Beam management method, network device and terminal

Abstract

The present invention discloses a beam management method, a network device and a terminal. In the present invention, the network device configures an SRS resource for a terminal, and the network device transmits instruction information to the terminal, which instructs the terminal to select a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on the SRS resource. In this way, the transmission beam of the terminal and the reception beam of the base station are managed more flexibly and efficiently, and transmission beam sweep of the terminal and / or reception beam sweep of the base station are realized.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority based on a Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on June 16, 2017, bearing application number 201710459346.1 and entitled "Beam management method, network equipment and terminal," the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

[0002] The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and more particularly to a beam management method for a MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) channel, a network device, and a terminal. [Background technology]

[0003] Considering the importance of MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) technology for improving peak rates and system spectrum utilization, radio access technology standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Advanced LTE (LTE-A) are built on MIMO and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technologies. Since the performance improvement of MIMO technology is due to the spatial freedom available in multi-antenna systems, the most important evolutionary aspect of standardized MIMO technology is its expanded dimensionality.

[0004] LTE Rel-8 can support up to four MIMO transmission layers. LTE Rel-9 focuses on enhanced Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) technology, supporting up to four downlink data layers in MU-MIMO transmission in Transmission Mode (TM)-8. LTE Rel-10 introduces support for eight antenna ports, further improving the spatial resolution of channel state information and further extending the transmission capacity of Single-User MIMO (SU-MIMO) to up to eight data layers. LTE Rel-13 and Rel-14 introduce Full-Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO) technology, supporting 32 ports, enabling full-dimensional and vertical beamforming.

[0005] To further improve MIMO technology, antenna massive array technology has been introduced into mobile communication systems. In the case of a base station, an all-digital massive antenna array can include 128, 256, or 512 antenna elements and 128, 256, or 512 transceivers, with each antenna element connected to one of the transceivers. Pilot signals are transmitted from 128, 256, or 512 antenna ports so that terminals can measure and provide feedback on channel state information. Terminals can also be configured with antenna arrays containing 32 or 64 antenna elements. Beamforming on both the base station and terminal side can achieve significant beamforming gain to compensate for signal attenuation caused by beamforming. Due to path loss during communication, especially in high-frequency bands, such as 30 GHz, the coverage area of ​​wireless signals is very limited. The coverage area of ​​wireless signals can be extended to the available area using antenna massive array technology.

[0006] In New Radio (NR) systems, to achieve beamforming gains for the base station and the terminal, the beamforming of the terminal's transmit beam should be considered when the terminal transmits in the uplink. A base station can configure one or more Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resources for a terminal, and the terminal transmits an SRS signal using one or more transmit beams in each SRS resource. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] To optimize the beamforming gain of the base station and the terminal, the terminal's transmit beam and the base station's receive beam need to be managed for uplink transmission, thereby optimizing the transmit beam and the terminal receive beam. In existing protocols and communication systems, no beam management instruction information is transmitted from the network side to the terminal. If the network side could transmit transmit beam instruction information to the terminal, the terminal's transmit beam and the base station's receive beam could be swept more flexibly and efficiently.

[0008] Embodiments of the present invention provide a beam management method, network equipment, and terminal, which manage the transmitting beam of the terminal and the receiving beam of the base station more flexibly and efficiently, and realize the transmitting beam sweep of the terminal and / or the receiving beam sweep of the base station. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] According to a first aspect, a beam management method applied to a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: The network equipment includes a step of configuring an SRS resource for a terminal, and a step of the network equipment transmitting instruction information to the terminal, the instruction information instructing the terminal to select a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource.

[0010] Optionally, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, the zero state indicating that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource.

[0011] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by a network device.

[0012] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0013] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0014] Optionally, said indication information further comprises an identification of a transmit beam indicated by said network equipment.

[0015] Optionally, said instruction information is encoded as one code state.

[0016] Optionally, the network equipment pre-agreeds with the terminal that the terminal will transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource.

[0017] Optionally, said network equipment is adapted to: The instruction information may include a transmission beam identification information indicating that the SRS is to be transmitted on the SRS resource, and the instruction information may include a transmission beam identification information indicating that the SRS is to be transmitted on the SRS resource.

[0018] Optionally, for an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network equipment receives the SRS on the SRS resource using the same receiving beam.

[0019] Optionally, for an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network equipment receives the SRS on the SRS resource using a different receiving beam.

[0020] Optionally, the indication information further indicates grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device.

[0021] Optionally, the network equipment receives SRS on the SRS resources of the same group using the same receive beam, and receives SRS on the SRS resources of different groups using different receive beams.

[0022] Optionally, the identification information of the transmission beam is an SRS resource indication (SRI) of an SRS resource configured for the terminal by the network equipment.

[0023] According to a second aspect, a beam management method applicable to a terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: the terminal receiving instruction information transmitted by a network device; and the terminal determining a transmission beam to be used on the SRS resource according to the instruction information transmitted by the network, and transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam, wherein the instruction information instructs the terminal to select a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS signal on the SRS resource configured for the terminal by the network equipment.

[0024] Optionally, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, the zero state indicating that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource.

[0025] Optionally, when transmitting an SRS on the SRS resources using the transmission beam, the terminal transmits an SRS using different transmission beams on different SRS resources among the SRS resources.

[0026] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by a network device.

[0027] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0028] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0029] Optionally, said indication information further comprises an identification of a transmit beam indicated by said network equipment.

[0030] Optionally, said instruction information is encoded as one code state.

[0031] Optionally, the network equipment pre-agreeds with the terminal that the terminal will transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource.

[0032] Optionally, the network equipment pre-agreeds with the terminal to transmit SRS information on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam indicating to transmit SRS on the SRS resource.

[0033] Optionally, the terminal transmits the SRS using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource.

[0034] Optionally, the indication information further indicates grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device.

[0035] Optionally, the terminal transmits the SRS using different transmission beams on different SRS resources in the same group.

[0036] According to a third aspect, a beam management network device according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a setting module for setting an SRS resource for a terminal, and a transmitting module for transmitting instruction information to the terminal, wherein the instruction information instructs the terminal to select a transmitting beam for transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource.

[0037] Optionally, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, the zero state indicating that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource.

[0038] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by a network device.

[0039] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0040] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0041] Optionally, said indication information further comprises an identification of a transmit beam indicated by said network equipment.

[0042] Optionally, said instruction information is encoded as one code state.

[0043] Optionally, the network equipment pre-agreed with the terminal that the terminal will transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the indication information is It further includes a transmit beam identification indicating that the SRS is to be transmitted on the resource.

[0044] Optionally, the network equipment pre-agreeds with the terminal to transmit SRS information on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam indicating to transmit SRS on the SRS resource.

[0045] Optionally, the indication information further indicates grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device.

[0046] According to a fourth aspect, in a terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention, a network device configures an SRS resource for the terminal, and the terminal comprises: a receiving module for receiving instruction information transmitted by the network device; and a transmitting module for determining a transmission beam to be used on the SRS resource according to the instruction information transmitted by the network, and transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam, wherein the instruction information indicates that the terminal selects a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS signal on the SRS resource.

[0047] Optionally, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, the zero state indicating that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource.

[0048] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by a network device.

[0049] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0050] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0051] Optionally, said indication information further comprises an identification of a transmit beam indicated by said network equipment.

[0052] Optionally, said instruction information is encoded as one code state.

[0053] Optionally, the network equipment pre-agreeds with the terminal that the terminal will transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource.

[0054] Optionally, the network equipment pre-agreeds with the terminal to transmit SRS information on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam indicating to transmit SRS on the SRS resource.

[0055] Optionally, the indication information further indicates grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device.

[0056] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer device according to one embodiment of the present invention, the device comprising a processor and a memory, the processor configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory to: Configuring a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource for the terminal; Instruction information is transmitted to the terminal, and the instruction information instructs the terminal to select a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on the SRS resource.

[0057] Optionally, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, the zero state indicating that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource.

[0058] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by a network device.

[0059] Optionally, the information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0060] Optionally, the information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0061] Optionally, said indication information further comprises an identification of a transmit beam indicated by said network equipment.

[0062] Optionally, said instruction information is encoded as one code state.

[0063] Optionally, the memory stores the following information agreed with the terminal: the terminal transmits the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam indicating that the SRS is to be transmitted on the SRS resource.

[0064] Optionally, the memory stores the following information agreed with the terminal: information for the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam indicating to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource.

[0065] Optionally, the processor is further configured to receive the SRS on the SRS resource using the same receiving beam as an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource.

[0066] Optionally, the processor is further configured to receive an SRS on the SRS resource using a different receiving beam for an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource.

[0067] Optionally, the indication information further indicates grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device.

[0068] Optionally, the processor is further configured to: The SRS is received using a receiving beam, and different receiving beams are used to receive the SRS in different groups of SRS resources.

[0069] Optionally, the identification information of the transmission beam is an SRS resource indication (SRI) of an SRS resource configured for the terminal by the network equipment.

