Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus applied to the field of communications. In the technical solution provided by the present application, at least one set of beams can be determined on the basis of one or more pieces of information relating to transmission of a first signal by a reflecting surface, so that a network device can determine, on the basis of the at least one set of beams, a beam and / or a set of beams to be used by the reflecting surface to transmit a communication signal, thereby enabling the reflecting surface to, on the basis of the beam and / or the set of beams determined by the network device, assist the network device in communicating with a terminal device. The technical solution provided by the present application enables a reflecting surface to attain a better balance between beam squint and beam gain when assisting a network device in communicating with a terminal device, thereby improving the communication performance of a 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 29, 2023, with application number 202311626991.X 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 communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0003] In the communications field, beam management can be used between network devices and terminal devices to determine the direction and frequency of the beam used when communicating with them. When the network device and terminal device are far apart or there are high-loss factors such as obstructions and shadows between them, auxiliary nodes (such as reflective surfaces) can be used to assist communication between the network device and the terminal device, thereby improving network communication performance.

[0004] However, when auxiliary nodes assist network devices in communicating with terminal devices, the beam squint effect of the auxiliary nodes can cause network communication performance to degrade. Therefore, how to reduce the beam squint effect of the auxiliary nodes and thus improve network communication performance has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device to reduce the impact of the beam tilt effect of an auxiliary node on network communication performance.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface is used to send a first signal. The method includes: receiving first information, the first information is used to indicate the beam and / or beam set of the reflecting surface, and the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal; and sending the first signal based on the first information.

[0007] As an example, the method may be performed by a reflective surface, and may be performed by a chip system, a hardware circuit and / or a software module applied to the reflective surface.

[0008] As an example, when a reflecting surface assists a network device and a terminal device in communicating, if the network device needs to interact with the terminal device, the network device needs to determine the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to assist the network device and the terminal device in communicating. Taking downlink communication as an example, when a network device needs to send a communication signal to a terminal device, the network device can send the communication signal to the reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface can receive the communication signal sent by the network device and forward the received communication signal to the terminal device, thereby realizing communication between the network device and the terminal device. In this example, the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to receive the communication signal, and / or the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to forward the communication signal to the terminal device.

[0009] As an example, the beam of the reflecting surface can be understood as the spatial filtering or weighting of the reflecting surface.

[0010] It should be noted that the reflecting surface sending the first signal can be understood as the reflecting surface receiving the first signal from the transmitting end, and / or the reflecting surface forwarding the first signal to the receiving end. It should be noted that when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating, the number of network devices and terminal devices can be one or more, that is, the number of transmitting ends and receiving ends can be one or more, so the first signal can include one or more signals sent by the reflecting surface, that is, the first signal can include one or more signals received by the reflecting surface from one or more transmitting ends, and / or one or more signals forwarded by the reflecting surface to one or more receiving ends.

[0011] As an example, the network device can determine the beam and / or beam set to be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal based on the pre-configured beam information. The pre-configured beam information can be related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle. The pre-configured beam information can be stored in the network device. The number of subcarriers in the bandwidth can also be referred to as the number of frequency domain units in the bandwidth, that is, the bandwidth can contain one or more frequency domain units, and the subcarrier is an example of a frequency domain unit. In some implementations, the frequency domain unit can also be a frequency domain resource of different granularity such as a component carrier (CC), a resource block (RB), and a subband.

[0012] In this technical solution, after receiving the first information, the reflective surface can send a communication signal based on the first information, thereby assisting the network device and the terminal device in communicating. It should be understood that the communication signal is included in the first signal.

[0013] In this technical solution, preconfigured beam information can be determined based on one or more pieces of information when the reflecting surface transmits a first signal. This allows the network device to determine, from the preconfigured beam information, the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting communication signals. The determined beam and / or beam set is then carried in the first information and transmitted to the reflecting surface. This allows the reflecting surface to transmit communication signals based on the first information, thereby assisting communication between the network device and terminal devices. This technical solution can improve communication performance when the reflecting surface assists communication between the network device and terminal devices.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: radio resource control RRC signaling, media access control layer control element MAC CE signaling, or downlink control information DCI; or, the first information is carried in the physical downlink shared channel PDSCH and / or the physical downlink control channel PDCCH.

[0015] As an example, the first information can be sent through one or more of the following messages: radio resource control protocol (RRC) signaling, media access control layer control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI).

[0016] As an example, the first information may also be sent via a physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH) or a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH).

[0017] As an example, if the first information includes the beam and beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal, the beam and beam set can be carried in the same message and sent down, or can be carried in different messages and sent down.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving second information, where the second information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0019] As an example, the at least one beam set indicated by the second information can be understood as the pre-configured beam information mentioned above.

[0020] In this implementation, the second information may be determined by the network device based on the at least one piece of information. After determining the second information, the network device may send it to the reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface may receive the second information accordingly.

[0021] As an example, after receiving the second information, the reflecting surface may store the at least one beam set indicated by the second information in a register of the reflecting surface, or in other devices of the reflecting surface, which is not limited here.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: sending third information, where the third information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0023] As an example, the at least one beam set indicated by the third information can be understood as the pre-configured beam information mentioned above.

[0024] In this implementation, the third information can be autonomously determined by the reflecting surface. After determining the third information, the reflecting surface can store the third information in a register and send the third information to the network device, so that the network device can determine the first information based on the at least one beam set indicated by the third information. Accordingly, the network device can receive the third information.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving fourth information, the fourth information being used to determine the at least one beam set, the fourth information comprising at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0026] In this implementation, when the reflecting surface determines at least one beam set, it is necessary to obtain fourth information from the network device side, so that the reflecting surface can determine at least one beam set based on the fourth information.

[0027] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a first communication device, and the method includes: determining first information, the first information being used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a first signal, the beam and the beam set being related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, the incident angle being the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle being the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal; and sending the first information.

[0028] As an example, the method may be executed by a first communication device, and may be executed by a chip system, a hardware circuit and / or a software module applied in the first communication device.

[0029] As an example, the first communication device may be a network device, such as a base station.

[0030] As an example, when a reflecting surface assists a network device and a terminal device in communicating, if the network device needs to interact with the terminal device, the network device needs to determine the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to assist the network device and the terminal device in communicating. Taking downlink communication as an example, when a network device needs to send a communication signal to a terminal device, the network device can send the communication signal to the reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface can receive the communication signal sent by the network device and forward the received communication signal to the terminal device, thereby realizing communication between the network device and the terminal device. In this example, the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to receive the communication signal, and / or the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to forward the communication signal to the terminal device.

[0031] As an example, the beam of the reflecting surface can be understood as the spatial filtering or weighting of the reflecting surface.

[0032] It should be noted that the reflecting surface sending the first signal can be understood as the reflecting surface receiving the first signal from the transmitting end, and / or the reflecting surface forwarding the first signal to the receiving end. It should be noted that when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating, the number of network devices and terminal devices can be one or more, that is, the number of transmitting ends and receiving ends can be one or more, so the first signal can include one or more signals sent by the reflecting surface, that is, the first signal can include one or more signals received by the reflecting surface from one or more transmitting ends, and / or one or more signals forwarded by the reflecting surface to one or more receiving ends.

[0033] As an example, the network device can determine the beam and / or beam set to be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal based on the pre-configured beam information. The pre-configured beam information can be related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle. The pre-configured beam information can be stored in the network device. The number of subcarriers in the bandwidth can also be referred to as the number of frequency domain units in the bandwidth, that is, the bandwidth can contain one or more frequency domain units, and the subcarrier is an example of a frequency domain unit. In some implementations, the frequency domain unit can also be a frequency domain resource of different granularity such as a component carrier (CC), a resource block (RB), and a subband.

[0034] In this technical solution, after receiving the first information, the reflective surface can send a communication signal based on the first information, thereby assisting the network device and the terminal device in communicating. It should be understood that the communication signal is included in the first signal.

[0035] In this technical solution, preconfigured beam information can be determined based on one or more pieces of information when the reflecting surface transmits a first signal. This allows the network device to determine, from the preconfigured beam information, the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting communication signals. The determined beam and / or beam set is then carried in the first information and transmitted to the reflecting surface. This allows the reflecting surface to transmit communication signals based on the first information, thereby assisting communication between the network device and terminal devices. This technical solution can improve communication performance when the reflecting surface assists communication between the network device and terminal devices.

[0036] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI; or, the first information is carried in PDSCH and / or PDCCH.

[0037] As an example, the first information may be delivered via one or more of the following messages: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI information.

[0038] As an example, the first information may also be sent via PDSCH or PDCCH.

[0039] As an example, if the first information includes the beam and beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal, the beam and beam set can be carried in the same message and sent down, or can be carried in different messages and sent down.

[0040] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: determining at least one beam set based on the at least one item of information, the beam and the beam set being included in the at least one beam set; and sending second information, the second information being used to indicate the at least one beam set.

[0041] As an example, the at least one beam set indicated by the second information can be understood as the pre-configured beam information mentioned above.

[0042] In this implementation, the second information may be determined by the network device based on the at least one piece of information. After determining the second information, the network device may send it to the reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface may receive the second information accordingly.

[0043] As an example, after receiving the second information, the reflecting surface may store the at least one beam set indicated by the second information in a register of the reflecting surface, or in other devices of the reflecting surface, which is not limited here.

