Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and a communication apparatus. In the communication method provided in the present application, a specific symbol is inserted into a frame structure of a transmitted signal, the specific symbol is also subjected to TPM processing when a transmitting device performs TPM processing on payload data, the specific symbol that has been subjected to TPM processing is used to calculate and acquire an AGC coefficient, and the AGC coefficient is applied to a detection process of a PL symbol, thereby improving the throughput of a PLC system and also ensuring the data detection quality of the system.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on November 28, 2023, with application number 202311615609.5 and application name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] Power-line carrier communication (PLC) uses power lines to transmit data and media signals. To improve throughput in multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) PLC systems, the transmitter can perform transmit port mapping (TPM) on the payload (PL) symbols in the data frame structure. However, when the receiver performs automatic gain control (AGC) on the TPM-processed PL symbols, the amplitude of the PL symbols may exceed the normal operating range of the receiving device, resulting in a decrease in data detection quality in the PLC system.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which aim to keep the signal amplitude of PL symbols processed by TPM within the normal operating range of the system during detection, thereby improving the system throughput while ensuring the detection performance of the system.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, applied to a first communication device, the method comprising:

[0007] A data frame is received from a second communication device based on power line carrier communication, wherein the data frame includes a first symbol and a first payload PL symbol, wherein the first symbol and the first PL symbol are symbols processed by a transmit port mapping TPM; and the first PL symbol is detected based on the first symbol.

[0008] The first symbol and the first PL symbol are both symbols processed by TPM, so the corresponding AGC coefficient can be calculated based on the first symbol. After processing with the AGC coefficient, the signal amplitude of the first PL symbol remains within the range of normal operation of the PLC system, ensuring the expected performance of the PLC system.

[0009] The detection of PL symbols mentioned in this application includes but is not limited to operations such as demodulation, decoding, and equalization of the PL symbols.

[0010] In some implementations, the data frame further includes a training field TF symbol, and the first symbol is located between the TF symbol and the first PL symbol.

[0011] The first symbol is arranged between the TF symbol and the first PL symbol. The AGC coefficient obtained based on the first symbol can directly implement gain control on the first PL symbol subsequently received in the time domain, thereby improving the data processing efficiency in the PLC system.

[0012] In some implementations, detecting the first PL symbol based on the first symbol includes:

[0013] A first automatic gain control AGC coefficient is determined based on the first symbol; a second channel estimation matrix is ​​determined based on the first AGC coefficient and a first channel estimation matrix, the first channel estimation matrix being a channel estimation matrix determined based on the second frame control FC symbol and the second TF symbol, the second FC symbol being the first FC symbol in the data frame after being processed based on the second AGC coefficient, the second TF symbol being the first TF symbol in the data frame after being processed based on the second AGC coefficient, and the second AGC coefficient being an AGC coefficient determined based on the leading symbol in the data frame; a second PL symbol is detected based on the second channel estimation matrix, the second PL symbol being the first PL symbol after being processed based on the first AGC coefficient.

[0014] In some implementations, detecting the first PL symbol based on the first symbol includes:

[0015] A second noise matrix is ​​determined based on the first AGC coefficient and the first noise matrix, the first noise matrix is ​​a noise matrix determined based on the first channel estimation matrix, the first channel estimation matrix is ​​a channel estimation matrix determined based on the second FC symbol and the second TF symbol, the second FC symbol is the FC symbol after the first FC symbol in the data frame is processed based on the second AGC coefficient, the second TF symbol is the TF symbol after the first TF symbol in the data frame is processed based on the second AGC coefficient, and the second AGC coefficient is an AGC coefficient determined based on the leading symbol in the data frame; the second PL symbol is detected based on the second noise matrix, and the second PL symbol is the PL symbol after the first PL symbol is processed based on the first AGC coefficient.

[0016] In some implementations, the second channel estimation matrix H1 satisfies the following relationship:

[0017] Among them, H0 is the first channel estimation matrix, is the inverse matrix of the second AGC coefficient, and G1 is the first AGC coefficient.

[0018] In some implementations, the second noise matrix R1 satisfies the following relationship:

[0019] Among them, R0 is the first noise matrix, is the inverse matrix of the second AGC coefficient, and G1 is the first AGC coefficient.

[0020] By using the AGC coefficients obtained by calculating the first symbol to compensate the channel estimation matrix and the covariance matrix of noise and interference with the AGC coefficients, it can be ensured that the first PL symbol, the channel estimation matrix, and the covariance matrix of noise and interference are gain controlled based on the same AGC coefficients, thereby improving the detection quality of the PL symbol.

[0021] In some implementations, the data frame includes multiple PL symbols processed by the TPM, and the first PL symbol is the first PL symbol of the multiple PL symbols.

[0022] The method further includes:

[0023] Other PL symbols among the plurality of PL symbols except the first PL symbol are detected based on the first symbol.

[0024] In some implementations, the first symbol includes a preconfigured sequence.

[0025] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, applied to a second communication device, the method comprising:

[0026] A data frame is sent to the first communication device based on power line carrier communication, where the data frame includes a first symbol and a first PL symbol, where the first symbol and the first PL symbol are symbols processed by TPM.

