Communication method and apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, a device, a storage medium, and a program product. In the method, on the basis of a first reliability sequence of a first polar code, a coding apparatus determines a first bit position set from a first bit sequence for the first polar code. On the basis a second reliability sequence of a second polar code, the coding apparatus further determines, from a second bit sequence for the second polar code, a second bit position set to be updated. Moreover, on the basis of bit information corresponding to the first bit position set, the coding apparatus updates bit information corresponding to the second bit position set to obtain a third bit sequence. The reliability corresponding to the first bit position set is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second bit position set, or the second bit position set corresponds to a position set which is punctured or shortened in the first polar code. Therefore, the self-decoding time delay of a polar code can be reduced, the decoding efficiency is improved, and the throughput is improved.

Description

Method, apparatus, device, storage medium and program product for communication

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on November 8, 2023, with application number 202311484133.6 and application name “A method, apparatus, device, storage medium and program product for communication”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] Embodiments of the present application generally relate to the field of communications, and more particularly to a method for communications, a terminal device, a network device, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product. Background Art

[0003] Polar codes are the first channel coding scheme capable of achieving Shannon channel capacity, offering excellent error correction performance and low decoding complexity. Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission is a common technology in wireless communications. The combined use of forward error correction (FEC) codes and automatic repeat request (ARQ) methods in HARQ significantly improves spectral efficiency. However, some aspects of polar code-based coding and HARQ transmission require further optimization.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a technical solution for data encoding (e.g., channel coding), enabling faster polar code self-decoding, reduced decoding latency, and more flexible and efficient buffer management for different redundancy versions (RVs). In addition to being applicable to polar codes, the buffer management of the disclosed embodiments can also flexibly adapt to various channel coding schemes, such as low-density parity check (LDPC) codes and turbo codes, and is therefore widely applicable to terminal devices or network-side equipment in future wireless communication scenarios.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a coding device (e.g., a channel coding device). Unless otherwise specified, the coding device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to the coding device itself (e.g., implemented as a terminal device or network device), a component within the coding device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the functions of the coding device. The following description uses the coding device as an example. In this method, the coding device determines a first set of bit positions in a first bit sequence used for the first polarization coding based on a first reliability sequence for the first polarization coding. The coding device determines a second set of bit positions to be updated in a second bit sequence used for the second polarization coding based on a second reliability sequence for the second polarization coding. The coding device updates the bit information corresponding to the second set of bit positions based on the bit information corresponding to the first set of bit positions to obtain a third bit sequence, where (i) the reliability corresponding to the first set of bit positions is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second set of bit positions, or (ii) the second set of bit positions corresponds to a set of positions that are punctured or shortened in the first polarization coding. In this way, the delay of polar coding self-decoding can be reduced, decoding efficiency can be improved, and throughput can be increased.

[0007] In some implementations, the reliability corresponding to the first bit position set is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second bit position set, and one or more of the following conditions apply: the second bit position set is a subset of the reliability-enhanced position set in the second bit sequence of the second polarization code; or the first bit position set is a subset of the candidate copied position set in the first bit sequence of the first polarization code. In this way, the first bit position set or the copied position set, and the second bit position set (i.e., the mixed position set or the punctured / shortened position set) can be reasonably selected, thereby compensating the low-reliability first bit position set with the high-reliability second bit position set, thereby improving overall data transmission reliability.

[0008] In some implementations, the encoding device determines the first bit position set in the following manner. The encoding device determines a candidate set of copied positions based on a first reliability sequence of the first polar code. The encoding device selects at least one position from the candidate set of copied positions as the first bit position set. This allows for appropriate selection of the first bit position set or the copied position set, thereby improving the reliability of information bits transmitted at the less reliable first bit position set and reducing self-decoding latency.

[0009] In some implementations, the encoding device determines the second bit position set in the following manner. The encoding device determines a reliability-enhanced position set based on the second reliability sequence of the second polar coding. The encoding device selects at least one position from the reliability-enhanced position set as the second bit position set. In this way, positions with high reliability can be selected as the second bit position set or a mixed position set, thereby improving information bit transmission reliability and reducing self-decoding latency.

[0010] In some implementations, the second set of bit positions corresponds to a set of punctured or shortened positions in the first polarization code, and the first set of bit positions is a subset of a set of candidate copied positions in the first bit sequence of the first polarization code. The length of the second transmitted data corresponding to the second polarization code is greater than the length of the first transmitted data corresponding to the first polarization code. In this way, the punctured or shortened positions in the first polarization code are fully utilized to allocate the second set of bit positions, thereby improving information bit transmission reliability and reducing self-decoding delay.

[0011] In some implementations, the encoding device determines the first bit position set in the following manner. The encoding device determines a candidate set of copied positions based on a first reliability sequence of the first polar code. The encoding device selects at least one position from the candidate set of copied positions as the first bit position set. This allows for appropriate selection of the first bit position set or the copied position set, thereby improving the reliability of information bits transmitted at the less reliable first bit position set and reducing self-decoding latency.

[0012] In some implementations, the encoding device determines the second bit position set in the following manner. The encoding device determines a reliable boost position set based on a second reliability sequence of the second polarization code. The encoding device determines a shortening or puncturing position set for the first polarization code. The encoding device determines the second bit position set based on the reliable boost position set and the puncturing or shortening position set. In this way, the puncturing or shortening positions in the first polarization code are fully utilized to allocate the second bit position set, thereby improving information bit transmission reliability and reducing self-decoding delay.

[0013] In some implementations, in this method, the encoding device further determines the starting position of the first redundancy version based on the first parameter of the first redundancy version. The encoding device transmits the first redundancy version based on the starting position. This allows for flexible determination of the starting position of the first redundancy version, combining redundancy versions with rate adaptation, improving data transmission flexibility and simplifying implementation.

[0014] In some implementations, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: the transmission length of the first redundant version, the length of the encoded message data corresponding to the first redundant version, a code rate threshold, an encoding code length, or determining the starting position of the first redundant version based on the starting position and transmission length of the previous redundant version. This allows for flexible adaptation to different requirements such as encoding code length, code rate, shortening, or puncturing, thereby improving flexibility.

[0015] In some implementations, the method performed by the encoding device further includes: skipping transmission of the second redundancy version if the transmission length of the second redundancy version is less than the length of polar-coded message data, where the polar coding includes the first polar coding or the second polar coding. This avoids transmitting a redundancy version that cannot be self-decodable, prevents invalid data transmission, and conserves channel resources.

[0016] In some implementations, in this method, the encoding device further selects a ring buffer from among multiple ring buffers based on the redundant version to be transmitted. The encoding device determines data for the redundant version in the selected ring buffer. This allows selection of an appropriate ring buffer from among the multiple ring buffers for transmitting the redundant version, improving the flexibility of ring buffer management.

[0017] In some implementations, the encoding device selecting a ring buffer from among the multiple ring buffers includes: the encoding device selecting a ring buffer from among the multiple ring buffers based on a rate matching scheme for the redundancy version, where the rate matching scheme includes any one of the following: a shortening scheme, a puncturing scheme, a shortening and puncturing scheme, or a repetition scheme. In this manner, an appropriate ring buffer can be selected from among the multiple ring buffers based on the rate matching scheme for transmitting the redundancy version, thereby improving the flexibility of ring buffer management.

