Channel estimation method and device

Abstract

A channel estimation method and device, relating to the technical field of communications, and capable of shortening the uplink channel estimation time and improving the uplink channel estimation accuracy. The method comprises: a terminal receives downlink reference signals of J time units; the terminal determines time domain information on the basis of the downlink reference signals of the J time units and reports the time domain information; the terminal sends a first uplink reference signal; and a base station determines uplink channels on the basis of the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal, wherein the uplink channels are uplink channels of J1 time units, J and J1 are both positive integers, and J is greater than J1. According to the solution, the terminal determines the time domain information on the basis of the downlink reference signals of the J time units, and the base station determines the corresponding uplink channels of the J1 time units on the basis of the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal. In this way, the base station does not need to wait for the terminal to send the uplink reference signals at the J1 time unit, and does not need to determine the corresponding uplink channels of the J1 time unit on the basis of the uplink reference signals.

Description

Channel estimation method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on February 27, 2024, with application number 202410217291.3 and application name “Channel Estimation Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] When using Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology, a base station must precode data before sending it to user equipment (UE) to improve the spectral efficiency of the communication system. The base station can precode data based on the downlink channel's channel state information (CSI). However, estimating the channel between the base station and the UE is a pressing issue. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a channel estimation method and device to achieve channel estimation.

[0005] In order to achieve the above objectives, the embodiments of the present application provide the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, a channel estimation method is provided. The method can be executed by a terminal; alternatively, the method can be executed by a module implemented in the terminal, such as a chip, a chip system, or a circuit; alternatively, the method can be implemented by a logic module or software that implements all or part of the terminal's functions, without limitation. For example, a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip or system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). For ease of description, the following description uses execution by a terminal as an example.

[0007] The method includes: receiving downlink reference signals of J time units; reporting time domain information, which is time domain information determined based on the downlink reference signals of the J time units; and sending a first uplink reference signal, wherein the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal are used to determine an uplink channel, which is an uplink channel of J1 time units, where J and J1 are both positive integers, and J is greater than J1.

[0008] With this solution, the terminal determines time domain information based on the downlink reference signal of J time units, and the base station determines the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units based on the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal. This eliminates the need for the base station to wait for the terminal to send an uplink reference signal in J1 time units and determine the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units based on the uplink reference signal. This shortens the time it takes for the base station to determine the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units and improves the accuracy of uplink channel estimation.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible design, the time domain information includes multiple first time domain information, each of the multiple first time domain information indicates the time domain information of different frequency domain units and different base station airspace units; or, the time domain information includes multiple second time domain information, each of the second time domain information indicates the time domain information of different base station airspace units; or, the time domain information includes a third time domain information, and the third time domain information indicates the time domain information of multiple base station airspace units and multiple frequency domain units. Through this solution, the terminal can report time domain information in different forms, such as the first time domain information to the third time domain information. Taking the number of terminal airspace units as W as an example, reporting the first time domain information can save the time domain information of the frequency domain units and base station airspace units corresponding to W-1 terminal airspace units compared to directly reporting the time domain information of different frequency domain units, different base station airspace units and different terminal airspace units, thereby reducing the occupation of air interface resources. Taking the number of frequency domain units in the first time domain information as M as an example, reporting the second time domain information can save time domain information corresponding to M-1 frequency domain units compared to reporting the first time domain information. Taking the number of base station spatial domain units in the second time domain information as L as an example, reporting the second time domain information can save L-1 base station spatial domain units compared to reporting the first time domain information.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible design, the method further includes: receiving indication information, the indication information instructing the terminal to report the first time domain information, or instructing the terminal to report the second time domain information, or instructing the terminal to report the third time domain information; the reporting of the time domain information includes: reporting the time domain information according to the indication information. Through this solution, the base station can indicate the form of the time domain information reported by the terminal, such as one of the first time domain information to the third time domain information. Thus, when the time domain information reported by the terminal is R s When the characteristic vector of or the characteristic vector of R is used, less air interface resources are occupied.

[0011] In conjunction with the first aspect, in one possible design, the first uplink reference signal has multiple time units, and the method further includes: the time interval between the downlink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the downlink reference signals of the J time units is the same as the time interval between the first uplink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the first uplink reference signals of the multiple time units. Through this solution, the base station can determine the uplink channels corresponding to J1 time units based on the time domain information corresponding to the downlink reference signals of the J time units. This shortens the time for determining the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in one possible design, the number of time units of the first uplink reference signal is J2, J is greater than or equal to J2+J1, the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J2 time units is the same, the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is the same, the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is less than the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit, and the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit is the same as the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit. Through this solution, the base station can determine the uplink channel whose time interval is less than the time interval of the first uplink reference signal, thereby making the estimated uplink channel time interval smaller and improving the estimation accuracy of the uplink channel.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible design, the time domain information is an eigenvector corresponding to a covariance matrix of a channel corresponding to J time units.

[0014] A second aspect provides a channel estimation method. This method can be performed by a network device; alternatively, it can be performed by a module implemented in the network device, such as a chip, a chip system, or a circuit; alternatively, it can be implemented by a logic module, a logic node, or software that implements all or part of the network device's functions, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description uses execution by a network device as an example.

[0015] The method includes: sending downlink reference signals of J time units; receiving time domain information, which is time domain information determined based on the downlink reference signals of the J time units; receiving a first uplink reference signal; and determining an uplink channel based on the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal, where the uplink channel is an uplink channel of J1 time units, where J and J1 are both positive integers, and J is greater than J1.

[0016] In combination with the second aspect, in one possible design, the time domain information includes multiple first time domain information, each of the multiple first time domain information indicates the time domain information of different frequency domain units and different base station spatial domain units; or, the time domain information includes multiple second time domain information, each of the second time domain information indicates the time domain information of a different base station spatial domain unit; or, the time domain information includes a third time domain information, and the third time domain information indicates the time domain information of multiple base station spatial domain units and multiple frequency domain units.

[0017] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible design, the method also includes: sending indication information, which indicates the terminal to report the first time domain information, or indicates the terminal to report the second time domain information, or indicates the terminal to report the third time domain information.

[0018] In combination with the second aspect, in one possible design, the first uplink reference signal has multiple time units, and the method also includes: the time interval between the downlink reference signals of each two adjacent time units in the downlink reference signals of the J time units is the same as the time interval between the first uplink reference signals of each two adjacent time units in the first uplink reference signals of the multiple time units.

[0019] In combination with the second aspect, in one possible design, the number of time units of the first uplink reference signal is J2, J is greater than or equal to J2+J1, the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J2 time units is the same, the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is the same, the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is smaller than the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit, and the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit is the same as the time interval between each two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit.

