Communication method and related apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and a related apparatus. In the method, an uplink reference signal (i.e., a first reference signal) is designed, so that when there is a data transmission demand in a power saving mode, a terminal sends the first reference signal to implement rapid synchronization and / or channel measurement and to also trigger data transmission scheduling. In this way, fast data transmission in a power saving mode can be implemented with fewer transmission steps, improving communication performance.

Description

Communication method and related device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on January 30, 2024, with application number 202410137709.X and application name “Communication Methods and Related Devices”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] Currently, global energy and environmental issues are serious. Increased energy consumption and rising energy prices have led to high operating costs for telecommunications networks. In telecommunications networks, the proportion of base station energy consumption in the overall energy consumption of the telecommunications network continues to increase. Base station energy consumption includes many components, such as a dynamic component related to load and a static component unrelated to load. Taking no-load or low-load scenarios as an example, the base station needs to frequently send common signals, such as the synchronization signal block (SSB), system information block 1 (SIB1), channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), and tracking reference signal (TRS), for network discovery and precise synchronization. Taking SSB as an example, before a terminal establishes a connection with the base station, the base station does not know the terminal's location in the cell. Therefore, the base station needs to periodically send SSBs to facilitate terminal detection and preliminary synchronization. In addition to SSBs, the base station can also send TRSs for terminal detection and fine synchronization. In other words, TRS has better synchronization accuracy than SSBs. TRS supports periodic, semi-static, or aperiodic transmission configurations. However, to ensure terminal synchronization, base stations typically configure periodic TRS transmission for terminals. From the base station's perspective, frequent transmissions prevent the base station from entering deep sleep or achieving long-term sleep, significantly impacting energy conservation. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To achieve energy conservation in base stations, researchers have proposed a base station energy-saving mode. In this energy-saving mode, the base station maintains a longer period of public signal transmission to enable terminals to discover the network and complete basic synchronization. This results in a higher idle ratio of the base station in the time domain, thus helping to save power. However, in this energy-saving mode, when a terminal needs to transmit data, the base station cannot obtain accurate channel information, and the terminal only maintains basic synchronization with the base station, resulting in poor communication performance.

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and related devices, which are beneficial to saving network energy consumption. The present application is introduced from different aspects below. It should be understood that the implementation methods and beneficial effects of the following different aspects can be referenced to each other.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method performed by a communication device, which may be a terminal or a module within the terminal. In the method, the terminal may send a first reference signal, where the first reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission, where the first reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization, and then the terminal may receive the scheduling information.

[0007] In this embodiment, the first reference signal is used for rapid synchronization and / or channel measurement, and is also used to trigger data transmission scheduling, enabling the terminal to quickly synchronize and / or measure the channel through the first reference signal when there is a data transmission demand, thereby obtaining scheduling information for the data transmission. Compared to the terminal receiving the synchronization signal through blind detection, and the base station sending information for synchronization and / or channel measurement through periodic and low-frequency transmission, the embodiment of the present application can achieve rapid data transmission in energy-saving mode with fewer transmission steps, which is beneficial to improving communication performance.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the receiving the scheduling information includes:

[0009] receiving the scheduling information within a first time period after sending the first reference signal; or,

[0010] The scheduling information is received at the Ath time unit after sending the first reference signal, where A is an integer greater than 0.

[0011] In this implementation mode, the timing relationship between the first reference signal and the scheduling information is specified, so that the terminal only needs to detect the scheduling information within the first time period / Ath time unit after sending the first reference signal, without the need to blindly detect the scheduling information in each time unit or multiple time units after sending the first reference signal, thereby reducing the terminal detection overhead and power consumption.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the data transmission is downlink data transmission;

[0013] Before sending the first reference signal, the method further includes:

[0014] A first trigger signal is received, where the first trigger signal is used to trigger the first reference signal.

[0015] In this implementation, a triggering process for downlink data transmission is designed, which enables the base station to trigger the terminal to quickly complete synchronization, channel measurement and other steps before downlink data transmission, which is conducive to improving communication efficiency and reducing transmission overhead.

[0016] In a possible implementation, sending the first reference signal includes:

[0017] sending the first reference signal within a second time period after receiving the first trigger signal; or,

[0018] The first reference signal is sent at the Bth time unit after receiving the first trigger signal, where B is an integer greater than 0.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the first trigger signal is used for synchronization, and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement.

[0020] In this implementation, the first trigger signal is designed to be used for synchronization, and the first reference signal is designed to be used for channel measurement, thereby improving the diversity of solution implementation.

[0021] In a possible implementation, after sending the first reference signal, the method further includes:

[0022] receiving a second reference signal, where the second reference signal is used for interference measurement;

[0023] Interference measurement information is sent according to the second reference signal.

[0024] In this implementation mode, based on the base station completing the channel measurement, the terminal further measures the downlink interference, making the scheduling more accurate and helping to improve the downlink transmission performance.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the receiving the second reference signal includes:

[0026] receiving the second reference signal within a third time period after sending the first reference signal; or,

[0027] The second reference signal is received at the Cth time unit after the first reference signal is sent, where C is an integer greater than 0.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the receiving the scheduling information includes:

[0029] receiving the scheduling information within a fourth time period after sending the interference measurement information; or,

[0030] The start time unit of the scheduling information is the D-th time unit after the end time unit of the interference measurement information, where D is an integer greater than 0.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the scheduling information also includes synchronization information corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0032] In this implementation mode, when the first reference signal is used for synchronization, the opposite end (i.e., the base station) can determine the synchronization information (such as timing offset and / or frequency offset) through the first reference signal, and carry the determined synchronization information in the scheduling information and send it to the terminal. This is equivalent to carrying both the synchronization information and the scheduling information for data transmission in the scheduling information, thereby saving signaling overhead and saving power consumption of the terminal and the base station.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the first reference signal is used for synchronization, and the first reference signal includes multiple reference signals; the frequency domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are the same, and the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are spaced apart.

[0034] In this implementation, the first reference signal can have a synchronization function. That is, the calculation of timing offset and frequency offset needs to be implemented based on multiple reference signals with the same frequency domain position but different time domain positions.

[0035] In a possible implementation, each of the multiple reference signals included in the first reference signal corresponds to multiple antenna ports.

[0036] In this implementation, the first reference signal can have the function of channel measurement.

[0037] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method performed by a communication device, which may be a radio access network device or a module within the radio access network device. In this method, the radio access network device receives a first reference signal, wherein the first reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission, and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization. The radio access network device then transmits the scheduling information. For example, the radio access network device may be a base station.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the sending the scheduling information includes:

[0039] sending the scheduling information within a first time period after receiving the first reference signal; or,

[0040] The scheduling information is sent at the Ath time unit after receiving the first reference signal, where A is an integer greater than 0.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the data transmission is downlink data transmission;

[0042] Before receiving the first reference signal, the method further includes:

[0043] A first trigger signal is sent, where the first trigger signal is used to trigger the first reference signal.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the receiving a first reference signal includes:

[0045] receiving the first reference signal within a second time period after sending the first trigger signal; or,

[0046] The first reference signal is received at the Bth time unit after the first trigger signal is sent, where B is an integer greater than 0.

