Communication method and device, and system

Abstract

Provided are a communication method and device, and a system, which support the number of reference signal ports to change flexibly in a scenario in which RF channels are dynamically switched off. A network device sends reference signals of m1 ports on some or all resources among baseline reference signal resources; the baseline reference signal resources can be used for transmitting reference signals of at most M ports and supports estimation of channels of at most K ports, wherein the m1 ports of the reference signals are from the M ports. According to baseline channel estimation auxiliary information and the reference signals, a terminal performs channel estimation and sends CSI. In the method, m1≤k1≤K, and m1≤M≤K. That is, the terminal can use the baseline channel estimation auxiliary information to perform channel estimation on the basis of reference signals of a few ports so as to obtain channels of many ports. As the number of reference signal ports sent by an air interface is reduced, and taking into account port multiplexing, air interface overhead caused by reference signals is also reduced.

Description

Communication method, device, and system

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on January 8, 2024, with application number 202410037213.5 and application name “Communication Method, Device and System”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] In massive multiple input multiple output (Massive MIMO), a large number of antennas are used to improve wireless capacity and coverage. In order to send and receive data, obtain system synchronization, and feedback channel state information, the importance of channel estimation becomes increasingly apparent. Channel estimation refers to the process of reconstructing or restoring the received signal in order to compensate for the signal distortion caused by channel fading and noise fading. It uses a reference signal known in advance at both ends of the transmitter and receiver to track the time and frequency domain changes of the channel. This reference signal is also called a reference signal (RS), or a pilot. Currently commonly used reference signals include, for example, the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for measuring the downlink channel, the sounding reference signal (SRS) for measuring the uplink channel, and so on.

[0004] In some scenarios, such as energy-saving scenarios, radio frequency (RF) channels can be dynamically shut down based on service needs. This requires support for a large number of antenna ports that can change dynamically. However, current standards cannot support large-scale port counts and dynamically change the number of ports as RF channels are shut down, making them inflexible. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method, device, and system to flexibly select reference signal resources to transmit reference signals, thereby supporting dynamic changes in the number of ports as RF channels are dynamically shut down.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a communication device. The communication device can be, for example, a terminal device, or a component configured in the terminal device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. This application is not limited to this.

[0007] Exemplarily, the method includes: receiving a first reference signal on a first resource, the first resource coming from a first benchmark reference signal resource, the first benchmark reference signal resource being used to transmit reference signals of up to M ports, and the reference signals of the M ports supporting channel estimation of a maximum of K ports, the first reference signal being a reference signal of m1 ports, the m1 ports coming from the M ports, m1 being less than or equal to M, M being less than or equal to K, and m1, M, and K being positive integers; determining first channel state information CSI based on the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, the first CSI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports; the first channel estimation auxiliary information being determined based on benchmark channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first benchmark reference signal resource, the benchmark channel estimation auxiliary information being used to estimate the channels of the K ports based on channel measurement results of the M ports, the first channel estimation auxiliary information being used to estimate the channels of k1 ports based on the channel measurement results of the m1 ports, the k1 ports coming from the K ports, and k1 being a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K; and sending the first CSI.

[0008] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a communication device. The communication device can be, for example, a network device, or a component configured in the network device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. This application is not limited to this.

[0009] Exemplarily, the method includes: sending a first reference signal on a first resource, the first resource comes from a first reference reference signal resource, the first reference reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, used to transmit reference signals of M ports, the reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of K ports, K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any reference signal resource unit in the R reference signal resource units; the first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, the m1 ports come from the M ports, m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, m1, R, M and K are positive integers; receiving first channel state information CSI, the first CSI corresponds to channels of k1 ports, the k1 ports come from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K.

[0010] In summary, we can obtain the following relationship: k1≤K, m1≤M, m1≤k1, and M≤K.

[0011] It is not difficult to see that there is a nested relationship between the m1 port and the M ports, and between the k1 port and the K ports. This nested relationship can be applied to the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0012] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can flexibly select part or all of the resources from the first baseline reference signal resources to transmit the first reference signal based on business needs. Based on the received first reference signal, the terminal can obtain the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, and then estimate the channel of K or less than K ports. This can support the flexible change of the number of ports in the scenario where the RF channel is dynamically shut down. Since the number of ports corresponding to the first reference signal can be M or less than M, and M is less than or equal to K, the channels of the majority of ports can be estimated based on the reference signals of a few ports. As the number of ports of the reference signal sent by the air interface decreases, considering port multiplexing, the air interface overhead brought by the reference signal is also reduced.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the first benchmark reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units, and R is a positive integer.

[0014] In other words, the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the rth reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is N. r , K can satisfy: Among them, r = 1, 2, 3, ..., R.

[0015] In other words, the number of ports included in the rth reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is N. r , K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports respectively included in the R reference signal resource units (or, K is the total number of ports included in the R reference signal resources), and is greater than the number of ports included in any one of the R reference signal resource units.

[0016] In other words, the number of ports included in the rth reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is N. r , K can satisfy: Among them, r = 1, 2, 3, ..., R.

[0017] That is, the first reference signal resource can be configured with reference signal resource units as the granularity. In addition, multiple reference signal resource units of the same reference signal resource can be combined to obtain more ports, so that the channels of more ports can be estimated by combining multiple reference signal resource units.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units, and S is a positive integer less than or equal to R

[0019] Accordingly, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, receiving the first reference signal on the first resource includes: receiving the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

[0020] In some possible implementations of the second aspect, sending the first reference signal on the first resource includes: sending the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

[0021] The network device may select S reference signal resource units from the R reference signal resource units to send a reference signal. The S reference signal resource units are an example of a first resource. It will be understood that k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, that is, the total number of ports included in the S reference signal resource units.

[0022] The network device may pre-configure the R reference signal resource units for the terminal, or may configure the S reference signal resource units for the terminal before sending the first reference signal.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, before receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: receiving first information.

[0024] Accordingly, in combination with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, before sending the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: sending first information.

[0025] The first information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the R reference signal resource units: a resource pattern, a port pattern, the number of ports supported for channel estimation, or channel estimation auxiliary information; wherein the rth reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is used to transmit L r The reference signal of each port, the L r The reference signal of each port supports N r Channel estimation for ports, N r is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the rth reference signal resource unit, L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M, N r is less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r A positive integer, r is a positive integer from 1 to R; the resource pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit indicates the L r The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource in the ports, the port pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit indicates the L r ports in the N r The index in the port, the channel estimation auxiliary information of the rth reference signal resource unit is used to r The channel measurement results of the N ports estimate the r The reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resources respectively.

[0026] The network device pre-configures the R reference signal resource units for the terminal through the first information. The terminal can obtain one or more of the following based on the first information: a resource pattern, a port pattern, the number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information. The resource pattern can be used by the terminal to determine the time-frequency position of receiving the first reference signal, the port pattern can be used to determine the index of the m1 ports of the first reference signal among the M ports, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be used by the terminal to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can also be used to determine the maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the first reference reference signal resource.

[0027] All of the above items can be configured by the network device, or some of them can be configured by the network device. The terminal determines other items based on the partial items indicated by the network device, or all of them can be determined by the terminal itself, such as based on prior information. This application does not limit this.

[0028] Since the first reference reference signal resource includes the R reference signal resource units, the network device does not need to configure the reference signal resource for the terminal each time when subsequently using the first reference reference signal resource to send a reference signal, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0029] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

[0030] Accordingly, in combination with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

[0031] The network device may indicate S reference signal resource units through the second information, thereby facilitating the terminal to receive the first reference signal in the S reference signal resource units.

[0032] One possible design is that the second information indicates a bit map, which includes R bits corresponding to the R reference signal resource units, and the value of each bit indicates whether the corresponding bit belongs to the S reference signal resource units.

[0033] Of course, the S reference signal resource units may be indicated by the network device through the second information, or may be determined by the terminal itself, for example, according to a predefined rule, and this application does not limit this.

[0034] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving indication information of each reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units.

[0035] Accordingly, in combination with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending indication information of each reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units.

[0036] The indication information of the sth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following of the sth reference signal resource unit: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information or splicing identifier; wherein the rth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units s Reference signal resource units are used to transmit The reference signal of the port, the Reference signal support for ports The channel estimation of the ports, For the rth s The number of ports for channel estimation supported by the reference signal resource unit, is a positive integer less than or equal to M, is less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to A positive integer, r s Indicates the identifier of the sth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units; s The resource pattern of the reference signal resource unit indicates the The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource in the rth port s The port pattern of the reference signal resource unit indicates the The ports are described in The index of the port, the rth s The channel estimation auxiliary information of the reference signal resource unit is used according to the The channel measurement results of the ports estimate the The reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resource units, and the S reference signal resource units have the same splicing identifier to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signal transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

[0037] If the channel corresponding to each reference signal resource unit is represented by a channel matrix, the terminal can determine, based on the same splicing identifier, that the channel matrices corresponding to the S reference signal resource units support splicing, thereby obtaining a channel matrix of k1 ports through splicing, that is, estimating the channel of k1 ports.

[0038] Before sending the first reference signal, the network device may indicate the S reference signal resource units to the terminal, so that the terminal receives the first reference signal according to the indication information of the S reference signal resource units. In other words, before each reference signal is sent, the network device may indicate to the terminal the reference signal resource units used to send the reference signal.

[0039] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the first CSI includes a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate a channel estimation result corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports.

[0040] In this application, the term "channel estimation result" refers to the result of channel estimation and is used to indicate a channel, such as the channel for k1 ports in this example. The term "PMI" refers to the precoding matrix, such as the precoding matrix corresponding to the channel for k1 ports in this example. Unless otherwise specified, the terms "channel estimation result" and "PMI" should be understood in the same manner as described herein.

[0041] Furthermore, in certain possible implementations of the first aspect, the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes channel estimation auxiliary information in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; determining the first CSI based on the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes: performing channel estimation based on the first reference signal received on each reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units, and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, to obtain channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; obtaining the channels of the k1 ports based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; and determining the first CSI based on the channels of the k1 ports.

[0042] Whether the terminal indicates the PMI or the channel estimation result through the first CSI can be determined by the terminal itself, configured by the network device, or predefined by the protocol, and this application does not limit this.

[0043] In the case where the first reference reference signal resource is divided into R reference signal resource units, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit may be a part of the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource. If the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is represented as a matrix, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit may be a sub-matrix in the matrix. The first channel estimation auxiliary information may include the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units, that is, it may include the S sub-matrices in the matrix corresponding to the S reference signal resource units. In other words, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be determined based on the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units.

[0044] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the splicing rule includes: horizontally splicing the channel matrices corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units from left to right in ascending order of the identifiers corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units.

[0045] As previously mentioned, multiple reference signal resource units (RSRUs) from the same base reference signal resource can be combined to obtain more ports, thereby enabling the estimation of channels for more ports through the combination of multiple RSUs. If the channel corresponding to each RSU is represented by a channel matrix, this splicing rule can be used to constrain the manner in which the channel matrices corresponding to the multiple RSUs are spliced. Based on this splicing rule, the terminal can splice the channel matrices corresponding to the S RSUs to obtain a channel matrix for k1 ports, thereby estimating the channels for the k1 ports.

[0046] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, k1 is an integer greater than 1, the k1 ports include at least one reference port, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to each reference port in the at least one reference port are included in at least two reference signal resource units among the S reference signal resource units.

[0047] Furthermore, in certain possible implementations of the first aspect, obtaining the channels of the k1 ports based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively includes: taking each reference port of the at least one reference port as a reference, and according to a splicing rule, splicing the channel matrices corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively to obtain the channels of the k1 ports, wherein the channel matrix is ​​used to indicate the channel.

[0048] By splicing the channel matrix based on the reference port, higher estimation accuracy can be achieved.

[0049] Since each reference port is included in at least two reference signal resource units, k1 is smaller than the sum of the number of ports respectively included in the S reference signal resource units.

[0050] Optionally, the at least one reference port is determined according to a first rule, where the first rule is predefined by a protocol or is indicated by a network device; or, the at least one reference port is indicated by the network device.

[0051] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the first reference reference signal resource is one of T reference reference signal resources.

[0052] Accordingly, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, before receiving the reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: receiving third information. In some possible implementations of the second aspect, before sending the reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: sending third information.

[0053] The third information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the T reference reference signal resources: a resource pattern, a maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information; wherein the t-th reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources is used to transmit a maximum of M t The reference signal transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource supports the maximum estimation K t The channel estimation of K ports t is the maximum number of ports supported by the t-th reference signal resource for channel estimation, M t is a positive integer less than or equal to M, K t is greater than or equal to M t A positive integer, t is a positive integer from 1 to T; the resource pattern of the t-th reference reference signal resource indicates the M t The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port in the M ports and the time-frequency resource, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference reference signal resource is used to estimate the reference channel according to the M t The channel measurement results of the ports estimate the K t The channel of the port.

[0054] The network device pre-configures the T reference reference signal resources for the terminal through third information. The terminal can obtain one or more of the following based on the third information: a resource pattern, a port pattern, a maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information. The resource pattern can be used by the terminal to determine the time-frequency position of receiving the first reference signal, the port pattern can be used to determine the index of the m1 ports of the first reference signal among the M ports, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be used by the terminal to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can also be used to determine the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation by the first reference reference signal resource.

[0055] All of the above items can be configured by the network device, or some of them can be configured by the network device. The terminal determines other items based on the partial items indicated by the network device, or all of them can be determined by the terminal itself, such as based on prior information. This application does not limit this.

[0056] When the network device subsequently uses any one of the T reference reference signal resources to send a reference signal, it is not necessary to configure the reference signal resource for the terminal each time, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0057] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference reference signal resources satisfy: the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals is different, and / or the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

[0058] When the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is consistent, using more reference signal ports for transmission results in more accurate channel estimation; using fewer reference signal ports results in less air interface overhead. Therefore, appropriate reference signal resources can be selected based on different service requirements.

[0059] Therefore, by configuring multiple reference signal resources that meet the above conditions, different business requirements can be met.

[0060] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, before receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, the method also includes: receiving fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate an identifier of the first reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources.

[0061] Accordingly, in combination with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, before the first reference signal on the first resource, the method also includes: sending fourth information, wherein the fourth information is used to indicate the identifier of the first reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources.

[0062] By indicating the identifier of the first reference reference signal resource, it is convenient for the terminal to determine the reference reference signal resource actually used for transmission of the reference signal.

[0063] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the first CSI is a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is a channel estimation result indicating the channels of the k1 ports.

[0064] Whether the terminal indicates the PMI or the channel estimation result through the first CSI can be determined by the terminal itself, configured by the network device, or predefined by the protocol, and this application does not limit this.

[0065] One possible situation is that m1 is equal to M and k1 is less than K.

[0066] In certain possible implementations of the first aspect, determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information based on the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource includes: determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource based on the index of the k1 ports in the K ports.

[0067] Therefore, the channels within K ports can be estimated based on the channel measurement results of M ports.

[0068] Another possible situation is that m1 is smaller than M and k1 is smaller than K.

[0069] In certain possible implementations of the first aspect, determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information based on the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource includes: determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource based on the index of the m1 ports in the M ports, and the index of the k1 ports in the K ports.

[0070] Therefore, the channels within K ports can be estimated based on the channel measurement results of ports less than M. Since the number of ports m1 is less than M, the air interface overhead can be further reduced.

[0071] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving fifth information, the fifth information being used to indicate an index of the m1 ports in the M ports, or an extraction rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

[0072] Accordingly, in combination with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending fifth information, wherein the fifth information is used to indicate the index of the m1 ports in the M ports, or to be used for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

[0073] The terminal may obtain the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports based on the fifth information. Alternatively, the terminal may determine the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports based on the extraction rule indicated by the fifth information, and further determine which rows of the reference channel estimation auxiliary information the first channel estimation auxiliary information comes from. In fact, the terminal does not necessarily need to determine the indexes of the m1 ports among the M ports based on the extraction rule; the terminal may directly extract the m1 rows from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information based on the extraction rule.

[0074] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate indexes of the k1 ports in the K ports.

[0075] Accordingly, in combination with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate indexes of the k1 ports in the K ports.

[0076] The terminal can determine the port of the channel for which channel estimation needs to be performed according to the index indicated by the sixth information.

[0077] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the method also includes: receiving a second reference signal on a second resource, the second resource comes from the first reference reference signal resource, the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, the m2 ports come from m1 port, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; determining second channel estimation auxiliary information based on the first channel estimation auxiliary information, the second channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channel of the k2 ports based on the channel measurement results of the m2 ports, the k2 ports come from the k1 port, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1; determining a second CSI based on the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information, the second CSI corresponding to the channel of the k2 ports; and sending the second CSI.

[0078] Accordingly, in combination with the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending a second reference signal on a second resource, the second resource coming from the first reference reference signal resource, the second reference signal being a reference signal of m2 ports, the m2 ports coming from m1 ports, and m2 being a positive integer less than or equal to m1; receiving the second CSI, the second CSI corresponding to a channel of k2 ports, the k2 ports coming from the k1 port, and k2 being a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1.

[0079] In summary, we can obtain the following relationship: m2≤m1, k2≤k1, and k2≥m2.

[0080] It is not difficult to see that there is also a nested relationship between the m2 ports and the m1 ports, and between the k2 ports and the k1 ports. This nested relationship can be applied to the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be derived from the first channel estimation auxiliary information. This reduces computational overhead and improves execution efficiency. Furthermore, since there is a nested relationship between the m1 ports and the M ports, and between the k1 ports and the K ports, there is also a nested relationship between the m2 ports and the M ports, and between the k2 ports and the K ports. This nested relationship can be applied to the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can also be derived from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. This eliminates the need for the terminal to store the first channel estimation auxiliary information, reducing storage overhead.

[0081] In addition, the network device can reuse the same reference reference signal resource in multiple channel estimations, for example, reuse the first reference reference signal resource. In this way, the network device does not need to indicate the reference reference signal resource actually used through the second information before each channel estimation, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0082] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising modules or units for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect. Each module or unit can implement the corresponding function by executing a computer program.

[0083] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute the communication method described in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0084] The apparatus may further include a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and when the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the methods described in the above aspects may be implemented. The apparatus may further include a communication interface for communicating between the apparatus and other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface.

[0085] Illustratively, the device in the third aspect or the fourth aspect is a terminal, or a component in a terminal, such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.

[0086] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising modules or units for implementing the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect. Each module or unit can implement the corresponding function by executing a computer program.

[0087] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute the communication method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0088] The apparatus may further include a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and when the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the methods described in the above aspects may be implemented. The apparatus may further include a communication interface for communicating between the apparatus and other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface.

[0089] Illustratively, the apparatus in the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect is a network device, or a component in a network device, such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.

[0090] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a chip system comprising at least one processor for supporting the implementation of the functions involved in the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect, for example, receiving or processing the signals and / or information involved in the above-mentioned method.

[0091] In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, which is used to store program instructions and data, and the memory is located inside or outside the processor.

[0092] The chip system can be composed of chips, or can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0093] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a chip system comprising at least one processor for supporting the implementation of the functions involved in the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect, for example, receiving or processing the signals and / or information involved in the above-mentioned method.

[0094] In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, which is used to store program instructions and data, and the memory is located inside or outside the processor.

[0095] The chip system can be composed of chips, or can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0096] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, including a network device and a terminal. The terminal can be used to implement the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect, and the network device can be used to implement the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0097] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to implement a method in any possible implementation manner of the above aspects.

[0098] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which, when executed, enables a computer to execute a method in any possible implementation of the above aspects.

[0099] The third to eleventh aspects of this application correspond to the technical solutions of the first and second aspects of this application. The beneficial effects achieved by each aspect and the corresponding feasible implementation methods are similar and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0100] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applicable to the communication method provided in this application;

[0101] FIG2 is a schematic diagram showing how the air interface overhead of CSI-RS varies with the number of ports;

[0102] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of channel estimation auxiliary information;

[0103] FIG4 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0104] FIG5 is another schematic flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0105] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of channel splicing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0106] FIG7 is another schematic diagram of channel splicing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] FIG8 is another schematic flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0108] FIG9 is another schematic flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0109] FIG10 is another schematic flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0110] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of reference channel estimation auxiliary information and first channel estimation auxiliary information;

[0111] FIG12 is another schematic diagram of reference channel estimation auxiliary information and first channel estimation auxiliary information;

[0112] FIG13 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the channel matrix of the m1 ports measured by the terminal and the channel matrix of the k1 ports estimated;

[0113] FIG14 is another schematic diagram of the relationship between the channel matrix of the m1 ports measured by the terminal and the channel matrix of the k1 ports estimated;

[0114] FIG15 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0115] FIG16 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0116] FIG17 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0117] Figure 18 is a structural diagram of the network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0118] The technical solution provided in this application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0119] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following points are first explained:

[0120] First, in this application, indications include explicit indications (also called direct indications) and implicit indications (also called indirect indications). Specifically, explicit indication information A refers to including information A; implicit indication information A refers to indicating information A through the correspondence between information A and information B and directly indicating information B. The correspondence between information A and information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured; or, it can also refer to indicating information A through information B and preset rules.

[0121] Second, in this application, information C is used to determine information D, which includes both information D being determined solely based on information C and information D being determined based on information C and other information. Furthermore, information C can also be used to determine information D indirectly, for example, when information D is determined based on information E, and information E is determined based on information C.

[0122] Third, in this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship, but it does not exclude the situation where the previous and next associated objects are in an "and" relationship. The specific meaning can be understood in conjunction with the context. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a and b and c. Where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0123] Fourth, in this application, prefixes such as "first" and "second" are used solely to distinguish between different items belonging to the same category and do not constrain the order, size, or quantity of the items. For example, "first information" and "second information" are simply different pieces of information; there is no temporal, size, or priority relationship between them.

