Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a communication method and a communication apparatus. In some multi-antenna-port scenarios, pilot signals corresponding to antenna ports may cause a PAPR back-off phenomenon, that is, the PAPRs of the pilot signals in the multi-antenna-port scenarios increase relative to the PAPR of a pilot signal in a single-antenna-port scenario. In the communication method, if the length of a pilot sequence is an odd number, a terminal can determine a pilot sequence having an even-numbered length, and generate a pilot signal on the basis of the pilot sequence having an even-numbered length. The pilot signal is a single-carrier signal having a complete waveform, and thus the PAPR of the pilot signal can be reduced. Alternatively, the terminal may not expect to send or receive a pilot signal corresponding to a pilot sequence having an odd-numbered length, thereby avoiding a waste of power consumption.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on October 30, 2023, with application number 202311431118.5 and application name “Communication Method and Communication Device,” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] An antenna port is a spatial resource that can be defined as follows: the channel of a symbol transmitted by an antenna port can be inferred from the channel of another symbol transmitted by the same antenna port. Different antenna ports can correspond to different pilot signals. The receiver can use the pilot signals to determine parameters such as the antenna port's phase offset and amplitude change to recover the data signal.

[0004] With the development of communication technology, the number of antenna ports supported by communication systems is increasing. In some scenarios with multiple antenna ports, the pilot signals corresponding to the antenna ports will produce a peak to average power ratio (PAPR) fallback phenomenon. That is, the PAPR of the pilot signals in these scenarios with multiple antenna ports is higher than that in the scenario with a single antenna port, resulting in a decrease in the coverage range of the pilot signals.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device, which can reduce the PAPR of a pilot signal in a scenario with multiple antenna ports.

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, wherein the execution subject of the method can be a terminal device or a network device or a chip applied to the terminal device or a chip applied to the network device. The following description takes the execution subject as an example. The method includes: determining a first pilot sequence, wherein the length of the first pilot sequence is N, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; if N is an odd number, determining a second pilot sequence, wherein the second pilot sequence includes M first sequence values ​​and NM second sequence values, wherein the first sequence value is 0 and the second sequence value is not 0, M is a positive integer, and M is an odd number less than N; and generating a pilot signal based on the second pilot sequence.

[0008] In various embodiments of the present application, “determining the first pilot sequence” is performed before discrete Fourier transformation (DFT), and the pilot signal generated according to the second pilot sequence may be a signal before precoding.

[0009] In a multi-antenna port scenario, when the bandwidth takes a specific value, the length of the pilot sequence mapped to the frequency domain is an odd number. Odd-numbered pilot sequences do not conform to the characteristics of single-carrier signals and will result in an increase in PAPR. In this embodiment, if the terminal device determines that the length N of the first pilot sequence is an odd number, a second pilot sequence can be determined. In the second pilot sequence, the number of sequence values ​​not equal to 0 is NM. Since NM is an even number, the second pilot sequence conforms to the characteristics of a single-carrier signal. The pilot signal generated based on the second pilot sequence is a single-carrier signal with a complete waveform, which can reduce the PAPR of the pilot signal.

[0010] Optionally, determining the second pilot sequence includes: determining the second pilot sequence according to the first pilot sequence, wherein NM second sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence are the same as NM sequence values ​​in the first pilot sequence.

[0011] When the terminal device can generate the second pilot sequence based on the first pilot sequence, it can directly reuse the NM sequence values ​​in the first pilot sequence without recalculating the second pilot sequence, thereby saving the calculation overhead of determining the second pilot sequence.

[0012] Optionally, M is equal to 1.

[0013] It's difficult for the receiver to perform channel estimation based on sequence values ​​of 0. Therefore, the fewer sequence values ​​of 0 in the second pilot sequence, the more accurate the channel estimation based on the pilot signal. When M is 1, the sequence length mapped to the frequency domain is guaranteed to be an even number, reducing the PAPR of the pilot signal while maximizing the accuracy of channel estimation based on the pilot signal.

[0014] Optionally, the first sequence value is the first M sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence, or the first sequence value is the last M sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence.

[0015] Setting the first M sequence values ​​or the last M sequence values ​​to 0 can reduce the complexity of generating the second pilot sequence.

[0016] Optionally, the method further includes: if N is an even number, generating a pilot signal according to the first pilot sequence.

[0017] If the terminal device determines that N is an even number, the existing pilot sequence generation process can be directly reused to improve the compatibility of this method.

[0018] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, wherein the execution subject of the method can be a terminal device or a network device or a chip applied to the terminal device or a chip applied to the network device. The following description is based on the execution subject being a terminal device. The method includes: determining a pilot sequence length N, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; if N is an odd number, determining a third pilot sequence of length NM, where the sequence value of the third pilot sequence is not 0, M is a positive integer, and M is an odd number less than N; determining a fourth pilot sequence based on the third pilot sequence, where the fourth pilot sequence includes the third pilot sequence and M first sequence values, where the first sequence value is 0; and generating a pilot signal based on the fourth pilot sequence.

[0019] In various embodiments of the present application, “determining the pilot sequence length N” is performed before DFT, and the pilot signal generated according to the fourth pilot sequence may be a signal before precoding.

[0020] In a multi-antenna port scenario, when the bandwidth takes a specific value, the length of the pilot sequence mapped to the frequency domain is an odd number. The odd-numbered pilot sequence does not conform to the characteristics of a single-carrier signal and will result in an increase in the PAPR. In this embodiment, if the terminal device determines that the length N of the pilot sequence is an odd number, a third pilot sequence of length NM can be determined, and M sequence values ​​equal to 0 are added to the third pilot sequence to obtain a fourth pilot sequence. In the fourth pilot sequence, the number of sequence values ​​not equal to 0 is NM. Since NM is an even number, the fourth pilot sequence conforms to the characteristics of a single-carrier signal. The pilot signal generated based on the fourth pilot sequence is a single-carrier signal with a complete waveform, which can reduce the PAPR of the pilot signal.

[0021] Optionally, M is equal to 1.

[0022] The receiver has difficulty performing channel estimation based on a sequence value of 0. Therefore, the fewer sequence values ​​of 0 in the fourth pilot sequence, the higher the accuracy of the channel estimation based on the pilot signal. When M is 1, the length of the sequence mapped to the frequency domain is guaranteed to be an even number, reducing the PAPR of the pilot signal while maximizing the accuracy of channel estimation based on the pilot signal.

[0023] Optionally, the first sequence value is the first M sequence values ​​in the fourth pilot sequence, or the first sequence value is the last M sequence values ​​in the fourth pilot sequence.

[0024] Setting the first M sequence values ​​or the last M sequence values ​​to 0 can reduce the complexity of generating the fourth pilot sequence.

[0025] Optionally, the method further includes: if N is an even number, determining a fifth pilot sequence with a length of N; and generating a pilot signal according to the fifth pilot sequence.

