Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which are used for improving a data transmission rate. The method comprises: receiving first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information is configured to configure M reference signal ports, the M reference signal ports comprise first reference signal ports and second reference signal ports, antenna ports corresponding to the first reference signal ports and the second reference signal ports are the same, and M is an integer greater than 1; on the basis of the first configuration information, receiving first reference signals corresponding to the M reference signal ports; and determining first parameters on the basis of the first reference signals, wherein the first parameters comprise one or more of the following: first channel state information, receive beams of a terminal device, and transmit beams of the terminal device.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on February 8, 2024, with application number 202410178146.9 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0004] In high-frequency communication scenarios, network equipment can configure reference signal resources for beam management (BM) for terminal devices. The terminal device can determine the transmit and receive beam pair based on measuring the reference signal corresponding to the reference signal resource.

[0005] Among them, the network device can configure a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) for the terminal device to indicate a reference signal resource for beam management, or a reference signal for channel state information measurement, which reference signal includes, for example, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0006] However, in medium and low frequency communication scenarios, network equipment can use digital domain weighting (transmit beam) to send downlink signals. The digital domain weight is based on the dynamic changes of the terminal side channel. The transmit beam (for example, beam 1) used by the network device to transmit data or send CSI-RS is different from the transmit beam used to send reference signals during beam management. The receive beam determined by the terminal device during beam management may not be the receive beam that best matches beam 1, resulting in the terminal device being unable to use the optimal receive beam to receive data or CSI-RS, and the data transmission rate is affected. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for improving data transmission rate.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device or by a chip system that can implement the functions of the terminal device. The method includes: receiving first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure M reference signal ports, where the M reference signal ports include a first reference signal port and a second reference signal port, where the first reference signal port and the second reference signal port correspond to the same antenna port, and M is an integer greater than 1; receiving a first reference signal corresponding to the M reference signal ports based on the first configuration information; and determining a first parameter based on the first reference signal, where the first parameter includes one or more of the following: first channel state information, a receive beam of the terminal device, and a transmit beam of the terminal device.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present application, the first reference signal can be used to determine both the receiving beam and the channel state information (first channel state information) of the downlink data channel, so that the receiving beam used by the terminal device to receive data and the transmitting beam used by the network device to send data are more closely matched, which helps to improve the data transmission rate.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the M reference signal ports are included in N port groups, the number K1 of reference signal ports included in a first port group in the N port groups is greater than or equal to the number K2 of reference signal ports included in a second port group in the N port groups, and the K1 antenna ports corresponding to the first port group include K2 antenna ports corresponding to the second port group. By grouping the M reference signal ports, a terminal device can use different receive beams to receive reference signals corresponding to different port groups to obtain an array-level channel. The terminal device can determine downlink channel state information and the terminal device's receive beam based on the array-level channel, thereby achieving matching between the transmit beam and receive beam for downlink signal transmission determined by the network device based on the downlink channel state information.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the first configuration information is further used to configure N; and receiving the first reference signals corresponding to the M reference signal ports based on the first configuration information includes: receiving the first reference signals corresponding to the M reference signal ports via N receive beams, wherein each of the N receive beams receives the first reference signal corresponding to a port group. Configuring N via the first configuration information enables the terminal device to determine the number of receive beams corresponding to the reference signals of the M reference signal ports.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the reference signal corresponding to each of the N port groups occupies different time domain resources. Because the antenna ports corresponding to different port groups may be the same, or reference signal ports corresponding to the same antenna port may exist in different port groups, configuring the reference signal corresponding to each of the N port groups to occupy different time domain resources can reduce the probability of antenna port conflicts.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the M reference signals are associated with multiple reference signal resources, where the multiple reference signal resources include a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, and the transmission period of the first reference signal resource is an integer multiple of the transmission period of the second reference signal resource. By configuring a reference signal resource with a longer period, obtaining a terminal-side array-level full channel, selecting a suitable downlink receive beam for downlink channel state information measurement, and receiving a reference signal corresponding to a reference signal resource with a shorter period based on the downlink receive beam, the measurement accuracy of the downlink channel state information is effectively improved without significantly increasing reference signal resource overhead.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a second reference signal based on the receive beam; and determining second channel state information based on the second reference signal, where the second channel state information is used to determine a channel state of a downlink data channel. The terminal device receives the second reference signal using the receive beam determined based on the first reference signal, without requiring additional beam management. This reduces the probability that the transmit beam of the downlink signal differs from the transmit beam during the beam management phase, resulting in a failure to use an optimal receive beam to receive the reference signal or data.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the method further includes receiving second configuration information for configuring a codebook associated with the M reference signal ports, where the number of antenna ports corresponding to the codebook is less than M. The network device sends the information for configuring the codebook to the terminal device, in accordance with provisions of existing protocols. Furthermore, since the number of reference signal ports included in each port group is less than M, the number of antenna ports corresponding to the codebook is also less than M.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second configuration information, where the second configuration information is used to configure a first codebook and a second codebook associated with the M reference signal ports, the codebook including a first codebook and a second code, the number of antenna ports corresponding to the first codebook being equal to M, and the number of antenna ports corresponding to the second codebook being less than M. The configuration information for the first codebook and the second codebook provided by the network device to the terminal device complies with provisions of existing protocols.