[0124] Fifth, the "sending" and "receiving" in this application indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "sending information to a terminal" can be understood as the destination end of the information being the terminal, which can include direct sending through the air interface, and also includes indirect sending through the air interface by other units or modules. "Receiving information from a network device" can be understood as the source end of the information being the network device, which can include direct receiving from the network device through the air interface, and also includes indirect receiving from the network device through the air interface from other units or modules. "Sending" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receiving" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface.

[0125] In other words, sending and receiving can be performed between devices, for example, between a terminal and a network device; or it can be performed within a device, for example, sending or receiving between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within the device through a bus, wiring or interface.

[0126] Sixth, in the embodiments of the present application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the device will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, which does not limit the time, and does not require the device to have a judgment action when it is implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

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

[0128] Eighth, this document describes the method provided by this application using downlink channel measurement as an example, but this should not limit the scenarios to which this solution is applicable. In uplink channel measurement, the network device may also configure a reference signal resource group corresponding to multiple CCs for the terminal, and then receive reference signals on multiple reference signal resources in the reference signal resource group, and perform channel measurement and reporting. Based on the same concept, those skilled in the art can make simple transformations based on the embodiments of this document to obtain the process of uplink channel measurement. For the sake of brevity, this document does not elaborate on this process.

[0129] Ninth, for the convenience of explanation, this article will represent each piece of information through a matrix. For example, the channel can be represented by the channel matrix H, and the resource pattern can be represented by the matrix P. RE To represent, the port pattern can be represented by the matrix P port To express, the base station channel estimation auxiliary information can be expressed by the matrix P + To represent, and so on, and so on, are not listed here. It should be understood that the matrix is ​​only one possible mathematical expression of this information and should not constitute any limitation to this application. For example, it can also be represented by vectors, arrays or other forms, and matrix operations can also be converted into other forms of operations, such as vector operations, etc. This application does not limit this.

[0130] Tenth, for ease of description herein, when referring to an index or identifier, the index or identifier may be numbered consecutively starting from 1. For example, the T reference reference signal resources include the 1st to the Tth reference reference signal resources. Of course, the specific implementation is not limited to this. For example, the index or identifier may be numbered consecutively starting from 0, in which case the T reference reference signal resources include the 0th to the (T-1)th reference reference signal resources.

[0131] Eleventh, channel estimation refers to the process of reconstructing or recovering the received signal in order to compensate for signal distortion caused by channel fading and noise fading. It uses a reference signal known in advance at both the transmitting and receiving ends to track the time and frequency domain changes of the channel. In this article, the reference signal is a reference signal, such as CSI-RS. The transmitter of CSI-RS can be a network device, and the receiver of CSI-RS can be a terminal. For the sake of convenience, the process of sending a reference signal (such as CSI-RS) from a network device to a terminal and feeding back CSI based on the received reference signal is referred to as a channel estimation.

[0132] Of course, the reference signal can also be other reference signals, such as SRS. In this case, the transmitter of SRS can be the terminal, and the receiver of SRS can be the network device. The process of sending a reference signal (such as SRS) from the terminal to the network device and feeding back CSI based on the received reference signal is also recorded as a channel estimation.

[0133] Twelfth, this application involves channel estimation results and channel measurement results. A channel measurement result refers to a channel obtained based on the measurement of a reference signal. For example, a channel with m1 ports can be obtained by measuring a reference signal with m1 ports. A channel estimation result refers to a channel estimated based on a channel measurement result, typically a channel with more ports. For example, a channel with k1 ports (k1 ≥ m1) can be estimated based on an m1 port channel (or channel measurement result).

[0134] Furthermore, for ease of understanding and explanation, the CSI indications are distinguished by channel measurement results, channel estimation results, and PMI. The distinction between channel measurement results and channel estimation results has been explained above and will not be repeated here. PMI is used to indicate a precoding matrix, such as the precoding matrix corresponding to a channel with k1 ports.

[0135] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, sidelink (SL) communication system, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system or new radio access technology (NR). Among them, the 5G mobile communication system may include non-standalone (NSA) and / or standalone (SA). The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as sixth generation (6G) mobile communication systems. This application is not limited to this.

[0136] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applicable to the communication method provided in this application. Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a possible, non-limiting system architecture. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 via a wireless connection. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 via a wireless or wired connection. The core network equipment in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 can be different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device that integrates the core network logical functions and the radio access network logical functions.

[0137] The RAN 100 may be a cellular system related to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as a 4G or 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolutionary system (such as a 6G mobile communication system). The RAN 100 may also be an open access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system. The RAN 100 may also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0138] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as access network equipment, RAN entity, or access node, is part of a communication system that facilitates wireless access for terminals. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 10 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are relative. For example, network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal 120j accessing RAN 100 via network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal. RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices. For example, network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication devices with base station functionality, and network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0139] In one possible scenario, a RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a next-generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. A RAN node may be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1 ), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Alternatively, a RAN node may be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle, or an onboard device. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology may be a roadside unit (RSU).

[0140] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0141] 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 the 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 uses 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.

[0142] Terminals can also be referred to as terminal devices, user equipment (UE), mobile stations, or mobile terminals. They can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, and smart cities. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, and smart home appliances.

[0143] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal and network device can be hardware devices, or software functions running on dedicated hardware, software functions running on general-purpose hardware, such as virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform), or entities including dedicated or general-purpose hardware devices and software functions. The present application does not limit the specific form of the terminal and network device.

[0144] Wireless communication systems have undergone a remarkable evolution and research process, from first-generation analog communications to 5G NR and the current 6G technologies. Throughout this complex evolution, high throughput and massive connections have always been core challenges for wireless communication networks. Among the various solutions for 5G NR and 6G, Massive MIMO, which significantly increases system capacity, will continue to be a key technology to meet high-speed transmission requirements. This technology leverages spatial resources to achieve array gain, multiplexing and diversity gain, and interference cancellation gain in space without increasing system bandwidth, exponentially increasing communication system capacity and spectral efficiency.

[0145] In Massive MIMO, using a large number of antennas can improve wireless capacity and coverage. To ensure system performance, both the transmitter and receiver use reference signals for channel estimation and measurement. As the number of antennas increases, the air interface overhead associated with reference signals also increases dramatically.

[0146] Taking CSI-RS as an example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 rd Release 15 (R15) of the 3GPP standard supports CSI-RS ports in the following numbers: {1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32}. The mapping between the reference signal and time-frequency resources for each port is defined using a resource pattern. CSI-RS signals from multiple ports can reuse a set of time-frequency resources using code division, frequency division, or time division. Release 19 is considering expanding the number of CSI-RS ports to a maximum of 64. As can be seen, the increasing number of ports also increases the use of air interface resources.

[0147] Figure 2 shows how the air interface overhead of CSI-RS varies with the number of ports. Assuming a CSI-RS frequency-domain density of 0.5 RE / port / RB, a duration of 10 transmission time intervals (TTIs), a 1:4 uplink / downlink subframe ratio, and 30 UEs, the air interface overhead increases dramatically with the number of CSI-RS ports. As shown in the figure, the air interface overhead for 32 CSI-RS ports is as follows: 1.2% for cell-specific overhead and 35.7% for UE-specific overhead. When the number of CSI-RS ports is increased to 64, the air interface overhead is as follows: 2.4% for cell-specific overhead and 71.4% for UE-specific overhead. When the number of CSI-RS ports is increased to 90, the air interface overhead is as follows: 3.3% for cell-specific overhead and 100.4% for UE-specific overhead. It can be seen that if a larger number of CSI-RS ports (such as 128 / 256 / 512 / 1024 / ...) is to be implemented, the air interface overhead will increase dramatically, and the traditional evolution path will be difficult to sustain.

[0148] On the other hand, in some scenarios, such as energy-saving scenarios, RF channels can be dynamically shut down based on service needs. This requires a large number of antenna ports that can change dynamically. However, current standards cannot support large-scale port counts and dynamically change the number of ports as RF channels are shut down. Therefore, it is not flexible enough.

[0149] In view of this, the present application provides a method that can flexibly select reference signal resources to transmit reference signals according to needs. The method defines a baseline reference signal resource and corresponding channel estimation auxiliary information, and the channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to assist the terminal in estimating the channels of a majority (such as a maximum of K, K is a positive integer greater than or equal to M) ports based on the reference signals of a few ports. In this way, the network device can flexibly select part or all of the resources in the baseline reference signal resource to transmit the reference signal according to business needs. The terminal can perform channel estimation based on the channel estimation auxiliary information and the received reference signal. Therefore, it can support the flexible change of the number of ports in the scenario where the RF channel is dynamically shut down, and the air interface resource overhead of the reference signal is also reduced.

[0150] The method provided by this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0151] In order to better understand the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the terms involved in the present application are briefly explained below.

[0152] 1. Antenna port: This can be shortened to port and is a logical concept. An antenna port does not directly correspond to a physical antenna. Antenna ports are usually associated with reference signals, and their meaning can be understood as a transceiver interface on the channel that the reference signal travels through. For low-frequency systems, an antenna port may correspond to one or more antenna elements, which jointly transmit reference signals. The receiver can treat them as a whole without distinguishing between these elements. For high-frequency systems, an antenna port may correspond to a beam. Similarly, the receiver only needs to regard this beam as an interface without distinguishing between each element.

[0153] 2. Channel estimation auxiliary information: can be used to assist channel estimation. In this application, it can be used to assist the terminal in estimating the channel of the majority port based on the reference signal of the minority port.

[0154] Channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained based on the channel. For example, the channel is recorded as a matrix H, which can be called a channel matrix. For each receiving port, the channel matrix H includes N TX columns, N TX Indicates the number of transmission ports, that is, the number of ports for reference signals. For example, the dimension of the channel matrix H is N RE ×N TX , N RE Indicates the number of REs used to transmit the reference signal. The channel can be obtained based on prior information, for example, it can be a downlink channel obtained by estimating the uplink channel based on uplink and downlink reciprocity, or it can be a channel in a historical period, or it can be a channel predicted by an artificial intelligence (AI) model, and this application does not limit this.

[0155] FIG3 exemplarily shows the channel estimation auxiliary information. For example, the channel matrix H is subjected to singular value decomposition (SVD) to obtain the spatial projection matrix V of the channel H , matrix V H The dimension is Z×N TX , that is, including N TX column vectors, each of which is N TX The spatial basis vector corresponding to one of the ports. The matrix V H It is a matrix composed of Z row vectors in the right unitary matrix obtained by performing SVD on the channel matrix H, where Z is the rank of the channel. However, this application is not limited to this. The matrix V H It can also be determined based on prior information in a predefined codebook. TX code words, the N TX Each codeword in the N codewords isTX The spatial basis vector corresponding to one of the ports.

[0156] From the matrix V H Obtain the maximum linearly independent group of column vectors, which includes, for example, Z column vectors. Considering a certain amount of redundancy, the maximum linearly independent group can be obtained from the matrix V H Select N aug (N aug is an integer greater than or equal to Z) column vector, the N aug The column vectors contain the above Z column vectors (that is, the maximal linearly uncorrelated group). aug The subscript aug indicates augmented. aug column vectors in V H The position in the matrix P can be obtained aug , whose dimension is N TX ×N aug , N aug is less than or equal to N TX As shown in the figure, the matrix P aug In each row of the matrix P, the number of non-zero elements (such as "1") does not exceed 1. aug In each column of , the number of non-zero elements (such as "1") is 1. The matrix P aug Including N aug non-zero elements (such as "1"), each non-zero element is located in the matrix P aug In a column, all other elements are zero, indicating that TX Select the more important N aug ports are used to send reference signals. The matrix P aug Chinese N aug The positions of the non-zero elements in their respective columns are the same as the above N aug Column in V H The position in corresponds to that in N aug Ports in N TX The index in the port, so the matrix P can also be called aug is a port pattern used to indicate a reference signal.

[0157] By matrix V H and the matrix P aug Channel estimation auxiliary information P can be obtained + , P + Satisfy: (V H P aug ) -1 V H , whose dimension is N aug ×N TX Among them, P+ A column vector in is N TX Based on the channel estimation auxiliary sub-information, the network device can realize the channel estimation of the N ports of the maximum linearly uncorrelated group. aug N corresponding to the spatial basis vectors aug The terminal sends a reference signal based on the channel estimation auxiliary information P + and received from the N aug The reference signal of the ports is estimated to be N TX The channel of the port.

[0158] Specifically, the reference signal received by the terminal is transmitted by the network device through N aug The reference signal sent by the port is N, so the reference signal received by the terminal has undergone N aug The reference signal of the channel corresponding to the port. The terminal can measure the channel H' based on the reference signal, and H' satisfies: H'=H·P aug , the dimension of H' is N TX ×N aug Then the channel H' is combined with the channel estimation auxiliary information P + Multiplying them, we get N TX Estimated value of the channel of the port satisfy:

[0159] It is not difficult to see that although the number of ports N sending the reference signal aug Can be less than or equal to N TX However, due to the calculation of V H The maximum linearly uncorrelated group of N aug ports, so the remaining ports are the same as the N aug At least one of the N ports is relevant, so aug The channel estimation auxiliary information P + Satisfy: (V H P aug ) -1 V H , just like V H The terminal performs a matrix division operation. When performing channel estimation, the terminal obtains the channel (i.e., HP aug ) multiplied by the channel estimation auxiliary information P + , we can get: HP aug (V H P aug ) -1 V H , from which we can get the V HThe corresponding channel matrix H, that is, N can be reconstructed TX The channel of the port.

[0160] It should be understood that the above-mentioned channel estimation method based on channel estimation auxiliary information is a channel estimation method based on sparse theory.

[0161] The communication method provided in the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10. It should be understood that in the processes shown in these figures, the method is described by taking the interaction between a network device and a terminal as an example. The network device in Figure 4 can also be replaced by a component configured in the network device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The terminal can be replaced by a component configured in the terminal (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal.

[0162] Figure 4 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication method 400 shown in Figure 4 includes steps 401 to 410. Each step in the method 400 is described in detail below.

[0163] In step 410, the network device sends a first reference signal on a first resource. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the first resource.

[0164] Exemplarily, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU, step 410 may be specifically implemented as follows: the CU-CP generates a first reference signal, and sends the first reference signal to the terminal through the DU and the RU; in an ORAN, step 410 may be specifically implemented as follows: the O-CU-CP generates a first reference signal, and sends the first reference signal to the terminal through the O-DU and the O-RU.

[0165] Among them, the first resource comes from the first benchmark reference signal resource, that is, the first resource is part or all of the resources in the first benchmark reference signal resource. Since the first benchmark reference signal resource may include resources in three dimensions: time domain, frequency domain, and spatial domain, the first resource is part or all of the resources in the first benchmark reference signal resource, which may specifically include: the resources occupied by the first resource in the time and frequency domain are part or all of the resources of the first benchmark reference signal resource, and / or, the resources occupied by the first resource in the spatial domain are part or all of the resources of the first benchmark reference signal resource. Among them, the resources occupied by the first resource in the spatial domain are part or all of the resources of the first benchmark reference signal resource, which can also be replaced by, the ports included in the first resource are part or all of the ports included in the first benchmark reference signal resource.

[0166] In the present application, the first baseline reference signal resource includes K ports, where K is a positive integer. Some or all of the K ports can be used to transmit reference signals. For example, the first baseline reference signal resource can be used to transmit reference signals for up to M ports, where M is a positive integer less than or equal to K.

[0167] Based on the process of obtaining the port pattern in the above terminology description, it can be known that M (which may correspond to N in the above terminology description) aug ) ports can be from K (which can correspond to N in the above terminology description TX ) ports are selected as more important ports, and (KM) ports excluding the M ports among the K ports are correlated with at least one of the M ports. Therefore, the reference signals of the M ports can support channel estimation for a maximum of K ports. In other words, the reference signals of the M ports can be used to estimate channels of no more than K ports. In other words, the maximum number of ports supported by the first reference reference signal resource for channel estimation is K.

[0168] Because the first resource is derived from the first baseline reference signal resource, the number of ports for the first reference signal transmitted on the first resource may be no greater than M, denoted herein as m1, where m1 is a positive integer less than or equal to M. It is understood that the m1 ports are from the M ports. In other words, the m1 ports are some or all of the M ports. Based on the above description, it is not difficult to deduce that the reference signals of the m1 ports can be used to estimate the channels of some or all of the K ports, for example, k1, where k1 is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to m1.

[0169] In this application, the first reference signal resource can be considered a pre-configured reference signal resource (specifically, a pre-configured network device). The network device can pre-configure the first reference signal resource to the terminal through signaling, or can indicate to the terminal the actual resource used to transmit the reference signal when channel estimation is required. This application does not limit this.

[0170] It should be understood that the first reference reference signal resource can be one of one or more reference reference signal resources. In other words, the network device can pre-configure one or more reference reference signal resources, each of which involves two port numbers: the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals (or simply, the maximum number of ports for reference signals, such as M above) and the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation (or simply, the maximum number of ports supported, or the number of included ports, such as K above). This embodiment is only illustrated by taking the first reference reference signal resource as an example, and should not constitute any limitation to this application.

[0171] It should be noted that the “maximum number of ports for reference signals” used for transmission of the reference signal resource can be understood as follows: According to the above description in combination with the channel estimation auxiliary information, the matrix for indicating the port pattern of the reference signal (that is, the matrix P above) can be determined by the maximum linearly uncorrelated group of the spatial projection matrix of the channel. aug ), the number of non-zero elements in the matrix is ​​recorded as the maximum number of ports for the reference signal transmitted by the above-mentioned reference reference signal resource, each non-zero element in the matrix is ​​located in a column, and each column corresponds to a port. In other words, the maximum number of ports for the reference signal transmitted by the reference reference signal resource can be the number of columns of the matrix. Taking the first reference reference signal resource as an example, the maximum number of ports for the reference signal transmitted is M, that is, the matrix for indicating the port pattern of the reference signal includes M columns. It should be understood that this does not mean that the network device can only use M ports to send reference signals. The network device can also use more than M ports to send reference signals, but the gain it brings is not large and may bring air interface overhead, so it is unnecessary.

[0172] Correspondingly, the "maximum number of ports supported" for a reference reference signal in channel estimation can be the number of rows in the matrix indicating the reference signal's port pattern. If resources are defined as resources in the time, frequency, and spatial domains, the "maximum number of ports supported" for a reference reference signal resource in channel estimation can be referred to as the number of ports contained in the reference reference signal resource. For example, the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation by the first reference reference signal resource is K, meaning that the first reference reference signal resource contains K ports.

[0173] In step 420, the terminal determines first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource.

[0174] Channel estimation auxiliary information has been introduced in the previous terminology description. In this embodiment, for the convenience of distinction and explanation, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first benchmark reference signal resource is recorded as benchmark channel estimation auxiliary information, and the channel estimation auxiliary information used for channel estimation based on the first reference signal is recorded as first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0175] The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented by a matrix, and its dimension can be corresponding to the maximum number of ports M of the reference signal used for transmission of the first reference reference signal resource and the maximum number of ports K supported for channel estimation. As an example, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is a matrix of dimension M×K. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to estimate the channels of K ports based on the channel measurement results of M ports. Estimating the channels of K ports based on the channel measurement results of M ports can be understood as follows: the channel measurement results obtained based on the reference signal measurement of M ports are the channels of M ports, and then based on the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, the channels of K ports can be reconstructed based on the channels of the M ports to obtain the channels. The same or similar descriptions below can be understood in this way and will not be repeated.

[0176] The reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be pre-configured to the terminal by the network device through signaling, or it can be determined by the terminal itself through the calculation method in the previous term description, or it can be historical channel estimation auxiliary information, or it can be pre-stored in the device before the device leaves the factory. This application does not limit this.

[0177] Since the first resource is part or all of the first reference signal resource, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be determined based on the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Based on the M×K dimension of the reference channel estimation auxiliary information described above, it can be easily deduced that the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be a matrix of m1×k1 dimensions, which can be a matrix corresponding to the m1 and k1 ports determined from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. The first channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to estimate the channel of the k1 port based on the channel measurement results of the m1 channel.

[0178] Since the following will describe the configuration of the first reference signal and the determination of the first channel estimation auxiliary information under different values ​​of m1 and k1 in combination with different embodiments, the specific implementation process of step 420 will not be described in detail here.

[0179] In step 430, the terminal determines first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the first CSI corresponds to channels of k1 ports.

[0180] In the present application, the first CSI may indicate a channel of k1 ports, for example, it may be a channel estimation result indicating a channel of k1 ports; it may also indicate a precoding matrix corresponding to the k1 ports, for example, it may be a PMI corresponding to the channel of k1 ports.

[0181] The channels corresponding to the k1 ports can be obtained based on the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. As previously described, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to estimate the channels of the k1 ports based on the channel measurement results of the m1 ports. That is, the terminal can obtain the channels of the m1 ports based on the first reference signal measurement and then reconstruct the channels of the k1 ports based on the channels of the m1 ports based on the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0182] Another possible implementation is that the terminal can measure the channel corresponding to the m1 port based on the reference signal of the m1 port, and then estimate the channel corresponding to the k1 port using the least squares (LS) method or interpolation method. In this case, the terminal can determine the channel of the m1 port based on the reference signal of the m1 port (i.e., the first reference signal), and then determine the channel of the k1 port, without combining it with the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Since the least squares method and interpolation are both existing technologies, they are not described in detail here.

[0183] After the channels of the k1 ports are determined, the channels of the k1 ports may be quantized to obtain a channel estimation result indicating the channels of the k1 ports.

