Channel information determining method and apparatus

Abstract

A channel information determining method and apparatus. In the method, a first device receives first echo information; and the first device determines channel information on the basis of the first echo information and a sounding reference signal (SRS) from a terminal device. The first echo information is related to a sensing echo signal and the position of the terminal device, the first echo information is used for indicating angle information of a channel corresponding to a grid cell associated with the terminal device, and the sensing echo signal is an echo signal in response to a sensing signal sent by an access network device. In the method, the first device determines the channel information on the basis of the first echo information related to sensing and the SRS from the terminal device, so as to implement sensing information assisted channel measurement. In addition, the first echo information has a correspondence with the terminal device, and the first device uses the first echo information to assist in channel measurement, thereby improving the channel filtering and noise reduction capabilities and improving the accuracy of channel measurement.

Description

A method and apparatus for determining channel information

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410668783.4, filed on May 27, 2024, entitled "A Method and Apparatus for Determining Channel Information", 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 method and apparatus for determining channel information. Background Technology

[0003] Synergy and sensing integration refers to the ability of a terminal device to perform both communication and sensing simultaneously. Synergy and sensing integration can enhance each other's performance through the mutual assistance and amplification of these two functions, thereby achieving collaborative gains.

[0004] For example, by sensing some or all of the scatterers in the communication environment, sensing information can be obtained. This sensing information can reflect the channel state of the communication to a certain extent. Therefore, sensing can be used to assist in channel measurement to improve the accuracy of channel measurement. How to utilize sensing information to assist in channel measurement still needs further research. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a method and apparatus for determining channel information, which can realize perception-assisted channel measurement and improve the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0006] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a method for determining channel information. This method can be executed by a first device, which can refer to the first device itself or a processor, module, chip, or chip system that is equivalent to the first device and implements the method. In this method, the first device receives first echo information; the first device determines the channel information based on the first echo information and a sounding reference signal (SRS) from a terminal device. The first echo information is related to a sensed echo signal and the location of the terminal device. The first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device. The sensed echo signal is an echo signal that responds to a sensed signal sent by an access network device.

[0007] As can be seen, in this embodiment, the first device determines channel information based on the first echo information and SRS related to sensing, thereby enabling sensing information-assisted channel measurement. Furthermore, the first echo information is related to the location of the terminal device, meaning there is a correspondence between the first echo information and the terminal device. By utilizing the first echo information to assist channel measurement, the first device can improve the filtering and noise reduction capabilities of the channel and enhance the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0008] In one optional implementation, the first echo information is determined based on the second echo information, which is related to the serving cell of the sensed echo signal and the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell. Therefore, the first echo information is determined based on the cell-level second echo information.

[0009] In one optional implementation, the first echo information includes indication information of the sensing angle, which is related to the angle between the first sensed echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the network device is located. The first sensed echo signal is a sensed echo signal related to a scatterer associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. In this method, the first device determines channel information based on the first echo information and the SRS from the terminal device, including: determining a vector matrix based on the sensing angle; performing singular value decomposition on the vector matrix to obtain a spatial basis; determining projection coefficients based on the spatial basis and the SRS from the terminal device; and determining channel information based on the spatial basis and the projection coefficients.

[0010] It is evident that the sensing angle in the first echo information is related to the scatterer associated with the grid where the terminal device is located, and its angle range is smaller compared to the sensing angle in the second echo information. Therefore, by using the first echo information to assist in channel measurement, the first device can improve the filtering and noise reduction capabilities of the channel and increase the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0011] In one optional implementation, before the first device receives the first echo information, it sends a first request when the channel quality between the first device and the terminal device is less than a preset threshold. The first request is used to request the acquisition of the first echo information.

[0012] It is evident that when the channel quality between the first device and the terminal device is poor, the first device can determine that sensing is needed to assist in channel measurement, and thus obtain first echo information related to the location of the terminal device through a first request to assist in channel measurement between the first device and the terminal device.

[0013] Secondly, embodiments of this application also provide a method for determining channel information. This method can be executed by a second device, which can refer to the second device itself or a processor, module, chip, or chip system that is equivalent to the second device and implements the method. In this method, the second device acquires second echo information, which is related to the sensed echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell. The sensed echo signal is an echo signal in response to the sensed signal sent by the access network device. Based on the second echo information, the second device determines first echo information, which is related to the sensed echo signal and the location of the terminal device. The first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device. The second device then transmits the first echo information.

[0014] As can be seen, in this embodiment of the application, the second device determines the first echo information related to the location of the terminal device from the second echo information at the cell level, and sends the first echo information, which is beneficial for the first device to use the first echo information to assist in channel measurement and improve the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0015] In one optional implementation, the second device determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, including: determining the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel spectrum.

[0016] In one optional implementation, the second device is a Map Management Function (MMF) network element. In this method, the MMF network element determines the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map, including: determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the terminal device's location information and the channel map; the channel map is used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterer associated with each grid; and determining the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information.

[0017] As can be seen, when the second device is an MMF network element, the MMF network element determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located from the channel spectrum based on the location information of the terminal device, and then filters out the grid-level first echo information from the cell-level second echo information based on the scatterer identifier.

[0018] In one optional implementation, when the second device is a map management function MMF network element, if the MMF network element does not have a sensing information management function, the MMF network element acquires the second echo information by: sending a second request to a sensing function SF network element, the second request being used to request the acquisition of the second echo information; and receiving the second echo information from the SF network element.

[0019] It can be seen that if the MMF network element does not have the function of sensing information management, the MMF network element can request the SF network element to obtain the cell-level second echo information through the second request.

[0020] In another optional implementation, the second device is a sensing function SF network element. In this method, the SF network element determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, including: sending a third request to a map management function MMF network element, the third request being used to request the acquisition of the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located, the third request including the location information of the terminal device; receiving the scatterer identifier from the MMF network element; and determining the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information.

[0021] As can be seen, when the second device is an SF network element, the SF network element requests the MMF network element to obtain the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located through a third request carrying the location information of the terminal device. Then, based on the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located, the first echo information at the grid level is filtered out from the second echo information at the cell level.

[0022] In another optional implementation, the second device is a Substation (SU), which has sensing information management capabilities and manages channel maps. The SU is deployed in the access network or outside the access network. In this method, the SU determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, including: determining the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map.

[0023] In one possible approach, the SU determines the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map, including: determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map, wherein the channel map is used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterer identifier associated with each grid in the multiple grids; and determining the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located and the second echo information.

[0024] As can be seen, when the second device is SU, SU can determine the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located from the channel map based on the location information of the terminal device, and then filter out the grid-level first echo information from the cell-level second echo information based on the scatterer identifier.

[0025] Optionally, the SU determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map, including: determining the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the location of multiple grids indicated by the channel map; and determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the grid where the terminal device is located and the scatterers associated with each grid indicated by the channel map.

[0026] In one optional implementation, regardless of whether the second device is an MMF network element, an SF network element, or an SU, the second device may also perform the following steps: sending a fourth request to the LMF network element for location management function, the fourth request being used to request the location information of the terminal device; and receiving the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element.

[0027] It can be seen that the second device can also request the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element through the fourth request, so as to obtain the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device.

[0028] In one optional implementation, regardless of whether the second device is an MMF network element, an SF network element, or a SU, before acquiring the second echo information, the second device also receives a first request, which is used to request the acquisition of the first echo information.

[0029] Therefore, the second device may acquire the second echo information after receiving a first request to acquire the first echo information, so as to determine the first echo information based on the second echo information.

[0030] Thirdly, embodiments of this application also provide a communication device. This communication device has some or all of the functions of the first device described in the first aspect above, or it has some or all of the functions of the second device described in the second aspect above. For example, the communication device may have some or all of the functions of the first device described in the first aspect of this application, or it may have the functions of any one of the embodiments of this application implemented individually. The functions can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0031] In one possible design, the communication device may include a processing unit and a communication unit. The processing unit is configured to support the communication device in performing the corresponding functions described in the above method. The communication unit is used to support communication between the communication device and other communication devices. The communication device may also include a storage unit coupled to the processing unit and the communication unit, which stores necessary program instructions and data for the communication device.

[0032] In one embodiment, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, and the device is applied to a first device;

[0033] The communication unit is configured to receive first echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the location of the terminal device. The first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device. The sensing echo signal is an echo signal that responds to the sensing signal sent by the access network device.

[0034] The processing unit is used to determine channel information based on the first echo information and the detection reference signal (SRS) from the terminal device.

[0035] In addition, other alternative implementations of the communication device in this regard can be found in the relevant content of the first aspect above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0036] In another embodiment, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, and the device is applied to a second device;

[0037] The processing unit is used to acquire second echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell. The sensing echo signal is the echo signal corresponding to the sensing signal sent by the access network device.

[0038] The processing unit is further configured to determine first echo information based on the second echo information, wherein the first echo information is related to the position of the sensed echo signal and the terminal device, and the first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device;

[0039] The communication unit is used to transmit the first echo information.

[0040] In addition, other alternative implementations of the communication device in this regard can be found in the relevant content of the second aspect above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0041] As an example, the communication unit can be a transceiver or a communication interface, the storage unit can be a memory, and the processing unit can be a processor.

[0042] In one embodiment, the communication device includes a processor and a transceiver, the device being applied to a first device;

[0043] The transceiver is used to receive first echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the location of the terminal device. The first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device. The sensing echo signal is an echo signal in response to the sensing signal sent by the access network device.

[0044] The processor is configured to determine channel information based on the first echo information and the detection reference signal (SRS) from the terminal device.

[0045] In addition, other alternative implementations of the communication device in this regard can be found in the relevant content of the first aspect above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0046] In another embodiment, the communication device includes a processor and a transceiver, the device being applied to a second device;

[0047] The processor is configured to acquire second echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell. The sensing echo signal is an echo signal in response to the sensing signal sent by the access network device.

