Method for Obtaining Channel Information and Communication Device

Abstract

The present application provides a method and a communication device for acquiring channel information, the method includes: a network device sends a reference signal to a terminal device by using a plurality of antenna unit groups, where at least two antenna unit groups in the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port; and the network device receives first information from the terminal device, where the first information indicates channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups, thereby improving accuracy of the acquired channel information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method for obtaining channel information and a communication device.

Background Art

[0002] This application was filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on July 12, 2021, and claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202110784799.8, entitled "CHANNEL INFORMATION OBTAINING METHOD AND COMMUNICATION APPARATUS", which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0003] In a mobile communication system, in order to implement better transmission performance in a higher frequency band, both the network device and the terminal device can implement beam-based communication using (analog) beamforming technology, whereby the uplink and downlink signal transmission capabilities can be greatly improved. Since the beam is directional, beam alignment needs to be performed before data transmission is carried out between the terminal device and the network device. The beam alignment between the terminal device and the network device may be implemented by a beam management procedure. For example, the terminal device determines the transmission beam of the network device and the reception beam of the terminal device by measuring the downlink signal sent by the network device.

[0004] However, in the beam management process, the terminal device needs to perform frequent downlink measurements to implement beam alignment, and the network device needs to send a large amount of downlink signals for the terminal device to perform measurements. The resource overhead and power consumption are relatively high. Frequent measurements of the terminal device may also cause serious power consumption problems and heat generation problems.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a method for acquiring channel information and a communication device, thereby improving the accuracy of acquiring channel information.

[0006] According to a first aspect, a method for acquiring channel information is provided. The method may be implemented by a network device or a module (such as a chip) configured in (or used for) the network device. An example where the method is implemented by a network device is used hereinafter for illustration.

[0007] The method includes that the network device sends a reference signal to a terminal device by using a plurality of antenna unit groups, where at least two antenna unit groups in the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, and the network device receives first information from the terminal device, where the first information indicates channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0008] Based on the above solution, the network device groups antenna units (such as antenna array elements) of an antenna port and uses the antenna unit group as a granularity to send a reference signal. As a result, the network device can acquire high-precision channel information with a relatively small reference signal resource overhead. In other words, it is possible to acquire channel information corresponding to a set of antenna units with a smaller granularity. The downlink transmission beam (or called the downlink analog transmission beam) can be determined based on the high-precision channel information. Compared with the method of acquiring the downlink transmission beam in a beam training manner, this method can reduce the resource overhead, acquire high-precision channel information, and improve the accuracy of the acquired channel information.

[0009] Regarding the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the channel information corresponding to a plurality of antenna unit groups includes phase weighting information corresponding to at least one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the phase weighting information is used by the network device to control the phase shift of the phase shifters of at least one antenna unit group.

[0010] Based on the above solutions, the terminal device determines the phase weighting information recommended to be used by the network device based on the acquired channel information corresponding to the antenna unit group, and notifies the network device of the phase weighting information. As a result, the network device can determine the transmission beam based on the phase weighting information. Compared with the beam training method in which one transmission beam is determined in the way of trying to send each beam, the resource overhead can be reduced.

[0011] Regarding the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, or one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups belongs to one antenna port.

[0012] Regarding the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, and the network device sending the reference signal to the terminal device by using the plurality of antenna unit groups includes the network device sending the reference signal to the terminal device in a plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0013] Based on the above solutions, the network device may separately send the reference signal in a plurality of time units by using a plurality of antenna unit groups in a time-division multiplexing manner.

[0014] Regarding the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, for the network device to send a reference signal to the terminal device in multiple time units by using multiple antenna unit groups, it means that the network device sends the reference signal to the terminal device in one time unit within multiple time units by using one antenna unit group among the multiple antenna unit groups, and the antenna unit groups used to send the reference signal in different time units within the multiple time units are different.

[0015] Regarding the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, for the network device to send a reference signal to the terminal device in multiple time units by using multiple antenna unit groups, it means that the network device sends the reference signal to the terminal device for each of the multiple time units by using the multiple antenna unit groups, and the phase weighting sequences corresponding to different antenna unit groups within the multiple antenna unit groups are orthogonal to each other, and one element within one phase weighting sequence is the phase weighting value corresponding to one antenna unit group in one time unit.

[0016] Based on the above solutions, the network device separately sends reference signals by using multiple antenna unit groups in a manner that combines time division multiplexing and code division multiplexing.

[0017] Regarding the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the time difference between two adjacent time units within the multiple time units is smaller than a threshold value, or two adjacent time units within the multiple time units are continuous in time.

[0018] Regarding the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the channel information corresponding to the multiple antenna unit groups includes a precoding row example index PMI corresponding to multiple antenna ports, and the multiple antenna ports include the multiple antenna unit groups.

[0019] Based on the foregoing solution, the terminal device can determine not only the corresponding phase weighting information but also the PMI corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports based on the reference signals sent by a plurality of antenna unit groups. When the beam training process is implemented separately from the process of obtaining the digital precoding information, the resource overhead and time overhead caused thereby can be reduced.

[0020] Regarding the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes that the network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information indicates an antenna unit group included in at least one antenna port of the network device.

[0021] Based on the foregoing solution, the network device may notify the terminal device of the correspondence between the antenna port and the antenna unit group, and as a result, the terminal device and the network device reach a consensus.

[0022] Regarding the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes that the network device receives second information from the terminal device, where the second information includes one or more of the following information of a plurality of antenna unit groups, namely, signal-to-interference plus noise ratio SINR, reference signal received power RSRP, channel quality indicator CQI, and / or rank indicator RI.

[0023] According to a second aspect, a method for obtaining channel information is provided. The method may be implemented by a terminal device or a module (such as a chip) configured in (or used for) the terminal device. An example where the method is implemented by the terminal device is used hereinafter for illustration.

[0024] The method includes: the terminal device receiving a plurality of reference signals from a network device; the terminal device determining channel information corresponding to a plurality of antenna unit groups of the network device based on the plurality of reference signals, where at least two of the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port; and the terminal device sending first information to the network device, where the first information indicates the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0025] Regarding a second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoding matrix index (PMI) corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports, and the plurality of antenna ports include the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0026] Regarding a second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, or one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups belongs to one antenna port.

[0027] Regarding a second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, and the terminal device receiving a plurality of reference signals from the network device includes the terminal device receiving a plurality of reference signals from the network device in a plurality of time units.

[0028] Regarding a second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, for the terminal device to receive a plurality of reference signals from the network device in a plurality of time units means that the terminal device receives, in one time unit within the plurality of time units, a reference signal sent by the network device via one antenna unit group within a plurality of antenna unit groups, and the reference signals received in different time units within the plurality of time units come from different antenna unit groups among the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0029] Regarding a second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, for the terminal device to receive, in a plurality of time units, reference signals sent by the network device via a plurality of antenna unit groups means that the terminal device receives a plurality of reference signals for each of the plurality of time units.

[0030] Regarding a second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, for the terminal device to determine channel information corresponding to a plurality of antenna unit groups of the network device based on a plurality of reference signals means that the terminal device determines channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups based on the plurality of reference signals, the quantity of the plurality of antenna unit groups, and a weighting sequence corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0031] Regarding a second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the channel information of the plurality of antenna unit groups includes combined weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups. The combined weighting information is weighting information obtained after phase weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups is combined with the PMI corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups. The phase weighting information is used by the network device to control the phase shift of the phase shifter of at least one antenna unit group.

[0032] Regarding the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes that the terminal device receives configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information indicates an antenna unit group included in at least one antenna port of the network device.

[0033] Regarding the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes that the terminal device sends second information to the network device, where the second information includes one or more of the following information of a plurality of antenna unit groups, namely, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or rank indicator (RI).

[0034] According to a third aspect, a method for acquiring channel information is provided. The method may be implemented by a network device or a module (such as a chip) configured in (or used for) the network device. An example where the method is implemented by the network device is used hereinafter for illustration.

[0035] The method includes that the network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device by using a plurality of antenna ports, where the beam directions of the reference signals sent by the plurality of antenna ports are the same, and that the network device receives first information from the terminal device, where the first information includes phase weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna ports, and the phase weighting information is used to control the phase shift of the phase shifter corresponding to the antenna port.

[0036] Regarding the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, that the network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device by using a plurality of antenna ports includes that the network device sends a reference signal on one reference signal resource by using the plurality of antenna ports.

[0037] Regarding a third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, for the network device to send a reference signal to a terminal device by using a plurality of antenna ports means that the network device sends the reference signal on a plurality of reference signal resources by using a plurality of antenna ports, and the reference signal resources used by at least two of the plurality of antenna ports for sending the reference signal are different.

[0038] Regarding a third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes that the network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information indicates that the beam directions of the reference signals sent on a plurality of reference signal resources are the same.

[0039] Regarding a third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes that the network device receives second information from the terminal device, and the second information includes one or more of the following information of the plurality of antenna ports, namely, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or rank indicator (RI).

[0040] According to a fourth aspect, a method for acquiring channel information is provided. The method can be implemented by a terminal device or a module (such as a chip) configured in (or used for) the terminal device. An example where the method is implemented by the terminal device is used hereinafter for illustration.

[0041] The method includes: the terminal device receiving a plurality of reference signals from the network device; the terminal device determining phase weighting information corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports of the network device based on the plurality of reference signals, where the phase weighting information is used to control the phase shift of the phase shifter of the antenna port; and the terminal device sending first information to the network device, where the first information indicates the phase weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna ports of the network device.

[0042] Regarding the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the terminal device receiving a plurality of reference signals from the network device includes the terminal device receiving a plurality of reference signals from the network device on one reference signal resource, where the reference signal resource is a reference signal resource corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports.

