A communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and device are used to improve the accuracy of channel estimation and channel prediction. The method can include determining first environment state information and transmitting the first environment state information. The first environment state information includes information of at least one path, and is used for channel estimation and channel prediction. The first environment state information is carried by a MAC CE or a UCI. In this way, the terminal device reports the first environment state information, so that the network device can jointly perform channel estimation and channel prediction based on the first environment state information and the channel state information, making the channel estimation and channel prediction more accurate, better for precoding design and beamforming, and improving transmission performance.

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] In wireless communication, channel quality information can be measured using specific signals. For example, channel quality information can be obtained using a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0003] Current channel prediction methods based on the above approach suffer from problems such as low prediction accuracy. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and apparatus to improve the accuracy of channel estimation and channel prediction.

[0005] Firstly, this application provides a communication method applicable to a communication device, which can be a terminal device or a component (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, component, module, or functional module) for the terminal device. The component for the terminal device can be within the terminal device or independent of and coupled to the terminal device. For example, the chip or chip system can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip. The method can include: determining first environmental state information and transmitting the first environmental state information; wherein the first environmental state information includes information about at least one path; the first environmental state information is used for channel estimation and channel prediction; and the first environmental state information is carried through a medium access control element (MAC CE) or uplink control information (UCI).

[0006] Based on the above communication method, the terminal device reports the first environmental state information, so that the network device can jointly perform channel estimation and channel prediction based on the first environmental state information and the channel state information. This makes the channel estimation and channel prediction more accurate, which can better enable precoding design and beamforming, and improve transmission performance.

[0007] In one possible design, the UCI could be the UCI on the physical uplink control channel.

[0008] In one possible design, the information for any one of the at least one paths includes one or more of the following: path identifier, path angle, path delay spread, or Doppler information. This allows network devices to obtain the angle and delay spread of the multipath, thus improving channel state information.

[0009] In one possible design, the first environmental state information is carried by multiple bits, which are used to indicate information about the at least one path. This allows the first environmental state information to be carried by multiple bits in a quantized manner, enabling the terminal device to report the first environmental state information.

[0010] In one possible design, the plurality of bits includes at least one set of bits, which corresponds one-to-one with the at least one path, and each set of bits indicates the information of one path. This allows for quantized indication of the information for each path separately, enabling accurate reporting of the information for each path.

[0011] In one possible design, each bit set includes at least one bit group, whereby a bit group indicates first information about the path corresponding to the bit set. This first information is one of the following: path identifier, path angle, path delay spread, or Doppler information. Thus, for any given path, different sub-information within the path's information can be quantized separately using each bit group, thereby achieving accurate reporting.

[0012] In one possible design, the first information is one of the following: the angle of the path, the delay spread of the path, or the Doppler information. The bit group indicates the amount of change of the first information relative to the corresponding information in the second environmental state information, which is sent before the first environmental state information. This saves bit usage and indication overhead by indicating the amount of change in the information.

[0013] In one possible design, channel state information is determined based on a first reference signal and then transmitted; alternatively, a second reference signal is transmitted, which is used to determine the channel state information. This allows network devices to accurately acquire channel state information, and then perform channel estimation and prediction based on the first environmental state information and the channel state information. This results in more accurate channel estimation and prediction, enabling better precoding design and beamforming, and improving transmission performance.

[0014] Secondly, this application provides a communication method applicable to a communication device, which can be a network device or a component (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, component, module, or functional module) for a network device. The component for the network device can be within the network device or independent of the network device but coupled to it. For example, the chip or chip system can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core. The method can include: receiving first environmental state information; performing channel estimation and channel prediction based on the first environmental state information and channel state information. The first environmental state information includes information about at least one path; the first environmental state information is used for channel estimation and channel prediction; the first environmental state information is carried via MAC CE or UCI.

[0015] Based on the above communication method, the terminal device reports the first environmental state information, so that the network device can jointly perform channel estimation and channel prediction based on the first environmental state information and the channel state information. This makes the channel estimation and channel prediction more accurate, which can better enable precoding design and beamforming, and improve transmission performance.

[0016] In one possible design, the UCI could be the UCI on the physical uplink control channel.

[0017] In one possible design, the information for any one of the at least one paths includes one or more of the following: path identifier, path angle, path delay spread, or Doppler information. This allows the network device to acquire the angle and delay spread of the multipath, thus improving the channel state information.

[0018] In one possible design, the first environmental state information is carried by multiple bits, which are used to indicate information about the at least one path. This allows the first environmental state information to be carried by multiple bits in a quantized manner, enabling the terminal device to report the first environmental state information.

[0019] In one possible design, the plurality of bits includes at least one set of bits, which corresponds one-to-one with the at least one path, and each set of bits indicates the information of one path. This allows for quantized indication of the information for each path separately, enabling accurate reporting of the information for each path.

[0020] In one possible design, each bit set includes at least one bit group, whereby a bit group indicates first information about the path corresponding to the bit set. This first information is one of the following: path identifier, path angle, path delay spread, or Doppler information. Thus, for any given path, different sub-information within the path's information can be quantized separately using each bit group, thereby achieving accurate reporting.

[0021] In one possible design, the first information is one of the following: the angle of the path, the delay spread of the path, or the Doppler information. The bit group indicates the amount of change of the first information relative to the corresponding information in the second environmental state information, which is received before the first environmental state information. This saves bit usage and indication overhead by indicating the amount of change in the information.

[0022] In one possible design, a first reference signal is transmitted, and the channel state information is received, the channel state information being determined based on the first reference signal; or, a second reference signal is received, and the channel state information is determined based on the second reference signal. This allows network devices to accurately obtain the channel state information, and then perform channel estimation and prediction based on the first environmental state information and the channel state information. This results in more accurate channel estimation and prediction, enabling better precoding design and beamforming, and improving transmission performance.

[0023] Thirdly, this application also provides a communication device, which can be a terminal device or a component for a terminal device (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, component, module, or functional module). The component for the terminal device can be within the terminal device or independent of the terminal device but coupled to it. Exemplarily, the chip or chip system can be, for example, a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core. This communication device has the functionality to implement the methods described in the first aspect or various possible design examples of the first aspect.