[0020] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible design, the time domain information is an eigenvector corresponding to a covariance matrix of a channel corresponding to J time units.

[0021] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a functional module, unit, or means for executing a method as described in any possible design of any of the above aspects of the present application. The module may be implemented by software or hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The device may include a processing unit and a communication unit, without limitation.

[0022] In a fourth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a first device and a second device, wherein the first device executes the method described in the first aspect and any one of its implementations, and the second device executes the method described in the second aspect and any one of its implementations.

[0023] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the computer instructions execute the method described in the first aspect and any one of its implementations, or the computer instructions execute the method described in the second aspect and any one of its implementations.

[0024] In a sixth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor configured to support a communication device in implementing the functions described in the first aspect and any one of its implementations, or in implementing the functions described in the second aspect and any one of its implementations. In one possible design, the chip system further comprises a memory configured to store program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. The chip system may consist of a chip alone, or may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0025] In a seventh aspect, the technical solution of the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a processor, configured to execute any method of any design in any of the above aspects.

[0026] Optionally, the device further includes the memory and / or communication interface.

[0027] The communication interface is coupled to the processor, and is used to receive and / or send signals.

[0028] The memory is used to store computer programs, and the processor is configured to execute the method described in the first aspect and any one of its implementations, which can be implemented as: executing the computer program stored in the memory to execute the method described in the first aspect and any one of its implementations.

[0029] Alternatively, the processor may be a hardware-implemented circuit, such as an artificial intelligence (AI) processor, to increase operating speed. This application does not limit the specific implementation of the processor.

[0030] Optionally, the communication device may be a complete device, or a module in the device, such as a chip.

[0031] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, wherein the communication device has the functionality to implement the method described in the first aspect and any one of its implementations, or has the functionality to implement the method described in the second aspect and any one of its implementations. The functionality may be implemented via hardware or via hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the aforementioned functionality.

[0032] In the ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor; the processor is used to couple with a memory, and after reading instructions in the memory, execute the method as described in the first aspect and any one of its implementations according to the instructions, or execute the method as described in the second aspect and any one of its implementations according to the instructions.

[0033] In the tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device executes the method described in the first aspect and any one of its implementations, or the communication device executes the method described in the second aspect and any one of its implementations.

[0034] In the eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method described in the first aspect and any one of its implementations, or implements the method described in the second aspect and any one of its implementations.

[0035] It can be understood that the beneficial effects that can be achieved by the methods, communication systems, communication devices, chip systems, computer-readable storage media, computer program products, etc. provided in the second to eleventh aspects above can refer to the beneficial effects of the first aspect provided above and any possible implementation method, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of communication system interaction provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG3 is a flow chart of a method for estimating an uplink channel in the related art;

[0039] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a method flow chart provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a time domain covariance matrix provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of another time domain covariance matrix provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of another time domain covariance matrix provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another time domain covariance matrix provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of another scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG11 is another schematic diagram of a scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of another method flow chart provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] In the description of this application, 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 three relationships can exist. 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 "a plurality" means two or more. Words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not limit them to be necessarily different.

[0051] It should be noted that, 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" 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" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0052] It will be understood that the “embodiment” mentioned throughout the specification means that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the various embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It will be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of each process does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application.

[0053] It can be understood that in this application, "when" and "if" both mean that corresponding processing will be taken under certain objective circumstances, and do not limit the time, nor do they require any judgment action when implementing, nor do they mean that there are other limitations.

[0054] It is understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may, in certain scenarios, be implemented independently of other features, such as the solution on which they are currently based, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects. They may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios as needed. Accordingly, the devices provided in the embodiments of the present application may also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be described in detail here.

[0055] In this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can refer to each other. In the various embodiments in this application, and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment, if there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation methods, implementation methods, or implementation methods according to their inherent logical relationships. The implementation methods of this application described below do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application.

[0056] The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application can be used in various communication systems, which may be a third generation partnership project (3GPP) communication system, for example, a fourth generation (4G) long term evolution (LTE) system, a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system and its evolution system, a vehicle to everything (V2X) system, a system of LTE and NR hybrid networking, or a device to device (D2D) system, a machine to machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT), and other next generation communication systems.

[0057] The communication system of the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the communication system described below. The communication system includes apparatus 1 and apparatus 2, wherein apparatus 1 is configured to transmit time domain information of a reference signal, and apparatus 2 is configured to receive time domain information of a reference signal. The time domain information can be described below. This description is unified here and will not be repeated below.

[0058] Refer to Figure 1, which is an architectural diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 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 may also include at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 wirelessly, and the RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 wirelessly or by wire. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent and different physical devices, or the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the RAN node. Terminals and RAN nodes may be connected to each other via wired or wireless means.

[0059] RAN100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future radio access system defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). RAN100 may also include two or more of the aforementioned different radio access systems. RAN100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0060] A RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, RAN apparatus, RAN equipment, or access node, facilitates wireless access to a communication system by a terminal. In one application scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, 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. A RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station, an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1), a relay node, or a donor node.

[0061] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functions. For example, a RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU implements the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) functions, as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) functions. The DU implements the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer functions, as well as some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement the transmission and reception of radio frequency signals. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0062] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, a CU may be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU may be called an open DU (O-DU), and a RU may be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For example, the RAN node may be a server loaded with the corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the RAN node. For ease of description, the following description takes a base station as an example of a RAN node.

[0063] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. 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 capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0064] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, 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.

[0065] 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.

[0066] 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.

[0067] 2 , the base station and the terminal may include a radio resource control (RRC) signaling interaction module, a medium access control (MAC) signaling interaction module, and a physical layer (PHY) signaling and data interaction module.

[0068] The RRC signaling interaction module is used to send and receive RRC signaling between the base station and the UE.

[0069] The MAC signaling interaction module is used to send and receive MAC-CE signaling between the base station and the UE.

[0070] The PHY signaling and data interaction module is used to send and receive uplink / downlink signals between the base station and the UE, such as uplink / downlink control signaling and uplink / downlink data.

[0071] In the present application, the base station sends a downlink signal to the terminal, and the downlink signal is carried on the downlink channel; the terminal sends an uplink signal to the base station, and the uplink signal is carried on the uplink channel. Exemplarily, the uplink channel may refer to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and other channels. The uplink channel may refer to a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and other channels. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the base station.

[0072] It should be noted that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present application is intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0073] With the continuous development of communication technology, 5G communication systems have higher requirements for system capacity and spectrum efficiency. In order to improve the spectrum efficiency of 5G communication systems, MIMO technology came into being. When applying MIMO technology, the base station needs to precode the data according to the channel state before sending data to the UE. In the time division duplexing (TDD) system, the uplink channel and the downlink channel are reciprocal. During the precoding process, the base station can use the reciprocity of the uplink / downlink channels. The base station performs channel estimation on the uplink channel based on the received uplink reference signal, so that the base station can determine the appropriate precoding matrix based on the channel state of the uplink channel to precode the data.