[0017] According to a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a network device or a chip system capable of implementing the functions of the network device. The method includes: sending first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure M reference signal ports, where the M reference signal ports include a first reference signal port and a second reference signal port, where the first reference signal port and the second reference signal port correspond to the same antenna port, and M is an integer greater than 1; and sending a first reference signal corresponding to the M reference signal ports based on the first configuration information.

[0018] In one possible embodiment, the M reference signal ports are included in N port groups, the number K1 of reference signal ports included in the first port group of the N port groups is greater than or equal to the number K2 of reference signal ports included in the second port group of the N port groups, and the K1 antenna ports corresponding to the first port group include the K2 antenna ports corresponding to the second port group.

[0019] In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information is also used to configure the N.

[0020] In a possible implementation manner, each port group in the N port groups occupies different time domain resources.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the M reference signals are associated with multiple reference signal resources, where the multiple reference signal resources include a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource, and a transmission period of the first reference signal resource is an integer multiple of a transmission period of the second reference signal resource.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a second reference signal through M antenna ports, where the M antenna ports correspond one-to-one to the M reference signal ports.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second configuration information, where the second configuration information is used to configure a codebook associated with the M reference signal ports, where the number of antenna ports corresponding to the codebook is less than the M number.

[0024] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a module (such as a chip) used in a terminal device. The device has the function of implementing any implementation method of the first aspect described above. The function may be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0025] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a network device or a module (such as a chip) used in a network device. The device has the function of implementing any implementation method of the second aspect described above. The function can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0026] In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, the communication device executes the method performed by the terminal device in the first aspect, or the method performed by the network device in the second aspect.

[0027] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes the method provided in the first or second aspect above.

[0028] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0029] In an eighth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is configured to call and execute instructions from the interface so that the chip system implements the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0030] For the beneficial effects of the second to eighth aspects mentioned above, refer to the beneficial effects of the first aspect and will not be repeated. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] Figures 1A, 1B, and 1C are schematic diagrams of several application scenarios used in embodiments of the present application;

[0032] 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing the corresponding relationship between the transmit beam and the receive beam;

[0033] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG4 is an example diagram of a network device sending a first reference signal corresponding to M reference signal ports to a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG6 is a structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), or applied to future communication systems or other similar communication systems.

[0038] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to technical fields such as unmanned driving, driver assistance (ADAS), intelligent driving, connected driving, intelligent network driving, car sharing, smart / intelligent car, digital car, unmanned car (unmanned car / driverless car / pilotless car / automobile), Internet of vehicles (IoV), self-driving car (self-driving car, autonomous car), cooperative vehicle infrastructure (CVIS), intelligent transport system (ITS), and vehicular communication.

[0039] In order to make the embodiments of the present invention clearer, some contents and concepts related to the embodiments of the present invention are introduced here in a unified manner.

[0040] 1) Terminal devices: A device with wireless transceiver capabilities. It can be a fixed device, mobile device, handheld device (such as a mobile phone), wearable device, in-vehicle device, or a wireless device built into any of the above devices (such as a communication module, modem, or chip system). This terminal device is used to connect people, objects, and machines, and can be widely used in various scenarios, including but not limited to the following: cellular communications, device-to-device communications (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, and other scenarios. The terminal device may sometimes be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication device, or user equipment, etc.

[0041] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the terminal device function may be a terminal device, or may be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the terminal device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described by taking the terminal device as an example in which the device for implementing the terminal device function is a terminal device. In addition, for ease of description, the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application is described by taking a UE as an example.

[0042] 2) Network equipment, such as access network equipment and / or core network equipment. Access network equipment is a network-side device with wireless transceiver functions. Access network equipment can be a device in a radio access network (RAN) used to provide wireless communication functions for terminal devices, and is called RAN equipment. For example, the access network equipment can be a base station, an evolved Node B in a long-term evolution (LTE) system or an advanced long-term evolution (LTE-A), which can be referred to as eNB or e-NodeB, a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a Wi-Fi system, etc. It can also be an access network device in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, etc. The access network equipment can also be a macro base station, a micro base station (also known as a small station) or an indoor station, and can also be a relay node or a donor node, etc. The access network device may also be a radio network controller (RNC), a node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (for example, a home evolved NodeB, or a home Node B, HNB), a base band unit (BBU) or a remote radio unit (RRU), or a Wi-Fi access point (AP), or a baseband pool (BBU pool) and RRU in a cloud radio access network (CRAN). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the access network device.

[0043] In addition, the access network device can also be a module or unit that completes part of the functions of the base station. For example, the access network device 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). Among them, the CU can complete the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU can complete the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete part of the physical layer or all of the physical layer functions. 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 can also be called O-CU, DU can also be called open (open, O)-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CUP-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU.

[0044] Core network equipment is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of the devices that implement core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, and the embodiments of this application are not limited to this. Taking the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system as an example, the core network equipment includes: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF) or user plane function (UPF), etc.

[0045] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the network device function may be a network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the network device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described by taking the network device as an example of the device for implementing the network device function being a network device.

