Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

This application provides a communication method and apparatus, belonging to the field of communication, to further improve the performance of BF-SRS. The method includes: a terminal device receiving indication information from a network device, and, according to the beamforming parameters corresponding to at least one antenna port of the terminal device indicated by the indication information, transmitting beamforming reference signals to the network device on each of the at least one antenna port. By instructing the terminal device to use the antenna port and its corresponding beamforming parameters for transmitting the beamforming reference signals through the network device, beam misalignment caused by the terminal device locally selecting beamforming parameters, and BF-SRS performance loss due to incomplete channel information, are avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] Sounding reference signal (SRS) technology is a key technique in wireless communication used for measuring channel state information (CSI). SRS is transmitted by the terminal, and the base station (or other receiver) receives the SRS and performs channel measurements. Because the uplink transmit power of the terminal is limited, traditional SRS distributes the uplink transmit power evenly across each SRS port, resulting in a decrease in the transmit power of each port. An optimization solution is beamforming (BF) SRS, which reduces the number of SRS ports to increase the power of each port.

[0003] Under the current circumstances, how to improve the performance of BF-SRS is a hot research topic. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and apparatus to further improve the performance of BF-SRS.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solution:

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided for a terminal device. The method includes: receiving indication information from a network device, the indication information indicating at least one antenna port of the terminal device, the at least one antenna port being at least a portion of a plurality of antenna ports of the terminal device, the plurality of antenna ports respectively corresponding to their respective beamforming parameters; and transmitting a first reference signal to the network device on the at least one antenna port according to the beamforming parameters corresponding to the at least one antenna port, the first reference signal being a beamforming reference signal.

[0007] Therefore, this method, by receiving indication information from the network device, which instructs at least one antenna port of the terminal device, ensures that the network device can select the antenna port and corresponding beamforming parameters used by the terminal device to transmit the beamforming reference signal. This allows the terminal device to use these ports to transmit the beamforming reference signal. For example, the network device can select and instruct ports with high channel signal-to-noise ratios from all ports of the terminal device, avoiding beam misalignment caused by the terminal device selecting beamforming parameters and preventing BF-SRS performance loss due to incomplete channel information, thereby further improving BF-SRS performance.

[0008] In one possible design, when at least one antenna port is one of all antenna ports in a plurality of antenna ports, the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the plurality of antenna ports are updated. That is, the network device can instruct the updating of beamforming parameters via indication information to obtain a more accurate terminal channel and ensure BF-SRS performance.

[0009] In one possible design, the first aspect of the method further includes sending a request message to the network device, which instructs the network device to update the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports. In other words, the terminal device can request the network device to update the beamforming parameters. For example, the terminal device can report a request message if the newly calculated beamforming parameters differ significantly from the old beamforming parameters, so that the network device can obtain a more accurate terminal channel and ensure BF-SRS performance.

[0010] In one possible design, the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports are updated periodically. For example, the beamforming parameters can be updated after a set channel measurement period to avoid channel aging.

[0011] Optionally, the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports are updated at least once every channel measurement cycle, wherein the channel measurement is a measurement of the channel between the terminal device and the network device using a second reference signal. The second reference signal can be a beamforming reference signal.

[0012] In one possible design, the first aspect of the method further includes: receiving a second reference signal from a network device; wherein the second reference signal is used to update the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports to beamforming parameters determined according to the second reference signal. That is, the terminal device can calculate the relevant beamforming parameters based on the second reference signal sent by the network device and update the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports to improve BF-SRS performance.

[0013] In one possible design, the first aspect of the method further includes: determining that the terminal device does not transmit a first reference signal when the indication information indicates that the terminal device should not transmit a beamforming reference signal. For example, when the channel between the terminal device and the network equipment changes slowly and the channel does not need to be updated, the terminal device is instructed not to transmit the first reference signal to avoid redundant measurements.

[0014] In one possible design, the first aspect of the method further includes: determining that the device transmits a third reference signal when the indication information instructs the terminal device not to perform beamforming. For example, when the channels corresponding to multiple antenna ports are all poor, the terminal device is instructed not to perform beamforming to avoid high channel measurement errors caused by beam misalignment.

[0015] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, applied to a network device, the method comprising: determining indication information, the indication information indicating at least one antenna port of a terminal device, the at least one antenna port being at least a portion of a plurality of antenna ports of the terminal device; and sending the indication information to the terminal device.

[0016] It is understandable that the technical effects of the method described in the second aspect can also refer to the relevant introduction of the method described in the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0017] In one possible design, the second aspect of the method further includes: receiving beamforming reference signals transmitted by the terminal device on all antenna ports of a plurality of antenna ports; determining indication information includes: determining indication information based on the beamforming reference signals. That is, the network device can determine the port with better beamforming parameters based on the beamforming reference signals transmitted by the terminal device on all antenna ports to determine the indication information. For example, the network device can measure the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the ports and use the port with the higher SNR as the port indicated by the indication information to ensure beamforming accuracy and improve channel SNR gain.

[0018] In one possible design, the indication information indicates that at least one antenna port is one of all ports of the multiple antenna ports in order to update the beamforming parameters.

