Communication link beam indication determination method and apparatus, communication link beam indication method and apparatus, and communication device

By determining and executing beam indications of multiple frequency domain units on the relay node, the problem of single beam indication frequency domain particle size in the multi-frequency domain unit scenario is solved, and more flexible beam control is achieved.

WO2025044808A1PCT designated stage expired Publication Date: 2025-03-06VIVO MOBILE COMM CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
PCT/CN2024/112945
Authority / Receiving Office
WO · WO
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2023-08-25
Filing Date
2024-08-19
Publication Date
2025-03-06

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The frequency domain particle size indicated by the communication link beam of the relay node is single and cannot be applied to multi-frequency domain unit scenarios.

Method used

The beam indication or the on-off indication of the N frequency domain units of the first communication link is determined by the relay node, and the corresponding beam operation is performed according to these indications.

Benefits of technology

The beam indication of the communication link in the multi-frequency domain unit scenario is realized, and the system's adaptability and flexibility in the multi-frequency domain unit scenario is improved.

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Abstract

The present application belongs to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are a communication link beam indication determination method and apparatus, a communication link beam indication method and apparatus, and a communication device. The communication link beam indication determination method in the embodiments of the present application comprises: a forwarding node determining beam indications or enable / disable indications of N frequency-domain units of a first communication link, wherein the first communication link comprises a backhaul link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and on the basis of the beam indications or the enable / disable indications of the N frequency-domain units, the forwarding node executing beam operations of the N frequency-domain units.
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Description

Communication link beam indication determination method, communication link beam indication method, device and communication equipment

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202311079236.4 filed in China on August 25, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and specifically relates to a communication link beam indication determination method, a communication link beam indication method, an apparatus and a communication device. Background Art

[0004] A relay node (also known as an intermediate network node) can forward signals from a network-side device or a user equipment (UE). The relay node includes a terminal module (Mobile Termination, MT) and a forwarding unit (Fwd). The MT can establish a connection with the network-side device through a control link (C-link for short), and the network-side device can transmit control signaling to the relay node through the MT to control the sending or receiving related parameters between the relay node and the network-side device (i.e., the backhaul link (BH link)) or between the relay node and the terminal (i.e., the access link (AL link)), such as beam parameters and on / off parameters. In related technologies, the frequency domain granularity of the communication link beam indication of the relay node is single, which cannot be applied to multi-frequency domain unit scenarios.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication link beam indication determination method, a communication link beam indication method, an apparatus and a communication device, which can solve the problem in related technologies that the frequency domain granularity of the communication link beam indication of the relay node is single and cannot be applied to multi-frequency domain unit scenarios.

[0007] In a first aspect, a method for determining a communication link beam indication is provided, the method comprising:

[0008] The relay node determines beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0009] The relay node performs the beam operation of the N frequency domain units according to the beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units.

[0010] In a second aspect, a communication link beam indication determination device is provided, which is applied to a relay node. The device includes:

[0011] A first determining module, configured to determine beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0012] The first execution module is used to perform the beam operation of the N frequency domain units according to the beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units.

[0013] In a third aspect, a communication link beam indication method is provided, including:

[0014] The network side device sends the first information or the second information to the relay node;

[0015] The first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to N frequency domain units of the first communication link, the first communication link is a backhaul link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link;

[0016] or,

[0017] The second information is used to indicate beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link;

[0018] N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0019] In a fourth aspect, a communication link beam indication device is provided, which is applied to a network-side device, and includes:

[0020] a sending module, configured to send the first information or the second information to the relay node;

[0021] The first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to N frequency domain units of the first communication link, the first communication link is a backhaul link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link;

[0022] or,

[0023] The second information is used to indicate beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link;

[0024] N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0025] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, it implements the steps of the method described in the first aspect, or implements the steps of the method described in the third aspect.

[0026] In the sixth aspect, a relay node is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is used to: determine the beam indication or on / off indication of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a return link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and perform beam operation of the N frequency domain units according to the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units.

[0027] In the seventh aspect, a network side device is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to: send first information or second information to a relay node; wherein the first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to the N frequency domain units of the first communication link, the first communication link is a return link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link; or, the second information is used to indicate the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units of the first communication link, and the first communication link includes a return link or an access link; N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0028] In the eighth aspect, a communication system is provided, including: a relay node and a network side device, wherein the relay node can be used to execute the steps of the communication link beam indication determination method as described in the first aspect, and the network side device can be used to execute the steps of the communication link beam indication method as described in the third aspect.

[0029] In the ninth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented, or the steps of the method described in the third aspect are implemented.

[0030] In the tenth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the processor are coupled, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the steps of the method described in the first aspect, or to implement the steps of the method described in the third aspect.

[0031] In the eleventh aspect, a computer program / program product is provided, which is stored in a storage medium and is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the method described in the first aspect, or to implement the steps of the method described in the third aspect.

[0032] In an embodiment of the present application, a relay node determines beam indications or on / off indications for N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the relay node performs beam operations for the N frequency domain units based on the beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units. Through the above process, beam indications for communication links in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario can be well implemented. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of each communication link of a relay node;

[0035] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of multiple CCs sharing the same antenna unit;

[0036] FIG4 is a flowchart of a method for determining a communication link beam indication provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing the association between a C-link CC and a BH link CC in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG6 is a schematic diagram showing that multiple CCs need to be switched on and off simultaneously in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG7 is a structural diagram of a communication link beam indication determination device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG8 is a flowchart of a communication link beam indication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG9 is a structural diagram of a communication link beam indication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG10 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG11 is a structural diagram of a network-side device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0045] The terms "first", "second", etc. in this application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way are interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same type, and do not limit the number of objects, for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "or" in this application represents at least one of the connected objects. For example, "A or B" covers three options, namely, Option 1: including A but not including B; Option 2: including B but not including A; Option 3: including both A and B. The character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0046] The term "indication" in this application can be either a direct indication (or explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or implicit indication). A direct indication can be understood as the sender explicitly informing the receiver of specific information, the operation to be performed, or the requested result, etc. in the instruction sent; an indirect indication can be understood as the receiver determining the corresponding information based on the instruction sent by the sender, or making a judgment and determining the operation to be performed or the requested result, etc. based on the judgment result.