[0048] The processor is further configured to determine first echo information based on the second echo information, the first echo information being related to the position of the sensed echo signal and the terminal device, and the first echo information being used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device;

[0049] The transceiver is used to transmit the first echo information.

[0050] In addition, other alternative implementations of the communication device in this regard can be found in the relevant content of the second aspect above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0051] In another embodiment, the communication device is a chip or chip system. The processing unit may also be a processing circuit or logic circuit; the communication unit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system.

[0052] In implementation, the processor can be used for, but is not limited to, baseband-related processing, and the transceiver can be used for, but is not limited to, radio frequency transceiver. These devices can be disposed on separate chips, or at least partially or entirely on the same chip. For example, the processor can be further divided into analog baseband processors and digital baseband processors. The analog baseband processor can be integrated with the transceiver on the same chip, while the digital baseband processor can be disposed on a separate chip. With the continuous development of integrated circuit technology, more and more devices can be integrated on the same chip. For example, a digital baseband processor can be integrated with multiple application processors (e.g., but not limited to graphics processors, multimedia processors, etc.) on the same chip. Such a chip can be called a system-on-a-chip (SoC). Whether the various devices are disposed independently on different chips or integrated on one or more chips often depends on the needs of the product design. This application does not limit the implementation form of the above-mentioned devices.

[0053] Fourthly, embodiments of this application also provide a processor for executing the various methods described above. During the execution of these methods, the processes of sending and receiving the aforementioned information can be understood as the processor outputting the aforementioned information and the processor receiving the input information. When outputting the aforementioned information, the processor outputs the information to a transceiver for transmission. After being output by the processor, the information may require further processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the information and inputs it to the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the information, the information may require further processing before being input to the processor.

[0054] Unless otherwise specified, or unless it contradicts its actual function or internal logic in the relevant description, the transmission and reception operations involved by the processor can be more generally understood as processor output and reception, input and other operations, rather than transmission and reception operations directly performed by radio frequency circuits and antennas.

[0055] In implementation, the processor can be a dedicated processor for executing these methods, or it can be a processor that executes computer instructions stored in memory to execute these methods, such as a general-purpose processor. The memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip or disposed on different chips. This application does not limit the type of memory or the arrangement of the memory and processor.

[0056] Fifthly, embodiments of this application also provide a communication system, which includes a terminal device, an access network device, and a core network device. In another possible design, the system may further include other devices / functional network elements that interact with at least one of the terminal device, the access network device, and the core network device.

[0057] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0058] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a computer program product including instructions that, when run on a computer, implement the methods described in the first or second aspect above.

[0059] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a chip system including a processor and an interface. The interface is used to acquire programs or instructions, and the processor is used to invoke the programs or instructions to implement or support a first device in implementing the functions involved in the first aspect, or to implement or support a second device in implementing the functions involved in the second aspect. For example, determining or processing at least one of the data and information involved in the above methods. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data for the terminal. This chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0060] In a ninth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device including a processor for executing a computer program or executable instructions stored in a memory, wherein when the computer program or executable instructions are executed, the device performs methods as described in various possible implementations of the first or second aspect.

[0061] In one possible implementation, the processor and memory are integrated together;

[0062] In another possible implementation, the aforementioned memory is located outside the communication device.

[0063] The beneficial effects of aspects three through nine can be referenced from the beneficial effects of aspects one or two, and will not be elaborated here. Attached Figure Description

[0064] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system;

[0065] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another system architecture;

[0066] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of an O-RAN system;

[0067] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an O-RAN chip;

[0068] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a channel spectrum;

[0069] Figure 6 is an interactive schematic diagram of a channel information determination method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0070] Figure 7 is an interactive schematic diagram of another channel information determination method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0071] Figure 8 is an interactive schematic diagram of another method for determining channel information provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0072] Figure 9 is an interactive schematic diagram of another method for determining channel information provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0073] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0074] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0075] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0076] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal device (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal device 120 is wirelessly connected to the RAN node 110. Terminal devices and RAN nodes can be interconnected via wired or wireless means. The communication system 1000 may also include a core network 200. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 via wireless or wired means. The core network equipment in core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be independent and different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network equipment and the logical functions of the RAN node. Communication system 1000 may also include Internet 300.

[0077] RAN100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future radio access system as defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). RAN100 can also include two or more of the above-mentioned different radio access systems. RAN100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0078] RAN nodes, also known as radio access network equipment, RAN entities, or access nodes, are used to help terminal devices access communication systems wirelessly. In one application scenario, an RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. RAN nodes can be macro base stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), micro base stations or indoor stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), and can also be relay nodes or donor nodes.

[0079] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing different functions of the base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). Here, the CU performs the functions of the base station's Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and can also perform the functions of the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the base station's Radio Link Control (RANC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For specific descriptions of these protocol layers, refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement radio frequency signal transmission and reception. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes or integrated into the same RAN node, such as within a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as in a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0080] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, a CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and an RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN nodes in the embodiments of this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. For example, a RAN node can be a server loaded with the corresponding software modules. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the RAN nodes. For ease of description, a base station is used as an example of a RAN node in the following description.

[0081] A terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, capable of sending signals to or receiving signals from a base station. Terminal devices can also be called terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile stations, mobile terminals, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, and smart cities. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies or device forms used in the terminals.

[0082] In this application embodiment, the device for implementing the terminal's functions can be a terminal itself; it can also be a device capable of supporting the terminal in implementing those functions, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal. In this application embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the device for implementing the terminal's functions is a terminal, and the terminal is a UE (User Equipment) as an example, to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment.

[0083] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminals.

[0084] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with terminal functions.

[0085] Wireless communication can be conducted between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals using air interface resources. Air interface resources can include at least one of time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, code resources, and spatial resources. Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. This application does not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0086] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem, including base station functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal, or by a device that includes terminal functions.

[0087] In this application embodiment, the apparatus for implementing the function of the access network device can be the access network device itself; it can also be an apparatus capable of supporting the access network device in implementing the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the access network device. In the technical solution provided in this application embodiment, the apparatus for implementing the function of the access network device is the access network device, and the access network device is a base station, as an example, to describe the technical solution provided in this application embodiment.

[0088] Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of a system architecture applicable to this application. As shown in Figure 2, the system includes terminal equipment, access network equipment, and a core network. The core network includes access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, location management function (LMF) network elements, map management function (MMF) network elements, and sensing function (SF) network elements. Specifically, the AMF network elements are responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as terminal equipment location updates, terminal equipment registration with the network, and terminal equipment handover; the LMF network elements are used for terminal equipment location estimation; the MMF network elements are used for associating grids with scatterers and managing channel maps; and the SF network elements are used for sensing and acquiring sensing echo information. The AMF network elements communicate with the LMF / MMF / SF network elements through the NLs interface. Access network devices communicate with AMF network elements via the NG-C interface. The AMF network element is equivalent to a router for network devices to communicate with LMF / MMF / SF network elements.

[0089] Both access network equipment and terminal equipment include a radio resource control (RRC) signaling interaction module, a MAC signaling interaction module, and a physical (PHY) signaling interaction module. The RRC signaling interaction module is used for sending and receiving RRC signaling between the access network equipment and the terminal equipment. The MAC signaling interaction module is used for sending and receiving media access control-control element (MAC-CE) signaling between the access network equipment and the terminal equipment. The PHY signaling interaction module is used for sending and receiving uplink / downlink control signaling and uplink / downlink data between the access network equipment and the terminal equipment. Uplink control signaling may be, for example, a physical uplink control channel, and uplink data may be, for example, a physical uplink shared channel. Downlink control signaling may be, for example, a physical downlink control channel, and downlink data may be, for example, a physical downlink shared channel.

[0090] Please refer to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of an O-RAN system architecture. As shown in Figure 3, this O-RAN system includes core network equipment, access network equipment, and terminal equipment. The access network equipment includes BBUs and RUs, and the BBUs include CUs and DUs. It should be understood that the architecture shown in Figure 3 is also applicable to access network equipment architectures with CU-DU separation. The access network equipment (RAN nodes, such as eNBs, gNBs, or next-generation access network equipment) communicates with the core network (CN) via a backhaul link and with the terminal equipment via an air interface. Specifically, the BBU in the access network equipment communicates with the CN via the backhaul link, and the RU in the access network equipment communicates with at least one terminal equipment via an air interface. The BBU communicates with at least one RU via a fronthaul link. The BBU and RU may or may not be co-located. Furthermore, at least one CU and at least one DU included in the BBU can communicate via at least one midhaul link.

[0091] In some examples, the CU is a logical node carrying the RRC, SDAP, PDCP, and other control functions of the access network equipment. The control unit connects to network nodes such as the core network through interfaces, which can be interfaces such as the E2 interface. Optionally, the CU may have some core network functions. The CU (e.g., the PDCP layer and higher) connects to the DU (e.g., the radio link control (RLC) layer and lower) through interfaces, which can be interfaces such as the F1 interface. In some examples, these interfaces (e.g., the F1 interface) can provide control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane) functions (e.g., interface management, system information management, UE context management, RRC message transmission, etc.). The F1 interface supports control plane F1-C and user plane F1-U.