[0070] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a computing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the device comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory to: receiving instruction information transmitted by a network device, the instruction information indicating that the terminal selects a transmission beam for transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) signal on an SRS resource configured for the terminal by the network device; According to the instruction information sent by the network, a transmission beam to be used on the SRS resource is determined, and an SRS is transmitted on the SRS resource using the transmission beam.

[0071] Optionally, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, the zero state indicating that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource.

[0072] Optionally, the processor transmits the SRS using different transmit beams on different SRS resources among the SRS resources.

[0073] Optionally, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by a network device.

[0074] Optionally, the information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0075] Optionally, the information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource according to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0076] Optionally, said indication information further comprises an identification of a transmit beam indicated by said network equipment.

[0077] Optionally, said instruction information is encoded as one code state.

[0078] Optionally, the memory stores the following information agreed upon with the network equipment: the terminal transmits the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam indicating that the SRS is to be transmitted on the SRS resource.

[0079] Optionally, the memory stores the following information agreed with the network device: information for the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device; It further includes identification information of the transmission beam indicating that the RS is to be transmitted.

[0080] Optionally, the processor transmits a transmit beam SRS in a corresponding transmit beam group using a transmit beam specifically indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource.

[0081] Optionally, the indication information further indicates grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device.

[0082] Optionally, the processor specifically transmits the SRS using different transmit beams on different SRS resources within the same group.

[0083] According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program configured to, when executed by a processor, perform the steps of the method of the embodiment according to the first or second aspect. [Effects of the Invention]

[0084] One or more technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention have at least the following technical effects or advantages:

[0085] The base station may transmit to the terminal on the SRS resource an indication of the transmit beam to be used, which helps the network control the sweep of the terminal's transmit beam and the base station's receive beam. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0086] [Figure 1]1 is a first flowchart of a beam management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 10 is a second flowchart of a beam management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0087] In order to more efficiently perform the transmit beam sweep of a terminal and the receive beam sweep of a base station, the general idea of ​​the technical solution according to the embodiment of the present invention is as follows: In a beam management method, a network device and a terminal, the network device configures an SRS resource for the terminal, and the network device sends instruction information to the terminal, which instructs the terminal to select a transmit beam for transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource.

[0088] In order to better understand the above technical solution, the above technical solution will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings and in relation to specific embodiments thereof.

[0089] In an embodiment of the present invention, there is a transmitting device (ie, network equipment) and a receiving device (ie, terminal), and downlink transmission and uplink reception can be performed between the transmitting device and the receiving device accessing the transmitting device.

[0090] In particular, the transmitting device may be a base station or another type of transmission point device, and the receiving device may be a terminal (or user equipment). Of course, they are not limited thereto, for example, the transmitting device may alternatively be a terminal that may constitute another terminal. Alternatively, the transmitting device may include multiple network nodes. The network nodes may include wireless It may contain only frequency components (such as a Remote Radio Unit (RRU)) or both baseband and radio frequency components (such as an active antenna). A network node may contain only baseband components (such as a Baseband Unit (BBU)). Alternatively, it may not contain digital and / or radio frequency functionality at the air interface layer, but may be responsible only for signal processing at higher layers, and the baseband processing at the air interface layer may be located in the active antenna. Alternatively, many other network implementations are possible.

[0091] A terminal (User Equipment, UE), also referred to as terminal equipment, mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal, can communicate with one or more core networks via a radio access network (RAN). For example, a terminal can be a mobile phone (or "cellular"), a computer including a mobile terminal, or the like. Alternatively, a terminal can be a portable, pocket, handheld, built-in, or in-computer or vehicle mobile device that exchanges voice and data via a radio access network. Alternatively, a terminal in an embodiment of the present invention can be a device-to-device (D2D) terminal or a machine-to-machine (M2M) terminal. In an embodiment of the present invention, the network equipment and the terminal are not limited thereto.

[0092] In an embodiment of the present invention, a network device may specify one or more transmission beams, and the number of beams is not limited to a specific number in the embodiment of the present invention. For example, the network device may indicate the transmission beam specified by the network device using an SRI. If multiple antenna ports are configured for an SRS resource corresponding to the SRI and a terminal previously used different transmission beams at different antenna ports in an SRS transmission on the SRS resource, the transmission beams indicated by the SRI correspond to the multiple transmission beams previously used by the terminal at different antenna ports in an SRS transmission on the SRS resource. Similarly, a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam specified by a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be a transmission beam group corresponding to one beam or a transmission beam group corresponding to multiple beams. The embodiment of the present invention does not limit the number of beams the transmission beam group corresponds to. For example, the network device may indicate one or more transmission beams specified by the network device using an SRI, and multiple antenna ports are configured for an SRS resource corresponding to the SRI. If the terminal previously used different transmission beams at different antenna ports in SRS transmission on the SRS resource, the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the SRI corresponds to the transmission beam group corresponding to the multiple transmission beams that the terminal previously used at different antenna ports in SRS transmission on the SRS resource.

[0093] As shown in FIG. 1, the beam management method applied to the network equipment according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps.

[0094] In S101, the network device sets an SRS resource for the terminal.

[0095] At S102, the network device transmits instruction information to the terminal, where the instruction information instructs the terminal to select a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource.

[0096] Since the instruction information in step S102 is changed, the beam management method according to the embodiment can be particularly performed in the following manner.

[0097] In Scheme 1, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, which indicates that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource. For example, the indication information includes information indicating that the transmission beam for transmitting an SRS by the terminal is not restricted by a network device. The specific state of the indication information is, for example, state 000 (the state of the indication information is expressed in a binary system) in Tables 1 to 6 (this is only an example, and the specific state of the indication information can alternatively be expressed as another value, for example, 111, 00, etc.).

[0098] Specifically, after the network device sends the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal can transmit the SRS on one or more SRS resources currently configured by the network device using any transmission beam. For example, the network device configures multiple SRS resources for the terminal, and the terminal transmits the SRS on different SRS resources using different transmission beams. That is, the transmission beam is swept (beam sweeping). When the terminal transmits the SRS on different SRS resources using different transmission beams, the receiving end of the network device receives the SRS using the same reception beam (Rx beam), and determines the optimal transmission beam for the terminal among the reception beams corresponding to the network device, so that the transmission beam of the terminal is swept.

[0099] In scheme 2, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device and identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network device. The instruction information can be encoded as one code state. For example, one code state of the instruction information indicates information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device included in the instruction information and identification information of one of the transmission beams indicated by the network device.

[0100] For example, code state 1100 of the instruction information in Table 3 indicates that the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information is the transmission beam corresponding to the SRS resource with SRI = 5. Then, the terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam in the transmission beam group.

[0101] Alternatively, the instruction information may include two components, i.e., first instruction information and second instruction information, and the network device may transmit the first instruction information and the second instruction information to the terminal simultaneously or sequentially. The specific transmission order of the first instruction information and the second instruction information is not limited herein. The first instruction information may be code state 0 in Table 6, and the second instruction information may be one of code states 001 to 010 in Table 1. Specifically, for example, code state 010 in the first instruction information indicates SRI=1, and code state 1 in the second instruction information indicates that the terminal uses a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam instructed by the base station. Code state 010 in the first instruction information and code state 1 in the second instruction information jointly indicate the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information as a transmission beam corresponding to the SRS resource with SRI=1. Then, the terminal transmits SRS on the configured SRS resource using a transmission beam in the transmission beam group.

[0102] Specifically, after the network device sends the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal transmits the SRS on each SRS resource using a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device. The mapping relationship between the beam and the transmission beam group used by the terminal is determined by the terminal, pre-agreed with the terminal by the network equipment, or transmitted by the network equipment to the terminal by signaling. If there are many mapping relationships between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the transmission beam group used by the terminal, the network equipment notifies the terminal of one of the mapping relationships by signaling, or the mapping indication information is implicitly included in the indication information. In Table 3, states 1000 to 1010 of the indication information represent the first mapping relationship, and states 1011-1111 represent the second mapping relationship (the mapping relationship is not specifically shown in the table).