[0047] In a possible implementation, the first trigger signal is used for synchronization, and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement.

[0048] In a possible implementation, after receiving the first reference signal, the method further includes:

[0049] sending a second reference signal, where the second reference signal is used for interference measurement;

[0050] Receive interference measurement information.

[0051] In a possible implementation, sending the second reference signal includes:

[0052] sending the second reference signal within a third time period after receiving the first reference signal; or,

[0053] The second reference signal is sent at the Cth time unit after receiving the first reference signal, where C is an integer greater than 0.

[0054] In a possible implementation, the sending the scheduling information includes:

[0055] sending the scheduling information within a fourth time period after receiving the interference measurement information; or,

[0056] The start time unit of the scheduling information is the D-th time unit after the end time unit of the interference measurement information, where D is an integer greater than 0.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the scheduling information also includes synchronization information corresponding to the first reference signal.

[0058] In one possible implementation, the first reference signal is used for synchronization, and the first reference signal includes multiple reference signals; the transmission resources corresponding to the multiple reference signals have the same period and frequency domain position, and there is an interval between the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals.

[0059] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method performed by a communication device, which may be a terminal or a module within the terminal. In this method, the terminal receives a third reference signal, wherein the third reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission, and the third reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization; then, the terminal receives the scheduling information.

[0060] In this embodiment, the third reference signal is used for rapid synchronization and / or channel measurement, and is also used to trigger data transmission scheduling, enabling the terminal to quickly synchronize and / or measure the channel through the third reference signal when there is a data transmission demand, thereby obtaining scheduling information for the data transmission. Compared to the terminal receiving the synchronization signal through blind detection, and the base station sending information for synchronization and / or channel measurement through periodic and infrequent transmission, the embodiment of the present application can achieve rapid data transmission in energy-saving mode with fewer transmission steps, which is beneficial to improving communication performance.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the receiving the scheduling information includes:

[0062] receiving the scheduling information within a fifth time period after receiving the third reference signal; or,

[0063] The scheduling information is received at an E-th time unit after receiving the third reference signal, where E is an integer greater than 0.

[0064] In one possible implementation, the data transmission is uplink data transmission;

[0065] Before receiving the third reference signal, the method further includes:

[0066] A second trigger signal is sent, where the second trigger signal is used to trigger the third reference signal.

[0067] In this implementation, a triggering process for uplink data transmission is designed, which can enable the terminal to quickly complete synchronization, channel measurement and other steps before uplink data transmission when there is a demand for uplink data transmission, which is conducive to improving communication efficiency and reducing transmission overhead.

[0068] In a possible implementation, the second trigger signal is used for synchronization, and the third reference signal is used for channel measurement.

[0069] In this implementation, the second trigger signal is designed for synchronization, and the third reference signal is designed for channel measurement, thereby improving the diversity of solution implementation.

[0070] In a possible implementation, the third reference signal also includes synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal, or the scheduling information also includes synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal.

[0071] In this implementation, in scheduling of uplink data transmission, when the first reference signal is used for synchronization, carrying synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal in the third reference signal / scheduling information is beneficial for saving transmission overhead.

[0072] In a possible implementation, the third reference signal and the scheduling information belong to the same transmission structure.

[0073] In this implementation method, by designing the third reference signal and scheduling information to belong to the same transmission structure (or, sending the third reference signal and scheduling information at one time through one transmission structure), the transmission steps can be reduced, which is conducive to improving transmission efficiency and reducing transmission delay.

[0074] In a possible implementation, the third reference signal is used for channel measurement; and the method further includes:

[0075] Send channel information corresponding to the third reference signal.

[0076] In this implementation, when the third reference signal is used for channel measurement, the terminal sends the channel information after receiving the first reference signal, which makes scheduling more accurate and helps improve transmission performance.

[0077] In a possible implementation, the receiving the scheduling information includes:

[0078] receiving the scheduling information within a sixth time period after sending the channel information; or,

[0079] The start time unit of the scheduling information is the Fth time unit after the end time unit of the channel information, where F is an integer greater than 0.

[0080] In one possible implementation, the third reference signal is used for synchronization, and the third reference signal includes multiple reference signals; the frequency domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are the same, and the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are spaced apart.

[0081] In this implementation, the third reference signal can be synchronized by designing the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals included in the third reference signal to have the same frequency domain location and spacing the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals in the time domain. Optionally, the third reference signal can be synchronized by designing the transmission resources corresponding to the multiple reference signals included in the third reference signal to have the same antenna ports.

[0082] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method performed by a communication device, which may be a radio access network device or a module within the radio access network device. In this method, the radio access network device transmits a third reference signal, wherein the third reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission, and the third reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization. Subsequently, the radio access network device transmits the scheduling information. Exemplarily, the radio access network device may be a base station.

[0083] In a possible implementation, the sending the scheduling information includes:

[0084] sending the scheduling information within a fifth time period after sending the third reference signal; or,

[0085] The scheduling information is sent at the Eth time unit after the third reference signal is sent, where E is an integer greater than 0.

[0086] In one possible implementation, the data transmission is uplink data transmission;

[0087] Before sending the third reference signal, the method further includes:

[0088] A second trigger signal is received, where the second trigger signal is used to trigger the third reference signal.

[0089] In a possible implementation, the second trigger signal is used for synchronization, and the third reference signal is used for channel measurement.

[0090] In a possible implementation, the third reference signal also includes synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal, or the scheduling information also includes synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal.

[0091] In a possible implementation, the third reference signal and the scheduling information belong to the same transmission structure.

[0092] In a possible implementation, the third reference signal is used for channel measurement; and the method further includes:

[0093] Receive channel information corresponding to the third reference signal.

[0094] In a possible implementation, the sending the scheduling information includes:

[0095] sending the scheduling information within a sixth time period after receiving the channel information; or,

[0096] The start time unit of the scheduling information is the Fth time unit after the end time unit of the channel information, where F is an integer greater than 0.

[0097] In one possible implementation, the third reference signal is used for synchronization, and the third reference signal includes multiple reference signals; the frequency domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are the same, and the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are spaced apart.

[0098] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a unit or module for executing any method as shown in the first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation of any aspect.

[0099] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor, a transceiver and a memory, wherein the processor, transceiver and memory are coupled, and a computer program is stored in the memory; the processor and the transceiver are used to call the computer program in the memory so that the communication device executes any method as described in the first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation of any aspect thereof.

[0100] In one possible design, the communication device may be a chip that implements the above method or a device including a chip.

[0101] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being used 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, and the processor being used to implement any method as shown in the first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation of any of the aspects, through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0102] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the method as shown in any method in the first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation of any aspect therein, is implemented.

[0103] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product. When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer executes any method in the first to fourth aspects, or a method shown in any possible implementation of any aspect.

