A channel measurement method and apparatus

Abstract

The application discloses a channel measurement method and device. The method comprises the following steps: a network device sends resource configuration information to a terminal device and sends reference signals corresponding to measurement resources to the terminal device through N beams according to the resource configuration information. The terminal device receives the reference signals corresponding to the measurement resources through the N beams, determines M beams from the N beams, and then determines channel state information (CSI) of channels corresponding to the M beams. The terminal device reports beam information of the M beams and the channel state information of the channels corresponding to the M beams. In the prior art, beam management and CSI measurement are performed in steps, which causes high time delay and large resource overhead. The application combines the traditional beam management and CSI measurement steps into a single operation, effectively reduces the time delay, saves the signaling overhead, and improves the data transmission efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In mobile communication systems, before data transmission, network devices first perform beam management. This involves determining the beam to be used for data transmission based on beam measurements and reporting (e.g., using the beam with the best quality reported by the terminal device). Then, channel state information (CSI) measurements are used to determine the CSI information corresponding to that transmission beam. Finally, the network device uses this transmission beam and performs data transmission based on the corresponding CSI information.

[0003] Currently, in wireless communication, beam management and CSI measurement are two separate steps. Network devices and terminal devices can only transmit data after both steps are completed, resulting in significant latency. Furthermore, both steps require the use of reference signals for measurement, leading to substantial time-frequency resource overhead.

[0004] Therefore, how to reduce the latency and overhead of beam management and CSI acquisition processes and improve the efficiency of data transmission is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a channel measurement method and apparatus that can reduce the latency and overhead of beam management and CSI acquisition, and improve the efficiency of data transmission.

[0006] Firstly, this application provides a channel measurement method, which can be executed by a terminal device. Unless otherwise specified, the term "terminal device" in this application can refer to the terminal device itself, or a component in the terminal device (e.g., a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions (such as 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), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device.

[0007] Taking the application of this method to a terminal device as an example, in this method: the terminal device selects M beams from N beams and determines the channel state information of the channels corresponding to the M beams. The terminal device reports the beam information of the M beams and the channel state information of the channels corresponding to the M beams, where N and M are both positive integers, N is greater than 1, N is greater than or equal to M and M is greater than or equal to 1. By completing the selection of M beams from N beams and obtaining the channel state information of the channels corresponding to the selected beams in a single measurement, the latency and overhead of beam management and CSI acquisition processes in data transmission are reduced, and the efficiency of data transmission is improved.

[0008] In one possible design, the terminal device receives reference signals corresponding to the measurement resources through N beams. The terminal device then obtains the signal quality of the corresponding beam based on the reference signals for each measurement resource.

[0009] In one possible design, the terminal device receives measurement configuration information, which includes resource configuration information and reporting configuration information. The resource configuration information configures the measurement resources for the reference signal, such as the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal and the transmission period of the reference signal. The terminal device receives the measurement resources for the reference signal according to the resource configuration information and measures those resources. The reporting configuration information configures the relevant parameters for measurement and reporting by the terminal device, such as the measurement period and the content to be reported. The terminal device measures the reference signal corresponding to the measurement resources according to the reporting configuration information and reports the measurement results.

[0010] In one possible design, the terminal device receives measurement resources configured by the network device. Measurement resources refer to the physical or logical resources for channel or signal quality measurements, such as time-frequency resources for reference signals, antenna ports, beam directions, etc. Each measurement resource corresponds to a beam—that is, the reference signal corresponding to each measurement resource is transmitted through its corresponding beam. When each measurement resource is associated with one port, such as a port with a single polarization direction, then that measurement resource corresponds to a single reference signal; when each measurement resource is associated with two ports, such as a set of two ports with different polarization directions (e.g., a set of ports with cross-polarization directions), then that measurement resource corresponds to two reference signals. The terminal device obtains the signal quality of the corresponding beam based on the reference signals corresponding to each measurement resource.

[0011] In one possible design, the terminal device receives measurement resources configured by the network device. Each measurement resource is associated with multiple ports, and each port corresponds to a beam—that is, the reference signal corresponding to each port is transmitted through its corresponding beam. When each port corresponds to a beam, such as when each port is a port with a single polarization direction, the network device transmits reference signals with different beam directions through different ports, and the terminal obtains the signal quality of the corresponding beam by measuring the reference signals of each port. When every two ports are grouped together, corresponding to ports with different polarization directions of the same beam (such as a group of ports with cross-polarization directions), the terminal obtains the signal quality of the corresponding beam by measuring the reference signals of the two polarization directions of the ports corresponding to the same beam.

[0012] In one possible design, the terminal device receives measurement resources configured by the network device. Each measurement resource is associated with a Transmission Configuration Indication State (TCI-state), and each TCI-state indicates a different beam. The terminal device measures each beam by measuring the reference signal indicated by each TCI-state. By measuring the reference signal corresponding to each TCI-state, the terminal device obtains the signal quality of the corresponding beam.

[0013] In one possible design, the terminal device receives reference signals based on measurement configuration information, and these reference signals are associated with N beams. By measuring the reference signals associated with the N beams, the terminal device can obtain the signal quality of each of the N beams.

[0014] In one possible design, the reference signals associated with the N beams received by the terminal device come from one or more Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) of the same network device, or from multiple TRPs of different network devices.

[0015] In one possible design, when M > 1, the terminal device combines the channels corresponding to the M beams into a joint channel and determines the channel state information of the joint channel. The combination of the channels corresponding to the M beams into a joint channel can be understood as a logical concept. For example, in the M beams, the channel corresponding to each beam is determined by its channel matrix H. i It means that H i Let H be the channel corresponding to the i-th beam out of M beams. Then the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams is determined by the channel matrix H corresponding to each beam. i The combined joint channel matrix H joint It means that H joint =[H1,H2,…,H M ] or H joint =[H1 T H2 T ,…,HM T ] T After selecting multiple beams and obtaining the channel state information of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the multiple beams, the terminal device can transmit data through multiple beams, making full use of the channel's dimensional resources and improving the data transmission rate and coverage.

[0016] In one possible design, the measurement resources include the measurement resources for channel measurements.

[0017] In one possible design, the measurement resources also include measurement resources for interfering with the measurement.

[0018] In one possible design, the terminal device receives first information, which instructs the terminal device to perform joint measurement. Joint measurement refers to completing beam selection and obtaining channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement. For example, the first information may include a switch parameter for configuring whether to perform joint measurement; or, the first information may include a selection parameter for selecting a measurement method from multiple measurement methods, including joint measurement.

[0019] In one possible design, the terminal device receives second information, which indicates either the number of beams reported by the terminal device or the maximum value of the number of beams reported by the terminal device. Specifically, the second information directly indicates the number M of beams reported by the terminal device, and the terminal device selects M beams from N beams based on the number M indicated by the second information; or, the second information indicates the maximum value M' of the number of beams reported by the terminal device. When the number of beams reported by the terminal device does not exceed the maximum value M' indicated by the second information, the number of beams reported by the terminal device is determined by the terminal device—when the number of beams selected by the terminal device M ≤ M', the number of beams reported by the terminal device is M, where M and M' are both positive integers.

[0020] In one possible design, the terminal device receives third information indicating the selectable range of rank indications (RIs) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device. The third information contains multiple third parameters, each corresponding to a number of beams reported by the terminal device, used to limit the selectable range of RIs reported by the terminal device for the currently reported number of beams—when the number of beams reported by the terminal device is P, the third parameter represents the selectable range of RIs reported by the terminal device, where P is a positive integer. Alternatively, the third information can also be a mapping relationship between the number of beams P reported by the terminal device and the selectable range of RIs, a function, or a lookup table corresponding to the selectable ranges of P and RIs.

[0021] In one possible design, the terminal device receives fourth information, which indicates the selectable range of Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device. The fourth information includes multiple fourth parameters, each corresponding to a number Q of beams reported by the terminal device, used to limit the selectable range of PMIs reported by the terminal device under the currently reported number of beams—when the number of beams reported by the terminal device is Q, the fourth parameter represents the selectable range of the currently reported PMIs, where Q is a positive integer. Alternatively, the fourth information can also be a mapping relationship between the number Q of beams reported by the terminal device and the selectable range of PMIs, a function, or a lookup table corresponding to Q and the selectable range of PMIs.

[0022] In one possible design, the terminal device receives fifth information, which indicates the type of precoding matrix indication (PMI) reported by the terminal device. The PMI type can be configured as either Type 1 or Type 2. The terminal device then reports channel state information based on the fifth information.

[0023] In one possible design, the terminal device selects M beams from N beams, where N and M are both positive integers, N is greater than 1, N is greater than or equal to M, and M is greater than or equal to 1. For example, the terminal device selects M beams from N beams based on beam information and / or signal quality information corresponding to the beams and / or the state of the terminal device. By selecting the beams for receiving data, the terminal device improves signal quality and reliability during data transmission. Furthermore, when M > 1, in a multipath data transmission environment, selecting multiple beams for data transmission can effectively utilize multiple spatial transmission paths, improving signal coverage and anti-interference capabilities of data transmission.

[0024] In one possible design, when M > 1, the terminal device combines the channels corresponding to the M beams into a joint channel, where M is a positive integer. The terminal device combines the ports corresponding to the M beams in a predetermined order, so that the ports of the joint channel formed by the M beams correspond one-to-one with the ports of the M beams. Here, a beam port refers to the physical or logical transmission channel corresponding to a single beam, used for data transmission. The joint channel port is a virtual channel port formed by combining the ports of multiple beams according to rules, used for multi-beam joint data transmission. The predetermined order is the order of beam identification information (e.g., the index information of measurement resources or the index information of measurement resource ports from largest to smallest or smallest to largest), the order of signal quality strength corresponding to the beams (e.g., the signal quality corresponding to measurement resources or measurement resource ports from strongest to weakest or weakest to strongest), or the chronological order of the configuration of measurement resources or measurement resource ports. By defining predefined arrangement rules, the mapping between beam ports and joint channel ports is achieved, providing a joint channel construction scheme for multi-beam joint data transmission.

[0025] In one possible design, the terminal device determines the port layout of the joint channel, which is either the actual port layout of the network device or an assumed port layout. The terminal device then determines the PMI reporting format based on the joint channel's port layout.

[0026] In one possible design, the beam information reported by the terminal device includes the number of beams reported by the terminal device and the identification information of each of the M reported beams, where M is a positive integer. When each measurement resource corresponds to one beam, the number of M beams is the number of measurement resources M, and the identification information of each of the M beams corresponds to the measurement resource index or the port index of the measurement resource—the number of measurement resources M reported by the terminal device and the measurement resource index or the port index of the measurement resource corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device; or, when each port corresponds to one beam, the number of M beams is the number of ports M, and the identification information of each of the M beams corresponds to the port index of the measurement resource—the number of measurement resources M reported by the terminal device and the port index of the measurement resource corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device. The number M and the port indices of the measurement resources corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device; or, when every two ports correspond to one beam, the number information of the M beams is the number of ports 2M or half the number of ports M, and the identification information of each of the M beams corresponds to the port index of the measurement resource—the number of ports of the measurement resource reported by the terminal device 2M and the port indices of the 2M ports of the measurement resource corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device, or half the number of ports of the measurement resource reported by the terminal device M and the port indices of the M ports of the measurement resource corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device in the same polarization direction. The terminal device divides the beam information of the reported beams into two parts, so that the network device can obtain the identification information of each of the M beams according to the number of beams after obtaining the beam number information.

[0027] In one possible design, the channel state information reported by the terminal device includes the precoding matrix indication (PMI) type and the PMI for the channels corresponding to M beams, where M is a positive integer. Specifically, the channel state information reported by the terminal device comprises two parts: the first part includes the reported PMI type for the channels corresponding to the M beams, and the second part includes the reported PMI for the channels corresponding to the M beams. The terminal device reports the channel state information in two steps, enabling the network device to obtain the PMI based on the PMI type after acquiring the PMI type.

[0028] In one possible design, the channel state information reported by the terminal device may also include at least one of the following: Rank Indicator (RI) for the M beams corresponding to the channels, and Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) for the M beams corresponding to the channels.

[0029] In one possible design, the PMI type reported by the terminal device includes at least one of the following: Type 1 PMI and Type 2 PMI. When the terminal device receives a reporting configuration instruction indicating that the reported PMI type is Type 1, the terminal device reports a Type 1 PMI. When the terminal device receives a reporting configuration instruction indicating that the reported PMI type is Type 2 or dynamic, the terminal device determines the type of PMI to be reported based on the measurement results of the channel state information or the motion state of the terminal device. By adjusting the type of reported PMI based on the beam information and / or channel state information, the terminal device balances the overhead of channel state information feedback with the accuracy of PMI, thus optimizing resource allocation.

[0030] In one possible design, Type 1 PMI and Type 2 PMI refer to different codebook types indicated by the PMIs—Type 1 PMIs indicate Type 1 codebooks, and Type 2 PMIs indicate Type 2 codebooks. Here, a codebook is a set of precoding matrices, and a PMI is an index within the corresponding codebook, used to indicate a specific precoding matrix within the codebook. The codebook indicated by Type 1 PMIs has lower complexity than that indicated by Type 2 PMIs. For example, the column vectors of the precoding matrices in Type 1 codebooks are discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vectors, while the column vectors of the precoding matrices in Type 2 codebooks are weighted sums of multiple DFT vectors.

[0031] In one possible design, the terminal device reports a sixth piece of information, indicating whether it supports joint measurement. This allows the network device to know which terminal devices support joint measurement, enabling it to select or schedule supporting terminal devices and issue corresponding measurement configuration information for joint measurement. Therefore, a mechanism is defined for terminal devices to report their support for joint measurement, allowing the network device to select or schedule terminal devices to perform joint measurement and data transmission.

[0032] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a channel measurement method, which can be executed by a network device. Unless otherwise specified, "network device" in this application can refer to the network device itself, a component within the network device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logical module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0033] Taking the application of this method to a network device as an example, in this method: the network device receives beam information of M beams and channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams sent by the terminal device. Among them, the M beams are selected from N beams, and the N beams are the beams sent by the network device to the terminal device. N and M are both integers, N is greater than 1, N is greater than or equal to M and M is greater than or equal to 1.

[0034] In one possible design, the network device transmits reference signals corresponding to the measurement resources through N beams.

[0035] In one possible design, the network device sends measurement configuration information, which includes resource configuration information and reporting configuration information. The resource configuration information configures the measurement resources for the reference signal, such as the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal and the transmission period of the reference signal. The terminal device receives the measurement resources for the reference signal based on the resource configuration information and performs measurements on those resources. The reporting configuration information configures the relevant parameters for measurement and reporting by the terminal device, such as the measurement period and the content to be reported. The terminal device performs measurements on the measurement resources of the reference signal based on the reporting configuration information and reports the measurement results.

[0036] In one possible design, the network device configures measurement resources based on resource configuration information. A measurement resource is multiple measurement resources within one or more measurement sets, and each measurement resource corresponds to a beam—that is, the reference signal corresponding to each measurement resource is transmitted through its corresponding beam. When each measurement resource is associated with one port, such as a port with a single polarization direction, then that measurement resource corresponds to a single reference signal; when each measurement resource is associated with two ports, such as a set of two ports with different polarization directions (e.g., a set of ports with cross-polarization directions), then that measurement resource corresponds to two reference signals.

[0037] In one possible design, the network device configures measurement resources based on resource configuration information. Each measurement resource is associated with multiple ports, and each port corresponds to a beam—that is, the reference signal corresponding to each port is transmitted through its corresponding beam. When each port corresponds to a beam, such as when each port is a port with a single polarization direction, the network device transmits reference signals with different beam directions through different ports; while when every two ports are grouped together, corresponding to ports with different polarization directions of the same beam (such as a group of ports with cross-polarization directions).

[0038] In one possible design, the network device configures measurement resources based on resource configuration information. Each measurement resource is associated with a Transmission Configuration Indication State (TCI-state), and each TCI-state indicates a different beam.

[0039] In one possible design, the network device measures and transmits measurement resources based on resource configuration information. The measurement resources transmitted by the network device are associated with N beams.

[0040] In one possible design, the network device transmits a reference signal based on measurement configuration information. This reference signal is associated with N beams.

[0041] In one possible design, N beams are transmitted by one or more Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) of the network device.

