Method and apparatus for joint communication and sensing in a wireless communication system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G communication system or a 6G communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4G communication system such as long term evolution (LTE). In an implementation, a method performed by a node includes obtaining configuration information related to a first signal, and obtaining at least one of first information related to a length of the first signal, second information related to a length L of a sub-signal of multiple sub-signals included in the first signal, and third information related to a number N of the multiple sub-signals according to the configuration information, generating the first signal based on at least one of the obtained first information, second information and third information; and transmitting the first signal.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR JOINT COMMUNICATION AND SENSING IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method performed by a node and a node device in a communication system.

[0002] Considering the development of wireless communication from generation to generation, the technologies have been developed mainly for services targeting humans, such as voice calls, multimedia services, and data services. Following the commercialization of 5G (5th generation) communication systems, it is expected that the number of connected devices will exponentially grow. Increasingly, these will be connected to communication networks. Examples of connected things may include vehicles, robots, drones, home appliances, displays, smart sensors connected to various infrastructures, construction machines, and factory equipment. Mobile devices are expected to evolve in various form-factors, such as augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, and hologram devices. In order to provide various services by connecting hundreds of billions of devices and things in the 6G (6th generation) era, there have been ongoing efforts to develop improved 6G communication systems. For these reasons, 6G communication systems are referred to as beyond-5G systems.

[0003] 6G communication systems, which are expected to be commercialized around 2030, will have a peak data rate of tera (1,000 giga)-level bit per second (bps) and a radio latency less than 100μsec, and thus will be 50 times as fast as 5G communication systems and have the 1 / 10 radio latency thereof.

[0004] In order to accomplish such a high data rate and an ultra-low latency, it has been considered to implement 6G communication systems in a terahertz (THz) band (for example, 95 gigahertz (GHz) to 3THz bands). It is expected that, due to severer path loss and atmospheric absorption in the terahertz bands than those in mmWave bands introduced in 5G, technologies capable of securing the signal transmission distance (that is, coverage) will become more crucial. It is necessary to develop, as major technologies for securing the coverage, Radio Frequency (RF) elements, antennas, novel waveforms having a better coverage than Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), beamforming and massive Multiple-input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and multiantenna transmission technologies such as large-scale antennas. In addition, there has been ongoing discussion on new technologies for improving the coverage of terahertz-band signals, such as metamaterial-based lenses and antennas, Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM), and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS).

[0005] Moreover, in order to improve the spectral efficiency and the overall network performances, the following technologies have been developed for 6G communication systems: a full-duplex technology for enabling an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission to simultaneously use the same frequency resource at the same time; a network technology for utilizing satellites, High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS), and the like in an integrated manner; an improved network structure for supporting mobile base stations and the like and enabling network operation optimization and automation and the like; a dynamic spectrum sharing technology via collision avoidance based on a prediction of spectrum usage; an use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in wireless communication for improvement of overall network operation by utilizing AI from a designing phase for developing 6G and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions; and a next-generation distributed computing technology for overcoming the limit of UE computing ability through reachable super-high-performance communication and computing resources (such as Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), clouds, and the like) over the network. In addition, through designing new protocols to be used in 6G communication systems, developing mechanisms for implementing a hardware-based security environment and safe use of data, and developing technologies for maintaining privacy, attempts to strengthen the connectivity between devices, optimize the network, promote softwarization of network entities, and increase the openness of wireless communications are continuing.

[0006] It is expected that research and development of 6G communication systems in hyper-connectivity, including person to machine (P2M) as well as machine to machine (M2M), will allow the next hyper-connected experience. Particularly, it is expected that services such as truly immersive eXtended Reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, and digital replica could be provided through 6G communication systems. In addition, services such as remote surgery for security and reliability enhancement, industrial automation, and emergency response will be provided through the 6G communication system such that the technologies could be applied in various fields such as industry, medical care, automobiles, and home appliances.

[0007] Currently, there are needs to enhance joint communication and sensing in a wireless communication system. The present disclosure enables devices to understand and interact with their environment.

[0008] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a first node in a communication system is provided, including: obtaining configuration information related to a first signal, and obtaining at least one of first information related to a length of the first signal, second information related to a length L of a sub-signal of multiple sub-signals included in the first signal, and third information related to a number N of the multiple sub-signals according to the configuration information, generating the first signal based on at least one of the obtained first information, second information and third information; and transmitting the first signal.

[0009] In an implementation, the configuration information includes at least one of the first information, the second information and the third information.

[0010] In an implementation, the configuration information further includes a fourth parameter related to a sub-signal type.

[0011] In an implementation, the fourth parameter is of Boolean type and indicates a sub-signal with 0dB or non-0dB PAPR.

[0012] In an implementation, the first signal further includes a cyclic prefix CP, and a length of the CP is determined based on at least one of information related to the length of the CP included in the configuration information, the first information, the third information and the second information.

[0013] In an implementation, the length of the CP is determined based on the first information, the second information and the third information.

[0014] In an implementation, the CP is extracted from back of the first sub-signal in the first signal or from back of repeated sub-signals.

[0015] In an implementation, the generating of the first signal includes: generating a sub-signal based on a frequency domain sub-sequence, and obtaining the multiple sub-signals based on the sub-signal, wherein a length of the frequency domain sub-sequence is 1 / N of the length of the first signal, wherein the frequency-domain sub-sequence is a pseudo-random sequence, or the frequency-domain sub-sequence is obtained by extracting from a pseudo-random sequence corresponding to a sub-signal at equal intervals.

[0016] In an implementation, the obtaining of the N sub-signals based on the sub-signal includes extracting from the sub-signal to obtain an extracted sub-signal with a length of L, and obtaining the N sub-signals based on the extracted sub-signal.

[0017] In an implementation, the generating of the first signal includes: generating a sub-signal set corresponding to a time unit related to the first signal based on a frequency domain sequence corresponding to the time unit; and obtaining the N sub-signals based on the sub-signal set.

[0018] In an implementation, the generating of the sub-signal set corresponding to the time unit related to the first signal based on the frequency domain sequence corresponding to the time unit includes: obtaining a second frequency domain sequence based on the frequency domain sequence corresponding to the time unit, wherein the second frequency domain sequence is obtained by zeroing the frequency domain sequence at equal intervals; and generating the sub-signal set corresponding to the time unit based on the second frequency domain sequence.

[0019] In an implementation, the generating of the first signal includes: generating the first signal based on a first sequence.

[0020] In an implementation, when a number M of time units occupied by the first signal is greater than 1 based on the first information, the generating of the first signal based on the first sequence includes: generating a time domain sub-signal set corresponding to a time unit based on the first sequence; and obtaining the first signal corresponding to M time units based on the time domain sub-signal set.

[0021] In an implementation, the first sequence is generated based on a pseudo-random sequence which is generated based on at least one of a Gold sequence and an M sequence.

[0022] In an implementation, the generating of the first signal includes: obtaining a value of a resource element corresponding to M time units corresponding to the first information based on a second sequence; and obtaining the first signal based on the value of the resource element.

[0023] In an implementation, the generating of the first signal includes: obtaining a value of a resource element corresponding to a time unit based on a second sequence; and obtaining the first signal based on the value of the resource element.

[0024] In an implementation, the obtaining of the first signal based on the value of the resource element includes: obtaining a time domain signal corresponding to the time unit based on the value of the resource element; and obtaining the first signal based on the time domain signal.

[0025] In an implementation, the CP corresponds to time domain signal values of M*L0 sampling points counting forward from the first sampling point of the last L0 sampling points of a first time unit of M time units corresponding to the first information, where L0 is 1 / M of the length of the CP.

[0026] In an implementation, the first signal further includes a guard interval, and a length of the guard interval is determined based on the length of the CP and a length of N sub-signals.

[0027] In an implementation, the first signal is transmitted on multiple ports, and signals transmitted on the multiple ports are mapped to a same subcarrier, and the signals transmitted on the multiple ports have different cyclic shifts in time domain or linear phase rotations with respect to each other in frequency domain.

[0028] In an implementation, the first signal is transmitted on multiple ports, and if M is greater than 1, signals transmitted on the multiple ports are mapped to different subcarriers.

[0029] In an implementation, the second sequence is mapped to a first subcarrier set among subcarriers corresponding to the M time units, and values of resource elements of other subcarriers among the subcarriers corresponding to the M time units are 0.

[0030] In an implementation, the second sequence is mapped to a first subcarrier set among subcarriers corresponding to the M time units, and a frequency domain sequence is mapped to the first subcarrier set, and zero-power reference signals ZP-RS are scheduled on other subcarriers among the subcarriers corresponding to the M time units.

[0031] In an implementation, the second sequence is generated based on a pseudo-random sequence which is generated based on at least one of a Gold sequence and an M sequence.

[0032] In an implementation, the configuration information is determined based on at least one of: an expected maximum sensing distance, an expected maximum target sensing speed, a communication requirement of a node, a number of antenna ports, a number or ratio of physical resource elements.

[0033] In an implementation, transmission power of the first signal is determined based on at least one of: a number M of time units occupied by the first signal, a number N of the sub-signals, a number of layers used for transmitting the first signal, a number of antenna ports, a number or ratio of physical resource elements.

[0034] In an implementation, the method further includes transmitting, to a second node, a sensing request including information related to at least one of a sensing requirement, a communication requirement and a cooperative sensing requirement, wherein the configuration information is determined based on the sensing request.

[0035] In an implementation, the information related to the sensing requirement includes information on at least one of: an expected maximum sensing distance, an expected maximum sensing speed, a number of OFDM symbols for sensing, a number of the sub-signals, and a length of the sub-signals.

[0036] In an implementation, the information related to the communication requirement includes a Boolean value indicating a communication requirement of the first node, wherein when the Boolean value is 0, it indicates that the first node expects to be configured with a 0 dB PAPR signal as a sub-signal, for example, a sub-signal based on a chirp signal; and when the Boolean value is 1, it indicates that the first node expects to be configured with a dual-function signal supporting sensing and communication, for example, a sub-signal based on a ZC or PN sequence.

[0037] In an implementation, the information related to the cooperative sensing requirement includes information on at least one of: a full-duplex capability for supporting sensing in a single transmission and single reception mode, a cooperative sensing requirement, and requesting to be a sender or a receiver of a signal in cooperative sensing.

[0038] In an implementation, the method further includes: receiving a second signal including an echo signal of the first signal; and performing a sensing-related operation based on the second signal.

[0039] In an implementation, the performing of the sensing-related operation includes: performing channel estimation based on the second signal; and obtaining a sensing-related result based on a channel estimation result.

[0040] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a second node in a communication system is provided, including: obtaining configuration information related to a first signal, wherein the configuration information is related to a length of the first signal, a length L of a sub-signal of multiple sub-signals included in the first signal, a number N of the multiple sub-signals; and receiving the first signal based on the configuration information.

[0041] In an implementation, the first signal further includes a cyclic prefix CP, and a length of the CP is determined based on at least one of information related to the length of the CP, the length of the first signal, the number N of the multiple sub-signals, and the length L of the sub-signal included in the configuration information.

[0042] In an implementation, the method further includes performing a sensing-related operation based on the received first signal.

[0043] In an implementation, the performing of the sensing-related operation includes: performing channel estimation based on the received first signal; and obtaining a sensing-related result based on a channel estimation result.

[0044] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a node device in a communication system is provided, including: a transceiver configured to transmit and / or receive signals; a controller configured to control to cause the node to perform the method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts:

[0046] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0047] FIG. 2 illustrates an example base station according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0048] FIG. 3 illustrates an example user equipment according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0049] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a method performed by a node according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0050] FIG. 5A illustrates structural schematic diagrams of signals transmitted or received by nodes according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0051] FIG. 5B illustrates structural schematic diagrams of signals transmitted or received by nodes according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0052] FIG. 5C illustrates structural schematic diagrams of signals transmitted or received by nodes according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0053] FIG. 6 illustrates flowcharts of different methods for generating physical signals by nodes according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0054] FIG. 7 illustrates flowcharts of different methods for generating physical signals by nodes according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0055] FIG. 8 illustrates a structural schematic diagram of a physical signal including two sub-signals transmitted on one OFDM symbol according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0056] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of frequency domain resource mapping of 8-port physical signals;

[0057] FIG. 10 illustrates a structural schematic diagram of a physical signal including four sub-signals transmitted on one OFDM symbol according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0058] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of frequency domain resource mapping of 8-port physical signals;

[0059] FIG. 12A illustrates structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including three sub-signals transmitted on one OFDM symbol according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0060] FIG. 12B illustrates structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including three sub-signals transmitted on one OFDM symbol according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0061] FIG. 12C illustrates structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including three sub-signals transmitted on one OFDM symbol according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0062] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of frequency domain resource mapping of an 8-port physical signal when a physical signal is mapped on one OFDM symbol in time domain according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0063] FIG. 14A illustrates structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including four sub-signals transmitted on two OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0064] FIG. 14B illustrates structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including four sub-signals transmitted on two OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0065] FIG. 15 illustrate an example of frequency domain resource mapping of an 8-port physical signal when a physical signal is mapped on two OFDM symbols in time domain according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0066] FIG. 16A illustrates structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including three sub-signals transmitted on two OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0067] FIG. 16B illustrates structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including three sub-signals transmitted on two OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0068] FIG. 16C illustrates structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including three sub-signals transmitted on two OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0069] FIG. 17 illustrates a structural schematic diagram of a physical signal including six sub-signals transmitted on three OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0070] FIG. 18 illustrates an example of frequency domain resource mapping of an 8-port physical signal when a physical signal is mapped on three OFDM symbols in time domain according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0071] FIG. 19 illustrates a simple block diagram of a hardware structure of a node device according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0072] FIGURE 20 illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment (UE or terminal) according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0073] FIGURE 21 illustrates a block diagram of a base station (BS) according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0074] Considering the development of wireless communication from generation to generation, the technologies have been developed mainly for services targeting humans, such as voice calls, multimedia services, and data services. Following the commercialization of 5th-generation (5G) communication systems, it is expected that the number of connected devices will exponentially grow. Increasingly, these will be connected to communication networks. Examples of connected things may include vehicles, robots, drones, home appliances, displays, smart sensors connected to various infrastructures, construction machines, and factory equipment. Mobile devices are expected to evolve in various form-factors, such as augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, and hologram devices. In order to provide various services by connecting hundreds of billions of devices and things in the 6th-generation (6G) era, there have been ongoing efforts to develop improved 6G communication systems. For these reasons, 6G communication systems are referred to as beyond-5G systems.