[0026] If the terminal device determines that N is an even number, the existing pilot sequence generation process can be directly reused to improve the compatibility of this method.

[0027] In a third aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which may be performed by a terminal device or a network device, or a chip used in a terminal device or a chip used in a network device. The following description uses the terminal device as an example. The method includes: determining a pilot sequence length N according to a first configuration, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; if N is an odd number, performing one or more of the following steps: determining that a pilot signal of the first configuration is not supported; determining not to send a pilot signal of the first configuration; and determining not to receive a pilot signal of the first configuration.

[0028] In various embodiments of the present application, "determining the pilot sequence length N according to the first configuration" is performed before DFT, and the pilot signal may be a signal before precoding. Alternative expressions for "determining not to support the pilot signal of the first configuration" may be "not supporting the pilot signal of the first configuration" or "not supporting the first configuration" or "determining not to support the first configuration." Alternative expressions for "determining not to send the pilot signal of the first configuration" may be "not sending the pilot signal of the first configuration" or "not expecting to send the pilot signal of the first configuration." Alternative expressions for "determining not to receive the pilot signal of the first configuration" may be "not receiving the pilot signal of the first configuration" or "not expecting to receive the pilot signal of the first configuration."

[0029] In a multi-antenna port scenario, when the bandwidth takes a specific value, the length of the pilot sequence mapped to the frequency domain is an odd number. Odd-numbered pilot sequences do not conform to the characteristics of single-carrier signals and will result in an increased PAPR. In this embodiment, if the terminal device determines that the length N of the pilot sequence is an odd number, the PAPR of the pilot signal generated based on this pilot sequence is large, and channel estimation based on this pilot signal may not be possible, the terminal device may not send or receive the pilot signal corresponding to this sequence length, thereby avoiding wasted power consumption.

[0030] Optionally, the method further includes: if N is an even number, determining a sixth pilot sequence with a length of N; and generating a pilot signal according to the sixth pilot sequence.

[0031] If the terminal device determines that N is an even number, it can generate a pilot signal based on the sixth pilot sequence. The sixth pilot sequence conforms to the characteristics of a single-carrier signal. The pilot signal generated based on the sixth pilot sequence is a single-carrier signal with a complete waveform, which can reduce the PAPR of the pilot signal.

[0032] Optionally, the first configuration includes: frequency domain resources and the number of antenna ports corresponding to the pilot signal.

[0033] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device may include a processing unit and a transceiver unit (optional), configured to perform: any of the methods in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, or any of the methods in the second aspect and its optional embodiments, or any of the methods in the third aspect and its optional embodiments. The transceiver unit is a sending unit when performing the sending step, and is a receiving unit when performing the receiving step.

[0034] In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a chip applied to a terminal device. The communication device may include a processor configured to execute: any method in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, or any method in the second aspect and its optional embodiments, or any method in the third aspect and its optional embodiments.

[0035] Optionally, when the communication device is a terminal device, the processor is, for example, a system on chip (SoC) or a central processor unit (CPU); when the communication device is a chip, the processor is, for example, a core, and the core may include at least one execution unit, and the execution unit is, for example, an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU).

[0036] Optionally, the communication device may further include a transceiver. When the communication device is a terminal device, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an antenna, etc.; when the communication device is a chip used in a terminal device, the transceiver may be an input / output interface, a pin, a circuit, etc.

[0037] Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory for storing computer programs or instructions, and the processor executes the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, or to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods in the second aspect and its optional embodiments, or to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods in the third aspect and its optional embodiments. When the communication device is a terminal device, the memory may be a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.; when the communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the memory may be a register, a cache, etc.

[0038] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, which may be a network device or a chip used in a network device. The communication device may include a processor configured to execute: any method in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, or any method in the second aspect and its optional embodiments, or any method in the third aspect and its optional embodiments.

[0039] Optionally, when the communication device is a network device, the processor is, for example, a CPU, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA); when the communication device is a chip, the processor is, for example, a core, which may include at least one execution unit, such as an ALU.

[0040] Optionally, the communication device may further include a transceiver. When the communication device is a network device, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an antenna, etc.; when the communication device is a chip used in a network device, the transceiver may be an input / output interface, a pin, a circuit, etc.

[0041] Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory for storing computer programs or instructions, and the processor executes the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, or to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods in the second aspect and its optional embodiments, or to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods in the third aspect and its optional embodiments. When the communication device is a network device, the memory may be a read-only memory, a random access memory, or the like; when the communication device is a chip applied to a network device, the memory may be a register, a cache, or the like.

[0042] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer executes any one of the methods in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, or the computer executes any one of the methods in the second aspect and its optional embodiments, or the computer executes any one of the methods in the third aspect and its optional embodiments.

[0043] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, comprising: a computer program code or a computer program instruction, which, when executed by a communication device, enables the communication device to execute any one of the methods in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, or enables the communication device to execute any one of the methods in the second aspect and its optional embodiments, or enables the communication device to execute any one of the methods in the third aspect and its optional embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a communication protocol stack used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a process for transmitting and receiving OFDM signals according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a method for generating a single carrier signal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a method for generating a DFT-s-OFDM signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a PAPR provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of PAPR caused by multi-carrier power superposition provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a multi-port pilot pattern provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a pilot sequence corresponding to four ports provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG15 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG16 is a schematic diagram of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0061] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1 , the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100. RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in Figure 1 , collectively referred to as 110) and may also include at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in Figure 1 , collectively referred to as 120). RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1 ). Terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to RAN node 110. Terminals and RAN nodes may be connected to each other via wired or wireless connections. Communication system 1000 may also include a core network 200. RAN node 110 is wirelessly or wiredly connected to core network 200. Core network devices in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 may be separate, distinct physical devices, or they may be a single physical device that integrates the logical functions of core network devices and RAN nodes. The communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300 .

[0062] 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), or a WiFi system. RAN100 may also include two or more of the aforementioned different radio access systems. RAN100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0063] A RAN node, also known as a network device, a radio access network device, a RAN entity or an access node, is used to help terminals access the communication system wirelessly.

[0064] In one application scenario, a RAN node may 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, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access point (AP) in a WiFi system, an AP in a long-range radio (LoRa) system, or an AP in a connected vehicle system. A RAN node may be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 1 ), a micro base station, an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG. 1 ), a relay node, or a donor node.

[0065] 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 these protocol layers, 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 may be included in a radio frequency device, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). The CU may be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: the CU-control plane and the CU-user plane.

[0066] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, a CU may be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU may be called an open DU (O-DU), and a RU may be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For example, the RAN node may be a server loaded with the corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the RAN node. For ease of description, the following description takes a base station as an example of a RAN node.

