Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a terminal device sends a first symbol group at a first frequency position, and then, the terminal device sends a second symbol group at a second frequency position, wherein the first frequency position is different from the second frequency position, the first symbol group and the second symbol group are included in a plurality of symbol groups, the plurality of symbol groups are determined on the basis of first data of the terminal device and a first sequence corresponding to the terminal device, and the first sequence is contained in a modulation sequence set. By performing frequency hopping transmission of symbol groups at different frequency positions using symbol groups as units, a better frequency diversity gain can be obtained, helping to improve the robustness of the data demodulation performance, such that performance loss caused by a plurality of symbol groups simultaneously undergoing deep channel fading can be avoided or reduced, and the coverage can be improved.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross-reference of related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202311855734.3, filed on December 28, 2023, entitled "A Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0004] In existing technologies, base stations allocate the same time-frequency resources to multiple users with the same number of repetitions for repeated transmission of the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). Multiple users can modulate the same data (block) to be transmitted using an orthogonal sequence from a set of orthogonal cover codes (OCCs), and the orthogonal sequences used by the different users are not identical. Subsequently, the multiple users transmit the OCC-modulated data (block) normally on the resources occupied by the repeated PUSCH transmissions. Thus, the receiving end, through OCC demodulation, can obtain the data (blocks) transmitted by multiple users on the same resources occupied by the repeated PUSCH transmissions, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency. However, due to the high channel correlation in existing PUSCH repeated transmissions, the robustness of data (or signal) demodulation performance is poor.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a communication method and apparatus for obtaining frequency diversity gain and improving the robustness of data demodulation performance.

[0007] Firstly, this application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first communication device. Optionally, the first communication device may be a terminal device or a module of a terminal device (such as a processor, processing unit, chip, chip system, or circuit). The method may also be implemented by a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. For example, the following describes a terminal device executing a communication method. The method may include the following steps: the terminal device may transmit a first symbol group at a first frequency position, and then the terminal device may transmit a second symbol group at a second frequency position, wherein the first frequency position and the second frequency position are different, and the first and second symbol groups are contained in multiple symbol groups, which are determined based on first data of the terminal device and a first sequence corresponding to the terminal device, the first sequence being contained in a modulation sequence set.

[0008] In this method, by frequency hopping and transmitting the corresponding symbol groups at different frequency positions in units of symbol groups, a better frequency diversity gain can be obtained, which helps to improve the robustness of data demodulation performance. This can avoid or reduce the performance loss caused by multiple symbol groups being in deep channel fading at the same time, and can also improve coverage.

[0009] Accordingly, in a second aspect, this application provides a communication method that can be executed by a second communication device. Optionally, the second communication device may be a network device or a module of a network device (such as a processor, processing unit, chip, chip system, or circuit). The method may also be implemented by a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. For example, the following describes a network device executing a communication method. The method may include the following steps: the network device may receive a first symbol group at a first frequency position, and then the network device may receive a second symbol group at a second frequency position, wherein the first frequency position and the second frequency position are different, and the first and second symbol groups are contained in multiple symbol groups, which are determined based on first data from a terminal device and a first sequence corresponding to the terminal device, the first sequence being contained in a modulation sequence set.

[0010] The technical effects achievable in the second aspect are similar to those achievable in the first aspect, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0011] In one possible implementation provided by the first or second aspect, the first symbol group includes one or more symbol groups determined by the first sequence modulation, the second symbol group includes one or more symbol groups determined by the first sequence modulation, and the resource locations corresponding to the multiple symbol groups determined by the first sequence modulation are contiguous.

[0012] In the above implementation, the implementation is relatively simple by transmitting multiple symbol groups modulated by the first sequence together at one frequency position, without needing to query (or recalculate) the frequency hopping position for each of the multiple symbol groups modulated by the first sequence.

[0013] In one possible implementation provided in the first or second aspect, a first symbol group is associated with at least one first demodulation reference signal (DMRS) that is also transmitted at a first frequency position, and a second symbol group is associated with at least one second DMRS that is also transmitted at a second frequency position.

[0014] In the above implementation, by transmitting each symbol group together with the DMRS associated with that symbol group at the corresponding frequency location, the network device can accurately estimate the channel information corresponding to the symbol group, thereby demodulating the symbol group more accurately and helping to improve data demodulation performance.

[0015] In one possible implementation provided by the first or second aspect, the resource location of at least one second DMRS is located after the resource location of at least one first DMRS.

[0016] In the above implementation, at least one second DMRS and at least one first DMRS can be transmitted in the order of their respective resource locations. This allows the network device to know in a timely manner which DMRS are associated with the first symbol group and which DMRS are associated with the second symbol group. This enables the network device to accurately perform channel estimation based on the DMRS associated with different symbol groups, so as to achieve channel equalization for different symbol groups.

[0017] In one possible implementation provided by the first or second aspect, the first frequency location is associated with at least one first DMRS, and the second frequency location is associated with at least one second DMRS.

[0018] In the above implementation, by associating each frequency location with at least one DMRS, it can be ensured that the symbol group transmitted at that frequency location can be channel estimated through the at least one DMRS associated with that frequency location. Thus, the channel estimation result determined by the at least one DMRS associated with that frequency location can be used to perform channel equalization on the symbol group transmitted at that frequency location.

[0019] In one possible implementation provided by the first or second aspect, the time-domain resource indices of at least one first DMRS are distributed at equal intervals, and the time-domain resource indices of at least one second DMRS are distributed at equal intervals.

[0020] In the above implementation, by distributing at least one DMRS associated with each symbol group (or each frequency position) at equal intervals, it is possible for terminal devices to transmit DMRS in an orderly manner, thereby enabling network devices to receive DMRS in an orderly manner, and allowing network devices to accurately perform corresponding channel estimation based on the orderly received DMRS.

[0021] In one possible implementation provided in the first or second aspect, the network device sends first information, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information. The first information may include at least one of the following: first indication information, second indication information, or third indication information, etc., wherein the first indication information may be used to indicate a first sequence, the second indication information may be used to indicate a first frequency hopping step size, the first frequency hopping step size may be used to characterize the frequency interval between the second frequency position and the first frequency position, and the third indication information may be used to indicate the resource position of at least one first DMRS and the resource position of at least one second DMRS.

[0022] In the above implementation, one or more of the first sequence, the first frequency hopping step size, or the resource location of the DMRS used for channel estimation can be indicated by the network device. This allows the terminal device to effectively obtain the relevant information required for transmitting symbol groups at different frequency locations, thereby enabling the terminal device to accurately perform frequency hopping transmission of the corresponding symbol groups at different frequency locations.

[0023] In one possible implementation provided in the first or second aspect, the first frequency hopping step size is one of a plurality of preset frequency hopping steps, wherein the plurality of preset frequency hopping steps may be predefined or may be configured by the network device.

[0024] In the above implementation method, the setting of the first frequency hopping step size is relatively flexible and can be adjusted according to the actual situation, so as to meet the needs of different application scenarios.

[0025] In one possible implementation provided by the first or second aspect, the second frequency position is determined based on the first frequency position and the first frequency hopping step size.

[0026] In the above implementation, a certain frequency position can be determined based on the previous frequency position and the first frequency hopping step size. This allows the terminal device to accurately determine the frequency position required for subsequent frequency hopping simply by knowing the first frequency position and the first frequency hopping step size, without the need for the network device to pre-configure or indicate multiple frequency positions, which helps to reduce signaling overhead.

[0027] In one possible implementation provided in the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device performing channel equalization on the first symbol group based on channel estimation results determined by at least one first DMRS associated with the first symbol group; or,

[0028] The network device can perform channel equalization on the second symbol group based on the channel estimation results determined by at least one second DMRS associated with the second symbol group.

[0029] In the above implementation, channel estimation is performed based on the DMRS associated with each symbol group, which facilitates better channel equalization of the symbol group by the network device, resulting in better demodulation performance after equalization.

[0030] In one possible implementation provided in the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device performing channel equalization on the symbol group transmitted at the first frequency location based on channel estimation results determined by at least one first DMRS associated with the first frequency location; or,

[0031] The network device can perform channel equalization on the symbol group transmitted at the second frequency location based on the channel estimation result determined by at least one first DMRS associated with the second frequency location.

[0032] In the above implementation, channel estimation is performed based on the DMRS associated with each frequency location. This allows network devices to perform better channel equalization on the symbol groups transmitted at that frequency location, resulting in better demodulation performance after equalization.

[0033] Thirdly, this application provides a communication device. Optionally, the communication device may be a communication equipment (such as a first communication device or a second communication device) or a module (such as a processor, processing unit, chip, chip system, or circuit) required to support the communication equipment in implementing the communication method. For example, the first communication device may be a terminal device or a module of a terminal device (such as a processor, processing unit, chip, chip system, or circuit), or it may also be a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal functions. The second communication device may be a network device or a module of a network device (such as a processor, processing unit, chip, chip system, or circuit), or it may also be a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the network device functions. When the communication device is a chip disposed in the first communication device (or the second communication device), the communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, but does not include a memory. The communication interface exists as an input / output interface, which is used by the chip to implement the transmission and reception of the communication device. The input / output interface may include an input interface and / or an output interface; the input interface can enable the communication device to receive data, and the output interface can be used to enable the communication device to transmit data. The processor is used to read and execute corresponding computer programs or instructions, so that the corresponding functions of the first communication device (or the second communication device) are realized. Optionally, when the chip implements the corresponding functions of the first communication device (or the second communication device) in the communication method embodiment provided in this application, the input / output interface can implement the transmit / receive operations performed by the first communication device (or the second communication device) in the communication method embodiment provided in this application; the processor can implement other operations besides transmit / receive operations performed by the first communication device (or the second communication device) in the communication method embodiment provided in this application.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the communication device has the function of implementing the behavior in the method examples of the first or second aspect described above. The beneficial effects can be found in the relevant descriptions of the first and second aspects, and will not be repeated here. The function can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. For example, the communication device can be a terminal device in the first aspect, or a network device in the second aspect. Exemplarily, the communication device includes corresponding means or modules for performing the methods of the first or second aspect. For example, the communication device includes a processing module (or processing unit) and / or a transceiver module (or communication unit, communication module, or transceiver unit, for sending and receiving data). The transceiver module can implement both sending and receiving functions. When the transceiver module implements the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (or sending module); when the transceiver module implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (or receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional unit, called the transceiver module, which can implement both sending and receiving functions; or, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional units, and the transceiver module is a collective term for these functional units. These modules (units) can perform the corresponding functions in the method examples of the first or second aspect above, as detailed in the method examples, which will not be repeated here.

