Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a network device determining first data and at least one spatial layer, the first data being part of uplink data to be transmitted, and the at least one spatial layer being part of a plurality of spatial layers used to transmit the uplink data; and the network device sending first instruction information, the first instruction information being used to instruct a terminal device to send, by means of the at least one spatial layer, the first data. According to the method, specific uplink data to be transmitted can be mapped to a corresponding part of spatial layers, thereby ensuring the transmission efficiency of UCI and uplink data while meeting uplink transmission requirements.

Description

Communication method and device Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0002] In a wireless communication system, the user equipment (UE) needs to feed back uplink control information (UCI) to the base station through the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). When the UE has different types of UCI to send, or UCI needs to be sent at the same time as uplink data, these uplink transmission requirements will conflict. In order to meet the above transmission requirements, the UE will multiplex and transmit the data according to the type and priority of the information, or discard part of it. However, as the number of antennas in base stations and terminals continues to grow, the types of UCI continue to increase, and the importance of different types of UCI varies greatly, and the performance differences between different layers are large. If the above method is used, it will affect the transmission efficiency of UCI and uplink data.

[0003] Therefore, additional methods are urgently needed to ensure the transmission efficiency of UCI and uplink data while meeting the uplink transmission requirements.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus that can map specific uplink data to be transmitted to a corresponding portion of the spatial layer, thereby ensuring the transmission efficiency of UCI and uplink data while meeting uplink transmission requirements.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a network device, or a chip or chip system in a network device, or a logical node or logic module capable of implementing some or all of the network device functions. The method is described below using a network device as an example, and includes:

[0007] The network device determines first data and at least one spatial layer, where the first data is part of the uplink data to be transmitted, and the at least one spatial layer is part of the multiple spatial layers used to transmit the uplink data to be transmitted; the network device sends first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to send the first data through the at least one spatial layer.

[0008] It should be understood that the first data includes uplink user data and / or uplink control information (Uplink Control Information, UCI).

[0009] As an example but not a limitation, the first indication information is configuration information sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0010] It should be understood that this application does not limit the manner in which the first indication information is sent. Exemplarily, the network device carries the first indication information via downlink control information (DCI). In another example, the network device carries the first indication information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In yet another example, the network device carries the first indication information via a MAC control element (MAC CE).

[0011] It should be understood that the terminal device sending the first data through at least one spatial layer can be understood as the terminal device mapping the first data to the at least one spatial layer.

[0012] It should be understood that after the terminal device sends the first data, the network data receives the first data on the at least one spatial layer.

[0013] Based on the above scheme, after determining the first data and at least one spatial layer, the network device can instruct the terminal device to send the first data through the at least one spatial layer through the first indication information, and can transmit specific data on a specific spatial layer, thereby meeting the uplink sending requirements while ensuring the transmission efficiency of UCI and uplink data.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first data includes all or part of the user data in the uplink data to be transmitted, and / or, the first uplink control information UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted, wherein the priority of the first UCI satisfies a first preset condition, and the first preset condition includes at least one of the following: the priority of the first UCI is higher than a preset priority threshold; the priority of the first UCI is in the top N bits of the priority of the UCI in the data to be sent, where N is a preset value.

[0015] As an example but not a limitation, the first UCI is hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information.

[0016] Based on the above scheme, the network equipment can take all or part of the user data and uplink control information of higher importance as the first data, and instruct the terminal equipment to transmit the high-importance data on a specific spatial layer through the first indication information, thereby meeting the uplink sending requirements while ensuring the transmission efficiency of important data.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information includes the first preset condition and / or a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to indicate that the first data

[0018] As an example but not limitation, the first identifier includes the type and / or priority of the first data.

[0019] As an example but not a limitation, the first identifier is an index of the first data.

[0020] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send a first preset condition to the terminal device so that the terminal device can determine the first data based on the first preset condition, or the network device can send a first identifier of the first data to the terminal device so that the terminal device can directly determine the first data based on the first identifier, thereby improving the flexibility of the terminal device in determining the first data.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, each spatial layer in the at least one spatial layer satisfies a second preset condition, and the second preset condition includes at least one of the following: the transmission performance of the spatial layer is higher than a preset transmission performance threshold; the transmission performance of the spatial layer is in the top M positions among the performances of multiple spatial layers, where M is a preset value.

[0022] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific manner in which the network device determines the transmission performance of the spatial layer.

[0023] As an example and not a limitation, the network device determines the transmission performance of the spatial layer through received signal strength (RSSI).

[0024] As an example and not a limitation, the network device determines the transmission performance of each spatial layer by using the Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) of each spatial layer.

[0025] Based on the above scheme, the network equipment can use the spatial layer with better transmission performance as at least one spatial layer, and instruct the terminal equipment through the first indication information to transmit high-importance data on the spatial layer with better transmission performance, thereby meeting the uplink sending requirements while ensuring the transmission efficiency of important data.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, before the network device receives the first data through the at least one spatial layer, the method also includes: the network device sends second indication information, the second indication information being used to instruct the terminal device to determine the at least one spatial layer from the multiple spatial layers, the second indication information including the second preset condition, and / or, the index of the at least one spatial layer.

[0027] As an example but not a limitation, the second indication information is scheduling information sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0028] It should be understood that this application does not limit the manner in which the second indication information is sent. For example, the network device carries the second indication information via downlink control information (DCI). In another example, the network device carries the second indication information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In yet another example, the network device carries the second indication information via MAC CE).

[0029] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific form of the index of the at least one spatial layer. As an example and not a limitation, the index of the at least one spatial layer is indicated by a demodulation reference signal demodulation reference signal port (DMRS Port), or the index of the at least one spatial layer is indicated by sounding reference signal resource indicator information (SRI).

[0030] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send a second preset condition to the terminal device so that the terminal device can determine the at least one spatial layer according to the second preset condition, or the network device can send an index of at least one spatial layer to the terminal device so that the terminal device can directly determine the first data based on the first identifier, thereby improving the flexibility of the terminal device in determining the first data.

[0031] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information includes a first mapping relationship, which is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the uplink data to be transmitted and the multiple spatial layers, and the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the at least one spatial layer.

[0032] The first mapping relationship can be indicated by an index. Specifically, the first mapping relationship indicates the mapping relationship between the first data and the at least one spatial layer by an index.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on uplink data to be transmitted, at least one spatial layer for layer mapping. Exemplarily, the first mapping relationship indicates, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on the first data, the at least one spatial layer.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate, by an index, a terminal device to determine, based on at least one spatial layer, uplink data to be transmitted mapped on the spatial layer. Exemplarily, the first mapping relationship indicates, by an index, a terminal device to determine, based on the at least one spatial layer, the first data.

[0035] Based on the above solution, the network device can enable the terminal device to quickly determine the mapping relationship between the uplink data to be transmitted and multiple spatial layers by including the first mapping relationship in the first indication information.