[0047] It is worth noting that the technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the technology described can be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as for other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for illustrative purposes, and NR terminology is used in most of the following description, but these technologies can also be applied to systems other than NR systems, such as 6th generation (6G) systems. th Generation, 6G) communication system.

[0048] FIG1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network-side device 12. The terminal 11 may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Tablet Personal Computer), a laptop computer (Laptop Computer), a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a mobile internet device (MID), an augmented reality (AR), a virtual reality (VR) device, a robot, a wearable device (Wearable Device), an aircraft (Flight Vehicle), a vehicle-mounted device (VUE), a ship-mounted device, a pedestrian user equipment (PUE), a smart home (home appliances with wireless communication capabilities, such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, or furniture), a game console, a personal computer (PC), an ATM, or a self-service machine, or other terminal-side devices. Wearable devices include: smart watches, smart bracelets, smart headphones, smart glasses, smart jewelry (smart bracelets, smart bracelets, smart rings, smart necklaces, smart anklets, smart anklets, etc.), smart wristbands, smart clothing, etc. Among them, the vehicle-mounted device can also be called a vehicle-mounted terminal, a vehicle-mounted controller, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip or a vehicle-mounted unit, etc. In addition to the above-mentioned terminal devices, it can also be a chip in the terminal, such as a modem chip, a system-on-chip (SoC). It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. The network side device 12 may include an access network device, wherein the access network device may also be called a radio access network (RAN) device, a radio access network function or a radio access network unit. The access network device may include a base station, a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) node, etc.Among them, the base station can be referred to as Node B (NB), Evolved Node B (eNB), the next generation Node B (gNB), New Radio Node B (NR Node B), access point, Relay Base Station (RBS), Serving Base Station (SBS), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, Basic Service Set (BSS), Extended Service Set (ESS), Home Node B (HNB), Home evolved Node B (home evolved Node B), Transmission Reception Point (TRP) or other appropriate terms in the relevant field. As long as the same technical effect is achieved, the base station is not limited to specific technical vocabulary. It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, only the base station in the NR system is used as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0049] Before describing the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the relevant technologies:

[0050] 1. Intelligent signal amplifier / network controlled repeater (NCR)

[0051] Signal amplifiers are widely used to expand the coverage of a cell. As a relay node, NCR can forward signals from a base station or UE and amplify the signals. NCR can receive control from an upstream base station (donor), that is, the base station can control the transmission parameters of NCR, such as the receive / transmit beam between NCR and base station or between NCR and UE. As shown in Figure 2, it contains three network nodes, and the middle network node is an NCR device, which includes an MT and an Fwd. The MT can establish a connection with the upstream base station (Base Station, BS) through the C-link. The base station transmits control signaling to the NCR through the MT to control the send / receive related parameters of the BH link or AL link, such as power, amplification factor, beam, on / off and other parameters.

[0052] 2. NCR Beam Indication

[0053] The beam indication of the C-link of NCR is equivalent to the beam indication of the UE. The beam indication method of the AL link of NCR supports the base station to directly indicate the beam number of the AL link, and the beam indication of the AL link is divided into non-periodic beam indication, periodic beam indication and semi-persistent beam indication. The BH link beam indication of NCR is divided into explicit indication and implicit indication. For explicit BH link beam indication, the base station selects one from the Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) of the C-link and applies it to the BH link. For implicit BH link beam indication, the beam of the BH link is indiscriminately equivalent to certain preset beams of the C-link, that is, the beam of any frequency domain unit of the BH link is equivalent to certain preset beams of the C-link. In addition, when there is C-link reception (including physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception, etc.) / transmission, the BH link beam is indiscriminately equivalent to the C-link beam.

[0054] 3. ON-OFF indication

[0055] There is no explicit ON-OFF indication for NCR. The default state of NCR is OFF. When there is a beam indication, the state of NCR is ON.

[0056] In the related art, the frequency domain granularity of NCR beam indication is single, and beam indication is performed for the entire passband of NCR. This indication method cannot accurately control system interference according to the frequency domain transmission conditions in multi-frequency domain unit scenarios (such as multi-carrier scenarios). Therefore, this indication method is not friendly to multi-frequency domain unit scenarios.

[0057] If the beam indication granularity is set to per carrier or per resource block set (RB set), the freedom of beam indication per carrier / per RB set is limited due to hardware limitations. As shown in Figure 3, multiple component carriers (CCs), such as CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3, share the same antenna element, and the freedom of beam indication for CC#1, CC#2, and CC#3 is limited.

[0058] In the related art, the reason why C-link beam indication can be applied to BH link is that NCR's C-link and BH link always have a quasi-co-location relationship. However, as the bandwidth increases (such as in multi-carrier scenarios), this quasi-co-location relationship will be affected.

[0059] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a beam indication / ON-OFF indication solution for a BH / AL link in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario.

[0060] Below, in combination with the accompanying drawings, the communication link beam indication determination method, communication link beam indication determination device, communication link beam indication method, communication link beam indication device, communication equipment and storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail through some embodiments and their application scenarios.

[0061] FIG4 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a communication link beam indication provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4 , the method for determining a communication link beam indication includes the following steps:

[0062] Step 401: A relay node determines beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0063] Step 402: The relay node performs the beam operation of the N frequency domain units according to the beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units.

[0064] The relay node may include, for example, an NCR, an intelligent signal amplifier, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), a layer 2 relay, or a layer 3 relay.

[0065] The beam indication may be used to indicate, for example, beam identification, beam operation, or beam status.

[0066] Frequency domain units may include, for example, carriers, resource block sets, resource block groups, or frequency bands. For ease of description, the embodiments of this application are mainly illustrated using a multi-carrier scenario, where the frequency domain unit is a carrier.

[0067] In an embodiment of the present application, a relay node determines beam indications or on / off indications for N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the relay node performs beam operations for the N frequency domain units based on the beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units. Through the above process, beam indication for a BH link / AL link in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario can be well implemented.

[0068] One of the solutions in the embodiments of the present application can determine the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of the target CC of the BH link based on the correlation between the C-link and the BH link in the multi-carrier scenario; the second solution can determine the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of multiple (or a group of) carriers of the BH link / AL link based on the indication of the network side device.

[0069] The following first describes an implementation method involved in one of the solutions.