[0042] In one possible design, when M>1, the channels corresponding to the M beams form a joint channel, and the channel state information of the M beams corresponding to the channels received by the network device is the channel state information of the joint channel.

[0043] In one possible design, the measurement resources include the measurement resources for channel measurements.

[0044] In one possible design, the measurement resources also include measurement resources for interfering with the measurement.

[0045] In one possible design, the network device sends first information to instruct the terminal device to perform joint measurement. Joint measurement refers to completing beam selection and obtaining channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement. The first information includes a switching parameter to configure whether to perform joint measurement; alternatively, the first information includes a selection parameter to select a measurement method from multiple measurement methods, including joint measurement.

[0046] In one possible design, the network device sends a second message indicating either the number of beams reported by the terminal device or the maximum value of the number of beams reported by the terminal device. Specifically, the second message directly indicates the number M of beams reported by the terminal device, and the terminal device selects M beams from N beams based on the number M indicated by the second message; alternatively, the second message indicates the maximum value M' of the number of beams reported by the terminal device. When the number of beams reported by the terminal device does not exceed the maximum value M' indicated by the second message, the number of beams reported by the terminal device is determined by the terminal device—when the number of beams selected by the terminal device M ≤ M', the number of beams reported by the terminal device is M, where M and M' are both positive integers.

[0047] In one possible design, the network device sends third information indicating the selectable range of Rank Indicators (RIs) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device. The third information contains multiple third parameters, each corresponding to a number of beams reported by the terminal device, used to limit the selectable range of RIs reported by the terminal device for the currently reported number of beams—when the number of beams reported by the terminal device is P, the third parameter represents the selectable range of RIs reported by the current terminal device, where P is a positive integer. Alternatively, the third information can also be a mapping relationship between the number of beams P reported by the terminal device and the selectable range of RIs, a function, or a lookup table corresponding to the selectable ranges of P and RIs.

[0048] In one possible design, the network device sends fourth information indicating the selectable range of Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device. The fourth information contains multiple fourth parameters, each corresponding to a number Q of beams reported by the terminal device, used to limit the selectable range of PMIs reported by the terminal device for the currently reported number of beams—when the number of beams reported by the terminal device is Q, the fourth parameter represents the selectable range of the PMIs reported by the current terminal device, where Q is a positive integer. Alternatively, the fourth information can also be a mapping relationship between the number Q of beams reported by the terminal device and the selectable range of PMIs, a function, or a lookup table corresponding to Q and the selectable range of PMIs.

[0049] In one possible design, the network device sends a fifth piece of information indicating the type of Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI) reported by the terminal device. The PMI type can be configured as either Type 1 or Type 2.

[0050] In one possible design, the network device obtains the port layout of the joint channel, which is either the actual port layout of the network device or an assumed port layout. The network device determines the PMI reporting format based on the joint channel's port layout and receives the PMI reported by the terminal device according to this format.

[0051] In one possible design, the beam information received by the network device from the terminal device includes the number of beams reported by the terminal device and the identification information of each of the M reported beams, where M is a positive integer. When each measurement resource corresponds to one beam, the number of M beams is the number of measurement resources M, and the identification information of each of the M beams corresponds to the measurement resource index or the port index of the measurement resource—the number of measurement resources M reported by the terminal device and the measurement resource index or the port index of the measurement resource corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device; or, when each port corresponds to one beam, the number of M beams is the number of ports M, and the identification information of each of the M beams corresponds to the port index of the measurement resource—the number of measurement resources M reported by the terminal device and the port index of the measurement resource corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device. The number M and the port indices of the measurement resources corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device; or, when every two ports correspond to one beam, the number information of the M beams is the number of ports 2M or half the number of ports M, and the identification information of each of the M beams corresponds to the port index of the measurement resource—the number of ports of the measurement resource reported by the terminal device 2M and the port indices of the 2M ports of the measurement resource corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device, or half the number of ports of the measurement resource reported by the terminal device M and the port indices of the M ports of the measurement resource corresponding to the M beams selected by the terminal device in the same polarization direction. The terminal device divides the beam information of the reported beams into two parts, so that the network device can obtain the identification information of each of the M beams according to the number of beams after obtaining the beam number information.

[0052] In one possible design, the channel state information reported by the terminal device received by the network device includes the Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) type for the M beams corresponding to the channels and the PMI, where M is a positive integer. Specifically, the channel state information reported by the terminal device received by the network device includes two parts: the first part includes the reported Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) type for the M beams corresponding to the channels, and the second part includes the reported Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) for the M beams corresponding to the channels.

[0053] In one possible design, the channel state information reported by the terminal device received by the network device also includes at least one of the following: Rank Indicator (RI) for the M beams corresponding to the channels, and Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) for the M beams corresponding to the channels.

[0054] In one possible design, the PMI type reported by the terminal device received by the network device includes at least one of the following: Type 1 PMI and Type 2 PMI. When the PMI type reported by the network device in the reporting configuration instruction is Type 1, the PMI type reported by the terminal device is Type 1. When the PMI type reported by the network device in the reporting configuration instruction is Type 2 or dynamic, the terminal device determines the type of PMI to be reported based on the measurement results of the channel state information or the motion state of the terminal device.

[0055] In one possible design, the first type of PMI and the second type of PMI refer to different codebook types—the first type of PMI indicates a Type 1 codebook, while the second type of PMI indicates a Type 2 codebook. Here, a codebook is a set of precoding matrices, and a PMI is an index within the corresponding codebook, used to indicate a specific precoding matrix within that codebook. The codebook indicated by the first type of PMI has lower complexity than the codebook indicated by the second type of PMI. For example, the column vectors of the precoding matrix in the first type of codebook are discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vectors, while the column vectors of the precoding matrix in the second type of codebook are weighted sums of multiple DFT vectors.

[0056] In one possible design, the network device receives a sixth piece of information, which indicates whether the terminal device supports joint measurement.

[0057] The technical effects of the method described in the second aspect can be found in the description of the technical effects of the method described in the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0058] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device that can be applied to the terminal device described in the first aspect to realize the functions performed by the terminal device. The communication device can be the terminal device itself, or it can be a chip, chip system, or system-on-a-chip (SoC) of the terminal device. The communication device can execute the functions performed by the transmitting device via hardware, or it can execute corresponding software via hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above. For example, a transceiver module and a processing module. The transceiver module can independently complete the following transceiver operations, or it can cooperate with the processing module to complete the following transceiver operations; correspondingly, the processing module can independently complete the following processing operations, or it can cooperate with the transceiver module to complete the following processing operations, without limitation. Optionally, the communication device further includes a storage module. This storage module is used to store computer programs and is coupled to the processing module and the transceiver module. When the processing module reads the computer program or instructions, it causes the communication device to execute any of the methods executed by the terminal device in the first aspect described above. The transceiver module receives N beams and transmits beam information of M beams and channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams. The M beams are selected from the N beams. N and M are both integers, N is greater than 1, N is greater than or equal to M and M is greater than or equal to 1.

[0059] In one possible design, the terminal device receives measurement configuration information sent by the network device through a transceiver module. The measurement configuration information includes resource configuration information and reporting configuration information.

[0060] In one possible design, the terminal device receives measurement resources configured by the network device via a transceiver module. These measurement resources include measurement resources for channel measurements and / or measurement resources for interference measurements.

[0061] In one possible design, the terminal device receives first information through a transceiver module, which is used to instruct the terminal device to perform joint measurements.

[0062] In one possible design, the terminal device receives second information through a transceiver module. The second information is used to indicate the number of beams reported by the terminal device or the maximum value of the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0063] In one possible design, the terminal device receives third information through a transceiver module. This third information is used to indicate the selectable range of the rank indication (RI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0064] In one possible design, the terminal device receives fourth information through a transceiver module. This fourth information indicates the selectable range of the precoding matrix indication (PMI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0065] In one possible design, the terminal device receives fifth information through a transceiver module. The fifth information is used to indicate the type of precoding matrix indication (PMI) reported by the terminal device.

[0066] In one possible design, the terminal device sends a sixth message via a transceiver module, which indicates whether the terminal device supports joint measurement.

[0067] In one possible design, the terminal device transmits the port arrangement of the joint channel through the transceiver module.

[0068] In one possible design, the processing module of the terminal device is used to select M beams from N beams, where N and M are both positive integers, N is greater than 1, N is greater than or equal to M and M is greater than or equal to 1.

[0069] In one possible design, when M>1, the processing module of the terminal device will combine the channels corresponding to the M beams into a joint channel.

[0070] In one possible design, the terminal device uses a processing module to map the ports corresponding to the M beams to the ports of the joint channel.

[0071] In one possible design, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module. The sending module implements the sending function of the communication device described in the third aspect, and the receiving module implements the receiving function of the communication device described in the third aspect.

[0072] In one possible design, the communication device described in the third aspect may further include a storage module storing programs or instructions. When the processing module executes the program or instructions, the communication device described in the third aspect can perform the method described in the first aspect.

[0073] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device that can be applied to the network device described in the second aspect to realize the functions performed by the network device. The communication device can be a network device, or a chip, chip system, or system-on-a-chip of the network device. The communication device can execute the functions performed by the transmitting device via hardware, or it can execute corresponding software via hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above. For example, a transceiver module and a processing module. The transceiver module can independently complete the following transceiver operations, or it can cooperate with the processing module to complete the following transceiver operations; correspondingly, the processing module can independently complete the following processing operations, or it can cooperate with the transceiver module to complete the following processing operations, without limitation. Optionally, the communication device further includes a storage module. This storage module is used to store computer programs and is coupled to the processing module and the transceiver module. When the processing module reads the computer program or instructions, it causes the communication device to execute any of the methods performed by the network device in the second aspect described above. The transceiver module transmits N beams and receives beam information and channel state information of the corresponding channels of M beams. The M beams are selected from the N beams. N and M are both integers, N is greater than 1, N is greater than or equal to M and M is greater than or equal to 1.

[0074] In one possible design, the network device sends measurement configuration information through a transceiver module, wherein the measurement configuration information includes resource configuration information and reporting configuration information.

[0075] In one possible design, the network device transmits measurement resources via a transceiver module. These measurement resources include measurement resources for channel measurements and / or measurement resources for interference measurements.

[0076] In one possible design, the network device sends first information through a transceiver module, which is used to instruct the terminal device to perform joint measurements.

[0077] In one possible design, the network device sends a second message through a transceiver module. This second message indicates the number of beams reported by the terminal device or the maximum value of the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0078] In one possible design, the network device sends third information through a transceiver module. This third information is used to indicate the selectable range of the rank indication (RI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0079] In one possible design, the network device sends a fourth message through the transceiver module. This fourth message indicates the selectable range of the precoding matrix indication (PMI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0080] In one possible design, the network device sends a fifth message through a transceiver module. This fifth message indicates the type of precoding matrix indication (PMI) reported by the terminal device.

[0081] In one possible design, the network device receives a sixth message via a transceiver module. This sixth message is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports joint measurement.

[0082] In one possible design, the network device receives the port arrangement of the joint channel through the transceiver module.

[0083] In one possible design, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module. The sending module implements the sending function of the communication device described in the fourth aspect, and the receiving module implements the receiving function of the communication device described in the fourth aspect.

[0084] In one possible design, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may further include a storage module storing programs or instructions. When the processing module executes the program or instructions, the communication device described in the fourth aspect can perform the method described in the second aspect.

[0085] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device including one or more processors; the one or more processors are configured to execute the method described in any one of the first to second aspects by means of logic circuits and / or by running computer programs or instructions.

[0086] In one possible design, the communication device further includes one or more memories coupled to one or more processors, the memories used to store the aforementioned computer programs or instructions. In one possible implementation, the memories are located outside the communication device. In another possible implementation, the memories are located inside the communication device. In embodiments of this application, the processor and memory may also be integrated into a single device, i.e., the processor and memory may be integrated together. In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes a transceiver for receiving and / or transmitting information.

[0087] In one possible design, the communication device further includes one or more communication interfaces coupled to one or more processors, and the communication interfaces are used to communicate with other modules outside the communication device.

[0088] In one possible design, the communication device is a chip or chip system.

[0089] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes an interface circuit and a logic circuit; the interface circuit is used for inputting and / or outputting information; the logic circuit is used to perform the method described in either the first or second aspect, processing and / or generating information based on the information.

[0090] In one possible design, the communication device is a chip or chip system.

[0091] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions or programs that, when executed on a computer, cause the methods described in either the first or fourth aspect to be performed.

[0092] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product containing computer instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the methods described in either the first or fourth aspect to be executed.

[0093] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the methods described in either the first or fourth aspect to be executed.

[0094] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a chip, including: a processor coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store programs or instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the method described in either the first or second aspect to be performed.

[0095] The technical effects of any of the design methods in aspects five through ten are similar to those in aspects one and two above, and will not be elaborated upon further.

[0096] Eleventhly, embodiments of this application provide a communication system, which may include communication devices for performing the communication described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and communication devices for performing the communication described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect. Attached Figure Description

[0097] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating data transmission using beamforming technology;

[0098] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating the process of beam management and CSI measurement in existing technologies;

[0099] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the transmission performance loss when using a single beam for data transmission in existing technologies.

[0100] Figure 4 This application provides a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system.

[0101] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of an O-RAN system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0102] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the network element function division and protocol layer structure of an O-RAN system provided in this application embodiment;

[0103] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a network element / chip for a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0104] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0105] Figure 9 A schematic flowchart of a channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0106] Figure 10 A flowchart illustrating another channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0107] Figure 11 A flowchart illustrating yet another channel measurement method provided in this application embodiment;

[0108] Figure 12 A flowchart illustrating yet another channel measurement method provided in this application embodiment;

[0109] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0110] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0111] Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0112] Before describing the embodiments of this application, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of this application will be described.

[0113] Beam: In the NR protocol, the beam can be represented as a spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial domain parameter, spatial parameter, spatial domain setting, spatial setting, or QCL (Quasi-colocation) information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, etc. The beam can be indicated by transmission configuration indication state (TCI-state) parameters or by spatial relation parameters. Therefore, in this application, beam can be replaced by spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial parameter, spatial parameter, spatial setting, spatial setting, QCL information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, TCI-state (DL TCI-state, UL TCI-state), spatial relation, etc. These terms are also equivalent to each other. Beam can also be replaced with other beam-related terms, which are not limited in this application.

[0114] The beam used to transmit signals can be called the transmission beam (Tx beam), spatial domain transmission filter, spatial transmission filter, spatial domain transmission parameter, spatial transmission setting, or spatial transmission setting. The downlink transmission beam can be indicated by TCI-state.

[0115] The beam used to receive signals can be called a reception beam (Rx beam), a spatial domain reception filter, a spatial reception filter, a spatial domain reception parameter, a spatial reception setting, or a spatial reception setting. The uplink transmit beam can be indicated by a spatial relation, an uplink TCI-state, or an SRS resource (indicating the transmit beam using that SRS). Therefore, the uplink beam can also be replaced by an SRS resource.

[0116] The transmitting beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space after a signal is transmitted through an antenna, while the receiving beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space of a wireless signal received from an antenna.

[0117] Furthermore, the beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beam. The beamforming technology can be beamforming technology or other technologies. Specifically, beamforming technology can be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, or hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology, etc.

[0118] Beams generally correspond to resources. For example, during beam measurement, network devices measure different beams using different resources. The terminal device provides feedback on the measured resource quality, allowing the network device to determine the quality of the corresponding beam. During data transmission, identification information is also indicated through its corresponding resources. For instance, network devices use the TCI field in DCI to indicate the PDSCH beam information of the terminal device. Therefore, in this application, beams and resources can be equivalently substituted.

[0119] Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be considered as a single beam. A beam may include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and detection signals, etc. One or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be considered as a set of antenna ports.

[0120] PMI (Precoding Matrix Indicator): The precoding matrix indicator points to a specific precoding matrix within a predefined codebook. This codebook is a set of predefined precoding matrices, each with a corresponding index value. After the terminal device establishes the channel state information, it selects the precoding matrix best suited to the current channel state and feeds back the index of that matrix to the base station via the PMI. The precoding matrix defines the mapping from data streams (or layers) to antenna ports. The column vectors in the matrix determine how each data stream is weighted and allocated to different antenna ports. For example, when the codebook is a structured codebook based on the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), the precoding matrix W is composed of multiple DFT vector columns. For a codebook transmitting M data streams... in, Where N is the number of antenna ports, k represents the beam direction index, ranging from 0 to N-1, and each v k It represents a beamforming vector in a specific direction.