[0035] Fourthly, this application provides a communication device. This communication device may be a communication device required for executing the communication method provided in this application (such as a first communication device or a second communication device), or it may be a device including the communication device required for executing the communication method provided in this application, or it may be a device having the functions required to implement the communication method. The communication device may include a communication interface and a processor. Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory. The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor executes the computer program or instructions, it causes the communication device to execute the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the method in any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0036] Fifthly, this application provides a communication system that may include a first communication device (such as a terminal device) and a second communication device (such as a network device) mentioned in the first or second aspects above. The functional implementation of the first or second communication device can be found in the relevant descriptions mentioned in the first or second aspects above, and will not be repeated here.

[0037] For example, the communication system may include one or more first communication devices and one or more second communication devices.

[0038] Sixthly, this application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the method in any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0039] In a seventh aspect, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the method in any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0040] Eighthly, this application provides a chip that may include a processor and may also include a memory (or the chip may be coupled to the memory). The chip executes program instructions in the memory to perform the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the method in any possible implementation of the second aspect. Here, "coupling" means that two components are directly or indirectly connected to each other, such as coupling can refer to an electrical connection between two components.

[0041] Ninthly, this application also provides a chip system including a processor for supporting a computer device in implementing the methods of any possible implementation of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. In one possible implementation, the chip system further includes a memory for storing programs and data necessary for the computer device. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0042] Based on the implementation methods provided in the above aspects, this application can be further combined to provide more implementation methods. Attached Figure Description

[0043] Figure 1 illustrates a possible communication system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0044] Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0045] Figure 3a illustrates an exemplary symbol group frequency hopping diagram provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0046] Figure 3b illustrates, exemplarily, another symbol group frequency hopping diagram provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0047] Figure 3c illustrates, exemplarily, another symbol group frequency hopping diagram provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0048] Figure 3d illustrates, exemplarily, another symbol group frequency hopping diagram provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0049] Figure 3e illustrates, by way of example, another symbol group frequency hopping diagram provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0050] Figure 3f illustrates, exemplarily, another symbol group frequency hopping diagram provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0051] Figure 4 is an exemplary schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of this application for determining OFDM symbols included in a symbol group;

[0052] Figure 5a illustrates a schematic diagram of a symbol group associated with DMRS provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0053] Figure 5b illustrates an exemplary schematic diagram of another symbol group associated with DMRS provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0054] Figure 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of a frequency location association DMRS provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0055] Figure 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0056] Figure 8 illustrates a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0057] Before introducing the technical solutions provided in this application, some of the terms used in this application will be explained in order to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0058] (1) Slot: In a new radio (NR) system, a slot is defined as consisting of 14 (or 12) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. For ease of description, OFDM symbols may be simply referred to as time-domain symbols or symbols in the following description of this application, without further explanation. A slot may include downlink symbols, uplink symbols, and flexible symbols. Downlink symbols cannot be used for uplink transmission; uplink symbols cannot be used for downlink transmission; while flexible symbols can be used for both downlink and uplink transmission. For example, a slot length of 1ms corresponds to a 15kHz subcarrier spacing, and a slot length of 0.5ms corresponds to a 30kHz subcarrier spacing.

[0059] (2) Subcarrier: In an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system, frequency domain resources are divided into several sub-resources, and each sub-resource in the frequency domain can be called a subcarrier. A subcarrier can also be understood as the smallest granularity of frequency domain resources.

[0060] (3) Subcarrier spacing: In an OFDM system, the spacing between the center or peak positions of two adjacent subcarriers in the frequency domain. For example, the subcarrier spacing in a long term evolution (LTE) system is 15kHz, while the subcarrier spacing in a 5th generation mobile network (5G) NR system can be 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, or 120kHz, etc.

[0061] (4) Resource block: N consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain can be called a resource block. For example, a resource block in an LTE system includes 12 subcarriers, and a resource block in a 5G NR system can also include 12 subcarriers. As communication systems evolve, the number of subcarriers included in a resource block can also be other values.

[0062] (5) Orthogonal cover code (OCC): For OCC, OCC sequences with different indices have the same length, and the sequences are orthogonal to each other. For example, +1, +1 and -1, +1 are two OCCs of length 2. The orthogonality is reflected in the fact that their correlation value is 0, that is, (+1)*(-1)+(+1)*(+1)=0, where * is the multiplication sign.

[0063] (6) Code Division Multiplexing (CDM): This technique achieves channel sharing by assigning mutually orthogonal codewords to multiple users with different addresses; it is also known as Code Division Multiple Access. An orthogonal code is defined as any two codewords S and T in a codeword set whose normalized inner product is equal to 0. The following section uses the 8-point Walsh Transform as an example of an orthogonal code for modulating and transmitting bit information.

[0064] For example, consider two users (user A and user B). User A transmits data A = [1, 0, 1], and user B transmits data B = [1, 1, 0]. User A uses terminal device A to transform the 0s in data A into -1s, making data A [1, -1, 1]. User B uses terminal device B to transform the 0s in data B into -1s, making data B [1, 1, -1]. Transforming 0s into -1s makes it easier for network devices to distinguish between 0s and 1s during demodulation, thus reducing the demodulation error rate. Afterwards, terminal device A can use the first sequence of the 8-point Walsh Transform [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1] (that is, the first basis of the 8-point Walsh Transform, which is also the first row of data in the 8-point Walsh Transform matrix) to perform modulation, and obtain the modulation sequence A_m = [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,|-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,|1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,], and can send the modulation sequence A_m to the network device. Terminal device B can use the second sequence of the 8-point Walsh Transform [1,1,1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1] (i.e., the second row of data in the 8-point Walsh Transform matrix) for modulation, obtaining the modulation sequence B_m = [1,1,1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1,|1,1,1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1,|-1,-1,-1,-1,1,1,1,1,], and can send the modulation sequence B_m to the network device. The modulation sequence M received by the network device is A_m + B_m = [2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-2,-2,-2,-2,0,0,0,0,2,2,2,2], which has a total of 24 sequence symbols. The network device can take the inner product of M and the first sequence of the 8-point Walsh Transform [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1] to obtain: the inner product of the first eight bits [2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0]*[1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1] = 8, the inner product of the middle eight bits [0,0,0,0,-2,-2,-2,-2]*[1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1] = -8, and the inner product of the last eight bits [0,0,0,0,2,2,2,2]*[1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1] = 8. If the inner product result is 8, the demodulation is 1; if the inner product result is -8, the demodulation is -1. Thus, the demodulated signal of the first sequence is [8,-8,8]→[1,-1,1].The network device can take the inner product of M and the second sequence [1,1,1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1] of the 8-point Walsh Transform to obtain: the inner product of the first eight bits [2,2,2,2,0,0,0,0]*[1,1,1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1] = 8, the inner product of the middle eight bits [0,0,0,0,-2,-2,-2,-2]*[1,1,1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1] = 8, and the inner product of the last eight bits [0,0,0,0,2,2,2,2]*[1,1,1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1] = -8. If the inner product result is 8, the demodulation is 1; if the inner product result is -8, the demodulation is -1. Thus, the demodulated signal of the second sequence is [8,8,-8]→[1,1,-1]. Then, the network device can change -1 in [1,-1,1] to 0 to successfully restore the signal [1,0,1], and change -1 in [1,1,-1] to 0 to successfully restore the signal [1,1,0].

[0065] (7) Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS): This signal can be used to estimate the equivalent channel of a data channel or control channel. For example, a data channel can be a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and a control channel can be a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). Taking a data channel as an example, DMRS can be used to estimate the equivalent channel of the data signal carried by the data channel, thereby enabling the detection and demodulation of data in the data channel. DMRS typically undergoes the same signal processing as the data, such as precoding, to ensure that DMRS and data experience the same equivalent channel. To distinguish data transmission from different users, network devices need to estimate the channel conditions for different users. This requires configuring separate DMRS for each user, and the resources occupied by the reference signals of these different users are called DMRS ports. Typically, the DMRS port should be located close enough to the time-frequency resource block for transmitting data to obtain accurate channel estimation.

[0066] (8) Multi-user pairing: In communication systems, to improve resource utilization and user experience, multiple users can communicate simultaneously. That is, network devices need to allocate multiple users to a resource and then distinguish the data transmission of different users through different antennas or orthogonal codes. These multiple users who are allocated to a resource for communication are paired users.

[0067] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, "sending information" can be understood as one device sending information to another device, or it can also be understood as one logical module within a device sending information to another logical module. For example, "network device sending information" can be understood as a network device sending information to another device (such as a terminal device), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the network device sending information to logical module 2 in the terminal device.

[0068] In the embodiments of this application, "receiving information" can be understood as one device receiving information from another device, or it can also be understood as a logical module within a device receiving information from another logical module. For example, "network device receiving information" can be understood as a network device receiving information from another device (such as a terminal device), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the network device receiving information from logical module 2 in the terminal device.