[0044] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: receiving third information, where the third information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0045] As an example, the at least one beam set indicated by the third information can be understood as the pre-configured beam information mentioned above.

[0046] In this implementation, the third information can be autonomously determined by the reflecting surface. After determining the third information, the reflecting surface can store the third information in a register and send the third information to the network device, so that the network device can determine the first information based on the at least one beam set indicated by the third information. Accordingly, the network device can receive the third information.

[0047] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending fourth information, the fourth information being used to determine the at least one beam set, the fourth information comprising at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0048] In this implementation, when the reflecting surface autonomously determines at least one beam set, the network device may send fourth information to the reflecting surface, so that the reflecting surface may determine at least one beam set based on the fourth information.

[0049] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes modules for implementing the method in the first aspect or any one of the implementations thereof, and each module can be implemented in the form of hardware and / or software.

[0050] For example, the device may include: a receiving module and a sending module. The receiving module is configured to receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate a beam and / or beam set of the reflecting surface, where the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: a bandwidth carrying the first signal, a number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, a carrier frequency carrying the first signal, a carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, an incident angle, or an exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal; and the sending module is configured to send the first signal based on the first information.

[0051] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI; or, the first information is carried in PDSCH and / or PDCCH.

[0052] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the receiving module is further used to receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0053] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the sending module is further used to send third information, where the third information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0054] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the receiving module is further used to receive fourth information, and the fourth information is used to determine the at least one beam set, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0055] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes modules for implementing the method in the second aspect or any one of the implementation methods thereof, and each module can be implemented in the form of hardware and / or software.

[0056] For example, the device may include: a processing module and a sending module. The processing module is used to determine first information, where the first information is used to indicate a beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a first signal, and the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: a bandwidth carrying the first signal, a number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, a carrier frequency carrying the first signal, a carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, an incident angle, or an exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal; and the sending module is used to send the first information.

[0057] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI; or, the first information is carried in PDSCH and / or PDCCH.

[0058] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the processing module is further used to determine at least one beam set based on the at least one item of information, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set; the sending module is further used to send second information, and the second information is used to indicate the at least one beam set.

[0059] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the apparatus may further include a receiving module. The receiving module is configured to receive third information, where the third information is configured to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

[0060] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the sending module is also used to send fourth information, and the fourth information is used to determine the at least one beam set, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0061] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, which may be coupled to a memory and configured to call program code in the memory to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

[0062] Optionally, the device may be a reflective surface, or a chip system, hardware circuit and / or software module applied to the reflective surface.

[0063] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory and configured to call program code in the memory to execute the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

[0064] Optionally, the apparatus may be a network device, or a chip system, a hardware circuit and / or a software module applied in a network device.

[0065] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes the apparatus of the third aspect or the fifth aspect, and the apparatus of the fourth aspect or the sixth aspect. Optionally, the communication system may further include a terminal device.

[0066] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method as described in the first aspect, the second aspect, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0067] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable medium storing program code for execution by a device, wherein the program code includes a method for executing the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0068] For the technical effects that can be achieved by any of the third to ninth aspects and any possible design of any of them, please refer to the description of the technical effects that can be brought about by the first to second aspects above, and no further details will be given here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0069] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the present application;

[0070] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system applicable to the present application;

[0071] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a network device provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a relay provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a reflective surface provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG8 is an exemplary flow chart of a communication method provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG8a is a schematic diagram illustrating an incident angle and an exit angle provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG9 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a beam gain provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG10 is an exemplary flow chart of a communication method provided in yet another embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG11 is an exemplary flow chart of a communication method provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG12 is an exemplary flow chart of a communication method provided in yet another embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication bandwidth provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0084] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in another embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0085] 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.

[0086] In wireless communication systems, beamforming technology is used to confine the energy of transmitted signals to a specific beam direction, thereby increasing the efficiency of signal transmission and reception. Beamforming can effectively expand the transmission range of wireless signals and reduce signal interference, thereby achieving higher communication efficiency and higher network capacity. However, in communication networks using beamforming technology, the transmit or receive beam must be matched to the wireless channel so that the receive beam receives the best signal quality from the transmit beam. Otherwise, communication efficiency may be poor or even impossible. Matching the transmit / receive beam with the channel is typically achieved through beam management (such as beam scanning). For example, in transmit beam scanning, the receiver maintains a fixed receive beam while transmitting signals using multiple beams for measurement. In receive beam scanning, the transmitter maintains a fixed transmit beam while receiving signals using multiple receive beams. Transmit and receive beams can also be scanned alternately to gradually improve the matching with the channel. Among them, beamforming can also be called beamforming, or spatial filtering. During downlink communication, the transmitting end can be a network device (such as a base station) and the receiving end can be a terminal device; during uplink communication, the transmitting end can be a terminal device and the receiving end can be a network device.

[0087] As an example, in a new radio (NR) communication system, beam scanning can be performed based on the downlink reference signal, so that the terminal device can obtain the downlink receive beam, and the network device can obtain the downlink transmit beam and precoding / codebook; beam management can also be performed based on the uplink reference signal, so that the terminal device can obtain the uplink transmit beam and precoding / codebook, and the network device can obtain the uplink receive beam.

[0088] It should be noted that in a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) communication system, the signals from multiple transmitting antennas are superimposed on any receiving antenna, resulting in high complexity for the receiving end to recover the transmitted signal. The method by which the transmitting end transmits the signal also affects system performance. Therefore, precoding technology can be used to reduce system overhead, increase system capacity, and reduce the complexity of eliminating inter-channel interference when the signal receiving end recovers the transmitted signal. In a MIMO communication system using precoding, the signal received by the receiving end can be expressed mathematically as follows: y = HPx + n, where y is the received signal, H is the MIMO channel matrix, P is the precoding matrix or vector, x is the transmitted signal, and n is noise. Precoding can include digital precoding, analog precoding, and hybrid precoding. Hybrid precoding is a combination of digital and analog precoding. P can be selected from a predefined set of matrices or vectors, which can be called a codebook.

[0089] In some communication scenarios, the distance between network equipment and terminal devices is relatively long, and there may be high-loss factors such as obstructions and shadows between the two. This may prevent the terminal device from communicating directly with the network device, resulting in a signal blind spot or weak signal coverage area in the network. To address this, auxiliary nodes can be used to facilitate communication between network equipment and terminal devices, thereby improving network communication performance. Auxiliary nodes can be relays or reflectors.

[0090] For example, Figure 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a relay-assisted communication system between a network device and a terminal device. As shown in Figure 1 , the communication system may include a network device 110, a terminal device 120, and a relay 130. The number of network devices, terminal devices, and relays is merely an example and is not specifically limited in this application.

[0091] Relay 130 can directly amplify and forward received signals. In some relay systems, the relay may include two antenna panels, each containing multiple antenna elements. Beams can be formed on the antenna panels to improve relay transmission performance. One antenna panel is used to communicate with the transmitter, such as receiving signals from network device 110, and the other antenna panel is used to communicate with the receiver, such as sending amplified signals to terminal device 120. In this embodiment, the beam generated on the antenna panel for communicating with the transmitter is referred to as a backhaul beam, and the beam generated on the antenna panel for communicating with the receiver is referred to as an access beam.

[0092] For example, Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a reflective surface-assisted communication system between a network device and a terminal device. As shown in Figure 2, the communication system may include a network device 210, a terminal device 220, and a reflective surface 230. The number of network devices, terminal devices, and reflective surfaces is merely an example and is not specifically limited in this application.

[0093] Taking downlink communication as an example, the network device 210 can send a signal to the reflecting surface 230, and the reflecting surface 230 reflects the received signal to the terminal device 220, thereby opening up the signal link between the network device 210 and the terminal device 220. Among them, the reflecting surface 230 can include multiple antenna arrays, thereby generating a beam to improve the transmission performance of the reflecting surface. In this embodiment, the communication beam between the reflecting surface and the transmitting end can be called the backhaul side beam, and the communication beam between the reflecting surface and the receiving end can be called the access side beam, that is, the reflecting surface can receive signals based on the backhaul side beam and forward signals based on the access side beam. In the embodiment of the present application, the antenna array can also be called an antenna.

[0094] It should be noted that different antennas in the auxiliary node may receive and transmit signals differently. Therefore, by adjusting the incidence factors of multiple antennas, the backhaul side beam generated by the auxiliary node can be aligned in the direction of the transmitting end, and by adjusting the reflection factors of multiple antennas, the access side beam generated by the auxiliary node can be aligned in the direction of the receiving end, thereby improving the communication performance when the network device communicates with the terminal device. The incidence factor of the antenna can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used by the auxiliary node when generating the backhaul side beam, which can also be called the incidence weight. The reflection factor can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used by the auxiliary node when generating the access side beam, which can also be called the reflection weight. The incidence weight and reflection weight can be collectively referred to as weights. As an example, the precoding matrix used by the auxiliary node when generating the backhaul side / access side beam can be a precoding matrix of analog precoding.