[0184] The precoding matrix corresponding to the k1-port channel can be determined based on the k1-port channel. The terminal can use the method provided above to estimate the k1-port channel, and then perform SVD on the k1-port channel matrix to obtain a precoding matrix adapted thereto, and then quantize the precoding matrix using the PMI, for example, using the Type I or Type II codebook feedback method defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.214 to quantize the precoding matrix. Since the terminal obtains the precoding matrix based on the channel matrix and the method for quantizing the precoding matrix are both existing technologies, they are not described in detail here.

[0185] In step 440, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0186] For example, in a RAN deployed with a CU, DU, and RU, the specific implementation of step 440 may be: the RU receives the first CSI and forwards the received first CSI to the DU for processing; in an ORAN, the specific implementation of step 440 may be: the O-RU receives the first CSI and forwards the first CSI to the O-DU for processing after partial physical layer processing.

[0187] The terminal may use uplink resources to send the first CSI to the network device. Exemplarily, the first CSI is carried in uplink control information (UCI).

[0188] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device determining, according to the first CSI, a precoding matrix corresponding to channels of k1 ports.

[0189] It should be understood that the operations that the network device can perform according to the first CSI are internal implementations of the network device, and this application does not limit the operations performed by the network device after receiving the first CSI.

[0190] In one example, the network device can determine the precoding matrix corresponding to the k1-port channel based on the first CSI. As described in step 430, the first CSI determined by the terminal based on the first reference signal can be the PMI corresponding to the k1-port channel or a channel estimation result indicating the channel corresponding to the k1 port. Depending on the content of the first CSI, the network device's operation for determining the precoding matrix also varies.

[0191] If the first CSI is the PMI corresponding to the channels of k1 ports, the network device may directly determine the precoding matrix according to the PMI.

[0192] If the first CSI is a channel estimation result indicating a channel of k1 ports, the network device may determine a channel matrix of the k1 ports based on the channel estimation result, and further determine a precoding matrix corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports based on the channel matrix.

[0193] It should be understood that the specific method of determining the corresponding precoding matrix based on the channel matrix of k1 ports can refer to the existing technology. For example, SVD can be performed on the channel matrix of k1 ports, and the conjugate transpose of the obtained right unitary matrix can be determined as the precoding matrix, etc. The specific process is not described in detail here.

[0194] Based on the above technical solution, network devices can flexibly select some or all of the reference signal resources to transmit reference signals based on service requirements. Terminals can estimate the channel based on the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the reference signal resources and the received reference signal. This allows for flexible changes in the number of ports in scenarios where RF channels are dynamically shut down, reducing air interface resource overhead for reference signals.

[0195] In this application, the reference signal resources are defined in a variety of different ways.

[0196] One way is to divide the benchmark reference signal resource into multiple resources of smaller granularity (recorded as reference signal resource units), and the network device can flexibly select one or more reference signal resource units from multiple reference signal resource units to transmit the reference signal. Each reference signal resource unit can correspond to a channel estimation auxiliary information, and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units are spliced ​​together to obtain the benchmark channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the benchmark reference signal resource. The terminal can perform channel estimation based on the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit used when actually transmitting the reference signal. The embodiments shown in Figures 5, 8 and 9 below will describe the method provided by the present application in combination with this method.

[0197] Another approach is to configure the reference signal resource as a whole. The network device can select some or all of the ports to transmit the reference signal. This reference signal resource corresponds to the reference channel estimation assistance information. The terminal can estimate the channel of any number of ports within the maximum supported port number range based on the reference signal ports used when actually transmitting the reference signal. The embodiment shown in Figure 10 below will use this approach to describe the method provided by this application.

[0198] The above two methods will be described in more detail below in conjunction with different embodiments.

[0199] FIG5 is another schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. In the method shown in FIG5, the first reference signal resource is divided into R (R is a positive integer greater than 1) reference signal resource units of smaller granularity. The network device pre-configures the first reference signal resource for the terminal through signaling. During channel estimation, the network device can use S (S is a positive integer less than or equal to R) of the R reference signal resources in the S reference signal resources to transmit the first reference signal.

[0200] The method 500 shown in Figure 5 may include steps 510 to 560. Each step in the method 500 is described in detail below.

[0201] In step 510, the network device sends first information to the terminal, where the first information is used to configure R reference signal resource units. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first information from the network device.

[0202] Exemplarily, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU, step 510 may be specifically implemented as follows: the CU-CP generates the first information and sends the first information to the terminal through the DU and the RU; in an ORAN, step 510 may be specifically implemented as follows: the O-CU-CP generates the first information and sends the first information to the terminal through the O-DU and the O-RU.

[0203] In this embodiment, the first reference signal resource is divided into R reference signal resource units. Therefore, the first information is used to configure the R reference signal resource units. Alternatively, the first information can be used to configure the first reference signal resource. In other words, the first information can also be referred to as configuration information of the R reference signal resource units, or configuration information of the first reference reference signal resource.

[0204] Exemplarily, the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each reference signal resource element: an identifier, a resource pattern, a port pattern, a number of ports supported for channel estimation, or channel estimation auxiliary information. In other words, the network device's configuration of each of the R reference signal resource elements includes an indication of one or more of the following: an identifier, a resource pattern, a port pattern, a number of ports supported for channel estimation, or channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0205] For ease of understanding, the following takes the rth reference signal resource unit as an example to introduce the configuration of the reference signal resource unit by the first information. It should be understood that the rth reference signal resource unit is any one of the R reference signal resource units, and r can be any integer from 1 to R. The rth reference signal resource unit includes N r ports, which can be used to transmit L r The reference signal of the port, and the L r The reference signals of the ports can be used to estimate N r The channel of the port, L r ≥N r , L r and N r Is a positive integer.

[0206] Identifier: Different identifiers can be used to identify different reference signal resource units. Each identifier corresponds to a reference signal resource unit.

[0207] Resource pattern: Since the rth reference signal resource unit contains N r ports, which can be used to transmit L r The reference signal of the port, the resource pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit can indicate the L r The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource in the ports. That is, based on the resource pattern, L rThe reference signal of each port in the ports is mapped to which time-frequency resources (more specifically, to which REs), so as to facilitate reception by the terminal at the corresponding position.

[0208] Port pattern: Since the rth reference signal resource unit can be used to transmit L r The reference signal of the ports is estimated to obtain N r The channel matrix of ports, and the L r The ports are included in N r The port pattern can indicate the L r Ports in N r It can be understood that the port pattern implicitly indicates the number of ports used for transmitting the reference signal and the number of ports supported for channel estimation in the r-th reference signal resource unit.

[0209] When the first information is used to indicate the resource pattern and the port pattern, a possible implementation method is to perform the matrix P r To indicate the resource pattern and port pattern. r satisfy: P port,r represents the port pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit, P RE,r represents the resource pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit, represents the Kronecker product. Therefore, in this paper, P r It is called the pattern corresponding to the rth reference signal resource unit.

[0210] The matrix P is described in detail below. port,r and P RE,r .

[0211] For example, the number of REs included in the rth reference signal resource unit is N RE,r , the number of ports supported for channel estimation is N r , for each receiving port, the observable channel matrix H r The dimension is N RE,r ×N r The matrix P port,r and P RE,r It can be obtained by processing the channel in the spatial domain and the time-frequency domain respectively.

[0212] 1) Airspace processing:

[0213] The network device can be based on the channel matrix H rPerforming orthogonal-triangular (QR) decomposition in the airspace, we can obtain the matrix P port,r , matrix P port,r The dimension is N r ×L r , including L r non-zero elements, and the rest are zero. r non-zero elements in the matrix P port,r L r columns, that is, each non-zero element is located in the matrix P port,r The L r The non-zero elements correspond to L r ports, the position of each non-zero element in the column indicates the corresponding port in N r This indicates the index of the port from N r Select the more important L r For example, if a non-zero element is in the first row of its column, it means that the port corresponding to the non-zero element is L r The first port among the ports can also determine the index of the port. It should be understood that the matrix P port,r The matrix P in the above terminology introduction of channel estimation auxiliary information aug are equivalent.

[0214] The channel matrix H r Right multiplication matrix P port,r , we can get the matrix H r ', H r '=H r P port,r The matrix H r 'The dimension is N RE,r ×L r , that is, the number of ports is N r L r It is like achieving port dimensionality reduction in the spatial domain through precoding.

[0215] 2) Time-frequency domain processing:

[0216] Further, the matrix H r 'The transpose of the time-frequency QR decomposition can be obtained by matrix P RE,r , matrix P RE,r The dimension is N RE,r ×N' RE,r , N' RE,r Less than N RE,r The matrix P RE,r Contains N' RE,r non-zero elements, and the rest are zero. RE,rnon-zero elements in the matrix P RE,r N' RE,r columns, that is, each non-zero element is located in the matrix P RE,r The N' RE,r The non-zero elements correspond to N' RE,r REs, the position of each non-zero element in the column indicates the corresponding RE in N RE,r This means the index from N RE,r Select the more important N' from RE RE,r This can reduce the resource overhead of the reference signal in the time and frequency domain.

[0217] It should be understood that the matrix P is described above by taking the spatial domain processing as an example and then the time-frequency domain processing as an example. port,r and P RE,r (or port pattern and resource pattern) acquisition process, but this should not constitute any limitation to this application. In the actual processing process, the network device can also first calculate the channel matrix H r Perform QR decomposition in the time-frequency domain and then in the spatial domain to obtain P port,r and P RE,r , and then get P r Alternatively, the network device may also obtain the port pattern and resource pattern in other ways, which is not limited in this application. The network device may obtain the matrix {P corresponding to each reference signal resource based on the above process. r}, and indicate it to the terminal through the first information.

[0218] because So we can get P r The dimension is: (N r ×N RE,r )×(L r ×N' RE,r ).

[0219] It should also be understood that the indication of the port pattern and resource pattern can also be obtained by port,r and P RE,r It is achieved by the instruction of , and not necessarily by the matrix P r To indicate.

[0220] In another implementation, the network device may not indicate the resource pattern and port pattern of each reference reference signal resource through the first information, but the terminal may determine it. The terminal may also obtain the matrix {P corresponding to each reference reference signal resource based on the above process. r}, or obtain the matrix {P corresponding to each reference signal resource port,r} and {P RE,r}, or, obtain a resource pattern and a port pattern corresponding to each benchmark reference signal resource; or, the terminal may also obtain a historical port pattern and a resource pattern of the reference signal resources occupying the same position as each benchmark reference signal resource, which is not limited in this application.

[0221] Alternatively, the network device can port,r or P RE,r The first information is used to indicate the terminal, and the terminal determines another item based on the received first information.

[0222] It should be noted that P port,r and P RE,r The subscripts "port" and "RE" are only used to distinguish between spatial domain (i.e., port) resources and time-frequency domain resources (e.g., time-frequency units). A time-frequency unit may include, but is not limited to, a resource element (RE). For example, a time-frequency unit may include multiple REs, which may be used to send reference signals to multiple ports. In other words, the multiple ports may multiplex the multiple REs (e.g., time division multiplexing or frequency division multiplexing), or the multiple REs may be multiplexed by the multiple ports.

[0223] Channel estimation auxiliary information: The channel estimation auxiliary information has been introduced in the previous terminology. The channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented by a matrix. In this embodiment, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit can be represented as a matrix with a smaller dimension than the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Since the rth reference signal resource unit can be used to transmit L r The reference signal of the ports is estimated to obtain N r The channel matrix of ports, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the r-th reference signal resource unit can be expressed as L r ×N r The matrix of .

[0224] The network device may indicate the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit to the terminal through the first information, or may not indicate the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit through the first information. The terminal may also determine the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit independently. The terminal may also calculate the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit based on the method provided in the above terminology. Alternatively, the terminal may obtain historical channel estimation assistance information for reference signal resources that occupy the same location as each reference signal resource unit.

[0225] Number of ports supported for channel estimation: The number of ports of the channel matrix that can be estimated by the reference signal transmitted by the reference signal resource. For example, the number of ports supported for channel estimation by the rth reference signal resource unit is N rThat is, the rth reference signal resource unit can be used to estimate N r The channel of the port.

[0226] Since the dimension of the channel estimation auxiliary information of each reference signal resource unit is related to the number of ports supported for channel estimation, the number of columns of the channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource unit can be the number of ports supported for channel estimation by the r-th reference signal resource unit. Therefore, the number of ports supported for channel estimation can be indicated by the channel estimation auxiliary information. In other words, the channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource unit is one possible form of indicating the number of ports supported for channel estimation by the r-th reference signal resource unit.

[0227] It should be understood that the above-mentioned R reference signal resource units can also be predefined. For example, the resource pattern, port pattern and reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the R reference signal resource units have been pre-stored before the equipment leaves the factory, without the need for the network device to indicate to the terminal through the first information.

[0228] In addition, it should be noted that, in this embodiment, the first reference reference signal resource is divided into R reference signal resource units, and the port pattern corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource can be determined by the port patterns corresponding to the R reference signal resource units respectively, and the resource pattern corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource can be determined by the resource patterns corresponding to the R reference signal resource units respectively.

[0229] For example, the patterns corresponding to the R reference signal resource units are recorded as: P1, P2, ..., P R , the pattern corresponding to the first reference signal resource can be expressed as P #1 , P #1 satisfy:

[0230] Among them, the port pattern P port,#1 and resource pattern P RE,#1 Can also satisfy:

[0231] P RE,#1 =P RE,1 =P RE,2 =…=P RE,R .

[0232] Among them, P RE,#1 =P RE,1 =P RE,2 =…=P RE,R It indicates that the time-frequency resources occupied by the R reference signal resource units are the same, and different ports can be distinguished by port multiplexing.

[0233] The reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource may be determined by the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the R reference signal resource units respectively.

[0234] For example, the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resource units is recorded as follows: The reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource can be expressed as a matrix satisfy:

[0235] In each matrix shown above, the subscript #1 indicates that it corresponds to the first reference signal resource, and the subscripts 1 to R indicate that they correspond to the 1st to Rth reference signal resource units.

[0236] Since the rth reference signal resource unit is one of the R reference signal resource units, the R reference signal resource units (that is, the first base reference signal) include K ports, or in other words, the R reference signal resource units can be used to estimate channels of K ports, K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and is greater than or equal to the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any reference signal resource unit in the R reference signal resource units, that is,

[0237] The R reference signal resource units may be used to transmit reference signals of M ports, where M is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for transmitting reference signals respectively used by the R reference signal resource units, and is greater than the number of ports for transmitting reference signals used by any one of the R reference signal resource units. That is,

[0238] It is not difficult to see that when any multiple reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units are combined together to transmit a reference signal, the number of ports for the transmitted reference signal can be related to the sum of the number of ports for the reference signal transmitted by the any multiple reference signal resource units, and the number of ports that can support channel estimation is also related to the sum of the number of ports supported by the any multiple reference signal resource units, or in other words, it is also related to the sum of the number of ports included in the any multiple reference signal resources. In other words, the number of ports included in each reference signal resource unit proposed in this embodiment can be accumulated, and the number of ports for the reference signal transmitted by each reference signal resource unit can be accumulated.

[0239] Furthermore, the R reference signal resource units include one or more common ports. Each common port may specifically refer to a corresponding time-frequency resource included in at least two reference signal resource units. That is, the common port is a port included in different reference signal resource units but corresponding to the same time-frequency resource. The common port can be called a reference port (or a benchmark port, a shared port, etc.) and can be used as a reference for channel splicing in a subsequent channel estimation process. Since the channel splicing process will be described later in conjunction with step 550, it will not be described in detail here.

[0240] If the R reference signal resource units include one or more reference ports, the number of ports K included in the first reference reference signal resource is less than the sum of the number of ports included in the R reference signal resource units, that is, The number M of ports used for transmitting reference signals by the first reference signal resource is less than the sum of the number of ports used for transmitting reference signals by the R reference signal resource units, that is,

[0241] If the R reference signal resource units do not include a reference port, the number of ports K included in the first reference reference signal resource is less than the sum of the number of ports included in the R reference signal resource units, that is, The number M of ports used for transmitting reference signals by the first reference signal resource is less than the sum of the number of ports used for transmitting reference signals by the R reference signal resource units, that is,

[0242] Optionally, the R reference signal resources respectively support the same number of ports for channel estimation, or in other words, the R reference signal resource units respectively include the same number of ports.

[0243] In one example, the first reference signal resource includes 1024 ports, and the number of ports supporting channel estimation is 1024. The first reference signal resource is divided into 16 reference signal resource units, that is, R=16, each reference signal resource unit includes 64 ports, and the number of ports supporting channel estimation is 64.

[0244] Optionally, the R reference signal resources are respectively used for transmitting reference signals with the same port number.

[0245] In one example, the first reference signal resource can be used to transmit reference signals of 640 ports. The first reference signal resource is divided into 16 reference signal resource units, ie, R=16. Each reference signal resource unit is used to transmit reference signals of 40 ports.

[0246] Of course, the numbers of channel estimation ports supported by the R reference signal resource units may also be different. For example, the number of channel estimation ports supported by one reference signal resource unit is 64, and the number of channel estimation ports supported by another reference signal resource unit is 128.

[0247] The R reference signal resource units may be used to transmit reference signals of different ports. For example, one reference signal resource unit may be used to transmit reference signals of 40 ports, and another reference signal resource unit may be used to transmit reference signals of 100 ports.

[0248] In other words, the granularity of the R reference signal resource units may be the same or different, and this application does not impose any limitation on this.

[0249] The network device may configure one or more reference reference signal resources for the terminal, for example, T, where T is a positive integer. The configuration of each reference reference signal resource may be performed in the manner described above. The network device may configure the T reference reference signal resources using the first information, or may configure the T reference reference signal resources using T configuration information (including the above-mentioned first information), which is not limited in this application.

[0250] Furthermore, when T is greater than 1, the network device may further indicate an identifier of the first reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources.

[0251] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sending fourth information to the terminal, where the fourth information is used to indicate an identifier of a first reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the fourth information from the network device.

[0252] Each of the T reference reference signal resources can be used to transmit a reference signal of one or more ports and support channel estimation of one or more ports. Taking the t-th reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources as an example, the t-th reference reference signal resource can be used to transmit M t Reference signals for ports, supporting K t The channel estimation of ports, where K t ≥M t , K t and M t Is a positive integer.

[0253] Any two of the T reference signal resources satisfy the following conditions: the number of ports used for transmitting reference signals is different, and / or the number of ports supported for channel estimation is different. That is, for any two different values ​​of t 1 and t 2, K t1 ≠K t2 , and / or, Mt1 ≠M t2 .

[0254] In step 520, the network device sends a first reference signal on S reference signal resource units. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the S reference signal resources.

[0255] Similar to step 410, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU, step 520 may be specifically implemented as follows: the CU-CP generates a first reference signal and sends the first reference signal to the terminal through the DU and RU; in an ORAN, step 520 may be specifically implemented as follows: the O-CU-CP generates a first reference signal and sends the first reference signal to the terminal through the O-DU and O-RU.

[0256] The S reference signal resource units are from the R reference signal resource units, that is, from the first reference signal resource. In this embodiment, the first reference signal is transmitted through the S reference signal resource units. In other words, the S reference signal resource units are an example of the first resource.

[0257] The number m1 of ports of the first reference signal is less than or equal to the sum of the numbers of ports of the S reference signal resource units used for transmitting the reference signals.

[0258] Optionally, before step 520, the method further includes step 530, where the network device sends second information to the terminal, where the second information is used to indicate S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units. Accordingly, the terminal receives the second information from the network device.

[0259] That is, before transmitting the first reference signal through the S reference signal resource units, the network device may indicate the S reference signal resource units to the terminal through signaling, so that the terminal can receive the first reference signal on the corresponding resources.

[0260] In one example, the second information indicates a bitmap, for example, the second information may be a bitmap, a high-base value for indicating a bitmap, or an index for indicating a bitmap. The bitmap may include R bits, corresponding one-to-one to the R reference signal resource units, and the value of each bit is used to indicate whether the corresponding reference signal resource unit belongs to the S reference signal resource units, or whether it is used to transmit the first reference signal.

[0261] For example, the first benchmark reference signal resource includes 16 (i.e., R=16) reference signal resource units, and the network device indicates through the second information the bit map "0111 1000 0000 0000", which means that the S reference signal resource units are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units among the 16 reference signal resource units.

[0262] The network device can directly send the bit map "0111 1000 0000 0000" as the second information, or the network device can also represent the bit map "0111 1000 0000 0000" through a high-radix value (such as decimal, hexadecimal, etc.), and send the high-radix value as the second information, or send the bit map "0111 1000 0000 0000" or the index corresponding to its high-radix value as the second information, thereby reducing the overhead of the second information. Among them, if the bit map or the index corresponding to its high-radix value is used as the second information, the network device and the terminal can pre-negotiate the correspondence between different bit maps or their high-radix values ​​and different indexes, such as pre-defined by the protocol, or pre-indicated by signaling, and this application does not limit this.

[0263] It can be understood that if the network device indicates S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units through a bitmap, the network device may not need to indicate the identifiers of the R reference signal resource units through the first information.

[0264] In another example, the second information is the identifiers of the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units. That is, the network device indicates the S reference signal resource units by using the identifiers of the S reference signal resource units. For example, the R reference signal resource units can be distinguished by different identifiers, each identifier being used to identify a reference signal resource unit. The terminal can determine the S reference signal resource units from the preconfigured R reference signal resource units based on the identifiers of the S reference signal resource units.

[0265] Of course, the first resource used by the network device to send the first reference signal may not be indicated by the second information. For example, the network device and the terminal may pre-negotiate which reference signal resource units in the first reference reference signal resource to use. For example, the network device and the terminal may determine which reference signal resource units in the first reference reference signal resource to use for each reference signal transmission according to the same rule. For example, the reference signal resource units used for each reference signal transmission may be selected from the R reference signal resource units in the order of the identifiers from smallest to largest based on the number of ports of the channel to be estimated. For another example, the reference signal resource units used for each reference signal transmission may be selected from the R reference signal resource units in the principle of selecting the least number of reference signal resource units based on the number of ports of the channel to be estimated, and so on. No further examples are given.