[0019] In one possible design, the instruction information also instructs the terminal device not to send a first reference signal for beamforming.

[0020] In one possible design, the instruction information also instructs the terminal device not to perform beamforming.

[0021] It is understood that the technical effects of the above possible design schemes can also refer to the relevant introduction of the method described in the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0022] Thirdly, a communication device is provided, the communication device including a module for performing the method described in any one of the first to second aspects.

[0023] In one possible design, the communication device described in the third aspect may further include a transceiver. This transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be used for communication between the communication device described in the third aspect and other communication devices.

[0024] In one possible design, the communication device described in the third aspect may further include a memory. This memory may be integrated with the processor or disposed separately. The memory may be used to store instructions relating to the methods of any of the first to second aspects.

[0025] In the embodiments of this application, the communication device described in the third aspect may be a network device, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly disposed in the network device, or a device containing the network device.

[0026] It is understood that the technical effects of the device described in the third aspect can also be referred to the relevant descriptions of the methods in any of the first to second aspects above, and will not be repeated here.

[0027] Fourthly, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes a processor coupled to a memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored in the memory such that the communication device performs the method described in any one of the first to second aspects.

[0028] In one possible design, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may further include a transceiver. This transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be used for communication between the communication device described in the fourth aspect and other communication devices.

[0029] In the embodiments of this application, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may be a network device described in any one of the first to second aspects, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly disposed in the network device, or a device containing the network device.

[0030] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fourth aspect can be referred to the technical effects of the method described in any one of the first or second aspects, and will not be repeated here.

[0031] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory being used to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of the first to second aspects.

[0032] In one possible design, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may further include a transceiver. This transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be used by the communication device described in the fifth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0033] In the embodiments of this application, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may be a network device described in any one of the first to second aspects, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly disposed in the network device, or a device containing the network device.

[0034] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fifth aspect can be referred to the technical effects of the method described in any one of the first or second aspects, and will not be repeated here.

[0035] A sixth aspect provides a chip comprising: a controller and an interface circuit, wherein the controller is configured to interact with other devices via the interface circuit to perform the method as described in any one of the first to second aspects.

[0036] A seventh aspect provides a communication system. The communication system includes a first manager for performing the method described in the first aspect, and a second manager for performing the method described in the second aspect.

[0037] Eighthly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable storage medium including storage of a computer program or instructions that, when executed, cause the method described in any one of the first to second aspects to be performed.

[0038] A ninth aspect provides a computer program product comprising a computer program or instructions that, when executed, cause the method described in any one of the first to second aspects to be performed. Attached Figure Description

[0039] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating the BF-SRS process.

[0040] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating a scenario where a terminal device sends a beamforming reference signal to a network device.

[0041] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the communication system architecture provided in the embodiments of this application Figure 1 ;

[0042] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the communication system architecture provided in the embodiments of this application Figure 2 ;

[0043] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0044] Figure 6 A schematic diagram illustrating the principle of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0045] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application Figure 1 ;

[0046] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application Figure 2 . Detailed Implementation

[0047] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as Wi-Fi systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as long-term evolution (LTE) systems, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, such as new radio (NR) systems, and future communication systems.

[0048] The technical terms and related technical solutions in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0049] The following section first introduces the BF-SRS process provided in this application.

[0050] Please see Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a flowchart of the BF-SRS process. The specific process includes the following steps S101-S103:

[0051] S101, the terminal device receives channel measurement configuration information from the network device.

[0052] The channel measurement configuration information indicates the channel measurement to be performed and the configuration parameters for doing so. This includes parameters for the time-domain, frequency-domain, and code-domain resources of each SRS port of the terminal. For example, the channel measurement configuration information may indicate the resources used to carry the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), i.e., CSI-RS resources. In the case of beamforming, the channel measurement configuration information may also include the number of SRS ports configured by the network device for the terminal device. The network device can be a wireless access network device or other devices, which will not be elaborated further.

[0053] S102, the terminal device obtains the SRS shaping weights based on the channel measurement configuration information.

[0054] Specifically, the terminal device obtains the downlink channel based on the channel measurement configuration information. Where, N t N represents the number of antennas / ports on the network device side. r N represents the number of antennas / ports on the terminal device side. RBThis represents the number of resource blocks in the entire band. Furthermore, the covariance of the channel on each RB can be calculated, as shown in equation (1).

[0055]

[0056] in, This represents the channel acquired on the i-th RB. Let represent the covariance matrix of the channel on the i-th RB. Then, by averaging the covariance matrices of the channels on each RB, the broadband covariance matrix can be obtained. As shown in formula (2):

[0057]

[0058] Therefore, the terminal device calculates its singular value decomposition based on the covariance matrix of the broadband, and obtains the characteristic matrix U of the broadband. WB , characteristic matrix U WB It can be decomposed into N columns. r eigenvectors i is the column index of the eigenvector in the eigenmatrix. The terminal device can determine the number of SRS ports N configured in the base station based on this information. layer In the characteristic matrix U WB Select N eigenvalues ​​from largest to smallest. layer eigenvectors As SRS shaping rights Where, N layer ≤N r A shaping parameter in SRS shaping weights N corresponding to the terminal device layer One of the antenna ports, and the eigenvector with the larger eigenvalue. The corresponding antenna port has a higher channel reception signal-to-noise ratio.