[0070] In some embodiments, the relay node determines the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units of the first communication link, including at least one of the following:

[0071] The relay node determines, based on first information from a network-side device, beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units, where the first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to the N frequency domain units of the first communication link;

[0072] The relay node determines, according to the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit, beam-related information of the N frequency domain units;

[0073] The first communication link is a backhaul link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link.

[0074] In this implementation, an explicit indication method is adopted, that is, the network-side device explicitly indicates the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of the target CC of the BH link through the first information. Specifically, the network-side device indicates the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of a CC on the C-link to the relay node through the first information, so that the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of a CC on the C-link can be applied to the target CC of the BH link. For example, when the network-side device indicates the beam of the BH link target CC, the default indicated beam is from the C-link CC associated with the target CC. Furthermore, when the network-side device indicates the beam of the BH link target CC, it will also indicate which C-link CC or C-link BWP the beam belongs to, for example, indicating the CC index (index) or bandwidth part (Bandwidth Part, BWP) index of the C-link.

[0075] It should be noted that the above explicit indication method is applicable to the case where the C-link CC and the BH link CC have a first association. The first association means that the channel characteristics of the C-link CC and the BH link CC are similar, such as the similarity of the channel characteristics meets a first preset similarity condition. For example, a BH link CC and a C-link CC on the same band have a first association, or a BH link CC and a C-link CC with a frequency separation less than a preset value have a first association, etc.

[0076] The first association may be reported by the NCR to the network device, indicated by the network device to the NCR, or agreed upon by a protocol. For a BH link CC and a C-link CC that meet the first association, the NCR-MT may obtain an alternative beam of the C-link CC through measurement. The alternative beam may be used for a group of BH link CCs associated with the C-link CC.

[0077] An implicit indication method can also be used, that is, the relay node determines the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of the BH link CC based on the association between the BH link CC and the C-link CC. Specifically, the relay node determines the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of the target CC of the BH link based on the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of a CC on the C-link.

[0078] It should be noted that the above implicit indication method is applicable to the case where the C-link CC and the BH link CC have the first correlation, and may also be applicable to the case where the C-link CC and the BH link CC have the second correlation.

[0079] The second association refers to the association between C-link CCs and BH link CCs due to hardware structure limitations. For example, as shown in Figure 5, Fwd CC#1, Fwd CC#2, Fwd CC#3, and MT CC#1 share a radio frequency (RF) chain. Therefore, Fwd CC#1, Fwd CC#2, Fwd CC#3, and MT CC#1 have a second association. For BH link CCs and C-link CCs that meet the second association, the beam state or on-off state of the BH link CC must be consistent with the beam state or on-off state of the associated C-link CC.

[0080] In the above implementation, the beam indication (or on / off indication) of the BH link is no longer indiscriminately equivalent to the beam indication (or on / off indication) of the C-link. Instead, the beam indication (or on / off indication) of the C-link CC is applied to the BH link CC differently based on the association between the BH link CC and the C-link CC. In other words, only the beam indication (or on / off indication) of the BH link CC associated with the C-link CC is equivalent to the beam indication (or on / off indication) of the associated C-link CC.

[0081] In some embodiments, the relay node determines, according to the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit, the beam-related information of the N frequency domain units, including at least one of the following:

[0082] When detecting that the first frequency domain unit has a sending or receiving behavior, the relay node determines the beam indication of the first frequency domain unit as the beam indication of the N frequency domain units, or determines the on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit as the on / off indication of the N frequency domain units;

[0083] The relay node determines the beam state of the preset beam of the first frequency domain unit as the beam state of the N frequency domain units, or determines the on / off state of the preset beam of the first frequency domain unit as the on / off state of the N frequency domain units.

[0084] This embodiment provides two solutions for determining the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of the BH link CC in an implicit indication manner. Specific examples are provided below:

[0085] Example 1: When there is transmission or reception on a CC of the C-link, the beam on the BH link CC that has a second association with the C-link CC remains consistent with the beam of the C-link CC.

[0086] Example 2: The beam state or ON-OFF state of a BH link CC is equal to the beam state or ON-OFF state of a preset beam of a C-link CC having a first association with the CC.

[0087] In some embodiments, the preset beam includes at least one of the following:

[0088] The beam corresponding to the PDCCH resource with the smallest identity document (ID), such as the beam corresponding to CORESET#0;

[0089] The beam corresponding to the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource with the smallest ID.

[0090] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0091] When the relay node detects that a beam failure occurs in the first frequency domain unit, it disables the forwarding functions of the N frequency domain units.

[0092] For example, if a beam failure (BF) occurs in a CC of a C-link, the relay node may disable the forwarding function on the BH link CC that has a first association with the C-link CC to avoid forwarding noise or interference, while other BH link CCs may not be affected.

[0093] The above is the relevant description of the implementation method involved in the first solution. The implementation method involved in the second solution will be described below.

[0094] In some embodiments, the relay node determines beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of the first communication link, including:

[0095] The relay node determines the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units based on second information from the network side device, where the second information is used to indicate the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units.

[0096] In this implementation, an explicit indication manner is adopted, that is, the network side device explicitly indicates the beam indication or ON-OFF indication of the target CC of the BH link through the second information.

[0097] This embodiment is at least applicable to the scenario where the beam setting of multiple carriers is limited by the hardware structure as shown in FIG3 , and beam indication / ON-OFF indication can be performed for multiple (or a group of) carriers.

[0098] In some embodiments, the N frequency domain units are determined in advance by negotiation between the relay node and the network side device, and can use the same beam indication information or on / off indication information; or,

[0099] The second information carries N frequency domain unit identifiers, where the N frequency domain unit identifiers are used to indicate the N frequency domain units; or,

[0100] The second information carries a first frequency domain unit group identifier, where the first frequency domain unit group identifier is used to indicate a first frequency domain unit group, and the first frequency domain unit group includes the N frequency domain units.

[0101] This embodiment provides three solutions for determining N frequency domain units, and specific examples are provided below:

[0102] Example 1: The network-side device and the relay node negotiate which carriers share the same beam indication or ON-OFF indication. The indication information received by the relay node takes effect for this group of carriers.

