TA estimation method, network device, apparatus, and storage medium

Abstract

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a TA estimation method, a network device, a device, and a storage medium. The method includes: determining a fractional delay in a target normalized total delay based on a peak power and a sub-peak power in a target detection window, the target normalized total delay being for characterizing a multiple of a transmission delay of a signal detected in the target detection window relative to an interval between correlation sequence sample points; updating a position index value of the peak power based on the fractional delay; determining an offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to a start position of the target detection window based on the updated position index value of the peak power; and determining an estimate of the TA corresponding to the target detection window based on the offset amount. By adjusting the position of the peak power by the fractional delay and estimating the TA based on the finer peak power position after the adjustment, not only can the accuracy of the TA estimation be improved, but also there is no need to improve the correlation sequence time domain resolution by methods such as zero padding on the data, and the power dispersion problem caused thereby can be avoided.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to a Chinese patent application filed on March 21, 2022, bearing application number 2022102839148 and titled "TA estimation method, network equipment, device and storage medium," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and in particular to a TA estimation method, a network device, an apparatus, and a storage medium. [Background technology]

[0003] A physical random access channel (PRACH) is used to perform uplink synchronization between a terminal (also called user equipment (UE)) and a network device (e.g., a base station), and is the first uplink signal (msg1) transmitted in a random access process. The network device estimates a signal transmission delay between the terminal and the network device according to the received PRACH signal, calculates an uplink transmission timing advance (TA) and transmits it to the terminal. After receiving the TA, the terminal advances the transmission time of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) based on the uplink timing obtained based on the downlink timing, thereby ensuring that the PUSCH arrives at the desired reception time point at the network device. All terminals in the same cell complete uplink synchronization according to this process, and thus, no matter how far apart the terminals are from the network device, the transmitted uplink signals can reach the network device almost in synchronization. If the error of the TA estimated by the network equipment is relatively large, it will affect the demodulation performance of other uplink signals transmitted after the terminal transmits the PRACH, and will cause the signals of different terminals to be time-synchronized and interfere with each other. Therefore, the accuracy of the estimation of the TA is very important.

[0004] In the prior art, TA is estimated based on the correlation peak position, and the accuracy of the estimation depends on the time domain resolution of the correlation sequence. At present, a commonly used method for improving the time domain resolution of the correlation sequence is to increase the number of points of the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) by zero padding the frequency domain data, but this improves the time domain resolution and also leads to power dispersion of the correlation sequence, that is, the correlation peak power is distributed to the adjacent sample points to the left and right, and the more the number of zero padding, the worse the dispersion of the peak power is, and the smaller the ratio value of the peak power to the power of other sample points is, and since the received signal is usually added with noise and interference, there may be a situation where the peak position is selected incorrectly, which may cause a large error in the estimation of the TA. If the frequency domain data is not zero padded, the correlation peak position is not precise enough, which also causes a large error in the estimation of the TA. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a TA estimation method, a network device, an apparatus, and a storage medium to improve the accuracy of TA estimation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for estimating a timing advance TA, the method comprising: determining a fractional delay in a target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within a target detection window, the target normalized total delay being for characterizing a multiple of a transmission delay of a signal detected in the target detection window relative to an interval between correlation sequence sample points; updating the peak power location index value based on the fractional delay; determining an offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to a start position of the target detection window based on the updated position index value of the peak power; and determining an estimate of a TA corresponding to the target detection window based on the offset.

[0007] Optionally, determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window as described above may include: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window; determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power.

[0008] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window comprises: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a length of a ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0009] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the formula:

[0010]

number

[0011] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and peak ratio denotes the first peak power ratio, and N denotes the length of the ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0012] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window comprises: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays.

[0013] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay includes: comparing the first peak power ratio with peak power ratios in a preset correspondence table in order of decreasing peak power ratio to determine an index value in the preset correspondence table that corresponds to a first peak power ratio smaller than the first peak power ratio, the preset correspondence table including preset correspondence relationships between peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays; determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on an index value corresponding to a first peak power ratio less than the first peak power ratio.

[0014] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window comprises: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a piecewise function to characterize an association relationship between the peak power ratio and an absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0015] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the formula:

[0016]

number

[0017] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and peak ratio denotes the first peak power ratio.

[0018] Optionally, determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power may include: determining that the fractional delay is a negative number if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is less than the initial position index value of the peak power; or determining that the fractional delay is a positive number if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is greater than the initial position index value of the peak power.

[0019] Optionally, updating the peak power location index value based on a fractional delay as described above further comprises: updating the position index value of the peak power based on the sum of the initial position index value of the peak power and the fractional delay.

[0020] Optionally, prior to determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window, the method further comprises: determining the powers of two sample point locations closest to the left and right of the initial location of the peak power; The method further includes determining the sub-peak power based on a maximum value among powers of the two sample point positions closest to the left and right.

[0021] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a network device, the network device including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor; the memory is for storing a computer program; the transceiver is for transmitting and receiving data under control of the processor; The processor reads a computer program in the memory; determining a fractional delay in a target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within a target detection window, the target normalized total delay being for characterizing a multiple of a transmission delay of a signal detected in the target detection window relative to an interval between correlation sequence sample points; updating the peak power location index value based on the fractional delay; determining an offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to a start position of the target detection window based on the updated position index value of the peak power; and determining an estimate of a timing advance, TA, corresponding to the target detection window based on the offset amount.

[0022] Optionally, determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window as described above may include: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window; determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power.

[0023] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window comprises: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a length of a ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0024] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the formula:

[0025]

number

[0026] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and peak ratio denotes the first peak power ratio, and N denotes the length of the ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0027] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window comprises: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays.

[0028] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay includes: comparing the first peak power ratio with peak power ratios in a preset correspondence table in order of decreasing peak power ratio to determine an index value in the preset correspondence table that corresponds to a first peak power ratio smaller than the first peak power ratio, the preset correspondence table including preset correspondence relationships between peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays; determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on an index value corresponding to a first peak power ratio less than the first peak power ratio.

