Channel estimation method, and communication apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a channel estimation method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: receiving first information, wherein the first information is used for indicating a manifold-based channel estimation policy, and the first information is associated with a channel state corresponding to a channel for transmitting a reference signal, which reference signal is used for channel estimation; and on the basis of the first information, determining the manifold-based channel estimation policy. Thus, by means of determining a manifold-based channel estimation policy on the basis of a channel state, channel estimation can be flexibly performed according to different channel states, thereby improving the channel estimation performance.

Description

Channel estimation method and communication device Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of wireless communication technology, and more specifically, to a channel estimation method and a communication device. Background Art

[0002] Multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology is one of the key technologies for fifth-generation (5G) communications and future communications. In MIMO technology, estimating the uplink or downlink channel is crucial for sending and receiving data, achieving system synchronization, and providing feedback on channel information. Various channel estimation methods can be used for channel estimation. Manifold-based channel estimation assumes that the channel variation between two adjacent known channel vectors can be described using a geodesic formula, meaning that the two known channel vectors and the channel vector between them lie on a geodesic. Traditional geodesics can be represented by a series of arcs with varying radii. When performing manifold-based channel estimation, how to adapt to different channel states is a question worth studying.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a channel estimation method, which determines a manifold-based channel estimation strategy according to the channel state, thereby being able to flexibly perform channel estimation according to different channel states and improve channel estimation performance.

[0005] In a first aspect, a channel estimation method is provided. The method may be performed by a first device, or may be performed by a component of the first device (e.g., a chip or circuit), without limitation. For ease of description, the method is described below using the first device as an example.

[0006] The method may include: receiving first information indicating a manifold-based channel estimation strategy, the first information being associated with a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, the reference signal being used for channel estimation; and determining the manifold-based channel estimation strategy based on the first information. In the above solution, by performing channel estimation based on the manifold-based channel estimation strategy indicated by the first information, channel estimation can be flexibly performed based on different channel states, thereby improving channel estimation performance.

[0007] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: sending capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first device has a capability of manifold-based channel estimation.

[0008] In the above solution, when the first device has the capability of manifold-based channel estimation, it reports its own capability information, so that the second device can determine a manifold-based channel estimation strategy for the first device.

[0009] In one possible implementation, the first information corresponds one-to-one to the channel vector group in the frequency domain, the reference signal corresponds to at least one channel vector group, and the channel vector group includes at least two vectors; and / or the first information corresponds one-to-one to the port corresponding to the reference signal in the spatial domain.

[0010] In the above solution, different channel vector groups can correspond to different first information, and / or different ports for sending reference signals can correspond to different first information, which enables more flexible channel estimation for different channels.

[0011] In one possible implementation, a manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector corresponding to a reference signal.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner, at least one piece of first information corresponds one-to-one to at least one manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0013] In the above solution, different first information corresponds to different manifold-based channel estimation strategies, so that channel estimation can be performed on different channels more flexibly.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: performing channel estimation according to a manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0015] In the above solution, the first device can perform channel estimation according to the manifold-based channel estimation strategy corresponding to the indicated first information, thereby better adapting to the channel state and improving the channel estimation performance.

[0016] A possible implementation method is to perform channel estimation according to a manifold-based channel estimation strategy, including: determining a first channel vector and a second channel vector based on a reference signal pattern and a reference signal, wherein the reference signal pattern is used to indicate the location of time-frequency resources that can be used to transmit the reference signal; and determining at least one interpolated channel vector based on the first channel vector, the second channel vector, and the manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0017] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate a reference signal pattern, where the reference signal pattern is used to indicate a location of a time-frequency resource that can be used to transmit a reference signal; and receiving a reference signal.

[0018] In a possible implementation manner, the first information is a parameter value, and the parameter value is greater than 0.

[0019] In one possible implementation, when the value of the first information is 2, the manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to indicate the determination of the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t : s′ t =(|s′0|+(|s′1|-|s′0|)·t)·s t ;

[0020] Among them, the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t is the interpolation channel vector, the third vector s t is the fourth vector s′ t The normalized channel vector, s′0 and s′1 are channel vectors determined based on the reference signal pattern and the reference signal, s0 and s1 are the normalized channel vectors of s′0 and s′1 respectively, and θ is the spatial angle between s0 and s1. is the propagation rotation angle between s0 and s1, t is the relative position of the interpolation channel vector (e.g., s0 and s1), and is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1.

[0021] In one possible implementation, when the value of the first information is 1, the manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to indicate the determination of the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t : s′ t =(|s′0|+(|s′1|-|s′0|)·t)·s t ;

[0022] Among them, the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t is the interpolation channel vector, the third vector s t is the fourth vector s′ t The normalized channel vector, s′0 and s′1 are channel vectors determined based on the reference signal pattern and the reference signal, s0 and s1 are the normalized channel vectors of s′0 and s′1 respectively, and θ is the spatial angle between s0 and s1. is the propagation rotation angle between s0 and s1, t is the relative position of the interpolation channel vector (e.g., s0 and s1), and is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1.

[0023] In one possible implementation, when the value of the first information is 3, the manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to indicate the determination of the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t : s′ t =(|s′0|+(|s′1|-|s′0|)·t)·st ;

[0024] Among them, the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t is the interpolation channel vector, the third vector s t is the fourth vector s′ t The normalized channel vector, s′0 and s′1 are channel vectors determined based on the reference signal pattern and the reference signal, s0 and s1 are the normalized channel vectors of s′0 and s′1 respectively, and θ is the spatial angle between s0 and s1. is the propagation rotation angle between s0 and s1, t is the relative position of the interpolation channel vector (e.g., s0 and s1), which is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1,

[0025] In a second aspect, a channel estimation method is provided. The method may be performed by a second device, or by a component of the second device (e.g., a chip or circuit), without limitation. For ease of description, the method is described below using the second device as an example.

[0026] The method may include: determining first information based on a channel state, where the channel state is a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, the reference signal is used for channel estimation, and the first information is used to indicate a manifold-based channel estimation strategy; and sending the first information.

[0027] In the above scheme, the second device determines the first information used to indicate the manifold-based channel estimation strategy according to the channel state, so that the first device can perform channel estimation according to the indicated manifold-based channel estimation strategy. In this way, channel estimation can be flexibly performed according to different channel states, thereby improving channel estimation performance.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first device has a capability of manifold-based channel estimation.

[0029] In the above solution, when the second device receives information from the first device reporting that it has the capability of manifold-based channel estimation, the second device can determine a manifold-based channel estimation strategy for the first device.

[0030] A possible implementation method is to determine the first information based on the channel state, including: determining the first information in the frequency domain based on the channel state corresponding to the channel vector group, the reference signal corresponds to at least one channel vector group, the channel vector group includes at least two vectors, and the channel vector group corresponds one-to-one with the first information; and / or determining the first information in the spatial domain based on the channel state corresponding to the port corresponding to at least one reference signal, and the port of the reference signal corresponds one-to-one with the first information.

[0031] In the above solution, different channel vector groups can correspond to different first information, and / or different ports for sending reference signals can correspond to different first information, which enables more flexible channel estimation for different channels.

