Channel measurement method, apparatus, system, chip module and storage medium

Abstract

A channel measurement method, an apparatus, a system, a chip module and a storage medium. The method can comprise: a network device sending first information to a terminal device, the first information being used for indicating: a subcarrier index and a symbol index which correspond to a start resource unit of a DMRS time-frequency resource subset, indication information of symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and association information of a plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, wherein the DMRS time-frequency resource subset comprises at least one resource unit, and each resource unit corresponds to one DMRS port; and the terminal device receiving a DMRS or sending a DMRS on the basis of the first information. By using the solution of the present application, the number of resource units included in a DMRS time-frequency resource subset is not limited, so that the number of orthogonal DMRS ports which dynamically changes can be supported, thereby providing more orthogonal DMRS ports, and supporting a higher number of transmission streams.

Description

Channel measurement method, device, system, chip module and storage medium

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on January 27, 2024, with application number 202410119462.9 and invention name “Channel measurement method, device, system, chip module and storage medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a channel measurement method, device, system, chip module and storage medium. Background Art

[0003] The fifth generation (5 th New radio (NR) technology for 5G mobile communications places higher demands on system capacity and spectrum efficiency. In 5G NR, massive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technology plays a crucial role in the system's spectrum efficiency. To utilize the spatial freedom brought by MIMO technology, high-performance receivers are required for data demodulation in both uplink and downlink transmissions. The performance of a receiver depends largely on the accuracy of the equivalent channel estimation, which is the product of the channel matrix and the precoding matrix. To improve uplink and downlink transmission performance, 5G NR uses a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) to estimate the uplink and downlink equivalent channels and then demodulate the data. DMRS is transmitted along with the data and uses the same precoding as the data. Each layer of data requires a DMRS port to estimate the equivalent channel for that layer of data. To better estimate the equivalent channel and demodulate the data, the multiple DMRS ports corresponding to the multiple layers of data are orthogonal.

[0004] To further increase system capacity, the number of transmission layers will increase significantly. Therefore, a DMRS port expansion solution is needed to provide more orthogonal DMRS ports to support a higher number of transmission streams. Existing technologies only support a maximum of 24 orthogonal DMRS ports, which results in significant throughput performance loss. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a channel measurement method, device, system, chip module and storage medium to provide more orthogonal DMRS ports and support a higher number of transmission streams.

[0006] In a first aspect, a channel measurement method is provided, the method comprising: receiving first information, the first information being used to indicate: subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of a DMRS time-frequency resource subset, indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, wherein the number of resource units included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is greater than or equal to the number of transmission layers, and each of the resource units corresponds to a DMRS port; and receiving or sending DMRS based on the first information. In this aspect, a terminal device receives relevant information of a DMRS time-frequency resource subset indicated by a network device, wherein each resource unit in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset corresponds to a DMRS port, and transmits DMRS based on the indication information, wherein the number of resource units included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is greater than or equal to the number of transmission layers, thereby supporting a dynamically changing number of orthogonal DMRS ports, providing more orthogonal DMRS ports, and supporting a higher number of transmission streams.

[0007] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation, one resource unit corresponds to one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0008] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and part of the first information of the number of transmission layers are carried in the downlink control information DCI, and at least one of the part of the first information indicating the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the radio resource control RRC signaling or the media access control-control element MAC-CE.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, part of the first information for indicating the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and the associated information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the DCI, and part of the first information for indicating the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the RRC signaling or MAC-CE.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second information, wherein the second information includes indication information of the number of resource units included in the time-frequency resource set, or the second information includes indication information of the number of multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, wherein the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the symbols corresponding to the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets are the same but the subcarriers are different. In this implementation, each terminal device can receive the DMRS time-frequency resource set configured by the network device, and each DMRS time-frequency resource subset can be determined based on the above method, so that the equivalent channel states on different frequency domain resources can be measured.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and / or the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. In this implementation, if the network device sends the above-mentioned second information, the second information is used to configure a time-frequency resource set, and the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset indicates the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, then the terminal can determine the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets based on the second information and the frequency domain interval between the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets; or, if the network device sends the above-mentioned second information, the second information is used to configure a time-frequency resource set, and the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset indicates the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, then the terminal can determine the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets based on the second information and the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets is used to indicate the frequency domain intervals between the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. In this implementation, the terminal device can receive the frequency domain intervals between the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets indicated by the network device, thereby accurately determining the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets based on the frequency domain intervals between the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the number of transmission layers is X. For any one of the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, starting from the starting resource unit, L consecutive resource units are occupied along the time domain dimension on the subcarrier where the starting resource unit is located; if L<X, along the frequency domain dimension to the next subcarrier, Q consecutive resource units are occupied along the time domain dimension on the next subcarrier until X resource units are occupied; wherein, X, L, and Q are all positive integers.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the first information is carried by at least one of the following: downlink control information, radio resource control signaling, and media access control-control element.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the second information is carried by at least one of the following: downlink control information, radio resource control signaling, and media access control-control element.

[0016] Exemplarily, the method may be implemented by a terminal device, or a chip or circuit used for a terminal device.

[0017] In a second aspect, a channel measurement method is provided, the method comprising: sending first information, the first information being used to indicate: subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, wherein the number of resource units included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is greater than or equal to the number of transmission layers, and each of the resource units corresponds to a DMRS port; and sending or receiving DMRS based on the first information. In this aspect, the network device indicates relevant information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, wherein each resource unit in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset corresponds to a DMRS port, and transmits DMRS based on the indication information. The number of resource units included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is not limited, thereby supporting a dynamically changing number of orthogonal DMRS ports, providing more orthogonal DMRS ports, and supporting a higher number of transmission streams.

[0018] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, one resource unit corresponds to one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0019] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and part of the first information of the number of transmission layers are carried in the downlink control information DCI, and at least one of the part of the first information indicating the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the radio resource control RRC signaling or the media access control-control element MAC-CE.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, part of the first information for indicating the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and the associated information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the DCI, and part of the first information for indicating the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the RRC signaling or MAC-CE.

[0021] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second information, wherein the second information includes indication information of the number of resource units included in the time-frequency resource set, or the second information includes indication information of the number of multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, wherein the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the symbols corresponding to the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets are the same but the subcarriers are different. In this implementation, the network device can configure a DMRS time-frequency resource set for each terminal device, and each DMRS time-frequency resource subset can be determined based on the above method, so that the network device can obtain the channel states of different frequency domains fed back by the terminal device.

[0022] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and / or the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. In this implementation, if the network device sends the above-mentioned second information, the second information is used to configure a time-frequency resource set, and the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset indicates the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, then the terminal can determine the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets based on the second information and the frequency domain interval between the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets; or, if the network device sends the above-mentioned second information, the second information is used to configure a time-frequency resource set, and the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset indicates the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, then the terminal can determine the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets based on the second information and the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0023] In conjunction with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain intervals between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. In this implementation, the network device may also indicate the frequency domain intervals between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, so that the terminal device can accurately determine multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets based on the frequency domain intervals between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0024] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the number of transmission layers is X. For any one of the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, starting from the starting resource unit, L consecutive resource units are occupied along the time domain dimension on the subcarrier where the starting resource unit is located; if L<X, along the frequency domain dimension to the next subcarrier, Q consecutive resource units are occupied along the time domain dimension on the next subcarrier until X resource units are occupied; wherein, X, L, and Q are all positive integers.

[0025] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the first information is carried by at least one of the following: downlink control information, radio resource control signaling, and media access control-control element.

[0026] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the second information is carried by at least one of the following: downlink control information, radio resource control signaling, and media access control-control element.