[0029] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window comprises: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a piecewise function to characterize an association relationship between the peak power ratio and an absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0030] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the formula:

[0031]

number

[0032] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and peak ratio denotes the first peak power ratio.

[0033] Optionally, determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power may include: determining that the fractional delay is a negative number if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is less than the initial position index value of the peak power; or determining that the fractional delay is a positive number if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is greater than the initial position index value of the peak power.

[0034] Optionally, the step of updating the peak power location index value based on the fractional delay further comprises: updating the position index value of the peak power based on a sum of the initial position index value of the peak power and the fractional delay.

[0035] Optionally, prior to determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window, the operation further comprises: determining the powers of two sample point locations closest to the left and right of the initial location of the peak power; The method further includes determining the sub-peak power based on a maximum value among powers of the two sample point positions closest to the left and right.

[0036] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a timing advance TA estimation device, the device comprising: a first determination unit used to determine a fractional delay in a target normalized total delay based on a peak power and a sub-peak power within a target detection window, the target normalized total delay being for characterizing a multiple of a transmission delay of a signal detected in the target detection window relative to an interval between correlation sequence sample points; an update unit adapted to update the peak power position index value based on the fractional delay; a second determination unit used for determining an offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to a start position of the target detection window based on the updated position index value of the peak power; and a third determination unit used for determining an estimate of a TA corresponding to the target detection window based on the offset amount.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program for causing a computer to execute the steps of the method for estimating TA described in the first aspect above.

[0038] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a communication device, the communication device storing a computer program for causing the communication device to execute steps of the TA estimation method described in the first aspect above.

[0039] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program for causing a processor to execute steps of the TA estimation method described in the first aspect above.

[0040] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a chip product, the chip product storing a computer program for causing the chip product to execute steps of the TA estimation method described in the first aspect above. Effect of the Invention

[0041] The TA estimation method, network equipment, device, and storage medium according to the embodiments of the present disclosure determine a fractional delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power, further adjust the position of the peak power based on the fractional delay, and estimate the TA based on the finer peak power position after the adjustment, thereby not only improving the accuracy of the TA estimation, but also eliminating the need to improve the correlation sequence time domain resolution by methods such as zero padding on the data, and thus avoiding the power dispersion problem caused thereby.

[0042] In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure or related technologies, the drawings necessary for the description of the embodiments or related technologies will be briefly described below. Of course, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can further obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative labor. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0043] [Figure 1] 1 is a flowchart of a method for estimating a TA according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 is a graph showing how the peak power ratio varies with the absolute value of the fractional delay according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a TA estimation device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0044] The term "and / or" in the embodiments of the present disclosure describes a relation between related objects and indicates that three kinds of relations may exist. For example, A and / or B may indicate three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character " / " usually indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0045] The term "plurality" in the embodiments of the present disclosure means two or more than two and other quantifiers of similar value.

[0046] Hereinafter, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Of course, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor belong to the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0047] In order to facilitate a clearer understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, some technical contents related to the embodiments of the present disclosure will first be introduced.

[0048] Both 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 5G New Radio (NR) systems adopt Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technology to ensure orthogonality between signals of different terminals in a cell and to avoid interference between terminals. In order to achieve this, an uplink timing synchronization process is introduced. The uplink signal transmission timing advance (TA) of each terminal is determined by the one-way transmission delay (T) of the signal between the terminal and the base station. PThe base station estimates the TA of each terminal based on the PRACH transmitted from that terminal.

[0049] The PRACH of the NR system consists of three parts: a cyclic prefix CP, a Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence (i.e., a preamble sequence), and a guard interval GT. The ZC sequence used in the PRACH has good autocorrelation and cross-correlation properties, so a method related to the sequence can be adopted to detect the received PRACH signal and estimate the TA.

[0050] The main flow of the TA estimation method is provided below. In Step 1, the preamble sequence is extracted from the received PRACH time domain signal, and the CP and GT portions are removed.

[0051] In step 2, the received preamble sequence is correlated with the ZC root sequence, and the power of each sample point in the correlated sequence is calculated. Sequence correlation can be realized by FFT & IFFT, and the time domain resolution of the correlated sequence can be improved by increasing the number of IFFT points by zero padding in the frequency domain.

[0052] In Step 3, the correlation sequence is divided into several detection windows, and the sample point (i.e., the correlation peak) with the highest power is found in each detection window. The offset amount Δ pos where the start position of the detection window is the correlation peak position corresponding to when the signal transmission delay is zero.

[0053] In Step 4, the correlation peak position shift amount Δ pos Convert to TA according to the following formula:

[0054]

number

[0055] Here, TA float denotes the estimated value of TA, and Δf RA denotes the PRACH subcarrier spacing, and N IFFT denotes the number of IFFT points in the sequence correlation process, and N IFFT ≧L RA And L RA denotes the ZC sequence length, and u is the exponent of the subcarrier spacing of the PUSCH.

[0056] The TA actually sent by the base station to the terminal is an integer, so the floating-point result TA float It is necessary to round the number, and the rounding method may be rounding down or rounding to the nearest integer.

[0057] The TA is estimated based on the correlation peak position, and the accuracy of the estimation depends on the time domain resolution of the correlation sequence, i.e., the time interval between two adjacent sample points of the correlation sequence.

[0058]

number

[0059] It depends on, and the smaller Δt is, the higher the time domain resolution is. In a channel environment where the direct path is relatively strong, the multipath components are relatively few, the signal transmission delay is basically equal to the direct path delay, and the correlation sequence usually has only one relatively large peak, and the difference between the signal transmission delay calculated based on the peak position and the direct path delay is at most Δt / 2. Therefore, by reducing Δt and improving the correlation sequence time domain resolution, the correlation peak position can be made closer to the direct path delay, and the estimation of TA can be made more accurate.