[0027] In some implementations, the data frame further includes a TF symbol, and the first symbol is located between the TF symbol and the first PL symbol.

[0028] In some implementations, the data frame includes multiple PL symbols processed by the TPM, and the first PL symbol is the first PL symbol of the multiple PL symbols.

[0029] In some implementations, the first symbol includes a preconfigured sequence.

[0030] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising various functional modules for implementing any of the communication methods mentioned in the above implementations. Optionally, each module can be implemented in software and / or hardware.

[0031] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor coupled to a memory and configured to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method of any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect. Optionally, the device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the device further comprises a communication interface, the processor coupled to the communication interface.

[0032] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable medium storing a program code for execution by a device, wherein the program code includes a method for executing the method in the first aspect, the second aspect, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0033] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method in the first aspect, the second aspect, or any possible implementation thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present application.

[0035] FIG1 is a power line carrier communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the circuit structure in the MIMO-PLC system;

[0037] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the physical layer signal transmission and reception architecture in a MIMO-PLC system;

[0038] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data frame defined by the International Telecommunication Union in the standard document ITU-T G.9963;

[0039] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in another embodiment of the present application.

[0043] The above drawings illustrate specific embodiments of the present application, which will be described in more detail below. These drawings and the textual description are not intended to limit the scope of the present application in any way, but rather to illustrate the concepts of the present application to those skilled in the art by reference to specific embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, with examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, when referring to the drawings, identical numerals in different figures represent identical or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments are not intended to represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present application, as detailed in the appended claims.

[0045] It should be understood that when used in the present specification and the appended claims, the term "comprising" indicates the presence of described features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or collections thereof.

[0046] It will also be understood that the term "and / or" used in this specification and the appended claims refers to and includes any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0047] In addition, in the description of the present application specification and the appended claims, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are only used to distinguish the descriptions and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0048] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" in this specification mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the present application. Thus, phrases such as "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," and "in other embodiments" appearing in various places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean "one or more but not all embodiments," unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "including," "comprising," "having," and variations thereof all mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0049] Power line carrier communication (PLC) utilizes existing power lines to transmit data or information using digital signal processing. Compared to digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, which uses telephone lines, and cable modem (CM) technology, which uses cable television's coaxial cables, PLC systems eliminate the need for re-laying network lines, offering advantages such as lower costs and wider coverage.

[0050] When an electronic device is connected to a power line network, if the electronic device has a PLC function, the electronic device can broadcast and receive data through the power line network.

[0051] FIG1 is a diagram of a power line carrier communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG1 , the power line carrier communication system may include: a power line network 101 , a main routing device 102 , a sub-routing device 103 , and a user device 104 .

[0052] The main routing device 102 is an electronic device with routing and management functions. The main routing device 102 can manage the transmission opportunities of the main routing device 102 and each sub-routing device 103 connected to the power line network 101.

[0053] The sub-routing device 103 is an electronic device that has a routing function but does not have a management function.

[0054] User equipment 104 is an electronic device other than the main router 102 and the slave router 103. User equipment 104 may also be referred to as a terminal device, a mobile station, or a mobile terminal. User equipment can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, and smart cities.

[0055] User devices 104 may include one or more electronic devices such as computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, tablet computers, mobile phones, smart TVs, smart screens, smart speakers, smart air conditioners, robot vacuums, dishwashers, smart lamps, smart door locks, smart curtains, laser radars, millimeter-wave radars, vehicles, airplanes, ships, robots, and robotic arms. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies and device forms used by user devices.

[0056] The main router 102 and the sub-router 103 can be directly connected to the power line network 101 and perform data exchange through the power line network 101.

[0057] In some implementations, the main router 102 and the sub-router 103 may also exchange data via one or more communication connections such as a Wi-Fi connection, a Bluetooth connection, a universal serial bus (USB), or a registered jack 45 (RJ45).

[0058] User equipment 104 may access the main routing device 102 , and / or, user equipment 104 may also access the sub-routing device 103 .

[0059] It can be understood that when the user device 104 is connected to the main routing device 102 / sub-routing device 103, the user device 104 and the main routing device 102 / sub-routing device 103 can exchange data through one or more communication connections such as Wi-Fi connection, Bluetooth connection, USB connection, RJ45 connection, etc.

[0060] In addition, when the main routing device 102 is connected to the Internet line, the main routing device can receive uplink data sent by the sub-routing device 103 and / or the user device 104, and transmit the uplink data to the Internet through the Internet line.

[0061] In some implementations, the main routing device 102 may also receive downlink data transmitted from the Internet through an Internet access line and forward the downlink data to the sub-routing device 103 and / or user 104.

[0062] The Internet access line may include any one or more of an asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), a digital data network (DDN), a fiber optic broadband, and the like.

[0063] It is understood that although four sub-routing devices 103 and two user devices 104 are shown in FIG1 , in actual application scenarios, the power line carrier communication system may have more or fewer sub-routing devices 103 and user devices 104 than those shown in FIG1 . The sub-routing devices 103 and user devices 104 shown in FIG1 should not impose any limitation on the specific number of sub-routing devices 103 and user devices 104.