[0036] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the second spatial layer and the second data, the second spatial layer is part or all of the spatial layers in the multiple spatial layers except the at least one spatial layer, and the second data includes part or all of the data in the data to be sent except the first data.

[0037] Based on the above solution, the network device can also send other data through other spatial layers besides at least one spatial layer, thereby ensuring the normal transmission of other data while ensuring the efficiency of important data transmission.

[0038] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the second spatial layer.

[0039] Based on the above scheme, the network device also instructs the terminal device to send the first data in other spatial layers outside at least one spatial layer through the first indication information, thereby improving the data transmission throughput while ensuring the efficiency of important data transmission.

[0040] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, before the network device sends the first indication information, the method also includes: the network device determines that the size of the UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted exceeds a preset first threshold, and / or the network device determines that the number of layers of the multiple spatial layers is greater than a preset second threshold.

[0041] Based on the above scheme, the network device sends the first indication information only when it is determined that the size of the UCI exceeds the first threshold and / or the number of spatial layers used to transmit uplink data to be transmitted is greater than a preset second threshold, thereby saving energy consumption of the network device.

[0042] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device, or a chip or chip system in the terminal device, or a logical node or logic module capable of implementing some or all of the functions of the terminal device. The following uses a terminal device as an example to illustrate the method, which includes:

[0043] The terminal device receives first indication information, which is used to instruct the terminal device to send first data through at least one spatial layer, where the at least one spatial layer is a part of the multiple spatial layers used to transmit the uplink data to be transmitted, and the first data is part of the uplink data to be transmitted; the terminal device sends the first data through the at least one spatial layer according to the first indication information.

[0044] It should be understood that the first data includes uplink user data and / or uplink control information (Uplink Control Information, UCI).

[0045] As an example but not a limitation, the first indication information is configuration information sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0046] It should be understood that this application does not limit the manner in which the first indication information is sent. Exemplarily, the network device carries the first indication information via downlink control information (DCI). In another example, the network device carries the first indication information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In yet another example, the network device carries the first indication information via a MAC control element (MAC CE).

[0047] It should be understood that the terminal device sending the first data through at least one spatial layer can be understood as the terminal device mapping the first data to the at least one spatial layer.

[0048] Based on the above scheme, after determining the first data and at least one spatial layer, the network device can instruct the terminal device to send the first data through the at least one spatial layer through the first indication information. Correspondingly, the terminal device sends the first data on the at least one spatial layer according to the first indication information, that is, it can transmit specific data on a specific spatial layer, thereby meeting the uplink sending requirements while ensuring the transmission efficiency of UCI and uplink data.

[0049] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first data includes all or part of the user data in the uplink data to be transmitted, and / or, the first uplink control information UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted, wherein the priority of the first UCI satisfies a first preset condition, and the first preset condition includes at least one of the following: the priority of the first UCI is higher than a preset priority threshold; the priority of the first UCI is in the top N bits of the priority of the UCI in the data to be sent, where N is a preset value.

[0050] As an example but not a limitation, the first UCI is hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information.

[0051] Based on the above scheme, the network equipment can take all or part of the user data and uplink control information of higher importance as the first data, and instruct the terminal equipment to transmit the high-importance data on a specific spatial layer through the first indication information. Correspondingly, the terminal equipment transmits data according to the first indication information, thereby meeting the uplink sending requirements while ensuring the transmission efficiency of important data.

[0052] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information includes the first preset condition and / or a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to indicate the first data.

[0053] As an example but not limitation, the first identifier includes the type and / or priority of the first data.

[0054] As an example but not a limitation, the first identifier is an index of the first data.

[0055] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send a first preset condition to the terminal device so that the terminal device can determine the first data based on the first preset condition, or the network device can send a first identifier of the first data to the terminal device so that the terminal device can directly determine the first data based on the first identifier, thereby improving the flexibility of the terminal device in determining the first data.

[0056] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, each spatial layer in the at least one spatial layer satisfies a second preset condition, and the second preset condition includes at least one of the following: the transmission performance of the spatial layer is higher than a preset transmission performance threshold; the transmission performance of the spatial layer is in the top M positions among the performances of multiple spatial layers, where M is a preset value.

[0057] Among them, the specific method for the terminal device to determine the transmission performance of the spatial layer can be referred to the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0058] Based on the above scheme, the network equipment can use the spatial layer with better transmission performance as at least one spatial layer, and instruct the terminal equipment through the first indication information to transmit high-importance data on the spatial layer with better transmission performance, thereby meeting the uplink sending requirements while ensuring the transmission efficiency of important data.

[0059] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, before the terminal device sends the first data through the at least one spatial layer according to the first indication information, the method also includes: the terminal device receives second indication information, the second indication information being used to instruct the terminal device to determine the at least one spatial layer from the multiple spatial layers, the second indication information including the second preset condition, and / or, the index of the at least one spatial layer.

[0060] As an example but not a limitation, the second indication information is scheduling information sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0061] It should be understood that this application does not limit the manner in which the second indication information is sent. For example, the network device carries the second indication information via downlink control information (DCI). In another example, the network device carries the second indication information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In yet another example, the network device carries the second indication information via a MAC CE.

[0062] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific form of the index of the at least one spatial layer. As an example and not a limitation, the index of the at least one spatial layer is indicated by a DMRS Port, or the index SRI of the at least one spatial layer is indicated.

[0063] Based on the above scheme, the network device can send a second preset condition to the terminal device so that the terminal device can determine the at least one spatial layer according to the second preset condition, or the network device can send an index of at least one spatial layer to the terminal device so that the terminal device can directly determine the first data based on the first identifier, thereby improving the flexibility of the terminal device in determining the first data.

[0064] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information includes a first mapping relationship, which is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the uplink data to be transmitted and the multiple spatial layers, and the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the at least one spatial layer.

[0065] The first mapping relationship can be indicated by an index. Specifically, the first mapping relationship indicates the mapping relationship between the first data and the at least one spatial layer by an index.

[0066] As an example and not a limitation, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on uplink data to be transmitted, at least one spatial layer for layer mapping. Exemplarily, the first mapping relationship indicates, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on the first data, the at least one spatial layer.

[0067] As an example and not a limitation, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate, by an index, a terminal device to determine, based on at least one spatial layer, uplink data to be transmitted mapped on a spatial layer. Exemplarily, the first mapping relationship indicates, by an index, a terminal device to determine, based on the at least one spatial layer, the first data.

[0068] Based on the above solution, the network device can enable the terminal device to quickly determine the mapping relationship between the uplink data to be transmitted and multiple spatial layers by including the first mapping relationship in the first indication information.

[0069] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the second spatial layer and the second data, the second spatial layer is part or all of the multiple spatial layers except the at least one spatial layer, and the second data includes part or all of the data to be sent except the first data.