[0121] Resources: The protocol does not directly use the term "beam" to characterize beams, but rather uses other methods to implicitly describe beam-related operations. For example, in beam measurement, there is a correspondence between beams and resources (network devices use a beam to transmit their corresponding resources), and the quality of a resource measured by a terminal device is equivalent to measuring the quality of the beam. Resources can be uplink or downlink signal resources. Uplink signals include, but are not limited to, sounding reference signals (SRS) and demodulation reference signals (DMRS). Downlink signals include, but are not limited to, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), cell specific reference signals (CS-RS), user equipment specific reference signals (US-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), and synchronization system / physical broadcast channel blocks (SS / PBCH blocks). The SS / PBCH block can be abbreviated as synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0122] Resources are configured via RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling. Structurally, a resource is a data structure that includes relevant parameters of its corresponding uplink / downlink signal, such as the type of uplink / downlink signal, the resource granularity carrying the uplink / downlink signal, the transmission time and period of the uplink / downlink signal, and the number of ports used to transmit the uplink / downlink signal. Each uplink / downlink signal resource has a unique index to identify the resource for that downlink signal. It is understood that the resource index can also be called the resource identifier, and this application embodiment does not impose any limitation on this.

[0123] Beam management: Beam management is a measurement procedure in the 5G protocol used to determine the beam used for transmission. Beam management mainly includes four steps.

[0124] S1. The network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device. Measurement configuration information is sent by the network device to the terminal via RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling and mainly includes two parts: resource configuration information and reporting configuration information. Resource configuration information is related to measurement resources and is configured in the protocol through a three-level structure (resource configuration - resource set - resource). The network device can configure one or more resource configurations (resource configuration can also be written as resource setting) for the terminal device. Each resource configuration includes one or more resource sets, and each resource set can include one or more resources. Each resource configuration / resource set / resource includes its own index. In addition, it includes other parameters such as the resource period and the signal type corresponding to the resource. Reporting configuration information is used to configure downlink measurement and measurement result reporting information, and is configured in the protocol through report configuration (ReportConfig). The network device can configure one or more report configurations (ReportConfig) for the terminal device. Each report configuration includes reporting indicators, reporting time and period, reporting format, and other reporting-related information. In addition, the reporting configuration also includes an index of resource configurations, which indicates how the reported results were measured using which measurement configuration.

[0125] S2. The network device sends downlink signals on the resource granules corresponding to the resources configured in the resource configuration information, so that the terminal device can determine the quality of each resource (i.e., the quality of the beam corresponding to the resource) by measuring the downlink signals.

[0126] S3. The terminal equipment measures the downlink signal according to the measurement configuration information.

[0127] S4. The terminal device sends a beam measurement report to the network device. The beam measurement report may include indexes of one or more resources, resource quality, etc. The above-mentioned reporting information can be carried in the Physical Uplink Control Channel or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel.

[0128] CSI measurement: CSI measurement is a measurement procedure in the 5G protocol used to determine the channel state information corresponding to a specific transmission beam. CSI measurement mainly includes four steps.

[0129] S1. The network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device. The configuration information for CSI measurements is largely similar to that for beam management, also comprising two parts: resource configuration information and reporting configuration information. Resource configuration information is also configured using a three-level structure (resourceConfig - resourceSet - resource). Reporting configuration information is used to configure downlink measurements and related information for reporting measurement results, and is configured in the protocol using a reportConfig configuration. The network device can configure one or more reportConfig configurations for the terminal device. Each report configuration includes reporting metrics, reporting time and period, reporting format, and other reporting-related information. Furthermore, the report configuration includes an index of the resource configuration, indicating which measurement configuration was used to measure the reported results.

[0130] S2. The network device sends downlink signals on the resource granules corresponding to the resources configured in the resource configuration information, so that the terminal device can determine the channel state information of each resource (i.e., the channel state information of the beam corresponding to the resource) by measuring the downlink signals.

[0131] S3. The terminal equipment measures the downlink signal according to the measurement configuration information.

[0132] S4. The terminal device sends a CSI measurement report to the network device. The CSI measurement report may include channel state information corresponding to a resource. The above-mentioned reported information may be carried in the physical uplink control channel or the physical uplink shared channel.

[0133] The main difference between CSI measurement and beam management lies in the amount of information reported. In beam management, the terminal device needs to report the resource index corresponding to one or more beams, as well as the signal quality information corresponding to those beams, such as RSRP (Reference Signal Receiving Power), RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality), and SINR (Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio). In CSI measurement, the terminal device further needs to report the channel state information corresponding to a beam, such as CQI (Channel Quality Indicator) and PMI (Precoding Matrix Indicator) information. The relationship between CSI measurement and beam management is as follows: the terminal device reports several beams through the beam management process, and then further reports the channel state information of a specific beam (such as the beam with the highest RSRP reported by the terminal device) through the CSI measurement process.

[0134] The embodiments of this application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0135] Currently, mobile communications use high-frequency signals to transmit data. A major problem with high-frequency communication is that signal energy decreases sharply with transmission distance, resulting in short transmission ranges. To overcome this problem, such as... Figure 1 As shown, by weighting the antenna array, the signal energy is concentrated within a small angular range, forming a signal similar to a beam (called an analog beam, or simply a beam), thereby increasing the transmission distance. Before transmitting data via the beam, network devices need to obtain the beam used for transmission (i.e., which beam to use to transmit data to the terminal device) through beam management, and obtain the channel state information (CSI) corresponding to that beam through CSI measurement.

[0136] In existing technologies, such as Figure 2 As shown, beam management and CSI measurement are two separate steps. The network device first determines the beam for transmission through beam management, and then determines the corresponding CSI information for that transmission beam through CSI measurement. Finally, the network device uses the transmission beam and performs data transmission based on the corresponding CSI information. Separating beam management and CSI measurement into two steps leads to significant latency. Furthermore, since both steps require reference signal measurement, it results in substantial time-frequency resource overhead.

[0137] Finally, through CSI measurements, network devices can only obtain channel state information corresponding to the beam selected in beam management; therefore, network devices can only use a single beam for transmission. For example... Figure 3 As mentioned above, when there are multiple spatial paths in the channel between network devices and terminal devices, a single beam can only cover a portion of the spatial paths. Therefore, the multipath effect of the channel cannot be fully utilized, resulting in a loss of transmission performance.

[0138] To address this, this application provides a channel measurement method and apparatus. The terminal device measures the reference signals corresponding to N beams, selects M beams from the N beams, and obtains the channel state information (CSI) of the channels corresponding to the M beams. This achieves joint channel measurement that determines the transmission beams and their corresponding channel state information in one go, reducing data transmission latency and improving data transmission efficiency.

[0139] The information transmission method provided in this application embodiment can be used in any communication system, such as a third-generation partnership project (3GPP) communication system, for example, a long-term evolution (LTE) system; or a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a hybrid LTE and 5G network system, a new radio (NR) system, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) system, a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, an internet of things (IoT) system, a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) system, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC), or enhanced machine-type communication. Communication (eMTC) and various types of future communication systems, including non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems (such as satellite communication systems), non-3GPP communication systems, etc., are not restricted.

[0140] The information transmission method provided in this application can be applied to various communication scenarios. For example, it can be applied to one or more of the following communication scenarios: channel beam management, channel state information acquisition, etc., without limitation.

[0141] The following is based on Figure 4 Taking an example, the communication system provided in the embodiments of this application will be described.

[0142] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application is shown below. Figure 4 As shown, the communication system may include one or more network devices and one or more terminal devices.

[0143] in, Figure 4 The terminal device can be located within the beam / cell coverage area of ​​the network device, and the network device can provide communication services to the terminal device. For example, such as... Figure 4 As shown in (a), a single network device can transmit data or control signaling to one or more terminal devices; such as Figure 4 As shown in (b), multiple network devices can also transmit data or control signaling to a single terminal device simultaneously.

[0144] Network devices can send reference signals to terminal devices for beam management and CSI measurement; terminal devices can also use reference signals to determine the transmission beam and the corresponding channel state information for the transmission beam to the network devices.

[0145] Figure 4 The terminal device in this context can be a device with wireless transceiver capabilities or a chip or chip system that can be configured on the device. It allows users to access the network and is used to provide voice and / or data connectivity to users. The terminal device can also be called user equipment (UE), subscriber unit, terminal, mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT), etc.

[0146] For example, Figure 4The terminal device can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, or computer with wireless transceiver capabilities. Terminal devices can also be user stations, mobile stations, remote stations, remote terminal devices, mobile terminal devices, user terminal devices, wireless communication devices, user agents, user devices, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices, processing devices connected to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in the Internet of Things (IoT), home appliances, virtual reality (VR) terminals, augmented reality (AR) terminals, customer-premises equipment (CPE), light user equipment (Light UE), reduced capability user equipment (REDCAP UE), wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in autonomous driving, wireless terminals in telemedicine, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in smart cities, and wireless terminals in smart homes. Wireless terminals in the home, vehicles with vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication capabilities, intelligent connected vehicles, vehicle devices (such as vehicle devices, vehicle modules, vehicle chips, onboard units (OBUs) or telematics boxes (T-BOXs), etc.), drones with UAV-to-UAV (U2U) communication capabilities, terminal devices in future networks, or terminal devices in future evolved public land mobile networks (PLMNs) are not restricted.

[0147] in, Figure 4 The network equipment in this context can be any device deployed in the access network capable of wireless communication with terminal devices. It can also be a chip or chip system configurable within such devices, a logical node or module, or a function implemented in software. Its main responsibilities include air interface-side wireless physical control, resource scheduling, wireless resource management, quality of service management, data compression and encryption, wireless access control, and mobility management. Specifically, the network equipment can be either wired or wireless access-enabled.

[0148] For example, a network device can consist of one or more access network (AN) / radio access network (RAN) nodes. AN / RAN nodes can be various types of base stations, such as: satellite base stations, evolved Node Bs (gNBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), evolved Node Bs (eNBs), radio network controllers (RNCs), Node Bs (NBs), base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), home base stations (e.g., home evolved Node Bs, or home Node Bs, HNBs), macro base stations, micro base stations, pico base stations, small cells, relay stations, balloon stations, drone stations, wireless backhaul nodes, baseband units (BBUs), or wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) access points (APs), etc. It is understood that network devices can be ground-based or non-ground-based devices (such as satellites, drones, high-altitude communication devices, etc.). Furthermore, in communication systems employing different wireless access technologies, the names of network devices with base station functions may differ, and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0149] In another example, network equipment may include a BBU and a remote radio unit (RRU). The BBU and RRU can be located in different locations; for example, the RRU can be deployed remotely to a high-traffic area, while the BBU is located in a central equipment room. Alternatively, the BBU and RRU can be located in the same equipment room. The BBU and RRU can also be different components within the same rack.

[0150] In another example, a network device can be a device that includes centralized unit (CU) nodes, distributed unit (DU) nodes, or a device that includes CU nodes and one or more DU nodes. For example, a network device can be logically divided into CUs and DUs, with some protocol layer functions centrally controlled by the CU, and the remaining part or all of the protocol layer functions distributed in the DU, which is centrally controlled by the CU. CUs and DUs can be set up separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as in a BBU. Furthermore, a centralized unit (CU) can be further divided into a control plane (CU-CP) and a user plane (CU-UP).

[0151] In another example, the network device may also be a device that includes a radio unit (RU), or a device that includes a CU, a DU, and a RU. The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as an RRU, an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0152] It is understood that CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names in different systems, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an open radioaccess network (O-RAN) system, CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0153] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of an O-RAN system is given. The O-RAN system may include Figure 6 Other components besides those shown. For example... Figure 5As shown, network devices are also called access network devices. Access network devices (RAN, such as eNB, gNB, or next-generation access network devices) communicate with the core network (CN) via a backhaul link and with user equipment (UE) via an air interface. Specifically, the baseband unit (BBU) in the access network device communicates with the core network via a backhaul link, and the radio unit (RU) in the access network device communicates with at least one UE via an air interface. The BBU communicates with at least one RU via a fronthaul link; the BBU and RU may or may not be co-located. The BBU includes at least one control unit (CU) and at least one distributed unit (DU), which can communicate via at least one midhaul link.

[0154] Figure 6 A functional partitioning and protocol layer structure diagram of an O-RAN system is presented. In some examples, the CU (Core Unit) is a logical node carrying 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 can be interfaces such as E2 interfaces. Optionally, the CU can have some core network functions. The CU (e.g., the PDCP layer and higher layers) connects to the DU (e.g., the RLC layer and lower layers) through interfaces, which can be interfaces such as F1 interfaces. 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.). F1AP is the application protocol of the F1 interface, and in some examples, the signaling procedures of F1 are defined. The F1 interface supports the control plane F1-C and the user plane F1-U.

[0155] In some examples, the CU can be split into CU-CP (Control Unit-Control Plane) and CU-UP (Control Unit-User Plane). CU-CP is a logical node carrying the RRC layer and PDCP-C (Control plane part of PDCP) layer, used to implement the CU's control plane functions. 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 network elements, such as the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) in a 5G system. The AMF network element is responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as terminal device location updates, terminal device registration with the network, and terminal device handover. CU-UP is a logical node carrying the SDAP layer and PDCP-U (User plane part of PDCP) layer, used to implement the CU's user plane functions. CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement user plane functions. These network elements in the core network, such as the UPF (User Plane Function) in a 5G system, are responsible for data forwarding and receiving in terminal devices. The above CU and DU configurations are merely examples; the functions of the CU and DU can be configured as needed. For instance, the CU or DU can be configured to have more protocol layer functions, or only some protocol layer processing functions. For example, some RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions above the RLC layer can be placed in the CU, while the remaining RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions below the RLC layer can be placed in the DU. Furthermore, the functions of the CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements, such as by latency. Functions that require low latency can be placed in the DU, while functions that do not require low latency can be placed in the CU.

[0156] In some examples, a DU is a logical node carrying the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, Higher Physical Layer (Higher PHY) layer, and other functions. In some examples, a DU can control at least one RU. The DU connects to the RU through interfaces, which may be fronthaul interfaces. In some examples, the Higher PHY layer includes the PHY layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0157] In some examples, the RU is a logical node carrying both Lower Physical Layer (Lower PHY) and Radio Frequency (RF) processing. In some examples, the RU can be a 3GPP Transmission Reception Point (TRP), Remote Radio Head (RRH), or other similar entity. 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.

[0158] 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 the Lower-Layer Split CUS-Plane (LLS-CUS) 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.

[0159] 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.

[0160] Based on the above description of the terminal device and network device, optionally, the information transmission method provided in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by the aforementioned terminal device or network device, or by components of the terminal device or network device, such as by application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or software (such as program code in memory) deployed in the terminal device or network device, without limitation.

[0161] Optionally, in the embodiments of this application, Figure 4 (a) and Figure 4 The communication between each network device and each terminal device in the communication system shown in (b) can also be represented in another form, such as... Figure 7 As shown, terminal device 10 includes a processor 101, a memory 102, and a transceiver 103. Transceiver 103 includes a transmitter 1031, a receiver 1032, and an antenna 1033. Network device 20 also includes a processor 201, a memory 202, and a transceiver 203. Transceiver 203 includes a transmitter 2031, a receiver 2032, and an antenna 2033. Receiver 1032 can be used to receive transmission control information through antenna 1033, and transmitter 1031 can be used to send transmission feedback information to network device 20 through antenna 1033. Transmitter 2031 can be used to send transmission control information to terminal device 10 through antenna 2033, and receiver 2032 can be used to receive transmission feedback information sent by terminal device 10 through antenna 2033.

[0162] also, Figure 7 The network element structure diagram shown can also represent the chip structure diagram applicable to this application. For example... Figure 7 As shown, the terminal device's chip 10 includes a processor 101, a memory 102, and a transceiver 103. The transceiver 103 includes a transmitter 1031, a receiver 1032, and an antenna 1033. The network device's chip 20 includes a processor 201, a memory 202, and a transceiver 203. The transceiver 203 includes a transmitter 2031, a receiver 2032, and an antenna 2033. The receiver 1032 can be used to receive transmission control information through the antenna 1033, and the transmitter 1031 can be used to send transmission feedback information to the network device 20 through the antenna 1033. The transmitter 2031 can be used to send transmission control information to the terminal device 10 through the antenna 2033, and the receiver 2032 can be used to receive transmission feedback information sent by the terminal device 10 through the antenna 2033.

