A communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and device, in which a second device receives a plurality of reference signals, and sends first information, wherein one reference signal in the plurality of reference signals corresponds to one user in a plurality of users, the first information is used to indicate at least one first vector, the at least one first vector is used to determine beamforming weight data, the beamforming weight data is used to adjust the phase and / or amplitude of a signal transmitted by at least one first device, the at least one first vector is obtained by compressing a plurality of second vectors, the plurality of second vectors are determined based on the plurality of reference signals, and one second vector in the plurality of second vectors indicates the channel characteristics of one user in the plurality of users. Since the compressibility of the plurality of second vectors is higher than that of the beamforming weight data, the amount of data transmission between the second device and the first device is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] The access network in a communication system includes a baseband section (also called baseband, baseband device, or baseband module, etc.) and a radio frequency (RF) section (also called RF, RF device, or RF module, etc.). For reference signals from multiple users, the RF section performs beamforming and demapping processing on the reference signals from different users, and feeds back the demapping processed signals to the baseband section. The baseband section then performs global channel estimation and calculates beamforming weight data for different users based on the acquired signals. Furthermore, the baseband section can send the calculated beamforming weight data to the RF section. When transmitting signals, the RF section can use the beamforming weight data for the corresponding user to adjust the phase and / or amplitude of the signals from different antenna elements in the RF section to optimize signal direction, etc.

[0003] The beamforming weight data of different users are orthogonal, which avoids signal interference between different users, but also results in a low compressibility of the beamforming weight data, which leads to a large amount of data transmission between the baseband and radio frequency sections. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and apparatus for reducing data transmission volume.

[0005] Firstly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method. This method can be applied to a second device, which can refer to the second device itself, a module within the second device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the second device. Modules in the second device can be, for example, processors, communication modules, or circuits or chips responsible for communication functions. Chips can be, for example, modem chips (also known as baseband chips), system-on-chip (SoC) chips containing modem cores, or system-in-package (SIP) chips. The second device can be a device in an access network (such as a device or module within an access network device), for example, a baseband unit (BBU), a central unit / control unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a CU and a DU. For ease of description, the following description uses the application of this method to a second device as an example. The method includes: a second device receiving a plurality of reference signals and transmitting first information, wherein one of the plurality of reference signals corresponds to one of the plurality of users, the first information is used to indicate at least one first vector, the at least one first vector is used to determine beamforming weight data, the beamforming weight data is used to adjust the phase and / or amplitude of the signal transmitted by the at least one first device, the at least one first vector is obtained by compressing a plurality of second vectors, the plurality of second vectors are determined based on the plurality of reference signals, and one of the plurality of second vectors indicates the channel characteristics of one of the plurality of users.

[0006] Optionally, any of the at least one first device can be a device in the access network (such as a device or module in the access network device, etc.). For example, a first device can be a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), a remote radio head (RRH) (or remote wireless unit), a radio unit (RU), or an antenna array, etc. Optionally, each of the multiple reference signals can be transmitted by one of the multiple users. The user can be replaced by a terminal device, such as a mobile phone, a drone, or a vehicle-mounted terminal, etc. The multiple reference signals can be used for channel estimation, etc. For example, the second device can perform channel estimation based on the multiple reference signals, determine the channel matrices corresponding to the multiple users respectively, and process the channel matrices of the multiple users to obtain multiple second vectors. Multiple second vectors can be vectors in the spatial domain and frequency domain (or spatial-frequency domain). In this case, multiple second vectors can be understood as representing the channel characteristics of a user in the spatial domain and frequency domain. Alternatively, they can be vectors in the angle domain and time delay domain (or angle-time delay domain). In this case, multiple second vectors can be understood as representing the channel characteristics of a user in the angle domain and time delay domain.

[0007] In this embodiment, since multiple users communicate with the access network (specifically, the access network device) where the second device is located, it is equivalent to multiple reference signal receivers being identical. Therefore, the channel characteristics corresponding to these multiple users have a certain similarity, and the corresponding multiple second vectors have a certain similarity or redundancy, or in other words, the multiple second vectors have a certain sparsity. That is to say, the compressibility of the multiple second vectors is higher than that of the beamforming weight data. Therefore, the amount of data in at least one first vector obtained by the second device compressing the multiple second vectors is smaller, and the amount of data in the first information sent by the second device to the third device is also smaller, thereby reducing the amount of data transmitted between the second device and the third device. Furthermore, when the second device and the third device communicate via optical fiber, since the amount of data transmitted between the second device and the third device is smaller, this embodiment can reduce the number of optical fibers and / or bandwidth required between the second device and the third device, thereby reducing communication costs.

[0008] In one possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate at least one first vector, including: the first information includes an index of at least one first vector.

[0009] Thus, since the index of at least one first vector generally has less data than the data of at least one first vector, it is more conducive to reducing the amount of data of the first information transmitted by the second device.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the index of at least one first vector is associated with at least one of the following: information about at least one first device, information about multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, channel information of at least one first vector, information about the angle of at least one first vector in the angle domain, or information about the delay of at least one first vector in the delay domain.

[0011] Optionally, the order (or arrangement) of the indices of at least one first vector is related to the at least one piece of information. For example, the indices of at least one first vector may be arranged sequentially according to the at least one piece of information.

[0012] This facilitates negotiation between the third and second devices regarding the order in which the indices of at least one first vector are transmitted. It also allows the third device to more accurately parse the first information based on at least one piece of information to obtain at least one first vector.

[0013] In one possible implementation, at least one piece of information is one of the following: information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, channel information of at least one first vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, information of at least one first device, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, information of at least one first device, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, channel information of at least one first vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain.

[0014] Thus, multiple implementations of at least one piece of information are provided, facilitating negotiation between the third and second devices on the transmission method of at least one index of the first vector.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the first information may further include one or more of the following: at least one piece of information, information on a first compression method, the first compression method used to compress multiple second vectors to obtain at least one first vector, the compression ratio for compressing multiple second vectors, or the codebook for compressing multiple second vectors.

[0016] This facilitates the third device to accurately decompress at least one first vector based on the information indicated by the first information, thereby improving the accuracy of the third device in decompressing at least one first vector.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: determining multiple channel matrices based on multiple reference signals, wherein one of the channel matrices is the channel matrix corresponding to one of the multiple users; compressing the multiple channel matrices to obtain compressed multiple channel matrices, wherein the compression ratio of the compressed multiple channel matrices is related to the service quality requirements of at least one first device; and performing eigenvalue decomposition on the compressed multiple channel matrices to obtain multiple second vectors.

[0018] This further reduces the amount of data transmitted by the second device. Furthermore, the second device compresses the channel matrix based on service quality requirements, allowing for targeted compression of the channel matrices corresponding to at least one first device, making the compression result more aligned with the individual needs of each first device. Optionally, one of the first devices may receive reference signals from some or all of the multiple users; therefore, the channel matrix corresponding to a user can actually be understood as the channel matrix of the first device receiving the reference signal of that user. Similarly, the channel matrix of a first device can be understood as the channel matrix corresponding to the users served by that first device.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the compression ratio of the multiple channel matrices is related to the service quality requirements of at least one first device, including: the compression ratio of one channel matrix of the multiple channel matrices is inversely related to the service quality requirements of one of the first devices, wherein the channel matrix is ​​the channel matrix of the multiple channel matrices corresponding to one first device.

[0020] For example, the higher the service quality requirement of one of the at least one first device, the lower the compression ratio of the channel matrix corresponding to that first device. Alternatively, the lower the service quality requirement of one of the at least one first device, the higher the compression ratio of the channel matrix corresponding to that first device.

[0021] Thus, the higher the service quality requirement of a certain first device, the more data of the channel matrix corresponding to that first device can be retained. This results in more accurate beamforming weight data for the users served by that first device, which is beneficial to improving the subsequent service quality requirements of the first device. Conversely, the lower the service quality requirement of a certain first device, the less data of the channel matrix corresponding to that first device can be retained. This can significantly reduce the amount of data transmission while taking into account the subsequent service quality requirements of the first device.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the quality of service requirements of a first device are related to at least one of the following: the number of users served by the first device, the expected data transmission rate of the first device, or the service priority of the users served by the first device.

[0023] Optionally, the more users a first device serves, the higher its service quality requirements. Conversely, the fewer users a first device serves, the lower its service quality requirements. Alternatively, the higher the expected data transmission rate of a first device, the higher its service quality requirements. Conversely, the lower the expected data transmission rate of a first device, the lower its service quality requirements. The higher the service priority of the users served by a first device, the higher its service quality requirements. Conversely, the lower the service priority of the users served by a first device, the lower its service quality requirements.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the first information also includes information on the service quality requirements of the first device. This facilitates the subsequent decompression of the channel matrix by at least one first device.

[0025] In one possible implementation, at least one first vector is obtained by compressing multiple second vectors, including: at least one first vector is obtained by vector quantization or scalar quantization of multiple second vectors.

[0026] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method. This method can be applied to a third device, which can refer to the third device itself, a module within the third device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the third device. Modules in the third device can be, for example, processors, communication modules, or circuits or chips responsible for communication functions. Chips can be, for example, modem chips (also known as baseband chips), or SoC chips or SIP chips containing modem cores. The third device can be a device in an access network (such as devices or modules within an access network device), such as RRUs, RRHs, RUs, or computing modules (or computing units) or processing chips within these components. The following description uses the application of this method to a third device as an example. The method includes: a third device receiving first information, the first information indicating at least one first vector, the at least one first vector being obtained by compressing multiple second vectors, the multiple second vectors being determined based on multiple reference signals, one of the multiple second vectors indicating the channel characteristics of one of the multiple users, one of the multiple reference signals corresponding to one of the multiple users, and the multiple users being users served by at least one first device; determining beamforming weight data based on at least one first vector, the beamforming weight data being used to adjust the phase and / or amplitude of the signal transmitted by at least one first device. Optionally, some or all of the multiple reference signals are received by the first device. Optionally, the second device may be integrated with one of the at least one first device, or the second device may be relatively independently configured with respect to at least one first device, and the second device may communicate with at least one first device, for example, the second device may be a computing unit, and at least one first device may be multiple RUs, the computing unit serving these multiple RUs.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate at least one first vector, including: the first information includes an index of at least one first vector.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the index of at least one first vector is associated with at least one of the following: information about at least one first device, information about multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, channel information of at least one first vector, information about the angle of at least one first vector in the angle domain, or information about the delay of at least one first vector in the delay domain.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the index of at least one first vector is associated with at least one piece of information, including: the order of the indices of at least one first vector is determined based on at least one piece of information.

[0030] In one possible implementation, at least one piece of information is one of the following: information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, channel information of at least one first vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, information of at least one first device, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, information of at least one first device, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, channel information of at least one first vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the first information may further include one or more of the following: at least one piece of information, information about a first compression method, wherein the first compression method is used to compress multiple second vectors to obtain at least one first vector, a compression ratio for compressing multiple second vectors, or a codebook for compressing multiple second vectors.

[0032] In one possible implementation, determining beamforming weight data based on at least one first vector includes: decompressing at least one first vector to obtain multiple second vectors; and determining beamforming weight data based on the multiple second vectors.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the first information further includes information on the service quality requirements of at least one first device. Based on at least one first vector, beamforming weight data is determined, including: determining multiple compressed channel matrices based on at least one first vector; decompressing the multiple compressed channel matrices based on the service quality requirements of at least one first device to obtain multiple channel matrices, wherein one of the multiple channel matrices is the channel matrix corresponding to one of the multiple users; and determining beamforming weight data based on the multiple channel matrices.

[0034] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method. This method can be applied to a second device side, the details of which can be referred to in the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here. The method includes: compressing multiple channel matrices to obtain compressed multiple channel matrices, wherein the compression rate of the compressed multiple channel matrices is related to the service quality requirements of at least one first device, the multiple channel matrices are determined based on multiple reference signals, and one of the reference signals corresponds to one of the multiple users.

[0035] Since multiple users communicate with the access network where the second device is located, the channel matrices corresponding to the multiple users are similar. Therefore, the multiple channel matrices in this embodiment have a certain degree of redundancy. Therefore, compressing multiple channel matrices is also beneficial to reduce the amount of data in multiple channel matrices, thereby reducing the amount of data transmitted between the second device and the third device.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second information, the second information indicating a plurality of compressed channel matrices, or the second information indicating at least one seventh vector, the at least one seventh vector being obtained by compressing a plurality of eighth vectors, the plurality of seventh vectors being determined based on the compressed plurality of channel matrices. Optionally, the second information may also indicate at least one service quality requirement of the first device.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the second information indication is used to indicate at least one seventh vector, including: the first information includes the index of at least one seventh vector.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the index of at least one seventh vector is associated with at least one of the following: information about at least one first device, information about multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, channel information of at least one seventh vector, information about the angle of at least one seventh vector in the angle domain, or information about the delay of at least one seventh vector in the delay domain.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the index of at least one seventh vector is associated with at least one piece of information, including: the order of the indices of at least one seventh vector is determined based on at least one piece of information.

[0040] In one possible implementation, at least one piece of information is one of the following: information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one seventh vector in the time delay domain; or, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, channel information of at least one seventh vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one seventh vector in the time delay domain; or, information of at least one first device, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one seventh vector in the time delay domain; or, information of at least one first device, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, channel information of at least one seventh vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one seventh vector in the time delay domain.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the second information may further include one or more of the following: at least one piece of information, information about a first compression method, wherein the first compression method is used to compress multiple eighth vectors to obtain at least one seventh vector, the compression ratio for compressing multiple eighth vectors, or the codebook for compressing multiple eighth vectors.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the second information is used to indicate the compressed multiple channel matrices, including: the second information includes the index of the compressed multiple channel matrices.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the compressed multiple channel matrices include the indexes of at least one first device, information of multiple users (such as identifiers of multiple users), the real and imaginary parts of the compressed multiple channel matrices, information of the antennas of multiple users, and information of the subbands of the antennas of multiple users.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the compression ratio of the multiple channel matrices is related to the service quality requirements of at least one first device, including: the compression ratio of one channel matrix of the multiple channel matrices is inversely related to the service quality requirements of one of the first devices, wherein the channel matrix is ​​the channel matrix of the multiple channel matrices corresponding to one first device.