[0070] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the terminal device sends the second data through the second spatial layer according to the first mapping relationship.

[0071] Based on the above solution, the terminal device can also send other data through other spatial layers outside of at least one spatial layer, thereby ensuring the normal transmission of other data while ensuring the efficiency of important data transmission.

[0072] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the second spatial layer.

[0073] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the terminal device sends the first data through the second spatial layer according to the first mapping relationship.

[0074] Based on the above solution, the terminal device sends the first data in other spatial layers outside of at least one spatial layer, thereby improving the data transmission throughput while ensuring the efficiency of important data transmission.

[0075] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, before the terminal device determines the first data, or before the terminal device determines the first data, the method also includes: the terminal device determines that the size of the UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted exceeds a preset first threshold, and / or the terminal device determines that the number of layers of the multiple spatial layers is greater than a preset second threshold.

[0076] Based on the above scheme, the terminal device sends the first indication information only when it is determined that the size of the UCI exceeds the first threshold and / or the number of spatial layers used to transmit uplink data to be transmitted is greater than a preset second threshold, thereby saving energy consumption of the network device.

[0077] According to a third aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the processing unit being used to determine first data and at least one spatial layer, the first data being part of the uplink data to be transmitted, and the at least one spatial layer being part of the multiple spatial layers used to transmit the uplink data to be transmitted; the transceiver unit being used to send first indication information, the first indication information being used to instruct the terminal device to send the first data through the at least one spatial layer.

[0078] It should be understood that the third aspect is an implementation method on the device side corresponding to the first aspect. The supplement, explanation and beneficial effects of the first aspect are also applicable to the third aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0079] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is used to receive first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to send first data through at least one spatial layer, where the at least one spatial layer is a partial spatial layer among multiple spatial layers used to transmit the uplink data to be transmitted, and the first data is partial data among the uplink data to be transmitted; the processing unit is used to send the first data through the at least one spatial layer according to the first indication information.

[0080] It should be understood that the fourth aspect is an implementation method on the device side corresponding to the second aspect. The supplement, explanation and beneficial effects of the second aspect are also applicable to the fourth aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0081] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor configured to implement the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect. The processor is coupled to a memory configured to store instructions and data. When the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, can be implemented.

[0082] Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory. Optionally, the communication device may further include a communication interface, which is used for the device to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, hardware circuit, bus, module, pin or other type of communication interface.

[0083] In one example, the communication device may be a network device, such as an access network device, or may be a device, module, or chip disposed in the network device, or may be a device that can be used in conjunction with the network device.

[0084] In another example, the communication device may be a terminal device, or may be a device, module, chip, etc. provided in the terminal device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with the terminal device.

[0085] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, including a network device and a terminal device.

[0086] In the seventh aspect, the present application also provides a computer program, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or execute the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

[0087] In an eighth aspect, the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or to execute the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

[0088] In the ninth aspect, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer executes the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or executes the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

[0089] In the tenth aspect, the present application also provides a chip, which is used to read a computer program stored in a memory, execute the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or execute the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect; or, the chip includes a chip for executing the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or executing the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

[0090] In an eleventh aspect, the present application further provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a device to implement the method provided in the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or to execute the method provided in the second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect. In one possible design, the chip system also includes a memory, which is used to store programs and data necessary for the device. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0091] The technical effects of the solutions provided in the third to eleventh aspects above can be referred to the corresponding description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0092] FIG1 is an example of an architecture of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of types of uplink data to be transmitted in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a process for multiplexing and transmitting UCI and UL-SCH;

[0095] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0097] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a first mapping relationship in an embodiment of the present application;

[0098] FIG7 is a flowchart of an uplink transmission applicable to the communication method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] FIG8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 provided in this application;

[0100] FIG9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1100 provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0101] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0102] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as the fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) system, long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, and the three major application scenarios of the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system (enhanced mobile broadband, eMBB) enhanced mobile broadband, (ultra reliable & low latency communication, URLLC) low latency and high reliability and (massive machine type communication, mMTC) massive Internet of Things communication. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as the sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system. The technical solution provided in this application can also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems or other communication systems.

[0103] The network device in the embodiment of the present application is a device deployed in a wireless access network to provide wireless communication functions for a mobile station (MS), such as a base station. The base station may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small stations), relay stations and access points. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions may be different. For example, in the third generation (3G) system, it is called Node B, in the LTE system, it is called evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), in the 5G system, it carries the next generation Node B (gNB), etc. In addition, the network device can also be a device that performs base station functions in device to device (D2D), machine type communication, and vehicle network communication, a satellite device, and a base station device in a future communication network. For the convenience of description, in all embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned devices that provide wireless communication functions for the MS are collectively referred to as network devices or base stations or (base station) BS. In this application, the base station may also be referred to as a base station device.

[0104] The user equipment (or terminal device, or terminal, or user) in the embodiments of the present application includes various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication capabilities, and can specifically refer to user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device can also be a drone, satellite phone, cellular phone, smart phone, wireless data card, wireless modem, machine type communication device (MTC), 5G network or terminal device in future communication network, etc. The terminal device is also called user equipment (UE), terminal, etc.

[0105] Referring to FIG. 1 , FIG. 1 is an example of an architecture of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1 , the communication system includes one or more network devices (such as 110 in FIG. 1 ), and the network device 110 communicates with one or more terminal devices, such as terminal devices 120 and 130 in FIG. 1 . It should be understood that FIG. 1 only uses one network device 110 and two terminal devices, 120 and 130, as an example, and the communication system is not limited to including more network devices, and each network device is not limited to communicating with one or more terminal devices.

[0106] Furthermore, the communication between the network device and the terminal device can be either uplink transmission or downlink transmission, without limitation. For example, in downlink transmission, the transmitting end in this application is the network device, such as a base station device, and the receiving end is the terminal device. In uplink transmission, the transmitting end in this application is the terminal device, and the receiving end is the network device, such as a base station device.

[0107] It should be understood that as long as there are two entities in the communication system, and one entity can send information to the other entity, or receive information sent by the other entity. The information here can be physical signals such as preambles, reference signals, etc.; physical layer control information such as downlink control information DCI (downlink control information), uplink control signal UCI (uplink control information), etc.; control plane CP (control plane) data such as radio resource control RRC (radio resource control) messages, etc.; user plane UP (user plane) data; other specific scenario or application-related information, such as related data enabled or generated by artificial intelligence AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning ML (Machine Learning) (such as gradient information, training data, model parameters, etc.), related data enabled by sensing functions or generated by perception, etc.

[0108] It should be noted that the configuration method of scheduling-free resources provided in this application can be based on dynamic authorization transmission, and can also be used for authorization-free transmission (for example: two-step random access (2-step random access, 2-step RA), four-step random access (4-step random access, 4-step RA), pre-configured uplink resources (pre-configured uplink resources, PUR) or configured authorization (configured grant, CG), etc.), which is not limited in this application.