[0059] S103: The terminal device sends SRS to the network device based on the SRS shaping right.

[0060] Among them, the terminal device pre-encodes the SRS based on the SRS shape-encoding weights, and through N layer Each SRS port sends an SRS message to the network device. Therefore, BF-SRS uses beamforming to increase the number of SRS ports from N. r Reduce to N layer This increases the transmit power of each port on the terminal device side. For example, see [reference needed]. Figure 2 , Figure 2 This diagram illustrates a scenario where a terminal device sends a beamforming reference signal to a network device. Figure 2As shown in (a), the terminal first obtains SRS beamforming weights based on CSI-RS, selects an antenna port with a higher signal-to-noise ratio based on the SRS beamforming weights, and then, as... Figure 2 As shown in (b), the SRS transmit power of the terminal device is allocated only to the effective high current (solid line portion) on these antenna ports, reducing resource overhead and improving channel estimation accuracy.

[0061] Therefore, when the network device receives N layer After each port sends an SRS, the corresponding channel information is obtained to determine the equivalent channel between the network device and the terminal device. Among them, H UL This refers to the uplink channel. For time division duplex (TDD) systems, due to the reciprocity between the uplink and downlink channels, the downlink channel can be obtained based on the uplink channel. Therefore, based on the uplink equivalent channel H... equ Get N layer The downlink single-user (SU) weights enable beam management on the network device side, ensuring that the signal can be effectively focused on the target user in massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems, thereby maximizing throughput.

[0062] However, research revealed that the beamforming weights used in BF-SRS (i.e., the SRS beamforming weights mentioned above) are calculated by acquiring the downlink channel through CSI-RS. CSI-RS often reduces measurement overhead through dimensionality reduction; for example, assuming a network device has 64 transmit antenna ports, only 32 transmit antenna ports can be selected when transmitting CSI-RS. In this way, the terminal obtains the downlink channel through CSI-RS measurement. Where N t1 =32 represents the number of antennas / ports on the network device side after dimensionality reduction, while the actual downlink channel... N t =64. It can be seen that there is an error between the measured downlink channel and the actual downlink channel. Therefore, the characteristic matrix and even the eigenvector calculated based on the measured downlink channel will also deviate from the values ​​calculated based on the actual downlink channel. Specifically, the magnitude of the eigenvalues ​​of the eigenvectors in step S102 above may not necessarily reflect the received signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore, when the terminal device obtains the SRS shaping weight W based on the eigenvectors with eigenvalues ​​decreasing from large to small... srs The beamformed SRS is transmitted on the corresponding antenna port. After receiving the SRS signal, the network device cannot obtain the ideal downlink SU weights due to the imperfect uplink channel, resulting in a loss of downlink performance.

[0063] Therefore, how to improve the performance of BF-SRS is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0064] To address the aforementioned technical problems, the embodiments of this application propose the following technical solutions.

[0065] This application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features relating to systems that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that individual systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, combinations of these approaches are also possible.

[0066] Furthermore, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplarily" and "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as an "example" in this application should not be construed as being better or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word "example" is intended to present the concept in a specific manner.

[0067] First, in this application, "for indicating" can include both direct and indirect indication. When describing "information" for indicating A, it can include whether the information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, but does not necessarily mean that the information carries A.

[0068] The information indicated by a given piece of information is called the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, such as, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or its index. It can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where there is a relationship between the other information and the information to be indicated. It can also indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts are known or pre-agreed upon. For example, the indication of specific information can be achieved by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-defined) arrangement of various pieces of information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to some extent. At the same time, common parts of various pieces of information can be identified and indicated uniformly to reduce the indication overhead caused by individually indicating the same information.

[0069] Furthermore, the specific indication method can also be any existing indication method, such as, but not limited to, the above-mentioned indication methods and their various combinations. Specific details of various indication methods can be found in existing technologies, and will not be repeated here. As described above, for example, when multiple pieces of information of the same type need to be indicated, the indication methods for different pieces of information may differ. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs. This application embodiment does not limit the selected indication method; therefore, the indication methods involved in this application embodiment should be understood to cover various methods that enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0070] The information to be instructed can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information messages, and the sending period and / or timing of these sub-information messages can be the same or different. This application does not limit the specific sending method. The sending period and / or timing of these sub-information messages can be predefined, for example, according to a protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device. This configuration information can include, for example, but not limited to, one or a combination of at least two of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control (MAC) layer signaling, and physical layer signaling. MAC layer signaling includes, for example, a MAC control element (CE); physical (PHY) layer signaling includes, for example, downlink control information (DCI).

[0071] "Sending information" can be understood as one device sending information to another device, or it can also be understood as one logical module within a device sending information to another logical module. For example, "a network device sending information" can be understood as a network device sending information to another device (such as a terminal or other network device), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the network device sending information to logical module 2 in the network device.

