Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of communications, and provide a communication method and apparatus, for use in improving the system capacity. In the method, a network device may preconfigure a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a sending beam for a terminal device, and on the basis of the mapping relationship and a first pilot sequence corresponding to a received pilot signal, the terminal device can determine a first sending beam of a downlink channel corresponding to the first pilot sequence, so that the terminal device can subsequently determine a corresponding receiving beam on the basis of the first sending beam to achieve faster reception of the downlink channel by using a newly matched receiving beam, thereby improving the system capacity and the user experience.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on December 29, 2023, with application number 202311865196.6 and application name “Communication Method and Device,” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] Currently, different beams can transmit data for the same user at different times. Network equipment can use the transmission configuration indicator (TCI) in the downlink control information (DCI) to indicate to the terminal the transmit beam information for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the current physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0004] However, the terminal device needs a certain duration (timeDuration) for blind detection of DCI, which may result in the terminal device using a receiving beam that is not necessarily the most appropriate when receiving PDSCH data on the first few symbols in the current time slot, thereby affecting the system capacity. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for improving system capacity.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] On the first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by a module (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.) applied to the terminal device, or by a logical node, logic module or software that can realize all or part of the terminal device functions. For the convenience of expression, the following introduction is taken as an example of the method being executed by a terminal device. The method includes: receiving configuration information from a network device, receiving a pilot signal from the network device, and determining a first transmit beam of a downlink channel based on the configuration information and a first pilot sequence. The configuration information is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmit beam; the pilot signal corresponds to a first pilot sequence, and the pilot sequence includes a first pilot sequence.

[0008] Based on the method described in the first aspect, it can be known that the terminal device can receive the mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and the transmitting beam pre-configured by the network device, and determine the first transmitting beam of the downlink channel corresponding to the first pilot sequence based on the mapping relationship and the first pilot sequence corresponding to the received pilot signal, so that the subsequent terminal device can determine the corresponding receiving beam (such as the first receiving beam described below) based on the first transmitting beam, so as to achieve faster reception of the downlink channel using the newly matched receiving beam, thereby improving system capacity and user experience.

[0009] In one possible design scheme, the mapping relationship includes: a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmission configuration indication TCI, or a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a pilot resource, so that a subsequent terminal device can quickly determine the first transmit beam of the downlink channel based on the TCI corresponding to the pilot sequence, or the pilot resource.

[0010] In one possible design, the pilot sequence is characterized by different scrambling identifiers, or by different parameter values ​​of a sequence expression to meet the needs of different scenarios, without limitation.

[0011] In one possible design, the pilot resource is a pilot resource configured by the network device to the terminal device, or a pilot resource corresponding to a pilot resource indication reported by the terminal device.

[0012] It can be understood that if the pilot resource is a pilot resource configured by the network device to the terminal device, then the pilot resource can be a pilot resource in the pilot resource set configured by the network device to the terminal device, and the mapping relationship between multiple groups of pilot sequences and pilot resources can be configured at the same time; if the pilot resource is the pilot resource corresponding to the pilot resource indication reported by the terminal device, then the pilot resource can be a specific number of pilot resources selected by the terminal device, and the network device only needs to configure the corresponding pilot sequence for the specific number of pilot resources. In this way, the number of pilot sequences can be reduced, thereby reducing the complexity of subsequent terminal devices performing related detection of pilot sequences and saving overhead.

[0013] In one possible design, before determining the transmit beam of the downlink channel based on the configuration information and the first pilot sequence, the method described in the first aspect further includes: determining the first pilot sequence by performing pilot sequence correlation detection on the pilot signal. The first pilot sequence may be a pilot sequence with the largest autocorrelation peak after sequence correlation with the pilot sequence of the pilot signal among multiple pilot sequences configured by the network. In this way, the terminal device can accurately determine the first pilot sequence from the multiple configured pilot sequences for subsequent determination of the first transmit beam.

[0014] In one possible design, determining a first transmit beam for a downlink channel based on configuration information and a first pilot sequence includes determining the first transmit beam for the downlink channel based on the configuration information and the first pilot sequence before demodulating downlink control information (DCI). That is, before completing DCI decoding or demodulation, the terminal device may determine the first transmit beam based on the configuration information and the first pilot sequence, thereby enabling faster reception of the downlink channel using a matching receive beam, thereby improving user performance and user experience.

[0015] In one possible design, the method described in the first aspect further includes: determining a first receive beam for a downlink channel based on the first transmit beam, and using the first receive beam to receive a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel. That is, the terminal device can determine a corresponding first receive beam based on the predetermined first transmit beam, so that the terminal device can use the newly matched first receive beam to receive subsequent downlink data channels or downlink control channels, thereby improving communication efficiency and accuracy.

[0016] Optionally, using the first receive beam to receive a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel includes: using the first receive beam to receive the downlink data channel or the downlink control channel in a symbol that is greater than or equal to X symbols after the last symbol carrying the pilot signal. X is an integer greater than or equal to 0. Optionally, X symbols is a time required for correlation detection of the pilot sequence and / or beam switching.

[0017] It is understood that if the time required for the terminal device to perform correlation detection of the pilot sequence and / or beam switching is very short, then X can be almost considered to be equal to 0. In this way, zero-delay beam switching between PDCCH and PDSCH can be achieved. That is, the terminal device can use the newly matched first receiving beam to receive the downlink data channel or downlink control channel on the symbol adjacent to the last symbol carrying the pilot signal; if the terminal device requires a certain amount of time to perform correlation detection of the pilot sequence and / or beam switching, then X can be considered to be greater than 0. In this case, the terminal device can use the first receiving beam to receive the downlink data channel or downlink control channel on the symbol that is greater than or equal to X symbols after the last symbol carrying the pilot signal. It is understood that the X symbols are shorter than the time required for the terminal device to blindly detect DCI, thereby reducing the time when the terminal device does not use the most appropriate receiving beam to receive PDSCH data, thereby improving system capacity and user experience.

[0018] In one possible design scheme, the pilot resources include at least one of the following: channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, synchronization information block SSB resources, tracking reference signal TRS resources, phase noise tracking reference signal PT-RS resources, demodulation reference signal DMRS resources, or sounding reference signal SRS resources, that is, existing pilot resources are reused to reduce implementation difficulty, or they can also be used in new pilot resources to improve implementation flexibility, without limitation.

[0019] In one possible design scheme, the configuration information is carried in at least one of the following: RRC signaling, media access control-control unit MAC-CE signaling, or DCI, that is, carried in an existing information element to reduce the difficulty of implementation, or it can also be carried in a new information element to increase the flexibility of implementation, without limitation.

[0020] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a network device, or by a module (such as a processor, chip, or chip system) applied to the network device, or by a logical node, logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions. For the convenience of expression, the following is an introduction to the method being executed by a network device. The method includes: the network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, and sends a pilot signal to the terminal device. The configuration information is used to indicate the mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and the transmit beam; the pilot signal corresponds to the first pilot sequence, and the pilot sequence includes the first pilot sequence.

[0021] In one possible design scheme, the mapping relationship includes: a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmission configuration indication TCI, or a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a pilot resource.

[0022] In one possible design, the pilot resource is a pilot resource configured by the network device to the terminal device, or a pilot resource corresponding to a pilot resource indication reported by the terminal device.

[0023] In one possible design, the method described in the second aspect further includes: the network device using a first transmit beam of a downlink channel to transmit a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel to the terminal device. The transmit beam includes the first transmit beam. That is, the network device uses a new first transmit beam to transmit the downlink data channel or the downlink control channel, and the terminal device can use a first receive beam corresponding to the first transmit beam for the downlink data channel or the downlink control channel, thereby enabling communication between the network device and the terminal device.

[0024] In one possible design scheme, the pilot resources include at least one of the following: channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, synchronization information block SSB resources, tracking reference signal TRS resources, phase noise tracking reference signal PT-RS resources, demodulation reference signal DMRS resources, or sounding reference signal SRS resources.

[0025] In one possible design, the configuration information is carried in at least one of the following: RRC signaling, medium access control-control element MAC-CE signaling, or DCI.

[0026] In addition, other technical effects of the method described in the second aspect can refer to the technical effects of the method described in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0027] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The device includes: a module for executing the method described in the first aspect, for example, a transceiver module and a processing module.

[0028] The transceiver module is configured to receive configuration information and a pilot signal from the network device. The processing module is configured to determine a first transmit beam for a downlink channel based on the configuration information and a first pilot sequence. The configuration information indicates a mapping between the pilot sequence and the transmit beam; the pilot signal corresponds to the first pilot sequence, and the pilot sequence includes the first pilot sequence.