[0074] 3 , in the related art, the method for estimating the uplink channel may refer to the following steps:

[0075] S1. The base station sends configuration information of an uplink reference signal, which includes the time and frequency resources used by the terminal to send the uplink reference signal.

[0076] S2. The terminal sends an uplink reference signal according to the configuration information. The base station can estimate the uplink channel according to the uplink reference signal.

[0077] S3. The base station sends data based on the channel estimated by the uplink reference signal. The base station can precode the data based on the uplink channel according to the mutual difference between the uplink and downlink channels, and send the data to the base station.

[0078] In the above scheme, the base station determines the channel between itself and the terminal using the uplink reference signal transmitted by the terminal. However, the base station typically communicates with multiple terminals simultaneously. Due to limited uplink channel capacity, multiple terminals compete for the uplink channel, resulting in a large gap between the time resources allocated to the same terminal for transmitting uplink reference signals. Consequently, the base station requires a long time to estimate the channel. Due to frequent channel fluctuations, the estimated channel using this method differs significantly from the actual channel, resulting in low channel accuracy and poor communication quality between the base station and the terminal.

[0079] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application proposes a channel estimation method, in which the terminal sends an uplink reference signal and time domain information of a downlink channel, and the base station receives the uplink reference signal and the time domain information of the downlink channel. The time domain information of the downlink channel is determined based on the downlink reference signal of J time units. The base station predicts the uplink channel of J1 time units based on the time domain information of the downlink channel and the uplink reference signal sent by the terminal. Through this method, the base station can predict the uplink channel of J1 time units without waiting for the base station to receive the uplink reference signal of the J1 time unit to obtain the uplink channel, so that the channel estimation is faster, the difference between the channel estimation result and the actual channel is small, and the communication quality between the terminal and the base station is improved.

[0080] 4 , the method according to the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps.

[0081] S401: A base station sends a downlink reference signal of J time units. Correspondingly, a terminal receives a downlink reference signal of J time units.

[0082] Wherein, J is a positive integer.

[0083] Illustratively, the downlink reference signal is a CSI-RS, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and the like.

[0084] The base station may send one or more downlink reference signals in each time unit.

[0085] S402: The terminal reports time domain information, and the base station receives the time domain information accordingly.

[0086] The time domain information is time domain information determined based on the downlink reference signals of J time units. In other words, the time domain information represents the time domain characteristics of the downlink reference signals of J time units.

[0087] After receiving the downlink reference signal of J time units, the terminal can determine the time domain covariance matrix of the downlink channel corresponding to each terminal spatial unit nr Refer to formula 1.

[0088] in, It is a matrix with J rows and J columns, representing the time domain characteristics of the downlink channel. s represents the base station spatial unit index (also known as the angle index), f represents the frequency unit index (also known as the delay index), and s,f represent the base station spatial-frequency unit index, referred to as the space-frequency unit, which indicates a two-dimensional unit consisting of a base station spatial unit and a frequency unit. i represents the time unit index, and its value is an integer in the range [1, J]. It is a matrix with 1 row and 1 column, representing the downlink channel corresponding to the time unit i and the space-frequency unit (s, f), n r Indicates the terminal airspace unit index. It is a matrix with N rows and Z columns, representing the downlink channel measured by the terminal based on the downlink reference signal of time unit i, where N is the number of downlink reference signal ports and Z is equal to the number of frequency domain units. S is a predefined column vector determined by s, for example F is a predefined column vector determined by f, for example [] H represents the conjugate transpose.

[0089] For example, the value of s is [0, N-1], and the value of f is [0, Z-1].

[0090] Exemplarily, each base station spatial unit corresponds to one downlink reference signal port.

[0091] For example, the base station may indicate the number of base station space units and the number of frequency domain units to the terminal, so that the terminal can determine dimension.

[0092] Exemplarily, the time domain information includes multiple first time domain information, each of the multiple first time domain information indicates the time domain information of different frequency domain units and different base station spatial domain units. In other words, each of the multiple first time domain information indicates the time domain information corresponding to different space-frequency units. For example, the terminal can determine a time domain covariance matrix R for each space-frequency unit. s,f .

[0093] That is to say, the terminal unifies the time domain covariance matrix of the same space-frequency unit received by each terminal spatial unit, thereby obtaining the time domain covariance matrix R corresponding to each space-frequency unit s,f .

[0094] In some embodiments, the time domain covariance matrix The unified method includes: the time domain covariance matrix of the downlink channel corresponding to each terminal spatial unit nr Perform summation, averaging, or weighted summing.

[0095] A terminal spatial unit can be a terminal antenna or a combination of multiple antennas. A base station spatial unit can be a base station antenna or a combination of multiple antennas. A time unit can be a time slot or a symbol. A frequency unit can be a resource block (RB) or a resource element (RE).

[0096] The time domain information is the eigenvector corresponding to the covariance matrix of the channel corresponding to J time units.

[0097] Exemplarily, the first time domain information may be the time domain covariance matrix R s,f The eigenvector represents the correlation relationship of the downlink reference signals of J time units in the time domain.

[0098] If the base station instructs the terminal to report the time domain covariance matrix R corresponding to L base station spatial domain units and M frequency domain units s,f , and each time domain covariance matrix R s,f The number of eigenvectors is K1, and the reporting overhead of each eigenvector is Q bits. Then the time domain covariance matrix R s,f The number is LM, and the reporting overhead of the first time domain information is LMK1Q bits, where L is less than or equal to N, and M is less than or equal to Z.

[0099] As shown in Figure 5, taking the example of 4 base station spatial units, 8 frequency domain units, 4 terminal spatial units, and 4 time units, the dashed boxes represent base station spatial units and frequency domain units, the solid boxes represent terminal spatial units, and the dotted boxes represent time units. Each dotted box within a solid box represents the time domain covariance matrix corresponding to one frequency domain unit, one time unit, one base station spatial unit, and one terminal spatial unit.

[0100] In some embodiments, one space-frequency unit may correspond to U terminal spatial domain units. In some embodiments, the terminal may unify the time domain covariance matrices of multiple terminal spatial domain units corresponding to the same space-frequency unit. Exemplarily, U is equal to the number of terminal spatial domain units, for example, O=4.