[0024] In one possible design, the communication device may include modules or units that perform the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the first aspect. These modules or units may be hardware circuits, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software.

[0025] In one possible design, the communication device may include a processing unit, and optionally a transceiver unit, which may perform the functions of the methods described in the first aspect or various possible design examples of the first aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0026] In one possible design, the communication device may include a processor for executing a computer program (or computer-executable instructions) stored in memory, and / or causing the communication device to perform the methods as described in the first aspect and various possible designs of the first aspect via logic circuitry.

[0027] In one possible design, the communication device may also include a memory.

[0028] In one possible design, the memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory and processor can be separate.

[0029] In one possible design, the communication device may further include a communication interface for communicating with other devices, such as transmitting or receiving data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, input / output interface, or other types of communication interface.

[0030] Fourthly, this application also provides a communication device, which can be a network device or a component for a network device (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, component, module, or functional module). The component for the network device can be within the network device or independent of the network device but coupled to it. Exemplarily, the chip or chip system can be, for example, a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core. This communication device has the functionality to implement the methods described in the second aspect or various possible design examples of the second aspect.

[0031] In one possible design, the communication device may include modules or units that perform the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the second aspect. These modules or units may be hardware circuits, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software.

[0032] In one possible design, the communication device may include a processor for executing a computer program (or computer-executable instructions) stored in memory, and / or causing the communication device to perform the methods described in the second aspect and various possible designs of the second aspect via logic circuitry.

[0033] In one possible design, the communication device may also include a memory.

[0034] In one possible design, the memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory and processor can be separate.

[0035] In one possible design, the communication device may further include a communication interface for communicating with other devices, such as transmitting or receiving data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, input / output interface, or other types of communication interface.

[0036] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication system that may include a terminal device and a network device. The terminal device can be used to implement the methods described in the first aspect or various possible design examples of the first aspect. The network device can be used to implement the methods described in the second aspect or various possible design examples of the second aspect.

[0037] Sixthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described in the first aspect and any possible design of the embodiments of this application, or in the second aspect and any possible design. Exemplarily, the computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer. For example, but not limited to, a computer-readable medium can include a non-transient computer-readable medium, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer.

[0038] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product, including a computer program or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, to be performed.

[0039] Eighthly, this application also provides a chip or chip system including one or more processors, the processors being coupled to at least one memory for reading and executing program instructions stored in the memory to enable the chip or chip system to implement the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0040] For the various aspects of the third to eighth aspects mentioned above, and the technical effects that each aspect may achieve, please refer to the above description of the technical effects that can be achieved for the first aspect or the various possible solutions in the first aspect, or the second aspect or the various possible solutions in the second aspect, which will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0041] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in this application;

[0042] Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in this application;

[0043] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a radar-visual fusion reconstruction provided in this application;

[0044] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the transmission between a sensing module and a communication module provided in this application;

[0045] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating an example of a terminal device performing channel estimation and channel prediction by reporting to an ESI-assisted network device, as provided in this application.

[0046] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in this application;

[0047] Figure 7 A structural diagram of a communication device provided in this application. Detailed Implementation

[0048] This application provides a communication method and apparatus to improve the accuracy of channel estimation and channel prediction. The method and apparatus described in this application are based on the same technical concept. Since the principles by which the method and apparatus solve the problem are similar, their implementations can be mutually referenced and repeated.

[0049] In the description of this application, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used only for the purpose of distinguishing descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

[0050] In the description of this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: 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.

[0051] In the description of this application, "and / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. " / " means "or", for example, a / b means a or b.

[0052] In the description of this application, words such as "exemplarily" and "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as an "example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of the word "example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner. In the embodiments of this application, "of," "relevant," and "corresponding" may sometimes be used interchangeably, and it should be noted that their intended meanings are consistent unless their distinction is emphasized.

[0053] To more clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the communication methods and devices provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0054] The technical solutions in this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), short-range wireless communication systems (such as sidelink, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi or WiFi), Bluetooth, etc.), wired networks, integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication systems, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), 4th generation (4G) mobile communication systems (such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems), LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave. No restrictions are imposed on WiMAX (Wi-Fi) communication systems, 5G (5th generation) mobile communication systems (such as New Radio (NR) systems), future evolution communication systems, or other similar communication systems.

[0055] For example, Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a possible communication system to which embodiments of this application apply is shown. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 10 may include a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 10 may also include the Internet 300.

[0056] RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as...) Figure 1 110a and 110b (collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal device (such as Figure 1RAN 100, denoted as RAN 120a-120j, is collectively referred to as RAN 120. RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment. Figure 1 (Not shown in the image). Terminal device 120 is connected to RAN node 110 wirelessly. RAN node 110 is connected to core network 200 wirelessly or via wired connection. The core network equipment in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device integrating core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions.

[0057] RAN 100 can be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 4G, 5G mobile communication systems, or future-oriented evolution systems. RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a WiFi system. RAN 100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0058] RAN node 110, sometimes referred to as RAN entity or access node, constitutes part of the communication system and assists terminal devices in achieving wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in communication system 10 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal device 120 are relative, for example... Figure 1 Network element 120i can be a helicopter or a drone, and it can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access RAN 100 through network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal device. RAN node 110 and terminal device 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices, for example... Figure 1 Network elements 110a and 110b can be communication devices with base station functions, while network elements 120a-120j can be communication devices with terminal equipment functions.

[0059] RAN nodes can also be described in different ways, such as network devices. Unless otherwise specified in this application, network devices will be used as the term.

[0060] In one possible scenario, network equipment can also be called access network equipment. Access network equipment can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. Access network equipment can also be a macro base station (such as...). Figure 1 110a), micro base stations or indoor stations (such as Figure 1 The access network device can be a relay node or donor node (as described in 110b), or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the access network device can also be a server, wearable device, vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the access network device in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The access network device in this application can also be a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the access network device functions.