[0067] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send and receive signals to and from a base station. A terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, or mobile terminal. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, and smart cities. The terminal may be a mobile phone (such as 120a, 120e, 120f, and 120j in FIG1 ), a tablet computer (such as 120g in FIG1 ), a printer with wireless transceiver function (such as 120h in FIG1 ), a wearable device, a vehicle (such as 120b in FIG1 ), a charging station (such as 120c in FIG1 ), an airplane (such as 120i in FIG1 ), a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device (such as 120d in FIG1 ), etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0068] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, wearable devices may also be referred to as wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not just hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include electronic devices that are full-featured, large in size, and can achieve full or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, or electronic devices that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for measuring vital signs.

[0069] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the vehicle may be a smart car (or intelligent car), a digital car (or digital car), an unmanned car (or driverless car, or pilotless car, or automobile), a self-driving car (or autonomous car), or an electric vehicle (or EV), wherein the EV may be a pure electric vehicle (or battery EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (or hybrid electric vehicle, or HEV), a range extended EV (or REEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (or plug-in HEV, or PHEV), or a new energy vehicle (or new energy vehicle). The various terminals described above, if located on a vehicle (e.g., placed in or installed in a vehicle), may be considered as on-board terminals, which may also be referred to as on-board modules, on-board modules, on-board components, on-board chips, or on-board units (or OBUs).

[0070] 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.

[0071] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, 120i in Figure 1 (which can be a helicopter or drone) can be configured as a mobile base station. For 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, 120i is a base station; however, for 110a, 120i is a terminal. That is, 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 1 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0072] 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.

[0073] 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 a modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0074] In the embodiments of the present application, a base station sends downlink information to a terminal. The downlink information is carried on a downlink channel and is also referred to as a downlink signal. The terminal sends uplink information to the base station. The uplink information is carried on an uplink channel and is also referred to as an uplink signal. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection to the cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the serving cell of the terminal. When the terminal communicates with the serving cell, it will also be subject to interference from signals in neighboring cells.

[0075] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the communication protocol stack used in the embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, the communication protocol stack is mainly the protocol stack of the access layer, where the access layer can be divided into the radio resource control (RRC) layer, the PDCP layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, the MAC layer, and the physical (PHY) layer.

[0076] The following describes the workflow of the protocol stack using uplink transmission as an example.

[0077] (1) The main functions of the RRC layer include system messages, admission control, security management, measurement and reporting, as well as handover and mobility. The control plane data related to these functions is generated in the non-access stratum (NAS). The RRC layer is also responsible for the radio resource management of the transmission of NAS protocol data units (PDUs). After the NAS PDU reaches the RRC layer, it is processed as an RRC service data unit (SDU) to generate an RRC PDU. The control plane data generated by the RRC layer (such as RRC reconfiguration messages) is also packaged into RRC PDUs.

[0078] (2) The main functions of the PDCP layer include transmitting user plane and control plane data, maintaining PDCP sequence numbers, routing and repetition, encryption / decryption and integrity protection, reordering, supporting out-of-order delivery, and duplicate discard. After the RRC PDU reaches the PDCP layer, it is processed as a PDCP SDU to generate a PDCP PDU.

[0079] (3) The main functions of the RLC layer include error detection and correction, segmentation and reassembly, resegmentation, and duplicate packet detection. After the PDCP PDU reaches the RLC layer, it is processed as an RLC SDU and generates an RLC PDU.

[0080] (4) The main functions of the MAC layer include mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing / demultiplexing, scheduling, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), and logical channel priority setting. After the RLC PDU reaches the MAC layer, it is processed as a MAC SDU to generate a MAC sub-PDU. Multiple MAC sub-PDUs are concatenated to form a MAC PDU.

[0081] (5) The main functions of the PHY layer include coding, modulation, and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO). After the MAC PDU reaches the PHY layer, it is sent out on the corresponding time-frequency resources.

[0082] As can be seen above, data transferred between the same protocol layers can be called SDUs, and data transferred between adjacent protocol layers can be called PDUs. For a protocol layer, the data it processes can be called SDUs, and the data it outputs can be called PDUs.

[0083] For example, the data processed by the terminal's RRC layer is an RRC SDU. The RRC layer adds protocol control information (PCI) to the RRC SDU and encapsulates it into an RRC PDU. The RRC PDU is processed by the PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY layers before being transmitted to the base station via wireless signals. The information carried by the wireless signal reaching the base station is processed by the PHY, MAC, RLC, and PDCP layers in sequence, and reaches the RRC layer in the form of an RRC PDU. The RRC layer decapsulates the RRC PDU, removes the PCI, and restores the RRC SDU.

[0084] If the data size of an SDU is large, the terminal can split the SDU into multiple segments, encapsulate them into multiple PDUs, and send them out. The base station then decapsulates the multiple PDUs and reassembles them into an SDU. If the data size of multiple SDUs is small, the terminal can concatenate them together, encapsulate them into a single PDU, and send it out. The base station then decapsulates the PDU and separates the multiple SDUs.

[0085] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the technologies involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0086] 1. Time and frequency resources.

[0087] In an embodiment of the present application, data or information may be carried by time-frequency resources, wherein the time-frequency resources may include resources in the time domain and resources in the frequency domain. In the time domain, the time-frequency resources may include one or more time domain units (also referred to as time units), and in the frequency domain, the time-frequency resources may include one or more frequency domain units.

[0088] A time domain unit can be a symbol, a mini-slot, a slot, or a subframe, where the duration of a subframe in the time domain can be 1 millisecond (ms), a slot can include 7 or 14 symbols, and a mini-slot can include at least one symbol, which can be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a discrete Fourier transformation spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol.

[0089] A frequency domain unit can be a subcarrier, a resource block (RB), a resource block group (RBG), a subband, a precoding resource block group (PRG), a bandwidth part (BWP), a resource element (RE), a carrier, or a serving cell.

[0090] The time domain units and frequency domain units listed above are only for facilitating understanding of the embodiments of the present application and do not limit the scope of protection of the present application. The present application does not limit the specific forms of the time domain units and frequency domain units.

[0091] 2. Modulation method.

[0092] The design goals of the modulation method of wireless communication systems are often to pursue higher spectrum efficiency and overcome complex wireless communication environments.

[0093] OFDM is a widely used modulation method. For example, long term evolution (LTE) systems, NR systems, and WiFi systems all use OFDM modulation. OFDM modulation divides the system bandwidth into multiple parallel subcarriers and modulates data on each subcarrier for transmission. The transmission and reception process of OFDM signals is shown in Figure 3. The bit stream (e.g., codeword) is first modulated and mapped into a complex symbol. The complex symbol can be written as a is the amplitude of the symbol, is the phase of the symbol. Optionally, the modulation of the subcarrier will use quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) mapping to map the information into a QAM symbol (QAM symbols are also complex symbols). Then, through serial / parallel conversion (S / P), each QAM symbol is mapped to a different subcarrier. The symbols on different subcarriers are converted into a time domain sequence by inverse fast Fourier transformation (IFFT).