[0046] 3) Beam. The embodiment of the beam in the new radio (NR) protocol can be a spatial domain filter, or a spatial filter, or a spatial domain parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial domain setting, a spatial setting, or quasi-colocation (QCL) information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, etc. The beam can be indicated by a transmission configuration indication state (TCI-state) parameter or by a spatial relation parameter. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, the beam can be replaced by a spatial domain filter, a spatial filter, a spatial parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial setting, a spatial setting, QCL information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, TCI-state, spatial relationship, etc. The beam can also be replaced by other terms representing the beam, which are not limited in this application.

[0047] The beam used to transmit signals may be referred to as a transmission beam (Tx beam), or may also be referred to as a spatial domain transmission filter, a spatial transmission filter, a spatial domain transmission parameter, or a spatial transmission parameter, or a spatial domain transmission setting, or a spatial transmission setting. The beam used to receive signals may be referred to as a reception beam (Rx beam), or may also be referred to as a spatial domain reception filter, a spatial reception filter, a spatial domain reception parameter, or a spatial reception parameter, or a spatial domain reception setting, or a spatial reception setting.

[0048] A beam may include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and sounding signals. The one or more antenna ports forming a beam may also be considered an antenna port set. In the embodiments of the present application, a beam including one antenna port is used as an example.

[0049] 4) In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plural" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. "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 means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0050] In the embodiments of this application, ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between multiple objects and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority, or importance of multiple objects. For example, the names "first resource" and "second resource" do not indicate differences in the content, size, priority, or importance of the two resources. In addition, the numbering of steps in the various embodiments described in the embodiments of this application is only for distinguishing different steps and in some cases is not used to limit the order of the steps.

[0051] Please refer to Figure 1A, which is a schematic diagram of an application scenario applicable to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1A includes a terminal device and a network device, and the terminal device and the network device can communicate with each other. Optionally, the application scenario shown in Figure 1A can also include multiple terminal devices and multiple network devices, one terminal device can communicate with multiple network devices, and one network device can also communicate with multiple terminal devices. For example, please refer to Figures 1B and 1C. Figure 1B shows a scenario in which a terminal device can communicate with three network devices, and Figure 1C shows a scenario in which one network device communicates with two terminal devices.

[0052] The network device can send a reference signal to the terminal device, and the terminal device can perform channel measurement or beam management based on the reference signal. For example, in a high-frequency communication scenario, the network device can configure a reference signal resource for beam management for the terminal device, and the terminal device can receive a reference signal based on the reference signal resource, and select a corresponding receiving beam for different transmitting beams based on the reference signal. When the network device transmits data or sends CSI-RS to the terminal device, it can indicate one or more reference signal resources for beam management through TCI. The transmitting beam used by the one or more reference signal resources for beam management is the same as the transmitting beam used to transmit data or send CSI-RS to the terminal device. For example, please refer to Figure 2A. The transmitting beam used by the one or more reference signal resources for beam management is transmitting beam 1. The terminal device can transmit data or send CSI-RS with reference to receiving beam 1 corresponding to transmitting beam 1.

[0053] However, if the transmission beam used by the network device to transmit data or send CSI-RS to the terminal device is different from any transmission beam used during beam management, for example, please refer to Figure 2B, the receiving beam determined by the terminal device when performing beam management may not contain a receiving beam that best matches the current transmitting beam, resulting in the terminal device being unable to use the optimal beam to receive CSI-RS or data.

[0054] In view of this, in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can determine the digital domain weight for downlink data transmission based on the first reference signal, so that the terminal device can determine the optimal receiving beam based on the digital domain weight, which helps to improve the data transmission rate.

[0055] The method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0056] The present application provides a communication method. Please refer to Figure 3 for a flow chart of the method. The method can be applied to the application scenarios shown in Figures 1A to 1C. For example, the network device involved in the method is the network device in the application scenario shown in Figures 1A to 1C, and the terminal device involved in the method is the terminal device in the application scenario shown in Figures 1A to 1C. In the embodiment of the present application, all optional steps are represented by dotted lines.

[0057] S301: The network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information from the network device.

[0058] The first configuration information is used to configure M reference signal ports, where the M reference signal ports include a first reference signal port and a second reference signal port, and the antenna ports corresponding to the first reference signal port and the second reference signal port are the same. For example, the antenna ports corresponding to the first reference signal port and the second reference signal port are both numbered #3000. In some embodiments, the reference signal port may also be referred to as a pilot port. Optionally, the first configuration information may be carried in one or more of the following signaling: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control element (MAC-CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI) signaling.

[0059] Optionally, the M reference signal ports may be divided into N groups, that is, the M reference signal ports may be included in N port groups, where N is a positive integer. Optionally, N may be related to the number of reference signal resources associated with the M reference signal ports. For example, M reference signal ports are associated with one reference signal resource (e.g., reference signal resource 1), and N may be determined based on the time domain resource occupied by the reference signal resource 1. Taking reference signal resource 1 occupying 4 time domain symbols as an example, N may be equal to 4, 2, or 1. When N=4, the reference signal ports included in each port group are associated with one time domain symbol. When N=2, the reference signal ports included in each port group are associated with two time domain symbols. When N=1, the reference signal ports included in each port group are associated with one time domain symbol. Alternatively, N may be determined based on the code division multiplexing (CDM) type adopted between the reference signal ports. For example, if the CDM type adopted between the reference signal ports is frequency domain (FD)-CDM2, N may be 4 or 2; if the CDM type adopted between the reference signal ports is cdm4-FD2-time domain (TD)2, N=2.

