Communication method and related product

Abstract

A communication method and a related product. The method comprises: a terminal device determining configuration information, wherein the configuration information indicates the range of hopping groups; and the terminal device sending a pilot signal to a network device, wherein the pilot signal is determined on the basis of sequences within the range of hopping groups. By using the solution provided in the present application, by means of a terminal device determining the range of hopping groups, a pilot signal sent by the terminal device is determined on the basis of sequences within the range of the hopping groups, such that a mutual interference range for collided sequences during hopping can be rationally set, thereby improving the performance of interference randomization.

Description

Communication methods and related products

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on March 29, 2024, with application number 202410386517.2 and invention name “Communication Methods and Related Products”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] With the development of multi-antenna technology and the improvement of multi-user demand, the number of pilot signals that need to be used simultaneously is increasing. Therefore, the demand for large-capacity pilot signals is also becoming increasingly strong.

[0004] In both Long Term Evolution (LTE) and New Radio (NR) communication systems, pilot signals are generated based on Zadeoff-Chu (ZC) sequences. While ZC sequences offer advantages in terms of correlation and peak-to-average power radio (PAPR) / cubic metric (CM), they have limited capacity and are unlikely to meet the requirements of future wireless mobile communication systems. Furthermore, ZC sequences exhibit two-dimensional ambiguity in time and frequency, limiting their applicability in high-mobility scenarios or sensing applications.

[0005] Using a W sequence that can reach the Weil index and bound can be used as a new sequence type to generate pilot signals. The pilot signal generated based on the W sequence has a large capacity and is suitable for next-generation wireless communication systems.

[0006] The W sequence has the characteristic of multi-level cross-correlation. However, how to utilize this characteristic to improve the interference randomization performance is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a communication method and related products to improve interference randomization performance.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. Exemplarily, the method can be applied to a terminal device side, such as a terminal device or a communication module in a terminal device, or a circuit or chip responsible for a communication function in the terminal device (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). The above method is applied to the terminal device side as an example.

[0009] The method includes: determining configuration information indicating a range of a hopping group; and transmitting a pilot signal, wherein the pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group.

[0010] In this aspect, the terminal device determines the range of the hopping group so that the pilot signal sent by the terminal device is determined according to the sequence within the range of the hopping group, thereby reasonably setting the range of mutual interference when the sequence collides during hopping and improving the interference randomization performance.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the configuration information is preset by a protocol or sent by a network device.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the configuration information indicates the range of the jumping group, including at least one of the following: information of the first group within the range of the jumping group, information of the last group within the range of the jumping group, the interval between the groups of the jumping groups, the index of the groups included in the range of the jumping group, or the number of groups within the range of the jumping group.

[0013] In this implementation, by configuring at least one of the above information, the range of the hopping group can be determined, so that the range of mutual interference when the sequences collide during hopping can be reasonably set, thereby improving the interference randomization performance.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the configuration information further indicates sequence grouping information, where the sequence grouping information includes the number of sequence groups and the number of sequences included in each group.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the configuration information further includes indication information of a sequence generation formula.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group in the range of the hopping group are the same.

[0017] In this implementation, the network device indicates through the first indication information that the coefficients of the cubic terms of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping groups are the same. This is equivalent to the network device enabling the terminal device to determine the range of the hopping groups based on this implementation. In other words, if the terminal device receives the above-mentioned first indication information, it can determine the range of the hopping groups based on this implementation; otherwise, it cannot determine the range of the hopping groups based on this implementation.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in yet another possible implementation, the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group are the same.

[0019] In this implementation, by configuring the hopping groups of multiple terminal devices, the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group are the same, and the maximum normalized cross-correlation value thereof is N is the length of sequence generation, so that for multiple terminal devices within the range of the group using this hopping, it has better anti-interference performance.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in yet another possible implementation, the coefficients of the quadratic terms of the sequences of each group in the range of the hopping group are different.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that coefficients of cubic terms of sequences in at least one group in the range of the hopping group are different.

[0022] In this implementation, the network device indicates, through the second indication information, that the coefficients of the cubic terms of the sequences in at least one group within the range of hopping groups differ. This is equivalent to the network device enabling the terminal device to determine the range of hopping groups based on this implementation. In other words, if the terminal device receives the second indication information, it can determine the range of hopping groups based on this implementation; otherwise, it cannot determine the range of hopping groups based on this implementation.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the range of the jumping groups includes at least three groups, and the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in at least one of the at least three groups are different from the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in the other two of the at least three groups.

[0024] In this implementation, by configuring the hopping groups of multiple terminal devices, the cubic coefficients of the sequences in at least one group are different, and the maximum normalized cross-correlation value thereof is N is the length of sequence generation, so that for multiple terminal devices in the range of the group using this hopping, there are more sequences to choose from, and the system also has better anti-interference performance.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the configuration information further includes a range of a hopping set, a set includes at least two groups, and the cubic coefficients of the sequences in at least two groups in a set are the same.

[0026] In this implementation, by dividing the set, the network device can indicate the hopping range more efficiently.

[0027] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group, including: the pilot signal is also determined according to the range of the hopping set, the range of the hopping set includes at least one set, and the range of the hopping group belongs to the at least one set.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect, in another possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving third indication information, wherein the third indication information indicates at least one of the following information: no intra-group hopping; or inter-set hopping; or hopping between multiple groups within a set; or hopping between multiple groups within multiple sets; or hopping between sequences within a group.

[0029] In combination with the first aspect, in yet another possible implementation, the sequence x(n) satisfies:

[0030] Wherein, a is the coefficient of the cubic term of the sequence x(n), b is the coefficient of the quadratic term of the sequence x(n), c is the coefficient of the linear term of the sequence x(n), n is the index of the element in the sequence x(n), and N is the generated length of the sequence x(n).

[0031] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. For example, the method can be applied to a network device, such as a network device or a communication module within the network device, or a circuit or chip within the network device responsible for communication functions. The above method is applied to a network device as an example.

[0032] The method includes: sending configuration information indicating a range of a hopping group; and receiving a pilot signal, wherein the pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group.

[0033] In this aspect, the network device indicates the range of the hopping group by sending configuration information to the terminal device, so that the pilot signal sent by the terminal device is determined according to the sequence within the range of the hopping group, thereby reasonably setting the range of mutual interference when the sequence collides during hopping, thereby improving the interference randomization performance.

[0034] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the configuration information indicates the range of the jumping group, including at least one of the following: information of the first group within the range of the jumping group, information of the last group within the range of the jumping group, the interval between the groups of the jumping groups, the index of the groups included in the range of the jumping group, and the number of groups within the range of the jumping group.

[0035] In this implementation, by configuring at least one of the above information, the range of the hopping group can be determined, so that the range of mutual interference when the sequences collide during hopping can be reasonably set, thereby improving the interference randomization performance.

[0036] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the configuration information further indicates sequence grouping information, where the sequence grouping information includes the number of sequence groups and the number of sequences included in each group.