[0103] The mapping relationship refers to corresponding groups of transmission beams having the same or similar width as the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment. For example, the network equipment currently configures N SRS resources for the terminal, and the terminal transmits SRS using N transmission beams with the same width as the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment according to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment upon receiving the instruction information. These N transmission beams may or may not include the transmission beam currently indicated by the network equipment. As an example, the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment is transmission beam number K, and the terminal is currently configured with four SRS resources by the network equipment, so the terminal transmits SRS using the (K-1)th, Kth, (K+1)th, and (K+2)th transmission beams. This mapping relationship can be applied to beam sweeping at each level. For example, in a scenario where there are a total of M transmission beams for the terminal, when the first-level beam is swept, if the base station configures N SRS resources for the terminal, the terminal divides these M transmission beams into N groups, and the last transmission beam group contains

number

number

number

number

number

[0104] Another mapping relationship indicates that the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment corresponds to a narrower transmission beam group, and the terminal transmits SRS on different SRS resources configured for the terminal using the transmission beam of the transmission beam group. In this manner, the terminal can perform finer local beam sweeping with the beam sweep of the transmission beam group. This mapping relationship can also be considered as beam sweeping at each level. Beam sweeping at the first level can be performed with a wider transmission beam. For example, a first-level base station configures N SRS resources for the terminal. The terminal selects one beam from each beam group and transmits SRS on one SRS resource. After receiving these SRSs, the network equipment transmits instruction information including SRI=n (e.g., SRI=5 in Table 3) to the terminal, indicating the beam corresponding to the nth SRS resource. K SRS resources are configured for the terminal. The terminal transmits SRS using a beam from a group containing K more directional (narrower) beams corresponding to the beam corresponding to the nth SRS resource on the K SRS resources. In this manner, transmit beam sweeping can be performed with greater accuracy than beam sweeping at the first level, provided that the network devices receive these SRSs using the same receive beam, i.e., the network devices receive the SRSs on the SRS resources using the same receive beam.

[0105] In method 3, the network equipment pre-agreeds with the terminal that the terminal will transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of the transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource (e.g., the SRI shown in Table 1 in particular).

[0106] After the network device sends the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal receives the instruction information, obtains the identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the network device, and selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on each SRS resource according to the identification information based on a pre-agreed rule. This is information for transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0107] The terminal transmits the SRS using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource. The receiving end of the network equipment receives the SRS using the same reception beam (Rx beam) and determines the optimal transmission beam for the terminal corresponding to the reception beam of the network equipment, so that the transmission beam of the terminal is swept. The same reception beam may be the optimal reception beam previously selected by the network equipment or a reception beam determined by the network equipment in another manner.

[0108] The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment of the terminal and the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment may be the same as the mapping relationship in Scheme 2, so a duplicated description will be omitted here. Similarly, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the corresponding transmission beam group may be determined by the terminal, agreed upon in advance between the network equipment and the terminal, or received by the terminal from the network equipment by signaling.

[0109] In Scheme 4, the indication information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device. In particular, refer to state 10 of the indication information in Table 4. For example, state 10 of the indication information in Table 4 indicates that the terminal transmits an SRS using a transmission beam group corresponding to a specified transmission beam, but the indication information does not include SRI information.

[0110] In the case of the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information), the instruction information does not include the identification information, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information) is transmitted to the terminal by the network equipment in another manner. For example, the base station individually transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the identification information of the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0111] After the transmission module of the network equipment transmits the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal receives the instruction information, and the terminal obtains the identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the base station, and the terminal transmits the SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam in the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0112] The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment of the terminal and the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment may be the same as the mapping relationship in Scheme 2, so duplicate explanations will be omitted here.

[0113] In the above methods 1 to 4, for an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using the same receiving beam.

[0114] In the above methods 2 to 4, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the corresponding transmission beam group can be determined by the terminal, or can be agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or can be transmitted from the network equipment to the terminal by signaling.

[0115] In method 5, the instruction information is to use a transmission beam indicated by the network device. The instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device and identification information of a transmission beam indicated by the network device. The instruction information can be encoded as one code state. For example, one code state of the instruction information indicates that the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device and information indicating the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the identification information of one of the transmission beams indicated by the network device. For example, code state 1100 of the instruction information in Table 3 indicates that the instruction information includes a transmission beam specified by the base station, which corresponds to an SRS resource with SRI=5. The terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam.

[0116] Alternatively, the instruction information may include two components, i.e., first instruction information and second instruction information, and the network device may transmit the first instruction information and the second instruction information to the terminal simultaneously or sequentially. The specific transmission order of the first instruction information and the second instruction information is not limited herein. The first instruction information may be code state 1 in Table 6, and the second instruction information may be one of code states 001 to 010 in Table 1. Specifically, for example, code state 010 in the first instruction information indicates SRI=1, and code state 1 in the second instruction information indicates that the terminal uses a transmission beam instructed by the base station. Code state 010 in the first instruction information and code state 1 in the second instruction information jointly indicate the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information, which corresponds to the SRS resource with SRI=1. The terminal transmits SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam.

[0117] Specifically, the network device transmits instruction information to the terminal, and the terminal receives the instruction information and transmits the SRS using the transmission beam indicated by the network device on one or more SRS resources currently configured by the network device.

[0118] For example, the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam instructed by the network device, and the identification information, for example, SRI information indicating the state of the instruction information, where SRI indicates the SRS resource number used by the terminal to previously transmit the SRS. For details, see Table 2. For example, states 001-110 in Table 2. After the terminal determines the SRI information, it transmits the SRS using a transmission beam on an SRS resource corresponding to the SRI among all SRS resources currently set by the network device. In addition, multiple code states can represent the same value of SRI. For example, states 001 and 010 of the instruction information can represent SRI=0.

[0119] The instruction information indicates how the terminal selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment can be transmitted separately. For example, the network equipment further transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0120] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0121] In method 6, the network device communicates with the terminal in advance to transmit SRS information on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device. Agreed, the instruction information includes the identification information of a transmission beam (e.g., SRI shown in Table 1 in particular) indicating to transmit SRS on the SRS resource.

[0122] After the network device sends the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal receives the instruction information, obtains the identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the network device, and selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on each SRS resource according to the identification information based on a pre-agreed rule, that is, the pre-agreed rule is information for the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam indicated by the network device.

[0123] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0124] In Scheme 7, the indication information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device. In particular, reference may be made to state 10 of the indication information in Table 4 or state 01 of the indication information in Table 5. For example, state 01 of the indication information in Table 4 indicates that the terminal transmits an SRS on a specified transmission beam, but the indication information does not include SRI information.

[0125] In the case of the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information), the instruction information does not include the identification information, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information) is transmitted to the terminal by the network equipment in another manner. For example, the base station individually transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the identification information of the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0126] Upon receiving the instruction information transmitted by the network equipment, the terminal subsequently selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS according to the acquired SRI information.

[0127] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0128] In Method 8, the instruction information includes information indicating that SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device are grouped and information indicating that the network device does not restrict a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS of the terminal. Here, the information indicating that a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS of the terminal is not restricted, i.e., the instruction information indicates that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on the SRS resource. The terminal can transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using any transmission beam. The SRS resource grouping information (i.e., a method for grouping SRS resources) can be determined by the terminal, or can be agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or can be transmitted from the network device to the terminal by signaling.

[0129] When the resource grouping information is signaled to the terminal by the network device, the network device carries the SRS resource grouping information in the indication information. Alternatively, the SRS resource grouping information may be transmitted to the terminal using a transmission signal different from the signal used to transmit the indication information. The terminal transmits the SRS using any transmission beam on one or more SRS resources currently set by the network device upon receiving the indication information.

[0130] For example, the network device may agree in advance with the terminal that the grouping of SRS resources is determined according to the number of transmission beams waiting to be swept reported from the terminal to the network device and the number of SRS resources currently configured by the network device. If the network device currently configures M SRS resources and the number of transmission beams waiting to be swept reported from the terminal to the network device is N, then the first, second, ..., and Nth SRS resources are grouped together, and the (N+1)th, (N+2)th, ..., and 2Nth SRS resources are grouped together.

[0131] If the instruction includes information indicating grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device, regardless of how the terminal obtains the SRS resource grouping information (for example, the SRS resource grouping information is determined by the terminal, or is agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or is transmitted from the network device to the terminal by signaling, or any other manner in which the terminal can know the SRS resource grouping information as would be conceivable by a person skilled in the art), the terminal can transmit using different transmit beams on different SRS resources of the same group, thereby enabling transmission beam sweeping. The network device receives SRS on SRS resources of the same group using the same receive beam, and receives SRS on SRS resources of different groups using different receive beams.

[0132] According to this solution, the network device's receiving beam and the terminal's transmitting beam can be swept. In another implementation, the network device and the terminal agree on a rule for grouping SRS resources in advance, and the network device notifies the terminal by signaling the number of SRS resource groups configured for the terminal. For example, to notify the terminal that the SRS resources configured for the terminal are grouped into K groups, the terminal may, according to the agreed SRS resource grouping rule, define the 1st, 1st, 2nd, ..., and Mth SRS resources (the 1st group, a total of K groups) as one group, and the (N+1)th, (N+2)th, ..., and 2Mth SRS resources (the 2nd group, a total of K groups) as one group. Alternatively, the state of the indication information includes grouping information of the SRS resources configured for the terminal. For example, the state 001-010 of the indication information indicates only one SRS resource group, and the state 011-100 indicates two SRS resource groups (not shown in the table).

[0133] In each of the above specific implementations of the beam management method, the identification information of the transmission beam may be, in particular, SRS resource indication (SRI) information of the SRS resource configured by the network equipment for the terminal.