[0027] Exemplarily, the method may be implemented by a network device, or a chip or circuit used for a network device.

[0028] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device can implement the method of the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect. For example, the communication device can be a chip or a terminal device. The method can be implemented through software, hardware, or hardware executing corresponding software.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the device includes: a transceiver unit and a processing unit; wherein: the transceiver unit is used to receive first information, and the first information is used to indicate: subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, wherein the number of resource units included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is greater than or equal to the number of transmission layers, and each resource unit corresponds to a DMRS port; the transceiver unit is also used to receive DMRS based on the first information; and the processing unit is used to demodulate the DMRS; or the processing unit is also used to generate DMRS based on the first information; and the transceiver unit is also used to send the DMRS.

[0030] Optionally, one resource unit corresponds to one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0031] Optionally, the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and part of the first information of the number of transmission layers are carried in the downlink control information DCI, and at least one of the part of the first information indicating the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the radio resource control RRC signaling or the media access control-control element MAC-CE.

[0032] Optionally, part of the first information for indicating the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and the associated information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the DCI, and part of the first information for indicating the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the RRC signaling or MAC-CE.

[0033] Optionally, the transceiver unit is also used to receive second information, wherein the second information includes indication information of the number of resource units included in the time-frequency resource set, or the second information includes indication information of the number of multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the symbol indexes corresponding to the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets are the same and the subcarrier indexes are different.

[0034] Optionally, the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and / or the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0035] Optionally, the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0036] Optionally, the number of transmission layers is X. For any one of the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, starting from the starting resource unit, L consecutive resource units are occupied along the time domain dimension on the subcarrier where the starting resource unit is located; if L<X, along the frequency domain dimension to the next subcarrier, Q consecutive resource units are occupied along the time domain dimension on the next subcarrier until X resource units are occupied; wherein, X, L, and Q are all positive integers.

[0037] Optionally, the first information is carried by at least one of the following: downlink control information, radio resource control signaling, and media access control-control element.

[0038] Optionally, the second information is carried in at least one of the following: downlink control information, radio resource control signaling, and media access control-control element.

[0039] For further features and beneficial effects, please refer to the relevant description in the first aspect.

[0040] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device can implement the method of the second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect. For example, the communication device can be a chip or a network device. The method can be implemented through software, hardware, or hardware executing corresponding software.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the device includes: a transceiver unit and a processing unit; wherein: the processing unit is used to generate first information, and the first information is used to indicate: subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, wherein the number of resource units included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is greater than or equal to the number of transmission layers, and each of the resource units corresponds to a DMRS port; the transceiver unit is used to send the first information; and the transceiver unit is also used to send or receive DMRS based on the first information.

[0042] Optionally, one resource unit corresponds to one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0043] Optionally, the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and part of the first information of the number of transmission layers are carried in the downlink control information DCI, and at least one of the part of the first information indicating the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the radio resource control RRC signaling or the media access control-control element MAC-CE.

[0044] Optionally, part of the first information for indicating the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and the associated information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the DCI, and part of the first information for indicating the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the RRC signaling or MAC-CE.

[0045] Optionally, the transceiver unit is also used to send second information, wherein the second information includes indication information of the number of resource units included in the time-frequency resource set, or the second information includes indication information of the number of multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the symbols corresponding to the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets are the same but the subcarriers are different.

[0046] Optionally, the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and / or the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0047] Optionally, the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0048] Optionally, the number of transmission layers is X. For any one of the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, starting from the starting resource unit, L consecutive resource units are occupied along the time domain dimension on the subcarrier where the starting resource unit is located; if L<X, along the frequency domain dimension to the next subcarrier, Q consecutive resource units are occupied along the time domain dimension on the next subcarrier until X resource units are occupied; wherein, X, L, and Q are all positive integers.

[0049] Optionally, the first information is carried by at least one of the following: downlink control information, radio resource control signaling, and media access control-control element.

[0050] Optionally, the second information is carried in at least one of the following: downlink control information, radio resource control signaling, and media access control-control element.

[0051] For further features and beneficial effects, please refer to the relevant description in the second aspect.

[0052] In another possible implementation, the communication device in the third to fourth aspects above includes a processor coupled to a memory; the processor is configured to support the device in performing the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned channel state information reporting method. The memory is used to couple with the processor, which stores the necessary computer programs (or computer executable instructions) and / or data for the device. Optionally, the communication device may further include a communication interface for supporting communication between the device and other network elements, such as sending or receiving data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface. Optionally, the memory may be located inside the communication device and integrated with the processor; it may also be located outside the communication device.

[0053] In another possible implementation, the communication device in the third to fourth aspects includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor being coupled to the transceiver, and the processor being used to execute a computer program or instruction to control the transceiver to receive and send information; when the processor executes the computer program or instruction, the processor is also used to implement the above method through a logic circuit or executing code instructions. The transceiver may be a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or an input / output interface, configured to receive signals from other communication devices other than the communication device and transmit them to the processor, or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices other than the communication device. When the communication device is a chip, the transceiver is a transceiver circuit or an input / output interface.

[0054] When the communication device in the third and fourth aspects above is a chip, the sending unit may be an output unit, such as an output circuit or a communication interface; the receiving unit may be an input unit, such as an input circuit or a communication interface. When the communication device is a terminal device, the sending unit may be a transmitter or a transmitter; and the receiving unit may be a receiver or a receiver.

[0055] In a fifth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising the communication device as described in the third aspect or any one implementation of the third aspect, and the communication device as described in the fourth aspect or any one implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0056] In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, it implements the method described in the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect, or implements the method described in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect.

[0057] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, which, when executed on a computing device, implements the method described in the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect, or implements the method described in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0058] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] 2A to 2D are schematic diagrams of network architectures provided in embodiments of the present application;

[0060] FIG3A is a schematic diagram of a Type 1 DMRS pattern;

[0061] FIG3B is a schematic diagram of a Type 2 DMRS pattern;

[0062] FIG4A is a schematic diagram of a Type 1 expanded DMRS pattern;

[0063] FIG4B is a schematic diagram of a Type 2 expanded DMRS pattern;

[0064] FIG5 is a flow chart of a channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of time-frequency resources according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of DMRS resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0069] The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0070] The technical solution provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, for example, it can be applied to 5G communication systems, future evolution systems or multiple communication convergence systems, etc., and can also be applied to existing communication systems, etc. The application scenarios of the technical solution provided in this application may include a variety of scenarios, such as machine to machine (M2M), macro and micro communications, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and ultra-low-latency communication (ultra-reliable & low-latency communication, uRLLC) and massive machine type communication (mMTC). These scenarios may include but are not limited to: communication scenarios between terminal devices and terminal devices, communication scenarios between network devices and network devices, and communication scenarios between network devices and terminal devices. Among them, network devices include network devices and core network devices. The following description is based on the scenario of application to communication between network devices and terminal devices as an example.

[0071] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1 , the communication system includes a wireless access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. The wireless access network 100 may include at least one network device (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1 ) and at least one terminal device (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1 ). The terminal device is wirelessly connected to the network device, and the network device is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the core network. The core network device and the network device may be independent, distinct physical devices, or the core network device's functions and the network device's logical functions may be integrated into the same physical device, or a single physical device may integrate some of the core network device's functions and some of the network device's functions. Terminal devices and network devices may be interconnected via wired or wireless connections. Figure 1 is merely a schematic diagram. The communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1 .

[0072] Optionally, in actual applications, the wireless communication system may include multiple network devices (also called access network devices) and multiple terminal devices at the same time. A network device can serve one or more terminal devices at the same time. A terminal device can also access one or more network devices at the same time. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of terminal devices and network devices included in the wireless communication system.