[0109] It should also be noted that the present application is applicable to high-frequency scenarios (for example, millimeter wave and THz scenarios) as well as low-frequency scenarios (for example, 700 / 900MHz, 2.1 / 2.6 / 3.5GHz bands); the present application can be used for licensed bands or unlicensed bands; the present application can be used for the air interface Uu link between the terminal and the base station, for side links such as D2D, and for non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication links; the present application can be applied to terminals in a connected or active state (ACTIVE), to terminals in an unconnected state (INACTIVE) or an idle state (IDLE), and to terminals that are not in the above three states, such as terminal devices that are not attached to the network or are not synchronized with the network for downlink, and this application does not limit this.

[0110] In this application, a base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; a terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to a base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order to communicate with a base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the base station.

[0111] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and PUSCH are only used as an example of downlink data channel, downlink control channel, uplink control channel and uplink data channel. In different systems and different scenarios, data channels and control channels may have different names, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. In the present application, signals may include data channels, control channels and reference signals. The transmission of signals can be uplink transmission, that is, the terminal sends to the base station; it can also be downlink transmission, that is, the base station sends to the terminal. When transmission is used as a verb, transmission can be interchangeable with sending / receiving.

[0112] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application are briefly explained. It should be understood that the basic concepts introduced below are briefly explained using the basic concepts specified in the current protocol as an example, but do not limit the embodiments of the present application to be applicable only to currently existing systems. Therefore, the names that appear when describing the currently existing systems as examples are all functional descriptions. The specific names are not limited and only represent the functions, and can be correspondingly extended to other systems, such as 6G or future communication systems.

[0113] 1. Uplink Control Information (UCI)

[0114] In wireless communication systems, the UE needs to feed back uplink control information (UCI) to the base station via the uplink control channel (PUCCH). UCI includes many types, such as SR (scheduling request), HARQ-ACK (hybrid repeat request acknowledgment), and CSI (channel state information).

[0115] Among them, HARQ is an efficient transmission mechanism. On the one hand, the reliability of downlink data transmission can be greatly improved through retransmission. On the other hand, the terminal can feedback HARQ positive acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK). When the UE feedbacks NACK, the base station needs to retransmit, reducing the overall resource consumption of data transmission. The HARQ feedback information in this application can also be referred to as HARQ-ACK, which can include ACK and NACK. When the terminal accurately receives the downlink data, the terminal can feedback ACK. When the terminal does not accurately receive the downlink data, the terminal can feedback NACK.

[0116] Among them, channel state information (CSI) is information reported by the receiving end (such as a terminal device) to the transmitting end (such as a network device) to describe the channel properties of the communication link. The CSI report may include, but is not limited to, precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indication (RI), channel quality indicator (CQI), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) and layer indicator (LI). Among these CSI, some CSI can be cascaded and called the first part of CSI (CSI part 1) or the second part of CSI (CSI part 2), and CSI part 1 is more important. Among them, CSI part 1 may include CRI, RI, wideband CSI of the first transport block (TB), and subband differential CQI of the first TB. The second part of CSI (CSI part 2) may include wideband CQI of the second TB, LI, etc.

[0117] It should be understood that the specific contents of the CSI listed above are merely illustrative and should not constitute any limitation on this application. CSI may include one or more of the items listed above, or other information used to represent CSI in addition to the items listed above, and this application does not limit this.

[0118] 2. Independent coding

[0119] Independent coding can be understood as the original UCI bits (pre-coding bits) being independently encoded, or using a separate coding chain, to obtain the encoded bits, which are then mapped onto the PUSCH resources. No two UCI bits can be concatenated together. In other words, no two UCI bits can be encoded using the same encoder or using only one coding chain to obtain a single encoded bit, which is then mapped onto the PUSCH resources.

[0120] 3. Joint coding

[0121] Joint coding can also be called concatenated coding. Assume that the original HARQ-ACK bits and the original CSI part 1 bits are concatenated to form a single original bit. This combined original bit is then encoded according to the coding rules, using the first coding chain to obtain a single coded bit, which is then mapped to the PUSCH resources. This can be considered the UCI jointly coded by HARQ-ACK and CSI part 1.

[0122] In this application, the two jointly coded UCIs are considered as one independently coded UCI. For example, the HARQ-ACK and CSI part 1 can be considered as one independently coded UCI.

[0123] 4. Spatial Layer

[0124] In multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, a spatial layer can be viewed as an independently transmittable data stream. To improve spectrum utilization and enhance the data transmission capacity of communication systems, data can be transmitted between network devices and terminal devices across multiple spatial layers.

[0125] In next-generation and subsequent cellular communication systems, the overhead of transmitting UCI will increase, and the types of UCI will increase due to the following reasons:

[0126] (1) The increase in the number of antennas at the base station and UE will lead to an increase in the overhead of CSI reporting.

[0127] (2) As throughput increases, carrier aggregation leads to more codewords, which in turn increases the overhead of HARQ-ACK.

[0128] (3) As the number of connected users increases, the overhead of scheduling information SR increases;

[0129] (4) Added relevant information required for technologies such as sensing and artificial intelligence (AI).

[0130] It should be understood that the above CSI is also divided into two categories according to importance, namely CSI Part 1 and CSI Part 2, among which CSI Part 1 is more important.

[0131] When the UE needs to send different types of UCI, or when the UCI needs to be sent simultaneously with uplink data (UL-SCH), a conflict may occur in the uplink transmission requirements.

[0132] To address the need for simultaneous transmission of UCI and UL-SCH, existing wireless communication systems first define different priorities (HP, High Priority or LP, Low Priority) for different services based on different transmission delay requirements, thereby giving priority to transmitting high-priority services. For example, taking the low-latency service as a URLLC service and the delay-tolerant service as an eMBB service as an example, for both eMBB and URLLC services, URLLC can be defined as high priority and eMBB as low priority. Therefore, the UCI of eMBB can be considered as the UCI of low-priority services, and the UCI of URLLC can be considered as the UCI of high-priority services. For example, the HARQ-ACK of URLLC can be considered as the HARQ-ACK of high-priority services, and the HARQ-ACK of eMBB can be considered as the HARQ-ACK of low-priority services. Based on this, the UCI involved in the embodiments of the present application includes but is not limited to the following types: HARQ feedback information of high-priority services (HP HARQ feedback information), CSI part 1 of high-priority services (HP CSI part1), CSI part 2 of high-priority services (HP CSI part2), HARQ feedback information of low-priority services (LP HARQ feedback information), CSI part 1 of low-priority services (LP CSI part1), and CSI part 2 of low-priority services (LP CSI part2).

[0133] It should be noted that high-priority services are not limited to URLLC services and can also include other services with high latency requirements. Similarly, low-latency services are not limited to eMBB services and can also include other services with low latency requirements.

