Communication method and related apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a related apparatus. The method comprises: receiving first information, the first information comprising a bias value; and sending second information, the second information being spread via an inter-symbol OCC of an orthogonal sequence, and the orthogonal sequence being used starting from an OCC element corresponding to the bias value. By using the embodiments of the present application, when different terminal devices are configured with the same PRB, OFDM symbols at the same positions of each terminal device achieve inter-symbol OCC spreading by means of OCC elements of the same index. Each OFDM symbol of each terminal device achieves inter-symbol OCC spreading by means of the same OCC elements, thereby increasing the success rate of information reception at the network side.

Description

Communication methods and related devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410594508.2, filed on May 10, 2024, entitled "Communication Method and Related Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and related apparatus. Background Technology

[0003] Orthogonal cover codes (OCCs) reuse the time-frequency resources of terminal devices within the same physical resource block (PRB) with almost no code rate loss for a given number of terminal devices. Therefore, they are commonly used in physical uplink shared channels (PUSCHs) to enhance system capacity and increase the transmission rate of terminal devices. OCCs can include inter-slot OCCs (OCC across slots), inter-symbol OCCs (OCC across OFDM symbols), inter-symbol group OCCs (OCC across OFDM symbol group), and intra-symbol OCCs (OCC within an OFDM symbol).

[0004] When using inter-symbol OCC for uplink transmission on a PUSCH, if the PUSCH contains uplink control information (UCI), it is usually necessary to use inter-symbol OCC for uplink transmission of the UCI as well. UCI includes three types of information: scheduling request (SR), hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, and channel state information (CSI).

[0005] Currently, HARQ-ACK starts from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying the demodulation reference signal (DMRS), while CSI starts from the first OFDM symbol without DMRS. This means HARQ-ACK and CSI may occupy the same OFDM symbol position. When using inter-symbol OCC for UCI, both HARQ-ACK and CSI OFDM symbols implement inter-symbol OCC extension starting from the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence. Thus, CSI and HARQ-ACK transmitted on the same OFDM symbol position may use different OCC elements, causing orthogonal sequence confusion and interference to other users, ultimately preventing the network from receiving the corresponding information. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application discloses a communication method and related apparatus, which enables different terminal devices to achieve inter-symbol OCC extension of OFDM symbols at the same position in each terminal device through OCC elements with the same sequence number when different terminal devices are configured with the same PRB. Each OFDM symbol of each terminal device achieves inter-symbol OCC extension through the same OCC element, thereby improving the success rate of information reception on the network side.

[0007] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application disclose a first communication method. This method can be applied to a terminal device, or a device within the terminal device (e.g., a chip, a chip system, or a circuit, etc.), or a device compatible with the terminal device. The following description uses a terminal device as an example. This terminal device can be a first terminal that transmits UCI or a second terminal that does not transmit UCI. The method includes: receiving first information, the first information including a bias value; and transmitting second information, the second information being extended by inter-symbol OCC of an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence starting from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value.

[0008] It is understandable that the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal transmitting UCI starts inter-symbol OCC extension from the OCC element corresponding to the offset value, thereby avoiding HARQ-ACK and CSI using different OCC elements on OFDM symbols at the same position. The network device can start inter-symbol OCC despreading from the OCC element corresponding to the offset value of the first terminal's orthogonal sequence, improving the success rate of the network side receiving information from the first terminal. Simultaneously, while the first terminal transmits UCI and uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data, the orthogonal sequence of the second terminal using the same PRB as the first terminal starts inter-symbol OCC extension from the OCC element corresponding to the offset value. This allows the OFDM symbols at the same position of the second terminal and the first terminal to achieve inter-symbol OCC extension using the same sequence number of OCC elements. The network device can start inter-symbol OCC despreading from the OCC element corresponding to the offset value of the second terminal's orthogonal sequence, improving the success rate of the network side receiving information from the second terminal.

[0009] In this context, OCC elements with the same sequence number refer to elements in the same position within an orthogonal sequence. For example, the orthogonal sequence length of the first terminal and the second terminal is 2. The orthogonal sequence of the first terminal includes W1(1) and W1(2), and the orthogonal sequence of the second terminal includes W2(1) and W2(2). Assuming that the first terminal and the second terminal are configured with the same PRB, including the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0 and OS#1 respectively, when the first terminal corresponds to W1(2) on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 and W1(1) on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1, the second terminal corresponds to W2(2) on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 and W2(1) on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1.

[0010] Secondly, this application discloses a second communication method, which can be applied to network devices, or devices within network devices (e.g., chips, chip systems, or circuits), or devices compatible with network devices. Taking a network device as an example, the method includes: sending first information, the first information including an offset value; and receiving second information, the second information being extended by inter-symbol OCC using an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence starting from the OCC element corresponding to the offset value. Thus, the terminal device sending the second information can implement inter-symbol OCC extension starting from the OCC element corresponding to the offset value, and the network device can implement inter-symbol OCC despreading starting from the OCC element corresponding to the offset value of the orthogonal sequence of the terminal device, improving the success rate of information reception on the network side.

[0011] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some feasible examples, the bias value is determined by the position of the first OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK of the first terminal. Specifically, the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK can be set as the first OCC element of the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal, thereby inferring the OCC elements corresponding to other OFDM symbols. The difference in sequence number between the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol and the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK is then used as the bias value, i.e., the bias value is equal to the sequence number of the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol minus 1. In this way, the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal starts from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value.

[0012] Optionally, the OCC elements corresponding to the CSI or HARQ-ACK positions belong to the same orthogonal sequence. This improves the efficiency of OCC expansion and despreading, thus increasing the success rate of OCC despreading.

[0013] In another feasible example, the first information includes the sequence number of the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol. That is, the first information indicates the sequence number of the OCC element used at the beginning of the orthogonal sequence. Thus, the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol can be determined according to this sequence number to achieve inter-symbol OCC extension.

[0014] In conjunction with the first aspect or the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the second information includes inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI.

[0015] Optionally, the second information also includes the inter-symbol OCC extension data of UL-SCH.

[0016] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some feasible examples, the position of the CSI begins from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS. That is, the position of the HARQ-ACK remains unchanged, while the position of the CSI changes. The starting position of the CSI is the same as the starting position of the HARQ-ACK, and the OCC elements corresponding to the starting positions of the CSI and HARQ-ACK are the first OCC element of the orthogonal sequence. Thus, the OFDM symbols occupied by the first CSI are the same as those occupied by the first HARQ-ACK, and inter-symbol OCC extension is implemented starting from the first OCC element of the orthogonal sequence, ensuring that CSI and HARQ-ACK transmitted on OFDM symbols at the same position use the same OCC element.

[0017] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some feasible examples, the method further includes: determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol based on the bias value, wherein the starting position of the CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence where the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS is located.

[0018] In other words, the position of HARQ-ACK remains unchanged. The position of CSI changes, and the starting position of CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS. Here, the starting position of CSI refers to the position of the OFDM symbol occupied by the first extended CSI. When the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the CSI to be extended is 1, the starting position of CSI is the position of CSI. When the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the CSI to be extended is greater than 1, the position of the OFDM symbol occupied by the first CSI is the starting position of CSI, and subsequent CSIs are determined from the OFDM symbols after the starting position of CSI, excluding the OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS. The position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol refers to the position of the OFDM symbol corresponding to each OCC element in the orthogonal sequence to which the OCC element of the OFDM symbol belongs. When the orthogonal sequence length is represented by L, the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol can be understood as the position of the L OFDM symbols that the OFDM symbol can be expanded to achieve inter-symbol OCC extension. Thus, the OFDM symbol occupied by a single CSI can be expanded to achieve inter-symbol OCC extension to obtain L OFDM symbols, and the OCC elements corresponding to these L OFDM symbols belong to the same orthogonal sequence. This improves the efficiency of OCC extension and despreading, and helps to increase the success rate of OCC despreading.

[0019] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some feasible examples, the information corresponding to the second information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol. The method further includes: determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol; and performing inter-symbol OCC expansion on the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol.

[0020] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some feasible examples, the information corresponding to the second information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol. The method further includes: determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol; and performing inter-symbol OCC despreading on the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol.

[0021] Thirdly, this application discloses a third communication method, which can be applied to a terminal device, a device within a terminal device, or a device compatible with a terminal device. The following description uses a terminal device as an example. The method includes: receiving third information, which is used to determine an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence including at least two OCC elements; and sending fourth information, which is extended by inter-symbol OCC of the orthogonal sequence, the fourth information including inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI, wherein the OCC element used by HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK.

[0022] It is understandable that the HARQ-ACK of the terminal device uses the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK. The HARQ-ACK will not use any other symbols besides the OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK. This can avoid the HARQ-ACK and CSI corresponding to different OCC elements on the OFDM symbol at the same position. The network device can achieve OCC despreading between symbols through the orthogonal sequence of the terminal device, which improves the success rate of the network side receiving information from the terminal device.

[0023] Fourthly, this application discloses a fourth communication method, which can be applied to a network device, a device within a network device, or a device compatible with a network device. The following description uses a network device as an example. The method includes: sending third information, which is used to determine an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence including at least two OCC elements; receiving fourth information, which has undergone inter-symbol OCC extension of the orthogonal sequence, the fourth information including inter-symbol OCC extension information for HARQ-ACK and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information for CSI, wherein the OCC element used by HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK. Thus, HARQ-ACK will not use any symbols other than the OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK, avoiding HARQ-ACK and CSI corresponding to different OCC elements on the same OFDM symbol. The network device can perform inter-symbol OCC despreading through the orthogonal sequence of the terminal device, improving the success rate of the network side receiving information from the terminal device.

[0024] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some feasible examples, the starting position of the CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS.

[0025] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some feasible examples, the method further includes: determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol, wherein the starting position of the HARQ-ACK is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS.

[0026] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some feasible examples, the starting position of the HARQ-ACK is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol after the OFDM symbol of the first group of consecutive DMRS.

[0027] Thus, the position of CSI remains unchanged, while the position of HARQ-ACK moves forward. Specifically, the starting position of HARQ-ACK can be the position of the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence corresponding to the OCC element of the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS. The starting position of HARQ-ACK can be referenced from the description of the starting position of CSI, and will not be repeated here. The position of HARQ-ACK can be adjusted according to the position of the orthogonal sequence corresponding to the original starting position of HARQ-ACK, so that the position of the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence corresponding to that OCC element is the modified starting position of HARQ-ACK. It can be understood that when the orthogonal sequence length is represented by L, the OFDM symbols occupied by a single HARQ-ACK can be expanded to L OFDM symbols when implementing inter-symbol OCC expansion, and the OCC elements corresponding to these L OFDM symbols belong to the same orthogonal sequence. This improves the efficiency of OCC expansion and despreading, and helps to increase the success rate of OCC despreading.

[0028] In conjunction with the third or fourth aspect, in some feasible examples, the position of the HARQ-ACK begins from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS. That is, the starting position of the CSI remains unchanged, the position of the HARQ-ACK changes, and the starting position of the HARQ-ACK is the same as the starting position of the CSI. Thus, the HARQ-ACK and CSI of the terminal device correspond to the same OCC element on the OFDM symbol at the same position. The position of the CSI may be due to the lack of REs occupied by the HARQ-ACK after mapping and punching.

[0029] In conjunction with the third or fourth aspect, in some feasible examples, the position of the HARQ-ACK starts from the i-th OFDM symbol, and the number of OFDM symbols in the first i-1 OFDM symbols, excluding those occupied by DMRS, is an integer multiple of the orthogonal sequence length. That is, the starting position of the CSI remains unchanged, but the position of the HARQ-ACK may change. This allows the HARQ-ACK to use an orthogonal sequence starting from the first OCC element.

[0030] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some feasible examples, the information corresponding to the fourth information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol. The method further includes: determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol; and performing inter-symbol OCC expansion on the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol.

[0031] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some feasible examples, the information corresponding to the fourth information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol. The method further includes: determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol; and performing inter-symbol OCC despreading on the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol.

[0032] Fifthly, embodiments of this application disclose a communication device, including units, modules, or means for performing the steps of the methods described in the first, second, third, or fourth aspects or any of them.

[0033] Sixthly, embodiments of this application disclose another communication device, which can be a terminal device or a network device. The communication device may include a processor configured to execute instructions stored in memory, or via logic circuitry, cause the communication device to perform any of the methods described above or any possible examples.

[0034] In some feasible examples, the communication device also includes one or more of a memory or transceiver for sending and receiving data and / or signaling.

[0035] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system including a terminal device and a network device, wherein when the terminal device and the network device are running in the communication system, they are used to perform the methods described in any of the above aspects or in feasible examples thereof.

[0036] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause any of the above-described methods or methods in feasible examples thereof to be performed.

[0037] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the methods in any of the above aspects or possible examples to be performed.

[0038] In a tenth aspect, this application provides a chip including a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to call and execute instructions stored in the memory, causing a communication device on which the chip is mounted to perform the methods of any of the above aspects or possible examples.

[0039] Eleventhly, this application provides another chip, including: an input interface, an output interface, and a processing circuit. The input interface, the output interface, and the processing circuit are connected via internal connection paths. The processing circuit is used to execute the method of any of the above aspects or possible examples. Optionally, the chip also includes a memory. The input interface, the output interface, the processor, and the memory are connected via internal connection paths. The processor is used to execute code in the memory. When the code is executed, the processor is used to execute the method of any of the above aspects or possible examples.

[0040] In a twelfth aspect, this application provides a chip system including at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and at least one processor being interconnected via a line, the at least one processor being used to run a computer program or instructions to perform the methods in any of the above aspects or possible examples.

[0041] It should be understood that the implementation and beneficial effects of the above-mentioned aspects can be mutually referenced. Attached Figure Description

[0042] The accompanying drawings used in the embodiments of this application are described below.