[0043] Regarding the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the terminal device receiving a plurality of reference signals from the network device includes the terminal device receiving a plurality of reference signals from the network device on a plurality of reference signal resources, where at least two of the plurality of reference signals are carried on different reference signal resources.

[0044] Regarding the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes the terminal device receiving configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information indicates that the beam directions of the reference signals sent on the plurality of reference signal resources are the same.

[0045] Regarding a fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the method is for a terminal device to send second information to a network device, the second information including one or more of the following information for a plurality of antenna ports, namely, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or rank indicator (RI).

[0046] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a communication device, a transceiver configured to send a reference signal to a terminal device by using a plurality of antenna unit groups, at least two antenna unit groups within the plurality of antenna unit groups belonging to one antenna port, the transceiver being further configured to receive first information from the terminal device, the first information indicating channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups, the communication device including: the transceiver; and a processing unit configured to determine channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups based on the first information.

[0047] Regarding the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes phase weighting information corresponding to at least one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the phase weighting information is used by the network device to control the phase shift of the phase shifter of at least one antenna unit group.

[0048] Regarding the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, or one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups belongs to one antenna port.

[0049] Regarding the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, and the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send a reference signal to the terminal device in a plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0050] Regarding the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send a reference signal to the terminal device at one time unit within a plurality of time units by using one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the antenna unit groups used to send the reference signal at different time units within the plurality of time units are different.

[0051] Regarding the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send a reference signal to the terminal device every plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the phase weighting sequences corresponding to different antenna unit groups within the plurality of antenna unit groups are orthogonal to each other, and one element within one phase weighting sequence is the phase weighting value corresponding to one antenna unit group at one time unit.

[0052] Regarding the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the time difference between two adjacent time units within the plurality of time units is smaller than a threshold value, or two adjacent time units within the plurality of time units are continuous in time.

[0053] Regarding the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoding row example index PMI corresponding to the plurality of antenna ports, and the plurality of antenna ports include the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0054] Regarding the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information indicates an antenna unit group included in at least one antenna port of the network device.

[0055] Regarding the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive second information from the terminal device, and the second information includes one or more of the following information of a plurality of antenna unit groups, namely, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio SINR, reference signal received power RSRP, channel quality indicator CQI, and / or rank indicator RI.

[0056] According to the sixth aspect, there is provided a communication device including a transceiver unit configured to receive a plurality of reference signals from a network device, and a processing unit configured to determine channel information corresponding to a plurality of antenna unit groups of the network device based on the plurality of reference signals, wherein at least two of the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, and the transceiver unit is further configured to send first information to the network device, and the first information indicates the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0057] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the channel information of the plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoding matrix index PMI corresponding to the plurality of antenna ports, and the plurality of antenna ports include the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0058] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, or one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups belongs to one antenna port.

[0059] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, and the transceiver unit is particularly configured to receive a plurality of reference signals from a network device in a plurality of time units.

[0060] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver unit is particularly configured to receive, by one antenna unit group within a plurality of antenna unit groups, a reference signal sent by a network device at one time unit within a plurality of time units, and the reference signals received at different time units in a plurality of time units come from different antenna unit groups of the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0061] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver unit is particularly configured to receive a plurality of reference signals for each of the plurality of time units.

[0062] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the processing unit is particularly configured to determine channel information of a plurality of antenna unit groups based on a plurality of reference signals, the quantity of the plurality of antenna unit groups, and a weighting sequence corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0063] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the channel information of the plurality of antenna unit groups includes digital weighting information of the antenna port, and the digital weighting information is used by the network device to perform digital signal processing on a transmission-scheduled signal of the antenna port to which the plurality of antenna unit groups belong.

[0064] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the channel information of multiple antenna unit groups includes weighting information for combinations corresponding to the multiple antenna unit groups. The weighting information for combinations is the weighting information obtained after the phase weighting information corresponding to the multiple antenna unit groups is combined with the PMI corresponding to the multiple antenna unit groups. The phase weighting information is used by the network device to control the phase shift of the phase shifters of at least one antenna unit group.

[0065] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive configuration information from the network device, and the configuration information indicates the antenna unit groups included in at least one antenna port of the network device.

[0066] Regarding the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send second information to the network device, and the second information includes one or more of the following information of multiple antenna unit groups, namely, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio SINR, reference signal received power RSRP, channel quality indicator CQI, and / or rank indicator RI.

[0067] According to the seventh aspect, there is provided a communication device including a transceiver unit configured to send a reference signal to a terminal device by using multiple antenna ports, wherein the beam directions of the reference signals sent by the multiple antenna ports are the same. The transceiver unit is further configured to receive first information from the terminal device, and the first information indicates the phase weighting information corresponding to the multiple antenna ports. The phase weighting information is used to control the phase shift of the phase shifters corresponding to the antenna ports, and a processing unit configured to determine the phase weighting information corresponding to the multiple antenna ports based on the first information.

[0068] Regarding the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send a reference signal on one reference signal resource by using a plurality of antenna ports.

[0069] Regarding the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send reference signals on a plurality of reference signal resources by using a plurality of antenna ports, and the reference signal resources used by at least two of the plurality of antenna ports for sending the reference signals are different.

[0070] Regarding the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the method further includes that the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information indicates that the beam directions of the reference signals sent on the plurality of reference signal resources are the same.

[0071] Regarding the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the method further includes that the network device receives second information from the terminal device, and the second information includes one or more of the following information of the plurality of antenna ports, namely, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio SINR, reference signal received power RSRP, channel quality indicator CQI, and / or rank indicator RI.

[0072] According to the eighth aspect, there is provided a communication device including a transceiver unit configured to receive a plurality of reference signals from a network device, and a processing unit configured to determine phase weighting information corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports of the network device based on the plurality of reference signals, where the phase weighting information is used to control the phase shift of the phase shifter of the antenna port, and the transceiver unit is further configured to send first information to the network device, and the first information indicates the phase weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna ports of the network device.

[0073] Regarding the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a plurality of reference signals from a network device on one reference signal resource, and the reference signal resource is a reference signal resource corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports.

[0074] Regarding the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a plurality of reference signals from a network device on a plurality of reference signal resources, and at least two of the plurality of reference signals are carried on different reference signal resources.

[0075] Regarding the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive configuration information from a network device, and the configuration information indicates that the beam directions of the reference signals sent on a plurality of reference signal resources are the same.

[0076] Regarding the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send second information to a network device, and the second information includes one or more of the following information of a plurality of antenna ports, namely, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio SINR, reference signal received power RSRP, channel quality indicator CQI, and / or rank indicator RI.

[0077] According to the ninth aspect, a communication device including a processor is provided. The processor may implement the method in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, and possible implementations of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0078] Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. The processor may be coupled to the memory and configured to execute instructions within the memory, thereby implementing the method in any one of the first to fourth aspects and possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface. In this embodiment of the present application, the communication interface may be a transceiver, a pin, a circuit, a bus, a module, or another type of communication interface. This is not limiting.

[0079] In an implementation, the communication interface can be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0080] In another implementation, the communication device may be a chip, the communication interface may be an input / output interface, and the processor may be a logic circuit.

[0081] Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0082] According to a tenth aspect, a processor is provided, the processor including an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal via the input circuit and transmit a signal via the output circuit, enabling the processor to implement the method in any one of the first to fourth aspects and possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

[0083] In a specific implementation process, the processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be input pins, the output circuit may be output pins, and the processing circuit may be transistors, gate circuits, triggers, various logic circuits, etc. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input, for example, but not limited to, by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit may be output to and transmitted by a transmitter, for example, but not limited to. The input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, and the circuit is used as the input circuit and the output circuit at different moments. The specific implementation of the processor and various circuits is not limited to the embodiments of this application.

[0084] According to an eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions). When the computer program is executed, the computer is enabled to implement the method in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, and the possible implementations of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0085] According to a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions). When the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer is enabled to implement the method in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, and the possible implementations of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0086] According to a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided that includes at least one of the aforementioned network devices and at least one terminal device.

Brief Description of the Drawings

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Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0088] The following describes the technical solutions of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0089] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, a 5th generation (5G) communication system, a future communication system (e.g., a 6th generation (6G) communication system), or a system integrating multiple communication systems. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. 5G can also be referred to as new radio (NR).

[0090] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system to which one embodiment of the present application is applicable.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 100 may include at least one network device, for example, the network device 110 shown in FIG. 1. The communication system 100 may further include at least one terminal device, for example, the terminal device 120 shown in FIG. 1. The network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may communicate with each other via a wireless link.

[0092] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication between the network device and the terminal device includes the network device sending a downlink signal to the terminal device and / or the terminal device sending an uplink signal to the network device. The signal may alternatively be replaced with information, data, etc.

[0093] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may have an analog beamforming (ABF) or hybrid beamforming (HBF) architecture or function. However, the present application is not limited thereto.

[0094] As shown in FIG. 2, the network device may include a plurality of antenna ports. The antenna port may also be referred to as a port, a digital port, a CSI-RS port, a CSI-RS antenna port, etc. This is not limited in the present application. Each antenna port of the network device corresponds to one digital processing channel and is configured to output a signal stream processed by the digital processing channel. The digital processing channel corresponding to one antenna port is connected to a plurality of antenna array elements. This can be understood as one antenna port including a plurality of antenna array elements connected to the data processing channel corresponding to the antenna port. Each antenna array element may be connected to one phase shifter (or the phase shifter may also be referred to as a phase shifter). The digital processing channels corresponding to different antenna ports may be connected to different sets of array elements or the same set of array elements. In a specific implementation, the digital processing channels corresponding to different antenna ports may be connected to different antenna sub-arrays (one sub-array includes at least one antenna array element), and / or different antenna polarization directions. The antenna sub-array is a part of the antenna array of the network device. The antenna array of the network device may be divided into a plurality of sub-arrays. Each sub-array is connected to the digital processing channels corresponding to two antenna ports and corresponds to different antenna polarization directions.