[0045] For example, the higher the service quality requirement of one of the at least one first device, the lower the compression ratio of the channel matrix corresponding to that first device. Alternatively, the lower the service quality requirement of one of the at least one first device, the higher the compression ratio of the channel matrix corresponding to that first device.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the quality of service requirements of a first device are related to at least one of the following: the number of users served by the first device, the expected data transmission rate of the first device, or the service priority of the users served by the first device.

[0047] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method. This method can be applied to a third device side, the content of which can be referred to in the second aspect above, and will not be listed here again. The method includes: receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate a compressed plurality of channel matrices or to indicate at least one seventh vector; and determining beamforming weight data based on the compressed plurality of channel matrices or at least one seventh vector, wherein the compression rate of the compressed plurality of channel matrices is related to the service quality requirements of at least one first device, the plurality of channel matrices are determined based on a plurality of reference signals, one of the reference signals corresponds to one of the plurality of users, and the at least one seventh vector is obtained by compressing a plurality of eighth vectors, and the plurality of seventh vectors are determined based on the compressed plurality of channel matrices.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the second information also indicates the service quality requirements of at least one of the first devices.

[0049] In one possible implementation, the second information indication is used to indicate at least one seventh vector, including: the first information includes the index of at least one seventh vector.

[0050] In one possible implementation, the index of at least one seventh vector is associated with at least one of the following: information about at least one first device, information about multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, channel information of at least one seventh vector, information about the angle of at least one seventh vector in the angle domain, or information about the delay of at least one seventh vector in the delay domain.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the index of at least one seventh vector is associated with at least one piece of information, including: the order of the indices of at least one seventh vector is determined based on at least one piece of information.

[0052] In one possible implementation, at least one piece of information is one of the following: information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one seventh vector in the time delay domain; or, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, channel information of at least one seventh vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one seventh vector in the time delay domain; or, information of at least one first device, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one seventh vector in the time delay domain; or, information of at least one first device, information of multiple users, information of the real and imaginary parts of at least one seventh vector, channel information of at least one seventh vector, information of the angle of at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of at least one seventh vector in the time delay domain.

[0053] In one possible implementation, the second information may further include one or more of the following: at least one piece of information, information about a first compression method, wherein the first compression method is used to compress multiple eighth vectors to obtain at least one seventh vector, the compression ratio for compressing multiple eighth vectors, or the codebook for compressing multiple eighth vectors.

[0054] In one possible implementation, the second information is used to indicate the compressed multiple channel matrices, including: the second information includes the index of the compressed multiple channel matrices.

[0055] In one possible implementation, the index of the compressed multiple channel matrices is associated with at least one of the following: information of at least one first device, information of multiple users (such as identifiers of multiple users), real and imaginary parts of the compressed multiple channel matrices, information of the antennas of multiple users, or information of the subbands of the antennas of multiple users.

[0056] In one possible implementation, the compression ratio of the multiple channel matrices is related to the service quality requirements of at least one first device, including: the compression ratio of one channel matrix of the multiple channel matrices is inversely related to the service quality requirements of one of the first devices, wherein the channel matrix is ​​the channel matrix of the multiple channel matrices corresponding to one first device.

[0057] For example, the higher the service quality requirement of one of the at least one first device, the lower the compression ratio of the channel matrix corresponding to that first device. Alternatively, the lower the service quality requirement of one of the at least one first device, the higher the compression ratio of the channel matrix corresponding to that first device.

[0058] In one possible implementation, the quality of service requirements of a first device are related to at least one of the following: the number of users served by the first device, the expected data transmission rate of the first device, or the service priority of the users served by the first device.

[0059] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device. The communication device can be the second device side as described in the first aspect above, or a module (e.g., a chip system) configured in the second device. The communication device includes corresponding means or modules for performing the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof. For example, the communication device includes a communication unit (sometimes also called a communication module). Optionally, the communication device further includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module). The communication unit is used to perform transmit and receive operations, such as functions related to sending and receiving; the communication unit can be called a transceiver unit; optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit is used to perform processing operations. Alternatively, the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver. Optionally, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module).

[0060] For example, the communication unit is used to receive multiple reference signals and to send first information.

[0061] In one possible implementation, the communication device may also implement the contents of any of the possible implementations in the first aspect described above, which will not be listed here.

[0062] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device. The communication device can be a third device as described in the second aspect above, or a module (e.g., a chip system) configured in a third device. The communication device includes corresponding means or modules for performing the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof. For example, the communication device includes a communication unit (sometimes also called a communication module). Optionally, the communication device further includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module). The communication unit is used to perform transmit and receive operations, such as functions related to sending and receiving; the communication unit can be called a transceiver unit; optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit is used to perform processing operations. Alternatively, the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver. Optionally, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module).

[0063] For example, the communication unit is used to receive first information, and the processing unit is used to determine beamforming weight data based on at least one first vector.

[0064] In one possible implementation, the communication device may also implement any of the possible implementations in the second aspect described above, which will not be listed here.

[0065] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device. The communication device can be the second device side as described in the third aspect above, or a module (e.g., a chip system) configured in the second device. The communication device includes corresponding means or modules for performing the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof. For example, the communication device includes a communication unit (sometimes also called a communication module). Optionally, the communication device further includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module). The communication unit is used to perform transmit and receive operations, such as functions related to sending and receiving; the communication unit can be called a transceiver unit; optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit is used to perform processing operations. Alternatively, the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver. Optionally, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module).

[0066] For example, the processing unit is used to compress multiple channel matrices to obtain compressed channel matrices.

[0067] In one possible implementation, the communication device may also implement the contents of any of the possible implementations in the third aspect described above, which will not be listed here.

[0068] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device. The communication device can be the third device side as described in the fourth aspect above, or a module (e.g., a chip system) configured in the third device. The communication device includes corresponding means or modules for performing the fourth aspect or any possible implementation thereof. For example, the communication device includes a communication unit (sometimes also called a communication module). Optionally, the communication device further includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module). The communication unit is used to perform transmit and receive operations, such as functions related to sending and receiving; the communication unit can be called a transceiver unit; optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit is used to perform processing operations. Alternatively, the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver. Optionally, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module).

[0069] For example, the communication unit is used to receive the second information, and the processing unit is used to determine beamforming weight data based on the compressed multiple channel matrices or at least one seventh vector.

[0070] In one possible implementation, the communication device may also implement the contents of any of the possible implementations in the fourth aspect described above, which will not be listed here.

[0071] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device. The communication device includes one or more processors. The one or more processors are capable of executing computer programs or instructions stored in a memory, which, when executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods described in any of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0072] Optionally, the communication device may include a memory, in which case the memory may be coupled to one or more processors, or the memory may be configured relatively independently of one or more processors. Alternatively, the memory may exist independently of the communication device.

[0073] In one possible design, the communication device may further include an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices or components through the interface circuit.

[0074] In the specific implementation process, the communication device can be a chip, and the processor can be a transistor, gate circuit, flip-flop, and various logic circuits, etc. The specific implementation method of the processor is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0075] In one implementation, the communication device can be a wireless communication device, i.e., a computer device that supports wireless communication functionality. Specifically, the wireless communication device can be a network device such as a wireless access network device (e.g., a base station).

[0076] In another implementation, the communication device can be a component of a wireless communication device, such as an integrated circuit product like a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or communication chip. A SoC can also be called a System-on-a-Chip (SoC). A communication chip may include a baseband processing chip and a radio frequency (RF) processing chip. A baseband processing chip is sometimes referred to as a modem or baseband chip. An RF processing chip is sometimes referred to as an RF transceiver or RF chip. In physical implementation, some or all of the communication chip may be integrated within the SoC. For example, the baseband processing chip may be integrated into the SoC, while the RF processing chip may not be integrated. The interface circuit can be the RF processing chip in the wireless communication device, and the processor can be the baseband processing chip in the wireless communication device. The interface circuit can be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor can also be a processing circuit or logic circuit.

[0077] In another implementation, the communication device can be a chip system, which may consist of chips or include chips and other discrete devices. Chip systems may include, for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), system-on-chips (SoCs), central processing units (CPUs), network processors (NPs), digital signal processors (DSPs), microcontroller units (MCUs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or other integrated chips.

[0078] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system. This communication system includes any of the communication devices discussed in the fifth aspect and any of the communication devices discussed in the sixth aspect.

[0079] Eleventhly, embodiments of this application provide a communication system. This communication system includes any of the communication devices discussed in the seventh aspect and any of the communication devices discussed in the eighth aspect.

[0080] In a twelfth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a chip system. The chip system includes a processor. Optionally, the chip system may further include an interface (such as a communication interface). The processor can be used to implement the methods discussed in any of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0081] Optionally, the chip system also includes a memory. The memory is used to store computer programs (also called code or instructions). The processor is used to retrieve and run the computer programs from the memory, causing the device equipped with the chip system to perform any of the methods described in the first to fourth aspects above. The implementation of the chip system can be referred to the content of the chip systems discussed above, and will not be listed here again.

[0082] In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium. This computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program or instructions that, when executed, implement the methods described in the first aspect and possibly in any of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0083] In a fourteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product. When the computer program product is executed, it causes a processor to perform the methods described in any of the first to fourth aspects above. The computer program product includes computer programs and / or instructions, etc.

[0084] Regarding the beneficial effects of any of the technical solutions in the second to fourteenth aspects mentioned above, refer to the discussion of the beneficial effects of the corresponding technical solutions in the first or third aspects, which will not be listed here. Attached Figure Description

[0085] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0086] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a network device applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0087] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another communication system to which the embodiments of this application apply;

[0088] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the protocol layer division of an access network device.

[0089] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the functional division of the radio frequency section and the baseband section during downlink transmission.

[0090] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the functional division of the radio frequency section and the baseband section during uplink transmission.

[0091] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram illustrating communication between an access network device and a terminal device.

[0092] Figure 8 This application provides a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0093] Figure 9A This is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0094] Figure 9B This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0095] Figure 10 A schematic diagram illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0096] Figure 11 This application provides a functional partitioning diagram for processing reference signals according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0097] Figure 12A schematic diagram illustrating the compression of multiple third vectors provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0098] Figure 13 A schematic diagram illustrating another method for compressing multiple third vectors, provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0099] Figure 14 A schematic diagram illustrating an arrangement of the indices of at least one first vector provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0100] Figure 15 A schematic diagram illustrating another arrangement of the indices of at least one first vector provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0101] Figure 16 A schematic diagram illustrating yet another arrangement of the indices of at least one first vector provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0102] Figure 17 A schematic diagram illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0103] Figure 18 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0104] Figure 19 This is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0105] The embodiments of this application will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0106] The following describes some of the terms or technologies involved in the embodiments of this application.

[0107] 1. A network device is a network-side device with wireless transceiver capabilities. A network device can be a device, equipment, or module located on the network side of a communication system and possessing corresponding communication functions. A network device typically contains communication modules, circuits, or chips that perform the corresponding communication functions. The network device also contains program instructions for performing the corresponding communication functions, as well as corresponding program instructions. A network device can include core network devices and / or access network devices. An access network device can be a device in a radio access network (RAN) that provides wireless communication functions to terminal devices; it can be referred to as RAN equipment. The RAN can be an access network in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 4G, 5G, or future-oriented communication networks. The RAN can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a communication network combining two or more of the above.

[0108] RAN equipment can also be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc.

[0109] RAN equipment can also be a module or unit that performs some functions of a base station, such as a CU, DU, or RU. CUs and DUs can be set up separately or included in the same network element, such as a BBU. RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as in an RRU, AAU, or RRH. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or equipment form used in the network device.

[0110] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an open (O)-RAN system, CU can also be called an O-RAN central unit (O-CU), DU can also be called an O-RAN distributed unit (O-DU), CU-CP can also be called an O-RAN central unit control plane (O-CU-CP), CU-UP can also be called an O-RAN central unit user plane (O-CU-UP), and RU can also be called O-RU. Any of the units CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. RA equipment can be a macro base station, a micro base station, an indoor station, a relay node, or a donor node, etc.

[0111] In various embodiments of this application, the functions of the network device can be implemented by the network device itself, by modules (such as chips) within the network device, or by logic modules or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions. Alternatively, they can be implemented by a control subsystem that includes network device functions. This control subsystem, including network device functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities.

[0112] 2. A terminal device is a user-side device with wireless transceiver capabilities. Terminal devices can also be called terminal equipment, terminals, user interfaces (UEs), mobile stations, or mobile terminals. Terminal devices can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Terminal devices can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, mobile stations (MS), subscriber units, cellular phones, smartphones, wireless data cards, personal digital assistant (PDA) computers, tablet computers, wireless modems, handsets, laptop computers, or machine-type communication (MTC) terminals, etc. Terminal devices typically contain communication modules, circuits, or chips that perform the corresponding communication functions. They may also be configured with program instructions for performing these functions.

[0113] In various embodiments of this application, the means for implementing the functions of the terminal device may be implemented by the terminal device itself, or by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal device, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions. Furthermore, the user involved in the various embodiments of this application can be replaced or understood as the terminal device, or in other words, the terminal device involved in the various embodiments of this application can be interchanged with the user.

[0114] Furthermore, network devices and terminal devices can be fixed in location or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the network devices and terminal devices.

[0115] 3. Massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) is a fifth-generation mobile communication technology. th MIMO is a key technology for improving system throughput and spectrum utilization in 5G (generation, 5G). In MIMO, the transmitting end (such as a terminal device) and / or the receiving end (such as an access network device) each include multiple antenna elements. Each antenna element at the transmitting end can independently transmit signals, while the receiving end can also utilize multiple antennas to receive and recover signals. Antenna elements are, for example, antenna array elements in an antenna array.

[0116] 4. Beamforming (BF) is a technique that uses antenna arrays for directional signal transmission or reception. Beamforming creates a directional beam by altering the amplitude and phase of the signals in the antenna elements, causing constructive interference in some directions and destructive interference in others, thus improving communication performance. For example, beamforming can increase the received signal-to-noise ratio, effectively combating path loss. In practice, beamforming generates a directional beam by adjusting the weighting coefficients of the antenna elements, thereby achieving significant array gain.

[0117] 5. Beamforming weight data, also referred to as beamforming weights, weight data, beam weights, weights, or weighting data, includes the weighting coefficients of antenna elements in an antenna system. When beamforming weight data is represented by a vector (or matrix), it can also be called a weight vector (or matrix) or weight matrix. Since a network device may need to serve multiple users (or terminal devices), when calculating beamforming weight data, the network device may need to calculate the beamforming weight data corresponding to each of the multiple users. The beamforming weight data involved in the various embodiments of this application includes beamforming weight data corresponding to multiple users respectively.