[0060] A commonly used method to improve the time-domain resolution of the correlation sequence is to zero-padding the frequency-domain data to reduce the number of IFFT points N IFFTHowever, it improves the time domain resolution and leads to power dispersion of the correlation sequence, that is, the correlation peak power is distributed to the adjacent sample points on the left and right; the more the number of zero padding, the worse the dispersion of the peak power is, and the smaller the ratio value between the peak power and the power of other sample points is; and since the received signal usually contains noise and interference, there will be a situation where the peak position is selected incorrectly, which may cause a large error in the estimation of TA.

[0061] Do not pad the frequency domain data with zeros, but directly RA When performing an Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) on a point, the power dispersion problem described above does not exist. In this case,

[0062]

number

[0063] is relatively large, the correlation peak position is not precise enough, and the deviation between the estimated signal transmission delay and the real direct path delay may be relatively large, thus the estimation error of TA is also relatively large.

[0064] For the above-mentioned problem, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution, and based on the ratio between the power of the correlation peak and the sub-peaks adjacent to the left and right, and the positional relationship between the correlation peak and the sub-peaks, a fractional delay in the normalized total delay is accurately calculated, thereby accurately estimating TA. Since the fractional delay can be accurately obtained, a more precise correlation peak position can be obtained based on the fractional delay without improving the time domain resolution of the correlation sequence, and the power dispersion problem caused by improving the time domain resolution of the correlation sequence by methods such as zero padding for frequency domain data can be avoided.

[0065] Below, we will introduce the technical ideas of each embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0066] In the presence of delay, the theoretical formula for the ZC sequence correlation power is:

[0067]

number

[0068] where N is the length of the ZC sequence, n+n0 is the normalized total delay, i.e., the multiple of the signal delay relative to the spacing between ZC sequence sample points, n is a non-negative integer indicating an integer multiple delay in the normalized total delay, and n0 is a decimal between -0.5 and 0.5 indicating a non-integer delay in the normalized total delay.

[0069] When n0=0, the above formula has one non-zero value only at m=n, and is 0 for all other values ​​of m. When n0≠0, the above formula has a maximum at m=n-1, n, or n+1, and is |R(m)| for all other values ​​of m. 2 Also has a non-zero value, in this case, dispersion of ZC sequence correlation power occurs, but the dispersed power is mainly distributed to the peak and adjacent sample points on the left and right, and the further away from the peak, the smaller the dispersed power distributed to the sample point. The following are the correlation power values ​​at m=n-1, n, and n+1 when n0≠0.

[0070]

number

[0071]

number

[0072]

number

[0073]

number

[0074] Then the ratio of peak power to sub-peak power is

[0075]

number

[0076] which results in a fractional delay

[0077]

number

[0078] can be calculated, and then TA is calculated by replacing the correlation peak position n with n+n0.

[0079]

number

[0080] Then the ratio of peak power to sub-peak power is

[0081]

number

[0082] which results in a fractional delay

[0083]

number

[0084] can be calculated, and then TA is calculated by replacing the correlation peak position n with n+n0.

[0085] Summarizing the two situations described above, it can be seen that the technical solution for estimating TA in each embodiment of the present disclosure does not need to increase the number of IFFT points by zero padding to improve the time domain resolution of the correlation sequence, but only uses N points of correlation power data to accurately calculate the fractional delay n0 based on the ratio between the correlation peak and the power of the sub-peaks adjacent to the left and right, and the positional relationship between the correlation peak and the sub-peaks, replaces the correlation peak position n with n+n0, and obtains a more precise correlation peak position, thereby making it possible to accurately estimate TA.

[0086] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a TA estimation method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is applied to a network device (e.g., a base station). As shown in FIG. 1, the method includes the following steps 100, 101, 102, and 103. In step 100, a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay is determined based on the peak power and sub-peak power within the target detection window, the target normalized total delay being intended to characterize a multiple of the transmission delay of the signal detected in the target detection window relative to the spacing between correlation sequence sample points.

[0087] Specifically, after the network device receives the PRACH transmitted from any terminal, it extracts a preamble sequence from the received PRACH time domain signal, correlates the received preamble sequence with the ZC root sequence to obtain a correlation sequence, and calculates the power of each sample point in the correlation sequence. The correlation sequence is divided into several detection windows, and for a target detection window corresponding to the terminal, the network device can determine a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay, i.e., the above-mentioned n0, based on the peak power (i.e., the maximum value among the powers of each sample point in the detection window) and the sub-peak power (i.e., the second largest value among the powers of each sample point in the detection window) in the target detection window. For example, the value of n0 can be obtained by the above-mentioned formula based on the ratio between the peak power and the sub-peak power, and the relative position relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power.

[0088] Optionally, prior to determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window, the method further comprises: determining the power of two sample point locations closest to the left and right of the initial location of the peak power; The method further includes determining a sub-peak power based on a maximum value among the powers of the two sample point positions closest to the left and right.

[0089] Specifically, as mentioned above, when n0=0, the ZC sequence correlation power has only one non-zero value, which is the correlation peak. At this time, based on the position of the correlation peak, the offset amount Δ of the correlation peak position relative to the start position of the detection window in which the correlation peak position is located is calculated. poscan be directly calculated and an estimate of TA can be further obtained. When n0 ≠ 0, dispersion of ZC sequence correlation power occurs, that is, multiple non-zero values ​​appear, and the dispersed power is mainly distributed among the sample points adjacent to the left and right of the peak. The further away from the peak, the smaller the dispersed power distributed among the sample points. Therefore, the sub-peak power usually appears at the left or right sample point position closest to the position of the peak power.