[0266] In this embodiment, the network device can transmit the first reference signal through each of the S reference signal resource units. The first reference signal received by the terminal on each of the S reference signal resource units is transmitted through the channel signal, channel satisfy: r s Indicates the identifier of the sth reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units, For the r s The channel matrix corresponding to the reference signal resource units, Indicates that the r s The port pattern of the reference signal resource unit.

[0267] In the example above, the S reference signal resource units are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units among the 16 reference signal resource units. The network device transmits the first reference signal on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units. The first reference signals received by the terminal on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units are signals that have passed through channels H2', H3', H4', and H5', respectively. H2'=H2·P port,2 , H3'=H3·P port,3 , H4'=H4·P port,4 , H5'=H5·P port,5 .

[0268] In another implementation, the first reference signal transmitted through S reference signal resource units can be expressed by the following formula: H·P A ·x. Where H is the channel matrix, P AIt is a matrix of dimension K×m1, which can be used to reduce the channel matrix from K ports to m1 ports, or to select m1 ports from K ports. A satisfy: Among them, P port,A Represents the port pattern corresponding to the first resource, and is used to indicate the index of m1 ports in M ​​ports. It can be understood that the port pattern corresponding to the first resource is determined by the port patterns corresponding to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units respectively. port,A It is used to reduce the channel dimension from M ports to m1 ports, or to select m1 ports from M ports. For the terminal, the first reference signal it receives is the signal that has passed through the channel H'. It can be understood that the channel H' is a channel matrix of m1 ports.

[0269] Here, the subscript A is used to distinguish it from the matrix corresponding to the first baseline reference signal resource and each reference signal resource unit in the previous text, and represents the port pattern corresponding to the first resource (for example, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units).

[0270] It should be noted that since the first reference signal sent by the network device on S reference signal resource units can be used to obtain S spliced ​​channels, the network device can use the same sending parameters to send the first reference signal, and the terminal can also use the same receiving parameters to receive the first reference signal.

[0271] Furthermore, since the S reference resource units are not necessarily continuous in the time domain, the network device's operation of transmitting the first reference signal in step 502 may be a single transmission operation or multiple transmission operations. Accordingly, the terminal's operation of receiving the first reference signal may be a single reception operation or multiple reception operations. This application does not limit the number of operations of transmitting and receiving the first reference signal.

[0272] Furthermore, taking into account the time-varying characteristics of the channel and the high mobility of the terminal, the maximum interval in the time domain among the S reference signal resource units is no greater than a preset threshold. In other words, among the S reference signal resources, the interval between the reference signal resource unit at the front and the reference signal resource unit at the back is no greater than the preset threshold. In other words, the time interval between the first transmission of the first reference signal and the last transmission of the first reference signal is no greater than the preset threshold, or in other words, the time interval between the first reception of the first reference signal and the last reception of the first reference signal is no greater than the preset threshold. By constraining the time interval, the channel estimated by the terminal based on the received first reference signal more accurately reflects the current channel state.

[0273] In step 540, the terminal determines first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0274] In this embodiment, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate channels of k1 ports based on reference signals of m1 ports.

[0275] The terminal can determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information based on the position of the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resources. For example, in the above example, the first resource includes 4 reference signal resource units, which are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units in the 16 reference signal resource units. Therefore, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained based on the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units. In order to distinguish it from the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the previous text, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is recorded as the matrix satisfy:

[0276] It can be understood that the first channel estimation assistance information includes channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units. Since the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit is derived from the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource, the first channel estimation assistance information is determined based on the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to some of the reference signal resource units. This can also be referred to as determining the first channel estimation assistance information based on the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource.

[0277] In addition, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained by the matrix It can also be expressed in the form of a sub-matrix (for example, and ) in the form of, and this application does not limit this.

[0278] In step 550, the terminal determines first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the first CSI corresponds to k1 ports.

[0279] As mentioned above, the first CSI may indicate the channel of k1 ports, for example, it may be a channel estimation result indicating the channel of k1 ports; it may also indicate the precoding matrix corresponding to the k1 ports, for example, it may be the PMI corresponding to the channel of k1 ports.

[0280] In this embodiment, the terminal can measure the channels of the m1 ports based on the first reference signal, and then determine the channels of the k1 ports based on the first channel estimation auxiliary information. In this embodiment, the first reference signal is transmitted via S reference signal resource units, so channel estimation can be performed based on the first reference signals transmitted on the S reference signal resource units.

[0281] As previously described, the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Accordingly, step 550 may specifically include: performing channel estimation based on the first reference signal received on each of the S reference signal resource units and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the first channel estimation auxiliary information to obtain channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units; obtaining channels for k1 ports based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units; and determining the first CSI based on the channels for the k1 ports.

[0282] For ease of understanding, the following will first explain the specific process of determining the channels of k1 ports for the case where the ports corresponding to the reference signals transmitted by the S reference signal resource units do not include the reference port, and then introduce the reference port to further explain the specific process of determining the channels of the k1 ports.

[0283] It should be understood that the process illustrated below uses matrices as a possible representation of channels, and describes the channel splicing process using the splicing of channel matrices as an example. However, this does not constitute any limitation on this application. Channels can also be represented in other forms, such as vectors, arrays, or other forms, and this application does not limit this. In this case, the channel splicing process illustrated above can also be applied.

[0284] Take, for example, the S reference signal resource units that are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units in the 16 reference signal resource units. For example, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th reference signal resource units are used to transmit reference signals for 40 ports, respectively, and support channel estimation for 64 ports, respectively. There is no overlap between the ports of the reference signals transmitted by each reference signal resource unit, and there is no overlap between the ports corresponding to the channels supported for estimation. Then, the terminal can receive reference signals for 160 ports (i.e., m1=160) on the four reference signal resource units and estimate channels for 256 ports (i.e., k1=256).

[0285] The channels estimated by the terminal based on the first reference signal received on each reference signal resource unit are: H·P port,2 、H.P port,3 、H.P port,4、H.P port,5 Based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units, and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the first channel estimation auxiliary information The channels corresponding to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th reference signal resource units are obtained respectively. as follows: Will According to the preset splicing rules, a channel with k1 ports can be obtained.

[0286] Optionally, the splicing rule may be: splicing channels corresponding to multiple reference signal resource units horizontally from left to right in ascending order of identifiers of the reference signal resource units.

[0287] For example, in this example, according to the order of the identifiers of the reference signal resource units from small to large, the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units are horizontally spliced ​​from left to right to obtain the channel as follows:

[0288] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of channel splicing provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, according to the identifiers of the second, third, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units in ascending order, the channels corresponding to the reference signal resource units are horizontally spliced ​​from left to right to obtain the channels of the k1 ports.

[0289] In another implementation, the port patterns and channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units may be spliced ​​according to the splicing rule, and the spliced ​​channel estimation auxiliary information is the first channel estimation auxiliary information. satisfy: The port pattern after splicing meets the following requirements: This gives us a channel with k1 ports. as follows:

[0290] in, They are channels estimated based on the first reference signals received on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th reference signal resource units respectively.

[0291] It should be understood that the splicing rules listed above are merely examples and should not constitute any limitation on this application. This application does not limit the specific content of the splicing rules. For example, the splicing rule may be to splice the channels corresponding to multiple reference signal resource units from left to right in ascending order of port numbers.

[0292] To achieve higher estimation accuracy and reduce errors, network devices can allocate a portion of the same resources, or one or more reference ports, to two or more reference signal resource units when configuring them. When performing channel splicing, terminals can use the reference ports as a reference and follow the aforementioned splicing rules.

[0293] For ease of understanding and explanation, Figure 7 is another schematic diagram of channel splicing provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 (a) and (b) respectively illustrate the process of channel splicing when different ports are used as reference ports.

[0294] As shown in (a) of Figure 7, each reference port is shared by two reference signal resource units, and the two reference signal resource units are used to identify adjacent reference signal resource units. For example, the second and third reference signal resource units in the figure share the same reference port (for example, recorded as reference port 1), the third and fourth reference signal resource units share the same reference port (for example, recorded as reference port 2), and the fourth and fifth reference signal resource units share the same reference port (for example, recorded as reference port 3). A total of three reference ports are shown in the figure. Each reference port can be the last port of the previous reference signal resource unit of the two reference signal resource units and the first port of the next reference signal resource unit.

[0295] Here, the first or last port of each reference signal resource unit can be determined based on the order of the ports in the configuration information of each reference signal resource unit. For example, the resource pattern of each reference signal resource unit can be used for the mapping relationship between the reference signal and the time-frequency resource of each port. In the resource pattern, the first port is ranked first and the last port is ranked last. For another example, the channel estimation auxiliary information of each reference signal resource unit includes multiple row vectors with the same number as the number of reference signal ports. In the channel estimation auxiliary information, the first port is ranked in the first row and the last port is ranked in the last row.

[0296] For the convenience of explanation herein, the first or last port included in each reference signal resource unit is referred to as a boundary port. In other words, a reference port may be a common boundary port included in two reference signal resource units that identify adjacent reference signals.

[0297] The following describes in detail the specific process of the terminal splicing channels based on the reference port and the above splicing rules.

[0298] The terminal can respectively determine the sub-channel corresponding to reference port 1 from the channels corresponding to the second and third reference signal resource units, and use one of them as a reference to correct the other. For example, the sub-channel corresponding to reference port 1 in the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit is used as a reference (for example, recorded as reference 1), and the deviation of the sub-channel corresponding to reference port 1 in the channel corresponding to the third reference signal resource unit relative to the reference 1 is calculated (for example, recorded as deviation 1), and the deviation 1 is superimposed on the channel corresponding to the third reference signal resource unit.

[0299] The terminal can perform similar operations on the third and fourth reference signal resource units, such as taking the sub-channel corresponding to reference port 2 of the third reference signal resource unit after deviation correction as a reference (for example, recorded as reference 2), calculating the deviation of the sub-channel corresponding to reference port 2 in the channel corresponding to the fourth reference signal resource unit relative to the reference 2 (for example, recorded as deviation 2), and superimposing the deviation 2 on the channel corresponding to the fourth reference signal resource unit.

[0300] The terminal can perform similar operations on the 4th and 5th reference signal resource units, such as taking the sub-channel corresponding to reference port 3 of the 4th reference signal resource unit after deviation correction as a reference (for example, recorded as reference 3), calculating the deviation of the sub-channel corresponding to reference port 3 in the channel corresponding to the 5th reference signal resource unit relative to the reference 3 (for example, recorded as deviation 3), and superimposing the deviation 3 on the channel corresponding to the 5th reference signal resource unit.

[0301] The terminal can concatenate the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit, the channel corresponding to the third reference signal resource unit after the deviation is corrected, the channel corresponding to the fourth reference signal resource unit after the deviation is corrected, and the channel corresponding to the fifth reference signal resource unit after the deviation is corrected according to the concatenation rule to obtain a k1-port channel. The k1-port channel thus obtained can be regarded as a channel that corrects the deviations between multiple reference signal resource units. Therefore, the estimated k1-port channel has higher accuracy.

[0302] It is not difficult to see that the terminal described above splices channels based on the reference port, which is essentially the splicing based on the channel corresponding to one of the reference signal resource units. The example process described above describes the splicing process based on the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit. The terminal can also perform splicing based on the channels corresponding to different reference signal resource units, such as the channel corresponding to the fifth reference signal resource unit. The specific process is similar to the process described above and will not be repeated here.

[0303] As shown in FIG7( b ), multiple reference signal resource units share the same reference port. The figure shows the same reference port shared by the second, third, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units.

[0304] The following describes in detail the specific process of the terminal splicing channels based on the reference port and according to the above splicing rules.

[0305] The terminal can select any one of the four reference signal resource units as a reference and correct the channels corresponding to the other three reference signal resource units. For example, taking the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit as the reference, the terminal can use the subchannel corresponding to the reference port in the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit as a reference value (for example, recorded as reference value 1), and calculate the deviation of the subchannel corresponding to the reference port in the channels corresponding to the third, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units relative to the reference value 1, respectively, to obtain the deviations corresponding to the third, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units, respectively, and superimpose these deviations on the channels corresponding to each reference signal resource unit to obtain the channels corresponding to the third, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units after superimposing the deviations.

[0306] The terminal can concatenate the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit and the channels corresponding to the offset-added, fourth, and fifth reference signal resource units according to the concatenation rule to obtain k1-port channels. The k1-port channels thus obtained can be considered as channels based on reference 1, thus providing a higher accuracy estimate of the k1-port channels.

[0307] It should be understood that the process exemplified above describes the splicing process based on the channel corresponding to the second reference signal resource unit. The terminal can also perform splicing based on the channels corresponding to different reference signal resource units, such as splicing based on the channel corresponding to any one of the third, fourth or fifth reference signal resource units. The specific process is similar to the process described above and will not be repeated here.

[0308] Furthermore, the above-mentioned reference port can be determined according to a preset rule (referred to as the first rule for the convenience of distinction and explanation), and the first rule can be predefined by the protocol, or can be indicated to the terminal by the network device; or, the reference port can also be indicated to the terminal after being determined by the network device.

[0309] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sending seventh information to the terminal, where the seventh information is used to indicate the reference port or to indicate the first rule. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the seventh information from the network device.

[0310] Exemplarily, when the seventh information is used to indicate a reference port, it may specifically indicate a port number, or an identifier of a reference signal resource unit to which the reference port belongs and a serial number of the port contained in the reference signal resource unit, etc. This application does not limit this.

[0311] The first rule for determining the reference port may be, for example, that the reference port is the first port among the ports included in the S reference signal resource units, or the reference port is the last port among the ports included in the S reference signal resource units, or the reference port is the common boundary port between every two reference signal resource units that identify adjacent reference signal resource units in the S reference signal resource units. Such rules are not further described.

[0312] The terminal and the network device can pre-store the correspondence between multiple rules and multiple indexes. The network device selects one of the multiple rules as the first rule, and then indicates the index of the first rule to the terminal through the seventh information, so that the terminal can determine the first rule according to the seventh information, and then determine the reference port.

[0313] In step 560, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0314] The specific process of step 560 and its specific implementation in the RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU and in the ORAN can be found in the relevant description of step 440 of the above method 400, which will not be repeated here.

[0315] It is understandable that the operations of steps 520 to 560 above can be repeated to implement multiple channel estimations. During the multiple channel estimation processes, the reference signal resource units used by the network device to send the reference signal can be the same or different. For example, the network device can use one or more reference signal resource units from the R reference signal resource units to send the reference signal, or it can select another reference reference signal resource from the T reference reference signal resources and use one or more reference signal resource units therein to send the reference signal. This application is not limited to this.

[0316] Since the process of each channel estimation is similar to the process described above in conjunction with steps 520 to 560, reference may be made to the above related description, and the process of each channel estimation will not be described in detail here.

[0317] Based on the technical solution provided above, a network device configures one or more reference signal resources for a terminal at the granularity of reference signal resource units (RSRUs), and uses one or more RSUs within the RSUs to transmit reference signals. Each RSU can transmit reference signals for one or more ports, supporting channel estimation for one or more ports. This allows the network device to flexibly select some or all of the RSUs from the reference signal resources to transmit reference signals based on service requirements. Because the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each RSU can be used to estimate the channel corresponding to each RSU, the terminal can estimate the channel corresponding to each RSU based on the reference signals received on each RSU, thereby splicing the channels for more ports. This allows the number of ports to be flexibly changed in scenarios where RF channels are dynamically shut down, thereby reducing the air interface resource overhead for reference signals. Furthermore, because the one or more RSUs are pre-configured, the network device does not need to indicate the reference signal resources through signaling before each channel estimation initiation, thereby avoiding the significant signaling overhead associated with dynamic changes in reference signal resources.

[0318] Figure 8 is another schematic flow chart of the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the method shown in Figure 8, the first baseline reference signal resource is also divided into R reference signal resource units of smaller granularity. Unlike the method shown in Figure 5, the network device does not have to configure the first baseline reference signal resource for the terminal through signaling in advance, but indicates the reference signal resource used for this channel estimation through signaling before channel estimation needs to be initiated. For the convenience of explanation, it is still assumed below that the first resource for the network device to send the first reference signal includes S reference signal resource units, and it is assumed that the S reference signal resource units are 2 reference signal resource units, which are the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units in the first baseline reference signal resource, respectively, and i and j are the identifiers of the two reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units, respectively.

[0319] The method 800 shown in Figure 8 includes steps 810 to 850. Each step in the method 800 is described in detail below.

[0320] In step 810, the network device sends indication information of each of the S reference signal resource units, where the indication information of each reference signal resource unit is used to configure one reference signal resource unit. Accordingly, the terminal receives the indication information of the S reference signal resource units.

[0321] In step 820, the network device sends a first reference signal on S reference signal resource units. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the S reference signal resources.

[0322] The specific implementations of steps 810 and 820 in the RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU and in the ORAN are similar to steps 510 and 520 in the above method 500, and reference may be made to the above related descriptions, which will not be repeated here.

[0323] The S reference signal resource units are one or more reference signal resource units used to transmit the first reference signal. The network device may indicate corresponding resources before sending a reference signal each time.

[0324] For example, in this embodiment, S is 2, and step 810 may include:

[0325] Step 8101: The network device sends indication information of the i-th reference signal resource unit to the terminal;

[0326] Step 8102: The network device sends indication information of the j-th reference signal resource unit to the terminal.

[0327] Correspondingly, the terminal receives indication information of the i-th reference signal resource unit from the network device in step 8101 and receives indication information of the j-th reference signal resource unit from the network device in step 8102.

[0328] Step 820 may include:

[0329] Step 8201: The network device sends a first reference signal on the i-th reference signal resource unit;

[0330] Step 8202: The network device sends a first reference signal on the jth reference signal resource unit.

[0331] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the i-th reference signal resource unit in step 8101 and receives the second reference signal on the j-th reference signal resource unit in step 8102.

[0332] It should be understood that the various steps shown in the figure are only examples. Step 8101 can be executed before step 8201, step 8102 can be executed before step 8202, step 8201 can be executed before step 8102, can be executed after step 8102, and can be executed simultaneously with step 8102. This application does not limit this.

[0333] Taking into account the time-varying characteristics of the channel and the high mobility of the terminal, the maximum interval in the time domain among the S reference signal resource units is no greater than the preset threshold. In other words, among the S reference signal resources, the interval between the reference signal resource unit at the front and the reference signal resource unit at the back is no greater than the preset threshold. In other words, the time interval between the first transmission of the first reference signal and the last transmission of the first reference signal is no greater than the preset threshold, or in other words, the time interval between the first reception of the first reference signal and the last reception of the first reference signal is no greater than the preset threshold. For example, in the above example, the time interval between the i-th reference signal resource unit and the j-th reference signal resource unit is no greater than the preset threshold.

[0334] By constraining the time interval, the channel estimated by the terminal based on the received first reference signal can more accurately reflect the current channel state.

[0335] It is not difficult to see that in method 800, the network device does not need to configure R reference signal resource units in advance through the first information, but rather performs configuration for the reference signal resource units used for each transmission of the reference signal.

[0336] The network device may configure, for each of the S reference signal resource units, one or more of the following: a resource pattern, a port pattern, the number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or an identifier of the reference reference signal resource to which it belongs. In other words, the indication information of each of the reference signal resource units may be used to indicate one or more of the following: a resource pattern, a port pattern, the number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or a splicing identifier.

[0337] Since the S reference signal resource units are from the first reference signal resource, and the first reference signal resource is divided into R reference signal resource units, the S reference signal resource units are from the R reference signal resource units. The sth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units may correspond to the rth reference signal resource unit in the R reference signal resource units. s Reference signal resource units, indicating the identifier of the sth reference signal resource unit in the R reference signal resource units. If the identifiers of the R reference signal resource units are numbered in sequence from 1 to R, r s It can be any positive integer from 1 to R. For example, in this embodiment, the two reference signal resource units used to transmit the first reference signal are identified as i and j in the R reference signal resource units, i and j can be any positive integers from 1 to R, and i≠j. It should be understood that this application does not limit how to identify the R reference signal resource units, and therefore does not limit r s The value of .

[0338] Among the S reference signal resource units, the rth s Reference signal resource units include ports, which can be used for transmission Reference signals for each port and support Channel estimation of ports. It can be understood that Can be L1 to L R Any value in Can be N1 to N R Any value in , and The ports are included L1 to L R are the number of ports used to transmit reference signals in the 1st to Rth reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units, N1 to N R are the numbers of ports respectively contained in the 1st to Rth reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, or in other words, the numbers of ports for channel estimation respectively supported by the 1st to Rth reference signal resource units.

[0339] No. s Resource pattern indication of reference signal resource units The mapping relationship between the reference signal and time-frequency resources of each port in the rth port s Port pattern indication of reference signal resource units Ports in The index of the port r s The channel estimation auxiliary information of the reference signal resource units can be used to Channel measurement results estimation for each port The channel of the port.

[0340] The resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports supported for channel estimation, and channel estimation auxiliary information of each reference signal resource have been described in detail in step 510 of method 500. Please refer to the relevant description in the above method 500 for understanding and will not be repeated here.