[0075] 6G communication systems, which are expected to be commercialized around 2030, will have a peak data rate of tera (1,000 giga)-level bps and a radio latency less than 100μsec, and thus will be 50 times as fast as 5G communication systems and have the 1 / 10 radio latency thereof.

[0076] In order to accomplish such a high data rate and an ultra-low latency, it has been considered to implement 6G communication systems in a terahertz band (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands). It is expected that, due to severer path loss and atmospheric absorption in the terahertz bands than those in mmWave bands introduced in 5G, technologies capable of securing the signal transmission distance (that is, coverage) will become more crucial. It is necessary to develop, as major technologies for securing the coverage, radio frequency (RF) elements, antennas, novel waveforms having a better coverage than orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), beamforming and massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and multiantenna transmission technologies such as large-scale antennas. In addition, there has been ongoing discussion on new technologies for improving the coverage of terahertz-band signals, such as metamaterial-based lenses and antennas, orbital angular momentum (OAM), and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS).

[0077] Moreover, in order to improve the spectral efficiency and the overall network performances, the following technologies have been developed for 6G communication systems: a full-duplex technology for enabling an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission to simultaneously use the same frequency resource at the same time; a network technology for utilizing satellites, high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), and the like in an integrated manner; an improved network structure for supporting mobile base stations and the like and enabling network operation optimization and automation and the like; a dynamic spectrum sharing technology via collision avoidance based on a prediction of spectrum usage; an use of artificial intelligence (AI) in wireless communication for improvement of overall network operation by utilizing AI from a designing phase for developing 6G and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions; and a next-generation distributed computing technology for overcoming the limit of user equipment (UE) computing ability through reachable super-high-performance communication and computing resources (such as mobile edge computing (MEC), clouds, and the like) over the network. In addition, through designing new protocols to be used in 6G communication systems, developing mechanisms for implementing a hardware-based security environment and safe use of data, and developing technologies for maintaining privacy, attempts to strengthen the connectivity between devices, optimize the network, promote softwarization of network entities, and increase the openness of wireless communications are continuing.

[0078] It is expected that research and development of 6G communication systems in hyper-connectivity, including person to machine (P2M) as well as machine to machine (M2M), will allow the next hyper-connected experience. Particularly, it is expected that services such as truly immersive extended reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, and digital replica could be provided through 6G communication systems. In addition, services such as remote surgery for security and reliability enhancement, industrial automation, and emergency response will be provided through the 6G communication system such that the technologies could be applied in various fields such as industry, medical care, automobiles, and home appliances.

[0079] Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether those elements are in physical contact with one another. The terms “transmit,” “receive,” and “communicate,” as well as derivatives thereof, encompass both direct and indirect communication. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrase “associated with,” as well as derivatives thereof, means to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, have a relationship to or with, or the like. The term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. The phrase “at least one of,” when used with a list of items, means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used, and only one item in the list may be needed. For example, “at least one of: A, B, and C” includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C. Likewise, the term “set” means one or more. Accordingly, a set of items can be a single item or a collection of two or more items.

[0080] Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computer readable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code” includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transport transitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computer readable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored and media where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as a rewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

[0081] Definitions for other certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

[0082] The figures included herein, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Further, those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged wireless communication system.

[0083] FIGS. 1-3 below describe various embodiments of the present disclosure implemented in wireless communications systems. The descriptions of FIGS. 1-3 are not meant to imply physical or architectural limitations to the manner in which different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably-arranged communications system.

[0084] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless network shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 could be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0085] As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless network includes a base station (next generation nodeB, gNB or gNodeB) 101, a gNB 102, and a gNB 103. The gNB 101 communicates with the gNB 102 and the gNB 103. The gNB 101 also communicates with at least one network 130, such as the Internet, a proprietary Internet Protocol (IP) network, or other data network.

[0086] The gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a first plurality of user equipments (UEs) within a coverage area 120 of the gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs includes a UE 111, which may be located in a small business; a UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise (E); a UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi hotspot (HS); a UE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R1); a UE 115, which may be located in a second residence (R2); and a UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as a cell phone, a wireless laptop, a wireless personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like. The gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within a coverage area 125 of the gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs includes the UE 115 and the UE 116, as well as subscriber stations (SS, for example, UEs) 117, 118 and 119. In some embodiments, one or more of the gNBs 101-103 may communicate with each other and with the UEs 111-116 using existing wireless communication techniques, and one or more of the UE 111-119 may communicate directly with each other (e.g., UEs 117-119) using other existing or proposed wireless communication techniques.

[0087] Depending on the network type, the term “base station” or “BS” can refer to any component (or collection of components) configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as transmit point (TP), transmit-receive point (TRP), an enhanced (or “evolved”) base station (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G base station (gNB), a macrocell, a femtocell, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) access point (AP), or other wirelessly enabled devices. Base stations may provide wireless access in accordance with one or more wireless communication protocols, e.g., 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), high speed packet access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, etc. For the sake of convenience, the various names for a base station-type apparatus and functionality are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to network infrastructure components that provide wireless access to remote terminals. Also, depending on the network type, the term “user equipment” (UE) can refer to any component such as a mobile station (MS), subscriber station (SS), remote terminal, wireless terminal, receive point, or user device. For the sake of convenience, the various names for a user equipment-type device and functionality are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to remote wireless equipment that wirelessly accesses a BS, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile telephone or smartphone) or is normally considered a stationary device (such as a desktop computer or vending machine).

[0088] Dotted lines show the approximate extents of the coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for the purposes of illustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood that the coverage areas associated with gNBs, such as the coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending upon the configuration of the gNBs and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstructions.

[0089] As described in more detail below, one or more of the UEs 111-119 include circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, and one or more of the gNBs 101-103 includes circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof.

[0090] Although FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a wireless network, various changes may be made to FIG. 1. For example, the wireless network could include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. Also, the gNB 101 could communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to the network 130. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 could communicate directly with the network 130 and provide UEs with direct wireless broadband access to the network 130. Further, the gNBs 101, 102, and / or 103 could provide access to other or additional external networks, such as external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0091] FIG. 2 illustrates an example base station according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the gNB 102 illustrated in FIG. 2 is for illustration only, and the gNBs 101 and 103 of FIG. 1 could have the same or similar configuration. However, gNBs come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIG. 2 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of a gNB.

[0092] As shown in FIG 2, the gNB 102 includes multiple antennas 200a-200n, multiple radio frequency (RF) transceivers 201a-201n, transmit (TX) processing circuitry 203, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 204. The gNB 102 also includes a controller / processor 205, a memory 206, and a backhaul or network interface 207.

[0093] The RF transceivers 201a-201n receive, from the antennas 200a-200n, incoming RF signals, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the network 100. The RF transceivers 201a-201n down-convert the incoming RF signals to generate intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals are sent to the RX processing circuitry 204, which generates processed baseband signals by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signals. The RX processing circuitry 204 transmits the processed baseband signals to the controller / processor 205 for further processing.

[0094] The TX processing circuitry 203 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, web data, electronic mail, or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 205. The TX processing circuitry 203 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate processed baseband or IF signals. The RF transceivers 201a-201n receive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signals from the TX processing circuitry 203 and up-converts the baseband or IF signals to RF signals that are transmitted via the antennas 201a-201n.

[0095] The controller / processor 205 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 205 could control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceivers 201a-201n, the RX processing circuitry 204, and the TX processing circuitry 203 in accordance with well-known principles. The controller / processor 205 could support additional functions as well, such as more advanced wireless communication functions.

[0096] For instance, the controller / processor 205 could support beam forming or directional routing operations in which outgoing signals from multiple antennas 200a-200n are weighted differently to effectively steer the outgoing signals in a desired direction. Any of a wide variety of other functions could be supported in the gNB 102 by the controller / processor 205.

[0097] The controller / processor 205 is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory 206, such as an operating system (OS). The controller / processor 205 can move data into or out of the memory 206 as required by an executing process.

[0098] The controller / processor 205 is also coupled to the backhaul or network interface 207. The backhaul or network interface 207 allows the gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems over a backhaul connection or over a network. The interface 207 could support communications over any suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when the gNB 102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such as one supporting 5G, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 207 could allow the gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs over a wired or wireless backhaul connection. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the interface 207 could allow the gNB 102 to communicate over a wired or wireless local area network or over a wired or wireless connection to a larger network (such as the Internet). The interface 207 includes any suitable structure supporting communications over a wired or wireless connection, such as an Ethernet or RF transceiver.

[0099] The memory 206 is coupled to the controller / processor 205. Part of the memory 206 could include a random access memory (RAM), and another part of the memory 206 could include a Flash memory or other read only memory (ROM).

[0100] Although FIG. 2 illustrates one example of gNB 102, various changes may be made to FIG. 2. For example, the gNB 102 could include any number of each component shown in FIG. 2. As a particular example, an access point could include a number of interfaces 207, and the controller / processor 205 could support routing functions to route data between different network addresses. As another particular example, while shown as including a single instance of TX processing circuitry 203 and a single instance of RX processing circuitry 204, the gNB 102 could include multiple instances of each (such as one per RF transceiver). Also, various components in FIG. 2 could be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be added according to particular needs.

[0101] FIG. 3 illustrates an example user equipment according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the UE 116 illustrated in FIG. 3 is for illustration only, and the UEs 111-115 and 117-119 of FIG. 1 could have the same or similar configuration. However, UEs come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIG. 3 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of a UE.

[0102] As shown in FIG. 3, the UE 116 includes an antenna 301, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 302, TX processing circuitry 303, a microphone 304, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 305. The UE 116 also includes a speaker 306, a controller or processor 307, an input / output (I / O) interface (IF) 308, an input device 309, a touchscreen display 310, and a memory 311. The memory 311 includes an OS 312 and one or more applications 313.

[0103] The RF transceiver 302 receives, from the antenna 301, an incoming RF signal transmitted by a gNB of the network 100. The RF transceiver 302 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an IF or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is sent to the RX processing circuitry 305, which generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuitry 305 transmits the processed baseband signal to the speaker 306 (such as for voice data) or to the processor 307 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

[0104] The TX processing circuitry 303 receives analog or digital voice data from the microphone 304 or other outgoing baseband data (such as web data, e-mail, or interactive video game data) from the processor 307. The TX processing circuitry 303 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The RF transceiver 302 receives the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from the TX processing circuitry 303 and up-converts the baseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via the antenna 301.

[0105] The processor 307 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS 312 stored in the memory 311 in order to control the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor 307 could control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceiver 302, the RX processing circuitry 305, and the TX processing circuitry 303 in accordance with well-known principles. In some embodiments, the processor 307 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0106] The processor 307 is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory 311, such as processes for channel state information (CSI) reporting on uplink channel. The processor 307 can move data into or out of the memory 311 as required by an executing process. In some embodiments, the processor 307 is configured to execute the applications 313 based on the OS 312 or in response to signals received from gNBs or an operator. The processor 307 is also coupled to the I / O interface 308, which provides the UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices, such as laptop computers and handheld computers. The I / O interface 308 is the communication path between these accessories and the processor 307.

[0107] The processor 307 is also coupled to the touchscreen display 310. The user of the UE 116 can use the touchscreen display 310 to enter data into the UE 116. The touchscreen display 310 may be a liquid crystal display, light emitting diode display, or other display capable of rendering text and / or at least limited graphics, such as from web sites.

[0108] The memory 311 is coupled to the processor 307. Part of the memory 311 could include RAM, and another part of the memory 311 could include a Flash memory or other ROM.

[0109] Although FIG. 3 illustrates one example of UE 116, various changes may be made to FIG. 3. For example, various components in FIG. 3 could be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be added according to particular needs. As a particular example, the processor 307 could be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). Also, while FIG. 3 illustrates the UE 116 configured as a mobile telephone or smartphone, UEs could be configured to operate as other types of mobile or stationary devices.