[0043] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0044] Figures 1B to 1D are schematic diagrams of the architecture of an NTN communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0045] Figure 2A is a schematic flowchart of a signal processing method provided in this application;

[0046] Figure 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of an inter-symbol OCC extension provided in this application;

[0047] Figure 3A is a flowchart illustrating another signal processing method provided in this application;

[0048] Figure 3B is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of an intra-symbol OCC extension provided in this application;

[0049] Figure 4A is a flowchart illustrating a method for mapping UCI and UL-SCH data provided by the prior art;

[0050] Figure 4B is a schematic diagram of a UCI and UL-SCH data mapping RE provided in this application;

[0051] Figure 5A is a flowchart illustrating another method for mapping UCI and UL-SCH data provided by the prior art;

[0052] Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of another UCI and UL-SCH data mapping RE provided in this application;

[0053] Figures 6A and 6B are respectively the data occupancy RE distribution diagrams of a UCI and UL-SCH proposed in this application;

[0054] Figure 7 is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0055] Figure 8 is another distribution diagram of data occupancy REs provided in this application for UCI and UL-SCH;

[0056] Figures 9A, 9B, and 9C are distribution diagrams of data occupancy REs for UCI and UL-SCH provided in this application, respectively.

[0057] Figure 10 is an interactive schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0058] Figures 11A, 11B, 11C, and 11D are distribution diagrams of data occupancy REs for UCI and UL-SCH provided in this application, respectively.

[0059] Figures 12A, 12B, 12C, and 12D are distribution diagrams of data occupancy REs for UCI and UL-SCH provided in this application, respectively.

[0060] Figure 13 is another distribution diagram of data occupancy REs for UCI and UL-SCH provided in this application;

[0061] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0062] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0063] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0064] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) communication systems, new radio (NR) communication systems, LTE-A advanced (LTE-A) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication systems, internet of things (IoT) communication systems, narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) communication systems, integrated sensing and communication systems, frequency division duplex (FDD) communication systems, time division duplex (TDD) communication systems, non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication systems, wireless projection communication systems, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) communication systems, public land mobile network (PLMN) communication systems, and non-public networks. The scope is open to all communication systems, including network (NPN) communication systems, as well as those applied to future communication systems, or non-3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) communication systems, without restriction.

[0065] For example, please refer to Figure 1A, which is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture. As shown in Figure 1A, the communication system may include at least one terminal device and at least one network device. The terminal device can be connected to the network device wirelessly or via a wired connection, enabling uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) communication between the terminal device and the network device. Terminal devices can also be connected wirelessly or via a wired connection, enabling sidelink (SL) communication between them.

[0066] Terminal devices and network devices, network devices and network devices, and terminal devices and terminal devices can communicate using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. This application does not limit the spectrum resources used by terminal devices and network devices.

[0067] The terminal equipment involved in this application is a user-side entity used to receive or transmit signals, providing voice and / or data to the user. Terminal equipment may also be referred to as a terminal, user equipment (UE), access terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile device, mobile station, mobile station, mobile terminal, mobile client, mobile unit, remote station, remote terminal, remote unit, wireless unit, wireless communication equipment, user agent, or user device, etc. Among them, the access terminal can be a cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle device, wearable device, terminal in a future communication system, terminal in a future evolved PLMN, or terminal in a future NPN, etc. In the embodiments of this application, the chip used in the above-mentioned equipment can also be referred to as a terminal device. Hereinafter, it is sometimes simply referred to as a terminal.

[0068] In Figure 1A, network devices are exemplified as access network (AN) devices. Access network devices, also known as radio access network (RAN) devices, or simply access networks, are nodes or devices that connect terminal devices to a wireless network. In other words, the access network provides access services to terminal devices, enabling them to access (or connect to) the network. Access networks can support both wired and wireless access.

[0069] Optionally, the access network consists of multiple AN / RAN nodes. AN / RAN nodes may include, but are not limited to: access points (APs), enhanced node Bs (eNBs), home evolved Node Bs (HNBs), baseband units (BBUs), next-generation node Bs (gNBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), transmission points (TPs), or other access nodes, such as wireless relay nodes or wireless backhaul nodes. AN / RAN nodes may be one or more antenna panels, or network nodes constituting gNBs or transmission points, such as BBUs or distributed units (DUs), or devices performing RAN functions in communication systems such as D2D, V2X, M2M, and U2U. AN / RAN nodes can be radio controllers in cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenarios, open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), or access networks in future communication systems, etc., without any limitations.

[0070] It should be noted that although the network architecture shown in Figure 1A shows the access network and terminal equipment, the application scenario may not be limited to the access network and terminal equipment. For example, it may also include equipment for carrying virtualized network functions. These are obvious to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail here.

[0071] Furthermore, the number and types of network devices and terminal devices included in the network architecture shown in Figure 1A are merely examples, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. For example, it may also include more or fewer terminal devices communicating with the network devices. As another example, it may also include more or fewer network devices communicating with the terminal devices. For the sake of brevity, they are not described one by one in the accompanying drawings.

[0072] Optionally, the communication system may also include network devices not shown in Figure 1A, such as core network (CN) devices, data network devices, etc.

[0073] In different communication systems, core network equipment (hereinafter referred to as core network) can correspond to different devices. For example, in a 3G communication system, it can correspond to the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and / or the Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN); in a 4G communication system, it can correspond to the Mobility Management Entity (MME) and / or the Serving Gateway (S-GW); and in a 5G communication system, it can correspond to the aforementioned Policy Control Function (PCF) network elements, Unified Data Management (UDM) network elements, Application Function (AF) network elements, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) network elements, Session Management Function (SMF) network elements, Location Management Function (LMF) network elements, and User Plane Function (UPF) network elements, etc.

[0074] Among them, the UPF network element is responsible for managing the transmission of user plane data and quality of service (QoS) control, traffic statistics and other functions. It can perform user data packet forwarding according to the routing rules of the session management network element, such as sending uplink data to the data network or other user plane network elements, and forwarding downlink data to other user plane network elements or (R)AN network elements.

[0075] The AMF (Access Default Mode) network element is responsible for user access management, security authentication, and mobility management. The LMF (Local Mode Default Mode) network element manages and controls location service requests from target terminals and processes location-related information. The SMF (Supply, Service Default Mode) network element manages sessions, allocating and releasing resources for terminal device sessions. The UDM (User Default Mode) network element manages the context of user subscriptions, such as storing terminal device subscription information. The PCF (Policy and Charging Rules Function) network element is responsible for user policy management. Similar to the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) network element in LTE, it is primarily responsible for policy authorization, quality of service (QoS), and generating charging rules, and distributing these rules to the UPF (User Default Mode) network element via the SMF network element to complete the installation of the corresponding policies and rules. The AF (Application Default Mode) network element can be a third-party application control platform or the operator's own equipment. The AF network element is responsible for application management and can provide services to multiple application servers.

[0076] In this embodiment, the data network device is hereinafter referred to as the data network. The data network is used to provide business services to users. Generally, the client is a terminal, and the server is the data network. The data network provided by the data network may include a private network, such as a local area network (LAN). The data network may also include an external network not managed by an operator, such as the Internet. Alternatively, the data network may include a proprietary network jointly deployed by operators, such as a network providing Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services.

[0077] In some embodiments, network devices and terminal devices may also be referred to as communication devices, which may be general-purpose devices or special-purpose devices. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0078] This application does not limit the location of the terminal equipment and network equipment; the terminal equipment and network equipment can be in a fixed state or in a mobile state. The terminal equipment and network equipment can be deployed on land, or on water, in the air, etc.

[0079] In this embodiment, network devices deployed in the air can be referred to as non-terrestrial network devices, and network devices deployed on the ground can be referred to as terrestrial network devices. An NTN communication system includes at least one non-terrestrial network device, while network devices in a terrestrial communication system are all terrestrial network devices. Terrestrial network devices, relative to non-terrestrial network devices, are stationary or move at a relatively slow speed. In other words, non-terrestrial network devices, relative to terrestrial network devices, can be high-speed mobile network devices.

[0080] Non-terrestrial network equipment may include satellites, high-altitude platforms (HAPs), drones, hot air balloons, low-Earth orbit satellites, medium-Earth orbit satellites, high-Earth orbit satellites, etc., without limitation. The term "satellite" in this application can refer to a collection of satellites and other network equipment related to satellite communication; therefore, in this application, the descriptions "satellite" and "satellite network equipment" are equivalent.

[0081] In an NTN communication network, access network equipment can be deployed in the following three ways:

[0082] In the first deployment method, non-terrestrial network equipment can serve as RAN (Access Service) functions. Terrestrial network equipment that does not serve as RAN functions can communicate with the core network through ground stations (such as NTN gateways) in the terrestrial network equipment to solve coverage problems in remote areas such as mountainous and marine regions.

[0083] In the second deployment method, non-terrestrial network equipment and ground stations in terrestrial network equipment can serve as radio frequency units, and access networks (such as base stations) other than ground stations in terrestrial network equipment can serve as RAN functions.

[0084] In the third deployment method, no non-terrestrial network equipment is deployed to perform RAN functions, and no terrestrial network equipment is deployed. The RAN functions are performed by the access network (such as base stations) of the terrestrial network equipment, excluding the terrestrial stations.

[0085] Please refer to Figures 1B to 1D, which are schematic diagrams of the architecture of an NTN communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. In Figures 1B to 1D, a 5G communication system is used as an example to illustrate the NTN communication system. The access network can be a next-generation radio access network (NG-RAN), and the core network can be a 5G core network (5G CN). This architecture can be understood as an NTN-based NG-RAN architecture.

[0086] The interface between the terminal equipment and the access network is called the air interface, such as the NR Uu interface. The NG interface, as the interface between the access network and the core network, is mainly used for exchanging non-access stratum (NAS) signaling in the core network, as well as user service data. The Xn interface is the interface between access networks, mainly used for exchanging handover signaling. The N6 interface can be the interface between the core network and the data network.

[0087] It should be noted that the above interfaces are exemplified using a 5G communication system. Different communication systems may use different names. For example, in a 4G communication system, the interface between access networks can be an X2 interface, and the interface between the access network and the core network can be an S1 interface, etc. Of course, in future communications, the names of these interfaces may remain unchanged or can be replaced with other names; this application does not limit this.

[0088] As shown in Figures 1B to 1D, an NTN system may include at least one terminal device, at least one non-terrestrial network device, and at least one terrestrial network device. Specifically, in Figure 1B, the non-terrestrial network device is a satellite, and the terrestrial network device includes a ground station, a 5G base station, a 5G user plane processing unit, a 5G control plane processing unit, and data network equipment.

[0089] The 5G core network equipment consists of multiple functional units, which can be divided into control plane and data plane functional entities, as shown in Figures 1B to 1D: the 5G control plane processing unit and the 5G user plane processing unit. The 5G control plane processing unit may include the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) network elements and Location Management Function (LMF) network elements shown in Figures 1B to 1D, and may also include PCF, UDM, AF, SMF, etc. (not shown in the figures). The ground station is responsible for forwarding signaling and service data between the satellite (access network equipment) and the core network equipment. The functions of terminal equipment and various network devices are as described above and will not be repeated here.

[0090] The system architecture shown in Figure 1B can be called a transparent satellite access architecture (e.g., RAN architecture with transparent satellite). As shown in Figure 1B, terminal devices access the network through the air interface, and 5G base stations are deployed on the ground and connected to ground stations for satellite communication, which can be understood as the second deployment method mentioned above. In the scenario corresponding to this architecture, the role of the satellite is: radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion and amplification. That is to say, the satellite can achieve transparent transmission and forwarding, acting as a layer 1 delay to regenerate physical layer signals, without having other higher protocol layers.

[0091] The satellite shown in Figure 1C can be called a regenerative satellite without an inter-satellite link (ISL). The terminal device accesses the network via the air interface. The access network equipment is specifically a 5G base station deployed on the satellite and connected to the core network equipment via a wireless link. This can be understood as the first deployment method mentioned above.

[0092] The satellite shown in Figure 1D can be referred to as a regenerative sanitary system with inter-satellite links (ISLs). The ISL between the two satellites is connected via the Xn interface. Signaling interaction and user data transmission between the satellites can be completed between access network devices, which can be understood as the third deployment method mentioned above.

[0093] In this embodiment, the terminal device or network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also referred to as main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as Linux, Unix, Android, iOS, or Windows. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. Furthermore, this embodiment does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution entity of the method provided in this embodiment, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in this embodiment by running a program that records the code of the method provided in this embodiment. For example, the execution entity of the method provided in this embodiment can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or network device that can call and execute a program.

[0094] Furthermore, various aspects or features of this application can be implemented as methods, apparatus, or articles of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein encompasses a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes), optical discs (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). The various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0095] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, definitions of technical terms that may appear in the embodiments of this application are given below. The terminology used in the implementation section of this application is only used to explain specific embodiments of this application and is not intended to limit this application.

[0096] (1) Modulation and Demodulation. Modulation is the process of processing the information from the signal source and adding it to the carrier wave to transform it into a form suitable for channel transmission. Modulation methods can include multi-carrier modulation, single-carrier modulation, quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), phase shift keying (PSK) modulation, amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation, binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation, etc. Demodulation is the reverse process of modulation, recovering the original data bits or symbols from the signal. Demodulation is sometimes referred to as detection.

[0097] (2) Time-frequency resources, including time-domain resources and frequency-domain resources.

[0098] Temporal resources refer to one or more consecutive temporal resource units distributed in the temporal domain. Temporal resource units can be simply referred to as temporal units and may include superframes, radio frames (simply referred to as frames), subframes, slots, sub-slots, symbols, etc., without limitation here.