[0029] In one possible design scheme, the mapping relationship includes: a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmission configuration indication TCI, or a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a pilot resource.

[0030] In one possible design, the pilot sequence is characterized by different scrambling identifiers, or by different parameter values ​​of a sequence expression.

[0031] In one possible design, the pilot resource is a pilot resource configured by the network device to the terminal device, or a pilot resource corresponding to a pilot resource indication reported by the terminal device.

[0032] In one possible design, before determining the first transmit beam of the downlink channel based on the configuration information and the first pilot sequence, the processing module is further configured to determine the first pilot sequence by performing pilot sequence correlation detection on the pilot signal.

[0033] In one possible design scheme, the processing module is further used to determine the first transmit beam of the downlink channel according to the configuration information and the first pilot sequence before demodulating the downlink control information DCI.

[0034] In one possible design scheme, the processing module is further used to determine a first receiving beam of the downlink channel based on the first transmitting beam, and use the first receiving beam to receive the downlink data channel or the downlink control channel.

[0035] Optionally, the processing module is further configured to use the first receive beam to receive a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel in a symbol that is greater than or equal to X symbols after the last symbol carrying the pilot signal, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 0.

[0036] Optionally, X symbols are time required for performing correlation detection of a pilot sequence and / or performing beam switching.

[0037] In one possible design scheme, the pilot resources include at least one of the following: channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, synchronization information block SSB resources, tracking reference signal TRS resources, phase noise tracking reference signal PT-RS resources, demodulation reference signal DMRS resources, or sounding reference signal SRS resources.

[0038] In one possible design, the configuration information is carried in at least one of the following: RRC signaling, medium access control-control element MAC-CE signaling, or DCI.

[0039] Optionally, the transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module, wherein the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the third aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the third aspect.

[0040] Optionally, the communication device described in the third aspect may further include a storage module, wherein the storage module stores a program or instruction. When the processing module executes the program or instruction, the communication device may execute the communication method described in the first aspect.

[0041] It should be noted that the communication device described in the third aspect can be a terminal device, a chip (system) or other parts or components in the terminal device, or a device including a terminal device, and this application does not limit this.

[0042] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the third aspect can refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0043] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes: a module for executing the method described in the second aspect, for example, a transceiver module and a processing module.

[0044] The transceiver module is configured to send configuration information to the terminal device and to send a pilot signal to the terminal device. The configuration information is configured to indicate a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmit beam; the pilot signal corresponds to a first pilot sequence, and the pilot sequence includes the first pilot sequence.

[0045] In one possible design scheme, the mapping relationship includes: a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmission configuration indication TCI, or a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a pilot resource.

[0046] In one possible design, the pilot resource is a pilot resource configured by the network device to the terminal device, or a pilot resource corresponding to a pilot resource indication reported by the terminal device.

[0047] In one possible design, the processing module is configured to use a first transmit beam of a downlink channel to transmit a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel to a terminal device, wherein the transmit beam includes the first transmit beam.

[0048] In one possible design scheme, the pilot resources include at least one of the following: channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, synchronization information block SSB resources, tracking reference signal TRS resources, phase noise tracking reference signal PT-RS resources, demodulation reference signal DMRS resources, or sounding reference signal SRS resources.

[0049] In one possible design, the configuration information is carried in at least one of the following: RRC signaling, medium access control-control element MAC-CE signaling, or DCI.

[0050] Optionally, the transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module, wherein the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the fourth aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the fourth aspect.

[0051] Optionally, the transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module, wherein the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the fourth aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the fourth aspect.

[0052] Optionally, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may further include a storage module, wherein the storage module stores a program or instruction. When the processing module executes the program or instruction, the communication device may execute the method described in the second aspect.

[0053] It can be understood that the communication device described in the fourth aspect can be a network device, a chip (system) or other parts or components in the network device, or a device that includes a network device. This application does not limit this.

[0054] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fourth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the method described in the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0055] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor configured to execute the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0056] In one possible design solution, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the fifth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0057] In one possible design, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may further include a memory. The memory may be integrated with the processor or provided separately. The memory may be used to store computer programs and / or data involved in the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0058] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may be the network device described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect, or the chip (system) or other parts or components in the network device, or a device including the network device; or, the communication device may be the terminal device described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect above, or the chip (system) or other parts or components in the terminal device, or a device including the terminal device.

[0059] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fifth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0060] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor coupled to a memory, the processor configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0061] In one possible design solution, the communication device described in the sixth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the sixth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0062] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device described in the sixth aspect may be the network device described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect, or a chip (system) or other parts or components in the network device, or a device including the network device; or, the communication device may be the terminal device described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect above, or a chip (system) or other parts or components in the terminal device, or a device including the terminal device.

[0063] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the sixth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0064] In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store a computer program, and when the processor executes the computer program, the communication device executes the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0065] In one possible design solution, the communication device described in the seventh aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the seventh aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0066] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device described in the seventh aspect may be the network device described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect, or the chip (system) or other parts or components in the network device, or a device including the network device; or, the communication device may be the terminal device described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect above, or the chip (system) or other parts or components in the terminal device, or a device including the terminal device.

[0067] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the seventh aspect can refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0068] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor; the processor is configured to be coupled to a memory, and after reading a computer program in the memory, execute the communication method as described in the first aspect or the second aspect according to the computer program.

[0069] In one possible design solution, the communication device described in the eighth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the eighth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0070] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device described in the eighth aspect may be the network device described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect, or the chip (system) or other parts or components in the network device, or a device including the network device; or, the communication device may be the terminal device described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect above, or the chip (system) or other parts or components in the terminal device, or a device including the terminal device.

[0071] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the eighth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0072] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the terminal device described in the above aspect and the network device described in the above aspect.

[0073] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, comprising: a computer program or instructions; when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0074] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to execute the communication method described in the first aspect or the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0075] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of MAC CE signaling for activating TCI;

[0076] FIG2 is a schematic diagram 1 of a network device providing services to a UE according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG3 is a second schematic diagram of a network device providing services to a UE according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG5 is a second schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG7 is a third schematic diagram of a network device providing services to a UE according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG8 is a fourth schematic diagram of a network device providing services to a UE according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG9 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

[0084] FIG10 is a second structural diagram of a communication device provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0085] For ease of understanding, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of this application are first introduced below.

[0086] 1. Beam

[0087] A beam is a communication resource that creates a directional transmission or reception effect through an antenna array in a transmitter or receiver of a network device or terminal. This effect is similar to the beam formed by a flashlight that focuses light in a single direction. Transmitting and receiving signals using beams can effectively increase signal transmission distance.

[0088] The embodiment of beamforming in the new radio (NR) protocol can be: spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial domain parameter, spatial parameter, spatial domain setting, spatial setting, quasi-colocated (QCL) information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, etc.

[0089] The beam can be indicated by a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state parameter or by a spatial relation parameter. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, the beam can be replaced by a spatial filter, a spatial filter, a spatial parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial setting, a spatial setting, QCL information, a QCL assumption, a QCL indication, a TCI-state, a spatial relationship, etc. Among them, TCI-state can include uplink (UL) TCI-state and downlink (DL) TCI-state. It can be understood that the above terms are also equivalent to each other. The beam can also be replaced by other terms representing the beam, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0090] The beam used to transmit a signal is called a transmission beam (Tx beam). A transmission beam refers to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space after a signal is transmitted by an antenna. A transmission beam may also be referred to as a spatial domain transmission filter, spatial transmission filter, spatial domain transmission parameter, spatial transmission parameter, spatial domain transmission setting, or spatial transmission setting.

[0091] It is understood that the downlink transmit beam can be indicated by the TCI-state; the uplink transmit beam can be indicated by the spatial relationship, the uplink TCI-state, or the sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (indicating the transmit beam using the SRS). Therefore, the uplink beam can also be replaced by the SRS resource.

[0092] The beam used to receive signals can be called a reception beam (Rx beam). The reception beam can refer to the signal strength distribution of the wireless signal received from the antenna in different directions in space. The reception beam can also be called a spatial domain reception filter, a spatial reception filter, a spatial domain reception parameter, a spatial reception parameter, a spatial domain reception setting, or a spatial reception setting. The uplink transmit beam can be indicated by a spatial relation, an uplink TCI-state, or an SRS resource (indicating the transmit beam using the SRS). Therefore, the uplink beam can also be replaced by an SRS resource.

[0093] The beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The beam forming technology can be beamforming technology or other technologies. The beamforming technology can specifically be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, or hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology.