[0092] In some examples, the CU can be split into a central unit-control plane (CU-CP) and a central unit-user plane (CU-UP). The CU-CP is a logical node carrying the RRC layer and the control plane part of PDCP (PDCP-C) layer, used to implement the control plane functions. The CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement control plane functions. These network elements can be access and mobility function network elements, such as the AMF network element in a 5G system. The CU-UP is a logical node carrying the SDAP layer and the PDCP-U (user plane part of PDCP) layer, used to implement the CU's user plane functions. The CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement user plane functions. These network elements in the core network, such as the user plane function (UPF) network element in a 5G system, are responsible for forwarding and receiving data in terminal equipment. The above CU and DU configurations are merely examples; the functions of the CU and DU can be configured as needed. For instance, the CU or DU can be configured to have more protocol layer functions, or only some protocol layer processing functions. For example, some RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions above the RLC layer can be placed in the CU, while the remaining RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions below the RLC layer can be placed in the DU. Furthermore, the functions of the CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements, such as by latency. Functions that require low latency can be placed in the DU, while functions that do not require low latency can be placed in the CU.

[0093] In some examples, the DU is a logical node that carries the RLC layer, MAC layer, higher physical layer (higher PHY) layer, and other functions. In some examples, the DU can control at least one RU. The DU connects to the RU through interfaces, which can be fronthaul interfaces. In some examples, the Higher PHY layer includes the PHY layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0094] In some examples, the RU is a logical node that carries both lower physical layer (PHY) and radio frequency (RF) processing. In some examples, the RU can be a 3GPP TRP, a remote radio head (RRH), or other similar entity. In some examples, the Low-PHY includes PHY processing functions such as fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), digital beamforming, and filtering.

[0095] The DU and RU can be co-located or not. The DU and RU exchange control plane and user plane information via a fronthaul link through a lower-layer split control user and sync-Plane (LLS-CUS) interface. LLS-CUS may include a lower-layer split control (LLS-C) interface and a lower-layer split user (LLS-U) interface, respectively providing the control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane). In some examples, the control plane (C-Plane) refers to real-time control between the DU and RU. The DU and RU exchange management information via a fronthaul link's LLS-M interface; the management plane (M-Plane) refers to non-real-time management operations between the DU and RU.

[0096] DU and RU can cooperate to implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of DU and RU can be configured in various ways depending on the design. For example, a DU can be configured to implement baseband functions, and an RU can be configured to implement mid-RF functions. Another example is that a DU can be configured to implement higher-level functions in the PHY layer, and an RU can be configured to implement lower-level functions in the PHY layer, or to implement both lower-level and RF functions. Higher-level functions in the physical layer can include a portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the MAC layer, while lower-level functions in the physical layer can include another portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the mid-RF side.

[0097] Optionally, the access network equipment may also include a service unit (SU), which provides services such as at least one of sensing, channel map management and positioning functions.

[0098] Optionally, the SU can be deployed outside the access network. For example, the SU can be a functional entity deployed outside the access network to provide services, such as at least one of sensing information management and channel map management functions. Optionally, the SU can also provide positioning functions.

[0099] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of an O-RAN chip structure. It should be understood that the chip structure shown in Figure 4 is also applicable to the chip structure of access network equipment with CU-DU separation. As shown in Figure 4, the CU and DU include an x86 processor / advanced reduced instruction set computer machine (ARM-based CPU), and field programmable gate array (FPGA) / graphics processing unit (GPU) / other accelerators. The RU includes an O-RAN processing unit (OPU), a digital processing unit (DPU), and an RF processing unit.

[0100] The CU is a platform that performs upper-layer L2 and L3 functions. Midhaul and backhaul interfaces carry traffic between the CU and DU, as well as between the CU and the core network. The DU performs L1 and some L2 functions, while the RU performs L1 computation and RF digital functions; fronthaul and backhaul interfaces carry traffic between the RU and DU, as well as between the CU and DU. An integrated DU includes the functions of both the DU and RU described above.

[0101] The CU / DU hardware includes a chassis platform, motherboard, peripherals, and cooling system. The motherboard contains processing units, memory, internal input / output (I) / output (O) interfaces, and external connection ports. Its hardware accelerators are designed with interfaces, and hardware functional components include: storage for software, hardware, and system debugging interfaces, and a single-board management controller.

[0102] DU systems are typically implemented using multi-core processors and one or more hardware accelerators. Parts of the DU protocol stack can be implemented in software running on the multi-core processor, while computationally intensive L1 and L2 functions can be offloaded to hardware accelerators based on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) / graphics processing units (GPUs); alternatively, all L1 functions can be offloaded to FPGA / GPU-based hardware accelerators, while other protocol stack components are implemented in software running on the processor; or the entire protocol stack can be implemented in software running on the processor. Hardware accelerators support interconnection with x86 or non-x86 processors. Similarly, accelerators have multi-channel PCIe interfaces pointing to the CPU and external connections via GbE.

[0103] Additionally, the O-RAN processing unit receives eCPRI frames from the O-RAN fronthaul and performs fronthaul interface operations, the lowest level L1 (encoding, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, precoding), synchronization, beamforming, and resource unit mapping. The OPU can be implemented as a CPU, FPGA, or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0104] A DPU (such as the digital processing unit of an O-RU) is used to perform synchronization, digital downconversion (DDC) (such as digital downconversion in the uplink (UL)), digital upconversion (DUC) (such as digital upconversion in the downlink (DL)), crest factor reduction (CFR), and digital pre-distortion (DPD). It improves power amplifier efficiency by reducing the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) / adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of the RF front end. The DPU can be implemented as an FPGA or ASIC.

[0105] The RF processing unit includes a transceiver module, up / down converters, power amplifiers (PA), low-noise amplifiers (LNA), and Tx / Rx filters. All conversions between the analog and digital domains (digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs)) (e.g., RF sampling, use of RF in up-conversion and down-conversion, and frequency conversion by mixing intermediate frequency (IF) and local oscillator (LO) frequencies) are performed within the transceiver module. Furthermore, the physical and logical partitions within the RF processing unit do not require specific boundaries.

[0106] The embodiments disclosed in this application will be presented to illustrate various aspects, embodiments, or features of this application in relation to systems including multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that individual systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, combinations of these approaches may also be used.

[0107] To facilitate understanding of the solutions in the embodiments of this application, the terms that may be involved in the embodiments of this application are explained below.

[0108] 1. Channel information.

[0109] Channel information can be used to characterize channel features or properties. For example, channel information can be at least one of channel matrix information, channel state information (CSI), and channel eigenvectors. Channel information can include at least one of the following: time domain information, frequency domain information, spatial domain information, time-frequency domain information, space-frequency domain information, delay-Doppler domain information, or time-frequency-spatial domain information, without specific limitations.

[0110] Channel quality information (CSI) can be used to describe information related to channel quality. For example, CSI describes the propagation process of a wireless signal between the transmitter and receiver, including the effects of distance, scattering, and fading on the signal. For downlink transmission, CSI can be used by the terminal device to report downlink channel quality to the network device, so that the network device can perform downlink transmission based on the CSI. The CSI sent by the terminal device to the network device can be carried in the CSI report. For example, CSI may include at least one of the following: channel state information - reference signal resource indicator (CRI), rank indicator (RI), channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), layer indicator (LI), layer 1 - reference signal receiving power layer indicator (L1-RSRP), layer 1 - signal to interference plus noise ratio (L1-SINR), capability index, time-domain channel properties (TDCP), etc.

[0111] Access network devices can perform channel measurements using uplink reference signals from terminal devices, such as sounding reference signals (SRS), to obtain uplink channel information. Channel measurement can also be described as channel assessment, channel detection, or channel estimation.

[0112] 2. Channel map.

[0113] A channel map can be understood as a database used to store / indicate channel characteristics based on location regions. These channel characteristics include at least one of the following: channel statistical covariance matrix, angle spectrum, delay spectrum, path loss, and feature basis vectors. The channel map can be pre-determined and managed by core network equipment, access network equipment, or other entities / functional network elements based on channel characteristics from a large number of locations.

[0114] For example, Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a channel map. As shown in Figure 5, a channel map can divide a physical cell into two-dimensional grids. Each two-dimensional grid point stores several channel features of that location area in the form of a matrix, vector, or scalar. The channel map in Figure 5 stores the statistical covariance matrix, angle spectrum, delay spectrum, path loss, and feature basis vectors of each location area.

[0115] In one embodiment, the storage format of the channel map can be seen in Table 1 below. As shown in Table 1, the channel map stores channel features such as the cell identity document (ID) of each grid, grid ID, grid coordinates, grid associated scatterer ID, channel statistical covariance matrix, angle spectrum, delay spectrum, path loss, and the feature basis vector corresponding to the grid. The feature basis vector corresponding to the grid is obtained by eigenvalue decomposition of the channel statistical covariance matrix. This channel statistical covariance matrix is ​​calculated from the channel information of multiple terminal devices, and the channel information of multiple terminal devices is obtained by measuring multiple terminal devices in a grid.

[0116] In addition, the cell ID, grid ID, grid coordinates, and grid associated scatterer ID in Table 1 are used to determine channel information in the embodiments of this application. At least one of the channel statistical covariance matrix, angle spectrum, time delay spectrum, path loss, and feature basis vectors corresponding to the grid in Table 1 is required to indicate channel characteristics.

[0117] As can be seen, channel maps can be used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterers associated with each grid.

[0118] Table 1

[0119] Channel maps can be obtained by building a database based on historical data and establishing a mapping relationship between location information and channel characteristics. Considering the limited amount of historical measurement data, channel maps for the entire cell can usually be obtained by interpolating the channel characteristics of unknown locations based on the channel characteristics of known locations.

[0120] Furthermore, with the development of digital twin technology, channel maps can also be obtained through channel twin technology, i.e., channel maps can be obtained through map-based deterministic channel modeling schemes. For example, by combining a prior environmental map and using electromagnetic simulation to calculate and simulate the reflection, diffraction, and scattering characteristics of communication multipath, deterministic channels can be obtained for constructing channel maps.

[0121] 3. Sensing echo signals.