[0118] 6. Precoding: The transmitting end (e.g., network device) can precode the signal to be transmitted using a precoding matrix that matches the channel state, given the known channel conditions. This ensures the precoded signal is compatible with the channel, reducing the complexity for the receiving end (e.g., terminal device) to eliminate inter-channel interference. Therefore, precoding the signal to be transmitted improves the signal quality received by the receiving end (e.g., terminal device). Signal quality is measured by parameters such as the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR). Massive MIMO utilizes multiple antennas at the receiving end to receive signals, thus requiring high signal quality to avoid reception failures. Precoding techniques improve the signal quality received by the receiving end, making it beneficial for implementing massive MIMO. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the channel matrix involved in this application embodiment can be either an uplink channel matrix or a downlink channel matrix.

[0119] 7. Antenna port, or simply port, can be understood as the transmitting antenna that is identified by the receiving end, or a spatially distinguishable transmitting antenna. An antenna port can be pre-configured for each virtual antenna, where each virtual antenna can be a weighted combination of multiple physical antennas. When an antenna port is used to transmit a reference signal, it can also be called the port for that reference signal. For example, if an antenna port is used to transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS), then that antenna port can be called an SRS port.

[0120] 8. Reference signal (RS)

[0121] It can also be called a pilot signal or pilot signal, for example, a signal provided by the transmitter to the receiver for channel estimation, channel sounding, or data demodulation. Reference signals may include demodulation reference signals (DMRS), sounding reference signals (SRS), channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS), cell-specific reference signals (C-RS / CRS), or positioning reference signals (P-RS / PRS). DMRS may include, for example, DMRS for demodulating the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) (simply referred to as DMRS for PUCCH) and DMRS for demodulating the physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) (simply referred to as DMRS for PUCCH), and phase tracking reference signals (PTRS). It should be understood that there are various types of reference signals, and as standards evolve, the names of the above-mentioned reference signals may change, and even more reference signals may appear; therefore, no specific limitations are made.

[0122] The reference signal involved in the embodiments of this application may be an uplink reference signal, such as the SRS mentioned above, or even other non-reference signal uplink signals (or channels), such as PUCCH, PUSCH, physical random access channel (PRACH) or other uplink signals.

[0123] 9. Resources

[0124] It includes time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources.

[0125] Temporal resources include symbols, slots, mini-slots, partial slots, sub-frames, radio frames (or simply frames), and sensing slots. A symbol, for example, is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0126] A time slot can include at least one symbol, such as 14 symbols or 12 symbols. There can be different time slot types, and different time slot types include different numbers of symbols. For example, a mini slot contains less than 7 symbols, 2 symbols, 3 symbols, 4 symbols, etc., while a regular time slot contains 7 symbols or 14 symbols, etc.

[0127] Depending on the subcarrier spacing, the length of each symbol can vary, and therefore the time slot length can also vary. For example, a time slot with a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz has a length of 0.5 ms, a time slot with a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz has a length of 0.125 ms, and so on.

[0128] In fifth-generation communication systems, a time slot is a fundamental unit of time in the radio frame structure, containing a series of OFDM symbols. The length of a time slot can vary depending on the subcarrier spacing (SCS) to support different use cases and requirements, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) or ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). In 5G NR, the flexibility of time slot length is crucial for enabling dynamic network scheduling and optimized resource allocation. For example, a time slot may consist of 14 OFDM symbols, but under a specific SCS, the number and duration of time slots can be adjusted to meet the latency and transmission requirements of a particular service.

[0129] A symbol refers to a symbol period in an OFDM system, which is the smallest unit of time for transmitting data. A symbol contains modulated data from multiple subcarriers. OFDM transmits data by dividing a wideband channel into multiple orthogonal narrowband subcarriers, each of which can independently carry modulated data. In 5G NR, the symbol length depends on the subcarrier spacing; a larger subcarrier spacing results in a shorter symbol period, which reduces inter-symbol interference caused by multipath propagation and adapts to rapidly changing wireless environments.

[0130] A time unit can be understood as a unit of time-domain resources, or as a unit for dividing time-domain resources. A time unit includes multiple sub-time units; for example, a time unit may be a time slot, and a sub-time unit may be a symbol. Another example is a time unit may be a micro-time slot, and a sub-time unit may be a symbol.

[0131] The unit of frequency domain resources can be a frequency domain cell, or in other words, frequency domain resources can be divided into one or more frequency domain cells. Frequency domain cells include, for example, bands, carriers, bandwidth parts (BWP), subbands, redundancies (RBs), resonators (REs), or subchannels.

[0132] A subband comprises one or more RBs. An RB is the basic unit for frequency domain resource allocation in 5th generation (5G) new radio (NR) systems. An RB consists of a number of subcarriers and spans some or all of the symbols of a time slot. Within a given time slot, the network can allocate one or more RBs for data transmission.

[0133] For example, an RB (Radio Resource Block) contains 12 subcarriers, with subcarrier spacing ranging from 15 kHz to 240 kHz. The subcarrier spacing can be designed according to different scenarios and requirements, thus allowing the network to flexibly adapt to different Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and user experience needs. The concept of RBs is to optimize and simplify the allocation of radio resources. In 5G NR, the network can allocate one or more RBs to users based on their data needs. This allocation can be dynamic or semi-static, depending on user mobility and service requirements.

[0134] REs are the most basic units constituting physical layer transmission in 5G NR. Each RE corresponds to a subcarrier in the frequency domain and a symbol in the time domain. Simply put, an RE is a time-frequency lattice in which a modulated data symbol or a reference signal can be transmitted. For example, SRS is transmitted through a specific set of resource granules, which are organized in one or more time slots and span several subcarriers. This configuration allows SRS to cover the entire bandwidth, providing full-band channel information. The configuration of SRS (i.e., the resource granules it occupies) is defined by higher-layer signaling and can be dynamically changed to adapt to different network conditions and user needs.

[0135] A subchannel is the smallest unit of frequency domain resources occupied by a physical side-channel shared channel. A subchannel may include one or more resource blocks (RBs). The bandwidth of a wireless communication system in the frequency domain may include multiple RBs. For example, in the various possible bandwidths of an LTE system, the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) included may be 6, 15, 25, 50, etc.

[0136] 10. Scalar quantization divides the dynamic range of a single data point into several intervals (quantization intervals), each interval corresponding to a discrete value (or codeword) in the codebook. For each data point x(n), its quantization interval is found and mapped to the index of the corresponding vector (or codeword) in the codebook.

[0137] The codebook can have dimensions M*N*C, where M, N, and C are all positive integers. C can be understood as the number of channels in the codebook, and M*N can represent the size of a feature map in the codebook, where a feature map includes one or more vectors (or codewords).

[0138] 11. Vector quantization is the joint quantization of a set of sample points (vectors), which maps the input to the closest vector (or codeword) in a predefined codebook.

[0139] For example, given an input S = {s1, s2, s3…sj}, where j is the vector dimension, based on the codebook (where each vector contains j elements), for the input, calculate the distance (e.g., Euclidean distance) between the input and all vectors in the codebook. Select the vector with the smallest distance as the quantization result, and finally output the index of the quantization result in the codebook.

[0140] The terms mentioned above may have other names, or may appear as the standard evolves; no specific limitations are made in this regard.

[0141] In the various embodiments of this application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, refers to "singular nouns or plural nouns," that is, "one or more." "At least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of singular or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0142] In this application embodiment, "instruction" can include direct instruction, indirect instruction, explicit instruction, and implicit instruction. When describing a certain instruction information to indicate A, it can be understood that the instruction information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A. In this application, the information indicated by the instruction information is called the information to be instructed. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be instructed, such as, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be instructed, such as the information to be instructed itself or its index. It can also indirectly indicate the information to be instructed by indicating other information, wherein there is an association between the other information and the information to be instructed. It can also indicate only a part of the information to be instructed, while the other parts of the information to be instructed are known or agreed upon in advance. For example, the instruction of specific information can also be achieved by using the arrangement order of various information in advance (e.g., protocol stipulation), thereby reducing the instruction overhead to a certain extent. In addition, the information to be instructed can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information to be sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different.

[0143] In the embodiments of this application, "send" and "receive" indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "send information to XX" can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, which may include direct transmission via the air interface or indirect transmission by other units or modules via the air interface. "Receive information from YY" can be understood as the source of the information being YY, which may include direct reception from YY via the air interface or indirect reception from YY by other units or modules via the air interface. "Send" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receive" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface. In other words, sending and receiving can occur between devices, such as between network devices and terminal devices, or within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules, or hardware modules within the device via a bus, wiring, or interface.

[0144] In addition, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplarily," "for example," "likely," "optional," "possible implementation," "possible mode of implementation," or "possible design" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design scheme described as an "example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Specifically, the use of the term "example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner. In the embodiments of this application, "of," "corresponding / relevant," and "corresponding" may sometimes be used interchangeably, and it should be noted that their intended meanings are consistent unless their distinction is emphasized.

[0145] The various embodiments of this application can be applied to satellite communication systems, 5G communication systems, new radio (NR) systems, future evolution communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication systems, Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems, future evolution communication systems, or other communication systems. 5G communication systems include non-standalone (NSA) 5G communication systems and / or standalone (SA) 5G communication systems. Furthermore, the various embodiments of this application can also be applied to various converged communication systems, such as systems that integrate satellite communication systems and 5G communication systems. In addition, the technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems or other communication systems.

[0146] The following is combined with Figure 1 The schematic diagram of the communication system shown illustrates the communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application. Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 1000 includes an access network (AN) 100. Optionally, the communication system may also include a core network (CN) 200 and an Internet 300. The access network 100 may include at least one network device (or network equipment, or network-side equipment), such as... Figure 1 The system includes 110a and 110b. 110a is a base station, and 110b is a microstation. The communication system 1000 may also include at least one terminal device (or terminal equipment), such as... Figure 1 The numbers 120a to 120j represent different devices. 120a, 120e, 120f, and 120j are mobile phones; 120b is a car; 120c is a fuel dispenser; 120d is a home access point (HAP) deployed indoors or outdoors; 120g is a laptop; 120h is a printer; and 120i is a drone. The same terminal device or network device can provide different functions in different application scenarios. For example... Figure 1The mobile phones included are 120a, 120e, 120f, and 120j. Mobile phone 120a can access base station 110a, connect to car 120b, communicate directly with mobile phone 120e, and access the HAP. Car 120b can access the HAP and communicate directly with mobile phone 120a. Mobile phone 120f can connect to micro-station 110b, connect to laptop 120g, and connect to printer 120h. Mobile phone 120j can control drone 120i. The details of the network devices and terminal devices can be found in the preceding sections on network devices and terminal devices, and will not be listed here.

[0147] The roles of network devices and terminal devices can be relative, for example, Figure 1 The helicopter or drone 120i can be configured as a mobile network device. For terminal devices 120j that access the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal device 120i is a network device; however, for network device 110a, 120i is a terminal device, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a network device-to-network device interface protocol; in this case, 120i is also a network device relative to 110a. Therefore, both network devices and terminal devices can be collectively referred to as communication devices. Figure 1 110a and 110b can be referred to as communication devices with network device functions. Figure 1 The 120a-120j in the text can be referred to as communication devices with terminal device functions.

[0148] Communication between base stations and terminal devices, between base stations, and between terminal devices can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0149] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating the architecture of a network device is provided. Figure 2As shown, the network device (or access network device) includes a baseband section (or baseband, baseband device, or baseband module, etc.) and a radio frequency (RF) section (or RF, RF front-end, RF device, or RF module, etc.). The baseband section and the RF section can communicate via a fronthaul interface; correspondingly, the communication link between the baseband section and the RF section is the fronthaul link. The fronthaul interface includes, but is not limited to, the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) and / or the Enhanced Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI).

[0150] The baseband section is primarily responsible for signal and protocol processing. It may include, for example, a baseband unit (BBU) or a DU. The radio frequency (RF) section is primarily responsible for signal reception and transmission, as well as some computational functions. Optionally, the RF section may include, for example, a computational section and an antenna section (or simply an antenna). The antenna section is responsible for signal transmission and reception, while the computational section is used for calculations. The RF section may include, for example, an RRU, RRH, AAU, or RU.

[0151] For example, the baseband section includes a BBU, and the radio frequency section includes an RRU, RRH, or AAU. Alternatively, the baseband section includes a DU and a CU, and the radio frequency section includes a RU.

[0152] The Baseband Buffer Unit (BBU) can be considered a control network element, supporting functions above the interface based on the eCPRI protocol (e.g., functions above the physical payer-high (PHY-H) layer, specifically including the radio resource control (RRC) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, radio link control (RLC) layer, media / medium access control address (MAC) layer, and PHY-High layer functions). Specifically, the BBU can implement functions such as coding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, and layer mapping, as well as decoding, descrambling, inverse discrete fourier transform (IDFT), and channel estimation / equalization. Optionally, the processing unit in the BBU used to implement baseband functions can be called a baseband high (BBH) unit.

[0153] RRU / AAU / RRH can be considered as execution network elements, which can support functions below the interface based on the CPRI protocol (e.g., functions below radio frequency functions). The processing unit in RRU / AAU / RRH used to implement baseband functions is called the baseband low (BBL) unit.

[0154] Communication between RRU / AAU / RRH and BBU can be achieved through an intermediate network element. This intermediate network element can possess various low-physical-layer (PHY-Low) functions (e.g., precoding, resource element (RE) mapping, RE inverse mapping, etc.). The intermediate network element... Figure 2 The diagram does not provide a specific illustration. Optionally, intermediate network elements may also be included within the network device; that is, Figure 2 Both the BBU and intermediate network elements in the network are network devices. The high physical layer and the low physical layer are collectively referred to as the physical layer (physical payer-high, PHY-H).

[0155] Figure 3 This diagram illustrates the architecture of a communication system. The system includes core network devices, access network devices, and terminal devices. The access network devices may be, for example, eNBs, gNBs, or next-generation access network equipment. The access network devices can communicate with the core network (specifically, with core network devices within the core network) via a backhaul link, and with the terminal devices via an air interface.