[0072] "Receiving information" can be understood as one device receiving information from another device, or it can be understood as a logical module within a device receiving information from another logical module. For example, "network device receiving information" can be understood as a network device receiving information from another device (such as a terminal or other network device), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the network device receiving information from logical module 2 in the network device.

[0073] The phrase "sending information to... (e.g., a node)" or the related illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the destination of the information being a node. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to a node. Similarly, the phrase "receiving information from... (e.g., a node)," "receiving information from... (e.g., a node)," or "receiving information sent by (e.g., a node)," or the related illustrations in the accompanying drawings, can be understood as the source of the information being a node. This can include receiving information directly or indirectly from a node. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be interpreted similarly, and will not be elaborated further here.

[0074] Second, in the embodiments shown below, the first, second, and various numerical designations are merely distinctions for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. For example, to distinguish different indication information.

[0075] Third, "pre-defined," "pre-configured," or "pre-specified" can be achieved by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables, or other means of indicating relevant information in the device (e.g., including terminal devices and network devices), or by pre-defining them in a protocol. This application does not limit the specific implementation method. "Saving" can refer to saving in one or more memories. These memories can be separate installations or integrated into the encoder, decoder, processor, or communication device. Alternatively, some memories can be separately installed, while others are integrated into the decoder, processor, or communication device. The type of memory can be any form of storage medium, and this application does not limit this.

[0076] Fourth, the “protocol” involved in the embodiments of this application may refer to standard protocols in the field of communication, such as 3GPP’s LTE protocols (such as technical specification (TS) 36, i.e., the TS36 series of technical specifications), NR protocols (such as the TS38 series of technical specifications), and related protocols applied to future communication systems. This application does not limit this.

[0077] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0078] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, a communication system will be used as an example to describe in detail the communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application.

[0079] like Figure 3 As shown, Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system, which includes network equipment and terminal devices.

[0080] like Figure 3 As shown, the communication system includes at least one network device (such as network device 310a and network device 310b) and at least one terminal device (such as terminal devices 320a to 320j).

[0081] Terminal devices can connect to network equipment wirelessly, and network equipment can connect to the core network via wired or wireless means. Figure 3 (Not shown in the image) connected.

[0082] Among them, network equipment and terminal devices can exchange information.

[0083] The terminal device can be a terminal with transceiver capabilities. This terminal device can also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, user station, mobile station (MS), mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication equipment, user agent, or user equipment. The terminal devices in the embodiments of this application may be mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, tablets, wireless data cards, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, handsets, laptop computers, machine-type communication (MTC) terminals, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, virtual reality (VR) terminals, augmented reality (AR) terminals, smart home devices (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners, electricity meters, etc.), intelligent robots, robotic arms, workshop equipment, wireless terminals in autonomous driving, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in telemedicine, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, vehicle-mounted terminals, and roadside units with terminal functions. The terminal device in this application can also be an onboard module, onboard unit, onboard component, onboard chip, or onboard unit built into a vehicle as one or more components or units. The terminal device can also be other devices with terminal functions; for example, it can be a device that performs terminal functions in D2D communication. The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form of the terminal device. The device used to implement the functions of the terminal device can be the terminal device itself; it can also be any device that supports the terminal device in implementing the functions, such as a communication module, chip, chip system, other components or parts, or circuits or functional components. This device can be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device. The chip system can be composed of chips or include chips and other discrete devices.Among them, the various forms of terminal devices mentioned above can also be referred to as terminal-side devices.

[0084] In this application embodiment, the network device can be a device with wireless transceiver capabilities. For example, the network device can be a device located in the access network (AN) of a communication system, which can be used to provide access services for terminals. In one possible scenario, the network device can be a radio access network (RAN) device, such as a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission and reception point (TRP), or a base station in a future communication system. In future mobile communication systems, the network device may also have other naming conventions, all of which are covered within the protection scope of this application embodiment, and this application does not impose any limitations on them. Alternatively, the network device may also include 5G, such as a gNB in ​​an NR system, or one or a group (including multiple antenna panels) of antenna panels in a 5G base station, or it may also be a network node constituting a gNB, a transmission and reception point (TRP or transmission point (TP)) or a transmission measurement function (TMF). Alternatively, the network device can be a macro base station (such as... Figure 3 310a), micro base stations or indoor stations (such as Figure 3 The network device can be a relay node or donor node (as described in section 310b), or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the network device can also be a server, wearable device, vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the access network device in V2X technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the network device in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The network device in this application can also be a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the network device functions.

[0085] In another possible scenario, multiple network devices collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, with each network device performing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, network devices can be central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), CU-control plane (CPs), CU-user plane (UPs), or radio units (RUs), etc. CUs and DUs can be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs).

[0086] In different systems, CU (or centralized unit control plane (CU-CP)) and centralized unit user plane (CU-UP)), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an open radioaccess network (O-RAN or ORAN) system, CU can also be called an open centralized unit (O-CU) (open CU), DU can also be called an open distributed unit (O-DU), CU-CP can also be called an open centralized unit control plane (O-CU-CP), CU-UP can also be called an open centralized unit user plane (O-CU-UP), and RU can also be called an open radio unit (O-RU). For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU units in this application can be implemented through a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0087] In this embodiment, the form of the network device is not limited. The device used to implement the function of the network device can be the network device itself; it can also be any device that supports the network device in implementing that function, such as a communication module, chip, chip system, other components or parts, or circuits or functional components. This device can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device. The chip system can be composed of chips or can include chips and other discrete devices. The network devices of the various forms described above can also be referred to as network-side devices.