[0094] Beams generally correspond to resources. For example, when performing beam measurement, the network device measures different beams through different resources. The terminal device feeds back the measured resource quality, and the network device knows the quality of the corresponding beam. During data transmission, beam information is also indicated by its corresponding resource. For example, the network device indicates the terminal device's physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) beam information through the TCI field in the downlink control information (DCI). In beam measurement, each beam of the network device corresponds to a resource. Therefore, the resource index can be used to uniquely identify the beam corresponding to the resource.

[0095] It should be understood that multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics are considered a single beam. A beam can include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and sounding signals. The one or more antenna ports that form a beam can also be considered an antenna port set.

[0096] 2. TCI-state

[0097] Network devices can generate different beams pointing in different transmission directions. In downlink data transmission, when a network device uses a specific beam to send data to a terminal device, it needs to inform the terminal device of the transmit beam information it uses, so that the terminal device can use the receive beam corresponding to the transmit beam to receive the data sent by the network device. In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 15 (Release, R15) / R16 protocol, the network device can indicate to the terminal device the relevant information of the transmit beam it uses through the TCI field in the DCI.

[0098] For example, the TCI field size is 3 bits and can specifically represent 8 different field values ​​(codepoints). Each value of the TCI field corresponds to a TCI-state index, and the TCI-state index can uniquely identify a TCI-state. The TCI-state is configured by the network device for each terminal device. The TCI-state can include several parameters, and these parameters can be used to determine the relevant information of the transmission beam.

[0099] Among them, each TCI-state can include its own TCI-state index (TCI-StateId) and two QCL messages (QCL-information, QCL-Info). Each QCL-Info includes a cell field and a bandwidth part (BWP) identity (ID), which respectively indicate which BWP of which cell the TCI-state applies to. That is, different cells or different BWPs of the same cell can be configured with different QCL-Info. QCL-Info also includes a reference signal (RS) to indicate which reference signal resource constitutes the QCL relationship.

[0100] In the Release 15 / R16 protocols, the term "beam" is generally not used directly; instead, it is often replaced by other terms. For example, in data transmission and channel measurement, beams are associated with reference signal resources, with one beam corresponding to one reference signal resource. Therefore, when referring to a reference signal resource with which a QCL relationship is established, it actually refers to the beam with which the QCL relationship is established.

[0101] The QCL relationship may refer to two reference signal resources (or two antenna ports, where the antenna ports and reference signal resources also correspond one to one) having certain identical spatial parameters. Which specific spatial parameters are the same depends on the type of the QCL-Info, that is, another QCL type (qcl-Type) field of the QCL-Info. qcl-Type can have four values ​​{typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}. Taking typeD as an example, typeD indicates that the two reference signal resources have the same spatial reception parameter information, that is, the two beams have the same receiving beam. It can be understood that at most one of the two QCL-Info included in the TCI-state can be typeD.

[0102] In the Release 15 / R16 protocols, network devices use TCI-state to indicate the receive beam information of a data transmission beam to a terminal device. This includes the configuration, activation, and indication of TCI-state. The following describes this in detail.

[0103] (1) TCI-state configuration:

[0104] The network device can configure multiple TCI-states to the terminal device through radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and these TCI-states all include a QCL-Info of type D. It is understood that the network device can also configure TCI-states that do not include QCL-info of type D, but these TCI-states are not used for the indication of data transmission beams, so they are not further elaborated here.

[0105] (2)TCI-state activation:

[0106] After the network device is configured with multiple TCI-states, it is also necessary to activate 8 of the TCI-states through medium access control-control element (MAC CE) signaling. These 8 TCI-states correspond one to one to the 8 values ​​of the TCI field in the DCI. That is, which 8 TCI-states the 8 values ​​of the TCI field of the DCI correspond to is determined through MAC CE signaling. Figure 1 is a structural diagram of the MAC CE signaling for activating TCI. As shown in Figure 1, the MAC CE signaling may include the following fields: reserve (R), serving cell ID, BWP ID, and T0 to T (N-2)×8+7 .

[0107] Among them, the reserved field can be an undefined bit, or a bit reserved for subsequent direct use, occupying a total of 1 bit (bit), which can be denoted as R; the service cell ID field can be used to indicate the identification of the cell of the network device, occupying a total of 5 bits; the BWP ID can be used to indicate the identification of part of the bandwidth of the network device, occupying a total of 2 bits.

[0108] T0 to T (N-2)×8+7 The indexes corresponding to the first step configuration are 0 to (N-2)×8+7, respectively. Each field occupies 1 bit, and the value of the 1 bit can be 0 or 1. When the value of the 1 bit is 1, it indicates that the TCI-state is activated. When the value of the 1 bit is 0, it indicates that the TCI-state is not activated. It can be understood that each MAC CE signaling can theoretically have 8 activation fields with a value of 1, and the rest are all 0. The TCI-states corresponding to these 8 fields with a value of 1 are the 8 TCI-states corresponding to the 8 values ​​of the TCI field in the above DCI.

[0109] For example, the TCI-state with the smallest index is activated in the MAC CE signaling, and so on, with a one-to-one correspondence. It will be appreciated that there are many types of MAC-CE signaling, and in addition to MAC-CE signaling for TCI-state activation, there are also MAC-CE signaling for many other purposes. The present embodiment only relates to MAC-CE signaling for TCI-state / TCI-state combination activation. Therefore, unless otherwise specified, the MAC-CE signaling described in the present embodiment refers to this type of MAC-CE signaling.

[0110] (3)TCI-state indication:

[0111] The network device can indicate a specific TCI-state through the TCI field in the DCI. For example, the value of the TCI field in the DCI sent by the network device to the terminal device is 000, indicating that the data transmission beam adopts the TCI-state corresponding to 000. The RS contained in the QCL-Info of type D in the TCI-state is the channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) with an index of #1, indicating that the beam used for data transmission is the same as the receiving beam corresponding to the CSI-RS with an index of #1. The receiving beam corresponding to the CSI-RS with an index of #1 can be determined through the beam measurement process and is known to the terminal device. Therefore, the terminal device can determine the receiving beam corresponding to the data transmission beam through the specific value of the TCI field, and thus adopt the corresponding receiving beam to receive data.

[0112] 3. Spatial Relationship

[0113] The transmit beam for uplink transmission is indicated by the spatial relationship, which has a function similar to TCI-state, and is used to inform the terminal device which transmit beam to use for uplink transmission. Uplink transmission also needs to be configured through RRC signaling. The spatial relationship may include the spatial relationship ID, cell ID, target reference signal resource, path loss measurement reference signal, power control parameters, etc. Among them, the target reference signal resource can be used to indicate the corresponding uplink beam. The target reference signal resource can be one of the SRS, synchronization signal block (SSB), or CSI-RS.

[0114] If uplink transmission uses spatial relation #1, and the spatial relation #1 includes a target reference signal resource #2, this indicates that the transmit beam used for the uplink transmission is the transmit / receive beam of the target reference signal. For example, when the target reference signal resource is an uplink resource SRS, this indicates that the transmit beam used for uplink transmission is the transmit beam of the SRS (the transmit beam of the SRS is known). For another example, when the target reference signal resource is a downlink resource such as SSB / CSI-RS, this indicates that the transmit beam used for uplink transmission is the receive beam of the SSB / CSI-RS (the receive beam of the SSB / CSI-RS is known).

[0115] Network equipment can configure multiple spatial relations for terminal devices, and then activate one of the spatial relations through MAC CE signaling for the corresponding data transmission. Uplink transmission includes the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), SRS, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), etc., all of which require corresponding spatial relations. It can be understood that the spatial relation of PUCCH is indicated by MAC-CE signaling; the spatial relation of SRS is also indicated by MAC-CE signaling; when PUSCH is transmitted, it will be associated with a specific SRS and use the spatial relation of that SRS for transmission.

[0116] Currently, for sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication scenarios, ultra-large-scale arrays on the network equipment side, two-level digital and analog weighting, can be used in the digital domain to pair different users based on the same analog beam. To improve the probability of multi-user pairing within a cell, the same user can be served by multiple different analog beams. This requires feedback of the channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or rank indicator (RI) for multiple analog beams for the same user, and the user maintains different receive beams for different analog beams.

[0117] For bursty services in existing networks, based on real-time scheduling requirements, network equipment determines the simulated beams to be scheduled at the current moment and the users assigned to those beams. For example, as shown in Figure 2, in time slot T1, UE#1 and UE#2 in the network have services to transmit. At this time, the network equipment can schedule beam #1 to transmit data for UE#1 and UE#2. In time slot T2, UE#2 and UE#3 in the network have services to transmit. At this time, the network equipment can schedule beam #0 to transmit data for UE#2 and UE#3. In other words, different beams can transmit data for the same user at different times.