[0064] In a MIMO-PLC system, the live (L), neutral (N), and protective earth (PE) wires of a power line can form two independent signal paths. Therefore, the physical layer signal transmission and reception architecture of a MIMO-PLC system typically adopts a 2T2R or 2T3R approach. In a MIMO-PLC system, signal transmission and reception can be achieved through Delta-style or T-style coupling circuits.

[0065] Figure 2 shows the circuit structure of a MIMO-PLC system. As shown in Figure 2 (A), the transmitting end of a "Delta" circuit uses the LN differential mode and the L-PE differential mode. In a 2T2R configuration, the 2Rs at the receiving end of the "Delta" circuit are identical to those at the transmitting end. If a 2T3R configuration is used in the MIMO-PLC system, the first 2Rs at the receiving end of the "Delta" circuit are identical to those at the transmitting end, and the third R uses the N-PE differential mode.

[0066] As shown in Figure 2 (B), the T-type circuit's transmitter operates in LN differential mode and L+N-PE differential mode (specifically, L+N common mode and PE group differential mode). In a 2T2R configuration, the two Rs at the T-type circuit's receiver are identical to those at the transmitter. In a 2T3R configuration, the first two Rs at the T-type circuit's receiver are identical to those at the transmitter, and the third R can operate in either L-PE or N-PE differential mode.

[0067] In MIMO-PLC systems, the communication channels used for signal transmission suffer from severe multipath effects and frequency-selective fading, and the channel quality varies significantly between different subcarriers. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology offers advantages such as high data rates, robustness against multipath and narrowband interference, and high spectrum efficiency. Therefore, MIMO-PLC systems often incorporate OFDM modulation and employ automatic gain control (AGC) to ensure that received signals remain within the normal operating range of RF components.

[0068] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the physical layer signal transceiver architecture in a MIMO-PLC system. As shown in Figure 3, at the transmitting end of the MIMO-PLC system, the physical layer receives the raw input data from the data link layer, encodes it, and then performs constellation mapping, i.e., modulating the data. The constellation-mapped data enters the inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) module, which converts the frequency domain symbols into time domain symbols. A cyclic prefix is ​​added to the time domain symbols to form OFDM symbols. The OFDM symbols are then windowed and a preamble symbol is introduced. The resulting OFDM physical layer transmit signal is fed into the analog front end, which then transmits it to the power line channel.

[0069] Figure 4 shows the frame structure of the physical layer transmission signal sent from the transmitter of the MIMO-PLC system to the analog front end. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data frame defined in the International Telecommunication Union standard document ITU-T G.9963. The MIMO-PLC system implements data transmission and reception based on the data frame format defined in this standard.

[0070] As shown in Figure 4, since the MIMO-PLC system uses a 2T2R or 2T3R configuration, there are two transmit ports in the MIMO-PLC system, each corresponding to its own data frame structure. The data frame structure corresponding to transmit port 1 includes preamble symbols, header symbols, additional channel estimation (ACE) symbols, and payload (PL) symbols.

[0071] Among them, the preamble symbol and ACE symbol do not carry any user data or management data. The preamble symbol is used for signal synchronization, and the ACE symbol is used for channel estimation.

[0072] The data frame structure corresponding to sending port 2 is basically the same as the data frame structure corresponding to port 1. The leading symbol and frame header symbol transmitted on sending port 2 are copies of the leading symbol and frame header symbol transmitted on sending port 1 respectively.

[0073] When the payload is transmitted via two data streams, the odd-numbered ACE symbols transmitted on transmit port 2 are the inverse of the ACE symbols with the same number transmitted on transmit port 1, and the even-numbered ACE symbols transmitted on transmit port 2 are identical to the ACE symbols with the same number transmitted on transmit port 1. It will be appreciated that the parity numbering here starts from the first ACE symbol, which is an odd number.

[0074] The data frame structure corresponding to the transmission port 2 differs from the data frame structure corresponding to the transmission port 1 in that each symbol in the data frame structure corresponding to the transmission port 2 is further subjected to cyclic shift (CS) to improve the reliability of signal transmission.

[0075] It should be noted that Figure 4 is only a schematic structure. The data frame structure used in PLC systems may include multiple frame header symbols and multiple ACE symbols. When the payload is transmitted via two data streams, the data frame structure contains at least one ACE symbol; the remaining ACE symbols are optional.

[0076] The MIMO-PLC system's receiver receives the data signal from the analog front end via the power line channel. It then performs AGC control on the data signal, clocks and frames the data after gain processing, and then performs a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the clocked and frame-synchronized data. After the FFT-transformed data passes through the demodulation module and the data decoding module, the receiver can finally recover the original data.

[0077] In a MIMO-PLC system, the transmitter can process data signals using transmit port mapping (TPM) technology to suppress interference between different data streams, thereby improving system throughput. According to the architecture diagram shown in Figure 3, the transmitter of a MIMO-PLC system encodes the payload data in the input data, performs constellation point mapping on the encoded payload data, and performs TPM processing on the payload data between the constellation point mapping module and the IFFT module. TPM processing, also known as precoding, can be performed on the payload data using zero-forcing precoding technology, for example.