[0032] In one possible implementation, a manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector corresponding to a reference signal.

[0033] In a possible implementation manner, at least one piece of first information corresponds one-to-one to at least one manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0034] In the above solution, different first information corresponds to different manifold-based channel estimation strategies, so that channel estimation can be performed on different channels more flexibly.

[0035] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: sending indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate a reference signal pattern, where the reference signal pattern is used to indicate a location of a time-frequency resource that can be used to transmit a reference signal; and sending a reference signal.

[0036] In a possible implementation manner, the first information is a parameter value, and the parameter value is greater than 0.

[0037] In one possible implementation, when the value of the first information is 2, the manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to indicate the determination of the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t : s′ t =(|s′0|+(|s′1|-|s′0|)·t)·s t ;

[0038] Among them, the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t is the interpolation channel vector, the third vector s t is the fourth vector s′ t The normalized channel vector, s′0 and s′1 are channel vectors determined based on the reference signal pattern and the reference signal, s0 and s1 are the normalized channel vectors of s′0 and s′1 respectively, and θ is the spatial angle between s0 and s1. is the propagation rotation angle between s0 and s1, t is the relative position of the interpolation channel vector (e.g., s0 and s1), and is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1.

[0039] In one possible implementation, when the value of the first information is 1, the manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to indicate the determination of the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t : s′ t =(|s′0|+(|s′1|-|s′0|)·t)·s t ;

[0040] Among them, the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t is the interpolation channel vector, the third vector s t is the fourth vector s′ t The normalized vector, s′0 and s′1 are vectors determined based on the reference signal pattern and the reference signal, s0 and s1 are the normalized channel vectors of s′0 and s′1 respectively, and θ is the spatial angle between s0 and s1. is the propagation rotation angle between s0 and s1, t is the relative position of the interpolation channel vector (e.g., s0 and s1), and is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1.

[0041] In one possible implementation, when the value of the first information is 3, the manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to indicate the determination of the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t : s′ t =(|s′0|+(|s′1|-|s′0|)·t)·s t ;

[0042] Among them, the third vector s t and the fourth vector s′ t is the interpolation channel vector, the third vector s t is the fourth vector s′ t The normalized vector, s′0 and s′1 are vectors determined based on the reference signal pattern and the reference signal, s0 and s1 are the normalized channel vectors of s′0 and s′1 respectively, and θ is the spatial angle between s0 and s1. is the propagation rotation angle between s0 and s1, t is the relative position of the interpolation channel vector (e.g., s0 and s1), t is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1,

[0043] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a unit for executing the method shown in the first aspect above. The communication device may be a first device, or may be executed by a chip or circuit arranged in the first device. This application does not limit this.

[0044] The communication device comprises:

[0045] A transceiver unit is used to receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate a manifold-based channel estimation strategy, and the first information is associated with a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, where the reference signal is used for channel estimation; and a processing unit is used to determine a manifold-based channel estimation strategy based on the first information.

[0046] In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is further configured to send capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate that the communication device has the capability of manifold-based channel estimation.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the first information corresponds one-to-one to the channel vector group in the frequency domain, the reference signal corresponds to at least one channel vector group, and the channel vector group includes at least two vectors; and / or the first information corresponds one-to-one to the port corresponding to the reference signal in the spatial domain.

[0048] In one possible implementation, a manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector corresponding to a reference signal.

[0049] In a possible implementation manner, at least one piece of first information corresponds one-to-one to at least one manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0050] In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to perform channel estimation according to a manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the processing unit is further used to determine a first channel vector and a second channel vector based on a reference signal pattern and a reference signal, wherein the reference signal pattern is used to indicate the location of time-frequency resources that can be used to transmit the reference signal; the processing unit is further used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector based on the first channel vector, the second channel vector, and a manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0052] In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate a reference signal pattern, where the reference signal pattern is used to indicate a location of a time-frequency resource that can be used to transmit a reference signal; and receive a reference signal.

[0053] The explanation and beneficial effects of the communication device-related contents provided in the third aspect may refer to the method shown in the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0054] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a unit for executing the method shown in the second aspect above. The communication device may be a second device, or may be executed by a chip or circuit arranged in the second device. This application does not limit this.

[0055] The communication device comprises:

[0056] A processing unit is used to determine first information based on a channel state, where the channel state is a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, the reference signal is used for channel estimation, and the first information is used to indicate a manifold-based channel estimation strategy; and a transceiver unit is used to send the first information.

[0057] In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first device has a capability of manifold-based channel estimation.

[0058] In one possible implementation, the processing unit is further used to determine the first information in the frequency domain based on the channel state corresponding to the channel vector group, the reference signal corresponds to at least one channel vector group, the channel vector group includes at least two vectors, and the channel vector group corresponds one-to-one with the first information; and / or the processing unit is further used to determine the first information in the spatial domain based on the channel state corresponding to the port corresponding to at least one reference signal, and the port of the reference signal corresponds one-to-one with the first information.

[0059] In one possible implementation, a manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector corresponding to a reference signal.

[0060] In a possible implementation manner, at least one piece of first information corresponds one-to-one to at least one manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0061] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to send indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate a reference signal pattern, where the reference signal pattern is used to indicate the location of time-frequency resources that can be used to transmit the reference signal; the transceiver unit is further used to send a reference signal.

[0062] The explanation and beneficial effects of the communication device-related contents provided in the fourth aspect can refer to the method shown in the second aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0063] In a fifth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes: a second device determines first information based on a channel state, where the channel state is a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, the reference signal is used for channel estimation, and the first information is used to indicate a manifold-based channel estimation strategy; the second device sends the first information to the first device; the first device determines a manifold-based channel estimation strategy based on the first information.

[0064] In the above solution, by performing channel estimation according to the manifold-based channel estimation strategy indicated by the first information, channel estimation can be flexibly performed according to different channel states, thereby improving channel estimation performance.

[0065] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes: a memory for storing programs; and at least one processor for executing computer programs or instructions stored in the memory to execute a method of any possible implementation of the first or second aspect above.

[0066] In one implementation, the apparatus is a first device.

[0067] In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a chip system, or a circuit used in the first device.

[0068] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a processor for executing the methods provided in the above aspects.

[0069] For the operations such as sending and acquiring / receiving involved in the processor, unless otherwise specified, or if they do not conflict with their actual functions or internal logic in the relevant descriptions, they can be understood as processor output, reception, input and other operations, and can also be understood as sending and receiving operations performed by the radio frequency circuit and antenna. This application does not limit this.

[0070] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program code for execution by a device, wherein the program code includes a method for executing any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0071] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute a method according to any possible implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0072] In the tenth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface. The processor reads instructions stored in a memory through the communication interface and executes a method of any possible implementation method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0073] Optionally, as an implementation method, the chip also includes a memory, in which a computer program or instruction is stored, and the processor is used to execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the processor is used to execute the method of any possible implementation method of the first aspect or the second aspect mentioned above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0074] FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0075] FIG2 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0076] FIG3 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0077] FIG4 is a schematic diagram showing a geodesic for manifold-based channel estimation when the parameter q is 1. FIG.