[0069] In the embodiments of this application, "sending information to a terminal device" can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal. This can include sending information to the terminal directly or indirectly. "Receiving information from a terminal" can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal, and can include receiving information from the terminal directly or indirectly. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the embodiments of this application can be understood in a similar way, and will not be repeated here.

[0070] The embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0071] The following describes the communication system architecture to which the communication method provided in this application is applicable. It should be noted that this description is for the convenience of those skilled in the art and does not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection claimed in this application.

[0072] Figure 1 illustrates a possible communication system architecture applicable to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system architecture 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system architecture 10 may also include an Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal device (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal device 120 is wirelessly connected to the RAN node 110. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or via a wired connection. The core network equipment in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device that integrates core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions, or they can be a single physical device that integrates some core network logical functions and some radio access network logical functions.

[0073] RAN100 can be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 4G, 5G mobile communication systems, or future-oriented evolution systems (such as 6G mobile communication systems). RAN100 can also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. RAN100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0074] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as access network equipment, RAN entity, network equipment, or access node, constitutes part of the communication system and is used to help terminal devices achieve wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in communication system 10 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal device 120 are relative. For example, network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal devices 120j accessing RAN 100 through network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; but for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal device. RAN node 110 and terminal device 120 are sometimes both referred to as communication devices. For example, network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal device functions. Optionally, the RAN node 110 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water; or it can be deployed in the air on aircraft, drones, balloons and satellites. This application embodiment does not limit the application scenarios of the RAN node.

[0075] In one possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a new radio (NR), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), or a next-generation base station in a 6th-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. The RAN node can be a macro base station (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), a micro base station or indoor station (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), a relay node or donor node, or a radio controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, wearable device, vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the access network equipment in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The RAN node in this application can also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

[0076] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing some of the base station's functions. For example, RAN nodes can be central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), CU-control plane (CPs), CU-user plane (UPs), or radio units (RUs). CUs and DUs can be separate entities or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio equipment or radio units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs). In this network architecture, signaling generated by the CU can be sent to the terminal device via the DU, or signaling generated by the terminal device can be sent to the CU via the DU. The DU can directly encapsulate the signaling through the protocol layer and transmit it to the terminal device or CU without parsing it. In this network architecture, the CU is classified as a network device on the radio access network side. Alternatively, the CU can also be classified as a network device on the core network side. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0077] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an ORAN system, CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0078] [Corrected according to Rule 91, 02.12.2024] Terminal equipment can also be referred to as terminal, user equipment (UE), access terminal equipment, vehicle-mounted terminal, industrial control terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), remote station, remote terminal equipment, mobile device, UE terminal equipment, terminal equipment, wireless communication equipment, UE agent, or UE device, etc. In the embodiments of this application, terminal equipment 120 can be fixed in location or mobile, and this application implementation does not limit it in this way. Exemplarily, terminal equipment 120 can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted, or it can also be deployed on water (such as ships), or it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons, or satellites).

[0079] For example, terminal devices can be mobile phones, tablets, customer-premises equipment (CPE), subscriber units, cellular phones, smartphones, wireless data cards, personal digital assistant (PDA) computers, wireless modems, handsets, laptop computers, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, virtual reality (VR) terminal devices, augmented reality (AR) terminal devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), wireless terminals in industrial control, vehicle-mounted terminal devices, wireless terminals in self-driving vehicles, wireless terminals in remote medical care, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, wearable terminal devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, factory machinery / equipment, and machine-type communications. Type Communication (MTC) terminals, ships, or robots, etc. This application does not limit the specific technology or form of the terminal device used in its embodiments.

[0080] It is understood that RAN nodes and terminal devices can communicate using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Network devices and terminal devices can communicate using spectrum below 6G (6th generation mobile networks or 6th generation wireless systems), spectrum above 6G, or both simultaneously. This application does not limit the spectrum resources used between RAN nodes and terminal devices.

[0081] Optionally, the communication system shown in Figure 1 can be various types of communication systems, such as an Internet of Things (IoT) system, a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, an LTE system, a 5G system, a hybrid LTE and 5G architecture, a 5G new radio (NR) system, or a new communication system emerging in the development of 6G or future communications. This application embodiment does not impose any limitations on these. The 5G communication system described in this application can include at least one of a non-standalone (NSA) 5G communication system and a standalone (SA) 5G communication system. The communication system can also be a machine-to-machine (M2M) network or other networks. Furthermore, the communication system architecture shown in Figure 1 is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art will understand that with the evolution of communication system architectures and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0082] Based on the communication system architecture shown in Figure 1, the specific implementation of the communication method in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that this application uses network devices and terminal devices as examples of the execution subjects in the interaction illustration, but this application does not limit the execution subjects of the interaction illustration. For example, the method executed by the network device in this application can also be executed by a module applied to the network device (e.g., a chip, chip system, or processor), or by a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device; similarly, the method executed by the terminal device in this application can also be executed by a module applied to the terminal device (e.g., a chip, chip system, or processor), or by a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device.

[0083] Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method is applicable to the communication system architecture shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 2, the method includes:

[0084] Step 201: The terminal device transmits the first symbol group at the first frequency location. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first symbol group at the first frequency location.

[0085] Step 202: The terminal device transmits the second symbol group at the second frequency location. Correspondingly, the network device receives the second symbol group at the second frequency location.

[0086] Optionally, in the embodiments of this application, if the terminal device is replaced with a functional module such as a chip system, the functional module may not be aware of which device the received information comes from; if the network device is replaced with a functional module such as a chip system, the functional module may also not be aware of which device the sent information is sent to.

[0087] For example, if the network device has a distributed architecture, such as including CU and / or DU, or including one or more of CU-CP, CU-UP, or DU, when the network device includes DU, the network device sends first information, specifically, the DU included in the network device may send the first information. Optionally, the network device including DU may also include CU; or, the network device including DU may also include CU-CP and / or CU-UP.

[0088] In this embodiment, the first frequency location is different from the second frequency location. Both the first and second symbol groups are contained within multiple symbol groups. These multiple symbol groups can be determined by the terminal device based on the first data and the first sequence corresponding to the terminal device, and the first sequence is contained within a modulation sequence set. For example, the modulation sequence set can be an orthogonal overlay code set or a non-orthogonal code set. The orthogonal overlay code set can include multiple sequences (or codewords), such as multiple OCC sequences. Any two sequences within these multiple sequences have an orthogonal relationship. These multiple sequences are used to modulate the data (or symbols). The non-orthogonal code set can be, for example, a code set or a matrix. The correlation between sequences in different rows (or different columns) of the non-orthogonal code set is less than or equal to a set threshold, indicating that the sequences in different rows (or different columns) of the non-orthogonal code set are approximately orthogonal. The correlation refers to the value obtained by cross-correlation of sequences in two rows (or two columns). For example, consider sequences a and b from two rows of a non-orthogonal code set, with a threshold of 0.05. Assume the correlation between sequences a and b is 0.01. Since 0.01 is less than 0.05, sequences a and b are approximately orthogonal. It's understandable that when the first sequence is an OCC sequence, the symbol group can also be called an OCC group. For instance, if multiple terminal devices exist, the sequences used for modulation data by these devices are not the same. For example, consider three terminal devices (e.g., terminal device 1, terminal device 2, and terminal device 3). Sequence 1 used by terminal device 1 and sequence 2 used by terminal device 2 are orthogonal (i.e., the inner product of sequence 1 and sequence 2 equals 0) (or approximately orthogonal). Sequence 1 used by terminal device 1 and sequence 3 used by terminal device 3 are orthogonal (i.e., the inner product of sequence 1 and sequence 3 equals 0) (or approximately orthogonal). The sequence 2 used by terminal device 2 and the sequence 3 used by terminal device 3 are orthogonal (i.e., the inner product of sequence 2 and sequence 3 is equal to 0) (or approximately orthogonal).

[0089] For example, a first symbol group may include one or more symbol groups determined by a first sequence modulation. A second symbol group may also include one or more symbol groups determined by a first sequence modulation. For either the first or second symbol group, the resource locations corresponding to multiple symbol groups determined by the first sequence modulation are consecutive. It should be understood that consecutive resource locations corresponding to multiple symbol groups determined by the first sequence modulation mean that the logical locations corresponding to multiple symbol groups determined by the first sequence modulation are consecutive within the allocated resources. For example, consider a first symbol group comprising two symbol groups modulated by the first sequence (e.g., symbol group 1 and symbol group 2). Symbol group 1 occupies OFDM symbol numbers 1 and 2, symbol group 2 occupies OFDM symbol numbers 4 and 5, and the OFDM symbol number 3 is occupied by the DMRS associated with symbol group 1. It can be seen that the physical locations of symbol group 1 and symbol group 2 are not contiguous. However, disregarding the DMRS associated with symbol group 1, and reordering symbol group 1 and symbol group 2, the logical locations corresponding to symbol group 1 and symbol group 2 become contiguous. It is understandable that the one or more symbol groups modulated by the first sequence included in the first symbol group are different from the one or more symbol groups modulated by the first sequence included in the second symbol group.

[0090] The following examples illustrate the implementation process of frequency hopping symbol group transmission in terminal devices.

[0091] Example 1: Please refer to Figure 3a for a symbol group frequency hopping diagram. Each square in Figure 3a represents a resource element (RE) (or resource unit or resource particle). As shown in Figure 3a, consider a first symbol group comprising one symbol group (e.g., symbol group 1) and a second symbol group comprising one symbol group (e.g., symbol group 1'). Each symbol group consists of four REs on two OFDM symbols. Symbol group 1, included in the first symbol group, is transmitted at frequency position f1, and symbol group 1', included in the second symbol group, is transmitted by frequency hopping (FH) from frequency position f1 to frequency position f1'.