[0134] As shown in FIG. 2, the beam management method according to the second embodiment of the present invention is applicable to a terminal and includes the following steps:

[0135] In S201, the terminal receives instruction information transmitted by a network device, and the instruction information instructs the terminal to select a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS signal on an SRS resource configured for the terminal by the network device.

[0136] In S202, the terminal determines a transmission beam to be used on the SRS resource according to the instruction information sent by the network, and transmits an SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam.

[0137] Since the instruction information in step S202 is changed, the beam management method according to this embodiment can be particularly implemented in the following manner.

[0138] In Scheme 1, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, which indicates that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource. For example, the indication information includes information indicating that a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS by the terminal is not restricted by a network device. For example, the specific state of the indication information is state 000 (the state of the indication information is expressed in a binary system) in Tables 1 to 6 (this is only an example, and the specific state of the indication information can alternatively be expressed as another value, such as 111, 00, etc.).

[0139] Specifically, after the terminal receives transmission instruction information from the network device, the terminal can transmit an SRS on one or more SRS resources currently set by the network device using any transmission beam.

[0140] For example, the network device configures multiple SRS resources for the terminal, and the terminal transmits the SRS on different SRS resources using different transmission beams. That is, the transmission beam is swept. When the terminal transmits the SRS on different SRS resources using different transmission beams, the receiving end of the network device receives the SRS using the same reception beam (Rx beam) and determines the optimal transmission beam for the terminal in the reception beam corresponding to the network device, so that the transmission beam of the terminal is swept.

[0141] In scheme 2, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device and identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network device. The instruction information can be encoded as one code state. For example, one code state of the instruction information indicates information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device included in the instruction information and identification information of one of the transmission beams indicated by the network device.

[0142] For example, code state 1100 of the instruction information in Table 3 indicates that the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information is the transmission beam corresponding to the SRS resource with SRI = 5. The terminal uses this transmission beam to transmit the SRS on the configured SRS resource corresponding to the transmission beam in the transmission beam group.

[0143] Alternatively, the instruction information may include two components, i.e., first instruction information and second instruction information, and the network device may transmit the first instruction information and the second instruction information to the terminal simultaneously or sequentially. The specific transmission order of the first instruction information and the second instruction information is not limited herein. The first instruction information may be code state 0 in Table 6, and the second instruction information may be one of code states 001 to 010 in Table 1. Specifically, for example, code state 010 in the first instruction information indicates SRI=1, and code state 1 in the second instruction information indicates that the terminal uses a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam instructed by the base station. Code state 010 in the first instruction information and code state 1 in the second instruction information indicate that the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information is used with SRI=1. The network devices jointly indicate a transmission beam corresponding to a certain SRS resource. Then, the terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource using a transmission beam in the transmission beam group. Specifically, after the terminal receives transmission instruction information from the network device, the terminal transmits the SRS on each SRS resource using a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device. For example, the terminal transmits the SRS using a transmission beam in the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device on the SRS resource.

[0144] The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the transmission beam group used by the terminal is determined by the terminal, or is agreed upon in advance between the terminal and the network equipment, or is received by the terminal from the network equipment by signaling. If there are many mapping relationships between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the transmission beam group used by the terminal, the network equipment notifies the terminal of one of the mapping relationships by signaling, or the mapping indication information is implicitly included in the indication information. States 1000 to 1010 of the indication information in Table 3 represent the first mapping relationship, and states 1011-1111 represent the second mapping relationship (the mapping relationship is not specifically shown in the table).

[0145] The mapping relationship refers to corresponding groups of transmission beams having the same or similar width as the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment. For example, the network equipment currently configures N SRS resources for the terminal, and the terminal transmits SRS using N transmission beams with the same width as the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment according to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment upon receiving the instruction information. These N transmission beams may or may not include the transmission beam currently indicated by the network equipment. As an example, the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment is transmission beam number K, and the terminal is currently configured with four SRS resources by the network equipment, so the terminal transmits SRS using the (K-1)th, Kth, (K+1)th, and (K+2)th transmission beams. This mapping relationship can be applied to beam sweeping at each level. For example, in a scenario where there are a total of M transmission beams for the terminal, when the first-level beam is swept, if the base station configures N SRS resources for the terminal, the terminal divides these M transmission beams into N groups, and the last transmission beam group contains

number

number

number

number

number

[0146] Another mapping relationship indicates that the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment corresponds to a narrower transmission beam group, and the terminal transmits SRS on different SRS resources configured for the terminal using the transmission beam of the transmission beam group. In this manner, the terminal can perform finer local beam sweeping by beam sweeping the transmission beam group. This mapping relationship can also be considered as beam sweeping at each level. Beam sweeping at the first level can be performed using a wider transmission beam. For example, a first-level base station configures N SRS resources for the terminal. The terminal selects one beam from each beam group and transmits SRS on one SRS resource. After receiving these SRSs, the network equipment transmits instruction information including SRI=n (e.g., SRI=5 in Table 3) to the terminal, indicating the beam corresponding to the nth SRS resource. K SRS resources are configured for the terminal. The terminal transmits SRS using a beam from a group containing K more directional (narrower) beams corresponding to the beam corresponding to the nth SRS resource on the K SRS resources. In this manner, transmit beam sweeping can be performed with greater accuracy than beam sweeping at the first level, provided that the network devices receive these SRSs using the same receive beam, i.e., the network devices receive the SRSs on the SRS resources using the same receive beam.

[0147] In method 3, the network equipment pre-agreeds with the terminal that the terminal will transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of the transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource (e.g., the SRI shown in Table 1 in particular).

[0148] After receiving the transmission instruction information from the network device, the terminal obtains the identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the network device, and selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on each SRS resource according to the identification information based on a pre-agreed rule, that is, the pre-agreed rule is information for the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device.

[0149] The terminal transmits the SRS using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device on the SRS resource. The receiving end of the network device receives the SRS using the same reception beam (Rx beam) and determines the optimal transmission beam for the terminal corresponding to the reception beam of the network device, so that the transmission beam of the terminal is swept. The same reception beam may be an optimal reception beam previously selected by the network device or a reception beam determined by the network device in another manner. The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network device for the terminal and the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device is the same as the mapping relationship in Scheme 2 of this embodiment, and therefore a redundant description will be omitted here. Similarly, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network device and the corresponding transmission beam group may be determined by the terminal, agreed upon in advance between the network device and the terminal, or received by the terminal from the network device through signaling.

[0150] In Scheme 4, the indication information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device. In particular, refer to state 10 of the indication information in Table 4. For example, state 10 of the indication information in Table 4 indicates that the terminal transmits an SRS using a transmission beam group corresponding to a specified transmission beam, but the indication information does not include SRI information.

[0151] In the case of the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information), the instruction information does not include the identification information, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information) is transmitted to the terminal by the network equipment in another manner. For example, the base station individually transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the identification information of the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0152] Specifically, after the terminal receives transmission instruction information from the network equipment, when the terminal receives SRI information again from the destination base station, the terminal transmits the SRS using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource.

[0153] The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network device of the terminal and the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device is the same as the mapping relationship in Method 2 of this embodiment, and a duplicated description will be omitted here. Similarly, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network device and the corresponding transmission beam group is determined by the terminal or is agreed upon in advance between the network device and the terminal. The terminal is intended to receive the information from the network device by signaling.

[0154] For methods 2 to 4, the terminal transmits the SRS using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource.

[0155] In the above methods 1 to 4, for an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using the same receiving beam.

[0156] In the above methods 2 to 4, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the corresponding transmission beam group is determined by the terminal, agreed upon in advance between the network equipment and the terminal, or received by the terminal from the network equipment by signaling.

[0157] In scheme 5, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device and identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network device. The instruction information can be encoded as one code state. For example, one code state of the instruction information indicates that the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device and information indicating the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the identification information of one of the transmission beams indicated by the network device. For example, code state 1100 of the instruction information in Table 3 indicates that the instruction information includes a transmission beam specified by the base station corresponding to an SRS resource with SRI=5. The terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam.

[0158] Alternatively, the instruction information may include two components, i.e., first instruction information and second instruction information, and the network device may transmit the first instruction information and the second instruction information to the terminal simultaneously or sequentially. The specific transmission order of the first instruction information and the second instruction information is not limited herein. The first instruction information may be code state 1 in Table 6, and the second instruction information may be one of code states 001 to 010 in Table 1. Specifically, for example, code state 010 in the first instruction information indicates SRI=1, and code state 1 in the second instruction information indicates that the terminal uses a transmission beam instructed by the base station. Code state 010 in the first instruction information and code state 1 in the second instruction information jointly indicate the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information, which corresponds to the SRS resource with SRI=1. The terminal transmits SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam.

[0159] Specifically, the terminal receives the instruction information sent by the network device and transmits the SRS using the transmission beam indicated by the network device on one or more SRS resources currently configured by the network device.