[0018] In some implementations, the encoding device selects a circular buffer from among multiple circular buffers in the following manner: the encoding device selects a first buffer to send the redundant version data based on a determination that the transmission length of the redundant version is less than the encoding length and that the ratio of the length of the encoded message data to the transmission length is greater than or equal to a code rate threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the encoding device selects a second buffer to send the redundant version data based on a determination that the transmission length of the redundant version is less than the encoding length and that the ratio of the length of the message data to the transmission length is less than or equal to a code rate threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the encoding device selects a third buffer to send the redundant version data based on a determination that the transmission length of the redundant version is greater than or equal to the encoding length. In this way, the encoding device can flexibly determine which circular buffer to send the redundant version based on the transmission length of the redundant version, the encoding length, and the length of the encoded message data, thereby improving the flexibility of circular buffer management.

[0019] In some implementations, the encoding device selects a ring buffer from among multiple ring buffers, including one or more of the following: The encoding device selects a first buffer to send transmit data based on determining that a code length corresponding to a redundancy version is equal to a length of a first polarization code. The encoding device selects a second buffer to send transmit data based on determining that a code length is equal to a length of a second polarization code. The encoding device selects a third buffer to send transmit data based on determining that a code length is equal to a sum of a length of the first polarization code and a length of at least one second polarization code. In this manner, the polarization code length can be used to flexibly determine the redundancy version to be sent by the ring buffer, thereby improving the flexibility of ring buffer management.

[0020] In some implementations, the method is performed by a first device, and the method further includes: sending, to a second device, indication information indicating that a buffer among the plurality of buffers has been selected. This allows synchronization between the first and second devices, or between an encoding device and a decoding device (e.g., a channel decoding device), when processing redundant versions, thereby enabling reliable transmission of the redundant versions.

[0021] In some implementations, the indication information includes: a field in downlink control information (DCI) defined to indicate the selected buffer among multiple buffers, or a redundant version index (RV_idx) of the DCI. This allows for flexible use of different signaling methods to carry the indication information, while maintaining good compatibility with standards.

[0022] In a second aspect, a device is provided. The device may be the encoding device in the above-mentioned method embodiment (e.g., implemented as a terminal device or network device), or a component in the encoding device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functionality of the first device. The device includes: a first bit position set determination module, configured to determine a first bit position set in a first bit sequence used for the first polarization coding based on a first reliability sequence for the first polarization coding. The device also includes: a second bit position set determination module, configured to determine a second bit position set to be updated in a second bit sequence based on a second reliability sequence for the second polarization coding, wherein the second bit sequence is used for the second polarization coding. The device also includes: a third bit sequence acquisition module, configured to update bit information of a second bit position set based on bit information of the first bit position set to obtain a third bit sequence, wherein (i) the reliability corresponding to the first bit position set is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second bit position set, or (ii) the second bit position set corresponds to a set of positions that are punctured or shortened in the first polarization coding. In this way, the delay of self-decoding the polarization code can be reduced, the decoding efficiency can be improved, and the throughput can be increased.

[0023] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the encoding device in the above-described method embodiment, or a chip disposed in the encoding device. The communication device includes a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program or instructions. When the processor executes the computer program or instructions, the data compression device executes the method performed by the encoding device in the above-described method embodiment.

[0024] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores machine-executable instructions. When the machine-executable instructions are executed, the method performed by the encoding device in the above aspects is implemented.

[0025] In a fifth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes: computer program code, which, when run, enables the method performed by the encoding device in the above aspects to be executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG1A illustrates a communication system in which embodiments of the present application may be implemented.

[0027] FIG1B is a block diagram of a communication system.

[0028] FIG1C is a schematic diagram of polarization coding.

[0029] FIG1D is a schematic diagram of polarization coded IR-HARQ.

[0030] FIG1E is a schematic diagram of high-latency self-decoding of polar codes.

[0031] FIG. 1F is a schematic diagram showing a copied position set located after a reliability-enhanced position set.

[0032] FIG. 1G is a schematic diagram showing a partially redundant version that cannot be self-decoded.

[0033] FIG1H is a schematic diagram showing a redundant version that cannot flexibly perform rate matching.

[0034] FIG2 is a flow chart of a channel coding method in an embodiment of the present application.

[0035] FIG3A is a schematic diagram of low-latency self-decoding of polar codes in an embodiment of the present application.

[0036] FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram showing that the copied position set is located before the reliability-enhanced position set in an embodiment of the present application.

[0037] FIG4A is a schematic diagram of low-latency self-decoding of polar codes in another embodiment of the present application.

[0038] FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of determining a reliability-enhanced position set using shortened or punched positions in an embodiment of the present application.

[0039] FIG5A is a schematic diagram of a redundancy version sending starting point under different rate matching modes according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0040] FIG5B is a schematic diagram of a redundant version sending starting point table in an embodiment of the present application.

[0041] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of skipping a redundant version that cannot be self-decodable in an embodiment of the present application.

[0042] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of different rate matching modes corresponding to different ring buffers in an embodiment of the present application.

[0043] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of selecting a ring buffer according to the channel-coded message data length and the sending length of the redundant version in an embodiment of the present application.

[0044] FIG9 shows a simplified block diagram of an example device of a possible implementation method of an embodiment of the present application.

[0045] FIG10 shows a simplified block diagram of a communication device according to a possible implementation method in an embodiment of the present application.

[0046] FIG11 shows a simplified block diagram of a network device in a possible implementation manner of an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more clear, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The specific operation methods and functional descriptions in the method embodiments can also be applied to the device embodiments or system embodiments.

[0048] As mentioned above, polar codes are the first channel coding scheme capable of achieving Shannon channel capacity, with excellent error correction performance and low decoding complexity. Hybrid automatic repeat request transmission is a common technology in wireless communications. Hybrid automatic repeat request (Hybrid ARQ) combines forward error correction (FEC) codes with automatic repeat request (ARQ) methods to significantly improve spectrum efficiency. Using polar codes as FEC for hybrid automatic repeat request requires optimization of resource scheduling.

[0049] Incremental Redundancy Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (IR-HARQ) is a retransmission method for polar codes. Its concept is that after an initial decoding error occurs, the encoder sends retransmission bits. The decoder then combines the retransmission bits with the initial bits to form a long code, which is then decoded again. IR-HARQ achieves higher coding gain than simply repeating the initial bits.

[0050] Figure 1A is a communication system in which an embodiment of the present application can be implemented. As shown in Figure 1A, the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application can be applied to a wireless communication system 100. In the wireless communication system 100, a terminal device 101 and a network device 103 are shown. In the wireless communication system 100, a network device 103 such as a base station (BS) provides communication services to a terminal device such as a mobile station (MS). The base station includes a baseband unit (BBU) and a remote radio unit (RRU). The BBU and RRU can be placed in different places, for example: the RRU is remote and placed in an area with high traffic volume, and the BBU is placed in a central computer room. The BBU and RRU can also be placed in the same computer room. The BBU and RRU can also be different components under one rack.

[0051] The wireless communication systems in the embodiments of the present application include but are not limited to: Narrow Band-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), Time Division-Synchronization Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), three major application scenarios of 5G mobile communication systems: eMBB, URLLC, and eMTC, as well as 6G.

[0052] It should be understood that the above wireless communication system is applicable to both high-frequency scenarios (above 6G) such as millimeter waves and low-frequency scenarios (sub6G). Application scenarios of wireless communication systems include, but are not limited to, fifth-generation systems (5G), new radio (NR) communication systems, and future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN) systems.