[0104] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which may include a terminal and a wireless access network device. The terminal is configured to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or to execute the method described in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect; the wireless access network device is configured to execute the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or to execute the method described in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0105] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0106] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of time units of different granularities provided by this application;

[0107] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a base station side acquiring channel information;

[0108] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of completing time / frequency synchronization on the terminal side;

[0109] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0110] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of a first reference signal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0111] 7 is a schematic diagram of scheduling information for triggering data transmission using a first reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0112] FIG8 is another flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0113] 9 is a schematic diagram of scheduling information for triggering data transmission using a third reference signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0114] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0115] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0116] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0117] In the description of this application, "first" and "second" etc. are only used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, unless otherwise specified, " / " means "or", for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this article is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a and b and c. Among them, a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0118] The terms "comprise," "include," "have," and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0119] In this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete way.

[0120] It can be understood that in this application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the device will perform corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, and do not limit the time. It does not require that the device must perform a judgment action when it is implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0121] Elements used in the singular herein are intended to mean "one or more" rather than "one and only one" unless specifically stated otherwise.

[0122] It is understood that in each embodiment of the present application, "A corresponds to B" means that there is a corresponding relationship between A and B, and B can be determined according to A. Determining B according to A does not mean determining B only according to A, and B can also be determined according to A and / or other information.

[0123] To better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following first introduces the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application:

[0124] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system used in the embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that Figure 1 is a possible, non-limiting system schematic diagram. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 10 may also include the Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 wirelessly. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or wiredly. The core network equipment in core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be separate physical devices, or they can be a single physical device that integrates core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions, or they can be a single physical device that integrates some core network equipment functions and some RAN node 110 functions. Terminals and RAN nodes 110 can be connected to each other via wired or wireless means. Figure 1 is merely a schematic diagram; the communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul equipment, which are not shown in Figure 1.

[0125] The RAN 100 may be a cellular access system related to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as a 4G or 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolution system (such as a 6G mobile communication system). The RAN 100 may also be an open access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 100 may also be a fusion of two or more of the above systems.

[0126] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as radio access network equipment, access network equipment, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of a communication system and facilitates wireless access for terminals. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 10 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are relative. For example, network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal 120j accessing RAN 100 via network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal. RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices. For example, network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication devices with base station functionality, and network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0127] In one possible scenario, the RAN node 110 may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. The RAN node 110 may be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG1 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG1 ), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node 110 may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle, or an onboard device. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology may be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node 110 in this application may also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The RAN node 110 in this application may also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node 110.

[0128] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes 110 collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes 110 respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node 110 can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0129] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0130] A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, drone, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home appliance, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal. For the convenience of description, the terminal is described in detail below.

[0131] For ease of description, the following description uses a base station as an example of RAN node 110. Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0132] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. To terminals 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station. However, to base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0133] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0134] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0135] In this application, a base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection in the cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the serving cell of the terminal. When the terminal communicates with the serving cell, it will also be interfered with by signals from neighboring cells.

[0136] To facilitate understanding of the relevant contents of the embodiments of this application, some of the knowledge required for the solution of this application is introduced below. It should be noted that these explanations are intended to make the embodiments of this application easier to understand and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0137] 1. Time unit

[0138] A time unit is a time domain unit used for signal transmission. It is a granularity in the time domain, and a time unit consists of multiple symbols. Alternatively, a time unit can be a radio frame, a subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol. Figure 2 shows an example of the relationship between time units of different granularities. In Figure 2, the time domain length of a radio frame is 10 milliseconds (ms). A radio frame can include 10 subframes, and the time domain length of a subframe is 1ms. A subframe can include one or more time slots, and the specific number of time slots included in a subframe is related to the subcarrier space (SCS). For the case where the SCS is 15kHz, the time domain length of a time slot is 1ms. A time slot includes 14 symbols.

[0139] 2. Channel information

[0140] As a signal travels from the transmitter to the receiver through a wireless channel, it may experience scattering, reflection, and energy attenuation with distance, resulting in fading. Channel information is used to characterize the characteristics of the wireless channel and carries channel-related content. Communication devices typically obtain channel information through reference signals and channel measurements. A reference signal is a known signal provided by the transmitter to the receiver for channel estimation or channel sounding. Reference signals can be used for channel measurement, interference measurement, and other purposes. For example, a terminal obtains channel information by measuring parameters such as reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). A downlink reference signal can be, for example, a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS). The base station sends the CSI-RS to the terminal, and the terminal measures the channel based on the CSI-RS, obtains channel state information (CSI), and reports the CSI to the base station. This aligns the terminal and base station's understanding of the channel state. An uplink reference signal can be, for example, a sounding reference signal (SRS). The terminal sends the SRS to the base station, and the base station measures the channel based on the SRS to obtain the channel state.

[0141] Specifically, in the current new radio (NR) system, there are two main ways for the base station side to obtain channel information, as shown in (a) and (b) in Figure 3:

[0142] 1) The base station sends a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). The terminal receives the CSI-RS and measures the channel information, ultimately generating channel state information (CSI) and reporting it to the base station.

[0143] 2) The terminal sends a channel sounding reference signal (SRS), which the base station receives and measures the precoding. For downlink data transmission in time division duplex (TDD) mode, the base station, after obtaining the precoding, further sends a precoded CSI-RS (precoded CSI-RS). After receiving the precoded CSI-RS, the terminal further measures interference information, ultimately obtaining a rank indicator (RI) and a channel quality indicator (CQI), which it reports to the base station.

[0144] Channel information reporting methods are categorized into three types: periodic reporting, semi-static reporting, and aperiodic reporting. For periodic and semi-static reporting, channel information is configured with periodic transmission resources. The base station and terminal send or receive channel information according to the configured periodic transmission resources. Aperiodic channel information reporting is triggered by the base station sending downlink control information. Aperiodic channel information reporting is typically one-time; the terminal transmits the channel information once, completing the channel information transmission. To ensure the immediacy of channel information, the base station typically configures periodic channel information reporting for the terminal. Specifically, the base station periodically transmits the CSI-RS, allowing the terminal to report CSI based on the CSI-RS.

[0145] It should be understood that after the base station obtains the channel information of the terminal, the base station will perform corresponding uplink / downlink data scheduling according to the channel information.

[0146] 3. Time / Frequency Synchronization

[0147] In the current NR communication system, there are two main signals used for time / frequency synchronization: synchronization signal and PBCH block (SSB) and TRS.

[0148] The SSB is a periodically transmitted common signal that occupies 20 resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain. The SSB consists of two parts: the synchronization signal (SS) and the physical broadcast channel block (PBCH). The SS includes the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and the secondary synchronization signal (SSS). Therefore, the SSB can also be considered to consist of three parts: the PSS, SSS, and PBCH. As shown in Figure 4 (a), the terminal periodically detects the SSB and performs preliminary time-frequency synchronization (hereinafter referred to as primary synchronization) based on the received SSB. In addition to the SSB, the base station can also transmit the TRS, which allows the terminal to achieve more refined time / frequency synchronization. In the frequency domain, the TRS transmits more pilot signals, resulting in higher resolution for timing deviation measurement. In the time domain, the SSS and PSS are generally separated by two symbols, while the TRS occupies two consecutive time slots. Within each time slot, the TRS transmission resources are separated by four symbols, resulting in higher resolution for frequency deviation measurement. Therefore, the synchronization accuracy of TRS is higher than that of SSB. TRS can be understood as a special CSI-RS. As shown in (b) of Figure 4, the terminal receives the TRS signal and can complete more refined time-frequency synchronization based on TRS (hereinafter referred to as secondary synchronization). For TRS, similar to the reporting of the above-mentioned channel information, TRS also supports periodic transmission, semi-static transmission, or non-periodic transmission. To ensure the immediacy of terminal time-frequency synchronization, the base station will configure the terminal to send periodic TRS.