[0095] When the auxiliary node assists the network device and the terminal device to communicate, there is a time delay when the signal is transmitted to each of the multiple antennas, that is, there is a time difference between the time when the signal is transmitted to each of the multiple antennas, or the distance difference of the signal to each of the multiple antennas is different. However, the auxiliary node usually uses the center frequency f cen To determine the weight of the auxiliary node, so that the center frequency f cen The corresponding beam will point to the preset direction, with a center frequency of f cen The beams corresponding to the edge frequency domain units (such as subcarriers) on both sides will deviate from the preset direction, resulting in a beam squint effect. i ∈[f cen -BW / 2,f cen +BW / 2], BW is the bandwidth of the signal, and the unit of BW can be megahertz (MHz). The situation where the beam angle changes with frequency is called the beam tilt effect. It should be noted that when the beam tilt effect occurs, the beams corresponding to different frequency domain units will have different beam gains, and the position of the frequency domain unit and the center frequency f cen When the distance between the two nodes is large, the difference in beam gain becomes more obvious, which leads to a decrease in network communication performance. Therefore, how to reduce the beam tilt effect of the auxiliary node to improve the communication performance of the network has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently.

[0096] The applicant's research has found that different influencing factors (such as signal bandwidth, auxiliary node scanning angle, etc.) and / or different weights will result in different beam tilt and beam gain. Therefore, it is possible to design or select reasonable weights based on different influencing factors to achieve matching between beams and channels, thereby achieving a good compromise between beam tilt and beam gain, and improving network communication performance.

[0097] In view of this, the present application provides a communication method and a communication device. In the communication method provided in the present application, multiple sets of weights or multiple sets of weights are configured for different influencing factors, so that suitable weights are selected from the configured multiple sets of weights or multiple sets of weights for different communication scenarios to improve the communication performance of the network. It should be noted that the communication method and the communication device provided in the present application are based on the same technical concept. Since the principles of solving the problems of the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the method and the device can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0098] The terminal devices involved in the embodiments of the present application may be user equipment (UE), access terminal, terminal unit, terminal station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, wireless communication device, terminal agent or terminal device, etc. The access terminal may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted A device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile (communication) network (PLMN), etc. In the embodiments of the present application, the device for realizing the functions of the terminal device may be the terminal device itself; or it may be a device that can support the terminal device to realize its functions, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0099] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device provided in one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, terminal device 300 may include a processor 310, a memory 320, and a signal transceiver unit 330. Signal transceiver unit 330 may include a transmitter 3301, a receiver 3302, and an antenna 3303. The number of processors, memories, and signal transceiver units is merely an example and is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0100] Among them, the memory 320 is used to store computer programs or configuration information, the transmitter 3301 can be used to send transmission information to the network device 400 through the antenna 3303, and the receiver 3302 can be used to receive transmission control configuration information or indication information sent by the network device 400 through the antenna 3303.

[0101] It should be understood that the transmitter 3301 and the antenna 3303 can be collectively referred to as an output device of the terminal device 300, and the receiver 3302 and the antenna 3303 can be collectively referred to as an input device of the terminal device 300.

[0102] The network device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a device that can communicate with a terminal device. The network device may be a base station, a relay station, or an access point. The base station may be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communication (GSM) or a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, or a base station (such as NodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) network, or an evolved base station (such as evolutionary NodeB, eNB or eNodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE). The network device may also be a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The network device may also be a base station device in a future fifth generation (5G) communication network or a network device of a future evolved public land mobile (communication) network (PLMN). The base station device may also be a wearable device or a vehicle-mounted device. In an embodiment of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the network device may be the network device itself; or it may be a device that can support the network device to implement its functions, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the network device.

[0103] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a network device provided in one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, network device 400 may include a processor 410, a memory 420, and a signal transceiver unit 430. Signal transceiver unit 430 includes a transmitter 4301, a receiver 4302, and an antenna 4303. The number of processors, memories, and signal transceiver units is merely an example and is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0104] Memory 420 is used to store computer programs or configuration information, transmitter 4301 can be used to send transmission control configuration information or instruction information to terminal device 300 via antenna 4303, and receiver 4302 can be used to receive transmission information sent by terminal device 300 via antenna 4303. It should be understood that transmitter 4301 and antenna 4303 can be collectively referred to as output devices of network device 400, and receiver 4302 and antenna 4303 can be collectively referred to as input devices of network device 400.

[0105] The relay involved in the embodiments of the present application can be called a repeater, which has a signal forwarding function and can amplify the signal. In addition, the relay node can also shift the carrier frequency of the signal, or can also demodulate the signal and remodulate it before forwarding, or can also reduce the noise of the signal before forwarding. Therefore, the relay can be any of the following forms: amplification forwarding, demodulation forwarding, frequency shift forwarding, and noise reduction forwarding. The relay can also be considered as a special form of terminal equipment. If the control ability of the network device over the relay is considered, it can be divided into non-intelligent relays and intelligent relays, where the network device can control the intelligent relay to perform more performance-enhancing functions, such as relay transmission power control, relay amplification gain control, relay beam scanning control, and relay precoding control.

[0106] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a relay provided by one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, the relay 500 may include a controller 510, a signal amplifier 520, a first signal transceiver unit 530, and a second signal transceiver unit 540. The relay 500 can be used to implement communication between the network device 400 and the terminal device 300, such as signaling interaction and signal amplification. The first signal transceiver unit 530 may include a transmitter 5301, a receiver 5302, and an antenna 5303; the second signal transceiver unit 540 may include a transmitter 5401, a receiver 5402, and an antenna 5403.

[0107] It should be understood that the transmitter 5301 and the antenna 5303 can be collectively referred to as the output device of the relay 500, or the transmitter 5401 and the antenna 5403 can be collectively referred to as the output device of the relay 500; the receiver 5302 and the antenna 5303 can be collectively referred to as the input device of the relay 500, or the receiver 5402 and the antenna 5403 can be collectively referred to as the input device of the relay 500.

[0108] The number of controllers, signal amplifiers, and signal transceiver units is merely an example and is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. When there are multiple signal amplifiers, each signal amplifier corresponds to a different polarization direction or relay wireless RF channel.

[0109] Among them, the controller 510 can also be called a mobile terminal (MT), and the other parts of the relay 500 except the controller 510 can be called a wireless radio unit (RU), or a distributed unit (DU), or a distributed radio unit (DRU), etc. The controller 510 can communicate with the network device 400 or the terminal device 300 based on the first signal transceiver unit 530 and the second signal transceiver unit 540. For example, the controller 510 can communicate with the network device 400 through the first signal transceiver unit 530, such as establishing a communication link and beam alignment between the relay 500 and the network device 400, and the controller 510 can communicate with the terminal device 300 through the second signal transceiver unit 540, such as establishing a communication link and beam alignment between the relay 500 and the terminal device 300; the controller 510 can also be used to receive transmission control configuration information or indication information sent by the network device 400 to facilitate the network device 400 to control the working time, working status, or working mode of the relay 500; the controller 510 can also be used for the trigger signal of the terminal device 300, so that the relay 500 can enter the corresponding working mode as needed; the controller 510 can also be used to determine the working status (such as amplification factor, phase) of the signal amplifier 520 based on the indication information sent by the network device 400 or its own measurement information.

[0110] Taking downlink communication as an example, the first signal transceiver unit 530 can be used to receive transmission control configuration information or indication information sent by the network device 400, and the second signal transceiver unit 540 can be used to forward the amplified transmission control configuration information or indication information to the terminal device 300, or the second signal transceiver unit 540 can be used to receive transmission control configuration information or indication information sent by the network device 400, and the first signal transceiver unit 530 can be used to forward the amplified transmission control configuration information or indication information to the terminal device 300.

[0111] The reflecting surface involved in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a reflector. For example, the reflecting surface may be an intelligent reflecting surface, a reflecting array, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), a reconfigurable reflecting surface (RRS), an intelligent reflecting array (intelligent reflecting array), a reflector, an intelligent reflector, a backscatter device, a passive device, a semi-passive device, or an ambient signal device, etc.

[0112] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a reflective surface provided in one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, reflective surface 600 may include a reflective surface communication functional unit 610, a reflective array element controller 620, and reflective array elements 630. The number of reflective surface communication functional units, reflective surface controllers, and reflective array elements is merely an example and is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0113] The reflecting surface communication function unit 610 is similar to the terminal device 300 and includes a processor 611, a memory 612, and a signal transceiver unit 613. The signal transceiver unit 613 may include a transmitter 6131, a receiver 6132, and an antenna 6133. The memory 612 is used to store computer programs or configuration information, the transmitter 6131 can be used to send information to the receiving end via the antenna 6133, and the receiver 6132 can be used to receive information sent by the transmitting end via the antenna 6133. The number of processors, memories, and signal transceiver units is merely an example and is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0114] The reflection element controller 620 is used to control the state of each reflection element 630 based on received signaling. The reflection elements 630 are used to reflect signals. The basic operating principle of the reflection elements 630 is to reflect or absorb received signals using simple circuits. When reflecting a signal, the reflection element 630 can superimpose a phase or amplitude on the signal before reflecting it. Different states of the reflection element 630 can superimpose (or multiply) different amplitudes and / or phases on the received signal. The states of the reflection elements 630 constitute the reflection state matrix (or reflection state vector) of the reflection surface. Some reflection elements 630 have two states: on and off. Specifically, the two states of the reflection element 630 are divided into reflecting and absorbing signals. In the reflecting state, the reflection element 630 directly reflects the received signal. In the absorbing state, the reflection element 630 absorbs the received signal.