[0110] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0111] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help readers understand the present disclosure. They are not intended and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, based on the content disclosed herein, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications to the illustrated embodiments and examples can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0112] The demand for wireless data is increasing in the production activities of human society, and the spectrum is becoming a scarce resource. How to improve the spectrum utilization rate of communication systems has always been a hot issue for practitioners. At present, the low-frequency resources of wireless communication are congested, and the working frequency band of communication system is gradually developing towards higher frequency, so it will inevitably conflict with the radar system that originally worked in high frequency band. There is a very high similarity between the cellular communication system and the radar system in terms of background theoretical knowledge and hardware structure. Therefore, the integration of the cellular communication system and the radar system can be used as a potential means to improve the spectrum efficiency. At the same time, the communication system and the radar system may also complement each other in performance to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. Therefore, the Joint Communication and Sensing, or Integrated Communication and Sensing (hereinafter referred to as JCAS or ICAS), as a hot research direction in the communication field, has become one of the 6G candidate technologies. The core of JCAS system is to use the same set of hardware devices, on the basis of ensuring the basic communication function, at the expense of as little resources overhead as possible, to realize the sensing function of the surrounding environment. The content of sensing includes the distance, orientation / location, speed and even types of objects in the surrounding environment. Different from the technology of locating the access terminal in the traditional communication system, JCAS technology can also realize the sensing of various information of non-access objects, which greatly increases the capability of the communication system to dynamically adjust the working state (scheduling, beam management, early warning of the access terminal, etc.) according to the surrounding environment.

[0113] At present, the most widely used communication systems are those based on 3GPP protocol, for example, 4G communication systems such as LTE and LTE-A, and 5G communication systems such as NR. The signal waveforms used in these communication systems are all based on OFDM waveform. Considering forward compatibility, for example, OFDM communication signals can be used as sensing signals. Specifically, the sensing signal can be a physical signal and / or a physical channel that can be used for sensing purposes. For example, when a sensing node is a base station, the sensing signal can be a downlink reference signal or a downlink physical channel. When the sensing node is a terminal, the sensing signal may be an uplink reference signal or an uplink physical channel. The sensing signal transmitted by the sensing node is received by the sensing node in the form of echo after being reflected by the target reflector, and the sensing information such as the distance, speed and orientation of the target object can be sensed through signal processing of the echo signal.

[0114] The existing JCAS nodes are expected to realize sensing functions, such as at least one of target detection, target distance estimation and target speed estimation, in which the target Doppler needs to be estimated in order to realize the target speed estimation. A possible way to realize the target Doppler estimation is to accumulate signals in time domain, for example, to transmit a sensing signal multiple times and receive corresponding echoes thereof as received signals, in which observation windows each corresponding to one received signal are set on corresponding symbols or sampling points, and channel estimation is performed on multiple received signals respectively to obtain multiple channel estimation results. Under a frame structure design, it takes one or more OFDM symbols to obtain a single received signal for sensing. For example, if the number of OFDM symbols required to obtain a single received signal for sensing is Q, it takes kQ OFDM symbols to obtain k received signals, that is, the required OFDM symbols are in direct proportion to the number of received signals required. In the design of JCAS system, it is expected that the sensing function can use less resources to achieve a better sensing performance.

[0115] In view of this, embodiments of the application provide a new design method of physical signals and corresponding receiver behaviours. A sensing node transmits a first signal, wherein the first signal includes multiple sub-physical signals (hereinafter also interchangeably referred to as sub-signals). For example, the multiple sub-physical signals included in the first signal include at least one first sub-signal, and optionally, one or more sub-physical signals related to the first sub-signal. The multiple sub-physical signals are transmitted consecutively in time domain, which can reduce the resource overhead while realizing the sensing function required by nodes or networks. For example, by transmitting multiple sub-physical signals consecutively in time domain on one OFDM symbol or N (N>M) physical signals consecutively in time domain on M (M>1) OFDM symbols, the required resource overhead can be reduced while realizing the sensing function.

[0116] It should be understood that in the description of the present disclosure, “sub-physical signal” and “sub-signal” are only examples of names, and can also be described by other names, such as auxiliary signals, secondary signals, signals, physical signals and the like.

[0117] The embodiment provides a method performed by a node in a wireless communication system, as shown in FIG. 4, including:

[0118] Step 1: acquiring configuration information related to a first signal, and obtaining first information related to a length of the first signal and / or second information related to a length of a sub-physical signal and / or third information related to a number of sub-physical signals based on the configuration information.

[0119] In an implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information and the third information can be obtained by a lookup table or the like according to a parameter included in the configuration information. For example, a correspondence between a first format parameter related to the first signal and at least one of the first information, the second information and the third information is defined in a form of a table in advance, the configuration information includes the first format parameter, and at least one of the first information, the second information and the third information can be obtained by the first format parameter. For example, an example of the correspondence between the first format parameter and the first information is that the first format parameter of 0 corresponds to a length of one OFDM symbol and the first format parameter of 1 corresponds to a length of two OFDM symbols. Through the above correspondence, the first information can be obtained based on the first format parameter.

[0120] In an implementation, the configuration information may include at least one of the first information, the second information and the third information. The first information related to the length of the physical signal may include a length of time or a number of time units occupied by the physical signal, for example, the length of time in a unit of milliseconds, or a number of slots occupied by the physical signal, or a number of OFDM symbols occupied by the physical signal, or a number of sampling points occupied by the physical signal; the second information related to the length of the sub-physical signal may include whether a pre-set or default configuration is used for the length of the sub-physical signal, or optionally, the length of the sub-physical signal; the length of the sub-physical signal can be a number of sampling points in OFDM symbols occupied by the sub-physical signal, or a number of slots occupied by the sub-physical signal, or a number of OFDM symbols occupied by the sub-physical signal; the third information related to the number of sub-physical signals may include a number N of sub-physical signals or repetitions of sub-physical signals; or optionally, the above three pieces of information can be obtained based on the same configuration information or different configuration information, for example, the first information is obtained from a first configuration, and the second information and / or the third information is obtained from a second configuration.

[0121] Optionally, based on the above configuration information, a fourth parameter related to a sub-signal type may be obtained. A possible example is that the configuration information contains an information element (IE) “sub-signal type”, where the content of the parameter is a BOOLEAN value. Different values of the fourth parameter correspond to different signal types of the sub-signal in the sensing signal. The physical meaning of a value 1 of the parameter is generating a sub-signal with 0dB PAPR, for example, generating a sub-signal based on a chirp signal; the physical meaning of a value of 0 of the parameter is generating a sub-signal based on a ZC sequence or PN sequence, and PAPR of the signal may not be 0dB, and vice versa. The beneficial effect of determining the sub-signal type according to the fourth parameter is that the type of the signal can be adjusted according to the configuration information, so as to satisfy the requirement of sensing and / or communication in the sensing process, for example, a signal with low PAPR can satisfy a specific sensing task, while a signal with high PAPR can satisfy a specific communication task.

[0122] Step 2: obtaining a number M of OFDM symbols that can be occupied by the physical signal and a number N of sub-physical signals according to at least one of the first information, the second information and the third information, and optionally, determining a generation method of the physical signal according to a parameter related to the length of the sub-physical signal; the length of the physical signal can be an integer multiple or a non-integer multiple of an OFDM symbol length, and when the length of the physical signal is an integer multiple or a non-integer multiple of the OFDM symbol length, optionally, the number of OFDM symbols corresponding to the first information related to the length of the physical signal can be rounded, for example, rounded up or rounded down.

[0123] Step 3: generating the physical signal;

[0124] Step 4: transmitting or receiving the signal on at least one configured time unit.

[0125] In an implementation, the above steps 2 and 3 can be combined to generate the physical signal based on the number M of OFDM symbols occupied by the physical signal and the number N of sub-physical signals obtained according to the configuration information, and optionally, the parameter related to the length of the sub-physical signal.

[0126] In an implementation, the physical signal may also include a cyclic prefix (in the following description, the cyclic prefix of the physical signal is also referred to as an equivalent cyclic prefix CP or sensing cyclic prefix CP (sensing CP for short) in order to clearly describe and easily distinguish it from the CP of OFDM symbols), and a length of the sensing CP may be obtained based on the configuration information, including at least one of: the configuration information including length information of the sensing CP, such as a time length or a number of sampling points; or determining the length of the sensing CP based on at least one of the first information, the second information and the third information; or commonly determining the length of the sensing CP based on the first information and the number N of sub-signals consecutive in time domain included in the first signal. In an implementation, the physical signal length information in the first information is M OFDM symbols, and the length of the sensing CP can be a sum of normal or extended CP lengths of M OFDM symbols. In an example, the physical signal length information indicated by the first information can be 4384 sampling points, the number of sub-signals is 3, and the number of sampling points of a single sub-signal is 1000, then the length of the sensing CP can be 4384-(1000*3)=1384 sampling points.

[0127] In an example, the length of the sensing CP is determined based on the first information, the second information and the third information, and the length of the sensing CP (a time length as an example) may be , where is a time length of the first signal determined according to the first information, is a number of repetitions of the sub-signal determined according to the third information, is a length of the sub-signal determined according to the second information. The beneficial effect of determining the CP length according to the signal length / sub-signal length / number of sub-signal repetitions is that the generated sensing signal will not exceed the boundary of the OFDM symbols corresponding to the given sensing signal length, and at the same time, the actual repeated sub-signal in the generated sub-signal repetition structure is consistent with the expected sub-signal, thus avoiding the problem mismatch between sub-signals. In an example, the method of extracting the sensing CP can be extracting from back of the first sub-signal. The beneficial effect of the method of extracting the CP is that the buffer and signal preparation time can be saved, and it is more suitable for the sensing scenario where the sensing signal occupies multiple OFDM symbols. In this case, the transmitter can generate the CP after generating a single sub-signal, that is, the generation process of the sensing signal is: generating a single sub-signal, generating a CP, and repeating the single sub-signal. The corresponding formula for generating the sensing signal with the CP is

[0128]

[0129] where is a time domain expression of the single sub-signal, Tcrepresents a time interval between sampling points of a time domain baseband signal, and represents a starting time of sensing signal transmission, is a time length of the first signal determined according to the first information, is a number of repetitions of the sub-signal determined according to the third information, is a length of the sub-signal determined according to the second information. In an example, the method of extracting the sensing CP can be extracting from back of repeated sub-physical signals. The beneficial effect of the method of extracting the CP is lower computational complexity and that it is more suitable for the sensing scenario where the sensing signal occupies a single OFDM symbol. In this case, when generating the sensing signal, the transmitter is required to generate the CP after generating the repeated sub-physical signals, that is, the generation process of the sensing signal is: generating a single sub-signal, repeating the single sub-signal and generating a CP. The corresponding formula for generating the sensing signal with the CP is

[0130]

[0131] where is a time domain expression of sub-signals, Tcrepresents a time interval between sampling points of a time domain baseband signal, and represents a starting time of sensing signal transmission, is a time length of the first signal determined according to the first information, is a number of repetitions of the sub-signal determined according to the third information, is a length of the sub-signal determined according to the second information.

[0132] The nodes in the wireless communication system include, but are not limited to, a base station and a terminal. Taking the node as a base station and / or a terminal as an example, the contents included in the above configuration information are further described below. In addition, in order to facilitate description and avoid redundancy, in the following description, the first information related to the length of the physical signal included in the configuration information is described as the number M of OFDM symbols occupied by the physical signal. It can be understood that this description is only exemplary and not restrictive, and the principle and essence of the technical scheme described in the present disclosure can also be applied to the case that the first information related to the length of the physical signal included in the configuration information is the number of other time units (for example, the number of sampling points, the number of slots, etc.) or information related to the length of time occupied by the physical signal described in any other granularity.

[0133] When the node in the wireless communication system is a base station, the above configuration information may include one or more of: the number M of OFDM symbols, the number N of sub-physical signals, and optionally, whether a pre-set or default configuration is used for the length of the sub-physical signal (the length refers to the number of sampling points), whether a pre-set or default configuration is used for the length of the sensing cyclic prefix, the length of the sensing cyclic prefix, the length of each sub-physical signal, and a length of a guard interval. The sensing cyclic prefix refers to the overall cyclic prefix of the M OFDM symbols. Different from the signal structure in which the front part of each OFDM symbol includes a cyclic prefix, and the signals transmitted on different OFDM symbols are separated from each other by the cyclic prefix, the physical signals transmitted by the node on M OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure include the sensing cyclic prefix in the front part of the M OFDM symbols and multiple consecutive sub-physical signals, and optionally, a guard interval may be included between the sensing cyclic prefix and the consecutive sub-signals.

[0134] When the node in the wireless communication system is a terminal, it can be configured by a base station or by other terminals, and the above configuration can include the number M of OFDM symbols, the number N of sub-physical signals, and whether a pre-set or default configuration is used for the length of the sub-physical signal (the length refers to the number of sampling points), whether a pre-set or default configuration is used for the length of the sensing cyclic prefix, whether the physical signal can be used for data demodulation and / or whether a symbol includes in the physical signal can be used for data demodulation, the length of the sensing cyclic prefix, the length of each sub-physical signal and the length of the guard interval.

[0135] The physical meaning of the above configuration information, as well as the characteristics of physical signals (hereinafter also interchangeably referred to as physical reference signals) defined or generated based on the above configuration information and their time / frequency domain generation methods are described below.

[0136] Based on the above configuration information, the embodiment defines a physical signal, which can realize sensing and / or target parameter estimation with less resource overhead. The meaning of the physical signal includes, but is not limited to, a dedicated physical signal for JCAS; a physical reference signal that can be used for JCAS, such as a demodulation reference signal, including a demodulation reference signal of uplink / downlink shared channels, a demodulation reference signal of uplink / downlink control channels, a demodulation reference signal of broadcast channels, etc.; a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS); a Channel state Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), etc. Preferably, the physical signal may be a demodulation reference signal, and further, the physical signal may be generated by a pseudo-random sequence.