[0078] FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing a geodesic curve of manifold-based channel estimation when the parameter q is 2. FIG.

[0079] FIG6 shows a schematic diagram of a geodesic for manifold-based channel estimation when the parameter q is 3. FIG.

[0080] FIG7 shows a schematic diagram of a geodesic for manifold-based channel estimation when the parameter q is 0.4.

[0081] FIG8 is a schematic diagram showing geodesics of manifold-based channel estimation when the parameter q has different values.

[0082] FIG9 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0083] FIG10 shows a schematic block diagram of another communication device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0084] FIG11 shows a schematic diagram of a chip system 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0085] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0086] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, etc. 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 solutions 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. This application is not limited to this.

[0087] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can be any device with wireless transceiver function. The device includes but is not limited to: an evolved Node B (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a Node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., a home evolved NodeB, or a home Node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP) or a transmission and reception point (TRP), etc. It can also be a gNB in ​​a 5G, such as NR, system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system, or a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU), etc., or a base station in a next-generation communication 6G system, etc.

[0088] In some deployments, a gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements some gNB functions, while the DU implements some gNB functions. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implementing the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services, and implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and active antenna-related functions. Because RRC layer information ultimately becomes PHY layer information, or is converted from PHY layer information, in this architecture, higher-layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by both the DU and the AAU. It is understood that a network device can be a device that includes one or more of a CU node, a DU node, or an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be classified as a network device in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or may be classified as a network device in a core network (core network, CN), which is not limited in this application.

[0089] Network equipment provides services for cells, and terminal devices communicate with cells through transmission resources allocated by the network equipment (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources). The cell can belong to a macro base station (for example, a macro eNB or macro gNB), or to a base station corresponding to a small cell. Small cells here can include: metro cells, micro cells, pico cells, femto cells, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0090] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be referred to as 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.

[0091] The terminal device may be a device that provides voice / data connectivity to users, such as a handheld device or vehicle-mounted device with wireless connection function. At present, some examples of terminals may include: mobile phones, tablet computers, computers with wireless transceiver functions (such as laptops, PDAs, etc.), mobile internet devices (MIDs), virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication functions, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks or future evolved public land mobile communication networks (PLMNs). terminal equipment in network, PLMN, etc.

[0092] Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices, are a general term for wearable devices that use wearable technology to intelligently design and develop wearable devices for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that are worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not just hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. In a broad sense, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve full or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0093] Furthermore, terminal devices can also be end devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) system. IoT is a crucial component of future information technology development. Its primary technical feature is connecting objects to the Internet through communication technologies, thereby enabling intelligent networks that interconnect humans and machines, and objects and things. IoT technology, for example, utilizes narrowband NB technology to achieve massive connectivity, deep coverage, and power-saving terminals.

[0094] Referring to Figure 1, as an example, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication system 100 may include at least one network device, such as the network device 110 shown in Figure 1, and the wireless communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as the terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130 shown in Figure 1. The network device and the terminal device may be configured with multiple antennas, and the network device and the terminal device may communicate using multi-antenna technology. For example, the network device 110 communicates with the terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130 respectively using the air interface (the radio interface between UTRAN and UE, Uu interface). Terminal devices may communicate directly with each other. For example, the terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130 communicate using the proximity-based services communication 5 (PC5) interface.

[0095] When a network device and a terminal device communicate, the network device can manage at least one cell, and a cell can have at least one terminal device. Optionally, network device 110 and terminal device 120 form a single-cell communication system. Without loss of generality, the cell is referred to as cell #1. Network device 110 can be a network device in cell #1, or network device 110 can serve a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 120) in cell #1.

[0096] It should be noted that a cell can be understood as an area within the coverage range of wireless signals of network equipment.

[0097] It is understood that FIG1 is a simplified schematic diagram for ease of understanding, and the wireless communication system 100 may also include other network devices or other terminal devices, which are not shown in FIG1 . It is understood that the embodiments of the present application can be applicable to any communication scenario in which a network device and a terminal device communicate, for example, a network device communicates with a terminal device within a cell, a terminal device within a cell communicates with a terminal device outside the cell; for another example, terminal devices outside the cell communicate with each other, and so on. It is understood that the embodiments of the present application can be applicable to both downlink and uplink communications. In downlink communications, the network device acts as a transmitter and the terminal device acts as a receiver, and the network device can send downlink reference signals and downlink data to the terminal device. In uplink communications, the terminal device acts as a transmitter and the network device acts as a receiver, and the terminal device can send uplink reference signals and uplink data to the network device.

[0098] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following describes several aspects of the embodiments of the present application:

[0099] (1) “Sending” and “receiving” in the embodiments of the present application indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, “sending information to XX” can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, which can include direct sending through the air interface, as well as indirect sending through the air interface by other units or modules. “Receiving information from YY” can be understood as the source of the information being YY, which can include direct receiving from YY through the air interface, as well as indirect receiving from YY through the air interface from other units or modules. “Sending” can also be understood as the “output” of the chip interface, and “receiving” can also be understood as the “input” of the chip interface.

[0100] In other words, sending and receiving can be performed between devices, for example, between a network device and a terminal device, or can be performed within a device, for example, sending or receiving between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within the device through a bus, wiring or interface.

[0101] It is understandable that information may be processed between the source and destination of information transmission, such as coding, modulation, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be repeated.

[0102] (2) In the embodiment of the present application, "indication" may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain information (such as the indication information described below) is called information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, such as but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated may also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein the other information is associated with the information to be indicated; or only a part of the information to be indicated may be indicated, while the other part of the information to be indicated is known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of specific information may be achieved by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (such as predefined by the protocol), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. The present application does not limit the specific method of indication. It is understandable that for the sender of the indication information, the indication information can be used to indicate the information to be indicated, and for the receiver of the indication information, the indication information can be used to determine the information to be indicated.

[0103] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0104] 1. Multiple-input multi-output (MIMO) technology

[0105] MIMO technology leverages spatial resources to achieve array gain, multiplexing and diversity gain, and interference cancellation gain in space without increasing system bandwidth, exponentially increasing the capacity and spectral efficiency of communication systems. For example, in LTE systems, multiple antennas can be used at both the transmitter and receiver to support up to eight layers of transmission, effectively increasing system capacity.

[0106] 2. Time-frequency resources

[0107] In the embodiments of the present application, data or information may be carried by time-frequency resources. The time-frequency resources may include resources in the time domain and resources in the frequency domain. In the time domain, the time-frequency resources may include one or more time domain units (also referred to as time units, time units, etc.); in the frequency domain, the time-frequency resources may include one or more frequency domain units.