[0053] The terminal device 101 shown above can be user equipment (UE), terminal, access terminal, terminal unit, terminal station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile terminal, wireless communication device, terminal agent or terminal device, etc. The terminal device 110 can also be a communication chip with a communication module, or a vehicle with communication function, or a vehicle-mounted device (such as a vehicle-mounted communication device, a vehicle-mounted communication chip), etc. The terminal device 101 can have a wireless transceiver function, which can communicate with one or more network devices of one or more communication systems (such as wireless communication) and receive network services provided by the network devices, where the network devices include but are not limited to the network device (103) shown in the figure.

[0054] Among them, the terminal device 101 can be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc.

[0055] The terminal device 101 can specifically be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc.

[0056] In addition, the terminal device 101 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted. The terminal device 101 can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship, etc.). The terminal device 101 can also be deployed in the air (such as an airplane, a balloon, and a satellite, etc.). The network device (103) can be an access network device (or access network point). Among them, the access network device refers to a device that provides network access functions, such as a radio access network (RAN) base station, etc. The network device (103) can specifically include a base station (BS), or a base station and a wireless resource management device for controlling the base station, etc. The network device (103) can also include a relay station (relay device), an access point, a base station in a 5G network or an NR base station, a base station in a future evolved PLMN network, etc. The network device (103) can be a wearable device or a vehicle-mounted device. The network device (103) can also be a communication chip with a communication module.

[0057] For example, the network device (103) includes but is not limited to: a base station (g nodeB, gNB) in 5G, an evolved node B (eNB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a radio network controller (RNC), a wireless controller under a cloud radio access network (CRAN) system, a base station controller (BSC), a home base station (for example, home evolved nodeB, or home node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a transmission point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a mobile switching center, and may also be an evolutionary NB (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, a base station device in a future 5G network or an access network device in a future evolved PLMN network, or a wearable device or a vehicle-mounted device.

[0058] In some deployments, network devices may include a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The network device may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements some of the network device's functions, while the DU implements some of the network device's functions. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implementing the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services, and implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and active antenna-related functions. Because RRC layer information ultimately becomes PHY layer information, or is converted from PHY layer information, in this architecture, higher-layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by the DU+AAU. It is understandable that the network device may be a device including one or more of a CU node, a DU node, and an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into a network device in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or the CU may be divided into a network device in a core network (core network, CN), and this application does not limit this. Examples of network devices include, but are not limited to, Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), next generation NodeB (gNB), transmit receive point (TRP), remote radio unit (RRU), radio head (RH), remote radio head (RRH), IAB node, low power node, such as a femto node, a micro node, a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS), a network controlled repeater, and the like.

[0059] In addition, the network device (103) can be connected to a core network (CN) device, which can be used to provide core network services for the access network device (103) and the terminal device (101). The core network device can correspond to different devices in different systems. For example, in 3G, the core network device can correspond to the serving GPRS support node (SGSN) of the general packet radio service (GPRS) and / or the gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) of GPRS. In 4G, the core network device can correspond to the mobility management entity (MME) and / or the serving gateway (S-GW). In 5G, the core network device can correspond to the access and mobility management function (AMF), the session management function (SMF) or the user plane function (UPF).

[0060] Figure 1B is a block diagram of a communication system. In the communication system 110 shown in Figure 1B , at the transmitting end, data from a source 111 undergoes source coding 113, channel coding 115, and modulation 117, resulting in a modulated signal that enters a channel 118. At the receiving end, the signal received from channel 118 undergoes demodulation 119, channel decoding 121, and source decoding 123, resulting in data from a destination 125. The data from destination 125 is designed to replicate the data from source 111 as closely as possible. Source 111, source coding 113, channel coding 115, and modulation 117 can be implemented in terminal device 101 of Figure 1A , while demodulation 119, channel decoding 121, source decoding 123, and destination 125 can be implemented in network device 103. Alternatively, the information source 111, information source coding 113, channel coding 115, and modulation 117 may be implemented in the network device 103 of FIG1A , and the demodulation 119, channel decoding 121, information source decoding 123, and information sink 125 may be implemented in the terminal device 101. Referring to FIG1B , some embodiments of the present application improve the coding technology primarily involving channel coding 115 and channel decoding 121.

[0061] Figure 1C shows a schematic diagram of polar coding. Polar codes are the first channel coding scheme rigorously proven to achieve Shannon channel capacity. They offer excellent error correction performance and low decoding complexity. They have been selected by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as the coding scheme for control channels in 5G enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) scenarios.

[0062] Figure 1C shows a schematic diagram of 8×8 polar code encoding with 8 bits of input and 8 bits of output, where ⊕ represents a bit XOR operation. The bits to be encoded on the left side of Figure 1C are divided into two categories: frozen bits and information bits (data bits) according to the reliability ranking of the corresponding bit subchannels. Frozen bits can also be called fixed bits. Bit positions with lower reliability are set as frozen bits, for example, they can be set to 0, which is known to both the encoding device and the decoding device in actual transmission. Bit positions with higher reliability are set as information bits, which are used to carry the information to be transmitted. As shown in Figure 1C, u_7, u_6, u_5, and u_3 are the four bit positions with the highest reliability and are set as information bits (data bits). u_4, u_2, u_1, and u_0 are the four bit positions with the lowest reliability and are set as frozen bits (frozen bits).

[0063] With polar codes being included in the 5G standard, research on polar code decoding has become a hot topic in communications. Currently, mainstream polar code decoding methods can be divided into two categories based on their decoding timing: sequential decoding and non-sequential decoding. Sequential decoding involves decoding based on the natural timing of the polarization design. Non-sequential decoding, on the other hand, involves the decoder outputting decoding results in parallel based on other polar code structures (such as the Tanner graph and Trellis graph). Currently, the main sequential polar code decoding algorithms include Successive Cancellation (SC) decoding, Successive Cancellation List (SCL) decoding, Successive Cancellation Stack (SCS) decoding, and CRC-Aided Successive Cancellation List (CA-SCL) decoding. Non-sequential decoding methods include Belief Propagation (BP) decoding. SC decoding has the worst decoding performance. SCL decoding offers significant improvements over the previous approach. Combined with CA-SCL after CRC checking, polar codes can outperform LDPC and Turbo codes. Therefore, SCL and CA-SCL decoding are currently the primary methods used in practical systems.

[0064] Polar codes can be used for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission, such as incremental redundancy hybrid ARQ (IR-HARQ), where polar codes can support self-decoding.

[0065] HARQ combines forward error correction (FEC) codes with automatic repeat request (ARQ) to significantly improve spectrum efficiency. The basic workflow is as follows: First, the encoder sends a symbol sequence corresponding to a coded packet as an initial transmission. The decoder receives this symbol sequence and attempts to decode it. If the decoder successfully decodes, it returns an ACK. Based on the ACK, the encoder stops transmitting. If the decoder fails to decode, it buffers the received symbol sequence or the demodulated soft information corresponding to the symbol sequence and returns a NACK or no response. If the encoder receives a NACK or no ACK, it continues to transmit a re-encoded bit sequence as incremental redundancy (IR). The decoder performs joint decoding using the symbol sequences received from both receptions. Compared to HARQ transmission, which requires multiple transmissions to be sent all at once, HARQ allows the encoder to stop transmitting if the decoder successfully decodes the data during transmission, thereby improving system throughput. If the initial transmission is successful, the encoder does not need to retransmit, saving spectrum resources and improving spectrum efficiency. If the initial transmission fails, the decoding device will jointly decode the data received twice and can still achieve the error correction performance of the long code.