[0137] A form of the physical signal is that it is mapped on M OFDM symbols in time domain and includes N sub-physical signals, for example, as shown in FIG. 5C; and optionally, an sensing cyclic prefix, as shown in FIG. 5A. For the convenience of description, N sub-physical signals are called “sub-physical signal 1”, “sub-physical signal 2”, ..., and “sub-physical signal N” respectively. The number of sampling points of the sensing cyclic prefix is expressed as , and the length of each sub-physical signal is expressed as xCPS. Each sub-physical signal can be exactly the same or different, and the length of the sensing cyclic prefix is determined by one or more of M, N and xCPS.

[0138] Another form of the physical signal is that it is mapped on M OFDM symbols in time domain, including N sub-physical signals, a guard interval and an sensing cyclic prefix, as shown in FIG. 5B, where the N sub-physical signals are called “sub-physical signal 1”, “sub-physical signal 2”, ..., “sub-physical signal N” respectively. The number of sampling points of the sensing cyclic prefix is , the length of the guard interval is , and the length of each sub-physical signal is xCPS. Each sub-physical signal can be exactly the same or different, and the length of sensing cyclic prefix is determined by M and N.

[0139] The format design of the physical reference signal has the beneficial effects that the maximum speed of the target that can be detected by the system can be improved by transmitting more sub-physical signals that can be used to perform sensing-related operations (for example, including but not limited to sensing, target detection, parameter estimation of the target, etc.) in a time unit, and the resource overhead of the system can be saved. Specifically, the maximum unambiguous speed of the system can be improved without increasing or even with reducing the resource overhead of the system. The length of each sub-physical signal can be equal, and each sub-physical signal can be the same or different. For example, each sub-physical signal can be exactly the same, that is, it has exactly the same expression in time domain. For another example, each sub-physical signal can also be exactly different, but the frequency domain signal corresponding to any sub-physical signal has a linear phase rotation relationship with the frequency domain signal corresponding to any other sub-physical signal, that is, the frequency domain signal corresponding to one sub-physical signal has a linear phase rotation with respect to the frequency domain signal corresponding to any other sub-physical signal. The beneficial effect of this design is that each sub-physical signal can be used as the cyclic prefix of the subsequent sub-physical signal, that is, the sub-physical signal d can be used as the cyclic prefix of the sub-physical signal d+1, thus realizing the functions of target detection and / or target parameter estimation required by the sensing system. The design of the sensing cyclic prefix, and optionally, the design of the guard interval has the beneficial effects of ensuring that at least one (for example, in the embodiment, the first) symbol of the M OFDM symbols occupied by the above physical signal can be used for the communication requirements of the communication system, for example, functions for assisting communication such as channel estimation and / or signal demodulation. It can be seen that the physical signal according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure can meet the communication requirements of nodes, for example, it can assist the communication of nodes or between nodes; in addition, the physical signal designed in such way can better realize the sensing function of nodes or communication systems with less resources.

[0140] In an implementation, the frequency domain expressions of any two sub-physical signals can satisfy the relationship of mutual linear phase rotation, and the linear phase rotation may not specify a size of a linear phase rotation value. When a linear phase rotation value of the frequency domain expression of a certain sub-physical signal (denoted as sub-physical signal A) is an integer relative to the frequency domain expression of any other sub-physical signal (sub-physical signal B), the time domain expression of sub-physical signal A is the same as that of sub-physical signal B. When the linear phase rotation value is a non-integer, the time domain expression of sub-physical signal A is different from that of sub-physical signal B. Therefore, when the physical signal includes multiple sub-physical signals, the time domain expressions of any two sub-physical signals can be the same or different.

[0141] Therefore, multiple sub-physical signals in the physical signal according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure may be the same sub-physical signals in time domain, that is, they may be repetitions of the sub-physical signals. In addition, multiple sub-physical signals in the physical signal according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure may also be different sub-physical signals in time domain. Any sub-physical signal between different sub-physical signals can be used as a cyclic prefix of the next sub-physical signal, so that one transmission of the physical signal can generate multiple observation windows for sensing-related operations. In addition, by adding an sensing cyclic prefix before multiple sub-physical signals consecutive in time domain, and the sensing cyclic prefix and the multiple sub-physical signals (or optionally, a guard interval between the sensing cyclic prefix and the first sub-physical signal) occupy M consecutive OFDM symbols, at least the first OFDM symbol among the M OFDM symbols can be used as a common communication function, such as channel estimation, received signal demodulation and other operations.

[0142] In a possible implementation, a sensing node A acquires configuration information on one or more time units, where the configuration information can be configured by higher layer signalling or by other nodes. The sensing node A generates a physical reference signal related to the configuration information based on the configuration information, denoted as a signal B, and transmits the signal B and receives a signal C on one or more time units related to the configuration information, where the signal C includes all or part of an echo signal corresponding to the signal B, and the sensing node A performs sensing-related operations based on the signal C, such as sensing, target detection or target parameter estimation.

[0143] In a possible implementation, a node A acquires configuration information on one or more time units, where the configuration information can be configured by higher layer signalling or by other nodes. The node A generates a physical reference signal related to the configuration information based on the configuration information, denoted as a signal B, and transmits the signal B on one or more time units related to the configuration information. A sensing node C acquires the configuration information on one or more time units, and receives a signal on the one or more time units, denoted as a signal D, where the signal D includes a signal related to all or part of the signal B, for example, the signal D includes all or part of the signal B that reaches the sensing node C directly after being transmitted from the node A, or the signal D includes all or part of the signal B that reaches the sensing node C after being reflected or scattered by a target E after being transmitted from the node A. The sensing node C performs communication or sensing-related operations based on the signal D, such as channel estimation, received signal demodulation, environment sensing, target detection, parameter estimation, etc.

[0144] The number M of OFDM symbols included in the above configuration information can be an integer greater than or equal to 1, for example, M can be 1, 2 and 3; the number N of sub-signals in the configuration information can be a positive integer greater than 1, for example, N can be 2, 3 and 4. In an implementation, N can take a value of kM, where k is an integer, and k≥1. For example, when M=2, N can be 2, 4 and 6; when M=3, N can be 3, 6 and 9. The beneficial effect of this design is that more symbols in the reference signal can be used not only for sensing, but also for communication-related functions, such as assisting data demodulation and channel estimation.

[0145] There are many methods to generate the above physical signal:

[0146] 1. According to the values of M and N in the configuration information, the physical signal can be generated in time domain, and a flowchart of the method for generating the physical signal is shown in FIG. 6.

[0147] As shown in FIG. 6 (a), the method of generating a physical signal may include the following steps:

[0148] Firstly, generating a sequence, generating a single or multiple sub-physical signals based on the sequence, generating an sensing cyclic prefix based on the single or multiple sub-physical signals, and generating a physical signal based on the multiple sub-physical signals and the sensing cyclic prefix; where there are many methods to generate the single or multiple sub-physical signals based on the sequence:

[0149] Method 1: obtaining the single sub-physical signal directly based on the sequence, and obtaining the multiple sub-physical signals based on the single sub-physical signal; or obtaining a sub-physical signal set (for example, in the case of M=1 and N=4, obtaining the third and fourth sub-physical signals) based on the sequence, and obtaining the multiple sub-physical signals (for example, the first, second, third and fourth sub-physical signals) based on the sub-physical signal set;

[0150] Method 2: after performing IFFT transformation on the sequence, obtaining the multiple sub-physical signals based on a result of the IFFT transformation;

[0151] Method 3: after performing IFFT transformation on the sequence, obtaining the single sub-physical signal (for example, in the case of M=1 and N=4, obtaining the fourth sub-physical signal) based on a result of the IFFT transformation, and obtaining the multiple sub-physical signals (for example, the first, second, third and fourth sub-physical signals) based on the single sub-physical signal.

[0152] As shown in FIG. 6 (b), the method of generating a physical signal may include the following steps:

[0153] Firstly, generating a sequence, generating a single or multiple sub-physical signals based on the sequence, generating an sensing cyclic prefix and a guard interval based on the single or multiple sub-physical signals, and generating a physical signals based on the multiple sub-physical signals, the sensing cyclic prefix and the guard interval;

[0154] 2. According to part of the values of M and N in the configuration information, the physical signal can be generated in frequency domain, and a flowchart of the method for generating the physical signal is shown in FIG. 7.

[0155] When N / M (a ratio of N to M) is an integer, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), the method includes: firstly, generating a sequence, obtaining a frequency domain resource mapping result of M OFDM symbols based on the sequence, and obtaining a time domain resource mapping result of the M OFDM symbols based on the frequency domain resource mapping result of the M OFDM symbols, i.e., the physical signal;

[0156] When N / M is an integer, as shown in FIG. 7 (b), the method includes: firstly, generating a sequence, obtaining a frequency domain resource mapping result of a single OFDM symbol based on the sequence, and obtaining a time domain resource mapping result of M OFDM symbols based on the frequency domain resource mapping result of the single OFDM symbol, i.e., the physical signal; (In the present disclosure, the frequency domain resource mapping of the single OFDM symbol takes the last symbol among M OFDM symbols as an example, but correspondingly, it is also feasible to select any one of M OFDM symbols for frequency domain resource mapping.)

[0157] When N / M is an integer, as shown in FIG. 7 (c), the method includes: firstly, generating a sequence, obtaining a frequency domain resource mapping result of a single OFDM symbol based on the sequence, obtaining a time domain resource mapping result of the single OFDM symbol based on the frequency domain resource mapping result of the single OFDM symbol, and obtaining a time domain resource mapping result of M OFDM symbols based on the time domain resource mapping result of the single OFDM symbol, i.e., the physical signal;

[0158] It should be noted that when the frequency domain resource mapping results of single or multiple OFDM symbols are obtained based on the sequence, frequency domain sub-sequences corresponding to the single or multiple OFDM symbols can be obtained first, and then the frequency domain resource mapping results of the single or multiple OFDM symbols can be obtained based on the frequency domain sub-sequences. For example, the frequency domain sub-sequence is obtained by extracting from the sequence, and then the frequency domain sub-sequence is mapped into a resource grid to obtain the frequency domain resource mapping of the single or multiple OFDM symbols.

[0159] The difference between the generation of the physical signal in frequency domain and time domain lies in that when the physical signal is generated in time domain, it can be generated in a unit of one sub-physical signal or in a unit of one sub-physical signal set, where a sub-physical signal set includes at least two adjacent sub-physical signals; when the physical signal is generated in frequency domain, it can be generated in a unit of one OFDM symbol or in a unit of multiple OFDM symbols. Different generation methods are suitable for different scenarios and sensing requirements. For example, when the physical signal is generated in time domain, the length of the sub-physical signal is not limited by the number of sampling points of OFDM symbols, so it is more suitable for scenarios with low communication requirements. At this time, the sensing system can use more resources, support more flexible frame structure design, meet diverse sensing requirements, and at the same time, it has less requirements for signal processing of the sensing receiver, which can save the computing resources of the system. When the physical signal is generated in frequency domain, the length of the sub-physical signal is relatively fixed, that is, it needs to have a certain relationship with the number of sampling points of OFDM symbols, which is more suitable for scenarios with more communication requirements and less resources available for the sensing system. At this time, the sensing signal generated in frequency domain can be used for demodulation of downlink data while realizing the sensing function, and plays an auxiliary communication role while perceiving.

[0160] The sequence used to generate the physical signal can be a pseudo-random sequence or a low peak to average power ratio sequence (for example, a Zedoff-Chu sequence, etc.). This design has the beneficial effect that the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of the time domain signal of the physical signal is low, so that the efficiency of electronic components such as power amplifiers can be improved. The physical signal generated in the above method can not only realize the sensing function, but also assist communication, for example, play the role of demodulating reference signals in all or part of communication.

[0161] In an implementation, when M=1, the physical signal is mapped on one OFDM symbol in time domain and consisted of N sub-physical signals and one sensing cyclic prefix, where the N sub-physical signals may be the same or different, and the length of the sensing cyclic prefix may be greater than or equal to 1 and less than the number of sampling points of an OFDM symbol including a CP. In particular, the length of the sensing cyclic prefix may be a length of the cyclic prefix of an OFDM symbol, for example, when the length of an OFDM symbol is 4096 sampling points, the length of the sensing cyclic prefix may be 288 sampling points.

[0162] In an implementation, in any M and N parameter configuration, a pre-set or default configuration can be set for the sub-physical signal length. For example, in certain values of M and N, the pre-set or default configuration for the sub-physical signal length can be one N-th of M OFDM symbols without cyclic prefix (CP). Because the maximum sensing distance that the sensing node can support is related to the length of the sub-physical signal, the advantage of the above sub-physical signal length configuration is that the sensing distance can be as large as possible in a given time resource. For example, when the number of sampling points of an OFDM symbol without cyclic prefix (CP) is 4096 points, the pre-set or default configuration of the sub-physical signal length in the configuration of M=1 and N=2 can be 2048 points, the pre-set or default configuration of the sub-physical signal length in the configuration of M=1 and N=3 can be 1024 points, the pre-set or default configuration of the sub-physical signal length in the configuration of M=2 and N=2 can be 4096 points, and the pre-set or default configuration of the sub-physical signal length in the configuration of M=2 and N=4 can be 2048 points. It should be noted that when N is an odd number, the sub-physical signal length in the above pre-set or default configuration set for the sub-physical signal length is a non-integer. In such configuration, the sampling point is not used as the boundary of the sub-physical signal. For example, when M=1 and N=3, the pre-set or default configuration of the sub-physical signal length can be 4096 / 3 points, and the physical meaning of such setting can be understood as that, an analog waveform corresponding to a sub-physical signal with a sampling point length of 4096 / 3 is repeated three times, and then the sub-physical signal repeated three times is sampled at 4096 points, that is, the physical signal without CP is obtained. At this time, the sampling point is not the boundary of the sub-physical signal, so the physical signal without CP seen in digital domain where the sampling point is located (corresponding to a consecutive waveform in analog domain) is not three simple repetitions of a sub-physical signal. It should be noted that the physical signal generation method described in the present invention does not sample analog signals, and the description of the above physical meaning is only to assist in understanding the physical reference signal format when N is an odd number. This arrangement has the advantages that the value of N is not limited to parity, so it can support more flexible reference signal format design, and at the same time, when the reference signal is used for data demodulation, it can avoid additional data processing at the receiver.