[0073] The network device may be an entity on the network side for transmitting or receiving signals. The network device may be an access device for a terminal device to access the wireless communication system in a wireless manner, such as a base station. The base station can broadly cover various names as follows, or be replaced with the following names, such as: radio access network (RAN) node, NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next generation NodeB (gNB), access network equipment in open radio access network (O-RAN), relay station, access point, transmission point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), master eNB (MeNB), secondary eNB (SeNB), multi-standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, building baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), centralized unit (CU), distributed unit (DRU), etc. The network device may also refer to a mobile switching center and a device that performs base station functions in device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, a network-side device in a 6G network, or a device that performs base station functions in future communication systems. The network device may support networks with the same or different access technologies.The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.

[0074] Network devices can be fixed or mobile. For example, base stations 110a and 110b are stationary and are responsible for wireless transmission and reception in one or more cells from terminal device 120. The helicopter or drone 120i shown in Figure 1 can be configured to act as a mobile base station, and one or more cells can move according to the location of the mobile base station 120i. In other examples, the helicopter or drone (120i) can be configured to act as a terminal device communicating with base station 110b.

[0075] In this application, the communication device used to implement the above-mentioned access network function can be an access network device, a network device having some of the access network functions, or a device capable of supporting the implementation of the access network function, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit and a software module. The device can be installed in the access network device or used in combination with the access network device. In the method of this application, the communication device used to implement the access network device function is described as an access network device.

[0076] A terminal device may be an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals, such as a mobile phone. The terminal device may be used to connect people, objects, and machines. The terminal device may communicate with one or more core networks through a network device. The terminal device includes a handheld device with wireless connection capabilities, other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, or a vehicle-mounted device. The terminal device may be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-built-in, or vehicle-mounted mobile device. The terminal device 120 may be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communication, D2D, V2X, point-to-point (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.Some examples of the terminal device 120 include: user equipment (UE) of the 3GPP standard, fixed equipment, mobile equipment, handheld equipment, wearable equipment, cellular phones, smart phones, session initiated protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal computers, smart books, vehicles, satellites, global positioning system (GPS) equipment, target tracking equipment, drones, helicopters, aircraft, ships, remote control equipment, smart home equipment, industrial equipment, personal communication service (PCS) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless network cameras, tablet computers, handheld computers, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices such as smart watches, VR devices, AR devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, terminals in vehicle networking systems, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, and smart cities. The terminal device 120 may be a wireless terminal in the above various scenarios or a device for being set up in a wireless device, for example, a communication module, a modem or a chip in the above device. The terminal device may also be referred to as a terminal, a terminal device, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal device may also be a terminal device in a future wireless communication system. The terminal device may be used in a dedicated network device or a general device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

[0077] Alternatively, a terminal device can function as a base station. For example, a UE can act as a dispatching entity, providing sidelink signals between UEs in V2X, D2D, or P2P scenarios. As shown in Figure 1, a cell phone 120a and a car 120b communicate with each other using sidelink signals. Cell phone 120a and smart home device 120e communicate without relaying the communication signals through base station 110b.

[0078] In this application, the communication device used to implement the functions of the terminal device can be a terminal device, or a terminal device with some of the functions of the above terminal devices, or a device that can support the implementation of the functions of the above terminal devices, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device or used in combination with the terminal device. In this application, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. In the technical solution provided in this application, the communication device is described as a terminal device or UE as an example.

[0079] Optionally, a wireless communication system is typically composed of cells, with base stations providing cell management and communication services to multiple mobile stations (MS) in the cell. The base station includes a baseband unit (BBU) and a remote radio unit (RRU). The BBU and RRU can be placed in different locations, for example: the RRU is remote and placed in an area with high traffic volume, while the BBU is placed in a central computer room. The BBU and RRU can also be placed in the same computer room. The BBU and RRU can also be different components under the same rack. Optionally, a cell can correspond to a carrier or component carrier.

[0080] In some deployments, the network devices mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may include a CU, a DU, or both a CU and a DU, or a control plane CU node (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), a user plane CU node (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), and a DU node. For example, the network devices may include a gNB-CU-CP, a gNB-CU-UP, and a gNB-DU.

[0081] In some deployments, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminals in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functionality. For example, a RAN node can be a CU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, or RU. The CU and DU can be separate or included in the same network element, such as the BBU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio unit, such as an RRU, AAU, or RRH.

[0082] The RAN node may support one or more types of fronthaul interfaces, with different fronthaul interfaces corresponding to DUs and RUs with different functions. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is a common public radio interface (CPRI), the DU is configured to implement one or more baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement one or more radio frequency functions. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is another type of interface, relative to the CPRI, some of the downlink and / or uplink baseband functions, such as precoding, digital beamforming (BF), or one or more of inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) for downlink, are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation; and for uplink, one or more of digital beamforming (BF), or fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) removal, are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation. In one possible implementation, the interface may be an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI). In the eCPRI architecture, the division between the DU and RU is different, corresponding to different types (category, Cat) of eCPRI, such as eCPRI Cat A, B, C, D, E, and F.

[0083] Taking eCPRI Cat A as an example, for downlink transmission, based on layer mapping, the DU is configured to implement layer mapping and one or more functions preceding it (i.e., one or more of coding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, and layer mapping). Other functions after layer mapping (e.g., RE mapping, digital beamforming (BF), or one or more of inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) addition) are moved to the RU for implementation. For uplink transmission, based on RE demapping, the DU is configured to implement demapping and one or more functions preceding it (i.e., one or more of decoding, rate matching, descrambling, demodulation, inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT), channel equalization, and RE demapping). Other functions after demapping (e.g., one or more of digital BF or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / CP removal) are moved to the RU for implementation. It is understandable that for the functional description of DU and RU corresponding to various types of eCPRI, reference can be made to the eCPRI protocol, which will not be described in detail here.

[0084] In one possible design, the processing unit for implementing baseband functions in the BBU is called a baseband high layer (BBH) unit, and the processing unit for implementing baseband functions in the RRU / AAU / RRH is called a baseband low layer (BBL) unit.

[0085] 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. 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.

[0086] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the network device can be a network device; it can also be a device that can support the network device to implement the functions, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit and a software module. The device can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, only the device for implementing the functions of the network device is used as an example to illustrate, and does not constitute a limitation on the solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0087] It is understandable that the present application can be applied between network devices and terminal devices.

[0088] The communication between the network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer structure may include a control plane protocol layer structure and a user plane protocol layer structure. For example, the control plane protocol layer structure may include the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) layer, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, and the physical layer. For example, the user plane protocol layer structure may include the functions of the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the physical layer. In one possible implementation, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer may also be included above the PDCP layer.

[0089] Optionally, the protocol layer structure between the network device and the terminal device may further include an artificial intelligence (AI) layer for transmitting data related to AI functions.

[0090] Taking data transmission between network devices and terminal devices as an example, data transmission needs to pass through the user plane protocol layers, such as the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer. The SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer can also be collectively referred to as the access layer. Data transmission is divided into sending or receiving based on the direction of transmission, and each of these layers is further divided into a sending part and a receiving part. Taking downlink data transmission as an example, after the PDCP layer obtains data from the upper layer, it transmits the data to the RLC layer and MAC layer. The MAC layer then generates a transport block, which is then wirelessly transmitted through the physical layer. Data is encapsulated accordingly in each layer. For example, data received by a layer from the layer above it is considered a service data unit (SDU) of that layer. After encapsulation by that layer, it becomes a protocol data unit (PDU) and is then passed to the next layer.