[0037] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the configuration information further includes indication information of a sequence generation formula.

[0038] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the method further includes: sending first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group in the range of the hopping group are the same.

[0039] In combination with the second aspect, in yet another possible implementation, the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping groups are the same.

[0040] In combination with the second aspect, in yet another possible implementation, the coefficients of the quadratic terms of the sequences of each group in the range of the hopping group are different.

[0041] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that the cubic coefficients of the sequences in at least one group in the range of the hopping group are different.

[0042] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the range of the jumping groups includes at least three groups, and the cubic coefficients of the sequences in at least one of the at least three groups are different from the cubic coefficients of the sequences in the other two of the at least three groups.

[0043] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the configuration information further includes a range of a hopping set, a set includes at least two groups, and the cubic coefficients of sequences in at least two groups in a set are the same.

[0044] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group, including: the pilot signal is also determined according to the range of the hopping set, the range of the hopping set includes at least one set, and the range of the hopping group belongs to the at least one set.

[0045] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the method also includes: sending a third indication information, wherein the third indication information indicates at least one of the following information: no intra-group hopping; or inter-set hopping; or hopping between multiple groups within a set; or hopping between multiple groups within multiple sets; or hopping between sequences within a group.

[0046] In conjunction with the second aspect, in yet another possible implementation, the sequence x(n) satisfies:

[0047] Wherein, a is the coefficient of the cubic term of the sequence x(n), b is the coefficient of the quadratic term of the sequence x(n), c is the coefficient of the linear term of the sequence x(n), n is the index of the element in the sequence x(n), and N is the generated length of the sequence x(n).

[0048] In combination with the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the method is applied to a first network device, and the method further includes: sending first information to a second network device, where the first information indicates a range of the hopping group.

[0049] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the communication method of the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect. The device may be a terminal device, a module (such as a processor, chip, or chip system) applied to a terminal device, or a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device.

[0050] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the communication method in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect. The device may be a network device, a module (such as a processor, chip, or chip system) applied to a network device, or a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the communication device in the third to fourth aspects includes a unit, module, or means for respectively executing the method in any one of the first to second aspects or any implementation thereof. The unit, module, or means may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0052] Exemplarily, the communication device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit; wherein:

[0053] When the communication device is used to implement the method in the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect, the processing unit is used to determine configuration information, where the configuration information indicates the range of the hopping group; the processing unit is used to generate a pilot signal, where the pilot signal is determined based on a sequence within the range of the hopping group; and the transceiver unit is further used to send the pilot signal.

[0054] Optionally, the configuration information is preset by a protocol or sent by a network device.

[0055] Optionally, the configuration information indicates the range of the hopping group, including at least one of the following: information of the first group within the range of the hopping group, information of the last group within the range of the hopping group, the interval between the groups of the hopping group, the index of the groups included in the range of the hopping group, or the number of groups within the range of the hopping group.

[0056] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates sequence grouping information, where the sequence grouping information includes the number of sequence groups and the number of sequences included in each group.

[0057] Optionally, the configuration information further includes indication information of a sequence generation formula.

[0058] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group are the same.

[0059] Optionally, the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping groups are the same.

[0060] Optionally, the quadratic term coefficients of the sequences of each group in the range of the hopping group are different.

[0061] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group are different.

[0062] Optionally, the range of the hopping groups includes at least three groups, and the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in at least one of the at least three groups are different from the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in the other two of the at least three groups.

[0063] Optionally, the configuration information further includes a range of a hopping set, where one set includes at least two groups, and the cubic coefficients of sequences in at least two groups in one set are the same.

[0064] Optionally, the pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group, including: the pilot signal is also determined according to the range of the hopping set, the range of the hopping set includes at least one set, and the range of the hopping group belongs to the at least one set.

[0065] Optionally, the transceiver unit is also used to receive a third indication information, and the third indication information indicates at least one of the following information: no intra-group hopping; or inter-set hopping; or hopping between multiple groups within a set; or hopping between multiple groups within multiple sets; or hopping between sequences within a group.

[0066] Optionally, the sequence x(n) satisfies:

[0067] Wherein, a is the coefficient of the cubic term of the sequence x(n), b is the coefficient of the quadratic term of the sequence x(n), c is the coefficient of the linear term of the sequence x(n), n is the index of the element in the sequence x(n), and N is the generated length of the sequence x(n).

[0068] When the communication device is used to implement the method in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect, the processing unit is used to generate configuration information, wherein the configuration information indicates the range of the hopping group; the transceiver unit is used to send the configuration information; and the transceiver unit is further used to receive a pilot signal, wherein the pilot signal is determined based on a sequence within the range of the hopping group.

[0069] Optionally, the configuration information indicates the range of the hopping group, including at least one of the following: information of the first group within the range of the hopping group, information of the last group within the range of the hopping group, the interval between the groups of the hopping group, the index of the groups included in the range of the hopping group, or the number of groups within the range of the hopping group.

[0070] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates sequence grouping information, where the sequence grouping information includes the number of sequence groups and the number of sequences included in each group.

[0071] Optionally, the configuration information further includes indication information of a sequence generation formula.

[0072] Optionally, the processing unit is further used to generate first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates that the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group are the same; and the transceiver unit is further used to send the first indication information.

[0073] Optionally, the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping groups are the same.

[0074] Optionally, the quadratic term coefficients of the sequences of each group in the range of the hopping group are different.

[0075] Optionally, the processing unit is further used to generate second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group are different; and the transceiver unit is further used to send the second indication information.

[0076] Optionally, the range of the hopping groups includes at least three groups, and the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in at least one of the at least three groups are different from the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in the other two of the at least three groups.

[0077] Optionally, the configuration information further includes a range of a hopping set, where one set includes at least two groups, and the cubic coefficients of sequences in at least two groups in one set are the same.

[0078] Optionally, the pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group, including: the pilot signal is also determined according to the range of the hopping set, the range of the hopping set includes at least one set, and the range of the hopping group belongs to the at least one set.

[0079] Optionally, the processing unit is also used to generate a third indication information, wherein the third indication information indicates at least one of the following information: no intra-group hopping; or inter-set hopping; or hopping between multiple groups within a set; or hopping between multiple groups within multiple sets; or hopping between sequences within a group; and the transceiver unit is also used to send the third indication information.

[0080] Optionally, the sequence x(n) satisfies:

[0081] Wherein, a is the coefficient of the cubic term of the sequence x(n), b is the coefficient of the quadratic term of the sequence x(n), c is the coefficient of the linear term of the sequence x(n), n is the index of the element in the sequence x(n), and N is the generated length of the sequence x(n).

[0082] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to send first information to the second network device, where the first information indicates a range of the hopping group.