[0092] Example 2: Please refer to Figure 3b for another symbol group frequency hopping diagram. In Figure 3b, each square represents a RE. As shown in Figure 3b, consider a first symbol group comprising two symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 1 and symbol group 1') and a second symbol group comprising two symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 2 and symbol group 2'). Each of these four symbol groups consists of four REs on two OFDM symbols. Symbol group 1 and symbol group 1' of the first symbol group are transmitted together at frequency position f2, and symbol group 2 and symbol group 2' of the second symbol group are transmitted together by frequency hopping from frequency position f2 to frequency position f2'.

[0093] Example 3: Please refer to Figure 3c for another symbol group frequency hopping diagram. In Figure 3c, each square represents a RE. As shown in Figure 3c, consider a first symbol group comprising one symbol group (e.g., symbol group 3), and a second symbol group comprising one symbol group and two symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 3'). Each of these two symbol groups consists of four REs on four OFDM symbols. Symbol group 3, included in the first symbol group, is transmitted at frequency position f3, and symbol group 3', included in the second symbol group, hops from frequency position f3 to frequency position f3' for transmission.

[0094] Example 4: Please refer to Figure 3d for another symbol group frequency hopping diagram. In Figure 3d, each square represents a RE. As shown in Figure 3d, consider a first symbol group comprising two symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 3 and symbol group 3') and a second symbol group comprising two symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 4 and symbol group 4'). Each of these four symbol groups consists of four REs on four OFDM symbols. Symbol group 3 and symbol group 3' of the first symbol group are transmitted together at frequency position f4, and symbol group 4 and symbol group 4' of the second symbol group are transmitted together by frequency hopping from frequency position f4 to frequency position f4'.

[0095] Example 5: Please refer to Figure 3e for another symbol group frequency hopping diagram. In Figure 3e, each square represents a RE. As shown in Figure 3e, consider a first symbol group comprising two symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 5 and symbol group 5') and a second symbol group comprising two symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 6 and symbol group 6'). Each of these four symbol groups consists of four REs on two OFDM symbols. Symbol group 5 and symbol group 5' of the first symbol group are transmitted together at frequency position f5, and symbol group 6 and symbol group 6' of the second symbol group are transmitted together by frequency hopping from frequency position f5 to frequency position f5'.

[0096] Example 6: Please refer to Figure 3f for another symbol group frequency hopping diagram. In Figure 3f, each square represents a RE. As shown in Figure 3f, taking a first symbol group consisting of m symbol groups and a second symbol group consisting of n symbol groups as an example, each of these (m+n) symbol groups consists of 4 REs on 4 OFDM symbols. The m symbol groups in the first symbol group are transmitted together at frequency position f6, and the n symbol groups in the second symbol group are transmitted together by hopping from frequency position f6 to frequency position f6'.

[0097] It should be understood that the number of symbols in each symbol group modulated by the first sequence is related to the length of the first sequence. For example, when the length of the first sequence is 2, the symbol group contains 2 symbols. When the length of the first sequence is 4, the symbol group contains 4 symbols. For instance, the symbols included in each symbol group modulated by the first sequence can be OFDM symbols or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM symbols.

[0098] To facilitate understanding of the symbol group of the first sequence modulation, the following example will be used to introduce the process of obtaining a symbol group by the first sequence modulation, taking OFDM symbols as an example.

[0099] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the determination of OFDM symbols included in a symbol group according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 4, in one example, the first data may include n modulated symbols. These n modulated symbols can be obtained by the terminal device modulating a bitstream using a certain modulation scheme. Exemplarily, the modulation scheme may include, but is not limited to, pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), offset quadrature amplitude modulation (OQAM), or amplitude phase shift keying (APSK). In another example, the first data may refer to a bitstream to be transmitted. The terminal device can modulate this bitstream using a certain modulation scheme to obtain n modulated symbols. For example, taking 16QAM as an example, the terminal device can divide the bitstream into n bit groups, each bit group including 4 bits. Then, for each of the n bit groups, the terminal device can use 16QAM to modulate the bit group to obtain a modulation symbol, thus obtaining the modulation symbols corresponding to the n bit groups respectively.

[0100] In this embodiment, the terminal device can perform a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) on each of the n modulation symbols to obtain a frequency domain symbol (or frequency coefficient, frequency domain coefficient, or frequency symbol) corresponding to each modulation symbol. That is, after DFT processing, the n modulation symbols yield n frequency domain symbols. Then, the terminal device can use a sequence of length m (e.g., an OCC sequence) to modulate each of the n frequency domain symbols, obtaining m frequency domain symbols corresponding to each frequency domain symbol. In other words, after modulation of the n frequency domain symbols by a sequence of length m (e.g., an OCC sequence), n*m frequency domain symbols are obtained. Afterwards, the terminal device can perform sub-carrier mapping and zero-padding on the n*m ​​frequency domain symbols to obtain a multi-dimensional data vector. Then, it can perform an N-point inverse fast fourier transform (IFFT) on the multi-dimensional data vector to obtain N complex time-domain sampling points, such as N complex time-domain sampling points x. k =[x k [0],x k [1],…,x k [N-1] T Here, k is the index of the OFDM symbol. It can be understood that subcarrier mapping carries n*m frequency domain coefficients on corresponding REs. Then, the terminal device can perform parallel-to-serial (P / S) conversion on N complex time-domain sampling points to obtain an OFDM symbol. For example, this OFDM symbol can contain valid data x. kIn one example, after receiving OFDM symbols, the terminal device can use a sequence of length k (such as an OCC sequence) to modulate the OFDM symbols, obtaining k OFDM symbols. Then, the terminal device can add (or insert) a cyclic prefix (CP) to each of the k OFDM symbols, obtaining k OFDM symbols with added CP. It is understood that adding CP can eliminate inter-symbol interference (ISI) caused by multipath propagation. In another example, after receiving OFDM symbols, the terminal device can add CP to the OFDM symbols, obtaining OFDM symbols with added CP. Then, the terminal device can use a sequence of length k (such as an OCC sequence) to modulate the OFDM symbols with added CP, obtaining k OFDM symbols with added CP. It should be understood that m can be an integer greater than or equal to 0. When m is 0 or 1, the terminal device does not need to modulate n frequency domain symbols. k can be an integer greater than or equal to 1. When k is 1, the terminal device does not need to perform modulation processing on OFDM symbols.

[0101] Understandably, in one example, the definition of an OCC group can be understood based on n modulation symbols (which can be understood as the time-frequency resources occupied by n modulation symbols after OCC modulation). For example, the terminal device can perform overall modulation on the above bitstream to obtain n modulation symbols (i.e., n modulation symbols as a whole), and can process these n modulation symbols through the processing flow shown in Figure 4 to obtain k OFDM symbols with added CP. In this way, the frequency coefficients / frequency domain symbols associated with the k OFDM symbols with added CP, which contain the information corresponding to the n modulation symbols, belong to a symbol group (the association means that the n modulation symbols are modulated by frequency domain OCC of length m and time domain OCC of length k, resulting in n*m*k frequency symbols carried on the corresponding n*m*k REs). The n modulation symbols correspond to a symbol group, which is contained in the k OFDM symbols with added CP.

[0102] In another example, the definition of an OOC group can be understood based on each modulation symbol (which can be understood as the time-frequency resources occupied by each modulation symbol after OCC modulation). For example, after dividing the above bitstream into n bit groups, the terminal device can modulate each bit group to obtain the modulation symbol corresponding to each bit group. Then, the terminal device can process each modulation symbol through the process shown in Figure 4 to obtain k OFDM symbols with added CP containing the information corresponding to each modulation symbol. In this way, the frequency coefficients / frequency domain symbols associated with each modulation symbol corresponding to the k OFDM symbols with added CP containing the information corresponding to each modulation symbol belong to a symbol group (the association means that each modulation symbol is modulated by frequency domain OCC of length m and time domain OCC of length k, resulting in m*k frequency symbols carried on the corresponding m*k REs). n modulation symbols correspond to n symbol groups, and each symbol group is contained in k OFDM symbols with added CP.

[0103] In another example, the definition of an OCC group can be understood based on t modulation symbols (which can be understood as the time-frequency resources occupied by each t modulation symbol after OCC modulation). Here, t is an integer greater than or equal to 2. For example, after dividing the above bitstream into n bit groups, the terminal device modulates each group to obtain n modulation symbols corresponding to the n bit groups. Then, the terminal device can process each modulation symbol through the process shown in Figure 4 to obtain k OFDM symbols with added CP, each containing information corresponding to the n modulation symbols. Thus, the frequency coefficients / frequency domain symbols associated with each t modulation symbol, corresponding to the k OFDM symbols with added CP and containing information corresponding to each modulation symbol, belong to a symbol group (the association means that each t modulation symbol is modulated by a frequency domain OCC of length m and a time domain OCC of length k, resulting in t*m*k frequency symbols carried on corresponding t*m*k REs). The n modulation symbols correspond to (n / t) symbol groups, and each symbol group is contained within the k OFDM symbols with added CP.

[0104] Optionally, the terminal device can also perform frequency hopping based on k OFDM symbols with added CP.