[0091] For example, a terminal device may also include an application layer and a non-access layer. The application layer can be used to provide services to applications installed in the terminal device. For example, downlink data received by the terminal device can be sequentially transmitted from the physical layer to the application layer, which then provides it to the application. For another example, the application layer can obtain data generated by the application and sequentially transmit the data to the physical layer for transmission to other communication devices. The non-access layer can be used to forward user data, such as forwarding uplink data received from the application layer to the SDAP layer, or forwarding downlink data received from the SDAP layer to the application layer.

[0092] In order to support AI technology in wireless networks, AI nodes may also be introduced into the network.

[0093] Optionally, the AI ​​node can be deployed in one or more of the following locations in the communication system: access network equipment, terminal equipment, or core network equipment. Alternatively, the AI ​​node can be deployed separately, for example, in a location other than any of the above devices, such as a host or cloud server in an over-the-top (OTT) system. The AI ​​node can communicate with other devices in the communication system, such as one or more of the following: network equipment, terminal equipment, or network elements of the core network.

[0094] It is understood that this application does not limit the number of AI nodes. For example, when there are multiple AI nodes, the multiple AI nodes can be divided based on function, such as different AI nodes are responsible for different functions.

[0095] It can also be understood that AI nodes can be independent devices, or they can be integrated into the same device to implement different functions, or they can be network elements in hardware devices, or they can be software functions running on dedicated hardware, or they can be virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform). This application does not limit the specific form of the above-mentioned AI nodes.

[0096] An AI node can be an AI network element or an AI module.

[0097] One or more AI modules are provided in one or more of these network element nodes, such as core network equipment, access network nodes (RAN nodes), terminals or OAM devices. The access network node can be a separate RAN node, or it can include multiple RAN nodes, for example, including CU and DU. The CU and / or DU can also be provided with one or more AI modules. Optionally, the CU can also be split into CU-CP and CU-UP. One or more AI models are provided in the CU-CP and / or CU-UP.

[0098] The AI ​​module is used to implement the corresponding AI function. The AI ​​modules deployed in different network elements can be the same or different. The model of the AI ​​module can implement different functions according to different parameter configurations. The model of the AI ​​module can be configured based on one or more of the following parameters: structural parameters (such as the number of neural network layers, the width of the neural network, the connection relationship between layers, the weight of the neuron, the activation function of the neuron, or at least one of the bias in the activation function), input parameters (such as the type of input parameters and / or the dimension of the input parameters), or output parameters (such as the type of output parameters and / or the dimension of the output parameters). Among them, the bias in the activation function can also be called the bias of the neural network.

[0099] An AI module can have one or more models. A model can infer an output, which includes one or more parameters. The learning, training, or inference processes of different models can be deployed on different nodes or devices, or on the same node or device.

[0100] The communication system includes a RAN intelligent controller (RIC). For example, the RIC can be the above-mentioned AI module, which is used to implement AI-related functions. The RIC includes a near-real-time RIC (near-real time RIC, near-RT RIC) and a non-real-time RIC (non-real time RIC, Non-RT RIC). Among them, the non-real-time RIC mainly processes non-real-time information, such as data that is not sensitive to delay, and the delay of the data can be in the order of seconds. The real-time RIC mainly processes near-real-time information, such as data that is relatively sensitive to delay, and the delay of the data is in the order of tens of milliseconds.

[0101] Near real-time RIC is used for model training and reasoning. For example, it is used to train an AI model and use the AI ​​model for reasoning. Near real-time RIC can obtain network-side and / or terminal-side information from RAN nodes (e.g., CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and / or RU) and / or terminals. This information can be used as training data or reasoning data. Optionally, near real-time RIC can deliver the reasoning results to the RAN node and / or terminal. Optionally, the reasoning results can be exchanged between the CU and DU, and / or between the DU and RU. For example, the near real-time RIC delivers the reasoning results to the DU, and the DU sends it to the RU.

[0102] Non-real-time RIC is also used for model training and reasoning. For example, it is used to train AI models and use the models for reasoning. Non-real-time RIC can obtain network-side and / or terminal-side information from RAN nodes (such as CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and / or RU) and / or terminals. This information can be used as training data or reasoning data, and the reasoning results can be submitted to the RAN node and / or terminal. Optionally, the reasoning results can be exchanged between the CU and DU, and / or between the DU and RU. For example, the non-real-time RIC submits the reasoning results to the DU, and the DU sends it to the RU.

[0103] The near-real-time RIC and non-real-time RIC can also be set up as separate network elements. Optionally, the near-real-time RIC and non-real-time RIC can also be part of other devices. For example, the near-real-time RIC is set up in a RAN node (e.g., a CU or DU), while the non-real-time RIC is set up in an OAM, a cloud server, a core network device, or other network devices.

[0104] For example, the configuration of near real-time RIC and non-real-time RIC in the network architecture may be as shown in FIG. 2A to FIG. 2D :

[0105] As shown in (a) of FIG. 2A , in a first possible implementation, the access network device includes a near real-time RIC module for performing model learning and / or reasoning.

[0106] As shown in (b) of FIG2A , in a second possible implementation, in a communication system, a non-real-time RIC may be included outside the access network device. Optionally, the non-real-time RIC may be located in the OAM or in the core network device.

[0107] As shown in (c) of Figure 2A, in a third possible implementation, the access network device includes a near real-time RIC, and a non-real-time RIC is also included outside the access network device. Optionally, the non-real-time RIC can be located in the OAM or core network device.

[0108] Compared to (c) in Figure 2A, the CU is separated into CU-CP and CU-UP in Figure 2B. The settings of near-real-time RIC and non-real-time RIC are the same as those in (c) in Figure 2A.

[0109] As shown in Figure 2C, optionally, the access network device includes one or more AI entities, and the function of the AI ​​entity is similar to the above-mentioned near real-time RIC. Optionally, the OAM includes one or more AI entities, and the function of the AI ​​entity is similar to the above-mentioned non-real-time RIC. Optionally, the core network device includes one or more AI entities, and the function of the AI ​​entity is similar to the above-mentioned non-real-time RIC. When both the OAM and the core network device include AI entities, the models trained by their respective AI entities are different, and / or the models used for reasoning are different. In the present application, the difference in models may include at least one of the following differences: structural parameters of the model (such as the number of layers and / or weights of the model), input parameters of the model, or output parameters of the model.

[0110] Relative to Figure 2C, the access network device in Figure 2D is separated into CU and DU. Optionally, the CU may include an AI entity, and the function of the AI ​​entity is similar to the above-mentioned near real-time RIC. Optionally, the DU may include an AI entity, and the function of the AI ​​entity is similar to the above-mentioned near real-time RIC. When both the CU and the DU include AI entities, the models trained by their respective AI entities are different, and / or the models used for reasoning are different. Optionally, the CU in Figure 2D can be further split into CU-CP and CU-UP. Optionally, one or more AI models can be deployed in the CU-CP. And / or, one or more AI models can be deployed in the CU-UP. Optionally, in Figure 2C or Figure 2D, the OAM of the access network device and the OAM of the core network device can be deployed separately and independently.

[0111] It should be understood that the number and type of each device in the communication system shown in Figure 1 are for illustration only, and the present application is not limited to this. In actual applications, the communication system may also include more terminal devices, more access network devices, and other network elements, such as core network devices, and / or network elements for implementing artificial intelligence functions.

[0112] It is understandable that all or part of the functions implemented by one or more of the terminal equipment, access network equipment, core network equipment, or network elements for implementing artificial intelligence functions can be virtualized, that is, implemented by one or more of the proprietary processors or general-purpose processors and the corresponding software modules. Among them, since the terminal equipment and the access network equipment involve interfaces for air interface transmission, the transceiver functions of the interfaces can be implemented by hardware. Core network equipment, such as operation administration and maintenance (OAM) network elements, can be virtualized. Optionally, one or more functions of the virtualized terminal equipment, access network equipment, core network equipment, or network elements for implementing artificial intelligence functions can be implemented by cloud devices, such as cloud devices in over the top (OTT) systems.