[0095] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an antenna array of a network device including four sub-arrays. As shown in FIG. 3, each sub-array is connected to two antenna ports. Specifically, the first polarization direction and the second polarization direction of each sub-array are separately connected to one antenna port. The network device may include eight antenna ports. Each antenna port is configured to output a signal stream output by one digital processing channel. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an antenna array of a network device including two sub-arrays. As shown in FIG. 4, each sub-array is connected to two antenna ports. Specifically, the first polarization direction and the second polarization direction of each sub-array are separately connected to one antenna port. The network device may include four antenna ports. Each antenna port is configured to output a signal stream output by one digital processing channel.

[0096] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication scenarios. For example, they may be applied to one or more of the following communication scenarios, namely, eMBB communication, URLLC, machine type communication (MTC), mMTC, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle to network (V2N), vehicle to infrastructure (V2I), vehicle to pedestrian (V2P), and Internet of Things (IoT). Optionally, mMTC may include one or more of the following communications, namely, communication in an industrial wireless sensor network (IWSN), communication in a video surveillance scenario, communication with wearable devices, and the like.

[0097] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a terminal. The terminal may be a device having the function of a wireless transceiver. The terminal may include an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, a handheld device, and / or an in-vehicle device. The terminal may be placed on the ground, on the water surface (e.g., on a ship), or in the air (e.g., on an airplane, on a balloon, or on a satellite). The terminal device may be a user equipment (UE). The UE may include a handheld device, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, or a computing device having a wireless communication function. For example, the UE may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a computer having a wireless transceiver function. Alternatively, the terminal device may be a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal in telemedicine, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, and / or the like.

[0098] The network device in the embodiment of the present application includes a base station (BS) and can be a device arranged in a radio access network for wireless communication with a terminal device. The base station can be in multiple forms, such as a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay station, or an access point. The base station in the embodiment of the present application can be a base station in a 5G system, a base station in an LTE system, or a base station in another system. This is not limited. The base station in a 5G system can also be called a transmission reception point (TRP) or a next-generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB). The base station can be an integrated base station or a base station separated into multiple network elements. This is not limited. For example, the base station is a base station in which a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) are separated, that is, the base station includes a CU and a DU.

[0099] In the embodiments of the present application, " / " may indicate an "or" relationship between related objects. For example, A / B may indicate A or B. "And / or" may be used to explain three relationships between related objects. For example, A and / or B may indicate the following three cases, namely, only A exists, both A and B exist, and only B exists, provided that A and B may be singular or plural. In order to facilitate the description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" may be used to distinguish between technical features having the same function or similar functions. Terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution sequence, and terms such as "first" and "second" do not indicate a distinct difference. In the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "example" or "for example" indicate an example, illustration, or explanation. Any embodiment or design scheme described as an "example" or "for example" should not be described as being more preferable or having more advantages than another embodiment or design scheme. The use of terms such as "example" or "for example" is intended to present relative concepts in a specific manner for ease of understanding.

[0100] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one (type)" may alternatively be described as "one (type)" or "more (types)", and "a plurality of (types)" may be two (types), three (types), four (types), or more (types). This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0101] For a better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the terms used in this specification are briefly described below.

[0102] 1. Beam: A beam is a communication resource. The beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or another type of beam. The technology for forming the beam can be beamforming technology or another technical means. The beamforming technology can specifically be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, or hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology. Different beams can be regarded as different spatial resources. A communication device can send the same information or different information by using different beams. Optionally, the communication device can regard multiple beams having the same or similar characteristics as one beam.

[0103] One beam may be implemented via one or more antenna ports and is used by a communication device to transmit data channels, control channels, sounding signals, etc. For example, a transmit beam can be the distribution of signal strengths formed in different directions in space after the signal is transmitted via the antenna, and a receive beam can be the distribution that strengthens or weakens the reception of wireless signals in different directions in space by the antenna array. It can be understood that one or more antenna ports forming the beam may alternatively be regarded as one set of antenna ports. In the current NR protocol, a downlink beam can be represented by the quasi co-located (QCL) relationship of antenna ports. Specifically, the signals of two identical beams have a QCL relationship for the spatial Rx parameter, i.e., QCL-Type D: {spatial Rx parameter} in the protocol, and the uplink beam can be represented by spatial relation information. The beam can be represented by the identification information of various signals, such as the resource identifier (ID) of CSI-RS, the time-domain index of the synchronization signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block SSB, the resource ID of the sounding reference signal (SRS), the resource ID of the tracking reference signal (TRS), etc.

[0104] 2. Beam Management

[0105] The terminal device and the base station can perform beam management by using channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), and implement transmission and reception beam alignment. Beam management includes beam training. The following uses downlink transmission as an example to describe the CSI-RS-based beam training process.

[0106] The base station can determine an appropriate downlink transmission beam through beam training. The base station can configure N CSI-RS resources for the terminal device. In the beam training process, the base station can send CSI-RS on N CSI-RS resources by using different beams. The terminal device measures the N CSI-RS resources and obtains measurement results (e.g., layer 1-reference signal receiving power (L1-RSRP), or layer 1-signal to interference plus noise ratio (L1-SINR)). Based on the measurement results, the terminal may report the identifiers of multiple CSI-RS resources and the corresponding reference signal receiving power (RSRP), and as a result, the base station can determine an appropriate downlink transmission beam and / or the corresponding uplink reception beam.

[0107] The terminal device needs to determine the optimal reception beam by beam scanning. For example, the terminal can receive a specific CSI-RS resource by using different reception beams to determine the optimal reception beam corresponding to a specific transmission beam of the base station. Generally, the terminal device selects and maintains with its own reception beam.

[0108] Before performing downlink data transmission with a terminal device, the base station performs the aforementioned beam training procedure to determine a downlink transmission beam and / or an uplink reception beam. The base station determines the downlink transmission beam, that is, determines the analog weighting values of a plurality of phase shifters corresponding to the array elements of the antenna port. The beam trained in the aforementioned beam training procedure may be called an analog beam.

[0109] When the number of digital ports of the base station is greater than 1, for a plurality of phase shifters corresponding to different digital ports, the same analog weighting value or different analog weighting values may be selected.

[0110] FIG. 5 is a simple example of a beam training process. The base station transmits CSI-RS by using 32 beams, and the terminal device receives CSI-RS from the base station by using 4 beams. After performing 128 measurements (32×4 times), the terminal device may determine the optimal transmission / reception beam pair, that is, the optimal transmission beam of the base station and the optimal reception beam of the terminal device.

[0111] 3. Process of obtaining channel state information (CSI)

[0112] A procedure for obtaining CSI-RS-based downlink CSI is used as an example. After the base station and the terminal device complete the beam training process, the base station obtains downlink transmission beam information, and the terminal device obtains downlink reception beam information. The base station may transmit CSI-RS by using the transmission beam obtained during the beam training process. It should be understood that CSI-RS is used to obtain CSI (CSI-RS for CSI acquisition). Correspondingly, the terminal device receives CSI-RS by using the reception beam obtained in the beam training process, obtains the corresponding CSI based on the received CSI-RS, and feeds back the corresponding CSI to the base station. The CSI fed back by the terminal device to the base station includes, but is not limited to, one or more of CQI, RI, and PMI.

[0113] In other words, after the base station determines the downlink transmission beam in the aforementioned beam training process and obtains the analog weighting value corresponding to the downlink transmission beam, the base station needs to further determine the precoding scheme of the digital port. In this case, the base station may obtain CSI by the procedure for obtaining CSI and determine the precoding scheme of the digital port. When the base station has N digital channels, a typical precoding determination process is as follows (assuming a CSI-RS-based channel measurement and feedback mechanism). - The base station sends CSI-RS by using N antenna ports, and the N antenna ports correspond to N digital processing channels. The analog beam corresponding to each antenna port or each digital processing channel may be determined in the aforementioned beam management procedure. - The terminal device measures the downlink channel based on the CSI-RS received from the base station and obtains CSI information of the downlink transmission. The CSI information may include, but is not limited to, PMI information, RI information, CQI information, etc. - The terminal device reports CSI information to the base station. - The base station determines a precoding scheme based on the CSI information, for example, determines a precoding matrix for transmitting data, maps data of v streams to N digital processing channels, and sends the data from the antenna array via the antenna port.

[0114] In conclusion, currently, the beam management procedure and the procedure for obtaining CSI are implemented independently. The downlink CSI-RS needs to be sent in both processes, and the overhead of the CSI-RS resource is relatively large. In this application, the antenna units (for example, antenna array elements) of the antenna port are grouped, and the reference signal is transmitted at the granularity of the antenna unit group. As a result, the network device can obtain high-precision channel information with a relatively small overhead of the reference signal resource. In other words, channel information corresponding to a set of antenna units with a smaller granularity can be obtained. The downlink transmission beam (or called the downlink analog transmission beam) can be determined based on the high-precision channel information. Compared with the method of obtaining the downlink transmission beam by the beam training method, this method can reduce the resource overhead and obtain high-precision channel information.

[0115] The following describes a method for obtaining channel information provided in the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0116] FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a method 600 for obtaining channel information according to an embodiment of the present application. The channel measurement method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps.

[0117] S601: The network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device by using a plurality of antenna unit groups, and at least two antenna unit groups within the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port.

[0118] The network device may group a plurality of antenna units included in one antenna port of the network device, and the network device sends a reference signal by using the plurality of antenna unit groups obtained after the antenna ports are grouped. As a result, the terminal device can obtain more accurate channel information.