[0103] Optionally, the second information is received through any frequency domain unit of the N frequency domain units; or,

[0104] The second information is received through the second frequency domain unit among the N frequency domain units, and the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit indicated by the network side device and used to receive beam indications or on / off indications, or the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit pre-agreed by the protocol and used to receive beam indications or on / off indications.

[0105] Example 1-1: A beam indication or ON-OFF indication received on any carrier in this group of carriers takes effect for this group of carriers.

[0106] Example 1-2: A beam indication or ON-OFF indication received on a specific carrier in this group of carriers is effective for this group of carriers. The specific carrier may be indicated by the network device or agreed upon by the protocol.

[0107] Example 2: The second message carries a carrier identifier, indicating that the indication message is effective for the corresponding carrier. The number or maximum number of carrier identifiers carried in the indication message can be configured by the network device, dynamically indicated by the network device, or agreed upon by the protocol.

[0108] Example 3: The second information carries a CC group identifier, indicating that the information is effective for the corresponding CC group. The CC group information can be configured by the network side device or reported to the network side device by the NCR.

[0109] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0110] The relay node sends capability information to the network side device, where the capability information is used to assist beam indication or on / off indication in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario.

[0111] In this implementation, the capability information may be, for example, hardware capability information of the relay node.

[0112] Optionally, the capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0113] RF channel (or RF chain) related information;

[0114] Antenna (or antenna panel) related information.

[0115] Optionally, the radio frequency channel related information includes at least one of the following:

[0116] Information indicating the number of radio frequency channels;

[0117] Information used to indicate the bandwidth or frequency band corresponding to the RF channel, such as the number of bands, band index(es), number of carriers, carrier index(es), Hz, etc.

[0118] Information used to indicate whether the bandwidth of the radio frequency channel is variable or fixed;

[0119] Information used to indicate the variable bandwidth range of the radio frequency channel;

[0120] Information used to indicate a third frequency domain unit, where the third frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same radio frequency channel; for example, which carriers or bands share the same radio frequency channel;

[0121] Information used to indicate a fourth frequency domain unit, where the fourth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that requires an independent radio frequency channel; for example, which carriers or bands use independent radio frequency channels;

[0122] Used to indicate information of the fifth frequency domain unit, where the fifth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to be switched on and off simultaneously; for example, which carriers or bands need to be turned on and off simultaneously, such as when the passband is a fixed bandwidth, a group of carriers within the passband can be turned on and off simultaneously; for example, as shown in Figure 6, when the passband is a variable bandwidth, some consecutive carriers in a group of carriers within the passband can be turned on and off simultaneously.

[0123] Information used to indicate the sixth frequency domain unit, where the sixth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to be independently switched; for example, which carriers or bands can be independently switched on and off.

[0124] Optionally, the antenna-related information includes at least one of the following:

[0125] Information indicating the number of beams that need to be used independently at the same time; for example, if there are N groups of beams, beams within each group cannot be used simultaneously, but beams from different groups can be used simultaneously;

[0126] Information indicating the radiation characteristics of each beam in a set of beams, such as beam width, beam coverage area, or beam direction;

[0127] Information used to indicate a seventh frequency domain unit, where the seventh frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same antenna unit; for example, which carriers or bands use or share the same antenna unit;

[0128] Used to indicate information of the eighth frequency domain unit, where the eighth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same beam or mutually related beams at the same time; for example, when some carriers use or share the same antenna unit, these carriers need to use the same beam or mutually related beams at the same time.

[0129] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0130] In the event that the beam indication or on / off indication indicated by the second information conflicts with the beam indication or on / off indication indicated by the third information, the relay node determines the second information as valid indication information according to a preset rule.

[0131] In this embodiment, if two indication information are respectively for two CCs, and there is an indication conflict between these two CCs, for example, on some symbols, CC#1 and CC#2 cannot operate according to the corresponding indication information at the same time, then the relay node needs to perform conflict processing. Specifically, the relay node determines the second information as valid indication information according to preset rules.

[0132] It should be noted that the relay node reports capability information to the network side device to avoid conflicts between beam indications or ON-OFF indications between different CCs.

[0133] Optionally, the preset rule includes at least one of the following:

[0134] The priority of the aperiodic indication information is higher than the priority of the periodic indication information;

[0135] The priority of semi-persistent indication information is higher than that of periodic indication information;

[0136] The priority of the aperiodic indication information is higher than the priority of the semi-persistent indication information;

[0137] The priority of the indication information carrying the priority identifier is higher than the priority of the indication information not carrying the priority identifier;

[0138] Determining the priority of the indication information according to the priority information carried in the indication information;

[0139] The priority of the indication information for the reference frequency domain unit is higher than the priority of other frequency domain units. The reference frequency domain unit is indicated or predefined by the network side device; for example, the network side device indicates or defines a reference CC, and the beam indication or ON-OFF indication for the reference CC takes effect.

[0140] The preset rule can be understood as a priority rule, and the relay node can determine which indication information can take effect according to the priority rule.

[0141] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0142] The relay node performs a first operation, where the first operation includes at least one of the following:

[0143] The relay node reports fourth information to the network-side device, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the beam indication indicated by the second information conflicts with the beam indication indicated by the third information, or to indicate that the on / off indication indicated by the second information conflicts with the on / off indication indicated by the third information; for example, the fourth information includes information such as a conflict indication identifier or a conflict indication time period;

[0144] The relay node disables the forwarding function of the target frequency domain unit;

[0145] The relay node performs a default operation on the target frequency domain unit, for example, adopting a default beam, or defaulting to an OFF state, or the relay node equates the operation on the target frequency domain unit with the operation on another frequency domain unit (i.e., applying the operation on the other frequency domain unit to the target frequency domain unit);

[0146] The target frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that cannot be operated according to the third information (ie, a frequency domain unit whose beam indication or on / off indication is determined to be invalid).

[0147] In summary, the embodiments of the present application can better implement the beam indication of BH link / AL link in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario.

[0148] The communication link beam indication determination method provided in the embodiments of the present application may be executed by a communication link beam indication determination device. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication link beam indication determination device executing the communication link beam indication determination method is used as an example to illustrate the communication link beam indication determination device provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0149] 7 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication link beam indication determination device, which can be applied to a relay node. As shown in FIG7 , the communication link beam indication determination device 700 includes:

[0150] A first determining module 701 is configured to determine beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0151] The first execution module 702 is configured to execute the beam operation of the N frequency domain units according to the beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units.