[0105] It is understandable that when multiple frequency positions exist, the first frequency position can refer to one of those multiple frequency positions, and the second frequency position can refer to one of those multiple frequency positions other than the first frequency position. For example, with two frequency positions (such as frequency position 0 and frequency position 1) and a frequency hopping step size of 1, the first frequency position is frequency position 0, and the second frequency position is frequency position 1. As another example, with three frequency positions (such as frequency position 0, frequency position 1, and frequency position 2) and a frequency hopping step size of 1, the first frequency position is frequency position 1, and the second frequency position is frequency position 2, or the first frequency position is frequency position 0, and the second frequency position is frequency position 1. Yet another example, with three frequency positions (such as frequency position 0, frequency position 1, and frequency position 2) and a frequency hopping step size of 2, the first frequency position is frequency position 0, and the second frequency position is frequency position 2. Optionally, when the above-mentioned multiple frequency positions also include a third frequency position, the third frequency position may refer to one of the multiple frequency positions other than the first frequency position and the second frequency position; when the above-mentioned multiple frequency positions also include a fourth frequency position, the fourth frequency position may refer to one of the multiple frequency positions other than the first frequency position, the second frequency position and the third frequency position.

[0106] Optionally, the second frequency position can be determined by the terminal device based on the first frequency position and the first frequency hopping step size. The first frequency hopping step size can be used to characterize the frequency interval between the second frequency position and the first frequency position. The first frequency hopping step size can be one of multiple frequency hopping step sizes. For example, the multiple frequency hopping step sizes can be predefined, such as through a protocol, or they can be configured by the network device.

[0107] The first frequency hopping step size can be indicated by the network device through indication information (such as second indication information), or it can be predefined. For example, the network device can send first information to the terminal device, the first information including the second indication information. Optionally, the first information may also include at least one of the following: first indication information or third indication information, etc. The first indication information can be used to indicate a first sequence, and the third indication information can be used to indicate the resource location of at least one first DMRS associated with a first symbol group (or a first frequency location) and the resource location of at least one second DMRS associated with a second symbol group (or a second frequency location).

[0108] In the embodiments of this application, the time-domain resource indices of at least one first DMRS can conform to an equally spaced distribution, and the time-domain resource indices of at least one second DMRS can also conform to an equally spaced distribution.

[0109] In one example, considering the time-domain resource numbers of 5 DMRSs (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6), there are 3 first DMRSs and 3 second DMRSs. There are 3 first symbol groups transmitted at the first frequency position (e.g., symbol group 1, symbol group 3, and symbol group 5), and 3 second symbol groups transmitted at the second frequency position (e.g., symbol group 2, symbol group 4, and symbol group 6). Specifically, the time-domain resource number of the first DMRS associated with symbol group 1 is 1, that of the first DMRS associated with symbol group 3 is 3, and that of the first DMRS associated with symbol group 5 is 5. It can be seen that the time-domain resource numbers of these 3 first DMRSs are evenly spaced. Similarly, the time-domain resource number of the second DMRS associated with symbol group 2 is 2, that of the second DMRS associated with symbol group 4 is 4, and that of the second DMRS associated with symbol group 6 is 6. It can also be seen that the time-domain resource numbers of these 3 second DMRSs are evenly spaced.

[0110] In another example, considering eight DMRS time-domain resource numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8), there are four first DMRSs and four second DMRSs. Four first symbol groups are transmitted at the first frequency position (e.g., symbol groups 1, 2, 5, and 6), and four second symbol groups are transmitted at the second frequency position (e.g., symbol groups 3, 4, 7, and 8). The time-domain resource number of the first DMRS associated with symbol group 1 is 1, that of the first DMRS associated with symbol group 2 is 2, that of the first DMRS associated with symbol group 5 is 5, and that of the first DMRS associated with symbol group 6 is 6. It can be seen that there is a 4-second interval between time-domain resource numbers 1 and 5, and also a 4-second interval between time-domain resource numbers 2 and 6. Therefore, the time-domain resource numbers of these four first DMRSs also conform to an equally spaced distribution. The time-domain resource number of the second DMRS associated with symbol group 3 is 3, the time-domain resource number of the second DMRS associated with symbol group 4 is 4, the time-domain resource number of the second DMRS associated with symbol group 7 is 7, and the time-domain resource number of the second DMRS associated with symbol group 8 is 8. It can be seen that there is a 4-second interval between time-domain resource numbers 3 and 7, and also a 4-second interval between time-domain resource numbers 4 and 8. Therefore, the time-domain resource numbers of these four second DMRSs are also evenly distributed.

[0111] Regarding the first frequency position, when the first frequency position is the very first frequency position (or can be understood as the initial frequency position), the first frequency position can be predefined, configured or indicated by the network device, or determined by the terminal device based on actual conditions. When the first frequency position is a frequency position following the first frequency position, the first frequency position can be determined by the terminal device based on the first frequency hopping step size and a frequency position preceding the first frequency position. Optionally, when the first frequency position is a frequency position following the first frequency position, the first frequency position can also be predefined, configured or indicated by the network device, or determined by the terminal device based on actual conditions.

[0112] For example, the following examples illustrate the implementation process of a terminal device transmitting symbol groups at different frequency locations.

[0113] Example 1: Taking frequency position 0 as the first frequency position, first frequency hopping step size 2, and 4 symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 1, symbol group 2, symbol group 3, and symbol group 4) as an example. The terminal device can first transmit symbol group 1 at frequency position 0. Then, the terminal device can perform a modulo operation on frequency position 0 and first frequency hopping step size 2 to obtain a result, which is used as the frequency position required to transmit symbol group 2. For example, the terminal device can use (frequency position a + first frequency hopping step size b) mod q to calculate the frequency position required for a certain symbol group to be transmitted. Here, q can be adjusted according to the actual application scenario. For example, taking q as 4, the terminal device can calculate the frequency position required to transmit symbol group 2 based on frequency position 0 and first frequency hopping step size 2: (0 + 2) mod 4 = 2, then the terminal device can transmit symbol group 2 at frequency position 2. Then, the terminal device can calculate the frequency position required to transmit symbol group 3 based on frequency position 2 and first frequency hopping step size 2: (2 + 2) mod 4 = 0, then the terminal device can transmit symbol group 3 at frequency position 0. Then, the terminal device can calculate the frequency position required to send symbol group 4 based on frequency position 0 and the first frequency hopping step size 2, which is (0+2)mod4=2. Then the terminal device can send symbol group 4 at frequency position 2.

[0114] Example 2: Taking frequency position 0 as the first frequency position, first frequency hopping step size 3, and 4 symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 1, symbol group 2, symbol group 3, and symbol group 4) as an example. The terminal device can first transmit symbol group 1 at frequency position 0. Then, the terminal device can perform a modulo operation on frequency position 0 and first frequency hopping step size 3 to obtain a result, which is used as the frequency position required to transmit symbol group 2. For example, continuing with q=4, the terminal device can calculate the frequency position required to transmit symbol group 2 based on frequency position 0 and first frequency hopping step size 3: (0+3)mod4=3. Therefore, the terminal device can transmit symbol group 2 at frequency position 3. Then, the terminal device can calculate the frequency position required to transmit symbol group 3 based on frequency position 3 and first frequency hopping step size 3: (3+3)mod4=2. Therefore, the terminal device can transmit symbol group 3 at frequency position 2. Then, the terminal device can calculate the frequency position required to send symbol group 4 based on frequency position 2 and first frequency hopping step size 3, which is (2+3)mod4=1. Then the terminal device can send symbol group 3 at frequency position 1.

[0115] Example 3: Continuing with the example of frequency position 0, first frequency hopping step size 2, and 4 symbol groups (e.g., symbol group 1, symbol group 2, symbol group 3, and symbol group 4), the terminal device can first transmit symbol group 1 at frequency position 0. Then, the terminal device can perform a modulo operation on frequency position 0 and first frequency hopping step size 2 to obtain a result, which is used as the frequency position required to transmit symbol group 2. For example, continuing with q=6, the terminal device can calculate the frequency position required to transmit symbol group 2 based on frequency position 0 and first frequency hopping step size 2: (0+2)mod6=2. Therefore, the terminal device can transmit symbol group 2 at frequency position 2. Then, the terminal device can calculate the frequency position required to transmit symbol group 3 based on frequency position 2 and first frequency hopping step size 2: (2+2)mod6=4. Therefore, the terminal device can transmit symbol group 3 at frequency position 4. Then, the terminal device can calculate the frequency position required to send symbol group 4 based on the frequency position 4 and the first frequency hopping step size 2, which is (4+2)mod6=0. Then the terminal device can send symbol group 4 at frequency position 0.

[0116] To facilitate the differentiation of data transmission at different frequency locations, network devices need to estimate the channel conditions for data transmission at different frequency locations. This requires terminal devices to associate reference signals (such as DMRS) with the data channel (such as PUSCH). The association of DMRS is described below through several possible implementation methods.

[0117] Method 1: The first symbol group is associated with at least one first DMRS. This allows at least one first DMRS to be transmitted at a first frequency location, facilitating accurate channel estimation by the network device based on the at least one first DMRS associated with the first symbol group. This enables the network device to perform channel equalization on the first symbol group based on the channel estimation results determined by the at least one first DMRS. Furthermore, the second symbol group is associated with at least one second DMRS. This allows at least one second DMRS to be transmitted at a second frequency location, facilitating accurate channel estimation by the network device based on the at least one second DMRS associated with the second symbol group. This enables the network device to perform channel equalization on the second symbol group based on the channel estimation results determined by the at least one second DMRS.

[0118] Optionally, the resource location of at least one second DMRS is located after the resource location of at least one first DMRS. In this way, at least one second DMRS and at least one first DMRS can be transmitted in the order of their respective resource locations. This allows the network device to know in a timely manner which DMRS are associated with the first symbol group and which DMRS are associated with the second symbol group. This enables the network device to accurately perform channel estimation based on the DMRS associated with different symbol groups, so as to achieve channel equalization for different symbol groups.

[0119] To make it easier to understand, the following specific examples illustrate method one.