[0134] As shown in Figure 2, different types of uplink control information (UCI) include high-priority or low-priority (HP or LP) SR, HARQ-ACK, CSI Part 1, and CSI Part 2. Uplink data includes high-priority or low-priority (HP or LP) CG-PUSCH and dynamic grant PUSCH (Dynamic Grand-PUSCH, DG-PUSCH). Based on the above priority division, when different types of UCI and UL-SCH need to be sent at the same time, the UE will multiplex and transmit the data or discard part of it according to the type and priority of the information. The specific processing method is as follows:

[0135] When HP HARQ-ACK and LP CSI / SR conflict: discard CSI / SR;

[0136] When HP HARQ-ACK and LP HARQ-ACK (>2 bits) collide: multiplex transmission (separately coding);

[0137] When HP HARQ-ACK and LP HARQ-ACK+LP CSI on LP PUSCH collide: discard CSI part 2;

[0138] When CG-PUSCH and DG-PUSCH conflict: if they have different priorities, LP PUSCH is discarded; if they have the same priority, CG-PUSCH is discarded.

[0139] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, dynamic authorization and dynamic scheduling have the same meaning.

[0140] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a process of multiplexing and transmitting UCI and UL-SCH.

[0141] As shown in Figure 3, when different types of UCI and UL-SCH are multiplexed for transmission, the UE will independently encode, scramble, and modulate each type of UCI and UL-SCH, and then perform unified layer mapping, thereby evenly mapping the symbols to all layers in sequence. The layer-mapped spatial layer is precoded to obtain multiple precoded data streams (or precoded symbol streams). The precoded symbol streams are mapped to multiple resource elements (REs) through resource element (RE) mapping. These REs are then modulated by orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) to generate an OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is then transmitted through the antenna port.

[0142] However, on the one hand, as the number of antennas in base stations and terminals in ultra-large-scale antennas continues to grow, the types of UCI continue to increase, and the importance of different types of UCI varies greatly. For example, HARQ-ACK is of high importance, while CQI / PMI and Sensing / AI data are of low importance. On the other hand, as the number of UE antennas increases, the rank number increases, and due to the influence of channels and precoding, the performance differences between different layers will be large. For the above reasons, when UCI with high overhead is multiplexed with UL-SCH, if the above method is used, the transmission efficiency of uplink data (hereinafter referred to as UL-SCH) will be affected.

[0143] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application proposes a communication method that can transmit uplink data of different types and / or priorities through different spatial layers, thereby limiting some unimportant UCI to spatial layers with weaker performance to reduce the impact on the transmission performance of uplink data.

[0144] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not impose any restrictions on the content of the uplink data, and only require that the data be used for uplink transmission.

[0145] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following explanations are made.

[0146] First, in this application, "used to indicate" can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing that a certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, but it does not mean that the indication information must include A.

[0147] The information indicated by the indication information is referred to as the information to be indicated. During the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately. The transmission period and / or transmission timing of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific transmission method is not limited in this application. The transmission period and / or transmission timing of these sub-information can be predefined, for example, according to a protocol, or can be configured by the transmitting device through sending configuration information to the receiving device.

[0148] Second, "at least one" shown in the present application refers to one or more, and "a plurality of" refers to two or more. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, "first", "second" and various digital numbers (for example, "#1", "#2", etc.) are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of each process below does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the objects described in this way can be interchanged where appropriate, so that the schemes other than the embodiments of the present application can be described. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "610", "620" are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the order of execution of steps.

[0149] Third, in this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0150] Fourth, the term "storage" used in the embodiments of this application may refer to storage in one or more memories. The one or more memories may be provided separately or integrated into an encoder or decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories may also be provided in part separately and in part integrated into a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The memory may be any type of storage medium, and this application is not limited thereto.

[0151] Fifth, the "protocol" involved in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, it may include an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems. This application does not limit this.

[0152] Sixth, the term "and / or" in this document simply describes a relationship between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0153] Seventh, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms “of”, “corresponding, relevant”, “corresponding” and “associate” can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are consistent.

[0154] Eighth, in the embodiments of the present application, "under the circumstances", "when", and "if" can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be pointed out that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are consistent.

[0155] Below, without loss of generality, the method for avoiding transmission conflicts provided in an embodiment of the present application is described in detail by taking the interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example.

[0156] FIG4 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method comprises the following steps:

[0157] S210. The network device determines first data and at least one spatial layer, where the first data is part of uplink data to be transmitted, and the at least one spatial layer is part of multiple spatial layers used to transmit the uplink data to be transmitted.

[0158] The first data includes all or part of the user data in the uplink data to be transmitted, and / or first uplink control information UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted.

[0159] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the method for determining the first UCI.

[0160] In a possible implementation, the first UCI can be any portion of UCI in uplink data to be transmitted.

[0161] In another possible implementation, the first UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted can be a UCI that meets a first preset condition. Specifically, the first preset condition includes at least one of the following: the priority of the first UCI is higher than a preset priority threshold; the priority of the first UCI is in the top N bits of the priority of the UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted, where N is a preset value.

[0162] As an example but not limitation, the first UCI is high priority hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HP HARQ-ACK) information.

[0163] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the method for determining the at least one spatial layer.

[0164] In a possible implementation manner, the at least one spatial layer is any part of all spatial layers used to transmit the uplink data to be transmitted.

[0165] In another possible implementation, each spatial layer in the at least one spatial layer satisfies a second preset condition, where the second preset condition includes at least one of the following: the transmission performance of the spatial layer is higher than a preset transmission performance threshold; the transmission performance of the spatial layer is in the top M positions among the performances of multiple spatial layers, where M is a preset value.

[0166] It should be understood that the manner in which the network device determines the first UCI and at least one spatial layer may be preconfigured or predefined by a protocol, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0167] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the content included in the first indication information.

[0168] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes the first preset condition and / or a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to indicate the first data.

[0169] As an example but not limitation, the first identifier includes the type and / or priority of the first data.

[0170] As an example but not a limitation, the first identifier is an index of the first data.

[0171] Furthermore, the first indication information includes a first mapping relationship, which includes a correspondence between multiple spatial layers used to transmit uplink data to be transmitted and the uplink data to be transmitted, wherein the first mapping relationship can be indicated by an index.

[0172] In one possible implementation, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on uplink data to be transmitted, at least one spatial layer for layer mapping. Exemplarily, the first mapping relationship indicates, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on the first data, the at least one spatial layer.

[0173] In one possible implementation, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on at least one spatial layer, uplink data to be transmitted mapped on the spatial layer. Exemplarily, the first mapping relationship indicates, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on the at least one spatial layer, the first data.

[0174] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific mapping relationship included in the first mapping relationship.

[0175] As an example but not limitation, the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the at least one spatial layer.