[0060] When M reference signal ports are associated with multiple reference signal resources, N can be determined according to the number of reference signal resources. For example, M reference signal ports are associated with 4 reference signal resources, and N=4. The one or more reference signal resources are used for beam measurement and channel state information measurement. When M reference signal ports are associated with multiple reference signal resources, the multiple reference signal resources may belong to the same reference signal resource set (for example, non-zero power (NZP)-CSI-RS-ResourceSet), or may belong to different reference signal resource sets, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0061] The M reference signal ports are associated with multiple reference signal resources. Optionally, N can be determined based on the number of time slots occupied by the reference signal resources. For example, if the M reference signal ports are associated with 4 time slot resources, then N=4. The one or more reference signal resources are used for beam measurement and channel state information measurement. When the M reference signal ports are associated with one reference signal resource (for example, the aforementioned reference signal resource 1), the network device can also configure two transmission periods for the reference signal resource 1, for example, the first period and the second period. Therefore, optionally, the first configuration information can also be used to configure the first period and the second period. The antenna ports used to send reference signals in the first period and the second period are different. For example, the antenna ports used to send reference signals in the first period are the antenna ports corresponding to the N port groups; the antenna ports used to send reference signals in the second period are M antenna ports, and the M antenna ports correspond one-to-one to the aforementioned M reference signal ports, and the first period is greater than or equal to the second period. Optionally, the first period is an integer multiple of the second period.

[0062] Alternatively, the network device may further configure a reference signal resource 2 for the terminal device, where the reference signal resource 2 includes the M reference signal ports, and the M reference signal ports correspond to the M antenna ports. The transmission period of the reference signal resource 1 (e.g., the aforementioned first period) is greater than or equal to the transmission period of the reference signal resource 2 (e.g., the aforementioned second period). Therefore, optionally, the first configuration information may also be used to configure the reference signal resource 2, and to configure the first period and the second period.

[0063] Optionally, when M reference signal ports are associated with multiple reference signal resources, the network device may further configure two transmission periods for the multiple reference signal resources, for example, a third period and a fourth period, where the third period is an integer multiple of the fourth period. For example, the multiple reference signal resources include a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource. The network device may configure the transmission period of the first reference signal resource to be the third period, and configure the transmission period of the second reference signal resource to be the fourth period. Therefore, optionally, the first configuration information may also be used to configure the third period and the fourth period.

[0064] Optionally, the number K1 of reference signal ports included in the first port group among the N port groups is greater than or equal to the number K2 of reference signal ports included in the second port group among the N port groups, that is, K1 ≥ K2, and the K1 antenna ports corresponding to the first port group include K2 antenna ports corresponding to the second port group. The reference signal ports included in the same port group correspond to different antenna ports, for example, K1 reference signal ports correspond to K1 antenna ports.

[0065] Taking M=32 and N=2 as an example, the correspondence between the reference signal port and the antenna port may be as follows:

[0066] Case 1: The M reference signal ports are all numbered differently, i.e., the M reference signal ports are numbered #0, #1, ..., #31, respectively. The first port group includes 24 reference signal ports, the corresponding reference signal ports are numbered #0, #1, ..., #23, and the corresponding antenna ports are numbered #3000, #3001, ..., #3023, respectively. The second port group includes 8 reference signal ports, the corresponding reference signal ports are numbered #24, #25, ..., #31, and the corresponding antenna ports are numbered #3000, #3001, ..., #3007, respectively. It will be understood that the antenna port numbers #3000, #3001, ..., #3007 corresponding to the 8 reference signal ports included in the second port group are for example purposes only and may be any 8 of the numbers #3000, #3001, ..., #3023. For example, please refer to Table 1, which is an example of the corresponding relationship between the reference signal port and the antenna port in this example.

[0067] Table 1

[0068] Case 2: The M reference signal ports are partially numbered the same. The first port group includes 24 reference signal ports, the corresponding reference signal ports are numbered #0, #1, ..., #23, and the corresponding antenna ports are numbered #3000, #3001, ..., #3023. The second port group includes 8 reference signal ports, the corresponding reference signal ports are numbered #0, #1, ..., #7, and the corresponding antenna ports are numbered #3000, #3001, ..., #3007. It will be understood that the reference signal port numbers #0, #1, ..., and #7 corresponding to the eight reference signal ports included in the second port group are merely examples, and may be any eight reference signal port numbers from #0, #1, ..., and #23. Furthermore, the antenna port numbers #3000, #3001, ..., and #3007 corresponding to the eight reference signal ports included in the second port group are merely examples, and may be any eight numbers from #3000, #3001, ..., and #3023. For example, please refer to Table 2 for an example of the correspondence between reference signal ports and antenna ports in this example.