[0083] In another possible implementation, the communication device in the third and fourth aspects includes a processor coupled to a memory; the processor is configured to enable the device to perform the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned communication method. The memory is coupled to the processor and stores the necessary programs (instructions) and / or data for the device. Optionally, the communication device may further include a communication interface for enabling communication between the device and other network elements. Optionally, the memory may be located inside or outside the communication device.

[0084] In another possible implementation, the communication device in the third to fourth aspects includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor being coupled to the transceiver, and the processor being used to execute a computer program or instruction to control the transceiver to receive and send information; when the processor executes the computer program or instruction, the processor is also used to implement the above method through a logic circuit or executing code instructions. The transceiver may be a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or an input / output interface, configured to receive signals from other communication devices other than the communication device and transmit them to the processor, or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices other than the communication device. When the communication device is a chip, the transceiver is a transceiver circuit or an input / output interface.

[0085] When the communication device in the third and fourth aspects above is a chip, the sending unit may be an output unit, such as an output circuit or a communication interface; the receiving unit may be an input unit, such as an input circuit or a communication interface. When the communication device is a terminal device, the sending unit may be a transmitter or a transmitter; and the receiving unit may be a receiver or a receiver.

[0086] In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the methods described in the above aspects are implemented.

[0087] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a communication device, causes the communication device to execute the methods described in the above aspects.

[0088] In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the communication device described in the third aspect and the communication device described in the fourth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0089] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG2 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of sequence grouping according to an example of the present application;

[0092] FIG4 a is a schematic diagram of a cubic term jump in an example of the present application;

[0093] FIG4 b is a schematic diagram of another cubic term jump of an example of the present application;

[0094] FIG4c is a schematic diagram of a quadratic term jump in an example of the present application;

[0095] FIG4 d is a schematic diagram of a cubic term jump when there is cooperation between cells in an example of the present application;

[0096] FIG4e is a schematic diagram of a quadratic term jump when there is no cooperation between cells in the example of this application;

[0097] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of set partitioning according to an example of the present application;

[0098] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0100] The solution of this application is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0101] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a possible, non-limiting communication system. As shown in Figure 1 , communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in Figure 1 , collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal device (e.g., 120a-120j in Figure 1 , collectively referred to as 120). RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1 ). Terminal device 120 is wirelessly connected to RAN node 110. RAN node 110 is wirelessly or wiredly connected to core network 200. The core network devices in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 may be separate physical devices, or they may be a single physical device that integrates core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions.

[0102] The RAN 100 may be a cellular system related to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as a 4G or 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolutionary system (such as a 6G mobile communication system). The RAN 100 may also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 100 may also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0103] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as access network equipment, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of the communication system and facilitates wireless access for terminal devices. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in communication system 1000 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal device 120 are relative. For example, network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal device 120j accessing RAN 100 via network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal device. RAN node 110 and terminal device 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices. For example, network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication devices with base station functionality, and network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal device functionality.

[0104] In one possible scenario, a RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a next-generation base station in a 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 may be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 3 ), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Alternatively, a RAN node may be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle, or an onboard device. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology may be a roadside unit (RSU).

[0105] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a centralized unit-control plane (CU-CP), a centralized unit-user plane (CU-UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0106] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called an open-centralized unit (open-CU, O-CU), DU may also be called an open-distributed unit (open-distributed unit, O-DU), CU-CP may also be called an open-centralized unit-control plane (open-central unit-control plane, O-CU-CP), CU-UP may also be called an open-centralized unit-user plane (open-central unit-user plane, O-CU-UP), and RU may also be called an open-radio unit (open-radio unit, O-RU). For convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0107] Terminal devices may also be referred to as terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile stations, mobile terminal devices, etc. Terminal devices 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. Terminal devices can be mobile phones, tablet computers, computers with wireless transceiver functions, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal device.

[0108] The communication between the access network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer may include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer. The user plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer.

[0109] Base stations and terminal devices 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 terminal devices.

[0110] The roles of base stations and terminal devices can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal devices 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal device 120i is a base station. However, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal device, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminal devices can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0111] In the embodiments of the present application, a base station is also referred to as an access network device. The device used to implement the functions of the access network device can be the access network device; it can also be a device that can support the access network device in implementing the functions, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit and a software module. The device can be installed in the access network device or used in conjunction with the access network device. In the embodiments of the present application, only the device used to implement the functions of the access network device is used as an example, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to the solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0112] It can be understood that the present application can be applied between access network equipment and terminal equipment.

[0113] It should be understood that the number and type of each device in the communication system shown in Figure 1 are for illustration only, and the present application is not limited to this. In actual applications, the communication system may also include more terminal devices, more access network devices, and other network elements, such as core network devices, and / or network elements for implementing artificial intelligence functions.

[0114] It is understandable that all or part of the functions implemented by one or more of the terminal equipment, access network equipment, core network equipment, or network elements for implementing artificial intelligence functions can be virtualized, that is, implemented by one or more of the proprietary processors or general-purpose processors and the corresponding software modules. Among them, since the terminal equipment and the access network equipment involve interfaces for air interface transmission, the transceiver functions of the interfaces can be implemented by hardware. Core network equipment, such as operation administration and maintenance (OAM) network elements, can be virtualized. Optionally, one or more functions of the virtualized terminal equipment, access network equipment, core network equipment, or network elements for implementing artificial intelligence functions can be implemented by cloud devices, such as cloud devices in over the top (OTT) systems.

[0115] The most important and challenging task in wireless communications is to combat the variability and uncertainty of the wireless transmission environment. From the transmitter's perspective, efficient communication relies on effectively utilizing instantaneous channel information and performing appropriate information / signal preprocessing on the transmitter side to ensure that transmission matches the instantaneous channel capacity. This issue becomes even more critical and complex in multi-user and multi-antenna communications.

[0116] To achieve this function, the transmitter needs to obtain instantaneous channel information before transmission. Obviously, the more accurate the instantaneous channel information obtained by the transmitter, the better. The most common way to obtain instantaneous channel information is to perform channel measurement. Specifically, the channel measurement can be performed at the transmitter or the receiver. In time division duplex (TDD) systems, because the channel from the transmitter to the receiver and the channel from the receiver to the transmitter have good reciprocity, the transmitter can obtain instantaneous channel information by estimating the channel from the receiver to the transmitter. In cellular communication networks, including LTE and NR, when the mobile network transmits data to a terminal device through a base station, the terminal device transmits a reference signal to the base station to help the base station obtain instantaneous channel information from the base station to the terminal device. These reference signals are also called sounding reference signals (SRS). The base station can configure the terminal device to send SRS periodically or trigger the terminal device to send SRS aperiodically through a mechanism. This mechanism is very likely to continue to be used in future cellular communication systems.