[0152] Optionally, the first determining module 701 includes at least one of the following:

[0153] A first determining unit, configured to determine, based on first information from a network-side device, beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units, wherein the first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to the N frequency domain units of the first communication link;

[0154] A second determining unit, configured to determine beam-related information of the N frequency domain units according to the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit;

[0155] The first communication link is a backhaul link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link.

[0156] Optionally, the second determining unit is specifically configured to perform at least one of the following:

[0157] When detecting that the first frequency domain unit has a sending or receiving behavior, the relay node determines the beam indication of the first frequency domain unit as the beam indication of the N frequency domain units, or determines the on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit as the on / off indication of the N frequency domain units;

[0158] The relay node determines the beam state of the preset beam of the first frequency domain unit as the beam state of the N frequency domain units, or determines the on / off state of the preset beam of the first frequency domain unit as the on / off state of the N frequency domain units.

[0159] Optionally, the preset beam includes at least one of the following:

[0160] The beam corresponding to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) resource with the smallest ID;

[0161] The beam corresponding to the physical uplink control channel PUCCH resource with the smallest ID.

[0162] Optionally, the association between the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link and the N frequency domain units of the first communication link is reported by the relay node to the network side device, or indicated by the network side device to the relay node, or pre-determined by a protocol.

[0163] Optionally, the communication link beam indication determining device 700 further includes:

[0164] The shut-down module is configured to shut down the forwarding functions of the N frequency domain units when a beam failure is detected in the first frequency domain unit.

[0165] Optionally, the first determining module 701 is specifically configured to:

[0166] Based on the second information from the network side device, the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units is determined, and the second information is used to indicate the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units.

[0167] Optionally, the N frequency domain units are frequency domain units determined in advance by negotiation between the relay node and the network side device, and can use the same beam indication information or on / off indication information; or,

[0168] The second information carries N frequency domain unit identifiers, where the N frequency domain unit identifiers are used to indicate the N frequency domain units; or,

[0169] The second information carries a first frequency domain unit group identifier, where the first frequency domain unit group identifier is used to indicate a first frequency domain unit group, and the first frequency domain unit group includes the N frequency domain units.

[0170] Optionally, the second information is received through any frequency domain unit of the N frequency domain units; or,

[0171] The second information is received through the second frequency domain unit among the N frequency domain units, and the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit indicated by the network side device and used to receive beam indications or on / off indications, or the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit pre-agreed by the protocol and used to receive beam indications or on / off indications.

[0172] Optionally, the communication link beam indication determining device 700 further includes:

[0173] A sending module is used to send capability information to the network side device, where the capability information is used to assist beam indication or on / off indication in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario.

[0174] Optionally, the capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0175] RF channel related information;

[0176] Antenna related information.

[0177] Optionally, the radio frequency channel related information includes at least one of the following:

[0178] Information indicating the number of radio frequency channels;

[0179] Information used to indicate the bandwidth or frequency band corresponding to the radio frequency channel;

[0180] Information used to indicate whether the bandwidth of the radio frequency channel is variable or fixed;

[0181] Information used to indicate the variable bandwidth range of the radio frequency channel;

[0182] Information used to indicate a third frequency domain unit, where the third frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same radio frequency channel;

[0183] Information used to indicate a fourth frequency domain unit, where the fourth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that requires an independent radio frequency channel;

[0184] Information for indicating a fifth frequency domain unit, where the fifth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to be switched on and off simultaneously;

[0185] Information used to indicate a sixth frequency domain unit, where the sixth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to perform a switching operation independently.

[0186] Optionally, the antenna-related information includes at least one of the following:

[0187] Information indicating the number of beams that need to be used independently at the same time;

[0188] information indicating radiation characteristics of each beam in a set of beams;

[0189] Information used to indicate a seventh frequency domain unit, where the seventh frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same antenna unit;

[0190] Information used to indicate the eighth frequency domain unit, where the eighth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same beam or mutually correlated beams at the same time.

[0191] Optionally, the communication link beam indication determining device 700 further includes:

[0192] The second determination module is used to determine that the relay node determines the second information as valid indication information according to a preset rule when there is a conflict between the beam indication or on / off indication indicated by the second information and the beam indication or on / off indication indicated by the third information.

[0193] Optionally, the preset rule includes at least one of the following:

[0194] The priority of the aperiodic indication information is higher than the priority of the periodic indication information;

[0195] The priority of semi-persistent indication information is higher than that of periodic indication information;

[0196] The priority of the aperiodic indication information is higher than the priority of the semi-persistent indication information;

[0197] The priority of the indication information carrying the priority identifier is higher than the priority of the indication information not carrying the priority identifier;

[0198] Determining the priority of the indication information according to the priority information carried in the indication information;

[0199] The priority of the indication information for the reference frequency domain unit is higher than the priority of other frequency domain units, and the reference frequency domain unit is indicated or predefined by the network side device.

[0200] Optionally, the communication link beam indication determining device 700 further includes:

[0201] The second execution module is configured to execute a first operation, where the first operation includes at least one of the following:

[0202] Reporting fourth information to the network side device, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the beam indication indicated by the second information conflicts with the beam indication indicated by the third information, or to indicate that the on / off indication indicated by the second information conflicts with the on / off indication indicated by the third information;

[0203] Disable the forwarding function of the target frequency domain unit;

[0204] performing a default operation on the target frequency domain unit;

[0205] The target frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that cannot be operated according to the third information.

[0206] In summary, the embodiments of the present application can better implement the beam indication of BH link / AL link in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario.

[0207] The communication link beam indication determination apparatus 700 in the embodiments of the present application can be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component of an electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or chip. The electronic device can be a terminal or a network-side device. For example, the terminal can include, but is not limited to, the types of terminal 11 listed above, and the network-side device can include, but is not limited to, the types of network-side device 12 listed above, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0208] The communication link beam indication determination device 700 provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement the various processes implemented in the relay node side method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0209] FIG8 shows a flow chart of a communication link beam indication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG8 , the communication link beam indication method includes the following steps:

[0210] Step 801: The network-side device sends first information or second information to a relay node;

[0211] The first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to N frequency domain units of the first communication link, the first communication link is a backhaul link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link;

[0212] or,

[0213] The second information is used to indicate beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link;

[0214] N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0215] Optionally, the N frequency domain units are frequency domain units determined in advance by negotiation between the relay node and the network side device, and can use the same beam indication information or on / off indication information; or,

[0216] The second information carries N frequency domain unit identifiers, where the N frequency domain unit identifiers are used to indicate the N frequency domain units; or,

[0217] The second information carries a first frequency domain unit group identifier, where the first frequency domain unit group identifier is used to indicate a first frequency domain unit group, and the first frequency domain unit group includes the N frequency domain units.