[0122] The sensing echo signal refers to the signal that a sensing signal is reflected back to the sensing device after being scattered by a scattering object. The sensing signal is the signal sent by the sensing device for sensing. For example, if the sensing device is a base station, the base station sends a sensing signal for sensing. The signal that the sensing signal is reflected back to the base station by scattering objects around the base station is called the sensing echo signal.

[0123] In this embodiment of the application, the sensed echo signal may also be referred to as the first echo signal or the second echo signal, etc. The naming of the sensed signal is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

[0124] In this embodiment, the first device can be an access network device, and the second device can be a network element with channel map management function, such as an MMF network element; or, the second device can be a network element responsible for mobility management in a mobile network, such as an AMF network element. For example, the first device is the access network device in the system shown in Figure 2, and the second device is the MMF network element in the core network device shown in Figure 2, or the second device is the AMF network element in the core network device shown in Figure 2.

[0125] Alternatively, in this embodiment, the first device can be a DU in the access network, and the second device can be a SU, which is deployed in the access network, or the SU can be a functional entity deployed outside the access network. For example, the first device is the DU in the system shown in Figure 3 above, and the second device is the SU deployed on the access network device shown in Figure 3 above (the SU is not shown in Figure 3).

[0126] This application proposes a method for determining channel information, and Figure 6 is an interactive schematic diagram of this method. The method for determining channel information is described from the perspective of the interaction between a first device and a second device. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0127] S601. The second device acquires the second echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0128] The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell of the terminal device. This can be understood as the second echo information including the angle information of the channels between the serving cell of the terminal device and the access network equipment, corresponding to all grids associated with the serving cell of the terminal device. The serving cell of the terminal device can be associated with one or more grids. Typically, the serving cell of the terminal device contains a first physical area, and one grid represents a second physical area, where the first physical area is greater than or equal to the second physical area.

[0129] The sensing echo signal is an echo signal that responds to the sensing signal sent by the access network device. That is, the sensing signal sent by the access network device for sensing, and the signal reflected back to the access network device by the various scatterers in the various grids around the access network device, is the sensing echo signal in the embodiments of this application.

[0130] Furthermore, the second echo information is related to the sensed echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. This can be understood as follows: the second echo information is determined based on the sensed echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device; or it can be understood as: the second echo information is determined based on the sensed echo signal and is related to the serving cell of the terminal device; or it can be understood as: the second echo information is determined based on the sensed echo signal and is related to the scatterers in each grid associated with the serving cell of the terminal device. In other words, the second echo information is determined based on the sensed echo signal, which is the sensed echo signal reflected back by the scatterers in each grid associated with the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0131] Since the second echo information is related to the serving cell of the terminal device, it can be regarded as cell-level echo information. Therefore, the second echo information can also be called cell-level echo information or cell-level sensing echo information. This application does not limit the naming of the second echo information.

[0132] In one optional implementation, the second device is an MMF network element, and the MMF network element has a sensing information management function. In this method, the MMF network element can autonomously acquire the second echo information. The autonomous acquisition of the second echo information by the MMF network element means that the MMF network element autonomously obtains the second echo information from the access network device that provides network services to the terminal device; the second echo information is obtained by the access network device based on sensing.

[0133] In another optional implementation, the second device is an MMF network element, and the MMF network element does not have a sensing information management function. In this method, the MMF network element acquires the second echo information by: sending a second request to the SF network element, the second request being used to request the acquisition of the second echo information; and receiving the second echo information from the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element performs the following steps: receiving the second request from the MMF network element; and sending the second echo information to the MMF network element. The SF network element is used to send a sensing control command to the access network device to enable the access network device to perform sensing. Thus, the SF network element obtains the second echo information from the access network device and stores and manages the second echo information. Specifically, the SF network element sends a sensing control command to the access network device; the access network device performs sensing based on the sensing requirements in the sensing control command, obtains a sensing echo signal, and determines the second echo information based on the sensing echo signal; the access network device sends the second echo information to the SF network element so that the SF network element stores and manages the second echo information. The sensing control command sent by the SF network element to the access network device can be forwarded through the AMF network element or sent directly. In other words, the second echo information sent by the SF network element to the MMF network element is obtained by the SF network element through sensing control commands to control the access network equipment.

[0134] It is evident that when the MMF network element does not have the function of sensing information management, it can request the second echo information from the SF network element that stores and manages the sensing echo information through the second request.

[0135] In another optional implementation, the second device is an SF network element, and the SF network element has a sensing information management function. In this method, the SF network element can autonomously obtain the second echo information from the access network device that provides network services to the terminal device. Specifically, the SF network element sends a sensing control command to the access network device; the access network device performs sensing based on the sensing requirements in the sensing control command, obtains the sensing echo signal, determines the second echo information based on the sensing echo signal, and sends the second echo information to the SF network element.

[0136] In another optional implementation, the second device is a Substation (SU) with sensing information management functionality. In this method, the SU can acquire second echo information. Optionally, the SU is deployed in the access network and also has sensing functionality. The SU can perform the following steps: sensing based on the sensing functionality to obtain a sensing echo signal; and determining the second echo information based on the sensing echo signal.

[0137] In one optional implementation, the second device further receives a first request from the first device, the first request being for requesting to obtain first echo information. After receiving the first request, the second device obtains second echo information, determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, and sends the determined first echo information to the first device.

[0138] The first request may also be called an echo request or a sensing echo request. The naming of the first request is not limited in this application embodiment.

[0139] Additionally, the first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device; that is, the first echo information includes the angle information of the channel between the grid associated with the terminal device and the access network equipment. The first echo information is related to the sensed echo signal and the location of the terminal device. This can be understood as: the first echo information is determined based on the sensed echo signal reflected back from the scatterer in the grid associated with the terminal device. The terminal device can be associated with a grid. Typically, if the terminal device is located within the second physical area represented by a certain grid, then the terminal device is associated with that grid.

[0140] The scatterer in the grid associated with the terminal device can be understood as the scatterer in the grid associated with the terminal device that the terminal device sends an uplink signal to the access network device through.

[0141] The first echo information is related to the location of the terminal device. The location of the terminal device can be the grid in which the terminal device is located. Therefore, the first echo information can also be regarded as grid-level sensing echo, or simply grid-level sensing echo information. This application does not limit the naming of the first echo information.

[0142] Optionally, the first device may send a first request to the second device when the channel quality with the terminal device is less than a preset threshold. Alternatively, the first device may determine the channel quality with the terminal device and, if the channel quality is less than the preset threshold, determine that sensing-assisted channel measurement is required, and thus send a first request to the second device to use first echo information to assist in channel measurement with the terminal device. The indicator used by the first device to determine channel quality may be the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) or reference signal received power (RSRP) at the current time, and the preset threshold may be pre-set. For example, if the SINR at the current time is less than the preset threshold, the first device may send a first request to the second device to request the acquisition of first echo information related to the location of the terminal device.

[0143] It is evident that the first echo information is related to the location of the terminal device, while the second echo information is related to the serving cell of the terminal device. Therefore, compared to the cell-level second echo information, the first echo information has a corresponding relationship with the terminal device. The first device requests the second device to obtain the first echo information through a first request. By using the first echo information that corresponds to the terminal device to assist in channel measurement, the filtering and noise reduction capability of the channel can be improved, and the accuracy of channel measurement can be improved.

[0144] S602. The second device determines the first echo information based on the second echo information. The first echo information is related to the sensing echo signal and the location of the terminal device.

[0145] The second device determines the first echo information based on the second echo information. This can be understood as follows: the second device filters out the first echo information related to the location of the terminal device from the cell-level second echo information, which is beneficial for the first device to assist in channel measurement using the first echo information.

[0146] In one optional implementation, when the second device is an MMF network element, the MMF network element determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, including: the MMF network element determines the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map. The channel map managed by the MMF is the channel map corresponding to the area where multiple access networks are located, and the multiple access networks include access networks that provide network services to terminal devices.

[0147] In one possible approach, the MMF network element determines the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map, including: determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map, wherein the channel map is used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterer associated with each grid in the multiple grids; and determining the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information.

[0148] The MMF network element determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the terminal device's location information and channel map. This includes: determining the grid where the terminal device is located based on the terminal device's location information and the positions of multiple grids indicated by the channel map; and determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the grid where the terminal device is located and the scatterers associated with each grid indicated by the channel map. The terminal device's location information refers to the location information of the terminal device's current position.

[0149] In addition, MMF network elements can determine the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information in several ways. In one possible approach, the MME network element determines the echo information in the second echo information that is related to the scatterer identifier as the first echo information.

[0150] In another possible approach, the MMF network element determines the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map, including: performing ray tracing on the terminal device according to the electronic map indicated by the channel map and the second echo information to determine the first echo information.

[0151] It is evident that the MMF network element can filter out the first echo information related to the location of the terminal device from the second echo information at the cell level. Since the first echo information corresponds to the terminal device, if the first device uses the first echo information to assist in channel measurement, it helps improve the filtering and noise reduction capabilities of the channel and increases the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0152] Optionally, the MMF network element can also obtain the location information of the terminal device's current location. For example, the MMF can obtain the location information of the terminal device's current location from other functional network elements. For instance, the MMF network element can obtain the location information of the terminal device's current location from the LMF network element. Specifically, the MMF network element performs the following steps: sending a fourth request to the LMF network element, the fourth request being used to request the acquisition of the terminal device's location information; and receiving the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element performs the following steps: receiving the fourth request from the MMF network element; and sending the location information of the terminal device to the MMF network element, the location information of the terminal device being the current location of the terminal device.