[0113] In the 5G NR Release 17 (Rel-17) standard, DMRS includes two types: Type 1 and Type 2, based on the maximum number of orthogonal ports supported by DMRS. Depending on the number of symbols occupied by DMRS, it is divided into single symbol and dual symbol. As shown in Figure 3A, it is a schematic diagram of the DMRS pattern of Type 1; as shown in Figure 3B, it is a schematic diagram of the DMRS pattern of Type 2. Among them, Figures 3A and 3B are both dual symbols (columns represent the time domain, rows represent the frequency domain, the number of columns represents the number of symbols, and the number of rows represents the number of resource elements (REs) in a resource block (RB)). The main features of Type 1 and Type 2 are:

[0114] Type 1:

[0115] 1) Single symbol supports up to 4 ports, and dual symbol supports up to 8 ports (as shown in Figure 3A, supporting ports 0 to 7);

[0116] 2) including two code division multiplexing (CDM) groups (as shown in FIG3A , supporting two CDM groups, CDM0 and CDM1);

[0117] 3) Each DMRS port occupies 6 REs in each RB (1 RB has 12 REs).

[0118] Type 2:

[0119] 1) Single symbol supports up to 6 ports, and dual symbol supports up to 12 ports (as shown in Figure 3B, supporting ports 0 to 11);

[0120] 2) including three CDM groups (as shown in FIG3B , supporting three CDM groups CDM0 to CDM2);

[0121] 3) Each DMRS port occupies 4 REs in each RB.

[0122] As can be seen from Figures 3A and 3B, the DMRS ports in different CDM groups occupy different REs, and orthogonality is achieved through frequency-division multiplexing (FDM). The DMRS ports in the same CDM group occupy the same REs, and orthogonality is achieved through code division multiplexing of orthogonal cover code (OCC). Taking Type 1 as an example, CDM group 0 has four DMRS ports 0, 1, 4, and 5, occupying 6 REs in an RB (for example, the network side can also configure multiple RBs, and the four DMRS ports of CDM group 0 occupy 6 REs in each RB). CDM group 1 has four DMRS ports 2, 3, 6, and 7, occupying the other 6 REs in each RB. It can be seen that in CDM group 0 / CDM group 1, the 6 REs in an RB can be divided into three groups, each group is 4 consecutive REs (2 in the frequency domain + 2 in the time domain). For each group of 4 REs, OCC4 formed by FD-OCC2+TD-OCC2 is used to enable 4 orthogonal DMRS ports (assuming that the channels of these four REs are the same). The OCC codes of each DMRS port on the 4 REs are shown in Figure 3A. Each orthogonal DMRS port is assigned to each layer of data to estimate the equivalent channel of this layer of data on these 4 REs. The three groups of REs reuse the same OCC4 to obtain channel estimates of these 4 orthogonal DMRS ports at different frequency domain positions. In other words, each RB can obtain channel estimates at three frequency domain positions, and then interpolation and filtering are performed to estimate the channels on other REs, thereby estimating the channels on all REs on one RB and then using them for data demodulation.

[0123] In the 5G NR version 18 (Release 18, Rel-18) standard, the Type 1 DMRS is orthogonally expanded to support twice the DMRS ports, reaching 16 ports, as shown in Figure 4A, which is a schematic diagram of the Type 1 expanded DMRS pattern (Type 1 enhanced DMRS pattern); and the Type 2 DMRS is orthogonally expanded to support twice the DMRS ports, reaching 24 ports, as shown in Figure 4B, which is a schematic diagram of the Type 2 expanded DMRS pattern (Type 2 enhanced DMRS pattern).

[0124] Taking the expanded Type 1 DMRS as an example, in the original Rel-17 standard, the DMRS corresponding to DMRS ports 0, 1, 4, and 5 in CDM group 0 were transmitted on subcarriers 0 and 2 in symbols 2 and 3, using FD-OCC 2 and TD-OCC 2 to enable orthogonality across four ports. The remaining time-frequency resources occupied by CDM group 0 were multiplexed with the time-frequency resources corresponding to subcarriers 0 and 2 to transmit the corresponding DMRS. In the Rel-18 standard, the DMRS corresponding to DMRS ports 0, 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, and 13 in CDM group 0 were transmitted on subcarriers 0, 2, 4, and 6 in symbols 2 and 3, using FD-OCC 4 and TD-OCC 2 to enable orthogonality across eight ports. The remaining time-frequency resources occupied by CDM group 0 were multiplexed with the time-frequency resources corresponding to subcarriers 0, 2, 4, and 6 to transmit the corresponding DMRS. Therefore, the two CDM groups support a total of 16 orthogonal DMRS ports.

[0125] Taking the expanded Type 2 DMRS as an example, in the original Rel-17 standard, the DMRS corresponding to DMRS ports 0, 1, 6, and 7 within CDM group 0 were transmitted on subcarriers 0 and 1 in symbols 2 and 3, using FD-OCC 2 and TD-OCC 2 to enable orthogonality across four ports. The remaining time-frequency resources occupied by CDM group 0 were multiplexed with the time-frequency resources corresponding to subcarriers 0 and 1 to transmit the corresponding DMRS. In the Rel-18 standard, the DMRS corresponding to DMRS ports 0, 1, 6, 7, 12, 13, 18, and 19 within CDM group 0 were transmitted on subcarriers 0, 1, 6, and 7 in symbols 2 and 3, using FD-OCC 4 and TD-OCC 2 to enable orthogonality across eight ports. The remaining time-frequency resources occupied by CDM group 0 were multiplexed with the time-frequency resources corresponding to subcarriers 0, 1, 6, and 7 to transmit the corresponding DMRS. Therefore, the three CDM groups support a total of 24 orthogonal DMRS ports.

[0126] However, in future mobile communications, the number of transmission layers is expected to increase, requiring more orthogonal DMRS ports to ensure data transmission performance. Existing technologies support a maximum of 24 orthogonal DMRS ports, which cannot support data transmission with more transmission layers, resulting in significant throughput performance loss.

[0127] To this end, the present application provides a communication solution, in which a terminal device receives relevant information of a DMRS time-frequency resource subset indicated by a network device, where each resource unit in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset corresponds to a DMRS port, and transmits DMRS based on the indication information. The number of resource units included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is not limited, thereby supporting a dynamically changing number of orthogonal DMRS ports, providing more orthogonal DMRS ports, and supporting a higher number of transmission streams.

[0128] FIG5 is a flow chart of a channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method may include the following steps:

[0129] S501. A network device sends first information to a terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information.

[0130] For example, in NR, as shown in Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of time-frequency resources in an example embodiment of the present application, in the time domain, the smallest resource granularity can be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol (symbol), which can be simply referred to as a symbol. In the frequency domain, the smallest resource granularity can be a subcarrier. An OFDM symbol and a subcarrier can constitute a resource element (RE), and a time slot and 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain can constitute an RB. Among them, a time slot may include multiple consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. For example, a time slot includes 14 consecutive OFDM symbols.

[0131] In this embodiment, the network device may configure a time-frequency resource set for the terminal device, and the time-frequency resource set may include multiple REs. The time-frequency resource set is used to send the DMRS corresponding to the terminal device. This may be the case when the network device sends the DMRS for the terminal device on the time-frequency resource set during downlink transmission to measure the downlink equivalent channel of the terminal device; or when the terminal device sends the DMRS on the time-frequency resource set during uplink transmission to measure the uplink equivalent channel of the terminal device.