[0117] Because cellular networks need to be networked and serve multiple terminal devices, when a terminal device sends an SRS, the SRS needs to support a certain capacity, and the correlation between SRSs must be relatively good to avoid SRS interference between terminal devices within and between cells. Specifically, when a base station simultaneously receives SRS signals from multiple terminal devices in the cell, if multiple SRS resources occupy non-orthogonal time-frequency resources, without loss of generality, assuming that two SRS signals occupy the same time-frequency resources, the lower the correlation between the two SRSs, the lower the interference of the other SRS signal on the SRS signal currently being solved when each SRS signal is solved to estimate the channel between the terminal device and the base station corresponding to the signal, and the more realistic the channel between the terminal device and the base station can be obtained through the SRS signal currently being solved.

[0118] At the receiving end, accurate data reception and demodulation require instantaneous channel information. This is achieved by transmitting specific information known to both the transmitter and receiver on specific time-frequency resources. This information is carried by the demodulation reference signal (DMRS). Knowing the information transmitted by the DMRS, the receiver can decipher the channel it travels through, i.e., the channel from the transmitter to the receiver, on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the DMRS.

[0119] With the development of multi-antenna technology and the improvement of multi-user demand, the number of pilot signals that need to be used simultaneously, including the number of SRSs and DMRSs, is increasing. Therefore, the demand for large-capacity pilot signal sequences is also becoming increasingly strong.

[0120] In LTE, when the length L of SRS and uplink DMRS is greater than the threshold (30), SRS and uplink DMRS are generated based on the ZC sequence. The specific rule is that according to the length L of SRS or uplink DMRS, the maximum prime number not greater than the length or the minimum prime number not less than the length is selected as the length K of the generated ZC sequence; the capacity it can theoretically provide is equal to the length of the generated ZC sequence minus one (K-1); in LTE, only 30 of them are selected as the sequence for generating SRS or uplink DMRS. The terminal device selects one of these 30 according to the pre-configuration to generate a ZC sequence of length K, and then shortens or cyclically shifts the ZC sequence to make its length L, which is consistent with the SRS or DMRS. In NR, the generation mechanism of SRS is basically the same as that in LTE. Because the uplink DMRS supports both discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveforms, DMRS also has two modes. When using the DFT-S-OFDM waveform, the DMRS generation mechanism is basically the same as in LTE.

[0121] The ZC sequence has many advantages, such as its theoretical constant amplitude zero autocorrelation (CAZAC) property. The constant amplitude property indicates that the ZC sequence has ideal PAPR / CM characteristics. This characteristic can be destroyed by truncation, cyclic shift extension, and oversampling, which increases the PAPR / CM of the ZC sequence, but its overall PAPR / CM remains low.

[0122] While ZC sequences offer advantages in terms of correlation and PAPR / CM, their capacity is limited, making them inadequate for future wireless mobile communication systems. Furthermore, ZC sequences exhibit two-dimensional ambiguity in time and frequency, limiting their applicability in high-mobility scenarios or sensing applications.

[0123] Currently, only one sequence exists in LTE and NR, and the cross-correlation characteristics between all different sequences are consistent. Therefore, in LTE and NR, interference randomization hopping uses a completely random SRS-based hopping scheme. SRS sequences are divided into sequence groups and intra-group sequences. LTE and NR support 30 SRS groups, with each group supporting one or two SRSs. LTE and NR support both group-based hopping (group hopping) and intra-group sequence hopping (sequence hopping). In group hopping, the sequence group number of sequences transmitted by a terminal device on different time domain resources is calculated according to a random number generator formula, while the intra-group sequence number of each transmitted sequence remains unchanged. In sequence hopping, the sequence group number of sequences transmitted by a terminal device on different time domain resources remains unchanged, while the intra-group sequence number of each transmitted sequence is calculated according to a random number generator formula.

[0124] In future wireless mobile communication systems, the W sequence that can reach the weil index and bound can be used as a new sequence type to generate SRS or DMRS signals. The W sequence refers to the general formula where f(n) is a polynomial with integer coefficients about n and N is the length of the sequence x(n). The highest term of this W sequence is d, which can be written as f(n) = a d n d +a d-1 n d-1 +…+a1n+a0,a d is the highest order coefficient of the sequence x(n), a d-1 is the second highest term coefficient of sequence x(n), a1 is the first order coefficient of sequence x(n), and a0 is the zero order coefficient of sequence x(n). When using W sequence as the sequence to generate SRS or DMRS, the cross-correlation between W sequences may have different values ​​depending on the highest order coefficient. When the degree of f(n) is 3, that is, f(n) is a cubic polynomial, its general formula can be expressed as Where a is the cubic coefficient, b is the quadratic coefficient, c is the linear coefficient, and N is the length of the sequence x(n). This sequence is correlated with its time-frequency-free samples (considered as a sequence) to obtain the maximum correlation value. This correlation value is normalized, that is, when the sequence and its time-frequency-free samples are both unit energy sequences, the maximum normalized correlation value is 1; when N is a prime number, the maximum normalized cross-correlation value of any two W sequences with the same cubic coefficient and different quadratic coefficients is (The smaller the normalized cross-correlation value, the better, but there are fewer sequences to choose from); the maximum normalized cross-correlation value of any two W sequences with different cubic coefficients is (There are many sequences to choose from).

[0125] Another advantage of the W sequence is that it is essentially the same type of sequence as the commonly used ZC sequence, both of which are exponential polynomial phase sequences. From one perspective, the ZC sequence can be viewed as a cubic W sequence with a zero cubic term. Therefore, the maximum normalized cross-correlation value between the ZC sequence and a cubic W sequence with a non-zero cubic term is The normalized cross-correlation of two ZC sequences with different quadratic coefficients is

[0126] The fact that the cross-correlation peaks between different W sequences may be different, and that the ZC sequence is a special W sequence, may bring new design considerations to W sequence applications. One such consideration is how to design a pilot signal hopping method using the diversity cross-correlation structure of W sequences.

[0127] The SRS generated based on the W sequence has a large capacity (more sequences to choose from) and is suitable for the next generation of wireless communication systems. It has a multi-level cross-correlation characteristic (when the W sequence is a cubic polynomial, the normalized cross-correlation value is and There are two kinds of normalized cross-correlation values, so it has a two-level cross-correlation characteristic; when the W sequence is a quartic polynomial, there are three kinds of normalized cross-correlation values, so it has a three-level cross-correlation characteristic; and so on). In the interference randomization hopping scheme, corresponding design needs to be performed to achieve the best interference randomization effect.

[0128] Therefore, the present application provides a communication solution, in which the terminal device determines the range of the hopping group so that the pilot signal sent by the terminal device is determined according to the sequence within the range of the hopping group, thereby reasonably setting the range of mutual interference when the sequence collides during hopping, thereby improving the interference randomization performance.

[0129] The following describes the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application based on the above communication system:

[0130] As shown in Figure 2, a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. Exemplarily, the method may include the following steps:

[0131] S201. The network device sends configuration information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the configuration information.

[0132] This embodiment is based on the architecture of sequence groups and intra-group sequences, and supports the above-mentioned group-based hopping and intra-group sequence-based hopping.