[0118] In the NR protocol, the network device side can carry TCI through DCI to indicate to the terminal device the transmit beam information of the PDSCH scheduled by the current PDCCH, thereby guiding the terminal device to use the appropriate receive beam to receive the PDSCH for correct demodulation of the PDSCH. Taking into account the processing delay introduced by the terminal device to demodulate the DCI and perform beam switching, after receiving the PDCCH signal, the terminal device needs to wait for a time duration (timeDuration) symbols before updating the terminal device's receive beam based on the TCI indication carried by the DCI.

[0119] The terminal device needs to receive PDSCH data after timeDuration based on the new receive beam. The specific value of timeDuration is related to the processing capability of the terminal device. The terminal device reports the capability parameter to the network device: the duration of the QCL (timeDurationForQCL), which informs the terminal device of the processing delay required to execute the PDCCH to receive the spatial QCL information indicated by the PDCCH.

[0120] However, since the terminal device needs a certain amount of processing time to blindly detect DCI, when the terminal device receives the PDSCH data on the first few symbols in the current time slot, it does not know the specific information indicated by the TCI carried by the DCI, so the receiving beam used by the terminal device is not necessarily the most appropriate, thereby affecting the system capacity.

[0121] For example, as shown in (a) in Figure 3, in the T1 time slot, UE#2 has business to be transmitted. At this time, the network can schedule beam #1 to transmit data for UE#2; then, as shown in (b) in Figure 3, in the T2 time slot, UE#2 has business to be transmitted. At this time, the network can schedule beam #0 to transmit data for UE#2. Let the receiving beam corresponding to beam #1 be beam #11, and the receiving beam corresponding to beam #0 be beam #00.

[0122] However, because the terminal device requires a certain timeDuration for blind detection of DCI, when UE#2 receives the PDSCH data on the first few symbols in the T2 time slot, such as the symbols corresponding to the above timeDuration, it does not know the specific information of the TCI indication carried by the DCI in the PDCCH. As a result, UE#2 still uses beam #11 corresponding to beam #1 used in the T1 time slot to receive PDSCH data on the first few symbols in the T2 time slot. As a result, the quality of the signal received by UE#2 is not high, which may cause PDSCH data demodulation failure, thereby affecting the system capacity.

[0123] In response to the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application propose the following technical solutions to improve system capacity.

[0124] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0125] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as wireless fidelity (WiFi) systems, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, 4G, such as long-term evolution (LTE) systems, world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, 5G, such as new air interface systems, and future communication systems.

[0126] The embodiments of the present application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features around a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that each system may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all of the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the figures. Furthermore, combinations of these solutions may also be used.

[0127] Additionally, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" and "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner.

[0128] In the embodiments of the present application, "information", "signal", "message", "channel" and "signaling" can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are matched. "of", "corresponding, relevant" and "corresponding" can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are matched. In addition, the " / " mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be used to express an "or" relationship.

[0129] It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "indication" may include direct indication, indirect indication, explicit indication, and implicit indication. When describing that a certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A.

[0130] In the embodiments of the present application, the information indicated by the indication information is referred to as information to be indicated. In specific implementations, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or an index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information is associated with the information to be indicated. Alternatively, only a portion of the information to be indicated can be indicated, while the rest of the information to be indicated is known or agreed upon in advance. For example, the indication of specific information can be achieved by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-specified) order of arrangement of various information, thereby reducing indication overhead to a certain extent. The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately. The sending period and / or sending timing of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The sending period and / or sending timing of these sub-information can be pre-defined, for example, according to a protocol, or can be configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device.

[0131] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field will know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0132] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail using the communication system shown in Figure 4 as an example. For example, Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applicable to the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0133] As shown in FIG4 , the communication system mainly includes: network equipment and terminal equipment.

[0134] Among them, there may be multiple network devices, such as a first network device, a second network device, a third network device, etc. The network device may be a device with wireless transceiver functions, or it may be a chip or chip system provided in the device, located in the access network (AN) of the communication system, for providing access services to the terminal. For example, the network device may be called a radio access network (RAN) device, which may specifically be an access network device in the next generation mobile communication system, or in the next generation mobile communication system, the network device may also have other naming methods, which are all included in the protection scope of the embodiments of this application, and this application does not impose any limitations on this. Alternatively, the network device may include a 5G, such as a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a new radio (NR) system, or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a 5G base station, or a network node constituting a gNB, a transmit / receive point (TRP), or a transmission measurement function (TMF), such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), a radio unit (RU), an RSU with base station functionality, a wired access gateway, or a 5G core network element. Alternatively, the network device may include an access point (AP) in a WiFi system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, various types of macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small cells), relay stations, access points, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and the like.

[0135] Among them, the CU and DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH). It can be understood that the network device can be a CU node, or a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU can be divided into a network device in the access network RAN, or the CU can be divided into a network device in the core network (CN), and there is no limitation here.

[0136] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN) system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application takes CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0137] In the embodiments of the present application, the form of the network device is not limited. The device used to implement the function of the network device can be a network device; it can also be a device that can support the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device.

[0138] The terminal device may be one or more, such as a first terminal device, a second terminal device, a third terminal device, etc. The terminal device may be a terminal device with transceiver functions, or may be a chip or chip system provided in the terminal device. The terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal device, subscriber unit (subscriber unit), user station, mobile station (MS), mobile station, remote station, remote terminal device, mobile device, user terminal device, terminal device, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can be a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a handheld device (handset), a laptop computer, a machine type communication (MTC) terminal device, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a smart home device (for example, a refrigerator, a television, an air conditioner, an electric meter, etc.), an intelligent robot, a robotic arm, a workshop device, a wireless terminal device in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical care, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, a smart home, etc. The terminal device of the present application may also be a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip or a vehicle-mounted unit that is built into a vehicle as one or more components or units. The terminal device may also be other devices with terminal device functions, for example, the terminal device may also be a device that functions as a terminal device in D2D communication.

[0139] The embodiments of this application do not limit the form of the terminal device. The device used to implement the functions of the terminal device can be the terminal device; it can also be a device that supports the terminal device to implement the functions, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device. In the embodiments of this application, the chip system can be composed of a chip or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0140] In this communication system, the network device can pre-configure a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmission beam for the terminal device. The terminal device can determine the first transmission beam of the downlink channel corresponding to the first pilot sequence based on the mapping relationship and the first pilot sequence corresponding to the received pilot signal, so that the terminal device can subsequently determine the corresponding receiving beam based on the first transmitting beam to achieve faster reception of the downlink channel using the newly matched receiving beam, thereby improving system capacity and user experience.

[0141] For example, Figure 5 is a second schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applicable to the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, the communication between the network device and the terminal device in the communication system can also be represented in another form. The terminal device 10 includes: a processor 101, a memory 102 and a transceiver 103, and the transceiver 103 includes: a transmitter 1031, a receiver 1032 and multiple antennas 1033 (antenna panels). The network device 20 includes a processor 201, a memory 202 and a transceiver 203, and the transceiver 203 includes: a transmitter 2031, a receiver 2032 and at least one antenna 2033 (antenna panel). The receiver 1032 can be used to receive transmission control information through the antenna 1033, and the transmitter 1031 can be used to send transmission feedback information to the network device 20 through the antenna 1033. The transmitter 2031 may be configured to send transmission control information to the terminal device 10 via the antenna 2033 , and the receiver 2032 may be configured to receive transmission feedback information sent by the terminal device 10 via the antenna 2033 .

[0142] It can be understood that Figures 4 and 5 are only simplified schematic diagrams for ease of understanding. The communication system may also include other network devices and / or other terminal devices, which are not shown in Figures 4 and 5.

[0143] For ease of understanding, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be specifically described below with reference to Figures 6 to 8.

[0144] 6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method can be applied to the communication between the network device and the terminal device in the above communication system.

[0145] Specifically, as shown in FIG6 , the process of the communication method is as follows:

[0146] S601: The network device sends configuration information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the configuration information from the network device.