[0163] In practical implementation, Figure 4As shown in the figure: various terminal devices and network devices can adopt Figure 8 The shown composition structure, or including Figure 8 The components shown. Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 800 provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 800 can be a terminal device or a chip or system-on-a-chip within a terminal device; it can also be a network device or a chip or system-on-a-chip within a network device. Figure 8 As shown, the communication device 800 includes a processor 801, a transceiver 802, and a communication line 803.

[0164] Furthermore, the communication device 800 may also include a memory 804. The processor 801, memory 804, and transceiver 802 can be connected via a communication line 803.

[0165] The processor 801 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a programmable logic device (PLD), a microprocessor unit (MPU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an artificial intelligence processor (AI processor), or a neural processing unit (NPU), or any combination thereof. The processor 801 can also be other devices with processing capabilities, such as circuits, devices, or software modules, without limitation.

[0166] Transceiver 802 is used to communicate with other communication devices or other communication networks. These other communication networks can be Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), etc. Transceiver 802 can be a communication module, interface circuit, input / output interface, chip pins, a transceiver, or any device capable of enabling communication.

[0167] Communication line 803 is used to transmit information between the components included in communication device 800.

[0168] The memory 804 is used to store instructions. These instructions can be computer programs.

[0169] The memory 804 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and / or instructions; it can also be a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and / or instructions; it can also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital universal optical discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, etc., without limitation.

[0170] It is understood that the memory 804 can exist independently of the processor 801, or it can be integrated with the processor 801. The memory 804 can be used to store instructions, program code, or some data, etc. The memory 804 can be located inside or outside the communication device 800, without limitation. The processor 801 is used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 804 to implement the information transmission method provided in the following embodiments of this application.

[0171] In one example, processor 801 may include one or more CPUs, for example Figure 8 CPU0 and CPU1 in the CPU.

[0172] As an optional implementation, the communication device 800 includes multiple processors, for example, besides Figure 8 In addition to processor 801, it may also include processor 807.

[0173] As an optional implementation, the communication device 800 also includes an output device 805 and an input device 806. For example, the input device 806 is a device such as a keyboard, mouse, microphone, or joystick, and the output device 805 is a device such as a display screen or speaker.

[0174] It is understood that the communication device 800 can be any of the aforementioned terminal devices or network devices, such as desktop computers, laptops, network servers, mobile phones, tablet computers, wireless terminals, embedded devices, chip systems, or similar devices. Figure 8 Equipment with a similar structure. Furthermore... Figure 8 The structural composition shown does not constitute a limitation on the communication device, except... Figure 8 In addition to the components shown, the specific implementation of this communication device may include more or fewer components than those shown, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements. In this regard, the embodiments of this application do not limit the scope of the invention.

[0175] In this embodiment of the application, the chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0176] Furthermore, the actions, terms, etc., involved in the various embodiments of this application can be referenced interchangeably without limitation. The message names or parameter names in the messages exchanged between the various devices in the embodiments of this application are merely examples, and other names may be used in specific implementations without limitation.

[0177] The following is combined with Figure 4 The communication system shown refers to the following Figure 9 The channel measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application is described, wherein the terminal device or network device can be Figure 4 Any terminal device or network device in the communication system shown. The terminal device or network device described in the following embodiments may have... Figure 8 The component shown.

[0178] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating a channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application, as shown below. Figure 9 As shown, the method may include the following steps:

[0179] S901. The network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device, and based on the measurement configuration information, sends reference signals corresponding to the measurement resources to the terminal device through N beams, where N is a positive integer and N is greater than 1. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration information and measurement resources from the network device. Specifically, the terminal device receives the reference signals corresponding to the measurement resources sent by the network device through N beams.

[0180] The measurement configuration information mainly includes two parts: resource configuration information and reporting configuration information. Resource configuration information is used to configure the measurement resources for the reference signal to be measured, while reporting configuration information is used to configure downlink measurement and measurement result reporting related information. A measurement resource, or reference signal resource (referred to as a resource), is a configuration information unit encapsulating all parameters related to the reference signal (such as the time-frequency resources occupied by the reference signal, the transmission period of the reference signal, the number of ports for transmission of the reference signal, etc.). The terminal device determines the configuration parameters of the reference signal transmitted by the network device based on the configured measurement resources, thereby measuring the reference signal. Resource configuration information is related to measurement resources and is configured in the protocol through a three-level structure: Resource Configuration or Resource Setting - Resource Set - Resource. The network device can configure one or more resource configurations for the terminal device. Each resource configuration includes one or more resource sets, and each resource set can include one or more resources. Each resource configuration / resource set / resource includes its own index. In addition, it includes other parameters, such as the resource period and the signal type corresponding to the resource. Each resource can include one or more ports. Reporting configuration information refers to information related to the reporting of measurement results, which is configured in the protocol through report configuration. Network devices can configure one or more reporting configurations for terminal devices. Each reporting configuration includes information related to reporting, such as reporting metrics, reporting time and frequency, and reporting format. In addition, the reporting configuration also includes an index of resource configurations, indicating which measurement configuration was used to obtain the reported results.

[0181] For example, measurement resources include at least one of the following: SSB (Synchronization Signal Block) resources, CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal) resources, and combined SSB and CSI-RS resources. Terminal equipment determines channel state information by measuring the reference signal configured in the measurement resources; therefore, these are also called measurement resources for channel measurement.

[0182] When configuring measurement resources for channel measurements, network devices can first configure different resource sets, each containing different measurement resources, with each measurement resource corresponding to a beam; or, they can directly configure different measurement resources, each corresponding to a beam. The reference signal configured for each measurement resource is transmitted through its corresponding beam.

[0183] When network devices configure resources, and beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with measurement resource indices (such as SSB resource index (SSBIndex) or CSI-RS resource index (CRI)), terminal devices can obtain the reference signals corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the measurement resource index and the reference signals corresponding to the measurement resource index. For example, when a network device configures the reference signal corresponding to SSBIndex=0 or CRI=0 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID=1, the terminal device receiving the reference signal corresponding to SSB Index=0 or CRI=0 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID=1 configured by the network device. The terminal device can then measure this reference signal to obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID=1 configured by the network device.

[0184] When a network device configures a beam for each measurement resource and associates each measurement resource with a port, such that the reference signal configured for that measurement resource is transmitted through a port with a specific polarization direction, then the beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with the port index of the measurement resource. The terminal device can obtain the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the port index of the measurement resource and the reference signal corresponding to that port index. For example, when the network device configures the reference signal corresponding to Port Index = 0 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID = 1, the terminal device receiving the reference signal corresponding to Port Index = 0 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID = 1 configured by the network device. The terminal device can then measure this reference signal to obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID = 1 configured by the network device.

[0185] When a network device configures a beam for each measurement resource and associates each measurement resource with two ports, such that the reference signal configured for that measurement resource is transmitted through two ports with different polarization directions, the beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with the two port indices of the measurement resource. The terminal device can obtain the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the port indices of the measurement resources and the corresponding reference signals. For example, when the network device configures the reference signals corresponding to Port Index=0 and Port Index=1 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID=1, the terminal device receiving the reference signals corresponding to Port Index=0 and Port Index=1 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID=1 configured by the network device. The terminal device can then measure this reference signal to obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID=1 configured by the network device.

[0186] In addition, when configuring measurement resources for channel measurement, network devices can first configure at least one measurement resource, each measurement resource is associated with multiple ports, and each port is configured with a different reference signal.

[0187] When network devices configure resources, and the beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with the port index of the measurement resource (e.g., each port is a port with a polarization direction), the terminal device can obtain the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the reference signal corresponding to the port index of the measurement resource. For example, when the network device configures the reference signal corresponding to Port Index=0 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID=1, the terminal device receiving the reference signal corresponding to Port Index=0 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID=1 configured by the network device. The terminal device can then measure this reference signal to obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID=1 configured by the network device.

[0188] When a network device configures resources, and the beam identification information corresponds to the port indices of two measurement resources (e.g., when each pair of ports corresponds to ports with different polarization directions of the same beam), the terminal device can obtain the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the port indices of the measurement resources and the reference signals corresponding to those port indices. For example, when the network device configures the reference signals corresponding to PortIndex=0 and Port Index=1 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID=1, the terminal device receiving the reference signals corresponding to PortIndex=0 and Port Index=1 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID=1 configured by the network device. The terminal device can then measure this reference signal to obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID=1 configured by the network device.

[0189] Finally, when the network device configures resources, and the beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with the transmission configuration indication state (TCI-state) of the measurement resource, the terminal device can obtain the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the TCI-state of the measurement resource and the reference signal corresponding to the TCI-state of the measurement resource. For example, when the network device configures the reference signal corresponding to TCI-state=0 to be transmitted through the beam with BeamID=1, the terminal device receiving the reference signal corresponding to TCI-state=0 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID=1 configured by the network device. The terminal device can then measure this reference signal to obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID=1 configured by the network device.

[0190] The above examples illustrate the configuration of measurement resources for channel measurement and the method by which the terminal device obtains beam identification information. This application does not limit the specific configuration of measurement resources for channel measurement or the method by which the terminal device obtains beam identification information.

[0191] When measuring channel information such as Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) and Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), it is necessary to measure the corresponding interference signals using interference measurement resources. Interference measurement resources are configured for the terminal equipment along with channel measurement resources, but in separate resource configurations. For example, RRC signaling may configure two measurement resource configurations: one for channel measurement and the other for interference measurement. Channel measurement resources may be SSB resources, CSI-RS resources, or a combination of SSB and CSI-RS. Interference measurement resources can be either Non-zero Power Channel State Information Reference Signal (NZPCSI-RS) or CSI-IM. The identification information for interference measurement resources does not need to be configured; instead, the identification information of their associated channel resources is used by default. For example, when CSI-IM resources are used as measurement resources for interference measurement, the number of CSI-IM resources must equal the number of measurement resources for channel measurement, and they must correspond one-to-one. Each CSI-IM resource uses the beam of its corresponding channel measurement measurement resource by default, and the terminal device uses the same receiving beam to receive both the channel measurement measurement resource and the CSI-IM resource. When NZP CSI-RS resources are used as measurement resources for interference measurement, only one channel measurement measurement resource can be configured, and all NZP CSI-RS resources use the beam of that channel measurement measurement resource. The above examples illustrate the configuration method of measurement resources for interference measurement; the specific configuration method of measurement resources for interference measurement in this application embodiment is not limited.

[0192] For example, network devices can configure the measurement resources of reference signals via RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, MAC CE (MAC Control Element) signaling, or DCI (Downlink Control Information) signaling. This application embodiment does not limit the number or type of signaling used to configure the measurement resources of reference signals.

[0193] For example, the triggering type for configuring the measurement resources of the reference signal can be periodic, semi-static, or dynamic. This application embodiment does not limit the triggering type for configuring the measurement resources of the reference signal.

[0194] For example, the network device transmits channel measurement resources to the terminal device through N beams according to measurement configuration information, and the terminal device receives the channel measurement resources according to the measurement configuration information, where N is a positive integer and N is greater than 1. The network device transmits the channel measurement resources to the terminal device through one or more Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs). This application embodiment does not limit the method by which the network device transmits the channel measurement resources.

[0195] For example, the reported configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0196] The first information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform joint measurement. Joint measurement means completing beam selection and obtaining the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement. The first information may include a switch parameter to configure whether to perform joint measurement. For example, the first information can be indicated by 1 bit, where a bit value of 1 indicates that the terminal device should perform joint measurement, and a bit value of 0 indicates that the terminal device should not perform joint measurement. The first information may also include a selection parameter to select a measurement method from multiple measurement methods. These multiple measurement methods include joint measurement. For example, the first information can be indicated by 2 bits, where a bit value of 00 indicates that the terminal device should perform joint measurement, a bit value of 01 indicates that the terminal device should perform beam management, a bit value of 10 indicates that the terminal device should perform CSI acquisition, and a bit value of 11 indicates that the terminal device's measurement method is a reserved measurement method. The specific indication method of the first information is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0197] The second information is used to indicate the number of beams reported by the terminal device, or the maximum value of the number of beams reported by the terminal device. Specifically, the second information directly indicates the number M of beams reported by the terminal device, and the terminal device selects M beams from N beams based on the number M indicated by the second information; or, the second information indicates the maximum value M' of the number of beams reported by the terminal device. When the number of beams reported by the terminal device does not exceed the maximum value M' indicated by the second information, the number of beams reported by the terminal device is determined by the terminal device—when the number of beams selected by the terminal device M ≤ M', the number of beams reported by the terminal device is M; or, when the number of beams reported by the terminal device exceeds the maximum value M' indicated by the second information, the number of beams reported by the terminal device is related to the maximum value M indicated by the second information—when the number of beams selected by the terminal device M > M', the number of beams reported by the terminal device is M = f(M'), where M and M' are both positive integers, and f(·) is an arbitrary function mapping relationship. This application does not limit the specific indication method of the second information.

[0198] The third information is used to indicate the selectable range of the Rank Indicator (RI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device. The third information contains multiple third parameters, each corresponding to a number of beams reported by the terminal device, used to limit the selectable range of the RI reported by the terminal device under the currently reported number of beams—when the number of beams reported by the terminal device is P, the selectable range of the RI reported by the terminal device is the third parameter corresponding to P, where P is a positive integer. For example, the third information includes multiple constraint arrays of value range constraints, each value range constraint array corresponding to a reportable number of beams P; when the number of beams reported by the terminal device is P, its selectable range of RI is now the selectable range of the RI corresponding to P in the constraint array of the value range constraints. For example, the constraint array of the value range constraints can be defined as: {P=1→RI∈[1,2],P=2→RI∈[1,4],P=4→RI∈[2,8]}. Furthermore, the third piece of information can also be the mapping relationship between the number of beams reported by the terminal device and the selectable range of RI, a function, or a table corresponding to the selectable range of P and RI. For example, an explicit mapping relationship between the number of beams P and the selectable range of RI can be defined through a function or mapping relationship, such as RI min =f1(P),RI max =f2(P), where RI min RI max These represent the minimum and maximum values ​​of the selectable range of RI, respectively. f1(·) and f2(·) are predefined linear or nonlinear functions (e.g., f1(P) = P, f2(P) = 2P). Furthermore, P is directly associated with the selectable range of RI through a pre-configured lookup table. For example, the relationship between the number of beams P and the selectable range of RI is shown in Table 1.

[0199] number of beams RI optional range 1 2≥RI≥1 2 4≥RI≥2 4 8≥RI≥4

[0200] Table 1

[0201] The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific indication method of the third information.

[0202] The fourth information indicates the selectable range of the Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device. The fourth information includes multiple fourth parameters, each corresponding to a number of beams reported by the terminal device, used to limit the selectable range of the PMI reported by the terminal device under the currently reported number of beams. That is, when the number of beams reported by the terminal device is Q, the selectable range of the PMI reported by the terminal device is the fourth parameter corresponding to Q, where Q is a positive integer. For example, the fourth information includes multiple constraint arrays of value range constraints, each value range constraint array corresponding to a reportable number of beams Q; when the number of beams reported by the terminal device is Q, its selectable range of PMI is now the selectable range of the PMI corresponding to Q in the constraint array of the value range constraints. For example, the constraint array of the value range constraints can be defined as: {Q=2→PMI∈[0,7],Q=4→PMI∈[8,23],Q=8→PMI∈[24,55]}. Furthermore, the fourth piece of information can also be a mapping relationship between the number of beams reported by the terminal device and the selectable range of PMI, a function, or a table corresponding to the selectable ranges of P and RI. For example, an explicit mapping relationship between the number of beams Q and the selectable range of PMI can be defined through a function or mapping relationship, such as PMI min =f3(Q),PMI max =f4(Q), where PMI min PMI max These represent the minimum and maximum values ​​of the PMI selectable range, respectively, and f3(·) and f4(·) are predefined linear or nonlinear functions, respectively. Furthermore, Q is directly associated with the PMI selectable range through a pre-configured lookup table; for example, the relationship between the number of beams Q and the PMI selectable range is shown in Table 2.