[0160] For example, the instruction information further includes identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the network device, and the identification information, for example, SRI information indicating the state of the instruction information, where SRI indicates the SRS resource number for the terminal to previously transmit the SRS, see Table 2 for details. For example, states 001-110 in Table 2. After the terminal determines the SRI information, it transmits the SRS using the transmission beam on the SRS resource corresponding to the SRI among all SRS resources currently set by the network device. ,Multiple code states can represent the same value of SRI, for example, states 001 and 010 of the indication information can represent SRI=0.

[0161] The instruction information indicates how the terminal selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment can be transmitted separately. For example, the network equipment further transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0162] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0163] In method 6, the network device agrees in advance with the terminal to transmit SRS information on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device, and the instruction information includes identification information of the transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource (e.g., the SRI shown in Table 1 in particular).

[0164] After receiving the instruction information sent by the network device, the terminal obtains the identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the network device, and selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on each SRS resource according to the identification information based on a pre-agreed rule, that is, the pre-agreed rule is information for the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam indicated by the network device.

[0165] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0166] In Scheme 7, the indication information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device. In particular, reference may be made to state 10 of the indication information in Table 4 or state 01 of the indication information in Table 5. For example, state 01 of the indication information in Table 4 indicates that the terminal transmits an SRS on a specified transmission beam, but the indication information does not include SRI information.

[0167] In the case of the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information), the instruction information does not include the identification information, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information) is transmitted to the terminal by the network equipment in another manner. For example, the base station individually transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the identification information of the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0168] Upon receiving the instruction information transmitted by the network equipment, the terminal subsequently selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS according to the acquired SRI information.

[0169] For the SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receiving beams. When receiving an SRS on a resource, the network equipment may sweep the receive beam for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network equipment.

[0170] In Method 8, the instruction information includes information indicating that SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device are grouped and information indicating that the network device does not restrict a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS of the terminal. Here, the information indicating that the transmission beam for transmitting the SRS of the terminal is not restricted, i.e., the instruction information indicates that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on the SRS resources. The SRS resource grouping information (i.e., a method for grouping SRS resources) may be determined by the terminal, or may be agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or may be transmitted from the network device to the terminal by signaling.

[0171] When the resource grouping information is signaled to the terminal by the network device, the network device may carry the SRS resource grouping information in the indication information or may transmit the SRS resource grouping information to the terminal in a transmission signal different from the signal used to transmit the indication information. The terminal transmits the SRS using any transmission beam on one or more SRS resources currently set by the network device upon receiving the state of the indication information.

[0172] For example, the network device may agree in advance with the terminal that the grouping of SRS resources is determined according to the number of transmission beams waiting to be swept reported from the terminal to the network device and the number of SRS resources currently configured by the network device. If the network device currently configures M SRS resources and the number of transmission beams waiting to be swept reported from the terminal to the network device is N, then the first, second, ..., and Nth SRS resources are grouped together, and the (N+1)th, (N+2)th, ..., and 2Nth SRS resources are grouped together.

[0173] If the instruction includes information indicating grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device, regardless of how the terminal obtains the SRS resource grouping information (for example, the SRS resource grouping information is determined by the terminal, or is agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or is transmitted from the network device to the terminal by signaling, or any other manner in which the terminal can know the SRS resource grouping information as would be conceivable by a person skilled in the art), the terminal can transmit using different transmit beams on different SRS resources of the same group, thereby enabling transmission beam sweeping. The network device receives SRS on SRS resources of the same group using the same receive beam, and receives SRS on SRS resources of different groups using different receive beams.

[0174] According to this solution, the receiving beam of the network device and the transmitting beam of the terminal can be swept. In another implementation, the network device agrees with the terminal in advance on a rule for grouping SRS resources, and the network device notifies the terminal by signaling the number of groups of SRS resources configured for the terminal. For example, to notify the terminal that the SRS resources configured for the terminal are grouped into K groups, the terminal may, according to the agreed SRS resource grouping rule, group the 1st, 1st, 2nd, ..., and Mth SRS resources (1st group, K groups in total) into one group, and group the (N+1)th, (N+2)th, ..., and 2Mth SRS resources (2nd group, K groups in total). This can be analogized. Alternatively, the state of the indication information includes grouping information of the SRS resources configured for the terminal. For example, the state 001-010 of the indication information indicates one SRS resource. 011-100 represents two SRS resource groups (not shown in the table).

[0175] In each of the above specific implementations of the beam management method, the identification information of the transmission beam is, in particular, an SRS resource indication information SRI of an SRS resource configured for the terminal by the network equipment.

[0176] As shown in FIG. 3, a network device according to a third embodiment of the present invention includes: a configuration module 301 for configuring SRS resources for a terminal; a sending module 302 for sending instruction information to the terminal.

[0177] The instruction information instructs the terminal to select a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource.

[0178] The instruction information sent by the sending module is different, and the network device of this embodiment operates as follows.

[0179] In Scheme 1, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, which indicates that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource. For example, the indication information includes information indicating that a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS by the terminal is not restricted by a network device. For example, the specific state of the indication information is state 000 (the state of the indication information is expressed in a binary system) in Tables 1 to 6 (this is only an example, and the specific state of the indication information can alternatively be expressed as another value, such as 111, 00, etc.).

[0180] Specifically, after the transmission module of the network device transmits the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal can transmit the SRS on one or more SRS resources currently configured by the network device using any transmission beam. For example, the network device configures multiple SRS resources for the terminal, and the terminal transmits the SRS on different SRS resources using different transmission beams. That is, the transmission beam is swept (beam sweeping). When the terminal transmits the SRS on different SRS resources using different transmission beams, the receiving end of the network device receives the SRS using the same reception beam (Rx beam), and determines the optimal transmission beam for the terminal among the reception beams corresponding to the network device, so that the transmission beam of the terminal is swept.

[0181] In Scheme 2, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device and identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network device. The instruction information can be encoded as one code state. For example, one code state of the instruction information indicates information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device included in the instruction information and identification information of one of the transmission beams indicated by the network device. For example, code state 1100 of the instruction information in Table 3 indicates that the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information is a transmission beam corresponding to an SRS resource with SRI=5. The terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource corresponding to a transmission beam in a transmission beam group using the transmission beam.

[0182] Alternatively, the instruction information may include two components, namely, first instruction information and second instruction information, and the network device may receive the first instruction information and the second instruction information. The first and second indication information may be transmitted to the terminal simultaneously or sequentially. The specific transmission order of the first indication information and the second indication information is not limited herein. The first indication information may be code state 0 in Table 6, and the second indication information may be one of code states 001 to 010 in Table 1. Specifically, for example, code state 010 in the first indication information indicates SRI=1, and code state 1 in the second indication information indicates that the terminal uses a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam instructed by the base station. Code state 010 in the first indication information and code state 1 in the second indication information jointly indicate that the transmission beam specified by the base station in the indication information corresponds to the SRS resource with SRI=1. Then, the terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam in the transmission beam group. Specifically, after the transmission module of the network device transmits the indication information to the terminal, the terminal transmits the SRS on each SRS resource using the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device. The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the transmission beam group used by the terminal is determined by the terminal, pre-agreed with the terminal by the network equipment, or transmitted by the network equipment to the terminal by signaling. If there are many mapping relationships between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the transmission beam group used by the terminal, the network equipment notifies the terminal of one of the mapping relationships by signaling, or the mapping indication information is implicitly included in the indication information. In Table 3, states 1000 to 1010 of the indication information represent the first mapping relationship, and states 1011-1111 represent the second mapping relationship (the mapping relationship is not specifically shown in the table).

[0183] The mapping relationship refers to corresponding groups of transmission beams having the same or similar width as the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment. For example, the network equipment currently configures N SRS resources for the terminal, and the terminal transmits SRS using N transmission beams with the same width as the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment according to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment upon receiving the instruction information. These N transmission beams may or may not include the transmission beam currently indicated by the network equipment. As an example, the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment is transmission beam number K, and the terminal is currently configured with four SRS resources by the network equipment, so the terminal transmits SRS using the (K-1)th, Kth, (K+1)th, and (K+2)th transmission beams. This mapping relationship can be applied to beam sweeping at each level. For example, in a scenario where there are a total of M transmission beams for the terminal, when the first-level beam is swept, if the base station configures N SRS resources for the terminal, the terminal divides these M transmission beams into N groups, and the last transmission beam group contains

number

number

number

number

number

[0184] Another mapping relationship indicates that the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment corresponds to a narrower transmission beam group, and the terminal transmits SRS on different SRS resources configured for the terminal using the transmission beam of the transmission beam group. In this manner, the terminal can perform finer local beam sweeping by beam sweeping the transmission beam group. This mapping relationship can also be considered as beam sweeping at each level. Beam sweeping at the first level can be performed using a wider transmission beam. For example, a first-level base station configures N SRS resources for the terminal. The terminal selects one beam from each beam group and transmits SRS on one SRS resource. After receiving these SRSs, the network equipment transmits instruction information including SRI=n (e.g., SRI=5 in Table 3) to the terminal, indicating the beam corresponding to the nth SRS resource. The network equipment configures SRS resources for the terminal. The terminal transmits SRS using a beam from a group containing K more directional (narrower) beams corresponding to the beam corresponding to the nth SRS resource over the K SRS resources. In this manner, if the network device receives these SRSs using the same receive beam, it can perform transmit beam sweep with higher accuracy than beam sweep at the first level. That is, the network device can receive these SRSs using the same receive beam. In method 3, the network device pre-agreed with the terminal that the terminal will transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device, and the instruction information further includes identification information of the transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource (e.g., the SRI shown in Table 1 in particular).