[0088] It should be understood that Figure 3 This is a simplified diagram for ease of understanding only. The communication system may also include other network devices and / or other terminal devices. Figure 3 It was not drawn in the middle.

[0089] like Figure 4 As shown, the network device includes an RRC signaling interaction module ( Figure 4 RRC and MAC signaling interaction modules (in the middle) Figure 4 The MAC and PHY signaling and data interaction modules are located in the MAC module. Figure 4 The terminal device includes an RRC signaling interaction module, a MAC signaling interaction module, and a PHY signaling and data interaction module.

[0090] Network devices and terminal devices can exchange RRC signaling via the RRC signaling interaction module. They can also exchange Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling via the MAC signaling interaction module. Finally, they can exchange one or more of the following via the PHY interaction module: uplink control signaling, downlink control signaling (such as DCI), uplink data, or downlink data.

[0091] In this communication system, the terminal device can send beamforming reference signals to the network device at at least one antenna port according to the corresponding beamforming parameters based on the indication information, so that the network device can perform channel estimation. Since the network device can determine the indication information, that is, the network device can select and indicate the ports with high signal-to-noise ratio among all ports of the terminal device, avoid beam misalignment and incomplete channel information, and improve the performance of BF-SRS.

[0092] The communication method and apparatus of this application embodiments will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that this application uses a terminal device and a network device as examples to illustrate the interaction, but this application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction. The interaction flow between devices in the above-described communication system will be specifically described below through method embodiments. The communication method provided in this application embodiments can be applied to the above-described communication system and specifically applied to various scenarios involved in the above-described communication system, which will be described in detail below.

[0093] Figure 5 Flowchart of the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application Figure 1 This communication method is applicable to the aforementioned communication system and is used in terminal devices, primarily involving the interaction between terminal devices and network equipment.

[0094] like Figure 5 As shown, the specific flow of this method is as follows:

[0095] S501, Network device confirmation instruction information.

[0096] The indication information indicates at least one antenna port among a plurality of antenna ports of the terminal device, wherein at least one antenna port is at least a portion of the plurality of antenna ports of the terminal device. For example, suppose the terminal device has four antenna ports, namely port #1, port #2, port #3, and port #4, the indication information may indicate all four ports, or it may indicate some of the ports, such as indicating port #2 and port #3, etc. It is understood that the antenna ports involved in the embodiments of this application may also be replaced by antenna, antenna panel, reference signal port, etc., and there is no specific limitation.

[0097] In some possible implementations, the network device can determine the indication information based on the beamforming reference signal transmitted by the terminal device on all antenna ports. For example, the network device can determine the channel between each antenna port and the network device based on the received beamforming reference signal on all ports, thereby determining different content indicated by the indication information based on channel characteristics. For instance, the indication information may indicate at least one antenna port with a higher signal-to-noise ratio corresponding to the channel, causing the terminal device to transmit the beamforming reference signal on at least one antenna port indicated by the indication information; or the indication information may indicate that the terminal device does not transmit the beamforming reference signal; or the indication information may indicate that the terminal device does not perform beamforming.

[0098] There are several ways to display instruction information. The following describes the three cases mentioned above:

[0099] For example, the indication information may include a bitmap, where the bit states indicate different content. Taking a terminal device with N antenna ports as an example, the bitmap length can be N+1. The first bit of the bitmap indicates whether beamforming is performed, and the other N bits correspond to the N antenna ports of the terminal device, with a bit state of 1 indicating the corresponding antenna port. For example, if the terminal device has 4 antenna ports, then when bitmap = 00000, the first bit state of the bitmap is 0, indicating no beamforming; when bitmap = 10000, it indicates that the terminal device does not transmit beamforming reference signals on any of the 4 antenna ports; when bitmap = 10110, it indicates the second and third antenna ports of the terminal device; and when bitmap = 11111, it indicates all 4 antenna ports of the terminal device.

[0100] For example, the indication information may also include a predefined table index, where each row of the table is predefined to correspond to different contents of the indication information. For instance, assuming the terminal device has N antenna ports, the table is predefined with one row indicating a port combination among the N antenna ports, another row indicating all antenna ports among the N antenna ports, one row indicating no beamforming reference signal is transmitted, and another row indicating no beamforming is performed. Here, a port combination refers to any possible permutation or combination of at least one of the N antenna ports. For example, if N = 4, a possible port combination could be the first antenna port, or the second and third antenna ports, or the first, second, and fourth antenna ports, and so on.

[0101] For example, when the indication information indicates at least one antenna port among a plurality of antenna ports of a terminal device, the indication information may also include an identifier for each of the at least one port. Taking a terminal device with N antenna ports as an example, the indication information may include port #N. i The identifier, where the value of the identifier reflects the port N i The sequence number / index, for example, when the terminal device has 4 antenna ports, the indication information includes identifiers with values ​​of 2 and 3, that is, the indication information indicates the second and third antenna ports of the terminal device.