[0133] Taking the W sequence as a cubic polynomial as an example, the W sequence is used as the generation sequence of the pilot signal, and its general term is expressed as Where a is the coefficient of the cubic term, b is the coefficient of the quadratic term, c is the coefficient of the linear term, and N is the generated length of the sequence x(n).

[0134] It is understandable that this embodiment is described using a cubic polynomial as an example, but the solution of this embodiment is also applicable to other polynomials.

[0135] In existing LTE and NR, the sequence grouping method and the specific sequences within the group are fixed. Any set of sequence parameters can be determined based on the sequence length and the formula predefined by the protocol.

[0136] A flexible hopping scheme is defined in this embodiment. First, the sequence grouping method and the definition of the sequence within the group are notified based on the protocol pre-definition or high-level signaling configuration. For example, the network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information indicates the information of the sequence grouping. Specifically, the information of the sequence grouping includes the number of sequence groups and the number of sequences included in each group. Furthermore, the configuration information can also include indication information of the sequence generation formula, and the indication information can be, for example, multiple parameters of the generation formula. In specific implementation, after receiving the above configuration information, the terminal device can generate several sequences according to the indication information of the sequence generation formula, and group the generated several sequences to obtain several groups. The grouping method can be equal grouping, etc. Thus, the terminal device can obtain the number of sequence groups and the number of sequences included in each group.

[0137] Based on the above grouping method and generation of the intra-group sequence, the network device then further indicates the range of groups to be hopped through the above configuration information, that is, the range of groups to be hopped when performing group-based hopping. The range of groups to be hopped includes at least two groups. Alternatively, the above configuration information can also be predefined by the protocol.

[0138] In one example, the above configuration information indicates the range of the jumping group, including information of the first group within the range of the jumping group, the interval between the groups of jumping groups and information of the last group within the range of the jumping group, so that multiple groups within the range of the jumping group can be accurately determined.

[0139] In another example, the configuration information indicates the range of the hopping group, including the indexes of the groups included in the range of the hopping group, so that one or more groups in the range of the hopping group can be accurately determined according to the indexes of these groups.

[0140] In another example, the above configuration information indicates the range of the hopping group, including information of the first group within the range of the hopping group and the number of groups included in the range of the hopping group, and multiple groups within the range of the hopping group can be determined according to the default interval.

[0141] Thus, by defining sequence groups and configuring the range of the hopping group, the maximum range of group-based hopping is limited. By properly setting this range, the range of mutual interference when sequences collide during hopping can be limited.

[0142] There are two ways to determine the range of the hopping group:

[0143] One implementation is that the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group are the same. This hopping can be called cubic hopping. For example, the range of the hopping group includes two groups, each group includes at least one sequence. Then the cubic coefficients of the sequences in the two groups are the same. By configuring the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group to be the same, the maximum normalized cross-correlation value is Therefore, for multiple terminal devices within the range of the group using this hopping, it has better anti-interference performance.

[0144] In addition, the cubic coefficients of the sequences in the group not within the hopping range and the sequences in the hopping group range may be the same or different.

[0145] Furthermore, the coefficient of the quadratic term of the sequence of each group in the range of the hopping group may be different.

[0146] By configuring the range of groups to hop to, you can limit the range of sequence hopping. During specific configuration, you can configure the number of groups within the hopping range. The terminal device can then determine which groups to hop to based on the initial group number specified by the protocol or preconfigured by the network device, as well as the number of groups within the hopping range. Alternatively, you can configure the initial group number and the number of groups within the hopping range to determine which groups to hop to.

[0147] As shown in Figure 3, it is a schematic diagram of the sequence grouping of the example of this application, wherein the cubic term coefficient a of group 1 and group 2 is the same, both are 1; the cubic term coefficient a of group 3 and group 4 is the same, both are 2.

[0148] Based on the sequence grouping shown in 3, several examples of cubic term transitions are provided below:

[0149] As shown in FIG4a, which is a schematic diagram of a cubic hopping in an example of the present application, the network device configures the terminal device to have a hopping group range of two groups, and further configures the initial group number to be 1 (or the protocol pre-defines or the network device pre-configures the initial group number to be 1). Then, based on this configuration information, the terminal device can determine that it can select a sequence in group 1 or group 2 to send a pilot signal. After determining the hopping group range, the network device can also configure or the protocol can pre-define the sequence number within the group, for example, configuring or pre-defining that the terminal device can select the first sequence in each of group 1 and group 2.

[0150] For example, the pattern of the configured hopping group is shown in FIG4 a , and the terminal device is configured to select a specified sequence in group 1 and group 2 to send a pilot signal.

[0151] As shown in FIG4b, which is a schematic diagram of another cubic hopping example of the present application, the network device configures the terminal device to have a hopping group range of 2 groups, and further configures the initial group number to 3 (or the protocol pre-defines or the network device pre-configures the initial group number to 3). Then, based on this configuration information, the terminal device can determine that it can select a sequence in group 3 and group 4 to send a pilot signal. After determining the hopping group range, the network device can also configure or the protocol can pre-define the sequence number within the group, for example, configuring or pre-defining that the terminal device can select the first sequence in each of groups 3 and 4.

[0152] For example, the pattern of the configured hopping group is shown in FIG4 b , and the terminal device is configured to select a specified sequence in group 3 and group 4 to send a pilot signal.

[0153] The network device can also configure the range of the hopping group for other terminal devices within its coverage, and the range of the hopping group configured for other terminal devices is the same as the range of the hopping group of the terminal device, that is, the cubic coefficient of the sequence in each group in the range of the hopping group of multiple terminal devices is the same. By configuring the cubic coefficient of the sequence in each group in the range of the hopping group of multiple terminal devices to be the same, the maximum normalized cross-correlation value is Therefore, for multiple terminal devices within the range of the group using this hopping, it has better anti-interference performance.

[0154] Exemplarily, before determining the range of the hopping group based on the implementation, the network device may also send a first indication message to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first indication message. The first indication message indicates that the cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group are the same. This is equivalent to the network device enabling the terminal device to determine the range of the hopping group based on the implementation by way of indication. In other words, if the terminal device receives the above-mentioned first indication message, it can determine the range of the hopping group based on the implementation; otherwise, it cannot determine the range of the hopping group based on the implementation.

[0155] Another implementation is that the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in at least one group in the range of the hopping group are different. For example, the range of the hopping group includes at least three groups, and the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in at least one group in the at least three groups are different from the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in the other two groups in the at least three groups. This hopping can be called a quadratic term hopping. For example, the range of the hopping group includes three groups, each group includes at least one sequence, and the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in one of the three groups are different from the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in the other two groups. By configuring the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in at least one group in the range of the hopping group to be different, the normalized mutual correlation value thereof is at most Therefore, for multiple terminal devices within the range of the group using this hopping, there are more sequences to choose from, and the sequence also has better anti-interference performance.