[0090] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, when determining the sub-peak power, first, the power of the two sample point positions closest to the left and right of the initial position of the peak power is determined, and then the power of the two sample point positions is compared, and the larger power among them may be set as the sub-peak power. For example, when the initial position of the peak power is n, the sample point position closest to the left is n-1, and the sample point position closest to the right is n+1, the sample point powers at the n-1 position and the n+1 position are obtained, respectively, and then the sample point powers at these two positions are compared, and the larger one among them may be set as the sub-peak power. The sub-peak power can be determined by simply comparing the power of the two sample point positions closest to the left and right of the initial position of the peak power, and the amount of calculation is greatly reduced.

[0091] In step 101, the peak power location index value is updated based on the fractional delay.

[0092] Specifically, after determining the value of n0, the position index value of the peak power is updated according to the value of n0, so as to make the correlation peak position for estimating TA finer and more accurate.

[0093] Optionally, updating the position index value of the peak power based on the fractional delay may include updating the position index value of the peak power based on the sum of the initial position index value of the peak power and the fractional delay. For example, assuming that the initial position index value of the peak power is n, after determining the value of the fractional delay n0, n0 may be added to the initial position index value of the peak power to obtain an updated position index value of the peak power, i.e., n may be replaced with n+n0 to estimate the TA.

[0094] In step 102, an offset amount of the peak power position relative to the start position of the target detection window is determined based on the updated peak power position index value.

[0095] Specifically, after updating the position index value of the peak power, an offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to the start position of the target detection window in which the position of the peak power is located may be calculated based on the updated position index value of the peak power. For example, if the initial position index value of the peak power is n, the updated position index value of the peak power is n+n0, and the index value of the start position of the target detection window is x, the difference between n+n0 and x may be set as the offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to the start position of the target detection window in which the position of the peak power is located.

[0096] In step 103, an estimate of TA corresponding to the target detection window is determined based on the offset amount.

[0097] Specifically, after determining an offset amount of the peak power position relative to the start position of the target detection window, an estimate of the TA corresponding to the target detection window may be calculated based on the offset amount, and then the estimated TA value may be rounded and then transmitted to the terminal corresponding to the target detection window.

[0098] In one possible implementation, an estimate of TA corresponding to the target detection window may be calculated by the following formula:

[0099]

number

[0100] Here, TA float denotes the estimate of TA corresponding to the target detection window, and Δ pos denotes the offset amount determined above, and N IFFT denotes the number of IFFT points in the sequence correlation process corresponding to the target detection window, and Δf RA u denotes the PRACH subcarrier spacing corresponding to the target detection window, and u denotes the subcarrier spacing index of the PUSCH transmitted by the terminal corresponding to the target detection window.

[0101] The TA estimation method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure determines a fractional delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power, further adjusts the position of the peak power based on the fractional delay, and estimates the TA based on the finer peak power position after the adjustment, thereby not only improving the accuracy of the TA estimation, but also eliminating the need to improve the correlation sequence time domain resolution by methods such as zero padding on the data, and thus avoiding the power dispersion problem caused thereby.

[0102] Optionally, determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window comprises: determining an absolute value of a fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window; determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power.

[0103] Specifically, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, when determining the fractional delay, the absolute value of the fractional delay may be first determined based on a first peak power ratio between the peak power and the sub-peak power in the target detection window. For example, the peak power in the target detection window may be divided by the sub-peak power to obtain a first peak power ratio, and the absolute value of the fractional delay may be obtained based on the first peak power ratio through multiple methods, such as theoretical calculation, table lookup, piecewise function approximation, or weighted average approximation.

[0104] Then, the sign of the fractional delay is determined based on the initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power, and the value of the fractional delay is finally obtained.

[0105] By first determining the absolute value of the fractional delay and then determining the sign of the fractional delay based on the relative position relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power, the method of determining the fractional delay can be made more flexible and diverse, thereby improving the flexibility of estimating the TA and contributing to making the estimation of the TA simple and quick.

[0106] Optionally, determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power includes: determining that the fractional delay is negative if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is less than the initial position index value of the peak power; or determining that the fractional delay is a positive number if the initial location index value of the sub-peak power is greater than the initial location index value of the peak power.

[0107] As can be understood, when n0≠0, the ZC sequence correlation power will be dispersed, and the dispersed power will be mainly distributed to the sample points adjacent to the left and right of the peak, and the further away from the peak, the smaller the dispersed power distributed to the sample point, so the sub-peak power will usually appear at the sample point position closest to the left or right of the peak power position.When n0<0, the sub-peak power position is to the left of the peak power position, and when n0>0, the sub-peak power position is to the right of the peak power position, so it can be determined whether n0 is a positive number or a negative number according to the relative position relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power.

[0108] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the initial position index value of the peak power is compared with the initial position index value of the sub-peak power to determine the relative position relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power, and thus the positive or negative sign of the fractional delay can be determined. For example, if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is smaller than the initial position index value of the peak power, it represents that the initial position of the sub-peak power is to the left of the initial position of the peak power, and it can be determined that the fractional delay is a negative number. If the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is larger than the initial position index value of the peak power, it represents that the initial position of the sub-peak power is to the right of the initial position of the peak power, and it can be determined that the fractional delay is a positive number. By determining the relative position relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power through the position index value, the sign of the fractional delay can be accurately determined, and is easy to implement.

[0109] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a length of the ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0110] Specifically, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the absolute value of the fractional delay can be determined according to a first peak power ratio between the peak power and the sub-peak power in the target detection window and the length of the ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window. As can be seen from the above, there is a certain functional relationship between the fractional delay, the peak power ratio and the ZC root sequence length, so that the absolute value of the fractional delay can be calculated after determining the peak power ratio and the ZC root sequence length according to the functional relationship between the three, so that the most accurate calculation result of the fractional delay can be obtained through theoretical calculation.