[0101] 6, the time unit includes time unit 1 to time unit 4. Taking one of the space-frequency units corresponding to time unit 1 (the dotted box filled with dots shown in FIG6) as an example, the time domain covariance matrix corresponding to the terminal spatial unit 1 to the terminal spatial unit 4 is After the terminal spatial unit is unified, the time domain covariance matrix R corresponding to the terminal spatial unit 1 to the terminal spatial unit 4 is s,f By unifying the time domain covariance matrix of the terminal spatial unit, in some cases, for a time domain unit and a space-frequency unit, only the unified time domain covariance matrix R needs to be reported. s,f The eigenvector of is reduced by (U-1)LMK1Q bits compared with directly transmitting the eigenvector of the time domain covariance matrix corresponding to each terminal spatial domain unit, where U represents the number of terminal spatial domain units.

[0102] Optionally, K1 can be the time domain covariance matrix R s,f The K1 eigenvectors with the largest eigenvalues ​​among the J eigenvectors decomposed.

[0103] In another example, the first time domain information may also be the time domain covariance matrix R s,f The orthogonal vector group obtained after Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization, this application does not limit the form of the first time domain information.

[0104] In another exemplary embodiment, the time domain information includes multiple second time domain information, and each second time domain information in the multiple second time domain information indicates the time domain information of different base station spatial domain units. For example, the terminal can determine a time domain covariance matrix R by receiving the downlink reference signals of J time units through the same frequency domain unit. s , each base station spatial domain unit corresponds to its own time domain covariance matrix, and each frequency domain unit with the same base station spatial domain unit corresponds to the same time domain covariance matrix.

[0105] That is to say, the terminal unifies the time domain covariance matrix of the same space-frequency unit received by each antenna, and unifies the time domain covariance matrix R of the same space-frequency unit of the base station. s,f Unify and obtain the time domain covariance matrix R corresponding to each base station spatial unit s . Where s represents the airspace of the base station.

[0106] In some embodiments, the time domain covariance matrix R s,f The unified approach includes: for each base station spatial unit, the same time domain covariance matrix R s,f Perform summation, averaging, or weighted summing.

[0107] Since the time domain characteristics of the channel are determined by the Doppler frequency deviation of the channel, and the Doppler frequency deviation of the channel is determined by the arrival angle of the channel at the terminal side, that is, the spatial characteristics of the terminal side. Therefore, for each terminal spatial unit n r Corresponding When unifying, the complete channel time domain characteristics can be preserved as much as possible.

[0108] In some embodiments, the second time domain information may be the time domain covariance matrix R s If the base station instructs the terminal to report L base station spatial units, each time domain covariance matrix R s The number of eigenvectors is K2, and the reporting overhead of each eigenvector is Q bits. Then the time domain covariance matrix R s The number is L, and the reporting overhead of the second time domain information is LK2Q bits.

[0109] 7, taking time unit 1 as an example, the 8 time domain covariance matrices R corresponding to the 8 frequency domain units corresponding to the base station spatial unit 1 are s,f They are values ​​A1 to A8 respectively, and so on. The 8 time domain covariance matrices R corresponding to the 8 frequency domain units corresponding to the base station spatial domain units 2 to 4 are s,f They are respectively value B1 to value B8, value C1 to value C8, and value D1 to value D8. After unifying the M frequency domain units corresponding to the base station spatial unit, the time domain covariance matrix R corresponding to the base station spatial unit 1 to the base station spatial unit 4 is s The values ​​of are value A, value B, value C, and value D. By unifying the time domain covariance matrix of the frequency domain units, (M-1)LK2Q bits are reduced compared with directly transmitting the eigenvector of the time domain covariance matrix corresponding to each space-frequency unit.

[0110] In some embodiments, K2 may be the time domain covariance matrix R s The K2 eigenvectors with the largest eigenvalues ​​among the J eigenvectors decomposed.

[0111] As another example, the time domain information includes a third time domain information, and the third time domain information indicates the time domain information of multiple base station spatial domain units and multiple frequency domain units, or the third time domain information indicates the time domain information corresponding to multiple space-frequency units. For example, the terminal can determine a time domain covariance matrix for the downlink reference signal received by the antenna, and each space-frequency unit corresponds to the same time domain covariance matrix. That is, the terminal has the same time domain covariance matrix R for the space-frequency unit received by each antenna. s,f Unify and calculate the total time domain covariance matrix R s Perform unification to obtain a time domain covariance matrix R.

[0112] In some embodiments, the third time domain information may be an eigenvector of the time domain covariance matrix R. If the number of eigenvectors of each time domain covariance matrix R is K3 and the reporting overhead of each eigenvector is Q bits, the reporting overhead of the third time domain information is K3Q bits.

[0113] Referring to Figure 8, taking time unit 1 as an example, after unifying the L base station spatial units, the value of the time domain covariance matrix R corresponding to time unit 1 is 1. s Compared with directly transmitting the eigenvector of the time domain covariance matrix corresponding to each base station spatial domain unit, the number of bits is reduced by (L-1)K3Q.

[0114] In some implementations, K3 may be the K3 eigenvectors with the largest corresponding eigenvalues ​​among the J eigenvectors decomposed from the time-domain covariance matrix R.

[0115] In the above example, the terminal uses the same method to Unify and use the same method for base station airspace units To unify and integrate all The unification is explained as an example.

[0116] In other examples, the terminal pair time domain covariance matrix Another way to unify is that the terminal uses the same method of the frequency domain unit to Unify and use the same method for terminal airspace units and base station airspace units Unify and manage the terminal airspace units in the same way Unify and use the same method for terminal spatial unit and frequency domain unit The unified approach can be to Perform summation, averaging, or weighted summing, etc.

[0117] S403: The terminal sends a first uplink reference signal. Correspondingly, the base station receives the first uplink reference signal.

[0118] The time domain information and the first uplink reference signal are used to determine an uplink channel of J1 time units, where J1 is a positive integer and J is greater than J1.

[0119] Exemplarily, the first uplink reference signal is SRS or DMRS.

[0120] The base station may send an instruction message to the terminal, instructing the terminal to send a time-frequency resource for a first uplink reference signal. The terminal sends the first uplink reference signal to the base station using the time-frequency resource. The first uplink reference signal represents an uplink reference signal sent by the terminal.

[0121] In some embodiments, there are multiple time units of the first uplink reference signal, and the time interval between the downlink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the downlink reference signals of J time units is the same as the time interval between the first uplink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the first uplink reference signals of the multiple time units.

[0122] The base station may indicate to the terminal the time-frequency resource for sending the first uplink reference signal based on the time-frequency resource of the sent downlink reference signal, or determine the time-frequency resource for sending the downlink reference signal based on the time-frequency resource of the first uplink reference signal indicated to the terminal, and send the downlink reference signal using the time-frequency resource of the downlink reference signal, so that the downlink reference signal and the first uplink reference signal meet condition 1: the time interval between every two adjacent downlink reference signals in the downlink reference signal is the same as the time interval between every two adjacent first uplink reference signals in the multiple first uplink reference signals.