[0061] In another possible scenario, multiple access network devices collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, with each access network device performing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, the access network devices can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and DU can be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0062] In some implementations, access network devices may include CUs (Control Units) and DUs (Devices). A CU can be associated with one or more DUs. Access network devices including CUs and DUs decompose the protocol layers of the gNB in ​​the NR system. Some protocol layer functions are centrally controlled by the CU, while the remaining partial or complete protocol layer functions are distributed in the DUs, which are centrally controlled by the CU. In a typical protocol stack partitioning scheme, the CU includes radio resource control (RRC), the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) corresponding to the control plane, and the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU includes the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer.

[0063] 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 ORAN system, CU can also be called an open CU (O-CU), DU can also be called an open DU (O-DU), CU-CP can also be called an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), CU-UP can also be called an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and RU can also be called an open RU (O-RU). Any of the units among 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.

[0064] Terminal equipment can also be called user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminal equipment can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminal devices can include mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, laptops, handheld computers, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices (such as smartwatches, smart bracelets, pedometers, smart glasses, etc.), in-vehicle equipment (such as cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, helicopters, ships, trains, high-speed trains, etc.), satellite terminals, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, smart point-of-sale (POS) machines, customer-premises equipment (CPE), light user equipment (UE), reduced capability user equipment (REDCAP UE), wireless terminals in industrial control, drones, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices (such as refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners, electricity meters, etc.), workshop equipment, wireless terminals in autonomous driving, wireless terminals in telemedicine, and smart grids. Wireless terminals can be used in various applications, including wireless terminals in grids, transportation safety, smart cities, smart homes, and flying devices (e.g., intelligent robots, hot air balloons, drones, airplanes). Terminal devices can also be vehicle-mounted devices (e.g., complete vehicle units, vehicle-mounted modules, vehicle-mounted chips, on-board units (OBUs), or telematics boxes (T-BOXs)). Terminal devices can also be other devices with terminal functions; for example, a terminal device can function as a terminal in D2D communication. The embodiments of this application do not limit the form of the terminal device. The device used to implement the function of the terminal device can be the terminal device itself; it can also be a device that supports the terminal device in implementing that function, such as a chip system. This device can be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device. In the embodiments of this application, the chip system can be composed of chips or can include chips and other discrete components.All or part of the functions of the terminal device in this application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0065] The terminal device in this application embodiment can be an embodied intelligence terminal device. Embodied intelligence refers to a development field of artificial intelligence, which refers to the ability of an intelligent system or machine to interact with its environment in real time through perception and interaction.

[0066] 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 also be deployed in the air on airplanes, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the network devices and terminal devices.

[0067] In some scenarios, network devices can send downlink signals to terminal devices, and terminal devices can send uplink signals to network devices. Additionally, network devices can communicate with each other, and terminal devices can also communicate with each other.

[0068] 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 equipment functions. Figure 1 The 120a-120j in the text can be referred to as communication devices with terminal equipment functions.

[0069] Network devices and terminal devices, network devices and network devices, and terminal devices can communicate through licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously, without limitation.

[0070] Optionally, the communication system 10 provided in this application may further include artificial intelligence (AI) network elements to implement some or all AI-related operations. AI network elements may also be referred to as AI nodes, AI devices, AI entities, AI modules, AI models, or AI units, etc. The AI ​​network elements may be built into the network elements of the communication system. For example, an AI network element may be an AI module built into: access network equipment, core network equipment, cloud server, or operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) to implement AI-related functions. The OAM may act as the network management system for the core network equipment and / or the access network equipment. Alternatively, the AI ​​network element may also be a network element independently set up in the communication system. Optionally, the terminal device or the chip built into the terminal device may also include an AI entity to implement AI-related functions.

[0071] The communication system described in this application is intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of this application and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0072] The following is an explanation of the relevant terms used in the embodiments of this application. Unless otherwise specified, these explanations are provided to support the meaning of the relevant terms and to make the embodiments of this application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as a strict limitation of the relevant terms within the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0073] 1) Channel State Information (CSI)

[0074] Channel Identification and Sequence Information (CSI) is crucial information describing channel characteristics in wireless communication systems. CSI directly impacts communication quality, rate, and reliability. Transmitters (such as base stations) can optimize signal transmission strategies based on CSI, including modulation and coding, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) precoding, beamforming, and resource set allocation.

[0075] CSI acquisition can typically be achieved in the following ways: One method: The base station sends a first reference signal to the terminal device, which determines the CSI based on the first reference signal and feeds it back to the base station. The first reference signal can be a CSI-RS or a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), etc. Another method: The terminal device sends a second reference signal to the base station, which determines the CSI based on the second reference signal. The second reference signal can be an SRS, etc.

[0076] CSI can include the following information: channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indication (PMI), rank indication (RI), etc.

[0077] RI can also be understood as RANK indication. RANK is the rank in the antenna matrix in a MIMO scheme, representing multiple parallel and valid data streams.

[0078] PMI (Precoding Injection Management) is used in MIMO to optimize beamforming. Precoding is an adaptive technique in multi-antenna systems, where the precoding matrix is ​​adaptively changed at the transmitter based on channel state information, thus altering the channel the signal traverses. Both the transmitter and receiver store a codebook containing several precoding matrices. The receiver selects one precoding matrix based on the estimated channel matrix and a certain criterion, feeding back its index value and quantized channel state information to the transmitter. In the next time step, the transmitter uses the new precoding matrix and determines the encoding and modulation scheme for the codewords based on the fed-back quantized channel state information.

[0079] CQI can reflect the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR). CQI can refer to an index value of channel quality (including information such as the current modulation scheme, coding rate, and efficiency) that corresponds to a certain performance (such as a 10% block error ratio (BLER)). The larger the CQI index, the higher the coding efficiency.

[0080] 2) Visual perception reconstruction

[0081] Visual perception reconstruction refers to the process of recovering high-fidelity, understandable visual information from low-dimensional, incomplete, or degraded visual data (such as blurred images, sparsely sampled signals, and low-resolution videos) using algorithms. For example, details in images can be reconstructed through methods such as denoising, super-resolution, image inpainting, deblurring, generative adversarial networks (GANs), and convolutional neural networks (CNNs).