[0132] The time-frequency resource set may include multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. The symbols corresponding to the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets are the same, but the subcarriers are different. The multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets refer to multiple (at least two) time-frequency resource subsets used to send DMRS, and each DMRS time-frequency resource subset includes the time-frequency resources for sending the DMRS.

[0133] Exemplarily, before executing step S501, the network device may send second information to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the second information. The second information is used to configure the above-mentioned time-frequency resource set. In one example, the second information may include indication information of the number of REs included in the time-frequency resource set. For example, the second information may include the number of REs included in the time-frequency resource set. In another example, the time-frequency resource set may include indication information of the number of multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. For example, the second information may include the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets included in the time-frequency resource set. In another example, the time-frequency resource set may include indication information of the number of REs included in the time-frequency resource set and indication information of the number of multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. Exemplarily, the second information may be carried in at least one of the following signaling: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control-control element (MAC-CE).

[0134] It can be understood that the time-frequency resource set corresponding to the above-mentioned terminal device can also be predefined by the protocol, so the step of the network device sending the above-mentioned second information is optional.

[0135] After the terminal device determines the time-frequency resource set, before receiving or sending DMRS, the terminal device needs to obtain first information to determine the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets included in the time-frequency resource set. The first information is used to indicate the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset.

[0136] The indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset may indicate the number of occupied symbols. For example, when the number of symbols occupied by the DMRS is a single symbol, the indication information indicates that the number of occupied symbols is 1; when the number of symbols occupied by the DMRS is a double symbol, the indication information indicates that the number of occupied symbols is 2. For another example, the indication information may indicate which symbols are occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, such as symbol 1 and symbol 2. This application does not limit the manner in which the indication information is represented.

[0137] In one implementation, the network device sends the first information to the terminal device. Exemplarily, the first information may be carried in any one of the following signaling: downlink control information (DCI), RRC signaling, or MAC-CE.

[0138] In another implementation, different information in the first information sent by the network device to the terminal device is carried in different signaling respectively. Exemplarily, the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and part of the first information of the number of transmission layers are carried in the DCI. In addition, before step S501, the network device may also pre-configure at least one of the first information indicating the associated information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset through RRC signaling or MAC CE. For example, the subcarrier corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is the first subcarrier of the time-frequency resource set, and the symbol corresponding to the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is a preset symbol (for example, the second and third symbols of each time slot); the symbol occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is 1 symbol or a preset value; and the number of transmission layers is 1 layer or a preset value.

[0139] Exemplarily, part of the first information indicating subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and associated information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the DCI. In addition, before step S501, the network device may also pre-configure part of the first information indicating information about the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset through RRC signaling or MAC CE.

[0140] Exemplarily, at least one of the following: association information indicating multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to a starting resource unit indicating a DMRS time-frequency resource subset, information indicating symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, and the number of transmission layers is carried in the DCI. Other information in the first information is pre-configured through RRC signaling or MAC CE.

[0141] Exemplarily, the above-mentioned subcarrier information may be a subcarrier index, and the subcarrier information may also be other information for indicating a subcarrier, which is not limited in this application.

[0142] Exemplarily, the above-mentioned symbol information may be a symbol index, and the symbol information may also be other information used to indicate a symbol, which is not limited in this application.

[0143] Exemplarily, the network device and the terminal device may determine a subset of DMRS time-frequency resources based on the following method: As shown in FIG. 7, it is a schematic diagram of DMRS resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present application. Assume that the number of transmission layers of the terminal device is X, the number of time-domain symbols of the time-frequency resource set allocated by the network device for the terminal device is Y, the time-frequency resource set includes multiple subsets of DMRS time-frequency resources, any two subsets of DMRS time-frequency resources occupy the same time-domain symbols, and different frequency-domain subcarriers. The frequency-domain interval between two adjacent subsets of DMRS time-frequency resources is Z subcarriers. For the first time-frequency resource block, starting from the starting resource unit, first occupy L consecutive resource units along the time domain on the subcarrier where the starting resource unit is located, and number them sequentially as 1,..., L; if L < X, then go to the next subcarrier along the frequency domain, and occupy Q consecutive resource units along the time domain, and number them sequentially as L + 1,..., L + Q; if L + Q < X, then go to the next subcarrier and repeat the above process until a subset of DMRS time-frequency resources containing X resource units is allocated for the terminal device, and number them sequentially as 1,..., X. Further, after a frequency-domain interval of Z subcarriers, repeat the above process to obtain the X resource units occupied by the second subset of DMRS time-frequency resources, still numbered sequentially as 1,..., X, until the multiple subsets of DMRS time-frequency resources indicated by the second information are determined, or until the number of REs included in the determined multiple subsets of DMRS time-frequency resources reaches the number of REs indicated by the second information. Wherein, X, L, Q, and Z are all positive integers, and Z is greater than or equal to Wherein, represents rounding up. Wherein, one DMRS port corresponds to one transmission layer, and one DMRS port occupies 1 RE, that is, only one DMRS port corresponds to one RE, so these DMRS ports are orthogonal. Because different DMRS ports occupy different REs, and the time-frequency resources occupied by different DMRS ports are orthogonal, for each layer of data, the DMRS is demodulated by detecting one RE corresponding to each subset of DMRS time-frequency resources in multiple subsets of DMRS time-frequency resources.

[0144] Wherein, the association information of the subset of DMRS time-frequency resources is used to indicate the frequency-domain interval between multiple subsets of DMRS time-frequency resources and the number of subsets of DMRS time-frequency resources. Regarding the association information of the subset of DMRS time-frequency resources, the following implementations may be available:

[0145] In one implementation, if the network device sends the above-mentioned second information, the second information is used to configure a time-frequency resource set, and the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets indicates the frequency domain intervals between the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, then the terminal device can determine the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets based on the second information and the frequency domain intervals between the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets; or, if the network device sends the above-mentioned second information, the second information is used to configure a time-frequency resource set, and the time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. frequency resource subsets, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets indicates the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, the terminal device can determine the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets based on the second information and the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets; or, if the network device sends the above-mentioned second information, the second information is used to configure a time-frequency resource set, which includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets can indicate the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0146] In another implementation, if the network device does not send the second information, the network device may indicate the frequency domain intervals between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets in the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

[0147] For example, still referring to Figure 7, the horizontal axis represents the symbol in the time domain, and the vertical axis represents the subcarrier in the frequency domain. The network device sends a first information to the terminal device 1, and the first information is used to indicate that the subcarrier corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is the first subcarrier (the subcarriers in Figure 7 are numbered from high frequency to low frequency), the symbol corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is the first symbol, the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset are symbol 1 and symbol 2, the number of transmission layers is 3, and the associated information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate that the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets is Z subcarriers and / or the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets (for example, 2). Similarly, the network device sends a first information to the terminal device 2, where the first information is used to indicate that the subcarrier corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is the second subcarrier (the frequency of the second subcarrier is lower than that of the first subcarrier), the symbol corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is the second symbol, the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset are symbol 1 and symbol 2, the number of transmission layers is 5, and the associated information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate that the frequency domain interval between multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets is Z subcarriers and / or the number of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets is, for example, 2. It should be noted that the subcarrier corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset shown in FIG7 is the subcarrier with the highest frequency among the subcarriers occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, and the symbol corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is the symbol with the minimum value among the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset. In a specific implementation, the subcarrier corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset may also be the subcarrier with the lowest frequency among the subcarriers occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, and the symbol corresponding to the starting resource unit of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset may also be the symbol with the maximum value among the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, etc. This application does not limit this.