[0108] Among them, a time domain unit can be a symbol or several symbols (such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol), or a time slot, or a mini-slot, or a subframe. Among them, a time slot can be composed of 7 or 14 symbols; a mini-slot can include at least one symbol (for example, 2 symbols or 7 symbols or 14 symbols, or any number of symbols less than or equal to 14 symbols); the duration of a subframe in the time domain can be 1 millisecond (ms). It should be understood that the above-mentioned time domain unit sizes listed are only for the convenience of understanding the solution of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of the present application. It can be understood that the above-mentioned time domain unit sizes can be other values, and the present application does not limit them.

[0109] A frequency domain unit can be a resource block (RB), a subcarrier, a resource block group (RBG), a predefined subband, a precoding resource block group (PRG), a bandwidth part (BWP), a resource element (RE) (also called a resource unit or resource particle), or a carrier, or a serving cell.

[0110] 3. Channel Estimation

[0111] Channel estimation refers to the process of reconstructing or recovering the received signal in order to compensate for signal distortion caused by channel fading and noise fading. It uses a reference signal (RS) known in advance by the transmitter and receiver to track the time and frequency domain changes of the channel.

[0112] 4. Reference signal

[0113] A reference signal may also be referred to as a pilot, reference sequence, or base signal. In this application, a reference signal may be a reference signal used for channel measurement and channel estimation. Reference signals are distributed across different REs in the time-frequency two-dimensional space within an OFDM symbol and have known amplitude and phase. In a MIMO system, each transmit antenna (virtual or physical) has an independent data channel. Based on the known RS signal, the receiver performs channel estimation for each transmit antenna and recovers the transmitted data based on this channel estimation. Current standards have defined a variety of reference signals, such as cell-specific reference signals (CRS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS), and sounding reference signals (SRS). DMRS is used to estimate the equivalent channel matrix of data channels (e.g., physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)) or control channels (e.g., physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)), thereby enabling data detection and demodulation on the corresponding channels. CSI-RS is used to measure channel information and report information such as channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), and rank indicator (RI). The SRS is used to measure an uplink channel and estimate a downlink channel based on the uplink channel, thereby determining a precoding matrix for downlink transmission.

[0114] It should be understood that the reference signals listed above are only examples and should not constitute any limitation to this application. This application does not exclude the possibility of defining other reference signals in future protocols to achieve the same or similar functions.

[0115] 5. Antenna port

[0116] The antenna port is referred to as port, which can include a transmitting port (or transmitting port) and a receiving port. Among them, the transmitting port can be understood as a virtual antenna recognized by the receiving device, or a transmitting antenna recognized by the receiving end, or a transmitting antenna that can be distinguished in space. The transmitting port can also be called a port for the precoding reference signal. The reference signal of each transmitting port can be transmitted through one or more frequency domain units. An antenna port can be configured for each virtual antenna, and each virtual antenna can be a weighted combination of multiple physical antennas. The receiving port can be understood as the receiving antenna of the receiving device. For example, in downlink transmission, the receiving port can refer to the receiving antenna of the terminal device.

[0117] Depending on the signals they carry, antenna ports can be divided into reference signal antenna ports (also called reference signal ports or pilot ports) and data antenna ports (referred to as data ports for short). Reference signal ports may include, but are not limited to, DMRS ports and CSI-RS ports.

[0118] When using MIMO technology to transmit data, estimating the uplink or downlink channel is crucial, and various channel estimation methods are available. Manifold-based channel estimation assumes that the channel variation between two adjacent known channel vectors can be described by a geodesic line. That is, the two known channel vectors and the channel vector between them lie on a single geodesic line. Traditionally, a geodesic line can be represented by a series of arcs with varying radii. When performing manifold-based channel estimation, how to adapt to different channel conditions is a worthy research question.

[0119] The present application proposes a channel estimation method, which determines a manifold-based channel estimation strategy according to the channel state, thereby being able to flexibly perform channel estimation according to different channel states and improve the channel estimation performance.

[0120] A channel estimation method proposed in this application is described in detail below with reference to FIG2 .

[0121] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a channel estimation method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0122] 210. The second device determines first information according to a channel state.

[0123] The channel state is a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, and the reference signal is used for channel estimation.

[0124] The first information is used to indicate a manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0125] Specifically, a manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector corresponding to a reference signal.

[0126] Exemplarily, the first information is a parameter value, and the parameter value is greater than 0.

[0127] It should be understood that at least one first information corresponds to at least one manifold-based channel estimation strategy. In other words, different first information corresponds to different manifold-based channel estimation strategies.

[0128] In one possible implementation, the second device is aware of the channel vectors corresponding to the channel used to transmit a reference signal, including a first channel vector, a second channel vector, and at least one channel vector between the first channel vector and the second channel vector. The second device determines different interpolation channel vector groups (including at least one interpolation channel vector) based on different manifold-based channel estimation strategies and channel vector #1 and channel vector #2. The second device determines the error between at least one interpolation channel vector and at least one channel vector under different manifold-based channel estimation strategies, and indicates the first information as the manifold-based channel estimation strategy corresponding to at least one interpolation channel vector with the smallest error.

[0129] Exemplarily, the second device knows that the channel vectors corresponding to the channel used to transmit the reference signal include channel vector #1, channel vector #2, and the channel vectors between channel vector #1 and channel vector #2 (channel vector #3 and channel vector #4). When the value of the first information is 1, the first information is used to indicate the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #1, and when the value of the first information is 2, the first information is used to indicate the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #2. The second device determines the interpolated channel vectors (interpolated channel vector #1 and interpolated channel vector #2) based on the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #1 and the channel vector #1 and the channel vector #2, and determines the interpolated channel vectors (interpolated channel vector #3 and interpolated channel vector #4) based on the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #2 and the channel vector #1 and the channel vector #2. Further, the second device determines the error #1 (for example, mean square error) between the interpolated channel vector #1 and the channel vector #3 obtained under the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #1, and the error #2 between the interpolated channel vector #2 and the channel vector #4 obtained, and then obtains the error #3 of the channel estimation under the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #1 based on the error #1 and the error #2 (for example, error #1 is added to error #2 to obtain error #3, and the present application does not limit the method of obtaining error #3 based on error #1 and error #2). The second device determines the error #4 between the interpolated channel vector #3 and the channel vector #3 obtained under the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #2, and the error #5 between the interpolated channel vector #4 and the channel vector #4 obtained, and then obtains the error #6 of the channel estimation under the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #2 based on the error #4 and the error #5 (for example, error #4 is added to error #5 to obtain error #6, and the present application does not limit the method of obtaining error #6 based on error #4 and error #5). If error #5 is smaller than error #6, the second device determines that the value of the first information is 1, that is, the first information indicates the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #1.

[0130] In a possible implementation manner, the first information corresponds one-to-one to a channel vector group in the frequency domain, the reference signal corresponds to at least one channel vector group, and the channel vector group includes at least two vectors.

[0131] It should be understood that the one-to-one correspondence between the first information and the channel vector group in the frequency domain can be understood as: in the frequency domain, the reference signal used for channel estimation corresponds to at least one channel vector group, and each channel vector group includes at least two vectors.