[0115] In some embodiments, considering that a terminal device (such as a high-frequency terminal) can face multiple directions, the terminal device can generate beams in different directions through different spatial filtering.

[0116] For example, FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device provided by another embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG7 , the terminal device 700 may include a processor 710, a memory 720 and a signal transceiver unit 730. The signal transceiver unit 730 includes a transmitter 7301, a receiver 7302 and multiple antenna arrays. The multiple antenna arrays are antenna array 1 to antenna array M in FIG7 , where M is a positive integer. Among them, the memory 720 is used to store computer programs or configuration information. The antenna array may include one or more of digital precoding, analog precoding and antennas. Analog precoding can be implemented by a phase shifter. A phase shifter represents an analog channel. Each phase shifter can be connected to one or more antenna elements, or the phase shifter and the antenna element can be cross-connected.

[0117] As shown in Figure 7, antenna array 1 can generate beam 1 in direction 1 to radiate or send signals, which corresponds to the first spatial domain filtering. Antenna array M can generate beam M in direction M to radiate or send signals, which corresponds to the Mth spatial domain filtering, where M is a positive integer.

[0118] As an example, M directions can be determined based on the horizontal or vertical spatial coverage range, and the coverage direction of each of the M beams can be determined. The coverage direction can also be referred to as the coverage area, coverage range, or direction, where the M beams correspond one-to-one to the M directions, that is, each beam corresponds to one direction. As an example, when the spatial coverage range in the horizontal direction is [-60°, 60°], the spatial coverage range can be divided into M subspace coverage ranges, thereby achieving horizontal spatial coverage. The direction of the centerline of each subspace coverage range is used as the direction of the subspace coverage range, and the direction of the subspace coverage range is determined as the direction of the corresponding beam.

[0119] It should be noted that the mth spatial domain filter in the M spatial domain filters can be understood as the digital weight F shown in FIG7 m =[F m,1 ;…;F m,k ], 1≤m≤M, k represents the number of digital channels in each antenna array, digital channels can also be called digital coding channels, F is the digital weight or digital precoding weight, digital weight can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used when digital precoding is used; or the mth spatial domain filter can be understood as the analog weight G shown in Figure 7 m , the analog weight can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used when using analog precoding; or the mth spatial domain filter can be understood as the mixed analog weight F m G m The hybrid analog-digital weight can be understood as the precoding matrix or vector used when digital precoding and analog precoding are jointly coded.

[0120] In some implementations, it can be considered that the spatial filtering of any number of the M antenna arrays of the terminal device can constitute a spatial filtering. For example, the M antenna arrays can constitute a spatial filtering, such as any one of the following spatial filtering: [F1; ...; F m ], [G1;…;G m ], or [F1G1;…;F m G m ].

[0121] It should be noted that network equipment, relays and reflecting surfaces can also generate beams in different directions through different spatial filtering. The way in which network equipment, relays and reflecting surfaces generate beams in different directions through different spatial filtering is similar to the way in which terminal devices generate beams in different directions through different spatial filtering, and will not be repeated here.

[0122] The following uses the auxiliary node as a reflecting surface as an example to illustrate the technical solution provided by this application. It should be understood that the technical solution provided by this application can also be applied to a relay system or to other communication systems that include auxiliary nodes, and this application does not impose specific restrictions on this. In the embodiments of this application, the device for realizing the function of the reflecting surface can be a reflecting surface; it can also be a device that can support the reflecting surface to realize the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the reflecting surface.

[0123] Figure 8 is an exemplary flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the method may include S801, S802 and S803.

[0124] S801, the network device determines first information, where the first information is used to indicate a beam and / or beam set of a reflecting surface, and the beam and beam set of the reflecting surface are related to at least one of the following information: a bandwidth carrying a first signal, a number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, a carrier frequency carrying the first signal, a carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, an incident angle, or an exit angle, where the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal.

[0125] In this embodiment, when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating, if the network device needs to interact with the terminal device, the network device needs to determine the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating.

[0126] Taking downlink communication as an example, when a network device needs to send a communication signal to a terminal device, the network device can send the communication signal to a reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface can receive the communication signal sent by the network device and forward the received communication signal to the terminal device, thereby realizing communication between the network device and the terminal device. In this example, the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use to receive the communication signal, and / or the first information can be used to indicate the beam and / or beam set that the reflecting surface should use when forwarding the communication signal to the terminal device.

[0127] As an example, the beam of a reflecting surface can be understood as the spatial filtering or weighting of the reflecting surface. Based on this, the beam set of the reflecting surface can also be understood as the spatial filtering set or weighting set of the reflecting surface, and the beam of the reflecting surface can be included in the beam set of the reflecting surface.

[0128] In some implementations, the network device can determine the first information from the preconfigured beam information. The preconfigured beam information may include a beam and / or a beam set that can be used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal. The reflecting surface sending the first signal can be understood as the reflecting surface receiving the first signal from the network device, and / or the reflecting surface forwarding the first signal to the terminal device. It should be noted that when the reflecting surface assists in communication, the number of network devices and terminal devices can be one or more, that is, the number of transmitting ends and receiving ends can be one or more, so the first signal can include one or more signals sent by the reflecting surface, or the first signal can include one or more signals received by the reflecting surface from one or more transmitting ends, and / or one or more signals forwarded by the reflecting surface to one or more receiving ends. It should be understood that the communication signal can be included in the first signal. As an example, the preconfigured beam information can be configured in the network device.

[0129] In this implementation, as an example, the pre-configured beam information may be related to at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, the incident angle, or the exit angle, the incident angle is the incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle is the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal. Among them, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth can also be referred to as the number of frequency domain units in the bandwidth, that is, the bandwidth can contain one or more frequency domain units, and the subcarrier is an example of a frequency domain unit. In some implementations, the frequency domain unit can also be frequency domain resources of different granularities such as component carrier (CC), resource block (RB), and subband. The incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal can be understood as the incident angle that the reflecting surface can use to receive the first signal, or the direction of the return side beam that the reflecting surface can use to receive the first signal, and the direction of the return side beam can be understood as the angle between the return side beam and the normal perpendicular to the reflecting surface; the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal can be understood as the exit angle that the reflecting surface can use to forward the first signal, or the direction of the access side beam that the reflecting surface can use to forward the first signal, and the direction of the access side beam can be understood as the angle between the access side beam and the normal perpendicular to the reflecting surface. It should be understood that the number of incident angles and exit angles can be one or more. Among them, at least one of the above information can also be called an influencing factor for determining the preconfigured beam information.

[0130] In this implementation, the pre-configured beam information may include a pre-configured beam set determined based on any one or more of the at least one item of information.

[0131] As an example, the preconfigured beam information may include a preconfigured beam set determined based on the incident angle and the exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, as shown in Table (1).

[0132] Table (1)

[0133] in, It can be understood as a parameter used to characterize the angle that the reflecting surface can use to send the first signal. This parameter can be related to the incident angle θ and the exit angle β that the reflecting surface can use to send the first signal. For example The beams in the preconfigured beam set are as follows: 10 It can be understood as spatial filtering or weighting. It should be understood that r is a positive integer.

[0134] In some implementations, the signs of the incident and exit angles may vary depending on the selected coordinate system, resulting in different.

[0135] As an example, when the incident angle and the exit angle are distributed on the same side of the normal line perpendicular to the reflective surface, the signs of the incident angle and the exit angle can be the same. When the incident angle and the exit angle are distributed on opposite sides of the normal line perpendicular to the reflective surface, the signs of the incident angle and the exit angle can be opposite. This application does not specifically limit the method for setting the signs of the incident angle and the exit angle.

[0136] For example, FIG8a is a schematic diagram illustrating an incident angle and an exit angle provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG8a, the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β1 are distributed on the same side of the normal perpendicular to the reflective surface, and the parameters related to the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β1 are It can be expressed as: The signs of the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β1 are both positive; the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β2 are distributed on both sides of the normal perpendicular to the reflecting surface, and the parameters related to the incident angle θ1 and the exit angle β2 are It can be expressed as: -sin(β2), where the sign of the incident angle θ1 is positive and the sign of the exit angle β2 is negative.

[0137] It should be understood that Only By way of example and not limitation, Other expressions can also be used.

[0138] In this example, the network device can determine the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending the communication signal based on the incident angle and the outgoing angle used by the reflecting surface to send the communication signal, that is, determine the first information. For example, the parameter used by the reflecting surface to characterize the angle used to send the communication signal belong When the beam set of the reflecting surface can be {φ 00 ,φ 01 ,…,φ 0r}.

[0139] As an example, the pre-configured beam information may include a carrier frequency f carrying the first signal. d The determined pre-configured beam set is shown in Table (2).

[0140] Table (2)

[0141] In this example, the network device can determine the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending the communication signal based on the carrier frequency carrying the communication signal, that is, the first information. For example, when the carrier frequency carrying the communication signal is f1, the beam set of the reflecting surface can be {γ 10 , γ 11 ,…,γ 1r}.

[0142] As an example, the pre-configured beam information may include a pre-configured beam set determined based on the bandwidth BW carrying the first signal, as shown in Table (3).

[0143] Table (3)

[0144] In this example, the network device can determine the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when sending the communication signal based on the bandwidth carrying the communication signal, that is, the first information. For example, when the bandwidth carrying the first signal is BW0, the beam set of the reflecting surface can be {n 00 , η 01 ,…,η 0r}.