[0066] Figure 1D is a schematic diagram of polar coded IR-HARQ. In diagram 140, 141 is an initial transmission polar code, or U code, of length 8. 142 is a retransmission polar code, or V code, of length 8. For example, the initial transmission input data bit sequence, such as 143, is subjected to initial transmission polar coding to obtain an initial transmission coded bit sequence, such as 144. In the initial transmission input data bit sequence, such as 143, solid dots represent information bits, and hollow dots represent frozen bits. In the initial transmission polar code 141, in the middle columns other than the initial transmission input bit sequence and the initial transmission coded bit sequence, dots with two inputs, such as 145, represent bit exclusive-or operations. For example, the retransmission input data bit sequence, such as 146, is subjected to retransmission polar code encoding or V code encoding to obtain a retransmission coded bit sequence, such as 147. In the retransmission input data bit sequence, such as 146, solid dots represent information bits, and hollow dots represent frozen bits. Furthermore, in the data retransmission input bit sequence, information bit 152 is obtained by copying information bit 149 of the initial transmission polarization code and is the same information bit. Information bit 151 is obtained by copying information bit 150 of the initial transmission polarization code and is the same information bit. In the retransmission polarization code 142, in the middle columns other than the retransmission input bit sequence and the retransmission coded bit sequence, the points with two inputs, such as 148, represent bit exclusive-OR operations. Parallel connection lines, such as 153, are provided between the retransmission polarization code 142 and the initial transmission polarization code 141 to fully incorporate the information of the initial transmission polarization code 141 into the retransmission polarization code 142. Due to the existence of the parallel connection lines, information bits 151 and 152 in the retransmission polarization code are exclusive-ORed with the information bits in the corresponding positions of the initial transmission polarization code.

[0067] During decoding, if the initially transmitted polarization code 141 is decoded separately, 149 and 150 are information bits. If the initially transmitted polarization code 141 and the retransmitted polarization code 142 are decoded jointly, they can be combined to form a polar code with a length of 16. Among them, 151 and 152 are information bits. When decoding 149 and 150, the results are obtained by using the same 151 and 152. Therefore, 149 and 150 become known values ​​and can be understood as dynamically frozen bits.

[0068] Through this framework, whether decoding the initial transmission polarization code 141 alone or jointly decoding the initial transmission polarization code 141 and the retransmission polarization code 142, the information bits are always carried in a highly reliable location, ensuring optimized (e.g., optimal) decoding performance. From the perspective of code rate allocation, the above one-to-one mapping relationship is equivalent to "moving" the information bits of the initial transmission polarization code 141 to the retransmission polarization code 142, achieving optimized (e.g., optimal) code rate allocation between the initial transmission polarization code 141 and the retransmission polarization code 142.

[0069] Polar coding IR-HARQ generates a retransmitted version, or redundant version (RV), of the retransmitted bits. Polar coding can be self-decodable. This self-decodable redundant version eliminates the need to combine the originally transmitted bits with the long code. Instead, the originally transmitted message bits can be decoded using only the currently retransmitted bits, which may result in a certain performance loss. For example, the bits sent by the initially transmitted polar code 141 can be called RV0, and the bits sent by the retransmitted polar code 142 can be called RV1. If decoding of RV0 fails, IR-HARQ will request the transmission of RV1, combining RV0 and RV1 to form a longer code for decoding. However, IR-HARQ, with its self-decoding properties, can recover all message bits using only RV1. While this may yield lower performance than using both RV0 and RV1, RV1's self-decoding properties ensure retransmission efficiency when RV0 experiences strong noise interference (such as in extreme cases where RV0 is completely unreceived).

[0070] FIG1E is a schematic diagram of high-latency self-decoding of polar codes, wherein Example 160 specifically illustrates a polar code RV generation method with self-decoding characteristics.

[0071] The encoding matrix for RV0 is the lower triangular matrix shown in the lower right subblock. Assume that RV0's transmit code length is N = 4 and the number of message bits is K = 3. These three message bits are carried at positions {2, 3, 4}. To implement IR-HARQ, RV1 and RV0 must be combined to form a long polar code of length 2N. Therefore, the message positions for RV1 can be constructed based on the message set for the polar code of length 2N. As shown in Figure 1E, as the code length increases, the K message positions originally ranked high in reliability (e.g., most reliable) change. Position 165, where u3 is located in RV0, becomes less reliable than the corresponding position at position 167 after the code length is doubled. The new message set changes from {2, 3, 4} + N to {2, 2 + N, 4 + N}. The information bit at position 165 of u3 in RV0 is copied and transmitted at position 167 in RV1. Due to the recursive construction of polar codes, the sub-blocks in the polar code generator matrix with a code length of 2N are all identical. Position 167 in RV1 is identical to the position of u2 in RV0 in the N-length code block. Since there is a parallel connection line 153 (see Figure 1D) between RV0's initially transmitted polar code and RV1's retransmitted polar code, this means that the codeword sent by RV1 is actually equal to the encoded codeword of the message bits u2⊕u3,u3,u4. After receiving the message bits corresponding to RV1, the decoding device can decode {u2⊕u3,u3,u4}. However, the data sent by RV0 is {u2,u3,u4}. Therefore, after RV1 decodes the three message bits u2⊕u3, u3,u4, it needs to XOR the first message bit u2⊕u3 with the second message bit u3 to recover the message actually sent by RV0.

[0072] The IR-HARQ shown in FIG1E has self-decoding capabilities, but because the copied position set 165 is located after the reliability-enhanced position set (or hybrid position set) 167, the equivalent copied position set needs to be decoded to recover the true original message. This IR-HARQ does not consider the relative positions of the hybrid position set and the copied position set when selecting message bits, and its decoding delay is relatively high and needs to be further reduced. FIG1F is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present application in which the copied position set is located after the reliability-enhanced position set. In 170, 171 is the copied position, corresponding to 165 in FIG1E, and 173 is the reliability-enhanced position set (or hybrid position set). In 170, the bit positions in the originally transmitted polar code RV0 and the retransmitted polar code RV1 are overlapped to facilitate comparison. In the present disclosure, the front-to-back relationship between the copied position and the reliability-enhanced position or hybrid position is consistent with the decoding order of the polar code, that is, the top-to-bottom order in FIG1E and FIG1F. This order is also referred to in the subsequent drawings, and the present disclosure will not be repeated here.

[0073] FIG. 1G is a schematic diagram showing a partially redundant version that cannot be self-decoded.

[0074] Different redundancy versions may use different rate matching schemes, lacking a guaranteed self-decoding order for the redundancy versions. For example, if K = 100 message bits are sent using multiple retransmissions, the mother code length of each redundancy version, i.e., the length after polar coding, is N = 128. After rate matching, the transmission length of RV1 is 118, with the last 10 bits shortened. The transmission length of RV2 is 98, with the first 30 bits punctured. The transmission length of RV3 is 108, with the last 20 bits shortened. The transmission length of RV4 is 108, with the last 20 bits shortened. If the four redundancy versions (RV1, RV2, RV3, and RV4) are sent directly in the order 181, RV2's transmission length of 98 is less than the number of message bits in the initial transmission (100), making RV2 impossible to self-decode, and thus failing to guarantee RV2's self-decoding properties. In other words, direct sequential transmission of RVs fails to consider the self-decoding requirements of the redundancy versions.

[0075] Figure 1H is a schematic diagram illustrating a redundant version that cannot flexibly perform rate matching. At 190, a table of transmission starting points corresponding to different redundant versions in one solution is shown. The transmission starting point is fixed and independent of the rate matching scheme. This does not consider how to set the retransmission starting point for the redundant version under different rate matching schemes. Therefore, the redundant version does not have the flexibility to adapt to different transmission rates.