[0099] In the embodiments of this application, the symbol can be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0100] Frequency domain resources refer to one or more consecutive resource elements (REs) distributed in the frequency domain. Consecutive REs in the frequency domain can be called a resource block (RB). An RE is defined as the resource bounded by one symbol in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. A subcarrier can be understood as the smallest granularity of a frequency domain resource; one RE can be called one subcarrier. For example, an RB in an LTE communication system includes 12 subcarriers, and an RB in an NR communication system also includes 12 subcarriers. As communication systems evolve, the number of subcarriers included in an RB can be other values. At the physical layer, an RB is called a physical resource block (PRB).

[0101] (3) OFDM and Discrete Fourier Transform Spreading OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM). OFDM technology converts a high-speed data stream into multiple parallel low-speed data streams through serial-to-parallel conversion, then distributes them across several subcarriers of different frequencies for transmission. OFDM utilizes mutually orthogonal subcarriers, resulting in overlapping subcarrier spectra. DFT-s-OFDM is a derivative technology based on OFDM. DFT-s-OFDM features a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) per carrier and is currently used in LTE and NR communication systems for transmitting uplink signals.

[0102] The following example illustrates a signal transmission method based on OFDM technology. The signal reception method is the reverse process and will not be explained in detail. Specifically, the transmitting end first performs channel coding modulation on the signal, and then maps the frequency domain to obtain a signal suitable for transmission in the channel. Then, OFDM modulation is performed, and the signal is transmitted to the channel. The channel coding modulation method can be at least one of the aforementioned QAM, PAM, PSK modulation, ASK modulation, BPSK modulation, etc., and is not limited here.

[0103] In this embodiment, OFDM modulation involves adding a cyclic prefix (CP) and performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). After OFDM modulation and before transmission to the channel, the signal can undergo a series of processing steps, such as transmit power adjustment. The receiving antenna performs a series of processing steps on the received signal, such as automatic gain control, to ensure that the receiving end can properly process the signal.

[0104] Compared to OFDM-based signal transmission methods, DFT-s-OFDM-based signal transmission methods involve an additional DFT step on the channel-coded modulated signal before frequency domain mapping, following channel coding modulation. DFT-s-OFDM processes the subcarriers used by each user, converting them from the time domain to the frequency domain. Then, each user's frequency domain signal is OFDM modulated, thus converting all user signals back to the time domain and transmitting them together. Through this DFT improvement, the signal returns to the time domain. In other words, DFT-s-OFDM precodes the DFT-processed signal. In the protocol, DFT is called "transform precoding." Precoding is used at the transmitting end to process the data. Typically, precoding is performed in units of RB or RGB. It can be understood that precoding after channel coding modulation and before frequency domain mapping reduces system overhead, increases system capacity, and also reduces bit error rate and interference.

[0105] (4) DMRS can be used to recover the received data signal. DMRS is a signal known to the receiver. Based on the received data signal and the known DMRS signal, the receiver can obtain the fading characteristics of the wireless channel, that is, the channel coefficient of the wireless channel, and use it to recover the received data signal.

[0106] (5) The physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) is a channel used to carry control signaling from terminal equipment to network equipment. It contains control-related information, such as uplink control information (UCI). PUCCHs are divided into two types: long-duration PUCCHs, occupying 4 to 14 consecutive OFDM symbols, are transmitted using frequency hopping, with DMRS and UCI carried by different symbols. OCC spreading can be used in each frequency hopping section to increase capacity. Short-duration PUCCHs, occupying 1 to 2 OFDM symbols, can carry information in the frequency domain PRB, or DMRS and UCI can occupy different subcarriers for frequency division. Within a time slot, the PUCCH can be transmitted from any location.

[0107] (6) PUSCH is the channel on the terminal equipment for transmitting data and some control information. Information in both PUSCH and PUCCH is transmitted in units of subframes. A subframe includes at least one time slot, and each time slot contains several DFT-S-OFDM symbols. In the time domain, DMRS and PUSCH / PUCCH are transmitted on different DFT-S-OFDM symbols; in the frequency domain, DMRS and PUSCH / PUCCH are transmitted within the same resource block.

[0108] (7) OCC reuses the time and frequency resources of terminal devices in the same PRB and has almost no code rate loss for a given number of terminal devices. Therefore, it is often used in PUSCH to enhance system capacity and increase the transmission rate of terminal devices.

[0109] The basic principle of OCC is to encode user data so that orthogonal sequences from different users are orthogonal in the code domain, thereby achieving non-interference between multiple users. Specifically, OCC uses an orthogonal matrix as the encoding matrix, and multiplies the user data by the encoding matrix to obtain the encoded sequence. At the receiver, by multiplying with the transpose of the encoding matrix, interference signals from other users can be eliminated, thus achieving decoding of the user data.

[0110] In this embodiment, the orthogonal matrix comprises multiple orthogonal sequences, which are mutually orthogonal. Orthogonal sequences are also referred to as coded sequences or OCC sequences. Optionally, the orthogonal matrix may include DFT codes, Hadamard codes, etc., where Hadamard codes can also be called Walsh codes. By assigning different orthogonal sequences to different terminal devices, the same physical resources (the same time and the same frequency) can be multiplexed by multiple terminal devices, and the data transmitted after multiplexing is orthogonal in the code domain.

[0111] For example, the orthogonal matrices corresponding to OCC include matrices A and B as shown below. In matrix A, the orthogonal sequences include W1 assigned to terminal A and W2 assigned to terminal B. In matrix B, the orthogonal sequences are assigned to W3 for terminal C, W4 for terminal D, W5 for terminal E, and W6 for terminal F. Specifically, W1 = {1 1}, W2 = {1 -1}, W3 = {1 1 1 1}, W4 = {1 1 -1 -1}, W5 = {1 -1 1 -1}, and W6 = {1 -1 -1 1}.

[0112] In this embodiment, the orthogonal sequence length refers to the number of values ​​in the orthogonal sequence. The values ​​in the orthogonal sequence may also be called OCC elements, and the orthogonal sequence length may also be called the spreading factor or spreading factor. This application does not limit the size of the orthogonal sequence length; for example, 2, 4, etc. For example, the orthogonal sequence length of matrix A is 2, and the orthogonal sequence length of matrix B is 4.

[0113] Currently, OCC can be divided into inter-slot OCC, inter-symbol OCC, inter-symbol OCC, and intra-symbol OCC. Inter-slot OCC uses time slots as the extension unit to extend data. Specifically, it extends each time slot configured by the network device according to the orthogonal sequence length, resulting in the time slot and its extended form's corresponding time slot group. The number of time slots in each time slot group is equal to the orthogonal sequence length, ensuring that the number of extended time slots is an integer multiple of the orthogonal sequence length. The data in each time slot within each time slot group is multiplied by an OCC element from the orthogonal sequence. The data in each time slot within each time slot group is identical, but the OCC element multiplied by the data in each time slot within each time slot group is different.

[0114] Inter-symbol OCC uses OFDM symbols as the extension unit to extend data. Specifically, each OFDM symbol configured in the network device is extended according to the orthogonal sequence length, resulting in a symbol group corresponding to the original OFDM symbol and its extended form. The number of OFDM symbols in each symbol group is equal to the orthogonal sequence length, ensuring that the number of extended symbols is an integer multiple of the orthogonal sequence length. Each OFDM symbol in each symbol group is multiplied by an OCC element from the orthogonal sequence. The data on each OFDM symbol in each symbol group is the same, but the OCC element multiplied by the data on each OFDM symbol in each symbol group is different.

[0115] During inter-symbol OCC extension, the OFDM symbols in each symbol group are implemented sequentially through the corresponding OCC elements according to the order of the OCC elements in the orthogonal sequence. For example, if the length of the orthogonal sequence is 4, and the OCC elements in the orthogonal sequence are w(1), w(2), w(3), and w(4), and the network device configures 3 OFDM symbols for the terminal device, then the number of OFDM symbols obtained after inter-symbol OCC extension of the orthogonal sequence is 12. Assuming these 12 OFDM symbols are the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0-OS#11 respectively, then the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0-OS#3 form one symbol group, the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#4-OS#7 form another symbol group, and the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#8-OS#11 form yet another symbol group. The data transmitted on each OFDM symbol in each symbol group is the same, and each OFDM symbol in each symbol group is extended between symbols by passing the corresponding OCC elements in the order of w(1), w(2), w(3), and w(4). Taking the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0-OS#3 as an example, the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 corresponds to w(1), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1 corresponds to w(2), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#2 corresponds to w(3), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 corresponds to w(4).

[0116] Inter-symbol OCC extends data using OFDM symbol groups as the extension unit. Specifically, each OFDM symbol configured on the network device is first extended according to the orthogonal sequence length, ensuring the number of extended symbols is an integer multiple of the orthogonal sequence length. Then, the extended OFDM symbols are grouped according to the orthogonal sequence length, resulting in at least two symbol groups. The number of symbol groups is equal to the orthogonal sequence length; that is, the number of OFDM symbols in each symbol group is the quotient of the total number of extended OFDM symbols and the orthogonal sequence length. The data on each OFDM symbol in each symbol group is multiplied by an OCC element from the orthogonal sequence, and this multiplication is performed using the same OCC element as the data on each OFDM symbol in each symbol group. The data on each OFDM symbol within each symbol group is different, but the data on corresponding OFDM symbols within different symbol groups is the same.

[0117] During inter-symbol OCC extension, the OCC elements used by each symbol group are implemented sequentially through an OCC element in an orthogonal sequence according to the order of the symbol groups. For example, the length of the orthogonal sequence is 4, and the OCC elements in the orthogonal sequence are w(1), w(2), w(3), and w(4). If the number of OFDM symbols configured by the network device for the terminal device is 3, then the number of OFDM symbols obtained by inter-symbol OCC extension of the orthogonal sequence is 12. Assuming that these 12 OFDM symbols are the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0-OS#11 respectively, the number of symbol groups is 4, and the number of OFDM symbols in each symbol group is equal to the quotient of 12 and 4, which is 3, then the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0-OS#2 are one symbol group, the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3-OS#5 are one symbol group, the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#6-OS#8 are one symbol group, and the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#9-OS#11 are one symbol group. The OCC elements used in the symbol groups are used sequentially from the orthogonal sequence according to the order of the symbol groups. Each OFDM symbol in each symbol group uses the same OCC element; that is, each OFDM symbol in the symbol groups corresponding to OS#0-OS#2 corresponds to w(1), each OFDM symbol in the symbol groups corresponding to OS#3-OS#5 corresponds to w(2), each OFDM symbol in the symbol groups corresponding to OS#6-OS#8 corresponds to w(3), and each OFDM symbol in the symbol groups corresponding to OS#9-OS#11 corresponds to w(4). The unextended data on the corresponding OFDM symbols in each symbol group is the same; that is, the unextended data on the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0, OS#3, OS#6, and OS#9 is the same; the unextended data on the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#1, OS#4, OS#7, and OS#10 is the same; and the unextended data on the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#2, OS#5, OS#8, and OS#11 is the same.

[0118] In the embodiments of this application, the data on a time slot or OFDM symbol before undergoing OCC spreading of an orthogonal sequence can be referred to as data to be spread, and after spreading, it can be referred to as spread data. Both the data to be spread and the spread data include the form of complex value symbol blocks. The spreading of complex value symbol blocks can also be referred to as block spreading (or block-like spreading) of complex value symbol blocks.

[0119] For example, please refer to Figure 2A, which is a schematic flowchart of a signal processing method provided in this application. As shown in Figure 2A, the method includes the following steps, wherein:

[0120] S201: Perform block segmentation and encoding on the transport block to obtain the block code.

[0121] Step S201 is applicable to cases where the transport block is large, and may specifically include: dividing the transport block into code blocks to obtain multiple code blocks; adding a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code to the end of each code block; and performing channel coding (such as Hamming code, convolutional code, Turbo code, Polar code, etc.) on the code blocks with added CRC so that the receiver can detect or correct errors that occur during transmission to achieve reliable transmission, thereby obtaining block code.

[0122] Optionally, after channel coding, the method may further include: rate matching of the channel-coded block codes to achieve information and resource matching; or concatenating the channel-coded block codes or rate-matched block codes to link individual block codes together.

[0123] S202: Scramble the block code to obtain the first complex value symbol block.

[0124] Scrambling involves multiplying the original signal by a scrambling code to obtain a new signal. If the block code is represented by b(i) and the scrambling sequence by c(i), the data in the first complex-valued symbol block can be represented by d(i), where d(i) = c(i) * b(i). In a general sense, scrambling is a modulation technique. The inverse operation of scrambling is descrambling. By scrambling the code block, the resulting first complex-valued symbol block is broken down in both the time and frequency domains compared to the block code.

[0125] S203: Modulate the first complex value symbol block to obtain the second complex value symbol block.

[0126] The modulation can be referred to in the aforementioned definition and will not be repeated here. The data in the second complex-valued symbol block can be represented by x(i). After modulation, the symbol in the time slot can be called either the modulation symbol or the first symbol.

[0127] S204: Pre-encode the second complex number symbol block to obtain the third complex number symbol block.

[0128] The precoding can be a DFT, as described above, and will not be repeated here. The data in the third complex numerical symbol block can be represented by y(i).

[0129] S205: The third complex value symbol block is extended based on the orthogonal sequence to obtain the fourth complex value symbol block.

[0130] Among them, the spread is also called block spread or block-type spread, and when spread in the frequency domain, it can also be called spread spectrum. The data in the fourth complex value symbol block can be represented by z(i). Step S205 can be implemented by inter-slot OCC spread, or by inter-symbol OCC spread and inter-symbol group OCC spread, both of which satisfy the following equation (1).