[0111] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay may be determined according to the following formula:

[0112]

number

[0113] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and ratio denotes the first peak power ratio, and N denotes the length of the ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0114] Specifically, the ratio of peak power to sub-peak power ratio The theoretical formula for the functional relationship between |n0| and the absolute value of the fractional delay is as follows:

[0115]

number

[0116]

number

[0117] Therefore, the peak power and the sub-peak power are found, and the peak power ratio ratioAfter calculating |n0|, first substitute it into the above equation to calculate the absolute value of the fractional delay |n0|, and then determine the positive or negative sign of n0 based on the relative position relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power, and then determine the value of n0.

[0118] After the peak power ratio and the ZC root sequence length are determined, they can be substituted into the preset |n0| theoretical calculation formula to quickly obtain the accurate fractional delay calculation result.

[0119] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0120] Specifically, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, by presetting a correspondence relationship between different peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays, after obtaining a first peak power ratio between the peak power and the sub-peak power in a target detection window, the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the first peak power ratio can be determined based on the preset correspondence relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0121] By presetting the correspondence relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay, after obtaining a first peak power ratio between the peak power and the sub-peak power in the target detection window, the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the first peak power ratio can be quickly obtained based on the preset correspondence relationship, thereby improving the efficiency of estimating the TA.

[0122] In one possible implementation, the preset correspondence may be expressed in the form of a preset correspondence table. For example, the absolute values ​​of the fractional delays corresponding to different peak power ratios can be calculated according to the theoretical calculation formula of the absolute value of the fractional delay described above, and then the absolute values ​​of the fractional delays corresponding to different peak power ratios are stored in a table in advance. Of course, the preset correspondence between the peak power ratios and the absolute values ​​of the fractional delays may be expressed in other ways, and is not limited thereto.

[0123] When the preset correspondence relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay is expressed in the form of a preset correspondence relationship table, a table of the peak power ratio between the peak power and the sub-peak power vs. the absolute value of the fractional delay can be stored in advance, and after the first peak power ratio is calculated, the table is looked up to obtain the corresponding absolute value of the fractional delay |n0|, and the positive or negative sign of n0 is determined based on the relative position relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power. Here, there may be multiple methods for table lookup, and for example, the average value of |n0| corresponding to the left and right boundaries of the first peak power ratio may be used as the value returned by the table lookup, the value of |n0| corresponding to the left or right boundary may be directly returned, or other processing methods may be used.

[0124] Taking the following Table 1 as an example, the length of the ZC root sequence N=839, the granularity of the absolute value of the fractional delay is 0.01 (to ensure the estimation accuracy of the fractional delay, the granularity of the absolute value of the fractional delay in the table can be set smaller), the absolute value of each fractional delay corresponds to one peak power ratio, and there are a total of 0.5 / 0.01*2=100 values ​​in the table. Assuming that the first peak power ratio obtained based on the peak power and sub-peak power within the target detection window is 2000, it can be seen by performing a table lookup that 2000 falls between 1045.44 and 2400.99, and the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to a peak power ratio of 1045.44 is 0.03, and the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to a peak power ratio of 2400.99 is 0.02. Thus, when performing a table lookup, the average value of the absolute values ​​of the fractional delays corresponding to the left and right boundaries of 2000 (i.e., (0.02+0.03) / 2=0.025) may be the value returned by the table lookup, or the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the left or right boundary, i.e., 0.03 or 0.02, may be directly returned.

[0125] [Table 1]

[0126] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay includes: Sequentially comparing a first peak power ratio with peak power ratios in a preset correspondence table in descending order of peak power ratios to determine an index value in the preset correspondence table that corresponds to a first peak power ratio smaller than the first peak power ratio, where the preset correspondence table includes preset correspondence relationships between peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays; Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on an index value corresponding to a first peak power ratio that is less than the first peak power ratio.

[0127] In one possible implementation, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on the preset correspondence table may include first comparing a first peak power ratio with the peak power ratios in the preset correspondence table in order of decreasing peak power ratios, and determining an index value in the preset correspondence table that corresponds to a first peak power ratio smaller than the first peak power ratio. Here, in the preset correspondence, the index values ​​may increase in order of decreasing absolute values ​​of the fractional delays, or increase in order of increasing absolute values ​​of the fractional delays, or may have other correspondence relationships with the absolute values ​​of the fractional delays, which are not limited herein.

[0128] Taking Table 1 as an example, if the absolute value of the fractional delay-peak power ratio of each group in the table corresponds to one index value, and the index values ​​increase sequentially according to the ascending order of the absolute value of the fractional delay, for example, 0.01-9800.96 corresponds to index value 1, 0.02-2400.99 corresponds to index value 2, ..., 0.50-1.00 corresponds to index value 50, assume that the first peak power ratio obtained based on the peak power and sub-peak power in the target detection window is 2000, the first peak power ratio in Table 1 that is smaller than the first peak power ratio is 1045.44, and the corresponding index value is 3, and then the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the first peak power ratio can be determined based on the index value. For example, the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the index value 3, 0.03, may be set as the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the first peak power ratio, or the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the index value 3 and the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the index value 2 may be averaged to set as the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the first peak power ratio, or other processing methods may be used. By obtaining the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the index value, the efficiency of table lookup can be effectively improved.

[0129] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay may be determined according to the following formula:

[0130]

number

[0131] Here, |n0| indicates the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, index indicates an index value corresponding to the first peak power ratio smaller than the first power ratio, L indicates the number of absolute values ​​of the fractional delay in the preset correspondence table, table(index-1,1) and table(index,1) indicate the absolute values ​​of the fractional delay corresponding to index values ​​index-1 and index values ​​index, respectively, in the preset correspondence table, and in the preset correspondence table, the index values ​​increase sequentially in ascending order of the absolute values ​​of the fractional delay.