[0218] Optionally, the second information is received through any frequency domain unit of the N frequency domain units; or,

[0219] The second information is received through the second frequency domain unit among the N frequency domain units, and the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit indicated by the network side device and used to receive beam indications or on / off indications, or the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit pre-agreed by the protocol and used to receive beam indications or on / off indications.

[0220] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0221] The network-side device receives capability information from the relay node, where the capability information is used to assist beam indication or on / off indication in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario;

[0222] The network-side device sending the second information to the relay node includes:

[0223] The network-side device sends the second information to the relay node according to the capability information.

[0224] Optionally, the capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0225] RF channel related information;

[0226] Antenna related information.

[0227] Optionally, the radio frequency channel related information includes at least one of the following:

[0228] Information indicating the number of radio frequency channels;

[0229] Information used to indicate the bandwidth or frequency band corresponding to the radio frequency channel;

[0230] Information used to indicate whether the bandwidth of the radio frequency channel is variable or fixed;

[0231] Information used to indicate the variable bandwidth range of the radio frequency channel;

[0232] Information used to indicate a third frequency domain unit, where the third frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same radio frequency channel;

[0233] Information used to indicate a fourth frequency domain unit, where the fourth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that requires an independent radio frequency channel;

[0234] Information for indicating a fifth frequency domain unit, where the fifth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to be switched on and off simultaneously;

[0235] Information used to indicate a sixth frequency domain unit, where the sixth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to perform a switching operation independently.

[0236] Optionally, the antenna-related information includes at least one of the following:

[0237] Information indicating the number of beams that need to be used independently at the same time;

[0238] information indicating radiation characteristics of each beam in a set of beams;

[0239] Information used to indicate a seventh frequency domain unit, where the seventh frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same antenna unit;

[0240] Information used to indicate the eighth frequency domain unit, where the eighth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same beam or mutually correlated beams at the same time.

[0241] Optionally, the association between the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link and the N frequency domain units of the first communication link is reported by the relay node to the network side device, or indicated by the network side device to the relay node, or pre-determined by a protocol.

[0242] For the relevant description of the embodiments of the present application, please refer to the relevant description of the method embodiments of Figures 4 to 6, and the same technical effects can be achieved. To avoid repetition, they will not be described in detail.

[0243] In summary, the embodiments of the present application can better implement the beam indication of BH link / AL link in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario.

[0244] The communication link beam indication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be executed by a communication link beam indication device. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication link beam indication method performed by the communication link beam indication device is taken as an example to illustrate the communication link beam indication device provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0245] Referring to Figure 9, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication link beam indication device, which can be applied to network-side equipment. As shown in Figure 9, the communication link beam indication device 900 includes:

[0246] A sending module 901 is configured to send the first information or the second information to a relay node;

[0247] The first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to N frequency domain units of the first communication link, the first communication link is a backhaul link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link;

[0248] or,

[0249] The second information is used to indicate beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link;

[0250] N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0251] Optionally, the N frequency domain units are frequency domain units determined in advance by negotiation between the relay node and the network side device, and can use the same beam indication information or on / off indication information; or,

[0252] The second information carries N frequency domain unit identifiers, where the N frequency domain unit identifiers are used to indicate the N frequency domain units; or,

[0253] The second information carries a first frequency domain unit group identifier, where the first frequency domain unit group identifier is used to indicate a first frequency domain unit group, and the first frequency domain unit group includes the N frequency domain units.

[0254] Optionally, the second information is received through any frequency domain unit of the N frequency domain units; or,

[0255] The second information is received through the second frequency domain unit among the N frequency domain units, and the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit indicated by the network side device and used to receive beam indications or on / off indications, or the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit pre-agreed by the protocol and used to receive beam indications or on / off indications.

[0256] Optionally, the communication link beam indication device 900 further includes:

[0257] A receiving module, configured to receive capability information from the relay node, wherein the capability information is used to assist in beam indication or on / off indication in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario;

[0258] The sending module 901 is specifically used for:

[0259] The second information is sent to the relay node according to the capability information.

[0260] Optionally, the capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0261] RF channel related information;

[0262] Antenna related information.

[0263] Optionally, the radio frequency channel related information includes at least one of the following:

[0264] Information indicating the number of radio frequency channels;

[0265] Information used to indicate the bandwidth or frequency band corresponding to the radio frequency channel;

[0266] Information used to indicate whether the bandwidth of the radio frequency channel is variable or fixed;

[0267] Information used to indicate the variable bandwidth range of the radio frequency channel;

[0268] Information used to indicate a third frequency domain unit, where the third frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same radio frequency channel;

[0269] Information used to indicate a fourth frequency domain unit, where the fourth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that requires an independent radio frequency channel;

[0270] Information for indicating a fifth frequency domain unit, where the fifth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to be switched on and off simultaneously;

[0271] Information used to indicate a sixth frequency domain unit, where the sixth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to perform a switching operation independently.

[0272] Optionally, the antenna-related information includes at least one of the following:

[0273] Information indicating the number of beams that need to be used independently at the same time;

[0274] information indicating radiation characteristics of each beam in a set of beams;

[0275] Information used to indicate a seventh frequency domain unit, where the seventh frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same antenna unit;

[0276] Information used to indicate the eighth frequency domain unit, where the eighth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same beam or mutually correlated beams at the same time.

[0277] Optionally, the association between the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link and the N frequency domain units of the first communication link is reported by the relay node to the network side device, or indicated by the network side device to the relay node, or pre-determined by a protocol.

[0278] In summary, the embodiments of the present application can better implement the beam indication of BH link / AL link in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario.