[0176] As an example but not limitation, the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the at least one spatial layer and a second spatial layer, where the second spatial layer is all or part of the spatial layer except the at least one space.

[0177] As an example but not a limitation, the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the second data and the second space, and the second data is the final whole or part of the uplink data to be transmitted.

[0178] S220: The network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to send the first data through the at least one spatial layer. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information.

[0179] It should be understood that the terminal device sends the first data through the at least one spatial layer according to the first indication information.

[0180] It should be understood that after the network device sends the first indication information, the network device receives the first data on the at least one spatial layer. Specifically, the network device recombines the first UCI and / or user data received on the at least one spatial layer.

[0181] The above method 200 is further described below with reference to FIG. 5 .

[0182] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, FIG5 includes the following steps:

[0183] S310: The network device determines a data set and a mapping relationship between the data set and the layer set.

[0184] Specifically, the network device determines a classification method for the data set and a mapping relationship between the data set and the layer set (i.e., a first mapping relationship). The data set classification method is used to divide uplink data to be transmitted into at least two data sets. The uplink data to be transmitted includes one or more types of UCI and user data (hereinafter referred to as UL-SCH). First, the data set classification method is described.

[0185] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the classification basis for UL-SCH in the data set.

[0186] Exemplarily, UL-SCHs whose priority of user-transmitted services is higher than a preset priority threshold are divided into data set 1 (an example of first data), and the remaining UCIs are divided into data set 2 (an example of second data).

[0187] For example, the UCIs whose priorities of the user-transmitted services are in the first L bits of the UL-SCH priority in the uplink data to be transmitted are divided into data set 1, and the remaining UCIs are divided into data set 2 (an example of the first data), where L is a preset value.

[0188] Optionally, the priority of the service transmitted by the user can be replaced by the user priority, which is allocated to each user equipment by the network equipment.

[0189] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the classification basis for UCI in the data set (ie, the first preset condition).

[0190] Exemplarily, UCIs with priorities higher than a preset priority threshold are classified into data set 1 (an example of first data), and the remaining UCIs are classified into data set 2.

[0191] Exemplarily, the UCIs whose priorities are in the top N among the UCIs in the uplink data to be transmitted are grouped into data set 1, and the remaining UCIs are grouped into data set 2 (an example of the first data), where N is a preset value.

[0192] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific classification method of the data set.

[0193] Exemplarily, the network device divides the uplink data to be transmitted into two data sets, wherein the high-priority HARQ-ACK is divided into data set 1 (an example of the first data), and the remaining UCI and UL-SCH are divided into data set 2.

[0194] Exemplarily, the network device divides uplink data to be transmitted into two data sets, wherein high-priority HARQ-ACK and UL-SCH are divided into data set 1' (another example of the first data), and the remaining UCI is divided into data set 2'.

[0195] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific number of data sets in the classification of the data set.

[0196] Exemplarily, the network device divides uplink data to be transmitted into three data sets, wherein the network device divides high-priority HARQ-ACK into data set 1, divides UL-SCH into data set 2, and divides the remaining UCI into data set 3.

[0197] Next, the first mapping relationship is described below.

[0198] It should be understood that the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a data set and a layer set. The network device receives data in the corresponding data set on the layer set according to the first mapping relationship, and the terminal device sends data in the corresponding data set on the layer set according to the first mapping relationship. The first mapping relationship can be indicated by an index. Exemplarily, the first mapping relationship indicates the mapping relationship between the first data and the at least one spatial layer by an index.

[0199] In one possible implementation, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on a data set, one or more layer sets for layer mapping. Exemplarily, the first mapping relationship indicates, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on data set 1, layer set 1 for mapping.

[0200] In one possible implementation, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on a layer set, one or more data sets mapped on the layer set. Exemplarily, the first mapping relationship indicates, through an index, a terminal device to determine, based on the layer set 1, data set 1 mapped on layer set 1.

[0201] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific mapping relationship between the data set and the layer set.

[0202] Exemplarily, the mapping relationship between the data set and the layer set is one-to-one, that is, one data set is mapped to one layer set.

[0203] Exemplarily, the mapping relationship between the data set and the layer set is one-to-many, that is, one data set is mapped to multiple layer sets.

[0204] Exemplarily, the mapping relationship between the data set and the layer set is many-to-one, that is, multiple data sets are mapped to one layer set.

[0205] As shown in (a) of FIG6 , a data set 1 with a high priority can be mapped to both layer set 1 and layer set 2 , and a data set 2 with a low priority can be mapped to layer set 2 .

[0206] As shown in FIG6( b ), a data set 1 with a high priority can be mapped to a layer set 1 , and a data set 2 with a low priority can be mapped to a layer set 2 .

[0207] S320, the network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information.

[0208] Specifically, the first indication information includes a classification method of the data set and one or more items in the first mapping relationship.

[0209] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which the first indication information indicates the classification method of the above-mentioned data set.

[0210] Exemplarily, the first indication information includes a first identifier, which is used to indicate a data set corresponding to each type of data in the uplink data to be transmitted. The first identifier can be used to indicate an index of data corresponding to each data set, or the first identifier can be used to indicate a type and / or priority of data corresponding to each data set.

[0211] Exemplarily, the first indication information includes the above-mentioned classification basis (ie, the first preset condition), so that the UE determines the data set corresponding to each type of uplink data to be transmitted according to the classification basis.

[0212] In a possible implementation, the first indication information further includes a first condition, which is the classification of the above-mentioned data set and an enabling condition for the mapping relationship between the layer set and the data set.

[0213] It should be understood that only when the first condition is met will the terminal device send the uplink data to be transmitted according to the classification relationship and mapping relationship of the above data set. Correspondingly, only when the first condition is met will the network device receive the uplink data to be transmitted according to the classification relationship and mapping relationship of the above data set.

[0214] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific content of the first condition.

[0215] In one example, the first condition is a UCI size threshold, that is, the UE will enable the division and mapping relationship of the data set only after the UCI size reaches the threshold.

[0216] In another example, the first condition is the total number of spatial layers available for uplink transmission, that is, the number of layers that can be used for uplink transmission reaches this number (i.e., the second threshold), and the UE will enable the division and mapping relationship of the above data set.

[0217] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the method for sending the above-mentioned first indication information.

[0218] Exemplarily, the above-mentioned first indication information can be transmitted in a dynamic, semi-static or static manner, for example, through downlink control information (Downlink Control Indicator, DCI), radio resource control control element (Radio Resource Control), or medium access control control element (Medium Access Control Control Element, MAC CE).

[0219] In another possible implementation, the first indication information does not include the classification method and the first mapping relationship of the data set, and the classification method and the mapping relationship of the data set can be specified by the communication protocol or pre-configured.

[0220] S330, the network device determines a layer set.