[0132] Taking the above table 1 as an example, the data stored in the table is expressed as a matrix table, whose dimension is L*2, where L is the number of absolute values ​​of the fractional delay in table 1, and what is returned in table(index,1) is the absolute value of the fractional delay corresponding to the index value index. After determining the first peak power ratio (take 2000 as an example), the first peak power ratio is compared with the peak power ratios in table 1 starting from the first one, and the index value index of the first peak power ratio in table 1 that is smaller than the first peak power ratio is found, and the index value index is 3. Then, the absolute values ​​of the fractional delay returned in table(2,1) and table(3,1) are averaged, i.e., (0.02+0.03) / 2=0.025, so that the absolute value of the fractional delay 0.025 corresponding to the first peak power ratio 2000 can be output. The average method can make the result obtained by table lookup closer to the theoretical calculation value.

[0133] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a piecewise function to characterize an association relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0134] Specifically, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a piecewise function may be pre-set to characterize the association relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay, and the piecewise function may be obtained by piecewise approximation to a theoretical formula of the functional relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay, so that a complex calculation formula can be approximated to a simple linear function, and the amount of calculation can be effectively reduced when calculating the absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0135] In one possible implementation, first, the peak power ratios corresponding to different absolute values ​​of fractional delays can be calculated based on the theoretical formula of the functional relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay, and FIG. 2 is a graph showing the peak power ratio changing according to the absolute value of the fractional delay according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the curve in the graph is a theoretical curve drawn with the absolute value of the fractional delay as the abscissa and the peak to sub-peak power ratio (i.e., the peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power) as the ordinate, and the abscissa and the ordinate can be interchanged, that is, the absolute value of the fractional delay can be the ordinate and the peak power ratio can be the abscissa, and a number of broken lines of the piecewise function can be used to approximate the theoretical curve, so as to obtain a curve of the piecewise function. Each segment of the curve of the piecewise function is a straight line segment, and each segment corresponding to the piecewise function is a simple linear function.

[0136] Optionally, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a piecewise function formula, where the absolute value of the fractional delay can be determined by the following formula:

[0137]

number

[0138] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and ratio denotes the first peak power ratio. The first peak power ratio calculated based on the peak power and the sub-peak power in the target detection window can be substituted into the above piecewise function formula to obtain the absolute value |n0| of the corresponding fractional delay, and the value of n0 can be determined based on the relative position relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power.

[0139] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay may be determined according to the following formula:

[0140]

number

[0141] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and ratio denotes a first peak power ratio.

[0142] Specifically, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for determining the absolute value of the fractional delay, which essentially involves weighting the peak position and the sub-peak position with their respective power values, and taking the averaged result as the updated peak position to calculate TA. It is derived as follows:

[0143] The peak position is n, the sub-peak position is n-1 or n+1, and the peak power and the sub-peak power are P max and P sub Then the updated peak position is:

[0144]

number

[0145] Therefore,

[0146]

number

[0147] Such a method can further simplify the calculation, reduce the consumption of computing resources, and improve the efficiency of estimating TA.

[0148] The method and apparatus according to each embodiment of the present disclosure are based on the concept of the same application, and the principles for solving the problems of the method and apparatus are similar, so the implementations of the apparatus and method can refer to each other and the overlapping points will not be described.

[0149] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the network device includes a memory 320, a transceiver 310, and a processor 300, where the processor 300 and the memory 320 may be physically separated.

[0150] The memory 320 is used to store computer programs, and the transceiver 310 is used to transmit and receive data under the control of the processor 300 .

[0151] Specifically, the transceiver 310 is used to receive and transmit data under the control of the processor 300 .

[0152] Here, in FIG. 3, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically, various circuits of one or more processors, represented by processor 300, and memory, represented by memory 320, are linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits, such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., all of which are well known in the art and will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 310 may be multiple elements, i.e., includes a transmitter and a receiver, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium. These transmission media include transmission media such as wireless channels, wired channels, optical cables, etc.

[0153] The processor 300 manages the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 320 may store data used by the processor 300 in performing operations.

[0154] The processor 300 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and the processor may employ a multi-core architecture.

[0155] The processor 300 is used to execute any of the methods according to the embodiments of the present disclosure by calling a computer program stored in the memory 320 in accordance with the obtained executable instructions, for example, determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and sub-peak power within the target detection window, the target normalized total delay being for characterizing a multiple of the transmission delay of the signal detected in the target detection window relative to the interval between correlation sequence sample points, updating a position index value of the peak power based on the fractional delay, determining an offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to the start position of the target detection window based on the updated position index value of the peak power, and determining an estimate of the TA corresponding to the target detection window based on the offset amount.

[0156] Optionally, determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window comprises: determining an absolute value of a fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window; determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power.

[0157] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a length of the ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0158] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the formula:

[0159]

number

[0160] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and ratio denotes the first peak power ratio, and N denotes the length of the ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0161] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0162] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay includes: Sequentially comparing a first peak power ratio with peak power ratios in a preset correspondence table in descending order of peak power ratios to determine an index value in the preset correspondence table that corresponds to a first peak power ratio smaller than the first peak power ratio, where the preset correspondence table includes preset correspondence relationships between peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays; Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on an index value corresponding to a first peak power ratio that is less than the first peak power ratio.

[0163] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a piecewise function to characterize an association relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0164] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the formula:

[0165]

number

[0166] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and ratio denotes a first peak power ratio.

[0167] Optionally, determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power includes: determining that the fractional delay is negative if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is less than the initial position index value of the peak power; or determining that the fractional delay is a positive number if the initial location index value of the sub-peak power is greater than the initial location index value of the peak power.

[0168] Optionally, updating the peak power location index value based on a fractional delay may include: Updating the position index value of the peak power based on the initial position index value of the peak power plus the fractional delay.

[0169] Optionally, prior to determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window, the method further comprises: determining the power of two sample point locations closest to the left and right of the initial location of the peak power; The method further includes determining a sub-peak power based on a maximum value among the powers of the two sample point positions closest to the left and right.

[0170] In addition, the above network device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps realized by the above-mentioned method embodiments and can achieve the same technical effects, and details of the same parts and beneficial effects of this embodiment as those of the above-mentioned method embodiments will be omitted here.