[0102] The indication information can be carried in any possible message used in communication between network devices and terminal devices, such as an SRS channel estimation request message, or it can be a message that will be defined in the future, without any specific restrictions.

[0103] Therefore, network devices can determine appropriate indication information under different circumstances. Based on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the channel, the indication information is determined to indicate at least one antenna port with a higher SNR among the various antenna ports corresponding to the channel. This ensures that the terminal always uses the optimal beamforming parameters to send the beamforming reference signal, improving BF-SRS performance. At the same time, it can also instruct the terminal device not to send the reference signal to avoid updating the channel when the channel changes slowly, or instruct the terminal device to use traditional SRS for channel estimation when the channel SNR on all ports is poor, thereby saving overhead and making channel measurement more flexible.

[0104] S502, the network device sends instruction information to the terminal device, and the terminal device receives the instruction information from the network device.

[0105] Therefore, the terminal device responds to the instruction information and performs the corresponding action. The following description will still focus on the cases where the instruction information includes the three contents mentioned in S501.

[0106] When the indication information indicates at least one antenna port among multiple antenna ports of the terminal device, the terminal device sends a first reference signal to the network device on at least one antenna port, wherein the first reference signal is a beamforming reference signal, that is, the antenna port that sends the first reference signal can be mapped to multiple physical antennas. For details, please refer to the relevant description in step S103 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0107] If the instruction information indicates that the terminal device should not send a beamforming reference signal, the terminal device will not send a first reference signal.

[0108] When the instruction information indicates that the terminal device does not perform beamforming, the terminal device transmits a third reference signal. For example, the third reference signal can be an SRS signal without beamforming, that is, the antenna port transmitting the third reference signal is mapped to a physical antenna.

[0109] For ease of understanding, the following text will continue to use the example of indicating at least one of the multiple antenna ports of the terminal device with the indication information.

[0110] S503, the terminal device sends a first reference signal to the network device on at least one antenna port according to the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the at least one antenna port.

[0111] The terminal device has multiple antenna ports, each with its own corresponding beamforming parameters. These beamforming parameters are used by the terminal device to transmit beamforming reference signals on the corresponding ports. These beamforming parameters can be predetermined by the terminal device and the network equipment, or they can be determined by the terminal device based on the CSI-RS resources received from the network equipment. For details, please refer to the relevant content in S101 and S102 above; further explanation is omitted here.

[0112] Specifically, the process by which the terminal device transmits a beamforming reference signal on at least one antenna port according to the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the at least one antenna port can be referred to the relevant description in step S103 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0113] For example, suppose the terminal device has four antenna ports, namely port #1, port #2, port #3, and port #4, which can be referred to... Figure 6 ,like Figure 6 As shown in (a), the indication information instructs all antenna ports of the terminal device among multiple antenna ports. Then, the terminal device will assign the beamforming parameters U corresponding to each of the four antenna ports. i The beamforming parameters U1 corresponding to port #1 are loaded one by one for BF-SRS transmission. That is, the beamforming parameters U2 corresponding to port #2 are loaded to port #1, and so on. Alternatively, as... Figure 6 As shown in (b), the indication information indicates some of the antenna ports among the multiple antenna ports of the terminal device, such as indicating port #2 and port #3. Then the terminal device loads the beamforming parameters U2 and U3 corresponding to port #2 and port #3 respectively onto each port for BF-SRS transmission.

[0114] Specifically, the indication information indicating that the terminal device does not transmit the first reference signal can also be equivalent to the indication information indicating that the antenna port of the terminal device is empty, such as... Figure 6 As shown in (c) in the figure.

[0115] Therefore, since the indication information can be determined by the network device based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the channel among multiple antenna ports, at least one antenna port with a higher signal-to-noise ratio is guaranteed, ensuring that the terminal always uses the optimal beamforming parameters to send the beamforming reference signal, thereby improving the performance of BF-SRS.

[0116] Optionally, in conjunction with the above S501-S503, after S501, the method may further include:

[0117] Step S1: The terminal device receives a second reference signal from the network device and calculates beamforming parameters on multiple antenna ports of the terminal device based on the second reference signal. For example, the second reference signal can be CSI-RS, and the specific details can be found in the relevant descriptions in steps S101-102 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0118] Optionally, in conjunction with S501-S503 above, after S503, the method may further include:

[0119] Step S2: The network device performs channel measurement between the network device and the terminal device based on the first reference signal. For details, please refer to the relevant explanation in step S103 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0120] It should be understood that the process illustrated by the combination of steps S501-S503 and S1 and S2 above can be regarded as a channel measurement cycle between the network device and the terminal device. Since this channel measurement is based on the first reference signal sent by the terminal device to the network device, the measured channel is the uplink channel. However, in a TDD system, based on channel reciprocity, the downlink channel information from the network device to the terminal device can also be obtained based on the uplink channel measurement of the first reference signal. That is, this application does not limit the channel to be an uplink channel or a downlink channel.