[0149] 4. Transmission structure

[0150] A transmission structure can be understood as the transmission of multiple messages as a whole. That is, from the perspective of the sender, all messages within the transmission structure should be sent at once; from the perspective of the receiver, all messages within the transmission structure should be received at once. A transmission structure can be a frame structure, an independent transmission channel, or a fixed format.

[0151] 5. Public Signal

[0152] It can be called public information or non-dedicated information, or it can be understood as information sent by one communication device to multiple communication devices. Taking downlink communication as an example, public information can be understood as information sent by a base station to multiple terminals or a terminal group in a cell, or it can be understood as information sent by a network device to a terminal or a terminal group in a cell, or it can be understood as information that can be used by multiple terminals or a terminal group in a cell. For example, public signals can be system information, synchronization signals, or paging messages. For example, public signals can be used for processes such as terminal and base station synchronization, terminal cell identification, initial terminal access to a cell, neighboring cell measurement, and cell handover.

[0153] 6. Base station energy saving

[0154] Base stations need to periodically transmit common signals to help terminals identify them and access the network. For cells with little or no service transmission demand, the base station still needs to periodically transmit common signals, resulting in high base station overhead. One possible energy-saving approach is to extend the common signal transmission period, thereby reducing the base station's frequency of common signal transmission, thereby achieving energy savings. However, in this mode, when the terminal has a data transmission demand, the following problems will arise: on the one hand, due to the lack of periodic transmission of CSI-RS / SRS, the base station cannot obtain the accurate channel information of the terminal, and therefore cannot accurately schedule data transmission for the terminal; on the other hand, due to the fact that in energy-saving mode, if only long-period SSB / DRS is sent, the terminal side only maintains basic synchronization with the base station side, without more precise synchronization, which makes the terminal side suffer from significant performance loss when receiving transmissions with higher modulation orders (for example, modulation order is 256 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)) or higher coding rates (for example, coding rates of 3 / 4 and above). Based on this, relevant technicians have proposed that when there is a data transmission demand, the base station schedules reference signals for synchronization and reference signals for channel measurement separately. Only after the terminal completes synchronization and reports channel state information can the base station schedule and transmit data. However, based on this mode of data transmission, the entire process is cumbersome and time-consuming, which will seriously affect the user-perceived throughput (UPT) indicator.

[0155] Based on the above analysis, this application proposes a communication method that can achieve fast data transmission in energy-saving mode by designing a reference signal that can simultaneously trigger data transmission scheduling, as well as synchronization and / or channel measurement, which is conducive to improving communication performance.

[0156] The communication method and communication device provided by this application are described in detail below:

[0157] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 5 can be a base station, or a terminal. Alternatively, the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 5 can also be a base station, or a chip in the terminal. For the convenience of description, this application is mainly explained with the base station or the terminal as the execution subject. It should be understood that Figure 5 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of the method of the present application, which shows the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in Figure 5. In addition, the various steps in Figure 5 can be executed in a different order from that presented in Figure 5, and it may not be necessary to execute all the operations in Figure 5. As shown in Figure 5, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0158] S501: A terminal sends a first reference signal to a base station. Correspondingly, the base station receives the first reference signal from the terminal.

[0159] Specifically, the first reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission (or the first reference signal is used to trigger the base station to send scheduling information for data transmission, or the first reference signal is used to trigger the terminal to receive scheduling information for data transmission), and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization. It is understandable that the description of "trigger" in this application can also be replaced by descriptions such as "request", "enable", and "indicate", which will not be repeated later. It is understandable that the data transmission involved in this application may refer to uplink data transmission or downlink data transmission. Among them, uplink data transmission refers to the terminal sending data to the base station, and downlink data transmission refers to the base station sending data to the terminal.

[0160] It is understandable that when the first reference signal is used for synchronization, the terminal and the base station can complete synchronization through uplink transmission. In one possible manner, the first reference signal may include multiple reference signals, and the transmission resources corresponding to the multiple reference signals have the same period and frequency domain position, and there is an interval in the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals. The above-mentioned frequency domain position may include bandwidth, subcarriers used, etc. Optionally, the pilot sequences corresponding to the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals may also be the same (or the pilot sequences described as reference signals may be the same). Under this design, the terminal can achieve time-frequency synchronization based on the first reference signal. Optionally, the frequency domain positions of the transmission resources of multiple reference signals in this application are the same, which can also be understood as: the antenna ports of the transmission resources corresponding to the multiple reference signals are the same. That is, the same antenna port means that the frequency domain resources used for transmission are the same.

[0161] It should be noted that the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the above-mentioned multiple reference signals are spaced apart, which can be understood as: the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are discontinuous in the time domain, or there is a gap between the time domain positions of the transmission resources of adjacent reference signals in the multiple reference signals. The time domain positions of the multiple reference signals may be equally spaced or unequally spaced. In one possible manner, the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals belong to the same time slot. Alternatively, the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are located in two or more consecutive time slots.

[0162] For example, as shown in (a) in Figure 6, multiple reference signals are distributed in the same time slot (for example, time slot 1), and the time domain position of the transmission resource of each reference signal is separated by 3 OFDM symbols. (a) in Figure 6 shows the transmission resources of 4 reference signals, and the OFDM symbol indexes of the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the 4 reference signals are 0, 4, 8, and 12, respectively. The frequency domain positions of the transmission resources of the 4 reference signals are the same, and the subcarrier indices are all 0, 4, and 8. For another example, as shown in (b) in Figure 6, multiple reference signals are distributed in two consecutive time slots (for example, time slot 1 and time slot 2), and each time slot contains two reference signals, wherein the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the reference signals in the same time slot are separated by three OFDM symbols. (b) in Figure 6 shows the transmission resources of four reference signals, and the OFDM symbol indices of the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the reference signals in each time slot are 8 and 12 respectively. The frequency domain positions of the transmission resources of the four reference signals are the same, and the subcarrier indices are all 0, 4, and 8.

[0163] Exemplarily, the pilot sequence of the reference signal involved in this application may satisfy the following formula:

[0164] Wherein, r(m) is the pilot sequence, c represents the base sequence for generating the pilot sequence, and m represents the value corresponding to the mth position in the pilot sequence.