[0171] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a TA estimation device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the device is applied to a network device, and as shown in FIG. 4, the device includes: a first determination unit 400 used to determine a fractional delay in a target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window, the target normalized total delay being for characterizing a multiple of a transmission delay of a signal detected in the target detection window relative to an interval between correlation sequence sample points; an update unit 410 used to update the peak power location index value based on the fractional delay; a second determination unit 420, which is used to determine an offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to the start position of the target detection window according to the updated position index value of the peak power; and a third determining unit 430, which is used to determine an estimate of the TA corresponding to the target detection window based on the offset amount.

[0172] Optionally, determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window comprises: determining an absolute value of a fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window; determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power.

[0173] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a length of the ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0174] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the formula:

[0175]

number

[0176] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and ratio denotes the first peak power ratio, and N denotes the length of the ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window.

[0177] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0178] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay includes: Sequentially comparing a first peak power ratio with peak power ratios in a preset correspondence table in descending order of peak power ratios to determine an index value in the preset correspondence table that corresponds to a first peak power ratio smaller than the first peak power ratio, where the preset correspondence table includes preset correspondence relationships between peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays; Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on an index value corresponding to a first peak power ratio that is less than the first peak power ratio.

[0179] Optionally, determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of the peak power to the sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a piecewise function to characterize an association relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay.

[0180] Optionally, the absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the formula:

[0181]

number

[0182] where |n0| denotes the absolute value of the fractional delay n0, and ratio denotes a first peak power ratio.

[0183] Optionally, determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power includes: determining that the fractional delay is negative if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is less than the initial position index value of the peak power; or determining that the fractional delay is a positive number if the initial location index value of the sub-peak power is greater than the initial location index value of the peak power.

[0184] Optionally, updating the peak power location index value based on a fractional delay may include: Updating the position index value of the peak power based on the initial position index value of the peak power plus the fractional delay.

[0185] Optionally, the first determining unit 400 is determining the power of two sample point locations closest to the left and right of the initial location of the peak power; The sub-peak power is determined based on the maximum value of the powers of the two sample point positions closest to the left and right.

[0186] In addition, the division into units in the embodiments of the present disclosure is merely a schematic and logical functional division, and other division methods may be used in actual implementation. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present disclosure may be integrated into one processing unit, each unit may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above integrated units may be realized in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0187] The above integrated units can be realized in the form of a software functional unit and stored in a processor-readable storage medium when sold or used as an independent product. Based on this understanding, the technical proposal of the present disclosure may be embodied in the form of a software product, either in its essence or in the part that contributes to the prior art, or in all or part of the technical means. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes some instructions that cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to each embodiment of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0188] It should be noted that the above-mentioned apparatus according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps realized by the above-mentioned method embodiments and can achieve the same technical effects, and details of the same parts and beneficial effects of this embodiment as those of the above-mentioned method embodiments will be omitted here.

[0189] On the other hand, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a computer to execute the TA estimation method according to each of the above embodiments.

[0190] In addition, the computer-readable storage medium according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps realized by the above-mentioned method embodiments and can achieve the same technical effects, and details of the same parts and beneficial effects of this embodiment as those of the above-mentioned method embodiments will be omitted here.

[0191] The processor-readable storage medium may be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by a processor, including, but not limited to, magnetic memory (e.g., flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, magneto-optical disks (MO), etc.), optical memory (e.g., CDs, DVDs, BDs, HVDs, etc.), semiconductor memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), solid-state drives (SSD)), etc.

[0192] The technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to various systems, particularly 5G systems. For example, applicable systems include a global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), a general packet radio service (GPRS) system, a long term evolution (LTE) system, a LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, a LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, a long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) system, a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) system, and a 5G New Radio (NR) system. All of these various systems include a terminal device and a network device. The system may also include a core network portion such as an Evolved Packet System (EPS) or a 5G system (5GS).

[0193] The terminal according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. In different systems, the name of the terminal may be different, for example, in a 5G system, the terminal may be called User Equipment (UE). The wireless terminal device may communicate with one or more core networks (CN) via a Radio Access Network (RAN), and the wireless terminal device may be a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone (also called a "cellular" phone) or a computer with a mobile terminal device, for example, a mobile device that is portable, pocketable, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted, which exchanges language and / or data with the radio access network. For example, Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and other devices may be included. A wireless terminal device may also be referred to as a system, a user unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile, a remote station, an access point, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, or a user device, and is not limited to these in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0194] The network equipment according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be a base station that can include multiple cells serving terminals. Depending on the specific application scenario, the base station may also be called an access point, a device that communicates with wireless terminal equipment over one or more sectors over an air interface in an access network, or other names. The network equipment may be used as a router between the wireless terminal equipment and the rest of the access network to exchange received air frames and Internet Protocol (IP) packets with each other, where the rest of the access network may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network equipment may also coordinate attribute management of the air interface. For example, the network device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be a network device (BTS: Base Transceiver Station) in Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a network device (Node B) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA (registered trademark)), an evolved network device (eNB or e-NodeB: evolutionary Node B) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a 5G network architecture (next generation system), a home evolved Node B (HeNB), a relay node, a home base station (femto), a pico base station (pico), or the like, and is not limited to the embodiment of the present disclosure.In some network architectures, the network equipment may include a centralized unit (CU) node and a distributed unit (DU) node, and the centralized unit and the distributed unit may be located geographically separated.

[0195] Between the network device and the terminal, multi-input multi-output (MIMO) transmission can be performed using one or more antennas, and the MIMO transmission may be single user MIMO (SU-MIMO) or multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). Depending on the form and number of antenna combinations, the MIMO transmission may be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO or massive-MIMO, and may be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, beam focusing transmission, etc.

[0196] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Thus, the present disclosure may take the form of a fully hardware embodiment, a fully software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. And, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer usable storage media (including, but not limited to, magnetic disk memory, optical memory, etc.) containing computer usable program code.