[0185] After the transmitting module of the network device sends the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal receives the instruction information, obtains the identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the network device, and selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on each SRS resource according to the identification information based on a pre-agreed rule, that is, the pre-agreed rule is information for the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device.

[0186] The terminal transmits the SRS using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource. The receiving end of the network equipment receives the SRS using the same reception beam (Rx beam) and determines the optimal transmission beam for the terminal corresponding to the reception beam of the network equipment, so that the transmission beam of the terminal is swept. The same reception beam may be the optimal reception beam previously selected by the network equipment or a reception beam determined by the network equipment in another manner.

[0187] The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment of the terminal and the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment may be the same as the mapping relationship in Scheme 2, so a duplicated description will be omitted here. Similarly, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the corresponding transmission beam group may be determined by the terminal, agreed upon in advance between the network equipment and the terminal, or received by the terminal from the network equipment by signaling.

[0188] In Scheme 4, the indication information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device. In particular, refer to state 10 of the indication information in Table 4. For example, state 10 of the indication information in Table 4 indicates that the terminal transmits an SRS using a transmission beam group corresponding to a specified transmission beam, but the indication information does not include SRI information.

[0189] In the case of the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information), the instruction information does not include the identification information, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information) is transmitted to the terminal by the network equipment in another manner. For example, the base station individually transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the identification information of the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0190] After the transmission module of the network equipment transmits the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal receives the instruction information, and the terminal obtains the identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the base station, and the terminal transmits the SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam in the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

[0191] The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment of the terminal and the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment may be the same as the mapping relationship in Scheme 2, so duplicate explanations will be omitted here.

[0192] In the above methods 1 to 4, for an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using the same receiving beam.

[0193] In the above methods 2 to 4, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the corresponding transmission beam group can be determined by the terminal, or can be agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or can be transmitted from the network equipment to the terminal by signaling.

[0194] In scheme 5, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device and identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network device. The instruction information can be encoded as one code state. For example, one code state of the instruction information indicates that the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device and information indicating the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by identification information of one of the transmission beams indicated by the network device. For example, code state 1100 of the instruction information in Table 3 indicates that the instruction information includes a transmission beam specified by the base station, which corresponds to an SRS resource with SRI=5. The terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam, Alternatively, the instruction information may include two components, i.e., first instruction information and second instruction information, and the network device may transmit the first instruction information and the second instruction information to the terminal simultaneously or sequentially. The specific transmission order of the first instruction information and the second instruction information is not limited herein. The first instruction information may be code state 1 in Table 6, and the second instruction information may be one of code states 001 to 010 in Table 1. Specifically, for example, code state 010 in the first instruction information indicates SRI=1, and code state 1 in the second instruction information indicates that the terminal uses a transmission beam instructed by the base station. Code state 010 in the first instruction information and code state 1 in the second instruction information jointly indicate the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information, which corresponds to the SRS resource with SRI=1. The terminal transmits SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam. Specifically, a transmission module in the network device transmits instruction information to the terminal, and the terminal receives the instruction information and transmits the SRS using a transmission beam indicated by the network device on one or more SRS resources currently configured by the network device.

[0195] For example, the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam instructed by the network device, and the identification information, for example, SRI information indicating the state of the instruction information, where SRI indicates the SRS resource number used by the terminal to previously transmit the SRS. For details, see Table 2. For example, states 001-110 in Table 2. After the terminal determines the SRI information, it transmits the SRS using a transmission beam on an SRS resource corresponding to the SRI among all SRS resources currently set by the network device. In addition, multiple code states can represent the same value of SRI. For example, states 001 and 010 of the instruction information can represent SRI=0.

[0196] The instruction information indicates how the terminal selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment can be transmitted separately. For example, the network equipment further transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0197] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0198] In method 6, the network device agrees in advance with the terminal to transmit SRS information on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device, and the instruction information includes identification information of the transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource (e.g., the SRI shown in Table 1 in particular).

[0199] After the transmitting module in the network device sends the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal receives the instruction information, obtains the identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the network device, and selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on each SRS resource according to the identification information based on a pre-agreed rule, that is, the pre-agreed rule is information for the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam indicated by the network device.

[0200] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0201] In Scheme 7, the indication information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device. In particular, reference may be made to state 10 of the indication information in Table 4 or state 01 of the indication information in Table 5. For example, state 01 of the indication information in Table 4 indicates that the terminal transmits an SRS on a specified transmission beam, but the indication information does not include SRI information.

[0202] In the case of the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information), the instruction information does not include the identification information, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information) is transmitted to the terminal by the network equipment in another manner. For example, the base station individually transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the identification information of the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0203] After the transmitting module in the network equipment transmits the instruction information to the terminal, the terminal, upon receiving the instruction information transmitted by the network equipment, subsequently selects a transmitting beam for transmitting the SRS according to the acquired SRI information.

[0204] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0205] In method 8, the instruction information includes information indicating that the SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device are grouped, and information indicating that the network device does not restrict the transmission beam for transmitting the SRS of the terminal. The information that does not restrict the transmission beam for transmitting the RS, i.e., the instruction information indicates that the terminal determines the transmission beam of the terminal for transmitting the SR on the SRS resource. The SRS resource grouping information (i.e., SRS resource grouping method) can be determined by the terminal, or can be agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or can be transmitted from a network device to the terminal by signaling.

[0206] When the resource grouping information is signaled to the terminal by the network device, the network device may carry the SRS resource grouping information in the indication information or may transmit the SRS resource grouping information to the terminal in a transmission signal different from the signal used to transmit the indication information. A transmission module in the network device transmits the indication information to the terminal, and the terminal transmits the SRS using any transmission beam on one or more SRS resources currently set by the network device upon receiving the state of the indication information.

[0207] For example, the network device may agree in advance with the terminal that the grouping of SRS resources is determined according to the number of transmission beams waiting to be swept reported from the terminal to the network device and the number of SRS resources currently configured by the network device. If the network device currently configures M SRS resources and the number of transmission beams waiting to be swept reported from the terminal to the network device is N, then the first, second, ..., and Nth SRS resources are grouped together, and the (N+1)th, (N+2)th, ..., and 2Nth SRS resources are grouped together.

[0208] If the instruction includes information indicating grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device, regardless of how the terminal obtains the SRS resource grouping information (for example, the SRS resource grouping information is determined by the terminal, or is agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or is transmitted from the network device to the terminal by signaling, or any other manner in which the terminal can know the SRS resource grouping information as would be conceivable by a person skilled in the art), the terminal can transmit using different transmit beams on different SRS resources of the same group, thereby enabling transmission beam sweeping. The network device receives SRS on SRS resources of the same group using the same receive beam, and receives SRS on SRS resources of different groups using different receive beams.

[0209] According to this solution, the network device's receiving beam and the terminal's transmitting beam can be swept. In another implementation, the network device and the terminal agree on a rule for grouping SRS resources in advance, and the network device notifies the terminal by signaling the number of SRS resource groups configured for the terminal. For example, to notify the terminal that the SRS resources configured for the terminal are grouped into K groups, the terminal may, according to the agreed SRS resource grouping rule, define the 1st, 1st, 2nd, ..., and Mth SRS resources (the 1st group, a total of K groups) as one group, and the (N+1)th, (N+2)th, ..., and 2Mth SRS resources (the 2nd group, a total of K groups) as one group. Alternatively, the state of the indication information includes grouping information of the SRS resources configured for the terminal. For example, the state 001-010 of the indication information indicates only one SRS resource group, and the state 011-100 indicates two SRS resource groups (not shown in the table).

[0210] In each of the above specific implementations of the beam management method, the identification information of the transmission beam is in particular an SRS resource of the SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network equipment. The source indication information SRI may be:

[0211] As shown in FIG. 4, a terminal according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention includes: a receiving module 401 for receiving instruction information sent by a network device; and a transmission module 402 for determining a transmission beam to be used on the SRS resource according to instruction information sent by the network, and transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam.

[0212] The instruction information instructs the terminal to select a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS signal on the SRS resource configured for the terminal by the network device. The instruction information received by the receiving module 401 is different, and the terminal in this embodiment operates as follows.

[0213] In Scheme 1, the indication information includes information indicating a zero state, which indicates that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting an SR on the SRS resource. For example, the indication information includes information indicating that a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS by the terminal is not restricted by a network device. For example, the specific state of the indication information is state 000 (the state of the indication information is expressed in a binary system) in Tables 1 to 6 (this is only an example, and the specific state of the indication information can alternatively be expressed as another value, such as 111, 00, etc.).