[0165] It is understandable that when the first reference signal is used for channel measurement, the transmission resources of multiple reference signals included in the first reference signal can each correspond to multiple antenna ports (or it can be described as the transmission resource of each reference signal in the multiple reference signals including multiple antenna ports). In this design, the terminal can perform channel measurement based on the first reference signal to obtain channel information corresponding to multi-stream transmission, thereby enabling multi-stream transmission.

[0166] It is not difficult to understand that when the first reference signal can be used for synchronization and channel measurement at the same time, the design of the first reference signal needs to simultaneously meet the conditions that need to be met when the aforementioned first reference signal is used for synchronization and the conditions that need to be met when the first reference signal is used for channel measurement, that is, the descriptions of the different functions of the first signal in this application can be combined with each other, and will not be repeated below.

[0167] S502: The base station sends scheduling information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the scheduling information from the base station.

[0168] Specifically, after the base station receives the first reference signal, the base station can send scheduling information to the terminal. As described above, the first reference signal can be used to trigger scheduling information for uplink data transmission (or the first reference signal is used to trigger the base station to send scheduling information for uplink data transmission, or the first reference signal is used to trigger the terminal to receive scheduling information for uplink data transmission), or the first reference signal can also be used to trigger scheduling information for downlink data transmission (or the first reference signal is used to trigger the base station to send scheduling information for downlink data transmission, or the first reference signal is used to trigger the terminal to receive scheduling information for downlink data transmission). It can be understood that the scheduling information for uplink data transmission can also be described as: the scheduling information is used to schedule uplink data transmission; the scheduling information for downlink data transmission can also be described as: the scheduling information is used to schedule downlink data transmission. Exemplarily, the uplink data may be a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and the downlink data may be a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Accordingly, the scheduling information for scheduling PUSCH transmission may be downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to PUSCH; the scheduling information for scheduling PDSCH transmission may be DCI corresponding to PDSCH, etc., without limitation.

[0169] It should be understood that, regardless of uplink data transmission or downlink data transmission scenarios, the scheduling information for triggering data transmission by the first reference signal can be understood as the following two types:

[0170] The first one is that the base station can send scheduling information within the first time period after receiving the first reference signal (or it can be described as the terminal can receive scheduling information within the first time period after sending the first reference signal, or it can be described as the terminal can receive scheduling information within a time window after sending the first reference signal, and the time window is a time period, such as the first time period). The length of the first time period can be predefined by the protocol, or it can be configured to the terminal in advance by the base station. Optionally, the starting time domain position / starting time unit of the first time period can be the X1th time unit after the terminal sends / the base station receives the first reference signal, and X1 is a positive integer. X1 can be predefined by the protocol, or it can be configured to the terminal in advance by the base station. The units of the time units involved in this application can be symbols, time slots, micro time slots, radio frames, subframes, seconds (s), milliseconds (ms), etc.

[0171] The second type is that the base station can receive the scheduling information at the Ath time unit after sending the first reference signal (or described as the terminal can receive the scheduling information at the Ath time unit after sending the first reference signal, or described as the starting time unit of the scheduling information is the Ath time unit after the end time unit of the first reference signal, or described as the interval of A time units between the starting time unit of the scheduling information and the end time unit of the first reference signal), where A is an integer greater than 0 (or described as A is a positive integer). A can be predefined by the protocol, or configured in advance to the terminal by the base station. It should be understood that the starting time unit of the above-mentioned scheduling information can be understood as the time unit where the starting time domain position of the transmission resource of the scheduling information is located, and the end time unit of the first reference signal can be understood as the time unit where the end time domain position of the transmission resource of the first reference signal is located.

[0172] Exemplarily, two modes of scheduling information for triggering data transmission by the first reference signal are shown in (a) and (b) of FIG7 .

[0173] It is understandable that, whether in the uplink data transmission or downlink data transmission scenario, when the first reference signal is used for synchronization, the base station can also send synchronization information corresponding to the first reference signal to the terminal (or describe that the first reference signal sent by the terminal is also used to trigger the base station to send synchronization information). Accordingly, the terminal receives the synchronization information corresponding to the first reference signal from the base station. It should be understood that the synchronization information usually needs to be informed to the terminal before demodulating the data transmission information (such as uplink / downlink data) so that the terminal can complete time-frequency correction before data transmission to improve transmission performance.

[0174] Exemplarily, the synchronization information corresponding to the first reference signal can be carried in the scheduling information of the uplink / downlink data transmission (or described as including / carrying the synchronization information corresponding to the first reference signal in the scheduling information), or the synchronization information corresponding to the first reference signal can be carried in the reference signal corresponding to the uplink / downlink data transmission. Here, the reference signal corresponding to the uplink / downlink data transmission can be understood as the demodulation reference signal corresponding to the uplink / downlink transmission, or in other words, the reference signal used to demodulate the uplink / downlink transmission, and its function is to demodulate the data. For example, the reference signal corresponding to the uplink data transmission can be a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and the reference signal corresponding to the downlink data transmission can also be a DMRS, etc., without limitation.

[0175] The synchronization information in this application is information that can be used for terminal synchronization. In one possible embodiment, the synchronization information may include at least one of a timing offset and a frequency offset. The terminal adjusts the timing and frequency according to the synchronization information to achieve synchronization.

[0176] The following describes the differences between downlink data transmission and uplink data transmission.

[0177] In one possible embodiment, when the scheduling information for data transmission is the scheduling information for downlink data transmission, before the terminal sends the first reference signal (i.e., step S501), the method further includes step S500 as shown in Figure 5: the base station sends a first trigger signal to the terminal, and accordingly, the terminal receives the first trigger signal from the base station, and the first trigger signal is used to trigger the first reference signal (or the first trigger signal is used to trigger the terminal to send the first reference signal). It is understandable that triggering the terminal to send the first reference signal through the first trigger signal can enable the terminal to quickly complete synchronization, channel measurement and other steps before downlink data transmission, which is beneficial to improving data transmission efficiency. Among them, the first trigger signal used to trigger the first reference signal can be understood as follows:

[0178] In the first method, the terminal may send the first reference signal within a second time period after receiving the first trigger signal (or the base station may receive the first reference signal within a second time period after sending the first trigger signal). The length of the second time period may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station. Optionally, the starting time domain position / starting time unit of the second time period may be the X2th time unit after the terminal receives / the base station sends the first trigger signal, where X2 is a positive integer. X2 may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station.

[0179] The second type is that the terminal can send the first reference signal at the Bth time unit after receiving the first trigger signal (or described as the base station can receive the first reference signal at the Bth time unit after sending the first trigger signal, or described as the start time unit of the first reference signal is the Bth time unit after the end time unit of the first trigger signal, or described as a gap of B time units between the start time unit of the first reference signal and the end time unit of the first trigger signal). Wherein B is an integer greater than 0. Wherein B can be predefined by the protocol, or configured to the terminal in advance by the base station. It should be understood that the start time unit of the above-mentioned first reference signal can be understood as the time unit where the start time domain position of the transmission resource of the first reference signal is located, and the end time unit of the first trigger signal can be understood as the time unit where the end time domain position of the transmission resource of the first trigger signal is located.