[0156] For example, the BBU in the access network device communicates with the core network via a backhaul link, and the RU in the access network device communicates with at least one terminal device via an air interface. The BBU can serve as... Figure 2 One example of the baseband portion is that the RU can be used as... Figure 2 An example of the radio frequency section. The BBU communicates with at least one RU via a fronthaul link. The BBU and RU may or may not be co-located.

[0157] A BBU consists of at least one CU and at least one DU, and the CU and DU can communicate with each other via at least one midhaul link.

[0158] Optionally, the CU is a platform that performs upper-layer L2 and L3 functions. Traffic between the CU and the core network can be carried through the backhaul interface. The DU performs L1 and some L2 functions. Traffic between the CU and DU can be carried through the midhaul interface. The RU performs L1 computation and RF digital functions. Traffic between the RU and DU can be carried through the fronthaul interface. An integrated DU includes the functions of both the DU and RU mentioned above.

[0159] The hardware of a CU / DU includes a chassis platform, motherboard, peripherals, and cooling system. The motherboard contains processing units, memory, internal I / O interfaces, and external connection ports. The processing unit is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), such as an x86 or RAM-based CPU. The CU / DU hardware also includes hardware accelerators, which are designed with interfaces. Hardware functional components include: storage for software, hardware, and system debugging interfaces, and a single-board management controller.

[0160] DU systems are typically implemented using multi-core processors and one or more hardware accelerators. Parts of the DU protocol stack can be implemented in software running on the multi-core processor, while computationally intensive L1 and L2 functions can be offloaded to the hardware accelerator. The hardware accelerator can be a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) / graphics processing unit (GPU); alternatively, all L1 functions can be offloaded to the hardware accelerator, while other protocol stack components are implemented in software running on the processor; or the entire protocol stack can be implemented in software running on the processor. The hardware accelerator supports interconnection with x86 or non-x86 processors. Similarly, the accelerator has a multi-channel PCIe interface pointing to the CPU and external connections via GbE.

[0161] The RU consists of three parts: the open-RAN processing unit (OPU), the data processing unit (DPU), and the radio frequency processing unit (RF processing unit).

[0162] An OPU can be implemented through a RAN fronthaul (RAN FH) processing unit, a CPU, an FPGA, or an ASIC. For example, an OPU receives eCPRI frames from the O-RAN fronthaul and performs fronthaul interface operations, the lowest level L1 (encoding, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, precoding), synchronization, beamforming, and resource unit mapping.

[0163] The DPU performs synchronization, digital downconversion (DDC) (e.g., digital downconversion in UL), digital upconversion (DDC) (e.g., digital upconversion in DL), crest factor reduction (CFR), and digital pre-distortion (DPD) to improve power amplifier efficiency by reducing the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) / adjacent channel power ratio (ACLR) of the RF front end. The DPU can be implemented using an FPGA or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0164] The RF processing unit includes a transceiver module, up / down converters, power amplifiers (PA), low-noise amplifiers (LNA), and transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) filters. The transceiver module can be used for all conversions between the analog and digital domains (digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), specifically, for example, RF sampling, using RF in up-conversion and down-conversion, frequency conversion by mixing intermediate frequency (IF) and local oscillator (LO), etc. Furthermore, the physical and logical partitions within the RF processing unit may not have specific boundaries.

[0165] The architecture of the access network device can be an open architecture, in which case the access network device can also be called an O-RAN device or O-RAN equipment, etc.

[0166] Figure 4 This illustrates the division of protocol layers in an access network device. For example... Figure 4 As shown, the access network device includes a baseband section and a radio frequency section. Optionally, the baseband section includes a CU and / or a DU, and the radio frequency section includes a RU.

[0167] In some examples, the CU is a logical node that carries the radio resource control (RRC) layer, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and other control functions of the access network equipment. The CU connects to network nodes such as the core network through interfaces, which may be interfaces such as E2 interfaces.

[0168] Optionally, the CU may possess some core network functions. The CU (e.g., PDCP layer and higher) connects to the DU (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer and lower) through interfaces such as the F1 interface. In some examples, these interfaces (e.g., the F1 interface) can provide control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane) functions (e.g., interface management, system information management, UE context management, RRC message transmission, etc.). The application protocol for the F1 interface is, for example, F1AP, which in some examples defines the F1 signaling procedures. The F1 interface supports control plane F1-C and user plane F1-U.

[0169] In some examples, the CU can be split into a control unit-control plane (CU-CP) and a control unit-user plane (CU-UP). The CU-CP is a logical node carrying the RRC layer and the PDCP control plane (control, C) (which can be abbreviated as PDCP-C) layer, used to implement the CU's control plane functions. The CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement control plane functions. These network elements in the core network can be access and mobility function (AMF) network elements, such as the access and mobility management (AMF) function in a 5G system. AMF network elements are responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as terminal device location updates, terminal device registration with the network, and terminal device handover.

[0170] The CU-UP is a logical node that carries the SDAP layer and the PDCP user plane (which can be abbreviated as PDCP-U) layer, and is used to implement the user plane functions of the CU. The CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network that implement user plane functions. Network elements in the core network that implement user plane functions, such as the user plane function (UPF) in a 5G system, are responsible for forwarding and receiving data in terminal equipment.

[0171] The above is an example of configuring CU and DU. The functions of CU and DU can be flexibly configured according to requirements. For example, CU or DU can be configured to have more protocol layer functions, or CU or DU can be configured to have partial protocol layer processing functions. For example, some functions of the RLC layer and the protocol layer functions above the RLC layer can be set in CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the protocol layer functions below the RLC layer can be set in DU. As another example, the functions of CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements. For example, according to latency, functions that need to meet the minimum latency requirement can be set in DU, and functions that do not need to meet the latency requirement can be set in CU.

[0172] In some examples, the DU is a logical node carrying the RLC layer, medium access control / media access control (MAC) layer, high / higher physical layer (PHY-H) layer, and other functions. In some examples, the DU can control at least one RU. The DU connects to the RU through interfaces, which can be fronthaul interfaces. In some examples, the PHY-H layer includes the PHY layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0173] In some examples, the RU is a logical node that carries both lower physical layer (PHY-L) and radio frequency (RF) processing.

[0174] In some examples, the RU can be a 3GPP transmit / receive point (TRP), a remote radio head (RRH), or other similar entities. In some examples, the Low-PHY includes PHY processing functions such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), digital beamforming, and filtering. The RU communicates with one or more UEs via a radio link.

[0175] The DU and RU can be co-located or not. The DU and RU exchange control plane and user plane information via a fronthaul link through a lower-layer split-control, user, and synchronization (LLS-CUS / LLS-C / U / S) interface. LLS-CUS may include LLS-C and LLS-U interfaces providing the control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane), respectively. In some examples, the control plane (C-Plane) refers to real-time control between the DU and RU. The DU and RU exchange management information via an LLS-M interface on the fronthaul link; the management plane (M-Plane) refers to non-real-time management operations between the DU and RU. The management plane (M-Plane) can interact with the management system.

[0176] DU and RU can cooperate to implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of DU and RU can be configured in various ways depending on the design. For example, a DU can be configured to implement baseband functions, and an RU can be configured to implement mid-RF functions. Another example is that a DU can be configured to implement higher-level functions in the PHY layer, and an RU can be configured to implement lower-level functions in the PHY layer, or to implement both lower-level and RF functions. Higher-level functions in the physical layer can include a portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the MAC layer, while lower-level functions in the physical layer can include another portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the mid-RF side.

[0177] Access network devices can perform downlink transmissions with terminal devices; for example, access network devices can send data or reference signals to terminal devices. Please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the functional division of the radio frequency section and the baseband section during downlink transmission. Figure 5 The functional division shown can also be called the 7-2 division.

[0178] like Figure 5 As shown, after the data is processed by the MAC layer of the access network device, the radio frequency (RF) section of the access network device can sequentially encode, modulate, and layer map the data from the MAC layer. After layer mapping, the data sequentially undergoes precoding, resource-mapping, beamforming, IFFT, and RF processing in the baseband section, thereby transmitting the processed data to the terminal device.

[0179] Encoding is used to calculate checksums for the data, increasing the reliability of data transmission. Modulation maps the data into high-frequency signals suitable for channel transmission, such as modulating the data into constellation symbols. Layer mapping maps different data (or data streams) to different antenna ports. Precoding is used to adjust or optimize signal transmission. Resource mapping maps data to time-domain and frequency-domain resources. Beamforming uses beamforming weight data to control the phase and amplitude of the antenna, thereby focusing the signal in a specific direction or area for transmission.

[0180] continue Figure 5 As shown, the baseband section of the access network device generates a reference signal and performs layer mapping processing on the reference signal. After layer mapping processing, the reference signal can sequentially pass through precoding, resource mapping, beamforming, IFFT, and RF in the baseband section, thereby sending the processed reference signal to the terminal device.

[0181] Similarly, access network devices can perform uplink transmissions with terminal devices; for example, a terminal device can send data or reference signals to an access network device. Please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the functional division of the radio frequency section and the baseband section during the uplink process.

[0182] like Figure 6 As shown, in one functional partitioning method, data from the terminal device can undergo FFT, beamforming, and resource demapping sequentially through the radio frequency section of the access network device. After resource demapping, the data is then subjected to equalization, demodulation, and decoding sequentially through the baseband section, and finally sent to the MAC layer of the access network device. This functional partitioning method can be called Class A partitioning.

[0183] Encoding is used to calculate checksums for the data, increasing the reliability of data transmission. Modulation maps the data into high-frequency signals suitable for channel transmission, such as modulating the data into constellation symbols. Layer mapping maps different data (or data streams) to different antenna ports. Precoding is used to adjust or optimize signal transmission. Resource mapping maps data to time-domain and frequency-domain resources. Beamforming uses beamforming weight data to control the phase and amplitude of the antenna, thereby focusing the signal in a specific direction or area for transmission.

[0184] In another possible partitioning approach, the data from the terminal device can undergo FFT, beamforming, resource demapping, and equalization sequentially through the radio frequency section of the access network device. The equalized data is then demodulated and decoded sequentially by the baseband section before being sent to the MAC layer of the access network device. This functional partitioning method can be called the Type B partitioning method. In this approach, resource demapping is the inverse process of resource mapping.

[0185] continue Figure 6 As shown, the radio frequency (RF) section of the access network device sequentially performs FFT, beamforming, and resource demapping on the reference signal from the terminal device. The baseband section can perform channel estimation and / or calculate beamforming weight data based on the reference signal after resource demapping. This functional division method can be called the 7-2 split method.

[0186] Since the access network device serves multiple users (or terminal devices) simultaneously, its baseband section, in conjunction with reference signals from multiple users, calculates beamforming weight data corresponding to each user. The baseband section also needs to transmit this calculated beamforming weight data to the radio frequency (RF) section so that the RF section can perform beamforming based on this data during subsequent data transmission. However, the beamforming weight data corresponding to different users exhibits orthogonality, meaning the redundancy rate or redundancy of the beamforming weight data for different users is relatively low. Therefore, the baseband section cannot compress the beamforming weight data effectively, or the compressibility of the beamforming weight data is low, resulting in the baseband section transmitting a large amount of data to the RF section.

[0187] For example, please refer to Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of communication between the access network device and the UE. Figure 7The access network device includes two antenna elements, such as antenna element 1 and antenna element 2. Antenna element 1 and antenna element 2 serve UE1, and antenna element 1 and antenna element 2 serve UE2. To reduce interference between UE1 and UE2, the beamforming weight data corresponding to UE1 and UE2 should be orthogonal. Therefore, after the baseband part calculates the beamforming weight data corresponding to UE1 and UE2, it cannot compress these beamforming weight data.

[0188] In view of this, embodiments of this application provide a communication method in which a second device (e.g., a baseband section) can indicate a plurality of compressed second vectors (i.e., at least one first vector) to a third device (e.g., a radio frequency section). The third device determines beamforming weight data based on the at least one first vector. The plurality of second vectors corresponding to different users indicate the channel characteristics of different users. Since the channel characteristics of different users have a certain similarity, the plurality of second vectors have a certain correlation, redundancy, or sparsity, making the plurality of second vectors more compressible. Therefore, the second device can compress the plurality of second vectors to a greater extent, which can reduce the amount of data transmission between the second device and the third device.

[0189] The communication method provided in this application embodiment can be applied to the above-mentioned... Figures 1 to 4 In addition to the communication systems mentioned in the embodiments of this application, the communication method can also be used with other communication systems, as described below. Figure 8 , Figure 9A or Figure 9B The communication system shown is illustrated with an example.

[0190] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 8 As shown in Figure (1), the communication system includes a first device, a second device, and a third device. The first device can communicate with the second device through the third device, for example, through optical fiber communication.

[0191] For example, the first device is used for signal transmission and reception, the second device is used for signal modulation and other processing, and the third device is used to assist the first device in calculation. The first device may communicate directly with the second device, or the first device may communicate with the second device through the third device; there is no limitation on this.

[0192] Optionally, the second device includes at least one baseband section. When the second device includes multiple baseband sections, it may also be referred to as a baseband pool. The first device includes an antenna, such as an antenna array, which can be part of the radio frequency (RF) section. The third device can be a computing module or computing section within the RF section, or it can be understood that the first and second devices are two modules within the RF section. The first and third devices can be coupled or integrated. Figure 8 In section (1), a dashed box indicates that the first and third devices can be integrated into one device or equipment. Alternatively, the first and third devices can be set up relatively independently and can communicate with each other; this is not limited. The baseband section can be referred to above. Figures 2 to 4 The discussion covers the baseband section; for the radio frequency section, please refer to the previous text. Figures 2 to 4 The radio frequency (RF) portion of the discussion will not be listed here. The computing module has computing capabilities and may include one or more processors (such as a central processing unit), a controller, a microcomputer, a server, or a personal computer, etc., without specific limitations on its implementation.

[0193] In the various embodiments of this application, one of the at least Qs can be a single Q among at least four Qs, or any Q among at least four Qs. Here, Q can be understood as a pronoun, referring to a noun or a noun phrase, etc. For example, one of the at least four first devices can be a single first device, or any of the at least four first devices. Similarly, in the various embodiments of this application, one of the multiple Qs can be a single Q among multiple Qs, or any Q among multiple Qs.

[0194] like Figure 8 As shown in Figure (2), the communication system includes multiple first devices, second devices, and third devices. Any one of the multiple first devices can communicate with the second device through the third device, for example, through optical fiber communication. The multiple first devices can communicate directly with the second device respectively, or the multiple first devices can communicate with the second device respectively through the third device, without limitation.