[0341] In this embodiment, the network device may further indicate a splicing identifier through indication information of each reference signal resource unit. The splicing identifier may be used to indicate that the S reference signal resource units are used to transmit the first reference signal, or may be used to indicate that the S reference signal resource units belong to the first resource, or may be used in combination to perform channel estimation, or may be used for the reference signals transmitted on the S reference signal resource units for the same channel estimation, or may be used to indicate that a channel matrix obtained based on the estimation of the reference signals transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

[0342] By carrying the same splicing identifier in the indication information of the S reference signal resource units, the network device can implicitly notify the terminal that the reference signals sent on the S reference signal resource units are sent based on the same transmission parameters, that is, implicitly notify the terminal to use the same reception parameters to receive on the S reference signal resource units, that is, implicitly notify the terminal that the first reference signal received on the S reference signal resource units is used for the same channel estimation, or in other words, the channel matrix estimated by the first reference signal received on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing. The splicing identifier can be, for example, a number or a letter, for example, the indication information of the S reference signal resources can carry the same number or the same letter. In addition, the splicing identifier is only one possible name, for example, it can also be called a combination identifier, a support splicing identifier, a support combination identifier or others, and this application does not limit this.

[0343] In this embodiment, the network device may send a first reference signal on the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units. The first reference signal received by the terminal on the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units is a signal that has passed through a channel H', and the channel H' satisfies: P port,i represents the port pattern of the i-th reference signal resource unit, P port,j It represents the port pattern of the jth reference signal resource unit. It can be understood that the channel H' is a channel with m1 ports.

[0344] In this embodiment, the number of ports m1 of the first reference signal also satisfies: less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports of the reference signal used for transmission of S reference signal resource units, that is, in the above example of S=2, m1 is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports of the reference signal used for transmission of the i-th reference signal resource unit and the number of ports of the reference signal used for transmission of the j-th reference signal resource unit.

[0345] In step 830, the terminal determines first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0346] For the related description of the first channel estimation auxiliary information, please refer to the related description of step 420 in method 400 and step 540 in method 500 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0347] In this embodiment, the terminal can determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information based on the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units. For example, S=2, the S reference signal resource units include the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units, then the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained. satisfy:

[0348] It can be understood that the first channel estimation assistance information includes channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each of the S reference signal resource units. Since the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit is derived from the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource, the first channel estimation assistance information is determined based on the channel estimation assistance information corresponding to some of the reference signal resource units. This can also be referred to as determining the first channel estimation assistance information based on the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource.

[0349] In addition, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained by the matrix It can also be expressed in the form of a sub-matrix (for example, and ) in the form of, and this application does not limit this.

[0350] In step 840 , the terminal determines first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the first CSI corresponds to k1 ports.

[0351] The terminal can estimate the channel corresponding to each reference signal resource unit based on the first reference signal received on each of the S reference signal resource units. The terminal can concatenate the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units to obtain channels with k1 ports.

[0352] For example, in this embodiment, according to the first reference signal received on the i-th reference signal resource unit and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the i-th reference signal resource unit, N i Port Channel Satisfied

[0353] According to the first reference signal received on the j-th reference signal resource unit and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the j-th reference signal resource unit, N j Port Channel Satisfied

[0354] The terminal can connect the N i Port Channel and N j Port Channel By splicing, we can get a channel with k1 ports. as follows:

[0355] In another implementation, the terminal may also first splice the port patterns and channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units according to the splicing rule, and then obtain the channel of k1 ports. as follows:

[0356] The splicing rules are described in detail in step 550 of the above method 500 in conjunction with FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 . Please refer to the above related descriptions and will not be repeated here.

[0357] For more details about step 840, please refer to step 550 of method 500 above and will not be repeated here. It will be appreciated that, in this embodiment, the number of reference signal ports k1 supported by the first reference signal for channel estimation also satisfies the requirement of being less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports supported by the S reference signal resource units. That is, in the example above where S = 2, k1 is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports supported by the i-th reference signal resource unit for channel estimation and the number of ports supported by the j-th reference signal resource unit for channel estimation.

[0358] In step 850, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0359] The specific process of step 850 and its specific implementation in the RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU and in the ORAN can be found in the relevant description of step 440 in the above method 400, which will not be repeated here.

[0360] Based on the technical solution provided above, the network device uses the reference signal resource unit as the granularity, and configures one or more reference signal resource units for transmitting the reference signal for the terminal before sending the reference signal each time. Each reference signal resource unit is used to transmit the reference signal of one or more ports, and supports channel estimation of one or more ports. In this way, the network device can select any number of reference signal resource units to transmit the reference signal according to business needs. Since the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit can be used to estimate the channel corresponding to each reference signal resource unit, the terminal can estimate the channel corresponding to each reference signal resource unit based on the reference signal received on each reference signal resource unit, and then splice to obtain the channels of more ports. Therefore, the number of ports can be supported to change flexibly in the scenario where the RF channel is dynamically shut down, and the air interface resource overhead of the reference signal is also reduced.

[0361] In another implementation, after receiving the first reference signal in step 820, the terminal may determine the channels of the m1 ports, and transmit the channels of the m1 ports as the channel measurement result in the first CSI. The network device may estimate the channels of the k1 ports based on the received first CSI. In this case, the network device does not need to indicate the channel estimation auxiliary information of each reference signal resource unit to the terminal. The network device can independently determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and then determine the channels of the m1 ports based on the first CSI, and then determine the channels of the k1 ports based on the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0362] Figure 9 is another schematic flow chart of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in Figure 9 is similar to the method shown in Figure 8, except that the channel estimation of the k1 ports by the terminal in Figure 8 is performed by the network device in Figure 9. For the convenience of explanation, it is still assumed below that the first resource for the network device to send the first reference signal includes S reference signal resource units, and it is assumed that the S reference signal resource units are 2 reference signal resource units, which are the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units in the first reference reference signal resource, respectively, and i and j are the identifiers of the two reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units.

[0363] The method 900 shown in Figure 9 includes steps 910 to 960. Each step in the method 900 is described in detail below.

[0364] In step 910, the network device sends indication information of each of the S reference signal resource units, where the indication information of each reference signal resource unit is used to configure one reference signal resource unit. Accordingly, the terminal receives the indication information of the S reference signal resource units.

[0365] In step 920, the network device sends a first reference signal on S reference signal resource units. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the S reference signal resources.

[0366] The specific implementations of steps 810 and 820 in the RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU and in the ORAN are similar to steps 510 and 520 in the above method 500, and reference may be made to the above related descriptions, which will not be repeated here.

[0367] Similar to method 800 , the network device may indicate corresponding resources before sending a reference signal each time.

[0368] For example, in this embodiment, S is 2, and step 910 may include:

[0369] Step 9101: The network device sends indication information of the i-th reference signal resource unit to the terminal;

[0370] Step 9102: The network device sends indication information of the j-th reference signal resource unit to the terminal.

[0371] Correspondingly, the terminal receives indication information of the i-th reference signal resource unit from the network device in step 9101 and receives indication information of the j-th reference signal resource unit from the network device in step 9102 .

[0372] Step 920 may include:

[0373] Step 9201: The network device sends a first reference signal on the i-th reference signal resource unit;

[0374] Step 9202: The network device sends a first reference signal on the jth reference signal resource unit.

[0375] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the i-th reference signal resource unit in step 9101 and receives the second reference signal on the j-th reference signal resource unit in step 9102.

[0376] It should be understood that the various steps shown in the figure are only examples. Step 9101 can be executed before step 9201, step 9102 can be executed before step 9202, step 9201 can be executed before step 9102, can be executed after step 9102, and can be executed simultaneously with step 9102. This application does not limit this.

[0377] Taking into account the time-varying characteristics of the channel and the high mobility of the terminal, the maximum interval in the time domain among the S reference signal resource units is no greater than the preset threshold. In other words, among the S reference signal resources, the interval between the reference signal resource unit at the front and the reference signal resource unit at the back is no greater than the preset threshold. In other words, the time interval between the first transmission of the first reference signal and the last transmission of the first reference signal is no greater than the preset threshold, or in other words, the time interval between the first reception of the first reference signal and the last reception of the first reference signal is no greater than the preset threshold. For example, in the above example, the time interval between the i-th reference signal resource unit and the j-th reference signal resource unit is no greater than the preset threshold.

[0378] By constraining the time interval, the channel estimated by the terminal based on the received first reference signal can more accurately reflect the current channel state.

[0379] In step 930, the terminal determines a first CSI according to the first reference signal.

[0380] In this embodiment, the terminal may determine a channel measurement result corresponding to each reference signal resource element based on the first reference signal received on each reference signal resource element. The channel measurement result corresponding to each reference signal resource element indicates the measured channel. In this embodiment, the first CSI includes S channel measurement results, which correspond one-to-one to the S reference signal resource elements.

[0381] For example, in this embodiment, the S reference signal resource units are the i-th and j-th reference signal resource units in the first reference signal resource, and the first CSI includes the channel measurement result #i corresponding to the i-th reference signal resource unit and the channel measurement result #j corresponding to the j-th reference signal resource unit. The channel measurement result #i indicates L i The L i The port is the port of the reference signal transmitted on the i-th reference signal resource unit, which is obtained by measuring the first reference signal received on the i-th reference signal resource unit. The channel measurement result #j indicates L j The L j The port is a port of a reference signal transmitted on the j-th reference signal resource unit, and is obtained by measuring the first reference signal received on the j-th reference signal resource unit.

[0382] Accordingly, step 930 may include:

[0383] Step 9301: The terminal determines a channel measurement result #i based on a first reference signal received on an i-th reference signal resource unit.

[0384] In step 9302, the terminal determines a channel measurement result #j based on the first reference signal received on the j-th reference signal resource unit.

[0385] It should be understood that step 9301 and step 9302 may be executed simultaneously or at different times, for example, step 9301 may be executed before step 9302. In fact, step 9301 may be executed after step 9201, and step 9302 may be executed after step 9202. This application does not limit the execution order of step 9301 and step 9302.

[0386] In step 940, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0387] The specific implementation of step 940 in the RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU and in the ORAN can refer to the relevant description of step 440 of the above method 400, which will not be repeated here.

[0388] As previously described, the first CSI includes S channel measurement results corresponding to S reference signal resource elements. The terminal can send these S channel measurement results to the network device. For example, in this embodiment, the S reference signal resource elements are the i-th and j-th reference signal resource elements in the first base reference signal resource. The terminal can send channel measurement result #i and channel measurement result #j to the network device.

[0389] Accordingly, step 940 may include:

[0390] Step 9401: The terminal sends the channel measurement result #i to the network device;

[0391] Step 9402: The terminal sends the channel measurement result #j to the network device.

[0392] Accordingly, the network device receives the channel measurement result #i from the terminal in step 9401 and receives the channel measurement result #j from the terminal in step 9402 .

[0393] One possible implementation is for the terminal to send the S channel measurement results as a whole, for example, by carrying them in the same CSI (for example, the first CSI). In this case, steps 9401 and 9402 can be combined into one step. For the terminal, this can be implemented through a single sending operation, and for the network device, this can be implemented through a single receiving operation.

[0394] Another possible implementation is that the terminal sends the S channel measurement results separately, for example, by carrying them in S CSIs. In this case, the first CSI may be S CSIs. In this case, steps 9401 and 9402 may be S independent steps. For the terminal, this may be implemented through S sending operations, and for the network device, this may be implemented through S receiving operations.

[0395] In step 950 , the network device determines first channel estimation assistance information.

[0396] Exemplarily, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU, the specific implementation of step 950 may be: DU determines the first channel estimation auxiliary information; in an ORAN, the specific implementation of step 950 may be: O-DU determines the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0397] For the related description of the first channel estimation auxiliary information, please refer to the related description of step 420 in method 400 and step 540 in method 500 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0398] Since the terminal sends S channel measurement results corresponding to the S reference signal resource units to the network device, the network device can estimate the channels of the k1 ports based on the S channel measurement results. To estimate the channels of the k1 ports, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be determined first.

[0399] The specific process of the network device determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information is similar to the specific process of the terminal determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Please refer to the relevant description of step 830 in the above method 800 and will not be repeated here.

[0400] In step 960 , the network device determines channels of k1 ports according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the first CSI.

[0401] For example, in a RAN deployed with a CU, a DU, and a RU, step 960 may be specifically implemented as follows: the DU determines the channels of k1 ports based on the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the first CSI; in an ORAN, step 960 may be specifically implemented as follows: the O-DU determines the channels of k1 ports based on the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the first CSI.

[0402] In this embodiment, the first CSI includes S channel measurement results. The network device can determine the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units according to the S channel measurement results.

[0403] For example, in this embodiment, the network device can obtain L according to the channel measurement result #i. i The channel of the port can be estimated based on the channel estimation auxiliary information of the i-th reference signal resource unit to obtain N i Port Channel Satisfied

[0404] Similarly, the network device can obtain L based on the channel measurement result #j j The channel of the port can be estimated based on the channel estimation auxiliary information of the j-th reference signal resource unit, and N j Port Channel

[0405] The network equipment can connect the N i Port Channel and N j Port Channel By splicing, we can get a channel with k1 ports. as follows:

[0406] In another implementation, the network device may also first splice the port patterns and channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units according to the splicing rule, and then obtain the channel of k1 ports. as follows:

[0407] The splicing rules are described in detail in step 550 of the above method 500 in conjunction with FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 . Please refer to the above related descriptions and will not be repeated here.

[0408] For more details about step 960, please refer to step 550 of method 500 above and will not be repeated here. It will be appreciated that, in this embodiment, the number of reference signal ports k1 supported by the first reference signal for channel estimation also satisfies the following requirement: less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports supported by the S reference signal resource units. That is, in the example above where S = 2, k1 is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports supported by the i-th reference signal resource unit for channel estimation and the number of ports supported by the j-th reference signal resource unit for channel estimation.

[0409] Based on the technical solution provided above, the network device uses reference signal resource units as the granularity and configures one or more reference signal resource units for the terminal to transmit the reference signal before each reference signal is sent. Each reference signal resource unit is used to transmit the reference signal for one or more ports and supports channel estimation for one or more ports. In this way, the network device can select any number of reference signal resource units to transmit the reference signal based on service requirements. The terminal can feed back the channel measurement results obtained from the reference signal measurement to the network device, which then estimates the channel corresponding to each reference signal resource unit based on the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit, and then splices the channels of more ports. Therefore, it can support flexible changes in the number of ports in scenarios where the RF channel is dynamically shut down, and the air interface resource overhead of the reference signal is also reduced. In addition, since the network device completes the channel splicing itself, the terminal does not need to splice, which can reduce the computing pressure of the terminal. The network device does not need to send the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit to the terminal, which can reduce signaling overhead.

[0410] It should be understood that the embodiments shown in Figures 5, 8 and 9 above are based on the granularity of reference signal resource units to transmit reference signals and perform channel estimation, and the channels corresponding to the estimated reference signal resource units have the characteristic of being spliced. Based on the same concept, Figures 5, 8 and 9 respectively provide three different implementation methods. It can be understood that in these embodiments, for the sake of brevity, the embodiments shown in Figure 5, 8 and 9 are described in detail with emphasis on the differences from the embodiment of Figure 5. Therefore, in the embodiments shown in Figures 8 and 9, the same or similar steps and the same terms can be referred to the relevant description in method 500 and will not be repeated here.

[0411] Figure 10 is another schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the method shown in Figure 10, the first baseline reference signal resource is configured as a whole. The network device can select some or all of its ports to transmit the reference signal, and the time-frequency resources used to transmit the reference signal do not change with changes in the number of ports.

[0412] The method 1000 shown in Figure 10 may include steps 1010 to 1090. Each step in the method 1000 is described in detail below.

[0413] In step 1010, the network device sends third information to the terminal, where the third information is used to configure T reference signal resources. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the third information from the network device.

[0414] Exemplarily, in a RAN deployed with CU, DU, and RU, step 1010 may be specifically implemented as follows: the CU-CP generates the third information, and sends the third information to the terminal through the DU and the RU; in an ORAN, step 1010 may be specifically implemented as follows: the O-CU-CP generates the third information, and sends the third information to the terminal through the O-DU and the O-RU.

[0415] In this embodiment, T may be a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. In other words, the third information may be used to configure one or more reference reference signal resources. The third information may also be referred to as configuration information of one or more reference reference signal resources.

[0416] During the implementation process, the network device may send the configuration information of the T reference reference signal resources as a whole, that is, the third information is the configuration information for configuring the T reference reference signal resources. In this case, the third information is one piece of information, and the network device can configure the T reference reference signal resources through one sending operation; the network device may also configure the T reference reference signal resources separately, that is, configure the T reference reference signal resources separately through T configuration information. In this case, the third information is T pieces of information, and the network device can configure the T reference reference signal resources through T sending operations.

[0417] For ease of understanding, the following takes the t-th reference reference signal resource as an example to introduce the reference reference signal resource. It should be understood that the t-th reference reference signal resource can be one of the at least one reference reference signal resource mentioned above, and t can be any integer from 1 to T. The t-th reference reference signal resource can be used to transmit a maximum of M t That is, the number of ports of the reference signal transmitted through the t-th reference reference signal resource can be less than or equal to M t . And the M t The reference signal of each port can support a maximum of K t The channel estimation of the M ports, that is, t The reference signal of each port can be used to obtain the maximum K t The channel of the port, or the M t The number of ports of the reference signal that can be used to obtain the channel can be less than or equal to K t In other words, the maximum number of ports supported by the first reference signal for channel estimation is K t .

[0418] From the above, it can be seen that each reference signal resource involves two port numbers: the maximum number of ports for transmitting the reference signal (for the convenience of explanation, it is recorded as the maximum number of ports for the reference signal, such as the above M t ) and the maximum number of ports of the estimated channel (for the convenience of explanation, it is recorded as the maximum number of ports supported by the channel estimation, or simply the maximum number of ports supported, such as the above K t ). In the present application, for each baseline reference signal resource, the number of ports used for transmitting the reference signal may be less than or equal to the maximum number of ports supported, and the number of ports of the estimated channel matrix may be less than or equal to the maximum number of ports of the reference signal.

[0419] It should be noted that, unlike the above methods 500, 800 and 900, this embodiment defines the maximum number of ports for reference signals transmitted by the reference reference signal resources and the maximum number of ports that can support channel estimation.

[0420] For example, the tth reference signal resource is used to transmit the maximum M t The reference signal of the port, that is, the reference signal transmitted through the t-th reference reference signal resource can be used for less than or equal to M t In other words, when performing channel estimation using the reference signal transmitted by the t-th reference signal resource, the number of reference signal ports used can be less than or equal to M. t ports.

[0421] For example, the tth reference signal resource supports a maximum of K t That is, the reference signal transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource can be used to estimate a channel less than or equal to K t It can be understood that the maximum number of ports supported by the t-th reference reference signal resource for channel estimation is the number of ports included in the t-th reference reference signal resource. For example, the t-th reference reference signal resource includes K t The tth reference signal resource supports a maximum of K t That is, the tth reference signal resource supports channel estimation of some or all of the ports it contains.

[0422] Regarding the "maximum number of ports for reference signals" and "maximum number of ports supported" for transmission of reference reference signal resources, please refer to the detailed description in the above method 400, which will not be repeated here. Here, the t-th reference reference signal resource is used as an example to help understand: the maximum number of ports for reference signals transmitted by the t-th reference reference signal resource is M t , that is, the matrix for indicating the port pattern of the reference signal includes M t But this does not mean that network equipment can only use M t ports to send reference signals, network devices can also use more than M t The maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the tth reference reference signal resource is K. t , that is, the tth reference signal resource contains K t ports.

[0423] When T is greater than 1, any two reference reference signal resources among the T reference reference signal resources may satisfy the following conditions: the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals is different, and / or the maximum number of ports supported is different.

[0424] For example, the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals used by reference reference signal resource #1 is 100, and the maximum number of ports supported is 1024; the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals used by reference reference signal resource #2 is 200, and the maximum number of ports supported is 1024; the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals used by reference reference signal resource #3 is 50, and the maximum number of ports supported is 256; the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals used by reference reference signal resource #4 is 50, and the maximum number of ports supported is 128; and so on, which are not listed here.

[0425] As can be seen, reference signal resources #1 and #2 support the same maximum number of ports, but different maximum numbers of reference signal ports. Reference signal resource #1 reduces air interface overhead, while reference signal resource #2 provides more accurate channel estimation due to its greater number of reference signal observation ports. A similar relationship exists between reference signal resources #3 and #4, and will not be further described. Network devices can select the appropriate reference signal resource based on service requirements.

[0426] Optionally, the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following in each of the T reference reference signal resources: an identifier, a resource pattern, a port pattern, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0427] The following description still takes the t-th benchmark reference signal resource as an example.

[0428] Identifier: Different identifiers can be used to identify different reference signal resources. Each identifier corresponds to a reference signal resource. Unlike the identifier indicated by the first information in method 500, this identifier can be referred to as the identifier of the reference signal resource. The identifier indicated by the first information in method 500 can be referred to as the identifier of the reference signal resource unit.

[0429] Resource pattern: Since the tth reference signal resource can be used to transmit up to M t The resource pattern of the t-th reference reference signal resource may indicate the M t The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resources of each port can be determined based on the resource pattern. In other words, based on the resource pattern, it can be determined to which time-frequency resources (more specifically, which REs) the reference signal of each port is mapped, so that the terminal can receive it at the corresponding position.

[0430] Port pattern: Since the tth reference signal resource can be used to transmit up to M t The reference signal of the ports is estimated to obtain the maximum K t The channel matrix of M ports, and the t The ports are included in the K tThe port pattern can indicate the M t ports in K t It can be understood that the port pattern implicitly indicates the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals and the maximum number of ports for supporting channel estimation for the t-th reference reference signal resource.

[0431] When the third information is used to indicate the resource pattern and the port pattern, a possible implementation method is to perform the matrix P t To indicate the resource pattern and port pattern. t satisfy: P port,t represents the port pattern of the tth reference signal resource, P RE,t The resource pattern representing the t-th reference signal resource.

[0432] The matrix P is described in detail below. port,t and P RE,t .