[0082] 3) Radar perception reconstruction

[0083] Radar perception reconstruction refers to the process of reconstructing the physical spatial structure, motion state, and environmental characteristics of a target using raw echo data from radar signals (such as millimeter-wave radar and lidar (such as LiDAR)) through signal processing and artificial intelligence algorithms. For example, information such as wave time delay and frequency changes can be used to reconstruct the position, shape, and motion state (velocity, angle) of surrounding objects. For instance, mid-to-high-end lidar has an angular resolution of 0.05° to 0.1°.

[0084] 2) Radar-Vision Fusion Technology

[0085] Radar-vision fusion technology is a technique that deeply integrates radar and computer vision (such as cameras) sensors of different modalities, enabling more robust and higher-precision environmental perception. It requires sensor synchronization and calibration to achieve strict timestamp alignment, controlling the time error between radar and camera data to the microsecond level. Then, the spatial coordinate system is calibrated to ensure precise matching of the two systems' three-dimensional spatial coordinates. Fusion algorithms include Kalman filters, CNNs, extended Kalman filters (EKF), and particle filters.

[0086] Data fusion can be divided into the following three levels:

[0087] Raw data layer fusion: directly associates point cloud data with image pixels, for example, projecting point cloud onto an image.

[0088] Feature layer fusion: fusing geometric features (such as edges and corners) extracted by radar with visual features (such as semantic segmentation results).

[0089] Decision-making fusion: Based on the detection results of both (such as the location and category of the target), the final decision is made through voting or Bayesian networks.

[0090] Currently, channel estimation and prediction based on CSI-RS and SRS suffer from channel aging and low prediction accuracy. Therefore, this application provides a communication method. In this method, the terminal device can report environmental status information to assist the network device in performing more accurate channel estimation and prediction, thereby enabling better precoding design and beamforming, and improving transmission performance.

[0091] The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below.

[0092] In the following embodiments, the communication method provided in this application is described in detail using terminal devices and network devices as examples. It should be understood that the operations performed by the terminal device can also be implemented by components used in the terminal device (e.g., a processor, a chip or chip system, a module, or a functional module, etc.). These components can be located within the terminal device or be independent of it but coupled to it. Similarly, the operations performed by the network device can also be implemented by components used in the network device (e.g., a processor, a chip or chip system, a module, or a functional module, etc.). These components can be located within the network device or be independent of it but coupled to it. For example, the chip or chip system can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core. This application does not limit this.

[0093] Based on the above description, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, such as... Figure 2 As shown, the process of this method may include:

[0094] Step 201: The terminal device determines the first environment state information (ESI); the first environment state information includes information about at least one path; the first environment state information is used for channel estimation and channel prediction.

[0095] In one alternative implementation, such as Figure 3 As shown, the terminal device can first reconstruct the environment through visual perception reconstruction and radar perception reconstruction, and then perform channel reconstruction on the reconstructed information based on radar-visual fusion technology to obtain a radio map. The terminal device can extract the first environmental state information based on the radio map. Optionally, the radio map can also be described as a wireless map or other descriptions, which are not limited in this application.

[0096] Optionally, the terminal device can extract the first environmental state information based on the wireless map using methods such as ray tracing.

[0097] For example, a terminal device can extract one or more of the following information using methods such as ray tracing: the number of paths, the angle of the paths, the time delay spread of the paths, Doppler information, and the generation and disappearance of paths. The information extracted above constitutes the environmental state information.

[0098] The angle of the path can include one or more of the following: the direction of arrival (DOA), the angle of arrival (AOA), the departure angle, etc.

[0099] Doppler information can also be referred to as Doppler frequency offset or other descriptions.

[0100] For example, the information of any one of the at least one paths in the first environmental state information may include one or more of the following: path identifier, path angle, path time delay spread or Doppler information, etc.

[0101] Step 202: The terminal device sends first environmental status information, which is carried through a medium access control element (MAC CE) or uplink control information (UCI). Correspondingly, the network device receives the first environmental status information.

[0102] Here, UCI can be the UCI on the physical uplink control channel.

[0103] The first environmental status information is carried through MAC CE or UCI, or it can be described as the first environmental status information being carried through MAC CE resources or UCI resources. This can be understood as the terminal device being able to send the first environmental status information through MAC CE or UCI, and correspondingly, the network device being able to receive the first environmental status information by sending resource location information through MAC CE or UCI.

[0104] In some embodiments, the signaling carrying CSI can be used to carry first environment state information. This is illustrated only by MAC CE and UCI, and is not intended to limit the scope of this application. Optionally, the first environment state information can also be carried by other messages, and this application does not impose any limitations on this.

[0105] In one alternative implementation, such as Figure 4As shown, when the terminal device determines the first environmental state information in step 201, it can do so through a sensing module (or sensing unit, etc.). Then, the terminal device sends the first environmental state information to the communication module (or communication unit, etc.) through the sensing module. Further, the terminal device sends the first environmental state information to the network device through the communication module.

[0106] For example, such as Figure 4 As shown, when the terminal device sends the first environmental status information to the communication module through the sensing module, it can do so through the transmission interface between the sensing module and the communication module. The transmission interface can be a wireless interface or a wired interface. For example, the terminal device can send the first environmental status information to the communication module via Bluetooth, WiFi, or a bus (such as a controller area network (CAN) bus).

[0107] In some embodiments, the first environmental state information can be carried by multiple bits, which are used to indicate information about at least one path. That is, the MAC CE or UCI may include multiple bits for indicating information about at least one path.

[0108] Optionally, the multiple bits may include at least one set of bits, with each set of bits corresponding one-to-one with at least one path, and any set of bits indicating information about a path. The at least one set of bits may include one or more bits.

[0109] For example, assuming there are two meridians, meridian 1 and meridian 2, multiple bits can include two bit sets, bit set 1 and bit set 2. Bit set 1 can indicate information about meridian 1, and bit set 2 can indicate information about meridian 2.