[0156] By configuring the range of groups to hop to, you can limit the range of sequence hopping. During specific configuration, you can configure the number of groups within the hopping range. The terminal device can then determine which groups to hop to based on the initial group number specified by the protocol or preconfigured by the network device, as well as the number of groups within the hopping range. Alternatively, you can configure the initial group number and the number of groups within the hopping range to determine which groups to hop to.

[0157] Based on the sequence grouping shown in 3, the following provides an example of quadratic term hopping:

[0158] As shown in FIG4c, which is a schematic diagram of a quadratic term hopping in an example of the present application, the network device configures the terminal device to have a hopping group range of four groups, and can further configure the initial group number to be 1 (or the protocol pre-defines or the network device pre-configures the initial group number to be 1). Then, based on this configuration information, the terminal device can determine that it can select a sequence to send a pilot signal from group 1, group 2, group 3, and group 4. After determining the hopping group range, the network device can also configure or the protocol can pre-define the sequence number within the group, for example, configuring or pre-defining that the terminal device can select the first sequence in each group from group 1 to group 4.

[0159] For example, the pattern of the configured hopping group is shown in FIG4c , and the terminal device is configured to select a specified sequence in groups 1 to 4 to send a pilot signal.

[0160] The network device can also configure the range of the hopping group for other terminal devices within its coverage, and the range of the hopping group configured for other terminal devices is the same as the range of the hopping group of the terminal device, that is, the cubic coefficients of the sequences in at least one group in the range of the hopping group are different. By configuring the cubic coefficients of the sequences in at least one group in the range of the hopping groups of multiple terminal devices to be different, the maximum normalized cross-correlation value thereof is Therefore, for multiple terminal devices within the range of the group using this hopping, more sequences can be selected and the system also has better anti-interference performance.

[0161] Exemplarily, before determining the range of the hopping group based on the implementation, the network device may also send a second indication message to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the second indication message. The second indication message indicates that the coefficients of the cubic terms of the sequences in at least one group within the range of the hopping group are different. This is equivalent to the network device enabling the terminal device to determine the range of the hopping group based on the implementation through indication. In other words, if the terminal device receives the above-mentioned second indication message, it can determine the range of the hopping group based on the implementation; otherwise, it cannot determine the range of the hopping group based on the implementation.

[0162] Exemplarily, the configuration information may be carried in at least one of the following signalings: RRC signaling, media access control element (MAC CE), or system information block (SIB), etc.

[0163] S202: The terminal device sends a pilot signal to the network device, and the network device receives the pilot signal accordingly.

[0164] After receiving the configuration information, the terminal device generates a pilot signal based on the configuration information, wherein the pilot signal is determined based on a sequence within the range of the hopping group, that is, the group is determined within the range of the hopping group, and the pilot signal is generated based on a specified sequence in the group.

[0165] The pilot signal refers to a signal sent for measurement or monitoring purposes. For example, the pilot signal may be an SRS, a DMRS, or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0166] The network device receives the pilot signal and can complete the detection and / or estimation of the uplink channel. Optionally, the detection / estimation result can be applied to the downlink channel based on the reciprocity of the channel.

[0167] Alternatively, the network device may generate a pilot signal based on the above solution and send the pilot signal to the terminal device, and the terminal device may complete the detection and / or estimation of the downlink channel.

[0168] The network device indicates the range of the hopping group to multiple terminal devices, so that the pilot signals sent by these terminal devices are determined according to the sequence within the range of the hopping group. Therefore, the sequences selected by these terminal devices are within the range of the hopping group, so that the range of mutual interference when the sequences collide during hopping can be reasonably set, thereby improving the interference randomization performance.

[0169] According to a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, a network device sends configuration information to a terminal device to indicate the range of a hopping group, so that a pilot signal sent by the terminal device is determined based on a sequence within the range of the hopping group, thereby reasonably setting the range of mutual interference when sequences collide during hopping, thereby improving the interference randomization performance.

[0170] The above embodiment describes that the network device indicates the range of the hopping group to the terminal device within its coverage. In addition, the network device can also indicate the range of the hopping group of the terminal within its coverage to other network devices.

[0171] In one scenario, when there is collaboration between cells, a group-based hopping scheme can be configured for joint collaboration so that the cubic coefficients of the sequences colliding between the cooperating cells are the same, and the quadratic coefficients of these sequences can be different, that is, the maximum normalized cross-correlation value is

[0172] Exemplarily, when the coordinated cells belong to different network devices, the joint coordination configuration may be that the first network device sends first information to the second network device, where the first information indicates a range of a hopping group.

[0173] When the coordinated cells belong to different cells of the same network device, the joint coordination configuration may be that the network device determines the range of the hopping group of these cells.

[0174] As shown in FIG4d, it is a schematic diagram of the cubic term hopping when there is cooperation between cells in the example of this application. Cell 1, cell 2 and cell 3 are in a cooperative relationship. The range of the hopping group of these three cooperative cells can be configured as group 1 and group 2. The cubic term coefficients of the sequences in group 1 and group 2 are the same, and the quadratic term coefficients can be different. Then, there is no collision between the cubic terms of cell 1, cell 2 and cell 3, and the normalized cross-correlation value is the maximum.

[0175] In another scenario, when there is no cooperation between cells, a group-based hopping scheme can be configured for joint cooperation so that the cubic coefficients of the sequences colliding between the cooperating cells are different, that is, the normalized cross-correlation value is the maximum of

[0176] Exemplarily, when the coordinated cells belong to different network devices, the joint coordination configuration may be that the first network device sends second information to the second network device, where the second information indicates a range of a hopping group.

[0177] When the coordinated cells belong to different cells of the same network device, the joint coordination configuration may be that the network device determines the range of the hopping group of these cells.

[0178] As shown in Figure 4e, it is a schematic diagram of quadratic term hopping when there is no cooperation between cells in the example of this application. Cell 1, cell 2 and cell 3 are in a non-cooperative relationship. The cubic term coefficients of the sequences of at least one group in the range of the hopping groups of these three non-cooperative cells can be configured to be different. For example, the range of the hopping groups of these three non-cooperative cells is configured to be group 1, group 2, group 3 and group 4, wherein the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in group 1, group 2, group 3 and group 4 are different, then the cubic terms of cell 1, cell 2 and cell 3 collide randomly, and the normalized mutual correlation value is at most

[0179] The above embodiments describe group-based hopping and sequence-based hopping. The following embodiments will describe how, based on the above group-based hopping and sequence-based hopping, multiple groups can be further divided into a set.

[0180] As shown in Figure 5, it is a schematic diagram of the set division of the example of this application. Based on whether the cubic coefficients of the sequences in the groups are the same, multiple groups with the same cubic coefficients can be divided into one set. In Figure 5, the cubic coefficients of the sequences in Group 1 and Group 2 are the same (cubic coefficient a=1), the cubic coefficients of the sequences in Group 3 and Group 4 are the same (cubic coefficient a=2), and the cubic coefficients of Group 1 and Group 2 are different from those of Group 3 and Group 4. Group 1 and Group 2 can be divided into Set 1, and Group 3 and Group 4 can be divided into Set 2.