[0163] Some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in connection with examples. It should be understood that the following numbering of embodiments is only for distinguishing one embodiment from another, and is not used to suggest or imply the order or importance between embodiments.

[0164] Embodiment 1: M=1, N=2.

[0165] FIG. 8 illustrates a structural schematic diagram of a physical signal including two sub-signals transmitted on one OFDM symbol according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0166] Taking M=1 and N=2 as examples (as shown in FIG. 8), the possible generation methods of the above physical signal in time domain are given. According to configuration information M=1, the reference signal occupies one OFDM symbol. Assuming that a pre-set or default configuration is used for a sub-physical signal length in the configuration information, and a number of sampling points of an OFDM symbol is NFFT, correspondingly, a number of sampling points of a sub-physical signal is , a the number of sampling points of a sensing cyclic prefix is , and = , that is, the length of the sensing cyclic prefix is equal to a CP length of an OFDM symbol. Firstly, step 1 is performed to generate a single sub-physical signal. A possible implementation is to assume that a frequency domain sequence allocated to the symbol is , where NFFTis also a number of FFT / IFFT / DFT / IDFT points in the OFDM system. Firstly, the corresponding data on even subcarriers (i.e. the 0th, 2nd, 4th, ..., subcarriers) in the above frequency domain sequence are extracted to generate a new sequence as a frequency domain sub-sequence, that is, IFFT / IDFT of points is performed on to obtain a time domain signal of points, at this time is a single sub-physical signal. Step 2 is performed to repeat the sub-physical signals. A possible implementation is that the sub-physical signals in the reference signal are repeated twice according to the configuration information N=2. Therefore, the repeated sub-physical signals in time domain (sub-physical signal 1 and sub-physical signal 2 are arranged in order) are expressed as , with a length of NFFTsampling points. Step 3 is performed to add the sensing cyclic prefix. A possible implementation is to extract the following sampling points with the same number as that of points of the sensing cyclic prefix from according to the configuration information, as the sensing cyclic prefix, that is, . The sensing cyclic prefix and the repeated sub-physical signals are connected in the order as shown in FIG. 8, that is, a physical reference signal with parameters of M=1 and N=2 is generated.

[0167] A possible generation method of the above physical signals in frequency domain is given below. Step 1 is performed to generate a frequency domain signal corresponding to a single OFDM symbol according to the configuration information. A possible implementation is to assume that a frequency domain sequence allocated to the symbol is , reserve the corresponding data on even subcarriers (i.e. the 0th, 2nd, 4th, ..., subcarriers) in the frequency domain sequence, and set the corresponding data on odd subcarriers to zero to generate a new sequence . Step 2 is performed to perform IFFT / IDFT on the frequency domain signal to generate a time domain signal corresponding to a single OFDM symbol. A possible implementation is to perform IFFT / IDFT of NFFTpoints on to obtain a time domain signal of NFFTpoints , at this time is the corresponding physical signal on an OFDM symbol, that is, a signal including sub-physical signal 1 and sub-physical signal 2. Step 4 is performed to add an sensing cyclic prefix. A possible implementation is to extract the following sampling points with the same number as that of points of the sensing cyclic prefix from according to the configuration information, as the sensing cyclic prefix, that is, . The sensing cyclic prefix and repeated sub-physical signals are connected in the order as shown in FIG. 8, that is, a reference signal with parameters of M=1 and N=2 is generated.

[0168] The physical signal can be a multi-port signal, and the physical signals of each port are orthogonal and can be mapped to the same subcarrier but have different cyclic shifts, where the physical signal is only mapped to even-numbered subcarriers when performing resource mapping in frequency domain. Specifically, assuming that the maximum number of ports supported by the system is Nport, and the number of physical signal ports mapped to the same subcarrier but with different cyclic shifts is N1, then N1=Nport, and according to the configuration information M=1, the reference signal occupies one OFDM symbol.

[0169] Taking Nport=8 as an example, the method of generating a physical signal will be illustrated in detail. Taking the generation of the physical signal from frequency domain as an example, FIG. 9 gives an example of frequency domain resource mapping of an 8-port physical signal (hereinafter referred to as Method 1).

[0170] A device should assume a sequence r(n) for generating a physical signal, and the sequence r(n) is scaled by a factor β to meet the transmission power requirements, and is mapped on a resource element (RE) (k,l)pas follows

[0171]

[0172] p represents a serial number of the port and (k,l)prepresents a serial number of a resource element defined by the k-th subcarrier and the l-th OFDM symbol in a resource grid of the port p. Possible values of the physical parameters in Formula 1 is shown in Table 1. It should be noted that Table 1 is only a possible way of values of the physical parameters in Formula 1, and the above parameters can also be defined by formulas. For example, the definition of can be:

[0173]

[0174] mod(k’,2)=0 represents that the remainder of k’ to 2 is 0, that is, k’ is an even number. For another example, the calculation formula of can be , alternatively, when the number of ports actually used by the system is less than 8, for example, the number of ports actually used by the system is N2, then the calculation formula of can be .

[0175] The above formula has the beneficial effects of resisting the loss of the maximum detectable distance of the system caused by the configuration of multiple ports, thereby increasing the maximum detectable distance of the system. represents a serial number of an OFDM symbol where the first baseband signal is located, and a specific value of can be a pre-set value, or given by control information, or given by MAC layer signalling or higher layer signalling. The following conditions are satisfied: (1) the resource element is within an RB (Resource Block) allocated to the physical signal transmission; (2) the reference point of k is the 0th subcarrier of the RB with the smallest sequence number in the system bandwidth; (3) the reference point of l is defined relative to the start OFDM symbol of the slot.

[0176]

[0177] The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as:

[0178]

[0179] NFFTrepresents the number of points of Fourier transform and Δf represents a subcarrier spacing; at the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the sensing cyclic prefix, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0180]

[0181] In the above method, the physical meaning of Formula 1 is that the sequence r(n) for generating physical signals is mapped on even subcarriers on the defined time domain OFDM symbol, and the odd subcarriers are emptied, that is, mapping 0.

[0182] In a possible generation method of physical signals, zero-power reference signals (ZP-RS) can be scheduled on part of subcarriers, and the sequence r(n) for generating physical signals can be mapped on even subcarriers on the defined time domain OFDM symbols. For example, Formula 1 in the above method is replaced by

[0183]

[0184] A possible value of each parameter is shown in Table 1, and the zero-power reference signal is scheduled on odd subcarriers in the resource element corresponding to Formula 1a. The zero power reference signal can be scheduled by high layer signalling or physical layer signalling, for example, MAC signalling, RRC signalling, or DCI / UCI. For a zero-power reference signal scheduled by a certain signalling, a node (for example, a terminal) should assume that its corresponding resource element is not used for other physical channels and / or physical signals containing data (for example, physical downlink shared channels), that is, a node (for example, a terminal) should assume that the power on its corresponding resource element is zero. A node (e.g., a terminal) performs the same measurement and / or reception on physical channels and / or physical channels other than the above other physical channels and / or physical signals (e.g., physical downlink shared channels), regardless of whether they conflict with the zero-power reference signal. Optionally, the resource elements corresponding to the zero-power reference signal can be used to transmit the zero-power reference signal configured for other nodes (e.g., terminals).

[0185] A possible generation method of physical signals (hereinafter referred to as Method 2) is to generate the physical signals from the time domain, firstly obtain a sequence, and generate physical signals according to the sequence and map them to time domain resources. Nodes should assume that the sequence r(i) is defined as:

[0186]

[0187] The Pseudo-random Sequence can be a Gold sequence, or generated based on the Gold sequence, or an M sequence, or generated based on the M sequence. In an implementation, the pseudo-random sequence can be defined as

[0188]

[0189] xCPSis the length of a single sub-physical signal. In the example, if a pre-set length configuration is used for the physical sub-signal, xCPS=2048, =1600, the first M sequence x1(n) is defined as . The generator of the second M sequence x2(n) is represented by , depending on the application of the above sequence. The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as

[0190]

[0191] At the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the cyclic prefix of the OFDM symbol. In the embodiment, the length of the sensing cyclic prefix may also be set to be equal to NCP. Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0192]

[0193] Embodiment 2: M=1, N=4.

[0194] FIG. 10 illustrates a structural schematic diagram of a physical signal including four sub-signals transmitted on one OFDM symbol according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the value of N can be an integer greater than 4. When the value of N is an even number of 6, 8, 10 or more, it is only necessary to follow the following generation method and make corresponding adjustments to the parameters related to N.

[0195] Taking M=1 and N=4 as examples (the signal format is shown in FIG. 10), a possible generation method of the above physical signals in time domain is given. A possible time domain generation method is similar to the time domain generation method of reference signals corresponding to M=1 and N=2, so only the differences will be described below. In step 1, the main difference is that the corresponding data on the subcarriers (i.e. the 0th, 4th, 8th, …, subcarriers) corresponding to N=4 in frequency domain sequence are extracted to generate a new sequence , that is, IFFT / IDFT of points is performed on to obtain time domain signal of points, at this time is a single sub-physical signal. In step 2, the main difference is that the single sub-physical signal is repeated four times. In addition, the reference signal corresponding to M=1 and N=4 can be generated from the time domain according to the same process as the time domain generation method of the reference signal corresponding to M=1 and N=2 above.

[0196] A possible generation method of the above physical signals in frequency domain is given below. A possible frequency domain generation method is similar to the frequency domain generation method of reference signals corresponding to M=1 and N=2, so only the differences will be described below. In step 1, the corresponding data on the subcarriers (i.e. the 0th, 4th, 8th, ..., subcarriers) corresponding to N=4 in frequency domain sequence are reserved, and the corresponding data on the other subcarriers are zeroed to generate a new sequence . In addition, the reference signal corresponding to M=1 and N=4 can be generated from the frequency domain according to the same flow as the frequency domain generation method of the reference signal corresponding to M=1 and N=2 above.

[0197] The physical signals can be multi-port signals, and the physical signals of each port are orthogonal and can be mapped to the same subcarrier but with different cyclic shifts, where the physical signals are only mapped to subcarriers with serial numbers of 0 and multiples of 4 when performing resource mapping in frequency domain. Specifically, assuming that the maximum number of ports supported by the system is Nport, and the number of physical signal ports mapped to the same subcarrier but with different cyclic shift is N3, then N3=Nport, and according to the configuration information M=1, the reference signal occupies one OFDM symbol.

[0198] Taking Nport=8 as an example, the method of generating physical signals will be illustrated in detail. Taking the generation of physical signals from frequency domain as an example, FIG. 11 gives an example of frequency domain resource mapping of an 8-port physical signal. Since the frequency domain signal generation method in the method is similar to the process of Method 1, only the differences between the frequency domain signal generation process and Method 1 are described below. The process of generating time domain resources from frequency domain resources in the method is the same as the corresponding method in Method 1, so the details are not repeated.

[0199] A device should assume a sequence r(n) for generating a physical signal, and the sequence r(n) is scaled by a factor β to meet the transmission power requirements, and is mapped on a resource element (k,l)pas follows

[0200]

[0201] p represents a serial number of the port and (k,l)prepresents a serial number of a resource element defined by the k-th subcarrier and the l-th OFDM symbol in a resource grid of the port p. Possible values of the physical parameters in Formula 2 is shown in Table 2. It should be noted that Table 2 is only a possible way of values of the physical parameters in Formula 2, and the above parameters can also be defined by formulas.

[0202]

[0203] A possible generation method of the physical signal is to define a zero-power reference signal (zero-power RS) and map the sequence r(n) for generating the physical signal on subcarriers with the non-negative integer multiples of 4 (e.g., subcarriers 0, 4, 6, 12, etc.) on the defined time domain OFDM symbol. For example, Formula 2 in the above method is replaced by

[0204]

[0205] A possible value of each parameter is shown in Table 2, and the zero-power reference signal is scheduled on the subcarriers corresponding to k’=1,2,3 in the resource element corresponding to Formula 2a. The information such as the scheduling of the zero-power reference signal and the multiplexing of related resource elements has been illustrated in the foregoing, and will not be repeated here.

[0206] A possible generation method of the physical signal is to generate the physical signal from the time domain. Firstly, a sequence is obtained, and the physical signal is generated according to the sequence and mapped to the time domain resources. Nodes should assume that the sequence r(i) is defined as:

[0207]

[0208] The Pseudo-random Sequence can be defined as

[0209]

[0210] xCPSis the length of a single sub-physical signal. In the example, xCPS=1024, =1600, the first M sequence x1(n) is defined as . The generator of the second M sequence x2(n) is represented by , depending on the application of the above sequence. The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as

[0211]

[0212] At the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the sensing cyclic prefix, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0213]

[0214] Embodiment 3: M=1, N=2v+1, where v is a positive integer.