[0132] Exemplarily, in the frequency domain, the reference signal used for channel estimation is sequentially mapped to the three time-frequency resources A, B, and C. Channel estimation can be performed between A and B, between B and C, and between A and C based on the manifold channel estimation strategy. Assuming that A corresponds to channel vector #1, B corresponds to channel vector #2, and C corresponds to channel vector #3, then A to B correspond to channel vector group #1 (channel vector group #1 includes channel vector #1 and channel vector #2), A to C correspond to channel vector group #2 (channel vector group #2 includes channel vector #1, channel vector #2, and channel vector #3), and B to C correspond to channel vector group #3 (channel vector group #3 includes channel vector #2 and channel vector #3). That is, the reference signal used for channel estimation at this time corresponds to three channel vector groups (channel vector group #1, channel vector group #2, and channel vector group #3). Among them, channel vector group #1 corresponds to the first information #1, channel vector group #2 corresponds to the first information #2, and channel vector group #3 corresponds to the first information #3.

[0133] It should be understood that when channel estimation is performed between A and B in the above example, since A and B correspond to channel vector group #1, channel estimation can be performed between A and B based on the manifold-based channel estimation strategy indicated by the first information #1 corresponding to channel vector group #1. Since channel vector group #2 corresponding to A to C also includes A and B, channel estimation can also be performed between A and B based on the manifold-based channel estimation strategy indicated by the first information #2 corresponding to channel vector group #2, but this application is not limited to this.

[0134] It should be understood that the first information corresponding to channel vector group #1 and the first information corresponding to channel vector group #2 may be the same or different. For example, the value of the first information corresponding to channel vector group #1 and the value of the first information corresponding to channel vector group #2 are both 2; for another example, the value of the first information corresponding to channel vector group #1 is 1, and the value of the first information corresponding to channel vector group #2 is 2, and so on. This application does not limit this.

[0135] In a possible implementation manner, the first information has a one-to-one correspondence with the ports corresponding to the reference signal in the spatial domain.

[0136] It should be understood that the one-to-one correspondence between the first information and the ports corresponding to the reference signals in the spatial domain can be understood as follows: in the spatial domain, different ports carrying reference signals for channel estimation each have corresponding first information. For example, if port #1 and port #2 both carry reference signals for channel estimation, port #1 corresponds to the first information, and port #2 corresponds to the first information.

[0137] It should be understood that the first information corresponding to port #1 and the first information corresponding to port #2 may be the same or different. For example, the value of the first information corresponding to port #1 and port #2 is both 2; for another example, the value of the first information corresponding to port #1 is 1, and the value of the first information corresponding to port #2 is 2, and so on. This application does not limit this.

[0138] It should be understood that the second device can determine the channel state by means of channel state information fed back by the terminal device, or by the downlink channel state information corresponding to the channel estimation based on the received uplink pilot sequence, etc., and this application does not limit this.

[0139] 220. The second device sends first information to the first device.

[0140] Accordingly, the first device receives the first information from the second device.

[0141] The first device may be a terminal device or a network device, and the second device may be a terminal device or a network device.

[0142] It should be noted that when the first device is a terminal device, the second device can be a terminal device or a network device; when the first device is a network device, the second device can be a terminal device or a network device, and so on. This application does not limit this.

[0143] 230. The first device determines a manifold-based channel estimation strategy according to the first information.

[0144] In a possible implementation manner, after receiving the first information, the first device determines the manifold-based channel estimation strategy according to a correspondence between the first information and the manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0145] Based on the above solution, by performing channel estimation according to the manifold-based channel estimation strategy indicated by the first information, channel estimation can be flexibly performed according to different channel states, thereby improving channel estimation performance.

[0146] Optionally, before 210, the first device may further report whether it has the capability of manifold-based channel estimation. The method 200 may further include:

[0147] 240. The first device sends capability information to the second device.

[0148] Accordingly, the second device receives the capability information from the first device.

[0149] The capability information is used to indicate that the first device has the capability of manifold-based channel estimation.

[0150] Optionally, when the first device reports to the second device that it does not have the capability of manifold-based channel estimation, the second device does not perform 210, that is, the second device does not determine the first information according to the channel state.

[0151] It should be understood that when the second device does not have the capability of manifold-based channel estimation, the second device may use existing channel estimation technology to perform channel estimation, and this application does not limit this.

[0152] Optionally, after the first device determines the manifold-based channel estimation strategy, the first device performs channel estimation according to the strategy, and the method 200 further includes:

[0153] 250. The first device performs channel estimation according to a manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0154] In one possible implementation, the first device determines a first channel vector and a second channel vector based on a reference signal pattern and a reference signal, and determines at least one interpolated channel vector based on the first channel vector, the second channel vector, and the manifold-based channel estimation strategy determined in 230 to complete channel estimation.

[0155] Based on Figure 2, the channel estimation method provided by the present application is described in detail in conjunction with Figures 3 to 5, taking the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) as an example for channel estimation. For ease of description, in Figures 3 to 5, the first device is a terminal device and the second device is a network device.

[0156] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a channel estimation method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0157] 310. The terminal device sends capability information to the network device.

[0158] Accordingly, the network device receives capability information from the terminal device.

[0159] The capability information is used to indicate whether the terminal device has the capability to perform channel estimation based on the manifold.

[0160] Exemplarily, the capability information is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability to perform channel estimation based on the manifold; or, the capability information is used to indicate that the terminal device does not have the capability to perform channel estimation based on the manifold.

[0161] In one possible implementation, after the terminal device initially accesses a cell, it reports capability information to the network device.

[0162] It should be understood that when the capability information sent by the terminal device to the network device is used to indicate that the terminal device does not have the capability of performing channel estimation based on manifolds, the terminal device performs channel estimation based on other existing channel estimation technologies.

[0163] It should be understood that when the capability information sent by the terminal device to the network device is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of performing channel estimation based on the manifold, the network device determines the first information according to the channel state, and the method 300 further includes:

[0164] 320. The network device determines the channel status.

[0165] Specifically, the network device determines a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal.

[0166] In one possible implementation, in a time division duplex (TDD) transmission mode, the terminal device sends an uplink pilot sequence to the network device. The network device performs channel estimation based on the received uplink pilot sequence, and then obtains downlink channel state information from the reciprocity of the channel, that is, obtains the channel state corresponding to the channel used to transmit the reference signal.

[0167] In a possible implementation, in TDD transmission mode, the network device may obtain the channel state corresponding to the channel used to transmit the reference signal based on the channel state information fed back by the terminal device.

[0168] In a possible implementation, in a frequency division duplex (FDD) transmission mode, the network device obtains the channel state corresponding to the channel used to transmit the reference signal based on the channel state information fed back by the terminal device.

[0169] It should be noted that the above-mentioned method for network devices to determine the channel status is only an example. Please refer to the specific method for network devices to determine the channel status in the prior art, and this application is not limited to this.

[0170] 330. The network device determines first information according to the channel status.

[0171] The first information is used to indicate a manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0172] In a possible implementation manner, the first information includes a parameter q, where q is greater than 0.