[0076] In summary, the decoding delay of self-decodeable polar codes needs to be reduced, the redundant version transmission order may not support self-decoding, and the redundant version transmission starting point supports flexible rate matching. Moreover, the buffer management of the redundant version transmission process based on the circular buffer can also be optimized. The embodiments of the present application provide a technical solution for channel coding, which can provide faster polar code self-decoding, reduce decoding delay, and make buffer management for different redundant versions more flexible and efficient. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, a low-latency bit mapping method that supports self-decoding is adopted to reduce the decoding delay of self-decoding; a new redundant version transmission starting point table is adopted to support flexible rate adaptation; and a bit selection method based on a multi-sequence circular buffer is adopted to flexibly support multiple redundant version transmission scenarios. In addition to being applicable to polar codes, the buffer management of the embodiments of the present disclosure can also flexibly adapt to various different channel coding methods such as low-density parity check codes (LDPC) and turbo codes, and can be widely used in terminal devices or network-side devices in future wireless communication scenarios.

[0077] FIG2 is a flow chart of a channel coding method in an embodiment of the present application. The process 200 in FIG2 can be executed in a coding device. In some embodiments, the coding device can be, for example, the terminal device 101, the network device 103 in FIG1A, or any other communication device or data processing device not shown in FIG1A. The method can be performed by a coding device. Unless otherwise specified, the coding device in the embodiment of the present application can refer to the coding device itself (for example, implemented as a terminal device, a network device), or a component in the coding device (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the channel coding function. The following description is given by taking the execution subject as an example of a coding device.

[0078] In process 200, at 210, the encoding device determines a first set of bit positions in a first bit sequence used for the first polarization code based on a first reliability sequence for the first polarization code. At 220, the encoding device determines a second set of bit positions to be updated in a second bit sequence used for the second polarization code based on a second reliability sequence for the second polarization code. At 230, the encoding device updates the bit information corresponding to the second set of bit positions based on the bit information corresponding to the first set of bit positions to obtain a third bit sequence. Here, (i) the reliability corresponding to the first set of bit positions is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second set of bit positions, or (ii) the second set of bit positions corresponds to a set of positions that are punctured or shortened in the first polarization code. In this way, the delay in self-decoding the second polarization code can be reduced, decoding efficiency can be improved, and throughput can be increased.

[0079] Figure 3A is a schematic diagram of low-latency self-decoding of polar codes in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3B is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present application in which the copied position set precedes the reliability-enhanced position set. Figure 3B also corresponds to the case in which the copied position set precedes the mixed position set. In Figure 3B, the bit positions of RV0 corresponding to the initially transmitted polar code 401 and RV1 corresponding to the retransmitted polar code 403 in Figure 3A are overlapped to facilitate comparison.

[0080] Embodiment 300 in FIG3A and embodiment 320 in FIG3B correspond to (i) in process 200, where the reliability corresponding to the first bit position set is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second bit position set. In this case, the copied position is located before the reliability-enhanced position. Specifically, the reliability corresponding to the first bit position set refers to the reliability corresponding to any bit position in the first bit position set, which is lower than the reliability corresponding to any bit position in the second bit position set. In 300, when the RV1 message set and the RV0 message set are the same size, this means that the bits at some positions of RV1, such as the second bit position set 311 in the second bit sequence 307 of the second polarization code 303, i.e., the data at the mixed position set 311, are part of the message bits of RV0, such as the exclusive OR value of u2 at the copied position set 309 of the first bit sequence 305 of the first polarization code 301 and u4 at the mixed position set 311, i.e., u2 ⊕ u4. Therefore, the messages decoded by RV1 are u2, u3, and u2 ⊕ u4. As shown in Figure 3B, at this time, the bits on the mixed position set 323 need to be located behind the copied position set 321, so that when decoding the mixed bit, there is no need to wait for the bit value of RV0 at this position to be directly decoded. For u2⊕u4, u2 has been decoded in advance, so u4 can be directly decoded without waiting and generating additional decoding delay. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the copied position set 309 and the mixed position set 311 only include 1 bit. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the copied position set 309 and the mixed position set 311 may also include multiple bits, such as the 2 bits in Figure 1D, etc., and the present disclosure does not limit this.

[0081] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the following method can be used to determine the first bit position set (copied position set) and the second bit position set (mixed position set), and the reliability of the first bit position set is made lower than the reliability of the second bit position set, that is, the copied position set is located before the mixed position set and before the reliability-enhanced position set, thereby achieving low-latency self-decoding.

[0082] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the encoding device first determines a message set A corresponding to the already transmitted RV0. If, according to the mother code length N corresponding to the already transmitted RV0 and the number of message bits K, K message bit position sets are determined according to the first reliability sequence of length N, denoted as A. Then, the encoding device determines a message set B corresponding to the current RV1 in IR-HARQ. For example, K message bit position sets are determined according to the second reliability sequence of length N, denoted as B. Then, the encoding device determines a reliability improvement position set C', for example, C' = B ≤ N. Then, the encoding device determines a candidate copy position set D'. Among them, the encoding device can first determine the position set that does not need to be copied in the already transmitted RV0, denoted as A' = ((A + N) ∩ B) – N, and then determine the candidate copy position set D' = A | A'. Then, the encoding device filters out at least one position from the candidate copy position set D' as the copy position set, that is, the first bit position set D = D', where D' < C'. The selection basis can be the reliability ranking in the candidate copy position set D', for example, the position with a relatively low reliability ranking (for example, the lowest reliability). The copy position set or the first bit position set D corresponds to 309 in FIG. 3A and 321 in FIG. 3B. Then, the encoding device obtains a mixed position set, that is, the second bit position set C. For example, the encoding device can select at least one position with a relatively high reliability ranking (for example, the highest reliability), for example, |D| positions, from the reliability improvement position set C' as the mixed position set C. The mixed position set or the second bit position set corresponds to 311 in FIG. 3A and 323 in FIG. 3B. Then, the encoding device updates the messages on the mixed position set C, and performs an exclusive OR operation on the message bits on the position set D that needs to be copied and the message bits on the reliability improvement position set C to obtain u_C = u_C ⊕ u_D, corresponding to u2 ⊕ u4 in FIG. 3A. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the copy position set is a subset of the IR-HARQ candidate copy position set, and the mixed position set is a subset of the reliability improvement position set. In this way, the reliability of the first bit position set can be made lower than the reliability of the second bit position set, that is, the copy position set is located before the mixed position set and also before the reliability improvement position set, thereby achieving low-latency self-decoding. In this embodiment summary, the situation shown in FIGS. 1E and 1F, where the copy position set is located after the mixed position set or the reliability improvement position set, resulting in additional decoding latency, will not occur.

[0083] Figure 4A is a schematic diagram of low-latency self-decoding of polar codes in another embodiment of the present application. Figure 4B is a schematic diagram of using shortening or puncturing locations to determine reliability enhancement locations in an embodiment of the present application. In Figure 4B, the bit positions of RV0 corresponding to the initially transmitted polar code 401 and RV1 corresponding to the retransmitted polar code 403 in Figure 4A are overlapped to facilitate comparison.