[0078] The receiving end calculates the AGC coefficient based on the leading symbol in the data frame structure, and performs automatic gain control on the frame header symbol, ACE symbol and PL symbol in the data frame according to the AGC coefficient.

[0079] However, the transmitter of the MIMO-PLC system only performs TPM processing on the PL symbols in the data frame structure, and the preamble symbols are not TPM processed. The TPM processing of the preamble symbols and the PL symbols is asymmetric. Therefore, after the receiver uses the AGC coefficients calculated from the preamble symbols that have not been TPM processed to perform automatic gain control on the PL symbols, the signal amplitude corresponding to the PL symbols may exceed the normal operating range of the MIMO-PLC system. For example, the amplitude of the PL symbols may enter the nonlinear range of the RF device, and the accuracy of the original data recovered by the receiver will be reduced, thereby reducing the detection performance of the MIMO-PLC system.

[0080] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which aim to keep the signal amplitude of the PL symbols processed by TPM within the range of normal system operation during detection, thereby improving the system throughput while ensuring the detection performance of the system.

[0081] The technical concept of this application is: inserting specific symbols into the frame structure of the transmitted signal, and when the transmitter performs TPM processing on the payload data, the specific symbols will also undergo TPM processing, and the AGC coefficients are calculated using the specific symbols that have undergone TPM processing, and the AGC coefficients are used to detect PL symbols, thereby achieving the expected performance of the PLC system.

[0082] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by one embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the communication method is applied to a MIMO-PLC system. In this process, the first communication device is equivalent to a receiving device, and the second communication device is equivalent to a sending device. The first communication device and the second communication device are the main routing device 102 and / or the sub-routing device 103 in the PLC system shown in FIG1 . The method specifically includes the following steps:

[0083] S501: A second communication device sends a data frame to a first communication device. The data frame includes a first symbol and a first PL symbol. The first symbol and the first PL symbol are symbols processed by TPM.

[0084] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data frame provided in an embodiment of the present application. The MIMO-PLC system in this application implements data transmission and reception based on the data frame format shown in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 6, the data frame includes a preamble symbol, a frame control (FC) symbol, a training field (TF) symbol, and a PL symbol.

[0085] The FC symbol is equivalent to the header symbol in the frame structure shown in Figure 4. The FC symbol and header symbol are different names for the same symbol. The FC symbol carries the parameters and configuration of the current transmission and is composed of multiple symbols using a predetermined modulation method. The FC symbol can also be called a frame control head (FCH) symbol. For ease of description, the FC symbol is uniformly used in the embodiments of this application. It should be understood that the "..." between two FC symbols in Figure 6 indicates that there may be multiple FC symbols.

[0086] The TF symbol is equivalent to the ACE symbol in the frame structure shown in Figure 4. The TF symbol and the ACE symbol are different names for the same symbol. The TF symbol is a symbol specifically used for channel estimation and known to the receiving device. It is usually a reference signal generated using a pseudo-random sequence. In the embodiments of this application, the TF symbol is uniformly used for description. It can be understood that the "..." between two TF symbols in Figure 6 indicates that there may be multiple TF symbols.

[0087] The first symbol is a newly inserted symbol in this application. This symbol is a specific symbol used to perform gain control on the PL symbols processed by TPM. Therefore, when the second communication device performs TPM processing on the PL symbols carrying data at the physical layer, it will also perform TPM processing on the first symbol in the data frame.

[0088] In some implementations, the first symbol is a preconfigured sequence. It is understood that the preconfigured sequence may be a sequence configured in advance by the first communication device and the second communication device before data is exchanged, and the first symbol is composed of a sequence known to both the first communication device and the second communication device. Alternatively, the first symbol is written into the communication protocol associated with the PLC system to ensure that the first symbol is known to both the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0089] As an example, the first symbol can also be a training sequence Midamble. By setting the seed and state of the pseudo-random sequence generator, the PLC system can use the pseudo-random sequence generator to generate a Midamble symbol known to both the receiving device and the transmitting device, and insert the Midamble symbol as the first symbol into the data frame shown in Figure 6.

[0090] In this step, the second communication device performs constellation point mapping on the encoded data. Before the data enters the IFFT module, it performs TPM processing on the first symbol and the PL symbol. The data is further processed according to the architecture shown in Figure 3. The resulting physical layer transmit signal corresponds to a data frame structure that includes the TPM-processed first symbol and the first PL symbol. The second communication device sends the physical layer transmit signal to the first communication device via the power line channel.

[0091] S502: The first communication device detects a first PL symbol based on the first symbol.

[0092] In this step, the analog front-end in the first communication device receives the transmission signal from the second communication device via the power line channel. It should be noted that the order of the symbols in the data frame structure corresponding to the received signal, from left to right, represents the order of these symbols in the time domain. Therefore, the analog front-end first receives the leading symbol in the data frame.

[0093] Each symbol in the data frame occupies a certain time. During the duration corresponding to the preamble symbol, the analog front end can sample the preamble symbol to obtain multiple sampling points. The first communication device can divide the multiple sampling points into a number of sampling groups of equal length. Here, equal length means that each of the above sampling groups contains the same number of sampling points. The average power of the received signal can be calculated based on the sampling points in each sampling group.