[0180] Optionally, the first trigger signal can also be used for synchronization. Correspondingly, the first reference signal can be used for channel measurement, but not for synchronization. In other words, the first trigger signal can be used to trigger the first reference signal and for synchronization, and the first reference signal can be used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission and for channel measurement.

[0181] In a possible embodiment, when the scheduling information for data transmission is scheduling information for downlink data transmission, after the terminal sends the first reference signal (i.e., step S501) and before the terminal receives the scheduling information (i.e., step S502), the method may further include the following steps S5001 to S5002 (not shown in FIG. 5 ):

[0182] S5001: A base station sends a second reference signal to a terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the second reference signal from the base station.

[0183] Specifically, the second reference signal may be used for interference measurement. Exemplarily, the second reference signal may be a precoded CSI-RS.

[0184] In one possible implementation, the terminal may receive the second reference signal within a third time period after sending the first reference signal (or may be described as the base station may send the second reference signal within a third time period after receiving the first reference signal). The length of the third time period may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance to the terminal by the base station. Optionally, the starting time domain position / starting time unit of the third time period may be the X3th time unit after the terminal sends / the base station receives the first reference signal, where X3 is a positive integer. X3 may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance to the terminal by the base station. Optionally, the third time period and the first time period may be the same time period, or the third time period and the first time period may be different time periods, without limitation.

[0185] In one possible implementation, the terminal may receive the second reference signal at the Cth time unit after sending the first reference signal (or described as the base station may send the second reference signal at the Cth time unit after receiving the first reference signal, or described as the start time unit of the second reference signal being the Cth time unit after the end time unit of the first reference signal, or described as the interval of C time units between the start time unit of the second reference signal and the end time unit of the first reference signal). Wherein C is an integer greater than 0. Wherein C may be predefined by the protocol, or configured to the terminal in advance by the base station. It should be understood that the start time unit of the above-mentioned second reference signal may be understood as the time unit where the start time domain position of the transmission resource of the second reference signal is located, and the end time unit of the first reference signal may be understood as the time unit where the end time domain position of the transmission resource of the first reference signal is located. Optionally, C is less than A, that is, after the terminal sends the first reference signal, it needs to first receive the second reference signal to complete the measurement (and report the interference measurement information) before receiving the scheduling information for downlink data transmission.

[0186] S5002: The terminal sends interference measurement information to the base station. Correspondingly, the base station receives the interference measurement information from the terminal.

[0187] Exemplarily, the interference measurement information may be one or more of {cri-RI-CQI}, {cri-RI-i1}, and {cri-RI-i1-CQI}.

[0188] In one possible implementation, the terminal may receive scheduling information within a fourth time period after sending the interference measurement information (or may be described as the base station may send scheduling information within a fourth time period after receiving the interference measurement information). The length of the fourth time period may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station. Optionally, the starting time domain position / starting time unit of the fourth time period may be the X4th time unit after the terminal sends / the base station receives the interference measurement information, where X4 is a positive integer. X4 may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station.

[0189] In one possible implementation, the terminal may receive the scheduling information at the Dth time unit after sending the interference measurement information (or described as the base station may send the scheduling information at the Dth time unit after receiving the interference measurement information, or described as the starting time unit of the scheduling information is the Dth time unit after the ending time unit of the interference measurement information, or described as the interval between the starting time unit of the scheduling information and the ending time unit of the interference measurement information is D time units, or described as the terminal may send the interference measurement information at D time units before receiving the scheduling information). Wherein D is an integer greater than 0. Wherein D may be predefined by the protocol, or configured in advance to the terminal by the base station. It should be understood that the starting time unit of the above-mentioned scheduling information may be understood as the time unit where the starting time domain position of the transmission resource of the scheduling information is located, and the ending time unit of the interference measurement information may be understood as the time unit where the ending time domain position of the transmission resource of the interference measurement information is located.

[0190] In one possible implementation, the terminal may receive scheduling information within a seventh time period after receiving the second reference signal (or may be described as the base station sending scheduling information within a seventh time period after sending the second reference signal). The length of the seventh time period may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station. Optionally, the starting time domain position / starting time unit of the seventh time period may be the X7th time unit after the terminal receives / the base station sends the second reference signal, where X7 is a positive integer. X7 may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station.

[0191] In one possible implementation, the terminal may receive scheduling information at the Gth time unit after receiving the second reference signal (or described as the base station may send scheduling information at the Gth time unit after sending the second reference signal, or described as the starting time unit of the scheduling information being the Gth time unit after the ending time unit of the second reference signal, or described as the interval between the starting time unit of the scheduling information and the ending time unit of the second reference signal being G time units). Wherein G is an integer greater than 0. Wherein G may be predefined by the protocol, or configured in advance to the terminal by the base station. It should be understood that the starting time unit of the above-mentioned scheduling information may be understood as the time unit where the starting time domain position of the transmission resource of the scheduling information is located, and the ending time unit of the second reference signal may be understood as the time unit where the ending time domain position of the transmission resource of the second reference signal is located.

[0192] In an embodiment of the present application, an uplink reference signal (i.e., a first reference signal) is designed so that when there is a need for data transmission in energy-saving mode, the terminal sends the first reference signal for fast synchronization and / or channel measurement, and is also used to trigger data transmission scheduling. In this way, fast data transmission in energy-saving mode can be achieved with fewer transmission steps, which is beneficial to improving communication performance.

[0193] Please refer to Figure 8, which is another flow chart of the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 8 can be a base station, or a terminal. Alternatively, the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 8 can also be a base station, or a chip in the terminal. For the convenience of description, this application is mainly explained with the base station or the terminal as the execution subject. It should be understood that Figure 8 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of the method of the present application, which shows the detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of the various operations in Figure 8. In addition, the various steps in Figure 8 can be executed in a different order from that presented in Figure 8, and it may not be necessary to execute all the operations in Figure 8. As shown in Figure 8, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0194] S801: A base station sends a third reference signal to a terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the third reference signal from the base station.

[0195] Here, for understanding step S801, reference can be made to the description of S501 in the embodiment corresponding to FIG5 . The difference is that the first reference signal is a reference signal sent by the terminal to the base station (or the first reference signal is described as an uplink reference signal), and the third reference signal is a reference signal sent by the base station to the terminal (or the third reference signal is described as a downlink reference signal). In addition, when the third reference signal is used for synchronization, the third reference signal can be specifically SSB or TRS, etc., which is not limited in this application. Specifically, by measuring the third reference signal, the terminal can measure the timing deviation and / or frequency domain deviation, and then adjust the timing and frequency based on the measured timing deviation and / or frequency domain deviation, thereby achieving synchronization.

[0196] S802: The base station sends scheduling information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the scheduling information from the base station.