[0215] In a possible implementation, the value of N may be odd. When the value of M is 1 and the value of N is odd, the first signal can be generated in time domain or frequency domain. The following description takes N=3 as an example. FIGS. 12A to 12C illustrate structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including three sub-signals transmitted on one OFDM symbol according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0216] Taking M=1 and N=3 as examples, based on the case that a pre-set or default configuration is used for the sub-physical signal length and a pre-set or default configuration is not used for the sub-physical signal length, the generation methods are given respectively. When a pre-set or default configuration is used for the sub-physical signal length, preferably, the above-mentioned reference signal is generated from the frequency domain, and the signal format is shown in FIG. 12A. According to the configuration information M=1, the reference signal occupies one OFDM symbol. Assuming that a pre-set or default configuration is used for the sub-physical signal length in the configuration information, and the number of sampling points of an OFDM symbol is NFFT, correspondingly, the number of sampling points of a sub-physical signal is , and the number of sampling points of the sensing cyclic prefix is . Step 1 is performed to generate a frequency domain signal corresponding to a single OFDM symbol according to the configuration information. A possible implementation is to assume that the frequency domain sequence allocated to the symbol is , reserve the corresponding data on the subcarriers (i.e. the 0th, 3rd, 6th, ..., subcarriers) corresponding to N=3 in the frequency domain sequence, and set the corresponding data on the other subcarriers to zero to generate a new sequence . Step 2 is performed to perform IFFT / IDFT on the frequency domain signal to generate a time domain signal corresponding to a single OFDM symbol. A possible implementation is to perform IFFT / IDFT of NFFTpoints on to obtain a time domain signal of NFFTpoints, at this time is a physical signal corresponding to an OFDM symbol, that is, a signal including sub-physical signal 1, sub-physical signal 2 and sub-physical signal 3 at the same time. Since the number of occupied OFDM symbols in the configuration information is not greater than 1, the optional step 3 is not performed. Step 4 is performed to add the sensing cyclic prefix. A possible implementation is to extract the following sampling points with the same number as that of points of the sensing cyclic prefix from according to the configuration information, as the sensing cyclic prefix, that is, . The sensing cyclic prefix and repeated sub-physical signals are connected in the order as shown in the figure, that is, a reference signal with parameters of M=1 and N=3 is generated.

[0217] When a pre-set or default configuration is not used for the sub-physical signal length, preferably, the above reference signal is generated from the time domain, and the signal format is shown in FIGS. 12B and 12C. Since the pre-set or default configuration is not used for the sub-physical signal length, additional signalling is needed to define it, that is, “the length of each sub-physical signal is xCPS” in the configuration information, preferably xCPSis an integer, and , in the example, assuming that NFFT=4096, N=3, then xCPS≤1365. The signal format shown in FIG. 12B adopts an sensing cyclic prefix with the same length as that in the signal format shown in FIG. 12A, that is, a pre-set or default configuration is used for the length of the sensing cyclic prefix, for example,xCP=288. Because xCP+3xCPS=4383, which is less than the length of an OFDM symbol with CP (4384 points), a guard interval of 1 sampling point length is needed. Firstly, step 1 is performed to generate a single sub-physical signal. An possible implementation is to generate a mother signal of a single sub-physical signal of xCP-Mpoint, xCP-Mis greater than or equal to xCPS, for example, 2048 points or 4096 points. xCPSpoints are randomly extract from the mother signal as a single sub-physical signal. The generation methods of time domain signals of 2048 points and 4096 points have been described above, and will not be described here. Step 2 is performed to repeat the single sub-physical signal in time domain to obtain the repeated physical signal . A possible implementation has also been described above, and will not be repeated here. Step 3 is performed to add the sensing cyclic prefix. A possible implementation is to extract the following sampling points with the same number as that of points of the sensing cyclic prefix from according to the configuration information, as the sensing cyclic prefix, that is, . The above sensing cyclic prefix, guard interval and are concatenated in the order as shown in the figure, and a reference signal with parameters of M=1 and N=3 is generated.

[0218] In the signal format shown in FIG. 12C, there is no guard interval, but the length of the sensing cyclic prefix is added. In the example, the length of the sensing cyclic prefix becomes 289 points. The physical signal corresponding to FIG. 12C is generated in basically the same way as the physical signal corresponding to FIG. 12B, and only the differences are described below. Firstly, step 1 and step 2 are performed to obtain the repeated physical signal . Step 3 is performed to add the sensing cyclic prefix. A possible implementation is to extract the following sampling points with the same number as that of points of the default sensing cyclic prefix (288 points in the example) from according to the configuration information as the first half of the sensing cyclic prefix, that is, . is repeated and truncate the first points, that is, . The above sensing cyclic prefixes and are concatenated in the order as shown in the figure, and a reference signal with parameters of M=1 and N=3 is generated.

[0219] The physical signals can be multi-port signals, and the physical signals of each port are orthogonal and can be mapped to the same subcarrier but with different cyclic shifts, where the physical signals are only mapped to subcarriers with serial numbers of 0 and multiples of 3 when performing resource mapping in frequency domain. Specifically, assuming that the maximum number of ports supported by the system is Nport, and the number of physical signal ports mapped to the same subcarrier but with different cyclic shifts is N5, then N5=Nport, according to the configuration information M=1, the reference signal occupies one OFDM symbol.

[0220] Taking Nport=8 as an example, the method of generating physical signals will be illustrated in detail. Taking the physical signal generated from the frequency domain as an example, FIG. 13 illustrates an example of frequency domain resource mapping of an 8-port physical signal when a physical signal is mapped on one OFDM symbol in time domain according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Since the frequency domain signal generation method in the method is similar to the process of Method 1, only the differences between the frequency domain signal generation process and Method 1 are described below. The process of generating time domain resources from frequency domain resources in the method is the same as the corresponding method in Method 1, so the details are not repeated.

[0221] A device should assume a sequence r(n) for generating a physical signal, and the sequence r(n) is scaled by a factor β to meet the transmission power requirements, and is mapped on a resource element (k,l)pas follows

[0222]

[0223] p represents a serial number of the port and (k,l)prepresents a serial number of a resource element defined by the k-th subcarrier and the l-th OFDM symbol in a resource grid of the port p. Possible values of the physical parameters in Formula 3 is shown in Table 3. It should be noted that Table 3 is only a possible way of values of the physical parameters in Formula 3, and the above parameters can also be defined by formulas.

[0224]

[0225] A possible generation method of the physical signal is to define a zero-power reference signal (zero-power RS) and map the sequence r(n) for generating the physical signal on subcarriers with the non-negative integer multiples of 3 (e.g., subcarriers 0, 3, 6, 9, etc.) on the defined time domain OFDM symbol. For example, Formula 3 in the above method is replaced by

[0226]

[0227] A possible value of each parameter is shown in Table 2, and the zero-power reference signal is scheduled on the subcarriers corresponding to k’=1,2 in the resource element corresponding to Formula 3a. The information such as the scheduling of the zero-power reference signal and the multiplexing of related resource elements has been illustrated in the foregoing, and will not be repeated here.

[0228] A possible generation method (hereinafter referred to as Method 3) of the physical signal is to generate the physical signal from the time domain. Firstly, a sequence is obtained, and the physical signal is generated according to the sequence and mapped to the time domain resources. Nodes should assume that the sequence r(i) is defined as:

[0229]

[0230] The Pseudo-random Sequence can be defined as

[0231]

[0232] xCPSis the length of a single sub-physical signal. In the example, xCPS=1024, =1600, the first M sequence x1(n) is defined as . The generator of the second M sequence x2(n) is represented by , depending on the application of the above sequence. The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as

[0233]

[0234] A possible definition of corresponding to FIG. 12B is:

[0235]

[0236] Alternatively, a possible definition of corresponding to FIG. 12C is:

[0237]

[0238] At the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the cyclic prefix of a single OFDM symbol, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0239]

[0240] Embodiment 4: M=2, N=4.

[0241] FIGS. 14A to 14B illustrate structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including four sub-signals transmitted on two OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the value of N can be an integer greater than 4. When the value of N is an even number of 6, 8, 10 or more, it is only necessary to follow the following generation method and make corresponding adjustments to the parameters related to N.

[0242] Taking M=2 and N=4 as examples (the physical signal format is shown in FIG. 12A), a possible generation method of the above physical signals in time domain is given. According to the configuration information M=2, the reference signal occupies two OFDM symbols. Assuming that a pre-set or default configuration is used for the length of the sub-physical signal in the configuration information, and the number of sampling points of an OFDM symbol is NFFT, correspondingly, the number of sampling points of a sub-physical signal is , and the number of sampling points of the sensing cyclic prefix is NECP, and NECP=2NCP, that is, the length of the sensing cyclic prefix is equal to the CP length of two OFDM symbols. Firstly, step 1 is performed to generate a single sub-physical signal. A possible implementation method is the same as the generation method of the sub-physical signal corresponding to M=1 and N=2 above, so the details are not repeated here. Step 2 is performed to repeat the sub-physical signals. A possible implementation is that according to the configuration information N=4, the sub-physical signals in the reference signal are repeated four times. Therefore, is obtained on the repeated sub-physical signals in time domain (sub-physical signal 1, sub-physical signal 2, sub-physical signal 3 and sub-physical signal 4 are arranged in order), with a length of 2NFFTsampling points. Step 3 is performed to add the sensing cyclic prefix. A possible implementation is to extract the following sampling points with the same number as that of points of the sensing cyclic prefix from the time domain signal corresponding to the first OFDM symbol in according to the configuration information, as the sensing cyclic prefix, that is, . Alternatively, in the example, when step 3 is performed, another possible implementation is, as shown in FIG. 14B, to count a conventional OFDM symbol CP length (288 points in the example) forward from the last sampling point of the first OFDM symbol with CP as the first sampling point, denoted as sampling point A, and to count NECPpoints backward from sampling point A, denoted as sampling point B, and to extract the data from sampling point A to sampling point B as the sensing cyclic prefix in the example. The sensing cyclic prefix and repeated sub-physical signals are concatenated in the order as shown in the figure, that is, a reference signal with parameters of M=2 and N=4 is generated.

[0243] A possible generation method of the above physical signals in frequency domain is given below. Step 1 and Step 2 are performed to generate a frequency-domain signal corresponding to a single OFDM symbol according to the configuration information, and IFFT / IDFT is performed on the frequency-domain signal to generate a time-domain signal corresponding to a single OFDM symbol. A possible implementation method is the same as the generation method of the sub-physical signal corresponding to M=1 and N=2 above, so the details are not repeated here. Since the number of occupied OFDM symbols in the configuration information is 2, which is greater than 1, step 3 is performed. A possible implementation is that it will be repeated twice to obtain the repeated physical signal. Step 4 is performed to add the sensing cyclic prefix. A possible implementation is the same as the method of adding the sensing cyclic prefix generated in time domain, which is not repeated here. The sensing cyclic prefix and repeated sub-physical signals are concatenated in the order as shown in the figure, that is, a reference signal with parameters of M=2 and N=4 is generated.

[0244] The physical signals can be multi-port signals, and the physical signals of each port are orthogonal, which can be mapped to different subcarriers or the same subcarrier but with different cyclic shifts. Specifically, if the maximum number of ports supported by the system is Nport, the number of ports of physical signals mapped to different subcarriers is N1, and the number of ports of physical signals mapped to the same subcarrier but with different cyclic shifts is N2, then N1and N2satisfy N1×N2=Nport. According to the configuration information M=2, the reference signal occupies two OFDM symbols.

[0245] Taking Nport=8 as an example, the method of generating physical signals will be illustrated in detail. Taking the physical signal generated from the frequency domain as an example, FIG. 15 illustrates an example of frequency domain resource mapping of an 8-port physical signal when a physical signal is mapped on two OFDM symbols in time domain according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0246] A possible generation method of physical signals is to map the frequency domain resources on M OFDM symbols according to the sequence, and then map the time domain resources on M OFDM symbols according to the frequency domain resource mapping results on M OFDM symbols.

[0247] A device should assume a sequence r(n) for generating a physical signal, and the sequence r(n) is scaled by a factor β to meet the transmission power requirements, and is mapped on a resource element (k,l)pas follows

[0248]

[0249] p represents a serial number of the port and (k,l)prepresents a serial number of a resource element defined by the k-th subcarrier and the l-th OFDM symbol in a resource grid of the port p. Possible values of and are shown in Table 4, where represents the number of sampling points of CP corresponding to an OFDM symbol, represents the number of sampling points of an OFDM symbol without CP, and also the number of points of FFT / IFFT. The beneficial effect of this design of is that when the signal shown in Formula 4 is transformed into the time domain, the end of the symbol corresponding to l’=0 and the CP of the symbol corresponding to l’=1 together form the same time domain signal as the symbol corresponding to l’=1. That is, the generation of sub-physical signals 1 and 2 and the addition of the sensing cyclic prefix are realized at the same time. It should be noted that Table 4 is only a possible way of values of physical parameters, and the above parameters can also be defined by formulas.

[0250] The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as:

[0251]

[0252] represents the number of points of Fourier transform, and Δf represents a subcarrier spacing; at the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the cyclic prefix of a single OFDM symbol, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0253]

[0254]

[0255] A possible generation method of physical signals is to map the frequency domain resources on a single OFDM symbol according to the sequence, and then map the time domain resources on multiple OFDM symbols according to the frequency domain resource mapping results on a single OFDM symbol.

[0256] A device should assume a sequence r(n) for generating a physical signal, and the sequence r(n) is scaled by a factor β to meet the transmission power requirements, and is mapped on a resource element (k,l)pas follows

[0257]

[0258] p represents a serial number of the port and (k,l)prepresents a serial number of a resource element defined by the k-th subcarrier and the l-th OFDM symbol in a resource grid of the port p. A possible value of is shown in Table 4a.