[0433] For example, the number of REs included in the tth reference signal resource is N RE,t , the maximum number of ports supported is K t , for each receiving port, the observable channel matrix H t The dimension is N RE,t ×K t The matrix P port,t and P RE,t It can be obtained by processing the channel in the spatial domain and the time-frequency domain respectively.

[0434] 1) Airspace processing:

[0435] The network device can be based on the channel matrix H t Perform QR decomposition in the spatial domain to obtain the matrix P port,t , matrix P port,t The dimension is K t ×M t , including M t non-zero elements, and the rest are zero. t non-zero elements in the matrix P port,t M t columns, that is, each non-zero element is located in the matrix P port,t The M t The non-zero elements correspond to M t ports, the position of each non-zero element in the column indicates the corresponding port in K t This means that from K t Select the more important Mt For example, if a non-zero element is in the first row of its column, it means that the port corresponding to the non-zero element is K. t The first port among the ports can also determine the index of the port. It should be understood that the matrix P port,t The matrix P in the above terminology introduction of channel estimation auxiliary information aug are equivalent.

[0436] The channel matrix H t Right multiplication matrix P port,t , we can get the matrix H t ', H t '=H t P port,t The matrix H t 'The dimension is N RE,t ×M t , that is, the number of ports is K t Reduced to M t It is like achieving port dimensionality reduction in the spatial domain through precoding.

[0437] 2) Time-frequency domain processing:

[0438] Further, the matrix H t 'The transpose of the QR decomposition in the time-frequency domain can be obtained by matrix P RE,t , matrix P RE,t The dimension is M t ×N' RE,t , N' RE,t Less than N RE,t The matrix P RE,t Contains N' RE,t non-zero elements, and the rest are zero. RE,t non-zero elements in the matrix P RE,t N' RE,t columns, that is, each non-zero element is located in the matrix P RE,t The N' RE,t The non-zero elements correspond to N' RE,t REs, the position of each non-zero element in the column indicates the corresponding RE in N RE,t This means the index from N RE,t Select the more important N' from RE RE,t This can reduce the resource overhead of the reference signal in the time and frequency domains.

[0439] It should be understood that the matrix P is described above by taking the spatial domain processing as an example and then the time-frequency domain processing as an example. port,t and P RE,t(or port pattern and resource pattern) acquisition process, but this should not constitute any limitation to this application. In the actual processing process, the network device can also first calculate the channel matrix H t Perform QR decomposition in the time-frequency domain and then in the spatial domain to obtain P port,t and P RE,t , and then get P t Alternatively, the network device may also obtain the port pattern and resource pattern in other ways, which is not limited in this application. The network device may obtain the matrix {P corresponding to each reference signal resource based on the above process. t}, and indicate it to the terminal through the third information.

[0440] It should also be understood that the indication of the port pattern and resource pattern can also be obtained by port,t and P RE,t It is achieved by the instruction of , and not necessarily by the matrix P t To indicate.

[0441] In another implementation, the network device may not indicate the resource pattern and port pattern of each reference reference signal resource through the third information, but the terminal may determine it. The terminal may also obtain the matrix {P corresponding to each reference reference signal resource based on the above process. t}, or obtain the matrix {P corresponding to each reference signal resource port,t} and {P RE,t}, or, obtain a resource pattern and a port pattern corresponding to each benchmark reference signal resource; or, the terminal may also obtain a historical port pattern and a resource pattern of the reference signal resources occupying the same position as each benchmark reference signal resource, which is not limited in this application.

[0442] Alternatively, the network device can port,t or P RE,t The third information is used to indicate to the terminal, and the terminal determines another item based on the received third information.

[0443] It should be noted that P port,t and P RE,t The subscripts "port" and "RE" are used to distinguish spatial domain (i.e., port) resources from time-frequency domain resources (i.e., time-frequency units). Time-frequency units include, but are not limited to, REs. For example, a time-frequency unit may include multiple REs, which can be used to send reference signals to multiple ports. In other words, the multiple ports can multiplex the multiple REs (e.g., time division multiplexing or frequency division multiplexing), or the multiple REs can be multiplexed to multiple ports.

[0444] Reference channel estimation auxiliary information: The channel estimation auxiliary information has been introduced in the previous terminology. In this embodiment, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is named only for the convenience of distinguishing it from the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the second channel estimation auxiliary information described later. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponds to the reference reference signal resource. For the t-th reference reference signal resource, the corresponding reference channel estimation auxiliary information is used to calculate the channel estimation auxiliary information according to M. t The channel measurement results of the ports estimate K t The channel matrix of ports. t The channel measurement results of the ports estimate K t The channel matrix of ports can specifically refer to the following: t The channel measurement result obtained by measuring the reference signal of the ports is M t The channels of the ports are then t The channel of the ports and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information reconstruct K t A channel matrix with 10 ports.

[0445] The network device may indicate the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference reference signal resource to the terminal through third information, or may not indicate through third information. The reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference reference signal resource may also be determined by the terminal itself. The terminal may also calculate the reference channel estimation assistance information corresponding to each reference reference signal resource based on the method provided in the above terminology. Alternatively, the terminal may obtain historical channel estimation assistance information for a reference signal resource occupying the same location as each reference reference signal resource.

[0446] Maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation: The maximum number of ports that can be used to estimate the channel matrix using the reference signal transmitted by the reference signal resource. For example, the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation by the tth reference signal resource is K. t That is, the t-th reference signal resource can be used to estimate a value less than or equal to K t The channel of the port.

[0447] Since the dimension of the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is related to the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, the number of columns in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation. Therefore, the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation can be indicated by the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. In other words, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is one possible form of indicating the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation.

[0448] It should be understood that the above-mentioned T reference reference signal resources can also be predefined. For example, the resource pattern, port pattern and reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the T reference reference signal resources have been pre-stored before the equipment leaves the factory, and there is no need for the network device to indicate to the terminal through a third information. In other words, the above-mentioned step 1010 is an optional step.

[0449] In step 1020, the network device sends a first reference signal on a first resource. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the first resource.

[0450] The specific implementation of step 1020 in the RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU and in the ORAN is similar to step 410 in the above method 400. Please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

[0451] It should be understood that the first resource comes from the first reference reference signal resource, and the first reference reference signal resource can be any one of the above T reference reference signal resources. This application does not limit which reference reference signal resource the network device selects to transmit the reference signal.

[0452] Since the first reference signal resource is one of the T reference signal resources, the maximum number of ports M for transmitting the reference signal can be M1 to M1 above. T The maximum number of ports K supported can be one of K1 to K above. T Since the following mainly uses the first reference signal resource as an example to describe this embodiment, for the convenience of explanation, the subscripts used to distinguish the reference signal resources in each parameter are omitted, that is, the channel matrix is ​​H and the dimension is N. RE ×K,N RE is the number of REs included in the first benchmark reference signal resource.

[0453] The first resource comes from the first baseline reference signal resource. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the first resource can be used to transmit the reference signals of m1 ports (m1 is a positive integer less than or equal to M). In other words, the first reference signal transmitted on the first resource is the reference signal of m1 ports. It can be understood that the m1 ports come from M ports, or in other words, the m1 ports are included in the M ports, or in other words, the m1 ports are part or all of the M ports. The first baseline reference signal resource includes K ports, where K is the number of ports from K1 to K. T Therefore, the first resource is part or all of the first reference signal resource.

[0454] In summary, we can obtain the following relationship: k1≤K, m1<M, m1≤k1, and M≤K.

[0455] It should be understood that, in this application, for the sake of ease of distinction and explanation, the reference reference signal resource is defined as a time-frequency resource to distinguish it from a spatial domain resource (such as a port). In another implementation, the reference reference signal resource can also be defined as a resource in three dimensions: time domain, frequency domain, and spatial domain. In this case, the resource used to transmit the first reference signal can be part of the first reference reference signal resource. Step 402 can also be expressed as: receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, the first resource coming from the first reference reference signal resource. Accordingly, the terminal receives the first reference signal on the first resource.

[0456] It can be understood that since the first reference signal resource is one of the T reference signal resources, the maximum number of ports M of the reference signal corresponding to it can be M1 to M1 above. T The maximum number of ports K supported can be one of K1 to K above. T Since the reference signal received on the first reference reference signal resource is used as an example to describe this embodiment below, for convenience of explanation, the subscripts used to distinguish the reference reference signal resources in each parameter are omitted. That is, the channel matrix is ​​H including K column vectors, the maximum number of ports for the reference signal corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource is M, and the maximum number of ports supported is K.

[0457] The first reference signal transmitted by the network device through the first resource is the reference signal of m1 ports. The channel experienced by the first reference signal can be expressed by the following formula: H·P #1 That is, the terminal can obtain the channel H' based on the received first reference signal, which satisfies: H'=H·P #1 . Among them, H is the channel matrix, P #1 It is a matrix of dimension K×m1, which can be used to reduce the channel matrix from K ports to m1 ports, or to select m1 ports from K ports, where m1 is a positive integer less than or equal to M. Multiply the channel H by P on the right. #1 , which is like achieving port dimensionality reduction in the spatial domain through precoding.

[0458] Optionally, m1 is equal to M. In this case, P #1 Satisfied: P #1 =P port , so H·P #1 =H·P port Among them, P port It is a matrix with a dimension of K×M, representing a port pattern corresponding to the first baseline reference signal resource, and is used to indicate the indexes of the M ports among the K ports.

[0459] Optionally, m1 is smaller than M. In this case, P #1 satisfy: Therefore in, Indicates the use of For the matrix P port Perform weighted dimensionality reduction, is a weighted dimensionality reduction matrix obtained based on the extraction rule, with a dimension of M×m1, used to reduce the dimension of the first reference signal from M ports to m1 ports, or in other words, to select m1 ports from M ports. port Right multiplication The number of ports can be reduced from M to m1.

[0460] Among them, it is used to estimate the auxiliary information P of the channel + The extraction rule for extraction may be, for example, to obtain information about P + The maximum linearly uncorrelated group of row vectors, or, it can be based on P + The 2-norms of the row vectors are arranged from large to small, and several rows that reach a preset threshold are extracted, and so on. This application does not limit this.

[0461] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sending fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate an identifier of a first reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the fourth information.

[0462] When T is greater than 1, each reference reference signal resource can be distinguished by a different identifier. The network device can indicate the identifier of the reference reference signal resource actually used (e.g., the first reference reference signal resource) through fourth information. The terminal can determine the first reference reference signal resource based on the fourth information and then receive the first reference signal on the first reference reference signal resource.

[0463] It is understandable that when T is equal to 1, even if the network device does not indicate the identifier of the reference signal resource, the terminal can still determine the first reference signal resource according to the configuration information. Therefore, the network device does not necessarily have to send the fourth information.

[0464] In addition, the network device may also instruct the terminal through signaling when switching the reference reference signal resource, and may not additionally instruct through signaling when switching the reference reference signal resource is not required. For example, if the resources used by the network device when sending the reference signal last time were from the first reference reference signal resource, and the resources required for sending the reference signal next time are also from the first reference reference signal resource, then the network device may not need to send the fourth information. For another example, if the resources used by the network device when sending the reference signal last time were from the first reference reference signal resource, and the resources required for sending the reference signal next time are from the second reference reference signal resource, then the network device may self-indicate the identifier of the second reference reference signal resource through the fourth information. In this way, unnecessary signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0465] In step 1030, the terminal determines first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource.

[0466] As mentioned earlier, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource is used to estimate the channel matrix of K ports based on the channel measurement results of M ports. In this embodiment, the m1 ports of the first reference signal come from M ports. Therefore, the terminal can determine the channel estimation auxiliary information for obtaining the channel corresponding to the port to be estimated based on the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource.

[0467] In step 1040, the terminal determines first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0468] The terminal may measure the channels of the m1 ports based on the first reference signal, and further determine the k1 ports based on the first channel estimation auxiliary information, thereby determining the first CSI. The first CSI may be the PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or may be a channel estimation result indicating the channel corresponding to the k1 ports.

[0469] The following will respectively describe the specific processes of the terminal executing step 1030 and step 1040 in combination with two cases where m1 is equal to M (case 1) and m2 is less than M (case 2).

[0470] Case 1, m1 equals M:

[0471] As mentioned above, the first reference signal received by the terminal on the first resource can obtain the channel H·P of the M ports. port .

[0472] In step 1030, the terminal may determine first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource according to the indexes of the k1 ports of the channels to be estimated in the K ports.

[0473] For example, the terminal can estimate the auxiliary information P of the reference channel according to the index of the k1 ports in the K ports. + Perform column extraction to extract the columns corresponding to k1 ports from the K columns to form the matrix P + (:,{k1}). P + (:,{k1}) represents the matrix P + Extract k1 columns from the K columns of the reference channel and estimate the auxiliary information P according to the k1 columns. + The matrix obtained by sorting and combining in is of dimension M×k1. Thus, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained. satisfy

[0474] To better understand the relationship between the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, Figure 11 exemplarily illustrates the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. As shown in the figure, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented as a matrix of dimensions M (maximum number of ports for the reference signal) × K (maximum number of ports supported), which can be used to estimate the channel matrix of K ports based on the channel measurement results of the M ports. It can be understood that the M ports are included in the K ports, that is, the channels of the K ports are estimated based on the channel measurement results of some of the K ports. The first channel estimation auxiliary information is a matrix obtained by combining k1 columns extracted from the K columns of the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, so the k1 ports are included in the K ports. Furthermore, since the reference signals of the M ports are used to estimate the reference signals of the k1 ports, the M ports are further included in the k1 ports.

[0475] Optionally, the port of the channel matrix that the terminal needs to estimate may be indicated by the network device.

[0476] In one possible implementation manner, the network device may determine the port of the channel matrix that needs to be estimated, and indicate it to the terminal through the sixth information.

[0477] Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sending sixth information to the terminal, where the sixth information is used to indicate the index of the k1 ports among the K ports. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the sixth information from the network device.

[0478] In one possible design, the index of the k1 ports in the K ports can be indicated by a bitmap of K bits. For example, the port numbers of the K ports are arranged in ascending order, corresponding one-to-one to the K bits in the bitmap, and the value of each bit is used to indicate whether the corresponding port is selected. As an example, assuming that the value of the bit corresponding to the selected port is set to "1", and the value of the bit corresponding to the unselected port is set to "0", K is 12, k1 is 4, and the bitmap can be represented as "001111000000". The bitmap can be regarded as an explicit indication of the index of the k1 port in the K ports.

[0479] In another possible design, the index of the k1 ports among the K ports can also be indicated by the value k1. For example, the network device and the terminal can pre-agreed on a rule for selecting ports for the estimated channel matrix from the K ports. This rule can, for example, be to select a number of ports in ascending order of port number. In this case, the network device only needs to indicate the number of ports k1 to be estimated to the terminal, and the terminal can determine the index of the k1 ports among the K ports. Therefore, the value k1 can also be regarded as an implicit indication of the index of the k1 port among the K ports.

[0480] It should be understood that the manner in which the sixth information indicates the index of the k1 port in the K ports is not limited to the two methods listed above, and this application does not limit the specific manner in which the sixth information indicates the index of the k1 port in the K ports.

[0481] In step 1040, the terminal determines channels of k1 ports according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and further determines the first CSI.

[0482] As explained above, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is P + (:,{k1}), the channel of the M ports measured by the terminal according to the first reference signal is H·P port , thus we can get a channel with k1 ports satisfy:

[0483] The terminal can use the channel of the k1 port The channel estimation result is quantified, and the channel estimation result indicates the channel of k1 ports. The terminal can also continue to calculate the channel based on the k1 ports. Determine the precoding matrix adapted thereto, and then quantize the precoding matrix using the PMI. Since the two implementations of determining the channel estimation result and determining the PMI have been described in step 430 of method 400 above, please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

[0484] Case 2: m1 is less than M:

[0485] In step 1030, the terminal may determine first channel estimation auxiliary information based on the index of k1 ports of the channel to be estimated in K ports and the index of m1 ports in M ​​ports, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource.

[0486] For example, the terminal can estimate the auxiliary information P of the reference channel according to the index of the k1 ports in the K ports. + Perform column extraction to extract the columns corresponding to k1 ports from the K columns to form the matrix P + (:,{k1}). P + (:,{k1}) represents the matrix P + Extract k1 columns from the K columns of the matrix P according to the k1 columns + The matrix obtained by sorting and combining in has a dimension of M×k1.

[0487] The terminal can use the index of m1 ports in M ​​ports to map the port pattern P port Perform row extraction and convert the extracted row vectors into port The sorted combination in the matrix P is obtained sub , whose dimension is m1×M. The matrix P sub The matrix P contains m1 non-zero elements (e.g., "1"). The positions of the m1 non-zero elements in the M columns (i.e., the column numbers) can be determined by the indexes of the m1 ports in the M ports. For example, if the indexes of the m1 ports in the M ports are 1 and 3, then the matrix P sub It includes two non-zero elements, located at row 1, column 1 and row 2, column 3 respectively.

[0488] The terminal can be based on P sub , and get the matrix This formula represents the use of P sub P + (:,{k1}) performs row extraction, and the matrix obtained after extraction The dimension is m1×k1. That is, from the matrix P + Extract m1 row vectors from the M row vectors of (:,{k1}) and combine them in the order of the m1 row vectors in the matrix P+(:,{k1}). It can be understood that the matrix P sub The column numbers of the m1 non-zero elements are the matrix The m1 row vectors in the matrix P + The row number in (:,{k1}).

[0489] Thus, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained satisfy:

[0490] To better understand the relationship between the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, Figure 12 exemplarily illustrates the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. As shown in the figure, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information can be represented as a matrix of dimensions M (maximum number of reference signal ports) × K (maximum number of supported ports). This matrix can be used to estimate the channel matrix of the K ports based on the channel measurement results of the M ports. It can be understood that the M ports are contained in the K ports, meaning that the channel matrix of the K ports is estimated based on the channel measurement results of some of the K ports. The first channel estimation auxiliary information is k1 columns and m1 rows extracted from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. This means that the first channel estimation auxiliary information is obtained through column extraction and then row extraction. Since the k1 columns are extracted from the K columns, the k1 ports are contained in the K ports. Since the m1 rows are extracted from the M rows, the m1 port is contained in the M ports. Furthermore, since the M ports are contained in the K ports, the m1 port is also contained in the K ports. Furthermore, since the reference signals of the m1 ports are used to estimate the reference signals of the k1 ports, the m1 ports are further included in the k1 ports.

[0491] The index of the k1 port in the K ports can be determined by referring to the description in Case 1. Similarly, the index of the m1 port in the M ports can be indicated by the network device or determined by the terminal itself.

[0492] One possible implementation is that the network device sends fifth information to the terminal, where the fifth information is used to indicate the index of the m1 port among the M ports. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the fifth information from the network device.

[0493] That is, the network device can determine m1 relatively important ports from the M ports for sending reference signals, and indicate the m1 ports to the terminal. The network device can determine m1 relatively important ports from the M ports based on a predefined extraction rule, and indicate the index of the m1 port in the M ports to the terminal. One possible way for the network device to indicate the index of the m1 port in the M ports to the terminal is to use the matrix P sub Instruct the terminal. sub For the description of determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information, please refer to the above description of determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information, which will not be repeated here.

[0494] It should be understood that the specific process of the network device determining m1 ports from M ports has been described in detail in step 1020 above, and reference may be made to the above related description, which will not be repeated here.

[0495] In another possible implementation, the network device sends fifth information to the terminal, where the fifth information is used to indicate a rule for extracting m1 ports from the M ports. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the fifth information from the network device.

[0496] In other words, the network device can also delegate the extraction task to the terminal. The network device can instruct the terminal on the specific extraction rule to be used. The extraction rule can, for example, be to sort the matrix row vectors from largest to smallest in terms of their 2-norm and extract rows that meet a preset threshold, or to extract rows based on a maximal linearly uncorrelated group of matrix row vectors, or other rules, which are not limited in this application.

[0497] For example, the terminal can obtain the matrix P based on the extraction rule indicated by the network device. sub For example, the extraction rule is based on the matrix P + The terminal can extract the maximum linearly uncorrelated group of row vectors of (:,{k1}). + The row vector of (:,{k1}) calculates the maximum linearly uncorrelated group and obtains the matrix P sub .

[0498] Matrix P sub There are m1 non-zero elements, and the column number where the m1 non-zero elements are located is the index of the m1 port in the M ports.

[0499] It should be understood that the extraction rules illustrated above are only examples. For example, the extraction rules can also be based on the matrix P + The 2-norms of the row vectors of (:,{k1}) are arranged from large to small, and several rows that reach a preset threshold are extracted. The present application includes but is not limited to this.

[0500] It should also be understood that the extraction rule for the terminal to extract m1 row vectors from M row vectors should be the same as the extraction rule for the network device to extract m1 ports from M ports. For example, both can be based on obtaining a maximally linearly uncorrelated group, or the extraction can be performed in descending order of the vector's 2-norm.

[0501] It is not difficult to see that the fifth information can be used to explicitly or implicitly indicate the index of the m1 port among the M ports.

[0502] In step 1040, the terminal determines channels of k1 ports according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and further determines the first CSI.

