Communication method and device

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a related device, which are used for reducing the overhead in a channel measurement process, further improving the resource utilization rate and reducing the power consumption of a terminal device. In the method, a terminal device receives a first reference signal, the first reference signal corresponding to a first port set and a second port set, and each port set comprising one or more ports; and the terminal device sends first channel information and second channel information, the first channel information being determined on the basis of the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information being determined on the basis of the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on September 18, 2023, with application number 202311205664.7 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of wireless technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0003] Multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology, a key wireless communication technology, can be used to meet high-speed transmission requirements. Through channel measurement (or channel estimation), network devices use the channel information obtained during the measurement process to calculate precoding information between the network device and the terminal device. This precoding information then enables MIMO communication between the network device and the terminal device.

[0004] Taking the downlink channel measurement process implemented by a network device based on a downlink reference signal as an example, the downlink reference signal sent by the network device may include a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). The network device may receive feedback of the CSI-RS, enabling the network device to obtain channel information based on the feedback of the CSI-RS. The CSI-RS is sent through a port of the network device, meaning that the CSI-RS overhead is related to the number of ports of the network device.

[0005] However, in MIMO systems, as frequency bands increase and the demand for high-speed communications increases, the number of ports on network devices may gradually increase, which will increase the overhead of reference signals (such as CSI-RS) used for channel measurement and occupy more transmission resources, thereby increasing the power consumption of terminal devices.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a communication method and related equipment for reducing the overhead in the channel measurement process, thereby improving resource utilization and reducing the power consumption of terminal equipment.

[0008] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is executed by a terminal device (or terminal), or the method is executed by some components in the terminal device (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or the method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the terminal device. In the first aspect and its possible implementation, the communication method is described as being executed by a terminal device. In this method, the terminal device receives a first reference signal, and the first reference signal corresponds to a first port set and a second port set, each port set including one or more ports; the terminal device sends first channel information and second channel information; the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0009] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can send first channel information and second channel information, wherein the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. After receiving the first channel information and the second channel information, the subsequent network device can obtain the precoding information corresponding to the first port set and the second port set based on the first channel information and the second channel information. Thus, the terminal device can enable the network device to obtain higher-dimensional precoding information through the correlation of channel information of different port sets by sending lower-dimensional channel information (i.e., the first channel information and the second channel information), and reduce the overhead in the channel measurement process, thereby improving resource utilization and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0010] It should be noted that the first reference signal corresponds to the first port set and the second port set. This means that, among the multiple ports of the network device that transmit the first reference signal, some ports are located in (or included in, or belong to) the first port set, and another portion of the ports are located in (or included in, or belong to) the second port set. In other words, the multiple ports of the network device that transmit the first reference signal may include ports in the first port set and ports in the second port set.

[0011] Optionally, among the multiple ports through which the network device transmits the first reference signal, other ports may not be included except for the ports in the first port set and the ports in the second port set. Alternatively, among the multiple ports through which the network device transmits the first reference signal, other ports may be included except for the ports in the first port set and the ports in the second port set, and the other ports may be included in another port set, such as a third port set.

[0012] In the present application, the reference signal received by the terminal device from the network device may be a downlink reference signal, for example, the downlink reference signal may include CSI-RS, synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SS / PBCH block or SSB), etc. Exemplarily, taking the first reference signal received by the terminal device as CSI-RS as an example, the port corresponding to the first reference signal (for example, a port in the first port set, a port in the second port set, and a port in a possible third port set, etc.) may be a CSI-RS port, and accordingly, the channel information of the CSI-RS port (for example, the second channel information) may be a channel state information (CSI) report, for example, a CSI report may include but is not limited to a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), and a layer indicator (LI), etc.

[0013] Optionally, the first reference signal may correspond to one or more discrete Fourier transform (DFT) beam sets (or inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) beam sets). In other words, the above-mentioned "port set" can be replaced with "DFT beam set (or IDFT beam set)", that is, the first reference signal corresponds to a first DFT beam set and a second DFT beam set, each DFT beam set including one or more DFT beams (or, the first reference signal corresponds to a first IDFT beam set and a second IDFT beam set, each IDFT beam set including one or more IDFT beams). In addition, "DFT beam" can be replaced with other descriptions, such as DFT vector, DFT basis, IDFT vector, IDFT basis, etc. For example, first channel information (port level) is obtained based on the first reference signal measurement, and then DFT processing is performed in the port dimension, that is, converted into beam-level channel information. The corresponding channel information of the first DFT beam set and the channel information of the second DFT beam set can be at least one of the corresponding CSI report, rank indication, channel quality indication, layer indication, precoding indication, etc.

[0014] The following description is mainly based on port sets, and a similar approach can be extended to beam sets.

[0015] Optionally, in a beam communication-based scenario, the network device may send multiple analog beams. Taking a network device including a transceiver with a hybrid beamforming (HBF) architecture as an example, the network device can select the directions of multiple analog beams and send down reference signals for channel measurement through different analog beams. For the terminal device, the process of selecting an analog beam by the network device is called beam training or beam scanning. Among them, in each of the multiple analog beams, each analog beam can send a reference signal. That is, the network device can send a first reference signal through each of the multiple analog beams, so that the channel measurement processes corresponding to the reference signals sent by the multiple analog beams can all obtain a gain in reducing overhead.

[0016] It should be understood that the terminal device can determine the channel information corresponding to the first port set and the channel information corresponding to the second port set based on the first reference signal corresponding to the first port set and the second port set. Thereafter, the terminal device can send the first channel information and the second channel information based on the channel information corresponding to the first port set and the channel information corresponding to the second port set.

[0017] Optionally, the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. It can be understood that the second channel information includes the channel information of the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal (for example, the second channel information includes PMI), or the second channel information is used to indicate the channel information of the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal (for example, the second channel information is used to indicate PMI).

[0018] Optionally, the first channel information is determined based on a first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and a second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. It can be understood that the first channel information corresponds to a combining coefficient matrix (or combining coefficient vector or combining coefficient, or weighting coefficient, or coefficient) between the channel information of the first port set and the channel information of the second port set. Here, "corresponding to" can be replaced by other terms, such as including, indicating, etc.

[0019] Further optionally, when the port corresponding to the first reference signal also includes a port in a third port set, the terminal device may also send a combining coefficient matrix (or combining coefficient vector or combining coefficient, or weighting coefficient, or coefficient) between the channel information of the third port set and the channel information of the first port set (or the second port set).

[0020] Optionally, in the process of the terminal device sending the first channel information and the second channel information, the terminal device may send the first channel information and the second channel information themselves, or may send the first indication information and the second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the first channel information, and the second indication information is used to indicate the second channel information.

[0021] Optionally, the first channel information and the second channel information may be carried in the same or different messages / signalings / information.

[0022] Optionally, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried in the same or different messages / signalings / information.

[0023] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, before the terminal device sends the first channel information and the second channel information, the method also includes: the terminal device sends a second reference signal, the second reference signal is used to determine the third channel information and / or the first port set, and the third channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal.

[0024] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device may further transmit a second reference signal. After the network device subsequently receives the second reference signal through one or more port sets (including at least the first port set), the network device may determine the third channel information and / or the first port set based on the second reference signal. Thus, the network device may obtain the channel information corresponding to the first port set based on the second reference signal.

[0025] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set.

[0026] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can also receive indication information for indicating the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the terminal device can clearly identify the port set corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information based on the indication of the network device, and thus the terminal device and the network device can reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information.

[0027] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, before the terminal device sends the first channel information and the second channel information, the method also includes: the terminal device receives a third reference signal, the third reference signal is used to determine fourth channel information and / or the first port set, the fourth channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal; the terminal device sends the fourth channel information and / or indication information indicating the first port set.

[0028] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can also receive a third reference signal corresponding to the first port set, and the terminal device can determine and send fourth channel information and / or the first port set based on the third reference signal, so that the network device can obtain the channel information corresponding to the first port set. In addition, the network device can clarify the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information based on the information sent by the terminal device, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information.

[0029] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device sending fifth channel information, where the fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0030] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device may further transmit fifth channel information determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal, so that the network device can obtain the channel information corresponding to the first port set. Furthermore, the network device can clarify the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information based on the fifth channel information, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device sending the index of the first port set and / or the index of the second port set.

[0032] Based on the above technical solution, the first channel information sent by the terminal device is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information sent by the terminal device is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. Accordingly, the way in which the terminal device sends the index of the first port set and / or the index of the second port set can enable the network device to clearly understand the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information.

[0033] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device sending capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate support for sending the first channel information.

[0034] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can also send capability information indicating support for sending the first channel information, so that the network device can schedule the terminal device to feedback lower-dimensional channel information based on the capability information, so that the network device can obtain higher-dimensional precoding information, thereby reducing the overhead during the channel measurement process.

[0035] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first channel information and the second channel information are used to determine precoding information, and the precoding information satisfies:

[0036] or

[0037] Where W represents precoding information, α represents the first channel information, represents the Kronecker product, W0 represents the precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set, and W1 represents the precoding information corresponding to the second channel information.

[0038] Optionally, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set, where the channel information determined according to the first port set may include at least one of the following:

[0039] third channel information, where the third channel information is determined based on a first port set corresponding to a second reference signal sent by the terminal device (or received by the network device);

[0040] Fourth channel information, where the fourth channel information is determined based on a first port set corresponding to a third reference signal received by the terminal device (or sent by the network device);

[0041] The fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0042] Optionally, α satisfies:

[0043] α=[α0,α1] T ;

[0044] Where α0 represents the coefficient of the first port set, α1 represents the coefficient of the second port set, [α0,α1] T represents the transpose of the matrix [α0,α1]. Accordingly, the precoding information W satisfies:

[0045] Based on the above technical solution, the first channel information and the second channel information sent by the terminal device can be used to determine the precoding information, and the precoding information can satisfy the above relationship to provide a specific implementation method for the network device to determine the precoding information.

[0046] Optionally, W0 and W1 respectively represent precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the same data stream, and precoding information corresponding to the second channel information.

[0047] Optionally, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the first data stream, and W1 represents precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the second data stream.

[0048] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving indication information for indicating the first data stream and the second data stream.

[0049] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can also receive indication information for indicating the first data stream and the second data stream, so that the terminal device can correctly receive and demodulate the first data stream and the second data stream based on the indication information. In addition, by pairing different port sets in different data streams, better system performance can be achieved. For example, the stronger stream of the first port set and the weaker stream of the second port set are jointly transmitted as the first data stream; the weaker stream of the first port set and the stronger stream of the second port set are jointly transmitted as the second data stream; thereby, both data streams are transmitted relatively well, ultimately improving overall performance.

[0050] The second aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is performed by a network device, or the method is performed by some components in the network device (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or the method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the network device functions. In the second aspect and its possible implementation, the communication method is described as being performed by a network device. In this method, the network device sends a first reference signal, and the first reference signal corresponds to a first port set and a second port set, each port set including one or more ports; the network device receives first channel information and second channel information; the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0051] Based on the above technical solution, after the network device sends the first reference signal, the network device can receive the first channel information and the second channel information, wherein the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. In other words, after receiving the first channel information and the second channel information, the network device can obtain the precoding information corresponding to the first port set and the second port set based on the first channel information and the second channel information. Thus, the terminal device can obtain higher-dimensional precoding information by sending lower-dimensional channel information (i.e., the first channel information and the second channel information), and reduce the overhead in the channel measurement process, thereby improving resource utilization and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0052] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, before the network device receives the first channel information and the second channel information, the method further includes: the network device receives a second reference signal, the second reference signal being used to determine third channel information and / or the first port set, the third channel information being determined based on the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal.

[0053] Based on the above technical solution, the network device may further receive a second reference signal corresponding to the first port set through one or more port sets (including at least the first port set). The network device may then determine third channel information and / or the first port set based on the second reference signal. Thus, the network device may obtain channel information corresponding to the first port set based on the second reference signal.

[0054] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set.

[0055] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can also send indication information for indicating the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the terminal device can clearly identify the port set corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information based on the indication of the network device, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information.

[0056] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, before the network device receives the first channel information and the second channel information, the method further includes: the network device sends a third reference signal, where the third reference signal is used to determine fourth channel information and / or the first port set, where the fourth channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal; and the network device receives the fourth channel information and / or the first port set.

[0057] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can also send a third reference signal corresponding to the first port set, and the network device can receive fourth channel information and / or the first port set determined based on the third reference signal, so that the network device can obtain the channel information corresponding to the first port set. In addition, the network device can clarify the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information based on the information sent by the terminal device, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information.

[0058] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending fifth channel information, where the fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0059] Based on the above technical solution, the network device may also receive fifth channel information determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal, so that the network device can obtain the channel information corresponding to the first port set. Furthermore, the network device can clarify the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information based on the fifth channel information, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information.

[0060] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device receiving an index of the first port set and / or an index of the second port set.

[0061] Based on the above technical solution, the first channel information received by the network device is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information sent by the terminal device is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. Accordingly, the way in which the terminal device sends the index of the first port set and / or the index of the second port set can enable the network device to clearly understand the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information.