[0259] The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as:

[0260]

[0261] NFFTrepresents the number of points of Fourier transform and Δf represents a subcarrier spacing; at the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the cyclic prefix of a single OFDM symbol, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0262]

[0263]

[0264] A possible generation method of physical signals is to map the frequency domain resources on a single OFDM symbol according to the sequence, then map the time domain resources on a single OFDM symbol according to the frequency domain resource mapping results on a single OFDM symbol, and then map the time domain resources on multiple OFDM symbols according to the time domain resource mapping results on a single OFDM symbol.

[0265] A device should assume a sequence r(n) for generating a physical signal, and the sequence r(n) is scaled by a factor β to meet the transmission power requirements, and is mapped on a resource element (k,l)pas follows

[0266]

[0267] p represents a serial number of the port and (k,l)prepresents a serial number of a resource element defined by the k-th subcarrier and the l-th OFDM symbol in a resource grid of the port p. A possible value of is shown in Table 4a.

[0268] The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as:

[0269]

[0270] NFFTrepresents the number of points of Fourier transform and Δf represents a subcarrier spacing; at the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the cyclic prefix of a single OFDM symbol, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0271]

[0272] A possible generation method of physical signals is to generate the physical signal from the time domain, map the time domain resources on a single OFDM symbol according to the sequence, and then map the time domain resources on multiple OFDM symbols according to the time domain resource mapping results on a single OFDM symbol.

[0273] Nodes should assume that the sequence r(i) is defined as:

[0274]

[0275] The Pseudo-random Sequence can be defined as

[0276]

[0277] xCPSis the length of a single sub-physical signal. In the example, xCPS=1024, =1600, the first M sequence x1(n) is defined as . The generator of the second M sequence x2(n) is represented by , depending on the application of the above sequence. The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as

[0278]

[0279] A possible definition of corresponding to FIG. 14A is:

[0280]

[0281] At the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the cyclic prefix of a single OFDM symbol, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0282]

[0283] Embodiment 5: M=2, N=2v+1, where v is a positive integer.

[0284] In a possible implementation, the value of N may be odd. When the value of M is greater than 1, for example, in the example, the value of M is 2 and the value of N is odd, the first signal can be generated in time domain. The following description takes N=3 as an example. FIGS. 16A to 12C illustrate structural schematic diagrams of physical signals including three sub-signals transmitted on two OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0285] Taking M=2 and N=3 as examples (the physical signal formats are shown in FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B and FIG. 12C), the possible generation methods of physical signals are given. Because N / M is a non-integer, physical signals can be generated in time domain.

[0286] A possible generation method of physical signals is to obtain a single sub-physical signal based on a sequence, obtain multiple sub-physical signals based on the single sub-physical signal, obtain an sensing cyclic prefix, or an sensing cyclic prefix and a guard interval, based on the multiple sub-physical signals, or obtain the above physical signals based on the multiple sub-physical signals and sensing cyclic prefix, or the multiple sub-physical signals and sensing cyclic prefix and guard interval. In this way, the physical signals corresponding to FIGS. 16B and 16C can be generated, and one or more specific examples of this method have been illustrated in Embodiment 3 and Embodiment 4, which will not be repeated here.

[0287] A possible generation method of physical signals is to obtain multiple sub-physical signals based on IFFT / IDFT transformation of the sequence. Nodes should assume that the sequence r(i) is defined as:

[0288]

[0289] The Pseudo-random Sequence can be defined as

[0290]

[0291] is the length of N sub-physical signals. In the example, =8192 , =1600, the first M sequence x1(n) is defined as . The generator of the second M sequence x2(n) is represented by , depending on the application of the above sequence. The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as

[0292]

[0293] A possible definition of corresponding to FIG. 16A is:

[0294]

[0295] At the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the cyclic prefix of a single OFDM symbol, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0296]

[0297] Embodiment 6: M=3, N=6.

[0298] FIG. 17 illustrates a structural schematic diagram of a physical signal including six sub-signals transmitted on three OFDM symbols according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the value of N is not limited to 6 in the example. When the value of N is a non-negative integer multiple of 3, it is only necessary to follow the following generation method and make corresponding adjustments to the parameters related to N; when the value of N is other integer, the generation mode of physical signal is similar to the process as shown in Embodiment 5, and it is only necessary to make corresponding adjustments to the parameters related to N;

[0299] Taking M=3 and N=6 as examples (the format of physical signals is shown in FIG. 17), the possible generation methods of physical signals are given. Because N / M is an integer, physical signals can be generated in time domain or frequency domain.

[0300] Taking Nport=8 as an example, the method of generating physical signals will be illustrated in detail. Taking the physical signal generated from the frequency domain as an example, FIG. 18 illustrates an example of frequency domain resource mapping of an 8-port physical signal when a physical signal is mapped on three OFDM symbols in time domain according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0301] A possible generation method of physical signals is to map the frequency domain resources on M OFDM symbols according to the sequence, and then map the time domain resources on M OFDM symbols according to the frequency domain resource mapping results on M OFDM symbols.

[0302] A device should assume a sequence r(n) for generating a physical signal, and the sequence r(n) is scaled by a factor β to meet the transmission power requirements, and is mapped on a resource element (k,l)pas follows

[0303]

[0304] l’=0,1,2, p represents a serial number of the port and (k,l)prepresents a serial number of a resource element defined by the k-th subcarrier and the l-th OFDM symbol in a resource grid of the port p. Possible values of and are shown in Table 4, where represents the number of sampling points of CP corresponding to an OFDM symbol, represents the number of sampling points of an OFDM symbol without CP, and also the number of points of FFT / IFFT. The beneficial effect of this design of is that when the signal is transformed into the time domain as shown in Formula 6, the tail part of the symbol corresponding to l’=1 and the CP of the symbol corresponding to l’=2 together form the same time domain signal as the part without CP corresponding to l’=2, and at the same time, the tail part of the symbol corresponding to l’=0 and the CP of the symbol corresponding to l’=1 together form the same time domain signal as the part without CP corresponding to l’=2. That is, the generation of parts without CP of three OFDM symbols corresponding to sub-physical signals 1 to 6 and the addition of the sensing cyclic prefix are realized at the same time. It should be noted that Table 6 is only a possible way of values of physical parameters, and the above parameters can also be defined by formulas.

[0305] The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as:

[0306]

[0307] represents the number of points of Fourier transform, and Δf represents a subcarrier spacing; at the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the cyclic prefix of a single OFDM symbol, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0308]

[0309]

[0310] A possible generation method of physical signals is to obtain multiple sub-physical signals (for example, sub-physical signals 5 and 6) based on a sequence, obtain all sub-physical signals (for example, sub-physical signals 1-6) based on multiple sub-physical signals, obtain an sensing cyclic prefix based on multiple sub-physical signals, and obtain the above physical signals based on the multiple sub-physical signals, sensing cyclic prefix and guard interval.

[0311] A device should assume a sequence r(n) for generating a physical signal, and the sequence r(n) is scaled by a factor β to meet the transmission power requirements, and is mapped on a resource element (k,l)pas follows

[0312]

[0313] p represents a serial number of the port and (k,l)prepresents a serial number of a resource element defined by the k-th subcarrier and the l-th OFDM symbol in a resource grid of the port p. A possible value of is shown in Table 6a.

[0314] The time domain consecutive signal of the l-th OFDM symbol on the antenna port p can be expressed as:

[0315]

[0316] NFFTrepresents the number of points of Fourier transform and Δf represents a subcarrier spacing; at the starting time of the slot t=0, NCPrepresents the length of the cyclic prefix of a single OFDM symbol, Tcrepresents the time interval between samples of the time domain baseband signal, Tsymb=(NFFT+NCP)Tcrepresents the time length of the time domain baseband signal on an OFDM symbol, and tstart,lrepresents the starting time of the l-th OFDM symbol, and the calculation formula is:

[0317]

[0318]

[0319] According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, in an implementation, before the configuration information is determined, the node transmits a sensing request that may include one or more of sensing requirements of the node, communication requirements of the node, and cooperative sensing requirements of the node. For example, a UE first transmits the sensing request to a gNB, and the gNB calculates configuration parameters according to one or more parameters related to requirements in the sensing request of the UE, and transmits a sensing signal configuration to the UE. The beneficial effect of this mechanism is that it allows the UE to report its requirements to the gNB or network, so as to acquire the parameters and configurations of the sensing signal matching its requirements. In a possible implementation, the sensing request may contain information elements as shown in a table below.

[0320]

[0321]

[0322] In an implementation, a node determines the configuration of one or more time units for transmitting signals according to at least one of: the maximum distance that the node expects to perceive, the target maximum speed that the node expects to perceive, the communication requirements of the node for the one or more time units, the number of antenna ports used for transmitting the signals, and the number or ratio of physical resource elements that actually transmit uplink signals of a specific antenna port. As shown in Table 7, in different configurations, the values of parameters M and N are different, the number of observation windows that can be set is related to parameter N, and the number of sampling points in the observation window, which is also the number of sampling points of a sub-physical signal, is related to M and N, which can be defined by a pre-set or default configuration or specific signalling, and the sensing performance is different in different configurations. At the same time, the number of symbols that can be used for downlink data demodulation is different in different configurations. Based on the above reasons, the node can determine the configuration of the one or more time units for transmitting signals according to one or more of its sensing requirements, such as the expected perceived maximum distance and / or the expected perceived maximum speed of the target, and the communication requirements of the node for the one or more time units. A possible implementation is that when the maximum distance that the node expects to perceive is R1 and the maximum speed of the target that the node expects to perceive is v1, a configuration mode that is not less than both R1 and v1 is selected from different configurations. In addition, when the node has communication requirements for the one or more time units, a configuration with a larger number of symbols that can be used for downlink data demodulation among multiple configuration information satisfying the above conditions. The beneficial effect of this design is that it can support nodes to select their required reference signal configuration according to their requirements, such that the system design is more flexible.

[0323]

[0324] According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, in an implementation, a node can determine the transmission power of an uplink signal at a specific antenna port on one or more configured time units according to at least one of: one or more pieces of information in the configuration, for example, power-related parameters configured by a higher layer, the number M of OFDM symbols, the number N of sub-physical signals or repetitions of sub-physical signals, and the number of antenna ports used for transmitting the above signal, the number of layers used for transmitting the above signal, the number or ratio of physical resource elements actually transmitting the signals of a specific antenna port. A possible implementation is that when a node is configured with a power-related parameter (denoted as a first power parameter), for example, when the node is configured with a higher layer parameter to indicate whether to perform power enhancement, a power ratio of the energy per resource element of the first signal to the energy per resource element (EPRE) of a specific signal (e.g., PDSCH and / or PDCCH) can be commonly determined according to the first power parameter and / or the number of layers used for transmitting the above signal and / or the number of antenna ports used for transmitting the above signal. For example, the first power parameter is configured as 0, and the number of antenna ports / layers as L. The power parameter β of the first signal β may be dB; if the first power parameter is configured as 0 and the number of antenna ports / layers is L, the power-related parameter β of the first signal may be 0. Another possible implementation is that the transmission power of the physical signal can be adjusted according to the number of antenna ports and the number or ratio of physical resource elements. More specifically, for example, when a downlink signal is DMRS and / or PDSCH, a method for the node to determine the transmission power of the physical signal corresponding to the configured one or more time units can be determining of a ratio β of the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the PDSCH transmitted on the time unit of the one or more time units to the EPRE of the PDSCH and / or DMRS at a specific port transmitted on the one or more time units according to a ratio of the number of antenna ports of the downlink signal to the physical resource elements occupied by the actual transmission of the downlink signal at the specific port on one or more time units. For example, dB, where Nportrepresents the number of antenna ports of the downlink signal and η represents the ratio of physical resource elements occupied by the actual transmission of the downlink signal at the specific port on one or more time units.

[0325] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, in an implementation, when the physical reference signal is used for sensing, the node first transmits the reference signal, and the node receives an echo, and performs frequency domain or time domain channel estimation and corresponding signal processing on the received signal, so as to obtain a time domain channel estimation result corresponding to data in an observation window, and then performs target detection and / or target angle estimation related to sensing. Preferably, channel estimation is performed from the frequency domain, which has the beneficial effect of reducing the amount of calculation.

[0326] It should be noted that when N is an odd number, compared with the case that N is an even number, the node needs to perform signal processing different from the above process on the received echo to realize the sensing function. The signal processing process includes that the node transmits the reference signal, the node receives the echo, the node calculates one or more local signals for sensing related to the configuration of the reference signal, and the node uses the one or more local signals to perform frequency domain channel estimation or time domain channel estimation on the received signal, and then performs target detection and / or target angle estimation related to sensing.

[0327] Taking M=1 and N=3 as examples, the signal processing process of a receiver related to sensing based on the case that a pre-set or default configuration is used for the sub-physical signal length. The node transmits a reference signal x[n]; the node receives an echo y[n]; the node calculates one or more local signals for sensing related to the configuration of the reference signal, assuming that a frequency domain signal corresponding to the reference signal x[n] is , a possible implementation of calculating the local signals is that a local signal used for the first observation window (corresponding to the second sub-physical signal) is a signal after X[k] is added linear phase rotation, and the calculation method can be , where ; similarly, a local signal for the second observation window (corresponding to the third sub-physical signal) is a signal after X[k] is added linear phase rotation, and the calculation method can be , where . The node uses one or more local signals to perform frequency domain channel estimation or time domain channel estimation on the received signal. Taking frequency domain channel estimation as an example, the node can perform frequency domain channel estimation on the received signal by using the local signals X1[k] and X2[k] respectively, perform IFFT / IDFT transformation on the channel estimation results respectively to obtain multiple time domain channel estimation results, and extract a channel estimation result within a number of points corresponding to the observation window from the multiple time domain channel estimation results as a time domain channel estimation result corresponding to a certain observation window. Finally, the node uses the channel estimation result to perform target detection and / or target angle estimation related to sensing.