[0094] In conventional OFDM symbol processing, the transmitter copies the tail portion of the time-domain sequence to the front portion. This portion is called a cyclic prefix (CP), and this process is known as CP insertion. The CP's primary function is to mitigate multipath transmission delay in the wireless channel. After CP insertion, the transmitter performs parallel / serial conversion (P / S) and digital-to-analog conversion (D / A) on the signal, followed by up-conversion before transmission.

[0095] Noise is added to wireless signals during transmission. The receiver performs analog-to-digital conversion (A / D), serial-to-parallel conversion, CP removal, fast Fourier transform (FFT) operation, channel estimation, symbol equalization, parallel-to-serial conversion, and demodulation on the received wireless signals to ultimately recover the bit stream.

[0096] 3. Single carrier communication and multi-carrier communication.

[0097] Single-carrier communication refers to communication using one carrier within a time domain unit. For example, a serially arranged transmit signal may be convolved with a roll-off filter to form a single-carrier signal.

[0098] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a method for generating a single-carrier signal according to an embodiment of the present invention. The bit stream undergoes single-carrier quadrature amplitude modulation (SC-QAM) to generate SC-QAM symbols. The SC-QAM symbols are then processed by up-sampling and pulse shaping to become a single-carrier signal, which is then transmitted by the RF module.

[0099] Multi-carrier communication refers to the use of multiple carriers within a time domain unit for communication. For example, the transmitted signals can be arranged in parallel and processed through IFFT to form a multi-carrier signal. The OFDM signal in the OFDM modulation method shown in Figure 3 is a multi-carrier signal.

[0100] Compared with multi-carrier, single-carrier has the advantages of low PAPR and low transmitter complexity, and is more suitable for transmission in high-frequency bands.

[0101] Another method that uses multiple carriers to achieve a single-carrier waveform is DFT-s-OFDM. The waveform of DFT-s-OFDM is nearly equivalent to a traditional single-carrier waveform, but its multi-carrier implementation facilitates compatibility with OFDM and has been adopted by protocols such as 3GPP. However, its essence remains single-carrier.

[0102] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a method for generating a DFT-s-OFDM signal according to an embodiment of the present invention. After the bit stream is modulated, time-domain symbols are generated. These symbols undergo DFT, subcarrier mapping, IFFT, and CP insertion to become a DFT-s-OFDM signal. The DFT-s-OFDM signal is then transmitted by the RF module.

[0103] 4. PAPR.

[0104] The wireless signal is a sine wave with a constantly changing amplitude when observed in the time domain. The amplitude is not constant. The peak amplitude of the signal in one cycle is different from the peak amplitude of other cycles. Therefore, the average power and peak power of each cycle are different. In a long period of time, the peak power is the maximum transient power with a certain probability. The probability is usually 0.01% (i.e. 10 -4 The ratio of the peak power under this probability to the total average power of the system is the PAPR.

[0105] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a PAPR provided by an embodiment of the present application. In Figure 6, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents power. Within 500 time units, the average power of the wireless signal is approximately 5.8, and the peak power of the wireless signal is approximately 16.5. Therefore, the PAPR of the wireless signal during this period is approximately 2.84 (i.e., 16.5 / 5.8).

[0106] The factors that affect the PAPR of wireless signals include the following two:

[0107] Factor 1: PAPR of the baseband signal.

[0108] For example, a baseband signal modulated by 1024-QAM has a larger PAPR, while a baseband signal modulated by quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) and binary phase shift keying (BPSK) has a smaller PAPR. The baseband signals modulated by QPSK and BPSK can be considered to have a constant amplitude with only the phase changing.

[0109] Factor 2: PAPR caused by multi-carrier power superposition.

[0110] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the PAPR caused by multi-carrier power superposition provided in an embodiment of the present application. In Figure 7, the horizontal axis represents the subcarrier index, and the vertical axis represents the energy or power on the subcarrier. The OFDM waveform can be decomposed into multiple sub-waveforms (as shown by the solid line in Figure 7). The signals of these multiple sub-waveforms on a certain carrier are reflected as sinc functions, with tails on the left and right sides. With a certain probability, the tails of multiple carriers may overlap in the distance to form a point with high peak power.

[0111] The dangers of excessively high PAPR: Wireless communication system signals require power amplification to reach long distances. Due to technical and cost limitations, a power amplifier typically operates linearly within a certain range. Exceeding this range results in signal distortion, which can prevent the receiver from correctly interpreting the signal. To ensure that the signal peak remains within the linear range of the power amplifier, the average power must be reduced, which in turn reduces the power amplifier's efficiency or, equivalently, reduces the signal coverage range.

[0112] In order to meet coverage requirements, it is often necessary to select a signal generation technology with low PAPR.

[0113] 5. Multi-port demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern based on DFT-s-OFDM.

[0114] An antenna port is a spatial resource defined as follows: the channel of a symbol transmitted by an antenna port can be inferred from the channel of another symbol transmitted by the same antenna port. Different antenna ports can correspond to different pilot signals (such as DMRS). The receiver can determine parameters such as the antenna port's phase offset and amplitude change based on the pilot signal to recover the data signal.

[0115] The NR standard defines a multi-port DMRS sequence with low PAPR. It uses a DFT-s-OFDM waveform carrying a π / 2-BPSK modulated gold sequence. The definition formula is as follows:

[0116] in, represents the gold sequence of π / 2-BPSK modulation, Indicates the port number, μ indicates the subcarrier spacing configuration, and w f and w t is the precoding matrix, w f represents the orthogonal covering code (OCC) code points in the frequency domain, w t represents the OCC code division in the time domain, r represents the frequency domain response of the gold sequence modulated by π / 2-BPSK, k = 4n + 2k′ + Δ, n = 0, 1, ..., k′ = 0, 1, Δ represents the frequency domain offset; Indicates the index of two consecutive OFDM symbols participating in OCC precoding, l′=0, 1. For the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), an example of DMRS parameter configuration is shown in Table 1.

[0117] Table 1

[0118] In Table 1, the value of Δ is 0 or 1, indicating that two ports can be frequency-divided in the frequency domain, that is, even-numbered subcarriers correspond to one port, and odd-numbered subcarriers correspond to the other port.

[0119] With the development of communication technology, the number of ports supported by communication systems is increasing. In some multi-port scenarios, the pilot signals corresponding to the ports will produce PAPR fallback. That is, the PAPR of the pilot signals in these multi-port scenarios is higher than that in the single-port scenario, resulting in a decrease in the coverage range of the pilot signals.

[0120] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a multi-port pilot pattern provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0121] In Figure 8, the spatial resources include four ports. Within a time unit, the pilot sequence can be mapped to one of the four ports. The pilot sequences mapped to the ports in different time units can be the same. Therefore, for the four-port scenario, the π / 2-BPSK modulated gold sequence can be repeated four times in the time domain.