[0094] To ensure that the signal amplitude is within the normal operating range of the PLC system after gain control, the first communication device sets a target average power for the received signal. When the received signal is gain controlled through the AGC coefficient, the average power of the received signal can reach the target average power.

[0095] The square root of the ratio between the target average power and the average power obtained for each sampling group is the AGC coefficient corresponding to the sampling group. The AGC coefficient corresponding to each sampling group is calculated sequentially, and the AGC coefficient corresponding to the previous sampling group is compared with the AGC coefficient corresponding to the current sampling group. If the difference between the AGC coefficients is greater than a preset threshold, the AGC coefficient corresponding to the current sampling group is determined to be the AGC coefficient obtained based on the leading symbol. Similarly, when the difference between the AGC coefficients corresponding to the previous sampling group and the AGC coefficients corresponding to the current sampling group is less than or equal to the preset threshold, it can be determined that the AGC coefficient calculation process has converged, the calculation is terminated, and the AGC coefficient corresponding to the previous sampling group is determined to be the AGC coefficient obtained based on the leading symbol. Otherwise, the calculation continues according to the above method until the differences between the AGC coefficients corresponding to all sampling groups are calculated.

[0096] For example, the first communication device divides multiple sampling points into 10 sampling groups of equal length. The target average power is E(P). The average power calculated for the first sampling group is P1. Then the AGC coefficient corresponding to the first sampling group is The average power calculated by the second sampling group is P2, and the corresponding AGC coefficient is like and If the difference between the two is greater than the preset threshold ΔP, Determine the AGC coefficient obtained based on the leading symbol, and continue to calculate the AGC coefficient corresponding to the third sampling group: like and If the difference between them is less than or equal to the preset threshold ΔP, the calculation process of the AGC coefficient converges, the calculation is terminated, and the AGC coefficient corresponding to the second sampling group is determined as the AGC coefficient obtained based on the leading symbol.

[0097] like and If the difference between the AGC coefficients corresponding to the third sampling group and the AGC coefficients corresponding to the fourth sampling group is greater than the preset threshold ΔP, the difference between the AGC coefficients corresponding to the third sampling group and the AGC coefficients corresponding to the fourth sampling group is calculated until the calculation converges or the difference between the AGC coefficients corresponding to the ninth sampling group and the AGC coefficients corresponding to the tenth sampling group is calculated.

[0098] In some implementations, when the difference between the AGC coefficient corresponding to the previous sampling group and the AGC coefficient corresponding to the current sampling group is less than or equal to a preset threshold, the difference between the AGC coefficient corresponding to the current sampling group and the AGC coefficient corresponding to the next sampling group can be further calculated. Only when the differences between two consecutive AGC coefficients are less than or equal to the preset threshold, can the calculation process be judged to have converged, and the AGC coefficient corresponding to the previous sampling group can be determined as the AGC coefficient obtained based on the leading symbol.

[0099] For example: In the above example, and If the difference between them is less than or equal to the preset threshold ΔP, the AGC coefficient corresponding to the third sampling group needs to be calculated. AGC coefficients corresponding to the fourth sample group The difference between and Only when the difference between the two is also less than or equal to the preset threshold ΔP, can the calculation process be judged to have converged, and the AGC coefficient corresponding to the second sampling group is determined as the AGC coefficient obtained based on the leading symbol. Otherwise, it is necessary to continue calculating the difference between the AGC coefficients corresponding to subsequent sampling groups according to the above method.

[0100] In the MIMO-PLC system, the first communication device has multiple receiving ports, so each receiving port receives a corresponding receiving signal. Each receiving port corresponds to a target average power. If there are n receiving ports, n AGC coefficients can be obtained. Finally, the first communication device can obtain an AGC matrix G0 based on the pilot symbol. The AGC matrix G0 is a diagonal matrix with diagonal elements g 0i , i=1,2,…,n, each element g 0i is the AGC coefficient of the corresponding i-th receiving port.

[0101] It should be noted that the first communication device starts to process the data after receiving the first symbol in the data frame. Therefore, according to the arrangement order of the symbols from left to right in the data frame structure, in time sequence, the analog front end receives the FC symbol and the TF symbol after the leading symbol. The first communication device uses the AGC matrix G0 obtained by the leading symbol in the automatic gain control module to implement gain control on the FC symbol and the TF symbol.

[0102] In some implementations, the first symbol is located between the TF symbol and the first PL symbol. Because the first communications device processes symbols according to the time order of the symbols in the received data frame, when the first symbol is located between the TF symbol and the first PL symbol, the first communications device can calculate and obtain new AGC coefficients based on the first symbol. The new AGC coefficients can be used to directly perform gain control on the first PL symbol subsequently received in the time domain, thereby improving data processing efficiency in the PLC system.

[0103] It is understandable that the method for obtaining the AGC coefficient based on the first symbol is the same as the method for obtaining the AGC coefficient based on the leading symbol described above, and will not be repeated here. In the MIMO-PLC system, the first communication device can obtain the AGC matrix G1 based on the first symbol. The AGC matrix G1 is a diagonal matrix, and the diagonal elements in the matrix are g 1i , i=1,2,…,n, each element g 1i is the AGC coefficient of the corresponding i-th receiving port.