[0131] Among them, w i (m) is an orthogonal sequence, and y(n) is the complex value symbol block to be expanded (the third complex value symbol block). This is the expanded complex number symbol block (the fourth complex number symbol block). n represents the order of the data in the complex number symbol block, and m represents the order of the values ​​in the orthogonal sequence. The number of PRBs allocated to terminal devices. This represents the number of subcarriers in each RB. The length of the orthogonal sequence. Inter-symbol OCC can be applied to PUSCH across DFT-s-OFDM symbols, specifically, for blocks of complex-valued symbols. Mapped onto the subcarrier corresponding to the DFT-s-OFDM symbol, and using the orthogonal sequence w according to formula (1). i (m) Perform block-by-block expansion. A is the number of DFT-s-OFDM symbols in the symbol group. When using inter-symbol OCC expansion, A is 1. When using inter-symbol OCC, A is greater than 1.

[0132] For example, Then m = 0, 1, 2, 3, meaning the number of values ​​in the orthogonal sequence of the terminal devices is 4. If =1, If n = 12, then n = 0, ..., 11, meaning the number of data in the third complex number symbol block is 12, and each data is expanded 4 times. The number of data in the fourth complex number symbol block is 12 * 4, which is 48.

[0133] For example, please refer to Figure 2B, which is a schematic diagram of the principle of inter-symbol OCC extension provided in this application. In Figure 2B, the horizontal axis represents the time domain, and there are two time slots, slot #1 and slot #2. Each time slot includes two OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS. OFDM symbols with the same sequence number indicate that the data to be extended on these OFDM symbols is the same. As shown in Figure 2B, the orthogonal sequence length is 2, and the number of OFDM symbols to be extended (excluding OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS) configured on each time slot is 6. After extension, the number of OFDM symbols that can be extended through inter-symbol OCC on each time slot is 12, and the number of OFDM symbols with the same sequence number is 2. The orthogonal sequence includes two values, w(1) and w(2). If the orthogonal sequence is W1 in the example above, then both w(1) and w(2) can be 1. If the orthogonal sequence is W2 in the example above, then w(1) can be 1 and w(2) can be -1. w(1) can be multiplied by the data on the original OFDM symbol, and w(2) can be multiplied by the data on the original OFDM symbol on the expanded OFDM symbol. Alternatively, w(2) can be multiplied by the data on the original OFDM symbol, and w(1) can be multiplied by the data on the original OFDM symbol on the expanded OFDM symbol. Thus, by multiplying different OCC elements in the orthogonal sequence by the data on the original or expanded OFDM symbol, OCC expansion between symbols can be achieved.

[0134] S206: Perform IFFT on the fourth complex number symbol block to obtain the fifth complex number symbol block.

[0135] The IFFT and related optional steps can be found in the description of DFT-s-OFDM technology, and will not be repeated here.

[0136] In the method shown in Figure 2A, the steps of inter-slot OCC spreading or inter-symbol OCC spreading are performed after precoding. Inter-slot OCC spreading of orthogonal sequences enables the expansion of time slots and the transmission of data through the expanded time slots. Inter-symbol OCC spreading of orthogonal sequences enables the expansion of OFDM symbols and the transmission of data through the expanded OFDM symbols.

[0137] Intra-symbol OCC extension uses symbols within an OFDM symbol as extension units to extend data using OCC. In this embodiment, the symbols within the OFDM symbol are referred to as second symbols, which can specifically be complex symbols. The second symbol can be understood as the frequency domain symbol of the OFDM symbol, hereinafter referred to as RE to describe the second symbol or frequency domain unit, which can be a subcarrier. Specifically, intra-symbol OCC extension extends each frequency domain unit of the OFDM symbol configured by the network device according to the orthogonal sequence length, obtaining each frequency domain unit and the corresponding RE group for the extended frequency domain unit. The number of frequency domain units in each RE group is equal to the orthogonal sequence length, ensuring that the number of extended symbols is an integer multiple of the orthogonal sequence length. The data on each RE in each RE group is multiplied by an OCC element in the orthogonal sequence, and the OCC element multiplied by the data on each RE in each RE group is the same. The data on each RE in each RE group is different, but the data on REs in corresponding orders within each RE group are the same.

[0138] For example, please refer to Figure 3A, which is a flowchart illustrating another signal processing method provided in this application. As shown in Figure 3A, the method includes the following steps, wherein:

[0139] S301: Perform block segmentation and encoding on the transport block to obtain the block code.

[0140] S302: Scramble the block code to obtain the first complex value symbol block.

[0141] S303: Modulate the first complex value symbol block to obtain the second complex value symbol block.

[0142] The steps S301 to S303 can be referred to the description of steps S201 to S203, and will not be repeated here.

[0143] S304: The second complex value symbol block is extended based on the orthogonal sequence to obtain the third complex value symbol block.

[0144] Here, the extension is also called block extension or block-based extension. The data in the third complex-valued symbol block can be represented by x(i). Step S304 specifically involves performing OCC in-slot spread on the second complex-valued symbol block based on an orthogonal sequence to obtain the third complex-valued symbol block. The formula for in-symbol OCC extension satisfies the following equation (2).

[0145] in, The description can be found in equation (1), and will not be repeated here. M symb This represents the number of symbols transmitted. k and l are used to distinguish parameters. This represents the expanded complex number symbol block (the third complex number symbol block). This represents an orthogonal sequence. This represents the complex number symbol block to be expanded (the second complex number symbol block), such as d(0), ..., d(M). symb -1).

[0146] For example, if =1, If it is 12, then k = 0, 1, ..., 11. That is, the number of values ​​in the orthogonal sequence of the terminal device is 4. M symb =3, then l=0, that is, the data of the second complex value symbol block is d(0),…,d(M) symb -1), that is, 3 data to be expanded, each data is expanded 4 times, resulting in 12 data after expansion, that is, the third complex number symbol block includes 12 data.

[0147] For example, please refer to Figure 3B, which is a schematic diagram of an intra-symbol OCC extension provided in this application. In Figure 3B, the horizontal axis represents the time domain, and the vertical axis represents the frequency domain. Figure 3B uses an OFDM symbol, M symb =6, with an OCC length of 2 for example. As shown in Figure 3B, the frequency domain resources configured on this OFDM symbol are 6 REs, and after expansion, the OFDM symbol includes 12 REs. These 12 REs include 2 RE groups, and the data on each RE in the RE group is multiplied by the same OCC element. The number of REs with the same index is 2, and REs with the same index indicate that the data to be expanded on these REs is the same. The orthogonal sequence includes 2 values, w(1) and w(2). w(1) can be multiplied by the data on each RE in the RE group before expansion, and w(2) can be multiplied by the data on each RE in the expanded RE group. Alternatively, w(2) can be multiplied by the data on each RE in the RE group before expansion, and w(1) can be multiplied by the data on each RE in the expanded RE group. In this way, by multiplying the data on the RE before or after expansion by different OCC elements in the orthogonal sequence, intra-symbol OCC expansion can be achieved.

[0148] S305: Pre-encode the third complex number symbol block to obtain the fourth complex number symbol block.

[0149] S306: Perform IFFT on the fourth complex number symbol block to obtain the fifth complex number symbol block.

[0150] Step S305 can be referred to step S204, and step S306 can be referred to the description of step S206, and will not be repeated here.

[0151] It is understandable that in the method shown in Figure 3A, the step of employing intra-symbol OCC extension is performed before precoding, which can realize the data extension to be transmitted on different second symbols of the same OFDM symbol.

[0152] (8) UCI ​​includes three types of information: scheduling request (SR), hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), and channel state information (CSI). HARQ-ACK and CSI can be transmitted on the PUSCH along with data from the uplink shared channel (UL-SCH). CSI consists of two parts: CSI-Part1 and CSI-Part2. CSI-Part1 has a fixed payload size and is used to acknowledge the information bits of CSI-Part2; therefore, CSI-Part1 is always transmitted before CSI-Part2.

[0153] This application primarily relates to the process of HARQ-ACK and / or CSI, and the transmission of UL-SCH data in the PUSCH. In the embodiments of this application, UL-SCH data is sometimes simply referred to as data. Unless otherwise defined, CSI includes CSI-Part1 and CSI-Part2.

[0154] UCI is transmitted on OFDM symbols that do not carry DMRS. Before mapping UL-SCH data and UCI to REs, the process typically includes steps such as generating raw bits, generating coded bits, rate matching, and generating modulation symbols. The mapping process of UCI to REs depends on the number of REs available for UCI transmission and the number of remaining REs for that type of UCI. If, on a given OFDM symbol, the number of REs required for that type of UCI exceeds half the number of REs available for UCI transmission on that OFDM symbol, then that type of UCI is continuously mapped to REs; otherwise, UCIs are mapped uniformly and distributed across the REs of that OFDM symbol to achieve diversity gain.

[0155] Currently, the location of CSI can be accessed via... Sure, This indicates that the starting position of CSI is the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS (denote). as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS). The location of HARQ-ACK is via l (1) Confirmed, l (1) The starting position of HARQ-ACK is the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS (denote l). (1) as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol after the first set of consecutive OFDM symbol(s)carrying DMRS).

[0156] It should be noted that there may be a single OFDM symbol carrying DMRS. That is, the number of OFDM symbols in the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS can be at least 1.

[0157] If frequency hopping exists, the above and l (1) It must also be limited to the first jump, that is This indicates that the starting position of CSI is the first OFDM symbol in the first hop that does not carry DMRS (denote). as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS in the first hop). l (1) The starting position of HARQ-ACK is the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS in the first hop (denote l) (1) as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol after the first set of consecutive OFDM symbol(s)carrying DMRS in the first hop). This indicates that the starting position of CSI is the first OFDM symbol in the second hop that does not carry DMRS (denote). as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS in the second hop). l (2) The starting position of HARQ-ACK is the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS in the second hop (denote l). (1) as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol after the first set of consecutive OFDM symbol(s)carrying DMRS in the second hop).

[0158] HARQ-ACK mapping begins with the first OFDM symbol following the first consecutive OFDM symbol carrying DMRS, while CSI mapping begins with the first OFDM symbol not carrying DMRS. CSI-Part 1 is mapped first, followed by CSI-Part 2. The UCI mapping process can be divided into two cases: in the first case, if the number of HARQ-ACK bits is less than or equal to 2, HARQ-ACK is mapped using a puncturing method; in the second case, if the number of HARQ-ACK bits is greater than 2, HARQ-ACK is mapped using a rate-matching method.

[0159] For example, please refer to Figure 4A, which is a flowchart illustrating a prior art method for mapping UCI and UL-SCH data. This UCI mapping method is applicable to the first case. As shown in Figure 4A, the method includes the following five steps, wherein:

[0160] S401. Determine the reserved location for HARQ-ACK.

[0161] Step S401 can be implemented using the following formula:

[0162] Where l represents the index value of the OFDM symbol, This indicates the total number of OFDM symbols transmitted on the PUSCH. This represents the number of elements contained in the entire RE set included by the l-th OFDM symbol. This represents the number of elements contained in the entire RE set contained in the l-th OFDM symbol. The data used for transmitting UL-SCH is the complete set of REs contained in the l-th OFDM symbol, denoted by k in ascending order (Denotes...). as the set of resource elements,in ascending order of indices k,available for transmission of data in OFDM symbol l,for

[0163] Used for transmitting UCI, it represents the complete set of REs contained in the l-th OFDM symbol, denoted by k in ascending order (Denotes). as the set of resource elements,in ascending order of indices k,available for transmission of UCI in OFDM symbol l,for k represents the number of subcarriers, less than or equal to (Denote k as the subcarrier index of the scheduled PUSCH,starting from 0to where is expressed as a number of subcarriers).

[0164] It can be understood as The redefined RE set It can be understood as The RE sets have been redefined. These two RE sets are redefined to facilitate the subsequent process of finding the corresponding RE resources. Starting from S402, each time some resources are found, they will be set from... Remove some elements from it. For example, in step S402, the sequence of CSI-Part1 is... And the sequence of CSI Part 2 Assign to the new sequence And remove the REs already occupied by CSI-Part 1 and CSI-Part 2 from Excluded from the sequence. In step S403, the UL-SCH sequence is... Assign to the new sequence and the RE that UL-SCH has already occupied from The sequence is excluded. In step S404, the HARQ-ACK sequence is... Assign to the new sequence And remove the REs that HARQ-ACK has already occupied from and It will be excluded from the list. It will be reused in step S405. For sequence Sort the sequences to obtain the sequence g0, g1, g2, ..., g G-1 Iterate through all REs. k represents the number of subcarriers within a given RB, and v represents the layer number.

[0165] In step S401, some parameters may also be involved, such as a counter. and set pass Determine whether the task has been completed. The operation. The set of reserved resource elements for potential HARQ-ACK transmission is initially set to an empty set, and is subsequently incorporated into other elements, including the REs reserved for this part of HARQ-ACK.

[0166] S402, CSI-Part1 and CSI-Part2 after mapping and encoding.

[0167] In step S402, the following formulas (4) and (5) may be involved.

[0168] in, This indicates the number of REs occupied by the l-th OFDM symbol. This represents the number of REs occupied by UCI in the l-th OFDM symbol. Formula (4) is used to... The REs occupied by HARQ-ACK are excluded, and the REs already occupied by UCI are removed using formula (5). They were excluded from the list.

[0169] S403, UL-SCH after mapping and encoding.

[0170] In step S403, the following formula (6) may be involved, through which the RE already occupied by UCI is transferred from... They were excluded from the list.

[0171] S404, HARQ-ACK after mapping and encoding.

[0172] S405, Form code word (CW).