[0120] In one example, please refer to Figure 5a, which illustrates a symbol group-associated DMRS. In Figure 5a, an OCC sequence of length 4 is used, with two user groups (e.g., user group A and user group B), each containing 4 users. Assume user group A includes users A1, A2, A3, and A4, and user group B includes users B1, B2, B3, and B4. User groups A and B correspond to users with different time-frequency resources, and the two user groups complete the full utilization of the frequency-hopping resources (if there are multiple frequency-hopping positions, more user groups can exist; in actual transmission, the two groups are not directly associated, and only one user group can transmit data). Thus, PUSCH transmission based on a 4-length OCC modulation of two user groups enables multiple users to share the same resources and achieves frequency-hopping data transmission.

[0121] As shown in Figure 5a, for user group A, the four diagonal squares represent an OCC group (or symbol group) of length 4, such as OCC group a1; the four line squares represent an OCC group of length 4, such as OCC group a2; the four dot squares represent unassigned OFDM symbols; and the two white squares represent DMRS symbols. Each OCC group includes four OFDM symbols, which carry the same information but are modulated by the OCC sequence. The frequency position of each OCC group is different from that of the previous OCC group. For example, the frequency position used by OCC group a2 during transmission is different from that used by OCC group a1. OCC group a1 is associated (or bound) to the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first white square, and OCC group a2 is associated with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second white square. It should be understood that the associated two transmit at the same frequency position (using the same frequency hopping step size). For example, OCC group a1 and the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first white square are transmitted at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position a), and OCC group a2 and the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second white square are transmitted at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position b).

[0122] Optionally, the resources corresponding to multiple OCC groups in a single PUSCH transmission can be occupied by multiple users, who are called user groups, such as user group A. For example, for OCC group a1, user A1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user A2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user A3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user A4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1] modulation. For OCC group a2, user A1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user A2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user A3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user A4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1] modulation. It should be understood that the OCC sequences used by any two users in user group A are orthogonal, meaning the inner product of the OCC sequences used by any two users is 0.

[0123] As shown in Figure 5a, for user group B, four large outline diamond squares represent an OCC group of length 4, such as OCC group b1; four large grid squares represent an OCC group of length 4, such as OCC group b2; four black squares represent unassigned OFDM symbols; and two small outline diamond squares represent DMRS symbols. Each OCC group includes four OFDM symbols, which carry the same information but are modulated by the OCC sequence. The frequency position of each OCC group is different from that of the previous OCC group. For example, the frequency position used by OCC group b2 during transmission is different from that used by OCC group b1. OCC group b1 is associated with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first small outline diamond square, and OCC group b2 is associated with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second small outline diamond square. It should be understood that the two associated groups transmit at the same frequency position (using the same frequency hopping step size). For example, OCC group b1 and the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first small outline diamond block are transmitted at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position b), and OCC group b2 and the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second small outline diamond block are transmitted at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position a).

[0124] Optionally, the resources corresponding to multiple OCC groups in a single PUSCH transmission can be occupied by multiple users, who are called user groups, such as user group B. For example, for OCC group b1, user B1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user B2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user B3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user B4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1] modulation. For OCC group b2, user B1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user B2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user B3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user B4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1] modulation. It should be understood that the OCC sequences used by any two users in user group B are orthogonal, meaning the inner product of the OCC sequences used by any two users is 0.

[0125] Understandably, the binding methods of other OCC groups and DMRS can also be appropriately expanded; other frequency hopping methods can also be appropriately expanded (for example, if there are four frequency hopping positions, then four consecutive OCC groups can hop frequencies in sequence, and subsequent OCC groups can repeat the frequency hopping method of the previous OCC groups).

[0126] In another example, please refer to Figure 5b for a schematic diagram of another symbol group associated with DMRS. In Figure 5b, an OCC sequence of length 2 is used, with two user groups (e.g., user group A and user group B), each containing two users. Assume user group A includes users A1 and A2, and user group B includes users B1 and B2. User groups A and B correspond to users with different time-frequency resources, and the two user groups complete the full utilization of the frequency-hopping resources (if there are multiple frequency-hopping positions, more user groups can exist; in actual transmission, the two groups are not directly associated, and only one user group can transmit data). Thus, PUSCH transmission based on a 2-length OCC modulation of two user groups enables multiple users to share the same resources and achieves frequency-hopping data transmission.

[0127] As shown in Figure 5b, for user group A, two diagonal squares represent an OCC group of length 2, such as OCC group a1'; two small outline diamond squares represent an OCC group of length 2, such as OCC group a2'; two line squares represent an OCC group of length 2, such as OCC group a3'; two large outline diamond squares represent an OCC group of length 2, such as OCC group a4'; two dot squares represent unassigned OFDM symbols; and four large grid squares represent DMRS symbols. Each OCC group includes two OFDM symbols, which carry the same information but are modulated by the OCC sequence. The frequency position of each OCC group differs from that of the previous OCC group. For example, the frequency position used by OCC group a2' during transmission is different from that used by OCC group a1', and the frequency position used by OCC group a3' during transmission is different from that used by OCC group a2'. Specifically, OCC group a1' is associated with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first large grid square, OCC group a2' with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second large grid square, OCC group a3' with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the third large grid square, and OCC group a4' with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the fourth large grid square. It should be understood that the associated groups transmit at the same frequency position (using the same frequency hopping step size). For example, OCC group a1' transmits with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first large grid square at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position a), OCC group a2' transmits with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second large grid square at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position b), OCC group a3' transmits with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the third large grid square at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position a), and OCC group a4' transmits with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the fourth large grid square at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position b).

[0128] Optionally, the resources corresponding to multiple OCC groups in a single PUSCH transmission can be occupied by multiple users, referred to as user groups, such as user group A. For example, for OCC group a1', user A1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1] modulation, and user A2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1] modulation. It should be understood that the OCC sequences used by the two users in user group A are orthogonal, meaning the inner product of their OCC sequences is 0.

[0129] As shown in Figure 5b, for user group B, two small grid squares represent an OCC group of length 2, such as OCC group b1'; two shelf squares represent an OCC group of length 2, such as OCC group b2'; two checkerboard squares represent an OCC group of length 2, such as OCC group b3'; two dark dot squares represent an OCC group of length 2, such as OCC group b4'; two black squares represent unassigned OFDM symbols; and four white squares represent DMRS symbols. Each OCC group includes two OFDM symbols, which carry the same information but are modulated by the OCC sequence. The frequency position of each OCC group is different from that of the previous OCC group. For example, the frequency position used by OCC group b2' during transmission is different from that used by OCC group b1', and the frequency position used by OCC group b3' during transmission is different from that used by OCC group b2'. Specifically, OCC group b1' is associated with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first white square, OCC group b2' with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second white square, OCC group b3' with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the third white square, and OCC group b4' with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the fourth white square. It should be understood that the associated groups transmit at the same frequency (using the same frequency hopping step size). For example, OCC group b1' transmits with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first white square at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position b), OCC group b2' transmits with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second white square at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position a), OCC group b3' transmits with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the third white square at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position b), and OCC group b4' transmits with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the fourth white square at the same frequency position (e.g., frequency position a).

[0130] Method 2: A first frequency location is associated with at least one first DMRS. This facilitates channel equalization of symbol groups transmitted at the first frequency location based on the channel estimation results determined by the at least one first DMRS associated with the first frequency location. Furthermore, by configuring a second frequency location to be associated with at least one second DMRS, it facilitates channel equalization of symbol groups transmitted at the second frequency location based on the channel estimation results determined by the at least one second DMRS associated with the second frequency location. Since symbol groups transmitted at a certain frequency location use the same frequency location as the DMRS associated with that frequency location, the channels are essentially consistent. This ensures that symbol groups transmitted at that frequency location can undergo channel estimation through the DMRS associated with that frequency location, and thus channel equalization can be performed on the symbol groups transmitted at that frequency location using the channel estimation results determined by the DMRS associated with that frequency location. This results in better demodulation performance after equalization.

[0131] To make it easier to understand, the following specific examples illustrate method two.

[0132] For example, please refer to Figure 6, which illustrates a frequency position-associated DMRS. In Figure 6, continuing with the example of an OCC sequence of length 4, two user groups (e.g., user group A and user group B), each containing 4 users, user group A includes users A1, A2, A3, and A4, and user group B includes users B1, B2, B3, and B4. User groups A and B correspond to users with different time-frequency resources, and the two user groups complete the full utilization of the frequency hopping resources (if there are multiple frequency hopping positions, more user groups can exist; in actual transmission, the two groups are not directly associated, and only one user group can transmit data). Thus, PUSCH transmission based on a 4-length OCC modulation of two user groups enables multiple users to share the same resources and achieves frequency hopping data transmission.

[0133] As shown in Figure 6, for user group A, the four diagonal squares represent an OCC group of length 4, such as OCC group a1; the four line squares represent an OCC group of length 4, such as OCC group a2; the four dot squares represent an OCC group of length 4, such as OCC group a3; and the two white squares represent DMRS symbols. Each OCC group includes four OFDM symbols, which carry the same information but are modulated by the OCC sequence. The frequency position of each OCC group is different from that of the previous OCC group. For example, the frequency position used by OCC group a2 during transmission is different from that used by OCC group a1, and the frequency position used by OCC group a3 during transmission is different from that used by OCC group a2. It can be understood that in mode two, the DMRS symbols are no longer associated with OCC groups, but rather with the frequency position used for frequency hopping. For example, for user group A, the first frequency position is associated with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first white square (or can be called a binding relationship), and the second frequency position is associated with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second white square.

[0134] Optionally, the resources corresponding to multiple OCC groups in a single PUSCH transmission can be occupied by multiple users, who are called user groups, such as user group A. For example, for OCC group a1, user A1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user A2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user A3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user A4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1] modulation. For OCC group a2, user A1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user A2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user A3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user A4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1]. For OCC group a3, user A1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user A2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user A3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user A4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1]. It should be understood that the OCC sequences used by any two of the four users in user group A above are orthogonal.