[0122] If the frequency domain resource is 27 RBs, the number of REs corresponding to the four ports is 27*12=324, and the number of REs corresponding to each port is 324 / 4=81. The transmitter needs to generate a pilot sequence with a length of 81. As shown in Figure 8, j represents an imaginary value. Since the number of sequence values ​​in a pilot sequence is an odd number, the first and last sequence values ​​of each pilot sequence are the same. This results in repeated sequence values ​​after adjacent pilot sequences are combined. This destroys the single-carrier characteristic of the pilot signal generated based on the repeated sequence values, thereby increasing the PAPR of the pilot signal.

[0123] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can avoid the occurrence of the above problems.

[0124] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of this method can be a terminal, a base station, a chip applied to a terminal, or a chip applied to a base station. The following description takes the execution subject as an example. Method 900 includes:

[0125] S910: Determine a first pilot sequence, where the length of the first pilot sequence is N, where N is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0126] In various embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to identify different objects. For example, "first pilot sequence" and "second pilot sequence" represent two pilot sequences. These two pilot sequences can be the same or different. There are no other limitations.

[0127] "Determining the first pilot sequence" is performed before DFT. The first pilot sequence can be a gold sequence or other sequence. This application does not limit the specific form of the first pilot sequence.

[0128] Optionally, before determining the first pilot sequence, the terminal may receive indication information from the base station, where the indication information indicates the bandwidth and the ports to be mapped. For example, the indication information may indicate that the bandwidth is 27 RBs and that the ports to be mapped are port 1 to port 4. Before determining the first pilot sequence, the base station may determine the bandwidth and the ports to be mapped.

[0129] After determining the bandwidth and the number of ports to be mapped, the terminal may determine the corresponding pilot sequence. For example, when the bandwidth is 27 RBs and the number of ports to be mapped is 4, the terminal may determine a first pilot sequence with a length of 81, i.e., N = 81. The terminal may then execute S920.

[0130] S920: If N is an odd number, determine a second pilot sequence, where the second pilot sequence includes M first sequence values ​​and NM second sequence values, the first sequence value is 0, the second sequence value is not 0, M is a positive integer, and M is an odd number smaller than N.

[0131] If N is an odd number, the terminal can determine a second pilot sequence. The sequence value of the second pilot sequence remains 81, but it includes M sequence values ​​equal to 0. In this way, the sequence values ​​not equal to 0 in the second pilot sequence are even numbers. Sequence values ​​equal to 0 do not affect the waveform of the pilot signal. Therefore, the waveform of the pilot signal generated based on the second pilot sequence is a complete single-carrier waveform with low PAPR characteristics.

[0132] Optionally, the terminal may determine the second pilot sequence based on the first pilot sequence, wherein the NM second sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence are the same as the NM sequence values ​​in the first pilot sequence.

[0133] For example, the terminal may generate a first pilot sequence including N sequence values. Subsequently, the terminal sets M sequence values ​​of the N sequence values ​​to 0 to obtain a second pilot sequence. The second pilot sequence includes NM sequence values ​​that are not equal to 0 (i.e., the second sequence value) and M sequence values ​​that are equal to 0 (i.e., the first sequence value). The NM sequence values ​​that are not equal to 0 are the same as the NM sequence values ​​in the first pilot sequence. That is, the terminal reuses the NM sequence values ​​in the first pilot sequence when determining the second pilot sequence, and there is no need to recalculate the second pilot sequence, thereby saving the computational overhead of determining the second pilot sequence.

[0134] Optionally, the first sequence value is the first M sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence, or the first sequence value is the last M sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence.

[0135] Setting the first M sequence values ​​or the last M sequence values ​​to 0 can reduce the complexity of generating the second pilot sequence.

[0136] Optionally, the above M is equal to 1.

[0137] It is difficult for the receiving end to perform channel estimation based on the sequence value 0. Therefore, the fewer the sequence value 0 is in the second pilot sequence, the higher the accuracy of the channel estimation performed by the receiving end based on the pilot signal.

[0138] When M equals 1, the pilot sequences corresponding to the four ports are shown in Figure 10. In Figure 10, the bandwidth is 27 RBs, and the sequence values ​​corresponding to each port are 81. If the last sequence value is set to 0, the first and last sequence values ​​of each pilot sequence are different. There are no repeated sequence values ​​after combining adjacent pilot sequences. The pilot signal generated based on the sequence values ​​shown in Figure 10 maintains a complete single-carrier waveform and has a low PAPR. In Figure 10, only one sequence value in the sequence corresponding to each port is 0, and the number of sequence values ​​that can be used for channel estimation (i.e., sequence values ​​not equal to 0) is 80. This reduces the PAPR of the pilot signal while maximizing the accuracy of channel estimation based on the pilot signal.

[0139] The second pilot sequence can be a pilot sequence before modulation or a pilot sequence after modulation, that is, S920 can be performed before modulation or after modulation, but needs to be completed before precoding. After the second pilot sequence is determined by modulation, the terminal can execute S930.

[0140] S930: Generate a pilot signal according to the second pilot sequence.

[0141] For example, the terminal may perform π / 2-BPSK modulation on the second pilot sequence to obtain π / 2-BPSK modulated pilot symbols; then, the terminal performs layer mapping, precoding, and DFT to map the pilot symbols to the frequency domain corresponding to the port; the terminal performs IFFT on the pilot symbols that have completed the frequency domain mapping to obtain the time domain signal to be transmitted. The pilot signal generated based on the second pilot sequence may be a π / 2-BPSK modulated pilot symbol, a time domain signal to be transmitted obtained through IFFT processing, or an RF signal after the time domain signal to be transmitted is processed by the RF module.

[0142] Accordingly, the receiving end (such as a base station) can perform the following steps: receive a radio frequency signal containing a second pilot sequence, convert the radio frequency signal into a digital signal, remove CP, perform FFT and other operations on the digital signal to obtain a frequency domain signal, and perform channel estimation based on the frequency domain signal; then, the terminal equalizes the signal according to the channel estimation result, converts the equalized signal into a time domain symbol, and then performs demodulation, decoding and other operations to obtain a transmission bit.

[0143] Optionally, the method 900 further includes: if N is an even number, generating a pilot signal according to the first pilot sequence.

[0144] If the terminal determines that N is an even number, the existing pilot sequence generation process can be directly reused to improve the compatibility of method 900.

[0145] FIG11 is another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of this method can be a terminal, a base station, a chip applied to a terminal, or a chip applied to a base station. The following description is based on the execution subject being a terminal as an example. Method 1100 includes:

[0146] S1110 , determine a pilot sequence length N, where N is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0147] "Determining the pilot sequence length N" is performed before DFT. Before determining the pilot sequence length N, the terminal can receive indication information from the base station. This indication information indicates the bandwidth and the ports to be mapped. For example, this indication information may indicate that the bandwidth is 27 RBs and that the ports to be mapped are ports 1 to 4. The terminal can then determine the pilot sequence length N based on the bandwidth and the number of ports to be mapped. Before determining the pilot sequence length N, the base station can determine the bandwidth and the ports to be mapped. The base station can then determine the pilot sequence length N based on the bandwidth and the number of ports to be mapped.