[0181] After the sets are divided, the set division method can also be notified based on protocol pre-definition or high-level signaling configuration. For example, the network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, and the configuration information may include the range of the hopping set, where a set includes at least two groups, and the cubic coefficients of the sequences in at least two groups in a set are the same.

[0182] After configuring the range of the hopping set, the terminal device may further determine the pilot signal based on the range of the hopping set, where the range of the hopping set includes at least one set, and each set includes at least two groups. For example, if the range of the hopping set is configured as one set, it may be determined that the cubic coefficients of at least two groups in the set are the same; for another example, if the range of the hopping set is configured as two sets, it may be determined that the cubic coefficients of at least two groups included in each of the two sets are different.

[0183] By dividing the sets, the network device can indicate the hopping range more efficiently.

[0184] The above embodiment describes group-based hopping and inter-set hopping. However, whether group-based hopping is possible or whether inter-set hopping is possible may also be indicated by a network device.

[0185] For example, the network device may send third indication information to the terminal device, wherein the third indication information indicates at least one of the following information:

[0186] No intra-group hopping; or

[0187] Perform inter-set hopping; or

[0188] Perform hopping between multiple groups within a set; or

[0189] Perform hopping between multiple groups within multiple sets; or

[0190] Perform a jump between sequences within a group.

[0191] Wherein, no intra-group hopping is performed, that is, the network device does not support the terminal device to perform intra-group hopping (or group-based hopping).

[0192] Inter-set hopping, that is, the range of sets to which the network device can configure the terminal device to hop, may include at least two sets.

[0193] Performing hopping between multiple groups within a set, that is, the range of the set that the network device can configure the terminal device to hop may include a set, and the sequence selected by the terminal device belongs to multiple groups within the set.

[0194] Performing hopping between multiple groups within multiple sets, that is, the range of sets to which the network device can configure the terminal device to hop may include at least two sets, and the sequence selected by the terminal device belongs to multiple groups within the at least two sets.

[0195] Perform hopping between sequences within a group, that is, the network device can configure the range of the hopping group of the terminal device to be one group, and the terminal device can generate a pilot signal based on different sequences within the group.

[0196] It can be understood that in the above embodiments, the methods and / or steps implemented by the network device can also be implemented by components that can be used for the network device (such as chips or circuits); the methods and / or steps implemented by the terminal device can also be implemented by components that can be used for the terminal device (such as chips or circuits).

[0197] The above description primarily describes the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of interaction between various network elements. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present application also provide a communication device for implementing the various methods described above. This communication device can be the network device described in the method embodiments described above, or a component that can be used in a network device; alternatively, this communication device can be the terminal device described in the method embodiments described above, or a component that can be used in a terminal device. It will be understood that, to implement the aforementioned functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that, in conjunction with the various exemplary units and algorithm steps described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is implemented in hardware or in a hardware-driven manner by computer software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0198] In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules of the communication device can be divided according to the above method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0199] Based on the same concept of the above communication method, the present application also provides the following communication device:

[0200] As shown in FIG6 , it is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 600 includes a transceiver unit 601 and a processing unit 602.

[0201] Illustratively, the transceiver unit 601 may include a receiving unit and a sending unit. The receiving unit and the sending unit may be a whole or independent units.

[0202] When the communication apparatus 600 is used to implement the functions of a terminal device, the transceiver unit 601 is used to execute one or more actions executed by the terminal device in steps S201 and S202 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 .

[0203] When the communication device 600 is used to implement the functions of a network device, the transceiver unit 601 is used to execute one or more actions performed by the network device in steps S201 and S202 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 .

[0204] For the specific implementation of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 601 and the processing unit 602, reference may be made to the relevant description in the embodiment shown in FIG2 .

[0205] The division of modules in this application is illustrative and represents only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the examples of this application may be integrated into a single processor, exist physically as separate modules, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in either hardware or software functional modules.

[0206] As shown in Figure 7, it is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 700 includes a processor 701. Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include an interface circuit 702 (indicated by a dotted line in the figure), and the processor 701 and the interface circuit 702 are coupled to each other. It is understandable that the interface circuit 702 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a memory 703 (indicated by a dotted line in the figure), and the memory 703 is used to store instructions executed by the processor 701, or to store input data required by the processor 701 to run the instructions, or to store data generated after the processor 701 runs the instructions.

[0207] When the communication apparatus 700 is used to implement the functions of a terminal device, the interface circuit 702 is used to implement one or more actions performed by the terminal device in steps S201 and S202 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 .

[0208] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of a network device, the interface circuit 702 is used to implement one or more actions performed by the network device in steps S201 and S202 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 .

[0209] When the communication device is a chip used in a network device, the chip implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The chip receives information from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device; or the chip sends information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0210] When the communication device is a chip used in a terminal device, the chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The chip receives information from other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device; or the chip sends information to other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

[0211] In addition, it should be noted that the aforementioned transceiver unit and / or processing unit may be implemented through virtual modules, for example, the processing unit may be implemented through a software function unit or a virtual device, and the transceiver unit may be implemented through a software function or a virtual device. Alternatively, the processing unit or transceiver unit may also be implemented through a physical device, for example, if the device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface, performing input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operations) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operations); the processing unit is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit.

[0212] 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.

[0213] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method in the above embodiment is implemented.

[0214] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in the above embodiment.

[0215] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including the above-mentioned communication device.

[0216] The present application also provides a circuit, which is coupled to a memory and is used to execute the method shown in the above embodiment. The circuit may include a chip circuit.

[0217] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip device, including a processor, configured to call a computer program or computer instruction stored in the memory so that the processor executes the method provided in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 .

[0218] In a possible implementation, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 , and the output of the chip device corresponds to the sending operation in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 .

[0219] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0220] Optionally, the chip device further includes a memory, in which computer programs or computer instructions are stored.

[0221] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a network device, the network device module implements the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The network device module receives information from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device; or, the network device module sends information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device. The network device module here can be a baseband chip of the network device, or a CU, DU or other module, or a device under the O-RAN architecture, such as an open CU, open DU and other devices.

[0222] It should be noted that the above units or one or more of the units can be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination of the two. When any of the above units or units is implemented by software, the software exists in the form of computer program instructions and is stored in a memory, and a processor can be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flow.

[0223] In this application, a processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in this application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in this application may be directly executed by a hardware processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules within the processor.

[0224] When the above units or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a digital signal processing (DSP) chip, a microcontroller unit (MCU), an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, a SoC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device (PLD), a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator or a non-integrated discrete device, which can run the necessary software or not rely on the software to execute the above method flow.