[0147] Among them, the configuration information can be used to indicate the mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and the transmit beam, and the configuration information can be carried in at least one of the following: RRC signaling, MAC-CE signaling, or DCI, without limitation. The pilot sequence can be used for channel estimation and synchronization to ensure the quality of channel estimation. The pilot sequence can be associated with any channel, for example, such as a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink control channel, an uplink data channel, etc., without limitation. For example, the pilot sequence can be a CSI-RS sequence, an SSB sequence, a tracking reference signal (TRS) sequence, a phase noise tracking reference signal (PT-RS) sequence, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence, or a sounding reference signal SRS resource, etc., without limitation. For ease of understanding, the embodiment of the present application will be described later using the pilot sequence as a DMRS sequence as an example. It can be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the DMRS sequence is associated with the PDCCH, and may also be referred to as a PDCCH-DMRS sequence, which will not be described in detail later.

[0148] It can be understood that the above-mentioned pilot sequence may be a pilot sequence set, and the pilot sequence set may include at least one pilot sequence, without limitation.

[0149] In a possible design solution, the pilot sequence can be represented by different scrambling identifiers or by different parameter values ​​of a sequence expression. The following two cases are used as examples for detailed description.

[0150] Case 1: The pilot sequence is represented by different scrambling identifiers.

[0151] Exemplarily, the network device may configure multiple PDCCH-DMRS scrambling ID values ​​for each control resource set (CORESET) of the terminal device, and different IDs may correspond to different DMRS sequences. It is understood that the CORESET may be a time-frequency domain resource set that carries downlink control information, and the terminal device may detect the PDCCH on the time-frequency domain resource set corresponding to the CORESET.

[0152] For example, the PDCCH-DMRS scrambling ID value may be DMRS sequence #0, DMRS sequence #1, DMRS sequence #2, ..., DMRS sequence #n, to represent different DMRS sequences.

[0153] Optionally, the network device may select multiple DMRS sequences with high autocorrelation peaks and low cross-correlation peaks from the existing set of possible values ​​of the PDCCH-DMRS scrambling ID and configure them to the terminal device for characterizing different transmit beams, without limitation.

[0154] Case 2: The pilot sequence is characterized by different parameter values ​​of the sequence expression.

[0155] For example, the network device may configure one PDCCH-DMRS scrambling ID value for each CORESET of the terminal device. In this case, the network device may update the initialization formula of the PDCCH-DMRS pseudo-random sequence generator in the existing protocol, and represent different DMRS sequences by taking different parameter values.

[0156] The updated PDCCH-DMRS sequence initialization formula can be represented by the following formula:

[0157] Among them, C init is the DMRS sequence; k is a predefined value that can be 2, 3, 4, or 5; l is the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol index contained in a time slot; is the time slot index within a system frame; is the number of symbols per time slot; N ID It is the cell identifier.

[0158] i beam Different values ​​of can correspond to different DMRS sequences, i beam It can carry X bits of beam indication information. For example, if the network device expects to indicate one of N beams through the DMRS sequence, then For example, when the network device expects to indicate 10 beams through the DMRS sequence, That is, i beam The 4-bit beam indicator can carry different values ​​of this 4-bit beam indicator information, representing four beams, or four different DMRS sequences. The transmit beam can be a downlink transmit beam, used by network devices to transmit downlink data channels or downlink control channels, such as PDCCH and PDSCH, without limitation.

[0159] It is understood that the transmit beam may be a transmit beam set, which may include at least one transmit beam. The number of transmit beams is the same as the number of the pilot sequences, and is not limited thereto. For a detailed description of transmit beams, please refer to the relevant description in the technical terminology section above and will not be repeated here.

[0160] The mapping relationship may include: a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmission configuration indicator TCI, or a mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a pilot resource. The following two cases are used as examples for detailed description.

[0161] Case 3: Mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and the transmission configuration indicator TCI.

[0162] Among them, TCI can be used to indicate the beam, and the TCI can be TCI-state, which can be used to indicate PDSCH spatial reception parameters. It should be understood that the specific introduction to TCI-state can refer to the relevant introduction in the technical terminology section above and is not repeated here. It can be understood that the mapping relationship between pilot sequence and TCI is the mapping relationship between DMRS sequence and TCI-state, and each DMRS sequence can correspond to a TCI-state.

[0163] The following two methods are used to describe situation 3 in detail.

[0164] Method 1: The network device configures the mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and each TCI-state in the TCI-state set. Exemplarily, the network device can configure a TCI-state set for the terminal device for PDSCH spatial domain reception parameter indication, such as the network device can send the TCI-state set to the terminal device through RRC signaling, without limitation; thereafter, the network device can send configuration information to the terminal device to indicate that each DMRS sequence is associated with each TCI-state in the TCI-state set, or in other words, each DMRS sequence has a one-to-one correspondence with each TCI-state in the TCI-state set. It can be understood that the TCI-state can be characterized by its own TCI-StateId. Each DMRS sequence is associated with each TCI-state in the TCI-state set, which can also be understood as each DMRS sequence being associated with or having a one-to-one correspondence with the TCI-stateId corresponding to each TCI-state in the TCI-state set, without limitation.

[0165] For ease of understanding, the following is an introduction using the example of characterizing the pilot sequence through different scrambling identifiers, which will not be repeated in detail. For example, as shown in Table 1, the configuration information may indicate: DMRS sequence #0 is associated with the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-StateId=0; DMRS sequence #1 is associated with the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-StateId=1; DMRS sequence #2 is associated with the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-StateId=2...DMRS sequence #n is associated with the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-StateId=n, and so on, without limitation.

[0166] Table 1

[0167] It can be understood that the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-StateId=0, the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-StateId=1, the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-StateId=2... the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-StateId=n in the above Table 1, etc., are all TCI-states in the TCI-state set configured by the network device to the terminal device.

[0168] In this way, optionally, the network device can configure the mapping relationship between the PDCCH-DMRS sequence and the transmit beam for the user through RRC signaling, that is, the above configuration information can be carried in the RRC signaling, and the network device can configure multiple PDCCH-DMRS scrambling IDs within the CORESET, and each PDCCH-DMRS-scrambling ID can be associated with a TCI-state, which will not be elaborated.

[0169] Optionally, TCI-state may be a unified TCI-state, or a TCI-UL-State, etc., without limitation.

[0170] Mode 2: The network device configures a mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and each TCI-state in the activated TCI-state set.

[0171] Exemplarily, the network device can configure a TCI-state set for the terminal device to indicate the PDSCH spatial domain reception parameters, such as the network device can send the TCI-state set to the terminal device through RRC signaling, without limitation; then, the network device can activate part of the TCI-state in the TCI-state set through MAC-CE signaling, and the part of the TCI-state is recorded as the activated TCI-state set; thereafter, the network device sends configuration information to the terminal device to indicate that each DMRS sequence is associated with each TCI-state in the activated TCI-state set, or in other words, each DMRS sequence corresponds one-to-one to each TCI-state in the activated part of the TCI-state.

[0172] For example, as shown in Table 2, the configuration information may indicate: DMRS sequence #0 is associated with the first TCI-state in the activated TCI-state set; DMRS sequence #1 is associated with the second TCI-state in the activated TCI-state set; DMRS sequence #2 is associated with the third TCI-state in the activated TCI-state set...DMRS sequence #n is associated with the third TCI-state in the activated TCI-state set, and so on, without limitation.

[0173] Table 2

[0174] In this way, optionally, the network device can configure the mapping relationship between the PDCCH-DMRS sequence and the transmit beam for the user through MAC-CE signaling, that is, the above configuration information can be carried in the MAC-CE signaling. Exemplarily, the network device can configure multiple PDCCH-DMRS scrambling IDs within the CORESET through RRC signaling; thereafter, the network device can define a new MAC-CE format for TCI-states activation (activation) / deactivation (deactivation) for terminal device-specific PDCCH-DMRS (TCI-states activation / deactivation for UE-specific PDCCH-DMRS). The newly defined MAC-CE format can include at least one of the following parameters: CORESET ID, TCI-state ID, BWP ID, or service cell ID, without limitation.

[0175] Illustratively, the first PDCCH-DMRS scrambling ID of the RRC signaling corresponds to the first TCI-state ID carried by MAC-CE, the second PDCCH-DMRS scrambling ID of the RRC signaling corresponds to the second TCI-state ID carried by MAC-CE, and so on.

[0176] For example, assume that the TCI-state set configured by the network device to the terminal device through RRC signaling includes 128 TCI-states, and their corresponding TCI-stateIds are 0-127 respectively; the network device activates some of the 128 TCI-states through the above-mentioned newly defined MAC-CE format, such as the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-stateId=0, the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-stateId=3, the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-stateId=5, and the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-stateId=9, that is, the TCI-state IDs carried by MAC-CE include: TCI-stateId=0, TCI-stateId=3, TCI-stateId=5, and TCI-stateId=9.