[0145] It should be understood that the contents in Table (1), Table (2) and Table (3) are only examples of pre-configured beam information. The contents in Table (1), Table (2) and Table (3) can be modified according to actual needs, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0146] In a possible implementation, the pre-configured beam information may also be related to the position of the frequency corresponding to each frequency domain unit (such as a subcarrier) in the bandwidth carrying the first signal relative to the center frequency.

[0147] In a possible implementation, the preconfigured beam information may also be related to the antenna array information of the reflective surface. The antenna array information of the reflective surface may include one or more of the following information: the number of antenna elements N; f , the spacing d between antenna elements, the number of phase shifters N p , the number of digital channels, the number of analog channels, or the number of ports.

[0148] As an example, after determining the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting communication signals, the frequency response of each beam in the beam set can be further determined. Based on the frequency response of each beam in the beam set, the gain of each beam can be determined, thereby determining the level of beam tilt effect of each beam, and further determining the beam that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting communication signals. For example, the beam with the lowest beam tilt effect in the beam set can be used as the beam that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting communication signals, thereby improving the communication performance of the system when the reflecting surface assists communication. It should be noted that the frequency response can be understood as the product of the steering vector of the reflecting surface and the weight. The steering vector is used to describe the spatial phase difference of the reflecting surface. The spatial phase difference indicates that there is a certain difference in phase or time between signals received by antenna elements with different positions in space.

[0149] As an example, when a reflective surface transmits a signal, the frequency response Q of the signal beam can be expressed as:

[0150] Among them, N f is the number of antenna elements contained in the reflector, d is the spacing between the antenna elements on the reflector, λ is the wavelength of the carrier carrying the signal, and f i is the frequency corresponding to the i-th frequency domain unit (such as subcarrier) in the bandwidth carrying the signal, f i ∈[f cen -BW / 2,f cen +BW / 2], BW is the bandwidth carrying the signal, f cen is the center frequency of the bandwidth carrying the signal, θ is the incident angle used by the reflective surface to send the signal, and β is the exit angle used by the reflective surface to send the signal.

[0151] As an example, after determining the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting a communication signal, the network device may further determine the beam that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting the communication signal, and transmit the determined beam to the reflecting surface, or transmit both the determined beam and the beam set to the reflecting surface, thereby enabling the reflecting surface to communicate based on the determined beam. It should be understood that in this example, the first information may include the beam that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting a communication signal, or the first information may include the beam and the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting a communication signal.

[0152] As an example, after determining the beam set that a reflecting surface should use when transmitting communication signals, the network device can directly send the determined beam set to the reflecting surface. After receiving the beam set, the reflecting surface can autonomously determine the beam that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting communication signals from the beam set, thereby communicating based on the determined beam. It should be understood that in this example, the first information may include the beam set that the reflecting surface should use when transmitting communication signals.

[0153] It should be understood that the preconfigured beam set can also be referred to as a preconfigured weight set. In some implementations, the preconfigured weight set can include narrow beam weights and wide beam weights, and the wide beam weights can also be referred to as widened beam weights. Among them, the reflecting surface can generate a beam with a coverage width less than a width threshold and an inter-beam spacing less than a first spacing threshold based on the narrow beam weights, or the reflecting surface can generate a beam with a coverage width less than a width threshold and an inter-beam spacing greater than or equal to the first spacing threshold but less than the second spacing threshold based on the narrow beam weights; the reflecting surface can generate a beam with a coverage width greater than or equal to the width threshold based on the wide beam weights, that is, the reflecting surface can widen the beam based on the wide beam weights. Since the widened beam has a greater tolerance to beam angle deviation, the beam tilt effect can be reduced, thereby improving the communication efficiency of the system. Beam widening can be understood as changing the shape of the antenna pattern by changing various parameters of the antenna so that it has a wider main lobe. It should be noted that the width threshold, the first interval threshold, and the second interval threshold can all be set according to actual needs, and this application does not impose any specific restrictions on this.

[0154] Among them, the narrow beam weight can be applied to communication scenarios where the beam tilt effect is lower than the preset condition. When the reflective surface communicates based on the narrow beam weight, it can achieve good beam gain and the output power of the signal is higher; the wide beam weight can be applied to communication scenarios where the beam tilt effect is higher than or equal to the preset condition. When the reflective surface communicates based on the wide beam weight, it can increase the effective bandwidth of the signal, thereby improving the communication performance of the system. Among them, the preset condition can be set according to actual needs, and this application does not impose specific restrictions on this. For example, the preset condition can be that the average gain of the beam is greater than or equal to the gain threshold, and the gain threshold can be set according to actual needs.

[0155] It should be noted that this application does not limit the specific implementation of narrow beam weights and wide beam weights.

[0156] As an example, the narrow beam weight can be determined based on a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vector. The narrow beam weight can also be called a DFT weight. For example, the narrow beam weight determined based on the DFT vector can be:

[0157] Where j is the imaginary unit, e is the natural logarithm base, s is the weight index, s is a positive integer, 1≤s≤N, N is the number of beams in different directions that the reflective surface can generate, similar to the number of beams in M ​​different directions that the terminal device can generate in Figure 7. Among them, u1 can be understood as the weight used when the reflective surface generates beam 1 in direction 1. It should be understood that u s It can be one of the beams in the above preconfigured beam set. As an example, u s Can be N f ×1 column vector, each element in the column vector can be the N f The weight corresponding to each antenna array in the antenna array, for example Can be N f The weight corresponding to the first antenna element among the antenna elements.

[0158] In one possible implementation, the narrow beam weights may be expanded to obtain wide beam weights. For example, the narrow beam weights may be square-rate expanded or virtual subarray expanded to obtain wide beam weights, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0159] As an example, the wide beam weight obtained by square-rate expansion of the narrow beam weight can be:

[0160] Or it can be:

[0161] Wherein, α0 is the broadening coefficient, and the beam width can be adjusted by adjusting the value of α0, thereby reducing the beam tilt effect. It should be noted that the value of α0 can be set according to actual needs, and this application does not impose specific restrictions on this.

[0162] As an example, the narrow beam weight may also be determined based on an angle, where the angle may be the direction of the beam generated by the reflecting surface. For example, the narrow beam weight determined based on the angle may be:

[0163] Among them, f cen is the center frequency, c is the speed of light, θ s is the direction of the sth beam that can be generated by the reflecting surface, 1≤s≤N, and d is the spacing between the antenna elements of the reflecting surface.

[0164] In this example, the wide beam weight obtained by square-rate expansion of the narrow beam weight can be:

[0165] For example, Figure 9 is an illustrative diagram of a beam gain provided by one embodiment of the present application. Beams a and b shown in Figure 9 share at least one piece of information (such as the incident angle and the exit angle). Beam a is generated by the reflective surface based on narrow beam weights, while beam b is generated by the reflective surface based on wide beam weights. Beam b can be understood as the beam obtained by widening beam a. The unit of beam gain in Figure 9 is decibels (dB).

[0166] As shown in Figure 9, the gain of beam a at the center frequency (such as 0MHz) is higher, but the gain of the edge frequency domain units on both sides of the center frequency decreases rapidly, the beam tilt effect is higher, and the communication performance is poor. Compared with beam a, the gain of beam b at the center frequency (such as 0MHz) is reduced, the beam tilt effect is reduced, and the communication performance is improved. It can be understood that when the beam tilt effect is high, when narrow beam weights are used to generate beams, the beam gain corresponding to the center frequency is higher, but the beam gain corresponding to the edge frequency domain units on both sides of the center frequency is lower, resulting in a lower average beam gain, low beam spectral efficiency, and poor communication performance. When wide beam weights are used to generate beams, the average beam gain can be increased, the effective bandwidth of the signal can be increased, and thus the communication performance of the system can be improved.

[0167] S802: The network device sends first information to the reflecting surface.

[0168] In this embodiment, after determining the first information, the network device may send the first information to the reflecting surface, and correspondingly, the reflecting surface may receive the first information.

[0169] In some implementations, the first information may be sent via one or more of the following messages: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, media access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI).

[0170] In some other implementable manners, the first information may also be sent via a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0171] As an example, when the first information includes the beam and beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal, the beam and beam set can be carried and sent down in the same message or in different messages. This application does not impose any specific restrictions on this.

[0172] S803: The reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating based on the first information.

[0173] In this embodiment, after receiving the first information, the reflective surface can send a communication signal based on the first information, thereby assisting the network device and the terminal device in communicating. It should be understood that the communication signal is included in the first signal.

[0174] As an example, in uplink communication, the reflecting surface can receive communication signals from the terminal device based on the return side beam indicated by the first information, and / or forward the communication signals to the network device based on the access side beam indicated by the first information; in downlink communication, the reflecting surface can receive communication signals from the network device based on the return side beam indicated by the first information, and / or forward the communication signals to the terminal device based on the access side beam indicated by the first information.

[0175] As an example, the reflecting surface can communicate with the network device based on narrow beam weights, and communicate with the terminal device based on narrow beam weights, wide beam weights, or a combination of narrow beam weights and wide beam weights.