[0195] Compared to Figure 8 Middle (1), Figure 8 In (2), multiple first devices share a third device, or a third device can serve multiple first devices. In this case, the third device and any of the first devices can be used as an example of a radio frequency section.

[0196] Figure 9A This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 9A Can be used as Figure 8 An example of a communication system in (1). Figure 9A As shown, the communication system includes a baseband pool and multiple radio frequency (RF) components (such as RF component 1, RF component 2, or RF component 3, etc.). Figure 9A One of the radio frequency sections shown is equivalent to including the preceding text. Figure 8 A first device and a third device are shown in (1).

[0197] Figure 9B This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 9B Can be used as Figure 8 An example of a communication system in (2). Figure 9B As shown, the communication system includes a baseband pool, a computing module, and multiple antenna arrays (such as antenna array 1, antenna array 2, or antenna array 3). Figure 9B The antenna array shown can be used as a reference in the preceding text. Figure 8 Example of a first device shown in (2), the computing module can be used as described above. Figure 8 The example of a third device shown in (2) does not actually limit the specific implementation of the first and third devices.

[0198] The architecture of the communication system described above is merely an example of the communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application, and does not actually limit the communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application.

[0199] The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of this application, all steps indicated by dashed lines are optional steps. Furthermore, at least one first device involved in the various embodiments of this application is, for example, Figure 2 The antenna section of the radio frequency component involved, Figure 3 The antenna section of the RU involved, Figure 4 The antenna section of the radio frequency component involved, Figure 8 The first device or multiple first devices involved Figure 9A The antennas corresponding to the multiple radio frequency components involved, or Figure 9B The multiple antenna arrays involved, the second device is, for example, Figure 2 The baseband portion involved, Figure 3 The BBU, DU, or CU involved Figure 4 The baseband portion involved, Figure 8 Any of the second devices involved Figure 9A The baseband pool involved, or Figure 9B The baseband cell involved, and the third device, for example, are Figure 2 The computational part of the radio frequency section involved, Figure 3 The computational part of the RU involved, Figure 4The antenna section of the radio frequency component involved, Figure 8 The third device involved Figure 9A The computational part of the multiple radio frequency components involved, or Figure 9B The computing modules involved. Furthermore, as standards evolve, the name and / or function of the device may change, but this is not a limitation.

[0200] Figure 10 This illustration shows a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The following describes... Figure 10 The steps involved will be described.

[0201] S1001, At least one first device sends multiple reference signals to a second device.

[0202] If the number of first devices included in at least one first device is different, then the content of the multiple reference signals sent by at least one first device to the second device will also be different. The following will introduce cases A1 and A2 respectively.

[0203] Case A1: At least one first device includes a first device.

[0204] For example, each of the multiple users (or terminal devices) can transmit at least one reference signal, such as SRS or DMRS, to the first device. The resources (such as time-domain resources and / or frequency-domain resources) used by these multiple users to transmit the reference signals can be the same or different, without limitation. Similarly, the first device can receive multiple reference signals. These multiple reference signals correspond to multiple users. For example, one of the multiple reference signals corresponds to one of the multiple users. Optionally, each of the multiple reference signals corresponds to one of the multiple users.

[0205] In one possible design, any two reference signals among the multiple reference signals correspond to two different users among the multiple users. In this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the multiple reference signals and the multiple users. In another possible design, at least two reference signals among the multiple reference signals correspond to the same user among the multiple users. In this case, there is a many-to-one correspondence between the multiple reference signals and the multiple users.

[0206] For example, multiple users include User 1, User 2, and User 3. User 1 can send one reference signal to the first device, User 2 can send one reference signal to the first device, and User 3 can send one reference signal to the first device. And so on, the first device can receive three reference signals. Alternatively, User 1 can send two reference signals to the first device, User 2 can send two reference signals to the first device, and User 3 can send three reference signals to the first device. And so on, the first device can receive a total of seven reference signals.

[0207] Optionally, the first device can send multiple reference signals to the second device or to the second device via a third device, such as via optical fiber. Alternatively, the first device can process the multiple reference signals separately, performing at least one of the following processes: FFT, beamforming, and resource demapping, and then send the processed multiple reference signals to the second device or to the second device via the third device. Alternatively, the first device can send the multiple reference signals to the third device, which processes the multiple reference signals separately, performing at least one of the following processes: FFT, beamforming, and resource demapping, and then sends the processed multiple reference signals to the second device.

[0208] For example, please refer to Figure 11 This is a functional partitioning diagram for processing reference signals provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 11 As shown, the third device can perform FFT, beamforming and resource demapping processing on multiple reference signals respectively, and send the processed multiple reference signals to the second device.

[0209] Case A2: At least one first device includes a plurality of first devices.

[0210] For example, each of the plurality of first devices may receive at least one reference signal from at least one of the plurality of users. Similarly, the plurality of first devices cumulatively receive a plurality of reference signals. These plurality of reference signals correspond to the plurality of users. One of the plurality of reference signals corresponds to one of the plurality of users. In summary, the embodiments of this application do not limit the number of users among the plurality of users that send reference signals to each of the plurality of first devices.

[0211] Optionally, any two of the multiple reference signals may correspond to two different users among the multiple users. In this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the multiple reference signals and the multiple users. Alternatively, at least two of the multiple reference signals may correspond to the same user among the multiple users. In this case, there is a many-to-one correspondence between the multiple reference signals and the multiple users.

[0212] Alternatively, any two of the multiple reference signals may correspond to two different first devices among the multiple first devices. In this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the multiple reference signals and the multiple first devices. Or, at least two of the multiple reference signals may correspond to the same first device among the multiple first devices. In this case, there may be a many-to-one correspondence between the multiple reference signals and the multiple first devices.

[0213] For example, if multiple users include User 1 and User 2, and multiple first devices include Radio Frequency Section 1 and Radio Frequency Section 2, then User 1 can send a reference signal to Radio Frequency Section 1, and User 2 can send a reference signal to Radio Frequency Section 2. And so on, the multiple first devices can receive two reference signals. Alternatively, User 1 and User 2 can each send a reference signal to Radio Frequency Section 1, and User 1 and User 2 can each send a reference signal to the first device. And so on, the multiple first devices can cumulatively receive four reference signals.

[0214] In summary, any one of the plurality of first devices can receive at least one reference signal. Optionally, any one of the plurality of first devices can transmit the received at least one first reference signal to a second device. Alternatively, any one of the first devices can process the at least one reference signal separately (e.g., including at least one of FFT, beamforming, and resource demapping), and transmit the processed at least one reference signal to the second device. Alternatively, the first device can transmit at least one reference signal to a third device, which processes the received plurality of reference signals separately, performing processes such as FFT, beamforming, and resource demapping, and transmit the processed plurality of reference signals to the second device. And so on, the second device can obtain the processed plurality of reference signals from the plurality of first devices.

[0215] S1002, the second device sends the first information to the third device. Correspondingly, the third device receives the first information from the second device.

[0216] For example, the first information is used to indicate at least one first vector. The at least one first vector is obtained by compressing a plurality of second vectors, which are determined based on a plurality of reference signals. One of the plurality of second vectors indicates the channel characteristics of one user among the plurality of users; for example, each of the plurality of second vectors indicates the channel characteristics of one user among the plurality of users. For example, the plurality of second vectors are {W1, W2, ... W...} K}, where W1 represents the channel characteristics of user 1, W2 represents the channel characteristics of user 1, and so on, W kThis represents the channel characteristics of user k. The specific form of the multiple second vectors can be a vector, matrix, function, or other form, and is not limited thereto. Any of the multiple second vectors can include at least one element, optionally, one of which can be a complex number. The specific meanings of the multiple second vectors can include the two types shown in B1 and B2 below, which will be described separately.

[0217] B1. Multiple second vectors can be vectors in the spatial and frequency domains. In this case, one of the multiple second vectors can specifically indicate the channel characteristics of one of the multiple users in the spatial and frequency domains. The spatial domain refers to the spatial dimension, such as information indicating antenna elements (e.g., the number of antenna elements, the location of antenna elements, the direction of antenna elements, or at least one of the beam patterns). The spatial and frequency domains can also be called the spatial-frequency domain, representing the joint distribution of signals in space and frequency. A second vector can specifically indicate the channel characteristics of one of the multiple users in the spatial and frequency domains. This can also be further understood as a second vector representing or describing the characteristic distribution of signals transmitted by each antenna element of a user in each frequency domain element, or the distribution of a user's antenna elements in the frequency domain.

[0218] B2. Multiple second vectors can be vectors in the angle domain and the time delay domain. In this case, one of the multiple second vectors can specifically indicate the channel characteristics of one of the multiple users in the angle domain and the time delay domain. The angle domain indicates the transmit angle (or transmission angle, such as the departure angle of the signal) of the user's antenna element. The time delay domain indicates the delay of the signal transmitted by the user. The angle domain and the time delay domain can also be called the angle-time delay domain, representing the distribution of the signal in spatial angle and propagation delay. A second vector can specifically indicate the channel characteristics of one of the multiple users in the angle domain and the time delay domain. This can also be further understood as a second vector representing or describing the characteristic distribution of the signal transmitted by each antenna element of a user at each transmit angle in each time delay, or the distribution of the user's transmit angle in the time delay.

[0219] Optionally, when the multiple second vectors are the multiple second vectors shown in B1 or B2 above, any one of the multiple second vectors can be a vector in complex form. For example, any second vector includes a first sub-vector composed of real parts and a second sub-vector composed of imaginary parts. The first sub-vector includes the real part of the second vector, and the second sub-vector includes the imaginary part of the second vector.

[0220] The following is an example illustrating how the second device determines multiple second vectors.

[0221] For example, the second device determines a plurality of second vectors based on a plurality of reference signals.

[0222] The second device can determine the channel matrix corresponding to a user based on the reference signal corresponding to each user among multiple reference signals. For example, the second device can determine the channel matrix corresponding to a user based on the received reference signal of a user and the reference signal actually transmitted by the user. For example, the formula for determining a channel matrix can refer to the following formula.

[0223] Y = H u X

[0224] Where Y represents the channel matrix corresponding to a user, X represents the reference signal actually transmitted by that user, and H... u This indicates the reference signal received by the second device from the user.

[0225] Similarly, the second device can determine the channel matrices corresponding to multiple users, thus obtaining multiple channel matrices. These multiple channel matrices can be called the global channel matrix. For example, the multiple channel matrices could be {H1, H2, ... H...} K}, where H1 is the channel matrix corresponding to user 1, H2 is the channel matrix corresponding to user 2, and H K Let K be the channel matrix corresponding to user K.

[0226] The second device can perform eigenvalue decomposition on multiple channel matrices to obtain the user feature vector corresponding to each of the multiple users, i.e., obtain multiple user feature vectors, which are vectors in the spatial and frequency domains. For example, the second device determines the covariance matrix of multiple channel matrices and decomposes the covariance matrix to obtain the feature vector corresponding to each of the multiple users.

[0227] In one possible implementation, the multiple user feature vectors are multiple second vectors. In this case, the multiple second vectors are the multiple second vectors shown in B1 above.

[0228] In another possible implementation, the second device can transform multiple user feature vectors (e.g., perform FFT in the spatial domain and IFFT in the frequency domain sequentially) to obtain multiple second vectors. In this case, the multiple second vectors are the multiple second vectors shown in B2 above.

[0229] In another possible implementation, before performing eigenvalue decomposition on the multiple channel matrices, the second device may further compress the multiple channel matrices. The second device may compress these multiple channel matrices, perform eigenvalue decomposition on the compressed channel matrices, and determine multiple second vectors. The compression of the multiple channel matrices may involve scalar quantization or vector quantization; no specific limitation is made. The determination of the multiple second vectors through eigenvalue decomposition of the compressed channel matrices can refer to the previously discussed method for determining multiple second vectors through eigenvalue decomposition of multiple channel matrices, and will not be listed here again.

[0230] For example, in the case where at least one first device includes multiple first devices, one of the multiple first devices can serve some or all of the multiple users. In this case, the channel matrix corresponding to these users can be used as the channel matrix of the one first device. The second device can compress the channel matrices corresponding to the multiple first devices based on their respective service quality requirements to obtain multiple compressed channel matrices.

[0231] For example, a second device can compress the channel matrix corresponding to a first device based on the service quality requirements of the first device to obtain a compressed channel matrix. This process can be repeated to obtain multiple compressed channel matrices. The service quality requirements of a first device indicate the level of service quality demanded by the first device, or in other words, the importance of the first device. The service quality requirements of a first device can be represented by values ​​or levels of service quality requirements, without limitation. For example, the service quality requirements of at least one first device can be divided into three levels: high, medium, and low, with high level represented by 2, medium level by 1, and low level by 0.

[0232] In one possible design, the compression ratio of the channel matrix of a first device is inversely correlated with the service quality requirements of one of the at least one first device. A channel matrix is ​​the channel matrix corresponding to a first device among a plurality of channel matrices.

[0233] Optionally, the service quality requirements of a first device are related to at least one of the following: the number of users served by the first device, the expected data transmission rate of the first device, or the service priority of the users served by the first device. For example, the more users the first device serves, the higher the expected data transmission rate of the first device, and the higher the service priority of the users served by the first device, the higher the service quality requirements of the first device. Conversely, the fewer users the first device serves, the lower the expected data transmission rate of the first device, and the lower the service priority of the users served by the first device, the higher the service quality requirements of the first device.

[0234] The second device may pre-store the service quality requirements of at least one first device. Alternatively, the service quality requirements of at least one first device may be obtained by the second device from at least one first device or a third device. Alternatively, the service quality requirements of at least one first device may also be predefined by a protocol. Alternatively, the second device may determine the service quality requirements of at least one first device based on at least one of the following: the number of users served by at least one first device, the expected data transmission rate, or the service priority of the users served.

[0235] For example, the second device pre-stores a first correspondence, which indicates the correspondence between at least one of the following: the number of users for different services, different expected data transmission rates, or different service priorities of users, and different service quality requirements. The second device can determine the service quality requirements of the first device based on at least one of the following: the number of users served by the first device, the expected data transmission rate, or the service priority of the users, and the first correspondence.