[0135] As shown in Figure 6, for user group B, four large diamond-shaped blocks represent an OCC group of length 4, such as OCC group b1; four checkerboard blocks represent an OCC group of length 4, such as OCC group b2; four large grid blocks represent an OCC group of length 4, such as OCC group b3; and two black blocks represent DMRS symbols. Each OCC group includes four OFDM symbols, which carry the same information but are modulated by the OCC sequence. The frequency position of each OCC group is different from that of the previous OCC group. For example, the frequency position used by OCC group b2 during transmission is different from that used by OCC group b1, and the frequency position used by OCC group b3 during transmission is different from that used by OCC group b2. It can be understood that in mode two, the DMRS symbols are no longer associated with OCC groups, but rather with the frequency position used for frequency hopping. For example, for user group B, the first frequency position is associated with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the second black square, and the second frequency position is associated with the DMRS symbol corresponding to the first black square.

[0136] Optionally, the resources corresponding to multiple OCC groups in a single PUSCH transmission can be occupied by multiple users, who are called user groups, such as user group B. For example, for OCC group b1, user B1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user B2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user B3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user B4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1] modulation. For OCC group b2, user B1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user B2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user B3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user B4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1]. For OCC group b3, user B1's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,-1,-1] modulation, user B2's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,+1,+1,+1] modulation, user B3's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [+1,-1,+1,-1] modulation, and user B4's PUSCH transmission can use OCC sequence [-1,-1,-1,-1]. It should be understood that the OCC sequences used by any two of the four users in user group B above are orthogonal.

[0137] As can be seen from steps 201 to 202 above, by frequency hopping and transmitting corresponding symbol groups at different frequency positions on a symbol group basis (e.g., OCC group), a better frequency diversity gain can be obtained, which helps to improve the robustness of data demodulation performance. This avoids or reduces performance loss caused by multiple symbol groups simultaneously being in deep channel fading and improves coverage. Furthermore, since this method can obtain a better frequency diversity gain, it can also improve the signal transmission quality of terminal equipment, thereby reducing the number of retransmissions and saving resource overhead.

[0138] It should be noted that in the description of this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers "first," "second," "third," etc., mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the order, sequence, priority, or importance of multiple objects. In addition, the terms "including," "comprising," "having," and their variations appearing in this application all mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0139] Furthermore, it should be noted that each step in the above embodiments can be executed by the corresponding device, or by components such as chips, processors, or chip systems within that device. This application does not limit the scope of these steps. The above embodiments are only illustrated by examples of execution by the corresponding device.

[0140] It should be noted that in the above embodiments, some steps may be selected for implementation, and the order of the steps in the figures may be adjusted. This application does not limit this. It should be understood that performing some of the steps in the figures, adjusting the order of the steps, or combining them in a specific implementation all fall within the protection scope of this application.

[0141] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions described in the above embodiments, each device involved in the above embodiments includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to perform each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed by hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0142] It should be understood that the "steps" in the embodiments of this application are merely illustrative, intended to better understand one method of presentation used in the embodiments, and do not constitute a substantial limitation on the execution of the solution of this application. For example, the "step" can also be understood as a "feature". Furthermore, the steps do not constitute any limitation on the execution order of the solution of this application. Any changes to the order of steps, or the merging or splitting of steps made on this basis without affecting the overall solution implementation, resulting in a new technical solution, are also within the scope of disclosure of this application.

[0143] Based on the same concept, this application also provides a communication device suitable for the communication system architecture shown in FIG1. ​​Optionally, the communication device may be a communication device (such as a first communication device or a second communication device) or a module (such as a processor, processing unit, chip, chip system, or circuit) required to support the communication device in implementing the communication method. For example, the first communication device may be a terminal device or a module of a terminal device (such as a processor, processing unit, chip, chip system, or circuit), or it may be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions. The second communication device may be a network device or a module of a network device (such as a processor, processing unit, chip, chip system, or circuit), or it may be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions. In one example, when the communication device is a first communication device (such as a terminal device), the communication device is used to implement the technical solutions involved in the first communication device in the above embodiments, or the module of the communication device (such as a chip) is used to implement the technical solutions involved in the first communication device in the above embodiments, thus also achieving the beneficial effects of the first communication device in the above embodiments. For example, the terminal device can be terminal device 120 (e.g., terminal device 120a) as shown in Figure 1. Exemplarily, taking a chip within a first communication device as an example, when the communication device is a chip, it includes a communication interface and a processor, but does not include a memory. The communication interface exists as an input / output interface, used by the chip to implement the transmission and reception of the first communication device. This input / output interface can include an input interface and / or an output interface; the input interface can enable the first communication device to receive data, and the output interface can be used to enable the first communication device to transmit data. The processor is used to read and execute corresponding computer programs or instructions, thereby enabling the corresponding functions of the first communication device to be implemented. Optionally, when the chip implements the corresponding functions of the first communication device in the above embodiments, the input / output interface can implement the transmission and reception operations performed by the first communication device in the above embodiments; the processor can implement other operations performed by the first communication device in the above embodiments besides the transmission and reception operations. For a more detailed description, please refer to the description of the first communication device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0144] In another example, when the communication device is a second communication device (such as a network device), the communication device is used to implement the technical solutions involved in the second communication device in the above embodiments, or the module (such as a chip) of the communication device is used to implement the technical solutions involved in the second communication device in the above embodiments, thus also achieving the beneficial effects of the second communication device in the above embodiments. For example, the network device can be RAN node 110 (such as RAN node 110a) as shown in FIG1. ​​Exemplarily, taking the communication device as a chip set in the second communication device as an example, when the communication device is a chip, the communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, but does not include a memory. The communication interface exists as an input / output interface, which is used by the chip to implement the transmission and reception of the second communication device. The input / output interface may include an input interface and / or an output interface. The input interface can realize the reception of the second communication device, and the output interface can be used to realize the transmission of the second communication device. The processor is used to read and execute the corresponding computer program or instructions, so that the corresponding functions of the second communication device are realized. Optionally, when the chip implements the corresponding functions of the second communication device in the above embodiments, the input / output interface can implement the transmit / receive operations performed by the second communication device in the above embodiments; the processor can implement other operations performed by the second communication device in the above embodiments besides the transmit / receive operations. For specific details, please refer to the relevant description of the second communication device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0145] Referring to Figure 7, the communication device 700 includes a transceiver module 701 (or a communication module, transceiver unit, or communication unit, used for sending and receiving data) and a processing module 702 (or a processing unit). The communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the first communication device (e.g., a terminal device) or the second communication device (e.g., a network device) in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2 above.

[0146] Optionally, the transceiver module 701 may include a receiving module and / or a transmitting module. The receiving module can be used by the communication device 700 to receive signals (information or data, etc.); the transmitting module can be used by the communication device 700 to transmit signals (information or data, etc.). The transmitting module can transmit signals (information or data, etc.) under the control of the processing module 702, and the receiving module can receive signals (information or data, etc.) under the control of the processing module 702.

[0147] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the first communication device (e.g., a terminal device) in the method embodiment shown in FIG2: the transceiver module 701 is used to transmit a first symbol group at a first frequency position. The transceiver module 701 is also used to transmit a second symbol group at a second frequency position. The first and second frequency positions are different, and the first and second symbol groups are contained within multiple symbol groups. These multiple symbol groups are determined based on the first data of the terminal device and a first sequence corresponding to the terminal device. The first sequence is contained in a modulation sequence set. The processing module 702 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as determining multiple symbol groups based on the first data of the terminal device and the first sequence corresponding to the terminal device.

[0148] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the second communication device (e.g., a network device) in the method embodiment shown in FIG2 above: the transceiver module 701 is used to receive a first symbol group at a first frequency position. The transceiver module 701 is also used to receive a second symbol group at a second frequency position. The first and second frequency positions are different, and the first and second symbol groups are contained within multiple symbol groups. These multiple symbol groups are determined based on the first data of the terminal device and a first sequence corresponding to the terminal device. The first sequence is contained in a modulation sequence set. The processing module 702 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as channel estimation based on at least one first DMRS associated with the first symbol group.

[0149] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the first or second communication device in the method embodiment shown in FIG2, a more detailed description of the transceiver module 701 and the processing module 702 can be found in the relevant descriptions of the first or second communication device in the method embodiment shown in FIG2 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0150] It should be understood that the transceiver module 701 in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a communication interface or communication interface-related circuit components, and the processing module 702 can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components.

[0151] It should be noted that the module division in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, exist as separate physical entities, or have two or more units integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0152] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, or a server, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods of the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, a portable hard drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0153] Based on the same concept, this application also provides a communication device suitable for the communication system architecture shown in FIG1. ​​Exemplarily, the communication device may be an apparatus required for executing the communication method provided in this application (such as a first communication device or a second communication device), or it may be a device containing an apparatus required for executing the communication method provided in this application. Optionally, the communication device may also be a chip disposed in a first communication device (or a second communication device). When the communication device is a chip disposed in a first communication device (or a second communication device), the communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, but does not include a memory. The communication interface exists as an input / output interface, which is used by the chip to implement the transmission and reception of the communication device. The input / output interface may include an input interface and / or an output interface. The input interface can enable the communication device to receive data, and the output interface can be used to enable the communication device to transmit data. The processor is used to read and execute corresponding computer programs or instructions, so that the corresponding functions of the first communication device (or the second communication device) are implemented. Optionally, when the chip implements the corresponding functions of the first communication device (or the second communication device) in the above embodiments, the input / output interface can implement the transmit / receive operations performed by the first communication device (or the second communication device) in the above embodiments; the processor can implement other operations performed by the first communication device (or the second communication device) in the above embodiments besides the transmit / receive operations. Specific details can be found in the relevant descriptions in the above embodiments, and will not be elaborated here. For example, taking the communication device as a first communication device (e.g., a terminal device) or a second communication device (e.g., a network device), when the communication device is used to implement the technical solutions involved in the first communication device in the above embodiments, it can also achieve the beneficial effects of the first communication device in the above method embodiments; when the communication device is used to implement the technical solutions involved in the second communication device in the above embodiments, it can also achieve the beneficial effects of the second communication device in the above method embodiments.