[0123] For example, referring to Figure 9, the white boxes represent SRS and the black boxes represent CSI-RS, and SRS1 to SRS6 and CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 are shown in the figure. SRS1 to SRS3 represent the first uplink reference signal, and CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 represent the downlink reference signal. The dotted white boxes (such as SRS4 to SRS6) represent the SRS transmitted by the time domain resources corresponding to the uplink channel determined by the base station based on the time domain information and the received SRS (such as SRS1 to SRS3). For example, the uplink channel determined above can be the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time domain resources.

[0124] Taking the example of the base station sending CSI-RS1 at time T0, the base station can instruct the terminal to send SRS1 at time T0+t0, SRS2 at time T0+t0+t1, and SRS3 at time T0+t0+t1+t2. Accordingly, the base station receives SRS1 to SRS3. The base station sends CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3 at time T0+t1 and T0+t1+t2, respectively. The time interval between CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 is the same as the time interval between SRS1 and SRS2, which is t1. The time interval between CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3 is the same as the time interval between SRS2 and SRS3, which is t2. In addition, the base station also sends CSI-RS4, CSI-RS5 or CSI-RS6 at T0+t1+t2+t3, T0+t1+t2+t3+t4 or T0+t1+t2+t3+t4+t5, so that the terminal determines the time domain information according to CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 and reports the time domain information to the base station.

[0125] Exemplarily, referring to Figure 10, the white boxes represent SRS, the black boxes represent CSI-RS, and SRS1 to SRS7, CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS3 and CSI-RS7 are shown in the figure. SRS1 to SRS3 represent the first uplink reference signal, and CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS3 and CSI-RS7 represent the downlink reference signal. The dotted white box (such as SRS7) represents the SRS transmitted by the time domain resource corresponding to the uplink channel determined by the base station based on the time domain information and the received SRS (such as SRS1 to SRS3). Exemplarily, the uplink channel determined above can be the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time domain resources. The dotted white box (such as SRS4 to SRS6) represents the SRS transmitted by the time domain resource corresponding to the uplink channel determined by the base station through the difference. For example, after the base station determines the uplink channel corresponding to SRS3 and the uplink channel corresponding to SRS7, the uplink channel corresponding to SRS4 to SRS6 is obtained by difference. The SRS is transmitted on the time domain resources corresponding to the uplink channel A. The uplink channel A can be called the uplink channel corresponding to the SRS. The base station can determine the uplink channel corresponding to the time domain resources for transmitting the SRS based on the SRS.

[0126] Taking the example of a base station sending CSI-RS1 at time T0, the base station can instruct the terminal to send SRS1 at time T0+t0, SRS2 at time T0+t0+t1, and SRS3 at time T0+t0+t1+t2. Accordingly, the base station receives SRS1 through SRS3. The base station sends CSI-RS2 at time T0+t1 and CSI-RS3 at time T0+t1+t2. The time interval between CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 is the same as the time interval between SRS1 and SRS2, which is t1. The time interval between CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3 is the same as the time interval between SRS2 and SRS3, which is t2. Furthermore, the base station sends CSI-RS7 at time T0+t1+t2+t3. This allows the terminal to determine time domain information based on CSI-RS1 through CSI-RS3 and CSI-RS7 and report this time domain information to the base station.

[0127] Exemplarily, referring to Figure 11, the white boxes represent SRS, the black solid boxes and the black dotted boxes represent CSI-RS, and SRS1 to SRS6, CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6, CSI-RS8 and CSI-RS9 are shown in the figure. SRS1 to SRS3 represent the first uplink reference signal, and CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6, CSI-RS8 and CSI-RS9 represent downlink reference signals. The dotted white boxes (such as SRS4 to SRS6) represent the SRS transmitted by the time domain resources corresponding to the uplink channel determined by the base station based on the time domain information and the received SRS (such as SRS1 to SRS3). Exemplarily, the uplink channel determined above can be the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time domain resources.

[0128] Taking the example of the base station sending CSI-RS1 at time T0, the base station can instruct the terminal to send SRS1 at time T0+t0, SRS2 at time T0+t0+t1, and SRS3 at time T0+t0+t1+t2. Accordingly, the base station receives SRS1 to SRS3. The base station sends CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3 at time T0+t1 and T0+t1+t2, respectively. The time interval between CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 is the same as the time interval between SRS1 and SRS2, which is t1. The time interval between CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3 is the same as the time interval between SRS2 and SRS3, which is t2. In addition, the base station also sends CSI-RS4, CSI-RS5 or CSI-RS6 at T0+t1+t2+t3, T0+t1+t2+t3+t4 or T0+t1+t2+t3+t4+t5, so that the terminal determines the time domain information according to CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 and reports the time domain information to the base station.

[0129] In some embodiments, there are multiple time units of the first uplink reference signal, and the time interval between the downlink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the downlink reference signals of J time units is different from the time interval between the first uplink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the first uplink reference signals of the multiple time units.

[0130] Exemplarily, referring to Figure 11, the base station may also send CSI-RS8 between T0 and T0+t1, and send CSI-RS9 between T0+t1 and T0+t1+t2, so that the terminal determines the time domain information based on CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6, CSI-RS8 and CSI-RS9, and reports the time domain information to the base station. Alternatively, after the terminal receives CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6, CSI-RS8 and CSI-RS9, according to the base station's indication of the time unit for sending SRS to the terminal, the terminal still determines the time domain information based on CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6, which is the same as the time interval between sending two SRSs. In this case, the time interval between two adjacent CSI-RSs (such as CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS8) is different from the time interval between two adjacent SRSs (such as SRS1 and SRS2).

[0131] It should be noted that the terminal can execute S402 and S403 according to the time-frequency resources configured by the base station for the terminal, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution order of S402 and S403.

[0132] S404: The base station determines an uplink channel according to the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal.

[0133] The uplink channel is an uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units. The uplink channel corresponding to the time unit represents the uplink channel of the time unit. The uplink reference signal corresponding to the time unit may represent the uplink reference signal transmitted in the time unit.

[0134] In related technologies, a base station may determine an uplink channel corresponding to a time unit according to an uplink reference signal corresponding to the time unit.

[0135] In some embodiments, the base station performs channel prediction based on the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal to obtain uplink channels corresponding to J1 time units, where the timing position of the J1 time units is later than the timing position of the time unit corresponding to the first uplink reference signal.