[0173] For example, please refer to Figure 4B, which is a schematic diagram of a data mapping RE for UCI and UL-SCH provided in this application. In Figure 4B, the horizontal axis represents the time domain, with each cell representing an OFDM symbol, and the vertical axis represents the frequency domain, with each cell representing an RE. PUSCH occupies one time slot (including 14 OFDM symbols) and 12 REs. DMRS is configured on the OFDM corresponding to OS#2, OS#7, and OS#11 in this time slot. Assume that the encoded CSI-Part1 and CSI-Part2 have 19 bits, the encoded UL-SCH has 94 bits, and the unencoded HARQ-ACK has less than or equal to 2 bits. First, perform the above step S401 to find the positions reserved for HARQ-ACK and mark these positions. Set the HARQ-ACK bits to 2 and perform rate matching accordingly, then the positions reserved for HARQ-ACK are 4. As shown in Figure 4B, the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS is the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#2. Therefore, the position reserved for HARQ-ACK is determined on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3. Since the required number of REs is 4, and the number of available REs on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 is 12, 4 < 12 / 2, as shown in part (A) of Figure 4B, HARQ-ACK uses a distributed mapping method, mapping to the REs (a total of 4) corresponding to SC#0, SC#3, SC#6, and SC#9 of the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3. Then, step S402 is executed. The first OFDM symbol without DMRS is the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1. As shown in part (B) of Figure 4B, CSI-Part1 and CSI-Part2 are mapped starting from the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1. CSI-Part1 is mapped to the REs corresponding to SC#0 to SC#11 of OS#0 (12 in total) and the REs corresponding to SC#0 to SC#6 of OS#1 (7 in total). CSI-Part2 is mapped to the REs corresponding to SC#7 to SC#11 of OS#1 (5 in total), the REs corresponding to SC#0 to SC#11 of OS#3 (12 in total), and the REs corresponding to SC#0 and SC#6 of the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 (2 in total). Then, step S403 is executed. As shown in part (C) of Figure 4B, UL-SCH is mapped in the currently unmapped positions and the positions not occupied by DMRS, occupying a total of 94 REs. Then, step S404 is executed. Based on the actual number of REs required for HARQ-ACK, holes are punched on the resources that have been mapped according to the reserved HARQ-ACK positions, as shown in part (D) of Figure 4B. The HARQ-ACK positions are obtained on CSI-Part2, that is, the REs corresponding to SC#0 and SC#6 of the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 (a total of 2).

[0174] Please refer to Figure 5A, which is a flowchart illustrating another method for mapping UCI and UL-SCH data provided by the prior art. This UCI mapping method is applicable to the second case. As shown in Figure 5A, the method includes the following four steps:

[0175] S501, HARQ-ACK after mapping and encoding.

[0176] S502, the mapped and encoded CSI-part1 and CSI-Part2.

[0177] S503, UL-SCH after mapping and encoding.

[0178] S504, forming code words.

[0179] It is understood that in the method shown in Figure 5A, step S501 removes the RE already occupied by HARQ-ACK, step S502 is the same as step S402, step S403 is the same as step S403, and step S504 is the same as step S405, which will not be described again here.

[0180] For example, please refer to Figure 5B, which is a schematic diagram of another data mapping RE for UCI and UL-SCH provided in this application. In Figure 5B, the horizontal axis is the time domain, and each cell represents an OFDM symbol; the vertical axis is the frequency domain, and each cell represents an RE. PUSCH occupies one time slot (including 14 OFDM symbols) and 12 REs. DMRS is configured on the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#2, OS#7, and OS#11 in this time slot, respectively. Assume that the encoded CSI-part1 and CSI-part2 have 19 bits, the encoded UL-SCH has 106 bits, and the HARQ-ACK has more than 2 bits before encoding. First, step S501 is executed. The first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS is the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#2, and HARQ-ACK mapping starts from the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3. The HARQ-ACK bit is set to 3, and rate matching is performed accordingly. The required number of REs is 6, which does not exceed half of the number of available REs on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3, which is 12. Therefore, HARQ-ACK is mapped to the REs (a total of 6) corresponding to SC#0, SC#2, SC#4, SC#6, SC#8 and SC#10 of the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 using a distributed mapping method, as shown in part (A) of Figure 5B. Then, step S502 is executed. The first OFDM symbol without DMRS is the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1. As shown in part (B) of Figure 5B, CSI-Part1 and CSI-Part2 are mapped starting from the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1. CSI-Part1 is mapped to the REs corresponding to SC#0 to SC#11 of OS#0 (12 in total) and the REs corresponding to SC#0 to SC#6 of OS#1 (7 in total). CSI-Part2 is mapped to the REs corresponding to SC#7 to SC#11 of the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1 (5 in total), the REs corresponding to SC#1, SC#3, SC#5, SC#7, SC#9 and SC#11 of the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 (6 in total), and the REs corresponding to SC#0 to SC#7 of the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 (8 in total). As shown in part (C) of Figure 5B, UL-SCH is mapped in the currently unmapped locations and in the locations not occupied by DMRS, occupying a total of 88 REs.

[0181] When using inter-symbol OCC for uplink transmission on a PUSCH, if the PUSCH contains a UCI, uplink transmission of the UCI typically also requires using inter-symbol OCC. According to the current mapping rules (HARQ-ACK starts mapping from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS, and CSI starts mapping from the first OFDM symbol without DMRS), HARQ-ACK and CSI may occupy OFDM symbols at the same position. When using inter-symbol OCC for UCI, the OFDM symbols corresponding to HARQ-ACK and CSI both implement inter-symbol OCC extension starting from the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence. The OCC element used by CSI is the same as the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by CSI, but the OCC element used by HARQ-ACK may be different. Therefore, the OCC elements used by CSI and HARQ-ACK on OFDM symbols at the same position may be different.

[0182] For example, please refer to Figure 6A or Figure 6B, which are distribution diagrams of REs occupied by UCI and UL-SCH according to the present application. In Figures 6A and 6B, the horizontal axis represents the time domain, with 14 OFDM symbols. The vertical axis represents the frequency domain, with 12 REs. As shown in Figure 6A, HARQ-ACK is mapped to the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3, OS#4, OS#5, and OS#6, respectively. CSI is mapped to the REs corresponding to SC#0-SC#11 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0 and OS#1, respectively, and to the REs occupied by HARQ-ACK in the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3 and OS#4, respectively. It can be seen that the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3 and OS#4 are the OFDM symbols occupied by HARQ-ACK and CSI in the same positions. Both HARQ-ACK and CSI OFDM symbols implement inter-symbol OCC extension starting from the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence. When the orthogonal sequence length is 4, the orthogonal sequence of the terminal device can include 4 OCC elements: w(1), w(2), w(3), and w(4). Then, the CSI on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 is extended through w(1), the CSI on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1 is extended through w(2), the CSI on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 is extended through w(3), and the CSI on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 is extended through w(4). The HARQ-ACK on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 is extended by w(1), the HARQ-ACK on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 is extended by w(2), the HARQ-ACK on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#5 is extended by w(3), and the HARQ-ACK on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#6 is extended by w(4). In other words, the HARQ-ACK and CSI on the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3 and OS#4 are extended by different OCC elements. Using different OCC elements for inter-symbol OCC extension on OFDM symbols at the same location will cause orthogonal sequence disorder and interference to other users, thus preventing the network from receiving the corresponding information.

[0183] As shown in Figure 6B, HARQ-ACK is mapped to the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#4 and OS#5, respectively. CSI is mapped to the REs corresponding to SC#0-SC#11 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0, OS#1, and OS#2, respectively, and to the REs in the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 excluding those occupied by HARQ-ACK. It can be seen that the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 is the OFDM symbol occupying the same positions as HARQ-ACK and CSI. Both HARQ-ACK and CSI OFDM symbols implement inter-symbol OCC extension starting from the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence. When the orthogonal sequence length is 2, the orthogonal sequence of the terminal device can include two OCC elements, w(1) and w(2). The CSI on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 is extended through w(1) for inter-symbol OCC, the CSI on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1 is extended through w(2), the CSI on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#2 is extended through w(1), and the CSI on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 is extended through w(2). The HARQ-ACK on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 is extended through w(1), and the HARQ-ACK on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#5 is extended through w(2). In other words, the HARQ-ACK and CSI on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 are extended through different OCC elements. Using different OCC elements on OFDM symbols at the same location for inter-symbol OCC extension will cause orthogonal sequence disorder and interfere with other users, thus preventing the network side from receiving the corresponding information.

[0184] Based on this, this application provides a communication method in which, when different terminal devices are configured with the same PRB, OFDM symbols at the same position of each terminal device achieve inter-symbol OCC extension through OCC elements with the same sequence number. Each OFDM symbol of each terminal device uses the same OCC element, thereby improving the success rate of information reception on the network side.

[0185] In this context, OCC elements with the same sequence number refer to elements in the same position within an orthogonal sequence. For example, the orthogonal sequence length of the first terminal and the second terminal is 2. The orthogonal sequence of the first terminal includes W1(1) and W1(2), and the orthogonal sequence of the second terminal includes W2(1) and W2(2). Assuming that the first terminal and the second terminal are configured with the same PRB, including the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0 and OS#1 respectively, when the first terminal corresponds to W1(2) on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 and W1(1) on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1, the second terminal corresponds to W2(2) on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 and W2(1) on the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1.

[0186] The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below. The communication devices involved in this communication method may include terminal devices and network devices. The system architecture can be referred to in the descriptions of Figures 1A to 1D, and will not be repeated here. The functions performed by the terminal device in this application may also be performed by devices (e.g., chips, chip systems, circuits, or means, etc.) within the terminal device. The functions performed by the network device in this application may also be performed by devices (e.g., chips, chip systems, circuits, or means, etc.) within the network device. Examples of terminal devices or network devices will be given below.

[0187] Optionally, the communication method is applicable to NTN communication scenarios, i.e., the network devices in the communication system are non-terrestrial network devices.

[0188] Network equipment in NTN (such as satellites) operates at much higher altitudes than network equipment in terrestrial networks (such as base stations). Therefore, network equipment in NTN needs to cover a much larger land area and serve a large number of terminal devices. In uplink communication scenarios, coverage enhancement technologies such as retransmission, TB processing over multiple slots (TBoMS), and DMRS bundling are required.

[0189] Optionally, the communication method is applicable to coverage enhancement scenarios in which the aforementioned coverage enhancement techniques can be used.

[0190] Please refer to Figure 7, which is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method includes the following steps, wherein:

[0191] S701. The network device sends first information to the terminal device, the first information including an offset value.

[0192] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first information from the network device.

[0193] In the embodiments of this application, the first information may be system information or configuration information, etc., and may be sent in the form of broadcast, or may be sent to a designated terminal in the form of multicast or groupcast, without limitation.

[0194] For example, the first information may be a system information block (SIB), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control-control element (MAC CE), downlink control information (DCI), etc.

[0195] The network device can send the first information to any terminal device configured with an orthogonal sequence. For example, if the orthogonal matrix is ​​matrix B as described above, the network device can send the first information to terminals C, D, E, and F. The network device can also send the first information to terminal devices configured with an orthogonal sequence that do not send a UCI. For example, if the orthogonal matrix is ​​matrix A as described above, terminal C will send a UCI, while terminals D, E, and F will not. In this case, the network device can send the first information to terminals D, E, and F.

[0196] In the following text, the terminal device that transmits UCI is referred to as the first terminal, and the terminal device that uses the same time-frequency resources as the first terminal but does not transmit UCI is referred to as the second terminal. The number of first terminals is 1, and the number of second terminals is L-1, which is the length of the orthogonal sequence. The second terminal can be understood as the terminal device configured with other orthogonal sequences in the orthogonal matrix corresponding to the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal.

[0197] Taking the aforementioned matrices A and B as examples, if the first terminal is terminal A, then the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal is W1, and its orthogonal sequence length is 2. The number of second terminals is 1, and the orthogonal sequence of the second terminal is W2. If the first terminal is terminal C, then the orthogonal sequence configured for the first terminal is W3, and its orthogonal sequence length is 4. The number of second terminals is 3, the orthogonal sequence of the first second terminal is W4, the orthogonal sequence of the second second terminal is W5, and the orthogonal sequence of the third second terminal is W6.

[0198] The terminal device in step S701 can be a second terminal or a first terminal.

[0199] In this embodiment, the bias value is used to indicate that the orthogonal sequence starts using the OCC element corresponding to the bias value. Thus, the first terminal and the second terminal respectively start inter-symbol OCC extension from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value in their respective orthogonal sequences.

[0200] In some feasible examples, the bias value is determined by the position of the first OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK of the first terminal.

[0201] Specifically, the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK can be set as the first OCC element of the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal. From this, the OCC elements corresponding to other OFDM symbols can be inferred. Then, the difference in sequence number between the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol and the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK can be used as a bias value, i.e., the bias value is equal to the sequence number of the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol minus 1. In this way, the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal starts using the OCC element corresponding to the bias value.

[0202] Optionally, the OCC elements corresponding to the CSI or HARQ-ACK positions belong to the same orthogonal sequence. This improves the efficiency of OCC expansion and despreading, thus increasing the success rate of OCC despreading.

[0203] Please refer to Figure 8, which is another distribution diagram of data occupancy REs for UCI and UL-SCH provided in this application. Figure 8 can be used as an improvement on Figure 6A. As shown in Figure 8, the first OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK of the first terminal is the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3. Since the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#2 carries DMRS, and the OFDM symbol occupied by DMRS does not undergo inter-symbol OCC extension, the number of OFDM symbols that undergo inter-symbol OCC extension before the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 (the number of OFDM symbols before the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 other than the OFDM symbol occupied by DMRS) is 2. When the length of the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal is 4, and the orthogonal sequence includes W1(1), W1(2), W1(3) and W1(4), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 of the first terminal corresponds to the orthogonal sequence W1(1), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(4), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(3), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(2), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#5 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(3), and the... The OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#6 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(4), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#7 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(1), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#8 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(2), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#9 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(3), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#10 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(4), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#12 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(1), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#13 of the first terminal corresponds to W1(2). Thus, the bias value can be determined to be 2 based on W1(3) corresponding to the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 of the first terminal. The HARQ-ACK and CSI of the first terminal occupy the same OFDM symbol (the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3 and OS#4 respectively), and the OFDM symbol corresponds to the same OCC element.

[0204] In another feasible example, the first information includes the sequence number of the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol. Taking Figure 8 as an example, the first information includes the number 3. Thus, the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol can be determined according to this sequence number to achieve inter-symbol OCC extension.