[0177] The sequences that the network device can configure in the CORESET through RRC signaling include: DMRS sequence #0, DMRS sequence #1, DMRS sequence #2, and DMRS sequence #3. In this case, DMRS sequence #0 is associated with the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-stateId=0, DMRS sequence #1 is associated with the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-stateId#3, DMRS sequence #2 is associated with the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-stateId#5, and DMRS sequence #3 is associated with the TCI-state corresponding to TCI-stateId#9.

[0178] It should be understood that, in combination with the above-mentioned method 1 and method 2, when the QCL-Info in the TCI-state is configured as qcl-type=typeD, the associated reference signal can be CSI-RS, SSB, etc., without limitation. CSI-RS can be characterized by the non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resource ID (resourceId), namely NZP-CSI-RS-resourceId; SSB can be characterized by the SSB index (index), namely SSB-index. At this time, the terminal device can assume that the DMRS sequence associated with the TCI-state has the same spatial domain transmission filter as the above-mentioned reference signal, that is, the terminal device can refer to the spatial domain reception filter of the above-mentioned reference signal to receive the PDSCH signal.

[0179] Case 4: Mapping relationship between pilot sequences and pilot resources.

[0180] Among them, the pilot resources can be used for downlink beam management, or channel state information measurement, etc. Exemplarily, the pilot resources may include at least one of the following: channel state information reference signal CSI-RS resources, synchronization information block SSB resources, TRS resources, PT-RS resources, DMRS resources, or SRS resources, etc., without limitation. It can be understood that each pilot resource can correspond to a transmission beam, and the terminal device can determine the transmission beam corresponding to the corresponding pilot resource (such as the pilot resource corresponding to the first pilot sequence described below) as the transmission beam of the downlink channel. For the convenience of understanding, the pilot resource is CSI-RS resource as an example for introduction below, and no further details are given later.

[0181] The following two methods are used to specifically describe situation 4.

[0182] Mode 3: The pilot resource is a pilot resource that the network device configures for the terminal device.

[0183] Exemplarily, the network device can configure a pilot resource set for downlink beam management or channel state information measurement for the terminal device, such as a CSI-RS resource set (CSI-RS resourceSet). For example, the network device can send the CSI-RS resource set to the terminal device through RRC signaling, without limitation; thereafter, the network device can send configuration information to the terminal device to indicate that each DMRS sequence is associated with each CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set, or in other words, each DMRS sequence corresponds one-to-one to each CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set. It can be understood that the CSI-RS resource can be characterized by NZP CSI-RS resourceId. Each DMRS sequence is associated with each CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set, which can also be understood as each DMRS sequence being associated with or corresponding one-to-one to the NZP CSI-RS resourceId corresponding to each CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set, without limitation.

[0184] For example, as shown in Table 3, the configuration information may indicate: DMRS sequence #0 is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to NZP CSI-RS resourceId=0; DMRS sequence #1 is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to NZP CSI-RS resourceId=1; DMRS sequence #2 is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to NZP CSI-RS resourceId=2... DMRS sequence #n is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to NZ CSI-RS resourceId=n, and so on, without limitation.

[0185] Table 3

[0186] It can be understood that the CSI-RS resources corresponding to NZP CSI-RS resourceId=0 in the above Table 3, the CSI-RS resources corresponding to NZP CSI-RS resourceId=1, the CSI-RS resources corresponding to NZP CSI-RS resourceId=2...the CSI-RS resources corresponding to NZP CSI-RS resourceId=n, etc., are all CSI-RS resources in the CSI-RS resource set configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0187] Mode 4: The pilot resource is the pilot resource corresponding to the pilot resource indication reported by the terminal device.

[0188] The pilot resource indicator can be used to indicate a pilot resource. For example, taking the pilot resource as a CSI-RS resource, the pilot resource indicator can be a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) in the channel state information (CSI), and each CRI can correspond to a CSI-RS resource. The network device can configure a mapping relationship between the DMRS sequence and the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the CRI reported by the CSI.

[0189] Exemplarily, the network device can configure one or more CSI report configurations for the terminal device, and each CSI report can be configured with a CSI-RS resource set (or NZP CSI resourceSet, etc.) for channel measurement, and the CSI-RS resource set can include one or more CSI-RS resources. The terminal device can choose to report CRI. For example, if the CRI in the CSI reported by the terminal device is 0, the CRI corresponds to the first CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set; if the CRI in the CSI reported by the terminal device is 1, the CRI corresponds to the second CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set, and so on. The network device can determine the corresponding pilot resources based on the reported CRI, and configure the corresponding pilot sequence for this part of the pilot resources.

[0190] It can be understood that CSI reporting can be used for reporting reference signal receiving power (RSRP) or L1-signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) for beam management, and can also be used for reporting RI, CQI, or PMI, etc., without limitation. For example, as shown in Table 4, the configuration information can indicate: DMRS sequence #0 is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the first CRI reported by the CSI; DMRS sequence #1 is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the second CRI reported by the CSI; DMRS sequence #2 is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the third CRI reported by the terminal device CSI...DMRS sequence #n is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the n+1th CRI reported by the terminal device CSI, and so on, without limitation.

[0191] Table 4

[0192] For example, suppose that the CSI-RS resource set contains 4 CSI-RS resources, namely {CSI-RS resourcesId=3, CSI-RS resourcesId=9, CSI-RS resourcesId=9, CSI-RS resourcesId=2}; suppose that the terminal device reports 2 CRIs, namely {CRI=0, CRI=3}, then the network device can indicate through configuration information: DMRS sequence #0 is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to CSI-RS resourcesId=3, and DMRS sequence #1 is associated with the CSI-RS resource corresponding to CSI-RS resourcesId=2.

[0193] It can be understood that the naming of the above configuration information is only an example, and the configuration information can also be replaced with any other possible naming, such as mapping indication information, etc., without limitation.

[0194] S602: The network device sends a pilot signal to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the pilot signal from the network device.

[0195] The pilot signal, also known as a reference signal, can be used for channel estimation or detection. For example, the pilot signal can be a CSI-RS, SSB, PT-RS, DMRS, or SRS, without limitation. For ease of understanding, the present invention will be described using the DMRS pilot signal as an example.

[0196] The pilot signal corresponds to the first pilot sequence, and the above-mentioned pilot sequence includes the first pilot sequence, that is, the network device can send the pilot signal to the terminal device through the first pilot sequence, and the first pilot sequence can be one of at least one pilot sequence in the pilot sequence set configured by the network device, without limitation. It can be understood that the first pilot sequence is the pilot sequence selected by the network device for the terminal device based on the scheduling beam of the current time slot PDSCH, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the implementation process. Optionally, the pilot signal can be associated with any channel, for example, such as a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink control channel, an uplink data channel, etc., without limitation. For ease of understanding, the embodiment of the present application is introduced by taking the pilot signal associated with the PDCCH as an example, such as the above-mentioned DMRS can be associated with the PDCCH. The network device can send the PDCCH to the terminal device based on the first pilot sequence. The PDCCH can also be associated with specific scheduling information of the PDSCH, such as the modulation and coding scheme (MCS), time-frequency domain resource location, etc., without limitation.

[0197] For example, assume that the network device has two beams (transmitting beams), which are respectively denoted as beam #a and beam #b. The correspondence between the two beams and the CSI-RS resources is: the CSI-RS resource with CSI-RS resourceId=0 corresponds to beam #a, that is, the CSI-RS resource with CSI-RS resourceId=0 is transmitted using the transmitting spatial filtering beam #a; the CSI-RS resource with CSI-RS resourceId=1 corresponds to beam #b, that is, the CSI-RS resource with CSI-RS resourceId=1 is transmitted using the transmitting spatial filtering beam #b. Taking the above method 3 as an example, assume that DMRS sequence #0 is associated with the CSI-RS resource with CSI-RS resourceId=0, and DMRS sequence #1 is associated with the CSI-RS resource with CSI-RS resourceId=0.

[0198] If the network device implements PDSCH scheduling transmission of the current time slot based on beam #a, the network device can use the DMRS sequence corresponding to DMRS sequence #0 to send the DMRS signal of the PDCCH associated with the PDSCH scheduling information; if the network device implements PDSCH scheduling transmission of the current time slot based on beam #b, the network device can use the DMRS sequence corresponding to DMRS sequence #1 to send the DMRS signal of the PDCCH associated with the PDSCH scheduling information.

[0199] S603: The terminal device determines a first transmit beam of a downlink channel according to the configuration information and the first pilot sequence.

[0200] It can be understood that before the terminal device determines the first transmission beam in detail, the implementation process of the terminal device determining the first pilot sequence is specifically introduced.

