may also include other modules, such as storage modules, display modules, etc.

[0277] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a terminal, comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors, the memory storing executable instructions, wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the processors, cause the terminal to perform the positioning method described in the above embodiments.

[0278] Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 6, the terminal can be a positioning device, which includes a processing module 601 and a transceiver module 602.

[0279] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 602 is configured to receive first information from the first communication device, the first information being configured to instruct the second communication device to backscatter the received broadband signal; the processing module 601 is configured to perform backscattering based on the first information.

[0280] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 602 is further configured to receive a second signal, the second signal being a broadband signal; and to send a first signal to the first communication device, the first signal being a signal generated by backscattering the second signal.

[0281] In some embodiments, the second signal is a wideband signal based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation.

[0282] In some embodiments, the first signal is an all-1 signal or an all- -1 signal.

[0283] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 602 is configured to receive a second signal from the first communication device.

[0284] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 602 is configured to receive a second signal from the third communication device.

[0285] In some embodiments, the first information comprises an identity of the second communication device.

[0286] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 602 is further configured to send, to the first communication device, the identity of the second communication device in a random access procedure.

[0287] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 602 is further configured to receive, from the first communication device, a first identity allocated for the second communication device; the first identity is used to indicate a region where the second communication device is located.

[0288] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 602 is configured to receive, from the first communication device, third information indicating that the random access is successful, the third information comprising the first identity.

[0289] It should be noted that the modules included in the terminal are not limited to the modules described in the above embodiments, and can also include other modules, such as a storage module, a display module, etc.

[0290] For the device embodiments, since they basically correspond to the method embodiments, the relevant parts are described in the part of the method embodiments. The device embodiments described above are only schematic, and the modules described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components displayed as modules can or can not be physical modules, i.e., they can be located in one place, or distributed on multiple network modules. Part or all of the modules can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement it without creative labor.

[0291] Embodiments of the present disclosure also propose a communication device, comprising: one or more processors; a memory coupled to the processors, the memory having stored therein executable instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the processors to invoke the executable instructions to cause the communication device to perform the positioning method described in the optional embodiments.

[0292] Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a communication system comprising a network device and a terminal, wherein the terminal is configured to implement the positioning method of the optional embodiments described above, and the network device is configured to implement the positioning method of the optional embodiments described above.

[0293] Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the positioning method of the optional embodiments described above.

[0294] Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide apparatuses for implementing any of the above methods, for example, an apparatus comprising units or modules for implementing the steps performed by a terminal in any of the above methods. For another example, another apparatus comprising units or modules for implementing the steps performed by a network device (such as an access network device, a core network function node, a core network device, etc.) in any of the above methods.

[0295] It should be understood that the division of each unit or module in the above apparatus is only a logical function division, and all or part of them can be integrated into a physical entity or physically separated in actual implementation. In addition, the units or modules in the apparatus can be implemented in the form of processor calling software: for example, the apparatus includes a processor connected with a memory, the memory stores instructions, and the processor calls the instructions stored in the memory to implement any of the above methods or realize the functions of each unit or module of the above apparatus, wherein the processor is, for example, a general processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a microprocessor, and the memory is a memory in the apparatus or a memory outside the apparatus. Alternatively, the units or modules in the apparatus can be implemented in the form of hardware circuit, and the functions of part or all of the units or modules can be realized by the design of hardware circuit. The above hardware circuit can be understood as one or more processors; for example, in one implementation, the above hardware circuit is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and the functions of part or all of the above units or modules are realized by the design of the logical relationship of elements in the circuit; for example, in another implementation, the above hardware circuit is a programmable logic device (PLD), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA) is taken as an example, which can include a large number of logic gate circuits, and the connection relationship between the logic gate circuits is configured by a configuration file, so as to realize the functions of part or all of the above units or modules. All units or modules of the above apparatus can be implemented in the form of processor calling software, or all units or modules can be implemented in the form of hardware circuit, or part of the units or modules are implemented in the form of processor calling software, and the remaining part is implemented in the form of hardware circuit.

[0296] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is a circuit with signal processing capability. In one implementation, the processor can be a circuit with instruction reading and running capability, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU) (which can be understood as a microprocessor), a digital signal processor (DSP), and the like. In another implementation, the processor can implement certain functions through a logical relationship of a hardware circuit, and the logical relationship of the hardware circuit is fixed or reconfigurable. For example, the processor is a hardware circuit implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), such as an FPGA. In the reconfigurable hardware circuit, the processor loads a configuration document to implement the configuration of the hardware circuit. It can be understood that the processor loads instructions to implement the functions of the above part or all units or modules. In addition, the hardware circuit can also be designed for artificial intelligence, which can be understood as an ASIC, such as a neural network processing unit (NPU), a tensor processing unit (TPU), a deep learning processing unit (DPU), and the like.