[0062] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device receiving capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate support for sending the first channel information.

[0063] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can also receive capability information indicating support for sending the first channel information, so that the network device can schedule the terminal device to feedback lower-dimensional channel information based on the capability information, so that the network device can obtain higher-dimensional precoding information through the correlation of channel information of different port sets, thereby reducing the overhead in the channel measurement process.

[0064] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first channel information and the second channel information are used to determine precoding information, and the precoding information satisfies:

[0065] or

[0066] Where W represents precoding information, α represents the first channel information, represents the Kronecker product, W0 represents the precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set, and W1 represents the precoding information corresponding to the second channel information.

[0067] Optionally, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set, where the channel information determined according to the first port set may include at least one of the following:

[0068] third channel information, where the third channel information is determined based on a first port set corresponding to a second reference signal sent by the terminal device (or received by the network device);

[0069] Fourth channel information, where the fourth channel information is determined based on a first port set corresponding to a third reference signal received by the terminal device (or sent by the network device);

[0070] The fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0071] Optionally, α satisfies:

[0072] α=[α0,α1] T ;

[0073] Where α0 represents the coefficient of the first port set, α1 represents the coefficient of the second port set, [α0,α1] T represents the transpose of the matrix [α0,α1]. Accordingly, the precoding information W satisfies:

[0074] Based on the above technical solution, the first channel information and the second channel information received by the network device can be used to determine precoding information, and the precoding information can satisfy the above relationship to provide a specific implementation method for the network device to determine the precoding information.

[0075] Optionally, W1 and W2 respectively represent precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the same data stream, and precoding information corresponding to the second channel information, so that the precoding information can adapt to the single-stream transmission scenario.

[0076] Optionally, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the first data stream, and W1 represents precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the second data stream, so that the precoding information can adapt to the multi-stream transmission scenario.

[0077] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending indication information for indicating the first data flow and the second data flow.

[0078] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can also send indication information for indicating the first data stream and the second data stream, so that the terminal device can correctly receive and demodulate the first data stream and the second data stream based on the indication information. In addition, by pairing different port sets in different data streams, better system performance can be achieved. For example, the stronger stream of the first port set and the weaker stream of the second port set are jointly transmitted as the first data stream; the weaker stream of the first port set and the stronger stream of the second port set are jointly transmitted as the second data stream; thereby, both data streams are transmitted relatively well, ultimately improving overall performance.

[0079] The third aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which can implement the method in the first aspect and any implementation thereof. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above-mentioned method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented by software and / or hardware. For example, the device can be a terminal device, or the device can be a component in the terminal device (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. Among them, the device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit, the transceiver unit is used to receive a first reference signal, the first reference signal corresponds to a first port set and a second port set, each port set includes one or more ports; the processing unit is used to determine first channel information and second channel information; the transceiver unit is also used to send first channel information and second channel information; the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0080] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to send a second reference signal, where the second reference signal is used to determine third channel information and / or the first port set, where the third channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal.

[0081] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set.

[0082] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to receive a third reference signal, where the third reference signal is used to determine fourth channel information and / or the first port set, where the fourth channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal; the transceiver unit is further used to send the fourth channel information and / or indication information indicating the first port set.

[0083] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send fifth channel information, where the fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0084] In a possible implementation of the third aspect, the first channel information corresponds to a combining coefficient matrix or combining coefficient vector or combining coefficient (or weighting coefficient, or coefficient) between the channel information of the first port set and the channel information of the second port set.

[0085] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send an index of the first port set and / or an index of the second port set.

[0086] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate support for sending the first channel information.

[0087] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the first channel information and the second channel information are used to determine precoding information, and the precoding information satisfies:

[0088] or

[0089] Where W represents precoding information, α represents the first channel information, represents the Kronecker product, W0 represents the precoding information corresponding to the channel information (eg, one or more of the third channel information, the fourth channel information, and the fifth channel information) determined according to the first port set, and W1 represents the precoding information corresponding to the second channel information.

[0090] Optionally, α satisfies:

[0091] α=[α0,α1] T ;

[0092] Where α0 represents the coefficient of the first port set, α1 represents the coefficient of the second port set, [α0,α1] T Represents the transpose of the matrix [α0,α1].

[0093] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, W0 and W1 respectively represent precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the same data stream, and precoding information corresponding to the second channel information.

[0094] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the first data stream, and W1 represents precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the second data stream.

[0095] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive indication information indicating the first data stream and the second data stream.

[0096] In the third aspect of the present application, the constituent modules of the communication device can also be used to execute the steps performed in each possible implementation method of the first aspect and achieve corresponding technical effects. For details, please refer to the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0097] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which can implement the method in the second aspect and any implementation thereof. The device includes corresponding units or modules for executing the above-mentioned method. The units or modules included in the device can be implemented by software and / or hardware. For example, the device can be a network device, or the device can be a component in the network device (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. Among them, the device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit, the processing unit is used to determine a first reference signal, the transceiver unit is used to send the first reference signal, the first reference signal corresponds to a first port set and a second port set, each port set includes one or more ports; the transceiver unit is also used to receive first channel information and second channel information; the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0098] In a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to receive a second reference signal, where the second reference signal is used to determine third channel information and / or the first port set, where the third channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal.

[0099] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set.

[0100] In a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to send a third reference signal, where the third reference signal is used to determine fourth channel information and / or the first port set, where the fourth channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal; and the network device receives the fourth channel information and / or the first port set.

[0101] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send fifth channel information, where the fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0102] In a possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the first channel information corresponds to a merging coefficient matrix or a merging coefficient vector or a merging coefficient (or a weighting coefficient, or a coefficient) between the channel information of the first port set and the channel information of the second port set.

[0103] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive an index of the first port set and / or an index of the second port set.

[0104] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate support for sending the first channel information.

[0105] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first channel information and the second channel information are used to determine precoding information, and the precoding information satisfies:

[0106] or

[0107] Where W represents precoding information, α represents the first channel information, represents the Kronecker product, W0 represents the precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set, and W1 represents the second channel information.

[0108] Optionally, α satisfies:

[0109] α=[α0,α1] T ;

[0110] Where α0 represents the coefficient of the first port set, α1 represents the coefficient of the second port set, [α0,α1] T Represents the transpose of the matrix [α0,α1].

[0111] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, W0 and W1 respectively represent precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the same data stream, and precoding information corresponding to the second channel information.

[0112] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the first data stream, and W1 represents precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the second data stream.

[0113] In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send indication information indicating the first data stream and the second data stream.

[0114] In the fourth aspect of the present application, the constituent modules of the communication device can also be used to execute the steps performed in each possible implementation method of the second aspect and achieve corresponding technical effects. For details, please refer to the second aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0115] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory; the processor is configured to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. For example, the memory is configured to store a program or instruction; the at least one processor is configured to execute the program or instruction to cause the device to implement the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0116] A sixth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one processor coupled to a memory; the processor is configured to execute the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. For example, the memory is configured to store a program or instruction; the at least one processor is configured to execute the program or instruction to cause the device to implement the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0117] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one logic circuit and an input / output interface; the logic circuit is used to execute the method described in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0118] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one logic circuit and an input / output interface; the logic circuit is used to execute the method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0119] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing one or more computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method described in any possible implementation of any of the first to second aspects above.

[0120] The tenth aspect of the present application provides a computer program product (or computer program). When the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes any possible implementation method of any aspect of the first to second aspects above.

[0121] In the eleventh aspect of the present application, a chip system is provided, which includes at least one processor for supporting a communication device to implement the functions involved in any possible implementation method of any aspect of the first to second aspects mentioned above.

[0122] In one possible design, the chip system may further include a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. The chip system may be composed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete components. Optionally, the chip system may further include an interface circuit for providing program instructions and / or data to the at least one processor.

[0123] The twelfth aspect of the present application provides a communication system, which includes the communication device of the third aspect and the call device of the fourth aspect, or the communication system includes the communication device of the fifth aspect and the communication device of the sixth aspect, or the communication system includes the communication device of the seventh aspect and the communication device of the eighth aspect.

[0124] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any design method from the third aspect to the twelfth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned first aspect to the second aspect and their different design methods, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0125] FIG1a is a schematic diagram of a signal transmission method involved in this application;

[0126] FIG1b is another schematic diagram of the signal transmission method involved in this application;

[0127] FIG1c is another schematic diagram of the signal transmission method involved in this application;

[0128] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system involved in this application;

[0129] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a reference signal transmission and reception process involved in this application;

[0130] FIG4 is another schematic diagram of the reference signal transmission and reception process involved in this application;

[0131] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0132] FIG6a is another schematic diagram of the communication method provided by the present application;

[0133] FIG6 b is another schematic diagram of the communication method provided by the present application;

[0134] FIG6c is another schematic diagram of the communication method provided by the present application;

[0135] FIG7a is a schematic diagram of an application example of the communication method provided in this application;

[0136] FIG7 b is another schematic diagram of an application example of the communication method provided in this application;

[0137] FIG8 is another schematic diagram of the reference signal transmission and reception process involved in this application;

[0138] FIG9 is another schematic diagram of the communication method provided by the present application;

[0139] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

[0140] FIG11 is another schematic diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

[0141] FIG12 is another schematic diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

[0142] FIG13 is another schematic diagram of the communication device provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0143] First, some of the terms used in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0144] (1) Configuration and pre-configuration: In this application, configuration and pre-configuration will be used at the same time. Configuration refers to the network equipment such as base stations or servers sending some parameter configuration information or parameter values ​​to the terminal through messages or signaling, so that the terminal can determine the communication parameters or resources during transmission based on these values ​​or information. Pre-configuration is similar to configuration. It can be a way for network equipment such as base stations or servers to send parameter information or values ​​to the terminal through a communication link or carrier; it can also be a way to give the definition of corresponding parameters or parameter values ​​in the standard, or by setting the relevant parameters or values ​​in the terminal device in advance. This application does not limit this. Furthermore, these values ​​and parameters can be changed or updated.

[0145] (2) In this application, “used for indication” can include direct indication and indirect indication. When describing that a certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A.

[0146] In this application, the information indicated by the indication information is referred to as the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, it can be implemented by direct indication, such as by indicating the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. It can also be implemented by indirectly indicating other information, wherein there is an association between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of specific information can also be achieved with the help of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, stipulated in the protocol), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent.

[0147] The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole, or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in this application. Among them, the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be pre-defined, for example, pre-defined according to the protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device. Among them, the configuration information can, for example, but not limited to, include one or a combination of at least two of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, media access control (MAC) layer signaling and physical layer signaling. Among them, MAC layer signaling, for example, includes MAC control element (CE); physical layer signaling, for example, includes downlink control information (DCI).

[0148] (3) Reference signal (RS), also known as pilot signal. In a communication system, it is necessary to estimate the uplink channel or downlink channel in order to send and receive data, obtain system synchronization, and feedback channel information. Channel estimation refers to the process of reconstructing or recovering the received signal in order to compensate for the signal distortion caused by channel fading and noise fading. It uses the reference signal known in advance by the transmitter and receiver to track the time domain and frequency domain changes of the channel. The above-mentioned reference signals are also called reference signals. They are distributed on different resource elements (REs) in the two-dimensional time-frequency space within the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol and have known amplitude and phase.

[0149] At the physical layer, uplink communications may include the transmission of uplink physical channels and uplink signals. Uplink physical channels include the random access channel (PRACH), the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). Uplink signals include the channel sounding signal (SRS), the uplink control channel demodulation reference signal (PUCCH-DMRS), the uplink data channel demodulation reference signal (PUSCH-DMRS), the uplink phase noise tracking reference signal (PTRS), and the uplink positioning signal (uplink positioning RS).

[0150] At the physical layer, downlink communication may include the transmission of downlink physical channels and downlink signals. Among them, downlink physical channels include physical broadcast channel (PBCH), downlink control channel (PDCCH), downlink data channel (PDSCH), etc. Downlink signals include primary synchronization signal (PSS) / secondary synchronization signal (SSS), downlink control channel demodulation reference signal PDCCH-DMRS, downlink data channel demodulation reference signal PDSCH-DMRS, phase noise tracking signal PTRS, channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), cell signal (CRS) (NR does not have), fine synchronization signal (time / frequency tracking reference signal, TRS) (LTE does not have), LTE / NR positioning signal (positioning RS), etc.

[0151] (4) The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects.

[0152] (5) “Sending” and “receiving” in the embodiments of the present application indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, “sending information to device X” can be understood as the destination of the information being device X, which can include direct sending through the air interface, as well as indirect sending through the air interface by other units or modules. “Receiving information from device Y” can be understood as the source of the information being device Y, which can include direct receiving from device Y through the air interface, as well as indirect receiving from device Y through the air interface from other units or modules. “Sending” can also be understood as the “output” of the chip interface, and “receiving” can also be understood as the “input” of the chip interface.