[0119] For example, in FIG. 7, the network device includes two antenna ports, and the terminal device includes two receiving antennas. The network device may send a reference signal to the terminal device by using the two antenna ports, and the terminal device may obtain a 2×2 channel matrix based on the received reference signal. However, when the antenna units included in each antenna port of the network device are grouped, as shown in FIG. 7(b), the antenna units included in each antenna port of the network device are grouped into two antenna unit groups. The network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device by using the four antenna unit groups, and the terminal device may obtain a 2×4 channel matrix based on the received reference signal. This enables the terminal device to obtain channel information with higher precision.

[0120] An antenna unit group includes at least one antenna unit, the antenna unit may be an antenna array element, and the antenna unit group may be called a virtual port. However, the present application is not limited thereto. In other words, each virtual port corresponds to one array component or sub-array component, indicating that each virtual port includes some antenna array elements of one array or sub-array.

[0121] Optionally, one antenna port may include one antenna unit group, that is, the antenna array elements included in one antenna port are one antenna unit group.

[0122] For example, in the antenna array including 32 array elements of the network device shown in FIG. 8, two polarization directions respectively correspond to two antenna ports, that is, the first polarization direction corresponds to one antenna port, and the second polarization direction corresponds to the other antenna port. The network device may notify the terminal device that the antenna array elements included in one antenna port are one antenna unit group, that is, the antenna array includes antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2 shown in the figure. However, the present application is not limited thereto.

[0123] Optionally, one antenna port may include two antenna unit groups.

[0124] For example, in the antenna array including 32 array elements of the network device shown in FIG. 9, each polarization direction corresponds to one antenna port. As shown in FIG. 9, the two vertical columns of antenna units included in one antenna port can be grouped into one antenna unit group. That is, the two vertical columns with the same polarization direction may be grouped into one antenna unit group, and each antenna port includes two antenna unit groups. For example, one antenna port corresponding to the first polarization direction includes antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 3. One antenna port corresponding to the second polarization direction includes antenna unit group 2 and antenna unit group 4.

[0125] For another example, as shown in FIG. 9a, in an antenna array including 32 array elements, two rows of antenna units included in one antenna port may be grouped into one antenna unit group. That is, two columns with the same polarization direction may be grouped into one antenna unit group, and each antenna port includes two antenna unit groups. For example, one antenna port corresponding to the first polarization direction includes antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 3, and one antenna port corresponding to the second polarization direction includes antenna unit group 2 and antenna unit group 4.

[0126] Optionally, one antenna port may include four antenna unit groups.

[0127] For example, for an antenna array including 32 array elements of a network device, two polarization directions correspond to two antenna ports. As shown in FIG. 10, the antenna units may be grouped in units of columns of antenna units. The antenna units in one polarization direction for each column are one antenna unit group included in the antenna port corresponding to the polarization direction. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10a, the antenna units may be grouped in units of columns of antenna units. The antenna units in one polarization direction for each row are one antenna unit group included in the antenna port corresponding to the polarization direction. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10b, two rows of antenna units intersecting two columns of antenna units with the same polarization direction are in the same group. Note that the dashed boxes in FIGS. 10, 10a, and 10b include two antenna unit groups, and the four antenna units in one polarization direction are one group.

[0128] Optionally, the network device may send configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information indicates an antenna unit group included in at least one antenna port of the network device. In other words, the configuration information indicates the correspondence between the antenna port and the antenna unit group, or the configuration information indicates the grouping information of the antenna units included in at least one antenna port.

[0129] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the configuration information from the network device and determines the correspondence between the antenna port and the antenna unit group of the network device based on the configuration information.

[0130] Optionally, the terminal device may determine the correspondence between the antenna port and the antenna unit group based on the port number corresponding to the reference signal resource.

[0131] For example, the reference signal is CSI-RS, the network device includes four antenna ports, the network device configures CSI-RS resources corresponding to eight ports for the terminal device based on the configuration information, and the terminal device determines that the eight ports corresponding to the CSI-RS resources are virtual ports (i.e., antenna unit groups). Each antenna port includes two virtual ports, and the numbers correspond continuously to each other. As shown in FIG. 11, the terminal device may determine that at the four antenna ports of the network device, antenna port 1 includes virtual ports 1 and 2, antenna port 2 includes virtual ports 3 and 4, antenna port 3 includes virtual ports 5 and 6, and antenna port 4 includes virtual ports 7 and 8. However, the present application is not limited thereto.

[0132] For another example, the ports of the CSI-RS resources configured by the network device are numbered starting from 3000. For example, when one CSI-RS resource includes four antenna ports, the numbers of the antenna ports of the CSI-RS resource can be {3000, 3001, 3002, 3003} respectively. The network device can set the numbers of the antenna unit groups (i.e., the numbers of virtual ports) included in each antenna port of the CSI-RS resource. As shown in Table 1, the numbers of the two antenna unit groups included in antenna port 3000 are 3000-1 and 3000-2 respectively, the numbers of the two antenna unit groups included in antenna port 3001 are 3001-1 and 3001-2 respectively, the numbers of the two antenna unit groups included in antenna port 3002 are 3002-1 and 3002-2 respectively, and the numbers of the two antenna unit groups included in antenna port 3003 are 3003-1 and 3003-2 respectively. However, this application is not limited thereto.

[0133]

Table 1

[0134] Alternatively, as shown in Table 2, the numbers of the two antenna unit groups included in antenna port 3000 are 300001 and 300002 respectively, the numbers of the two antenna unit groups included in antenna port 3001 are 300101 and 300102 respectively, the numbers of the two antenna unit groups included in antenna port 3002 are 300201 and 300202 respectively, and the numbers of the two antenna unit groups included in antenna port 3003 are 300301 and 300302 respectively.

[0135] The above numbering method of the antenna unit group is only an example. Instead, it should be understood that another method may be used to identify the antenna unit group included in the antenna port. This is not limited in the present application.

[0136]

Table 2

[0137] The following explains how the network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device by using a plurality of antenna unit groups, including but not limited to the following implementations.

[0138] Note that in the following implementation, an example where a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port is used to explain the implementation in which the network device sends a reference signal by using a plurality of antenna unit groups. When the network device includes a plurality of antenna ports, each antenna port can send a reference signal to the terminal device in one of the following ways.

[0139] The network device can send a reference signal to the terminal device in a plurality of time units by using a plurality of antenna unit groups of one antenna port. In other words, the network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device in a plurality of time units by using a plurality of antenna unit groups of one antenna port.

[0140] In the implementation, the network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device in one time unit within a plurality of time units by using one antenna unit group within a plurality of antenna unit groups, and the antenna unit groups used to send the reference signal in different time units within the plurality of time units are different.

[0141] For example, as shown in FIG. 12, one antenna port of a network device includes two antenna unit groups, namely, antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2. The network device can send a reference signal to the terminal device in the first time unit by using antenna unit group 1. For example, the network device may turn off the switch of antenna unit group 2, turn on the switch of antenna unit group 1, and send the reference signal by using antenna unit group 1. However, the present application is not limited thereto. The network device may send the reference signal to the terminal device in the second time unit by using antenna unit group 2. For example, the network device may turn off the switch of antenna unit group 1, turn on the switch of antenna unit group 2, and send the reference signal by using antenna unit group 2. However, the present application is not limited thereto. Correspondingly, the terminal device may receive the reference signal from the network device in the first time unit and the second time unit. The terminal device may separately determine the channel information corresponding to the channel between antenna unit group 1 of the network device and the terminal device and the channel information corresponding to the channel between antenna unit group 2 of the network device and the terminal device based on the two received reference signals.

[0142] In this example, the method in which the network device sends the reference signal by using multiple antenna unit groups of one antenna port may be called time-division multiplexing (TDM).

[0143] By way of example rather than limitation, the channel information in the present application may be channel state information CSI.

[0144] For another example, as shown in FIG. 13, one antenna port of a network device includes two antenna unit groups, namely, antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2. In the first time unit, the network device may send a reference signal to the terminal device by using antenna unit group 1 and send the reference signal in another direction by using antenna unit group 2. For example, antenna unit groups 1 and 2 may send reference signals in different directions and spatial orthogonality may be formed. As a result, the terminal device can receive only the reference signal sent by antenna unit group 1 in the first time unit, but cannot receive the reference signal sent by antenna unit group 2. In the second time unit, the network device may send a reference signal to the terminal device by using antenna unit group 2 and send the reference signal in another direction by using antenna unit group 2. In this way, the terminal device can receive only the reference signal sent by antenna unit group 2 in the second time unit, but cannot receive the reference signal sent by antenna unit group 1. Unit In this example, the method in which the network device sends a reference signal by using multiple antenna unit groups of one antenna port may be called a time-division multiplexing (TDM) method, or a multiplexing method that is a combination of time-division (TD) and spatial-division (SD). Unit

[0145]

[0146] In another implementation, the network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device for each of a plurality of time units by using a plurality of antenna unit groups, and the orthogonal weighting sequences corresponding to different antenna unit groups in the plurality of antenna unit groups are orthogonal to each other, and one element in one orthogonal weighting sequence is a phase weighting coefficient used for one antenna unit group within one time unit.

[0147] This method can be called a combination method of time-division multiplexing and code-division multiplexing (CDM), that is, a TD-CDM method. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, one antenna port of the network device includes two antenna unit groups, that is, antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2. The network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device in the first time unit by using antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2, and the phase weighting sequence corresponding to antenna unit group 1 in the first time unit is W1 = [w 11 , w 12 ,...] T and the phase weighting sequence corresponding to antenna unit group 2 is W2 = [w 21 , w 22 ,...] T . The dimension of antenna unit group 1 in the corresponding phase weighting sequence (that is, the number of elements included in the phase weighting sequence) is equal to the number of array elements included in the antenna unit group.