[0176] In this embodiment, one or more beam sets can be preconfigured based on one or more pieces of information when the reflecting surface sends a first signal. The beam sets can include narrow beam weights and / or wide beam weights, allowing the network device to select an appropriate beam and / or beam set from the preconfigured beam sets based on the information when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal, and send the selected beam and / or beam set to the reflecting surface, thereby improving the communication performance of the reflecting surface-assisted network device and terminal device when communicating. The method provided in this embodiment can achieve a good compromise between the beam tilt effect and beam gain, thereby improving the communication performance of the system.

[0177] In some implementations, preconfigured beam information can be preconfigured in the reflecting surface, so that after determining the first information, the network device can send down an index value to indicate the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal, so as to save signaling overhead.

[0178] For example, Figure 10 is an exemplary flow chart of a communication method provided in yet another embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10 , the method may include S1001 to S1007.

[0179] S1001: A network device obtains antenna array information of a reflecting surface.

[0180] In this embodiment, the preconfigured beam information may be related to the array information of the reflecting surface, so the network device needs to obtain the antenna array information of the reflecting surface. The antenna array information of the reflecting surface may include one or more of the following information: the number of antenna elements N f , the spacing d between antenna elements, the number of phase shifters N p , the number of digital channels, the number of analog channels, or the number of ports.

[0181] Optionally, the information or parameters in the antenna array information of the reflecting surface may be represented by data of a first dimension and / or data of a second dimension, wherein the first dimension may be a horizontal direction and the second dimension may be a vertical direction, or the first dimension may be a vertical direction and the second dimension may be a horizontal direction.

[0182] As an example, when the information or parameters in the antenna array information of the reflecting surface are represented by horizontal data, the number of antenna elements N is f It can be expressed as N f,H Among them, one of the beams in the pre-configured beam sets shown in Table (1) to Table (3) (such as φ 10 ) can be N f,H ×1 column vector, each element in the column vector can be N f,H The weight corresponding to each antenna array in the antenna array.

[0183] As an example, when the information or parameters in the antenna array information of the reflecting surface are represented by the data of the first dimension and the data of the second dimension, the number of antenna elements N in the reflecting surface is f It can be expressed as (N f,H , N f,V ), N f,H Used to indicate the number of antenna elements in the horizontal direction, N f,V It is used to indicate the number of antenna arrays in the vertical direction; the antenna array spacing on the reflector can be expressed as (d H , d V ), d H Used to indicate the horizontal antenna array spacing d H , d V It is used to represent the vertical spacing of antenna elements; the number of phase shifters in the reflector can be expressed as (N p,H , N p,V ), N p,H Used to indicate the number of phase shifters in the horizontal direction, N p,V Indicates the number of phase shifters in the vertical direction.

[0184] S1002: The network device determines pre-configured beam information.

[0185] As an example, the preconfigured beam information may include one or more preconfigured beam sets, such as the preconfigured beam sets shown in Tables (1) to (3). The preconfigured beam sets may include one or more beams. The beams may include backhaul side beams and / or access side beams that can be used when the reflecting surface sends the first signal. The beams may be beams generated by narrow beam weights and / or beams generated by wide beam weights.

[0186] As an example, the pre-configured beam information can be used to indicate the relationship between the backhaul side beam direction and the access side beam direction, which can be represented by a parameter used to characterize the angle. The backhaul side beam direction can be understood as the incident angle (such as θ) used by the reflective surface to send the first signal, and the access side beam direction can be understood as the exit angle (such as β) used by the reflective surface to send the first signal. As an example, It can be related to the sine of the incident angle (such as θ) and the sine of the exit angle (such as β), for example In this example, the pre-configured beam information may include a pre-configured beam set as shown in Table (1).

[0187] Optionally, the pre-configured beam information may further include the number of beam sets and / or the number of beams included in each beam set.

[0188] As an example, the number of beam sets or the number of beams may be any one of {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16, 24, 32}.

[0189] As an example, the number of beam sets or the number of beams may be a value not exceeding K, where K is a positive integer and may be set according to actual needs. This application does not impose any specific restrictions on this. For example, K may be 8 or 32.

[0190] As an example, the pre-configured beam information may also include an index of a beam set and a set of beam indices.

[0191] As an example, Table (4) is an example of pre-configured beam information.

[0192] Table (4)

[0193] As an example, the index of the beam set may include the index value of the preconfigured beam set in Table (1) to Table (3). For example, A may be the preconfigured beam set {φ 00 ,φ 01 ,…,φ 0r}, correspondingly, a0 can be φ 00 For example, A can be the index value of all pre-configured beam sets in Table (1), that is, {{φ 00 ,φ01 ,…,φ 0r},{φ 10 ,φ 11 ,…,φ 1r}, …}, accordingly, a0 can be the index value of one of the preconfigured beam sets in Table (1), such as a0 can be {φ 00 ,φ 01 ,…,φ 0r} index value, a0 can contain {a 00 , a 01 , a 02 ,…},a 00 It can be φ 00 In this example, a0 can be called the index value of the beam subset / beam group, and a 00 It can be called the index value of the beam; for example, A can be the index value of all pre-configured beam sets in Table (1) to Table (3), and accordingly, a0 can be the index value of all pre-configured beam sets in any table in Table (1), Table (2) or Table (3). This application does not impose any specific restrictions on the configuration of the index value.

[0194] As an example, the preconfigured beam information may also include the number of indexes of beam sets, such as the number of indexes of beam sets in {A, B, C, …} in Table (4), and the number of sets of beam indexes, such as the number of beam indexes in {a0, a1, a2, …} in Table (4), the number of beam indexes in {b0, b1, b2, …}, and the number of beam indexes in {c0, c1, c2, …}.

[0195] In this embodiment, the method for the network device to determine the pre-configured beam information can refer to the relevant description in Figure 8 and will not be repeated here. The network device can generate multiple or multiple different beams to meet different communication requirements.

[0196] As an example, the pre-configured beam information may also include quasi co-location (QCL) information for each beam set, as shown in Table (5). The QCL information may be configured by a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), which may be a TCI-state ID. The TCI-state ID is used to indicate the QCL relationship between multiple downlink reference signals and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS). The QCL relationship indicates that multiple resources have one or more identical or similar communication characteristics. For multiple resources with a quasi co-location relationship, the same or similar communication configuration may be used.

[0197] Table (5)

[0198] As shown in Table (5), each beam set may correspond to one QCL information, and TCI-status code-A may be used to indicate the TCI information of beam set A, or to indicate a set of TCI information.

[0199] As an example, the pre-configured beam information may also include QCL information of the beams in the beam set, as shown in Table (6).

[0200] Table (6)

[0201] As shown in Table (6), each beam may correspond to a piece of QCL information, and TCI-status-code-a0 may be used to indicate the TCI information of beam a0, or to indicate a set of TCI information.

[0202] It should be understood that the contents in Table (4), Table (5) and Table (6) are only examples of pre-configured beam information. The contents in Table (4), Table (5) and Table (6) can be modified according to actual needs, and this application does not make specific restrictions on this.

[0203] S1003: The network device sends second information to the reflecting surface, where the second information is used to indicate pre-configured beam information.

[0204] In this embodiment, after determining the pre-configured beam information, the network device may send the pre-configured beam information to the reflecting surface. Correspondingly, the network device may receive the second information.

[0205] As an example, the pre-configured beam information may be configured in advance in a register of the reflecting surface, or in other devices of the reflecting surface, for subsequent use.

[0206] S1004: The network device obtains measurement information, where the measurement information is used to indicate an incident angle and an exit angle that the reflecting surface should use when sending a communication signal.

[0207] As an example, the network device can obtain the incident angle and the exit angle that the reflecting surface should use to send the communication signal based on the beam measurement information reported by the terminal device. For example, after the terminal device receives the scanning beam information of the reflecting surface, it records the energy of different scanning beams and reports the beam index with the strongest energy in the scanning beam to the network device, so that the network device can obtain the exit angle information; for another example, the scanning beam sent by the reflecting surface to the network device can be measured, and the beam index with the strongest energy in the scanning beam can be reported to the network device, so that the network device can obtain the incident angle information. Optionally, the incident angle when the reflecting surface sends the first signal can also be calculated and determined based on the network regulation information.

[0208] S1005: The network device determines first information, where the first information is used to indicate a beam and / or beam set of a reflection surface.

[0209] The specific implementation of S1005 may refer to S801 and will not be described in detail here.

[0210] S1006: The network device sends first information to the reflecting surface.

[0211] The specific implementation of S1006 may refer to S802 and will not be repeated here.

[0212] In some implementations, the first information may be the index value of the beam that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal in the preconfigured beam information; or the first information may be the index value of the beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal in the preconfigured beam information, or the first information may be a two-level index value, the first-level index value is used to indicate the index value of the beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal in the preconfigured beam information, and the second-level index value is used to indicate the index value of the beam that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal in the beam set indicated by the first-level index value. Wherein, when the first information is a two-level index value, the first-level index value and the second-level index value can be carried in the same message for downlinking, or can be carried in different messages for downlinking, and this application does not impose specific restrictions on this.

[0213] S1007: The reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating based on the first information.

[0214] In this embodiment, after receiving the first information, the reflecting surface may determine, based on the first information, from the preconfigured beam information, a beam and / or beam set to be used by the reflecting surface when transmitting communication signals, thereby assisting the network device and the terminal device in communicating. The specific implementation of S1007 may be referenced to S803 and will not be further described here.