[0203] number of beams PMI Start Index PMI End Index Allow PMI total 2 0 7 8 4 8 23 16 8 24 55 32

[0204] Table 2

[0205] The fifth piece of information indicates the type of Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI) reported by the terminal device. The PMI type can be configured as either Type 1 or Type 2. Type 1 and Type 2 PMIs refer to different codebook types indicated by the PMIs—Type 1 PMIs indicate Type 1 codebooks, while Type 2 PMIs indicate Type 2 codebooks. A codebook is a collection of precoding matrices, and the PMI is an index within that codebook, indicating a specific precoding matrix. The codebook indicated by Type 1 PMIs has lower complexity than that indicated by Type 2 PMIs. For example, when the codebook is a structured codebook based on the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), the precoding matrix W is composed of multiple DFT vector columns, such as for a codebook transmitting M data streams. in, Where N is the number of antenna ports, k represents the beam direction index, ranging from 0 to N-1, and each v k This represents a beamforming vector in a specific direction. The column vectors of the precoding matrix in the first type of codebook are discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vectors, while the column vectors of the precoding matrix in the second type of codebook are weighted sums of multiple discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vectors. The PMIs of Type 1 and Type 2 are not limited to the above definitions but can refer to two different complexity PMI types supported by the protocol, where Type 1 is a lower complexity PMI type and Type 2 is a higher complexity PMI type. This application does not limit the specific codebook type indicated by the first and second type PMIs.

[0206] The PMI type can also be configured as dynamic, meaning there is no specific type to be used; the terminal device determines the type based on the measurement results. For example, the terminal device can choose between Type 1 and Type 2 based on the measurement results—the terminal device can report a Type 2 PMI if a first condition is met, and report a Type 1 PMI if the first condition is not met. The first condition includes at least one of the following: the number of beams reported by the terminal device is greater than or equal to X, and the value of the RI included in the channel state information is less than or equal to Y, where X and Y are both positive integers. The values ​​of X and Y are values ​​specified by the protocol, values ​​configured by the network device, or values ​​selected autonomously by the terminal device. This application does not limit the method for obtaining the values ​​of X and Y.

[0207] Optionally, before the network device sends measurement configuration information and measurement resources to the terminal device, the network device may also receive a sixth piece of information reported by the terminal device. This sixth piece of information is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports joint measurement. For example, the sixth piece of information can be indicated by 1 bit, where 1 bit is used to indicate whether the terminal device has joint measurement capability. A bit value of 0 indicates that the terminal device does not have joint measurement capability, and a bit value of 1 indicates that the terminal device has joint measurement capability.

[0208] S903, The terminal device performs measurements based on the measurement configuration information.

[0209] Optionally, before performing measurements based on the measurement configuration information, the terminal device selects a measurement method based on the received first information. Specifically, the terminal device selects whether to perform joint measurement based on the first information, where joint measurement means completing beam selection and obtaining the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement; or, the terminal device selects a measurement method from multiple measurement methods based on the first information, where the multiple measurement methods include joint measurement. This application embodiment does not limit the multiple measurement methods supported by the terminal device.

[0210] The terminal device measures the measurement resources configured in the network device to obtain the beam information corresponding to the measurement resources, namely, the identification information of N beams and the signal quality information of the reference signal corresponding to each of the N beams. For example, the signal quality information of the reference signal corresponding to each beam includes at least one of the following: Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), beam delay spread, beam Doppler shift, beam angle of departure (AoD), beam angle of arrival (AoA), and beam polarization information. The application embodiments do not limit the type of signal quality information for the reference signal corresponding to the beam.

[0211] The terminal device determines M beams based on the beam information of N beams and / or the signal quality information of the reference signals corresponding to the N beams and / or the status information of the terminal device, where M is greater than 1 or equal to 1.

[0212] For example, the terminal device determines M beams based on one or more parameters of the signal quality information. For instance, the terminal device determines the M beams with the highest Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP). In this case, the terminal device's beam selection objective is to maximize signal quality. Alternatively, the terminal device determines the M beams with the highest Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), or the terminal device determines the M beams with a SINR greater than a first threshold. In this case, the terminal device's beam selection objective is to minimize interference. The first threshold is a value specified by the protocol, a value configured by the network device, or a value autonomously selected by the terminal device. Alternatively, the terminal device determines... The terminal device selects M beams with the highest Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) within a certain range based on their beam origin angle (AoD). In this case, the terminal device's beam selection objective is to maximize signal quality in a specific direction. Alternatively, the terminal device selects M beams with the highest weighted sum of RSRP and Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) (α·RSRP + β·SINR, where α and β are weighting coefficients). Another option is to select M beams whose weighted sum of RSRP and SINR (α·RSRP + β·SINR, where α and β are weighting coefficients) is greater than a second threshold. The second threshold is a value specified in the protocol, configured by the network device, or selected autonomously by the terminal device. In this case, the terminal device's beam selection objective is to maximize signal quality and minimize interference.

[0213] For example, the terminal device determines M beams based on the terminal device status and identification information. For instance, the terminal device can use machine learning or combine historical trajectories with the terminal device status information to determine M beams based on the identification information. In this case, the goal of the terminal device in selecting beams is to avoid frequent beam switching based on the pre-determined beams.

[0214] For example, the terminal device determines M beams based on one or more parameters from its status and signal quality information. For instance, when the terminal device enters a low-power state or is in a low-speed or stationary state, it determines M beams whose signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) is greater than a third threshold. The third threshold is a value specified in the protocol, a value configured by the network device, or a value selected autonomously by the terminal device. In this case, the goal of the terminal device in selecting beams is to balance terminal device performance and power consumption or to dynamically match the channel conditions between the network device and the terminal device.

[0215] For example, when determining the number of beams M, the terminal device also needs to consider the number of beams reported by the terminal device as indicated in the second information, or the maximum value of the number of reported beams. Specifically, when the second information directly indicates the number of beams M reported by the terminal device, the terminal device selects M beams from N beams according to the number of beams M indicated by the second information; or, when the second information indicates the maximum value M' of the number of beams reported by the terminal device, if the number of beams reported by the terminal device does not exceed the maximum value M' indicated by the second information, the number of beams reported by the terminal device is determined by the terminal device—when the number of beams selected by the terminal device M≤M', the number of beams reported by the terminal device is M; or, when the number of beams reported by the terminal device exceeds the maximum value M' indicated by the second information, the number of beams reported by the terminal device is related to the maximum value M of the number of beams reported by the terminal device as indicated by the second information—when the number of beams selected by the terminal device M>M', the number of beams reported by the terminal device is M=f(M'), where M and M' are both positive integers, and f(·) is an arbitrary function mapping relationship.

[0216] When M > 1, the terminal device forms a joint channel from the determined channels corresponding to the M beams, where M is a positive integer. The terminal device forms the joint channel by combining the ports corresponding to the M beams. For example, if the terminal device combines the ports corresponding to the M beams in a predetermined order, then the ports of the joint channel formed by the channels corresponding to the M beams correspond one-to-one with the ports of the M beams. Here, a beam port refers to the physical or logical transmission channel corresponding to a single beam, used for data transmission. The ports of the joint channel are virtual channel ports formed by combining the ports of multiple beams according to rules, used for multi-beam joint data transmission.

[0217] When each beam includes only one port, each port of the joint channel corresponds one-to-one with each port of the M beams, such that the i-th port of the joint channel corresponds to the port of the i-th beam in the M beams.

[0218] When each beam includes two ports, such as ports with two polarization directions, each port of the joint channel corresponds one-to-one with the ports of the two polarization directions of the M beams arranged in sequence. For example, the (2i-1)th and 2ith ports of the joint channel correspond to the two ports of the ith beam in the M beams. Alternatively, the first M ports and the last M ports of the joint channel correspond to ports of one polarization direction of the M beams. For example, the ith and (i+M)th ports of the joint channel correspond to the two ports of the ith beam in the M beams. For instance, the terminal device obtains the identification information of each beam based on the measurement resource index or port index of the measurement resources. The terminal device obtains the signal quality information corresponding to each beam by measuring the reference signal of the measurement resource configuration. The terminal device obtains the temporal order of the measurement resource configuration corresponding to the beam based on the measurement configuration information of the measurement resources. Therefore, the predetermined order is the order of the beam identification information (such as the index information of the measurement resource or the index information of the measurement resource port from largest to smallest or smallest to largest), the order of the signal quality strength corresponding to the beam (such as the signal quality corresponding to the measurement resource or the port of the measurement resource from strongest to weakest or weakest to strongest), or the chronological order of the configuration of the measurement resources or the ports of the measurement resources corresponding to the beam. This application embodiment does not limit the predetermined order of the M beam combinations.

[0219] For example, before reporting the channel state information of the joint channel corresponding to M beams, the terminal device determines the port arrangement of the joint channel. This port arrangement is either the actual port arrangement of the network device or an assumed port arrangement. Specifically, the port arrangement of the joint channel is determined by the following two dimensions: the number of ports H (the number of ports distributed horizontally in the joint channel) and the number of ports V (the number of ports distributed vertically in the joint channel), where H and V are both positive integers. The total number of ports L in the joint channel satisfies L = H × V, where L is the total number of ports in the joint channel and is a positive integer. The port arrangement of the joint channel includes at least one of the following:

[0220] 1) For each beam associated with S single-polarization ports and all ports are horizontally distributed, the number of ports in the horizontal dimension H = M × S = L, and the number of ports in the vertical dimension V = 1, where M is the number of beams, S is the number of ports associated with each beam, and M and S are both positive integers.

[0221] 2) For each beam with S single-polarization ports and all ports are vertically distributed, the number of ports in the horizontal dimension H = 1, and the number of ports in the vertical dimension V = M × S = L, where M is the number of beams, S is the number of ports associated with each beam, and M and S are both positive integers.

[0222] 3) For each beam associated with a set of two polarization direction ports and the ports of each polarization direction are horizontally distributed, for each polarization direction, the number of horizontal dimension ports H = M = L / 2 and the number of vertical dimension ports V = 1, where M is the number of beams, and M and S are both positive integers. The ports of the two polarization directions corresponding to the same measurement resource are assumed to be co-located or overlapping.

[0223] 4) In the case where each beam is associated with a set of two polarization direction ports and the ports in each polarization direction are vertically distributed, for each polarization direction, the number of horizontal dimension ports H = 1 and the number of vertical dimension ports V = M = L / 2, where M is the number of beams and M and S are both positive integers. The ports in the two polarization directions corresponding to the same measurement resource are assumed to be co-located or overlapping.

[0224] The port arrangement of the joint channel corresponding to the M beams is determined by at least one of the following methods: the port arrangement specified by the communication standard protocol, or the network device sending the information to the terminal device via signaling (such as RRC or DCI), or the terminal device reporting the information to the network device. The terminal device determines the reporting format of PMI based on the port arrangement of the joint channel. This application does not limit the port arrangement of the joint channel or the method for obtaining the port arrangement of the joint channel in its embodiments.

[0225] The terminal device determines the channel state information of the channels corresponding to M beams. For example, the channel state information determined by the terminal device includes at least one of the following: Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), Rank Indicator (RI), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Layer Indicator (LI), Channel Gain, Phase Shift, Multipath Fading Information, and Interference Information. This application embodiment does not limit the content of the channel state information. The Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) is an identifier for the precoding matrix. Reporting the PMI essentially informs the network device of a precoding matrix, allowing the network device to use this precoding matrix for data transmission. To reduce reporting overhead, current protocols define sets of precoding matrices; the terminal device only needs to report precoding matrices within these sets. These predefined sets of precoding matrices are called codebooks. The Rank Indicator (RI) represents the maximum number of independent data streams that can be transmitted simultaneously between network devices and terminal devices under the current channel conditions (i.e., the number of channel layers). The rank of a channel is essentially a vector of linearly independent rows or columns in the channel matrix H, reflecting the spatial degrees of freedom of the channel. The Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) is an index value fed back by the terminal device, indicating the highest modulation and coding scheme (MCS) that the terminal device can support while meeting the target block error rate (BLER) under the current channel conditions. It is used to quantify the reliability and efficiency of data transmission under the current channel conditions.

[0226] For example, the terminal device determines the rank indicator RI of the channel based on the channel matrix H of the channels corresponding to the M beams. For the channel matrix H composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams, singular value decomposition (SVD) is performed on the channel matrix, where H = UΣV H Where U and V are unitary matrices, Σ is a diagonal matrix, and the diagonal elements are singular values ​​σ1≥σ2≥…≥σ rIf r ≥ 0, then r is the rank of the channel matrix. Furthermore, the terminal device can select the rank indicator RI based on a predefined codebook. The terminal device can also influence the rank indicator RI based on the antenna configuration of the terminal device and / or network device, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and / or spatial correlation of the channel, and the state information of the terminal device. This application does not limit the method by which the terminal device obtains the rank indicator RI. For example, when determining the rank indicator RI of a channel, the terminal device also needs to consider the limitation of a third parameter, that is, it can only select the RI value from the allowed-to-report RI values ​​configured by the third parameter. This application does not limit the method by which the terminal device determines the rank indicator RI of a channel.

[0227] The terminal device determines the Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) for the M beams based on the precoding matrices of the channels corresponding to the M beams. When M > 1, the terminal device determines the PMI for the combined joint channel based on the precoding matrix of the combined joint channel. For example, for the codebook W of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams, the terminal device determines the codeword W indicated by the PMI. opt , making Where H is the channel matrix of the joint channel, W is the codebook set of precoding matrices, and W is the codeword. opt For the precoding matrix indicator PMI indicates the precoding matrix in the codebook W, ||H·W opt || 2 For H·W opt The terminal device can also determine the precoding matrix indicator (PMI) of the combined joint channel based on the precoding matrix of each channel corresponding to the M beams. For example, for a joint channel composed of channels corresponding to the M beams, the codebook of its i-th channel is W. i Then the terminal device determines the codeword W indicated by the precoding matrix indicator PMI. opt , making Among them, code words H i Let W be the channel matrix of the i-th channel in the joint channel matrix H, and W be the codebook. i Let be the set of precoding matrices for the i-th channel. The codebook W for the i-th channel indicated by the precoding matrix PMI. i The precoding matrix in for The energy. For example, when determining the Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) for the channels corresponding to the M beams, the terminal device also needs to consider the limitation of the fourth parameter, that is, it can only select the PMI value from the allowed-to-report PMIs configured by the fourth parameter. This application embodiment does not limit the method by which the terminal device obtains the PMI indication for the channels corresponding to the M beams.

[0228] For example, the terminal device first determines the channel quality under the conditions of the precoding matrix indication (PMI) and rank indication (RI) of the channels corresponding to the M beams, and then determines the corresponding channel quality indication (CQI) based on the channel quality. Specifically, the terminal device determines the highest modulation and coding scheme (MCS) based on the PMI and RI, calculates the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the joint channel based on the selected precoding matrix and decoding scheme, and obtains the channel quality indication (CQI) based on the mapping relationship between SINR and CQI. This application embodiment does not limit the method by which the terminal device obtains the channel quality indication (CQI).

[0229] S905. The terminal device reports information on M beams and channel status information of the channels corresponding to the M beams.

[0230] The terminal device reports information about M beams and the channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams to the network device. Specifically, when M=1, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the determined beam to the network device; when M>1, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams to the network device.

[0231] For example, the terminal device reports beam information of M beams and channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams to the network device in two parts. The beam information reported by the terminal device includes two parts: the first part includes the number of beams reported by the terminal device, and the second part includes the identification information of each of the M beams. The terminal device reports the first and second parts of the beam information to the network device through time-division or frequency-division resources of the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). Specifically, the terminal device divides the Uplink Control Information (UCI) into two parts: the first part includes the number of beams, and the second part includes the identification information of the beams. The terminal device reports the beam information to the network device through the UCI. After obtaining the number of beams in the first part of the UCI, the network device receives the identification information of each of the M beams based on the number of beams. This application embodiment does not restrict the signaling type and channel type of the beam information uploaded by the terminal device.