[0069] Table 2

[0070] Case 3: The first port group includes 16 reference signal ports, numbered #0, #1, ..., #15, and the corresponding antenna ports are numbered, for example, #3000, #3001, ..., #3015. The second port group includes 16 reference signal ports, numbered #16, #25, ..., #31, and the corresponding antenna ports are also numbered #3000, #3001, ..., #3015. Therefore, when each of the N port groups includes the same number of reference signal ports, the antenna ports corresponding to different port groups in the N port groups are the same. For example, please refer to Table 3 for an example of the correspondence between reference signal ports and antenna ports in this example.

[0071] Table 3

[0072] As previously mentioned, M reference signal ports can be associated with multiple reference signal resources. These multiple reference signal resources can belong to the same reference signal resource set or to different reference signal resource sets. The following describes the correspondence between reference signal ports and antenna ports in different scenarios. For example, the number of reference signal ports corresponding to each reference signal resource is the same.

[0073] Scenario 1: The multiple reference signal resources belong to the same reference signal resource set (e.g., reference resource set 1). The correspondence between the M reference signal ports and antenna ports includes the following situations:

[0074] Case A: The reference signal ports of some reference signal resources in the reference resource set 1 correspond to antenna ports with the same number. Taking the reference resource set 1 including reference signal resource 1, reference signal resource 2, and reference signal resource 3 as an example, the reference signal ports of reference signal resource 1 and reference signal resource 2 may correspond to antenna ports with the same number, or the reference signal ports of reference signal resource 1 and reference signal resource 3 may correspond to antenna ports with the same number, or the reference signal ports of reference signal resource 2 and reference signal resource 3 may correspond to antenna ports with the same number, without any limitation. Assuming that the reference signal ports of reference signal resource 1 and reference signal resource 3 correspond to antenna ports with the same number, the correspondence between the reference signal ports and antenna ports corresponding to the three reference signal resources is shown in Table 4.

[0075] Table 4

[0076] Case B: The reference signal ports of all reference signal resources in reference resource set 1 correspond to antenna ports with the same number. Taking reference resource set 1 including reference signal resource 1, reference signal resource 2, and reference signal resource 3 as an example, the correspondence between the reference signal ports corresponding to these three reference signal resources and the antenna ports is shown in Table 5.

[0077] Table 5

[0078] Scenario 2: The multiple reference signal resources belong to different reference signal resource sets (for example, reference resource set 1 and reference resource set 2). The correspondence between the M reference signal ports and antenna ports includes the following situations:

[0079] Case A: Reference resource set 1 and reference resource set 2 contain the same number of reference signal resources, and the reference signal resources in reference resource set 1 and reference resource set 2 correspond one-to-one. Taking the example where reference resource set 1 includes reference signal resource 1, reference signal resource 2, and reference signal resource 3, and reference signal resource set 2 includes reference signal resource 4, reference signal resource 5, and reference signal resource 6, the correspondence between the reference signal ports corresponding to these six reference signal resources and the antenna ports is shown in Table 6.

[0080] Table 6

[0081] Case B: Some reference signal resources in reference signal resource set 1 and reference signal resource set 2 correspond to antenna ports with the same number. Taking reference signal resource set 1 including reference signal resource 1, reference signal resource 2, and reference signal resource 3, and reference signal resource set 2 including reference signal resource 4 as an example, the correspondence between the reference signal ports corresponding to these four reference signal resources and the antenna ports is shown in Table 7.

[0082] Table 7

[0083] Optionally, since the N port groups include reference signal ports corresponding to the same antenna port, in order to avoid antenna port conflicts, the reference signal corresponding to each port group in the N port groups occupies different time domain resources.

[0084] Optionally, to avoid antenna port conflicts, different reference signal port groups or different reference signal resources corresponding to the same antenna port occupy different time domain resources or different time slot resources.

[0085] S302: The network device sends first reference signals corresponding to the M reference signal ports to the terminal device based on the first configuration information. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first reference signals corresponding to the M reference signal ports based on the first configuration information.

[0086] The network device may use the antenna ports corresponding to the M reference signal ports to send a first reference signal to the terminal device. The first reference signal may be, for example, an NZP-CSI-RS, a CSI-synchronization signal block (SSB), a zero power (ZP)-CSI-RS, a CSI-interference measurement (IM) signal, etc.

[0087] Optionally, the network device may send a first reference signal to the terminal device through the antenna port corresponding to each port group in the N port groups. The reference signal sent by the antenna port corresponding to one port group may be received by one receive beam, so optionally, the first configuration information may also be used to configure the N, and the terminal device may use N receive beams to receive the first reference signal corresponding to the M reference signal ports.

[0088] For example, please refer to Figure 4, which is an example diagram of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application sending a first reference signal corresponding to M reference signal ports to a terminal device. In the example shown in Figure 4, the first configuration information configures 32 reference signal ports, and divides the 32 reference signal ports into 2 port groups, namely port group 1 and port group 2 shown in Figure 4, port group 1 and port group 2 each include 16 reference signal ports, the time domain resource corresponding to port group 1 is time domain resource 1, and the antenna ports corresponding to port group 1 are numbered #3000, #3001, ..., #3015, the time domain resource corresponding to port group 2 is time domain resource 2, and the antenna ports corresponding to port group 2 are numbered #3000, #3001, ..., #3015, wherein time domain resource 2 and time domain resource 1 are adjacent. The network device can send the first reference signal corresponding to port group 1 to the terminal device through the antenna ports numbered #3000, #3001,..., #3015 at the time corresponding to time domain resource 1, and send the first reference signal corresponding to port group 2 to the terminal device through the antenna ports numbered #3001,..., #3015 at the time corresponding to time domain resource 2.