[0154] Referring to Figure 8, the communication device 800 includes a communication interface 801 and a processor 802. Optionally, the communication device 800 also includes a memory 803. The communication interface 801, processor 802, and memory 803 are interconnected. When the communication device 800 is used to implement the technical solution of the first communication device (e.g., a terminal device) provided in the above embodiments, the communication interface 801 can be used to implement the function of the transceiver module 701 when executing the technical solution of the first communication device, and the processor 802 can be used to implement the function of the processing module 702 when executing the technical solution of the first communication device. When the communication device 800 is used to implement the technical solution of the second communication device (e.g., a network device) provided in the above embodiments, the communication interface 801 can be used to implement the function of the transceiver module 701 when executing the technical solution of the second communication device, and the processor 802 can be used to implement the function of the processing module 702 when executing the technical solution of the second communication device.

[0155] Optionally, the communication interface 801, processor 802, and memory 803 are interconnected via bus 804. Bus 804 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. Buses can be divided into address buses, data buses, control buses, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in Figure 8, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0156] Communication interface 801 is used for receiving and sending data. For example, when communication device 800 is terminal device 120a as shown in FIG1, communication interface 801 can communicate with RAN node 110a as shown in FIG1, or it can also communicate with terminal device 120b as shown in FIG1, or it can communicate with other devices (such as other terminal devices or servers) outside the communication system architecture shown in FIG1. ​​In one example, the communication interface can be a transceiver device with integrated data transmission and reception functions. In another example, the communication interface can also consist of a transmitter and a receiver, wherein the transmitter is used to send data and the receiver is used to receive data.

[0157] Optionally, the communication interface 801 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transmitter is used to send signals, messages, information, or data, etc. The receiver is used to receive signals, messages, information, or data, etc. Exemplarily, the transmitter sends signals, messages, information, or data, etc., under the control of the processor 802. The receiver receives signals, messages, information, or data, etc., under the control of the processor 802.

[0158] The functions of processor 802 can be referred to the descriptions of the corresponding functions involved in the first or second communication device in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here. Processor 802 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of CPU and NP, etc. Processor 802 may further include hardware chips. The aforementioned hardware chips can be application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or combinations thereof. The aforementioned PLDs can be complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), generic array logic (GALs), or any combination thereof. When implementing the above functions, processor 802 can be implemented in hardware, or it can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software.

[0159] Memory 803 is used to store program instructions, etc. Specifically, program instructions may include program code, which includes computer operation instructions. Memory 803 may include random access memory (RAM) and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device. Processor 802 executes the program instructions stored in memory 803 to implement the above-mentioned functions, thereby implementing the method steps required by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above embodiments.

[0160] Based on the same concept, embodiments of this application also provide a communication system, which includes a first communication device (such as a terminal device) and a second communication device (such as a network device). The first communication device can be used to implement the technical solutions involved in the first communication device in the above embodiments, and the second communication device can be used to implement the technical solutions involved in the second communication device in the above embodiments.

[0161] Based on the same concept, this application also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods provided in the above embodiments.

[0162] Based on the same concept, embodiments of this application also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods provided in the above embodiments.

[0163] The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. For example, but not limited to, a computer-readable medium can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

[0164] Based on the same concept, embodiments of this application also provide a chip, which may include a processor and a memory (or the chip may be coupled to the memory). The chip executes program instructions in the memory to perform the methods provided in the above embodiments. Here, "coupling" refers to two components being directly or indirectly connected to each other; for example, coupling can refer to an electrical connection between two components.

[0165] Based on the same concept, embodiments of this application also provide a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a computer device in implementing the functions involved in the first communication device (e.g., a terminal device) or the second communication device (e.g., a network device) described in the above embodiments. In one possible implementation, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary programs and data of the computer device. This chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete components.

[0166] The methods provided in this application can be implemented entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, they can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. 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 integrates one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state drives (SSDs)).

[0167] The steps of the methods described in the embodiments of this application can be directly embedded in hardware, a software unit executed by a processor, or a combination of both. The software unit can be stored in RAM, ROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium in the art. Exemplarily, the storage medium can be connected to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be housed in an ASIC.

[0168] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to this application. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart illustrations and / or one or more blocks of the block diagrams.

[0169] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0170] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method includes: Transmit the first symbol group at the first frequency position; The second symbol group is transmitted at the second frequency position; Wherein, the first frequency position and the second frequency position are different, the first symbol group and the second symbol group are contained in multiple symbol groups, the multiple symbol groups are determined according to the first data of the terminal device and the first sequence corresponding to the terminal device, and the first sequence is contained in the modulation sequence set.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first symbol group includes one or more symbol groups modulated by the first sequence, and the second symbol group includes one or more symbol groups modulated by the first sequence, wherein the resource locations corresponding to the plurality of symbol groups modulated by the first sequence are consecutive.

3. The method as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first symbol group is associated with at least one first demodulation reference signal (DMRS) transmitted at the first frequency position, and the second symbol group is associated with at least one second DMRS transmitted at the second frequency position.

4. The method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The resource location of the at least one second DMRS is located after the resource location of the at least one first DMRS.

5. The method as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first frequency location is associated with at least one first DMRS, and the second frequency location is associated with at least one second DMRS.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3-5, characterized in that, The time-domain resource indices of the at least one first DMRS are distributed at equal intervals, and the time-domain resource indices of the at least one second DMRS are distributed at equal intervals.

7. The method according to any one of claims 3-6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive first information, the first information including at least one of the following: first indication information, second indication information, or third indication information; Wherein, the first indication information is used to indicate a first sequence, the second indication information is used to indicate a first frequency hopping step size, the first frequency hopping step size is used to characterize the frequency interval between the second frequency position and the first frequency position, and the third indication information is used to indicate the resource position of the at least one first DMRS and the resource position of the at least one second DMRS.

8. The method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The first frequency hopping step size is one of a plurality of preset frequency hopping step sizes, wherein the plurality of preset frequency hopping step sizes are predefined or configured by the network device.

9. The method as described in claim 7 or 8, characterized in that, The second frequency position is determined based on the first frequency position and the first frequency hopping step size.

10. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a network device, and the method includes: Receive the first symbol group at the first frequency position; The second symbol group is received at the second frequency position; Wherein, the first frequency position and the second frequency position are different, the first symbol group and the second symbol group are contained in multiple symbol groups, the multiple symbol groups are determined according to the first data of the terminal device and the first sequence corresponding to the terminal device, and the first sequence is contained in the modulation sequence set.

11. The method as described in claim 10, characterized in that, The first symbol group includes one or more symbol groups modulated by the first sequence, and the second symbol group includes one or more symbol groups modulated by the first sequence, wherein the resource locations corresponding to the plurality of symbol groups modulated by the first sequence are consecutive.

12. The method as described in claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, The first symbol group is associated with at least one first DMRS, which is transmitted at the first frequency location, and the second symbol group is associated with at least one second DMRS, which is transmitted at the second frequency location.

13. The method as described in claim 12, characterized in that, The resource location of the at least one second DMRS is located after the resource location of the at least one first DMRS.

14. The method as described in claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the channel estimation results determined by at least one first DMRS, channel equalization is performed on the first symbol group; or, Channel equalization is performed on the second symbol group based on the channel estimation results determined by at least one second DMRS.

15. The method as described in claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, The first frequency location is associated with at least one first DMRS, and the second frequency location is associated with at least one second DMRS.

16. The method as described in claim 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the channel estimation results determined by at least one first DMRS, channel equalization is performed on the symbol group transmitted at the first frequency position; or, Based on the channel estimation results determined by the at least one first DMRS, channel equalization is performed on the symbol group transmitted at the second frequency position.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12-16, characterized in that, The time-domain resource indices of the at least one first DMRS are distributed at equal intervals, and the time-domain resource indices of the at least one second DMRS are distributed at equal intervals.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12-17, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a first message, the first message including at least one of the following: a first instruction message, a second instruction message, or a third instruction message; Wherein, the first indication information is used to indicate a first sequence, the second indication information is used to indicate a first frequency hopping step size, the first frequency hopping step size is used to characterize the frequency interval between the second frequency position and the first frequency position, and the third indication information is used to indicate the resource position of the at least one first DMRS and the resource position of the at least one second DMRS.

19. The method as described in claim 18, characterized in that, The first frequency hopping step size is one of a plurality of preset frequency hopping step sizes, wherein the plurality of preset frequency hopping step sizes are predefined, or the plurality of preset frequency hopping step sizes are configured by the network device.

20. The method as described in claim 18 or 19, characterized in that, The second frequency position is determined based on the first frequency position and the first frequency hopping step size.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes modules or units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-9, or modules or units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 10-20.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, include: A communication interface used to receive and send data; Memory is used to store computer program instructions and data; A processor for executing computer program instructions and data that call the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-9 or the method as described in any one of claims 10-20.

23. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a terminal device for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-9 and a network device for performing the method as described in any one of claims 10-20.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-9 or any one of claims 10-20.

25. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-9 or the method as described in any one of claims 10-20.

26. A chip, characterized in that, The chip includes a processor for executing program instructions in a memory to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-9 or the method as described in any one of claims 10-20.

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