[0503] As explained above, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is The channels of the M ports measured by the terminal according to the first reference signal are This gives a channel with k1 ports satisfy: Substitute Available satisfy:

[0504] For ease of understanding, Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram of the relationship between the channel measurement results of the m1 port measured by the terminal and the channel matrix of the k1 port estimated. As shown in Figure 13, the channel of the m1 port measured by the terminal based on the reference signal of the m1 port is Estimating auxiliary information P according to the first channel sub ·P + (:,{k1}), the channel of k1 ports can be estimated

[0505] The terminal can use the channel of the k1 port The channel estimation result is quantified, and the channel estimation result indicates the channel of k1 ports. The terminal can also continue to calculate the channel based on the k1 ports. Determine the precoding matrix adapted thereto, and then quantize the precoding matrix using the PMI. Since the two implementations of determining the channel estimation result and determining the PMI have been described in step 430 of method 400 above, please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

[0506] Based on the above solution, the terminal is pre-configured with a first baseline reference signal resource. This first baseline reference signal resource can estimate the channels of a maximum of K (K ≥ M) ports through reference signals from a maximum of M ports. The network device can select some or all of the M ports to transmit reference signals as needed to estimate the channels of some or all of the K ports. In this way, the network device can flexibly select reference signals from any number of ports within M ports for channel estimation based on the baseline reference signal resource and service requirements to estimate the channels of any number of ports within K ports, thereby supporting flexible changes in the number of ports in scenarios where the RF channel is dynamically shut down. In addition, the network device does not need to configure the terminal with reference signal transmission resources, such as the resource's time-frequency pattern, port pattern, and channel estimation auxiliary information, every time it sends a reference signal, thereby reducing the signaling overhead caused by resource configuration.

[0507] In addition, the terminal can be pre-configured with multiple reference reference signal resources including a first reference reference signal resource, and different reference reference signal resources have different maximum numbers of ports for transmitting reference signals, and / or different reference reference signal resources support different maximum numbers of ports for channel estimation. The network device can select appropriate reference reference signal resources to transmit reference signals according to needs. For example, when the number of ports to be estimated is small, a reference reference signal resource with a smaller maximum number of ports supported can be selected; when the number of ports to be estimated is small but a higher estimation accuracy is required, a reference reference signal resource with a smaller maximum number of ports supported and a larger number of ports for transmitting reference signals can be selected; and so on. It can be seen that the network device can flexibly select reference reference signal resources to transmit reference signals according to needs, thereby achieving higher resource utilization.

[0508] In step 1050, the terminal sends the first CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first CSI from the terminal.

[0509] The specific implementation of step 1050 in the RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU and in the ORAN is similar to step 440 in the above method 400. Please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

[0510] The specific process of step 1050 can be found in the relevant description of step 440 of method 400 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0511] By executing the above steps 1020 to 1050, a channel estimation can be completed.

[0512] It should be understood that the T reference signal resources configured by the network device in step 1010 can be used for one or more channel estimations. Therefore, multiple channel estimations can be completed by repeatedly performing steps 1020 to 1050. To better understand this embodiment, the process of the next channel estimation is described below through steps 1060 to 1090. It should be understood that the process of steps 1060 to 1090 is similar to the process of steps 1020 to 1050.

[0513] In step 1060, the network device sends a second reference signal on the second resource. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the second reference signal on the second resource.

[0514] The specific implementation of step 1060 in the RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU and in the ORAN is similar to step 410 in the above method 400. Please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

[0515] The second resource may be a resource from the first baseline reference signal resource. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the second resource can be used to transmit the reference signals of m2 ports. In other words, the second reference signal is the reference signal of m2 ports. One possible design is that the m2 ports come from m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1. In other words, the reference signals of the m2 ports are reference signals corresponding to some or all of the above-mentioned m1 ports, or in other words, the reference signals of the m2 ports are multiplexed reference signals of some or all of the above-mentioned reference signals of the m1 ports. Since m1 is less than or equal to M, m2 is also less than or equal to M, and the reference signals of the m2 ports are reference signals of some or all of the M reference signals.

[0516] Of course, the network device may not reuse the aforementioned m1 ports, but instead reselect m2 ports from the M ports to transmit the second reference signal. This application is not limited to this. In this case, the terminal may perform the operations according to steps 1030 to 1050 above, which will not be repeated here. The following mainly discusses the case where the m2 ports are derived from the m1 port.

[0517] In step 1070, the terminal determines second channel estimation auxiliary information according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0518] Similar to the first channel estimation auxiliary information, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be used to estimate the channels of the k2 ports based on the channels of the m2 ports. In this embodiment, the k2 ports are derived from the k1 ports, and the m2 ports are derived from the k2 ports, where k2 is a positive integer less than or equal to k1 and greater than or equal to m2. Since the m2 ports are derived from the m1 ports and the k2 ports are derived from the k1 ports, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be determined from the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0519] In summary, the following relationship can be obtained: m2≤m1, k2≤k1, and k2≥m2. It is not difficult to see that there is also a nested relationship between the m2 ports and the m1 ports, and between the k2 ports and the k1 ports. This nested relationship can also be applied to the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the first channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained from the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0520] The following is still explained in combination with the two cases where m2 is equal to m1 (case A) and m2 is less than m1 (case B).

[0521] Case A, m2 equals m1:

[0522] If m2 is equal to m1, that is, the network device reuses the m1 ports used last time to transmit the second reference signal. In other words, the first resource and the second resource are the same resource. In this case, the k2 ports can be part or all of the k1 ports. If the k2 ports are all the ports of the k1 port, the second channel estimation auxiliary information is the same as the first channel estimation auxiliary information, and the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be directly determined as the second channel estimation auxiliary information. If the k2 ports are part of the k1 ports, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained from the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the index of the k2 port in the k1 port. Extract k2 columns from the k1 columns and estimate the auxiliary information in the first channel according to the k2 columns The sorted combinations in get the matrix satisfy Its dimension is M×k2. Side information is estimated for the second channel.

[0523] Case B, m2 is less than m1:

[0524] If m2 is smaller than m1, the network device reuses part of the m1 ports used last time to transmit the second reference signal. In other words, the second resource is part of the first resource. In this case, the k2 ports can be part or all of the k1 ports.

[0525] The terminal may determine the second channel estimation auxiliary information from the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the index of the m2 port in the m1 port and the index of the k2 port in the k1 port.

[0526] For example, the terminal may estimate the auxiliary information of the first channel according to the index of the k2 ports in the k1 ports. Perform column extraction to extract the columns corresponding to k2 ports from the k1 columns to form a matrix (P sub ·P + (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}). (P sub ·P + (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}) represents the auxiliary information estimated from the first channel Extract k2 columns from the k1 columns of The matrix obtained by sorting and combining in has a dimension of m1×k2.

[0527] The terminal can obtain the matrix P based on the index of the m2 port in the m1 port sub,A→B , whose dimension is m2×m1. The terminal is obtained by the index of m2 ports in m1 ports.sub,A→B The process is the same as that in step 1030 above, where the matrix P is obtained by indexing the m1 ports in the M ports. sub The process is similar, please refer to the relevant instructions above and I will not repeat them here.

[0528] The terminal can be based on P sub,A→B Get the matrix This formula represents the use of P sub,A→B P sub ·P + (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}) performs row extraction, and the matrix obtained after extraction Its dimension is m2×k 2。 matrix That is, from the matrix (P sub· P + (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}) extract m2 row vectors from the m1 row vectors and add the m2 row vectors to the matrix (P sub ·P + The matrix obtained by sorting the combinations in (:,{k1}))(:,{k2}).

[0529] Thus, the first channel estimation auxiliary information can be obtained satisfy

[0530] The process of the terminal determining the second channel estimation auxiliary information from the first channel estimation auxiliary information is similar to the process of the terminal determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information in step 1030. For more specific details, please refer to the relevant description in the previous step 1030 and will not be repeated here.

[0531] Among them, the index of the m2 port in the m1 port and the index of the k2 port in the k1 port can be indicated by the network device through signaling, or can be determined by the terminal itself according to the extraction rules indicated by the network device. For details, please refer to the relevant instructions above in combination with the fifth information and the sixth information, which will not be repeated here.

[0532] Since there is a nested relationship between the m1 port and the M ports, and between the k1 port and the K ports, there is also a nested relationship between the m2 port and the M ports, and between the k2 port and the K ports. This nested relationship can be applied to the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Therefore, based on this nested relationship, the second channel estimation auxiliary information can also be obtained from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. The terminal can determine the second channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information based on the index of the k2 port in the K ports and the index of the m2 port in the M ports. The specific process is similar to the process of determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information and is not described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0533] In step 1080, the terminal determines a second CSI according to the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information. The second CSI is used to determine a precoding matrix corresponding to a channel with k2 ports.

[0534] Similar to the first CSI, the second CSI may be a channel estimation result, where the channel estimation result indicates channels of k2 ports, or may be a PMI corresponding to the channels of k2 ports.

[0535] The process of the terminal determining the second CSI based on the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information is similar to the process of the terminal determining the first CSI based on the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information in step 1040. Please refer to the relevant description in the previous step 1040 and will not be repeated here.

[0536] For ease of understanding, Figure 14 shows a schematic diagram of the relationship between the channel matrix of m2 ports measured by the terminal and the channel matrix of k2 ports estimated. As shown in Figure 14, the channel of m2 ports measured by the terminal based on the reference signal of m2 ports is Estimation of auxiliary information P according to the second channel sub,A→B· (P sub ·P + (:,{k1}))( : ,{k2}), the channel of k2 ports can be estimated

[0537] The process of the terminal determining the second CSI is similar to the process of the terminal determining the first CSI based on the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information in step 1040. Please refer to the above description of step 1040 in combination with case 1 and case 2, and no further details will be given.

[0538] In 1090, the terminal sends the second CSI to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the second CSI from the terminal.

[0539] The specific process of step 1090 and the specific implementation of step 1090 in the RAN deployed with CU, DU and RU and in the ORAN are similar to step 440 in the above method 400. Please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

[0540] This completes another channel estimation.

[0541] Since the network device uses the same reference signal resource to transmit the reference signal in these two channel estimations, and since the mapping relationship between the port of the reference signal transmitted each time and the time-frequency resource remains unchanged, the network device does not need to indicate the transmission resource of the reference signal for each channel estimation. That is, the network device can use the same reference signal resource to perform multiple channel estimations without having to indicate the transmission resource for each transmitted reference signal, which can save signaling overhead. Moreover, since the port of the reference signal transmitted the latter time is a subset of the port of the reference signal transmitted the previous time, the terminal can use the previous channel estimation as a reference for the next channel estimation. For example, the first channel estimation auxiliary information determined in the previous channel estimation process can be used to determine the second channel estimation auxiliary information. Compared with directly determining the second channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, this reduces the amount of calculation and improves the execution efficiency.

[0542] It should be noted that the first channel estimation auxiliary information is used to determine the first CSI, and the second channel estimation auxiliary information is used to determine the second CSI. Therefore, in some implementations, the steps of determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information and determining the first CSI (such as steps 420 and 430 in method 400, steps 540 and 550 in method 500, steps 830 and 840 in method 800, and steps 1030 and 1040 in method 1000) can be considered as the process of determining the first CSI, and the steps of determining the second channel estimation auxiliary information and determining the second CSI (such as steps 1070 and 1080 in method 1000) can also be considered as the process of determining the second CSI. For ease of understanding and explanation only, the determination of the first channel estimation auxiliary information and the first CSI, as well as the determination of the second channel estimation auxiliary information and the second CSI are described separately herein. Similarly, steps 950 and 960 in method 900 can also be regarded as a process for the network device to determine the channels of k1 ports, or can also be regarded as part of the process for the network device to determine the precoding matrix. Here, steps 950 and 960 are described separately for the convenience of understanding and explanation.

[0543] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. Below, the device provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0544] Figures 15 to 18 are schematic block diagrams of possible communication devices provided by embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, and therefore can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above-mentioned method embodiment. In an embodiment of the present application, the communication device can be a terminal or network device in the method embodiment shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9 or 10, or a component (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.) configured in the terminal or network device, or a logic module or software that can implement some or all of the functions of the terminal or network device.

[0545] A communication device provided in this application is shown in FIG15 , where the communication device 1500 includes a transceiver unit 1510 and a processing unit 1520 .

[0546] One possible design is that the device 1500 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiments shown in Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 8, Figure 9 or Figure 10 above.

[0547] Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1510 is configured to receive a first reference signal on a first resource, the first resource being from a first reference reference signal resource, the first reference reference signal resource being used to transmit a reference signal of a maximum of M ports, and the reference signal of the M ports supporting a maximum of K ports for channel estimation, the first reference signal being a reference signal of m1 ports, the m1 ports being from the M ports, m1 being less than or equal to M, M being less than or equal to K, and m1, M, and K being positive integers; the processing unit 1520 being configured to determine a first reference signal based on the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information CSI, the first CSI corresponds to the channels of the k1 ports; the first channel estimation auxiliary information is determined based on the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of the K ports based on the channel measurement results of the M ports, the first channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of the k1 ports based on the channel measurement results of the m1 ports, the k1 ports come from the K ports, k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K; the transceiver unit 1510 is also used to send the first CSI.

[0548] Optionally, the first benchmark reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units, and R is a positive integer.

[0549] Optionally, the first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units, S is a positive integer less than or equal to R; and the transceiver unit 1510 is also used to receive the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

[0550] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the R reference signal resource units: a resource pattern, a port pattern, a number of ports supported for channel estimation, or channel estimation auxiliary information; wherein the rth reference signal resource unit among the R reference signal resource units is used to transmit L r The reference signal of the port, the L r The reference signal of each port supports N r Channel estimation for ports, N r is the number of ports supported by the channel estimation of the rth reference signal resource unit, L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M, N r is less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r A positive integer, r is a positive integer from 1 to R; the resource pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit indicates the L r The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource in the ports, the port pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit indicates the L r The ports in this N r The index in the port, the channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource unit is used to r The channel measurement results of the N ports estimate the r The reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resources respectively.

[0551] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further used to receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

[0552] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive indication information of each reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units, where the indication information of the sth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following of the sth reference signal resource unit: a resource pattern, a number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or a splicing identifier; wherein the S reference signal resource units are from the R reference signal resource units, and the rth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units s Reference signal resource units are used to transmit The reference signal of the port Reference signal support for ports The channel estimation of the ports, For the r s The number of ports for channel estimation supported by the reference signal resource unit, is a positive integer less than or equal to M, is less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to A positive integer, r s Indicates the identifier of the sth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units; s The resource pattern of the reference signal resource unit indicates the The mapping relationship between the reference signal and time-frequency resources of each port in the rth port s The port pattern of the reference signal resource unit indicates the The port in this The index of the port, the rth s The channel estimation auxiliary information of the reference signal resource units is used to The channel measurement results of the ports estimate the The reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resource units respectively, and the S reference signal resource units have the same splicing identifier to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signal transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

[0553] Optionally, the first CSI includes the PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate the channel estimation results corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports; the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes the channel estimation auxiliary information in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; the processing unit 1520 is also used to perform channel estimation based on the first reference signal received on each reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units, and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information, to obtain the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; the processing unit 1520 is also used to obtain the channels of the k1 ports based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively; the processing unit 1520 is also used to determine the first CSI based on the channels of the k1 ports.

[0554] Optionally, the k1 ports include at least one reference port, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to each reference port in the at least one reference port are included in at least two reference signal resource units in the S reference signal resource units; the processing unit 1520 is also used to splice the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively based on each reference port in the at least one reference port and according to the splicing rules.

[0555] Optionally, the at least one reference port is determined according to a first rule, where the first rule is predefined by a protocol, or is indicated by a network device; or, the at least one reference port is indicated by the network device.

[0556] Optionally, the splicing rule includes: splicing channels corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units horizontally from left to right in ascending order of identifiers corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units.

[0557] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive the first reference signal on the first baseline reference signal resource.

[0558] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive third information, where the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the T reference reference signal resources: a resource pattern, a maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information; wherein the t-th reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources is used to transmit a maximum of M t The reference signal transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource supports the maximum estimated K t The channel estimation of K ports t M is the maximum number of ports supported by the channel estimation of the t-th reference signal resource. tis a positive integer less than or equal to M, K t is greater than or equal to M t A positive integer, t is a positive integer from 1 to T; the resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the M t The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource in the ports, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference reference signal resource is used to estimate the reference channel of the M t The channel measurement results of the ports estimate the K t The channel of the port.

[0559] Optionally, T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference reference signal resources meet the following conditions: the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals is different, and / or the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

[0560] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further used to receive fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate an identifier of the first reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources.

[0561] Optionally, the first CSI is the PMI corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is the channel estimation result indicating the channel of the k1 ports; m1 is equal to M, k1 is less than K, and the processing unit 1520 is further used to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource according to the index of the k1 ports in the K ports.

[0562] Optionally, the first CSI is the PMI corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is the channel estimation result indicating the channel of the k1 ports, m1 is less than M, and k1 is less than K; and the processing unit 1520 is also used to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource based on the index of the m1 port in the M ports and the index of the k1 port in the K ports.

[0563] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate an index of the m1 ports in the M ports, or an extraction rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

[0564] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to receive sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate indexes of the k1 ports in the K ports.

[0565] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is also used to receive a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource comes from the first reference reference signal resource, and the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, where the m2 ports come from m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; the processing unit 1520 is also used to determine second channel estimation auxiliary information based on the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of the k2 ports based on the channel measurement results of the m2 ports, where the k2 ports come from the k1 port, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1; the processing unit 1520 is also used to determine a second CSI based on the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second CSI corresponds to the channels of the k2 ports; the transceiver unit 1510 is also used to send the second CSI.

[0566] A more detailed description of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1510 and the processing unit 1520 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant description in the embodiments shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9 or 10, and will not be repeated here.

[0567] Another possible design is that the device 1500 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9 or 10 above.

[0568] Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1510 is used to send a first reference signal on a first resource, where the first resource comes from a first reference reference signal resource. The first reference reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, which are used to transmit reference signals of M ports. The reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of K ports, where K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any reference signal resource unit in the R reference signal resource units; the first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, where the m1 ports come from the M ports, where m1 is less than or equal to M, where M is less than or equal to K, and where m1, R, M, and K are positive integers; the transceiver unit 1510 is also used to receive a first CSI, where the first CSI corresponds to channels of k1 ports, where the k1 ports come from the K ports, and where k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K.

[0569] Optionally, the first benchmark reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units, and R is a positive integer.

[0570] Optionally, the first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units, S is a positive integer less than or equal to R; and the transceiver unit 1510 is also used to send the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

[0571] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send first information, where the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the R reference signal resource units: a resource pattern, a port pattern, the number of ports supported for channel estimation, or channel estimation auxiliary information; wherein the rth reference signal resource unit in the R reference signal resource units is used to transmit L r The reference signal of the port, the L r The reference signal of each port supports N r Channel estimation for ports, N r is the number of ports supported by the channel estimation of the rth reference signal resource unit, L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M, N r is less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r A positive integer, r is a positive integer from 1 to R; the resource pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit indicates the L r The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource in the ports, the port pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit indicates the L r The ports in this N r The index in the port, the channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource unit is used to r The channel measurement results of the N ports estimate the r For a channel of a port, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information respectively corresponding to the R reference signal resources.

[0572] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further used to send second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

[0573] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send indication information of each reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units, where the indication information of the sth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following of the sth reference signal resource unit: a resource pattern, a number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or an identifier of the first reference reference signal resource; wherein the S reference signal resource units are from the R reference signal resource units, and the rth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units s Reference signal resource units are used to transmit The reference signal of the port Reference signal support for ports The channel estimation of the ports, For the r s The number of ports for channel estimation supported by the reference signal resource unit, is a positive integer less than or equal to M, is less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to A positive integer, r s Indicates the identifier of the sth reference signal resource unit in the S reference signal resource units in the R reference signal resource units; s The resource pattern of the reference signal resource unit indicates the The mapping relationship between the reference signal and time-frequency resources of each port in the rth port s The port pattern of the reference signal resource unit indicates the The port in this The index of the port, the rth s The channel estimation auxiliary information of the reference signal resource units is used to The channel measurement results of the ports estimate the The reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resource units respectively, and the S reference signal resource units have the same splicing identifier to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signal transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

[0574] Optionally, the first CSI includes the PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate the channel estimation results corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports; the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes the channel estimation auxiliary information in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively, and the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information are used to determine the first CSI.

[0575] Optionally, the k1 ports include at least one reference port, and the time-frequency resources corresponding to each reference port in the at least one reference port are contained in at least two reference signal resource units in the S reference signal resource units. The S reference signal resource units are used to splice the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively based on each reference port in the at least one reference port and according to a splicing rule to obtain the channels of the k1 ports.

[0576] Optionally, the at least one reference port is determined according to a first rule, where the first rule is predefined by a protocol, or is indicated by a network device; or, the at least one reference port is indicated by the network device.

[0577] Optionally, the splicing rule includes: splicing channels corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units horizontally from left to right in ascending order of identifiers corresponding to the multiple reference signal resource units.

[0578] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send the first reference signal on the first benchmark reference signal resource.

[0579] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send third information, where the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the T reference reference signal resources: a resource pattern, a maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information;

[0580] The t-th reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources is used to transmit a maximum of M t The reference signal transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource supports the maximum estimated K t The channel estimation of K ports t M is the maximum number of ports supported by the channel estimation of the t-th reference signal resource. t is a positive integer less than or equal to M, K t is greater than or equal to M t A positive integer, t is a positive integer from 1 to T; the resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the M t The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource in the ports, the reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference reference signal resource is used to estimate the reference channel of the M t The channel measurement results of the ports estimate the K t The channel of the port.

[0581] Optionally, T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference reference signal resources meet the following conditions: the maximum number of ports for transmitting reference signals is different, and / or the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

[0582] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate an identifier of the first reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources.

[0583] Optionally, the first CSI is the PMI corresponding to the channel of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is the channel estimation result indicating the channel of the k1 ports; m1 is less than or equal to M, k1 is less than K, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource is used to determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information.

[0584] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate an index of the m1 ports in the M ports, or a rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

[0585] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is further configured to send sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate indexes of the k1 ports in the K ports.