[0153] The location information of the terminal device is used to indicate the location of the terminal device. The location of the terminal device can be its relative coordinates, such as x, y, and z coordinates, or other forms of location, such as the grid identifier of the grid in which the terminal device is located. This application embodiment does not limit this. The location information of the terminal device can also be called the positioning information of the terminal device, and this application embodiment does not limit this. In addition, the fourth request can also be called a positioning request, and this application embodiment does not limit the naming of the fourth request.

[0154] It is evident that the MMF network element can obtain the location information of the terminal device by requesting the LMF network element through a fourth request to determine the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located.

[0155] In another optional implementation, the second device is an SF network element. The SF network element determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, including: sending a third request to the MMF network element, the third request being used to request the acquisition of the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located, the third request including the location information of the terminal device; receiving the scatterer identifier from the MMF network element; and determining the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information.

[0156] As can be seen, the SF network element requests the MMF network element to obtain the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located through a third request carrying the location information of the terminal device. In one possible approach, the location information of the terminal device is the relative position coordinates of the terminal device, and the MMF network element can perform the following steps: determine the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the positions of multiple grids indicated by the channel map; determine the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the scatterer identifier associated with each grid indicated by the channel map; and send the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located to the SF network element.

[0157] In another possible approach, the location information of the terminal device is the grid identifier of the grid where the terminal device is located. The MMF network element can perform the following steps: determine the grid where the terminal device is located based on the grid identifier of the grid where the terminal device is located and multiple grid identifiers indicated by the channel map; determine the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the scatterer identifier associated with each grid indicated by the channel map; and send the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located to the SF network element.

[0158] After the SF network element obtains the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located, it filters the grid-level first echo information from the cell-level second echo information based on the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. Specifically, the SF network element determines the echo information in the second echo information that is related to the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located as the first echo information. The first echo information has a corresponding relationship with the terminal device. Therefore, if the first device uses the first echo information to assist in channel measurement, it is beneficial to improve the filtering and noise reduction capability of the channel and improve the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0159] Optionally, the SF network element can also obtain the location information of the terminal device's current location. For example, the SF can obtain the location information of the terminal device's current location from other functional network elements. For instance, the SF network element can obtain the location information of the terminal device's current location from the LMF network element. Specifically, the SF network element performs the following steps: sending a fourth request to the LMF network element, the fourth request being used to request the acquisition of the terminal device's location information; and receiving the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element performs the following steps: receiving the fourth request from the SF network element; and sending the location information of the terminal device to the SF network element, which is the location information of the terminal device's current location. The location information of the terminal device can be found above and will not be repeated here.

[0160] It is evident that the location information of the terminal device carried in the third request can be obtained by the SF network element from the LMF network element through the fourth request.

[0161] In another optional implementation, the second device is a Substation (SU), which has sensing information management and channel map management functions. In this method, the SU determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, including: determining the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map. When the SU is deployed in the access network, the channel map managed by the SU is the channel map corresponding to the area where the access network providing network services to the terminal equipment is located. That is, the channel map managed by the SU is a subset of the channel map managed by the aforementioned MMF network element.

[0162] In one possible approach, the SU determines the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map, including: determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map, wherein the channel map is used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterer associated with each grid; and determining the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information. This implementation can be found in the implementation method described above for determining the first echo information when the second device is an MMF network element, and will not be repeated here.

[0163] In another possible approach, the SU, based on the second echo information and the channel map, includes: performing ray tracing on the terminal device according to the electronic map indicated by the channel map and the second echo information to determine the first echo information. This implementation can be found in the implementation method described above where the second device is an MMF network element, and will not be repeated here.

[0164] Optionally, the SU has a positioning function. In this mode, the location information of the terminal device used by the SU is obtained autonomously by the SU based on its positioning function.

[0165] Optionally, the SU does not have a positioning function. In this mode, the location information of the terminal device used by the SU can be obtained by the SU requesting the LMF network element through a fourth request. That is, the SU can also perform the following steps: send a fourth request to the LMF network element, the fourth request being used to request the location information of the terminal device; and receive the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element performs the following steps: receive the fourth request from the SU; and send the location information of the terminal device to the SU. The SU sending the fourth request to the LMF network element can be: the SU sends the fourth request to the LMF network element through the CU, that is, the CU can transparently transmit the fourth request from the SU to the LMF network element. Alternatively, the SU can send the fourth request to the LMF network element directly, that is, the SU can directly interact with the LMF network element.

[0166] In summary, regardless of whether the second device is an MMF network element, an SF network element, or a SU, the second device can filter out the first echo information from the cell-level second echo information. This allows the first device to use the first echo information to assist in channel measurement. The first echo information has a corresponding relationship with the terminal device, which can improve the filtering and noise reduction capability of the channel and improve the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0167] S603. The second device sends the first echo information to the first device. Correspondingly, the first device receives the first echo information from the second device.

[0168] S604. The first device determines the channel information based on the first echo information and SRS.

[0169] The first echo information includes sensing angle indication information, which indicates the sensing angle. This sensing angle is related to the angle between the first sensing echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network device is located. The first sensing echo signal is a sensing echo signal related to the scatterer associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. That is, the first sensing echo signal is a portion of the sensing echo signals related to the first echo information, or a portion of the sensing echo signals related to the second echo information, and this portion of the sensing echo signal is related to the scatterer associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. Optionally, the first echo information may also include other information, such as at least one of time delay information and power information, wherein the time delay information can be used to determine the time domain information of the channel, and the power information can be used to determine the received power of the reference signal.

[0170] The sensing angle indicated by the first echo information is related to the angle between the first sensing echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network device is located. It can be understood as: the sensing angle indicated by the first echo information is the angle between the first sensing echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network device is located; or it can be understood as: the sensing angle indicated by the first echo information is an angle in the global coordinate system that can represent the angle between the first sensing echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the network device is located. Therefore, the angle between the first sensing echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the network device is located can be determined based on the sensing angle indicated by the first echo information.

[0171] In addition, the angle between the plane where the first sensing echo signal and the receiving antenna of the access network equipment are located includes one or more horizontal angles and one or more vertical angles. The horizontal angle can be represented by θ, and the vertical angle can be represented by φ.

[0172] In one optional implementation, the first device determines channel information based on the first echo information and SRS, including: determining a vector matrix based on the sensing angle indicated by the first echo information; performing singular value decomposition (SVD) on the vector matrix to obtain a spatial basis; determining projection coefficients based on the spatial basis and SRS, wherein the projection coefficients are projection coefficients of the channel information determined based on SRS onto the spatial basis; and determining the channel information based on the spatial basis and the projection coefficients.

[0173] Specifically, the first device constructs a vector matrix A:[a(θ1,φ1),…,a(θ1,φ1), based on the sensing angle indicated by the first echo information. n ,φ n]], where a is a column vector with dimension m×1, θ is the horizontal angle between the plane where the first sensing echo signal and the receiving antenna of the network device are located, φ is the vertical angle between the plane where the first sensing echo signal and the receiving antenna of the network device are located, m is an integer greater than 1, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The first device performs SVD decomposition on the vector matrix A to obtain the spatial basis U, that is, the vector matrix A and the spatial basis U satisfy: A=UΣV H Where A is an m×n matrix, U is an m-order matrix, Σ is an m×n diagonal matrix, and V H It is an n-order matrix.

[0174] In one alternative implementation, the first device solves for the sparse projection coefficients under the following conditions: st Where X p This indicates the SRS sent by the terminal device to the first device. This indicates the SRS received by the first device from the terminal device. ε can be considered a variable, and ε is a preset value, or ε can be understood as a small numerical value. Optionally, the first device can use a compressed sensing algorithm to solve for the optimal sparse projection coefficients under the above conditions. In addition, sparse projection coefficients can also be called spatial basis projection coefficients.

[0175] Optionally, the first device determines channel information based on the spatial basis and projection coefficients, including: channel information. for: α * The optimal sparse projection coefficients are obtained by the first device under the above conditions.

[0176] Furthermore, the second echo information also includes indication information of the sensing angle, which is related to the angle between the second sensing echo information and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network device is located. The second sensing echo signal is a sensing echo signal related to the scatterer associated with the serving cell of the terminal device. That is, the second sensing echo signal is a portion of the sensing signal related to the first echo information, or a portion of the sensing information related to the second echo information, and this portion of the sensing signal is related to the scatterer associated with the serving cell of the terminal device. Therefore, the second sensing echo signal is a portion of the sensing signal related to either the first or second echo information, and the second sensing echo signal includes the first sensing echo signal.

[0177] The sensing angle indicated by the second echo information is related to the angle between the second sensed echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network device is located. This can be understood as: the sensing angle indicated by the second echo information is the angle between the second sensed echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network device is located; or it can be understood as: the sensing angle indicated by the second echo information is an angle in global coordinates that can represent the angle between the second sensed echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the network device is located. Therefore, the angle between the second sensed echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the network device is located can be determined based on the sensing angle indicated by the second echo information. The angle between the second sensed echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network device is located also includes both horizontal and vertical angles.