[0215] In this embodiment, the network device pre-configures beam information for the reflecting surface and stores the pre-configured beam information in the reflecting surface in advance, so that after determining the first information, the network device can send an index value to indicate the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0216] In one possible implementation, the reflecting surface can also autonomously determine the pre-configured beam information and send the pre-configured beam information to the network device, so that the network device can determine the first information from the pre-configured beam information, that is, the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends the communication signal.

[0217] For example, Figure 11 is an exemplary flow chart of a communication method provided in another embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 11, the method may include S1101 to S1107.

[0218] S1101, the reflecting surface receives fourth information from the network device, the fourth information is used to determine the preconfigured beam information, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, the carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or the carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

[0219] In this embodiment, when the reflecting surface autonomously determines the preconfigured beam information, the fourth information can be obtained from the network device side, so that the reflecting surface can determine the preconfigured beam information based on the fourth information and the array information of the reflecting surface.

[0220] S1102: Determine pre-configured beam information.

[0221] The specific implementation method of the reflecting surface determining the pre-configured beam information can be referred to S801 and S1002, which will not be repeated here.

[0222] In this embodiment, after determining the pre-configured beam information, the reflecting surface may store the pre-configured beam information for subsequent use.

[0223] S1103: Send third information, where the third information is used to indicate pre-configured beam information.

[0224] In this embodiment, after determining the pre-configured beam information, the reflecting surface can carry the pre-configured beam information in the third information and send it to the network device; accordingly, the network device can receive the third information, so that after determining the first information, the network device can directly use the index value to indicate the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends the communication signal, so as to reduce signaling overhead.

[0225] In some implementations, the third information may also be used to indicate antenna array information of the reflecting surface.

[0226] S1104 , the network device obtains measurement information, where the measurement information is used to indicate the incident angle and the outgoing angle used by the reflecting surface to send the communication signal.

[0227] S1105: The network device determines first information, where the first information is used to indicate a beam and / or beam set of a reflection surface.

[0228] S1106: The network device sends first information to the reflecting surface.

[0229] S1107: The reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating based on the first information.

[0230] Among them, the specific implementation methods of S1104 to S1107 can refer to S1004 to S1007 respectively, and will not be repeated here.

[0231] In this embodiment, the reflecting surface can autonomously determine the pre-configured beam information. When the pre-configured beam information is stored in the reflecting surface in advance, the pre-configured beam information is also sent to the network device. After the network device determines the first information, it can indicate the beam and / or beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends the communication signal by sending an index value, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0232] In the field of communications, multiple component carriers (CCs) can be aggregated together through carrier aggregation (CA) to increase the transmission bandwidth of the system, thereby effectively improving the uplink and downlink transmission rates of the system. In this communication method, when the reflecting surface assists the network device and the terminal device to communicate, the bandwidth carrying the communication signal may include multiple CCs. In order to achieve the matching between the beam of each CC in the multiple CCs and the wireless channel, it is necessary to scan the beam of each CC in the multiple CCs, which leads to a large beam scanning overhead of the reflecting surface. Based on this, the present application provides the following technical solution: determine an initial CC among multiple CCs, and establish a mapping relationship between the beam of the initial CC and the beams of other CCs, so that the beams of other CCs can be determined when the beams of the initial CC and the initial CC are obtained. This method can perform only one beam scan, thereby reducing the beam scanning overhead of the reflecting surface.

[0233] For example, Figure 12 is an exemplary flow chart of a communication method provided in yet another embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 12, the method may include S1201, S1202, S1203, and S1204.

[0234] S1201: The network device sends fifth information to the reflecting surface, where the fifth information is used to indicate an initial weight set of the reflecting surface and an initial CC weight.

[0235] In this embodiment, when the bandwidth carrying the communication signal includes multiple CCs, the bandwidths of the multiple CCs may be consistent.

[0236] For example, Figure 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication bandwidth provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 13, the communication bandwidth can be the bandwidth for carrying communication signals. The communication bandwidth can include three CCs, such as CC01, CC02, and CC03 in the figure. The bandwidth of each CC can be the same. The initial CC can be any CC among CC01, CC02, and CC03, and this application does not impose specific restrictions on this.

[0237] As an example, the initial CC may be determined by the terminal device and then reported to the network device, or may be determined by the network device, or may be predefined by a protocol, and this application does not impose any specific restrictions on this.

[0238] As an example, the position of the initial CC can be indicated by a single bit of information. For example, when the indicator bit is "0," it indicates that the initial CC is the first CC, such as CC01 in Figure 13 ; when the indicator bit is "1," it indicates that the initial CC is the center CC, such as CC02 in Figure 13 . It should be noted that the mapping relationship between the indicator bit information and the position of the initial CC can be set according to actual needs and is not specifically limited in this application.

[0239] In some implementations, the network device may scan only the beam of the initial CC to match the beam of the initial CC with the wireless channel, thereby determining the beam direction of the initial CC and, in turn, the beam directions of other CCs. It should be noted that when the bandwidth of each CC in multiple CCs is less than or equal to the bandwidth threshold, the beam tilt effect of each CC is low. Therefore, the beam direction corresponding to the center frequency of each CC can be used as the beam direction of each CC. The bandwidth threshold can be set according to actual needs.

[0240] As an example, assuming that the initial CC is CC0a, the beam direction of CC0b can be determined based on the beam direction of the initial CC using the following formula, where a and b are positive integers:

[0241] Among them, f CC0a is the center frequency of the initial CC, θ CC0a is the beam direction of the initial CC, f CC0b is the center frequency of CC0b, θ CC0b is the beam direction of CC0b.

[0242] In other implementations, the network device may scan the beam of the communication bandwidth to determine the beam direction of the communication bandwidth. It should be noted that when the bandwidth of the communication bandwidth is greater than the bandwidth threshold, the beam tilt effect of the communication bandwidth is greater. The beam direction of the communication bandwidth can be understood as the direction of the center frequency beam of the communication bandwidth.

[0243] As an example, if the communication bandwidth includes an odd number of CCs, the beam direction of the communication bandwidth can be understood as the beam direction of the center CC. For example, if the communication bandwidth includes CC01, CC02, and CC03, the beam direction of the communication bandwidth can be the beam direction of CC02. Therefore, the beam directions of other CCs can be determined based on the beam direction of the center CC.

[0244] As an example, if the communication bandwidth includes an even number of CCs, the beam direction of the initial CC needs to be determined based on the beam direction of the communication bandwidth, and the beam directions of other CCs need to be determined based on the beam direction of the initial CC. For example, the network device can determine the beam direction of the initial CC based on the beam direction of the communication bandwidth, the center frequency of the communication bandwidth, and the center frequency of the initial CC, such as the formula used to determine the beam direction of CC0b based on the beam direction of CC0a mentioned above, which is not repeated here.

[0245] At this point, the beam direction of each CC in the multiple CCs can be determined.

[0246] Furthermore, the network device can determine the weight of each CC based on the beam direction of each CC, thereby determining an initial weight set, and transmit the determined initial weight set in the fifth information to the reflecting surface. In response, the reflecting surface receives the fifth information. The initial weight set can also be referred to as an initial beam set or an initial spatial filter set.

[0247] Optionally, the fifth information may further include one or more of the following information: the index value of the weight of each CC in the initial weight set, the weight of the initial CC, or the sequence number of the initial CC.

[0248] It should be noted that the implementation of determining the weight based on the angle can refer to the relevant description in Figure 8, which will not be repeated here. The network device can also determine the weight of each CC based on other methods, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0249] S1202: The network device sends sixth information to the reflecting surface, where the sixth information is used to indicate a CC that the reflecting surface should use when sending communication signals.

[0250] In this embodiment, the sixth information may be the serial number of the CC that the reflecting surface should use when sending the communication signal. Accordingly, the reflecting surface may receive the sixth information.

[0251] S1203: The reflecting surface determines, based on the fifth information and the sixth information, a weight of a CC that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a communication signal.

[0252] As an example, the reflecting surface can determine the beam direction and beam width of the initial CC based on the weight of the initial CC, so that the beam direction of the CC to be used when sending the communication signal can be determined based on the beam direction of the initial CC, and then the weight of the CC to be used when sending the communication signal can be determined based on the weight set indicated in the fifth information.

[0253] As an example, the reflecting surface can determine the beam direction and beam width of the initial CC based on the weight of the initial CC, thereby determining the beam direction of the CC to be used when sending the communication signal based on the beam direction of the initial CC, and determining the weight index value of the CC to be used when sending the communication signal. For example, the reflecting surface can determine the weight index value of the CC to be used when sending the communication signal using the following formula: c0=a0+Δ

[0254] Among them, θ CC0a is the beam direction of the initial CC, θ CC0c is the beam direction of the CC to be used when sending communication signals, W is the beam width of the initial CC, Δ is the index offset value, a0 is the index value of the weight of the initial CC in the weight set, c0 is the index value of the weight of the CC to be used when sending communication signals in the weight set, and the symbol It can be understood as rounding down.

[0255] In a possible implementation, Δ can also be expressed as:

[0256] Among them, the symbol It can be understood as rounding up.

[0257] In a possible implementation, Δ can also be expressed as:

[0258] Among them, the symbol It can be understood as rounding.