[0089] The terminal device can use receiving beam 1 to receive the first reference signal corresponding to port group 1 at the time corresponding to time domain resource 1, and can use receiving beam 2 to receive the first reference signal corresponding to port group 2 at the time corresponding to time domain resource 2.

[0090] Optionally, the first configuration information is also used to configure the aforementioned first and second periods, or to configure the aforementioned third and fourth periods. The network device may send a first reference signal corresponding to the N port groups to the terminal device at the start of the first period or the third period. Also, the network device sends a first reference signal corresponding to at least one of the N port groups to the terminal device at the start of the second period or the fourth period. Several methods for the network device to send the first reference signal to the terminal device are described below:

[0091] Method 1: The first configuration information is also used to configure the first period (T1) and the second period (T2). The network device can send a first reference signal to the terminal device through the antenna port corresponding to each port group in the N port groups at the start time of the first period, and send a first reference signal to the terminal device through the M antenna ports at the start time of the second period.

[0092] Assume that T1=100ms, T2=5ms, and the first transmission time of the first reference signal is T0. At time T, if (T-T0)‰T1=0, the network device sends the first reference signal to the terminal device through the antenna port corresponding to each port group in the N port groups. If (T-T0)‰T1≠0 and (T-T0)‰T2=0, the network device sends the first reference signal to the terminal device through M antenna ports. For example, at T0+5ms, T0+10ms, .....T0+95ms, the first reference signal is sent to the terminal device through M antenna ports; at T0+100ms, the first reference signal is sent to the terminal device through the antenna port corresponding to each port group in the N port groups. Wherein, ‰ is used to represent the remainder.

[0093] Method 2: The first configuration information is also used to configure the third period (T3) and the fourth period (T4). The network device can send a first reference signal to the terminal device through the antenna port corresponding to each port group in the N port groups at the start time of the third period, that is, the network device sends the first reference signal on N reference signal resources to the terminal device, where the N reference signal resources include the aforementioned first reference signal resource and second reference signal resource; and, at the start time of the fourth period, send a first reference signal to the terminal device through the antenna port corresponding to one of the N port groups (for example, port group A), that is, the network device sends the first reference signal on the aforementioned second reference signal resource to the terminal device.

[0094] For example, T3=100ms, T4=5ms, and the first transmission time of the first reference signal is T0. At time T, if (T-T0)‰T1=0, the network device transmits the first reference signal on N reference signal resources to the terminal device. If (T-T0)‰T1≠0 and (T-T0)‰T2=0, the network device transmits the first reference signal on the aforementioned second reference signal resource to the terminal device. For example, at T0+5ms, T0+10ms, .....T0+95ms, the network device transmits the first reference signal on the aforementioned second reference signal resource to the terminal device; at T0+100ms, the network device transmits the first reference signal on N reference signal resources to the terminal device.

[0095] Optionally, as mentioned above, M reference signal ports are associated with one reference signal resource, and the network device may further configure reference signal resource 2 for the terminal device. Therefore, the network device may further send a reference signal (e.g., a second reference signal) on reference signal resource 2 to the terminal device at the start of the second period. The second reference signal may be, for example, NZP-CSI-RS, CSI-SSB, ZP-CSI-RS, CSI-IM signal, etc. Optionally, the second reference signal may be the same as the aforementioned first reference signal, or may be different from the aforementioned first reference signal. For example, the first reference signal may be CSI-SSB, and the second reference signal may be CSI-RS.

[0096] The terminal device can use the first reference signal corresponding to the N port groups of N receiving beams at the starting moment of the first cycle or the third cycle, and receive the second reference signal corresponding to the M antenna ports at the starting moment of the second cycle, or receive the first reference signal corresponding to the aforementioned port group A at the starting moment of the fourth cycle.

[0097] S303: The terminal device determines a first parameter according to the first reference signal.

[0098] The first parameter is obtained based on the measurement of the same channel, and the first parameter may include one or more of the following: first channel state information, a receiving beam of the terminal device, and a transmitting beam of the terminal device.

[0099] The first channel state information can be used to determine the channel state of the downlink data channel, such as determining a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a channel rank indicator (RI), or a channel quality indicator (CQI). Therefore, optionally, the terminal device can also send the first channel state information to the network device, and the network device can determine the channel state of the downlink data channel based on the first channel state information. The receiving beam of the terminal device can be used to receive a reference signal (such as a first reference signal and / or a second reference signal) or data of the network device. For example, at the start time of the second period or the fourth period, the terminal device can use the receiving beam determined by the first reference signal received by the terminal device at the start time of the first period or the third period to receive the second reference signal corresponding to the M antenna ports, or receive the first reference signal corresponding to the aforementioned port group A at the start time of the fourth period.

[0100] The terminal device can determine the second channel state information based on the reference signal received at the start time of the second period or the fourth period, and the second channel state information can be used by the network device to determine the channel state of the downlink data channel.