[0153] For example, let's take the communication process between entity A and entity B as an example. In this application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be A sending it directly to B, or A sending it to B indirectly through another entity. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be entity B receiving the information sent by entity A directly, or entity B receiving the information sent by entity A indirectly through another entity. Entities A and B here can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules within a RAN node or terminal. The sending and receiving of information can be information exchange between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, information exchange between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be information exchange between two RAN nodes, for example, information exchange between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be information exchange between different modules within a device, for example, information exchange between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or information exchange between a base station chip and other modules in the base station.

[0154] (6) Precoding technology: When the channel state is known, the transmitter can process the signal to be transmitted with the help of a precoding matrix that matches the channel and then transmit it, so that the precoded signal is adapted to the channel. Therefore, compared with the process of the receiver receiving the non-precoded signal and eliminating the influence between channels, the complexity of the process of the receiver receiving the precoded signal and eliminating the influence between channels is reduced. Therefore, by precoding the signal to be transmitted, the quality of the received signal (such as signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR)) can be improved. The use of precoding technology can also realize the transmission of the transmitter and multiple receivers on the same time-frequency resources, that is, multiple user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) is realized.

[0155] Optionally, the sending end may be a network device, and the receiving end may be a terminal device; or, the sending end may be a terminal device, and the receiving end may be a terminal device.

[0156] In one implementation, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology is used to increase system capacity and improve throughput. The mathematical expression is y = Hx + n, where y is the received signal, H is the channel information of the MIMO channel, x is the transmitted signal, and n is the noise. In a communication system with multiple antennas, the signals from multiple transmitting antennas are superimposed on any receiving antenna. Therefore, the method used by the transmitter to transmit signals affects system performance, and recovering the transmitted signal at the receiver is often complex. In this context, precoding is used to reduce system overhead and maximize MIMO system capacity, while also reducing the complexity of the receiver's implementation of eliminating inter-channel interference. In this case, the mathematical expression is y = HPx + n, where P is the precoding matrix (or vector). To simplify implementation complexity, P can be selected from a predefined set of matrices (or vectors), which is called a codebook. This method is also known as a codebook-based transmission method. If the transmitter can obtain all the information of H, then P can be obtained by the transmitter itself. This method is also called a non-codebook transmission method (NCB).

[0157] It should be understood that the description of the relevant precoding technology is merely an example for ease of understanding and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application. During the specific implementation process, the transmitting end may also perform precoding in other ways. For example, when channel information (such as, but not limited to, the channel matrix) is not available, a pre-set precoding matrix or weighted processing method may be used for precoding. For the sake of brevity, the specific details are not repeated here.

[0158] (7) Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI): can be used to indicate the precoding matrix. The precoding matrix can be, for example, a precoding matrix determined by the terminal device based on the channel matrix of a frequency domain unit. The channel matrix can be determined by the terminal device through channel estimation or based on channel reciprocity. However, it should be understood that the specific method for the terminal device to determine the precoding matrix is ​​not limited to the above. The specific implementation method can refer to the existing technology. For the sake of brevity, it is not listed here one by one.

[0159] For example, the precoding matrix can be obtained by performing singular value decomposition (SVD) on the channel matrix or the covariance matrix of the channel matrix, or by performing eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) on the covariance matrix of the channel matrix. It should be understood that the above-mentioned methods for determining the precoding matrix are merely examples and should not constitute any limitation to this application.

[0160] It should be noted that, according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the CSI RS port, frequency domain DFT vector, and the merging coefficient of the space-frequency vector used to construct the precoding vector based on the feedback of the terminal device, and then determine the precoding matrix corresponding to each frequency domain unit. The precoding matrix can be used directly for downlink data transmission; or it can be subjected to some beamforming methods, such as zero forcing (ZF), regularized zero-forcing (RZF), minimum mean-squared error (MMSE), maximization of signal-to-leakage-and-noise (SLNR), etc., to obtain the precoding matrix ultimately used for downlink data transmission. This application is not limited to this. Unless otherwise specified, the precoding matrix involved below may refer to the precoding matrix determined based on the method provided in this application.

[0161] It is understood that the precoding matrix determined by the terminal device can be understood as the precoding matrix to be fed back. The terminal device can indicate the precoding matrix to be fed back through the PMI, so that the network device can recover the precoding matrix based on the PMI. It is understood that the precoding matrix recovered by the network device based on the PMI can be the same as or similar to the precoding matrix to be fed back.

[0162] In downlink channel measurement, the higher the approximation between the precoding matrix determined by the network device based on the PMI and the precoding matrix determined by the terminal device, the more the precoding matrix determined by the network device for data transmission can be adapted to the channel state, thereby improving the signal reception quality.

[0163] (8) Antenna port: This can be referred to as a port. It can be understood as a transmitting antenna identified by the receiving end, or a transmitting antenna that can be distinguished in space. An antenna port can be pre-configured for each virtual antenna. Each virtual antenna can be a weighted combination of multiple physical antennas. Each antenna port can correspond to a reference signal. Therefore, each antenna port can be called a reference signal port, such as a CSI-RS port, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), an SRS port, etc.

[0164] The term "antenna port" is a logical concept and generally does not directly correspond to a physical antenna. An antenna port is typically associated with a reference signal and can be understood as a transceiver interface on the channel through which the reference signal travels. For low-frequency systems, an antenna port may correspond to one or more antenna elements, which jointly transmit reference signals. The receiver can treat them as a whole without distinguishing between the elements. For high-frequency systems, an antenna port may correspond to a beam. Similarly, the receiver only needs to treat the beam as an interface, without distinguishing between individual elements.

[0165] In addition, a port group can refer to a collection corresponding to multiple antenna ports. One way is to group multiple digital ports of a network device to form multiple port groups. In another way (especially in a hybrid digital-analog beam architecture), a port group can be multiple digital ports corresponding to the same analog beam, also referred to as a port group, or a digital-analog port group. Alternatively, a port group can be a collection of digital ports corresponding to multiple analog beams, also referred to as a port group, or a digital-analog port group. Alternatively, multiple digital ports of the same analog beam are divided into multiple subsets, each subset is called a port group, or a digital-analog port group.

[0166] (9) Channel State Information (CSI) Report: In a wireless communication system, information used to describe the channel properties of a communication link reported by a receiving end (such as a terminal device) to a transmitting end (such as a network device). The CSI report may include, but is not limited to, precoding matrix indication (PMI), rank indication (RI), channel quality indication (CQI), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), CSI-RS resource indicator (CSI-RS resource indicator, CRI) and layer indicator (LI), etc. It should be understood that the specific contents of the CSI listed above are only exemplary and should not constitute any limitation to this application. CSI may include one or more of the items listed above, and may also include other information used to characterize CSI in addition to the items listed above, and this application does not limit this.

[0167] (10) Beam. Beams and beam pair links (BPLs) are introduced into communication systems. A beam is a communication resource. Beams can be divided into transmit beams and receive beams. Beam formation can be achieved through beamforming or other techniques. Beamforming includes transmit beamforming and receive beamforming.

[0168] A beam is a communication resource. A beam can be wide, narrow, or other types of beams. The beamforming technology can be beamforming or other techniques. Beamforming technologies can specifically include digital beamforming, analog beamforming, and hybrid digital / analog beamforming. Different beams can be considered different resources. Different beams can transmit the same or different information. Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be considered a single beam. A beam can include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and sounding signals. For example, a transmit beam can refer to the signal strength distribution in different spatial directions after a signal is transmitted by an antenna, while a receive beam can refer to the signal strength distribution in different spatial directions of a wireless signal received by an antenna. It is understood that the one or more antenna ports that form a beam can also be considered an antenna port set. Beams can also be reflected in the protocol as spatial filters.

[0169] Transmit beam: The transmitting device transmits signals with certain beamforming weights, forming a spatially directional beam. In the uplink direction, the transmitting device can be a terminal; in the downlink direction, the transmitting device can be a network device.

[0170] Receive beam: The receiving device receives signals using certain beamforming weights, forming a spatially directional beam. In the uplink direction, the receiving device can be a network device; in the downlink direction, the receiving device can be a terminal.

[0171] Transmit beamforming: When a transmitting device with an antenna array transmits a signal, it sets a specific amplitude and phase on each antenna element in the array. This gives the transmitted signal a certain spatial directionality, meaning that the signal power is high in some directions and low in others. The direction with the highest signal power defines the direction of the transmit beam. The antenna array consists of multiple antenna elements, and the specific amplitude and phase values ​​assigned to them are the beamforming weights.

[0172] Receive beamforming: When a receiving device with an antenna array receives a signal, it sets a specific amplitude and phase on each antenna element in the array. This ensures that the power gain of the received signal is directional. Specifically, the power gain is high when receiving signals from certain directions, and low when receiving signals from other directions. The direction with the highest power gain is the direction of the receive beam. The antenna array consists of multiple antenna elements, and the specific amplitude and phase values ​​assigned to them are the beamforming weights.

[0173] Optionally, using a certain transmit beam to send a signal can be understood as using a certain beamforming weight to send a signal.

[0174] Optionally, using a receive beam to receive a signal may be understood as using a certain beamforming weight to receive a signal.

[0175] Generally speaking, different beams can be considered different resources. Using (or through) different beams can transmit the same information or different information. Beam pairs are based on the concept of beams. A beam pair typically consists of a transmit beam from a transmitting device and a receive beam from a receiving device.

[0176] The following will take the network device as an example of a base station, and combine the implementation content shown in Figures 1a to 1c to illustrate the implementation process of the beam. Generally speaking, in higher frequency band communication systems, base stations (and terminals in some frequency bands) usually use large-scale array antennas (for example, from 500 to more than 1000 antenna units) to counteract the path loss caused by the increase in frequency band through higher array gain, thereby improving coverage capabilities. From the perspective of base station implementation, even if it is a large array, the array weighting method (i.e., beamforming method) used in different frequency bands and different array sizes is different. According to the implementation scheme of beamforming, it can be roughly divided into the following three categories.

[0177] One implementation is digital beamforming (DBF), whose basic structure is shown in Figure 1a. Each antenna element or group of antenna elements is directly connected to a digital channel. This structure is typical of low-frequency massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Because each antenna signal is directly converted to the digital domain, and subsequent array weighting is performed in the digital domain, it is called digital beamforming. The digital domain offers the highest degree of freedom for signal processing and can support very complex signal processing methods. Therefore, for a given array size, the DBF architecture offers the best performance. On the other hand, due to the high power consumption and cost of digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), especially at large bandwidths, DBF generally has the highest cost for a given array size.

[0178] Another implementation is analog beamforming (ABF), whose structure is shown in Figure 1b. Each antenna element or group of antenna elements is connected to an analog phase shifter. Multiple antenna elements are then combined in the analog domain and passed through a digital-to-analog / analog-to-digital converter. Compared to DBF, ABF only requires one digital-to-analog / analog-to-digital converter for the entire array, making its greatest advantage in cost and power consumption. ABF also has significant bottlenecks. The phase shifter settings in the analog domain determine the beam direction after beamforming. Since signals are directly combined electronically in the analog domain, digital signal processing weighting cannot be used like DBF. ABF requires pre-configured phase shifter settings (directing the analog beam toward the target terminal) during transmission and reception. This process requires beam scanning during the link establishment phase, which introduces additional latency. Generally, if the analog beam is obstructed or moved, causing misalignment, the system link quality will rapidly degrade, even to the point of loss. Therefore, ABF's communication reliability is inferior to DBF.

[0179] Another implementation is hybrid beamforming (HBF), whose structure is shown in Figure 1c. It is an intermediate form between ABF and DBF. The figure illustrates a three-channel HBF architecture with two analog phase shifters per channel. HBF has a certain number of digital ports to support digital beamforming, and each digital port drives an ABF subarray. Compared to ABF, for the same array size, each digital channel drives a smaller analog subarray (four in Figure 1c vs. six in Figure 1b), resulting in wider beams, improved reliability, and reduced beam scanning overhead. Generally, the ratio of digital ports to analog phase shifters in HBF varies with frequency and system design requirements. For example, high-frequency bands have a small number of digital ports (4 to 16), with a higher number of analog phase shifters per digital channel (16 to 32), closer to ABF. Low-frequency band systems, on the other hand, have more digital ports (32 to 128) and fewer analog phase shifters per digital channel (e.g., 2 to 10).

[0180] Generally, both HBF and ABF architectures use analog beams. When the beams are aligned with the communication target, signal quality improves. The direction of the analog beam (determined by the beam weight) must be configured before transmission or reception. The process by which the base station selects an analog beam for a particular terminal is called beam training or beam scanning. Beam scanning typically involves the base station sending reference signals using different analog beam weights. The terminal then measures the reference signals and provides feedback to help the base station determine the best beam quality.

[0181] Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 2, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 2, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 2). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 via a wireless connection, and the RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 via a wireless or wired connection. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent and different physical devices, or they may be the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the RAN node. Terminals and RAN nodes may be connected to each other via wired or wireless means.

[0182] RAN100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future radio access system defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). RAN100 may also include two or more of the aforementioned different radio access systems. RAN100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0183] A RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, RAN entity, or access node, facilitates wireless access to a communication system by a terminal. In one application scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. A RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 2), a micro base station, an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 2), a relay node, or a donor node.