[0214] Specifically, after the receiving module in the terminal receives the network device transmission instruction information, the transmitting module in the terminal transmits the SRS using an arbitrary transmission beam on one or more SRS resources currently set by the network device.

[0215] For example, the network device configures multiple SRS resources for the terminal, and the terminal transmits the SRS on different SRS resources using different transmission beams. That is, the transmission beam is swept. When the terminal transmits the SRS on different SRS resources using different transmission beams, the receiving end of the network device receives the SRS using the same reception beam (Rx beam) and determines the optimal transmission beam for the terminal in the reception beam corresponding to the network device, so that the transmission beam of the terminal is swept.

[0216] In Scheme 2, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device and identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network device. The instruction information can be encoded as one code state. For example, one code state of the instruction information indicates information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device included in the instruction information and identification information of one of the transmission beams indicated by the network device. For example, code state 1100 of the instruction information in Table 3 indicates that the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information is a transmission beam corresponding to an SRS resource with SRI=5. The terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource corresponding to a transmission beam in a transmission beam group using the transmission beam.

[0217] Alternatively, the instruction information may include two components, namely, first instruction information and second instruction information, and the network device may receive the first instruction information and the second instruction information. The first and second instruction information may be transmitted to the terminal simultaneously or sequentially. The specific transmission order of the first instruction information and the second instruction information is not limited herein. The first instruction information may be code state 0 in Table 6, and the second instruction information may be one of code states 001 to 010 in Table 1. Specifically, for example, code state 010 in the first instruction information indicates SRI=1, and code state 1 in the second instruction information indicates that the terminal uses a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam instructed by the base station. Code state 010 in the first instruction information and code state 1 in the second instruction information jointly indicate that the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information corresponds to the SRS resource with SRI=1. Then, the terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam in the transmission beam group. Specifically, after the receiving module in the terminal receives the network device transmission instruction information, the terminal transmits the SRS on each SRS resource using the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device. For example, a transmission module in the terminal transmits a transmission beam SRS in a corresponding transmission beam group using a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource.

[0218] The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the transmission beam group used by the terminal is determined by the terminal, or is agreed upon in advance between the terminal and the network equipment, or is received by the terminal from the network equipment by signaling. If there are many mapping relationships between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the transmission beam group used by the terminal, the network equipment notifies the terminal of one of the mapping relationships by signaling, or the mapping indication information is implicitly included in the indication information. States 1000 to 1010 of the indication information in Table 3 represent the first mapping relationship, and states 1011-1111 represent the second mapping relationship (the mapping relationship is not specifically shown in the table).

[0219] The mapping relationship refers to corresponding groups of transmission beams having the same or similar width as the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment. For example, the network equipment currently configures N SRS resources for the terminal, and the terminal transmits SRS using N transmission beams with the same width as the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment according to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment upon receiving the instruction information. These N transmission beams may or may not include the transmission beam currently indicated by the network equipment. As an example, the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment is transmission beam number K, and the terminal is currently configured with four SRS resources by the network equipment, so the terminal transmits SRS using the (K-1)th, Kth, (K+1)th, and (K+2)th transmission beams. This mapping relationship can be applied to beam sweeping at each level. For example, in a scenario where there are a total of M transmission beams for the terminal, when the first-level beam is swept, if the base station configures N SRS resources for the terminal, the terminal divides these M transmission beams into N groups, and the last transmission beam group contains

number

number

number

number

number

[0220] Another mapping relationship is that the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment corresponds to a narrower transmission beam group, and the terminal transmits SRS on different SRS resources configured for the terminal using the transmission beam of the transmission beam group. In this manner, the terminal can perform a finer local beam sweep with the beam sweep of the transmission beam group. This mapping relationship can also be regarded as beam sweeping at each level. The beam sweep at the first level can be performed with a wider transmission beam. For example, a first-level base station configures N SRS resources for the terminal. The terminal selects one beam from each beam group and transmits SRS on one SRS resource. After receiving these SRSs, the network equipment transmits instruction information including SRI=n (e.g., SRI=5 in Table 3) to the terminal. That is, the beam corresponding to the nth SRS resource is The system shown in FIG. 10 illustrates a system for configuring K SRS resources for a terminal. The terminal transmits an SRS using a group of beams including K beams with stronger directivity (narrower) corresponding to the beam corresponding to the n-th SRS resource on the K SRS resources. If the network device receives these SRSs using the same receiving beam, this method can perform a transmit beam sweep with higher accuracy than beam sweeping at the first level. That is, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resources using the same receiving beam.

[0221] In method 3, the network equipment pre-agreeds with the terminal that the terminal will transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the instruction information further includes identification information of the transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource (e.g., the SRI shown in Table 1 in particular).

[0222] After receiving the network device transmission instruction information, the receiving module in the terminal obtains identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the network device, and selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on each SRS resource according to the identification information based on a pre-agreed rule, that is, the pre-agreed rule is information for the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network device.

[0223] The transmitting module in the terminal transmits a transmitting beam SRS in the corresponding transmitting beam group using the transmitting beam indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource. The receiving end of the network equipment receives the SRS using the same receiving beam (Rx beam) and determines the optimal transmitting beam for the terminal corresponding to the receiving beam of the network equipment, so that the transmitting beam of the terminal is swept. The same receiving beam may be the optimal receiving beam previously selected by the network equipment or a receiving beam determined by the network equipment in another manner.

[0224] The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment of the terminal and the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment is the same as the mapping relationship in scheme 2 of this embodiment, and a duplicated explanation will be omitted here. Similarly, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the corresponding transmission beam group is determined by the terminal, agreed upon in advance between the network equipment and the terminal, or received by the terminal from the network equipment by signaling.

[0225] In Scheme 4, the indication information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device. In particular, refer to state 10 of the indication information in Table 4. For example, state 10 of the indication information in Table 4 indicates that the terminal transmits an SRS using a transmission beam group corresponding to a specified transmission beam, but the indication information does not include SRI information.

[0226] In the case of the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information), the instruction information does not include the identification information, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment (e.g., SRI information) is transmitted to the terminal by the network equipment in another manner. For example, the base station individually transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the identification information of the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0227] Specifically, after the receiving module in the terminal receives the network device transmission instruction information, the terminal When the terminal receives the SRI information again from the destination base station, the transmission module in the terminal transmits a transmission beam SRS in the corresponding transmission beam group using the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource.

[0228] The mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment of the terminal and the transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment is the same as the mapping relationship in scheme 2 of this embodiment, and a duplicated explanation will be omitted here. Similarly, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the corresponding transmission beam group is determined by the terminal, agreed upon in advance between the network equipment and the terminal, or received by the terminal from the network equipment by signaling.

[0229] For methods 2 to 4, the terminal transmits the SRS using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment on the SRS resource.

[0230] In the above methods 1 to 4, for an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using the same receiving beam.

[0231] In the above methods 2 to 4, the mapping relationship between the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment and the corresponding transmission beam group is determined by the terminal, agreed upon in advance between the network equipment and the terminal, or received by the terminal from the network equipment by signaling.

[0232] In Scheme 5, the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device and identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network device. The instruction information can be encoded as one code state. For example, one code state of the instruction information indicates that the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device and information indicating the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the identification information of one of the transmission beams indicated by the network device. For example, the code state 0110 of the instruction information in Table 3 indicates that the instruction information includes a transmission beam corresponding to an SRS resource with SRI=5 as the transmission beam specified by the base. The terminal transmits the SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam.

[0233] Alternatively, the instruction information may include two components, i.e., first instruction information and second instruction information, and the network device may transmit the first instruction information and the second instruction information to the terminal simultaneously or sequentially. The specific transmission order of the first instruction information and the second instruction information is not limited herein. The first instruction information may be code state 1 in Table 6, and the second instruction information may be one of code states 001 to 010 in Table 1. Specifically, for example, code state 010 in the first instruction information indicates SRI=1, and code state 1 in the second instruction information indicates that the terminal uses a transmission beam instructed by the base station. Code state 010 in the first instruction information and code state 1 in the second instruction information jointly indicate the transmission beam specified by the base station in the instruction information, which corresponds to the SRS resource with SRI=1. The terminal transmits SRS on the configured SRS resource using the transmission beam.

[0234] Specifically, the receiving module in the terminal receives the instruction information sent by the network device. and transmits the SRS using a transmit beam indicated by the network device on one or more SRS resources currently configured by the network device.

[0235] For example, the instruction information further includes identification information of a transmission beam instructed by the network device, and the identification information, for example, SRI information indicating the state of the instruction information, where SRI indicates the SRS resource number used by the terminal to previously transmit the SRS. For details, see Table 2. For example, states 001-110 in Table 2. After the terminal determines the SRI information, it transmits the SRS using a transmission beam on an SRS resource corresponding to the SRI among all SRS resources currently set by the network device. In addition, multiple code states can represent the same value of SRI. For example, states 001 and 010 of the instruction information can represent SRI=0.