[0201] In one possible design, before the terminal device determines the first transmit beam of the downlink channel based on the configuration information and the first pilot sequence, the method may further include:

[0202] The terminal device determines the first pilot sequence by performing pilot sequence correlation detection on the pilot signal.

[0203] The terminal device can perform sequence correlation detection at the corresponding time-frequency domain resource position based on each pilot sequence related parameter in the pilot sequence set configured by the network device, and the CORESET configuration parameters corresponding to the PDCCH channel to determine the first pilot sequence. Exemplarily, the terminal device can determine the time-frequency domain resource position of the pilot signal based on the time-frequency domain resource position that the PDCCH may occupy as indicated by the CORESET configuration parameters, and extract the received signal at the time-frequency domain resource position. The terminal device can correlate (operate) each pilot sequence in the configured pilot sequence set with the received signal extracted at the time-frequency domain resource position, determine the pilot sequence in the pilot sequence set with the largest autocorrelation peak corresponding to the received signal after sequence correlation, and determine the pilot sequence as the pilot sequence for sending the pilot signal, that is, the first pilot sequence.

[0204] For example, continuing with the example in step S602 above, the terminal device extracts the DMRS signal (corresponding to DMRS sequence #1) at the corresponding time-frequency domain resource location and correlates the DMRS signal with DMRS sequence #0 and DMRS sequence #1, respectively. If the autocorrelation peak value after correlation between DMRS sequence #1 and the DMRS signal is significantly higher than the autocorrelation peak value after correlation between DMRS sequence #0 and the DMRS signal, the terminal device can determine that the pilot sequence corresponding to the DMRS signal is DMRS sequence #1.

[0205] It should be understood that the implementation process of the terminal device performing sequence correlation detection on the pilot sequence can refer to the sequence correlation detection process in the prior art, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0206] In combination with the above introduction, the specific implementation process of the terminal device determining the first transmission beam is specifically introduced below.

[0207] The terminal device can determine the first transmit beam corresponding to the first pilot sequence based on the determined first pilot sequence and the pre-configured mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and the transmit beam, and determine the first transmit beam as the transmit beam of the downlink channel. For example, continuing with the above example, the terminal device can determine that the corresponding transmit beam is beam #b based on the above-determined DMRS sequence #1, that is, beam #b is the downlink transmit beam of the current time slot.

[0208] In one possible design scheme, the terminal device determines the first transmitting beam of the downlink channel based on the configuration information and the first pilot sequence, including: before demodulating the downlink control information DCI, the terminal device determines the first transmitting beam of the downlink channel based on the configuration information and the first pilot sequence.

[0209] It can be understood that the terminal device performs sequence correlation detection before demodulating DCI, that is, the terminal device can obtain beam indication information, that is, the above-mentioned first transmitting beam, before demodulating DCI, so as to achieve faster reception of the downlink channel using a matching receiving beam, thereby improving user performance and user experience.

[0210] In summary, the network device can pre-configure a mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and the transmitting beam for the terminal device. The terminal device can determine the first transmitting beam of the downlink channel corresponding to the first pilot sequence based on the mapping relationship and the first pilot sequence corresponding to the received pilot signal, so that the subsequent terminal device can determine the corresponding receiving beam based on the first transmitting beam to achieve faster reception of the downlink channel using the newly matched receiving beam, thereby improving system capacity and user experience.

[0211] In combination with the above embodiment, in a possible design solution, the above method may further include:

[0212] The network device uses the first transmission beam of the downlink channel to send a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel to the terminal device.

[0213] Correspondingly, the terminal device determines a first receiving beam of a downlink channel based on the first transmitting beam, and the terminal device uses the first receiving beam to receive a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel. The transmitting beam includes the first transmitting beam.

[0214] It can be understood that the terminal device can determine a suitable first receiving beam based on the first transmitting beam determined in the above step S603, and use the first receiving beam to receive the downlink data channel or the downlink control channel from the network device. Exemplarily, the terminal device can refer to the spatial receiving beam of the first transmitting beam and determine the spatial receiving beam as the first receiving beam, or the terminal device can also determine the first receiving beam corresponding to the first transmitting beam by other means, without limitation. For example, continuing the above example, the receiving beam corresponding to the above beam #b is beam #b1, then the terminal device can use beam #b1 to receive data of the downlink data channel or control information of the downlink control channel.

[0215] In one possible design, a terminal device uses a first receive beam to receive a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel, including:

[0216] In a symbol that is greater than or equal to X symbols after the last symbol carrying the pilot signal, the terminal device uses the first receiving beam to receive a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel.

[0217] Wherein, X symbols are the time required for the terminal device to perform correlation detection of the pilot sequence and / or perform beam switching. X is an integer greater than or equal to 0. The time required for beam switching may be the time required for the terminal device to switch from one receive beam to another.

[0218] The following two scenarios are used as examples for detailed description.

[0219] Scenario 1: X is equal to 0, and the terminal device can achieve zero-delay beam switching.

[0220] For example, if the time required for the terminal device to perform pilot sequence correlation detection and / or beam switching is short, the X symbols can be ignored, and zero-delay beam switching between the downlink control channel (such as the PDCCH associated with the first pilot sequence and DCI) and the downlink data channel (such as the PDSCH) can be achieved. That is, the terminal device can select the matching first receive beam based on the first transmit beam in symbols adjacent to the PDCCH to receive data from the downlink data channel, or control information transmitted by subsequent downlink control channels.

[0221] For example, assume that in the T1 time slot, the network device sends PDSCH data to UE#a via beam #a. Based on real-time scheduling requirements, as shown in Figure 7, the network device needs to send PDSCH data to UE#a via beam #b (i.e., the first transmit beam mentioned above) in the T2 time slot. Assume that the receive beam corresponding to beam #a is beam #a1, and the T1 time slot is smaller than the T2 time slot. In this case, in the T2 time slot, the terminal device can receive PDSCH data using beam #b1 (i.e., the first receive beam mentioned above) corresponding to beam #b on symbols adjacent to the PDCCH.

[0222] Scenario 2: X is an integer greater than 0, and the terminal device needs to go through a certain duration, recorded as timeDuration1#1, which is equal to X symbols.

[0223] For example, if the terminal device takes a long time to perform correlation detection of the pilot sequence and / or beam switching, and zero-delay beam switching between the downlink control channel and the downlink data channel cannot be achieved, the terminal device can report a time requirement timeDuration#1 that takes into account the sequence detection and beam switching processing delay. The terminal device can select a matching first receive beam based on the first transmit beam to receive data on the downlink data channel, or control information transmitted on subsequent downlink control channels, on a symbol that is greater than or equal to timeDuration#1 from the last symbol of the PDCCH.

[0224] It can be understood that timeDuration#1 is shorter than the timeDuration required for the terminal device to blindly detect DCI, or in other words, timeDuration#1 is less than timeDuration. The beam used on the symbol whose interval with the last symbol of PDCCH is less than timeDuration#1 reuses the agreement of the existing protocol without limitation. For example, on the symbol whose interval with the last symbol of PDCCH is less than timeDuration#1, the terminal device can use the receiving beam used in the previous time slot of the current time slot to continue to receive data on the downlink data channel, or control information transmitted by the subsequent downlink control channel.

[0225] For example, assume that in the T1 time slot, the network device sends PDSCH data to UE#a through beam #a. Based on real-time scheduling requirements, as shown in Figure 8, the network device needs to send PDSCH data to UE#a through beam #b (i.e., the first transmitting beam mentioned above) in the T2 time slot. Assume that the receiving beam corresponding to beam #a is beam #a1, and the T1 time slot is smaller than the T2 time slot. In the symbol corresponding to timeDuration#1 in the T2 time slot, the terminal device can use beam #a1 corresponding to the T1 time slot to receive PDSCH data; in the symbol corresponding to the time period after timeDuration#1 in the T2 time slot, the terminal device can use beam #b1 corresponding to beam #b (i.e., the first receiving beam mentioned above) to receive PDSCH data.

[0226] It can be understood that the above embodiment is introduced by taking the downlink transmission scenario as an example, that is, before the terminal device completes the DCI demodulation, the terminal device can determine the (downlink) transmission beam used by the network device in the current time slot based on the mapping relationship between the configured pilot sequence and the transmission beam, and select a suitable (downlink) receiving beam according to the transmission beam to receive the data or information of the downlink channel. It can be understood that in the uplink transmission scenario, the network device determines the (uplink) transmission beam used by the terminal device in the current time slot, and selects a suitable (downlink) receiving beam according to the transmission beam to receive the data or information of the uplink channel. Its implementation principle is similar to that of the above-mentioned downlink transmission scenario, which can be used as a reference for understanding and will not be elaborated on.