[0184] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functions. For example, a RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU implements the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) functions, as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) functions. The DU implements the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer functions, as well as some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement the transmission and reception of radio frequency signals. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0185] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN) system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0186] The communication between the access network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer may include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer. The user plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer.

[0187] For the correspondence between network elements in the ORAN system and their achievable protocol layer functions, please refer to Table 1 below.

[0188] Table 1

[0189] For ease of description, a base station is taken as an example of a RAN node for description below.

[0190] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0191] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0192] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 2 can be configured as a mobile base station. To terminals 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station. However, to base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 2 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 2 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0193] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0194] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0195] In wireless communication systems (such as the one shown in Figure 2), MIMO technology, as a key technology for wireless communication, can be used to meet high-speed transmission requirements. For example, during communication between a network device and a terminal device, the network device uses a reference signal to perform channel measurement to obtain channel state information (CSI). The network device then uses this channel information to calculate precoding information between the network device and the terminal device. This precoding information is then used to implement MIMO communication between the network device and the terminal device.

[0196] In one implementation example, to send data to a terminal device, the network device can perform precoding on the digital port and select appropriate coding and modulation orders. For example, precoding is used to better match the antenna (or beam) to the channel, ensuring better signal quality and reduced interference when the data reaches the terminal. A better modulation order and code rate ensure reliable data transmission while maximizing the channel transmission capacity. The settings for precoding and modulation coding schemes (MCS) are determined based on channel quality and channel response. A common method involves the network device sending a downlink reference signal. The terminal device determines the channel based on the downlink reference signal and then provides feedback on the corresponding channel state information, including precoding information, the number of transmission streams supported by the channel (i.e., RI), and the CQI (which is used to provide feedback on the terminal's recommended MCS based on the current channel quality). This process is called channel state information feedback (CSI feedback). Another method uses an uplink reference signal to measure and obtain uplink channel information, and then further obtains downlink channel information based on channel reciprocity. The following describes the implementation process of downlink and uplink reference signals using the implementation examples shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively.

[0197] As shown in FIG3 , the implementation process of the downlink reference signal includes the following steps.

[0198] S301. A network device sends configuration information to a terminal device, where the configuration information includes channel information reporting (or measurement) configuration information.

[0199] Specifically, the channel information reporting configuration information may be sent by the network device to the terminal device via RRC signaling, and mainly includes two parts: resource configuration information and reporting configuration information.

[0200] Among them, resource configuration information is information related to measurement resources and can be configured through a three-level structure (resource configuration (resourceConfig) - resource set (resourceSet) - resource (resource)). In other words, the network device can configure one or more resource configurations for the terminal device, each resource configuration includes one or more resource sets, and each resource set can include one or more resources. Each resource configuration / resource set / resource includes its own index. Optionally, the channel information reporting configuration information can also include some other parameters, such as the resource period, the signal type corresponding to the resource, etc.

[0201] Furthermore, reporting configuration information refers to information related to measurement result reporting, which is configured in the protocol through ReportConfig. Network devices can configure one or more ReportConfigs for terminal devices. Each ReportConfig includes reporting metrics, reporting time and period, reporting format, and other reporting-related information. Furthermore, a ReportConfig includes a resource configuration index, which indicates the measurement configuration used to generate the reported result.

[0202] Optionally, the channel information reporting configuration information includes codebook configuration information (CodebookConfig), which is used to configure the first type or the second type of codebook. For example, the fields included in the channel information reporting configuration information may be as shown in Table 2.

[0203] Table 2

[0204] In an implementation example, in Release 16 (R16), when based on the DFT codebook, the corresponding codebook parameter combination configuration is as shown in Table 3 below. In Table 3, L is the number of bases selected for each polarization, p is υ The scale is chosen for each IDFT basis, β is the proportion of non-zero elements, and υ is the rank.

[0205] Table 3

[0206] In another implementation example, in R16, when based on the port codebook, the corresponding codebook parameter combination configuration is as shown in Table 4. In Table 4, L is the number of bases p selected for each polarization. υ The scale is chosen for each IDFT basis, β is the proportion of non-zero elements, and υ is the rank.

[0207] Table 4

[0208] S302: The network device sends a downlink reference signal. For example, the network device sends a downlink signal (typically a downlink reference signal) on the resources configured by the resource configuration information, so that the terminal device can measure the downlink signal and determine the quality of each resource (i.e., the quality of the beam corresponding to the resource).

[0209] S303: The terminal device measures the downlink reference signal based on the channel information reporting configuration information. Downlink reference signals mainly include SSB, CSI-RS, tracking reference signal (TRS), etc. The PBCH can carry the master information block (MIB), which is used to configure the cell's main system information.

[0210] S304. The terminal device sends channel information to the network device. For example, the channel information may include a beam measurement report, which includes channel state information (CSI). The channel state information may include one or more of the following: an index of one or more resources, CQI, reference signal received power (RSRP), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), layer indicator (LI), channel state information resource index (CSI-RS Index, CRI) field, synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block resource index (SSBRI), etc.

[0211] Optionally, for the codebook of Release 15 (R15), the PMI matrix of each layer can be equivalent to: W = W1W2, where the dimension of W is P CSI-RS ×N3, the dimension of W1 is P CSI-RS ×2L (or the wideband precoding matrix), the dimension of W2 is 2L×N3 (or the precoding matrix of each subband), where P CSI-RS is the number of CSI-RS ports, and N3 is the number of subbands for PMI feedback (or the number of PMIs).

[0212] Alternatively, the PMI matrix can be equivalently expressed as: The dimension of W is P CSI-RS ×N3, the dimension of W1 is P CSI-RS×2L (or wideband precoding matrix), The dimension is 2L×N3 (corresponding to W2 in Release 15, which is the precoding matrix of each subband). The dimension is 2L×M (or the compressed matrix), The dimension is M×N3 (it is the M rows in the IDFT matrix of dimension N3×N3, that is, the DFT matrix W of dimension N3×N3 f The conjugate of the M column in ), where P CSI-RS is the number of CSI-RS ports, is the number of IDFT basis vectors selected, N3 is the number of subbands for PMI feedback (or the number of PMIs). When finally feedback is given, only the port or DFT codebook information related to W1 needs to be fed back. Related IDFT basis selection information, For more details, please refer to 38.214.

[0213] For example, Table 5 shows the format of some fields in the beam measurement reporting information in the R15 protocol. The CRI field and the SSBRI field are used to indicate the resource index to be reported. You can report only the CRI, the SSBRI, or both. and is the length of the CRI field and the SSBRI field, where Indicates the number of CSI-RS resources in resource set s, Indicates the number of SSB resources in resource set s, RSRP is reported using a differential reporting criterion, that is, the RSRP of the best resource (RSRP field in Table 1) is reported using 7-bit quantization, while other RSRP fields (differential RSRP in Table 1) are reported using 4-bit quantization.

[0214] Table 5

[0215] Optionally, the channel state information may be carried in uplink control information (UCI) and transmitted through a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0216] In addition, after obtaining the channel information in step S304, the network device can determine scheduling information, including one or more of the following: MCS, RB resource allocation, transmit beam, receive beam, and improve the degree of beam matching the channel, thereby facilitating improving communication rate and efficiency.

[0217] As shown in FIG4 , the implementation process of the uplink reference signal includes the following steps.

[0218] S401. A network device sends configuration information to a terminal device. For example, the configuration information may include configuration information of a reference signal, for example, the reference signal may be a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0219] Specifically, the configuration information can be sent by the network device to the terminal device through RRC signaling, and the configuration information mainly includes the resource configuration information of the reference signal. Among them, the resource configuration information of the reference signal is information related to the measurement resource, and is configured in the protocol through a two-level structure (resource set resourceSet-resource resource). The network device can configure one or more resource sets for the terminal device, and each resource set can include one or more resources. Each resource set / resource includes its own index. In addition, it also includes some other parameters, such as the resource period, the signal type corresponding to the resource, etc.

[0220] Exemplarily, the resource configuration information of the reference signal may include the content shown in Table 6.

[0221] Table 6

[0222] S402. The terminal sends one or more uplink reference signals.

[0223] S403: The network device measures the uplink reference signal to obtain channel information, and subsequently performs data scheduling, precoding, etc. based on the channel information.

[0224] The above implementation example can be applied to MIMO systems. Taking the implementation process of the downlink reference signal shown in Figure 3 as an example, the CSI-RS is sent through the port of the network device, that is, the overhead of the CSI-RS is related to the number of ports of the network device. In a MIMO system, as the frequency band increases and the demand for high-speed communication increases, the number of ports of the network device may gradually increase, which will lead to an increase in the overhead of the reference signal (such as CSI-RS) used for channel measurement and occupy more transmission resources, thereby affecting the throughput performance of the network.

[0225] To address the above issues, the present application provides a communication method and related devices for reducing the overhead during channel measurement, thereby improving resource utilization and reducing power consumption of terminal devices. A detailed description will be given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0226] Please refer to FIG5 , which is a schematic diagram of an implementation of the communication method provided in this application. The method includes the following steps.

[0227] It should be noted that, in FIG5 , the method is illustrated by taking the terminal device and the network device as the execution subjects of the interactive schematic as an example, but the present application does not limit the execution subjects of the interactive schematic. For example, the terminal device that executes S501-S502 in FIG5 and the corresponding implementation method can be the terminal device, or it can be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the terminal device to implement the method, or it can be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device functions. The network device that executes S501-S502 in FIG5 and the corresponding implementation method can be the network device, or it can be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the network device to implement the method, or it can be replaced by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions. Similarly, the method shown in FIG6a / FIG6b / FIG6c / FIG9 below can be executed by a terminal device (and / or network device), or it can be executed by a chip, chip system, processor, logic module or software that supports the terminal device (and / or network device) to implement the method.

[0228] Optionally, the network device executing the method shown in Figure 5 / Figure 6a / Figure 6b / Figure 6c / Figure 9 may be an ORAN network element, including but not limited to one or more of O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP, O-DU, and O-RU.

[0229] S501. A network device sends a first reference signal. Correspondingly, a terminal device receives the first reference signal. The first reference signal corresponds to a first port set and a second port set, each port set including one or more ports.

[0230] In the present application, the reference signal (e.g., the first reference signal, the third reference signal mentioned later, etc.) received by the terminal device from the network device may be a downlink reference signal, for example, the downlink reference signal may include CSI-RS, SSB, etc. Exemplarily, taking the first reference signal received by the terminal device in step S501 as CSI-RS as an example, the port corresponding to the first reference signal (e.g., a port in the first port set, a port in the second port set, and a port in a possible third port set, etc.) may be a CSI-RS port, and accordingly, the channel information of the CSI-RS port (e.g., the second channel information mentioned later) may be a channel state information (CSI) report, for example, the CSI report may include, but is not limited to, one or more of a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), and a layer indicator (LI).

[0231] It should be noted that the first reference signal sent by the network device in step S501 corresponds to the first port set and the second port set. It can be understood that, among the multiple ports of the network device that send the first reference signal, some ports are located in (or included in, or belong to) the first port set, and another portion of the ports are located in (or included in, or belong to) the second port set. In other words, the multiple ports of the network device that send the first reference signal may include ports in the first port set and ports in the second port set.

[0232] For example, the number of ports in the first port set may be recorded as L1, and the number of ports in the second port set may be recorded as L2. In one implementation, L1 and L2 are not equal. For example, L2>L1. Alternatively, L2 <L1。

[0233] In another implementation, L1 and L2 are equal, that is, L1 = L2.

[0234] Optionally, the value of L1 or L2 is one of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 16.

[0235] Optionally, among the multiple ports through which the network device transmits the first reference signal, other ports may not be included except for the ports in the first port set and the ports in the second port set. Alternatively, among the multiple ports through which the network device transmits the first reference signal, other ports may be included except for the ports in the first port set and the ports in the second port set, and the other ports may be included in another port set, such as a third port set.

[0236] Optionally, in addition to corresponding to one or more port sets, the first reference signal may also correspond to one or more discrete Fourier transform (DFT) beam sets (or IDFT beam sets). In other words, the above-mentioned "port set" can be replaced with "DFT beam set (or IDFT beam set)", that is, the first reference signal corresponds to a first DFT beam set and a second DFT beam set, each DFT beam set including one or more DFT beams (or, the first reference signal corresponds to a first IDFT beam set and a second IDFT beam set, each IDFT beam set including one or more IDFT beams). In addition, "DFT beam" can be replaced with other descriptions, such as DFT vector, DFT basis, IDFT vector, IDFT basis, etc. For example, first channel information (port level) is obtained based on the first reference signal measurement, and then DFT processing is performed in the port dimension, i.e., converted into beam-level channel information. The corresponding channel information of the first DFT beam set and the channel information of the second DFT beam set can be at least one of the corresponding CSI report, rank indication, channel quality indication, layer indication, precoding indication, etc.

[0237] The following description is mainly based on a port set, and a similar approach can be extended to a beam set (such as a DFT beam set or an IDFT beam set).