[0221] Specifically, the network device divides multiple spatial layers used to transmit uplink data into at least two spatial layer sets. For example, the L layer is divided into two layer sets, with layers 0 and 1 forming layer set 1 (an example of at least one spatial layer), and layers 2 to L-1 forming layer set 2.

[0222] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the basis for classifying layer sets. For example, the network device can obtain the layer set classification based on the performance of the layer used for uplink transmission.

[0223] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific manner in which the network device determines the transmission performance of the spatial layer.

[0224] As an example and not a limitation, the network device determines the transmission performance of the spatial layer through received signal strength (RSSI).

[0225] As an example and not a limitation, the network device determines the transmission performance of each spatial layer by using the Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) of each spatial layer.

[0226] Each spatial layer in the at least one spatial layer satisfies a second preset condition, where the second preset condition includes at least one of the following: the transmission performance of the spatial layer is higher than a preset transmission performance threshold; the transmission performance of the spatial layer is in the top M positions among the performances of multiple spatial layers, where M is a preset value.

[0227] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific classification basis of the layer set by the network device.

[0228] Exemplarily, the network device divides the spatial layers with transmission performance higher than a preset transmission performance threshold into layer set 1 (an example of at least one spatial layer), and divides the remaining spatial layers into layer set 2.

[0229] Exemplarily, the network device divides the spatial layers with transmission performance in the top M bits among all spatial layers into layer set 1 (an example of at least one spatial layer), and divides the remaining spatial layers into layer set 2, where M is a preset value.

[0230] S340, the network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information.

[0231] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which the second indication information indicates the classification of the above-mentioned layer set.

[0232] Exemplarily, the first indication information includes an index of a spatial layer, where the index of the spatial layer is used to indicate the spatial layer included in each layer set. The index of the spatial layer is indicated by a demodulation reference signal demodulation reference signal port (DMRS Port), or the index of the spatial layer is indicated by sounding reference signal resource indication information (SRI).

[0233] Exemplarily, the second indication information includes the above-mentioned classification condition (ie, the second preset condition), so that the UE determines the data set corresponding to each type of uplink data to be transmitted according to the classification condition.

[0234] In a possible implementation, the second indication information further includes a second identifier, where the second identifier is used to indicate the number of spatial layers used to transmit uplink data to be transmitted.

[0235] S350, the terminal device sends uplink data to be transmitted according to the first indication information and the second indication information.

[0236] It should be understood that before uplink transmission of data, the terminal device needs to divide the uplink data into different data sets according to the classification of the data sets; the terminal device divides the layers used for uplink transmission into different layer sets according to the classification of the layer sets.

[0237] Furthermore, the terminal device maps the data on the data set to the corresponding layer set according to the first mapping relationship.

[0238] As an example and not a limitation, as shown in FIG7 , the terminal device maps data set 1 to layer set L1, maps data set 2 to layer set L2, and maps data set K to layer set L1 according to the mapping relationship between data sets and layer sets. x K≤X. Data set 1 includes high-priority HARQ-ACK and UL-SCH, data sets 2 to K include other UCI (such as CQI, etc.), and layer set L1 has better performance.

[0239] As an example and not a limitation, the terminal device maps data set 1 to layer set L1 and layer set L2 according to the first mapping relationship, maps data set 2 to layer set L2, maps data set 2 to layer set L2, and maps data set K to layer set L x K≤X. Data set 1 includes high-priority HARQ-ACK, data sets 2 to K include UL-SCH and other UCI (such as CQI, etc.), and layer set L1 has better performance.

[0240] It should be understood that before performing layer mapping, the terminal device also needs to encode and modulate different data sets, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific method of encoding and modulation.

[0241] Exemplarily, the terminal device independently encodes different types of uplink data within a data set.

[0242] Exemplarily, the terminal device jointly encodes the uplink data in the data set.

[0243] In an embodiment of the present application, in a scenario where the UCI overhead is large and the number of layers is large, the UE can limit low-priority UCI to layers with weaker performance when UCI and UL-SCH are multiplexed, thereby reducing the performance impact of priority information on high-priority information or normal data transmission.

[0244] The above is a detailed description of the communication method provided by this application. The following describes the communication device provided by this application. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, please refer to the method embodiment above. For the sake of brevity, some contents will not be repeated.

[0245] Referring to FIG. 8 , the present application provides a communication device 1000 .

[0246] The communication device 1000 includes a processing module 1001 and a communication module 1002. The communication device 1000 can be a terminal device, or a communication device applied to or used with a terminal device and capable of implementing a method executed by the terminal device, such as a chip, a chip system, or a circuit. Alternatively, the communication device 1000 can be a network device, or a communication device applied to or used with a network device and capable of implementing a method executed by the network device, such as a chip, a chip system, or a circuit.

[0247] The communication module may also be referred to as a transceiver module, transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver device. The processing module may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing unit, or processing device. Optionally, the communication module is used to perform the sending and receiving operations of the terminal device or network device in the above method. The device used to implement the receiving function in the communication module can be considered a receiving unit, and the device used to implement the sending function in the communication module can be considered a sending unit. That is, the communication module includes a receiving unit and a sending unit.

[0248] When the communication device 1000 is applied to a terminal device, the processing module 1001 can be used to implement the processing function of the terminal device in each embodiment described in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7 , and the communication module 1002 can be used to implement the transceiver function of the terminal device in each embodiment described in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7 .

[0249] When the communication device 1000 is applied to a network device, the processing module 1001 can be used to implement the processing function of the network device in each embodiment described in Figures 4 to 7, and the communication module 1002 can be used to implement the transceiver function of the network device in each embodiment described in Figures 4 to 7.

[0250] In addition, it should be noted that the aforementioned communication module and / or processing module can be implemented as a virtual module. For example, the processing module can be implemented as a software functional unit or a virtual device, and the communication module can be implemented as a software function or a virtual device. Alternatively, the processing module or the communication module can also be implemented as a physical device. For example, if the device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the communication module can be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface that performs input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operations) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operations); the processing module is an integrated processor, microprocessor, integrated circuit or logic circuit, etc.

[0251] The division of modules in the embodiments of the device of the present application is illustrative and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. In addition, the functional modules in the various examples of the present application may be integrated into a processor, or may exist separately physically, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The above-mentioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0252] 9 , the present application further provides a communication device 1100. Optionally, the communication device 1100 may be a chip or a chip system. Optionally, in the present application, a chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0253] The communication device 1100 can be used to implement the functions of any network element (for example, a terminal device or a network device) in the communication system described in the above examples. The communication device 1100 may include at least one processor 1110. Optionally, the processor 1110 is coupled to a memory, and the memory may be located within the device, or the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be located outside the device. For example, the communication device 1100 may also include at least one memory 1120. The memory 1120 stores the necessary computer programs, computer programs or instructions and / or data for implementing any of the above examples; the processor 1110 may execute the computer program stored in the memory 1120 to complete the method in any of the above examples.