[0110] In one possible approach, any set of bits may include at least one group of bits, which is used to indicate first information of the path corresponding to any set of bits. The first information may be one of the following: path identifier, path angle, path delay spread, or Doppler information, etc.

[0111] A bit group may include one or more bits.

[0112] For example, when bit set 1 indicates information about path 1, and this information includes the path identifier, the path angle, the path delay spread, and Doppler information, bit set 1 can include four bit groups: bit group 1, bit group 2, bit group 3, and bit group 4. Bit group 1 can indicate the path identifier, bit group 2 can indicate the path angle, bit group 3 can indicate the path delay spread, and bit group 4 can indicate the path Doppler information. In other words, for bit group 1, the path identifier can be understood as the first piece of information; for bit group 2, the path angle can be understood as the first piece of information; for bit group 3, the path delay spread can be understood as the first piece of information; and for bit group 4, the path Doppler information can be understood as the first piece of information. That is, different bit groups indicate different sub-information (i.e., different first pieces of information) within the information of a path. This sub-information is one or more of the information included in the path information, such as the path identifier, the path angle, the path delay spread, or the Doppler information.

[0113] In some examples, the information for a path may include the path identifier, the path angle, the path time delay spread, and Doppler information, where the path angle includes the DOA angle and AOA angle. Taking two paths as an example, the information for path 1 may include... Information about Path 2 may include Where, the radius 1 is labeled as 1, the DOA angle of radius 1 is θ1, and the AOA angle of radius 1 is... The time delay spread of path 1 is τ1, and the Doppler information of path 1 is f. d1 The radius 2 is labeled as 2, the DOA angle of radius 2 is θ2, and the AOA angle of radius 2 is... The time delay spread of radius 2 is τ2, and the Doppler information of radius 2 is f. d2 In this example, the first environmental state information may include:

[0114] For example, multiple bits can include 40 bits, which are divided into two bit sets. Each bit set includes 20 bits, meaning the information of a path is carried by 20 bits, or that the information of a path is indicated by 20 bits. Taking path 1 as an example, the 20 bits in bit set 1 can be divided into 5 bit groups in sequence. Bit group 1 can include 2 bits (the first two bits of the 20 bits), such as "00" indicating the identifier 1 of path 1. Bit group 2 includes 5 bits, which indicate θ1. These 5 bits can indicate 32 angle changes (indexes), as shown in Table 1 (Table 1 only shows 5 angle changes). For example, "00011" can represent the angle value of the 3rd angle, that is, "00011" can indicate that θ1 is 15 degrees. Bit group 3 can include 3 bits, which indicate... Three bits can indicate the absolute value of the angle, as in the method of indicating θ1 using multiplexed bit group 2. Alternatively, the three bits can also indicate the increment value relative to θ1. To save on instruction costs. For example, "001" indicates... Based on θ1 indicated by "00011", add 1 to the index, that is, the index is 3+1=4, i.e. With an angle of 20 degrees, this method provides a more significant reduction in gain overhead when the difference between DOA and AOA indices is large. Bit group 4 consists of 5 bits, indicating τ1 using these 5 bits. Bit group 5 consists of 5 bits, indicating f using these 5 bits. d1 The indication methods for bit groups 2 and 5 can be found in the aforementioned indication methods for each bit group, and will not be described in detail here. Using the above method, the information for path 1 can be indicated using the 20 bits “00 00011 001xxxxx xxxxx”, where “x” in “xxxxx” is either 0 or 1.

[0115] Table 1

[0116] Index Angle (°) 0 0 1 5 2 10 3 15 4 20 … …

[0117] The method of indicating information for path 2 is the same as that for path 1, and will not be explained in detail here.

[0118] It should be noted that the aforementioned number of bits is merely illustrative and is not intended to limit this application.

[0119] Optionally, the number of bits used to carry the information for a path can be flexibly determined based on the indication overhead and performance. For example, if the MAC CE resources are sufficient and can carry a large amount of indication content, the number of bits carrying the information for each path can be increased, such as 25 bits, etc.

[0120] In other examples, information about a path may include the path's angle, time delay spread, and Doppler information, where the path's angle includes the DOA and AOA angles. Taking path 1 and path 2 as examples again, the information about path 1 may include... Information about Path 2 may include When multiple bits carry information about path 1 and path 2, the information for each path can be carried separately according to the delay spread ascending order rule. For example, if τ1 < τ2, meaning the delay spread of path 1 is less than that of path 2, the first few bits carry the information for path 1, and the last few bits carry the information for path 2. The method of indicating the information for each path using bits can be found in the previous example, and will not be repeated here. Compared to the previous example, in this example, the identifier for each path does not need to occupy bits, thus saving 2 bits of identifier overhead when indicating the information for each path.

[0121] Optionally, multiple bits can carry information about each path according to a delay extension ascending order rule. This is just an example. Information about each path can also be carried according to a delay extension descending order rule, a Doppler information ascending order rule, or other rules. This application does not limit this.

[0122] In one alternative implementation, when a bit group indicates the first information as one of the following: the angle of the path, the delay spread of the path, or Doppler information, the bit group indicates the amount of change of the first information relative to the information corresponding to the first information in the second environmental state information, which is sent before the first environmental state information.

[0123] For example, the second environmental state information may be sent by the terminal device at time T1, and the first environmental state information may be sent by the terminal device at time T2, where time T1 is before time T2.

[0124] Optionally, time T1 and time T2 can be adjacent or non-adjacent; this application does not impose any limitation. When time T1 and time T2 can be adjacent, time T1 can be the time preceding time T2.

[0125] The second environmental status information is similar to the first environmental status information, and can be found in the description of the first environmental status information, which will not be explained in detail here.

[0126] In this context, the information in the second environmental state information that corresponds to the first information can be understood as the same information in the second environmental state information as the first information. For example, if the first information is the angle of a path, then the corresponding information in the second environmental state information is also the angle of a path. The same logic applies to other cases.