[0279] The communication link beam designation device 900 in the embodiments of the present application can be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component of an electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or chip. The electronic device can be a terminal or a network-side device. For example, the terminal can include, but is not limited to, the types of terminal 11 listed above, and the network-side device can include, but is not limited to, the types of network-side device 12 listed above, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0280] The communication link beam indication device 900 provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement the various processes implemented in the network side device method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0281] Optionally, as shown in Figure 10, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1000, including a processor 1001 and a memory 1002, wherein the memory 1002 stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor 1001. For example, when the communication device 1000 is a relay node, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 1001 to implement the various steps of the embodiment of the above-mentioned communication link beam indication determination method, and can achieve the same technical effect. When the communication device 1000 is a network-side device, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 1001 to implement the various steps of the embodiment of the above-mentioned communication link beam indication method, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0282] An embodiment of the present application also provides a relay node, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is used to: determine the beam indication or on / off indication of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a return link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and perform beam operations of the N frequency domain units according to the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units.

[0283] An embodiment of the present application also provides a network-side device, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to: send first information or second information to a relay node; wherein the first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to the N frequency domain units of the first communication link, the first communication link is a return link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link; or, the second information is used to indicate the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units of the first communication link, and the first communication link includes a return link or an access link; N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0284] The various implementation processes and implementation methods of the above-mentioned method embodiments can also be applied to network-side devices and can achieve the same technical effects. Specifically, Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a network-side device that implements an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 11, the network-side device 120 includes: an antenna 121, a radio frequency device 122, a baseband device 123, a processor 124 and a memory 125. The antenna 121 is connected to the radio frequency device 122. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 122 receives information through the antenna 121 and sends the received information to the baseband device 123 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 123 processes the information to be sent and sends it to the radio frequency device 122. The radio frequency device 122 processes the received information and sends it out through the antenna 121.

[0285] The method executed by the network-side device in the above embodiment may be implemented in the baseband device 123 , which includes a baseband processor.

[0286] The baseband device 123 may, for example, include at least one baseband board, on which a plurality of chips are arranged, as shown in FIG11 , wherein one of the chips is, for example, a baseband processor, which is connected to the memory 125 through a bus interface to call the program in the memory 125 and execute the operations performed by the relay node or network-side device shown in the above method embodiment.

[0287] The network side device may further include a network interface 126 , which is, for example, a common public radio interface (CPRI).

[0288] Specifically, the network side device 120 of the embodiment of the present application also includes: instructions or programs stored in the memory 125 and can be run on the processor 124. The processor 124 calls the instructions or programs in the memory 125 to execute the methods executed by the modules shown in Figure 7 or Figure 9, and achieves the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0289] An embodiment of the present application also provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the various processes of the embodiment of the communication link beam indication determination method on the relay node side or the various processes of the embodiment of the communication link beam indication method on the network side device are implemented, and the same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0290] The processor is the processor in the relay node described in the above embodiment, or the processor of the network-side device described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0291] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the various processes of the embodiment of the communication link beam indication determination method on the relay node side, or to implement the various processes of the embodiment of the communication link beam indication method on the network side device, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0292] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0293] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program / program product, which is stored in a storage medium. The computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the various processes of the embodiment of the communication link beam indication determination method on the relay node side, or to implement the various processes of the embodiment of the communication link beam indication method on the network side device. To avoid repetition, they are not repeated here.

[0294] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including: a relay node and a network side device, wherein the relay node can be used to execute the steps of the communication link beam indication determination method on the relay node side, and the network side device can be used to execute the steps of the communication link beam indication method on the network side device.

[0295] It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the statement "comprises a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element. In addition, it should be noted that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, and may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in the opposite order according to the functions involved. For example, the described method may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may also be added, omitted, or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

[0296] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by means of software plus the necessary general hardware platform, and of course can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a computer software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk), and includes a number of instructions for enabling a terminal (which can be a mobile phone, computer, server, air conditioner, or network-side device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0297] The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of this application, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms without departing from the purpose of this application and the scope of protection of the claims, all of which are within the protection of this application.

Claims

1. A method for determining a communication link beam indication, comprising: The relay node determines beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; The relay node performs beam operation of the N frequency domain units according to the beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The relay node determines beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of the first communication link, including at least one of the following: The relay node determines, based on first information from a network-side device, beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units, wherein the first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to the N frequency domain units of the first communication link; The relay node determines, according to the beam indication or the on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit, the beam-related information of the N frequency domain units; The first communication link is a backhaul link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The relay node determines, according to the beam indication or the on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit, the beam-related information of the N frequency domain units, including at least one of the following: When detecting that the first frequency domain unit has a sending or receiving behavior, the relay node determines the beam indication of the first frequency domain unit as the beam indication of the N frequency domain units, or determines the on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit as the on / off indication of the N frequency domain units; The relay node determines the beam state of the preset beam of the first frequency domain unit as the beam state of the N frequency domain units, or determines the on / off state of the preset beam of the first frequency domain unit as the on / off state of the N frequency domain units.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The preset beam includes at least one of the following: The beam corresponding to the physical downlink control channel PDCCH resource with the smallest ID; The beam corresponding to the physical uplink control channel PUCCH resource with the smallest ID.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: The association between the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link and the N frequency domain units of the first communication link is reported by the relay node to the network side device, or indicated by the network side device to the relay node, or pre-determined by a protocol.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, further comprising: When the relay node detects that a beam failure occurs in the first frequency domain unit, the relay node turns off the forwarding functions of the N frequency domain units.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The relay node determines beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of the first communication link, including: The relay node determines the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units based on second information from the network side device, where the second information is used to indicate the beam indication or on / off indication of the N frequency domain units.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The N frequency domain units are frequency domain units that are determined by pre-negotiation between the relay node and the network side device and can use the same beam indication information or on / off indication information; or, The second information carries N frequency domain unit identifiers, where the N frequency domain unit identifiers are used to indicate the N frequency domain units; or, The second information carries a first frequency domain unit group identifier, where the first frequency domain unit group identifier is used to indicate a first frequency domain unit group, and the first frequency domain unit group includes the N frequency domain units.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein: The second information is received through any frequency domain unit among the N frequency domain units; or, The second information is received through a second frequency domain unit among the N frequency domain units, and the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit indicated by the network side device and used to receive a beam indication or an on / off indication, or the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit pre-agreed by the protocol and used to receive a beam indication or an on / off indication.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, further comprising: The relay node sends capability information to the network side device, where the capability information is used to assist beam indication or on / off indication in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The capability information includes at least one of the following: RF channel related information; Antenna related information.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The radio frequency channel related information includes at least one of the following: Information used to indicate the number of radio frequency channels; Information used to indicate the bandwidth or frequency band corresponding to the radio frequency channel; Information used to indicate whether the bandwidth of a radio frequency channel is a variable bandwidth or a fixed bandwidth; Information used to indicate a variable bandwidth range of a radio frequency channel; Information used to indicate a third frequency domain unit, where the third frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same radio frequency channel; Information used to indicate a fourth frequency domain unit, where the fourth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use an independent radio frequency channel; Information used to indicate a fifth frequency domain unit, where the fifth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to be switched simultaneously; Information used to indicate a sixth frequency domain unit, where the sixth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to perform a switching operation independently.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The antenna related information includes at least one of the following: Information indicating the number of beams that need to be used independently at the same time; information indicating radiation characteristics of each beam in a set of beams; Information used to indicate a seventh frequency domain unit, where the seventh frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same antenna unit; Information used to indicate an eighth frequency domain unit, where the eighth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same beam or mutually related beams at the same time.

14. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 13, further comprising: When there is a conflict between the beam indication or on / off indication indicated by the second information and the beam indication or on / off indication indicated by the third information, the relay node determines the second information as valid indication information according to a preset rule.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The preset rules include at least one of the following: The priority of the aperiodic indication information is higher than the priority of the periodic indication information; The priority of the semi-persistent indication information is higher than the priority of the periodic indication information; The priority of the aperiodic indication information is higher than the priority of the semi-persistent indication information; The priority of the indication information carrying the priority identifier is higher than the priority of the indication information not carrying the priority identifier; Determining the priority of the indication information according to the priority information carried in the indication information; The priority of the indication information for the reference frequency domain unit is higher than the priority of other frequency domain units, and the reference frequency domain unit is indicated or predefined by the network side device.

16. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: The relay node performs a first operation, where the first operation includes at least one of the following: The relay node reports fourth information to the network side device, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the beam indication indicated by the second information conflicts with the beam indication indicated by the third information, or is used to indicate that the on / off indication indicated by the second information conflicts with the on / off indication indicated by the third information; The relay node turns off the forwarding function of the target frequency domain unit; The relay node performs a default operation on the target frequency domain unit; The target frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that cannot be operated according to the third information.

17. A communication link beam indication method, comprising: The network side device sends the first information or the second information to the relay node; The first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to N frequency domain units of the first communication link, the first communication link is a backhaul link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link; or, The second information is used to indicate beam indication or on / off indication of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link; N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein: The N frequency domain units are frequency domain units that are determined by pre-negotiation between the relay node and the network side device and can use the same beam indication information or on / off indication information; or, The second information carries N frequency domain unit identifiers, where the N frequency domain unit identifiers are used to indicate the N frequency domain units; or, The second information carries a first frequency domain unit group identifier, where the first frequency domain unit group identifier is used to indicate a first frequency domain unit group, and the first frequency domain unit group includes the N frequency domain units.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein: The second information is received through any frequency domain unit among the N frequency domain units; or, The second information is received through a second frequency domain unit among the N frequency domain units, and the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit indicated by the network side device and used to receive a beam indication or an on / off indication, or the second frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit pre-agreed by the protocol and used to receive a beam indication or an on / off indication.

20. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, further comprising: The network side device receives capability information from the relay node, where the capability information is used to assist beam indication or on / off indication in a multi-frequency domain unit scenario; The network side device sends second information to the relay node, including: The network side device sends the second information to the relay node according to the capability information.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The capability information includes at least one of the following: RF channel related information; Antenna related information.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The radio frequency channel related information includes at least one of the following: Information used to indicate the number of radio frequency channels; Information used to indicate the bandwidth or frequency band corresponding to the radio frequency channel; Information used to indicate whether the bandwidth of a radio frequency channel is a variable bandwidth or a fixed bandwidth; Information used to indicate a variable bandwidth range of a radio frequency channel; Information used to indicate a third frequency domain unit, where the third frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same radio frequency channel; Information used to indicate a fourth frequency domain unit, where the fourth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use an independent radio frequency channel; Information used to indicate a fifth frequency domain unit, where the fifth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to be switched simultaneously; Information used to indicate a sixth frequency domain unit, where the sixth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to perform a switching operation independently.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The antenna related information includes at least one of the following: Information indicating the number of beams that need to be used independently at the same time; information indicating radiation characteristics of each beam in a set of beams; Information used to indicate the seventh frequency domain unit, wherein the seventh frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same antenna unit. Yuan; Information used to indicate an eighth frequency domain unit, where the eighth frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit that needs to use the same beam or mutually related beams at the same time.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein: The association between the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link and the N frequency domain units of the first communication link is reported by the relay node to the network side device, or indicated by the network side device to the relay node, or pre-determined by a protocol.

25. A communication link beam indication determination device, applied to a relay node, the device comprising: A first determination module, configured to determine beam indications or on / off indications of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; The first execution module is used to perform the beam operation of the N frequency domain units according to the beam indications or on / off indications of the N frequency domain units.

26. A communication link beam indication device, applied to a network side device, the device comprising: A sending module, used for sending the first information or the second information to the relay node; The first information is used to apply the beam indication or on / off indication of the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link to N frequency domain units of the first communication link, the first communication link is a backhaul link, the second communication link is a control link, and the first frequency domain unit of the second communication link is associated with the N frequency domain units of the first communication link; or, The second information is used to indicate beam indication or on / off indication of N frequency domain units of a first communication link, where the first communication link includes a backhaul link or an access link; N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

27. A communication device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, it implements the steps of the communication link beam indication determination method as described in any one of claims 1 to 16, or implements the steps of the communication link beam indication method as described in any one of claims 17 to 24.

28. A readable storage medium storing a program or instruction, wherein the program or instruction, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the communication link beam indication determination method as described in any one of claims 1 to 16, or implements the steps of the communication link beam indication method as described in any one of claims 17 to 24.

Citation Information

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