[0178] The sensing angle indicated by the first echo information is related to the angle between the first sensed echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network equipment is located. The sensing angle indicated by the second echo information is related to the angle between the second sensed echo information and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network equipment is located. The first sensed echo signal is a sensed echo signal related to the scatterer associated with the grid where the terminal equipment is located, and the second sensed echo signal is a sensed echo signal related to the scatterer associated with the serving cell of the terminal equipment. Therefore, the sensing angle indicated by the first sensed echo information has a smaller range than that indicated by the second sensed echo information. Thus, by using the sensing angle indicated by the first echo information to assist channel measurement, the first device can better filter and reduce noise in the channel, thereby improving the accuracy of channel measurement. This method can also be seen as the first device improving the filtering and noise reduction capability of the channel from a spatial perspective, thereby improving the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0179] As can be seen, in this embodiment, the second device provides the first device with first echo information related to sensing, thereby enabling the first device to determine channel information based on the first echo information and SRS, thus achieving sensing-assisted channel measurement. Furthermore, the first echo information is related to the location of the terminal device, while the second echo information is related to the serving cell of the terminal device. Therefore, compared to the cell-level second echo information, the first echo information has a corresponding relationship with the terminal device. By using the first echo information to assist in channel measurement, the first device can improve the filtering and noise reduction capabilities of the channel and increase the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0180] This application embodiment also takes the first device as an access network device and the second device as an MMF network element as an example to specifically illustrate the above-mentioned method for determining channel information, and proposes another method for determining channel information. Figure 7 is an interactive schematic diagram of this method for determining channel information, and its interactive process includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0181] S701. When the channel quality between the access network device and the terminal device is less than a preset threshold, the access network device sends a first request to the MMF network element. The first request is used to request the acquisition of first echo information, which is related to the sensed echo signal and the location of the terminal device. Accordingly, the MMF network element receives the first request from the access network device.

[0182] The indicators used to determine channel quality and the first echo information are described in S601 above and will not be repeated here. The first request may be called an echo request or a sensing echo request; the naming of the first request is not limited in this embodiment.

[0183] In addition, the access network device sends a first request to the MMF network element, including: transparently transmitting the first request to the MMF network element through the AMF network element. That is, the access network device sends a first request to the AMF network element, and the AMF network element forwards the first request to the MMF network element.

[0184] It is evident that the access network device can determine the channel quality between itself and the terminal device in real time. When the channel quality between itself and the terminal device is poor, it determines that it needs to perform sensing-assisted channel measurement. Therefore, it requests the first echo information from the MMF network element through the first request, so as to assist in the channel measurement between itself and the terminal device based on the first echo information and improve communication performance.

[0185] The S702.MMF network element sends a fourth request to the LMF network element, which requests the location information of the terminal device. Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the fourth request from the MMF network element.

[0186] The location information of the terminal device is used to indicate the location of the terminal device. The location of the terminal device can be referred to in S602 above, and will not be repeated here. The location information of the terminal device can also be called the positioning information of the terminal device, and this embodiment does not limit it to that.

[0187] In addition, the fourth request can also be called a location request. This application embodiment does not limit the naming of the fourth request.

[0188] As can be seen, after receiving the first request from the access network device to obtain the first echo information, the MMF network element requests the LMF network element to obtain the location information of the terminal device through a fourth request, so as to determine the first echo information based on the location information of the terminal device. Here, the location information of the terminal device refers to the location information of the terminal device's current location.

[0189] S703. The LMF network element sends the location information of the terminal device to the MMF network element. Correspondingly, the MMF network element receives the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element.

[0190] The S704.MMF network element determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information and channel map of the terminal device.

[0191] MMF network elements can determine the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map in several ways. In one possible approach, the MMF network element determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map, including: determining the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map; and determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the grid and the channel map. Here, the channel map is the channel map corresponding to the area where multiple access networks are located, including the access network providing network services to the terminal device. The channel map is used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterer associated with each grid.

[0192] As can be seen, after the MMF network element obtains the location information of the terminal device, it determines the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the location of multiple grids indicated by the channel map. Then, based on the grid where the terminal device is located and the scatterers associated with each grid indicated by the channel map, it determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located.

[0193] The S705.MMF network element acquires the second echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal equipment.

[0194] The information regarding the second echo is described in S601 above and will not be repeated here.

[0195] In one optional implementation, if the MMF network element has a sensing information management function, the MMF network element can obtain the second echo information by autonomously obtaining the second echo information from the access network device that provides network services to the terminal device. The second echo information is obtained by the access network device based on sensing.

[0196] In another optional implementation, if the MMF network element does not have a sensing information management function, the MMF network element acquires the second echo information by: sending a second request to the SF network element, the second request being used to request the acquisition of the second echo information; and receiving the second echo information from the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF performs the following steps: receiving the second request from the MMF network element; and sending the second echo information to the MMF network element. The second echo information sent by the SF network element to the MMF network element is obtained by the access network device based on sensing and sent to the SF network element. Specific implementation details can be found in S601 above and will not be repeated here.

[0197] The second request can be called an echo request or a sensing echo request. This application embodiment does not limit the naming of the second request.

[0198] In addition, the execution order of S702 to S704 can be before or after the execution order of S705, and this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0199] The S706.MMF network element determines the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information associated with the grid where the terminal device is located.

[0200] MMF network elements can determine the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information in several ways. In one possible approach, the MMF network element determines the first echo information as the echo information related to the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located within the second echo information. Therefore, the MMF network element can filter out the grid-level first echo information from the cell-level second echo information.

[0201] The S707.MMF network element sends the first echo information to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first echo information from the MMF network element.

[0202] S708. The access network equipment determines the channel information based on the first echo information and SRS.

[0203] The implementation of S708 can be found in the implementation of S604 described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0204] As can be seen, in this embodiment, when the channel quality between the access network device and the terminal device is poor, the access network device requests first echo information related to the location of the terminal device from the MMF network element via a first request. Then, based on the location information and channel map of the terminal device obtained from the LMF network element, the MMF network element determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located, and based on the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located and the obtained cell-level second echo information, determines the first echo information and sends the first echo information to the access network device. Subsequently, the access network device uses the first echo information to perform channel measurement, realizing sensing information-assisted channel measurement.

[0205] In addition, the first echo information is related to the location of the terminal device, while the second echo information is related to the serving cell of the terminal device. Therefore, compared with the cell-level second echo information, the first echo information has a corresponding relationship with the terminal device. The first device uses the first echo information to assist in channel measurement, which can improve the filtering and noise reduction capability of the channel and improve the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0206] This application embodiment also takes the first device as an access network device and the second device as an SF network element as an example to specifically illustrate the method for determining channel information, and proposes another method for determining channel information. Figure 8 is an interactive schematic diagram of the method for determining channel information, and its interactive process includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0207] S801. When the channel quality between the access network device and the terminal device is less than a preset threshold, the access network device sends a first request to the SF network element. The first request is used to request the acquisition of first echo information, which is related to the sensed echo signal and the location of the terminal device. Accordingly, the SF network element receives the first request from the access network device.

[0208] The indicators used to determine channel quality and the first echo information are as described in S601 above, and will not be repeated here. The first request may be called an echo request or a sensing echo request; the naming of the first request is not limited in this embodiment.

[0209] In addition, the access network device sends a first request to the SF network element, including: transparently transmitting the first request to the SF network element through the AMF network element. That is, the access network device sends a first request to the AMF network element, and the AMF network element forwards the first request to the SF network element.

[0210] It is evident that the access network device can determine the channel quality between itself and the terminal device in real time. When the channel quality between itself and the terminal device is poor, it determines that it needs to perform sensing-assisted channel measurement. In this way, it requests the first echo information from the SF network element through the first request, so as to assist the channel measurement between itself and the terminal device based on the first echo information and improve communication performance.

[0211] The S802.SF network element sends a fourth request to the LMF network element, which requests the location information of the terminal device. Correspondingly, the LMF network element receives the fourth request from the SF network element.

[0212] The fourth request can also be called a location request. In this embodiment of the application, the naming of the fourth request is not limited.

[0213] As can be seen, after receiving the first request from the access network device to obtain the first echo information, the SF network element requests the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element through a fourth request, so as to determine the first echo information based on the location information of the terminal device. Here, the location information of the terminal device refers to the location information of the terminal device's current location.

[0214] The S803.LMF network element sends the location information of the terminal device to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element.

[0215] The location information of the terminal device is used to indicate the location of the terminal device. The location of the terminal device can be referred to in S602 above, and will not be repeated here. The location information of the terminal device can also be called the positioning information of the terminal device, and this embodiment does not limit it to that.

[0216] The S804.SF network element sends a third request to the MMF network element. This third request requests the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located, and includes the location information of the terminal device. Correspondingly, the MMF network element receives the third request from the SF network element.

[0217] The MMF (Multi-Focused Array) network element manages a channel map, which is a channel map corresponding to the areas where multiple access networks are located. These access networks include those providing network services to the terminal equipment. The channel map is used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterers associated with each grid. Therefore, after obtaining the location information of the terminal equipment, the SF (Signal Array) network element requests the MMF network element to obtain the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal equipment is located through a third request carrying the location information of the terminal equipment, so as to determine the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal equipment is located.

[0218] The S805.MMF network element sends the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located to the SF network element. Correspondingly, the SF network element receives the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located from the MMF network element.

[0219] Optionally, the MMF network element also determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map. The MMF network element can determine the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located in various ways based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map. In one possible approach, the MMF network element determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map, including: determining the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the positions of multiple grids indicated by the channel map; and determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the grid where the terminal device is located and the scatterer identifier associated with each grid indicated by the channel map.

[0220] The S806.SF network element acquires the second echo information, which is related to the serving cell of the sensing echo signal and the terminal equipment.

[0221] The SF network element has a sensing information management function. Acquiring the second echo information means that the SF network element autonomously obtains the second echo information from the access network equipment providing network services to the terminal devices. Specifically, the SF network element sends a sensing control command to the access network equipment; the access network equipment performs sensing based on the sensing requirements in the sensing control command, obtains the sensing echo signal, determines the second echo information based on the sensing echo signal, and then sends the second echo information to the SF network element.

[0222] Furthermore, the execution order of S802 to S805 can be before or after the execution order of S806, and this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0223] The S807.SF network element determines the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information associated with the grid where the terminal device is located.

[0224] SF network elements can determine the first echo information based on scatterer identification and second echo information in several ways. In one possible approach, the SF network element determines the echo information related to the scatterer associated with the grid where the terminal device is located from the second echo information as the first echo information, thereby achieving grid-level sensing and filtering of echo information.