[0236] For example, multiple users include users 1 to 4, and multiple channel matrices include channel matrices H1, H2, H3, and H4 corresponding to users 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Multiple first devices include first device 1 and first device 2. First device 1 serves users 1, 2, and 3, and first device 2 serves user 4. Therefore, the channel matrix corresponding to first device 1 includes channel matrix H1, H2, and H3, and the channel matrix corresponding to first device 2 includes channel matrix H4. If a second device determines that the service quality requirements of first device 1 are higher than those of first device 2, then the second device can determine that the compression ratio of channel matrices H1, H2, and H3 corresponding to first device 1 is lower than the compression ratio of channel matrix H4 corresponding to first device 2.

[0237] The second device performs eigenvalue analysis on the compressed channel matrices to obtain multiple user feature vectors. In one possible implementation, the multiple user feature vectors are multiple second vectors. In this case, the multiple second vectors are the multiple second vectors shown in B1 above. In another possible implementation, the second device can transform these multiple user feature vectors (e.g., perform FFT in the spatial domain and IFFT in the frequency domain sequentially) to obtain multiple second vectors. In this case, the multiple second vectors are the multiple second vectors shown in B2 above.

[0238] After the second device obtains multiple second vectors, at least one first vector can be determined based on these multiple second vectors. The at least one first vector can be understood as the compressed result of the multiple second vectors. The process of determining at least one first vector is described below.

[0239] In method F1, when multiple second vectors are the multiple second vectors shown in B1 above, the second device can convert the multiple second vectors to obtain multiple third vectors. These multiple third vectors are vectors in the angle domain and the time delay domain. The second device can compress these multiple third vectors, for example, by performing vector quantization or scalar quantization, to obtain at least one first vector.

[0240] Optionally, if any of the plurality of second vectors includes a first sub-vector composed of real parts and a second sub-vector composed of imaginary parts, then any of the plurality of third vectors may also include a third sub-vector composed of real parts and a fourth sub-vector composed of imaginary parts. Furthermore, since the plurality of third vectors are vectors in the angle domain and the time-delay domain, at least one first vector can also be considered as a vector in the angle domain and the time-delay domain.

[0241] Optionally, before compressing the multiple third vectors, the second device may determine a first compression method and / or compression ratio, and may also determine the codebook corresponding to the first compression method, etc., and then the second device may compress the multiple third vectors based on the first compression method and / or compression ratio. At least one of the first compression method, compression ratio, or codebook may also be predefined by a protocol.

[0242] The following example illustrates the process of the second device performing vector quantization on multiple third vectors.

[0243] For example, the second device can, based on the codebook, determine the vector (or codeword) in the codebook that has the smallest distance (or the greatest similarity) to any one of the plurality of third vectors, and use this vector (or codeword) as the compression result of said third vector. This is equivalent to performing vector quantization on a third vector. Similarly, the second device can determine the compression results corresponding to the plurality of third vectors, where each compression result can be at least one first vector. In other words, any one of the plurality of third vectors corresponds to one of the at least one first vector.

[0244] Alternatively, the second device can also perform vector quantization on the third sub-vector composed of the real parts and the fourth sub-vector composed of the imaginary parts of each of the multiple third vectors, based on a codebook. For example, the second device can perform vector quantization on the third sub-vector composed of the real parts of each of the multiple third vectors based on one codebook, and on the fourth sub-vector composed of the real parts of each of the multiple third vectors based on another codebook. The process of vector quantizing the real or imaginary part of each third vector can refer to the process of vector quantizing a single third vector. This is applicable to the case where the multiple third vectors are complex numbers.

[0245] The following example illustrates the process of the second device performing vector quantization on multiple third vectors.

[0246] For example, the second device can, based on the codebook, determine the vector (or codeword) in the codebook that has the smallest distance to a third sub-vector among any of the plurality of third vectors, and use this vector (or codeword) as the compression result of the third sub-vector among the stated third vector; and the vector (or codeword) in the codebook that has the smallest distance to a fourth sub-vector among any of the plurality of third vectors, and use this vector (or codeword) as the compression result of the fourth sub-vector among the stated third vector. Similarly, the second device can determine the compression results corresponding to the plurality of third vectors, and these compression results can serve as at least one first vector.

[0247] For example, please refer to Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of compressing multiple third vectors provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0248] like Figure 12 As shown, the second device, based on a codebook, compresses each of the multiple third vectors to obtain at least one first vector. For example, the multiple third vectors include three vectors: one composed of third sub-vectors E1 and E4; another composed of third sub-vectors E2 and E5; and yet another composed of third sub-vectors E3 and E6. The codebook has a dimension of 3*1*2, meaning it includes two channels, each containing a 3*1 matrix. The first channel (or first feature map) of the codebook includes vectors C1, C2, and C3, and the second channel (or second feature map) includes vectors C4, C5, and C6. The second device determines that the third sub-vectors E1, E2 and E3 are at the smallest distance from C2, C3 and C6 in the codebook, respectively, and the fourth sub-vectors E4, E5 and E6 are at the smallest distance from C4, C1 and C5 in the codebook, respectively. That is, at least one first vector is a vector composed of C2 and C4, a vector composed of C3 and C1, and a vector composed of C6 and C5.

[0249] The following example illustrates the process of scalar quantization of multiple third vectors by the second device.

[0250] For example, the second device performs scalar quantization on the elements of each of the plurality of third vectors, mapping the value of each element to the nearest discrete value (or codeword), which can serve as the compression result of that element. This process is repeated to determine the compression result of each element in the plurality of third vectors, which can serve as at least one first vector. Alternatively, the second device can also perform scalar quantization on the real and imaginary parts of each of the plurality of third vectors based on a codebook, with the process of scalar quantization of the real or imaginary part of each third vector referring to the process of scalar quantization of a single third vector. This can be applied to cases where the plurality of third vectors are complex numbers.

[0251] For example, please refer to Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of compressing multiple third vectors provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0252] like Figure 13 As shown, the second device, based on a codebook, compresses each of the multiple third vectors to obtain at least one first vector. For example, the multiple third vectors include three vectors: one composed of third sub-vectors E1 and E4; another composed of third sub-vectors E2 and E5; and yet another composed of third sub-vectors E3 and E6. Third sub-vectors E1 include elements e1 and e2, E2 includes elements e3 and e4, and E3 includes elements e5 and e6; fourth sub-vectors E4 include elements e7 and e8, E5 includes elements e9 and e10, and E6 includes elements e11 and e12. The codebook has a dimension of 3*1*2. The first channel (or first feature map) of the codebook includes three vectors: C1 (including elements c1 and c2), C2 (including elements c3 and c4), and C3 (including elements c5 and c6). The second channel (or second feature map) of the codebook includes three vectors: C4 (including elements c7 and c8), C5 (including elements c9 and c10), and C6 (including elements c11 and c12). The second device determines that e1 to e6 are mapped to c1, c3, c4, c6, c9, and c12 respectively, and e7 to e12 are mapped to c2, c3, c4, c5, c8, and c12 respectively. That is, at least one vector includes a vector composed of c1, c3, c2, and c3; a vector composed of c4, c6, c4, and c5; and a vector composed of c9, c12, c8, and c12.

[0253] After the second device determines at least one first vector, it can determine first information, which is used to indicate the at least one first vector. For example, the first information includes the index of at least one first vector. The index of the at least one first vector is used to indicate the at least one first vector. The index of any one of the at least one first vectors is used to indicate that any one first vector, such as indicating the position of that any one first vector in the codebook, or distinguishing that any one first vector from other vectors in the codebook. (Continuing to refer to...) Figure 12 In the example shown, the first information may include at least one index of a first vector, such as {2,4; 3,1; 6,5}. Continue to refer to... Figure 13 In the example shown, the first information may include the index of at least one first vector, such as {1,3,2,3; 4,6,4,5; 9,12,8,12}. Alternatively, the first information may also include at least one first vector, or the first information may indicate at least one first vector through other content, without specific limitation.

[0254] In one possible design, the index of at least one first vector can be associated with at least one piece of information. For example, the index of at least one first vector is arranged according to at least one piece of information, or the arrangement of the index of at least one first vector is determined based on at least one piece of information, or the arrangement basis or order of at least one vector is determined based on at least one piece of information, or the index of at least one vector is arranged according to at least one piece of information, or the at least one piece of information is used to indicate the arrangement sequence of the index of at least one vector or to indicate the arrangement order of at least one vector, so that the third device can determine the order of the index of at least one first vector.

[0255] At least one piece of information may include one or more of the information from D1 to D6 below, which will be described in detail below.

[0256] D1. Information on at least one first device. The information on at least one first device is used to indicate at least one first device, such as indicating the identifier of at least one first device, or including the arrangement order of at least one first device. In the case where at least one first device includes multiple first devices, it is used to distinguish the different first devices. The identifier of at least one first device may be configured by a second device for at least one first device, or determined through negotiation between a third device and a second device, or obtained by the second device from a third device, or predetermined by agreement.

[0257] D2. Information of multiple users. Information of multiple users is used to indicate at least one first device, such as including the identifiers of multiple users, or including the order in which the multiple users are listed. The identifiers of the multiple users may be determined through negotiation between the second device and at least one first device, or predetermined by an agreement, or obtained by the second device from a third device. The identifier of any one of the multiple users may be, for example, a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI), a generic public subscription identifier, a permanent equipment identifier (PEI), or an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), etc., and is not limited thereto.

[0258] D3. Information on the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector. Optionally, the information on the real part of at least one first vector may indicate, for example, the order in which the real parts of at least one first vector are arranged, such as indicating that the real part of at least one first vector comes first and the imaginary part comes last, or indicating that the imaginary part of at least one first vector comes first and the real part comes last.

[0259] Any of the at least one first vector can be represented in complex form, which includes a real part and an imaginary part. The real part can be represented as an in-phase component (I), where I represents the component of the signal in the carrier cosine direction. The imaginary part can be represented as a quadrature component (Q), representing the component of the signal in the carrier sine direction.

[0260] D4. Channel information of at least one first vector. Channel information of at least one first vector may indicate the number of channels of at least one first vector and / or the order in which the channels of at least one first vector are arranged.

[0261] D5. Information on the angle of at least one first vector in the angle domain. This information indicates the angle or position of the at least one first vector in the angle domain, for example, including the order in which the angles of the at least one first vector are arranged. The angle of one of the at least one first vectors in the angle domain is determined based on the angle of the corresponding third vector in the angle domain. (Continue to refer to...) Figure 12 In the example shown, the first vector composed of C2 and C4 corresponds to the third vector composed of E1 and E4.

[0262] D6. Information on the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain. This information indicates the time delay or position of at least one first vector in the time delay domain, for example, including the order of the time delays of at least one first vector in the time delay domain. The time delay of one of the at least one first vectors in the time delay domain can be the time delay of the third vector corresponding to that first vector in the time delay domain. The information described in D5 and D6 above is equivalent to jointly indicating the position of a vector or element in at least one first vector represented by one of the indices of the at least one first vector, or in other words, the information described in D5 and D6 above can be replaced by describing the relative position information of a vector or element in at least one first vector within the at least one first vector. For example, the indices of at least one first vector include 1 and 2, where index 1 indicates the vector in the first row of the at least one first vector, and index 2 indicates the vector in the second row.

[0263] In the first optional approach, at least one piece of information includes the information shown in D2, D3, D5 to D6 above, and the index of at least one first vector is arranged sequentially according to at least one piece of information. That is, at least one piece of information includes information about multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, information about the angle of at least one first vector in the angle domain, and information about the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain.

[0264] Please refer to Figure 14 This is an arrangement of the indices of at least one first vector provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 14 In this example, a user is defined as a UE, multiple UEs include UE1 and UE2, at least one first vector has an angle from angle 1 to angle N, where N is a positive integer, and at least one first vector has a delay from delay 1 to delay M, where M is an integer greater than 1.

[0265] like Figure 14 As shown, the indices of at least one first vector include 1, 2…8M. These indices of at least one first vector are arranged sequentially according to multiple UEs (e.g., UE1 to UE2), the real and imaginary parts (e.g., real part plus imaginary part) of at least one first vector, the angle of at least one first vector (e.g., angle 1 to angle N), and the time delay of at least one first vector (e.g., time delay 1 to time delay M). For example, indices 1 to M correspond to the indices corresponding to time delays 1 to M under angle 1 in the real part of UE1. Indices M+1 to 2M correspond to the indices corresponding to time delays 1 to M under angle N in the real part of UE1. And so on.

[0266] The first alternative approach can be applied to situations where the second device performs vector quantization on multiple second vectors or multiple third vectors to obtain at least one first vector.

[0267] In the second optional approach, at least one piece of information includes the information shown in D2 to D6 above, and the index of at least one first vector is arranged sequentially based on at least one piece of information. That is, at least one piece of information includes information about multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, information about the channel of at least one first vector, information about the angle of at least one first vector in the angle domain, and information about the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain.

[0268] Please refer to Figure 15 This is an arrangement of the indices of at least one first vector provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 15 In this example, a user is defined as a UE, multiple UEs include UE1, the angle of at least one first vector includes angle 1 to angle N, where N is a positive integer, and the delay of at least one first vector includes delay 1 to delay M, where M is an integer greater than 1. Figure 15 This indicates UE1, but it actually includes other UEs as well. Figure 15 They were not listed one by one.

[0269] like Figure 15 As shown, the indices of at least one first vector include 1, 2…8M, where M is an integer greater than 1. These indices of at least one first vector are arranged sequentially according to multiple UEs, the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, the channel of at least one first vector, the angle of at least one first vector, and the time delay of at least one first vector. For example, indices 1 to M correspond to the indices corresponding to time delays 1 to M under angle 1 of channel 1 in the real part of UE1. Indices M+1 to 2M correspond to the indices corresponding to time delays 1 to M under angle N of channel 1 in the real part of UE1, and indices 2M+1 to 3M correspond to the indices corresponding to time delays 1 to M under angle N of channel 2 in the real part of UE1. And so on.

[0270] The second alternative approach can be applied to situations where the second device performs scalar quantization on multiple second vectors or multiple third vectors to obtain at least one first vector.

[0271] In the third alternative approach, at least one piece of information includes the information shown in D1 to D3 and D5 to D6 above, and the index of at least one first vector is arranged sequentially according to at least one piece of information. That is, at least one piece of information includes information about at least one first device, information about multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, information about the angle of at least one first vector in the angle domain, and information about the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain.