[0121] As can be seen from the above description, this method avoids beam inaccuracy caused by deviations in the beamforming parameters calculated based on CSI-RS resources when the terminal device selects the antenna port for transmitting the beamforming reference signal locally based on the beamforming parameters, which is not possible when the network device instructs the terminal device to use the port for transmitting the beamforming reference signal. This avoids the loss of measurement channel performance caused by incomplete channel information for transmitting the reference signal, and further improves the performance of BF-SRS.

[0122] It is understood that the channel involved in the embodiments of this application can also be replaced by bandwidth, frequency band, frequency domain resource, frequency domain unit, etc., and there are no specific limitations.

[0123] Furthermore, as explained above, in each channel measurement cycle, the terminal device calculates new beamforming parameters based on the second reference signal received from the network device. If the beamforming parameters corresponding to multiple ports are updated to the newly calculated parameters in each channel measurement process, then step S1 needs to be executed in each channel measurement cycle. That is, each time, the terminal device needs to send beamforming reference signals on all ports based on the new beamforming parameters. The network device then determines new indication information based on the received beamforming reference signals on all ports and sends it to the terminal device, which undoubtedly increases the resource overhead in one channel measurement cycle.

[0124] Therefore, optionally, in conjunction with the above S501-S503, the method may further include:

[0125] Step S3: The network device instructs that the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports be updated.

[0126] In some possible implementations, the network device may send first information to the terminal device, the first information indicating that the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports be updated. For example, the first information instructs the terminal device to transmit beamforming reference signals on all ports of the multiple antenna ports, and the beamforming reference signals are determined based on the beamforming parameters calculated by the terminal device in the latest channel measurement cycle. The network device then updates the calculated beamforming parameters to the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports. The first information can be new information or reused information, wherein the indication information indicates that at least one antenna port is all ports of the multiple antenna ports, without limitation.

[0127] In some possible implementations, the terminal device may send a request message to the network device, instructing the network device to update the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports. Then, the network device sends first information to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to transmit beamforming reference signals on all ports of the multiple antenna ports for updating. For example, the terminal device may monitor the beamforming parameters calculated in each channel measurement cycle, and request the network device to update the beamforming parameters when the beamforming parameters fluctuate significantly. Exemplarily, significant beamforming parameter fluctuation may refer to the fluctuation of the beamforming parameters of a certain port being greater than or equal to a threshold value, or it may refer to the fluctuation of the beamforming parameters of more than a few ports exceeding the rated port being greater than or equal to the threshold value.

[0128] In some possible implementations, after a channel measurement period of a nominal period, the network device may send a first message to the terminal device instructing the terminal device to send beamforming reference signals on all ports of the multiple antenna ports for updating. The nominal period may be agreed upon by the network device and the terminal device and may be any positive integer number of periods of channel measurement without limitation.

[0129] Understandably, during the S501-S503 process of a channel measurement cycle, the beamforming parameters corresponding to each antenna port can be the beamforming parameters calculated in the previous one or several channel measurement cycles. Unless the network device indicates that the beamforming parameters should be updated, these beamforming parameters will remain unchanged. Only when the network device indicates that the beamforming parameters should be updated will the beamforming parameters calculated in the current channel measurement cycle be updated to the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports.

[0130] Therefore, beamforming parameters are only updated after the network device instructs that the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports be updated, which ensures channel performance while greatly reducing the resource overhead of channel measurement.

[0131] The above combination Figures 5-6 The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application is described in detail below. Figures 7-8 This document describes in detail the communication apparatus used to perform the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0132] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 1 For example, such as Figure 7 As shown, the communication device 700 includes a transceiver module 701 and a processing module 702. For ease of explanation, Figure 7 Only the main components of the communication device are shown.

[0133] The communication device 700 can be applied to the above. Figures 5-6 The communication method is used to implement the corresponding functions. For example, the transceiver module 701 can be used to implement the above. Figures 5-6 The sending and receiving functions in the communication method can be implemented by the processing module 702. Figures 5-6 The communication methods include functions other than sending and receiving.

[0134] Optionally, the transceiver module 701 may include a transmitting module ( Figure 7 (not shown in the image) and receiving module ( Figure 7 (Not shown in the diagram). The transmitting module implements the transmitting function of the communication device 700, and the receiving module implements the receiving function of the communication device 700.

[0135] Optionally, the communication device 700 may also include a storage module. Figure 7 (Not shown in the image), the storage module stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 702 executes the program or instructions, the communication device 700 can perform the aforementioned... Figures 5-6 The functions in the method shown.

[0136] It is understood that the communication device 700 may be a network device, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be set in the network device, or a device that includes the network device. This application does not limit this.

[0137] It is understood that the communication device 700 can be a terminal device, a communication module, a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, a chip system, or other components or assemblies. This communication module, circuit or chip responsible for communication functions, chip system, or other components or assemblies can be applied in a terminal device. This application does not limit this.