[0259] At this point, the reflecting surface can determine the weight of the CC that should be used when sending communication signals.

[0260] As an example, the index offset value may be related to the index value of the initial CC weight in the weight set, as shown in Table (7).

[0261] Table (7)

[0262] As shown in Table (7), when the serial numbers of CCs used when sending a communication signal are the same but the index values ​​of the weights of the initial CCs in the weight set are different, the index offset values ​​of the weights of the CCs to be used when sending the communication signal in the weight set are different from the index values ​​of the weights of the initial CCs in the weight set.

[0263] As an example, the index offset value may be related to the sequence number of the CC that should be used when transmitting the communication signal, as shown in Table (8).

[0264] Table (8)

[0265] As shown in Table (8), when the index values ​​of the initial CC weights in the weight set are the same, but the serial numbers of the CCs used when sending the communication signal are different, the index value of the CC weight to be used when sending the communication signal in the weight set has a different index offset value relative to the index value of the initial CC weight in the weight set.

[0266] S1204: The reflection surface assists the network device and the terminal device in communicating based on the determined weight of the CC to be used when sending the communication signal.

[0267] In this embodiment, after determining the weight of the CC to be used when sending a communication signal, the reflecting surface may generate a corresponding beam to assist the network device and the terminal device in communicating.

[0268] As an example, the CC weights to be used when sending a communication signal may include an incident weight and / or a reflection surface weight, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0269] In this embodiment, by establishing a mapping relationship between the beam of the initial CC and the beams of other CCs, the beam of the initial CC can be determined by only one beam scan, and then the beams of other CCs can be determined, thereby reducing the beam scanning overhead of the reflection surface and improving communication efficiency.

[0270] In some implementations, after determining the CC that the reflecting surface should use when sending communication signals, the network device can directly determine the weight of the CC that the reflecting surface should use when sending communication signals, and send it to the reflecting surface through the sixth information.

[0271] In some implementations, after determining the CC that the reflecting surface should use when sending a communication signal, the network device can directly determine the index value of the weight of the CC that should be used when sending the communication signal in the weight set for the reflecting surface, or determine the index offset value of the weight of the CC that should be used when sending the communication signal in the weight set relative to the index value of the weight of the initial CC in the weight set, so that the reflecting surface can determine the weight of the CC that should be used when sending the communication signal based on the information sent by the network device.

[0272] In some implementations, the network device may further calculate an index offset between the index value of each CC's weight in the weight set and the index value of the initial CC's weight in the weight set, establish a mapping relationship between each CC and the index offset value, generate an index offset value set, and transmit it to the reflecting surface. Accordingly, the reflecting surface may determine the weight of the CC to be used when sending communication signals from the index offset value set based on the mapping relationship between the CC to be used when sending communication signals and the index offset value.

[0273] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application. The device shown in Figure 14 can be used to implement the steps performed by a network device or a reflective surface in Figures 8, 10, 11, or 12. As shown in Figure 14, the device 1400 of this embodiment may include a receiving module 1410, a sending module 1420, and a processing module 1430.

[0274] When the apparatus 1400 is used to implement the method implemented by the network device in FIG. 8 , the sending module 1420 may be used to implement the operation performed by the network device in S802 , and the processing module 1430 may be used to implement S801 .

[0275] When the device 1400 is used to implement the method implemented by the reflecting surface in Figure 8, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operation performed by the reflecting surface in S802, and the receiving module 1410 and / or the sending module 1420 can also be used to implement the operation performed by the reflecting surface in S803.

[0276] When the device 1400 is used to implement the method implemented by the network device in Figure 10, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1001, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1003 and S1006, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement S1002 and S1005, and the processing module 1430 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1004.

[0277] When the device 1400 is used to implement the method implemented by the reflecting surface in Figure 10, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1003 and S1006, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1001, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1004, and the receiving module 1410 and / or the sending module 1420 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1007.

[0278] When the device 1400 is used to implement the method implemented by the network device in Figure 11, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1103, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1101 and S1106, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement S1005, and the processing module 1430 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1104.

[0279] When the device 1400 is used to implement the method implemented by the reflecting surface in Figure 11, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1101 and S1106, the sending module 1420 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1103, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement S1102, the processing module 1430 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1104, and the receiving module 1410 and / or the sending module 1420 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1107.

[0280] When the apparatus 1400 is used to implement the method implemented by the network device in FIG. 12 , the sending module 1420 may be used to implement the operations performed by the network device in S1201 and S1202 .

[0281] When the device 1400 is used to implement the method implemented by the reflecting surface in Figure 12, the receiving module 1410 can be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1201 and S1202, the processing module 1430 can be used to implement S1203, and the receiving module 1410 and / or the sending module 1420 can also be used to implement the operations performed by the reflecting surface in S1204.

[0282] It should be noted that the apparatus 1400 can also execute the relevant steps or operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application.

[0283] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by another embodiment of the present application. The device 1500 shown in Figure 15 can be used to implement the method performed by the network device or the reflective surface in any of the above embodiments.

[0284] As shown in Figure 15 , the apparatus 1500 of this embodiment includes a memory 1510, a processor 1520, a communication interface 1530, and a bus 1540. The memory 1510, the processor 1520, and the communication interface 1530 are connected to each other via the bus 1540.

[0285] The memory 1510 may be a read-only memory (ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device, or a random access memory (RAM). The memory 1510 may store programs. When the program stored in the memory 1510 is executed by the processor 1520, the processor 1520 is configured to execute the steps / operations performed by the network device or the reflective surface in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0286] The processor 1520 can be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits to execute relevant programs to implement the communication method shown in the method embodiment of the present application.

[0287] The processor 1520 may also be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the communication method shown in the embodiment of the present application may be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor 1520 or software instructions.

[0288] The processor 1520 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. It may implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0289] The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed 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 a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory 1510, and the processor 1520 reads the information in the memory 1510 and, in combination with its hardware, completes the functions required to be performed by the units included in the communication device of the present application. For example, the various steps / functions performed by the network device or the reflective surface in Figures 8, 10, 11, or 12 can be executed.

[0290] Optionally, the memory 1510 and the processor 1520 may be integrated together.

[0291] The communication interface 1530 may use, but is not limited to, a transceiver or other transceiver device to implement communication between the apparatus 1500 and other devices or apparatuses.

[0292] The bus 1540 may include a path for transmitting information between the various components of the device 1500 (eg, the memory 1510 , the processor 1520 , and the communication interface 1530 ).

[0293] Some embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product that, when executed on a processor, can implement the methods described in the aforementioned embodiments. Some embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium that contains computer instructions that, when executed on a processor, can implement the methods described in the aforementioned embodiments.

[0294] 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 (ASICs), one or more microprocessors (digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). For another example, when a module is implemented by a processing element calling a program code, the processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor that can call a 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).

[0295] 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 devices. 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 a 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 drive (SSD)).

[0296] The term "plurality" in this article refers to two or more. The term "and / or" in this article is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship. In addition, it should be understood that in the description of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order.

[0297] It will be understood that the various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are merely distinctions for the convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0298] It can be understood that in the 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.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a reflecting surface, the reflecting surface is used to send a first signal, and the method includes: Receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate a beam and / or a beam set of the reflecting surface, where the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: a bandwidth carrying the first signal, a number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, a carrier frequency carrying the first signal, a carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, an incident angle, or an exit angle, where the incident angle is an incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle is an exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal; The first signal is sent based on the first information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: radio resource control RRC signaling, media access control layer control element MAC CE signaling, or downlink control information DCI; or, The first information is carried in a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH and / or a physical downlink control channel PDCCH.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Second information is received, where the second information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Third information is sent, where the third information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive fourth information, where the fourth information is used to determine the at least one beam set, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: a bandwidth carrying the first signal, a number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, a carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or a carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

6. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a first communication device, and the method includes: Determine first information, where the first information is used to indicate a beam and / or a beam set that should be used when the reflecting surface sends a first signal, where the beam and the beam set are related to at least one of the following information: a bandwidth carrying the first signal, a number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, a carrier frequency carrying the first signal, a carrier wavelength carrying the first signal, an incident angle, or an exit angle, where the incident angle is an incident angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal, and the exit angle is an exit angle used by the reflecting surface to send the first signal; The first information is sent.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first information is carried in at least one of the following messages: radio resource control RRC signaling, media access control layer control element MAC CE signaling, or downlink control information DCI; or, The first information is carried in a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH and / or a physical downlink control channel PDCCH.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: The method further comprises: determining at least one beam set based on the at least one item of information, the beam and the beam set being included in the at least one beam set; Second information is sent, where the second information is used to indicate the at least one beam set.

9. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Third information is received, where the third information is used to indicate at least one beam set, and the beam and the beam set are included in the at least one beam set.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send fourth information, where the fourth information is used to determine the at least one beam set, and the fourth information includes at least one of the following information: a bandwidth carrying the first signal, the number of subcarriers in the bandwidth carrying the first signal, a carrier frequency carrying the first signal, or a carrier wavelength carrying the first signal.

11. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises various functional modules for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 10.

12. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and when the processor calls the computer program, the device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 10.

13. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises a computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 10.

14. A computer readable medium, characterized in that The computer-readable medium stores a program code for computer execution, the program code including instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 10.

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