[0272] Please refer to Figure 16 This is an arrangement of the indices of at least one first vector provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 16 In this context, the user is the UE, at least the first device includes first device 1 to first device L, where L is an integer greater than 1, multiple UEs include UE1 to UE3, the angle of at least one first vector includes angle 1 to angle N, where N is a positive integer, and the delay of at least one first vector includes delay 1 to delay M, where M is an integer greater than 1. Figure 16 As shown, the index of at least one first vector is arranged in sequence according to at least one first device, multiple UEs, the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, the angle of at least one first vector, and the time delay of at least one first vector. Figure 16 The text does not specify the possible values ​​for the index.

[0273] The third alternative approach can be applied to situations where the second device performs vector quantization on multiple second vectors or multiple third vectors to obtain at least one first vector.

[0274] In the fourth optional approach, at least one piece of information includes the information shown in D1 to D6 above, and the index of at least one first vector is arranged sequentially according to at least one piece of information. That is, at least one piece of information includes information about at least one first device, information about multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, information about the channel of at least one first vector, information about the angle of at least one first vector in the angle domain, and information about the time delay of at least one first vector in the time delay domain. In this case, the index of at least one first vector is arranged, for example, sequentially according to at least one first device, multiple users, the channel of at least one first vector, the real and imaginary parts of at least one first vector, the angle of at least one first vector, and the time delay of at least one first vector.

[0275] The fourth alternative approach can be applied to the case where the second device performs scalar quantization on multiple second vectors or multiple third vectors to obtain at least one first vector.

[0276] Of course, the first to fourth optional methods described above are examples of ways to arrange the indices of at least one first vector based on at least one piece of information. In reality, there are many other ways to arrange the indices of at least one first vector. For example, the content of the at least one piece of information and its arrangement may have multiple forms, and no specific limitation is made here. In summary, the second device and the third device can reach a consensus on the arrangement of the indices of at least one first vector.

[0277] In method F2, when multiple second vectors are the multiple second vectors shown in B1 above, the second device can compress the multiple second vectors, for example, by performing scalar quantization or vector quantization, to obtain at least one first vector. The details of the second device compressing multiple second vectors are similar to those of the second device compressing multiple third vectors discussed earlier, and will not be repeated here.

[0278] In method F3, when multiple second vectors are the multiple second vectors shown in B2 above, the second device can compress the multiple second vectors, for example, by performing scalar quantization or vector quantization, to obtain at least one first vector. The details of the second device compressing multiple second vectors are similar to those of the second device compressing multiple third vectors discussed earlier, and will not be repeated here.

[0279] To facilitate processing by a third device, in one possible implementation, the first information may indicate (or include) at least one of the following G1 to G5, in addition to indicating at least one first vector.

[0280] G1, at least one piece of information, namely at least one piece of information from D1 to D6 above. For example, the first information also indicates the arrangement order of the at least one piece of information. When the arrangement order of the indices of at least one first vector is related to the arrangement order of the at least one piece of information, it facilitates at least one first device to determine the arrangement order of the indices of at least one first vector in order to decompress at least one first vector.

[0281] G2. Information about the first compression method. The first compression method is used to compress multiple second vectors to obtain at least one first vector. Information about the first compression method may include, for example, the name or identifier of the first compression method.

[0282] G3, Compression ratio for compressing multiple second vectors. The compression ratio can be, for example, a compression factor, used to quantify the degree of compression applied to multiple second vectors.

[0283] G4, a codebook for compressing multiple second vectors. The contents of the codebook can be found in the codebook discussed earlier, and will not be listed here again.

[0284] G5. Information on the service quality requirements of at least one of the first devices. For example, the first information includes information on the service quality requirements of each of the at least one first device, such as the value or level of the service quality requirements for each first device.

[0285] Please continue to refer to Figure 11 The second device can perform channel estimation and compression based on multiple reference signals to obtain at least one first vector, thereby sending first information to at least one first device.

[0286] S1003, the third device determines beamforming weight data based on at least one first vector.

[0287] The method by which the third device determines the beamforming weight data is described below.

[0288] M1 and the third device determine at least one first vector based on the first information, and decompress the at least one first vector to obtain multiple fourth vectors. Based on the multiple fourth vectors, the third device determines beamforming weight data. Different methods of determining the at least one first vector result in different contents of the multiple fourth vectors, and consequently, different contents of the determined beamforming weight data. These cases will be described below.

[0289] In the first possible case P1, if at least one first vector is obtained by lossless compression of multiple second vectors, then the third device can decompress at least one first vector to obtain multiple second vectors, that is, multiple fourth vectors are multiple second vectors.

[0290] The third device can use the first method to process multiple second vectors to obtain beamforming weight data. The first method can be, for example, the zero-forcing (ZF) method or other methods, and is not limited thereto. For example, a calculation formula for the third device to determine the beamforming weight data using the ZF method can be found in the following formula.

[0291] w = V(V H V) -1

[0292] Where V = [W1,…Wk], W1,…Wk represent multiple fourth vectors, w represents beamforming weight data, and H represents conjugation followed by transpose processing.

[0293] In the second possible scenario P2, if at least one first vector is obtained by lossless compression of multiple third vectors, then the third device can decompress at least one first vector to obtain multiple third vectors, that is, multiple fourth vectors are multiple third vectors.

[0294] The third device can transform multiple third vectors to obtain multiple second vectors. Then, based on the first method, the third device processes the multiple second vectors to determine the beamforming weight data. The content of the first method can be referred to the content of the first method discussed in the first possible case P1 above, and will not be listed here.

[0295] The third possible scenario, P3, is that if at least one first vector is obtained by losslessly compressing multiple second vectors, then the third device can decompress at least one first vector to obtain multiple fourth vectors. These multiple fourth vectors may differ from the multiple second vectors. The meaning of these multiple fourth vectors can be found in the content regarding the multiple second vectors, and will not be listed here.

[0296] The third device, based on the first method, processes multiple fourth vectors to determine beamforming weight data. The content of the first method can be found in the discussion of the first method in the first possible case P1 above, and will not be listed here again.

[0297] The fourth possible scenario (P4) is that if at least one first vector is obtained by lossless compression of multiple third vectors, then the third device can decompress the at least one first vector to obtain multiple fourth vectors. These multiple fourth vectors may differ from the multiple third vectors. The meaning of these multiple fourth vectors can be found in the content regarding multiple third vectors, and will not be listed here.

[0298] The third device can transform multiple fourth vectors to obtain multiple fifth vectors in the spatial and frequency domains. Then, based on the first method, the third device processes the multiple fifth vectors to determine the beamforming weight data. The content of the first method can be referred to the content of the first method discussed in the first possible case P1 above, and will not be listed here.

[0299] If the second device compresses the multiple channel matrices before determining the multiple second vectors, then in any of the first possible cases P1 to the fourth possible cases P4 described above, after obtaining the multiple fourth vectors, the third device can obtain the compressed multiple channel matrices based on the multiple fourth vectors. For example, the third device can perform the inverse process of eigenvalue decomposition to obtain the compressed multiple channel matrices based on these multiple fourth vectors. The third device can decompress the compressed multiple channel matrices based on the service quality requirements of at least one first device to obtain the multiple channel matrices.

[0300] Furthermore, the third device performs eigenvalue decomposition on multiple channel matrices to obtain multiple sixth vectors. These sixth vectors can be vectors in the spatial and frequency domains, and their contents can be referred to the contents of the multiple second vectors in the spatial and frequency domains discussed earlier, which will not be listed here. The third device can use the first method to process the multiple sixth vectors to obtain beamforming weight data.

[0301] The above is an example of how the third device determines the beamforming weight data. In fact, there are many other ways for the third device to determine the beamforming weight data, and this application embodiment does not specifically limit them.

[0302] In cases where at least one first device includes a third device, and the first and third devices can be integrated or coupled, then after the third device determines the beamforming weight data, the third device can also obtain the beamforming weight data. Alternatively, if the first and third devices are relatively independent, then the third device can configure the beamforming weight data to the first device.

[0303] In cases where at least one first device comprises multiple first devices, the third device can determine, based on the information shown in D1 above, which part of the beamforming weight data belongs to which first device. Optionally, the third device can directly send the beamforming weight data corresponding to any one first device to any first device. Subsequently, any of the multiple first devices can adjust the phase and / or amplitude of the signal transmitted by its antenna element based on the beamforming weight data corresponding to that first device. Alternatively, the third device can also directly send the determined beamforming weight data to multiple first devices, which can be selected according to the actual situation.

[0304] Please continue to refer to Figure 11 The third device can calculate beamforming weight data based on at least one first vector.

[0305] To reduce the amount of data transmitted in the baseband and radio frequency sections, this application also provides a communication method. In this method, a second device (such as the baseband section) can compress multiple channel matrices corresponding to multiple users. Since the multiple channel matrices corresponding to different users have certain similarities, the multiple channel matrices have certain correlations or redundancies, making the multiple channel matrices more compressible. Therefore, the second device can compress the multiple channel matrices to a greater extent, which is beneficial to reducing the amount of data transmitted between the second device and the third device.

[0306] The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of this application, all steps indicated by dashed lines are optional steps.

[0307] Figure 17 This illustration shows a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The following describes... Figure 17 The steps involved will be described.

[0308] S1701, The second device compresses multiple channel matrices based on the service quality requirements of at least one first device.

[0309] The content of the service quality requirements of at least one first device, the content of the second device acquiring the service quality requirements of at least one first device, the content of multiple channel matrices, the content of acquiring multiple channel matrices, and the content of compressing multiple channel matrices based on the service quality requirements of at least one first device can be referred to respectively. Figure 10 The content of the service quality requirements of at least one first device, the content of the second device acquiring the service quality requirements of at least one first device, the content of multiple channel matrices, the content of acquiring multiple channel matrices, and the content of compressing multiple channel matrices based on the service quality requirements of at least one first device are not listed here.

[0310] S1702, the second device sends second information to the third device. Correspondingly, the third device receives the second information from the second device. The second information is used to indicate the compressed multiple channel matrices.

[0311] For example, the second information may include indices of the compressed multiple channel matrices. The indices of the compressed multiple channel matrices are used to indicate the compressed multiple channel matrices. The indices of the compressed multiple channel matrices may be related to at least one of the information items D1 to D6 mentioned above. The content of the indices of the compressed multiple channel matrices, at least one of the information items D1 to D6 mentioned above, or the content determining the indices of the compressed multiple channel matrices, can be referred to the preceding text respectively. Figure 10 The contents of the indexes of the compressed multiple channel matrices discussed, at least one of the information from D1 to D6 mentioned above, or the contents of the indexes of the compressed multiple channel matrices, are not listed here. Optionally, the second information also indicates the service quality requirements of at least one of the first devices.

[0312] S1703, the third device determines beamforming weight data based on the compressed multiple channel matrices.

[0313] The following section describes the content of the beamforming weight data determined by the third device.

[0314] The third device can decompress the compressed multiple channel matrices to obtain multiple channel matrices. Optionally, the third device can perform eigenvalue decomposition on the multiple channel matrices to obtain multiple ninth vectors. These ninth vectors can be vectors in the spatial and frequency domains, and their contents can be referred to the contents of the multiple second vectors discussed earlier, which will not be listed here. The third device can use the first method to process the multiple ninth vectors to obtain beamforming weight data. The contents of the beamforming weight data and the contents of the first method can be referred to the preceding sections, respectively. Figure 10 The content of the beamforming weight data and the first method discussed will not be listed here.

[0315] The above-described S1702 to S1703 represent one possible implementation method provided by the embodiments of this application, namely, implementation method X1. That is to say, the above-described S1702 to S1703 are not mandatory steps, and are performed in... Figure 17 The middle part is indicated by a dashed line.

[0316] S1704, the second device sends second information to the third device. Correspondingly, the third device receives the second information from the second device. The second information is used to indicate at least one seventh vector. Optionally, the at least one seventh vector is obtained by compressing multiple eighth vectors, and the multiple seventh vectors are determined based on multiple compressed channel matrices.

[0317] For example, the second device can perform eigenvalue decomposition on the compressed multiple channel matrices to obtain multiple eighth vectors. The contents of the eigenvalue decomposition and the multiple eighth vectors can be referred to the preceding text respectively. Figure 10 The eigenvalue decomposition and the contents of multiple second vectors discussed herein will not be listed here. The second device can compress multiple eighth vectors to obtain at least one seventh vector. The method of compressing the multiple eighth vectors and the contents of at least one seventh vector can be referred to the preceding text. Figure 10 The methods for compressing multiple second vectors and the contents of at least one first vector, as discussed in the discussion, will not be listed here.

[0318] For example, the second information used to indicate the content of at least one seventh vector can be referred to the preceding text. Figure 10 The first piece of information discussed indicates the content of at least one first vector, which will not be listed here. For example, the second piece of information may include the index of at least one seventh vector. Optionally, the index of at least one seventh vector may be related to at least one piece of information. This at least one piece of information may be, for example, the information mentioned above. Figure 10 The discussion includes one or more pieces of information shown in D1 to D6.

[0319] S1705, the third device determines beamforming weight data based on at least one seventh vector.

[0320] The third device determines the beamforming weight data based on at least one seventh vector, as can be seen in the preceding text. Figure 10 The discussion focuses on determining the content of beamforming weight data based on at least one first vector, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0321] For example, the third device can decompress at least one seventh vector to obtain multiple tenth vectors. The contents of the multiple tenth vectors can refer to the contents of the multiple fourth vectors discussed above. After obtaining the multiple tenth vectors, the third device can obtain multiple compressed channel matrices based on the multiple tenth vectors. For example, the third device can perform the inverse process of eigenvalue decomposition to obtain multiple compressed channel matrices based on these multiple tenth vectors. The third device can decompress the multiple compressed channel matrices based on the service quality requirements of at least one first device to obtain multiple channel matrices.

[0322] Furthermore, the third device performs eigenvalue decomposition on multiple channel matrices to obtain multiple eleventh vectors. These multiple eleventh vectors can be vectors in the spatial and frequency domains, and their contents can be referred to the contents of the multiple second vectors in the spatial and frequency domains discussed earlier, which will not be listed here. The third device can use the first method to process the multiple eleventh vectors to obtain beamforming weight data.

[0323] The above-described S1704 to S1705 represent another possible implementation method provided by the embodiments of this application, namely, implementation method X2. That is to say, the above-described S1704 to S1705 are not mandatory steps, and are performed in... Figure 17 The middle part is indicated by a dashed line.