[0127] A bit group indicates the amount of change in the first information relative to the corresponding information in the second environmental state information. This can also be understood as the bit group indicating the first information of a path in the first environmental state information by indicating the amount of change in the first information relative to the first information in the second environmental state information. For example, a bit group indicates the amount of change in the angle of path 1 in the first environmental state information relative to the angle of path 1 in the second environmental state information. Furthermore, the angle of path 1 in the first environmental state information can be obtained from this amount of change and the angle of path 1 in the second environmental state information.

[0128] In some embodiments, when the information of a path includes the angle of the path, the time delay spread of the path, and Doppler information, one or more of these sub-information items may change at time T2 relative to time T1. Therefore, the changed sub-information can be indicated based on the aforementioned amount of change, while the unchanged sub-information can be indicated as in the aforementioned example. That is, in some possible scenarios, some bit groups can indicate the amount of change of the first information relative to the information corresponding to the first information in the second environmental state information, while other bit groups can indicate the actual value of the first information in the first environmental state information. For example, when the angle of path 1 and the time delay spread of path 1 change, but the Doppler information does not change, the bit group indicating the angle of path 1 can indicate the amount of change of the angle of path 1, the bit group indicating the time delay spread of path 1 can indicate the amount of change of the time delay spread of path 1, and the bit group indicating the Doppler information of path 1 can indicate the actual value of the Doppler information.

[0129] For example, the information of a path includes the path identifier, the path angle, and the path time delay spread. Assume that the number of paths remains unchanged in the second environmental state information at time T1 and the first environmental state information at time T2, but the path angle and the path time delay spread change. For instance, the second environmental state information at time T1 might be... The first environmental state information at time T2 is: When multiple bits carry initial environmental state information, the amount of change can be indicated by the bit groups corresponding to each sub-information. For example, multiple bits can indicate... Taking radius 1 as an example, △θ1 represents the change in the DOA angle of radius 1. The change in the AOA angle of radius 1 is represented by Δτ1, and the change in the time delay spread of radius 1 is represented by Δτ1. Specifically, the method of indicating Δτ1 using a bit group can be found in the previously described example. For example, this bit group can include 5 bits, indicating Δτ1 using these 5 bits. These 5 bits can indicate 32 angle changes (indices), as shown in Table 1 above (Table 1 only shows 5 changes). For example, "00011" can represent the angle value of the 3rd position, meaning "00011" indicates Δτ1 is 15 degrees, which means the change in the DOA angle of radius 1 is 15 degrees. The indication of other changes can be similarly described in the previously described example, and will not be elaborated further here.

[0130] Thus, θ1′ in the first environmental state information can be obtained based on the indicated Δθ1 and θ1. For example, if the second environmental state information indicates that the DOA angle Δθ1 of diameter 1 is 15 degrees and the change in the DOA angle of diameter 1, Δθ1, is 15 degrees, then the DOA angle θ1′ of diameter 1 in the first environmental state information can be determined to be 30 degrees. The method for obtaining τ1′ is the same. The method for obtaining information about other paths in the first environmental state information is also the same.

[0131] Optionally, the second environmental state information at time T1 is: The first environmental state information at time T2 is: In some cases, the terminal device can also directly indicate via multiple bits. In other words, the actual value of each path's information can be indicated using multiple bits. This method is the one described in the previous example. For instance, θ1′ can be indicated using 5 bits, where 5 bits can indicate 32 angle changes (indices), as shown in Table 1 above (Table 1 only shows 5 angle changes). For example, "00011" can represent the angle value of the 3rd angle, that is, "00011" can indicate that θ1′ is 15 degrees.

[0132] In one alternative implementation, any set of bits can indicate the information of the path corresponding to that set of bits in the first environmental state information, relative to the increment of the information of the path corresponding to that set of bits in the second environmental state information. That is, for the same path, the same information for that path in the first environmental state information and the second environmental state information will no longer be indicated; instead, different information will be indicated.

[0133] For example, assuming the number of paths in the second environmental state information at time T1 and the first environmental state information at time T2 remains unchanged, the second environmental state information at time T1 is: The first environmental state information at time T2 is: In other words, the first environmental state information adds Doppler information to each path compared to the second environmental state information. In this case, one approach is that the bit set corresponding to path 1 can include two bit groups: one bit group indicates the identifier of path 1, and the other bit group indicates the Doppler information of path 1. Following the same principle as the bit set corresponding to path 2, multiple bits can indicate {{1, f} d1},{2,f d2 This method identifies each path by its identifier. Alternatively, the bit set corresponding to path 1 can include a bit group used to indicate the Doppler information of path 1. Following the same logic as the bit set corresponding to path 2, multiple bits can indicate {{f}. d1},{f d2 This method can identify each path through delay-spreading ascending order rules, etc. For details on how each bit group indicates its corresponding information, please refer to the aforementioned descriptions.

[0134] Furthermore, subsequent network devices can obtain complete first environmental state information based on the indication of multiple bits and the second environmental state information.

[0135] In some embodiments, due to the limited information carried by the UCI, the UCI can carry the first environmental state information by means of changes or increments in the information carried by the path. Of course, this application does not limit this.

[0136] Step 203: The network device performs channel estimation and channel prediction based on the first environmental state information and channel state information.

[0137] In one alternative implementation, the network device also acquires channel state information to perform channel estimation and channel prediction based on the first environmental state information and the channel state information.

[0138] Optionally, the network device can fuse the first environmental state information and the channel state information, and perform channel estimation and channel prediction based on the fused information.

[0139] Optionally, network devices can obtain channel state information in the following two ways:

[0140] Method 1: The network device sends a first reference signal. After receiving the first reference signal, the terminal device determines the channel state information based on the first reference signal and sends the channel state information to the network device.

[0141] For example, the first reference signal may be CSI-RS or CRS, etc.

[0142] Optionally, this application does not limit the timing relationship between the terminal device sending the first environmental state information and the channel state information. For example, the terminal device may send the first environmental state information and the channel state information simultaneously, or it may send the first environmental state information and the channel state information separately at different times without limiting the order of the first environmental state information and the channel state information.