[0084] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the size of the union of the RV1 message set and the RV0 message set is greater than the size of the RV0 message set, which means that there are non-overlapping positions in the RV1 message set and the RV0 message set, and using these positions to place the copied bits can avoid aliasing. Embodiment 420 in Figure 4B can be regarded as a special form of embodiment 320 in Figure 3B, that is, the reliability improvement position set 423 corresponds to the punctured or shortened position 405 in RV0. There are no bits at these positions, so there is no aliasing at the mixed positions. Therefore, there is no need to wait during self-decoding, and low-latency decoding is achieved.

[0085] In the disclosed embodiment, the encoding device first determines a message set A corresponding to the transmitted RV0. For example, based on the length N of the polar coding mother code corresponding to the transmitted RV0 and the number of message bits K, a set of K message bit positions, denoted as A, is determined based on a first reliability sequence of length N. The encoding device then determines a message set B corresponding to the current RV1 under IR-HARQ. For example, based on a second reliability sequence of length N, a set of K message bit positions, denoted as B, is determined. The encoding device then determines a set of reliability-enhanced positions C', for example, C' = B ≤ N. The encoding device then determines a set of candidate copied positions D'. For example, the encoding device first determines a set of position numbers in the transmitted RV0 that do not need to be copied, denoted as A' = ((A+N)∩B)–N, and then determines a set of candidate copied positions D' = A|A'. The encoding device then determines a set of puncturing positions or shortening positions Q corresponding to the transmitted RV, for example, Q = q > 0, where q is a rate matching sequence. The encoding device then determines a second set of bit positions or a mixed set of positions C = C'∩Q. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second bit position set may be a "partial" rate matching position, that is, a portion of the position shortened by the puncturing position, and there may be unselected rate matching positions. For example, the encoding device may filter out the first bit position set or the copied position set D from the candidate copied position set D', for example, taking the |E| positions with the lowest reliability ranking (for example, the lowest reliability) in D' as D. Then, the encoding device updates the message on the mixed position set C, and copies the message bits on the copied position set D to the mixed position set C, that is, u C =u D .

[0086] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the message set size corresponding to the current RV1 is larger than the message set size of the sent RV0, the mixed position set is the puncture position or shortened position of RV0, and the copied position set is a subset of the IR-HARQ candidate copied position set, thereby achieving low-latency decoding.

[0087] FIG5A is a schematic diagram of a redundancy version sending starting point under different rate matching modes according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0088] In the disclosed embodiment, a redundant version transmission start point table determines the redundant version transmission start point, supporting redundant version transmission under different rate matching conditions. The same redundant version can have different starting points. In 510, both RV0 and RV1 are punctured, and the redundant version starting point is delayed relative to the data storage start point. In 520, both RV0 and RV1 are shortened, and the redundant version starting point is the same as the data storage start point. However, due to the shortened length of the transmitted data, the end portion of the data is not transmitted. In 530, RV0 is shortened, and the RV0 starting point is the same as the data storage start point, and the end portion of the data is not transmitted. In addition, RV1 is punctured, and the RV1 starting point is delayed relative to the data storage start point.

[0089] The length of the circular buffer is determined by the number of redundant versions and the mother code length N. Each redundant version has the same length, equal to the mother code length N of the polar code. The starting point of each redundant version is determined based on the rate matching method of the current redundant version and is a function of the current transmission length E. Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of the redundant version transmission starting point table in an embodiment of the present application. The transmission starting point table 543 of the disclosed embodiment uses a different structure from the transmission starting point table 541 of one solution, allowing for flexible determination of the transmission starting point and transmission length of the redundant version. Specific RV data is stored in the circular buffer 545.

[0090] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the sending starting point table 543 provides the starting positions of different redundancy versions, where rv id =0 means initial transmission, rv id =1 indicates the first retransmission, rv id =2 means the second retransmission, rv id =3 indicates the third retransmission. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the maximum number of transmissions given by the sending starting point table 543 is 4. The sending starting point table has the following external features. The sending starting point table 543 includes a first parameter. The first parameter includes the sending length information of the current redundant version, such as the physical resource information corresponding to the current redundant version. The first parameter in the sending starting point table 543 may also include information about the number of message bits of the current redundancy version, such as the code rate of the current redundancy version. The first parameter in the sending starting point table 543 may also include a preset code rate and code length threshold, such as R th =7 / 16, N=256. The starting position of the current redundant version is related to the starting position of the previous redundant version and the transmission length, for example, K 0,3 =K 0,2 +E2. In the sending starting point table 543, the current redundancy version may have multiple optional starting positions, for example, the current code rate is less than or equal to the given threshold R th When the rate matching mode is puncturing, the starting point of retransmission can be sent from the puncturing position of the previous transmission, and after filling the mother code length that was not sent in the previous transmission, it can be sent from the second retransmission starting point specified by the current redundancy version. The sending starting point table 543 can determine the rv id The starting point of the redundant version For example, according to the current rv id Sure The line where the current rv id Code rate or code length determination The column where The value of K 0,0 The first value of the subscript is fixed to 0, indicating the starting point of transmission; the second value of the subscript represents rv_id, that is, the retransmission version number, and the value range of rv_id is {0,1,2,3}. id =0 represents the initial transmission, rv id =1 represents the first retransmission, rv id =2 represents the second retransmission; rv id =3 represents the third retransmission. K 0,0 Indicates the starting point of the initial transmission, K 0,1 Indicates the starting point of the first retransmission, K 0,2 Indicates the second layer retransmission starting point, K 0,3 Indicates the starting point of the third retransmission. id The column indicates the current transmission sequence; the third to the last column indicate the retransmission starting points under different rate matching. For example, when the bit rate is less than the preset bit rate threshold, the punctured rate matching is used, and the corresponding initial transmission starting point is N-E0; the first retransmission starting point can have two, 0 or the first initial transmission starting point plus (E0+N-E1)=K 0,0 +(E0+N-E1)=(N-E0)+(E0+N-E1)=2*N-E1. That is, first fill in the initial transmission puncture position, so that the initial transmission is filled to the mother code length, and then start transmission from the second retransmission starting point 2*N-E1. Similarly, when the rate matching method is puncture, the second retransmission starting point can also be 2, N or K 0,1+E1+N-E2: When the second retransmission is punctured, first fill in the punctured position of the first retransmission, that is, retransmit from N, fill in the first retransmission to the mother code length, and then start from the second retransmission starting point K 0,1 Similarly, when the rate matching mode is puncturing, the starting point of the third retransmission can also be 2, 2N or K 0,2 +E2+N-E3, that is, the third retransmission starts from 2N, fills the second retransmission to the mother code length, and then starts from the second retransmission starting point K 0,2 +E2+N-E3 transmission. The fourth column in Figure 5B shows the starting points of the initial transmission and the first, second, and third retransmissions when the rate matching mode is shortened; the fifth (last) column shows the starting points of the initial transmission and the first, second, and third retransmissions when the rate matching mode is repetition. This allows retransmissions under different rate matching conditions to be implemented within a single ring buffer, resulting in more flexible redundancy version retransmissions.

[0091] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating skipping of redundant versions that cannot be self-decoded, according to an embodiment of the present application. In embodiment 600, the transmission lengths of the multiple redundant versions RV0, RV1, RV2, and RV3 in 601 are 118, 98, 108, and 108, respectively. When RV0, RV1, RV2, and RV3 are transmitted sequentially in sequence 603, the transmission length of RV1 is less than the channel-coded message length of 100, making it impossible to self-decode.