[0148] After determining the bandwidth and the number of ports to be mapped, the terminal may determine the corresponding pilot sequence. For example, when the bandwidth is 27 RB and the number of ports to be mapped is 4, the terminal may determine N = 81. Subsequently, the terminal may execute S1120.

[0149] S1120: If N is an odd number, determine a third pilot sequence of length NM, where the sequence value of the third pilot sequence is not 0, M is a positive integer, and M is an odd number smaller than N.

[0150] The third pilot sequence may be a gold sequence or other sequences. This application does not limit the specific form of the pilot sequence.

[0151] For example, the terminal may determine the third pilot sequence according to the following formula: c(n)=(x1(n+N C )+x2(n+N C ))mod 2;

[0152] Where c(n) represents the third pilot sequence, x1 and x2 are the basic sequences, and N C is the system information offset value, which is related to the terminal identification, x1(n+N C ) represents the N C The position is truncated at the beginning, x2(n+N C ) represents the N from the sequence x2 C Position begins to truncate, for example, when N CWhen N is 31, x1(n+31)=(x1(n+3)+x1(n))mod 2, x2(n+31)=(x2(n+3)+x2(n+2)+x2(n+1)+x2(n))mod 2. If N is an odd number, the value of n is 1 to NM.

[0153] S1130: Determine a fourth pilot sequence according to the third pilot sequence, where the fourth pilot sequence includes the third pilot sequence and M first sequence values, and the first sequence value is 0.

[0154] The terminal may generate a third pilot sequence including N sequence values, and then add M first sequence values ​​equal to 0 to the third pilot sequence to obtain a fourth pilot sequence. The M first sequence values ​​may be continuous or discontinuous.

[0155] For example, N=81, M=3, the third pilot sequence is [1j1-j-1j…], the third pilot sequence includes 78 sequence values, and the fourth pilot sequence includes 81 sequence values, which can be [0001j1-j-1j…], [1j1-j-1j…000], [010j01-j-1j…], or [0010j1-j-1j…].

[0156] Optionally, the above M is equal to 1.

[0157] It is difficult for the receiving end to perform channel estimation based on the sequence value 0. Therefore, the fewer the sequence value 0 is in the fourth pilot sequence, the higher the accuracy of the channel estimation performed by the receiving end based on the pilot signal.

[0158] When M is 1, the pilot sequences corresponding to the four ports are shown in Figure 10. In Figure 10, only one sequence value is 0 in the sequence corresponding to each port, and the number of sequence values ​​that can be used for channel estimation (i.e., sequence values ​​not equal to 0) is 80. This reduces the PAPR of the pilot signal while maximizing the accuracy of channel estimation based on the pilot signal.

[0159] S1140: Generate a pilot signal according to a fourth pilot sequence.

[0160] In various embodiments of the present application, “determining the pilot sequence length N” is performed before DFT, and the pilot signal generated according to the fourth pilot sequence may be a signal before precoding.

[0161] For example, the terminal may perform π / 2-BPSK modulation on the fourth pilot sequence to obtain π / 2-BPSK modulated pilot symbols; then, the terminal performs layer mapping, precoding, and DFT to map the pilot symbols to the frequency domain corresponding to the port; the terminal performs IFFT on the pilot symbols that have completed the frequency domain mapping to obtain a time domain signal to be transmitted. The pilot signal generated based on the fourth pilot sequence may be a π / 2-BPSK modulated pilot symbol, a time domain signal to be transmitted obtained through IFFT processing, or an RF signal after the time domain signal to be transmitted is processed by an RF module.

[0162] Accordingly, the receiving end (such as a base station) can perform the following steps: receive a radio frequency signal containing a fourth pilot sequence, convert the radio frequency signal into a digital signal, remove CP, perform FFT and other operations on the digital signal to obtain a frequency domain signal, and perform channel estimation based on the frequency domain signal; then, the terminal converts the frequency domain signal into a time domain symbol, performs symbol equalization, demodulation, decoding and other operations on the time domain symbols to obtain a fourth pilot sequence.

[0163] Optionally, the method 1100 further includes: if N is an even number, determining a fifth pilot sequence with a length of N; and generating a pilot signal according to the fifth pilot sequence.

[0164] If the terminal determines that N is an even number, the existing pilot sequence generation process can be directly reused to improve the compatibility of method 1100.

[0165] FIG12 is another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of this method can be a terminal, a base station, a chip applied to a terminal, or a chip applied to a base station. The following description is based on the example of the execution subject being a terminal. Method 1200 includes:

[0166] S1210: Determine a pilot sequence length N according to the first configuration, where N is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0167] Optionally, the first configuration includes: frequency domain resources and the number of antenna ports corresponding to the pilot signal.

[0168] In various embodiments of the present application, "determining the pilot sequence length N according to the first configuration" is performed before DFT, and the pilot signal may be a signal before precoding. Alternative expressions for "determining not to support the pilot signal of the first configuration" may be "not supporting the pilot signal of the first configuration" or "not supporting the first configuration" or "determining not to support the first configuration." Alternative expressions for "determining not to send the pilot signal of the first configuration" may be "not sending the pilot signal of the first configuration" or "not expecting to send the pilot signal of the first configuration." Alternative expressions for "determining not to receive the pilot signal of the first configuration" may be "not receiving the pilot signal of the first configuration" or "not expecting to receive the pilot signal of the first configuration."

[0169] S1220, if N is an odd number, perform one or more of the following steps: determine that the pilot signal of the first configuration is not supported; determine not to send the pilot signal of the first configuration; determine not to receive the pilot signal of the first configuration.

[0170] In a multi-antenna port (e.g., 4-port) scenario, when the bandwidth is a specific value (e.g., 27 RBs), the length of the pilot sequence mapped to the frequency domain is an odd number. Odd-numbered pilot sequences do not conform to the characteristics of single-carrier signals and will result in an increased PAPR. In this embodiment, if the terminal determines that the length N of the pilot sequence is an odd number, the PAPR of the pilot signal generated based on this pilot sequence is large, and channel estimation based on this pilot signal may not be possible, the terminal may not send or receive the pilot signal corresponding to this sequence length, thereby avoiding wasted power consumption.

[0171] Optionally, the method 1200 further includes: if N is an even number, determining a sixth pilot sequence having a length of N; and generating a pilot signal according to the sixth pilot sequence.

[0172] If the terminal determines that N is an even number, a pilot signal can be generated based on the sixth pilot sequence. The sixth pilot sequence conforms to the characteristics of a single-carrier signal. The pilot signal generated based on the sixth pilot sequence is a single-carrier signal with a complete waveform, which can reduce the PAPR of the pilot signal.