[0148] Assuming that the reference signal sent by the antenna port to which antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2 belong is denoted as x[1], the signals sent by antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2 in the first time unit can be denoted as W1·x[1] and W2·x[1], respectively. When the terminal device receives signals from the network device by using a single antenna or a single channel, the antennaUnit Channels from group 1 to the terminal device, and antennas Unit The channels from group 2 to the terminal device are, respectively, h1 = [h 11 , h 12 ,...], and h2 = [h 21 , h 22 ,...] and can be shown as such. The signals received by the terminal device from antenna unit group 1 and the signals received by the terminal device from antenna unit group 2 are, respectively, y1[1] = h1·W1·x, and y2[2] = h2·W2·x. The signal received by the terminal device is a superposition of two received signals from antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2, as shown in Equation (1). y[1] = y1[1] + y2[1] = h1·W1·x[1] + h2·W2·x[1] (1)

[0149] The network device sends the reference signal x[2] to the terminal device in the second time unit by using antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2. The phase weighting sequence corresponding to antenna unit group 1 in the second time unit is W1, and the phase weighting sequence corresponding to antenna unit group 2 is -W2. The signal received by the terminal device is a superposition of two received signals from antenna unit group 1 and antenna unit group 2. y[2] = y1[2] + y2[2] = h1·W1·x[2] - h2·W2·x[2] (2)

[0150] Both x[1] and x[2] are known reference signals, and x[1] and x[2] may be the same or different. The initial channel estimation can be obtained by eliminating x with respect to the aforementioned Equations (1) and (2). h[1] = h1·W1 + h2·W2 h[2] = h1·W1 - h2·W2

[0151] The terminal device can demultiplex the time-domain CDM and estimate the channels h1·W1 and h1·W2 as follows. h[1]+h[2]=2·h1·W1 h[1]-h[2]=2·h2·W2

[0152] The terminal device is from the antenna unit group 1 and the antenna unit group 2 to the receiving antenna. Since it is necessary to estimate the channels h1·W1 and h2·W2 obtained after beamforming, the terminal device does not need to estimate h1 and h2 separately. The terminal device may use W1 and W2 as part of the channel information obtained by channel measurement. In this case, the signals sent by the network device in the first time unit and the second time unit are z[1]=x[1]+x[1] z[2]=x[2]-x[2] can be regarded as.

[0153] It can be seen from the above inference that in two time units, the reference signal sent by the antenna unit group 1 is [x[1],x[2]], and the reference signal sent by the antenna unit group 2 is [x[1],-x[2]]. Therefore, the orthogonal weighting sequence corresponding to the antenna unit group 1 is [1,1], and the orthogonal weighting sequence corresponding to the antenna unit group 2 is [1,-1]. The orthogonal weighting sequence corresponding to the antenna unit group 1 and the orthogonal weighting sequence corresponding to the antenna unit group 2 are orthogonal to each other.

[0154] The orthogonal weighting sequence corresponding to the antenna unit group can be called a CDM sequence or an orthogonal cover code (OCC). However, this application is not limited thereto. c over code,OCC). However, this application is not limited to this.

[0155] In the foregoing example, the number of antenna unit groups included in one antenna port is 2, and different antenna unit groups implement orthogonality by using an OCC sequence. That is, the orthogonal weighting sequence groups (or orthogonal codes) are [1, 1] and [1, -1].

[0156] The foregoing solution may be extended to more antenna unit groups. When one antenna port includes N antenna unit groups, the network device may send a reference signal in N time units by using the N antenna unit groups, and the signal sent in the nth time unit may be expressed as follows. z[n]=a1[n]·x[n]+...+a k [n]·x[n]+...+a N [n]·x[n]

[0157] In this case, the nth element of the orthogonal weighting sequence of the kth antenna unit group may be denoted as a k [n].

[0158] For example, when one antenna port includes four antenna unit groups, the orthogonal sequence groups (or orthogonal codes, also called) corresponding to the four antenna unit groups may be [1, 1, 1, 1], [1, -1, 1, -1], [1, 1, -1, -1], and [1, -1, -1, 1], respectively. However, the present application is not limited thereto. Alternatively, other sequences may be used to implement orthogonality between different antenna unit groups. For example, a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) sequence may be used. In this case, when one antenna port includes N antenna unit groups, the kth term of the orthogonal sequence of the nth antenna unit group may be exp(-j*2*pi*k*n / N) or exp(j*2*pi*k*n / N), provided that k = 0,.., N - 1, and n = 0,.., N - 1.

[0159] Optionally, the time difference between two adjacent time units within a plurality of time units is less than a threshold value, or two adjacent time units within the plurality of time units are continuous in time. By way of example rather than limitation, the time unit can be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a symbol, or a symbol group.

[0160] S602: The network device receives first information from the terminal device, where the first information indicates channel information corresponding to a plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0161] After obtaining the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups in S601, the terminal device may send the first information to the network device to feedback the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups to the network device.

[0162] Optionally, the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes phase weighting information corresponding to at least one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the phase weighting information is used by the network device to control the phase shift of the phase shifter of at least one antenna unit group.

[0163] For the M antenna unit groups included in one antenna port of the network device, after receiving the reference signal from the M antenna unit groups, the terminal device may report an M-dimensional phase weighting sequence corresponding to the M antenna unit groups. If the network device includes N antenna ports and each antenna port includes M antenna unit groups, after receiving the reference signal from the N·M antenna unit groups of the N antenna ports, the terminal device may report an M-dimensional phase weighting sequence corresponding to each of the N antenna ports.

[0164] The terminal device may determine an M-dimensional phase weighting sequence corresponding to M antenna unit groups of the nth digital port based on a reference signal. The M-dimensional phase weighting sequence is p as follows n and may be shown as.

[0165] [Number]

[0166] Optionally, one element in the phase weighting sequence p n is a phase weighting value corresponding to one antenna unit group, and one phase weighting value is a phase weighting value corresponding to a wideband or full bandwidth. In other words, the granularity of the frequency domain in which the terminal device reports the phase weighting value to the network device is wideband or full bandwidth. Specifically, the terminal device reports to the network device a unique phase weighting value corresponding to a specific frequency domain range (the specific frequency domain range may be referred to as a wideband or full bandwidth). The specific frequency domain range may be the bandwidth occupied by the CSI-RS corresponding to the phase weighting value, the bandwidth of a bandwidth part (BWP), or the carrier bandwidth.

[0167] Optionally, the phase weighting information corresponding to at least one antenna unit group included in the first information may include an M-dimensional phase weighting sequence corresponding to one antenna port, or may include identification information corresponding to the M-dimensional phase weighting sequence.

[0168] For example, the protocol may specify a candidate set, which includes a plurality of candidate phase weighting sequences or phase weighting values. The terminal device determines, within the candidate set, a phase weighting sequence or phase weighting value corresponding to the M-dimensional phase weighting sequence based on the M-dimensional phase weighting sequence, and may notify the network device of first information including identification information of the phase weighting sequence corresponding to the M-dimensional phase weighting sequence, or identification information of the phase weighting value corresponding to the M-dimensional phase weighting sequence. After receiving the first information, the network device may determine, within the candidate set, the M-dimensional phase weighting sequence corresponding to the antenna port based on the identification information.

[0169] Optionally, the channel information of a plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoding row example index PMI corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports, and the plurality of antenna ports include a plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0170] The terminal device may determine, based on the reference signal from the N antenna ports of the network device (which may be the reference signal from a plurality of antenna unit groups of the N antenna ports), that the channels corresponding to the N antenna ports can support the transmission of v data streams. The terminal device may report an N·v-dimensional precoding matrix to the network device, which may also be referred to as digital weighting information and is used by the network device to perform digital signal processing on the data stream. The precoding matrix determined by the terminal device based on the channel information may be denoted as q as follows.

[0171]

Number

[0172] After determining that the channel information of a plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoding matrix q corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports, the terminal device may determine the PMI of the precoding matrix in the precoding matrix set. The first information includes the PMI.

[0173] In an implementation, the terminal device may report the phase weighting information and the PMI separately. The phase weighting information may be carried in the same message or in different messages.

[0174] In other words, the terminal device reports two levels of weighting information to the network device, one level being the phase weighting information and the other level being the digital weighting information. However, this is not limited in this application.

[0175] In another implementation, the terminal device may combine the phase weighting sequence and the digital weighting information and feedback the combined weighting information to the network device. The combined weighting information may include the combined weighting values of each antenna unit group. The combined weighting information may be shown as follows.

[0176]

Number

[0177] The terminal device may further send the second information to the network device, and the second information is the following information corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports, that is, signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power RSRP, layer 1 - signal to interference plus noise ratio L1 - SINR, layer 1 - reference signal received power L1 - RSRP, channel quality indication (CQI), and / or rank indicator (RI) includes one or more of the following.

[0178] For example, the terminal device may further obtain one or more of the foregoing information by measuring a reference signal from a plurality of antenna ports, and feedback the information to the network device. As a result, the network device may perform data transmission with respect to the foregoing information.

[0179] In a possible implementation, the first information is associated with the second information, or the second information is based on the first information.

[0180] Correspondingly, the network device may receive the second information from the terminal device.

[0181] Optionally, both the first information and the second information may be used as CSI and sent from the terminal device to the network device. The first information and the second information may be carried in the same CSI report or in different CSI reports. This is not limited in the present application.

[0182] The same CSI report may be a CSI report carried on an uplink channel (such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)). Different CSI reports may be CSI reports carried on different uplink channels or on uplink channels in different time units. However, the present application is not limited thereto.