[0197] The present disclosure will be described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, can be realized by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions are provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to generate a machine, and the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate an apparatus for implementing the functions specified in one or more flows of the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks of the block diagrams.

[0198] These processor-executable instructions may be stored in a processor-readable memory that can cause a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory cause an article of manufacture including instruction means that implements a function or functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0199] These processor-executable instructions may be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause the computer or other programmable device to perform a series of operational steps to generate a computer-implemented process, whereby the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0200] Of course, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, if these changes and modifications of the present disclosure are included within the scope of the claims of the present disclosure and their equivalents, the present disclosure is also intended to include these changes and modifications. [Explanation of symbols]

[0201] 100 steps 101 Steps 102 Steps 103 Steps 300 processors 310 Transmitter / Receiver 320 Memory 400 First Decision Unit 410 Update Unit 420 Second Decision Unit 430 Third Decision Unit

Claims

1. determining a fractional delay in a target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within a target detection window, the target normalized total delay being for characterizing a multiple of a transmission delay of a signal detected in the target detection window relative to an interval between correlation sequence sample points; updating the peak power location index value based on the fractional delay; determining an offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to a start position of the target detection window based on the updated position index value of the peak power; determining an estimate of a timing advance (TA) corresponding to the target detection window based on the offset amount.

2. Determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window, as described above, determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window; determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power. The method for estimating TA according to claim 1 .

3. Determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window includes: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a length of a ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window. The method for estimating TA according to claim 2.

4. The absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the following equation: [0010] Here, |n ０ | is the fractional delay n ０ , and peak ｒａｔｉｏ denotes the first peak power ratio, and N denotes a length of a ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window. The method for estimating TA according to claim 3.

5. Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and an absolute value of the fractional delay. The method for estimating TA according to claim 2.

6. Determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay includes: comparing the first peak power ratio with peak power ratios in a preset correspondence table in order of decreasing peak power ratio to determine an index value in the preset correspondence table that corresponds to a first peak power ratio smaller than the first peak power ratio, the preset correspondence table including preset correspondence relationships between peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays; determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on an index value corresponding to a first peak power ratio less than the first peak power ratio. The method for estimating TA according to claim 5.

7. Determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window includes: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a piecewise function for characterizing a correlation between the peak power ratio and an absolute value of the fractional delay. The method for estimating TA according to claim 2.

8. The absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the following equation: [0025] Here, |n ０ | is the fractional delay n ０ , and peak ｒａｔｉｏ indicates the first peak power ratio. The method for estimating TA according to claim 2.

9. Determining the fractional delay based on the absolute value of the fractional delay and the initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power includes: determining that the fractional delay is negative if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is less than the initial position index value of the peak power; or determining that the fractional delay is a positive number if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is greater than the initial position index value of the peak power. The method for estimating TA according to claim 2.

10. updating the peak power location index value based on the fractional delay, updating the position index value of the peak power based on a sum of the initial position index value of the peak power and the fractional delay. A method for estimating TA according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. a first determination unit adapted to determine a fractional delay in a target normalized total delay based on a peak power and a sub-peak power within a target detection window, the target normalized total delay being for characterizing a multiple of a transmission delay of a signal detected in the target detection window relative to an interval between correlation sequence sample points; an update unit adapted to update the peak power position index value based on the fractional delay; a second determination unit used to determine an offset amount of the position of the peak power relative to a start position of the target detection window based on the updated position index value of the peak power; a third determination unit adapted to determine an estimate of a TA corresponding to the target detection window based on the offset amount.

12. Determining a fractional delay in the target normalized total delay based on the peak power and the sub-peak power within the target detection window, as described above, determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window; determining the fractional delay based on an absolute value of the fractional delay and an initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power. The TA estimation device according to claim 11.

13. Determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window includes: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a length of a ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window. The TA estimation device according to claim 12.

14. The absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the following equation: [0030] Here, |n ０ | is the fractional delay n ０ , and peak ｒａｔｉｏ denotes the first peak power ratio, and N denotes a length of a ZC root sequence corresponding to the target detection window. The TA estimation device according to claim 13.

15. Determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within a target detection window includes: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence between the peak power ratio and an absolute value of the fractional delay. The TA estimation device according to claim 12.

16. Determining the absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a preset correspondence relationship between the peak power ratio and the absolute value of the fractional delay includes: comparing the first peak power ratio with peak power ratios in a preset correspondence table in order of decreasing peak power ratio to determine an index value in the preset correspondence table that corresponds to a first peak power ratio smaller than the first peak power ratio, the preset correspondence table including preset correspondence relationships between peak power ratios and absolute values ​​of fractional delays; determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on an index value corresponding to a first peak power ratio less than the first peak power ratio. The TA estimation device according to claim 15.

17. Determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on a first peak power ratio of a peak power to a sub-peak power within the target detection window includes: determining an absolute value of the fractional delay based on the first peak power ratio and a piecewise function for characterizing a correlation between the peak power ratio and an absolute value of the fractional delay. The TA estimation device according to claim 12.

18. The absolute value of the fractional delay is determined according to the following equation: [0045] Here, |n ０ | is the fractional delay n ０ , and peak ｒａｔｉｏ indicates the first peak power ratio. The TA estimation device according to claim 12.

19. Determining the fractional delay based on the absolute value of the fractional delay and the initial positional relationship between the peak power and the sub-peak power includes: determining that the fractional delay is negative if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is less than the initial position index value of the peak power; or determining that the fractional delay is a positive number if the initial position index value of the sub-peak power is greater than the initial position index value of the peak power. The TA estimation device according to claim 12.

20. updating the peak power position index value based on the fractional delay, updating the position index value of the peak power based on a sum of the initial position index value of the peak power and the fractional delay.

20. An apparatus for estimating a TA according to any one of claims 11 to 19.

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