[0236] The instruction information indicates how the terminal selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS, and the identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment can be transmitted separately. For example, the network equipment further transmits SRI information to the terminal to indicate the transmission beam of the terminal.

[0237] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0238] In method 6, the network device agrees in advance with the terminal to transmit SRS information on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device, and the instruction information includes identification information of the transmission beam indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource (e.g., the SRI shown in Table 1 in particular).

[0239] After receiving the instruction information sent by the network device, the receiving module in the terminal obtains identification information of the transmission beam instructed by the network device, and selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on each SRS resource according to the identification information based on a pre-agreed rule, which is information for the terminal to transmit the SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam indicated by the network device.

[0240] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0241] In Scheme 7, the indication information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device. In particular, reference may be made to state 10 of the indication information in Table 4 or state 01 of the indication information in Table 5. For example, state 01 of the indication information in Table 4 indicates that the terminal transmits an SRS on a specified transmission beam, but the indication information does not include SRI information.

[0242] In the case of the identification information (e.g., SRI information) of the transmission beam indicated by the network device, the instruction information does not include the identification information, and the identification information (e.g., SRI information) of the transmission beam indicated by the network device is transmitted to the terminal by the network device in another manner. For example, the base station transmits SRI information to the terminal individually to indicate the identification information of the terminal's transmission beam.

[0243] After receiving the instruction information sent by the network equipment, the receiving module in the terminal subsequently selects a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS according to the acquired SRI information.

[0244] For an SRS transmitted by the terminal on the SRS resource, the network device receives the SRS on the SRS resource using different receive beams. When the network device receives the SRS on multiple SRS resources currently configured for the terminal using different receive beams, the network device may sweep receive beams for the transmit beam of the terminal indicated by the network device.

[0245] In Method 8, the instruction information includes information indicating that SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device are grouped and information indicating that the network device does not restrict a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS of the terminal. Here, the information indicating that the transmission beam for transmitting the SRS of the terminal is not restricted, i.e., the instruction information indicates that the terminal determines a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on the SRS resources. The SRS resource grouping information (i.e., a method for grouping SRS resources) may be determined by the terminal, or may be agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or may be transmitted from the network device to the terminal by signaling.

[0246] When the resource grouping information is signaled to the terminal by the network device, the network device may carry the SRS resource grouping information in the indication information or may transmit the SRS resource grouping information to the terminal in a transmission signal different from the signal used to transmit the indication information. Upon receiving the state of the indication information, the terminal transmits the SRS using any transmission beam on one or more SRS resources currently set by a transmission module network device in the terminal.

[0247] For example, the network device may agree in advance with the terminal that the grouping of SRS resources is determined according to the number of transmission beams waiting to be swept reported from the terminal to the network device and the number of SRS resources currently configured by the network device. If the network device currently configures M SRS resources and the number of transmission beams waiting to be swept reported from the terminal to the network device is N, then the first, second, ..., and Nth SRS resources are grouped together, and the (N+1)th, (N+2)th, ..., and 2Nth SRS resources are grouped together.

[0248] If the instruction includes information indicating grouping of SRS resources configured for the terminal by the network device, regardless of how the terminal obtains the SRS resource grouping information (for example, the SRS resource grouping information is determined by the terminal, or is agreed upon in advance between the network and the terminal, or is transmitted from the network device to the terminal by signaling, or any other manner in which the terminal can know the SRS resource grouping information as would be conceivable by a person skilled in the art), the terminal can transmit using different transmit beams on different SRS resources of the same group, thereby enabling transmission beam sweeping. The network device receives SRS on SRS resources of the same group using the same receive beam, and receives SRS on SRS resources of different groups using different receive beams.

[0249] According to such a solution, the receiving beam of the network equipment and the transmitting beam of the terminal are The network device may sweep the SRS resources. In another implementation, the network device agrees with the terminal in advance on a rule for grouping SRS resources, and notifies the terminal by signaling the number of groups of SRS resources configured for the terminal. For example, to notify the terminal that the SRS resources configured for the terminal are grouped into K groups, the terminal may, according to the agreed-upon SRS resource grouping rule, group the 1st, 1st, 2nd, ..., and Mth SRS resources (the 1st group, a total of K groups) into one group, and group the (N+1)th, (N+2)th, ..., and 2Mth SRS resources (the 2nd group, a total of K groups). This can be analogized. Alternatively, the state of the indication information includes grouping information of the SRS resources configured for the terminal. For example, the state 001-010 of the indication information represents only one SRS resource group, and the state 011-100 represents two SRS resource groups (not shown in the table).

[0250] In each of the above specific implementations of the beam management method, the identification information of the transmission beam may in particular be an SRS resource indication SRI of an SRS resource configured for the terminal by the network equipment.

[0251] A fifth embodiment of the present invention provides a computer device including a processor configured to execute a computer program stored in a memory to perform the steps of the method according to the first embodiment or the second embodiment.

[0252] A sixth embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program configured to, when executed by a processor, perform the steps of the method according to the first or second embodiment.

[0253] All transmission beams in Tables 1 to 6 are transmission beams for a terminal to transmit an SRS, and one or more code states in the indication information in Tables 1 to 6 are binary codes. One or more code states in the indication information in Tables 1 to 6 can be a combination of code states in different tables or only a portion of one of the tables. Tables 1 to 6 are merely examples, and the definitions of the indication information in the embodiments of the present invention can alternatively be expressed as other binary codes as required in actual applications. For example, the transmission beams in Tables 1 to 6 can be transmission beams for a terminal to transmit an SRS to a base station on an SRS resource.

[0254] [Table 1]

[0255] [Table 2]

[0256] [Table 3]

[0257] [Table 4]

[0258] [Table 5]

[0259] [Table 6]

[0260] The technical solutions according to the above embodiments of the present invention have at least the following technical effects or advantages:

[0261] The network side transmits transmission beam instruction information for transmitting SRS to the terminal, flexibly controlling the transmission of beams by the terminal and the sweep of receiving beams by the base station, thereby facilitating beam management for the terminal on the network side.

[0262] The technical solutions described in the above embodiments may be modified or some technical elements may be replaced, and such modifications and replacements shall not be deemed to depart from the technical scope of each embodiment of the present invention.

[0263] Of course, those skilled in the art may modify the technical solutions described in the above embodiments or replace some technical elements therein. Such modifications and replacements shall not be deemed to depart from the technical scope of the respective embodiments of the present invention. Such modifications and replacements shall all fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0264] 301 Settings Module 302 Transmission Module 401 Receiver Module 402 Sending Module

Claims

1. The network device configures a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource for the terminal; the network device transmitting instruction information to the terminal; the instruction information instructs the terminal on a transmission beam for transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource; A beam management method applied to network equipment, characterized in that the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the transmission beam group includes at least two transmission beams.

2. A beam management method applied to a network device as described in claim 1, characterized in that when the instruction information indicates information for instructing the terminal to transmit SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam within a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device, the instruction information further indicates identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network device.

3. A beam management method applied to a network device as described in claim 1, characterized in that when the instruction information indicates information for instructing the terminal to transmit an SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network device, the network device further transmits SRI information to the terminal indicating that the SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource using a transmission beam indicated by the network device.

4. The terminal receives the instruction information sent by the network device; the terminal determining a transmission beam to be used on an SRS resource according to the instruction information transmitted by the network device, and transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam; The instruction information indicates a transmission beam for transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) signal by the terminal on an SRS resource configured for the terminal by the network device; A beam management method applicable to a terminal, characterized in that the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the transmission beam group includes at least two transmission beams.

5. A beam management method applied to a terminal as described in claim 4, characterized in that when the instruction information indicates information for instructing the terminal to transmit SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, the instruction information further indicates identification information of the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

6. A beam management method applied to a terminal as described in claim 4, characterized in that when the instruction information indicates information for instructing the terminal to transmit SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, the terminal further receives SRI information from the network equipment indicating that SRS will be transmitted on the SRS resource using the transmission beam indicated by the network equipment.

7. The network equipment is a configuration module for configuring a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource for a terminal; a transmitting module for transmitting instruction information to the terminal; The instruction information instructs the terminal to use a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on the SRS resource, The instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the transmission beam group includes at least two transmission beams.

8. a receiving module for receiving instruction information transmitted by the network device; a transmission module for determining a transmission beam to be used on an SRS resource according to instruction information transmitted by the network device, and transmitting an SRS on the SRS resource using the transmission beam, The instruction information includes identification information indicating a transmission beam for transmitting the SRS on the SRS resource, and the network device agrees in advance with the terminal to transmit the SRS information on the SRS resource using the transmission beam indicated by the network device; The terminal is characterized in that the instruction information includes information for instructing the terminal to transmit SRS on the SRS resource using a transmission beam in a transmission beam group corresponding to a transmission beam indicated by the network equipment, and the transmission beam group includes at least two transmission beams.

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