[0183] Based on the foregoing solutions, the network device may send a reference signal to the terminal device by using multiple antenna unit groups of the antenna ports. As a result, the terminal device can obtain channel information with higher precision, and the accuracy of the channel information feedback is improved. In addition, the terminal device may determine appropriate phase weighting information based on the obtained channel information with higher precision and feedback the appropriate phase weighting information to the network device. The network device may control the phase of the phase shifter based on the phase weighting information to determine the downlink transmission beam. Based on the solutions provided in this application, it is possible to avoid using a large amount of resources for beam training to determine the transmission beam, it is possible to reduce the resource overhead, and it is possible to improve the resource utilization.

[0184] Embodiment 2 FIG. 15 is a schematic flowchart of a method for obtaining channel information according to Embodiment 2 of this application.

[0185] S1501: The network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device by using N antenna ports, and the beam directions of the reference signals sent by the multiple antenna ports are the same.

[0186] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives multiple reference signals from the network device.

[0187] Optionally, the N antenna ports may send a reference signal to the terminal device in one of a frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) method, a TDM method, a TD-CDM method, and a frequency-domain code division multiplexing (FD-CDM) method.

[0188] In a possible implementation, the N antenna ports may correspond to one CSI-RS resource.

[0189] It can be understood that the fact that N antenna ports can correspond to one CSI-RS resource means that the network device can transmit CSI-RS on the CSI-RS resource by using the corresponding N antenna ports.

[0190] In another possible implementation, N antenna ports correspond to multiple CSI-RS resources.

[0191] In other words, the network device transmits CSI-RS on at least one resource among multiple CSI-RS resources by using at least one antenna port within the N antenna ports. In other words, the network device transmits CSI-RS on multiple CSI-RS resources by using all of the N antenna ports.

[0192] For example, N antenna ports correspond to N CSI-RS resources, and each of the N CSI-RS resources corresponds to one antenna port. The network device may transmit a reference signal on one CSI-RS resource among the N CSI-RS resources by using one antenna port within the N antenna ports.

[0193] The network device configures the terminal device to measure the CSI-RS resources corresponding to the N antenna ports. When the N antenna ports correspond to different CSI-RS resources, the network device may indicate that the multiple CSI-RS resources have the same transmission beam direction.

[0194] For example, the network device may indicate that a plurality of CSI-RS resources have the same QCL type D relationship, or that a plurality of CSI-RS resources belong to one resource set, and the network device indicates that the CSI-RS resources within the CSI-RS set have a repeating relationship. For example, the repetition of the setting parameters in the setting information of the resource set is set to "on", that is, the repetition of the resources is configured to be in an enabled state indicating that the transmission beams of the CSI-RS resources within the resource set have the same beam direction.

[0195] S1502: The network device receives first information from the terminal device, and the first information indicates phase weighting information corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports of the network device, and the phase weighting information is used to control the phase shift of the phase shifters of the antenna ports.

[0196] In S1502, the terminal device determines phase weighting information corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports of the network device based on a plurality of received reference signals, and sends the first information to the network device, and the first information indicates phase weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna ports.

[0197] The following separately describes two cases where N antenna ports of the network device correspond to N CSI-RS resources and N antenna ports correspond to M CSI-RS resources.

[0198] Case 1: N antenna ports correspond to N CSI-RS resources.

[0199] The N CSI-RS resources are separate resources in N time units, and the network device sends CSI-RS on the N CSI-RS resources in N time units by using N antenna ports. Correspondingly, the terminal device continuously measures the N CSI-RS resources in N time units to obtain the channel information of the antenna port corresponding to each of the N CSI-RS resources, that is, to obtain the channel information corresponding to the N antenna ports.

[0200] Optionally, the N time units may be N consecutive time domain symbols, for example, N consecutive OFDM symbols.

[0201] Based on the channel information corresponding to the N antenna ports obtained by measurement, the terminal device may determine the phase weighting value corresponding to each of the N antenna ports and obtain a phase weighting sequence corresponding to the N antenna ports. The phase weighting sequence may be shown as follows.

[0202]

Equation

[0203] The phase weighting sequence includes N elements. One element corresponds to one antenna port and is the phase weighting value determined by the terminal device. The phase weighting sequence may also be called an N-dimensional combined weighting sequence corresponding to the N antenna ports.

[0204] The first information sent by the terminal device to the network device includes the phase weighting sequence corresponding to the N antenna ports, or the terminal device determines the corresponding identification information based on the phase weighting sequence corresponding to the N antenna ports in a predetermined set of phase weighting sequence candidates. The first information includes the identification information. However, the present application is not limited thereto.

[0205] In a specific implementation, the network device may send N reference signals to the terminal device on N reference resources at different instants by using different antenna arrays (or antenna plane arrays), and the beams used to send the N reference signals have the same or nearly the same direction (or orientation).

[0206] For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the network device may include two antenna arrays. One antenna array corresponds to one antenna port. The network device uses one antenna array to send reference signal 1 to the terminal device on reference signal resource 1 in the first time unit, that is, reference signal 1 is sent in both polarization directions of the antenna array, and the two polarization directions form one beam to send the reference signal. The network device uses the other antenna array to send reference signal 2 to the terminal device on reference signal resource 2 in the second time unit. The direction of the beam used by the network device to send reference signal 1 is the same as or close to the direction of the beam used by the network device to send reference signal 2. Optionally, the network device may send the reference signal by using an expanded beam (non-DFT beam).

[0207] Optionally, the terminal device may perform receiving beam training in multiple time units by using N antenna ports.

[0208] Since the network device sends multiple CSI-RSs in the same beam direction, the terminal device may perform receiving beam training of the terminal device in multiple time units by using the N antenna ports of the CSI-RS, and determine the receiving beam used by the terminal device for communication with the network device. Thereby, the time overhead and resource overhead can be reduced.

[0209] Case 2: The N antenna ports correspond to M CSI-RS resources.

[0210] N = 2M is used as an example. Specifically, each of the M CSI-RS resources includes two antenna ports, namely, the first antenna port and the second antenna port. The network device sends the M CSI-RS resources in M time units and uses the two antenna ports of one CSI-RS resource to send the CSI-RS to the terminal device at one time unit within the M time units.

[0211] The terminal device determines a phase weighting sequence, which can also be called a weighting sequence of combinations corresponding to the M first antenna ports and the M second antenna ports, and reports the phase weighting sequence to the network device. The phase weighting sequence corresponding to the M antenna ports can be shown as follows.

[0212] [Number] , i = 0, 1

[0213] i = 0 represents the phase weighting sequence corresponding to the M first antenna ports, and i = 1 represents the phase weighting sequence corresponding to the M second antenna ports.

[0214] In a possible implementation, the terminal device may report the phase weighting sequence corresponding to the M first antenna ports and the phase weighting sequence corresponding to the M second antenna ports to the network device separately, or the terminal device may report the weighting sequence of combinations to the network device. The weighting sequence of combinations is a sequence obtained after the phase weighting sequence corresponding to the M first antenna ports is combined with the phase weighting sequence corresponding to the M second antenna ports.

[0215] The first information sent by the terminal device to the network device includes a phase weighting sequence corresponding to M first antenna ports and a phase weighting sequence corresponding to M second antenna ports, or the first information includes a combined weighting sequence, or the first information includes identification information. The identification information is used to identify the phase weighting sequence corresponding to M first antenna ports and the phase weighting sequence corresponding to M second antenna ports, or to identify the combined weighting sequence. However, the present application is not limited thereto.

[0216] In a specific implementation, the network device may send M reference signals on M reference signal resources at different instants by using different antenna arrays (or called antenna plane arrays), and the beams used to send the M reference signal resources have the same or similar directions.

[0217] For example, as shown in FIG. 17, the network device may include two antenna arrays. The two polarization directions of one antenna array correspond to two antenna ports, and the two antenna arrays include all of the four antenna ports. The network device may send reference signal 1 to the terminal device on reference signal resource 1 in the first time unit by using one of the antenna arrays. The antenna ports in the two polarization directions of the antenna array correspond to the two antenna ports of reference signal resource 1. The network device sends reference signal 2 to the terminal device on reference signal resource 2 in the second time unit by using the other antenna array. The directions of the beams used by the network device to send the M reference signal resources are the same or similar. Optionally, the network device may send the aforementioned reference signals by using an expanded beam (non-DFT beam).

[0218] Optionally, in the above two cases, the terminal device may further send second information to the network device, and the second information is the following information of a plurality of antenna ports, that is, Signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), layer 1 signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (L1-SINR), layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or rank indicator (RI). including one or more of the above.

[0219] Optionally, the second information includes channel state information corresponding to N antenna ports, for example, L1-RSRP information corresponding to N antenna ports.

[0220] Optionally, the second information is associated with a phase weighting sequence reported by the terminal, or the second information is based on a phase weighting sequence reported by the terminal. For example, the reported L1-RSRP is associated with the reported phase weighting sequence, or the reported L1-RSRP is based on the reported phase weighting sequence.

[0221] Based on the above solution, the network device can send a reference signal by using an expanded beam. Therefore, the resource overhead caused to the terminal device through multiple beams by the transmission of the reference signal can be reduced. After the network device obtains the phase weighting sequence fed back by the terminal device, it is possible to determine the phase weighting value of the narrow beam supplied by the network device for the terminal device. As a result, the supply beam can be determined quickly when the resource overhead of beam training is reduced.

[0222] The method provided in the embodiments of this application is described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 17. The following describes the apparatus provided in the embodiments of this application. To implement the functions of the foregoing method provided in the embodiments of this application, each network element includes a hardware structure and / or a software module, and may implement the foregoing functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module. Whether a function among the foregoing functions is implemented in the manner of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module depends on the specific application of the technical solution and design constraints.

[0223] FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 18, the communication device 1800 may include a processing unit 1810 and a transceiver unit 1820.