[0238] S502. The terminal device sends first channel information and second channel information. Accordingly, the network device receives the first channel information and the second channel information. The first channel information is determined based on a first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and a second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0239] Optionally, before step S501, the terminal device may also receive configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information is used to configure the first reference signal. Specific implementation of the configuration information may refer to the process of step S301 above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0240] It should be understood that after the terminal device receives the first reference signal in step S501, the terminal device can determine the channel information corresponding to the first port set and the channel information corresponding to the second port set based on the first reference signals corresponding to the first port set and the second port set. Thereafter, in step S502, the terminal device can send the first channel information and the second channel information based on the channel information corresponding to the first port set and the channel information corresponding to the second port set.

[0241] Optionally, the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. It can be understood that the second channel information includes the channel information of the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal (for example, the second channel information includes PMI), or the second channel information is used to indicate the channel information of the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal (for example, the second channel information is used to indicate PMI).

[0242] Optionally, the first channel information is determined based on a first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and a second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. It can be understood that the first channel information corresponds to a combining coefficient matrix (or combining coefficient vector, or combining coefficient, or weighting coefficient, or coefficient) between the channel information of the first port set and the channel information of the second port set. Here, "corresponding to" can be replaced by other terms, such as including, indicating, etc.

[0243] Further optionally, when the port corresponding to the first reference signal also includes a port in a third port set, the terminal device may also send a combining coefficient matrix (or combining coefficient vector, or combining coefficient, or weighting coefficient, or coefficient) between the channel information of the third port set and the channel information of the first port set (or the second port set).

[0244] Optionally, in the process of the terminal device sending the first channel information and the second channel information in step S502, the terminal device may send the first channel information and the second channel information themselves, or may send first indication information and second indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the first channel information, and the second indication information is used to indicate the second channel information.

[0245] Optionally, the first channel information and the second channel information may be carried in the same or different messages / signalings / information.

[0246] Optionally, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried in the same or different messages / signalings / information.

[0247] In one possible implementation, the terminal device and the network device may reach a consensus on the first port set and the second port set. In other words, the terminal device may specify the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information sent in step S502. After the network device receives the first channel information and the second channel information in step S502, the network device may specify the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information, and determine the precoding information based on the determined port sets. The terminal device and the network device may specify the first port set and the second port set in various ways, which will be described below with reference to some implementation examples.

[0248] In implementation example 1, as shown in FIG6a , before the terminal device sends the first channel information and the second channel information in step S502, the method further includes:

[0249] Step A: The terminal device transmits a second reference signal, and the network device receives the second reference signal accordingly. The second reference signal is used to determine third channel information and / or the first port set, where the third channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal.

[0250] It should be noted that step A can be performed before step S501 or after step S501, which is not limited here. The figure takes the former as an example for description.

[0251] Specifically, in implementation example 1, the terminal device may further transmit a second reference signal. Subsequently, after the network device receives the second reference signal through one or more port sets (including at least the first port set), the network device may determine third channel information and / or the first port set based on the second reference signal. Thus, the network device may obtain channel information corresponding to the first port set based on the second reference signal.

[0252] Optionally, in implementation example 1, the terminal device may also receive indication information for indicating the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the terminal device can clarify the port set corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information based on the indication of the network device, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information (and / or the third channel information). Furthermore, since the third channel information and the first port set information do not require feedback, the feedback overhead of the terminal device is reduced.

[0253] Optionally, before the terminal device sends the second reference signal, the terminal device may also receive configuration information corresponding to the second reference signal, for example, the second reference signal may include an SRS. The configuration information corresponding to the second reference signal may refer to the process of step S401 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0254] In implementation example 2, as shown in FIG6b , before the terminal device sends the first channel information and the second channel information in step S502, the method further includes:

[0255] Step B. The network device sends a third reference signal, and the terminal device receives the third reference signal accordingly. The third reference signal is used to determine fourth channel information and / or the first port set, and the fourth channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal.

[0256] Step C: The terminal device sends the fourth channel information and / or indication information indicating the first port channel set. Correspondingly, the network device receives the fourth channel information and / or indication information corresponding to the first port channel set.

[0257] It should be noted that step B and step C can be performed before step S501 or after step S501, which is not limited here. The figure describes the former as an example.

[0258] Specifically, in implementation example 2, the terminal device can also receive a third reference signal corresponding to the first port set, and the terminal device can determine and send fourth channel information and / or indication information indicating the first port set based on the third reference signal, so that the network device can obtain the channel information corresponding to the first port set. Furthermore, the network device can clarify the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information based on the information sent by the terminal device, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information. Furthermore, since the fourth channel information and the first port set information have been fed back before, the feedback overhead of the terminal device is smaller.

[0259] Furthermore, the combination of steps B and C, or steps S501 and S502, can also use different cycles to achieve different overheads and address different channel changes. For example, steps B and C are performed with a period of T, while steps S501 and S502 are performed with a period of kT, where k>1. The former is used for ports with faster channel changes, while the latter is used for ports with slower channel changes.

[0260] Optionally, before receiving the third reference signal, the terminal device may also receive configuration information corresponding to the third reference signal, for example, the third reference signal may include a CSI-RS. The configuration information corresponding to the third reference signal may refer to the process of step S401 above and will not be repeated here.

[0261] Optionally, in implementation example two, the four items of information, namely, the fourth channel information, the indication information indicating the first port set, the first channel information in step S502, and the second channel information in step S502, can be carried in the same message / signaling / information or in different messages / signaling / information, which is not limited here.

[0262] Implementation Example 3, as shown in FIG6c , in addition to sending the first channel information and the second channel information in step S502 , the terminal device further includes the following steps:

[0263] Step D: The terminal device sends fifth channel information, and correspondingly, the network device receives the fifth channel information, wherein the fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0264] Specifically, in implementation example three, the terminal device may also send the fifth channel information determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal, so that the network device can obtain the channel information corresponding to the first port set. Moreover, the network device can clarify the port set corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information based on the fifth channel information, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information. Furthermore, the first port set may be determined by the terminal device. For example, the terminal device determines the first port set and the second port set, as well as the corresponding first channel information, second channel information, and fifth channel information based on the first reference signal. Thus, by splitting the multiple ports of the first reference signal into more port groups, it is beneficial to feedback more channel information and reduce the total feedback overhead.

[0265] Furthermore, the combination of step D, step S501, and step S502 can be performed at different intervals to achieve different overheads and address different channel variations. For example, step D is performed at a period of T, while steps S501 and S502 are performed at a period of kT, where k > 1. The former is performed for ports with faster channel variations, while the latter is performed for ports with slower channel variations.

[0266] Optionally, in Implementation Example 3, the fifth channel information in step D, the first channel information in step S502, and the second channel information in step S502 may be carried in the same message / signaling / information, or in different messages / signaling / information, without limitation here. For example, in Implementation Example 3, if the fifth channel information in step D and the first and second channel information in step S502 are carried in different messages / signaling / information, step D may be performed before or after step S502, without limitation here. The latter is used as an example in the illustration.

[0267] In a possible implementation, in the method shown in FIG5 , the method further includes: the terminal device sends an index of the first port set and / or an index of the second port set. Specifically, the first channel information sent by the terminal device is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information sent by the terminal device is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. Accordingly, the manner in which the terminal device sends the index of the first port set and / or the index of the second port set can enable the network device to clearly identify the port sets corresponding to the first channel information and the second channel information, thereby enabling the terminal device and the network device to reach a consistent understanding of the first port set and / or the second port set, so that the network device can obtain accurate precoding information based on the first channel information and the second channel information.

[0268] Optionally, the four items of information sent by the terminal device, namely the index of the first port set, the index of the second port set, the first channel information in step S502 and the second channel information in step S502, can be carried in the same message / signaling / information or in different messages / signaling / information, which is not limited here.

[0269] In one possible implementation, in the method shown in FIG5 , the method further includes: the terminal device sending capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate support for sending the first channel information (or support for one or more implementation examples in the present application). Specifically, the terminal device may also send capability information indicating support for sending the first channel information, so that the network device can schedule the terminal device to feedback lower-dimensional channel information based on the capability information, thereby enabling the network device to obtain higher-dimensional precoding information, thereby reducing the overhead in the channel measurement process.

[0270] Optionally, the capability information sent by the terminal device, the first channel information in step S502 and the second channel information in step S502 can be carried in the same message / signaling / information or in different messages / signaling / information, which is not limited here.

[0271] In a possible implementation, the first channel information and the second channel information received by the network device in step S502 are used to determine precoding information, where the precoding information satisfies:

[0272] or

[0273] Where W represents precoding information, α represents the first channel information, represents the Kronecker product, W0 represents the precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set, and W1 represents the second channel information (ie, the precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the second port set).

[0274] Optionally, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set, where the channel information determined according to the first port set may include at least one of the following:

[0275] Third channel information, where the third channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal sent by the terminal device (or received by the network device). The process of determining the third channel information may refer to the description of FIG. 6 a above;

[0276] Fourth channel information, where the fourth channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal received by the terminal device (or sent by the network device). The process of determining the fourth channel information may refer to the description of FIG. 6 b above;

[0277] The fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal. The determination process of the fifth channel information may refer to the description of FIG. 6 c above.

[0278] Optionally, α satisfies:

[0279] α=[α0,α1] T ;

[0280] Where α0 represents the coefficient of the first port set, α1 represents the coefficient of the second port set, [α0,α1] T represents the transpose of the matrix [α0,α1]. Correspondingly, the precoding information W satisfies:

[0281] Furthermore, if the number of ports in the first port set is L1 and the number of ports in the second port set is L2, the dimension of W0 may be 2L1×1, and the dimension of W1 may be 2L2×1.

[0282] In addition, in the implementation process of the above precoding information, W0 and W1 can be used to represent the transmission of one or more data streams, which will be described below in conjunction with some implementation examples.

[0283] In implementation example A, W0 and W1 respectively represent precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set and precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the same data stream.

[0284] The channel information determined according to the first port set may include one or more of the third channel information, the fourth channel information, and the fifth channel information. The second channel information is the channel information determined according to the second port set.

[0285] For ease of description, in implementation example A, the same data stream is recorded as the first data stream (or layer) as an example, that is, W0 and W1 respectively represent the precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the first data stream, and the precoding information corresponding to the second channel information. A similar method can be directly extended to multiple streams.

[0286] In implementation example A, the channel information corresponding to the first port set (e.g., the third channel information, the fourth channel information, or the fifth channel information) is denoted as H0, and the channel information corresponding to the second port set (e.g., the second channel information) is denoted as H1. The precoding matrices (or vectors) obtained from the two sets of channel information are W0 and W1, respectively. Through any of the aforementioned implementation examples 1 to 3, the network device can determine W0 (i.e., the channel information corresponding to the first port set).

[0287] For example, in the implementation example 1 described above, the network device can obtain the channel information of the first port set (ie ) or precoding information (ie, precoding matrix W0), therefore, the terminal device may not need to separately report the precoding information (ie, W0) in step S502.

[0288] For example, in the implementation example 2 described above, the network device can obtain the channel information of the first port set (ie, ) or precoding information (ie, precoding matrix W0), therefore, the terminal device may not need to report the channel information (ie, W0) separately in step S502.

[0289] Furthermore, the first channel information sent by the terminal device in step S502 can be understood as the weighting coefficient between the two groups of channels, or can be understood as the weighting coefficient of the precoding matrix between the two port sets. For example, the vector corresponding to the weighting coefficient is recorded as α = [α0, α1] T ,in Correspondingly, the lth stream data x1(t) is transmitted jointly through two port sets and can be expressed as:

[0290] Among them, [H0,H1] can be considered as the channel coefficients corresponding to the two port sets. For joint precoding of two port sets, the weighting coefficients can be obtained by traditional methods. For example, the singular value decomposition of [H0W0, H1W1] can be obtained: [H0W0, H1W1] = U × Λ × V H , get the first column of the matrix V = [v0, v1], that is, α = v0.

[0291] As an application example of implementation Example A, Figure 7a shows a schematic diagram of joint transmission between two port sets. H0 represents the channel between the first port set and the receiving end, and H1 represents the channel between the second port set and the receiving end. W0 and W1 correspond to the precoding of the two port sets, respectively. α corresponds to the combining coefficient between the two port sets (i.e., the first channel information).

[0292] Optionally, for two port sets, the coefficients corresponding to one of the port sets can be further normalized, that is, α0 = 1, and only the feedback coefficient Correspondingly, after receiving the feedback coefficient (ie, the first channel information) in step S501, the network device may normalize it.

[0293] In another implementation, the amplitude of coefficient k in the precoding matrix corresponding to one of the port sets may be further normalized (or the phase may be normalized to 0), or the entire coefficient may be normalized. Furthermore, coefficient k is specified by the network device, or coefficient k is determined by the terminal device and reported to the network device.

[0294] Without loss of generality, the first port set is the corresponding precoding W0=[w 0,0 ,w 0,1 ,…] T (The number of elements in this vector is the same as the number of ports in the port set.) For example, the coefficient k can be k=0, which can make w 0,0 =|w 0,0 |; or, w 0,0= 1. In this way, it can be ensured that W0 and the combining coefficient α calculated by the network device have no deviation or negligible deviation from those calculated on the terminal side.