[0225] The S808.SF network element sends the first echo information to the access network equipment. Correspondingly, the access network equipment receives the first echo information from the SF network element.

[0226] S809. The access network equipment determines the channel information based on the first echo information and SRS.

[0227] The implementation of S809 can be found in the implementation of S604 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0228] As can be seen, in this embodiment, when the channel quality between the access network device and the terminal device is poor, the access network device requests first echo information related to the location of the terminal device from the SF network element via a first request. Then, the SF network element requests the MMF network element to obtain the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located via a third request carrying the location information of the terminal device. Based on the obtained scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located and the cell-level second echo information, the first echo information is determined and sent to the access network device. Furthermore, the access network device uses the first echo information to perform channel measurement, realizing sensing information-assisted channel measurement.

[0229] In addition, the first echo information is related to the location of the terminal device, while the second echo information is related to the serving cell of the terminal device. Therefore, compared with the cell-level second echo information, the first echo information has a corresponding relationship with the terminal device. The first device uses the first echo information to assist in channel measurement, which can improve the filtering and noise reduction capability of the channel and improve the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0230] This application embodiment also takes the first device as the DU in the access network and the second device as the SU in the access network as an example to specifically illustrate the method for determining channel information. Figure 9 is an interactive schematic diagram of the method for determining channel information, and its interactive process includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0231] When the channel quality between S901.DU and the terminal device is less than a preset threshold, S901.DU sends a first request to CU. The first request is used to request the acquisition of first echo information, which is related to the sensed echo signal and the location of the terminal device. Accordingly, CU receives the first request from DU.

[0232] The indicators used to determine channel quality and the first echo information are described in S601 above and will not be repeated here. The first request may be called an echo request or a sensing echo request; the naming of the first request is not limited in this embodiment.

[0233] It is evident that the DU can determine the channel quality between itself and the terminal device in real time. When the channel quality between itself and the terminal device is poor, it determines that it needs to perform channel measurement based on perception. Therefore, it requests the CU to obtain the first echo information through the first request, so as to assist in the channel measurement between itself and the terminal device based on the first echo information and improve communication performance.

[0234] S902.CU sends a first request to SU. SU then receives the first request from CU.

[0235] S903.SU acquires second echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal equipment.

[0236] The information regarding the second echo can be found in S601 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0237] In addition, if the SU has a sensing function, the SU can acquire the second echo information autonomously based on the sensing function. For specific implementation methods, please refer to the above-described S601, which will not be repeated here.

[0238] S904.SU determines the first echo information based on the location information of the terminal device and the second echo information.

[0239] Among them, SU manages channel maps. The channel maps managed by SU are the channel maps corresponding to the area where the access network that provides network services to terminal devices is located. The channel maps are used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterers associated with each grid.

[0240] In one optional implementation, the SU determines the first echo information based on the location information of the terminal device and the second echo information, including: determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map; and determining the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located and the second echo information.

[0241] The Subscriber (SU) can determine the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information and channel map of the terminal device in several ways. In one possible approach, the SU determines the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information and channel map of the terminal device, including: determining the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the positions of multiple grids indicated by the channel map; and determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the grid where the terminal device is located and the scatterers associated with each grid indicated by the channel map.

[0242] The Subscriber (SU) can determine the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located and the second echo information in several ways. In one possible approach, the SU determines the echo information in the second echo information that is related to the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located as the first echo information.

[0243] As can be seen, since the SU manages the channel map, which indicates the location of multiple grids and the scatterers associated with each grid, the SU can determine the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the terminal device's location information and the channel map. Therefore, the SU can filter out the grid-level first echo information from the cell-level second echo information based on the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. This facilitates the DU's channel measurement based on the grid-level first echo information, thereby improving communication quality.

[0244] In one optional implementation, the SU does not have a positioning function. In this method, the SU can still obtain the location information of the terminal device, such as by requesting the location information of the terminal device from other functional network elements. For example, the SU requests the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element. Specifically, the SU performs the following steps: sending a fourth request to the LMF network element, the fourth request being used to request the location information of the terminal device; and receiving the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element. Correspondingly, the LMF network element performs the following steps: receiving the fourth request from the SU; and sending the location information of the terminal device to the SU.

[0245] The fourth request can also be called a location request, and this application embodiment does not limit the naming of the fourth request. The location information of the terminal device is used to indicate the location of the terminal device, and the location of the terminal device can be referred to in S602 above, and will not be repeated here. The location information of the terminal device can also be called the positioning information of the terminal device, and this application embodiment does not limit it in this way.

[0246] In another optional implementation, the SU has a positioning function. In this method, the SU autonomously obtains the location information of the terminal device based on the positioning function.

[0247] S905.SU sends the first echo information to CU. Correspondingly, CU receives the first echo information from SU.

[0248] S906.CU sends the first echo information to DU. Correspondingly, DU receives the first echo information from CU.

[0249] The S907.DU determines the channel information based on the first echo information and SRS.

[0250] The implementation method of DU determining channel information based on the first echo information and SRS can be referred to in S604 above, which describes the implementation method of access network equipment determining channel information based on the first echo information and SRS. It will not be repeated here.

[0251] As can be seen, in this embodiment, when the channel quality between the DU and the terminal device is less than a preset threshold, the DU requests the CU to obtain first echo information related to the location of the terminal device through a first request. The CU then requests the SU to obtain the first echo information. Therefore, the SU determines the first echo information based on the location information of the terminal device and the cell-level second echo information, and sends the first echo information to the CU. Subsequently, the CU sends the first echo information to the DU, and the DU uses the first echo information to perform channel measurement, realizing sensing information-assisted channel measurement.

[0252] In addition, the first echo information is related to the location of the terminal device, while the second echo information is related to the serving cell of the terminal device. Therefore, compared with the cell-level second echo information, the first echo information has a corresponding relationship with the terminal device. The first device uses the first echo information to assist in channel measurement, which can improve the filtering and noise reduction capability of the channel and improve the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0253] In this embodiment, after acquiring the first echo information, the first device can also perform ray tracing simulation by combining the first echo information with sensing imaging (environmental imaging) to obtain line-of-sight path (LOS) delay information and first-order non-line-of-sight path (NLOS) delay information. The LOS delay information is the LOS delay from the grid where the terminal device is located to the first device, and the first-order NLOS delay information is the NLOS delay from the grid where the terminal device is located to the first device when it passes through a scatterer. The first device then determines the delay domain basis based on the LOS delay information and the first-order NLOS delay information, and further determines the channel information based on the delay domain basis and SRS. The implementation method of the first device determining the channel information based on the delay domain basis and SRS can be referred to the implementation method of the first device determining the channel information based on the spatial domain basis and SRS in the above-described channel information determination method, and will not be repeated here.

[0254] The method of using the first device to perform ray tracing simulation by combining the first echo information and sensing imaging (environmental imaging) to obtain LOS delay information and first-order NLOS delay information, and then performing channel measurement based on the LOS delay information and first-order NLOS delay information, is based on delay information related to the grid where the terminal device is located to assist in channel measurement. Therefore, it can improve the channel filtering and noise reduction capability from the perspective of delay domain and improve the accuracy of channel measurement.

[0255] The following section further describes the corresponding device implementation scheme in relation to the technical solution described above.

[0256] To achieve the functions of the methods provided in the embodiments of this application, the first device and the second device may include hardware structures and / or software modules, implementing the functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. Whether a particular function is executed in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0257] As shown in Figure 10, this application embodiment provides a communication device 1000. The communication device 1000 can be a component of a first device (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) or a component of a second device (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.). The communication device 1000 can also be other communication units used to implement the methods in the method embodiments of this application. The communication device 1000 may include a communication unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002. In one possible implementation, it may further include a storage unit 1003.

[0258] In one possible design, one or more units as shown in Figure 10 may be implemented by one or more processors, or by one or more processors and memory; or by one or more processors and transceivers; or by one or more processors, memory, and transceivers. This application embodiment does not limit this. The processors, memory, and transceivers can be configured individually or integrated.

[0259] The communication device 1000 is equipped to implement the functions of the first device or the second device described in the embodiments of this application. For example, the communication device 1000 includes a reader / writer that executes the modules, units, or means corresponding to the steps of the first device in the above method embodiments. The functions, units, or means can be implemented by software, hardware, or hardware executing corresponding software, or a combination of software and hardware. Further details can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0260] In one possible design, the communication device 1000 may include a processing unit 1002 and a communication unit 1001, the device being applied to the first device;

[0261] The communication unit 1001 is used to receive first echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the location of the terminal device. The first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device. The sensing echo signal is an echo signal in response to the sensing signal sent by the access network device.

[0262] The processing unit 1002 is used to determine channel information based on the first echo information and the detection reference signal (SRS) from the terminal device.

[0263] In one optional implementation, the first echo information is determined based on second echo information, which is related to the sensed echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell.

[0264] In one optional implementation, the first echo information includes indication information of the sensing angle, which is related to the angle between the first sensing echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network device is located. The first sensing echo signal is a sensing echo signal related to a scatterer associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. The processing unit 1002 determines channel information based on the first echo information and the SRS from the terminal device, specifically by: determining a vector matrix based on the sensing angle; performing singular value decomposition on the vector matrix to obtain a spatial basis; determining projection coefficients based on the spatial basis and the SRS from the terminal device; and determining channel information based on the spatial basis and the projection coefficients.

[0265] In one optional implementation, before receiving the first echo information, the communication unit 1001 is further configured to: send a first request when the channel quality with the terminal device is less than a preset threshold, wherein the first request is used to request the acquisition of the first echo information.

[0266] In another possible design, the communication device 1000 may include a processing unit 1002 and a communication unit 1001, the device being applied to a second device;

[0267] The processing unit 1002 is used to acquire second echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell. The sensing echo signal is an echo signal in response to the sensing signal sent by the access network device.