[0136] For example, referring to Figure 9, the terminal determines time domain information based on CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 and sends it to the base station. The first uplink reference signals are SRS1 to SRS3, and the base station determines the uplink channel based on the time domain information and SRS1 to SRS3. The uplink channel is the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS4 to SRS6.

[0137] The time interval between the time units corresponding to every two adjacent CSI-RSs from CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 is the same as the time interval between the time units corresponding to every two adjacent SRSs from SRS1 to SRS6, so that the base station can determine the time domain information of SRS1 to SRS6 based on the time domain information of CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6, and thereby determine the channels corresponding to SRS4 to SRS6 based on the time domain information of SRS1 to SRS6 and the channels corresponding to SRS1 to SRS3.

[0138] As another example, referring to Figure 10, the terminal determines the time domain information based on CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS3 and CSI-RS7, and sends it to the base station. The first uplink reference signal is SRS1 to SRS3, and the base station determines the uplink channel based on the time domain information and SRS1 to SRS3. The uplink channel is the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS7. The base station determines the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS4 to SRS6 based on the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS3 and the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS7. For example, the base station obtains the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS4 to SRS6 by interpolating between the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS3 and the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS7. The interpolation method may include linear interpolation, triangular interpolation, Wiener filtering, etc.

[0139] As another example, referring to Figure 11, the terminal determines time domain information based on CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6, CSI-RS8, and CSI-RS9, and sends it to the base station. Alternatively, the terminal determines time domain information based on CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6, and sends it to the base station. The first uplink reference signals are SRS1 to SRS3, and the base station determines the uplink channel based on the time domain information and SRS1 to SRS3. The uplink channel is the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS4 to SRS6.

[0140] The following describes the time domain information R s,f The eigenvector of R s In the case of the eigenvector of or the eigenvector of R, the base station determines the uplink channel manner.

[0141] For example, the time domain information is R s,f In the case of the characteristic vector of , the base station determines the uplink channel in the following way.

[0142] 9, the time domain information R corresponding to CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 is s,f The matrix formed by the eigenvectors of Let the corresponding terminal airspace unit n r , the channel matrix of time units SRS1 to SRS6 and space-frequency units s,f is Because the time domain information R s,f And the channel matrix is Correspondingly, there is a characteristic coefficient So that the following equation holds:

[0143] The base station can obtain the first uplink reference signal in is the channel matrix corresponding to the time units SRS1 to SRS3 and the space-frequency units s,f. From formula 2, it can be deduced that:

[0144] The matrix is a matrix Therefore, the base station can be based on Get 1 to 3 rows Based on And formula 3 to obtain Finally based on and Get

[0145] For example, the time domain information is R s In the case of the characteristic vector of , the base station determines the uplink channel in the following way.

[0146] 9, the time domain information R corresponding to CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 is s The matrix formed by the eigenvectors of Let the corresponding terminal airspace unit n r , the channel matrix of time units SRS1 to SRS6 and space-frequency units s,f is Because the time domain information R s And the channel matrix is Correspondingly, there is a characteristic coefficient So that the following equation holds:

[0147] The base station can obtain the first uplink reference signal in is the channel matrix corresponding to the time units SRS1 to SRS3 and the space-frequency units s,f. From formula 4, it can be deduced that:

[0148] The matrix is a matrix Therefore, the base station can be based on Get 1 to 3 rows Based on And formula 5 to obtain Finally based on and Get

[0149] As another example, when the time domain information is the eigenvector of R, the base station determines the uplink channel in the following manner.

[0150] 9, assume that the matrix formed by the eigenvectors of the time domain information R corresponding to CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 is U 1.6 , let the corresponding terminal be selected n r , the channel matrix of time units SRS1 to SRS6 and space-frequency units s,f is Because the time domain information R and the channel matrix are Correspondingly, there is a characteristic coefficient So that the following equation holds:

[0151] The base station can obtain the first uplink reference signal in is the channel matrix corresponding to the time units SRS1 to SRS3 and the space-frequency units s,f. From Formula 6, it can be deduced that:

[0152] where the matrix U 1.3 is the matrix U 1.6 Therefore, the base station can be based on U 1.6 Lines 1 to 3 get U 1.3 , based on U 1.3 And formula 7 to obtain Finally, based on U 1.6 and Get

[0153] Through the embodiment of the present application, the terminal determines the time domain information based on the downlink reference signal of J time units (such as the time units corresponding to CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 in Figure 9), and the base station determines the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units (such as the time units corresponding to SRS4 to SRS6 in Figure 9) through the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal (such as SRS1 to SRS3 in Figure 9). This makes it unnecessary for the base station to wait for the terminal to send the uplink reference signal in J1 time units, and it is unnecessary to determine the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units based on the uplink reference signal. This shortens the time to determine the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units and improves the accuracy of estimating the uplink channel.

[0154] For example, referring to Figure 9, due to limited uplink channel resources, it is assumed that the average time interval for sending SRS on the uplink channel allocated by the base station to the terminal is 5ms, t1=t2=5ms. The base station can send CSI-RS to the terminal once every 1ms, t3=t4=t5=1ms. Through this solution, the terminal determines time domain information based on CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6 and sends it to the base station. The base station determines the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS4 to SRS6 corresponding to CSI-RS4 to CSI-RS6 based on the time domain information and SRS1 to SRS3 corresponding to the time interval of CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS3. As a result, the time the base station waits for the terminal to send SRS4 to SRS6 when using related technologies is reduced. The base station can more quickly determine the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of SRS4 to SRS6 and use this channel to send data.

[0155] In addition, when the terminal sends SRS1 after the base station sends CSI-RS1, the base station can predict the uplink channel of J1 time units (T4, T5, and T6 as shown in Figure 9), thereby increasing the rate of the predicted uplink channel, thereby enabling the base station to use the uplink channel to precode the data and transmit the data to the terminal. In addition, compared with the existing CSI reported by the terminal to the base station, that is, reporting complete spatial, frequency, and time domain channel information, the embodiment of the present application does not report the spatial and frequency domain information of the channel. The reported time domain information occupies fewer air interface resources, saving a large amount of air interface resources.

[0156] It should be noted that t1 to t5 in FIG. 9 and FIG. 11 and t1 to t3 in FIG. 10 may be the same or different.

[0157] In some embodiments, the number of time units of the first uplink reference signal is J2, the predicted uplink channel is the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units, the number of time units J of the downlink reference signal is greater than or equal to J2+J1, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time units is the same, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is the same, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is less than the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit, and the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit is the same as the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit. The time interval between downlink reference signals can be understood as the time interval between the time units of the downlink reference signal, and the time unit of the downlink reference signal refers to the time unit occupied by the downlink reference signal during transmission.

[0158] Optionally, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J1 time units may include the time interval between time units of downlink reference signals adjacent to the J1 time unit in the J2 time units, for example, t3 shown in FIG9 .