[0224] In a possible design, the communication device 1800 may correspond to a terminal device in the embodiments of the foregoing method, or a chip configured for (or used for) the terminal device, or another device, module, circuit, unit, etc. that implements the method implemented by the terminal device.

[0225] The transceiver unit is configured to receive a plurality of reference signals from a network device. The processing unit is configured to determine channel information corresponding to a plurality of antenna unit groups of the network device based on the plurality of reference signals, and at least two of the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port. The transceiver unit is further configured to send first information to the network device, and the first information indicates channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0226] Optionally, the channel information of a plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoded pilot index PMI corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports, and the plurality of antenna ports include a plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0227] Optionally, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, or one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups belongs to one antenna port.

[0228] Optionally, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, and the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a plurality of reference signals from the network device in a plurality of time units.

[0229] Optionally, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a reference signal sent by the network device via one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups at one time unit within the plurality of time units, and the reference signals received at different time units in the plurality of time units come from different antenna unit groups of the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0230] Optionally, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a plurality of reference signals for each of the plurality of time units.

[0231] Optionally, the processing unit is specifically configured to determine the channel information of the plurality of antenna unit groups based on the plurality of reference signals, the quantity of the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the weighting sequence corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0232] Optionally, the channel information of the plurality of antenna unit groups includes digital weighting information of the antenna port, and the digital weighting information is used by the network device to perform digital signal processing on the transmission scheduled signal of the antenna port to which the plurality of antenna unit groups belong.

[0233] Optionally, the channel information of a plurality of antenna unit groups includes weight information of combinations corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups. The weight information of the combination is weight information obtained after the phase weight information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups is combined with the PMI corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups. The phase weight information is used by the network device to control the phase shift of the phase shifter of at least one antenna unit group.

[0234] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further particularly configured to receive configuration information from the network device. The configuration information indicates an antenna unit group included in at least one antenna port of the network device.

[0235] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to send second information to the network device. The second information includes one or more of the following information of the plurality of antenna unit groups, namely, signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or rank indicator (RI). It should be understood that the communication device 1800 may correspond to the terminal device in the methods 600 and 1500 in the embodiments of the present application. The communication device 1800 may include units configured to implement the methods implemented by the terminal device in the methods 600 and 1500 of FIGS. 6 and 15. In addition, the units in the communication device 1800, as well as the other operations and / or functions described above, are respectively used to implement the corresponding procedures of the methods 600 and 1500 of FIGS. 6 and 15.

[0236] Optionally, the communication device 1800 may further include a processing unit 1810. The processing unit 1810 may be configured to process instructions or data to implement corresponding operations.

[0237] When the communication device 1800 is a chip configured in (or used for) a terminal device, the transceiver unit 1820 in the communication device 1800 may be an input / output interface or circuit of the chip, and it should be further understood that the processing unit 1810 in the communication device 1800 may be a processor within the chip.

[0238] Optionally, the communication device 1800 may further include a storage unit 1830. The storage unit 1830 may be configured to store instructions or data. The processing unit 1810 may execute the instructions or data stored in the storage unit, and as a result, the communication device implements corresponding operations.

[0239] The transceiver unit 1820 in the communication device 1800 may be implemented via a communication interface (e.g., a transceiver or an input / output interface), and for example, it should be understood that it may correspond to the transceiver 1910 in the terminal device 1900 shown in FIG. 19. The processing unit 1810 in the communication device 1800 may be implemented via at least one processor, and for example, it may correspond to the processor 1920 in the terminal device 1900 shown in FIG. 19. Alternatively, the processing unit 1810 in the communication device 1800 may be implemented via at least one logic circuit. The storage unit 1830 in the communication device 1800 may correspond to the memory in the terminal device 1900 shown in FIG. 19.

[0240] It should be further understood that the specific process in which the unit performs the corresponding steps described above is described in detail in the embodiments of the foregoing method, and for the sake of brevity, the details are not described again herein.

[0241] In another possible design, the communication device 1800 may correspond to a network device in the embodiments of the foregoing method, or a chip configured in (or used for) a network device, or another device, module, circuit, unit, etc. that can implement the method implemented by the network device.

[0242] The transceiver unit is configured to send a reference signal to the terminal device by using a plurality of antenna unit groups, and at least two antenna unit groups within the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port. The transceiver unit is further configured to receive first information from the terminal device, and the first information indicates channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups. The processing unit is configured to determine channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups based on the first information.

[0243] Optionally, the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes phase weighting information corresponding to at least one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the phase weighting information is used by the network device to control the phase shift of the phase shifter of at least one antenna unit group.

[0244] Optionally, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, or one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups belongs to one antenna port.

[0245] Optionally, a plurality of antenna unit groups belong to one antenna port, and the transceiver unit is particularly configured to send a reference signal to the terminal device in a plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0246] Optionally, the transceiver unit is particularly configured to send a reference signal to the terminal device in one time unit within a plurality of time units by using one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the antenna unit groups used to send the reference signal in different time units within the plurality of time units are different.

[0247] Optionally, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send a reference signal to the terminal device for each of a plurality of time units by using a plurality of antenna unit groups, and the phase weighting sequences corresponding to different antenna unit groups within the plurality of antenna unit groups are orthogonal to each other, and one element within one phase weighting sequence is a phase weighting value corresponding to one antenna unit group in one time unit.

[0248] Optionally, the time difference between two adjacent time units within the plurality of time units is less than a threshold value, or two adjacent time units within the plurality of time units are continuous in time.

[0249] Optionally, the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoded row example index PMI corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports, and the plurality of antenna ports include the plurality of antenna unit groups.

[0250] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to send configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information indicates an antenna unit group included in at least one antenna port of the network device.

[0251] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive second information from the terminal device, and the second information includes one or more of the following information of the plurality of antenna unit groups, namely, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio SINR, reference signal received power RSRP, channel quality indicator CQI, and / or rank indicator RI.

[0252] It should be understood that the communication device 1800 may correspond to the network device in methods 600 and 1500 in the embodiments of the present application. The communication device 1800 may include units configured to implement the methods implemented by the network device in methods 600 and 1500 of FIGS. 6 and 15. In addition, the units within the communication device 1800, as well as the other operations and / or functions described above, are each used to implement the corresponding procedures of methods 600 and 1500 of FIGS. 6 and 15.

[0253] Optionally, the communication device 1800 may further include a processing unit 1810. The processing unit 1810 may be configured to process instructions or data to implement corresponding operations.

[0254] When the communication device 1800 is a chip configured as (or used for) a network device, it should be further understood that the transceiver unit 1820 within the communication device 1800 may be the input / output interface or circuit of the chip, and the processing unit 1810 within the communication device 1800 may be the processor within the chip.

[0255] Optionally, the communication device 1800 may further include a storage unit 1830. The storage unit 1830 may be configured to store instructions or data. The processing unit 1810 may execute the instructions or data stored in the storage unit, and as a result, the communication device implements the corresponding operations.

[0256] When the communication device 1800 is a network device, the transceiver unit 1820 in the communication device 1800 can be implemented via a communication interface (e.g., a transceiver or an input / output interface), and for example, can correspond to the transceiver 2010 in the network device 2000 shown in FIG. 20. It should be understood that the processing unit 1810 in the communication device 1800 may be implemented via at least one processor and, for example, can correspond to the processor 2020 in the network device 2000 shown in FIG. 20. The processing unit 1810 in the communication device 1800 may be implemented via at least one logic circuit.

[0257] The specific processes by which the unit performs the corresponding steps described above are described in detail in the embodiments of the method described above, and for the sake of brevity, it should be further understood that the details will not be described again herein.

[0258] FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of the structure 1900 of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 1900 can be used in the system shown in FIG. 1 to implement the functions of the terminal device in the embodiments of the method described above. As shown in the figure, the terminal device 1900 includes a processor 1920 and a transceiver 1910. Optionally, the terminal device 1900 further includes a memory. The processor 1920, the transceiver 1910, and the memory can communicate with each other via an internal connection path to transmit control signals and / or data signals. The memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor 1920 is configured to execute the computer program in the memory to control the transceiver 1910, thereby receiving and transmitting signals.

[0259] Processor 1920 and the memory may be integrated into one processing device. Processor 1920 is configured to execute the program code stored in the memory to implement the above-described functions. In a specific implementation, alternatively, the memory may be integrated with Processor 1920 or may be independent of Processor 1920. Processor 1920 may correspond to the processing unit of FIG. 18.

[0260] Transceiver 1910 may correspond to the transceiver unit of FIG. 18. Transceiver 1910 may include a receiver (or also called a receiver or receiving circuit) and a transmitter (or also called a transmitter or transmitting circuit). The receiver is configured to receive signals, and the transmitter is configured to transmit signals.

[0261] It should be understood that the terminal device 1900 shown in FIG. 19 can implement the processes related to the terminal device in the embodiments of the methods shown in FIGS. 6 and 15. The operations and / or functions of the modules within terminal device 1900 are for implementing the corresponding procedures in the above-described method embodiments separately. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the above-described method embodiments. To avoid repetition, the detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted herein.

[0262] Processor 1920 may be implemented inside the terminal device and configured to perform the actions described in the above-described method embodiments. Transceiver 1910 may be configured to perform the actions sent by the terminal device for a network device or to receive actions from the network device in the above-described method embodiments. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the above-described method embodiments. The details are not described again herein.

[0263] Optionally, terminal device 1900 may further include a power supply configured to supply power to various components or circuits within the terminal device.

[0264] In addition, to more fully implement the functions of the terminal device, the terminal device 1900 may further include an input / output device, for example, it may include one or more of an input unit, a display unit, an audio circuit, a camera, a sensor, etc., and the audio circuit may further include a speaker, a microphone, etc.