[0143] Optionally, the terminal device can send the first environmental state information and the channel state information using the same message. Alternatively, the terminal device can send the first environmental state information and the channel state information separately using different messages.

[0144] Method 2: The terminal device sends a second reference signal. After receiving the second reference signal, the network device determines the channel state information based on the second reference signal.

[0145] For example, the second reference signal may be an SRS, etc.

[0146] Based on the foregoing description, an example of a process for a terminal device to perform channel estimation and channel prediction by reporting to an ESI-assisted network device can be described as follows: Figure 5As shown, the terminal device reconstructs the environment based on radar-visual fusion technology, further reconstructs the channel based on the reconstructed information, extracts the ESI, and reports the ESI to the network device. The network device obtains the CSI based on SRS, or receives the CSI determined by the terminal device based on CSI-RS. The network device then performs channel estimation and channel prediction based on the CSI and ESI to obtain accurate channel characteristics. It should be understood that the order of the terminal device reporting the ESI and the network device obtaining the CSI is not limited.

[0147] The above process is implemented by terminal devices and network devices in the same physical environment.

[0148] Based on the above communication method, the terminal device reports the first environmental state information, so that the network device can jointly perform channel estimation and channel prediction based on the first environmental state information and the channel state information. This makes the channel estimation and channel prediction more accurate, which can better enable precoding design and beamforming, and improve transmission performance.

[0149] In some embodiments, when a network device sends a first reference signal and a terminal device receives the first reference signal and determines channel state information based on the first reference signal, the terminal device can fuse the first environmental state information and the channel state information and send the fused information to the network device. The network device can then perform channel estimation and channel prediction based on the fused information.

[0150] The foregoing embodiments describe how a terminal device extracts first environmental state information. Optionally, the terminal device can also reconstruct the channel based on the reconstructed environmental information, and then send the reconstructed channel information (such as a ray diagram) to a network device. The network device can then extract the first environmental state information based on the reconstructed channel information, and perform channel estimation and channel prediction based on the first environmental state information and the channel state information.

[0151] Based on the above embodiments, this application also provides a communication device, see below. Figure 6 As shown, the communication device 600 may include a transceiver unit 601 and a processing unit 602. The transceiver unit 601 is used for communication by the communication device 600, such as receiving or sending information (signals or data). The processing unit 602 is used for controlling and managing the operation of the communication device 600. The processing unit 602 can also control the steps performed by the transceiver unit 601.

[0152] For example, the communication device 600 may specifically be a terminal device as described in the above embodiments, or a component for the terminal device (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, component, module, functional module, etc.). The component for the terminal device may be within the terminal device or independent of the terminal device but coupled to it. Alternatively, the communication device 600 may specifically be a network device as described in the above embodiments, or a component for the network device (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, component, module, functional module, etc.). The component for the network device may be within the network device or independent of the network device but coupled to the second communication device.

[0153] For example, the chip or chip system can be a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core.

[0154] In one embodiment, when the communication device 600 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the above embodiments, the processing unit 602 can be used to determine first environmental state information; the first environmental state information includes information of at least one path; the first environmental state information is used to perform channel estimation and channel prediction; the transceiver unit 601 can be used to send the first environmental state information, which is carried by a Media Access Control Unit (MAC CE) or Uplink Control Information (UCI).

[0155] In one alternative implementation, the information of any one of the at least one paths includes one or more of the following: path identifier, path angle, path time delay spread, or Doppler information.

[0156] In one possible approach, the first environmental state information is carried by multiple bits, which are used to indicate information about the at least one path.

[0157] Optionally, the plurality of bits includes at least one set of bits, the at least one set of bits corresponding one-to-one with the at least one path, and any set of bits indicates information about a path.

[0158] For example, any bit set includes at least one bit group, a bit group being used to indicate first information of the path corresponding to the any bit set, the first information being one of the following: path identifier, path angle, path delay spread, or Doppler information.

[0159] In some examples, the first information is one of the following: the angle of the path, the time delay spread of the path, or the Doppler information, wherein the bit group indicates the amount of change of the first information relative to the information corresponding to the first information in the second environmental state information, which is sent before the first environmental state information.

[0160] In an optional implementation, the processing unit 602 may further be used to determine channel state information based on the first reference signal, and the transceiver unit 601 may further be used to transmit the channel state information; or

[0161] The transceiver unit 601 can also be used to transmit a second reference signal, which is used to determine the channel state information.

[0162] In another embodiment, when the communication device 600 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the above embodiments, the transceiver unit 601 can be used to receive first environmental state information, the first environmental state information including information of at least one path; the first environmental state information is used to perform channel estimation and channel prediction; the first environmental state information is carried through a Media Access Control Unit (MAC CE) or Uplink Control Information (UCI); the processing unit 602 can be used to perform channel estimation and channel prediction based on the first environmental state information and the channel state information.

[0163] In one alternative implementation, the information of any one of the at least one paths includes one or more of the following: path identifier, path angle, path time delay spread, or Doppler information.

[0164] In some embodiments, the first environmental state information is carried by multiple bits, which are used to indicate information about the at least one path.

[0165] Optionally, the plurality of bits includes at least one set of bits, the at least one set of bits corresponding one-to-one with the at least one path, and any set of bits indicates information about a path.

[0166] For example, any bit set includes at least one bit group, a bit group being used to indicate first information of the path corresponding to the any bit set, the first information being one of the following: path identifier, path angle, path delay spread, or Doppler information.

[0167] In one possible manner, the first information is one of the following: the angle of the path, the time delay spread of the path, or the Doppler information, wherein the bit group indicates the amount of change of the first information relative to the information corresponding to the first information in the second environmental state information, the second environmental state information being received before the first environmental state information.

[0168] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit 601 can also be used to transmit a first reference signal and receive the channel state information, the channel state information being determined based on the first reference signal; or

[0169] The transceiver unit 601 can also be used to receive a second reference signal, and the processing unit 602 can also be used to determine the channel state information based on the second reference signal.