[0254] The communication device 1100 may also include a communication interface 1130, through which the communication device 1100 can exchange information with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface 1130 may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, pin, or other type of communication interface. When the communication device 1100 is a chip-type device or circuit, the communication interface 1130 in the device 1100 may also be an input-output circuit that can input information (or receive information) and output information (or send information); the processor is an integrated processor, microprocessor, integrated circuit, or logic circuit, and the processor can determine output information based on input information.

[0255] Coupling in this application refers to an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. Processor 1110 may operate in conjunction with memory 1120 and communication interface 1130. This application does not limit the specific connection medium between the processor 1110, memory 1120, and communication interface 1130.

[0256] Optionally, as shown in FIG9 , the processor 1110, the memory 1120, and the communication interface 1130 are interconnected via a bus 1140. The type of bus 1140 is not limited. For example, the bus 1140 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of representation, FIG9 shows only one bus, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0257] Optionally, the memory and processor in the above-mentioned device embodiments may be physically independent units, or the memory and the processor may be integrated together, which is not limited herein.

[0258] In addition, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions. When the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the network device or terminal device in each method embodiment of the present application are executed.

[0259] In addition, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer program code or instructions. When the computer program code or instructions are run on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the network device or terminal device in the various method embodiments of the present application are executed.

[0260] In this application, a processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in this application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in this application may be directly executed by a hardware processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules within the processor.

[0261] In this application, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), or a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in this application may also be a circuit or any other device that can implement a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0262] In one possible implementation, the communication device 1100 can be applied to a network device. Specifically, the communication device 1100 can be a network device, or a device that can support the network device to implement the corresponding functions of the network device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The memory 1120 stores computer programs (or instructions) and / or data that implement the functions of the network device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The processor 1110 can execute the computer program stored in the memory 1120 to complete the method performed by the network device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The communication interface in the communication device 1100 can be used to interact with a terminal device, send information to the terminal device, or receive information from the terminal device.

[0263] In another possible implementation, the communication device 1100 can be applied to a terminal device. Specifically, the communication device 1100 can be a terminal device, or a device that can support a terminal device and implement the functions of the terminal device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The memory 1120 stores a computer program (or instruction) and / or data that implements the functions of the terminal device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The processor 1110 can execute the computer program stored in the memory 1120 to complete the method performed by the terminal device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The communication interface in the communication device 1100 can be used to interact with a network device, send information to the network device, or receive information from the network device.

[0264] Based on the above embodiments, the present application further provides a communication system, including a network device and a terminal device. The communication system can implement the communication methods provided in the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7 .

[0265] The technical solutions provided in this application can be implemented in whole or in part through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, they can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in this application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a terminal device, an access network device, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium.

[0266] In this application, under the premise of no logical contradiction, the examples can reference each other, for example, the methods and / or terms between method embodiments can reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device embodiments can reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device examples and method examples can reference each other.

[0267] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0268] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0269] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0270] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0271] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0272] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0273] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0274] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0275] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The network device determines first data and at least one spatial layer, where the first data is part of the uplink data to be transmitted, and the at least one spatial layer is part of the spatial layers among a plurality of spatial layers used to transmit the uplink data to be transmitted; The network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to send the first data through the at least one spatial layer.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first data includes all or part of the user data in the uplink data to be transmitted, and / or first uplink control information UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted, wherein the priority of the first UCI satisfies a first preset condition, and the first preset condition includes at least one of the following: The priority of the first UCI is higher than a preset priority threshold; The priority of the first UCI is located in the first N bits of the priorities of the UCI in the data to be sent, where N is a preset value.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first indication information includes the first preset condition and / or a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to indicate the first data.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that Each of the at least one spatial layer satisfies a second preset condition, where the second preset condition includes at least one of the following: The transmission performance of the spatial layer is higher than a preset transmission performance threshold; The transmission performance of the spatial layer is in the top M positions among the performances of multiple spatial layers, where M is a preset value.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that Before the network device receives the first data through the at least one spatial layer, the method further includes: The network device sends second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to determine at least one spatial layer from the multiple spatial layers, and the second indication information includes the second preset condition and / or an index of the at least one spatial layer.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The first indication information includes a first mapping relationship, where the first mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the uplink data to be transmitted and the multiple spatial layers, and the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the at least one spatial layer.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the second spatial layer and second data, the second spatial layer is part or all of the multiple spatial layers except the at least one spatial layer, and the second data includes part or all of the data to be sent except the first data.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the second spatial layer.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that Before the network device sends the first indication information, the method further includes: The network device determines that the size of the UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted exceeds a preset first threshold, and / or The network device determines that the number of the multiple spatial layers is greater than a preset second threshold.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The terminal device receives first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to send first data through at least one spatial layer, where the at least one spatial layer is a part of multiple spatial layers used to transmit the uplink data to be transmitted, and the first data is part of the uplink data to be transmitted; The terminal device sends the first data through the at least one spatial layer according to the first indication information.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first data includes all or part of the user data in the uplink data to be transmitted, and / or first uplink control information UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted, wherein the priority of the first UCI satisfies a first preset condition, and the first preset condition includes at least one of the following: The priority of the first UCI is higher than a preset priority threshold; The priority of the first UCI is located in the first N bits of the priorities of the UCI in the data to be sent, where N is a preset value.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first indication information includes the first preset condition and / or a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to indicate the first data.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that Each of the at least one spatial layer satisfies a second preset condition, where the second preset condition includes at least one of the following: The transmission performance of the spatial layer is higher than a preset transmission performance threshold; The transmission performance of the spatial layer is in the top M positions among the performances of multiple spatial layers, where M is a preset value.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that Before the terminal device sends the first data through the at least one spatial layer according to the first indication information, the method further includes: The terminal device receives second indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to determine at least one spatial layer from the multiple spatial layers, and the second indication information includes the second preset condition and / or an index of the at least one spatial layer.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that The first indication information includes a first mapping relationship, where the first mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between the uplink data to be transmitted and the multiple spatial layers, and the first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the at least one spatial layer.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the second spatial layer and second data, the second spatial layer is part or all of the multiple spatial layers except the at least one spatial layer, and the second data includes part or all of the data to be sent except the first data.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The first mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the first data and the second spatial layer.

18. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, characterized in that Before the terminal determines the first data, or before the terminal determines the first data, the method further includes: The terminal device determines that the size of the UCI in the uplink data to be transmitted exceeds a preset first threshold, and / or The terminal device determines that the number of the multiple spatial layers is greater than a preset second threshold.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises a unit or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-9, 10-18.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the processor is used to call computer program instructions stored in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

21. A chip, characterized in that: It includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to receive data and / or information and transmit the received data and / or information to the processor, and the processor processes the data and / or information to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1-9, or the method as described in any one of claims 10-18.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

23. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

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