[0104] In some implementations, the data frame structure may further include multiple TPM-processed PL symbols, where the first PL symbol is the first of these TPM-processed PL symbols. It should be understood that the "first" here means that the first PL symbol is located on the leftmost side of the multiple PL symbols in the data frame, from left to right. In other words, the first PL symbol is the earliest PL symbol received by the first communications device in terms of time sequence.

[0105] When the first PL symbol is the first PL symbol among multiple PL symbols and the first symbol is located between the TF symbol and the first PL symbol, the first PL symbol and the other multiple PL symbols after the first PL symbol all use the AGC matrix G1 obtained based on the first symbol to achieve gain control.

[0106] It should be noted that, unless explicitly specified, the first PL symbol involved in this application can indicate that the data frame contains only one PL symbol, or can be used to indicate multiple PL symbols in the data frame. The second PL symbol can be obtained after gain control of the first PL symbol based on the AGC matrix G1.

[0107] The first symbol and the first PL symbol received by the first communication device are both symbols processed by TPM. Therefore, after the first PL symbol enters the automatic gain control module, the first PL symbol is processed using the AGC matrix G1, and the signal amplitude of the obtained second PL symbol remains within the range of normal operation of the MIMO-PLC system. The first communication device can detect the second PL symbol and recover the accurate original data.

[0108] When the first communication device detects the second PL symbol, it needs to obtain a channel estimate for each frequency-domain subcarrier and statistical information about noise and interference. It should be understood that the detection of PL symbols mentioned in this application includes, but is not limited to, operations such as demodulation, decoding, and equalization of the PL symbols.

[0109] Among them, after the FC symbol after gain control by the AGC matrix G0 is detected, the first communication device can use the information bits obtained by the detection to regenerate the FC symbol. The regenerated FC symbol and the TF symbol gain-controlled by the first communication device can be used as reference signals for the channel estimation process.

[0110] In a MIMO-PLC system, multiple FC symbols and TF symbols of multiple data streams that are gain-controlled by a first communication device form a reference signal matrix. The first communication device can use the least square (LS) method to process the reference signal matrix composed of FC symbols and TF symbols and the received signal matrix to obtain a channel estimation matrix. Channel estimation matrix is an n×m-dimensional matrix, where n is the number of receiving ports on the first communication device, m is the number of transmitting ports on the second communication device, and the channel estimation matrix for each frequency domain subcarrier is The elements in correspond to the channel estimates between each transmitting port and each receiving port.

[0111] It can be understood that the first PL symbol is processed by TPM, while the FC symbol and TF symbol in the data frame are not processed by TPM, so the channel estimation matrix obtained based on the FC symbol and TF symbol is When used for the first PL symbol detection, the channel estimation matrix It is also necessary to right-multiply the TPM matrix to obtain the equivalent channel estimation matrix H0.

[0112] It should be noted that before the first communication device interacts with the second communication device, the second communication device needs to send a TPM estimation frame to the first communication device. The TPM estimation frame also includes FC symbols and TF symbols. The first communication device can calculate a channel estimation matrix based on the FC symbols and TF symbols, calculate the TPM matrix from the channel estimation matrix, and feed it back to the second communication device. When the second communication device subsequently interacts with the first communication device, it uses the TPM matrix to perform TPM processing on the first symbol and the first PL symbol in the data frame structure.

[0113] It is understandable that since the TPM matrix is ​​calculated and obtained by the first communication device, the TPM matrix is ​​stored and recorded in the first communication device. Then we can directly multiply the TPM matrix on the right to get the equivalent channel estimation matrix H0. The first communication device can obtain the n-order covariance matrix R0 of noise and interference, where n is the number of receiving ports on the first communication device. The covariance matrix R0 of noise and interference is the statistical information of noise and interference, and the covariance matrix of noise and interference can also be referred to as the noise matrix.

[0114] It should be noted that the second PL symbol is the symbol obtained by processing the first PL symbol based on the AGC matrix G1, and the equivalent channel estimation matrix H0 and the covariance matrix R0 of noise and interference used in the second PL symbol detection process are obtained based on the FC symbol and TF symbol after processing by the AGC matrix G0. In order to ensure smooth detection of the second PL symbol, it is necessary to ensure that the AGC coefficients used in the entire detection process match each other.

[0115] In some implementations, the equivalent channel estimation matrix H0 may be compensated for AGC coefficients based on the AGC matrix G1. The compensated channel estimation matrix H1 satisfies the following relationship:

[0116] Among them, H0 is the equivalent channel estimation matrix H0, is the inverse matrix of the AGC matrix G0 obtained based on the leading symbol in the data frame, and G1 is the AGC matrix G1 obtained based on the first symbol.

[0117] In the above relationship, by left-multiplying the inverse matrix of the AGC matrix G0 This is equivalent to releasing the gain control of the equivalent channel estimation matrix H0 based on the AGC matrix G0, and continuing to multiply the AGC matrix G1 on the left, which is equivalent to implementing the gain control of the equivalent channel estimation matrix H0 based on the AGC matrix G1.