[0170] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. The functional units in the embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0171] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0172] Based on the above embodiments, this application also provides a communication device, see below. Figure 7 As shown, the communication device 700 may include one or more processors 702. Optionally, the communication device 700 may also include one or more communication interfaces 701. Optionally, the communication device 700 may also include at least one memory 703. The memory 703 may be located inside or outside the communication device 700. The processor 702 can control the communication interface 701 to receive and send information, messages, or data. For example, the communication interface 701 may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, input / output interface, or other types of communication interface.

[0173] Specifically, the processor 702 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor 702 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0174] The communication interface 701, the processor 702, and the memory 703 are interconnected. Optionally, the communication interface 701, the processor 702, and the memory 703 are interconnected via a bus 704; the bus 704 can be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 4 The bus is represented by a single thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0175] In one optional embodiment, the memory 703 is used to store programs, etc. Specifically, the program may include program code, which includes computer operation instructions. The memory 703 may include cache, RAM, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more disk storage devices. The processor 702 executes the application programs stored in the memory 703, and / or, through logic circuits, implements the above functions, thereby realizing the functions of the communication device 700.

[0176] For example, the communication device 700 can specifically implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the above embodiments.

[0177] In one embodiment, when the communication device 700 implements the functions of the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments, the communication interface 701 can implement the send and receive operations performed by the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments; the processor 702 can implement other operations performed by the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments besides the send and receive operations. Specific details can be found in the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0178] In another embodiment, when the communication device 700 implements the functions of the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments, the processor 702 can implement the operations performed by the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments. For specific details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, which will not be elaborated upon here.

[0179] In yet another embodiment, when the communication device 700 implements the functions of the network device in the aforementioned method embodiments, the communication interface 701 can implement the send / receive operations performed by the network device in the aforementioned method embodiments; the processor 702 can implement other operations performed by the network device in the aforementioned method embodiments besides the send / receive operations. Specific details can be found in the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0180] In yet another embodiment, when the communication device 700 implements the functions of the network device in the foregoing method embodiments, the processor 702 can implement the operations performed by the network device in the foregoing method embodiments. Specific details can be found in the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0181] Based on the above embodiments, this application provides a communication system, which may include the terminal devices and network devices involved in the above embodiments.

[0182] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are executed by a computer, the computer can implement the communication methods provided in the above-described method embodiments.

[0183] This application also provides a computer program product for storing computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a computer, the computer can implement the communication method provided in the above method embodiments.

[0184] This application also provides a chip or chip system, including logic circuitry, which is used to execute the communication method provided in the above-described method embodiments.

[0185] This application also provides a chip or chip system, including one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are coupled to at least one memory, for calling a program in the memory to enable the chip or chip system to implement the communication method provided in the above method embodiments.

[0186] This application also provides a chip or chip system coupled to at least one memory, which is used to implement the communication method provided in the above method embodiments.

[0187] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0188] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to this application. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, generate instructions for implementing the flowchart illustrations. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0189] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means, which are implemented in a process Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The function specified in one or more boxes.

[0190] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable equipment to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable equipment for implementing the process. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1The steps of the function specified in one or more boxes.

[0191] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Determine the first environmental state information; the first environmental state information includes information about at least one path; The first environmental state information is used for channel estimation and channel prediction; The first environmental status information is sent, which is carried by the Media Access Control Unit (MACCE) or the Uplink Control Information (UCI).

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The information of any one of the at least one paths includes one or more of the following: path identifier, path angle, path time delay spread, or Doppler information.

3. The method as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first environmental state information is carried by multiple bits, which are used to indicate the information of the at least one path.

4. The method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The plurality of bits includes at least one set of bits, the at least one set of bits corresponding one-to-one with the at least one path, and any set of bits indicates information about a path.

5. The method as described in claim 4, characterized in that, Each bit set includes at least one bit group, and a bit group is used to indicate first information of the path corresponding to the bit set. The first information is one of the following: path identifier, path angle, path delay spread, or Doppler information.

6. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, When the first information is one of the following: the angle of the path, the time delay spread of the path, or the Doppler information, the bit group indicates the amount of change of the first information relative to the information corresponding to the first information in the second environmental state information, and the second environmental state information is sent before the first environmental state information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Channel state information is determined based on the first reference signal and then transmitted; or A second reference signal is transmitted, which is used to determine the channel state information.

8. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Receive first environmental state information, which includes information about at least one path; The first environmental state information is used for channel estimation and channel prediction; The first environmental status information is carried via the Media Access Control Unit (MAC CE) or the Uplink Control Information (UCI). Channel estimation and channel prediction are performed based on the first environmental state information and channel state information.

9. The method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The information of any one of the at least one paths includes one or more of the following: path identifier, path angle, path time delay spread, or Doppler information.

10. The method as described in claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The first environmental state information is carried by multiple bits, which are used to indicate the information of the at least one path.

11. The method as described in claim 10, characterized in that, The plurality of bits includes at least one set of bits, the at least one set of bits corresponding one-to-one with the at least one path, and any set of bits indicates information about a path.

12. The method as described in claim 11, characterized in that, Each bit set includes at least one bit group, and a bit group is used to indicate first information of the path corresponding to the bit set. The first information is one of the following: path identifier, path angle, path delay spread, or Doppler information.

13. The method as described in claim 12, characterized in that, When the first information is one of the following: the angle of the path, the time delay spread of the path, or the Doppler information, the bit group indicates the amount of change of the first information relative to the information corresponding to the first information in the second environmental state information, and the second environmental state information is received before the first environmental state information.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8-13, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a first reference signal and receive the channel state information, wherein the channel state information is determined based on the first reference signal; or Receive a second reference signal and determine the channel state information based on the second reference signal.

15. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes units or modules for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-7, or includes units or modules for performing the method as described in any one of claims 8-14.

16. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a processor configured to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-7, or the method as described in any one of claims 8-14, by executing computer programs or instructions, and / or by logic circuitry.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a communication device, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-7, or the method as described in any one of claims 8-14.

18. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1-7 to be implemented, or the method as described in any one of claims 8-14 to be implemented.

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