[0295] Or without loss of generality, the second port set is the corresponding precoding W1=[w 1,0 ,w 1,1 ,…] T (The number of elements in this vector is the same as the number of ports in the port set.) For example, the coefficient k can be k=0, which can make w 1,0 =|w 1,0 |; or, w 1,0 = 1. In this way, it can be ensured that W1 and the combining coefficient α calculated by the network device have no deviation from those calculated on the terminal side or the deviation can be ignored.

[0296] In another implementation, the relative amplitude and / or phase of the coefficient k in the precoding matrix corresponding to two of the port sets may also be reported, that is, w 1,k / w 0,k The corresponding amplitude and / or phase, or report w 0,k / w 1,k The corresponding amplitude and / or phase. Further, the coefficient k is specified by the network device, or the coefficient k is determined by the terminal device and reported to the network device.

[0297] In another implementation, all the solutions in this application can be extended to more port sets (e.g., a third port set, denoted as G), where the precoding matrices between different port sets can be obtained through different uplink or downlink signals. In this case, the combining coefficients between the G port sets need to be fed back. Similarly, the corresponding relationship between each port set and the combining coefficient can be agreed upon.

[0298] In implementation example B, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the first data stream, and W1 represents precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the second data stream.

[0299] The channel information determined according to the first port set may include one or more of the third channel information, the fourth channel information, and the fifth channel information. The second channel information is the channel information determined according to the second port set.

[0300] It should be understood that in implementation example B, the consideration is how to pair data streams when there are two or more data streams. By pairing multiple data streams and different port sets, better system performance can be achieved.

[0301] For ease of description, in implementation example B, the first data stream is denoted as l0 and the second data stream is denoted as l1. Similarly, the channel information corresponding to the first port set (e.g., the third channel information, the fourth channel information, or the fifth channel information) is denoted as H0, and the channel information corresponding to the second port set (e.g., the second channel information) is denoted as H1. The precoding matrix (or vector) corresponding to the first data stream (or layer) is W 0,l and W 1,l , where l = 0, 1, ..., L-1, and L is the maximum number of data streams (or the number of layers, or the number of ranks). If one of the port sets does not support more data streams, the corresponding precoding matrix is ​​W = 0.

[0302] For example, the lth stream data x1(t) is transmitted jointly through different layers of two port sets, which can be expressed as:

[0303] Among them, [H0,H1] can be considered as the channel coefficients corresponding to the two port sets. For the joint precoding of two port sets, the weighting coefficients can be obtained by traditional methods. For example, The corresponding singular value decomposition: Get the first column of the matrix V = [v0, v1], that is, α = v0.

[0304] In implementation example B, better system performance can be achieved by pairing different flows from different port sets. For example, in the implementation example shown in Figure 7b, data is transmitted via two flows. The strongest flow from the first port set is combined with the weaker flow from the second port set to transmit the first data flow; the weaker flow from the first port set is combined with the strongest flow from the second port set to transmit the second data flow. This ensures that both data flows are transmitted relatively well, ultimately improving overall performance.

[0305] In a possible implementation of Example B, the method further includes: the terminal device receives indication information for indicating the first data stream and the second data stream. Specifically, the terminal device can also receive indication information for indicating the first data stream and the second data stream, so that the terminal device can correctly receive and demodulate the first data stream and the second data stream based on the indication information. Moreover, by pairing different port sets in different data streams, better system performance can be achieved. For example, the stronger stream of the first port set and the weaker stream of the second port set are jointly transmitted as the first data stream; the weaker stream of the first port set and the stronger stream of the second port set are jointly transmitted as the second data stream; thereby, both data streams are transmitted relatively well, and ultimately the overall performance is improved.

[0306] It should be noted that in Implementation Example B, the terminal device can receive the indication information in a variety of ways. For example, the network device can carry indication information indicating the first data stream and the second data stream in the configuration information of the first reference signal. For another example, in the above Implementation Example 1, during the process of the terminal device receiving indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set, the terminal device can also receive indication information indicating the first data stream and the second data stream.

[0307] As an implementation example, when the rank index is 2 (or the number of reported flows is 2), the corresponding pairing method is (l0, l1) = (0, 1), which respectively indicates that the first flow of the first port set is paired with the first flow of the second port set, and the second flow of the first port set is paired with the second flow of the second port set; or (l0, l1) = (1, 0), which respectively indicates that the first flow of the first port set is paired with the second flow of the second port set, and the second flow of the first port set is paired with the first flow of the second port set.

[0308] Similarly, when the rank index is 4 (or the number of reported flows is 4), the corresponding pairing is (l0, l1, l2, l3) = (0, 1, 2, 3), which respectively indicates that the first flow of the first port set is paired with the first flow of the second port set, the second flow of the first port set is paired with the second flow of the second port set, the third flow of the first port set is paired with the third flow of the second port set, and the fourth flow of the first port set is paired with the fourth flow of the second port set. Similarly, the corresponding configuration can also be (l0, l1, l2, l3) = (3, 1, 2, 0), or (l0, l1, l2, l3) = (3, 2, 1, 0), or (l0, l1, l2, l3) = (3, 0, 2, 1), or (l0, l1, l2, l3) = (0, 2, 1, 3), etc.

[0309] In one possible implementation, multiple different pairing schemes can be predefined or preconfigured for different rank indices (or stream numbers). Alternatively, the index can be indicated by indication information. Alternatively, the pairing scheme can be determined based on other channel information reporting values, such as CQI, and different index schemes can be used for different CQI ranges.

[0310] Based on the technical solution of Figure 5, the terminal device can send the first channel information and the second channel information in step S502, wherein the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. After receiving the first channel information and the second channel information, the subsequent network device can obtain the precoding information corresponding to the first port set and the second port set based on the first channel information and the second channel information. Thus, the terminal device can enable the network device to obtain higher-dimensional precoding information through the correlation of channel information of different port sets by sending lower-dimensional channel information (i.e., the first channel information and the second channel information), and reduce the overhead in the channel measurement process, thereby improving resource utilization and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0311] It should be noted that in a beam-based communication scenario, a network device may send multiple analog beams or multiple digital beams, and each analog beam or digital beam corresponds to multiple ports. Taking a network device including a transceiver with a hybrid beamforming (HBF) architecture as an example, the network device can select the directions of multiple analog beams and send reference signals for channel measurement through different analog beams. For a terminal device, the process of selecting an analog beam by a network device is called beam training or beam scanning. Among them, each of the multiple analog beams can send a reference signal.

[0312] For example, as shown in Figure 8, on different time domain resources, the network device can transmit N (or N copies, N groups) of CSI-RSs through N beams (N is an integer greater than or equal to 2), denoted as CSI-RS#0, CSI-RS#1, ..., CSI-RS#N-1. Correspondingly, the terminal device can feed back PMIs for each of the N beams, denoted as PMI#0, PMI#1, ..., PMI#N-1.

[0313] During the implementation of the traditional solution, for each of the N CSI-RSs, the terminal device needs to feedback the complete PMI, so that the network device obtains the channel information corresponding to the N beams based on the N PMIs. In the above technical solution, when the network device can send CSI-RS through each of the multiple analog beams, the terminal device can send lower-dimensional channel information (i.e., first channel information and second channel information) to enable the network device to obtain higher-dimensional precoding information through the correlation of channel information of different port sets, thereby enabling the channel measurement process corresponding to the reference signals sent by the multiple analog beams to obtain the gain of reducing overhead.

[0314] To facilitate understanding of the above technical solution, the following will take the above implementation example 1 as an example, and combine it with the communication process shown in Figure 9 to exemplify the technical solution shown in Figure 5. It should be understood that in Figure 9, step S902 is an implementation example of the above step S501, and step S905 is an implementation example of the above step S502. In addition, the other steps in Figure 9 may or may not be executed (for example, step S907 may not be executed), and the order of the steps in Figure 9 can be swapped (for example, the execution order of step S901 and step S902 can be swapped, the execution order of step S902 and step S903 can be swapped, etc.).

[0315] S901: The terminal device sends an uplink signal to the network device.

[0316] In step S901, the terminal device may send one or more uplink signals, such as one or more uplink reference signals, such as SRS. Correspondingly, the network device receives the uplink reference signal and obtains uplink channel information.

[0317] Before this, the network device may also send configuration information of the uplink reference signal to the terminal device.

[0318] The configuration information of the uplink reference signal may include information related to the reference signal port grouping. For example, the number of groups is S, and the number of ports in each group is P. SRS,s ,s=0,1,…,S-1. Optionally, the number of ports in each port group can be exactly the same, for example, P SRS .

[0319] and / or,

[0320] The configuration information of the uplink reference signal may include information related to the reference signal resource grouping. For example, the number of reference signal resource groups S, the number of reference signal resources and / or ports in each group P, and the number of reference signal resources and / or ports in each group P. SRS,s ,s=0,1,…,S-1. Optionally, the total number of ports in each resource group is exactly the same, for example, P SRS In the following text, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments are described based on the reference signal port group (or port grouping). The same method can be applied to the reference resource grouping scenario.

[0321] It should be understood that the configuration information of the uplink reference signal can also refer to the description of step S401 above, which is not repeated here.

[0322] Specifically, group #s can correspond to a simulated beam of a network device. The principle of the network device estimating the channel based on the reference signal can be abstracted into the following formula:

[0323] y#s =F #s H UL x SRS,s +n #s ;

[0324] Among them, y #s Is the signal received by the network device (dimension P TRX ×P SRS,s , P TRX is the number of digital channels), H UL is a channel (dimension P BS,AE ×P SRS,s , P BS,AE is the number of antenna arrays of network equipment), F #s is the weight corresponding to the receiving beam of the network device (for example, the weight matrix of the simulated beam, with dimension P TRX ×P BS,AE ; For another example, the mixed analog digital weight matrix has a dimension of P Port ×P BS,AE , where P Port is the number of digital ports), x SRS,s Is the signal sent by the sender (dimension is P SRS,s ×1), n #s is the noise (dimension is P SRS,s ×1). Assume that the uplink and downlink channels are reciprocal, that is, the channel estimated by the network device through the uplink reference signal can be used for the downlink channel, that is, By using the reference signal, the network device estimates F #s H UL To describe the aspect, remember Or, omitting the transpose:

[0325] Hereinafter, the channel (or channel coefficient) obtained through the uplink reference signal is referred to as the channel of the first port set. It should be understood that in another implementation (such as the above implementation examples 2 and 3), the channel information can be obtained through downlink reference information.

[0326] S902: The network device sends a downlink signal.

[0327] Specifically, in step S902, the network device may transmit N (or N copies, N groups) of downlink reference signals via N simulated beams. For example, this may include downlink signal #0 in step S902(0), downlink signal #1 in step S902(1), ..., downlink signal #N-1 in step S902(N-1), etc. Generally, the downlink signal may be a downlink reference signal, such as a CSI-RS. Hereinafter, the downlink signal and downlink reference signal may be used interchangeably.

[0328] Prior to this, the network device may also send configuration information to the terminal device, including configuration information of the downlink reference signal and channel information reporting (or measurement) configuration information.

[0329] The configuration information of the downlink reference signal may include information related to the reference signal port grouping. For example, the number of groups is K, and the number of ports in each group is P. CSI-RS,k ,k=0,1,…,K-1. In one case, the number of ports in each port group is exactly the same, for example, P CSI-RS .

[0330] and / or,

[0331] The configuration information of the downlink reference signal may include information related to the reference signal resource grouping. For example, the number of reference signal resource groups is K, and the number of reference signal resources and / or ports in each group is P. CSI-RS,k ,k=0,1,…,K-1. In one case, the total number of ports in each resource group is exactly the same, for example, P CSI-RS In the following text, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments are described based on the reference signal port group (or port grouping). The same method can be applied to the reference resource grouping scenario.

[0332] The channel information reporting configuration information may include the content and quantity of the report. For example, the configuration information includes the number M of measured channel information groups, the number P of reported channel information groups, and the PMI configuration corresponding to each information group. For example, parameters related to PMI reporting.

[0333] In addition, the reference signal configuration information and / or the channel information reporting configuration information may further include a reference signal transmission method and / or a relationship between the reference signal and the channel information (see S904 for details).

[0334] It should be understood that other configuration information related to the reporting of the reference signal and channel information can be found in the description of step S301 above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0335] In one implementation, different reference signal port groups or different reference signal resource groups are sent using a time-division method, that is, they are sent on different time domain resources (e.g., time slots or OFDM symbols). This time-division method facilitates the transmission of multiple reference signals based on different analog beams in the HBF architecture, enabling channel information measurement.

[0336] In one implementation, different reference signal port groups or different reference signal resource groupings are transmitted on different frequency domain resources (i.e., component carriers, resource blocks, or different subcarriers). For example, the first antenna group is adopted and transmitted based on the first analog beam; the second antenna group is adopted and transmitted based on the second analog beam. This frequency division method is used for the network device to quickly scan channel information.