[0227] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with Figures 6 to 8. The communication device for executing the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 9 and 10.

[0228] Figure 9 is a structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9 , the communication device 900 includes a transceiver module 901 and a processing module 902. For ease of illustration, Figure 9 only shows the main components of the communication device 900.

[0229] In some embodiments, the communication device 900 may be applicable to the communication system shown in FIG. 4 to perform the functions of the above-mentioned terminal device.

[0230] The transceiver module 901 can be used to perform the functions of sending and receiving messages by the terminal device, and the processing module 902 can perform functions other than sending and receiving messages by the terminal device. For example, the transceiver module 901 is used to receive configuration information from a network device and receive a pilot signal from the network device. The processing module 902 is used to determine a first transmit beam for a downlink channel based on the configuration information and a first pilot sequence. The configuration information indicates a mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and the transmit beam; the pilot signal corresponds to the first pilot sequence, and the pilot sequence includes the first pilot sequence.

[0231] Optionally, the transceiver module 901 may include a sending module (not shown in FIG9 ) and a receiving module (not shown in FIG9 ). The sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device 900 , and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device 900 .

[0232] Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG9 ) storing a program or instruction. When the processing module 902 executes the program or instruction, the communication device 900 may perform the above-mentioned communication method.

[0233] It should be noted that the communication device 900 can be a terminal device, a chip (system) or other parts or components in the terminal device, or a device including a terminal device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0234] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 900 can refer to the technical effects of the communication method shown in Figure 6, and will not be repeated here.

[0235] In some embodiments, the communication device 900 may be applicable to the communication system shown in FIG. 4 to perform the functions of the aforementioned network device.

[0236] The transceiver module 901 can be used to perform the network device's message sending and receiving functions, and the processing module 902 can perform network device functions other than message sending and receiving. For example, the transceiver module 901 is used to send configuration information to a terminal device and to send a pilot signal to the terminal device. The configuration information indicates the mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and the transmit beam; the pilot signal corresponds to the first pilot sequence, and the pilot sequence includes the first pilot sequence.

[0237] In one possible design, processing module 902 is configured to transmit a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel to a terminal device using a first transmit beam of a downlink channel. The transmit beam includes the first transmit beam. Optionally, transceiver module 901 may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. The transmitting module is configured to implement the transmitting function of communication device 900, and the receiving module is configured to implement the receiving function of communication device 900.

[0238] Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a storage module, wherein the storage module stores a program or instruction. When the processing module 902 executes the program or instruction, the communication device 900 may execute the above-mentioned communication method.

[0239] It should be noted that the communication device 900 can be a network device, a chip (system) or other parts or components in the network device, or a device including a network device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0240] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 900 can refer to the technical effects of the above-mentioned communication method, which will not be repeated here.

[0241] For example, FIG10 is a second structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a terminal device or a network device, or may be a chip (system) or other component or assembly of a terminal device or a network device. As shown in FIG10 , the communication device 1000 may include a processor 1001. Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1002 and / or a transceiver 1003. The processor 1001 is coupled to the memory 1002 and the transceiver 1003, such as by a communication bus.

[0242] The following is a detailed introduction to the various components of the communication device 1000 in conjunction with FIG10 :

[0243] The processor 1001 is the control center of the communication device 1000 and can be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 1001 can be one or more central processing units (CPUs), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0244] Optionally, the processor 1001 may execute various functions of the communication device 1000 , such as executing the communication method shown in FIG. 6 , by running or executing a software program stored in the memory 1002 and calling data stored in the memory 1002 .

[0245] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 1001 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG10 .

[0246] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 1000 may also include multiple processors, such as the processor 1001 and the processor 1004 shown in FIG10 . Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). The processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0247] The memory 1002 is used to store the software program for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 1001. The specific implementation method can refer to the above method embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0248] Alternatively, the memory 1002 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, an optical disc storage (including a compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 1002 may be integrated with the processor 1001 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 1001 via an interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 10 ) of the communication device 1000. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0249] Transceiver 1003 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, if communication device 1000 is a terminal device, transceiver 1003 can be used to communicate with a network device or another terminal device. For another example, if communication device 1000 is a network device, transceiver 1003 can be used to communicate with a terminal device or another network device.

[0250] Optionally, the transceiver 1003 may include a receiver and a transmitter (not shown separately in FIG10 ), wherein the receiver is used to implement a receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement a sending function.

[0251] Optionally, the transceiver 1003 may be integrated with the processor 1001 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 1001 through an interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 10 ) of the communication device 1000 . This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0252] It should be noted that the structure of the communication device 1000 shown in FIG10 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. An actual communication device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0253] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1000 can refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0254] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which may include the terminal device in the above method embodiment and a network device.

[0255] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0256] It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0257] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware (such as circuits), firmware or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid-state drive.

[0258] It should be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein simply describes a relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A alone, A and B together, or B alone. A and B can be singular or plural. Furthermore, the character " / " as used herein generally indicates an "or" relationship between the associated objects, but it may also indicate an "and / or" relationship. For specific understanding, please refer to the context.

[0259] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural.

[0260] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0261] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0262] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0263] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0264] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0265] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0266] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk. The above is only a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, It includes: Receiving configuration information from a network device; wherein, the configuration information is used to indicate the mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmission beam; Receiving a pilot signal from the network device; wherein, the pilot signal corresponds to a first pilot sequence, and the pilot sequence includes the first pilot sequence; Determining a first transmission beam of a downlink channel according to the configuration information and the first pilot sequence.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The mapping relationship includes: the mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and a transmission configuration indication (TCI), or the mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and a pilot resource.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The pilot sequence is characterized by different scrambling identifiers, or by different parameter values of a sequence expression.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The pilot resource is a pilot resource configured by the network device for the terminal device, or a pilot resource corresponding to a pilot resource indication reported by the terminal device.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 - 4, characterized in that, Before determining the first transmission beam of the downlink channel according to the configuration information and the first pilot sequence, the method further includes: Determining the first pilot sequence by performing correlation detection of the pilot sequence on the pilot signal.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2-5, characterized in that, Determining the first transmission beam of the downlink channel according to the configuration information and the first pilot sequence includes: Before demodulating downlink control information (DCI), determining the first transmission beam of the downlink channel according to the configuration information and the first pilot sequence.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2-6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Determining a first reception beam of the downlink channel according to the first transmission beam; Receiving a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel from the network device using the first reception beam.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, Receiving a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel using the first reception beam includes: Receiving the downlink data channel or the downlink control channel using the first reception beam on a symbol after a symbol interval between the last symbol carrying the pilot signal is greater than or equal to X symbols; wherein, X is an integer greater than or equal to 0.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The X symbols are the time required for performing correlation detection of the pilot sequence and / or for beam switching.

10. The method according to any one of claims 2-9, characterized in that, The pilot resource includes at least one of the following: a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, a synchronization signal block (SSB) resource, a tracking reference signal (TRS) resource, a phase noise tracking reference signal (PT-RS) resource, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The configuration information is carried in at least one of the following: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control - Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or DCI.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, It includes: A network device sending configuration information to a terminal device; wherein, the configuration information is used to indicate the mapping relationship between a pilot sequence and a transmission beam; The network device sending a pilot signal to the terminal device; wherein, the pilot signal corresponds to a first pilot sequence, and the pilot sequence includes the first pilot sequence.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein The mapping relationship includes: the mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and a transmission configuration indication (TCI), or the mapping relationship between the pilot sequence and a pilot resource.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The pilot sequence is characterized by different scrambling identifiers, or by different parameter values of a sequence expression.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The pilot resource is a pilot resource configured by the network device for the terminal device, or a pilot resource corresponding to a pilot resource indication reported by the terminal device.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12-15, characterized in that, The method further includes: The network device uses a first transmission beam of a downlink channel to send a downlink data channel or a downlink control channel to the terminal device; wherein the transmission beam includes the first transmission beam.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13-16, characterized in that The pilot resource includes at least one of the following: a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, a synchronization signal block (SSB) resource, a tracking reference signal (TRS) resource, a phase noise tracking reference signal (PT-RS) resource, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12 - 17, characterized in that, The configuration information is carried in at least one of the following: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control - Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Downlink Control Information (DCI).

19. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: a processor; wherein, The processor is configured to execute the communication method according to any one of claims 1-18.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device is caused to execute the communication method according to any one of claims 1-18.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the communication method according to any one of claims 1-18.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes: a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the communication method according to any one of claims 1-18.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a module for executing the communication method according to any one of claims 1-18.

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