[0205] It should be noted that Figure 8 includes the OFDM symbols occupied by HARQ-ACK and CSI. When CSI is not transmitted, the OFDM symbols occupied by CSI in the figure can be set to the OFDM symbols occupied by UL-SCH data.

[0206] S702, The terminal device sends the second information to the network device. The second information is extended by the inter-symbol OCC of the orthogonal sequence. The orthogonal sequence starts from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value.

[0207] Accordingly, the network device receives the second information from the terminal device.

[0208] The terminal device in step S702 can be a first terminal or a second terminal.

[0209] When the terminal device in step S702 is the first terminal, the second information includes the inter-symbol OCC extension data of UL-SCH, and the inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or CSI. Inter-symbol OCC extension information refers to information that has undergone inter-symbol OCC extension, and inter-symbol OCC extension data refers to data that has undergone inter-symbol OCC extension. In other words, the first terminal transmits UL-SCH data, as well as HARQ-ACK and / or CSI from UCI, to the network device.

[0210] When the terminal device in step S702 is a second terminal, the second information includes the inter-symbol OCC extension data of UL-SCH, but does not include the inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK, and does not include the inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI. That is, the second information transmits UL-SCH data to the network device, but does not transmit UCI.

[0211] In some feasible examples, the information corresponding to the second information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol. The method further includes: the terminal device determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol; the terminal device performing inter-symbol OCC expansion on the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol.

[0212] Accordingly, the network device determines the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol; the network device performs inter-symbol OCC despreading on the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol.

[0213] The data to be extended may include UL-SCH data, and may also include UCIs such as HARQ-ACK and / or CSI. The data to be despread includes inter-symbol OCC extension information of UL-SCH, and may also include UCI extension information, such as inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI. The specific data type can be determined by whether the second information is sent by the first terminal or the second terminal. The implementation of data on each OFDM symbol and inter-symbol OCC extension can be referred to the descriptions in Figures 2A and 2B. Despreading can be referred to the description of the basic principles of OCC, which will not be repeated here.

[0214] As can be understood, in the method shown in Figure 7, the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal starts inter-symbol OCC extension from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value, thereby avoiding HARQ-ACK and CSI corresponding to different OCC elements on the same OFDM symbol. The network device can start inter-symbol OCC despreading from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value of the first terminal's orthogonal sequence, improving the success rate of the network side receiving information from the first terminal. Simultaneously with the first terminal transmitting UCI and UL-SCH data, the orthogonal sequence of the second terminal, using the same PRB as the first terminal, starts inter-symbol OCC extension from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value. This allows the second terminal and the first terminal to achieve inter-symbol OCC extension on the same OFDM symbol using OCC elements with the same sequence number. The network device can start inter-symbol OCC despreading from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value of the second terminal's orthogonal sequence, improving the success rate of the network side receiving information from the second terminal.

[0215] The following will describe the OCC elements corresponding to each OFDM symbol of the first and second terminals in conjunction with the positions of HARQ-ACK and / or CSI. The orthogonal sequence of the first terminal starts from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value, and the orthogonal sequence of the second terminal starts from the OFDM element corresponding to the bias value.

[0216] Example 1: UCI includes HARQ-ACK and / or CSI. The position of HARQ-ACK starts from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS, and the position of CSI starts from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS.

[0217] In other words, the positions of HARQ-ACK and CSI remain unchanged. The OCC element corresponding to the starting position of CSI is the OCC element corresponding to the bias value, and the OCC element corresponding to the starting position of HARQ-ACK is the first OCC element of the orthogonal sequence.

[0218] Please refer to Figure 9A. Part (A) of Figure 9A shows a schematic diagram of the RE mapping method without bias value, and part (B) of Figure 9A shows a schematic diagram of the RE mapping method with bias value. Assuming that the bias value is 2 in Figure 9A, the schematic diagram of the RE mapping method with bias value for the first terminal is shown in Figure 8. The positions of HARQ-ACK and CSI are consistent with those in Figures 6A and 8, and can be referred to the descriptions in Figures 6A and 8, which will not be repeated here. As shown in Figure 9A, the second terminal changes from starting with the first OCC element to starting with the third OCC element. That is, the first second terminal (UE#2) uses W2(3) first, then W2(4), W2(1), and W2(2) in a cyclical manner. The second second terminal (UE#3) uses W3(3) first, then W3(4), W3(1), and W3(2) in a cyclical manner. The third secondary terminal (UE#4) uses W4(3) first, then W4(4), W4(1), and W4(2) in a cyclical manner. In this way, the second terminal and the first terminal achieve inter-symbol OCC extension on the OFDM symbols at the same location through OCC elements with the same sequence number. The network device can start inter-symbol OCC despreading through the OCC element corresponding to the offset value, which improves the success rate of the network side receiving information from different terminals.

[0219] Example 2: UCI includes HARQ-ACK and / or CSI. The position of HARQ-ACK starts from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS, and the position of CSI starts from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS.

[0220] In other words, the position of HARQ-ACK remains unchanged, while the position of CSI changes. The starting position of CSI is the same as the starting position of HARQ-ACK, and the OCC element corresponding to the starting positions of CSI and HARQ-ACK is the first OCC element of the orthogonal sequence. Thus, the OFDM symbols occupied by the first CSI are the same as those occupied by the first HARQ-ACK, and inter-symbol OCC extension is implemented starting from the first OCC element of the orthogonal sequence, ensuring that CSI and HARQ-ACK transmitted on OFDM symbols at the same position use the same OCC element.

[0221] Optionally, adopt Indicates the starting position of CSI. The starting position of CSI is the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS (denote). as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol after the first set of consecutive OFDM symbol(s)carrying DMRS).

[0222] If frequency hopping exists, the above The starting position of CSI is the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS in the first hop (denote l) (1) as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol after the first set of consecutive OFDM symbol(s)carrying DMRS in the first hop). The starting position of CSI is the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS in the second hop (denote l). (1) as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol after the first set of consecutive OFDM symbol(s)carrying DMRS in the second hop).

[0223] Please refer to Figure 9B. Assuming the bias value is 2, the RE mapping diagram of the first terminal using the bias value is shown in Figure 8. The position of HARQ-ACK is consistent with Figures 6A and 8, and can be referred to the descriptions in Figures 6A and 8, which will not be repeated here. The position of CSI starts from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS. That is, the position of CSI starts from the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 as shown in Figure 6A or Figure 8, and is modified to start from the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 as shown in Figure 9B. Figure 9B can be regarded as an improvement on Figure 6A. Thus, the first HARQ-ACK and the first CSI of the first terminal occupy the same position of OFDM symbol (the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3, OS#4, OS#5 and OS#6 respectively), and the single OFDM symbol in the same position corresponds to the same OCC element, that is, the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 corresponds to W1(1), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 corresponds to W1(2), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#5 corresponds to W1(3), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#6 corresponds to W1(4).

[0224] Example 3: UCI includes HARQ-ACK and / or CSI. The position of HARQ-ACK starts from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS. The starting position of CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence where the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS is located.

[0225] Optionally, the method further includes: the first terminal determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol according to the bias value, wherein the starting position of the CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence where the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS is located.

[0226] In other words, the position of HARQ-ACK remains unchanged, and the OCC element corresponding to the starting position of HARQ-ACK is the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence. The position of CSI changes, and the starting position of CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element of the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS. Here, the starting position of CSI refers to the position of the OFDM symbol occupied by the first extended CSI. When the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the CSI to be extended is 1, the starting position of CSI is the position of CSI. When the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the CSI to be extended is greater than 1, the position of the OFDM symbol occupied by the first CSI is the starting position of CSI, and subsequent CSIs are determined from the OFDM symbols after the starting position of CSI, excluding the OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS. The position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol refers to the position of the OFDM symbol corresponding to each OCC element in the orthogonal sequence to which the OCC element of the OFDM symbol belongs. When the orthogonal sequence length is represented by L, the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol can be understood as the position of the L OFDM symbols that the OFDM symbol can be expanded to achieve inter-symbol OCC extension. Thus, the OFDM symbol occupied by a single CSI can be expanded to achieve L OFDM symbols when achieving inter-symbol OCC extension, and the OCC elements corresponding to these L OFDM symbols belong to the same orthogonal sequence. This improves the efficiency of OCC extension and despreading, and helps to increase the success rate of OCC despreading.

[0227] Please refer to Figure 9C. Assuming the bias value is 2, the RE mapping diagram of the first terminal using the bias value is shown in Figure 8. The position of HARQ-ACK is consistent with that in Figures 6A and 8. Please refer to the descriptions in Figures 6A and 8, which will not be repeated here. Figure 9C can be used as an improvement on Figure 6A. The starting position of CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence where the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS is located, that is, the position of the orthogonal sequence where W1(3) corresponding to the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 is located. As shown in Figure 9C, when an OFDM symbol occupied by a CSI is used to implement inter-symbol OCC extension, the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 is one of the four OFDM symbols that can be extended to implement inter-symbol OCC extension. The OCC elements used by these four OFDM symbols are the same orthogonal sequence. That is, the OFDM symbols corresponding to each OCC element in the orthogonal sequence where W1(3) is located include the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 of W1(3), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1 of W1(4), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#12 of W1(1), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#13 of W1(2). The starting position of the CSI is the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0, OS#1, OS#12, and OS#13 respectively. If the CSI to be extended occupies two OFDM symbols, the position of the OFDM symbol occupied by the first CSI is the starting position of the CSI, and the position of the OFDM symbol occupied by the second CSI starts from the OFDM symbol after the starting position of the CSI, excluding the OFDM symbol occupied by DMRS, that is, the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3, OS#4, OS#5 and OS#6 respectively.

[0228] It should be noted that Figure 9C is only an example. In practice, the positions of CSIs outside the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0 and OS#1 can also be mapped on the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#7 and OS#8, respectively. This application uses one HARQ-ACK to be extended and one CSI to be extended as an example. In reality, there may be multiple HARQ-ACKs to be extended and / or multiple CSIs.

[0229] Figures 9B and 9C do not detail the distribution of the UL-SCH data of the second terminal or the OCC elements corresponding to each OFDM symbol of the second terminal. Refer to section (B) of Figure 9A for further details. Besides the three examples above, other implementations are possible, such as modifying the position of the HARQ-ACK, for example, making the starting position of the OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK the same as the starting position of the OFDM symbol occupied by the CSI, i.e., starting from the first OFDM symbol without DMRS; or limiting the position of the CSI to be different from the position of the HARQ-ACK; or not limiting the position of the CSI, with the OCC element used by the CSI being the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by the CSI, etc.

[0230] Please refer to Figure 10, which is an interactive schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The terminal device in this method can be the first terminal described above. The method includes the following steps, wherein:

[0231] S1001. The network device sends third information to the terminal device. The third information is used to determine the orthogonal sequence, which includes at least two OCC elements.

[0232] Accordingly, the terminal device receives third information from the network device.

[0233] In the embodiments of this application, the third information may be system information or configuration information, etc. For example, the third information may be SIB, RRC signaling, MAC CE, DCI, etc. This application does not limit the form and content of the third information, and the third information may include at least one of sequence index, orthogonal sequence length, orthogonal sequence, etc.

[0234] When the third information includes orthogonal sequences, the orthogonal sequences can be directly determined. A mapping relationship exists between orthogonal sequences and sequence indices, which can be described in a table. When the third information includes sequence indices, the orthogonal sequence of the terminal device can be determined based on the mapping relationship between the sequence indices and orthogonal sequences; it is the orthogonal sequence corresponding to the sequence index in the third information. For example, if the orthogonal matrix is ​​matrix B as described above, and the sequence index in the third information is 2, the orthogonal sequence of the terminal device can be the second row of matrix B. When the third information includes the orthogonal sequence length, the orthogonal sequence corresponding to the orthogonal sequence length can be determined from the set of orthogonal sequences configured on the terminal device.

[0235] Optionally, step S1001 is performed before step S702. In this way, the orthogonal sequence of the terminal devices is determined.

[0236] It is understandable that a terminal device can determine its orthogonal sequence through third-party information, and thus reuse time-frequency resources using that orthogonal sequence. In this way, the same time-frequency resources can be reused by orthogonal sequences of different terminal devices, and the data to be extended on the time-frequency resources configured for a single terminal device can be reused by different OCC elements in the orthogonal sequence of that terminal device, thereby improving the capacity of the communication system.

[0237] S1002. The terminal device sends fourth information to the network device. The fourth information is extended by inter-symbol OCC of orthogonal sequence. The fourth information includes inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI. The OCC element used by HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK.

[0238] Accordingly, the network device receives the fourth information from the terminal device.

[0239] In this embodiment, the fourth information may further include inter-symbol OCC extension data of the UL-SCH, that is, the data of the UL-SCH to be transmitted also implements inter-symbol OCC extension. This application does not limit the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol, and it can be the OCC element determined according to the bias value as shown in Figure 7, or it can be the OCC element determined according to a preset rule (such as starting from the first OCC element).

[0240] In some feasible examples, the information corresponding to the fourth information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol. The method further includes: the terminal device determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol; the terminal device performing inter-symbol OCC expansion on the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol.

[0241] Accordingly, the network device determines the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol; the network device performs inter-symbol OCC despreading on the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol.

[0242] The data to be extended may include UL-SCH data and UCIs, such as HARQ-ACK and / or CSI. The data to be despread includes inter-symbol OCC extension information of UL-SCH and UCI extension information, such as inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI. The implementation of data on each OFDM symbol and inter-symbol OCC extension can be referred to the descriptions in Figures 2A and 2B. Despreading can be referred to the description of the basic principles of OCC, which will not be repeated here.