[0101] Optionally, since the M reference signal ports are divided into N port groups, and the number of reference signal ports included in each of the N port groups is less than M, the following S304 may also be performed: the network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the second configuration information.

[0102] The second configuration information is used to configure codebook information associated with the M reference signal ports, and the terminal device can perform PMI quantization based on the codebook. Optionally, the number of codebooks configured by the second configuration information is less than or equal to N. For example, the number of reference signal ports included in each port group in the N port groups is different, that is, the number of antenna ports corresponding to each port group is different, and the number of codebooks configured by the second configuration information is equal to N; there are at least two port groups in the N port groups that include the same number of reference signal ports, and the number of codebooks configured by the second configuration information is less than N. Taking the example that the number of reference signal ports included in port group 1 and port group 2 is the same, port group 1 and port group 2 can reuse the same codebook. Optionally, the second configuration information and the first configuration information can be the same information, or different information, and this embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. The second configuration information and the first configuration information are different information, and S304 can be executed before S301, or after S301, or simultaneously with S301.

[0103] Optionally, the second configuration information can also be used to configure a first codebook and a second codebook associated with M reference signal ports, wherein the number of antenna ports corresponding to the first codebook is equal to M, and the number of antenna ports corresponding to the second codebook is less than M; if the M reference signal ports are divided into N port groups, the second codebook is used for PMI quantization; if the M reference signal ports correspond to M antenna ports, the first codebook is used for PMI quantization.

[0104] In the above technical solution, the terminal device can simultaneously determine the receiving beam of the terminal device and the channel state information used to determine the downlink data channel based on the first reference signal, so that the receiving beam used by the terminal device to receive data and the transmitting beam used by the network device to send data are more closely matched, which helps to improve the data transmission rate.

[0105] FIG5 shows a schematic diagram of the structures of a terminal device 10 and a network device 20 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 10 may be the terminal device described in the embodiment shown in FIG3 , and is used to implement the method corresponding to the terminal device in the above method embodiment. The network device 20 may be the network device described in the embodiment shown in FIG3 , and is used to implement the method corresponding to the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0106] The terminal device 10 includes at least one processor ( FIG. 5 exemplarily illustrates the inclusion of a processor 101). The processor 101 may be used for internal processing of the device to implement certain control processing functions. Alternatively, different processors may be independent devices, located in different physical locations, or on different integrated circuits. Alternatively, different processors may be integrated into one or more processors, for example, on one or more integrated circuits.

[0107] Optionally, the terminal device 10 further includes one or more memories (in FIG. 5 , one memory 102 is exemplarily used for illustration) for storing instructions. Optionally, the memory 102 may also store data. The processor 101 and memory 102 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0108] The terminal device 10 may further include at least one transceiver (FIG. 5 exemplarily illustrates the inclusion of a transceiver 103). The transceiver may be used to send information to or receive information from other devices. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input / output interface, etc., and is used to implement the transceiver function of the terminal device 10 through an antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter 1031, a receiver 1032, and an antenna 1033. Exemplarily, the transmitter 1031 may be used to generate a radio frequency (RF) signal from a baseband signal, the receiver 1032 may be used to convert the RF signal into a baseband signal, and the antenna 1033 may be used to transmit / receive RF signals.

[0109] The processor 101, the memory 102, and the transceiver 103 are connected via a communication line. The communication line may include a path for transmitting information between the above components.

[0110] The processor 101 may include a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application.

[0111] The memory 102 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, an optical disc storage (including a compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 102 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 101 via a communication line. Alternatively, the memory 102 may be integrated with the processor 101.

[0112] Memory 102 is used to store computer-executable instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and is controlled by processor 101 for execution. Processor 101 is used to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in memory 102, thereby implementing the steps performed by the terminal device described in the embodiment shown in FIG3. Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application code, computer program code, or instructions, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0113] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the terminal device 10 may include multiple processors. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. The processor here may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0114] The network device 20 includes at least one processor (in FIG. 5 , the exemplary embodiment is illustrated by including a processor 201), at least one transceiver (in FIG. 5 , the exemplary embodiment is illustrated by including a transceiver 203), and at least one memory (in FIG. 5 , the exemplary embodiment is illustrated by including a memory 202). The transceiver 203 can be used to send information to other devices or receive information from other devices. The transceiver can be called a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input and output interface, etc., and is used to implement the transceiver function of the network device 20 through an antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter 2031, a receiver 2032, and an antenna 2033. For example, the transmitter 2031 can be used to generate a radio frequency (RF) signal from a baseband signal, the receiver 1032 can be used to convert the RF signal into a baseband signal, and the antenna 1033 can be used to transmit / receive RF signals.

[0115] The processor 201, memory 202 and transceiver 203 are connected via a communication line. In addition, the description of the processor 201, memory 202 and transceiver 203 can refer to the description of the processor 101, memory 102 and transceiver 103 in the terminal device 10, and will not be repeated here.

[0116] It is understood that the structure shown in FIG5 does not constitute a specific limitation on the terminal device 10 and the network device 20. For example, in other embodiments of the present application, the terminal device 10 or the network device 20 may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine or separate certain components, or arrange the components differently. The components shown in the figure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0117] In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules of the device can be divided according to the above-mentioned method examples. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, in the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of a device, and the device 600 can be the terminal device or network device involved in the above-mentioned various method embodiments, or a chip in the terminal device or network device. The device 600 includes a sending unit 601, a processing unit 602 and a receiving unit 603.