[0328] FIG. 19 illustrates a simple block diagram of a hardware structure of a node device 1400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The node device 1400 shown in FIG. 19 can be used to implement any method performed by a node according to the principles of the present disclosure.

[0329] Referring to FIG. 19, the node device 1400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a transceiver 1401 and a controller 1402. Optionally, the node device 1400 may further include a memory (not shown). The transceiver 1401 can transmit signals or data, or receive signals or data. The controller 1402 may be coupled with the transceiver 1401 and the memory, and control operations of the transceiver 1401 and the memory. The memory has computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the controller 1402, cause at least one method corresponding to the above embodiments of the present disclosure to be performed.

[0330] FIG. 20 illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment (UE or terminal) according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0331] As shown in FIG. 20, the UE according to an embodiment may include a transceiver 2010, a memory 2020, and a processor 2030. The transceiver 2010, the memory 2020, and the processor 2030 of the UE may operate according to a communication method of the UE described above. However, the components of the UE are not limited thereto. For example, the UE may include more or fewer components than those described above. In addition, the processor 2030, the transceiver 2010, and the memory 2020 may be implemented as a single chip. Also, the processor 2030 may include at least one processor. Furthermore, the UE of FIG. 20 corresponds to the UE 111-119 of FIG. 1.

[0332] The transceiver 2010 collectively refers to a UE receiver and a UE transmitter, and may transmit / receive a signal to / from a base station or a network entity. The signal transmitted or received to or from the base station or a network entity may include control information and data. The transceiver 2010 may include a RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a frequency of a transmitted signal, and a RF receiver for amplifying low-noise and down-converting a frequency of a received signal. However, this is only an example of the transceiver 2010 and components of the transceiver 2010 are not limited to the RF transmitter and the RF receiver.

[0333] Also, the transceiver 2010 may receive and output, to the processor 2030, a signal through a wireless channel, and transmit a signal output from the processor 2030 through the wireless channel.

[0334] The memory 2020 may store a program and data required for operations of the UE. Also, the memory 2020 may store control information or data included in a signal obtained by the UE. The memory 2020 may be a storage medium, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD, or a combination of storage media.

[0335] The processor 2030 may control a series of processes such that the UE operates as described above. For example, the transceiver 2010 may receive a data signal including a control signal transmitted by the base station or the network entity, and the processor 2030 may determine a result of receiving the control signal and the data signal transmitted by the base station or the network entity.

[0336] FIG. 21 illustrates a block diagram of a base station (BS) according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0337] As shown in FIG. 21, the base station according to an embodiment may include a transceiver 2110, a memory 2120, and a processor 2130. The transceiver 2110, the memory 2120, and the processor 2130 of the base station may operate according to a communication method of the base station described above. However, the components of the base station are not limited thereto. For example, the base station may include more or fewer components than those described above. In addition, the processor 2130, the transceiver 2110, and the memory 2120 may be implemented as a single chip. Also, the processor 2130 may include at least one processor. Furthermore, the BS of FIG. 21 corresponds to the BS 101-103 of FIG. 1.

[0338] The transceiver 2110 collectively refers to a base station receiver and a base station transmitter, and may transmit / receive a signal to / from a terminal (UE) or a network entity. The signal transmitted or received to or from the terminal or a network entity may include control information and data. The transceiver 2110 may include a RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a frequency of a transmitted signal, and a RF receiver for amplifying low-noise and down-converting a frequency of a received signal. However, this is only an example of the transceiver 2110 and components of the transceiver 2110 are not limited to the RF transmitter and the RF receiver.

[0339] Also, the transceiver 2110 may receive and output, to the processor 2130, a signal through a wireless channel, and transmit a signal output from the processor 2130 through the wireless channel.

[0340] The memory 2120 may store a program and data required for operations of the base station. Also, the memory 2120 may store control information or data included in a signal obtained by the base station. The memory 2120 may be a storage medium, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD, or a combination of storage media.

[0341] The processor 2130 may control a series of processes such that the base station operates as described above. For example, the transceiver 2110 may receive a data signal including a control signal transmitted by the terminal, and the processor 2130 may determine a result of receiving the control signal and the data signal transmitted by the terminal.

[0342] The methods according to the embodiments described in the claims or the detailed description of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0343] When the electrical structures and methods are implemented in software, a computer-readable recording medium having one or more programs (software modules) recorded thereon may be provided. The one or more programs recorded on the computer-readable recording medium are configured to be executable by one or more processors in an electronic device. The one or more programs include instructions to execute the methods according to the embodiments described in the claims or the detailed description of the present disclosure.

[0344] The programs (e.g., software modules or software) may be stored in random access memory (RAM), non-volatile memory including flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disc storage device, compact disc-ROM (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disc (DVD), another type of optical storage device, or a magnetic cassette. Alternatively, the programs may be stored in a memory system including a combination of some or all of the above-mentioned memory devices. In addition, each memory device may be included by a plural number.

[0345] The programs may also be stored in an attachable storage device which is accessible through a communication network such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), or a storage area network (SAN), or a combination thereof. The storage device may be connected through an external port to an apparatus according the embodiments of the present disclosure. Another storage device on the communication network may also be connected to the apparatus performing the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0346] In the afore-described embodiments of the present disclosure, elements included in the present disclosure are expressed in a singular or plural form according to the embodiments. However, the singular or plural form is appropriately selected for convenience of explanation and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. As such, an element expressed in a plural form may also be configured as a single element, and an element expressed in a singular form may also be configured as plural elements.

[0347] Although the figures illustrate different examples of user equipment, various changes may be made to the figures. For example, the user equipment can include any number of each component in any suitable arrangement. In general, the figures do not limit the scope of this disclosure to any particular configuration(s). Moreover, while figures illustrate operational environments in which various user equipment features disclosed in this patent document can be used, these features can be used in any other suitable system.

[0348] At least some of the example embodiments described herein may be constructed, partially or wholly, using dedicated special-purpose hardware. Terms such as ‘component’, ‘module’ or ‘unit’ used herein may include, but are not limited to, a hardware device, such as circuitry in the form of discrete or integrated components, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which performs certain tasks or provides the associated functionality. In some embodiments, the described elements may be configured to reside on a tangible, persistent, addressable storage medium and may be configured to execute on one or more processors. These functional elements may in some embodiments include, by way of example, components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. Although the example embodiments have been described with reference to the components, modules and units discussed herein, such functional elements may be combined into fewer elements or separated into additional elements. Various combinations of optional features have been described herein, and it will be appreciated that described features may be combined in any suitable combination. In particular, the features of any one example embodiment may be combined with features of any other embodiment, as appropriate, except where such combinations are mutually exclusive. Throughout this specification, the term “comprising” or “comprises” means including the component(s) specified but not to the exclusion of the presence of others.

[0349] Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

[0350] All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and / or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and / or steps are mutually exclusive.

[0351] Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

[0352] The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

[0353] The above description is only the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and is not used to limit the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0354] Those skilled in the art will understand that the present application may include devices for perform one or more of the operations described in the present application. These devices can be specifically designed and manufactured for required purposes, or they can also include known devices in general-purpose computers. These devices have computer programs stored therein, which are selectively activated or reconfigured. Such computer programs may be stored in a device (e.g., computer) readable medium or in any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions and respectively coupled to a bus, where the computer readable medium includes but is not limited to any type of disk (including floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, CD-ROM, and magneto-optical disk), ROM (Read-Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), flash memory, magnetic card or optical card. That is, the readable medium includes any medium in which information is stored or transmitted by a device (e.g., a computer) in a readable form.

[0355] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that each block in these structure diagrams and / or block diagrams and / or flow diagrams and combinations of blocks in these structure diagrams and / or block diagrams and / or flow diagrams can be implemented by computer program instructions. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that these computer program instructions can be provided to a general-purpose computer, a professional computer or a processor of other programmable data processing methods for implementation, so that the schemes specified in the block or blocks of the structure diagrams and / or block diagrams and / or flow diagrams disclosed in the present invention can be performed by the computer or the processor of other programmable data processing methods.

[0356] Those skilled in the art can understand that the steps, approaches and schemes in various operations, methods and flows discussed in the present invention can be alternated, changed, combined or deleted. Further, other steps, approaches and schemes in the various operations, methods and flows already discussed in the present invention can also be alternated, changed, rearranged, decomposed, combined or deleted. Further, the steps, approaches and schemes in various operations, methods and flows disclosed in the present invention of the relevant art can also be alternated, changed, rearranged, decomposed, combined or deleted.

[0357] The above description is only part of the implementations of the present disclosure. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and embellishments can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention, and these improvements and embellishments should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1.A method performed by a node in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:obtaining configuration information related to a first signal, at least one of first information related to a length of the first signal, second information related to a length L of a sub-signal of multiple sub-signals included in the first signal, and third information related to a number N of the multiple sub-signals according to the configuration information,generating the first signal based on at least one of the obtained first information, second information and third information; andtransmitting the first signal.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the first information, the second information and the third information.3.The method of claim 1, wherein the first signal further includes a cyclic prefix CP, and a length of the CP is determined based on at least one of information related to the length of the CP included in the configuration information, the first information, the third information and the second information.4.The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the first signal comprises:generating a sub-signal based on a frequency domain sub-sequence, and obtaining the multiple sub-signals based on the sub-signal,wherein a length of the frequency domain sub-sequence is 1 / N of the length of the first signal,wherein the frequency-domain sub-sequence is a pseudo-random sequence, or the frequency-domain sub-sequence is obtained by extracting from a pseudo-random sequence corresponding to a sub-signal at equal intervals,wherein the obtaining of the N sub-signals based on the sub-signal comprises extracting from the sub-signal to obtain an extracted sub-signal with a length of L, and obtaining the N sub-signals based on the extracted sub-signal.5.. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the first signal comprises:generating a sub-signal set corresponding to a time unit related to the first signal based on a frequency domain sequence corresponding to the time unit; andobtaining the N sub-signals based on the sub-signal set,wherein the generating of the sub-signal set corresponding to the time unit related to the first signal based on the frequency domain sequence corresponding to the time unit comprises:obtaining a second frequency domain sequence based on the frequency domain sequence corresponding to the time unit, wherein the second frequency domain sequence is obtained by zeroing the frequency domain sequence at equal intervals; andgenerating the sub-signal set corresponding to the time unit based on the second frequency domain sequence.6.The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the first signal comprises:generating the first signal based on a first sequence,wherein when a number M of time units occupied by the first signal is greater than 1 based on the first information, the generating of the first signal based on the first sequence comprises:generating a time domain sub-signal set corresponding to a time unit based on the first sequence; andobtaining the first signal corresponding to M time units based on the time domain sub-signal set.7.The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the first signal comprises:obtaining a value of a resource element corresponding to M time units corresponding to the first information based on a second sequence; andobtaining the first signal based on the value of the resource element.8.The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the first signal comprises:obtaining a value of a resource element corresponding to a time unit based on a second sequence; andobtaining the first signal based on the value of the resource element,wherein the obtaining of the first signal based on the value of the resource element comprises:obtaining a time domain signal corresponding to the time unit based on the value of the resource element; andobtaining the first signal based on the time domain signal.9.The method of claim 7, wherein the second sequence is mapped to a first subcarrier set among subcarriers corresponding to the M time units, and values of resource elements of other subcarriers among the subcarriers corresponding to the M time units are 0.10.The method of claim 7, wherein the second sequence is mapped to a first subcarrier set among subcarriers corresponding to the M time units, and a frequency domain sequence is mapped to the first subcarrier set, and zero-power reference signals ZP-RS are scheduled on other subcarriers among the subcarriers corresponding to the M time units.11.A node in a wireless communication system, the node comprising:a transceiver;a controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to:obtain configuration information related to a first signal, at least one of first information related to a length of the first signal, second information related to a length L of a sub-signal of multiple sub-signals included in the first signal, and third information related to a number N of the multiple sub-signals according to the configuration information,generate the first signal based on at least one of the obtained first information, second information and third information; andtransmit the first signal.12.The node of claim 11, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the first information, the second information and the third information.13.The node of claim 11, wherein the first signal further includes a cyclic prefix CP, and a length of the CP is determined based on at least one of information related to the length of the CP included in the configuration information, the first information, the third information and the second information.14.The node of claim 11,wherein the controller further is configured to generate a sub-signal based on a frequency domain sub-sequence, and obtaining the multiple sub-signals based on the sub-signal,wherein a length of the frequency domain sub-sequence is 1 / N of the length of the first signal,wherein the frequency-domain sub-sequence is a pseudo-random sequence, or the frequency-domain sub-sequence is obtained by extracting from a pseudo-random sequence corresponding to a sub-signal at equal intervals,wherein the controller further is configured to extract from the sub-signal to obtain an extracted sub-signal with a length of L, and obtaining the N sub-signals based on the extracted sub-signal.15.The node of claim 11, wherein the controller further is configured to:generate a sub-signal set corresponding to a time unit related to the first signal based on a frequency domain sequence corresponding to the time unit; andobtain the N sub-signals based on the sub-signal set.

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