[0297] FIG. 7 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device 7100 according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication device 7100 can be a network device (for example, an access network device, a core network device, and the like), or a terminal (for example, a user equipment, and the like), or a chip, a chip system, or a processor supporting the network device to implement any of the above methods, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor supporting the terminal to implement any of the above methods. The communication device 7100 can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments, and details can be referred to the descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0298] As shown in FIG. 7, the communication device 7100 includes one or more processors 7101. The processor 7101 can be a general processor or a special-purpose processor, etc., for example, a baseband processor or a central processor. The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, the central processor can be used to control the communication device (e.g., a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal device, a terminal device chip, a DU or a CU, etc.), execute programs, and process data of the programs. The processor 7101 is configured to invoke instructions to enable the communication device 7100 to perform any of the above methods.

[0299] In some embodiments, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more memories 7102 configured to store instructions. Optionally, all or part of the memory 7102 can also be outside the communication device 7100.

[0300] In some embodiments, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more transceivers 7103. When the communication device 7100 includes one or more transceivers 7103, the communication steps in the above methods, such as transmitting and receiving, are performed by the transceiver 7103, and the other steps are performed by the processor 7101.

[0301] In some embodiments, the transceiver can include a receiver and a transmitter, which can be separate or integrated together. Optionally, the terms transceiver, transceiving unit, transceiver, transceiving circuit, etc. can be replaced by each other, the terms transmitter, transmitting unit, transmitter, transmitting circuit, etc. can be replaced by each other, and the terms receiver, receiving unit, receiver, receiving circuit, etc. can be replaced by each other.

[0302] Optionally, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more interface circuits 7104 connected to the memory 7102. The interface circuit 7104 can be used to receive signals from the memory 7102 or other devices, and can be used to send signals to the memory 7102 or other devices. For example, the interface circuit 7104 can read instructions stored in the memory 7102 and send the instructions to the processor 7101.

[0303] The communication device 7100 described in the above embodiments may be a network device or a terminal, but the scope of the communication device 7100 described in this disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device 7100 may not be limited by FIG. 7. The communication device may be a standalone device or a part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: (1) a standalone integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem; (2) a collection of one or more ICs, optionally, the IC collection may also include storage components for storing data and programs; (3) an ASIC, such as a modem; (4) a module that can be embedded in other devices; (5) a receiver, terminal device, smart terminal device, cellular phone, wireless device, handheld device, mobile unit, vehicle device, network device, cloud device, artificial intelligence device, etc.; (6) others, etc.

[0304] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of chip 8200 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. For cases where the communication device 7100 can be a chip or a chip system, the schematic diagram of chip 8200 shown in Figure 8 can be referenced, but is not limited thereto.

[0305] Chip 8200 includes one or more processors 8201, which are used to invoke instructions to cause chip 8200 to perform any of the above methods.

[0306] In some embodiments, the chip 8200 further includes one or more interface circuits 8202, which are connected to the memory 8203. The interface circuits 8202 can be used to receive signals from the memory 8203 or other devices, and can be used to send signals to the memory.

[0307] 8203 or other devices send signals. For example, interface circuit 8202 can read instructions stored in memory 8203 and send those instructions to processor 8201. Optionally, terms such as interface circuit, interface, transceiver pin, transceiver, etc., can be used interchangeably.

[0308] In some embodiments, chip 8200 further includes one or more memories 8203 for storing instructions. Optionally, all or part of the memories 8203 may be located outside of chip 8200.

[0309] The present disclosure further provides a storage medium having stored instructions which, when executed on the communication device 7100, cause the communication device 7100 to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the storage medium is an electronic storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium, but is not limited thereto and can also be a storage medium readable by other apparatuses. Optionally, the storage medium can be a non-transitory storage medium, but is not limited thereto and can also be a transitory storage medium.

[0310] The present disclosure further provides a program product which, when executed by the communication device 7100, causes the communication device 7100 to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the program product is a computer program product.

[0311] The present disclosure further provides a computer program which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the above methods.