[0265] FIG. 6 and FIG. 15 are schematic diagrams of the structure of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. The network device 2000 can be used in the system shown in FIG. 1 to implement the functions of the network device in the embodiments of the foregoing method. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 15, the network device 2000 includes a processor 2020 and a transceiver 2010. Optionally, the network device 2000 further includes a memory. The processor 2020, the transceiver 2010, and the memory can communicate with each other via an internal connection path to transmit control signals and / or data signals. The memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor 2020 is configured to execute the computer program in the memory to control the transceiver 2010, thereby receiving and transmitting signals.

[0266] The processor 2020 and the memory may be integrated into one processing device. The processor 2020 is configured to execute the program code stored in the memory to implement the foregoing functions. In a specific implementation, alternatively, the memory may be integrated with the processor 2020 or may be independent of the processor 2020. The processor 2020 may correspond to the processing unit in FIG. 18.

[0267] The transceiver 2010 may correspond to the transceiver unit in FIG. 18. The transceiver 2010 may include a receiver (also called a receiver or a receiving circuit) and a transmitter (also called a transmitter or a transmitting circuit). The receiver is configured to receive signals, and the transmitter is configured to transmit signals.

[0268] It should be understood that the network device 2000 shown in FIGS. 6 and 15 can implement the processes associated with the network device in the embodiments of the method shown in FIGS. 6 and 15. The operations and / or functions of the modules within the network device 2000 are for implementing the corresponding procedures in the embodiments of the foregoing method separately. For details, please refer to the description in the embodiments of the foregoing method. To avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted herein.

[0269] It should be understood that the network device 2000 shown in FIGS. 6 and 15 can be an eNB or a qNB. Optionally, the network device includes network devices such as a CU, a DU, an AAU, etc. Optionally, the CU can be specifically classified into a CU-CP and a CU-UP. The specific architecture of the network device is not limited in this application.

[0270] It should be understood that the network device 2000 shown in FIGS. 6 and 15 can be a CU node or a CU-CP node.

[0271] The processor 2020 can be implemented inside the network device and configured to perform the actions described in the embodiments of the foregoing method. The transceiver 2010 can be configured to perform the action of sending by the network device for the terminal device or to perform the receiving action from the terminal device in the embodiments of the foregoing method. For details, please refer to the description in the embodiments of the foregoing method. Details are not described again herein.

[0272] One embodiment of this application further provides a processing device including a processor and a (communication) interface. The processor is configured to perform the method in any one of the embodiments of the foregoing method.

[0273] It should be understood that the processing device can be one or more chips. For example, the processing device can be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processor unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), a micro controller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or another integrated chip.

[0274] Based on the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application further provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes computer program code. When the computer program code is executed by one or more processors, the device including the processor is enabled to implement the method in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 15.

[0275] In embodiments of the present application, all or part of the technical solutions provided may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement the technical solution, all or part of the technical solution may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the procedures or functions according to the embodiments of the present invention are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, a network device, a terminal device, a core network device, a machine learning device, or another programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, or digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, or microwave) manner. The computer-readable storage medium may be any usable medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device integrating one or more usable media, such as a server or a data center. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., digital video disc (DVD)), a semiconductor medium, etc.

[0276] Based on the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores program code. When the program code is executed by one or more processors, the device including the processors is enabled to implement the method in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 15.

[0277] Based on the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application further provides a system including the one or more network devices described above. The system may further include the one or more terminal devices described above.

[0278] In some embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the described embodiments of the devices are merely examples. For example, the division into units is only a logical function division, and in actual implementation, there may be other divisions. For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined, or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not implemented. In addition, the described mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be implemented by using some interfaces. The indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

[0279] The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and the parts shown as units may or may not be physical units. They may be provided in one location or distributed over a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on actual requirements to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments.

[0280] The foregoing description is only a specific embodiment of the present application and does not limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification or substitution that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application shall fall within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall comply with the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for acquiring channel information, comprising: a step of transmitting a reference signal to a terminal device by using a plurality of antenna unit groups by a network device, wherein at least two antenna unit groups within the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to the same one antenna port; a step of receiving first information from the terminal device by the network device, wherein the first information indicates channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups; and the step of transmitting the reference signal to the terminal device by using a plurality of antenna unit groups by the network device comprises: a method for acquiring channel information, the method comprising a step of transmitting the reference signal to the terminal device in a plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups by the network device.

2. The channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes phase weighting information corresponding to at least one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the phase weighting information is used by the network device to control a phase shift of a phase shifter of the at least one antenna unit group. The method according to claim 1.

3. The step of transmitting the reference signal to the terminal device in a plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups by the network device comprises: a step of transmitting a reference signal to the terminal device in one time unit within the plurality of time units by using one antenna unit group within the plurality of antenna unit groups, wherein different antenna unit groups are used to transmit the reference signal in different time units within the plurality of time units. The method according to claim 1.

4. The step of transmitting the reference signal to the terminal device in a plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups by the network device comprises: A step of sending the reference signal to the terminal device for each of the plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups by the network device, wherein weighting sequences corresponding to different antenna unit groups in the plurality of antenna unit groups are orthogonal to each other, and one element in one weighting sequence is a phase weighting value corresponding to one antenna unit group in one time unit, the method according to claim 1, comprising the step.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a time difference between two adjacent time units within the plurality of time units is smaller than a threshold value, or two adjacent time units within the plurality of time units are continuous in time.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoded pilot index PMI corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports.

7. The method A step of sending configuration information to the terminal device by the network device, wherein the configuration information indicates an antenna unit group belonging to at least one antenna port of the network device, the method according to claim 1, further comprising the step.

8. A step of receiving a plurality of reference signals from a network device by a terminal device; A step of determining, by the terminal device, channel information corresponding to a plurality of antenna unit groups of the network device based on the plurality of reference signals, wherein at least two antenna unit groups among the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to the same one antenna port; A step of sending first information to the network device by the terminal device, wherein the first information indicates the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups; and The step of receiving a plurality of reference signals from a network device by a terminal device is A step of receiving the plurality of reference signals from the network device by the terminal device in a plurality of time units A channel measurement method.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoded pilot index PMI corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports.

10. The step of determining, by the terminal device, channel information corresponding to a plurality of antenna unit groups of the network device based on the plurality of reference signals includes: The step of determining, by the terminal device, the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups based on the plurality of reference signals, the number of the plurality of antenna unit groups, and a weighting sequence corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups The method according to claim 8, comprising:

11. The channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes combined weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the combined weighting information is weighting information obtained after phase weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups is combined with a PMI corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups, The method according to claim 8, wherein the phase weighting information is used by the network device to control a phase shift of a phase shifter of at least one antenna unit group.

12. The method includes: The step of receiving, by the terminal device, configuration information from the network device, wherein the configuration information indicates an antenna unit group belonging to at least one antenna port of the network device. The method according to claim 8 further includes this step.

13. An apparatus for acquiring channel information, comprising: A transceiver unit configured to send a reference signal to a terminal device by using a plurality of antenna unit groups, wherein at least two antenna unit groups within the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to the same one antenna port, The transceiver unit is configured to receive first information from the terminal device, and the first information indicates channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups, and a transceiver unit; A processing unit configured to determine the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups based on the first information And comprising The transmitting and receiving unit is further configured to send the reference signal to the terminal device in a plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups, and is a device for acquiring channel information.

14. The channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes phase weighting information corresponding to at least one antenna unit group in the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the phase weighting information is used by a network device to control the phase shift of a phase shifter of the at least one antenna unit group. The device according to claim 13.

15. The transmitting and receiving unit is specifically configured to send a reference signal to the terminal device in one time unit within the plurality of time units by using one antenna unit group in the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the antenna unit groups used to send the reference signal in different time units within the plurality of time units are different. The device according to claim 13.

16. The transmitting and receiving unit is specifically configured to send the reference signal to the terminal device for each of the plurality of time units by using the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the weighting sequences corresponding to different antenna unit groups in the plurality of antenna unit groups are orthogonal to each other, and one element in one weighting sequence is a phase weighting value corresponding to one antenna unit group in one time unit. The device according to claim 13.

17. The time difference between two adjacent time units within the plurality of time units is smaller than a threshold value, or the two adjacent time units within the plurality of time units are continuous in time. The device according to claim 13.

18. The channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoding row example index PMI corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports. The device according to claim 13.

19. The transmitting and receiving unit is further configured to send configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information indicates an antenna unit group belonging to at least one antenna port of a network device. The device according to claim 13.

20. A transmitting and receiving unit configured to receive a plurality of reference signals from a network device; A processing unit configured to determine channel information corresponding to a plurality of antenna unit groups of the network device based on the plurality of reference signals Comprising, at least two antenna unit groups of the plurality of antenna unit groups belong to the same one antenna port The transceiver unit is further configured to send first information to the network device, and the first information indicates the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups The transceiver unit is a channel measurement device specifically configured to receive the plurality of reference signals from the network device in a plurality of time units

21. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes a precoded row example index PMI corresponding to a plurality of antenna ports

22. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to determine the channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups based on the plurality of reference signals, the quantity of the plurality of antenna unit groups, and a weighting sequence corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups

23. The channel information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups includes combined weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups, and the combined weighting information is weighting information obtained after phase weighting information corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups is combined with a PMI corresponding to the plurality of antenna unit groups The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the phase weighting information is used by the network device to control a phase shift of a phase shifter of at least one antenna unit group

24. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to receive configuration information from the network device, and the configuration information indicates an antenna unit group belonging to at least one antenna port of the network device

25. A communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory The memory is configured to store programs or instructions The at least one processor is configured to execute the program or the instructions, whereby the apparatus is a communication apparatus that implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

26. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

27. A computer program comprising instructions for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

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