[0118] The channel estimation matrix H1 and the second PL symbol obtained after AGC coefficient compensation both implement gain control based on the AGC matrix G1, so the channel estimation matrix H1 can be used for detecting the second PL symbol.

[0119] In some implementations, the noise and interference covariance matrix R0 may be compensated for AGC coefficients based on the AGC matrix G1. The noise and interference covariance matrix R1 obtained after compensation satisfies the following relationship:

[0120] Among them, R0 is the covariance matrix R0 of noise and interference before compensation, is the inverse matrix of the AGC matrix G0 obtained based on the leading symbol in the data frame, and G1 is the AGC matrix G1 obtained based on the first symbol.

[0121] The noise and interference covariance matrix R1 obtained after AGC coefficient compensation and the second PL symbol both implement gain control based on the AGC matrix G1, so the noise and interference covariance matrix R1 can be used for detection of the second PL symbol.

[0122] In this embodiment, based on the first symbol in the data frame structure that has also been processed by TPM, the corresponding AGC coefficient can be calculated and obtained, and the gain of the first PL symbol processed by TPM is controlled using the AGC coefficient, thereby ensuring that the signal amplitude processed by the receiving device remains within the range of normal operation of the PLC system.

[0123] In addition, in this embodiment, the AGC coefficient obtained by calculating the first symbol is used to compensate the channel estimation matrix and the covariance matrix of noise and interference for the AGC coefficient. The AGC coefficient compensation can ensure that the first PL symbol, the channel estimation matrix, and the covariance matrix of noise and interference are gain controlled based on the same AGC coefficient, thereby realizing the detection of the first PL symbol and restoring the accurate original data.

[0124] In the above embodiment, the first communication device starts to process the data after receiving the first symbol in the data frame, so each symbol is processed in a time sequence from left to right in the entire process.

[0125] As a possible implementation manner, the first communication device may process each symbol in the data frame structure after receiving a complete data frame.

[0126] It can be understood that in this communication mode, since the first communication device no longer processes symbols according to the order in which the symbols are received, the position of the first symbol in the data frame structure no longer affects the processing of each symbol in the data frame. As an example, the first symbol can be located between the FC symbol and the TF symbol.

[0127] As an example, after receiving a complete data frame, the first communications device calculates and obtains the corresponding AGC matrix G1 based on the first symbol, and performs gain control on the FC symbol and TF symbol in the data frame structure according to AGC matrix G1. In this case, the equivalent channel estimation matrix and the noise and interference covariance matrix obtained based on the FC symbol and TF symbol processed by AGC matrix G1 can be directly used in the detection process of the first PL symbol, without considering the AGC coefficient compensation in the above embodiment.

[0128] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7, the device 700 of this embodiment may include: a communication module 701 and a processing module 702. The device 700 provided in this embodiment may be used to implement the operations implemented by the first communication device in the method shown in Figure 5.

[0129] The communication module 701 is configured to receive a data frame from a second communication device based on power line carrier communication, wherein the data frame includes a first symbol and a first PL symbol, and the first symbol and the first PL symbol are symbols processed by TPM.

[0130] The processing module 702 is configured to detect a first PL symbol based on the first symbol.

[0131] In some implementations, detecting the first PL symbol based on the first symbol includes:

[0132] The processing module 702 is configured to determine a first automatic gain control (AGC) coefficient based on the first symbol.

[0133] The processing module 702 is used to determine a second channel estimation matrix based on the first AGC coefficient and the first channel estimation matrix, where the first channel estimation matrix is ​​a channel estimation matrix determined based on the second frame control FC symbol and the second TF symbol, the second FC symbol is the FC symbol after the first FC symbol in the data frame is processed based on the second AGC coefficient, the second TF symbol is the TF symbol after the first TF symbol in the data frame is processed based on the second AGC coefficient, and the second AGC coefficient is an AGC coefficient determined based on the leading symbol in the data frame.

[0134] The processing module 702 is configured to detect a second PL symbol based on a second channel estimation matrix, where the second PL symbol is a PL symbol obtained by processing the first PL symbol based on the first AGC coefficient.

[0135] In some implementations, detecting the first PL symbol based on the first symbol includes:

[0136] The processing module 702 determines a second noise matrix based on the first AGC coefficient and a first noise matrix, where the first noise matrix is ​​a noise matrix determined based on the first channel estimation matrix.

[0137] The processing module 702 detects the second PL symbol based on the second noise matrix.

[0138] It should be understood that the apparatus 700 is embodied in the form of functional modules. The term "module" herein may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared processor, a dedicated processor, or a group processor, etc.) and memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, combined logic circuits, and / or other suitable components that support the described functionality.

[0139] The apparatus 700 has the function of implementing the corresponding processes and / or steps in the above method embodiment; the above functions can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0140] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in another embodiment of the present application. The device 800 shown in Figure 8 can be used to execute any of the aforementioned methods executed by the communication device.

[0141] As shown in Figure 8 , the apparatus 800 of this embodiment includes a memory 801, a processor 802, a communication interface 803, and a bus 804. The memory 801, the processor 802, and the communication interface 803 are connected to each other via the bus 804.