[0232] For example, the terminal device reports channel state information (CSI) for M beams corresponding to channels to the network device in two parts. The CSI reported by the terminal device includes two parts: the first part includes the type of Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) for the M beams corresponding to channels reported by the terminal device; the second part includes the PMI for the M beams corresponding to channels reported by the terminal device. Optionally, the first and / or second part of the CSI reported by the terminal device may further include at least one of the following: the channel rank indicator (RI) and the channel quality indicator (CQI). The terminal device reports the first and second parts of the CSI to the network device via time-division or frequency-division resources of the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). Specifically, the terminal device divides the Uplink Control Information (UCI) into two parts: the first part includes at least the type of Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) for the M beams corresponding to channels; the second part includes the PMI for the M beams corresponding to channels. The first and / or second part of the UCI also includes at least one of the following: a channel rank indicator (RI) and a channel quality indicator (CQI). The terminal device reports channel state information to the network device via the UCI. After obtaining the types of the precoding matrix indicators (PMIs) corresponding to the M beams in the first part of the UCI, the network device receives the precoding matrix indicators (PMIs) of the M channels according to their types. This application embodiment does not limit the signaling type and channel type of the channel state information uploaded by the terminal device.

[0233] For example, a terminal device can report information about M beams and channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams through one or two signaling messages. These messages can be executed simultaneously or sequentially. This application embodiment does not limit the number or type of signaling messages used to report information about M beams and channel status information of the corresponding channels.

[0234] For example, the PMI type reported by the terminal device includes at least one of the following: Type 1 PMI and Type 2 PMI. Type 1 PMI and Type 2 PMI refer to different codebook types indicated by the PMIs—Type 1 PMI indicates a Type 1 codebook, and Type 2 PMI indicates a Type 2 codebook. Here, the codebook is a collection of precoding matrices, and the PMI is an index in the corresponding codebook used to indicate a specific precoding matrix within the codebook. The codebook indicated by Type 1 PMI has lower complexity than the codebook indicated by Type 2 PMI. For example, when the codebook is a structured codebook based on the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), the precoding matrix W is composed of multiple DFT vector columns, such as for a codebook transmitting M data streams. in, Where N is the number of antenna ports, k represents the beam direction index, ranging from 0 to N-1, and each v k This represents a beamforming vector in a specific direction. The column vectors of the precoding matrix in the first type of codebook are discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vectors, while the column vectors of the precoding matrix in the second type of codebook are weighted sums of multiple discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vectors. The PMIs of Type 1 and Type 2 are not limited to the above definitions but can refer to two different complexity PMI types supported by the protocol, where Type 1 is a lower complexity PMI type and Type 2 is a higher complexity PMI type. This application does not limit the specific codebook type indicated by the first and second type PMIs.

[0235] For example, when the terminal device receives a reporting configuration instruction indicating that the reported PMI type is Type 2 or dynamic, the terminal device determines the type of PMI to be reported based on the measurement results of the channel state information or the status of the terminal device. Specifically, when the measurement results of the channel state information or the status of the terminal device meet the second condition, the terminal device reports a Type 2 PMI. The second condition includes at least one of the following: the number of reported beams is greater than or equal to X; the value of the RI included in the channel state information is less than or equal to Y; the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than a fourth threshold; and the battery level of the terminal device is greater than a fifth threshold. Here, X and Y are both positive integers, and the values ​​of X and Y, the fourth threshold, and the fifth threshold are values ​​specified by the protocol, values ​​configured by the network device, or values ​​selected autonomously by the terminal device. This application embodiment does not limit the specific conditions for reporting the first type of PMI and the second type of PMI.

[0236] See Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating another channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 10 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0237] S1001, the network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device and configures N measurement resources according to the measurement configuration information, and sends the measurement resources to the terminal device through N beams, where N is a positive integer and N is greater than 1. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration information and measurement resources from the network device.

[0238] For example, the network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device. The network device configures N measurement resources for the terminal device, where each measurement resource corresponds to a beam.

[0239] The measurement configuration information mainly includes two parts: resource configuration information and reporting configuration information. Resource configuration information is used to configure the measurement resources for the reference signal to be measured, while reporting configuration information is used to configure information related to downlink measurement and measurement result reporting. For example, measurement resources include channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources. For example, channel measurement resources include at least one of the following: SSB (Synchronization Signal Block) resources, CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal) resources, and joint resources of SSB and CSI-RS. Interference measurement resources include at least one of the following: Non-zero power Channel State Information Reference Signal (NZP CSI-RS) measurement resources and CSI-IM measurement resources. The above examples illustrate the types of measurement resources for channel measurement and interference measurement; this application embodiment does not limit the specific types of measurement resources.

[0240] For example, a network device configures N measurement resources for a terminal device, where N is a positive integer and greater than 1. When configuring measurement resources for channel measurements, different resource sets can be configured first, each containing different measurement resources. Each measurement resource corresponds to a beam, and the reference signal configured for each measurement resource is transmitted through its corresponding beam—when the network device performs resource configuration, the beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with the measurement resource index (such as the SSB resource index (SSBIndex) or the CSI-RS resource index (CSI-RS ResourceIndicator, CRI)). The terminal device can obtain the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the measurement resource index and the reference signal corresponding to the measurement resource index. For example, when the network device configures the reference signal corresponding to SSB Index=0 or CRI=0 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID=1, the terminal device receiving the reference signal corresponding to SSB Index=0 or CRI=0 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID=1 configured by the network device. The terminal device can obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID=1 configured by the network device by measuring the reference signal.

[0241] When a network device configures a beam for each measurement resource and associates each measurement resource with a port, such that the reference signal configured for that measurement resource is transmitted through a port with a specific polarization direction, then the beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with the port index of the measurement resource. The terminal device can obtain the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the port index of the measurement resource and the reference signal corresponding to that port index. For example, when the network device configures the reference signal corresponding to Port Index = 0 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID = 1, the terminal device receiving the reference signal corresponding to Port Index = 0 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID = 1 configured by the network device. The terminal device can then measure this reference signal to obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID = 1 configured by the network device.

[0242] When a network device configures a beam for each measurement resource and associates each measurement resource with two ports, such that the reference signal configured for that measurement resource is transmitted through two ports with different polarization directions, the beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with the two port indices of the measurement resource. The terminal device can obtain the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the port indices of the measurement resources and the corresponding reference signals. For example, when the network device configures the reference signals corresponding to Port Index=0 and Port Index=1 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID=1, the terminal device receiving the reference signals corresponding to Port Index=0 and Port Index=1 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID=1 configured by the network device. The terminal device can then measure this reference signal to obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam configured by Beam ID=1.

[0243] For example, the reported configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0244] The first piece of information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform a joint measurement. A joint measurement means completing beam selection and obtaining the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement.

[0245] The second piece of information is used to indicate the number of beams reported by the terminal device, or the maximum number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0246] The third piece of information is used to indicate the selectable range of the rank indication (RI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0247] The fourth piece of information is used to indicate the selectable range of the precoding matrix indication (PMI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0248] The fifth piece of information indicates the type of Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI) reported by the terminal device. The above examples exemplify the content included in the reported configuration information; however, this application embodiment does not limit the specific content included in the reported configuration information.

[0249] Optionally, before sending measurement configuration information to the terminal device, the network device may also receive a sixth piece of information reported by the terminal device, which is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports joint measurement.

[0250] S1003. The terminal device performs measurements based on the measurement configuration information.

[0251] Optionally, before performing measurements based on the measurement configuration information, the terminal device selects a measurement method based on the received first information. Specifically, the terminal device selects whether to perform joint measurement based on the first information, where joint measurement means completing beam selection and obtaining the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement; or, the terminal device selects a measurement method from multiple measurement methods based on the first information, where the multiple measurement methods include joint measurement. This application embodiment does not limit the multiple measurement methods supported by the terminal device.

[0252] S1003a. The terminal device measures N measurement resources configured by the network device, and obtains the identification information of N beams corresponding to the N measurement resources and the signal quality information of the reference signal corresponding to each of the N beams, where N is a positive integer and N is greater than 1.

[0253] For example, when each measurement resource is associated with a port, the reference signal configured for the measurement resource is transmitted through a port with a polarization direction. The terminal device receives N measurement resource indices or N measurement resource port indices as beam identification information, and obtains the signal quality information of the N beams by measuring the N reference signals corresponding to the N measurement resources.

[0254] When each measurement resource is associated with two ports, such as when the reference signal configured for the measurement resource is transmitted through two ports with different polarization directions, the terminal device receives N measurement resource indices or 2N measurement resource port indices as beam identification information. The terminal device obtains the signal quality information of the N beams by measuring the 2N reference signals corresponding to the N measurement resources.

[0255] S1003b: The terminal device determines M beams based on the identification information of N beams and / or the signal quality information of the reference signals corresponding to the N beams and / or the status information of the terminal device. Wherein, M is a positive integer and M is greater than or equal to 1. For example, the terminal device determines the beam information of the M beams based on the identification information of the N beams and / or the signal quality information of the reference signals corresponding to the N beams and / or the status information of the terminal device. The beam information of the M beams includes the quantity information of the M beams and the identification information of each of the M beams. Wherein, the quantity information of the M beams is the quantity of measurement resources or the number of ports of the measurement resources; the beam identification information is the index of the measurement resource or the port index of the measurement resource.

[0256] S1003c, Optionally, when M>1, the terminal device will form a joint channel by the channels corresponding to the determined M beams, where M is a positive integer.

[0257] For example, the terminal device combines the ports corresponding to the M beams in a first order. Then, the ports of the joint channel formed by the channels corresponding to the M beams correspond one-to-one with the ports of the M beams, and each port of each measurement resource corresponds to one port in the joint channel. Here, the port of a beam refers to the physical or logical transmission channel corresponding to a single beam, used for data transmission. The port of the joint channel is a virtual channel port formed by combining the ports of multiple beams according to rules, used for multi-beam joint data transmission. Specifically, the following combination method can be used:

[0258] Combination Method 1: When each measurement resource is associated with P ports, the P ports of the i-th measurement resource among the M measurement resources correspond to the (i-1)*P+1 to i*P ports in the joint channel—that is, the P ports of the 1st measurement resource correspond to the 1st to Pth ports of the joint channel, the P ports of the 2nd measurement resource correspond to the P+1 to 2Pth ports of the joint channel, and so on. The above combination method combines all ports of each of the M measurement resources sequentially in the first order.

[0259] Combination Method 2: When each measurement resource is associated with 2 ports, the 2 ports of the i-th measurement resource among the M measurement resources correspond to the i-th and (i+M)-th ports in the joint channel—that is, the 2 ports of the 1st measurement resource correspond to the 1st and (1+M)-th ports of the joint channel, and so on. The above combination method combines the ports of each polarization direction of the M measurement resources in the first order—that is, first combine the ports of the M measurement resources in the first polarization direction, and then combine the ports of the M measurement resources in the second polarization direction.

[0260] For example, the first order may be the order of the measurement resource index or the port index of the measurement resource (e.g., from largest to smallest or smallest to largest), the order of the signal quality strength of the reference signal configured for the measurement resource (e.g., from strongest to weakest or weakest to strongest), or the temporal order of the measurement resource configuration. This application embodiment does not limit the specific order of the measurement resources in the first order.

[0261] S1003d, The terminal device determines the channel state information of the M beams corresponding to the M measurement resources.

[0262] When M=1, the terminal device determines the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam.

[0263] When M>1, the terminal device determines the channel state information of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams.

[0264] For example, the channel state information calculated by the terminal device includes at least one of the following: Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), Rank Indicator (RI), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Layer Indicator (LI), Channel Gain, Phase Shift, Multipath Fading, and Interference Information. This application does not limit the content of the channel state information.

[0265] S1003e, Optionally, when M>1, the terminal device determines the port arrangement of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams of the M measurement resources. The port arrangement of the joint channel is the actual port arrangement of the network device or the assumed port arrangement.

[0266] Specifically, the port arrangement of the joint channel is determined by two dimensions: the horizontal port count H (the number of ports distributed horizontally in the joint channel) and the vertical port count V (the number of ports distributed vertically in the joint channel), where H and V are both positive integers. The total number of ports L in the joint channel satisfies L = H × V, where L is the total number of ports in the joint channel and is a positive integer. The port arrangement of the joint channel includes at least one of the following:

[0267] 1) In the case where each measurement resource is associated with S single-polarization ports and all ports are horizontally distributed, the number of ports in the horizontal dimension H = M × S = L, and the number of ports in the vertical dimension V = 1, where M is the number of measurement resources, S is the number of ports associated with each measurement resource, and M and S are both positive integers.

[0268] 2) In the case where each measurement resource is associated with S single-polarization ports and all ports are vertically distributed, the number of ports in the horizontal dimension H = 1 and the number of ports in the vertical dimension V = M × S = L, where M is the number of measurement resources and S is the number of ports associated with each measurement resource, and both M and S are positive integers.

[0269] 3) In the case where each measurement resource is associated with a set of two polarization direction ports and the ports in each polarization direction are horizontally distributed, for each polarization direction, the number of horizontal dimension ports H = M = L / 2 and the number of vertical dimension ports V = 1, where M is the number of measurement resources and M is a positive integer. The ports in the two polarization directions corresponding to the same measurement resource are assumed to be co-located or overlapping.

[0270] 4) In the case where each measurement resource is associated with a set of two polarization direction ports and the ports in each polarization direction are vertically distributed, for each polarization direction, the number of horizontal dimension ports H = 1 and the number of vertical dimension ports V = M = L / 2, where M is the number of beams and M is a positive integer. The ports in the two polarization directions corresponding to the same measurement resource are assumed to be co-located or overlapping.

[0271] The port arrangement of the joint channel is determined by at least one of the following methods: a port arrangement specified by the communication standard protocol, or a signaling method (such as RRC or DCI) issued by the network device to the terminal device, or a report from the terminal device to the network device. The terminal device determines the reporting format of the PMI based on the port arrangement of the joint channel. This application does not limit the port arrangement of the joint channel or the method for obtaining the port arrangement of the joint channel.

[0272] For example, steps S1003e and S1003b-S1003d can be executed simultaneously or sequentially. This application embodiment does not limit the order of determining the beam information of the M beams and the channel state information of the corresponding channels for the M beams, nor the order of obtaining the port arrangement of the joint channels.

[0273] S1005. The terminal device reports information on M beams and channel status information of the channels corresponding to the M beams.

[0274] The terminal device reports information about M beams and the channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams to the network device. Specifically, when M=1, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the determined beam to the network device; when M>1, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams to the network device.

[0275] For example, the terminal device reports beam information of M beams and channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams to the network device in two parts. The beam information reported by the terminal device includes two parts: the first part includes the number of beams reported by the terminal device, and the second part includes the identification information of each of the M beams reported. The first part of the beam information reported by the terminal device is the number of measurement resources M. When each measurement resource includes one port, the first part of the beam information can also be the number of ports M. When each measurement resource includes two ports, the first part of the beam information can also be the number of ports 2M or half the number of ports M. The second part of the beam information reported by the terminal device is the measurement resource index of the M measurement resources. When each measurement resource includes one port, the second part of the beam information reported by the terminal device can also be the M port indices of the M measurement resources. When each measurement resource includes two ports, the second part of the beam information reported by the terminal device can also be the 2M port indices of the M measurement resources or the M port indices of the M measurement resources in one polarization direction. This application embodiment does not restrict the signaling type for beam information uploaded by the terminal device.

[0276] For example, the terminal device reports channel state information (CSA) for M beams corresponding to the channels to the network device in two parts. The CSA reported by the terminal device includes two parts: the first part includes the type of Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) for the M beams corresponding to the channels reported by the terminal device; the second part includes the PMI for the M beams corresponding to the channels reported by the terminal device. Optionally, the first and / or second parts of the CSA reported by the terminal device may further include at least one of the following: the channel rank indicator (RI) and the channel quality indicator (CQI). This application embodiment does not limit the signaling type and channel type for the channel state information uploaded by the terminal device.

[0277] For example, a terminal device can report information about M beams and the channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams through one or two signaling messages. When the terminal device reports information about M beams and the channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams through two signaling messages, the two signaling messages can be executed simultaneously or sequentially. This application embodiment does not limit the number or type of signaling messages used to report information about M beams and the channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams.

[0278] See Figure 11 This is a flowchart illustrating another channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 11 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0279] S1101, the network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device and configures at least one measurement resource associated with N ports according to the measurement configuration information, and sends the measurement resource to the terminal device through N beams, where N is a positive integer and N is greater than 1. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration information and measurement resources from the network device.