[0337] Optionally, the port group or resource group of K downlink reference signals is associated with the port group or resource group corresponding to S uplink reference signals. For example, according to the increasing or decreasing relationship of the port group index, the port groups of K downlink reference signals are associated with the port groups of S uplink reference signals once, and / or, the resource groups of K downlink reference signals are associated with the resource groups of S uplink reference signals once. For another example, in each downlink reference signal port group or resource group, the information of the associated uplink reference signal port group or resource group is configured. For another example, K = S.

[0338] For another example, K < S. At this time, the unassociated uplink reference signal port group or resource group is not associated with any downlink reference signal port group or resource group.

[0339] For another example, K > S. At this time, the unassociated downlink reference signal port group or resource group is not associated with any uplink reference signal port group or resource group.

[0340] In one implementation, the association between the uplink reference signal and the downlink reference signal (i.e., the port group or resource group) may mean that both correspond to exactly the same or partially the same channel. For another example, the associated reference signals are transmitted (downlink) or received (uplink) by the same analog beam. "Association" can also be replaced by other terms, such as corresponding, correlated, reciprocal.

[0341] Specifically, the grouping #k can correspond to an analog beam of a network device. The principle by which the network device estimates the channel based on the reference signal can be abstracted into the following formula:

[0342] y #k =H DL G #k x CSI-RS,k +n #k ;

[0343] where y #k is the signal received by the UE receiver (with a dimension of P RX ×P CSI-RS,k , P RX is the number of UE receiving channels, and P CSI-RS,k represents the number of CSI-RS ports), and H DL is the channel (with a dimension of P RX ×P TRX , PTRX is the number of digital channels of network equipment), G #k The weights corresponding to the beams sent by the network device (for example, the weight matrix of the analog beam and / or digital beam, with a dimension of P BS,AE ×P CSI-RS,k AE refers to the antenna element, x CSI-RS,k Is the signal sent by the sender (dimension is P SRS,k ×1), n #k is the noise (dimension is P CSI-RS,k ×1). By using the reference signal, the network device estimates H DL G #k To describe the aspect, let H CSI-RS#k =H DL G #k .

[0344] For a system with reciprocity of transmission and reception, the downlink channel and the uplink channel have a strong correlation. For example, under high signal-to-noise ratio, the channels of the same port group (or the same port set) have Or there is

[0345] S903: The network device sends indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set (for ease of reference below, "indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set" is referred to as target information). For example, the target information is used to indicate at least one of Q first port sets, Q first port resource groups (i.e., resource groups corresponding to the first port sets), and Q first port resources (i.e., resources corresponding to the first port sets).

[0346] For simplicity, the following description uses port collections. You can replace port collections with resource groups or resources.

[0347] Optionally, the Q first port sets are obtained based on the S uplink reference signals. That is, the network device determines the Q first port sets based on the received S uplink reference signals. In one case, an SRS port group (or resource group) is used to obtain the (uplink) channel information of all digital ports under an analog beam. Assuming that the network device and the terminal device have a certain consistency (or the uplink and downlink channels have reciprocity), the downlink channel information under the same analog beam can be obtained based on the uplink channel information measured by an SRS port group. However, in practice, due to limitations in terminal capabilities (such as transmit power, bandwidth, etc.), the downlink channel information obtained by this method is incomplete. For example, only the channel information of a part of the ports can be used (that is, the channel information corresponding to the first port set), and the others cannot be used due to too low signal-to-noise ratio. That is, due to the presence of noise, the network device may only be able to effectively utilize F #s H UL Therefore, it is necessary to further utilize the CSI-RS and the feedback channel information to achieve better transmission performance. Alternatively, S uplink reference signals can be used to obtain more channel information. For details, please refer to S904 and will not be repeated here.

[0348] Optionally, the Q first port sets are obtained based on S downlink reference signals. That is, the network device determines the Q first port sets based on the received S downlink reference signals. In one case, as in Implementation Example 2 and Implementation Example 3 above, the S downlink reference signals are sent during a previous (or multiple) CSI measurement process.

[0349] In one implementation, S>Q.

[0350] In one implementation, S=Q.

[0351] S904: The terminal device measures the downlink reference signal.

[0352] Specifically, after receiving the downlink reference signal in step S902, the terminal device obtains M sets of channel coefficients based on the reference signal and channel information reporting configuration information. Then, based on the M sets of channel coefficients and / or the target information in S903, the terminal device determines the channel information to be fed back. The fed back channel information includes at least one of the following: channel information for one or more beams (also known as channel information for one or more port sets) and combining coefficients.

[0353] The following describes in detail how to obtain M groups of channel coefficients.

[0354] Method 1: K reference signal port groups can be used to obtain M = K groups of channel coefficients (or channel responses). For example, each reference signal port group corresponds to a simulated beam, and K groups can be used to obtain the channel coefficients (or channel responses) of the K simulated beams.

[0355] Method 2: K reference signal port groups can be used to obtain M>K groups of channel information. For example, K reference signal port groups can be used to obtain the channel coefficients (or channel responses) of K port groups, which are recorded as A0, A1, ..., A K-1 Taking the channel coefficient on a certain subcarrier as an example, A k =H CSI-RS#k The corresponding dimension is P RX ×P CSI-RS,k , where P RX is the number of UE receiving antenna ports. If the number of CSI-RS ports in the K port groups is the same, for example, P CSI-RS,k =P CSI-RS Based on the channel information of K port groups and target information M second channel coefficients can be obtained

[0356] It should be understood that, for the HBF architecture (or analog beamforming architecture), mode 2 can use fewer reference signals to obtain more channel information. For example, the network device can use K groups of orthogonal analog weights, each used to send a reference signal port group, so as to obtain the channel information corresponding to the K analog ports; and at the terminal device, through the weighting between the analog port channels (i.e., (This is equivalent to an analog beam), thereby obtaining channel information for M > K new analog beams. In this way, the terminal device measures encrypted beam channel information. It should be noted that this method can also be applied to digital beamforming architectures.

[0357] In one implementation, the parameter At least one of the is obtained according to network device configuration information.

[0358] In one implementation, M=K.

[0359] In one implementation, M>K.

[0360] In one implementation, M>Q.

[0361] In one implementation, M=Q.

[0362] In one implementation, M < K. That is, only partial channel information is fed back. For example, it is only fed back when the channel quality exceeds a certain threshold, which can be configured by the network device or preset.

[0363] In one implementation, M < Q. That is, only partial channel information is fed back. For example, it is only fed back when the channel quality exceeds a certain threshold, which can be configured by the network device or preset.

[0364] Furthermore, the m-th group of channel coefficients corresponds to a port set (denoted as the target port set), and the target port set includes the first port set. Furthermore, the channel information corresponding to one of its subsets is fed back (i.e., PMI, CQI, RI, etc.), and this subset is called the second port set. In one implementation, the second port set and the first port set are completely different, that is, the intersection is empty.

[0365] And / or, when the m-th group of channel coefficients is fed back, the channel information further includes combining coefficient information. Among them, the combining coefficient is used to indicate the weighting coefficient between the channels corresponding to the first port set and the channels corresponding to the second port set.

[0366] Similar to the association relationship between the K downlink reference signals and the S uplink reference signals in S902, the M groups of channel coefficients here can also be associated / corresponded with the channel information obtained based on the K uplink reference signals in S901, which will not be elaborated here.

[0367] Furthermore, it should be understood that the reference signals in S901 (whether downlink or uplink), the target information in S903, and the combining coefficients in the channel information in S904 have an association relationship (or corresponding relationship). This corresponding relationship is used to ensure that the combination between the first port set and the second port set is aligned on the network device side and the terminal device side, so as to obtain better transmission performance. If there is no corresponding relationship, it may lead to misalignment in understanding between the network device and the UE, resulting in performance loss.

[0368] S905. The terminal device sends channel information to the network device, including one or more of the following: an index of one or more resources, an index of one or more resource groups, an index of one or more ports, P (groups of) channel quality indicators (CQI), P (groups of) reference signal received power (RSRP), P (groups of) precoding matrix indicators (PMI), and C combining coefficient matrices (or C combining coefficient vectors, or C combining coefficients). It should be understood that, among the one or more of the above, the C combining coefficient matrices may be the content included in the first channel information described above, and the other information may be the content included in the second channel information described above.

[0369] In one implementation, the terminal device reports P groups of channel information, where P=M or K.

[0370] In one implementation, the terminal device reports P group channel information, where P <K。

[0371] In one implementation, the terminal device reports P group channel information, where P <M。

[0372] In one implementation, the terminal device reports P groups of channel information, where C=P, or C=M, or C=K.

[0373] In one implementation, the terminal device reports the channel information of group P, where C <P。

[0374] In one implementation, the terminal device reports the channel information of group P, where C <M。

[0375] It should be understood that the P individuals (or P groups) here can also be represented by a piece of channel information.

[0376] Furthermore, the terminal reports information of P weighting parameters. The P weighting parameters correspond to P groups of channel information, that is, the P weighting parameters correspond to P second channel coefficients, and these second channel coefficients correspond to P groups of channel information. Specifically, the information of the P weighting parameters can be an index set {i0,i1,…,i P-1}, where i p =0,1,2,…,M-1 is the index of the second channel coefficient in the M (or K) channel information, and p=0,1,…,P-1.

[0377] It should be understood that the C individuals (or C groups) here can also be represented by a piece of channel information.

[0378] It should be understood that some terminals may support the method of this embodiment, while others may not. In this case, whether the terminal device supports any of the reference signal reception or channel information feedback methods in the above process can be determined based on the capability information reported by the terminal device. The network device can decide whether to configure the above implementation method based on the capability information reported by the terminal device.

[0379] S906: The network device determines precoding information (eg, a precoding matrix) based on the combining coefficient, PMI information, etc.

[0380] S907. The network device sends a downlink signal (or downlink data, downlink information, downlink message, etc.) based on the precoding information.

[0381] It should be noted that in step S906, the network device can send a downlink signal (or downlink data, downlink information, downlink message, etc.) through one or more data streams. The specific implementation process can refer to the description of Figure 5 and related implementation examples (such as the examples shown in Figure 7a / 7b above), which will not be repeated here.

[0382] Based on the technical solution shown in Figure 9, by feeding back the combining coefficients between multiple port groups, network devices can calculate precoding vectors based on multiple low-dimensional port group-level channel information. Furthermore, based on multiple low-dimensional precoding vectors and combining coefficients, high-dimensional precoding can be achieved. This reduces the overhead of the channel measurement process, thereby improving resource utilization and reducing power consumption of terminal devices.

[0383] In some implementations, by pairing precoding matrices between port groups (pairing precoding vectors corresponding to different streams), power distribution between streams can be achieved, further improving performance.

[0384] Referring to Figure 10, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1000. The communication device 1000 can implement the functions of the terminal device (or network device) in the above method embodiment, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiment. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device 1000 can be a terminal device (or network device), or it can be an integrated circuit or component inside the terminal device (or network device), such as a chip. The following embodiments are described using the communication device 1000 as an example of a terminal device or network device.

[0385] In one possible implementation, when the device 1000 is used to execute the method executed by the terminal device in the aforementioned embodiment, the device 1000 includes a processing unit 1001 and a transceiver unit 1002; the transceiver unit 1002 is used to receive a first reference signal, which corresponds to a first port set and a second port set, each port set including one or more ports; the processing unit 1001 is used to determine first channel information and second channel information; the transceiver unit 1002 is also used to send first channel information and second channel information; the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0386] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to send a second reference signal, where the second reference signal is used to determine third channel information and / or the first port set, where the third channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal.

[0387] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to receive indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set.

[0388] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further used to receive a third reference signal, where the third reference signal is used to determine fourth channel information and / or the first port set, where the fourth channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal; the transceiver unit 1002 is further used to send the fourth channel information and / or indication information indicating the first port set.

[0389] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to send fifth channel information, where the fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0390] In a possible implementation, the first channel information corresponds to a combining coefficient matrix or combining coefficient vector or combining coefficient (or weighting coefficient, or coefficient) between the channel information of the first port set and the channel information of the second port set.

[0391] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to send the index of the first port set and / or the index of the second port set.

[0392] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to send capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate support for sending the first channel information.

[0393] In a possible implementation, the first channel information and the second channel information are used to determine precoding information, and the precoding information satisfies:

[0394] or

[0395] Where W represents precoding information, α represents the first channel information, represents the Kronecker product, W0 represents the precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set, and W1 represents the second channel information.

[0396] Optionally, α satisfies:

[0397] α=[α0,α1] T ;

[0398] Where α0 represents the coefficient of the first port set, α1 represents the coefficient of the second port set, [α0,α1] T represents the transpose of the matrix [α0,α1]. Accordingly, the precoding information W satisfies:

[0399] In a possible implementation, W0 and W1 respectively represent precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set and precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the same data stream.

[0400] In a possible implementation, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the first data stream, and W1 represents precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the second data stream.

[0401] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to receive indication information indicating the first data stream and the second data stream.

[0402] In one possible implementation, when the device 1000 is used to execute the method executed by the network device in the aforementioned embodiment, the device 1000 includes a processing unit 1001 and a transceiver unit 1002; the processing unit is used to determine a first reference signal, and the transceiver unit 1002 is used to send the first reference signal, the first reference signal corresponds to a first port set and a second port set, each port set including one or more ports; the transceiver unit 1002 is also used to receive first channel information and second channel information; the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0403] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to receive a second reference signal, where the second reference signal is used to determine third channel information and / or the first port set, where the third channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal.