[0243] It is understandable that in the method shown in Figure 10, the HARQ-ACK of the terminal device uses the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK, which can avoid the HARQ-ACK and CSI corresponding to different OCC elements on the OFDM symbol at the same position. The network device can achieve OCC despreading between symbols through the orthogonal sequence of the terminal device, thereby improving the success rate of the network side receiving information from the terminal device.

[0244] The following will describe the OCC elements corresponding to each OFDM symbol of the terminal device (first terminal) in conjunction with the location of HARQ-ACK and / or CSI.

[0245] Example 4: UCI includes HARQ-ACK and / or CSI. The position of CSI starts from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS. The starting position of HARQ-ACK is the position of the orthogonal sequence of the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS.

[0246] Optionally, the method may further include: the terminal device determining the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol, wherein the starting position of HARQ-ACK is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS.

[0247] Specifically, the starting position of HARQ-ACK can be the position of the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence corresponding to the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS. The position of CSI may be due to the lack of RE occupied by HARQ-ACK after mapping and punching.

[0248] In this example, the position of CSI remains unchanged, while the position of HARQ-ACK is moved forward. Specifically, the starting position of HARQ-ACK can be the position of the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence corresponding to the OCC element of the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS. The starting position of HARQ-ACK can be referenced from the description of the starting position of CSI, which is the position of the OFDM symbol occupied by the first extended HARQ-ACK, and will not be repeated here. Thus, the position of HARQ-ACK can be adjusted according to the position of the orthogonal sequence corresponding to the original starting position of HARQ-ACK, so that the position of the first OCC element in the orthogonal sequence is the modified starting position of HARQ-ACK. It can be understood that when the orthogonal sequence length is represented by L, the OFDM symbols occupied by a single HARQ-ACK can be expanded to L OFDM symbols to achieve inter-symbol OCC expansion, and the OCC elements corresponding to these L OFDM symbols belong to the same orthogonal sequence. This improves the efficiency of OCC expansion and despreading, and helps to increase the success rate of OCC despreading.

[0249] For example, a schematic diagram without the mapping method shown in Figure 10 can be seen in Figure 6B, and a schematic diagram with the mapping method shown in Figure 10 can be seen in Figure 11A. The HARQ-ACK of the first terminal is modified from the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#4 and OS#5 in Figure 6B to the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#2 and OS#4 in Figure 11A. Figure 11A can be considered an improvement on Figure 6B. Compared with the CSI position in Figure 6B, the CSI position in Figure 11A lacks the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#2 and OS#4. When the OCC element used by HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK, and the orthogonal sequence length of the first terminal is 2, the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal cycles in the order of W1(1) first, then W1(2). The first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS is the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4, which corresponds to W1(2). It can be determined that the starting position of HARQ-ACK is the 3rd OFDM symbol. The OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#2 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(1), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(2).

[0250] Example 5: UCI includes HARQ-ACK and / or CSI, with the CSI position starting from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS, and the HARQ-ACK position starting from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS.

[0251] In other words, the starting position of CSI remains unchanged, while the position of HARQ-ACK changes, and the starting position of HARQ-ACK is the same as the starting position of CSI. Thus, the HARQ-ACK and CSI of the terminal device correspond to the same OCC element on the OFDM symbol at the same location. The position of CSI may be affected by the lack of REs occupied by HARQ-ACK due to post-mapping and punching.

[0252] Optionally, l (1) This indicates that the starting position of HARQ-ACK is the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS (denote l). (1) as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS).

[0253] If frequency hopping exists, l (1) This indicates that the starting position of HARQ-ACK is the first OFDM symbol in the first hop that does not carry DMRS (denote l). (1) as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS in the first hop). l (2) This indicates that the starting position of HARQ-ACK is the first OFDM symbol in the second hop that does not carry DMRS (denote l). (2) as the OFDM symbol index of the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS in the second hop).

[0254] For example, a schematic diagram without the mapping method shown in Figure 10 can be seen in Figure 6A, and a schematic diagram using the mapping method shown in Figure 10 can be seen in Figure 11B. The HARQ-ACK of the first terminal is modified from the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3, OS#4, OS#5, and OS#6 in Figure 6A, to the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0, OS#1, OS#3, and OS#4 in Figure 11B. Figure 11B can be considered an improvement on Figure 6A. Compared to the CSI position in Figure 6A, the CSI position in Figure 11B lacks the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0 and OS#1 obtained by HARQ-ACK punching. When the OCC element used by HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK, and the orthogonal sequence length of the first terminal is 4, the orthogonal sequence of the first terminal is cyclically arranged in the order of W1(1), W1(2), W1(3) and W1(4), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#0 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(1), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#1 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(2), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(3), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(4).

[0255] Example 6: UCI includes HARQ-ACK and / or CSI. The position of CSI starts from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS, and the position of HARQ-ACK starts from the i-th OFDM symbol. The number of OFDM symbols in the first i-1 OFDM symbols that do not include the OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS is an integer multiple of the length of the orthogonal sequence.

[0256] In other words, the starting position of CSI remains unchanged, but the position of HARQ-ACK may change. This allows HARQ-ACK to use an orthogonal sequence starting from the first OCC element. The position of CSI may be affected by the lack of REs occupied by HARQ-ACK due to post-mapping and punching.

[0257] In this embodiment of the application, OFDM symbols are numbered starting from 0, that is, the sequence number corresponding to the i-th OFDM symbol is OS#i-1.

[0258] For example, referring to Figure 11C, the orthogonal sequence length of the first terminal is 4. The orthogonal sequence cycles sequentially in the order of W1(1), W1(2), W1(3), and W1(4). The position of the HARQ-ACK of the first terminal starts from the 6th OFDM symbol, and the number of OFDM symbols in the first 5 OFDM symbols excluding those occupied by DMRS is 4, which is 1 times the length of the orthogonal sequence. The position of HARQ-ACK is on the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#5, OS#6, OS#7, and OS#8, respectively. The OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#5 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(1), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#6 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(2), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#7 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(3), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#8 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(4).

[0259] For example, please refer to Figure 11D, which can be considered an improvement on Figure 6A. As shown in Figure 11D, the orthogonal sequence length of the first terminal is 4, and the orthogonal sequence cycles sequentially in the order of W1(1), W1(2), W1(3), and W1(4). The HARQ-ACK position of the first terminal starts from the 10th OFDM symbol, and the number of symbols in the first 9 OFDM symbols excluding those occupied by DMRS is 8, which is twice the length of the orthogonal sequence. The HARQ-ACK is located on the RE corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#9, OS#10, OS#12, and OS#13, respectively. The OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#9 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(1), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#10 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(2), the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#12 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(3), and the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#13 occupied by HARQ-ACK corresponds to W1(4).

[0260] It should be noted that, in addition to Examples 4, 5 and 6, other implementations can also be included, such as not limiting the starting position of HARQ-ACK and restricting HARQ-ACK and CSI to occupy different OFDM symbols, etc.

[0261] Optionally, the method may further include: the terminal device first determining the location of the CSI, and then determining the location of the HARQ-ACK. That is, it differs from the mapping rule shown in Figure 4A or Figure 5A.

[0262] Optionally, the terminal device does not perform inter-symbol OCC extension on the position of the UCI in the OFDM symbol occupied by the UCI.

[0263] For example, please refer to Figure 12A, which can be considered an improvement on Figure 6B. As shown in Figure 12A, when the orthogonal sequence length is 2, the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 in the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#4 occupied by HARQ-ACK are not extended by inter-symbol OCC. The OFDM symbols occupied by CSI are also not extended by inter-symbol OCC. The remaining REs (the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#4 except for the REs occupied by HARQ-ACK, and the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#5-OS#10 and OS#12, OS#13) are extended by inter-symbol OCC starting from the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4, following the order of using W1(1) first and then W1(2). In this case, the orthogonality of the orthogonal sequence is destroyed, and HARQ-ACK will be subject to interference from other terminal devices (second terminal).

[0264] Optionally, the terminal equipment performs inter-symbol OCC extension on the OFDM symbols occupied by HARQ-ACK, but does not perform inter-symbol OCC extension on the OFDM symbols occupied by CSI.

[0265] For example, the case without this implementation method is shown in Figure 12A. The case with this implementation method is shown in Figure 12B, which can be considered an improvement on Figure 6A. As shown in Figure 12B, when the orthogonal sequence length is 2, inter-symbol OCC extension can be performed on the REs corresponding to SC#0, SC#4, and SC#8 in the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 occupied by HARQ-ACK, i.e., the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#4 is extended with the REs occupied by HARQ-ACK. No inter-symbol OCC extension is performed on the symbols occupied by CSI. The OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3-OS#10 and OS#12, OS#13, respectively, start from the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#3 and implement inter-symbol OCC extension in the order of using W1(1) first and then W1(2).

[0266] Optionally, the terminal device performs inter-symbol OCC extension for UCIs that cannot fill the entire OFDM symbol, and does not perform inter-symbol OCC extension for UCIs that fill the entire OFDM symbol.

[0267] For example, as shown in Figure 12C, (A) represents the case where this implementation method is not used, and (B) represents the case where this implementation method is used. The OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#5 cannot fill the entire OFDM symbol. When the orthogonal sequence length is 2, the RE occupied by CSI-Part2 is extended on OS#6. No inter-symbol OCC extension is performed on other OFDM symbols that fill the entire OFDM symbol, namely the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#1, OS#2, OS#3, and OS#4 respectively. Thus, starting from the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#5, inter-symbol OCC extension is performed on the data or CSI-Part2 on the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#5-OS#10, OS#12, and OS#13 respectively in the order of using W1(1) first and then using W1(2).

[0268] Optionally, the terminal device discards CSIs that cannot fill the entire OFDM symbol, and does not perform inter-symbol OCC extension on UCIs that fill the entire OFDM symbol.

[0269] For example, the case without this implementation is shown in part (A) of Figure 12C, while the case with this implementation is shown in Figure 12D, which can be considered an improvement on Figure 6A. As shown in Figure 12D, discarding the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#5 does not fill the entire OFDM symbol's CSI-Part2, and no inter-symbol OCC extension is performed on other OFDM symbols that fill the entire OFDM symbol. Thus, with an orthogonal sequence length of 2, starting from the OFDM symbol corresponding to OS#5, inter-symbol OCC extension is performed on the data or CSI-Part2 of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#5-OS#10, OS#12, and OS#13 respectively, in the order of using W1(1) first and then using W1(2).

[0270] It should be noted that the communication methods shown in Figures 7 and 10 describe uplink communication scenarios. In fact, this communication method can also be applied to downlink communication scenarios, i.e., when network devices send data to terminal devices, and this data undergoes inter-symbol OCC extension.

[0271] In addition, this communication method can also be applied to intra-symbol OCC extensions or inter-symbol OCC extensions.

[0272] Optionally, when performing intra-symbol OCC extension, and These are different sets of REs.

[0273] For example, and The original set contains subcarrier IDs ranging from 0 to 11. When the orthogonal sequence length is 2, we can let... and The subcarrier IDs are 0 to 5, meaning the RE set is modified to contain only one OCC element. Thus, UL-SCH and UCI can perform intra-symbol OCC extension using different OCC elements on different RE sets of OFDM symbols at the same location. Intra-symbol OCC extension and despreading can be referred to Figures 3A and 3B above, as well as the description of the OCC principle. The positions of HARQ-ACK and CSI can be referred to Figure 7 or Figure 10, and will not be repeated here. The step of performing intra-symbol OCC extension in this manner is executed after step S405 or step S504 described above.

[0274] Optionally, The data used for transmitting UL-SCH is the RE set corresponding to an OCC element in the l-th OFDM symbol, denoted by k in ascending order (Denote). as the set of resource elements corresponding to one element in OCC sequence,in ascending order of indices k,available for transmission of data in OFDM symbol l,for Used for transmitting UCI, it is the RE set corresponding to an OCC element in the l-th OFDM symbol, denoted by k in ascending order (Denotes...). as the set of resource elements corresponding to one element in OCC sequence,in ascending order of indices k,available for transmission of UCI in OFDM symbol l,for This can be understood as... and The range of the corresponding RE set has been modified.

[0275] Referring to Figure 13, CSI occupies all OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0 and OS#1, HARQ-ACK occupies all OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#3 and OS#4, and occupies part of the OFDM symbol of OS#5. Thus, by expanding the 6 subcarriers within the OFDM symbol, 12 expanded subcarriers are obtained. This can be achieved by multiplying W1(1) with the UL-SCH data or UCI on the 6 subcarriers of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0 to OS#13 respectively, excluding the OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS, and by multiplying W1(2) with the UL-SCH data or UCI on the other 6 subcarriers of the OFDM symbols corresponding to OS#0 to OS#13 respectively, excluding the OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS.

[0276] Optionally, when performing intrasymmetric OCC extension, k is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 0.

[0277] Where, N SF The spreading factor can be understood as the length of the orthogonal sequence mentioned above.

[0278] Thus, k ranges from 0 to Change to from 0 to (Denote k as the subcarrier index of the scheduled PUSCH,starting from 0to where is expressed as a number of subcarriers).

[0279] Understandable, because and The number of REs included is related to k; therefore, modifying the range of values ​​for k is equivalent to modifying... and This allows UL-SCH data and UCI to achieve intra-symbol OCC extension through different OCC elements on different RE sets of OFDM symbols at the same location. The intra-symbol OCC extension step using this method is performed after step S404 or step S503 described above.

[0280] Optionally, when performing intra-symbol OCC extension, for The absolute value of the orthogonal sequence is the quotient of its length. for The absolute value of the orthogonal sequence is the quotient of its length. This allows UL-SCH data and UCI to achieve intra-symbol OCC extension on different RE sets of OFDM symbols at the same location through different OCC elements.

[0281] Expressed using formulas, such as

[0282] During mapping, step S401 or step S501 can be performed via... The modified implementation.

[0283] Accordingly, step S402 (or step S502) can be performed by... Modified to Implementation. Step S403 (or step S503) can be achieved by... Modified to accomplish.