[0197] Specifically, after the base station sends the third reference signal, the base station may further send scheduling information to the terminal. As described above, the third reference signal can be used to trigger scheduling information for uplink data transmission (or the third reference signal is used to trigger the base station to send scheduling information for uplink data transmission, or the third reference signal is used to trigger the terminal to receive scheduling information for uplink data transmission), or the third reference signal can also be used to trigger scheduling information for downlink data transmission (or the third reference signal is used to trigger the base station to send scheduling information for downlink data transmission, or the third reference signal is used to trigger the terminal to receive scheduling information for downlink data transmission). It should be understood that, whether it is an uplink data transmission or a downlink data transmission scenario, the scheduling information for data transmission triggered by the third reference signal can be understood as the following two types:

[0198] The first is that the base station can send scheduling information within the fifth time period after sending the third reference signal (or be described as the terminal can receive scheduling information within the fifth time period after receiving the third reference signal, or be described as the terminal can receive scheduling information within a time window after receiving the third reference signal, and the time window is a time period, such as the fifth time period). The length of the fifth time period can be predefined by the protocol, or can be configured to the terminal in advance by the base station. Optionally, the starting time domain position / starting time unit of the fifth time period can be the X5th time unit after the terminal receives / the base station sends the third reference signal, and X5 is a positive integer. X5 can be predefined by the protocol, or can be configured to the terminal in advance by the base station. The units of the time units involved in this application can be symbols, time slots, micro time slots, radio frames, subframes, seconds (s), milliseconds (ms), etc., and this application is not limited to this.

[0199] The second type is that the base station can receive the scheduling information at the Eth time unit after receiving the third reference signal (or described as the terminal can receive the scheduling information at the Eth time unit after receiving the third reference signal, or described as the starting time unit of the scheduling information is the Eth time unit after the end time unit of the third reference signal, or described as the interval between the starting time unit of the scheduling information and the end time unit of the third reference signal is E time units), where E is an integer greater than 0 (or described as E is a positive integer). Wherein E can be predefined by the protocol, or configured in advance to the terminal by the base station. It should be understood that the starting time unit of the above-mentioned scheduling information can be understood as the time unit where the starting time domain position of the transmission resource of the scheduling information is located, and the end time unit of the third reference signal can be understood as the time unit where the ending time domain position of the transmission resource of the third reference signal is located.

[0200] Exemplarily, (a) and (b) in FIG9 show two situations in which the third reference signal triggers scheduling information for data transmission.

[0201] It is understandable that, whether in uplink or downlink data transmission scenarios, when the third reference signal is used for channel measurement, the terminal can perform channel measurement based on the third reference signal and send channel information corresponding to the third reference signal to the base station. Correspondingly, the base station receives the channel information corresponding to the third reference signal from the terminal.

[0202] In one possible implementation, the terminal may receive scheduling information within a sixth time period after sending the channel information (or may be described as the base station sending scheduling information within a sixth time period after receiving the channel information). The length of the sixth time period may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station. Optionally, the starting time domain position / starting time unit of the sixth time period may be the X6th time unit after the terminal receives / the base station transmits the third reference signal, where X6 is a positive integer. X6 may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station.

[0203] In one possible implementation, the starting time unit of the scheduling information is the Fth time unit after the ending time unit of the channel information (or described as the base station can send the scheduling information at the Fth time unit after receiving the channel information, or described as the starting time unit of the scheduling information is the Fth time unit after the ending time unit of the channel information, or described as the interval of F time units between the starting time unit of the scheduling information and the ending time unit of the channel information, or described as the terminal can send the channel information F time units before receiving the scheduling information). Wherein F is an integer greater than 0. Wherein F can be predefined by the protocol, or configured in advance to the terminal by the base station. It should be understood that the starting time unit of the above-mentioned scheduling information can be understood as the time unit where the starting time domain position of the transmission resource of the scheduling information is located, and the ending time unit of the channel information can be understood as the time unit where the ending time domain position of the transmission resource of the channel information is located.

[0204] In one possible implementation, when the scheduling information for data transmission is scheduling information for downlink data transmission, the third reference signal and the scheduling information may belong to the same transmission structure, or the third reference signal and the scheduling information may belong to different transmission structures, without limitation. Optionally, in another possible implementation, when the scheduling information for data transmission is scheduling information for uplink data transmission, the third reference signal and the scheduling information may belong to the same transmission structure, or the third reference signal and the scheduling information may belong to different transmission structures.

[0205] The following describes the unique differences between uplink data transmission and downlink data transmission.

[0206] In one possible embodiment, when the scheduling information for data transmission is the scheduling information for uplink data transmission, before the terminal receives the third reference signal (i.e., step S801), the method further includes step S800 as shown in Figure 8: the terminal sends a second trigger signal to the base station, and accordingly, the base station receives the second trigger signal from the terminal, and the second trigger signal is used to trigger the third reference signal (or the second trigger signal is used to trigger the base station to send the third reference signal, or the second trigger signal is used to trigger the terminal to receive the third reference signal). It is understandable that triggering the base station to send the third reference signal through the second trigger signal can enable the terminal to quickly complete synchronization, channel measurement and other steps before uplink data transmission, which is beneficial to improving data transmission efficiency. Among them, the second trigger signal used to trigger the third reference signal can be understood as follows:

[0207] First, the terminal may receive the third reference signal within the eighth time period after sending the second trigger signal (or may be described as the base station may send the third reference signal within the eighth time period after receiving the second trigger signal). The length of the eighth time period may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station. Optionally, the starting time domain position / starting time unit of the eighth time period may be the X8th time unit after the terminal sends / the base station receives the second trigger signal, where X8 is a positive integer. X8 may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured in advance for the terminal by the base station.

[0208] The second type is that the terminal can receive the third reference signal at the Hth time unit after sending the second trigger signal (or described as the base station can send the third reference signal at the Hth time unit after receiving the second trigger signal, or described as the start time unit of the third reference signal is the Hth time unit after the end time unit of the second trigger signal, or described as H time units apart between the start time unit of the third reference signal and the end time unit of the second trigger signal). Wherein H is an integer greater than 0. Wherein H can be predefined by the protocol, or configured to the terminal in advance by the base station. It should be understood that the start time unit of the above-mentioned third reference signal can be understood as the time unit where the start time domain position of the transmission resource of the third reference signal is located, and the end time unit of the second trigger signal can be understood as the time unit where the end time domain position of the transmission resource of the second trigger signal is located.

[0209] Optionally, the second trigger signal can also be used for synchronization (or described as the second trigger signal sent by the terminal also being used to trigger the base station to send synchronization information). Correspondingly, the third reference signal can be used for channel measurement, but not for synchronization. In other words, the second trigger signal can be used to trigger the third reference signal and for synchronization, and the third reference signal can be used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission and for channel measurement.

[0210] It should be noted that when the second trigger signal is used for synchronization, the base station may also send synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal to the terminal (or the second trigger signal sent by the terminal is described as also being used to trigger the base station to send synchronization information). Accordingly, the terminal receives synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal from the base station. It should be understood that synchronization information generally needs to be notified to the terminal before demodulating uplink data transmission information (i.e., uplink data) so that the terminal can complete time-frequency correction before data transmission, thereby improving transmission performance.