[0404] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to send indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set.

[0405] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further used to send a third reference signal, where the third reference signal is used to determine fourth channel information and / or the first port set, where the fourth channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal; the network device receives the fourth channel information and / or the first port set.

[0406] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to send fifth channel information, where the fifth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0407] In a possible implementation, the first channel information corresponds to a combining coefficient matrix or combining coefficient vector or combining coefficient (or weighting coefficient, or coefficient) between the channel information of the first port set and the channel information of the second port set.

[0408] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to receive an index of the first port set and / or an index of the second port set.

[0409] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to receive capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate support for sending the first channel information.

[0410] In a possible implementation, the first channel information and the second channel information are used to determine precoding information, and the precoding information satisfies:

[0411] or

[0412] Where W represents precoding information, α represents the first channel information, represents the Kronecker product, W0 represents the precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set, and W1 represents the second channel information.

[0413] Optionally, α satisfies:

[0414] α=[α0,α1]T ;

[0415] Where α0 represents the coefficient of the first port set, α1 represents the coefficient of the second port set, [α0,α1] T Represents the transpose of the matrix [α0,α1].

[0416] In a possible implementation, W1 and W2 respectively represent precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set and precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the same data stream.

[0417] In a possible implementation, W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the first data stream, and W1 represents precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting the second data stream.

[0418] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1002 is further configured to send indication information indicating the first data stream and the second data stream.

[0419] It should be noted that, for details of the information execution process and other contents of the units of the above-mentioned communication device 1000, please refer to the description in the method embodiment shown above in this application, and will not be repeated here.

[0420] Please refer to Figure 11, which is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1100 provided in this application. The communication device 1100 includes a logic circuit 1101 and an input / output interface 1102. The communication device 1100 may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0421] The transceiver unit 1002 shown in FIG10 may be a communication interface, which may be the input / output interface 1102 in FIG11 , which may include an input interface and an output interface. Alternatively, the communication interface may be a transceiver circuit, which may include an input interface circuit and an output interface circuit.

[0422] Optionally, the input / output interface 1102 is configured to receive a first reference signal, the first reference signal corresponding to a first port set and a second port set, each port set including one or more ports; the logic circuit 1101 is configured to determine first channel information and second channel information; the input / output interface 1102 is further configured to send the first channel information and second channel information; the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. The logic circuit 1101 and the input / output interface 1102 may also perform other steps performed by the terminal device in the aforementioned embodiments and achieve corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be further described herein.

[0423] Optionally, the logic circuit 1101 is configured to determine a first reference signal, and the input / output interface 1102 is configured to send the first reference signal, where the first reference signal corresponds to a first port set and a second port set, each port set including one or more ports; the input / output interface 1102 is further configured to receive first channel information and second channel information; the first channel information is determined based on the first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined based on the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal. The logic circuit 1101 and the input / output interface 1102 may also perform other steps performed by the network device in the aforementioned embodiments and achieve corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be further described herein.

[0424] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1001 shown in FIG10 may be the logic circuit 1101 in FIG11 .

[0425] Optionally, the logic circuit 1101 may be a processing device, and the functions of the processing device may be partially or entirely implemented by software. The functions of the processing device may be partially or entirely implemented by software.

[0426] Optionally, the processing device may include a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor reads and executes the computer program stored in the memory to perform corresponding processing and / or steps in any one of the method embodiments.

[0427] Alternatively, the processing device may include only a processor. A memory for storing the computer program is located outside the processing device, and the processor is connected to the memory via circuits / wires to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. The memory and processor may be integrated or physically separate.

[0428] Optionally, the processing device may be one or more chips, or one or more integrated circuits. For example, the processing device may be one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), system-on-chips (SoCs), central processor units (CPUs), network processors (NPs), digital signal processors (DSPs), microcontroller units (MCUs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or other integrated chips, or any combination of the above chips or processors.

[0429] Please refer to Figure 12, which shows the communication device 1200 involved in the above-mentioned embodiments provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1200 can specifically be a communication device serving as a terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiments. The example shown in Figure 12 is that the terminal device is implemented through the terminal device (or a component in the terminal device).

[0430] Herein, a possible logical structure diagram of the communication device 1200 is shown. The communication device 1200 may include but is not limited to at least one processor 1201 and a communication port 1202 .

[0431] Further optionally, the device may also include at least one of a memory 1203 and a bus 1204. In an embodiment of the present application, the at least one processor 1201 is used to control and process the actions of the communication device 1200.

[0432] In addition, the processor 1201 can be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, and so on. Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0433] It should be noted that the communication device 1200 shown in Figure 12 can be specifically used to implement the steps implemented by the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiment and achieve the corresponding technical effects of the terminal device. The specific implementation methods of the communication device shown in Figure 12 can refer to the description in the aforementioned method embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0434] Please refer to Figure 13, which is a structural diagram of the communication device 1300 involved in the above-mentioned embodiments provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1300 can specifically be a communication device as a network device in the above-mentioned embodiments. The example shown in Figure 13 is that the network device is implemented through the network device (or a component in the network device), wherein the structure of the communication device can refer to the structure shown in Figure 13.

[0435] The communication device 1300 includes at least one processor 1311 and at least one network interface 1314. Further optionally, the communication device also includes at least one memory 1312, at least one transceiver 1313 and one or more antennas 1315. The processor 1311, the memory 1312, the transceiver 1313 and the network interface 1314 are connected, for example, via a bus. In an embodiment of the present application, the connection may include various interfaces, transmission lines or buses, etc., which are not limited in this embodiment. The antenna 1315 is connected to the transceiver 1313. The network interface 1314 is used to enable the communication device to communicate with other communication devices through a communication link. For example, the network interface 1314 may include a network interface between the communication device and the core network device, such as an S1 interface, and the network interface may include a network interface between the communication device and other communication devices (such as other network devices or core network devices), such as an X2 or Xn interface.

[0436] Processor 1311 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data, for example, to support the communication device in performing the actions described in the embodiments. The communication device may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit. The baseband processor is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the central processing unit is primarily used to control the entire terminal device, execute software programs, and process software program data. Processor 1311 in Figure 13 may integrate the functions of both a baseband processor and a central processing unit. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the baseband processor and the central processing unit may also be independent processors interconnected via a bus or other technology. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a terminal device may include multiple baseband processors to accommodate different network standards, multiple central processing units to enhance its processing capabilities, and various components of the terminal device may be connected via various buses. The baseband processor may also be referred to as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processing unit may also be referred to as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The functionality for processing communication protocols and communication data may be built into the processor or stored in memory as a software program, which is executed by the processor to implement the baseband processing functionality.

[0437] The memory is primarily used to store software programs and data. Memory 1312 can exist independently and be connected to processor 1311. Alternatively, memory 1312 can be integrated with processor 1311, for example, within a single chip. Memory 1312 can store program code for executing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and execution is controlled by processor 1311. The various computer program codes executed can also be considered drivers for processor 1311.

[0438] Figure 13 shows only one memory and one processor. In an actual terminal device, there may be multiple processors and multiple memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device. The memory may be a storage element on the same chip as the processor, i.e., an on-chip storage element, or an independent storage element, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0439] The transceiver 1313 can be used to support the reception or transmission of radio frequency signals between the communication device and the terminal. The transceiver 1313 can be connected to the antenna 1315. The transceiver 1313 includes a transmitter Tx and a receiver Rx. Specifically, one or more antennas 1315 can receive radio frequency signals. The receiver Rx of the transceiver 1313 is used to receive the radio frequency signal from the antenna, convert the radio frequency signal into a digital baseband signal or a digital intermediate frequency signal, and provide the digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal to the processor 1311 so that the processor 1311 can further process the digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal, such as demodulation and decoding. In addition, the transmitter Tx in the transceiver 1313 is also used to receive a modulated digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal from the processor 1311, convert the modulated digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal into a radio frequency signal, and transmit the radio frequency signal through one or more antennas 1315. Specifically, the receiver Rx can selectively perform one or more stages of down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion on the RF signal to obtain a digital baseband signal or a digital intermediate frequency signal. The order of the down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion processes is adjustable. The transmitter Tx can selectively perform one or more stages of up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion on the modulated digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal to obtain a RF signal. The order of the up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion processes is adjustable. The digital baseband signal and the digital intermediate frequency signal may be collectively referred to as digital signals.

[0440] The transceiver 1313 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. Optionally, a device in the transceiver unit that implements a receiving function may be referred to as a receiving unit, and a device in the transceiver unit that implements a transmitting function may be referred to as a transmitting unit. That is, the transceiver unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, an input port, a receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitting unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0441] It should be noted that the communication device 1300 shown in Figure 13 can be specifically used to implement the steps implemented by the network device in the aforementioned method embodiment, and to achieve the corresponding technical effects of the network device. The specific implementation method of the communication device 1300 shown in Figure 13 can refer to the description in the aforementioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here one by one.

[0442] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing one or more computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method described in the possible implementation method of the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the above embodiment.

[0443] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product (or computer program). When the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method of the possible implementation method of the above-mentioned communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device).

[0444] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor for supporting a communication device to implement the functions involved in the possible implementation methods of the above-mentioned communication device. Optionally, the chip system also includes an interface circuit, which provides program instructions and / or data to the at least one processor. In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory, which is used to store the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device. The chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices, wherein the communication device can specifically be a terminal device or a network device in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0445] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, and the network system architecture includes the terminal device and network device in any of the above embodiments.

[0446] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0447] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0448] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit. If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the contributing part or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving a first reference signal, the first reference signal corresponding to a first port set and a second port set, each port set including one or more ports; Sending first channel information and second channel information; The first channel information is determined according to a first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and a second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined according to the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Before sending the first channel information and the second channel information, the method further includes: A second reference signal is sent, where the second reference signal is used to determine third channel information and / or the first port set, and the third channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Indication information indicating the first port set and / or the second port set is received.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before sending the first channel information and the second channel information, the method further includes: receiving a third reference signal, where the third reference signal is used to determine fourth channel information and / or the first port set, where the fourth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal; The fourth channel information and / or indication information indicating the first port set is sent.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Sending fifth channel information, where the fifth channel information is determined according to a first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The method further comprises: An index of the first port set and / or an index of the second port set is sent.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send capability information, where the capability information is used to indicate support for sending the first channel information.

8. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a first reference signal, wherein the first reference signal corresponds to a first port set and a second port set, each port set including one or more ports; receiving first channel information and second channel information; The first channel information is determined according to a first port set corresponding to the first reference signal and a second port set corresponding to the first reference signal, and the second channel information is determined according to the second port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that Before receiving the first channel information and the second channel information, the method further includes: A second reference signal is received, where the second reference signal corresponds to the first port set, and the second reference signal is used to determine third channel information and / or the first port set, where the third channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the second reference signal.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send indication information used to indicate the first port set and / or the second port set.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that Before receiving the first channel information and the second channel information, the method further includes: sending a third reference signal, where the third reference signal corresponds to the first port set, where the third reference signal is used to determine fourth channel information and / or the first port set, where the fourth channel information is determined according to the first port set corresponding to the third reference signal; The fourth channel information and / or indication information indicating the first port set is received.

12. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending fifth channel information, where the fifth channel information is determined according to a first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that: The method further comprises: An index of the first set of ports and / or an index of the second set of ports is received.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: Capability information is received, where the capability information is used to indicate support for sending the first channel information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that The first channel information corresponds to a combining coefficient matrix or a combining coefficient vector or a combining coefficient between the channel information of the first port set and the channel information of the second port set.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that The first channel information and the second channel information are used to determine precoding information, and the precoding information satisfies: Wherein, W represents the precoding information, α represents the first channel information, represents the Kronecker product, W0 represents the precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set, and W1 represents the precoding information corresponding to the second channel information.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that α satisfies: α=[α0,α1] T ; Wherein, α0 represents the coefficient of the first port set, α1 represents the coefficient of the second port set, [α0, α1] T Represents the transpose of the matrix [α0,α1].

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that The channel information determined according to the first port set includes at least one of the following: third channel information, where the third channel information is determined according to a first port set corresponding to a second reference signal sent by the terminal device; Fourth channel information, where the fourth channel information is determined according to a first port set corresponding to a third reference signal received by the terminal device; Fifth channel information, where the fifth channel information is determined according to a first port set corresponding to the first reference signal.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that W0 and W1 respectively represent precoding information corresponding to the channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting the same data stream, and precoding information corresponding to the second channel information.

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that: W0 represents precoding information corresponding to channel information determined according to the first port set when transmitting a first data stream, and W1 represents precoding information corresponding to the second channel information when transmitting a second data stream.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send or receive indication information used to indicate the first data flow and the second data flow.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising means for performing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises at least one processor coupled to a memory; the at least one processor is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.

24. A readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction. When the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the communication device implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.

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