[0280] For example, the network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device. The network device configures at least one measurement resource for the terminal device. The measurement resource includes N ports, each port corresponding to a beam.

[0281] The measurement configuration information mainly includes two parts: resource configuration information and reporting configuration information. Resource configuration information is used to configure the measurement resources for the reference signal to be measured, while reporting configuration information is used to configure information related to downlink measurement and measurement result reporting. For example, measurement resources include channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources. For example, channel measurement resources include at least one of the following: SSB (Synchronization Signal Block) resources, CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal) resources, and joint resources of SSB and CSI-RS. Interference measurement resources include at least one of the following: Non-zero power Channel State Information Reference Signal (NZP CSI-RS) measurement resources and CSI-IM measurement resources. The above examples illustrate the types of measurement resources for channel measurement and interference measurement; this application embodiment does not limit the specific types of measurement resources.

[0282] For example, a network device configures at least one measurement resource for a terminal device. This measurement resource is associated with N ports, each port corresponding to a beam—that is, the reference signal for each port is transmitted through its corresponding beam. When each port is a port with a single polarization direction, the network device transmits reference signals with different beam directions through different ports. The beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with the port index (PortIndex) of the measurement resource. The terminal device obtains the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the port index of the measurement resource and the reference signal corresponding to that port index. For example, when the network device configures the reference signal corresponding to Port Index = 0 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID = 1, the terminal device receiving the reference signal corresponding to Port Index = 0 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID = 1 configured by the network device. The terminal device then measures this reference signal to obtain the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID = 1 configured by the network device.

[0283] For example, the reported configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0284] The first piece of information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform a joint measurement. A joint measurement means completing beam selection and obtaining the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement.

[0285] The second piece of information is used to indicate the number of beams reported by the terminal device, or the maximum number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0286] The third piece of information is used to indicate the selectable range of the rank indication (RI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0287] The fourth piece of information is used to indicate the selectable range of the precoding matrix indication (PMI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0288] The fifth piece of information indicates the type of Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI) reported by the terminal device. The above examples exemplify the content included in the reported configuration information; however, this application embodiment does not limit the specific content included in the reported configuration information.

[0289] Optionally, before sending measurement configuration information to the terminal device, the network device may also receive a sixth piece of information reported by the terminal device, which is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports joint measurement.

[0290] S1103. The terminal device performs measurements based on the measurement configuration information.

[0291] Optionally, before performing measurements based on the measurement configuration information, the terminal device selects a measurement method based on the received first information. Specifically, the terminal device selects whether to perform joint measurement based on the first information, where joint measurement means completing beam selection and obtaining the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement; or, the terminal device selects a measurement method from multiple measurement methods based on the first information, where the multiple measurement methods include joint measurement. This application embodiment does not limit the multiple measurement methods supported by the terminal device.

[0292] S1103a. The terminal device measures the measurement resources corresponding to the N ports configured in the network device, and obtains the identification information of the N beams corresponding to the N ports and the signal quality information of the reference signal corresponding to each of the N beams, where N is a positive integer and N is greater than 1.

[0293] For example, when each port corresponds to one beam, the reference signal for the measurement resource configuration is transmitted through a port with a polarization direction. The terminal device receives N port indices as beam identification information, and obtains the signal quality information of the N beams by measuring the N reference signals corresponding to the N ports.

[0294] S1103b: The terminal device determines M beams based on the identification information of N beams and / or the signal quality information of the reference signals corresponding to the N beams and / or the status information of the terminal device. Wherein, M is a positive integer and M is greater than or equal to 1. For example, the terminal device determines the beam information of the M beams based on the identification information of the N beams and / or the signal quality information of the reference signals corresponding to the N beams and / or the status information of the terminal device. The beam information of the M beams includes the quantity information of the M beams and the identification information of each of the M beams. Wherein, the quantity information of the M beams is the number of ports of the measurement resource; the beam identification information is the port index of the measurement resource.

[0295] S1103c, Optionally, when M>1, the terminal device will form a joint channel by the channels corresponding to the determined M beams, where M is a positive integer.

[0296] For example, if the terminal device combines the M ports corresponding to the M beams in a second order, then the ports of the joint channel formed by the channels corresponding to the M beams correspond one-to-one with the ports of the M beams, and each of the M ports corresponds to a port in the joint channel. Here, the port of a beam refers to the physical or logical transmission channel corresponding to a single beam, used for data transmission. The port of the joint channel is a virtual channel port formed by combining the ports of multiple beams according to rules, used for multi-beam joint data transmission. Specifically, the following combination method can be used:

[0297] The i-th port among the M ports corresponds to the i-th port of the joint channel.

[0298] For example, the second order may be the order of the port indices of the measurement resources (e.g., port indices from largest to smallest or smallest to largest), the order of the signal quality strength of the reference signals corresponding to the ports (e.g., the order of the signal quality of the reference signals corresponding to the ports from strongest to weakest or weakest to strongest), or the chronological order of the configuration of the measurement resources corresponding to the ports. This application embodiment does not limit the specific order of the ports in the second order.

[0299] S1103d, The terminal device determines the channel status information of the M beams corresponding to the M ports.

[0300] When M=1, the terminal device determines the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam.

[0301] When M>1, the terminal device determines the channel state information of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams.

[0302] For example, the channel state information calculated by the terminal device includes at least one of the following: Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), Rank Indicator (RI), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Layer Indicator (LI), Channel Gain, Phase Shift, Multipath Fading, and Interference Information. This application does not limit the content of the channel state information.

[0303] S1103e, Optionally, when M>1, the terminal device determines the port arrangement of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams of the M ports. The port arrangement of the joint channel is the actual port arrangement of the network device or the assumed port arrangement.

[0304] Specifically, the port arrangement of the joint channel is determined by two dimensions: the horizontal port count H (the number of ports distributed horizontally in the joint channel) and the vertical port count V (the number of ports distributed vertically in the joint channel), where H and V are both positive integers. The total number of ports L in the joint channel satisfies L = H × V, where L is the total number of ports in the joint channel and is a positive integer. The port arrangement of the joint channel includes at least one of the following:

[0305] 1) For the case where M single-polarization ports are horizontally distributed, the number of ports in the horizontal dimension H = M = L, and the number of ports in the vertical dimension V = 1, where M is the number of beams and M is a positive integer;

[0306] 2) In the case of vertical distribution of M single-polarization ports, the number of horizontal dimension ports H = 1 and the number of vertical dimension ports V = M = L, where M is the number of beams and M is a positive integer.

[0307] The port arrangement of the joint channel is determined by at least one of the following methods: a port arrangement specified by the communication standard protocol, or a signaling method (such as RRC or DCI) issued by the network device to the terminal device, or a report from the terminal device to the network device. The terminal device determines the reporting format of the PMI based on the port arrangement of the joint channel. This application does not limit the port arrangement of the joint channel or the method for obtaining the port arrangement of the joint channel.

[0308] For example, steps S1103e and S1103b-S1103d can be executed simultaneously or sequentially. This application embodiment does not limit the order of determining the beam information of the M beams and the channel state information of the corresponding channels for the M beams, nor the order of obtaining the port arrangement of the joint channels.

[0309] S1105. The terminal device reports information on M beams and channel status information of the channels corresponding to the M beams.

[0310] The terminal device reports information about M beams and the channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams to the network device. Specifically, when M=1, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the determined beam to the network device; when M>1, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams to the network device.

[0311] For example, the information of the M beams includes the number of beams, which is the number of ports M configured for the measurement resources. The information of the M beams also includes the identification information of each of the M beams, which is determined by the port index.

[0312] For example, the terminal device reports beam information of M beams and channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams to the network device in two parts. The beam information reported by the terminal device includes two parts: the first part includes the number of beams reported by the terminal device, and the second part includes the identification information of each of the M beams reported. This application embodiment does not limit the signaling type for the beam information uploaded by the terminal device.

[0313] For example, the terminal device reports channel state information (CSA) for M beams corresponding to the channels to the network device in two parts. The CSA reported by the terminal device includes two parts: the first part includes the type of Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) for the M beams corresponding to the channels reported by the terminal device; the second part includes the PMI for the M beams corresponding to the channels reported by the terminal device. Optionally, the first and / or second parts of the CSA reported by the terminal device may further include at least one of the following: the channel rank indicator (RI) and the channel quality indicator (CQI). This application embodiment does not limit the signaling type and channel type for the channel state information uploaded by the terminal device.

[0314] For example, a terminal device can report information about M beams and the channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams through one or two signaling messages. When the terminal device reports information about M beams and the channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams through two signaling messages, the two signaling messages can be executed simultaneously or sequentially. This application embodiment does not limit the number or type of signaling messages used to report information about M beams and the channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams.

[0315] See Figure 12 This is a flowchart illustrating another channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 12 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0316] S1201, the network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device and configures at least 2N ports associated with one measurement resource according to the measurement configuration information, and sends the measurement resource to the terminal device through N beams, where N is a positive integer and N is greater than 1. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration information and measurement resources from the network device.

[0317] For example, the network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device. The network device configures at least one measurement resource for the terminal device. The measurement resource includes 2N ports, with each pair of ports corresponding to a beam.

[0318] The measurement configuration information mainly includes two parts: resource configuration information and reporting configuration information. Resource configuration information is used to configure the measurement resources for the reference signal to be measured, while reporting configuration information is used to configure information related to downlink measurement and measurement result reporting. For example, measurement resources include channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources. For example, channel measurement resources include at least one of the following: SSB (Synchronization Signal Block) resources, CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal) resources, and joint resources of SSB and CSI-RS. Interference measurement resources include at least one of the following: Non-zero power Channel State Information Reference Signal (NZP CSI-RS) measurement resources and CSI-IM measurement resources. The above examples illustrate the types of measurement resources for channel measurement and interference measurement; this application embodiment does not limit the specific types of measurement resources.

[0319] For example, a network device configures at least one measurement resource for a terminal device, and the measurement resource is associated with 2N ports. Each pair of ports forms a group. When ports correspond to different polarization directions of the same beam (e.g., a group of ports with cross-polarization directions), the network device transmits reference signals for different beam directions through different ports. The beam identification information corresponds one-to-one with the port index for any polarization direction. The terminal device obtains the reference signal corresponding to the identification information of different beams by receiving the port index of the measurement resource and the reference signal corresponding to that port index. For example, when the network device configures the reference signals corresponding to Port Index = 0 and Port Index = 1 to be transmitted through the beam with Beam ID = 1, the terminal device receiving the reference signals corresponding to Port Index = 0 and Port Index = 1 is receiving the reference signal corresponding to Beam ID = 1 configured by the network device. The terminal device obtains the signal quality corresponding to the beam with Beam ID = 1 configured by the network device by measuring this reference signal.

[0320] For example, the reported configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0321] The first piece of information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform a joint measurement. A joint measurement means completing beam selection and obtaining the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement.

[0322] The second piece of information is used to indicate the number of beams reported by the terminal device, or the maximum number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0323] The third piece of information is used to indicate the selectable range of the rank indication (RI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0324] The fourth piece of information is used to indicate the selectable range of the precoding matrix indication (PMI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device.

[0325] The fifth piece of information indicates the type of Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI) reported by the terminal device. The above examples exemplify the content included in the reported configuration information; however, this application embodiment does not limit the specific content included in the reported configuration information.

[0326] Optionally, before sending measurement configuration information to the terminal device, the network device may also receive a sixth piece of information reported by the terminal device, which is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports joint measurement.

[0327] S1203. The terminal device performs measurements based on the measurement configuration information.

[0328] Optionally, before performing measurements based on the measurement configuration information, the terminal device selects a measurement method based on the received first information. Specifically, the terminal device selects whether to perform joint measurement based on the first information, where joint measurement means completing beam selection and obtaining the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam through a single measurement; or, the terminal device selects a measurement method from multiple measurement methods based on the first information, where the multiple measurement methods include joint measurement. This application embodiment does not limit the multiple measurement methods supported by the terminal device.

[0329] S1203a. The terminal device measures the measurement resources corresponding to the 2N ports configured in the network device, and obtains the identification information of the N beams corresponding to the 2N ports and the signal quality information of the reference signal corresponding to each of the N beams, where N is a positive integer and N is greater than 1.

[0330] For example, when each pair of ports corresponds to one beam, the reference signal for the measurement resource configuration is transmitted through two ports with different polarization directions. The terminal device receives 2N port indices as beam identification information, and obtains the signal quality information of N beams by measuring the N reference signals corresponding to the 2N ports.

[0331] S1203b: The terminal device determines M beams based on the identification information of N beams and / or the signal quality information of the reference signals corresponding to the N beams and / or the status information of the terminal device. Wherein, M is a positive integer and M is greater than or equal to 1. For example, the terminal device determines the beam information of the M beams based on the identification information of the N beams and / or the signal quality information of the reference signals corresponding to the N beams and / or the status information of the terminal device. The beam information of the M beams includes the quantity information of the M beams and the identification information of each of the M beams. Wherein, the quantity information of the M beams is the number of ports of the measurement resource (2M); the beam identification information is the port index of the measurement resource.

[0332] S1203c, Optionally, when M>1, the terminal device will form a joint channel from the channels corresponding to the determined M beams, where M is a positive integer.

[0333] For example, if the terminal device combines the 2M ports corresponding to the M beams in a third order, then the ports of the joint channel formed by the channels corresponding to the M beams correspond one-to-one with the ports of the M beams, and each of the 2M ports corresponds to a port in the joint channel. Here, the port of a beam refers to the physical or logical transmission channel corresponding to a single beam, used for data transmission. The port of the joint channel is a virtual channel port formed by combining the ports of multiple beams according to rules, used for multi-beam joint data transmission. Specifically, the following combination method can be used:

[0334] Combination Method 1: The two ports of the i-th beam in the M beams correspond to the (2i-1) to 2i ports in the joint channel—that is, the two ports of the 1st beam correspond to the 1st and 2nd ports of the joint channel, the two ports of the 2nd beam correspond to the 3rd and 4th ports of the joint channel, and so on. The above combination method combines all the ports associated with each beam in the M beams in the third order.

[0335] Combination Method 2: The two ports of the i-th measurement resource in the M beams correspond to the i-th and (i+M)-th ports in the joint channel—the two ports of the 1st beam correspond to the 1st and (1+M)-th ports in the joint channel, and so on. The above combination method follows the third order, sequentially combining the ports of each polarization direction of the M beams—that is, first combining the ports of the first polarization direction of the M beams, then combining the ports of the second polarization direction of the M beams.

[0336] For example, the third order can be the order of the port indices of the measurement resources (e.g., port indices from largest to smallest or smallest to largest), the order of the signal quality strength of the reference signals corresponding to the ports (e.g., the order of the signal quality of the reference signals corresponding to the ports from strongest to weakest or weakest to strongest), or the chronological order of the configuration of the measurement resources corresponding to the ports. This application embodiment does not limit the specific order of the ports in the third order.

[0337] S1203d: The terminal device determines the channel status information of the M beams corresponding to the 2M ports.

[0338] When M=1, the terminal device determines the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the selected beam.

[0339] When M>1, the terminal device determines the channel state information of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams.

[0340] For example, the channel state information calculated by the terminal device includes at least one of the following: Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), Rank Indicator (RI), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Layer Indicator (LI), Channel Gain, Phase Shift, Multipath Fading, and Interference Information. This application does not limit the content of the channel state information.

[0341] S1203e, Optionally, when M>1, the terminal device determines the port arrangement of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams of the 2M ports. The port arrangement of the joint channel is the actual port arrangement of the network device or the assumed port arrangement.

[0342] Specifically, the port arrangement of the joint channel is determined by two dimensions: the horizontal port count H (the number of ports distributed horizontally in the joint channel) and the vertical port count V (the number of ports distributed vertically in the joint channel), where H and V are both positive integers. The total number of ports L in the joint channel satisfies L = H × V, where L is the total number of ports in the joint channel and is a positive integer. The port arrangement of the joint channel includes at least one of the following:

[0343] 1) For each beam associated with a set of two polarization direction ports and the ports of each polarization direction are horizontally distributed, for each polarization direction, the number of horizontal dimension ports H = M = L / 2 and the number of vertical dimension ports V = 1, where M is the number of beams and M is a positive integer. The ports of the two polarization directions corresponding to the same beam are assumed to be co-located or overlapping.