[0324] Optionally, either steps S1702-S1703 or steps S1704-S1705 can be performed, that is, S1702-S1703 and S1704-S1705 are two possible implementation methods.

[0325] In one possible implementation, where the first and third devices are integrated or coupled, the various embodiments of this application (such as...) Figure 10 or Figure 17 The third device mentioned above can also be replaced by a radio frequency section or a first device, without limitation. Alternatively, even if the first device and the third device are set up relatively independently, the third device mentioned above can also be replaced by a radio frequency section, a radio frequency module, or a radio frequency device, without specific limitation.

[0326] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a communication device. The following describes... Figure 18 or Figure 19 The communication device shown is described below. This communication device is, for example, a... Figure 2 The baseband portion involved, Figure 3 The BBU, DU, or CU involved Figure 4 The baseband portion involved, Figure 8 Any of the second devices involved Figure 9A The baseband pool involved, or Figure 9B The baseband pool involved Figure 2 The computational part of the radio frequency section involved, Figure 3 The computational part of the RU involved, Figure 4 The antenna section of the radio frequency component involved, Figure 8 The third device involved Figure 9A The computational part of the multiple radio frequency components involved, or Figure 9B The computing modules involved can be modules in these devices, etc., without being specifically limited to them.

[0327] like Figure 18 As shown, the communication device 1800 may include modules or units for implementing the methods described in the embodiments above. In one possible design, the communication device 1800 includes a processing unit 1810 and a communication unit 1820. The communication unit 1820 is used to perform transmit and receive operations, such as functions related to sending and receiving; the communication unit 1820 may be referred to as a transceiver unit; optionally, the communication unit 1820 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit 1810 is used to perform processing operations. Alternatively, the communication unit 1820 may be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit 1820 may be a transmitter and a receiver. Optionally, the communication device 1800 may also include a storage unit 1830. The storage unit 1830 is used to store the device's program code or data. Figure 18 The dashed box in the image indicates that storage unit 1830 is an optional unit.

[0328] In a first possible implementation, the communication device 1800 can be as described above. Figure 10 The second device in the method embodiment shown, the communication module in the second device, or the circuit or chip in the second device responsible for communication functions, etc.

[0329] In the above-described embodiment, the communication unit 1820 is used to perform the steps of receiving multiple reference signals in S1001 and transmitting first information in S1002.

[0330] Communication device 1800 can also achieve the above-mentioned Figure 10 Other steps performed by the second device in the implementation of the method shown are not listed here.

[0331] In a second possible implementation, the communication device 1800 can be as described above. Figure 10 The third device in the method embodiment shown, the communication module in the third device, or the circuit or chip in the third device responsible for communication functions, etc.

[0332] In the above-described embodiment, the communication unit 1820 is used to perform the steps of transmitting multiple reference signals as involved in S1001 and receiving first information as involved in S1002.

[0333] Communication device 1800 can also achieve the above-mentioned Figure 10 The other steps performed by the third device in the implementation of the method shown are not listed here one by one.

[0334] A third possible implementation is that the communication device 1800 can be as described above. Figure 17 The second device in the method embodiment shown, the communication module in the second device, or the circuit or chip in the second device responsible for communication functions, etc.

[0335] In the above embodiment, the processing unit 1810 is used to execute the steps involved in S1701.

[0336] Communication device 1800 can also achieve the above-mentioned Figure 17 Other steps performed by the second device in the implementation of the method shown are not listed here.

[0337] In a fourth possible implementation, the communication device 1800 can be as described above. Figure 17 The third device in the method embodiment shown, the communication module in the third device, or the circuit or chip in the third device responsible for communication functions, etc.

[0338] In the above-described embodiment, the communication unit 1820 is used to perform the sending of the second information involved in S1702, and the processing unit 1810 is used to perform the steps involved in S1703.

[0339] Communication device 1800 can also achieve the above-mentioned Figure 17 The other steps performed by the third device in the implementation of the method shown are not listed here one by one.

[0340] In a fifth possible implementation, the communication device 1800 can be as described above. Figure 17 The third device in the method embodiment shown, the communication module in the third device, or the circuit or chip in the third device responsible for communication functions, etc.

[0341] In the above-described embodiment, the communication unit 1820 is used to perform the sending of third information involved in S1704, and the processing unit 1810 is used to perform the steps involved in S1705.

[0342] Communication device 1800 can also achieve the above-mentioned Figure 17 The other steps performed by the third device in the implementation of the method shown are not listed here one by one.

[0343] In one possible design, when the communication device 1800 is a terminal device, a communication module within a terminal device, an access network device, or a communication module within an access network device, the function of the processing unit 1810 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor may include a modem chip, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip containing a modem core. The function of the communication unit 1820 can be implemented by transceiver circuitry.

[0344] In one possible design, when the communication device 1800 is a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in a terminal device, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in an access network device, such as a modem chip or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip or SIP chip containing a modem core, the function of the processing unit 1810 can be implemented by a circuit system in the aforementioned chip that includes one or more processors or processor cores. The function of the communication unit 1820 can be implemented by the interface circuit or data transceiver circuit on the aforementioned chip.

[0345] It is understood that the division of units in the above-described device is merely a logical functional division. Each function can correspond to a functional unit, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional unit. In actual implementation, all or some units can be integrated into a single physical entity, or they can be distributed across different physical entities. Furthermore, the aforementioned functional units can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both. Whether a function is executed 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.

[0346] In one example, the functional unit in any of the above devices (such as the third or second device) may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as: one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microcontroller units (MCUs), one or more DSPs, or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms.

[0347] In one example, storage unit 1830 may include random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory and / or registers, etc.

[0348] The following is about Figure 19 The communication device shown is described below. Figure 19 As shown, the communication device 1900 includes a processor 1910. Optionally, the communication device 1900 also includes an interface circuit 1920 and a memory 1930. The processor 1910 and the interface circuit 1920 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1920 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. The memory 1930 is used to store instructions executed by the processor 1910, or to store input data required by the processor 1910 to execute instructions, or to store data generated after the processor 1910 executes instructions. The interface circuit 1920 and the memory 1930 are optional modules. Figure 19 The image is indicated by a dashed box. Additionally... Figure 19 The example given is a processor 1910 and a memory 1930, but in reality, there is no limit to the number of processors 1910 and memory 1930.

[0349] Communication device 1900 is used to achieve Figure 10 or Figure 17 Any of the method embodiments shown. Optionally, the processor 1910 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1810, and the interface circuit 1920 is used to implement the functions of the communication unit 1820.

[0350] For example, communication device 1900 can be used to achieve Figure 10 The third or second device in the method embodiment shown, or Figure 17 The function of the third or second device in the method embodiment shown.

[0351] When the aforementioned communication device 1900 is a chip applied to a device (such as the terminal device or network device mentioned above), the device chip implements the functions of the device in the above method embodiments. The device chip receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) within the device, the information being sent to the device by other devices; or, the device chip sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) within the device, the information being sent to other devices by the device. Here, the communication device 1900 can be a baseband chip of a device, or a DU or other modules. The DU here can be a DU under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0352] The processor 1910 can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. Furthermore, the memory involved in the various embodiments of this application can include volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM). The memory can also include non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drives (HDDs), or solid-state drives (SSDs).

[0353] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a communication system. The communication system includes a third device and a second device. Optionally, the communication system further includes at least one first device.

[0354] Based on the same inventive concept, in one possible embodiment, at least one second device can be implemented. Figure 10 The function of the third device in the illustrated method embodiment, and the functionality that the second device can achieve. Figure 10 The second device in the illustrated method implementation functions as shown. Optionally, at least one first device can implement the function of at least one first device in the method embodiment shown in 10.

[0355] In another possible embodiment, at least one second device can be implemented Figure 17 The function of the third device in the illustrated method embodiment, and the functionality that the second device can achieve. Figure 17 The second device in the method embodiment shown functions as described above. Optionally, at least one first device may perform the function of at least one first device in the method embodiment shown above.

[0356] Optionally, at least one first device is, for example, Figure 2 The antenna section of the radio frequency component involved, Figure 3 The antenna section of the RU involved, Figure 4 The antenna section of the radio frequency component involved, Figure 8 The first device or multiple first devices involved Figure 9A The antennas corresponding to the multiple radio frequency components involved Figure 9B The multiple antenna arrays involved may be able to achieve the functions of these devices.

[0357] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a chip system comprising a processor and an interface. The processor is used to call and execute instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, it implements the aforementioned... Figure 10 or Figure 17 Any of the method embodiments shown in the figure.

[0358] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, implement... Figure 10 or Figure 17 Any of the method embodiments shown in the figure.

[0359] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a program product, which, when executed, enables the processor to implement... Figure 10 or Figure 17 Any of the method embodiments shown. The program product is, for example, a computer program product, specifically, a computer program and / or instructions. The processor is, for example, a processor running in a computer.

[0360] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless 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 integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0361] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0362] The various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be based on its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive multiple reference signals, wherein one of the multiple reference signals corresponds to one of the multiple users; Send first information, the first information being used to indicate at least one first vector, the at least one first vector being used to determine beamforming weight data, the beamforming weight data being used to adjust the phase and / or amplitude of a signal transmitted by at least one first device, the at least one first vector being obtained by compressing a plurality of second vectors, the plurality of second vectors being determined based on the plurality of reference signals, and one of the plurality of second vectors indicating the channel characteristics of one of the plurality of users.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information is used to indicate at least one first vector, including: The first information includes the index of the at least one first vector, wherein the index of the at least one first vector is related to at least one of the following: Information about the at least one first device; Information of the multiple users; Information about the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector; Channel information of at least one first vector; Information about the angle of the at least one first vector in the angle domain; or, Information on the time delay of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The index of the at least one first vector is associated with the at least one piece of information, including: The order of the indices of the at least one first vector is determined based on the at least one piece of information.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The at least one piece of information is one of the following: Information about the multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector, information about the angle of the at least one vector in the angle domain, and information about the time delay of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, Information about the multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector, channel information of the at least one first vector, angle information of the at least one vector in the angle domain, and time delay information of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, Information of the at least one first device, information of the plurality of users, information of the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector, information of the angle of the at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, Information of the at least one first device, information of the plurality of users, information of the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector, channel information of the at least one first vector, angle information of the at least one vector in the angle domain, and time delay information of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2-4, characterized in that, The first information also includes one or more of the following: At least one piece of information; Information on a first compression method, wherein the first compression method is used to compress the plurality of second vectors to obtain the at least one first vector; Compression ratio for compressing the plurality of second vectors; or, A codebook for compressing the plurality of second vectors.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the multiple reference signals, multiple channel matrices are determined, and one of the multiple channel matrices is the channel matrix corresponding to one of the multiple users; The plurality of channel matrices are compressed to obtain a plurality of compressed channel matrices, wherein the compression ratio of the plurality of channel matrices is related to the service quality requirements of the at least one first device; The compressed channel matrices are subjected to eigenvalue decomposition to obtain the multiple second vectors.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The compression ratio of the plurality of channel matrices is related to the service quality requirements of the at least one first device, including: The compression rate of one of the multiple channel matrices is inversely correlated with the service quality requirements of one of the at least one first device, wherein the one channel matrix is ​​the channel matrix corresponding to the one first device among the multiple channel matrices.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The service quality requirements of the first device are related to at least one of the following: The number of users served by the first device; The expected data transmission rate of the first device; or, The service priority of the user served by the first device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6-8, characterized in that, The first information also includes information on the service quality requirements of the first device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The at least one first vector is obtained by compressing multiple second vectors, including: The at least one first vector is obtained by vector quantization or scalar quantization of the plurality of second vectors.

11. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a third device, the method includes: Receive first information, the first information being used to indicate at least one first vector, the at least one first vector being obtained by compressing a plurality of second vectors, the plurality of second vectors being determined based on a plurality of reference signals, one of the plurality of second vectors indicating the channel characteristics of one of the plurality of users, one of the plurality of reference signals corresponding to one of the plurality of users, the plurality of users being users served by at least one first device; Based on the at least one first vector, beamforming weight data is determined, which is used to adjust the phase and / or amplitude of the signal transmitted by the at least one first device.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The first information is used to indicate at least one first vector, including: The first information includes the index of the at least one first vector, wherein the index of the at least one first vector is related to at least one of the following: Information about the at least one first device; Information of the multiple users; Information about the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector; Channel information of at least one first vector; Information about the angle of the at least one first vector in the angle domain; or, Information on the time delay of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The index of the at least one first vector is associated with the at least one piece of information, including: The order of the indices of the at least one first vector is determined based on the at least one piece of information.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The at least one piece of information is one of the following: Information about the multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector, information about the angle of the at least one vector in the angle domain, and information about the time delay of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, Information about the multiple users, information about the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector, channel information of the at least one first vector, angle information of the at least one vector in the angle domain, and time delay information of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, Information of the at least one first device, information of the plurality of users, information of the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector, information of the angle of the at least one vector in the angle domain, and information of the time delay of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain; or, Information of the at least one first device, information of the plurality of users, information of the real and imaginary parts of the at least one first vector, channel information of the at least one first vector, angle information of the at least one vector in the angle domain, and time delay information of the at least one first vector in the time delay domain.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, The first information also includes one or more of the following: At least one piece of information; Information on a first compression method, wherein the first compression method is used to compress the plurality of second vectors to obtain the at least one first vector; Compression ratio for compressing the plurality of second vectors; or, A codebook for compressing the plurality of second vectors.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12-15, characterized in that, Based on the at least one first vector, beamforming weight data is determined, including: Decompress the at least one first vector to obtain the plurality of second vectors; Based on the plurality of second vectors, the beamforming weight data is determined.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12-15, characterized in that, The first information also includes information on the service quality requirements of the at least one first device, and based on the at least one first vector, beamforming weight data is determined, including: Based on the at least one first vector, a plurality of compressed channel matrices are determined; Based on the service quality requirements of the at least one first device, the compressed multiple channel matrices are decompressed to obtain the multiple channel matrices, wherein one of the multiple channel matrices is the channel matrix corresponding to one of the multiple users; Based on the multiple channel matrices, the beamforming weight data is determined.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes one or more processors, which are configured to execute computer programs or instructions in memory, such that the communication device implements the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-10, or implements the method as claimed in any one of claims 11-17.

19. A computer program product, characterized in that, When the computer program product is executed, it causes the processor to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-10, or to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 11-17.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method described in any one of claims 1-10, or the method described in any one of claims 11-17.

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