[0148] Among them, the resource units included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset are greater than or equal to the number of transmission layers, one resource unit corresponds to one subcarrier and one symbol (that is, one resource unit occupies one subcarrier in the frequency domain and one symbol in the time domain), and each resource unit corresponds to a DMRS port, that is, each resource unit corresponds to only one DMRS port.

[0149] Furthermore, one of the following steps S502a or S502b is performed:

[0150] S502a: The network device sends a DMRS to the terminal device based on the first information. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the DMRS based on the first information.

[0151] After the network device sends the first information to the terminal device, the network device sends DMRS to the terminal device on the time-frequency resource set. The terminal device receives and measures the DMRS on the time-frequency resource set according to the first information, obtains the channel information and sends it to the network device, so that the downlink equivalent channel of the terminal device can be measured.

[0152] S502b: The terminal device sends a DMRS to the network device based on the first information. Correspondingly, the network device receives the DMRS based on the first information.

[0153] After the network device sends the first information to the terminal device, the terminal device sends DMRS to the network device on the time-frequency resource set. The network device receives and measures the DMRS on the time-frequency resource set, thereby measuring the uplink equivalent channel of the terminal device.

[0154] According to a channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device receives relevant information of a DMRS time-frequency resource subset indicated by a network device, where each resource unit in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset corresponds to a DMRS port, and transmits DMRS based on the indication information. The DMRS time-frequency resource subset includes an unlimited number of resource units, thereby supporting a dynamically changing number of orthogonal DMRS ports, providing more orthogonal DMRS ports, and supporting a higher number of transmission streams.

[0155] In the prior art, DMRS is repeatedly transmitted every one or two RBs in the frequency domain. However, in this embodiment, the frequency domain interval Z for repeated DMRS transmission is flexible and variable, allowing the number of resource elements included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset to be flexible and variable. The number of resource elements in a DMRS time-frequency resource subset is equal to the number of streams, that is, the number of DMRS ports, thus supporting a dynamically changing number of orthogonal DMRS ports.

[0156] In this application, "sending information to... (e.g., a terminal device)" or the related illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the destination end of the information being the terminal device. This can include sending information to the terminal device directly or indirectly. "Receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal device)" or "receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal device)", or the related illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as the source end of the information being the terminal device, which can include receiving information from the terminal device directly or indirectly. The information may be processed as necessary between the source end and the destination end of the information transmission, such as format changes, etc., but the destination end can understand the valid information from the source end. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be repeated here.

[0157] It is understandable that this application uses terminal devices and network devices as examples of the execution entities of the interaction diagram, but this application does not limit the execution entities of the interaction diagram. For example, the terminal device in the method provided by this application can also be a chip, chip system, or processor applied to the terminal device, or a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device; the network device in the method provided by this application can also be a chip, chip system, or processor applied to the network device, or a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions.

[0158] It is understood that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the network devices and terminal devices include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a manner driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0159] Figures 8 and 9 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, thereby also achieving the beneficial effects possessed by the above-mentioned method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be one of the terminal devices 120a-120j shown in Figure 1, or it can be the network device 110a or 110b shown in Figure 1, or it can be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device or network device.

[0160] As shown in Figure 8 , a communication device 800 includes a processing unit 810 and a transceiver unit 820. The communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5 above.

[0161] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5: the transceiver unit 820 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in one or more steps S501, S502a, and S502b in the embodiment shown in Figure 5.

[0162] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5: the transceiver unit 820 is used to implement the functions of the network device in one or more of steps S501, S502a, and S502b in the embodiment shown in Figure 5. For example, the transceiver unit 820 can be deployed on the DU or RU in Figures 2A and 2B, and the processing unit 810 can be deployed on the DU in Figures 2A and 2B; or the functions of the processing unit 810 are partially deployed on the DU in Figures 2A and 2B and partially deployed on the CU (CU-CP in the CU-CP / CU-UP architecture). For another example, both the transceiver unit 820 and the processing unit 810 can be deployed on the DU in Figure 2D.

[0163] A more detailed description of the processing unit 810 and the transceiver unit 820 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 , and is not repeated here.

[0164] When the communication device is a chip used in a terminal device, the terminal device chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The terminal device chip receives information from other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device; or the terminal device chip sends information to other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

[0165] When the communication device is a chip used in a network device, the network device chip implements the network device functions of the above method embodiments. The network device chip receives information from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device; or the network device chip sends information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0166] In addition, it should be noted that the aforementioned transceiver unit and / or processing unit may be implemented through virtual modules, 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. Alternatively, the processing unit or 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, performing input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operations) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operations); the processing unit may be an integrated processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit.

[0167] As shown in Figure 9, the communication device 900 includes a processor 910 and may also include an interface circuit 920. The processor 910 and the interface circuit 920 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 920 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 900 may also include a memory 930 (indicated by a dotted line in the figure) for storing instructions executed by the processor 910, or storing input data required by the processor 910 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 910 executes instructions.

[0168] When the communication apparatus 900 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 : the interface circuit 920 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in one or more of steps S501 , S502a , and S502b in the embodiment shown in FIG5 .

[0169] When the communication apparatus 900 is used to implement the function of the network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 : the interface circuit 920 is used to implement the function of the network device in one or more of steps S501 , S502a , and S502b in the embodiment shown in FIG5 .

[0170] A more detailed description of the processor 910 and the interface circuit 920 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 , and is not repeated here.

[0171] The division of modules in this application is illustrative and represents only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the examples of this application may be integrated into a single processor, exist physically as separate modules, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in either hardware or software functional modules.

[0172] 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.

[0173] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method in the above embodiment is implemented.

[0174] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in the above embodiment.

[0175] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including the above-mentioned communication device.

[0176] The present application also provides a circuit, which is coupled to a memory and is used to execute the method shown in the above embodiment. The circuit may include a chip circuit.

[0177] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a network device, the network device module implements the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The network device module receives information from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the UE to the network device; or, the network device module sends information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the UE. The network device module here can be a baseband chip of the network device, or a CU, DU or other module, or a device under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, open DU and other devices.

[0178] It should be noted that the above units or one or more of the units can be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination of the two. When any of the above units or units is implemented by software, the software exists in the form of computer program instructions and is stored in a memory, and a processor can be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flow.

[0179] In this application, a processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or all or part of the circuitry in the aforementioned devices used to implement processing functions, which may implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in this application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in this application may be directly implemented as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0180] When the above units or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a digital signal processing (DSP) chip, a microcontroller unit (MCU), an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, a SoC, an FPGA, a PLD, a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator or a non-integrated discrete device, which can run the necessary software or not rely on the software to execute the above method flow.

[0181] Optionally, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, comprising: at least one processor and an interface, wherein the at least one processor is coupled to a memory via the interface, and when the at least one processor executes a computer program or instruction in the memory, the chip system executes the method in any of the above method embodiments. Optionally, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0182] The memory in the present application may also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing a storage function for storing program instructions and / or data. A memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. For example, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a digital versatile disc (DVD), a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid-state drive (SSD), or a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM).

[0183] It is understood that, in this application, "indication" can include direct indication, indirect indication, explicit indication, and implicit indication. When describing a certain indication information as indicating A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A. In this application, the information indicated by the indication information is referred to as the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or an index of the information to be indicated, or it can be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where there is an association between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the rest of the information to be indicated is known or agreed in advance. For example, it is also possible to indicate specific information by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-specified) order of arrangement of various information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in this application. The sending period and / or sending timing of these sub-information may be predefined, for example, predefined according to a protocol, or may be configured by the transmitting end device by sending configuration information to the receiving end device.