[0142] The memory 801 may be a read-only memory (ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device, or a random access memory (RAM). The memory 801 may store a program. When the program stored in the memory 801 is executed by the processor 802, the processor 802 is configured to execute any of the aforementioned methods.

[0143] The processor 802 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit, or one or more integrated circuits for executing related programs.

[0144] The processor 802 may also be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, the various related steps in the embodiment of the present application may be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor 802 or software instructions.

[0145] The processor 802 may also be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The processor 802 may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0146] The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly implemented and executed by a hardware decoding processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc.

[0147] The storage medium is located in the memory 801, and the processor 802 reads the information in the memory 801 and completes the functions required to be executed by the units included in the device of this application in combination with its hardware.

[0148] The communication interface 803 may use, but is not limited to, a transceiver or other transceiver device to implement communication between the apparatus 800 and other devices or apparatuses.

[0149] The bus 804 may include a path for transmitting information between various components of the device 800 (eg, the memory 801 , the processor 802 , and the communication interface 803 ).

[0150] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which computer instructions are stored. When a processor executes the computer instructions, each step of the method in the above embodiment is implemented.

[0151] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, including computer instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the various steps of the method in the above embodiment.

[0152] It should be noted that the modules or components shown in the above embodiments may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application-specific integrated circuits, or one or more microprocessors, or one or more field programmable gate arrays. For another example, when a module is implemented by a processing element calling program code, the processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit or other processor that can call program code, such as a controller. For another example, these modules may be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0153] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, software modules or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function according to the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0154] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present application after considering the specification and practicing the contents disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present application that follow the general principles of this application and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The description and examples are to be considered as exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the present application are indicated by the following claims.

[0155] It should be understood that the present application is not limited to the exact structure described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, applied to a first communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receiving a data frame from a second communication device based on power line carrier communication, the data frame comprising a first symbol and a first payload PL symbol, the first symbol and the first PL symbol being symbols processed by a transmit port mapping TPM; The first PL symbol is detected based on the first symbol.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The data frame also includes a training field TF symbol, and the first symbol is located between the TF symbol and the first PL symbol.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The detecting the first PL symbol based on the first symbol includes: Determine a first automatic gain control AGC coefficient based on the first symbol; Determine a second channel estimation matrix based on the first AGC coefficient and a first channel estimation matrix, wherein the first channel estimation matrix is ​​a channel estimation matrix determined based on a second frame control FC symbol and a second TF symbol, the second FC symbol is an FC symbol after the first FC symbol in the data frame is processed based on the second AGC coefficient, the second TF symbol is a TF symbol after the first TF symbol in the data frame is processed based on the second AGC coefficient, and the second AGC coefficient is an AGC coefficient determined based on a leading symbol in the data frame; A second PL symbol is detected based on the second channel estimation matrix, where the second PL symbol is a PL symbol obtained by processing the first PL symbol based on the first AGC coefficient.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The detecting the first PL symbol based on the first symbol includes: Determine a second noise matrix based on the first AGC coefficient and a first noise matrix, wherein the first noise matrix is ​​a noise matrix determined based on a first channel estimation matrix, the first channel estimation matrix is ​​a channel estimation matrix determined based on a second FC symbol and a second TF symbol, the second FC symbol is an FC symbol obtained by processing the first FC symbol in the data frame based on the second AGC coefficient, the second TF symbol is a TF symbol obtained by processing the first TF symbol in the data frame based on the second AGC coefficient, and the second AGC coefficient is an AGC coefficient determined based on a leading symbol in the data frame; A second PL symbol is detected based on the second noise matrix, where the second PL symbol is a PL symbol obtained by processing the first PL symbol based on the first AGC coefficient.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: The second channel estimation matrix H1 satisfies the following relationship: Wherein, H0 is the first channel estimation matrix, is the inverse matrix of the second AGC coefficient, and G1 is the first AGC coefficient.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The second noise matrix R1 satisfies the following relationship: Wherein, R0 is the first noise matrix, is the inverse matrix of the second AGC coefficient, and G1 is the first AGC coefficient.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The data frame includes a plurality of PL symbols processed by TPM, wherein the first PL symbol is a first PL symbol among the plurality of PL symbols; The method further comprises: The other PL symbols among the multiple PL symbols except the first PL symbol are detected based on the first symbol.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The first symbol includes a preconfigured sequence.

9. A communication method, applied to a second communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises: A data frame is sent to a first communication device based on power line carrier communication, wherein the data frame includes a first symbol and a first PL symbol, and the first symbol and the first PL symbol are symbols processed by TPM.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The data frame also includes a TF symbol, and the first symbol is located between the TF symbol and the first PL symbol.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The data frame includes a plurality of PL symbols processed by TPM, and the first PL symbol is the first PL symbol among the plurality of PL symbols.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that The first symbol includes a preconfigured sequence.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a functional module for implementing the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or includes a functional module for implementing the communication method according to any one of claims 9 to 12.

14. A communication device, characterized in that: include: Processor and memory; The memory stores computer-executable instructions; The processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or any one of claims 9 to 12.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, they are used to implement the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, or any one of claims 9 to 12.

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