[0118] It should be understood that the device 600 can be used to implement the steps performed by the terminal device or network device in the communication method of the embodiment of the present application. The relevant features can refer to any one of the embodiments shown in Figure 3 above and will not be repeated here.

[0119] Optionally, the functions / implementation processes of the sending unit 601, the receiving unit 603, and the processing unit 602 in FIG6 may be implemented by the processor 101 in FIG5 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 102, or by the processor 201 in FIG5 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 202. Alternatively, the functions / implementation processes of the processing unit 602 in FIG6 may be implemented by the processor 101 in FIG5 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 102, or by the processor 201 in FIG5 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 202.

[0120] Optionally, when the device 600 is a chip or a circuit, the functions / implementation processes of the sending unit 601 and the receiving unit 603 can also be implemented through pins or circuits.

[0121] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is run, the method performed by the terminal device or network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment is implemented. In this way, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0122] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method executed by the terminal device or network device in any of the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0123] An embodiment of the present application also provides a processing device, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method executed by the terminal device or network device involved in any of the above method embodiments.

[0124] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state drive (SSD)).

[0125] The various illustrative logic units and circuits described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or operated by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, and optionally, the general-purpose processor can also be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. The processor can also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

[0126] The steps of the methods or algorithms described in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embedded in hardware, software units executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software unit can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or other storage media in any form in the art. Exemplarily, the storage medium can be connected to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and can write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium can be arranged in an ASIC, which can be arranged in a terminal device or a network device. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium can also be arranged in different components in the terminal device or the network device.

[0127] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0128] The contents of the various embodiments of this application can refer to each other. If there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships.

[0129] It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device or network device may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are merely examples. In the embodiments of the present application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. In addition, the various steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application need to be performed.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a terminal device, the method includes: receiving first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure M reference signal ports, where the M reference signal ports include a first reference signal port and a second reference signal port, where the first reference signal port and the second reference signal port correspond to the same antenna port, and M is an integer greater than 1; receiving a first reference signal corresponding to the M reference signal ports based on the first configuration information; A first parameter is determined based on the first reference signal, where the first parameter includes one or more of the following: first channel state information, a receiving beam of the terminal device, and a transmitting beam of the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The M reference signal ports are included in N port groups, the number K1 of reference signal ports included in the first port group among the N port groups is greater than or equal to the number K2 of reference signal ports included in the second port group among the N port groups, and the K1 antenna ports corresponding to the first port group include the K2 antenna ports corresponding to the second port group.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The first configuration information is further used to configure N; Receiving first reference signals corresponding to the M reference signal ports based on the first configuration information includes: receiving first reference signals corresponding to the M reference signal ports through N receive beams, wherein each of the N receive beams receives the first reference signal corresponding to a port group.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: The reference signal corresponding to each port group in the N port groups occupies different time domain resources.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The M reference signals are associated with multiple reference signal resources, where the multiple reference signal resources include a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource. A transmission period of the first reference signal resource is an integer multiple of a transmission period of the second reference signal resource.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The method further comprises: receiving a second reference signal based on the receive beam; Second channel state information is determined based on the second reference signal, where the second channel state information is used to determine channel state information of a downlink data channel.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The method further comprises: Second configuration information is received, where the second configuration information is used to configure a codebook associated with the M reference signal ports, where the number of antenna ports corresponding to the codebook is less than the M.

8. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure M reference signal ports, where the M reference signal ports include a first reference signal port and a second reference signal port, where the first reference signal port and the second reference signal port correspond to the same antenna port, and M is an integer greater than 1; A first reference signal corresponding to the M reference signal ports is sent based on the first configuration information.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The M reference signal ports are included in N port groups, the number K1 of reference signal ports included in the first port group among the N port groups is greater than or equal to the number K2 of reference signal ports included in the second port group among the N port groups, and the K1 antenna ports corresponding to the first port group include the K2 antenna ports corresponding to the second port group.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The first configuration information is also used to configure the N.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: Each port group in the N port groups occupies different time domain resources.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein: The M reference signals are associated with multiple reference signal resources, where the multiple reference signal resources include a first reference signal resource and a second reference signal resource. A transmission period of the first reference signal resource is an integer multiple of a transmission period of the second reference signal resource.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein: The method further comprises: The second reference signal is sent through M antenna ports, and the M antenna ports correspond one-to-one to the M reference signal ports.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein: The method further comprises: Second configuration information is sent, where the second configuration information is used to configure a codebook associated with the M reference signal ports, where the number of antenna ports corresponding to the codebook is less than the M.

15. A communication system, characterized in that: The method comprises a terminal device and a network device, wherein the terminal device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, and the network device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

16. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory and the processor are coupled, and the processor is used to call computer instructions in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are called by the computer, the computer-executable instructions are used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

18. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes a computer program, and when the computer program is run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

19. A computer program, characterized in that The method comprises a program code, and when the computer runs the program code, the program code executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or the program code executes the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

20. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is coupled to the memory and is configured to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

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