[0173] It should be understood that the parameter q refers to the q The geodesic of manifold-based channel estimation under the metric (also known as the q metric). Specifically, assuming that x is a vector of dimension n×1, then L q The metric can be expressed as ‖x‖ q, specifically,

[0174] Where |x(i)| q Represents the qth power of the absolute value of x(i).

[0175] Specifically, L q The geodesic of manifold-based channel estimation under the metric can be understood as follows: two known channel vectors and the channel vector between them all lie on the same geodesic. More specifically, the two known channel vectors and the channel vector between them share the same origin (starting point), and the endpoints of the two known channel vectors and the endpoint of the channel vector between them all fall on the same geodesic. When the value of the parameter q varies, the geodesic can be represented as a curve (or straight line) of corresponding curvature.

[0176] The geodesic for manifold-based channel estimation is described below with reference to Figures 4-7. In Figures 4-7, channel vectors s0 and s1 are known channel vectors, and the modulus of channel vectors s0 and s1 is 1. Channel vectors s′0 and s′1 are unnormalized channel vectors s0 and s1.

[0177] For example, FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the geodesic of the manifold-based channel estimation when the parameter q is 1. As shown in FIG4, the straight line between the end point of the channel vector s0 and the end point of the channel vector s1 (such as the dotted line in FIG4) is the geodesic under the L1 metric. The end points of the channel vectors between the channel vectors s0 and s1 are all located on this straight line, and the channel vector s′ between the channel vectors s′0 and s′1 is t The end point falls on this straight line.

[0178] For example, FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the geodesic of the manifold-based channel estimation when the parameter q is 2. As shown in FIG5, the curve between the end point of the channel vector s0 and the end point of the channel vector s1 (such as the dotted line in FIG5) is the geodesic under the L2 metric. The end points of the channel vectors between the channel vector s0 and the channel vector s1 are all located on this curve. The channel vector s′ between the channel vector s′0 and the channel vector s′1 is t The end point of falls on the curve (specifically, the arc here).

[0179] For example, FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the geodesic of the manifold-based channel estimation when the parameter q is 3. As shown in FIG6, the curve between the end point of the channel vector s0 and the end point of the channel vector s1 (such as the dotted line in FIG6) is the geodesic under the L3 metric. The end points of the channel vectors between the channel vectors s0 and s1 are all located on the curve, and the channel vector s′ between the channel vectors s′0 and s′1 is t The end point falls on this curve.

[0180] For example, FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the geodesic of the manifold-based channel estimation when the parameter q is 0.4. As shown in FIG7 , the curve between the end point of the channel vector s0 and the end point of the channel vector s1 (the dotted line in FIG7 ) is L 0.4 The end points of the channel vectors between channel vectors s0 and s1 are all on this curve, and the channel vectors s′ between channel vectors s′0 and s′1 are all on this curve. t The end point falls on this curve.

[0181] It should be understood that at least one first information corresponds to at least one manifold-based channel estimation strategy. In other words, different first information corresponds to different manifold-based channel estimation strategies.

[0182] In a possible implementation, when the parameter q is 1, the first information is used to indicate the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #1.

[0183] Specifically, when the parameter q is 1, the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #1 is based on the channel vector s0 and the channel vector s1, and the spatial angle θ between the two channel vectors (for example, between s0 and s1) and the propagation rotation angle between the two channel vectors (for example, between s0 and s1) are obtained according to the following formulas (1) and (2): Furthermore, based on formulas (3) and (4), the interpolated channel vector s between s0 and s1 is calculated t and s′ t , to complete the channel estimation, the specific formula is as follows: s′ t =(|s′0|+(|s′1|-|s′0|)·t)·s t (4)

[0184] in, represents the conjugate transpose of s0.

[0185] Among them, in formula (2) Indicates plural The real part of Indicates plural The imaginary part of .

[0186] In formula (3),

[0187] Wherein, t is the relative position of the channel vector to be interpolated, 0≤t≤1.

[0188] For example, the channel vectors on the 1st and 13th subcarriers are known, denoted as s′0 and s′1 respectively. The goal is to estimate the channel vectors on the 2nd, 3rd, ..., 11th subcarriers.

[0189] make Then we can use s′ t to represent the channel vectors on the 2nd, 3rd, ..., 11th subcarrier respectively.

[0190] In a possible implementation manner, when the parameter q is 2, the first information is used to indicate the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #2.

[0191] Specifically, when the parameter q is 2, the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #2 is based on the channel vector s0 and the channel vector s1, and the spatial angle θ between the two channel vectors (for example, between s0 and s1) and the propagation rotation angle between the two channel vectors (for example, between s0 and s1) are obtained according to the above formulas (1) and (2): Furthermore, based on formulas (5) and (6), the interpolated channel vector s between s0 and s1 is calculated t and s′ t , to complete the channel estimation, formulas (5) and (6) are as follows: s′ t =(|s′0|+(|s′1|-|s′0|)·t)·s t (6)

[0192] Wherein, t is the relative position of the channel vector to be interpolated, 0≤t≤1.

[0193] In a possible implementation manner, when the parameter q is 3, the first information is used to indicate the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #3.

[0194] Specifically, when the parameter q is 3, the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #3 is based on the channel vector s0 and the channel vector s1, and the spatial angle θ between the two channel vectors (for example, between s0 and s1) and the propagation rotation angle between the two channel vectors (for example, between s0 and s1) are obtained according to the above formulas (1) and (2): Furthermore, based on formulas (7) and (8), the interpolated channel vector s between s0 and s1 is calculated t and s′ t , to complete the channel estimation, formulas (7) and (8) are as follows: s′ t =(|s′0|+(|s′1|-|s′0|)·t)·s t (8)

[0195] In formula (7),

[0196] It should be noted that the contents of the manifold-based channel estimation strategy when the above parameter q has different values ​​are only examples and are not limited in this application.

[0197] It should be noted that, for the network device to determine the first information according to the channel state, reference may be made to the relevant description in 210. The process of the network device determining the first information according to the channel state is described below with reference to an example.

[0198] As shown in FIG8 , the network device knows the channel vector s0 and the channel vector s1, the channel vector s′0 and the channel vector s′1, and the channel vector s′ between the channel vector s′0 and the channel vector s′1. t (Assume that the channel vector s′ is known to the network device t That is, the channel vector s′ when q=2 t The network device determines the channel vector s′ when q=1 according to the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #1 corresponding to q=1. t , according to the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #4 corresponding to q = 0.4, determine the channel vector s′ when q = 0.4 t , the network device further determines the channel vector s′ when q=2 t and the channel vector s′ when q=1 t The error (e.g., mean square error) between them is 0.5, and the channel vector s′ is determined when q=2. t and the channel vector s′ when q = 0.4 t If the error (for example, mean square error) between q and q is 0.8, the network device determines that q=1, that is, the first information indicates the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #1.

[0199] 340. The network device sends first information to the terminal device.

[0200] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information from the network device.

[0201] In a possible implementation manner, the network device carries the first information in downlink control information (DCI) and sends it to the terminal device.

[0202] In a possible implementation manner, the network device carries the first information in medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) or radio resource control (RRC) signaling and sends it to the terminal device.

[0203] In a possible implementation manner, the network device stores the first information in a preconfigured default value.