[0138] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication device 700 can be referenced from the technical effects of the communication method described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0139] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application Figure 2 The communication device can be a terminal device or network equipment, or it can be a chip (system) or other component or assembly applied to a terminal device or network equipment. For example... Figure 8 As shown, the communication device 800 may include a processor 801. Optionally, the communication device 800 may also include a memory 802 and / or a transceiver 803. The processor 801 is coupled to the memory 802 and the transceiver 803, for example, they may be connected via a communication bus.

[0140] The following is combined Figure 8 A detailed description of each component of the communication device 800 is provided below:

[0141] The processor 801 is the control center of the communication device 800. It can be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 801 can be one or more central processing units (CPUs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of this application, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0142] Optionally, the processor 801 can perform various functions of the communication device 800 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 802 and by calling data stored in the memory 802, such as performing the aforementioned functions. Figures 5-6 The communication method shown.

[0143] In a specific implementation, as one example, the processor 801 may include one or more CPUs, for example... Figure 8 CPU0 and CPU1 are shown in the diagram.

[0144] In a specific implementation, as one example, the communication device 800 may also include multiple processors, for example... Figure 8 The processors 801 and 804 are shown. Each of these processors can be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor. Here, "processor" can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores used to process data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0145] The memory 802 is used to store the software program that executes the solution of this application, and is controlled by the processor 801 to execute it. The specific implementation method can be referred to the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0146] Optionally, the memory 802 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and instructions, or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital universal optical discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer, but not limited thereto. The memory 802 may be integrated with the processor 801 or exist independently, and may be connected via the interface circuit of the communication device 800. Figure 8 (Not shown in the image) is coupled to the processor 801, but this application embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0147] Transceiver 803 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, if communication device 800 is a terminal, transceiver 803 can be used to communicate with a network device or with another terminal device. As another example, if communication device 800 is a network device, transceiver 803 can be used to communicate with a terminal or with another network device.

[0148] Alternatively, transceiver 803 may include a receiver and a transmitter. Figure 8 (Not shown separately). The receiver is used to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0149] Optionally, the transceiver 803 can be integrated with the processor 801, or it can exist independently and be connected via the interface circuit of the communication device 800. Figure 8 (Not shown in the image) is coupled to the processor 801, but this application embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0150] Understandable, Figure 8 The structure of the communication device 800 shown does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. Actual communication devices may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements.

[0151] Furthermore, the technical effects of the communication device 800 can be referred to the technical effects of the method described in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0152] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or it can be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0153] It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous DRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous DRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous linked DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0154] The above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, by software, hardware (such as circuits), firmware, or any other combination thereof. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more sets of available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium. A semiconductor medium can be a solid-state drive.

[0155] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0156] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0157] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0158] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0159] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0160] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0161] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0162] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this article is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, or B existing alone. A and B can be singular or plural. Additionally, the character " / " in this article generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects, but it can also represent an "and / or" relationship. Please refer to the context for a more accurate understanding.

[0163] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0164] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0165] In this application, descriptions such as "when," "under the circumstances," "if," and "if" all refer to the device taking corresponding actions under certain objective circumstances. They are not time limits, nor do they require the device to perform a judgment action during implementation, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0166] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0167] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0168] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0169] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0170] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0171] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a terminal device, the method includes: Receive indication information from a network device, the indication information indicating at least one antenna port of the terminal device, the at least one antenna port being at least a portion of a plurality of antenna ports of the terminal device, the plurality of antenna ports respectively corresponding to their respective beamforming parameters; Based on the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the at least one antenna port, a first reference signal is transmitted to the network device at each of the at least one antenna port, wherein the first reference signal is a beamforming reference signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When at least one antenna port is all of the plurality of antenna ports, the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the plurality of antenna ports are updated.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: A request message is sent to the network device, the request message instructing the network device to update the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the plurality of antenna ports.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the multiple antenna ports are updated periodically.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the plurality of antenna ports are updated at least once every channel measurement cycle, wherein the channel measurement is a measurement of the channel between the terminal device and the network device using a second reference signal.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2-5, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a second reference signal from the network device; The second reference signal is used to update the beamforming parameters corresponding to each of the plurality of antenna ports to the beamforming parameters determined according to the second reference signal.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the indication information indicates that the terminal device does not transmit the beamforming reference signal, it is determined that the terminal device does not transmit the first reference signal.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the indication information indicates that the terminal device does not perform beamforming, it is determined that the device sends a third reference signal.

9. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to network devices, the method includes: The indication information is determined, the indication information indicating at least one antenna port of the terminal device, the at least one antenna port being at least a portion of a plurality of antenna ports of the terminal device; Send instruction information to the terminal device.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: The terminal device receives beamforming reference signals transmitted from all antenna ports of the plurality of antenna ports. Determining the indication information includes: The indication information is determined based on the beamforming reference signal.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The method further includes: The indication information indicates that the at least one antenna port is all ports of the plurality of antenna ports.

12. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The instruction information also instructs the terminal device not to send beamforming reference signals.

13. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The instruction information also instructs the terminal device not to perform beamforming.

14. A communication device, characterized in that, The apparatus includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-13.

15. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-13.

16. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1-13 to be performed.

17. A computer program product, characterized in that, Includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1-13 to be performed.

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