[0211] Exemplarily, the synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal may be carried in a third reference signal (or described as including / carrying the synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal in the third reference signal), or the synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal may be carried in scheduling information for uplink data transmission (or described as including / carrying the synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal in scheduling information for uplink data transmission), or the synchronization information corresponding to the second trigger signal may be carried in a reference signal corresponding to uplink data transmission. For example, the reference signal corresponding to uplink data transmission may be a DMRS.

[0212] The synchronization information in this application is information that can be used for terminal synchronization. In one possible embodiment, the synchronization information may include at least one of a timing offset and a frequency offset. The terminal adjusts the timing and frequency according to the synchronization information to achieve synchronization.

[0213] In an embodiment of the present application, a downlink reference signal (i.e., a third reference signal) is designed so that when there is a need for data transmission in energy-saving mode, the base station sends the third reference signal for fast synchronization and / or channel measurement, and is also used to trigger data transmission scheduling. In this way, fast data transmission in energy-saving mode can be achieved with fewer transmission steps, which is beneficial to improving communication performance.

[0214] The communication device provided in this application will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 .

[0215] It is understood that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art 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.

[0216] Figures 10 and 11 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of a terminal or wireless access network device (e.g., a base station) in the above-described method embodiments, thereby also achieving the beneficial effects of the above-described method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be one of the terminals 120a-120j shown in Figure 1, or a RAN node 110a or 110b shown in Figure 1, or a module (e.g., a chip) applied to a terminal or wireless access network device.

[0217] As shown in Figure 10, the communication device 1000 includes a processing unit 1010 and a transceiver unit 1020. The communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the terminal or wireless access network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 5 and 8 above.

[0218] In one implementation, when the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 :

[0219] The transceiver unit 1020 is used to send a first reference signal, where the first reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission, and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization; the transceiver unit 1020 is used to receive the scheduling information.

[0220] The processing unit 1010 is configured to process received signals / information.

[0221] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the wireless access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 :

[0222] The transceiver unit 1020 is used to receive a first reference signal, where the first reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission, and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization; the transceiver unit 1020 is used to send the scheduling information.

[0223] The processing unit 1010 is configured to process received signals / information.

[0224] In another implementation, when the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown in FIG8 :

[0225] The transceiver unit 1020 is used to receive a third reference signal, where the third reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission, and the third reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization; the transceiver unit 1020 is used to receive the scheduling information.

[0226] The processing unit 1010 is configured to process received signals / information.

[0227] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the wireless access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG6 :

[0228] The transceiver unit 1020 is used to send a third reference signal, where the third reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission, and the third reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization; the transceiver unit 1020 is used to send the scheduling information.

[0229] The processing unit 1010 is configured to process received signals / information.

[0230] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 1010 and the transceiver unit 1020 , reference may be made to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 8 .

[0231] As shown in Figure 11, communication device 1100 includes a processor 1110 and an interface circuit 1120. Processor 1110 and interface circuit 1120 are coupled to each other. It will be appreciated that interface circuit 1120 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 1100 may further include a memory 1130 for storing instructions executed by processor 1110, input data required by processor 1110 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 1110 after executing instructions.

[0232] When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the methods shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 8 , the processor 1110 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1010 , and the interface circuit 1120 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1020 .

[0233] When the communication device is a chip used in a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information sent to the terminal by the wireless access network device through other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna); or the terminal chip sends information to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the wireless access network device.

[0234] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a wireless access network device, the wireless access network device module implements the functions of the wireless access network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The wireless access network device module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the wireless access network device, and the information is sent by the terminal to the wireless access network device; or, the wireless access network device module sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the wireless access network device, and the information is sent by the wireless access network device to the terminal. The wireless access network device module here can be a baseband chip of the wireless access 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.

[0235] 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.

[0236] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a wireless access network device or terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a wireless access network device or terminal.

[0237] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0238] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0239] 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.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a first reference signal, where the first reference signal is used to trigger scheduling information for data transmission, and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization; The scheduling information is received.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The receiving the scheduling information includes: receiving the scheduling information within a first time period after sending the first reference signal; or, The scheduling information is received at the Ath time unit after sending the first reference signal, where A is an integer greater than 0.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The data transmission is downlink data transmission; Before sending the first reference signal, the method further includes: A first trigger signal is received, where the first trigger signal is used to trigger the first reference signal.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The sending of the first reference signal includes: sending the first reference signal within a second time period after receiving the first trigger signal; or, The first reference signal is sent at the Bth time unit after receiving the first trigger signal, where B is an integer greater than 0.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that The first trigger signal is used for synchronization, and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: After sending the first reference signal, the method further includes: receiving a second reference signal, where the second reference signal is used for interference measurement; Interference measurement information is sent according to the second reference signal.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The receiving a second reference signal includes: receiving the second reference signal within a third time period after sending the first reference signal; or, The second reference signal is received at the Cth time unit after the first reference signal is sent, where C is an integer greater than 0.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that The receiving the scheduling information includes: receiving the scheduling information within a fourth time period after sending the interference measurement information; or, The start time unit of the scheduling information is the D-th time unit after the end time unit of the interference measurement information, where D is an integer greater than 0.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The scheduling information also includes synchronization information corresponding to the first reference signal.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The first reference signal is used for synchronization, and the first reference signal includes multiple reference signals; the frequency domain positions of transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are the same, and the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals are spaced apart.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving a first reference signal, where the first reference signal is used for triggering scheduling information for data transmission, and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement and / or synchronization; The scheduling information is sent.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The sending of the scheduling information includes: sending the scheduling information within a first time period after receiving the first reference signal; or, The scheduling information is sent at the Ath time unit after receiving the first reference signal, where A is an integer greater than 0.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that The data transmission is downlink data transmission; Before receiving the first reference signal, the method further includes: A first trigger signal is sent, where the first trigger signal is used to trigger the first reference signal.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The receiving a first reference signal includes: receiving the first reference signal within a second time period after sending the first trigger signal; or, The first reference signal is received at the Bth time unit after the first trigger signal is sent, where B is an integer greater than 0.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The first trigger signal is used for synchronization, and the first reference signal is used for channel measurement.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that: After receiving the first reference signal, the method further includes: sending a second reference signal, where the second reference signal is used for interference measurement; Receive interference measurement information.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The sending of the second reference signal includes: sending the second reference signal within a third time period after receiving the first reference signal; or, The second reference signal is sent at the Cth time unit after receiving the first reference signal, where C is an integer greater than 0.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that The sending of the scheduling information includes: sending the scheduling information within a fourth time period after receiving the interference measurement information; or, The start time unit of the scheduling information is the D-th time unit after the end time unit of the interference measurement information, where D is an integer greater than 0.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, characterized in that The scheduling information also includes synchronization information corresponding to the first reference signal.

20. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 19, characterized in that: The first reference signal is used for synchronization, and the first reference signal includes multiple reference signals; the transmission resources corresponding to the multiple reference signals have the same period and frequency domain position, and there is an interval between the time domain positions of the transmission resources of the multiple reference signals.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used 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, and the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 through a logic circuit or by executing code instructions, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

23. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 is implemented.

24. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises a computer program code, and when the computer program code is run on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 is implemented.

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