[0184] It should be understood that in the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated with each other are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can mean A or B; where A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural. In addition, to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different. At the same time, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0185] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function 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 wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means.

[0186] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art can understand and implement other changes to the disclosed embodiments by reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit can implement several functions listed in the claims. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0187] It is understood that the various numbers used in the embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

[0188] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own focus. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0189] The components in the device of the embodiment of the present application can be merged, divided, or deleted according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can combine or combine the different embodiments and features of the different embodiments described in this specification.

[0190] In this application, under the premise of no logical contradiction, the examples can reference each other, for example, the methods and / or terms between method embodiments can reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device embodiments can reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device examples and method examples can reference each other.

Claims

1. A channel measurement method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receiving first information, where the first information is used to indicate: subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to a starting resource element of a time-frequency resource subset of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), indication information of a symbol occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, where the number of resource elements included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is greater than or equal to the number of transmission layers, and each resource element corresponds to one DMRS port; Receiving or transmitting the DMRS based on the first information.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Part of the first information used to indicate the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource element of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the number of transmission layers is carried in downlink control information (DCI), and at least one of part of the first information used to indicate the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the indication information of the symbol occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in radio resource control (RRC) signaling or medium access control-control element (MAC-CE).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving second information, where the second information includes indication information of the number of resource elements included in a time-frequency resource set, or the second information includes indication information of the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, the time-frequency resource set includes a plurality of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the symbols corresponding to the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets are the same and the subcarriers are different.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency-domain interval between a plurality of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and / or the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency-domain interval between a plurality of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3-5, characterized in that The number of transmission layers is X. For any one of the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, starting from the starting resource element, L consecutive resource elements are occupied along the time domain dimension on the subcarrier where the starting resource element is located; If L < X, move to the next subcarrier along the frequency domain dimension, and Q consecutive resource elements are occupied along the time domain dimension on the next subcarrier until X resource elements are occupied; where X, L, and Q are all positive integers.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The first information is carried in at least one of the following signaling: downlink control information (DCI), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control-control element (MAC-CE).

8. A channel measurement method, characterized in that, The method includes: Transmitting first information, where the first information is used to indicate: subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to a starting resource element of a time-frequency resource subset of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), indication information of a symbol occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, where the number of resource elements included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is greater than or equal to the number of transmission layers, and each resource element corresponds to one DMRS port; Transmitting or receiving the DMRS based on the first information.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein Partial first information indicating the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource element of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, and the number of transmission layers is carried in the downlink control information DCI. At least one of the partial first information indicating the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the radio resource control RRC signaling or the media access control-control element MAC-CE.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending second information, where the second information includes indication information of the number of resource elements included in the time-frequency resource set, or the second information includes indication information of the number of the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. The time-frequency resource set includes multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the symbols corresponding to the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets are the same while the subcarriers are different.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and / or the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

12. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10-12, characterized in that, The number of transmission layers is X. For any one of the multiple DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, starting from the starting resource element, L consecutive resource elements are occupied along the time domain dimension on the subcarrier where the starting resource element is located; If L < X, move to the next subcarrier along the frequency domain dimension, and Q consecutive resource elements are occupied along the time domain dimension on the next subcarrier until X resource elements are occupied; Wherein, X, L, and Q are all positive integers.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8-13, characterized in that, The first information is carried in at least one of the following signaling: downlink control information DCI, radio resource control RRC signaling, media access control-control element MAC-CE.

15. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a transceiver unit and a processing unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is configured to receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate: the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource element of the demodulation reference signal DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the number of transmission layers, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset. The number of resource elements included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is greater than or equal to the number of transmission layers, and each resource element corresponds to one DMRS port; The transceiver unit is further configured to receive the DMRS based on the first information, and the processing unit is configured to demodulate the DMRS; or The processing unit is further configured to generate the DMRS based on the first information, and the transceiver unit is further configured to send the DMRS.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein Partial first information indicating the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource element of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, and the transmission layer is carried in the downlink control information DCI, and at least one of the partial first information indicating the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the radio resource control RRC signaling or the media access control-control element MAC-CE.

17. The device according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The transceiver unit is further configured to receive second information, where the second information includes indication information of the number of resource elements included in the time-frequency resource set, or the second information includes indication information of the number of the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, the time-frequency resource set includes a plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the symbols corresponding to the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets are the same and the subcarriers are different.

18. The device according to claim 17, characterized in that, The association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and / or the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

19. The device according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency domain interval between the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

20. The device according to any one of claims 17-19, characterized in that, The transmission layer is X. For any one of the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, starting from the starting resource element, L consecutive resource elements are occupied along the time domain dimension on the subcarrier where the starting resource element is located. If L < X, along the frequency domain dimension to the next subcarrier, and Q consecutive resource elements are occupied along the time domain dimension on the next subcarrier until X resource elements are occupied. Wherein, X, L, and Q are all positive integers.

21. The device according to any one of claims 15-20, characterized in that, The first information is carried in at least one of the following signaling: downlink control information DCI, radio resource control RRC signaling, media access control-control element MAC-CE.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, The apparatus includes: a processing unit and a transceiver unit; wherein: The processing unit is configured to generate first information, and the first information is used to indicate: the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource element of the demodulation reference signal DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, the transmission layer, and the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset, where the number of resource elements included in the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is greater than or equal to the transmission layer, and each resource element corresponds to one DMRS port. The transceiver unit is configured to send the first information. The transceiver unit is further configured to send or receive DMRS based on the first information.

23. The device according to claim 22, characterized in that, Part of the first information indicating the subcarrier information and symbol information corresponding to the starting resource element of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the number of transmission layers is carried in the downlink control information (DCI), and at least one of the part of the first information indicating the association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset and the indication information of the symbols occupied by the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is carried in the radio resource control (RRC) signaling or the media access control-control element (MAC-CE).

24. The device according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that, The transceiver unit is further configured to send second information, where the second information includes indication information of the number of resource elements included in the time-frequency resource set, or the second information includes indication information of the number of the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets. The time-frequency resource set includes a plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, and the symbol indices corresponding to the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets are the same while the subcarrier indices are different.

25. The device according to claim 24, wherein The association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency-domain interval between the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and / or the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

26. The device according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that, The association information of the DMRS time-frequency resource subset is used to indicate the frequency-domain interval between the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets and the number of the DMRS time-frequency resource subsets.

27. The device according to any one of claims 24-26, characterized in that, The number of transmission layers is X. For any one of the plurality of DMRS time-frequency resource subsets, starting from the starting resource element, L consecutive resource elements are occupied along the time domain dimension on the subcarrier where the starting resource element is located. If L < X, then along the frequency domain dimension to the next subcarrier, and Q consecutive resource elements are occupied along the time domain dimension on the next subcarrier until X resource elements are occupied. Wherein, X, L, and Q are all positive integers.

28. The device according to any one of claims 22-27, characterized in that, The first information is carried in at least one of the following signaling: downlink control information (DCI), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, media access control-control element (MAC-CE).

29. A communication system, characterized in that, The system includes a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-7, and the second communication device is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 8-14.

30. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor, or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device. The processor is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-7 through logic circuits or by executing code instructions, or implement the method according to any one of claims 8-14.

31. The communication device according to claim 30, wherein, The communication device is a chip.

32. A chip module, characterized in that, It includes a transceiver component and a chip. The chip is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-7, or execute the method according to any one of claims 8-14.

33. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the program is executed by the processor, it implements the method according to any one of claims 1-7, or implements the method according to any one of claims 8-14.

34. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes program instructions involved. When the involved program instructions are executed, the method described in any one of claims 1-7 is implemented, or the method described in any one of claims 8-14 is implemented.

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