[0204] 350. The terminal device obtains a DMRS pattern.

[0205] The DMRS pattern is used to indicate the location of the time-frequency resources that can be used to transmit the DMRS. In other words, the DMRS pattern is used to indicate the location of the time-frequency resources that can be used to transmit the DMRS.

[0206] In a possible implementation manner, the network device sends an indication of the DMRS pattern to the terminal device, that is, the terminal device receives the indication of the DMRS pattern from the network device.

[0207] 360. The network device sends a DMRS to the terminal device.

[0208] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the DMRS from the network device.

[0209] It should be understood that after the terminal device learns the DMRS pattern in 350 and receives the DMRS in 360, the terminal device can obtain the channel vector on the subcarrier where the DMRS pattern is located, namely, channel vector s0 and channel vector s1, based on the DMRS pattern and DMRS.

[0210] It should be noted that the manner in which the terminal device obtains the channel vector s0 and the channel vector s1 according to the DMRS pattern and DMRS may refer to the prior art, and this application does not limit this.

[0211] It should be noted that this application does not limit the order of the above 340, 350, and 360. For example, 340, 350, and 360 can be executed in sequence; 340 can also be executed first, and then 350 and 360 can be executed at the same time; 350 can also be executed first, and then 340 and 360 can be executed at the same time, and so on.

[0212] 370. The terminal device determines a manifold-based channel estimation strategy according to the first information.

[0213] In one possible implementation, the terminal device stores a correspondence between the first information and the manifold-based channel estimation strategy. When the terminal device receives the first information, it determines the manifold-based channel estimation strategy corresponding to the received first information based on the first information and the above correspondence.

[0214] Exemplarily, when the parameter q in the first information is 2, the terminal device determines that the manifold-based channel estimation strategy is the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #2 according to the first information and the above correspondence.

[0215] 380. The terminal device performs channel estimation according to a manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

[0216] In a possible implementation, after the terminal device determines the manifold-based channel estimation strategy in 370 , it performs channel estimation based on the strategy.

[0217] Exemplarily, when the terminal device determines in 370 that the first information corresponds to the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #2, the terminal device performs channel estimation based on the manifold-based channel estimation strategy #2.

[0218] Optionally, at 390 , the terminal device performs MIMO channel equalization.

[0219] Specifically, the terminal device performs MIMO channel equalization based on the channel estimation result, thereby improving the transmission performance of the system.

[0220] It should be noted that the manner in which the above-mentioned terminal device performs MIMO channel equalization may refer to relevant technologies of channel equalization in the prior art, and this application does not limit this.

[0221] Based on the above solution, by determining a manifold-based channel estimation strategy according to the channel state, channel estimation can be flexibly performed according to different channel states, thereby improving channel estimation performance.

[0222] It should be understood that the examples in Figures 2 to 8 of the embodiments of the present application are merely intended to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application by those skilled in the art, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application to the specific scenarios illustrated. Those skilled in the art can obviously make various equivalent modifications or variations based on the examples in Figures 2 to 8, and such modifications or variations also fall within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0223] It can also be understood that some optional features in the various embodiments of the present application may not depend on other features in certain scenarios, and may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios, without limitation.

[0224] It can also be understood that the solutions in the various embodiments of the present application can be reasonably combined and used, and the explanations or descriptions of the various terms appearing in the embodiments can be referenced or explained with each other in the various embodiments, without limitation to this.

[0225] It can also be understood that the sizes of the various numerical serial numbers in the embodiments of the present application do not mean the order of execution, but are only distinguished for the convenience of description and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0226] It can also be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, some message names are involved, such as first information or capability information, etc. It should be understood that their naming does not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

[0227] It should also be understood that the term "and / or" in this document simply describes an association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0228] It can also be understood that in each of the above-mentioned method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by the first device can also be implemented by components that can be implemented by the first device (such as a chip or circuit); in addition, the methods and operations implemented by the second device can also be implemented by components that can be implemented by the second device (such as a chip or circuit), without limitation. Corresponding to the methods given in the above-mentioned method embodiments, the embodiments of the present application also provide corresponding devices, which include modules for executing the corresponding modules of the above-mentioned method embodiments. The module can be software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. It can be understood that the technical features described in the above-mentioned method embodiments are also applicable to the following device embodiments.

[0229] It should be understood that the first device and the second device may perform some or all of the steps in the above embodiments. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the various steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the above embodiments, and it is possible that not all of the operations in the above embodiments need to be performed.

[0230] The channel estimation method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with Figures 2 to 8. The communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 9 to 11. 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.

[0231] Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 900 includes a transceiver unit 910 and a processing unit 920. The transceiver unit 910 can be used to implement corresponding communication functions. The processing unit 920 can be used to process data. In other words, the transceiver unit 910 is used to perform operations related to receiving and sending, and the processing unit 920 is used to perform other operations besides receiving and sending. The transceiver unit 910 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0232] Optionally, the device 900 also includes a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit 920 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the device implements the actions of different devices in the aforementioned method embodiments, for example, the actions of the first device or the second device.

[0233] The device 900 can be used to execute the actions performed by the first device or the second device in each of the method embodiments above. In this case, the device 900 can be the first device or the second device, or a component of the first device or the second device. The transceiver unit 910 is used to execute the transceiver-related operations of the first device or the second device in the method embodiments above, and the processing unit 920 is used to execute the processing-related operations of the first device or the second device in the method embodiments above.

[0234] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 910 is configured to receive first information, and the processing unit 920 is configured to determine a manifold-based channel estimation strategy according to the first information.

[0235] In another possible implementation, the processing unit 920 is configured to determine the first information according to the channel state. The transceiver unit 910 is configured to send the first information. It should also be understood that the apparatus 900 herein is embodied in the form of a functional unit.

[0236] The term "unit" herein may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor, or a group processor, etc.) and memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a merged logic circuit, and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art will understand that the apparatus 900 may be specifically the first device or the second device in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the first device or the second device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, or the apparatus 900 may be specifically the first device or the second device in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the first device or the second device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. To avoid repetition, these will not be described in detail here.

[0237] The apparatus 900 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the first device or the second device in the above-mentioned method, or the apparatus 900 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the first device or the second device in the above-mentioned method. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing unit, can be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the sending and receiving operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

[0238] In addition, the transceiver unit 910 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

[0239] It should be noted that the apparatus in FIG9 may be a network element or device in the aforementioned embodiment, or may be a chip or chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). The transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. This is not limited here.

[0240] As shown in Figure 10, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication device 1000. The device 1000 includes a processor 1010, which is coupled to a memory 1020. The memory 1020 is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processor 1010 is used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 1020, or read the data stored in the memory 1020 to perform the methods in the above method embodiments. The device 1000 also includes a transceiver 1030, which is used to receive and / or transmit signals. For example, the processor 1010 is used to control the transceiver 1030 to receive and / or transmit signals.

[0241] Optionally, there are one or more processors 1010 .

[0242] Optionally, there are one or more memories 1020 .