[0284] in, This can be understood as... Modifications have been made. This represents the set of REs in an OFDM symbol that are not currently being mapped for OCC purposes.

[0285] The method for OCC extension between symbol groups can be adapted by referring to the method shown in Figure 7 or Figure 10.

[0286] In another feasible approach, the positional relationship between CSI and DMRS, and between HARQ-ACK and DMRS, is not limited. For example, during inter-symbol group OCC extension, CSI and / or HARQ-ACK occupy at least one OFDM symbol or a portion of the RE of an OFDM symbol in each symbol group. The OCC element used by CSI is the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by CSI, and the OCC element used by HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK. Thus, when CSI and HARQ-ACK occupy OFDM symbols in the same position, they correspond to the same OCC element.

[0287] The methods of the embodiments of this application have been described in detail above, and the apparatus of the embodiments of this application is provided below.

[0288] Please refer to Figure 14, which is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device may include a transceiver unit 1401 and a processing unit 1402. The transceiver unit 1401 may be a device with signal input (receiving) or output (transmitting) capabilities, used for signal transmission with other devices or other components within a device. The processing unit 1402 may be a device with processing capabilities, including one or more processors, used for executing instructions (or code or programs), for example, processing communication protocols and communication data. The communication device may be a terminal device or a network device, where the terminal device is a first terminal or a second terminal.

[0289] In the first embodiment, the communication device is a first terminal, wherein:

[0290] The transceiver unit 1401 is used to receive first information, the first information including an offset value;

[0291] The transceiver unit 1401 is also used to transmit second information, which is extended by inter-symbol OCC of an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence starting from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value.

[0292] The bias value is determined by the position of the first OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK of the first terminal.

[0293] The second information includes inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI.

[0294] The position of the CSI starts from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS.

[0295] The processing unit 1402 is used to determine the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol according to the bias value, wherein the starting position of the CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence where the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS is located.

[0296] Wherein, the information corresponding to the second information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol, and the processing unit 1402 is used to determine the OCC elements used by each OFDM symbol and the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol; and to perform inter-symbol OCC expansion on the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC elements used by the OFDM symbol.

[0297] In the second embodiment, the communication device is a terminal device, wherein:

[0298] The transceiver unit 1401 is used to receive third information, which is used to determine an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence including at least two OCC elements;

[0299] The transceiver unit 1401 is also used to transmit fourth information, which is extended by the inter-symbol OCC of the orthogonal sequence. The fourth information includes the inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or the inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI. The OCC element used by HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK.

[0300] The transceiver unit 1401 is also used to determine the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol, wherein the position of the HARQ-ACK is the position of the orthogonal sequence where the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS is located.

[0301] The HARQ-ACK position starts from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS.

[0302] The position of HARQ-ACK starts from the i-th OFDM symbol, and the number of OFDM symbols in the first i-1 OFDM symbols excluding OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS is an integer multiple of the length of the orthogonal sequence.

[0303] The information corresponding to the fourth information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol. The processing unit 1402 is used to determine the OCC elements used by each OFDM symbol and the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol; and to perform inter-symbol OCC expansion on the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC elements used by the OFDM symbol.

[0304] In the third embodiment, the communication device is a network device, wherein:

[0305] The transceiver unit 1401 is used to transmit first information, the first information including an offset value;

[0306] The transceiver unit 1401 is also used to receive second information, which is extended by inter-symbol OCC of an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence starting from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value.

[0307] The bias value is determined by the position of the first OFDM symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK of the first terminal.

[0308] The second information includes inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI.

[0309] The position of the CSI starts from the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS.

[0310] The starting position of the CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS.

[0311] Wherein, the information corresponding to the second information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol, and the processing unit 1402 is used to determine the OCC element used by each OFDM symbol and the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol; and to perform inter-symbol OCC despreading on the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC element used by the OFDM symbol.

[0312] In the fourth embodiment, the communication device is a network device, wherein:

[0313] The transceiver unit 1401 is used to send third information, which is used to determine an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence including at least two OCC elements;

[0314] The transceiver unit 1401 is also used to receive fourth information, which is extended by the inter-symbol OCC of the orthogonal sequence. The fourth information includes the inter-symbol OCC extension information of HARQ-ACK and / or the inter-symbol OCC extension information of CSI. The OCC element used by HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the OFDM symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK.

[0315] The starting position of HARQ-ACK is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying DMRS.

[0316] The HARQ-ACK position starts from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS.

[0317] The position of HARQ-ACK starts from the i-th OFDM symbol, and the number of OFDM symbols in the first i-1 OFDM symbols excluding OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS is an integer multiple of the length of the orthogonal sequence.

[0318] The information corresponding to the fourth information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol. The processing unit 1402 is used to determine the OCC elements used by each OFDM symbol and the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol; and to perform inter-symbol OCC despreading on the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol based on the OCC elements used by the OFDM symbol.

[0319] The implementation of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1401 and processing unit 1402 can be referred to the relevant description of the method embodiment shown in FIG7 or FIG10, which will not be repeated here.

[0320] Please refer to Figure 15, which is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 15, the communication device may include a processor 111 and a storage medium 112. The processor 111 may also be called a processing unit, which can implement certain control functions. The storage medium 112 may also be called a storage unit or a memory. Instructions 114 are stored on the storage medium 112. The instructions 114 can be executed on the processor 111, causing the communication device to perform any of the methods described in Figure 7 or Figure 10 in the embodiments of this application.

[0321] Optionally, the processor 111 may include instructions 113 that can be executed on the processor 111 to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods described in FIG7 or FIG10 in the embodiments of this application.

[0322] The communication device can be a terminal device or a network device. The terminal device can be a first terminal or a second terminal, used to implement the method described in the method embodiments. However, the scope of the device described in this application is not limited thereto; the communication device can be a standalone device or part of a larger device. For example, the communication device can be:

[0323] (1) An independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem;

[0324] (2) A collection of one or more ICs, wherein the collection of ICs may optionally include a storage component for storing data and / or instructions;

[0325] (3) ASIC, such as modems;

[0326] (4) Modules that can be embedded in other devices.

[0327] Please refer to Figure 16, which is a schematic diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application. For ease of explanation, Figure 16 only shows the main components of the terminal device. As shown in Figure 16, the terminal device includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and input / output devices. The processor is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire terminal device, execute software programs, and process the data of the software programs. The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for the conversion between baseband signals and radio frequency signals and the processing of radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as touch screens, displays, and keyboards, are mainly used to receive user input data and output data to the user.

[0328] When the terminal device is powered on, the processor can read the software program from the storage unit, parse and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency (RF) circuit. The RF circuit processes the baseband signal to obtain the RF signal and transmits the RF signal outward in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal device, the RF circuit receives the RF signal through the antenna. This RF signal is further converted into a baseband signal and output to the processor. The processor converts the baseband signal back into data and processes the data.

[0329] For ease of explanation, Figure 16 shows only one memory and processor. In actual terminal devices, multiple processors and memories may exist. Memory may also be referred to as storage medium or storage device, etc., and the embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0330] In one embodiment, the antenna is used to perform the operations performed by the transceiver unit 1401 in the above embodiment. The processor is used to perform the operations performed by the processing unit 1402 in the above embodiment.

[0331] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon, which, when executed by a processor, can implement the relevant processes in the communication method provided in the above-described method embodiments.

[0332] This application also provides a computer program product for storing a computer program that, when run on a computer (or processor), causes the computer to execute one or more steps of any of the aforementioned communication methods. If the constituent modules of the aforementioned devices are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0333] This application provides a chip, including a processor, for calling and executing instructions stored in a memory, causing a communication device on which the chip is installed to perform any of the methods described above.

[0334] This application embodiment also provides another chip, including: an input interface, an output interface, and a processing circuit. The input interface, the output interface, and the processing circuit are connected via internal connection paths. The processing circuit is used to execute any of the methods described above. Optionally, the chip also includes a memory. The input interface, the output interface, the processor, and the memory are connected via internal connection paths. The processor is used to execute code in the memory. When the code is executed, the processor is used to execute any of the methods described above.

[0335] This application also provides a chip system including at least one processor and a communication interface. The communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected via a circuit. The at least one processor is used to run computer programs or instructions to perform any of the methods described above. This chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0336] This application also provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device. For a detailed description, please refer to the method shown in Figure 7 or Figure 10.

[0337] It should be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can be a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid-state drive (SSD), ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be RAM, which is used as an external cache. Memory is any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code having an instruction or data structure form and accessible by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiments of this application can also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing a storage function for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0338] It should also be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, etc.

[0339] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) is integrated into the processor.

[0340] It should be noted that the memories described herein are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0341] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments provided herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0342] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0343] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment, depending on actual needs.

[0344] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0345] The steps in the methods of this application can be adjusted, combined, or deleted according to actual needs. Each step in each embodiment can be partially performed (for example, the terminal device may not perform the steps performed by the terminal device in the above embodiments). The execution order of different steps can be changed. The embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments, different embodiments can be combined with each other, and different steps of different embodiments herein can be combined.

[0346] The modules / units in the device of this application embodiment can be merged, divided, and deleted according to actual needs.

[0347] In this document, the term "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments.

[0348] In this application, it may refer to a communication protocol or specification, such as the 3GPP communication protocol.

[0349] The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc. (if present) in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence.

[0350] In the embodiments of this application, "including" can refer to a relationship of inclusion or an equality relationship. For example, A includes B, which could mean that A includes B and may also include other content, or that A and B are the same content.

[0351] In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, " / " indicates that the objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this application is merely a description of the relationship between the related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. Furthermore, in the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "multiple" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of singular or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0352] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Receive first information, the first information including a bias value; Send a second message, which is extended by the orthogonal overlay code (OCC) of the orthogonal sequence, starting from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The offset value is determined by the position of the first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol occupied by the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) of the first terminal.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second information includes inter-symbol OCC extension information of the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of the Channel State Information (CSI).

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The CSI position begins with the first OFDM symbol following the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying the demodulation reference signal DMRS.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, Also includes: The OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol is determined based on the bias value, and the starting position of the CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence where the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry the demodulation reference signal DMRS is located.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that, The information corresponding to the second information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol, and the method further includes: Determine the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol; Based on the OCC elements corresponding to the OFDM symbols, perform inter-symbol OCC extension on the data to be extended on the OFDM symbols.

7. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Receive third information, the third information being used to determine an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence including at least two orthogonal cover code (OCC) elements; A fourth message is sent, which is extended by the inter-symbol OCC of the orthogonal sequence. The fourth message includes the inter-symbol OCC extension information of the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) and / or the inter-symbol OCC extension information of the Channel State Information (CSI). The OCC element used by the HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol occupied by the HARQ-ACK.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, Also includes: The OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol is determined, and the starting position of the HARQ-ACK is the position of the orthogonal sequence of the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying the demodulation reference signal DMRS.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The HARQ-ACK position starts from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry a demodulation reference signal DMRS.

10. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The position of HARQ-ACK starts from the i-th OFDM symbol, and the number of OFDM symbols in the first i-1 OFDM symbols, excluding OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS, is an integer multiple of the length of the orthogonal sequence.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that, The information corresponding to the fourth information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol, and the method further includes: Determine the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be expanded on the OFDM symbol; Based on the OCC elements corresponding to the OFDM symbols, perform inter-symbol OCC extension on the data to be extended on the OFDM symbols.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Send a first message, the first message including a bias value; Receive second information, which is extended by the orthogonal overlay code (OCC) of the orthogonal sequence, and the orthogonal sequence is used starting from the OCC element corresponding to the bias value.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The offset value is determined by the position of the first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol occupied by the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) of the first terminal.

14. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The second information includes inter-symbol OCC extension information of the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of the Channel State Information (CSI).

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The CSI position begins with the first OFDM symbol following the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying the demodulation reference signal DMRS.

16. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The starting position of the CSI is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol that does not carry the demodulation reference signal DMRS.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that, The information corresponding to the second information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol, and the method further includes: Determine the OCC element corresponding to each OFDM symbol and the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol; Based on the OCC elements corresponding to the OFDM symbols, perform inter-symbol OCC despreading on the data to be despread on the OFDM symbols.

18. A communication method, characterized in that, include: Send a third message, the third message being used to determine an orthogonal sequence, the orthogonal sequence including at least two orthogonal cover code (OCC) elements; The fourth information is received after inter-symbol OCC extension of the orthogonal sequence. The fourth information includes inter-symbol OCC extension information of Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) and / or inter-symbol OCC extension information of Channel State Information (CSI). The OCC element used by HARQ-ACK is the OCC element corresponding to the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol occupied by HARQ-ACK.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The starting position of HARQ-ACK is the position of the orthogonal sequence containing the OCC element corresponding to the first OFDM symbol after the first group of consecutive OFDM symbols carrying the demodulation reference signal DMRS.

20. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The HARQ-ACK position starts from the first OFDM symbol that does not carry a demodulation reference signal DMRS.

21. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The position of HARQ-ACK starts from the i-th OFDM symbol, and the number of OFDM symbols in the first i-1 OFDM symbols, excluding OFDM symbols occupied by DMRS, is an integer multiple of the length of the orthogonal sequence.

22. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, characterized in that, The information corresponding to the fourth information before expansion includes at least one OFDM symbol, and the method further includes: Determine the OCC elements used by each OFDM symbol and the data to be despread on the OFDM symbol; Based on the OCC elements used by the OFDM symbols, perform inter-symbol OCC despreading on the data to be despread on the OFDM symbols.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, include: Includes units for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22 to be performed.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22 to be performed.

26. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22 to be performed.

27. A chip, characterized in that, Includes a processor for retrieving and executing instructions stored in a memory, causing a communication device with a chip mounted to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22.

28. A communication system, characterized in that, The communication system includes a terminal device and a network device, wherein the terminal device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, and the network device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

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