[0159] For example, referring to FIG9 , it is assumed that J=6, J1=3, J2=3, t1=t2=5ms, t3=t4=t5=1ms. At this time, J=J2+J1=3+3=6, t4=t5=1ms <t1=t2=5ms。

[0160] For another example, referring to FIG9 , assuming J=6, J1=3, J2=3, t1=6ms, t2=5ms, t3=t4=1ms, t5=2ms. In this case, J=J2+J1=3+3=6, t3=t4=1ms <t5=2ms<t2=5ms<t1=6ms。

[0161] In some other embodiments, the time interval between every two adjacent downlink reference signals in the J time units is the same as the time interval between every two adjacent first uplink reference signals in the plurality of first uplink reference signals.

[0162] In other embodiments, the number of time units of the first uplink reference signal is J2, the uplink channel predicted by the base station is the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units, the number J of time units of the downlink reference signal is greater than or equal to J2+J1, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the time units of the J2 downlink reference signals is the same, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the time units of the J1 downlink reference signal is the same, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the time units of the J1 downlink reference signal is the same as the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the time units of the J2 downlink reference signal, and the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the time units of the J2 downlink reference signal is the same as the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the time units of the J2 first uplink reference signal.

[0163] For example, referring to FIG10 , assuming that J=4, J1=1, J2=3, t1=t2=t3=5ms, then J=J2+J1=3+1=4.

[0164] As another example, referring to Figure 11, assume that J = 8, J1 = 3, J2 = 3, t1 = t2 = 5 ms, and t3 = t4 = t5 = 1 ms. In this case, J = 8 > J2 + J1 = 3 + 3 = 6. The time units of the J2 downlink reference signals are the time units corresponding to CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS3.

[0165] In some embodiments, the number of time units of the first uplink reference signal is J2, the uplink channel predicted by the base station is the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units, the number J of time units of the downlink reference signal is greater than or equal to J2+J1, and the time interval between two time units in the J minus J1 time units of the downlink reference signal is the same as the time interval between two time units in the J2 time units of the first uplink reference signal.

[0166] For example, referring to Figure 11, the first uplink reference signals are SRS1 to SRS3, and the uplink channel predicted by the base station is J1 time units. The SRS corresponding to the uplink channel are SRS4 to SRS6. Assume that J=8, J1=3, and J2=3. Then J=8>3+3=6. J minus J1=5 downlink reference signals are CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS3, CSI-RS8, and CSI-RS9. The time interval between CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 is the same as the time interval between SRS1 and SRS2, both of which are t1. The time interval between CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3 is the same as the time interval between SRS2 and SRS3, both of which are t2. Through this solution, the terminal can determine the time domain information based on CSI-RS1 to CSI-RS6, and the base station can determine the uplink channel corresponding to the time unit of the second uplink reference signal based on the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal.

[0167] In some embodiments, the base station may configure J2 time units for the terminal, so that the terminal sends the first uplink reference signal in the J2 time units.

[0168] In other embodiments, the base station can configure periodic time units for the terminal so that the terminal can continuously send the first uplink reference signal in the periodic time units, without configuring a limited number of time units (such as J2). The period can be the same as the time interval between the base station sending two downlink reference signals. In this case, the base station can determine the uplink channel corresponding to J1 time units based on the most recently received J2 first uplink reference signals. For example, taking Figure 9 as an example, before the terminal sends SRS1, it can also send SRS7 to SRS20, etc. Assuming J2=3, the terminal feeds back time domain information to the base station at time T4, the base station can determine the uplink channel corresponding to J2 time units based on the most recent 3 SRSs (i.e., SRS1 to SRS3).

[0169] In other embodiments, the terminal transmits different types of time domain information according to instructions from the base station. Upon receiving the time domain information, the base station can determine the uplink channel based on the type of the time domain information, eliminating the need to use algorithms specific to different types of time domain information to determine the uplink channel, thereby reducing the complexity of determining the uplink channel. Referring to Figure 12 , in these embodiments, S402 is implemented as S1202, and S1201 is included before S1202.

[0170] S1201: The base station sends instruction information, and the terminal receives the instruction information accordingly.

[0171] The instruction information instructs the terminal to report the first time domain information, or instructs the terminal to report the second time domain information, or instructs the terminal to report the third time domain information.

[0172] Exemplarily, the base station may preset a channel correlation threshold and instruct the terminal to report the third time domain information. If the correlation between the channel of the predicted channel for J1 time units and the channel actually measured in the J1 time units is higher than the preset channel correlation threshold, the terminal is continued to be instructed to report the third time domain information; otherwise, the terminal is instructed to report the second time domain information. If the base station instructs the terminal to report the second time domain information, and the correlation between the channel of the predicted channel for J1 time units and the channel actually measured in the J1 time units is higher than the preset channel correlation threshold, the terminal is continued to be instructed to report the second time domain information; otherwise, the terminal is instructed to report the first time domain information.

[0173] The channel correlation represents the correlation between the predicted channel and the actual channel. For example, the channel correlation threshold may be 0.9 or 0.95.

[0174] S1202. The terminal reports time domain information according to the instruction information.

[0175] Exemplarily, if the instruction information instructs the terminal to report the first time domain information, the terminal reports the first time domain information. Furthermore, if the instruction information instructs the terminal to report the second time domain information, the terminal reports the second time domain information. Furthermore, if the instruction information instructs the terminal to report the third time domain information, the terminal reports the third time domain information.

[0176] Through the method of the embodiment of the present application, the base station can indicate the form of the time domain information reported by the terminal, such as one of the above methods 1 to 3. s When the characteristic vector of or the characteristic vector of R is used, less air interface resources are occupied.

[0177] It should be noted that the descriptions of the number of reference signals such as J=6, J1=3 in the above embodiments are all examples for convenience of description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In other examples, J=10, J1=3, or J=30, J1=10, or J=20, J1=5, etc., and their values ​​can be selected according to actual conditions.

[0178] The processing performed by a single execution entity (such as a terminal or a base station) shown in the embodiments of the present application can also be divided into multiple execution entities, which can be logically and / or physically separated without limitation.

[0179] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or logically conflicting, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships. For example, the above-mentioned multiple embodiments can be combined, and the combined scheme can be implemented. Optionally, some operations in the process of each method embodiment are optionally combined, and / or the order of some operations is optionally changed. In addition, the execution order between the steps of each process is only exemplary and does not constitute a limitation on the execution order between the steps. Other execution orders can also be used between the steps. It is not intended to indicate that the execution order is the only order in which these operations can be performed. Ordinary technicians in this field will think of various ways to reorder the operations in this article. In addition, it should be noted that the process details involved in a certain embodiment of this article are also applicable to other embodiments in a similar manner, or different embodiments can be used in combination.