[0092] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for example, the encoding device of the network device 103 receives uplink control information (UCI) indicating that the current redundant version needs to be self-decoded by the decoding device flowing into the terminal device 101, then the network device 103 skips the redundant version that cannot be self-decoded according to the UCI instruction and does not send it. As mentioned above, RV1 does not have the ability to self-decode, so the retransmission skips RV1 and does not send it. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the terminal device 101 can also serve as the encoding device, the network device 103 can serve as the decoding device, and the terminal device 101 does not send RV1. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the management method of the ring buffer is shown in 605. In this way, the invalid transmission of the RV that cannot be self-decoded can be avoided, so that the decoding device can reliably achieve self-decoding under conditions such as harsh channel environments, thereby avoiding wasting network resources.

[0093] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of different rate matching modes corresponding to different ring buffers in an embodiment of the present application.

[0094] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, in order to support flexible redundant version transmission, different sequences or different circular buffers can be designed according to different rate matching (RM) methods to select the transmission bits of different redundant versions. In Embodiment 700, RV0 - RV3 respectively correspond to different circular buffers or transmission bit sequences. The bit sequence stored in circular buffer 701 is a codeword generated based on the shortening method. The sequence stored in circular buffer 703 is a codeword generated based on puncturing. Circular buffer 705 is a codeword sequence generated based on the shortening and puncturing methods. The bit sequence stored in circular buffer 707 is a mother code length codeword sequence or a repeated sequence of mother code codewords, and its transmission length is longer than the length of a single codeword for initial transmission or retransmission. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, there are multiple sequences or multiple circular buffers for bit data selection, and different sequences or different circular buffers correspond to different rate matching methods. In this way, the scheduling and storage methods for redundant versions are very flexible, convenient for hardware implementation, friendly to standards, support more flexible retransmission, and thus better HARQ performance can be obtained.

[0095] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of selecting a circular buffer according to the message data length of channel coding and the transmission length of the redundant version in an embodiment of the present application.

[0096] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, a circular buffer can be selected according to the current message bit length and the physical resource length, that is, the coding length of channel coding and the transmission length of the redundant version. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, let E represent the length of the current physical resource or the transmission length of the redundant version, N represent the coding length of channel coding, K represent the current payload bit number or the message bit number input to channel coding, E / K represent the code rate, and Rth represent the code rate threshold. If E < N and K / E > Rth, then the first circular buffer is selected to transmit the redundant version. If E < N and K / E ≤ Rth, then the second circular buffer is selected to transmit the redundant version. If E ≥ N, then the third circular buffer is selected to transmit the redundant version. In this way, different buffers can be selected to transmit the redundant version according to the transmission length of different redundant versions, the input message bit number of channel coding, etc., support more flexible redundant version transmission, support more flexible buffer management, and thus better HARQ performance can be obtained.

[0097] In the disclosed embodiments, the ring buffer can also be determined by the code length (e.g., mother code length) of the channel code corresponding to the current redundancy version. For example, when the mother code length of the channel code is equal to the length of the first polarization code, or the length of the initially transmitted polarization code, e.g., 256, and the transmission length may be less than 256, e.g., N1=240, the first ring buffer can be selected to send the redundancy version. When the mother code length of the channel code is equal to the length of the second polarization code, or the length of the retransmitted polarization code, e.g., 256, and the transmission length may be less than 256, e.g., N2=N1=240, the first ring buffer can be selected to send the redundancy version. When the mother code length of the channel code is 512, e.g., the code length of the long code resulting from the combination of the first and second polarization codes, and the redundancy version transmission length N3=2N1=480, the third ring buffer can be selected to send the redundancy version. In this embodiment, the lengths of the ring buffers can be different, and the sizes of ring buffers of the same length can be multiples of each other. In addition, the appropriate ring buffer can be selected based on the code length of the channel code corresponding to the current version. In this way, a greater IR-HARQ gain can be obtained by sending a redundant version length that matches the IR-HARQ structure.

[0098] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the selection method of a circular buffer among multiple circular buffers can be indicated by signaling. For example, the selection of multiple circular buffers can be indicated in the downlink control information (DCI) of the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). For example, a field CB_idx can be added to DCI Format 1_x to indicate which CB among multiple circular buffers (CB) the currently sent RV comes from, as shown in the last row of Table 1 below. The name of the CB_idx field can also be other names. CB_idx can be determined based on RV_idx, for example, CB_idx=RV_idx. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when CB_idx=RV_idx, CB_idx may not be reflected in the DCI, for example, a note can be added to RV_idx, or it can be explained in other ways. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in addition to using DCI, signaling instructions can also be performed via a Media Access Control Element (MAC CE) or other signaling methods, and this disclosure is not limited thereto. In this way, a buffer can be flexibly selected from multiple ring buffers for sending redundant versions through signaling, providing a flexible control method and good compatibility with standards.

[0099] Table 1

[0100] Figures 9 and 10 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided by embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, and therefore can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above-mentioned method embodiment. In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device can be a terminal device 101 as shown in Figure 1A, or a network device 103 as shown in Figure 1A, or a module (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) applied to a terminal device or a network device, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the encoding device.

[0101] As shown in Figure 9, a communication device 900 includes a transceiver module 901 and a processing module 902. The communication device 900 can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device 101 or the network device 103 in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2 above.

[0102] When the communication device 900 is used to implement the functionality of the encoding device in the method embodiment depicted in FIG. 2 : the processing module 902 is configured to determine, based on a first reliability sequence of the first polarization code, a first set of bit positions in a first bit sequence used for the first polarization code; determine, based on a second reliability sequence of the second polarization code, a second set of bit positions to be updated in a second bit sequence used for the second polarization code; and update, based on the bit information corresponding to the first set of bit positions, bit information corresponding to the second set of bit positions to obtain a third bit sequence, wherein (i) the reliability corresponding to the first set of bit positions is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second set of bit positions, or (ii) the second set of bit positions corresponds to a set of positions that are punctured or shortened in the first polarization code.

[0103] As shown in Figure 10, communication device 1000 includes a processor 1010 and an interface circuit 1020. Processor 1010 and interface circuit 1020 are coupled to each other. It will be appreciated that interface circuit 1020 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1030 for storing instructions executed by processor 1010, input data required by processor 1010 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 1010 after executing instructions.

[0104] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the method in the above method embodiment, the processor 1010 is used to execute the functions of the above processing module 902 , and the interface circuit 1020 is used to execute the functions of the above transceiver module 901 .

[0105] When the communication device is a chip used in a terminal device, the terminal device chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The terminal device chip receives information from other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device; or the terminal device chip sends information to other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

[0106] When the communication device is a chip used in a network device, the network device chip implements the network device functions of the above method embodiments. The network device chip receives information from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device; or the network device chip sends information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0107] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0108] When the apparatus in the embodiment of the present application is a network device, the apparatus may be as shown in FIG11 . The apparatus may include one or more radio frequency units, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) 1110 and one or more baseband units (BBU) (also referred to as digital units, DU) 1120. The RRU 1110 may be referred to as a transceiver module, which may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, or the transceiver module may be a module capable of performing both transmitting and receiving functions. The transceiver module may correspond to the transceiver module 901 in FIG9 , that is, it may execute the actions performed by the transceiver module 901. Optionally, the transceiver module may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver, etc., and may include at least one antenna 1111 and a radio frequency unit 1112. The RRU 1110 portion is mainly used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals. The BBU 1110 portion is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the base station, etc. The RRU 1110 and the BBU 1120 may be physically arranged together or physically separated, that is, a distributed base station.