[0344] 2) In the case where each beam is associated with a set of two polarization direction ports and the ports in each polarization direction are vertically distributed, for each polarization direction, the number of horizontal dimension ports H = 1 and the number of vertical dimension ports V = M = L / 2, where M is the number of beams and M is a positive integer. The ports of the two polarization directions corresponding to the same beam are assumed to be co-located or overlapping.

[0345] The port arrangement of the joint channel is determined by at least one of the following methods: a port arrangement specified by the communication standard protocol, or a signaling method (such as RRC or DCI) issued by the network device to the terminal device, or a report from the terminal device to the network device. The terminal device determines the reporting format of the PMI based on the port arrangement of the joint channel. This application does not limit the port arrangement of the joint channel or the method for obtaining the port arrangement of the joint channel.

[0346] For example, steps S1203e and S1203b-S1203d can be executed simultaneously or sequentially. This application embodiment does not limit the order of determining the beam information of the M beams and the channel state information of the corresponding channels for the M beams, nor the order of obtaining the port arrangement of the joint channels.

[0347] S1205. The terminal device reports information about M beams and channel status information of the channels corresponding to the M beams.

[0348] The terminal device reports information about M beams and the channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams to the network device. Specifically, when M=1, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the channel corresponding to the determined beam to the network device; when M>1, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams to the network device.

[0349] For example, the information for the M beams includes the number of beams, which is the number of ports configured for the measurement resources, 2M or half of 2M, M. The information for the M beams also includes the identification information for each of the M beams, which is determined by the port index.

[0350] For example, the terminal device reports beam information of M beams and channel state information of the corresponding channels of the M beams to the network device in two parts. The beam information reported by the terminal device includes two parts: the first part includes the number of beams reported by the terminal device, and the second part includes the identification information of each of the M beams reported. This application embodiment does not limit the signaling type for the beam information uploaded by the terminal device.

[0351] For example, the terminal device reports channel state information (CSA) for M beams corresponding to the channels to the network device in two parts. The CSA reported by the terminal device includes two parts: the first part includes the type of Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) for the M beams corresponding to the channels reported by the terminal device; the second part includes the PMI for the M beams corresponding to the channels reported by the terminal device. Optionally, the first and / or second parts of the CSA reported by the terminal device may further include at least one of the following: the channel rank indicator (RI) and the channel quality indicator (CQI). This application embodiment does not limit the signaling type and channel type for the channel state information uploaded by the terminal device.

[0352] For example, a terminal device can report information about M beams and the channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams through one or two signaling messages. When the terminal device reports information about M beams and the channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams through two signaling messages, the two signaling messages can be executed simultaneously or sequentially. This application embodiment does not limit the number or type of signaling messages used to report information about M beams and the channel status information of the corresponding channels of the M beams.

[0353] The various embodiments of this application can be implemented independently or in combination, without limitation. Unless otherwise specified or in conflict of logic, the terminology and / or descriptions between the different embodiments provided in this application are consistent and can be referenced mutually. Technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0354] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, the executing entity may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of this application. These steps or operations are examples, and the embodiments of this application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the steps may be performed in different orders as presented in the embodiments of this application, and it is not necessary to perform all the operations in the embodiments of this application.

[0355] The foregoing primarily describes the solutions provided in this application from the perspective of device-to-device interaction. It is understood that each device, in order to achieve the aforementioned functions, includes corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware 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.

[0356] This application embodiment can divide each device into functional modules according to the above method example. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional module, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional module. The module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and represents a logical functional division; in actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0357] When dividing each function into modules according to its corresponding function. Figure 13 A communication device 1300 is shown, which can perform the above-described... Figures 9 to 12 The actions performed by the terminal device or network device in the method shown, and all related content of each step involved in the above method embodiments, can be referenced from the functional description of the corresponding functional module. The technical effects that can be obtained can be referred to the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0358] The communication device 1300 may include a transceiver module 1302 and a processing module 1301. Exemplarily, the communication device 1300 may be a communication device, or a chip or other combination device or component having the aforementioned transmitting end device functions. When the communication device 1300 is a communication device, the transceiver module 1302 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuits; the processing module 1301 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more CPUs. When the communication device 1300 is a component having the aforementioned transmitting end device functions, the transceiver module 1302 may be a radio frequency unit; the processing module 1301 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor. When the communication device 1300 is a chip system, the transceiver module 1302 may be an input / output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip); the processing module 1301 may be a processor (or processing circuit) of the chip system, and may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1302 in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components; the processing module 1301 can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components (or, referred to as processing circuit).

[0359] For example, transceiver module 1302 can be used to perform... Figures 9 to 12 The embodiments shown include all transmit and receive operations performed by the terminal device or network device, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein; the processing module 1301 can be used to execute Figures 9 to 12 The embodiments shown include all operations performed by the terminal device or network device other than the send and receive operations, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein.

[0360] As another feasible approach Figure 13 The transceiver module 1302 can be replaced by a transceiver unit, which can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1302; the processing module 1301 can be replaced by a processor, which can integrate the functions of the processing module 1301. Furthermore, Figure 13 The communication device 1300 shown may also include a memory. Alternatively, when the processing module 1301 is replaced by a processor and the transceiver module 1302 is replaced by a transceiver,

[0361] The communication device involved in the embodiments of this application can also be Figure 14 The communication device 1400 shown.

[0362] The processor can be logic circuit 1401, and the transceiver can be interface circuit 1402. Furthermore, Figure 14 The communication device 1400 shown may also include a memory 1403.

[0363] This application also provides a communication device, such as... Figure 15 As shown, this communication device can be applied to the above-mentioned... Figures 9 to 12 In the methods shown in the embodiments, such as Figure 15 As shown, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module may be one or more processors, and the transceiver module may be a transceiver or a communication interface. This communication device can be used to implement the terminal device or network device involved in any of the above method embodiments, or to implement the functions of the device involved in any of the above method embodiments. The device or device function may be a network component in a hardware device, a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualization function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). Optionally, the communication device may further include a storage module for storing the program code and data of the communication device.

[0364] To achieve the above functions, the chip of this application may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that, based on the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware 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.

[0365] In one possible implementation, when the transmitting or receiving device is a chip, the transceiver module can be a communication interface, pins, or circuits. The communication interface can be used to input data to be processed to the processor and can output the processor's processing results. Specifically, the communication interface can be a general purpose input / output (GPIO) interface, which can connect to multiple peripheral devices (such as LCD displays, cameras, radio frequency (RF) modules, antennas, etc.). The communication interface is connected to the processor via a bus.

[0366] The processing module can be a processor, which can execute computer execution instructions stored in the storage module to cause the chip to perform... Figures 9 to 12The illustrated embodiment relates to a method. Further, the processor may include a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), and registers. For example, the controller is primarily responsible for instruction decoding and issuing control signals for the operations corresponding to the instructions. The ALU is primarily responsible for performing fixed-point or floating-point arithmetic operations, shift operations, and logical operations, and can also perform address operations and translations. Registers are primarily responsible for storing register operands and intermediate operation results temporarily stored during instruction execution. In specific implementations, the processor's hardware architecture can be an ASIC architecture, a microprocessor without interlocked piped stages architecture (MIPS), an advanced reduced instruction set machine (RISC) machine (ARM) architecture, or a network processor (NP) architecture, etc. The processor can be single-core or multi-core. The storage module can be an in-chip storage module, such as a register or cache. The storage module can also be an external storage module, such as ROM or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, RAM, etc.

[0367] It should be noted that the functions of the processor and interface can be implemented through hardware design, software design, or a combination of both; no restrictions are imposed here.

[0368] This application also provides a computer program product that, when executed by a computer, can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0369] This application also provides a computer program that, when executed by a computer, can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0370] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. All or part of the processes in the above method embodiments can be implemented by a computer program instructing related hardware. This program can be stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, it can include the processes of the above method embodiments. The computer-readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the terminal device (including a data transmitter and / or a data receiver) in any of the foregoing embodiments, such as the hard disk or memory of the terminal device. The computer-readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the terminal device, such as a plug-in hard disk, smart media card (SMC), secure digital (SD) card, flash card, etc., equipped on the terminal device. Further, the computer-readable storage medium can include both internal storage units and external storage devices of the terminal device. The computer-readable storage medium is used to store the computer program and other programs and data required by the terminal device. The computer-readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output.

[0371] The terms "first" and "second," etc., used in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. "First" and "second" are for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, a feature defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this embodiment, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0372] Furthermore, the terms “comprising” and “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the steps or units listed, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0373] It should be understood that in this application, "at least one (item)" means one or more. "More than one" means two or more. "At least two (items)" means two or three or more. "And / or" is used to describe the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist simultaneously, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (item) 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 (item) 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. Both "...when" and "if" indicate that a corresponding action will be taken under certain objective circumstances. They are not time limits, nor do they require a judgment action to be taken when the action is taken, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0374] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner to facilitate understanding.

[0375] In this application, "sending information to... (terminal device or network device)" can be understood as the destination of the information being a terminal device or network device. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to a terminal device or network device. "Receiving information from... (terminal device or network device)" can be understood as the source of the information being a terminal device or network device, and can include receiving information directly or indirectly from a terminal device or network device. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source.

[0376] Through the above description of the implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the above division of functional modules is used as an example. In practical applications, the above functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0377] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are illustrative. For instance, the division of modules or units is a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0378] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. A component shown as a unit can be one or more physical units; that is, it can be located in one place or distributed in multiple different locations. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0379] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit.

[0380] 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 readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application embodiment, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a device (which may be a microcontroller, chip, 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, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

Claims

1. A channel measurement method, characterized in that, Applied to a terminal device, the method includes: Determine the channel state information, which is the channel state information of a joint channel composed of M beams corresponding to the channels. The M beams are selected from N beams, where M and N are positive integers and N≥M>1. Transmit the information of the M beams and the channel state information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The terminal device receives reference signals corresponding to the measurement resources through the N beams.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Before determining the channel state information, the method further includes: Receive measurement configuration information, which is used to configure the measurement resources corresponding to the N beams.

4. A channel measurement method, characterized in that, Applied to network devices, the method includes: receiving information of M beams and channel state information, wherein the channel state information is the channel state information of a joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams, and the M beams are selected from N beams, where M and N are positive integers and N≥M>1.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The network device transmits reference signals corresponding to the measurement resources through the N beams.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, Before receiving information from M beams and channel state information The method further includes: Send measurement configuration information, which is used to configure the measurement resources corresponding to the N beams.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The ports of the joint channel formed by the channels corresponding to the M beams correspond one-to-one with the ports of the M beams.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The information of the M beams includes: The number of the M beams, and the identification information of each of the M beams.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The channel state information includes: The precoding matrix of the joint channel indicates the type of PMI, and the precoding matrix of the joint channel indicates the PMI.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, 7-9, characterized in that, The method further includes: The PMI reporting format of the joint channel is determined, and the PMI reporting format is related to the port arrangement of the L ports of the joint channel, where L is a positive integer and L>1.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, 7, 10, characterized in that, The N beams correspond to N measurement resources, and each beam corresponds to one measurement resource.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, 7-11, characterized in that, Determining the joint channel composed of the channels corresponding to the M beams includes: The M beams correspond to M measurement resources. Each of the M measurement resources includes P ports. The P ports of the i-th measurement resource in the M measurement resources correspond to the (i-1)*P+1 to the i*P ports of the joint channel, where P and i are both positive integers, P≥1, M≥i≥1. Alternatively, the M beams correspond to the M measurement resources, each of the M measurement resources includes 2 ports, and the 2 ports of the i-th measurement resource in the M measurement resources correspond to the i-th and i+M-th ports of the joint channel, where i is a positive integer and M≥i≥1.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The M measurement resources are arranged in a first order, which includes one of the following: The index size order of the M measurement resources; The signal quality strength order of the M measurement resources; The order in which the M measurement resources are configured.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10-13, characterized in that, The port arrangement method includes one of the following: The joint channel comprises L ports, with L ports in the horizontal direction and 1 port in the vertical direction; or, The joint channel comprises L ports, with 1 port in the horizontal direction and L ports in the vertical direction; or, The joint channel comprises L ports, corresponding to two different polarization directions. For any polarization direction, the number of ports in the horizontal direction is L / 2, and the number of ports in the vertical direction is 1; or... The joint channel includes L ports, corresponding to two different polarization directions. For any polarization direction, the number of ports in the horizontal direction is 1, and the number of ports in the vertical direction is L / 2.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, 7, 10, characterized in that, The N beams correspond to N ports of the same measurement resource, and each of the N beams corresponds to one port of the measurement resource.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, 7-10, 15, characterized in that, Determining the joint channel composed of the M beam corresponding channels includes: The M beams correspond to M ports, and the i-th port among the M ports corresponds to the i-th port of the joint channel, where i is a positive integer and M ≥ i ≥ 1.

17. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The M ports are arranged in a second order, which includes one of the following: The index size order of the M ports; The order of signal quality strength corresponding to the M ports; The configuration order of the M ports.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15-17, characterized in that, The port arrangement method includes one of the following: Of the L ports included in the joint channel, M are horizontal ports and 1 is vertical port; or, The joint channel includes L ports, with 1 port in the horizontal direction and M ports in the vertical direction.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, 6, 10, characterized in that, The N beams correspond to 2N ports of the same measurement resource, and each of the N beams corresponds to two ports of the measurement resource.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, 7-9, 19, characterized in that, Determining the joint channel composed of the M beam corresponding channels includes: The M beams correspond to 2M ports, and the i-th port among the 2M ports corresponds to the i-th port of the joint channel, where M ≥ i ≥ 1.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The 2M ports are arranged in a third order, which includes one of the following: The index size order of the 2M ports; The signal quality strength order corresponding to the 2M ports; The configuration order of the 2M ports.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19-21, characterized in that, The port arrangement method includes one of the following: The joint channel comprises L ports, corresponding to two different polarization directions. For any polarization direction, the number of ports in the horizontal direction is L / 2, and the number of ports in the vertical direction is 1; or... The joint channel comprises 2M ports, corresponding to two different polarization directions. For any polarization direction, the number of ports in the horizontal direction is 1, and the number of ports in the vertical direction is L / 2.

23. The method according to any one of claims 3, 6-22, characterized in that, The measurement configuration information also includes at least one of the following: The first information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform a joint measurement, wherein the joint measurement represents completing beam selection through a single measurement and obtaining the channel state information of the joint channel corresponding to the selected beam; or, The second information is used to indicate the number of beams reported by the terminal device, or the maximum value of the reported number of beams; or, The third information is used to indicate the selectable range of the rank indication (RI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device; or, The fourth information is used to indicate the selectable range of the precoding matrix indication (PMI) corresponding to the number of beams reported by the terminal device; or, The fifth piece of information is used to indicate the type of precoding matrix indication (PMI) reported by the terminal device.

24. The method according to any one of claims 9-23, characterized in that, The types of PMI include a first type and a second type. The terminal device reports the second type of PMI if the first condition is met, and reports the first type of PMI if the first condition is not met. The first condition includes at least one of the following: The number of beams is greater than or equal to a first threshold, and the rank indicator (RI) is greater than or equal to a second threshold.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that, The first type of PMI and the second type of PMI include: The first type of PMI refers to a precoding matrix whose column vectors are discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vectors; the second type of PMI refers to a precoding matrix whose column vectors are weighted and combined multiple discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vectors.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, include: A module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-25.

27. A communication device, characterized in that, include: processor; The processor is configured to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1-25 by means of logic circuits and / or by running computer programs or instructions.

28. The apparatus according to claim 27, characterized in that, The communication device also includes a memory for storing computer programs or instructions.

29. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes an interface circuit and a logic circuit; the interface circuit is used for inputting and / or outputting information; the logic circuit is used for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-25.

30. A communication chip, characterized in that, It stores instructions that, when the chip is running on a communication device, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1-25 to be executed.

31. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1-25 to be performed.

32. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes: a computer program or instructions that, when some or all of the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, cause the method described in any one of claims 1-25 to be performed.

33. A communication system, characterized in that, include: A terminal device for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-3, 7-25, and a network device for performing the method as described in any one of claims 4-25.

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