Claims

1. A positioning method, characterized by, The method is performed by a first communication device, and comprises: sending, to a second communication device, first information, the first information being used to instruct the second communication device to backscatter a received wideband signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, After sending the first information to the second communication device, the method further comprises: receiving, from the second communication device, a first signal, the first signal being a signal generated by the second communication device backscattering a received second signal, the second signal being a wideband signal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The second signal is a wideband signal based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The first signal is an all-1 signal or an all-1 signal.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2-4, characterized in that, Before receiving the first signal from the second communication device, the method further comprises: sending, to the second communication device, the second signal.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The sending, to the second communication device, of the second signal comprises: sending, to the second communication device, the second signal after switching a third signal to the second signal, wherein the third signal is a single-frequency signal or a plurality of single-frequency signals.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2-6, characterized in that, Before receiving the first signal from the second communication device, the method further comprises: sending, to a third communication device, second information, the second information being used to instruct the third communication device to send the second signal to the second communication device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The second information is used to instruct the third communication device to send the second signal to the second communication device after switching a third signal to the second signal, wherein the third signal is a single-frequency signal or a plurality of single-frequency signals.

9. The method of any one of claims 1-8, wherein, The first information comprises an identifier of the second communication device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The sending, to the second communication device, of the first information comprises: in a random access procedure of the second communication device, sending, to the second communication device, the first information in response to receiving the identifier of the second communication device.

11. The method of any one of claims 2-10, wherein, After receiving the first signal from the second communication device, the method further comprises: performing a positioning operation on the second communication device based on the first signal to obtain positioning information of the second communication device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The positioning operation comprises a positioning operation based on time of arrival (TOA) and / or angle of arrival (AOA).

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that, After obtaining the positioning information of the second communication device, the method further comprises: determining a region in which the second communication device is located based on the positioning information; and allocating a first identifier used to indicate the region to the second communication device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The allocating of the region identifier of the second communication device comprises: sending, to the second communication device, third information indicating that the random access is successful, the third information comprising the first identifier.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11-14, characterized in that, After obtaining the positioning information of the second communication device, the method further comprises: determining a beam between the first communication device and the second communication device based on the positioning information of the second communication device.

16. The method of any one of claims 11-15, wherein, After obtaining the positioning information of the second communication device, the method further comprises: determining positioning information of a fourth communication device connected to the second communication device; and configuring a corresponding beam for the second communication device and / or the fourth communication device based on the positioning information of the second communication device and the positioning information of the fourth communication device.

17. A positioning method, characterized by, The method is performed by a second communication device, and comprises: receiving, from a first communication device, first information, the first information being used to indicate that a second communication device backscatters a received wideband signal.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, After receiving the first information from the first communication device, the method further comprises: receiving a second signal, the second signal being a wideband signal; sending, to the first communication device, a first signal, the first signal being a signal generated by backscattering the second signal.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, The second signal is a wideband signal based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein, The first signal is an all-1 signal or an all- -1 signal.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein, The receiving the second signal comprises: receiving, from the first communication device, the second signal.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein, The receiving the second signal comprises: receiving, from the third communication device, the second signal.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein, The first information comprises an identity of the second communication device.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein, Before receiving the first information from the first communication device, the method further comprises: sending, to the first communication device, the identity of the second communication device in a random access procedure.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein, After sending the first signal to the first communication device, the method further comprises: receiving, from the first communication device, a first identity allocated to the second communication device; the first identity being used to indicate an area in which the second communication device is located.

26. The method of claim 13, wherein, The receiving, from the second communication device, the first identity allocated to the first communication device comprises: receiving, from the first communication device, third information indicating that the random access is successful, the third information comprising the first identity.

27. A positioning device, characterized by Comprise: a processing module configured to determine first information, the first information being used to indicate that a second communication device backscatters a received wideband signal; a transceiver module configured to send the first information to the second communication device.

28. A positioning apparatus, comprising: Comprise: a transceiver module configured to receive, from a first communication device, first information, the first information being used to indicate that a second communication device backscatters a received wideband signal; a processing module configured to backscatter based on the first information.

29. A network device, comprising: Comprise: one or more processors; a memory coupled to the processors and having stored therein executable instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the network device to perform the positioning method of any of claims 1-16.

30. A terminal, characterized by Comprise: one or more processors; a memory coupled to the processors and having stored therein executable instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the terminal to perform the positioning method of any of claims 17-26.

31. A communications device, characterized by Comprise: one or more processors; a memory coupled to the processors and having stored therein executable instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the processors to invoke instructions to cause the communication device to perform the positioning method of any of claims 1-16 and / or the positioning method of any of claims 17-26.

32. A communication system, characterized by A network device configured to implement the positioning method of any one of claims 1-16, and a terminal configured to implement the positioning method of any one of claims 17-26.

33. A storage medium, the storage medium storing instructions, wherein, The instructions, when executed on a communications device, cause the communications device to perform the positioning method of any one of claims 1-17, and / or the positioning method of any one of claims 18-26.

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