[0173] The above describes in detail the method examples provided by the embodiments of the present application. It is understandable that the corresponding device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function in order to realize the above functions. Those skilled in the art should easily appreciate that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in a hardware or computer software driven hardware manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0174] Figures 13 and 14 are schematic diagrams of the structures of two possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or base station in the above method embodiments, and therefore also have the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, these communication devices can be the terminal shown in Figure 1, the base station described in Figure 1, or a module (e.g., a chip) applied to a terminal or base station.

[0175] As shown in Figure 13, the communication device 1300 includes a processing unit 1310 and a transceiver unit 1320. Transceiver unit 1320 is an optional unit that performs the receiving step and / or the sending step under the control of processing unit 1310. Specifically, transceiver unit 1320 functions as a sending unit when performing the sending step and as a receiving unit when performing the receiving step. Communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of a terminal or base station in the method embodiments described in Figures 9, 11, or 12 above.

[0176] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of a terminal or a base station in the method embodiment described in Figure 9, the processing unit 1310 is used to: determine a first pilot sequence, where the length of the first pilot sequence is N, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; if N is an odd number, determine a second pilot sequence, where the second pilot sequence includes M first sequence values ​​and NM second sequence values, the first sequence value is 0, the second sequence value is not 0, M is a positive integer, and M is an odd number less than N; and generate a pilot signal according to the second pilot sequence.

[0177] Optionally, the processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to: determine a second pilot sequence according to the first pilot sequence, wherein NM second sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence are the same as NM sequence values ​​in the first pilot sequence.

[0178] Optionally, the processing unit 1310 is further configured to: if N is an even number, generate a pilot signal according to the first pilot sequence.

[0179] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of a terminal or a base station in the method embodiment described in Figure 11, the processing unit 1310 is used to: determine a pilot sequence length N, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; if N is an odd number, determine a third pilot sequence with a length of NM, where the sequence value of the third pilot sequence is not 0, M is a positive integer, and M is an odd number less than N; determine a fourth pilot sequence based on the third pilot sequence, where the fourth pilot sequence includes the third pilot sequence and M first sequence values, where the first sequence value is 0; and generate a pilot signal based on the fourth pilot sequence.

[0180] Optionally, the processing unit 1310 is further configured to: if N is an even number, determine a fifth pilot sequence with a length of N; and generate a pilot signal according to the fifth pilot sequence.

[0181] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of a terminal or a base station in the method embodiment described in Figure 12, the processing unit 1310 is used to: determine the pilot sequence length N according to the first configuration, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; if N is an odd number, perform one or more of the following steps: determine that the pilot signal of the first configuration is not supported; determine that the pilot signal of the first configuration is not sent; and determine that the pilot signal of the first configuration is not received.

[0182] Optionally, the processing unit 1310 is further configured to: if N is an even number, determine a sixth pilot sequence with a length of N; and generate a pilot signal according to the sixth pilot sequence.

[0183] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that when the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of a terminal or a base station, the specific working process of the communication device 1300 and the technical effects produced by the execution steps can refer to the description in the corresponding method embodiment mentioned above. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0184] Communication device 1300 may be a terminal or a base station. Processing unit 1310 may be implemented via hardware or software. When implemented via hardware, processing unit 1310 may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like. When implemented via software, processing unit 1310 may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a storage unit. This storage unit may be integrated into processing unit 1310 or located independently of processing unit 1310.

[0185] As shown in Figure 14, communication device 1400 includes a processor 1410 and an interface circuit 1420. Processor 1410 and interface circuit 1420 are coupled to each other. It is understood that interface circuit 1420 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 1400 may also include a memory 1430 for storing instructions executed by processor 1410, input data required by processor 1410 to execute instructions, or data generated after processor 1410 executes instructions.

[0186] When the communication device 1400 is used to implement the method shown in Figure 9, Figure 11 or Figure 12, the processor 1410 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 1310, and the interface circuit 1420 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1320.

[0187] When communication device 1400 is a terminal chip (i.e., a chip used in a terminal), the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above-described method embodiments. When the terminal chip receives information from a base station, it can be understood that the information is first received by other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. When the terminal chip sends information to a base station, it can be understood that the information is first sent to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0188] When the communication device 1400 is a base station chip (i.e., a chip used in a base station), the base station chip implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. When the base station chip receives information from the terminal, it can be understood that the information is first received by other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. When the base station chip sends information to the terminal, it can be understood that the information is sent to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0189] In this application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be done directly from A to B or indirectly through another entity. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be done directly from entity B or indirectly through another entity. Entities A and B herein 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, between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be information exchange between two RAN nodes, for example, 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, between a terminal chip and other modules in the terminal, or between a base station chip and other modules within the base station.

[0190] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application. For ease of explanation, Figure 15 only shows the main components of terminal 1500. Terminal 1500 can be used in the system shown in Figure 1 to implement the functions of the terminal in the above-mentioned method embodiment. As shown in the device figure, terminal 1500 includes a processor, memory, control circuit, antenna, and input and output devices. The processor is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, as well as to control the entire terminal, execute software programs, and process software program data, for example, to support the terminal in executing the actions described in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The control circuit is mainly used to convert digital signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The control circuit and antenna together can also be called a transceiver, which is mainly used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The input and output devices are, for example, a touch screen, a display screen, a keyboard, etc., and are mainly used to receive data input by the user and output data to the user.

[0191] When the terminal is powered on, the processor reads the software program in memory, interprets and executes its instructions, and processes the data. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor processes the data and outputs a digital signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit then processes the digital signal and transmits it as electromagnetic waves via the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal, the RF circuit receives the RF signal via the antenna, converts it into a digital signal, and outputs the digital signal to the processor, which converts the digital signal into data and processes it.

[0192] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for ease of explanation, FIG15 illustrates only one memory and one processor. In an actual terminal, there may be multiple processors and multiple memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or storage device, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0193] As an optional implementation, the processor may include a baseband processor and / or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor is primarily responsible for processing communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU is primarily responsible for controlling the entire terminal, executing software programs, and processing data from software programs. The processor in Figure 15 may integrate the functions of both a baseband processor and a CPU. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the baseband processor and the CPU may also be independent processors interconnected via a bus or other technology. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a terminal may include multiple baseband processors to accommodate different network standards, multiple CPUs to enhance its processing capabilities, and that the various components of the terminal 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 CPU 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, with the processor executing the software program to implement the baseband processing functionality.