[0225] Optionally, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, comprising: at least one processor and an interface, wherein the at least one processor is coupled to a memory via the interface, and when the at least one processor executes a computer program or instruction in the memory, the chip system executes the method in any of the above method embodiments. Optionally, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0226] The memory in the present application may also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing a storage function for storing program instructions and / or data. A memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. For example, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a digital versatile disc (DVD), a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid-state drive (SSD), or a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM).

[0227] It is understood that, in this application, "indication" can include direct indication, indirect indication, explicit indication, and implicit indication. When describing a certain indication information as indicating A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A. In this application, the information indicated by the indication information is referred to as the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or an index of the information to be indicated, or it can be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where there is an association between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the rest of the information to be indicated is known or agreed in advance. For example, it is also possible to indicate specific information by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-specified) order of arrangement of various information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in this application. The sending period and / or sending timing of these sub-information may be predefined, for example, predefined according to a protocol, or may be configured by the transmitting end device by sending configuration information to the receiving end device.

[0228] The at least one (item) involved in this application indicates one (item) or more (items). More than one (item) refers to two (items) or more than two (items). "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. In addition, it should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe each object in this application, these objects should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish each object from each other.

[0229] The terms "including" and "having" mentioned above and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include other steps or units that are not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units that are inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices. It should be noted that, in this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any method or design described in this application as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other methods or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete way.

[0230] A network element in a communication system can send a signal to another network element or receive a signal from another network element. The signal may include information, signaling, or data, etc. The network element can also be replaced by an entity, a network entity, a device, a terminal device, a communication module, a node, a communication node, etc. The present application uses the network element as an example for description. For example, the communication system may include at least one terminal device and at least one network device. The network device can send a downlink signal to the terminal device, and / or the terminal device can send an uplink signal to the network device. In addition, it can be understood that if the communication system includes multiple terminal devices, the multiple terminal devices can also send signals to each other, that is, the signal sending network element and the signal receiving network element can both be terminal devices.

[0231] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means.

[0232] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art can understand and implement other changes to the disclosed embodiments by reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit can implement several functions listed in the claims. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0233] It is understood that the various numbers used in the embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

[0234] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own focus. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0235] The components in the device of the embodiment of the present application can be merged, divided, or deleted according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can combine or combine the different embodiments and features of the different embodiments described in this specification.

[0236] In this application, under the premise of no logical contradiction, the examples can reference each other, for example, the methods and / or terms between method embodiments can reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device embodiments can reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device examples and method examples can reference each other.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: determining configuration information, the configuration information indicating a range of a hopping group; A pilot signal is sent, where the pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The configuration information is preset by the protocol or sent by the network device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The configuration information indicates the range of the jumping group, including at least one of the following: information of the first group within the range of the jumping group, information of the last group within the range of the jumping group, the interval between the groups of the jumping groups, the index of the groups included in the range of the jumping group, or the number of groups within the range of the jumping group.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The configuration information further indicates sequence grouping information, where the sequence grouping information includes the number of sequence groups and the number of sequences included in each group.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein The configuration information also includes indication information of a sequence generation formula.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The method further includes receiving first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that coefficients of cubic terms of sequences in each group in the range of the hopping groups are the same.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein The cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group are the same.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein: The quadratic term coefficients of the sequences of each group in the range of the hopping group are different.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The method further includes receiving second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that coefficients of cubic terms of sequences in at least one group in the range of the hopping groups are different.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The range of the hopping groups includes at least three groups, and the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in at least one of the at least three groups are different from the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in the other two of the at least three groups.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein The configuration information also includes a range of a hopping set, where one set includes at least two groups, and the cubic coefficients of sequences in at least two groups in one set are the same.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group, including: the pilot signal is also determined according to the range of the hopping set, the range of the hopping set includes at least one set, and the range of the hopping group belongs to the at least one set.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein: The method further comprises: Receive third indication information, where the third indication information indicates at least one of the following information: No intra-group hopping is performed; or Perform inter-set hopping; or Perform hopping between multiple groups within a set; or Perform hopping between multiple groups within multiple sets; or Perform a jump between sequences within a group.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the sequence x(n) satisfies: in, a is the coefficient of the cubic term of the sequence x(n), b is the coefficient of the quadratic term of the sequence x(n), c is the coefficient of the linear term of the sequence x(n), n is the index of the element in the sequence x(n), and N is the generated length of the sequence x(n).

15. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending configuration information, where the configuration information indicates a range of a hopping group; A pilot signal is received, where the pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The configuration information indicates the range of the jumping group, including at least one of the following: information of the first group within the range of the jumping group, information of the last group within the range of the jumping group, the interval between the groups of the jumping groups, the index of the groups included in the range of the jumping group, or the number of groups within the range of the jumping group.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The configuration information further indicates sequence grouping information, where the sequence grouping information includes the number of sequence groups and the number of sequences included in each group.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein: The configuration information also includes indication information of a sequence generation formula.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein The method further includes: sending first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that coefficients of cubic terms of sequences in each group within the range of the hopping groups are the same.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The cubic coefficients of the sequences in each group within the range of the hopping group are the same.

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20, wherein: The quadratic term coefficients of the sequences of each group in the range of the hopping group are different.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein The method further includes receiving second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that coefficients of cubic terms of sequences in at least one group in the range of the hopping groups are different.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The range of the hopping groups includes at least three groups, and the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in at least one of the at least three groups are different from the cubic term coefficients of the sequences in the other two of the at least three groups.

24. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 23, wherein The configuration information also includes a range of a hopping set, where one set includes at least two groups, and the cubic coefficients of sequences in at least two groups in one set are the same.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein: The pilot signal is determined according to a sequence within the range of the hopping group, including: the pilot signal is also determined according to the range of the hopping set, the range of the hopping set includes at least one set, and the range of the hopping group belongs to the at least one set.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein: The method further comprises: Send third indication information, where the third indication information indicates at least one of the following information: No intra-group hopping; or Perform inter-set hopping; or Perform hopping between multiple groups within a set; or Perform hopping between multiple groups within multiple sets; or Perform a jump between sequences within a group.

27. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 26, wherein the sequence x(n) satisfies: in, a is the coefficient of the cubic term of the sequence x(n), b is the coefficient of the quadratic term of the sequence x(n), c is the coefficient of the linear term of the sequence x(n), n is the index of the element in the sequence x(n), and N is the generated length of the sequence x(n).

28. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 27, wherein The method is applied to a first network device, and the method further includes: First information is sent to the second network device, where the first information indicates a range of the hopping group.

29. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or comprises a unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28.

30. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor, wherein the processor implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 when executing a computer program stored in a memory, or implements the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28 when executing the computer program.

31. The communication device according to claim 30, wherein: The apparatus further comprises a memory for the computer program.

32. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28.

33. A chip module, characterized in that: The invention comprises an interface component and a chip, wherein the chip is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28.

34. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 or the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28 is implemented.

35. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28 is implemented.

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