[0109] The BBU 1120 is the control center of the base station, also known as a processing module, which corresponds to the processing module 902 in Figure 9 and is primarily used to perform baseband processing functions such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, and spread spectrum. Furthermore, the processing module can execute actions performed by the processing module 902. For example, the BBU (processing module) can be used to control the base station to execute the operation flow of the network device in the above-described method embodiment.

[0110] In one example, the BBU 1120 can be composed of one or more single boards, and multiple single boards can jointly support a wireless access network with a single access standard (such as an LTE network), or can separately support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The BBU 1120 also includes a memory 1121 and a processor 1122. The memory 1121 is used to store necessary instructions and data. The processor 1122 is used to control the base station to perform necessary actions, such as controlling the base station to execute the operation process of the network device in the above method embodiment. The memory 1121 and the processor 1122 can serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor can be set separately on each single board. Alternatively, multiple single boards can share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits can also be set on each single board.

[0111] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system. The communication system may include the encoding device involved in the embodiment shown in Figure 2 above, such as terminal device 101 or network device 103. Optionally, the terminal device and network device in the communication system may execute any of the communication methods shown in Figure 2.

[0112] The present application also provides a circuit that can be coupled to a memory and can be used to execute the processes related to the terminal device or network device in any of the above method embodiments. The chip system may include the chip and other components such as a memory or a transceiver.

[0113] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a CPU, or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0114] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0115] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) is integrated into the processor.

[0116] It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0117] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0118] It will be appreciated that the modules and algorithmic steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented using electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0119] It can be clearly understood that for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and modules described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0120] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed communication methods and devices can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the modules is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0121] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network elements. Some or all of these elements may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0122] In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing module, or each module may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module.

[0123] If this function is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is essentially or the contributing part or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method of each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), universal serial bus flash disk, mobile hard disk, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0124] As used herein, the term "including" and similar terms should be understood as open inclusion, i.e., "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The terms "first", "second", etc. can refer to different or the same objects and are only used to distinguish the objects referred to, and do not imply a specific spatial order, temporal order, order of importance, etc. of the objects referred to. In some embodiments, values, processes, selected items, determined items, devices, means, components, assemblies, etc. are referred to as "best", "lowest", "highest", "minimum", "maximum", etc. It should be understood that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection can be made from a number of available functional options, and that such a selection need not be better, lower, higher, smaller, larger, or otherwise preferred than other options in other aspects or all aspects. As used herein, the term "determine" can encompass a variety of actions. For example, "determine" can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (e.g., searching in a table, database, or another data structure), ascertaining, etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (eg, receiving information), accessing (eg, accessing data in a memory), etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

Claims

1. A polar coding method, comprising: determining, based on a first reliability sequence of a first polarization code, a first bit position set in a first bit sequence used for the first polarization code; determining, based on a second reliability sequence of the second polarization code, a second bit position set to be updated in a second bit sequence used for the second polarization code; as well as updating the bit information corresponding to the second bit position set based on the bit information corresponding to the first bit position set to obtain a third bit sequence, The reliability corresponding to the first bit position set is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second bit position set, or the second bit position set corresponds to a position set that is punctured or shortened in the first polarization code.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the reliability corresponding to the first set of bit positions is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second set of bit positions, and wherein at least one of the following: The second bit position set is a subset of a reliability improvement position set in the second bit sequence of the second polarization code; or The first bit position set is a subset of a candidate copied position set in the first bit sequence of the first polarization code.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein determining the first set of bit positions comprises: Determine the candidate copied position set based on a first reliability sequence of the first polarization code; as well as At least one position is selected from the candidate copied position set as the first bit position set.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein determining the second set of bit positions comprises: Determining the reliability improvement position set based on a second reliability sequence of the second polarization encoding; as well as At least one position is selected from the reliability improvement position set as the second bit position set.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second set of bit positions corresponds to a set of positions that are punctured or shortened in the first polar coding, and wherein: The first bit position set is a subset of a candidate copied position set in the first bit sequence of the first polarization code; and A length of second transmitted data corresponding to the second polarization code is greater than a length of first transmitted data corresponding to the first polarization code.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the first set of bit positions comprises: Determine the candidate copied position set based on a first reliability sequence of the first polarization code; as well as At least one position is selected from the candidate copied position set as the first bit position set.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the second set of bit positions comprises: Determining the reliable boosting position set based on a second reliability sequence of the second polarization code; as well as determining a set of shortening or puncturing positions of the first polarization code; The second set of bit positions is determined based on the set of reliable boosted positions and the set of punctured or shortened positions.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: Determining a starting point position of the first redundant version based on a first parameter of the first redundant version; as well as The first redundancy version is transmitted based on the starting position.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the first parameter comprises at least one of the following: The sending length of the first redundant version; The length of the encoded message data corresponding to the first redundancy version; Bitrate threshold; the code length of the encoding; or The starting position of the first redundant version is determined based on the starting position and the transmission length of the previous redundant version.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising: Corresponding to the transmission length of the second redundant version being less than the length of the polar-coded message data, the transmission of the second redundant version is skipped, The polarization code includes a first polarization code or a second polarization code.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising: Selecting a ring buffer among a plurality of ring buffers based on a redundant version to be transmitted; as well as In the selected ring buffer, data for the redundant version is determined.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein selecting a ring buffer among a plurality of ring buffers comprises: The ring buffer is selected from a plurality of ring buffers in a rate matching method based on a redundancy version, wherein the rate matching method includes the following: Any of: Shortened, perforated, shortened and perforated, or repeated.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein selecting a ring buffer from a plurality of ring buffers comprises at least one of the following: Based on determining that the sending length of the redundant version is less than the encoding length, and the ratio of the length of the encoded message data to the sending length is greater than or equal to a code rate threshold, selecting a first buffer to send the redundant version of data; Based on determining that the sending length of the redundant version is less than the encoding length, and the ratio of the length of the message data to the sending length is less than or equal to the code rate threshold, selecting a second buffer to send the redundant version of data; or Based on determining that the sending length of the redundant version is greater than or equal to the encoding length, a third buffer is selected to send data of the redundant version.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein selecting a ring buffer from a plurality of ring buffers comprises at least one of the following: Based on determining that the code length corresponding to the redundant version is equal to the length of the first polarization code, selecting a first buffer to send the transmit data; Based on determining that the code length is equal to the length of the second polarization code, selecting a second buffer to send the transmit data; or Based on determining that the code length is equal to the sum of the length of the first polarization code and the length of at least one second polarization code, a third buffer is selected to send the transmit data.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the method is performed by a first device, and further comprising: Indication information indicating that the buffer among the multiple buffers is selected is sent to the second device.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the indication information comprises: A field in downlink control information DCI, the field being defined to indicate that the buffer among the multiple buffers is selected, or The redundant version index RV_idx of the DCI.

17. An apparatus comprising: A first bit position set determining module, configured to determine a first bit position set in a first bit sequence used for the first polarization coding based on a first reliability sequence of the first polarization coding; A second bit position set determining module, configured to determine, based on a second reliability sequence of the second polarization coding, a second bit position set to be updated in the second bit sequence, wherein the second bit sequence is used for second polarization coding; as well as a third bit sequence acquisition module, configured to update the bit information of the second bit position set based on the bit information of the first bit position set to obtain a third bit sequence, The reliability corresponding to the first bit position set is lower than the reliability corresponding to the second bit position set, or the second bit position set corresponds to a position set that is punctured or shortened in the first polarization code.

18. A device comprising: A processor, and a memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16 is performed.

19. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by an electronic device, the electronic device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

20. A computer program product, comprising instructions, which, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

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