[0586] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1510 is also used to send a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource comes from the first reference reference signal resource, and the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, where the m2 ports come from m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; the transceiver unit 1510 is also used to receive the second CSI, where the second CSI corresponds to a channel of k2 ports, where the k2 ports come from the k1 port, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1.

[0587] A more detailed description of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1510 and the processing unit 1520 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9 or 10, and will not be repeated here.

[0588] In another possible design, the device 1500 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9 or 10 above.

[0589] Exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1510 is used to send a first reference signal on a first reference reference signal resource, where the first reference reference signal resource is used to transmit reference signals of up to M ports, and the reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of a maximum of K ports; the first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, where the m1 ports come from the M ports, m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, M and K are positive integers; the transceiver unit 1510 is also used to receive first channel state information CSI, where the first CSI corresponds to the channels of k1 ports, where the k1 ports come from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K.

[0590] It should be noted that the transceiver unit may also be referred to as a transceiver module, transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver device. The processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing module, or processing device. Optionally, the transceiver unit is used to perform the sending and receiving operations of the terminal or network device in the above method. The device used to implement the receiving function in the communication module can be considered the receiving unit, and the device used to implement the sending function in the communication module can be considered the sending unit. That is, the transceiver unit includes the receiving unit and the sending unit.

[0591] It should also be noted that, in one possible design, the aforementioned transceiver unit and / or processing unit may be implemented through a virtual module. For example, the processing unit may be implemented through a software function unit or a virtual device, and the transceiver unit may be implemented through a software function or a virtual device. In another possible design, the processing unit or the transceiver unit may also be implemented through a physical device. For example, if the device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface that performs input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operations) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operations); the processing unit is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit.

[0592] The division of units in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various examples of the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0593] Another communication device provided by the present application is shown in FIG16 , where the communication device 1600 includes a processor 1610. The processor 1610 may be configured to execute computer programs or instructions in a memory to implement the steps performed by a terminal or a network device in the method embodiments shown in FIG4 , FIG5 , FIG8 , FIG9 , or FIG10 .

[0594] Optionally, the device 1600 further includes a communication interface 1630. The processor 1610 and the communication interface 1630 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the communication interface 1630 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the device 1600 further includes an antenna 1640, and the communication interface 1630 may implement the transceiver functions of the communication device 1600 via the antenna 1640.

[0595] Optionally, the communication device 1600 may further include a memory 1620 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1610 or storing input data required by the processor 1610 to run instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1610 runs instructions.

[0596] When communication device 1600 is used to implement the methods shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9, or 10, processor 1610 is used to perform the functions of the aforementioned processing units, and communication interface 1630 is used to perform the functions of the aforementioned transceiver units. Whether communication interface 1630 and antenna 1640 are used for transmission or reception depends on whether they are used for transmission or reception in the solution implemented by communication device 1600.

[0597] When the communication device 1600 is a chip used in a terminal, the chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The chip of the terminal receives signals from other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the signals may be sent to the terminal by a network device; or the chip of the terminal sends signals to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the signals may be sent to the network device by the terminal.

[0598] When the communication device 1600 is a chip used in a network device, the chip implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The chip of the network device receives signals from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the signals may be sent by the terminal to the network device; or the chip of the network device sends signals to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the signals may be sent by the network device to the terminal.

[0599] It is understood that when the communication device 1600 is a terminal or network device, the communication interface 1630 may be a transceiver, specifically including a transmitter and a receiver, where the transmitter is used to transmit signals and the receiver is used to receive signals. When the communication device 1600 is a chip used in a terminal or network device, the communication interface 1630 may be an input / output circuit, a bus, a module, a pin, or other type of communication interface, where the input circuit of the input / output circuit can be used for receiving, and the output interface can be used for transmitting.

[0600] It should be understood that in the communication device 1600 shown in Figure 16, the processor 1610 may correspond to the processing unit 1520 in the above communication device 1500, and the communication interface 1630 and the antenna 1640 may correspond to the transceiver unit 1510 in the above communication device 1500.

[0601] It should also be understood that the coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units or modules. The processor 1610 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1620, the communication interface 1630 and the antenna 1640. The specific connection medium between the processor 1610 and the communication interface 1630, the memory 1620, and the communication interface 1630 and the antenna 1640 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0602] Optionally, the processor 1610, the communication interface 1630, and the memory 1620 are interconnected via a bus. The bus may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like.

[0603] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 17, the terminal 1700 can be applied to the system shown in Figure 1 to perform the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiment. As shown in the figure, the terminal 1700 includes a processor 1701 and a transceiver 1702. Optionally, the terminal 1700 also includes a memory 1703. Among them, the processor 1701, the transceiver 1702 and the memory 1703 can communicate with each other through an internal connection path to transmit control and / or data signals. The memory 1703 is used to store computer programs, and the processor 1701 is used to call and run the computer program from the memory 1703 to control the transceiver 1702 to send and receive signals. Optionally, the terminal 1700 may also include an antenna 1704 for sending the uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 1702 through a wireless signal.

[0604] The processor 1701 and the memory 1703 may be combined into a processing device, and the processor 1701 is configured to execute program code stored in the memory 1703 to implement the aforementioned functions. In a specific implementation, the memory 1703 may also be integrated into the processor 1701 or independent of the processor 1701. The processor 1701 may correspond to the processing unit in FIG. 11 or the processor in FIG. 12 .

[0605] The transceiver 1702 may correspond to the transceiver unit in FIG. 11 or the communication interface in FIG. 12 , and may also be referred to as a transceiver unit. The transceiver 1702 may include a receiver (or receiver, receiving circuit) and a transmitter (or transmitter, transmitting circuit). The receiver is used to receive signals, and the transmitter is used to transmit signals.

[0606] It should be understood that terminal 1700 shown in Figure 17 is capable of implementing the various processes related to the terminal in the method embodiments shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9, or 10. The operations and / or functions of the various modules in terminal 1700 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description of the aforementioned method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are omitted here.

[0607] The processor 1701 can be used to execute the actions implemented by the terminal as described in the previous method embodiments, and the transceiver 1702 can be used to execute the actions of the terminal sending to or receiving from the network device as described in the previous method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description of the previous method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0608] Optionally, the terminal 1700 may further include a power supply 1705 for providing power to various devices or circuits within the terminal. In this embodiment of the present application, a rectifier may be connected between the power supply 1705 and the antenna 1704. After the electromagnetic wave signal is received by the antenna 1704 and converted into an alternating current signal, it may be further converted into a direct current signal by the rectifier and then output to the power supply 1705.

[0609] In addition, in order to make the functions of the terminal more complete, the terminal 1700 can also include one or more of an input unit 1706, a display unit 1707, an audio circuit 1708, a camera 1709 and a sensor 1710, and the audio circuit can also include a speaker 1708a, a microphone 1708b, etc.

[0610] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided by an example of the present application, for example, a schematic diagram of the structure of a base station. The base station 1800 shown in Figure 18 can be used in the system shown in Figure 1 to perform the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. As shown in the figure, the base station 1800 may include one or more of the following: one or more (DU+RU) units 1810 and one or more CUs 1820. The CU 1820 can communicate with the next generation core (NG core). The DU may include at least one antenna 1811, at least one radio frequency unit 1812, at least one processor 1813, and at least one memory 1818. The DU portion is mainly used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals, converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals, and performing partial baseband processing. The CU 1820 may include at least one processor 1822 and at least one memory 1821. The CU 1820 and the DU can communicate via an interface. The control plane (CP) interface may be an Fs-C, such as F1-C, and the user plane (UP) interface may be an Fs-U, such as F1-U. The DU and RU can work together to implement the functions of the physical (PHY) layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of the DU and RU can be configured in various ways according to the design. For example, the DU is configured to implement the baseband function, and the RU is configured to implement the mid-RF function. For another example, the DU is configured to implement the high-layer functions in the PHY layer, and the RU is configured to implement the low-layer functions and RF functions in the PHY layer. The high-layer functions in the PHY layer may include a part of the functions of the PHY layer, which is closer to the MAC layer, and the low-layer functions in the PHY layer may include another part of the functions of the PHY layer, which is closer to the mid-RF side.

[0611] The CU 1820 is primarily used for baseband processing and base station control. The DU and CU 1820 may be physically located together or physically separated, i.e., a distributed base station. The CU 1820 is the control center of the base station and may correspond to the processing unit in FIG11 or the processor in FIG12 , and may also be referred to as a processing unit. It is primarily used to perform baseband processing functions. For example, the CU 1820 may be used to control the base station to execute the operation process regarding the access network device in the above-described method embodiment.

[0612] Specifically, baseband processing on the CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network. For example, the functions of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and above are set in the CU, while the functions of the protocol layers below PDCP, such as the RLC layer and the MAC layer, are set in the DU. For another example, the CU implements the functions of the RRC layer and the PDCP layer, while the DU implements the functions of the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer.

[0613] In addition, optionally, the base station 1800 may include one or more radio frequency units (RUs), one or more DUs, and one or more CUs. The DU may include at least one processor 1813 and at least one memory 1818, the RU may include at least one antenna 1811 and at least one radio frequency unit 1812, and the CU may include at least one processor 1822 and at least one memory 1821.

[0614] In one example, the CU 1820 may be composed of one or more single boards, and the multiple single boards may jointly support a wireless access network with a single access indication (such as a 5G network), or may respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 1821 and the processor 1822 may serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor may be separately set on each single board. It is also possible that multiple single boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may be provided on each single board. The DU may be composed of one or more single boards, and the multiple single boards may jointly support a wireless access network with a single access indication (such as a 5G network), or may respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 1818 and the processor 1813 may serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor may be separately set on each single board. It is also possible that multiple single boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may be provided on each single board.

[0615] It should be understood that base station 1800 shown in Figure 18 is capable of implementing the various processes involving network devices in the method embodiments shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9, or 10. The operations and / or functions of the various modules in base station 1800 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments. For details, please refer to the descriptions of the aforementioned method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are omitted here.

[0616] The BBU 1820 can be used to perform the actions implemented within the network device described in the previous method embodiments, while the RRU 1810 can be used to perform the actions described in the previous method embodiments in which the network device sends or receives data to or from the terminal. For details, please refer to the description in the previous method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0617] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0618] 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 RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0619] The present application also provides a communication system, which includes the aforementioned network device and terminal.

[0620] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which, when executed, enables a computer to execute the method executed by a terminal or the method executed by a network device in the embodiments shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9 or 10.

[0621] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions). When the computer program is executed, the computer executes the method executed by the terminal or the method executed by the network device in the embodiments shown in Figures 4, 5, 8, 9, or 10.

[0622] The terms "unit," "module," and the like used in this specification may be used to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution.

[0623] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented using electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians may 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. In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices, equipment, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only 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 performed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interface, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, and can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0624] 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 the units may be selected to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0625] 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.

[0626] In the above embodiments, the functions of each functional unit can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions (programs). When the computer program instructions (program) are loaded and 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 (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0627] If this function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of 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. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0628] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Comprising: Receiving a first reference signal on a first resource, where the first resource is from a first benchmark reference signal resource for transmitting reference signals of up to M ports, and the reference signals of the M ports support channel estimation of up to K ports. The first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, and the m1 ports are from the M ports, where m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, M, and K are positive integers; Determining first channel state information CSI according to the first reference signal and first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the first CSI corresponds to the channels of k1 ports; The first channel estimation auxiliary information is determined according to the benchmark channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first benchmark reference signal resource. The benchmark channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of the K ports according to the channel measurement results of the M ports, and the first channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of k1 ports according to the channel measurement results of the m1 ports. The k1 ports are from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K; Transmitting the first CSI.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first benchmark reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, where K is less than or equal to the sum of the port numbers of channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units and greater than the port number of channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units, and R is a positive integer.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units. k1 is the port number of channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the port number of channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units, and S is a positive integer less than or equal to R; And The receiving the first reference signal on the first resource includes: Receiving the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein Before receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Receiving first information for indicating one or more of the following for each of the R reference signal resource units: resource pattern, port pattern, port number of supported channel estimation, or channel estimation auxiliary information; Among them, the r-th reference signal resource element among the R reference signal resource elements is used to transmit reference signals of L r ports. The reference signals of the L r ports support channel estimation of N r ports. N r is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the r-th reference signal resource element. L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M. N r is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r . r is a positive integer from 1 to R. The resource pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the L r ports and time-frequency resources. The port pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the indexes of the L r ports among the N r ports. The channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource element is used to estimate the channels of the N r ports according to the channel measurement results of the L r ports. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information respectively corresponding to the R reference signal resources.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The method further includes: Receiving second information for indicating the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein The method further includes: Receiving indication information for each of the S reference signal resource units. The indication information of the s-th reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following for the s-th reference signal resource unit: resource pattern, port number of supported channel estimation, channel estimation auxiliary information, or splicing identifier; Among them, the S reference signal resource units are from the R reference signal resource units, and the r-th reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units is used for transmission s ​ Reference signals of a port, the Reference signal support for ports Channel estimation of a port For the r-th s number of ports for channel estimation supported by the reference signal resource element, is a positive integer less than or equal to M, less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to positive integer, r s represents the identification of the sth reference signal resource element among the S reference signal resource elements in the R reference signal resource elements; the rth s reference signal resource element's resource pattern indicates the The mapping relationship between the reference signal and the time-frequency resource for each port among the ports, the port pattern of the r s th reference signal resource unit indicates the A port in the index in a port, the r-th s channel estimation assistance information of a reference signal resource element is used to be based on the Channel measurement results of a port estimate the channels of the ports, and the reference channel estimation auxiliary information is determined by the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the R reference signal resource units respectively. The S reference signal resource units have the same splicing identifier to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signal transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

7. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that, The first CSI includes a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate the channel estimation result corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports. The first channel estimation auxiliary information includes the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Determining the first CSI according to the first reference signal and the first channel estimation auxiliary information includes: Performing channel estimation according to the first reference signal received on each of the S reference signal resource units and the channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to each reference signal resource unit in the reference channel estimation auxiliary information to obtain the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively. Based on the channels corresponding to the S reference signal resource units respectively, obtain the channels of the k1 ports. Determine the first CSI according to the channels of the k1 ports.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first reference reference signal resource is one of the T reference reference signal resources. Before receiving the reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Receiving third information, where the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following items for each of the T reference reference signal resources: resource pattern, the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation auxiliary information. Among them, the t-th reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources is used to transmit reference signals of at most M t ports. The reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource support channel estimation of up to K t ports. K t is the maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the t-th reference signal resource, M t is a positive integer less than or equal to M, K t is a positive integer greater than or equal to M t and t is a positive integer from 1 to T. The resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the M t ports and time-frequency resources. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference signal resource is used to estimate the channels of the K t ports according to the channel measurement results of the M t ports.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference reference signal resources satisfy: the maximum number of ports of the reference signal used for transmission is different, and / or the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, Before receiving the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Receiving fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate the identifier of the first reference reference signal resource among the T reference reference signal resources.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that The first CSI is a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is to indicate the channel estimation result of the channels of the k1 ports; m1 is equal to M, k1 is less than K, and Determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource includes: Determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource according to the indexes of the k1 ports among the K ports.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The first CSI is a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or the first CSI is to indicate the channel estimation result of the channels of the k1 ports, m1 is less than M, k1 is less than K; And Determining the first channel estimation auxiliary information according to the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference reference signal resource includes: Determine the first channel estimation auxiliary information from the reference channel estimation auxiliary information corresponding to the first reference signal resource based on the indices of the m1 ports among the M ports and the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate the indices of the m1 ports among the M ports or the extraction rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate the indices of the k1 ports among the K ports.

15. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource is from the first reference signal resource, the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, and the m2 ports are from the m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; Determine second channel estimation auxiliary information according to the first channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second channel estimation auxiliary information is used to estimate the channels of k2 ports according to the channel measurement results of the m2 ports, and the k2 ports are from the k1 ports, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1; Determine a second CSI according to the second reference signal and the second channel estimation auxiliary information, where the second CSI corresponds to the channels of the k2 ports; Transmit the second CSI.

16. A communication method, characterized in that, Includes: Transmitting a first reference signal on a first resource, where the first resource is from a first reference signal resource, the first reference signal resource is used to transmit reference signals of at most M ports, the reference signals of the M ports can support channel estimation of up to K ports, the first reference signal is a reference signal of m1 ports, the m1 ports are from the M ports, m1 is less than or equal to M, M is less than or equal to K, and m1, M, and K are positive integers; Receiving first channel state information CSI, where the first CSI corresponds to the channels of k1 ports, and the k1 ports are from the K ports, and k1 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m1 and less than or equal to K.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The first reference signal resource includes R reference signal resource units, K is less than or equal to the sum of the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the R reference signal resource units respectively, and greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the R reference signal resource units, and R is a positive integer.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The first resource includes S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units, k1 is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the S reference signal resource units, and k1 is greater than the number of ports for channel estimation supported by any one of the S reference signal resource units, and S is a positive integer less than or equal to R; And The transmitting the first reference signal on the first resource includes: Transmitting the first reference signal on the S reference signal resource units.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein Before the transmitting the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Transmit first information, where the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the R reference signal resource units: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports supported for channel estimation, or channel estimation assistance information; Among them, the r-th reference signal resource element among the R reference signal resource elements is used to transmit reference signals of L r ports, and the reference signals of the L r ports support channel estimation of N r ports. N r is the number of ports for channel estimation supported by the r-th reference signal resource element. L r is a positive integer less than or equal to M. N r is a positive integer less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to L r . r is a positive integer from 1 to R. The resource pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the L r ports and time-frequency resources. The port pattern of the r-th reference signal resource element indicates the indexes of the L r ports among the N r ports. The channel estimation auxiliary information of the r-th reference signal resource element is used to estimate the channels of the N r ports according to the channel measurement results of the L r ports.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein Before transmitting the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Transmit second information, where the second information is used to indicate the S reference signal resource units among the R reference signal resource units.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein Before transmitting the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Transmit indication information for each of the S reference signal resource units, where the indication information for the s-th reference signal resource unit among the S reference signal resource units is used to indicate one or more of the following for the s-th reference signal resource unit: resource pattern, port pattern, number of ports supported for channel estimation, channel estimation assistance information, or splicing identifier; Among them, the r-th reference signal resource element in the S reference signal resource elements is used for transmission s ​ Reference signals of a port, the Reference signal support for ports Channel estimation for r ports s Indicates the identification of the sth reference signal resource element among the S reference signal resource elements in the R reference signal resource elements For the r-th s number of ports for channel estimation supported by a reference signal resource element, is a positive integer less than or equal to M, less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to positive integer; the r-th s resource pattern of the reference signal resource element indicates the The mapping relationship between the reference signal of each port and the time-frequency resource among the ports, and the port pattern of the rth reference signal resource unit indicates the s ​ A port in the index in a port, the r-th s channel estimation assistance information of a reference signal resource element is used to according to the Channel measurement results of a port estimate the Channels of m ports, where the S reference signal resource units have the same splicing identifier to indicate that the channel matrix estimated based on the first reference signal transmitted on the S reference signal resource units supports splicing.

22. The method according to claim 16, wherein The first reference signal resource is one of the T reference signal resources. Before transmitting the reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Transmit third information, where the third information is used to indicate one or more of the following for each of the T reference signal resources: resource pattern, port pattern, maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation, and reference channel estimation assistance information; Among them, the t-th reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources is used to transmit reference signals of at most M t ports. The reference signals transmitted through the t-th reference signal resource support channel estimation of up to K t ports. K t is the maximum number of ports for channel estimation supported by the t-th reference signal resource. M t is a positive integer less than or equal to K t . t is a positive integer from 1 to T. The resource pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the mapping relationship between the reference signals of each of the M t ports and time-frequency resources. The port pattern of the t-th reference signal resource indicates the indices of the M t ports among the K t ports. The reference channel estimation auxiliary information of the t-th reference signal resource is used to estimate the channels of the K t ports according to the channel measurement results of the M t ports.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, T is a positive integer greater than 1, and at least two of the T reference signal resources satisfy: the maximum number of ports of the reference signal for transmission is different, and / or, the maximum number of ports supported for channel estimation is different.

24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, wherein Before transmitting the first reference signal on the first resource, the method further includes: Transmit fourth information, where the fourth information is used to indicate the first reference signal resource among the T reference signal resources.

25. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 24, characterized in that, The method further includes: Transmit fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate the index of the m1 ports among the M ports, or the extraction rule for extracting the m1 ports from the M ports.

26. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 25, characterized in that, The method further includes: Transmit sixth information, where the sixth information is used to indicate the index of the k1 ports among the K ports.

27. The method according to any one of claims 22 to 26, characterized in that, The method further includes: Transmit a second reference signal on a second resource, where the second resource is from the first reference signal resource, the second reference signal is a reference signal of m2 ports, and the m2 ports are from the m1 ports, and m2 is a positive integer less than or equal to m1; Receive second CSI, where the second CSI corresponds to the channels of k2 ports, and the k2 ports are from the k1 ports, and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to m2 and less than or equal to k1.

28. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 27, characterized in that, The first CSI includes a PMI corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports, or is used to indicate the channel estimation result corresponding to the channels of the k1 ports.

29. A communication device, characterized in that, Comprising units for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or units for implementing the method according to any one of claims 16 to 28.

30. A communication device, characterized in that, Comprising a processor for executing program code to cause the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 16 to 28.

31. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 is caused to be executed, or the method according to any one of claims 16 to 28 is caused to be executed.

32. A computer program product, characterized in that, Comprising a computer program which, when run, causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 to be executed, or the method according to any one of claims 16 to 28 to be executed.

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