[0180] It is understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the base station and the terminal include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that, in conjunction with the units and method steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, this 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 computer software-driven hardware manner depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0181] Figures 13 and 14 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or base station in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be the terminal 120 as shown in Figure 1, or the base station 110 as shown in Figure 1, or a module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal or base station.

[0182] As shown in Figure 13, a communication device 1300 includes a processing unit 1310 and a transceiver unit 1320. The communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of a terminal or a base station in the method embodiment shown in Figure 4 or Figure 12 above.

[0183] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown in Figure 4: the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive downlink reference signals of J time units, report time domain information, and send a first uplink reference signal; the processing unit 1310 is used to perform processing-related functions.

[0184] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the base station in the method embodiment shown in Figure 4: the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send downlink reference signals of J time units, receive time domain information, and receive the first uplink reference signal; the processing unit 1310 is used to determine the uplink channel based on the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal.

[0185] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown in Figure 12: the transceiver unit 1320 is further used to send indication information and report time domain information according to the indication information; the processing unit 1310 is used to perform processing-related functions.

[0186] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the base station in the method embodiment shown in FIG12 , the transceiver unit 1320 is further used to receive indication information; and the processing unit 1310 is used to execute processing-related functions.

[0187] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 1310 and the transceiver unit 1320 , please refer to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 12 .

[0188] As shown in Figure 14, communication device 1400 includes a processor 1410 and an interface circuit 1420. Processor 1410 and interface circuit 1420 are coupled to each other. It is understood that interface circuit 1420 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 1400 may also include a memory 1430 for storing instructions executed by processor 1410, input data required by processor 1410 to execute instructions, or data generated after processor 1410 executes instructions.

[0189] When the communication device 1400 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 4 , the processor 1410 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1310 , and the interface circuit 1420 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1320 .

[0190] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above-mentioned method embodiment. When the terminal chip receives information from the base station, it can be understood that the information is first received by other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. When the terminal chip sends information to the base station, it can be understood that the information is first sent to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0191] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a base station, the base station chip implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. When the base station chip receives information from the terminal, it can be understood that the information is first received by other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. When the base station chip sends information to the terminal, it can be understood that the information is sent to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0192] In this application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be done directly from A to B or indirectly through another entity. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be done directly from entity B or indirectly through another entity. Entities A and B herein can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules within a RAN node or terminal. The sending and receiving of information can be information exchange between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be information exchange between two RAN nodes, for example, between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be information exchange between different modules within a device, for example, between a terminal chip and other modules in the terminal, or between a base station chip and other modules within the base station.

[0193] 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.

[0194] 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 storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

[0195] Optionally, the present application also provides a computer program product. All or part of the processes in the above method embodiments may be completed by a computer program instructing related hardware. The program may be stored in the above computer program product, and when executed, the program may include the processes in the above method embodiments.

[0196] Optionally, the present application also provides a computer instruction. All or part of the process in the above method embodiment can be completed by the computer instruction to instruct the relevant hardware (such as a computer, processor, wireless relay device, terminal or RAN node, etc.). The program can be stored in the above computer-readable storage medium or in the above computer program product.

[0197] 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.

Claims

1. A channel estimation method, characterized in that: include: receiving a downlink reference signal of J time units; Reporting time domain information, where the time domain information is time domain information determined based on the downlink reference signals of the J time units; A first uplink reference signal is sent, wherein the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal are used to determine an uplink channel, the uplink channel is an uplink channel of J1 time units, and both J and J1 are positive integers, and J is greater than J1.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The time domain information includes multiple first time domain information, each of the multiple first time domain information indicates the time domain information of different frequency domain units and different base station spatial domain units; or, the time domain information includes multiple second time domain information, each of the second time domain information indicates the time domain information of a different base station spatial domain unit; or, the time domain information includes one third time domain information, and the third time domain information indicates the time domain information of multiple base station spatial domain units and multiple frequency domain units.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that Also includes: receiving instruction information, where the instruction information instructs the terminal to report the first time domain information, or instructs the terminal to report the second time domain information, or instructs the terminal to report the third time domain information; The reporting of the time domain information includes: reporting the time domain information according to the indication information.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first uplink reference signal has multiple time units, and further includes: The time interval between downlink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the downlink reference signals of the J time units is the same as the time interval between first uplink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the first uplink reference signals of the multiple time units.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The number of time units of the first uplink reference signal is J2, J is greater than or equal to J2+J1, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time units is the same, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is the same, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is smaller than the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit, and the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit is the same as the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The time domain information is the eigenvector corresponding to the covariance matrix of the channel corresponding to J time units.

7. A channel estimation method, characterized in that: include: Sending a downlink reference signal of J time units; receiving time domain information, where the time domain information is time domain information determined based on the downlink reference signals of the J time units; receiving a first uplink reference signal; An uplink channel is determined according to the time domain information and the first uplink reference signal, where the uplink channel is an uplink channel of a J1 time unit, where J and J1 are both positive integers, and J is greater than J1.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The time domain information includes multiple first time domain information, each of the multiple first time domain information indicates the time domain information of different frequency domain units and different base station spatial domain units; or, the time domain information includes multiple second time domain information, each of the second time domain information indicates the time domain information of a different base station spatial domain unit; or, the time domain information includes one third time domain information, and the third time domain information indicates the time domain information of multiple base station spatial domain units and multiple frequency domain units.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that Also includes: Sending indication information, where the indication information instructs the terminal to report the first time domain information, or instructs the terminal to report the second time domain information, or instructs the terminal to report the third time domain information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that: The first uplink reference signal has multiple time units, and further includes: The time interval between downlink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the downlink reference signals of the J time units is the same as the time interval between first uplink reference signals of every two adjacent time units in the first uplink reference signals of the multiple time units.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that: The number of time units of the first uplink reference signal is J2, J is greater than or equal to J2+J1, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time units is the same, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is the same, the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J1 time unit is smaller than the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit, and the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit is the same as the time interval between every two adjacent time units in the J2 time unit.

12. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that: The time domain information is the eigenvector corresponding to the covariance matrix of the channel corresponding to J time units.

13. 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 6, or a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

14. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A communication interface and at least one processor, the communication interface being used to receive and / or send signals, the processor being configured to enable the method of any one of claims 1 to 6 to be executed, or the processor being configured to enable the method of any one of claims 7 to 12 to be executed.

15. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, characterized in that: When the instruction is executed on a communication device, the communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, or the communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

16. A computer program product comprising a computer program, characterized in that When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is implemented; or when the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12 is implemented.

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