[0243] Optionally, the memory 1020 is integrated with the processor 1010 or provided separately.

[0244] As a solution, the apparatus 1000 is used to implement the operations performed by the first device or the second device in each of the above method embodiments.

[0245] For example, the processor 1010 is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in the memory 1020 to implement the operations related to the first device in each of the above method embodiments, for example, the first device in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 8 , or the method of the first device in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5 .

[0246] For example, the processor 1010 is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in the memory 1020 to implement the relevant operations of the second device in each of the above method embodiments, such as the second device in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 8 , or the method of the second device in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5 .

[0247] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0248] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM includes the following forms: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0249] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0250] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0251] As shown in FIG11 , an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system 1100 . The chip system 1100 (or also referred to as a processing system) includes a logic circuit 1110 and an input / output interface 1120 .

[0252] Logic circuit 1110 may be a processing circuit within chip system 1100. Logic circuit 1110 may be coupled to a storage unit and invoke instructions within the storage unit, enabling chip system 1100 to implement the methods and functions of various embodiments of the present application. Input / output interface 1120 may be an input / output circuit within chip system 1100, outputting information processed by chip system 1100 or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into chip system 1100 for processing.

[0253] As a solution, the chip system 1100 is used to implement the operations performed by the first device or the second device in the above various method embodiments.

[0254] For example, the logic circuit 1110 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the first device in the above method embodiments, such as the processing-related operations performed by the first device in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 8; the input / output interface 1120 is used to implement the sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by the first device in the above method embodiments, such as the sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by the first device in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 8.

[0255] For example, the logic circuit 1110 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the second device in the above method embodiments, such as the processing-related operations performed by the second device in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 5; the input / output interface 1120 is used to implement the sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by the second device in the above method embodiments, such as the sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by the second device in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 8.

[0256] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions for implementing the methods executed by the first device or the second device in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0257] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the first device or the second device in each embodiment of the above method.

[0258] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, implement the method performed by the first device or the second device in each of the above method embodiments.

[0259] The explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the above-mentioned devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which will not be repeated here.

[0260] As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on a computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. Components can communicate, for example, via local and / or remote processes based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems via signals).

[0261] 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.

[0262] 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.

[0263] 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.

[0264] 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.

[0265] 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.

[0266] 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.

[0267] 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 channel estimation method, characterized in that: include: receiving first information indicating a manifold-based channel estimation strategy, the first information being associated with a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, the reference signal being used for channel estimation; The manifold-based channel estimation strategy is determined according to the first information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Capability information is sent, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first device has a capability of manifold-based channel estimation.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first information corresponds one-to-one to a channel vector group in the frequency domain, the reference signal corresponds to at least one of the channel vector groups, and the channel vector group includes at least two vectors; and / or The first information corresponds one-to-one with the ports corresponding to the reference signals in the spatial domain.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector corresponding to the reference signal.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that At least one of the first information corresponds one-to-one to at least one of the manifold-based channel estimation strategies.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: Channel estimation is performed according to the manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The performing channel estimation according to the manifold-based channel estimation strategy comprises: Determine a first channel vector and a second channel vector according to a reference signal pattern and the reference signal, wherein the reference signal pattern is used to indicate a position of a time-frequency resource that can be used to transmit the reference signal; At least one interpolated channel vector is determined based on the first channel vector, the second channel vector, and the manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

8. A channel estimation method, characterized in that: include: Determine first information according to a channel state, where the channel state is a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, the reference signal is used for channel estimation, and the first information is used to indicate a manifold-based channel estimation strategy; The first information is sent.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: Capability information is received, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first device has a capability of manifold-based channel estimation.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The determining the first information according to the channel state includes: Determine the first information in the frequency domain according to a channel state corresponding to a channel vector group, the reference signal corresponds to at least one of the channel vector groups, the channel vector group includes at least two vectors, and the channel vector group corresponds to the first information one by one; and / or The first information is determined in the spatial domain according to a channel state corresponding to a port corresponding to at least one of the reference signals, and the ports of the reference signals correspond to the first information in a one-to-one manner.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that The manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector corresponding to the reference signal.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that At least one of the first information corresponds one-to-one to at least one of the manifold-based channel estimation strategies.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: include: a transceiver unit, configured to receive first information, the first information being used to indicate a manifold-based channel estimation strategy, the first information being associated with a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, the reference signal being used for channel estimation; A processing unit is used to determine the manifold-based channel estimation strategy according to the first information.

14. The device according to claim 13, characterized in that The communication device further comprises: The transceiver unit is further used to send capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate that the communication device has the capability of manifold-based channel estimation.

15. The device according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The first information corresponds one-to-one to a channel vector group in the frequency domain, the reference signal corresponds to at least one of the channel vector groups, and the channel vector group includes at least two vectors; and / or The first information corresponds one-to-one with the ports corresponding to the reference signals in the spatial domain.

16. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that The manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector corresponding to the reference signal.

17. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that At least one of the first information corresponds one-to-one to at least one of the manifold-based channel estimation strategies.

18. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that The communication device further comprises: The processing unit is further configured to perform channel estimation according to the manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

19. The device according to claim 18, characterized in that The processing unit is further used to determine a first channel vector and a second channel vector according to a reference signal pattern and the reference signal, wherein the reference signal pattern is used to indicate a position of a time-frequency resource that can be used to transmit the reference signal; The processing unit is further configured to determine at least one interpolated channel vector according to the first channel vector, the second channel vector, and the manifold-based channel estimation strategy.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: include: a processing unit, configured to determine first information according to a channel state, wherein the channel state is a channel state corresponding to a channel used to transmit a reference signal, the reference signal is used for channel estimation, and the first information is used to indicate a manifold-based channel estimation strategy; A transceiver unit is used to send the first information.

21. The device according to claim 20, characterized in that The communication device further comprises: The transceiver unit is further used to receive capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first device has the capability of manifold-based channel estimation.

22. The device according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that The processing unit is further used to determine the first information in the frequency domain according to the channel state corresponding to the channel vector group, the reference signal corresponds to at least one of the channel vector groups, the channel vector group includes at least two vectors, and the channel vector group corresponds to the first information one by one; and / or The processing unit is further used to determine the first information in the spatial domain according to a channel state corresponding to a port corresponding to at least one of the reference signals, and the ports of the reference signals correspond to the first information in a one-to-one manner.

23. The device according to any one of claims 20 to 22, characterized in that The manifold-based channel estimation strategy is used to determine at least one interpolated channel vector corresponding to the reference signal.

24. The device according to any one of claims 20 to 23, characterized in that At least one of the first information corresponds one-to-one to at least one of the manifold-based channel estimation strategies.

25. A communication system, characterized in that: The method comprises a first device and a second device, wherein the first device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, and the second device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 8 to 12.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, configured to execute a computer program stored in a memory, so that the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: A computer program or instruction is stored thereon, wherein when the computer program or instruction is executed by a processor, the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 is executed.

28. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 to be performed.

29. A chip system, characterized in that: include: A processor, used to call and run a computer program or instruction from a memory so that a communication device equipped with the chip system implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

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