[0194] In the embodiments of the present application, the antenna and control circuitry with transceiver functions may be considered as the transceiver unit 1501 of the terminal 1500, for example, for supporting the receiving and transmitting functions described in the terminal implementation method embodiments. The processor with processing functions may be considered as the processor 1502 of the terminal 1500. The terminal 1500 includes the transceiver unit 1501 and the processor 1502. The transceiver unit 1501 may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. For example, the device in the transceiver unit 1501 that implements the receiving function may be considered as a receiving unit, and the device in the transceiver unit 1501 that implements the transmitting function may be considered as a transmitting unit. That is, the transceiver unit 1501 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. For example, the transceiver unit 1501 may not include an antenna, but may only include the circuit portion, so that the antenna is external to the transceiver unit.

[0195] Processor 1502 can be used to execute instructions stored in the memory to control transceiver unit 1501 to receive and / or transmit signals, thereby completing the functions of the terminal in the above-mentioned method embodiment. As an implementation method, the functions of transceiver unit 1501 can be implemented by a transceiver circuit or a dedicated transceiver chip. When performing the transmission and reception of various signals, processor 1502 controls transceiver unit 1501 to implement the reception. Therefore, processor 1502 is the signal transmission and reception decision maker and initiates data transmission and reception operations, while transceiver unit 1501 is the executor of signal transmission and reception.

[0196] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a base station provided in an embodiment of the present application. For ease of explanation, Figure 16 only shows the main components of the base station 1600. The base station 1600 can be applied to the system shown in Figure 1 to implement the functions of the base station in the above method embodiment. As shown in Figure 16, the base station 1600 may include one or more DUs 1610 and one or more CUs 1620. The DU 1610 may include at least one antenna 1611, at least one radio frequency unit 1612, at least one processor 1613, and at least one memory 1614. The CU 1620 may communicate with the core network, and the CU 1620 may include at least one processor 1622 and at least one memory 1621.

[0197] The DU 1610 is primarily responsible for transmitting and receiving RF signals, converting RF signals into baseband signals, and performing some baseband processing functions. The CU 1620 includes at least one processor 1622 and at least one memory 1621. The CU 1620 and DU 1610 can communicate via interfaces. The control plane (CP) interface can be an Fs-C interface, such as F1-C, and the user plane (UP) interface can be an Fs-U interface, such as F1-U.

[0198] CU 1620 is the control center of base station 1600, also known as a processing unit, and is primarily responsible for performing baseband processing functions such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, and spread spectrum. For example, CU 1620 can be used to control base station 1600 to execute the base station operation procedures described in the above method embodiments. DU 1610 and CU 1620 can be physically located together or separately, i.e., a distributed base station.

[0199] The baseband processing functions on the DU 1610 and the CU 1620 can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network. For example, the functions of the PDCP layer and above are set in the CU 1620, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP are set in the DU 1610.

[0200] In an optional embodiment, DU1610 can be composed of one or more single boards. Multiple single boards can jointly support a wireless access network with a single access indication (such as an NR network), or can respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network and an NR network). The memory 1614 is used to store necessary instructions and data, and the processor 1613 is used to control the base station 1600 to perform necessary actions. The memory 1614 and the processor 1613 can serve one or more single boards. In other words, a memory and a processor can be set separately on each single board. It is also possible to set a shared memory and processor for multiple single boards. In addition, necessary circuits can also be set on each single board.

[0201] In an optional embodiment, CU1620 can be composed of one or more single boards, and multiple single boards can jointly support a radio access network with a single access indication (such as an NR network), or can respectively support radio access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network and an NR network). The memory 1621 is used to store necessary instructions and data, and the processor 1622 is used to control the base station 1600 to perform necessary actions, such as controlling the base station 1600 to execute the operating procedures of the base station in the above method embodiment. The memory 1621 and the processor 1622 can serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor can be set separately on each single board. It is also possible to set a shared memory and processor for multiple single boards. In addition, necessary circuits can also be set on each single board.

[0202] It should be understood that base station 1600 shown in Figure 16 is capable of implementing various base station-related processes in the method embodiments. The operations and / or functions of the various modules in base station 1600 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above-described method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description of the above-described method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0203] It should be understood that the base station 1600 shown in Figure 16 is only one possible architecture of a base station and does not constitute any limitation to this application. The method provided in this application is applicable to base stations with other architectures. For example, a base station including a CU, DU, and AAU, or a base station including a BBU and RRU. This application does not limit the specific architecture of the base station.

[0204] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a CPU, or other general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0205] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, mobile hard disks, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also be present in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

[0206] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer, or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0207] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0208] In this application, "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 may 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. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of this application, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0209] It is understood that the various numbers used in the embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

[0210] It should also be understood that in this application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the terminal or base station will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances. It does not limit the time, and does not require the terminal or base station to make a judgment when implementing it, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0211] Finally, it should be noted that the above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Determine a first pilot sequence, where the length of the first pilot sequence is N, and N is a positive integer greater than 1; If N is an odd number, determine a second pilot sequence, wherein the second pilot sequence includes M first sequence values ​​and NM second sequence values, the first sequence value is 0, the second sequence value is not 0, M is a positive integer, and M is an odd number less than N; A pilot signal is generated according to the second pilot sequence.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining of the second pilot sequence comprises: The second pilot sequence is determined according to the first pilot sequence, wherein: The NM second sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence are the same as the NM sequence values ​​in the first pilot sequence.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The M is equal to 1.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first sequence value is the first M sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence, or the first sequence value is the last M sequence values ​​in the second pilot sequence.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: If N is an even number, a pilot signal is generated according to the first pilot sequence.

6. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Determine a pilot sequence length N, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; If N is an odd number, determine a third pilot sequence with a length of NM, the sequence value of the third pilot sequence is not 0, M is a positive integer, and M is an odd number less than N; Determine a fourth pilot sequence according to the third pilot sequence, wherein the fourth pilot sequence includes the third pilot sequence and M first sequence values, and the first sequence value is 0; A pilot signal is generated according to the fourth pilot sequence.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The M is equal to 1.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: The first sequence value is the first M sequence values ​​in the fourth pilot sequence, or the first sequence value is the last M sequence values ​​in the fourth pilot sequence.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: If N is an even number, determining a fifth pilot sequence having a length of N; A pilot signal is generated according to the fifth pilot sequence.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Determine a pilot sequence length N according to the first configuration, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; If N is an odd number, perform one or more of the following steps: Determining that the first configured pilot signal is not supported; Determining not to send the pilot signal of the first configuration; It is determined not to receive the pilot signal of the first configuration.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: If N is an even number, determining a sixth pilot sequence having a length of N; A pilot signal is generated according to the sixth pilot sequence.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The first configuration includes: The frequency domain resources and number of antenna ports corresponding to the pilot signal.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A module for executing the method described in any one of claims 1 to 5, or a module for executing the method described in any one of claims 6 to 9, or a module for executing the method described in any one of claims 10 to 12.

14. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices, wherein the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 through a logic circuit or by executing code instructions, or the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 6 to 9 through a logic circuit or by executing code instructions, or the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 10 to 12 through a logic circuit or by executing code instructions.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by the communication device, implements the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, or implements the method as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9, or implements the method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12.

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