[0268] The processing unit 1002 is further configured to determine first echo information based on the second echo information, wherein the first echo information is related to the position of the sensed echo signal and the terminal device, and the first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device;

[0269] The communication unit 1001 is used to transmit the first echo information.

[0270] In one optional implementation, the processing unit 1002 determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, specifically by: determining the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map.

[0271] In one optional implementation, the processing unit 1002 determines the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel map, specifically for: determining the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the channel map, wherein the channel map is used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterer associated with each of the multiple grids; and determining the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information.

[0272] In one optional implementation, the processing unit 1002 acquires the second echo information, specifically by: sending a second request to the sensing function SF network element, the second request being used to request the acquisition of the second echo information; and receiving the second echo information from the SF network element.

[0273] In another optional implementation, the processing unit 1002 determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, specifically by: sending a third request to the Spectrum Management Function (MMF) network element, the third request being used to request the acquisition of the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located, the third request including the location information of the terminal device; receiving the scatterer identifier from the MMF network element; and determining the first echo information based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information.

[0274] In an optional implementation, the communication unit 1001 is further configured to: send a fourth request to the location management function (LMF) network element, the fourth request being used to request the location information of the terminal device; and receive the location information of the terminal device from the LMF network element.

[0275] In one optional implementation, before the processing unit 1002 acquires the second echo information, it is further configured to: receive a first request, wherein the first request is used to request the acquisition of the first echo information.

[0276] The embodiments of this application and the method embodiments shown above are based on the same concept and have the same technical effects. For the specific principles, please refer to the description of the embodiments shown above, which will not be repeated here.

[0277] This application also provides a communication device 1100, and Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device 1100. The communication device 1100 can be a first device, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the first device in implementing the above methods; alternatively, it can be a second device, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the second device in implementing the above methods. This device can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments, and specific details can be found in the descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0278] The communication device 1100 may include one or more processors 1101. The processor 1101 may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor. For example, it may be a baseband processor, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, or central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU can be used to control the communication device (e.g., base station, baseband chip, terminal, terminal chip, DU or CU, etc.), execute software programs, and process data from the software programs.

[0279] In one possible implementation, the communication device 1100 may include one or more memories 1102, which may store instructions 1104. These instructions can be executed on the processor 1101, causing the communication device 1100 to perform the method described in the above method embodiments. The instructions may be replaced by programs. In another possible implementation, the memory 1102 may also store data. The processor 1101 and the memory 1102 may be configured separately or integrated together. The processor 1101 is used to parse signaling information and process related data; the memory 1102 contains stored signaling information and pre-agreed preset values, etc.

[0280] In one possible implementation, the communication device 1100 may further include a transceiver 1105 and an antenna 1106. The transceiver 1105, which may be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, or transceiver circuit, is used to implement transceiver functions. The transceiver 1105 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver, which may be referred to as a receiver or receiving circuit, is used to implement a receiving function; the transmitter, which may be referred to as a transmitter or transmitting circuit, is used to implement a transmitting function.

[0281] In one possible design, the communication device 1100 can be applied to the first device, specifically, the processor 1101 is used to execute S604 in the above-mentioned method for determining channel information; the transceiver 1105 is used to execute S603 in the above-mentioned method for determining channel information.

[0282] In another possible design, the communication device 1100 can be applied to a second device, specifically, the processor 1101 is used to execute S601 and S602 in the above-mentioned method for determining channel information; the transceiver 1105 is used to execute S603 in the above-mentioned method for determining channel information.

[0283] In one possible implementation, processor 1101 may store instructions 1103, which, when executed on processor 1101, cause the communication device 1100 to perform the method described in the above method embodiments. Instructions 1103 may be embedded in processor 1101; in this case, processor 1101 may be implemented in hardware.

[0284] The embodiments of this application and the method embodiments of the above-described method for determining channel information are based on the same concept and have the same technical effects. For the specific principles, please refer to the description of the method embodiments of the above-described method for determining channel information, which will not be repeated here.

[0285] This application also provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device, an access network device, and a core network device. In another possible design, the system may further include other devices / functional network elements that interact with at least one of the terminal device, the access network device, and the core network device.

[0286] This application also provides a chip including a processor that calls a computer program stored in a memory to enable a communication device including the chip to perform the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0287] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer software instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0288] This application also provides a computer program product for storing computer software instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0289] This application also provides a computer program that, when run on a computer, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0290] The terms "first" and "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. "First," "second," etc., are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, a feature defined with "first," "second," etc., may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this embodiment, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0291] Furthermore, the terms “comprising” and “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the steps or units listed, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0292] In this application, the term "embodiment" is used to mean that a specific 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 throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a mutually exclusive, independent, or alternative embodiment. It will be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0293] In the embodiments of this application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more, "more than one" refers to two or more, and "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can represent three cases: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist simultaneously, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (item) of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0294] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner to facilitate understanding.

[0295] In the embodiments of this application, "instruction" can include direct instruction, indirect instruction, explicit instruction, and implicit instruction. When describing a certain instruction information to indicate A, it can be understood that the instruction information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A. In this application, the information indicated by the instruction information is called the information to be instructed. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be instructed, such as, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be instructed, such as the information to be instructed itself or its index. It can also indirectly indicate the information to be instructed by indicating other information, wherein there is an association between the other information and the information to be instructed. It can also indicate only a part of the information to be instructed, while the other parts of the information to be instructed are known or agreed upon in advance. For example, the instruction of specific information can also be achieved by using the arrangement order of various information in advance (e.g., protocol stipulation), thereby reducing the instruction overhead to a certain extent. In addition, the information to be instructed can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information to be sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different.

[0296] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., SSDs), etc.

Claims

1. A method for determining channel information, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive first echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the location of the terminal device. The first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device. The sensing echo signal is an echo signal in response to the sensing signal sent by the access network device. Channel information is determined based on the first echo information and the detection reference signal (SRS) from the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first echo information is determined based on the second echo information, which is related to the sensed echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first echo information includes indication information of the sensing angle, which is related to the angle between the first sensing echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the access network device is located. The first sensing echo signal is a sensing echo signal related to the scatterer associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. The step of determining channel information based on the first echo information and the SRS from the terminal device includes: Based on the perceived angle, determine the vector matrix; Singular value decomposition is performed on the vector matrix to obtain the spatial basis; Based on the spatial basis and the SRS from the terminal device, the projection coefficients are determined; Channel information is determined based on the spatial basis and the projection coefficients.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, Before receiving the first echo information, the method further includes: When the channel quality with the terminal device is less than a preset threshold, a first request is sent, which is used to request the acquisition of first echo information.

5. A method for determining channel information, characterized in that, The method includes: Acquire second echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell. The sensing echo signal is an echo signal in response to the sensing signal sent by the access network device. Based on the second echo information, first echo information is determined. The first echo information is related to the sensing echo signal and the location of the terminal device. The first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device. Send the first echo information.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The step of determining the first echo information based on the second echo information includes: Based on the second echo information and the channel map, the first echo information is determined.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The step of determining the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel spectrum includes: Based on the location information and channel map of the terminal device, the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located is determined. The channel map is used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterer associated with each of the multiple grids. Based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information, the first echo information is determined.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The acquisition of the second echo information includes: A second request is sent to the SF network element with sensing function, the second request being used to request the acquisition of second echo information; Receive the second echo information from the SF network element.

9. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The step of determining the first echo information based on the second echo information includes: A third request is sent to the Graph Management Function (MMF) network element. The third request is used to request the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. The third request includes the location information of the terminal device. Receive the scatterer identifier from the MMF network element; Based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information, the first echo information is determined.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: A fourth request is sent to the LMF (Location Management Function) network element, the fourth request being used to request the location information of the terminal device; The location information of the terminal device is received from the LMF network element.

11. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 10, characterized in that, Before acquiring the second echo information, the method further includes: Receive a first request, which is used to request the acquisition of first echo information.

12. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: A communication unit is configured to receive first echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the location of the terminal device. The first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device. The sensing echo signal is an echo signal in response to the sensing signal sent by the access network device. The processing unit is configured to determine channel information based on the first echo information and the detection reference signal (SRS) from the terminal device.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that, The first echo information is determined based on the second echo information, which is related to the sensed echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The first echo information includes indication information of the sensing angle, which is related to the angle between the first sensing echo signal and the plane where the receiving antenna of the network device is located. The first sensing echo signal is a sensing echo signal related to the scatterer associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. The processing unit determines channel information based on the first echo information and the SRS from the terminal device, specifically for: Based on the perceived angle, determine the vector matrix; Singular value decomposition is performed on the vector matrix to obtain the spatial basis; Based on the spatial basis and the SRS from the terminal device, the projection coefficients are determined; Channel information is determined based on the spatial basis and the projection coefficients.

15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that, Before receiving the first echo information, the communication unit is also used for: When the channel quality with the terminal device is less than a preset threshold, a first request is sent, which is used to request the acquisition of first echo information.

16. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: The processing unit is used to acquire second echo information, which is related to the sensing echo signal and the serving cell of the terminal device. The second echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the serving cell. The sensing echo signal is an echo signal in response to the sensing signal sent by the access network device. The processing unit is further configured to determine first echo information based on the second echo information, wherein the first echo information is related to the position of the sensed echo signal and the terminal device, and the first echo information is used to indicate the angle information of the channel corresponding to the grid associated with the terminal device; A communication unit is used to transmit the first echo information.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, characterized in that, The processing unit determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, specifically for: Based on the second echo information and the channel map, the first echo information is determined.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, characterized in that, The processing unit determines the first echo information based on the second echo information and the channel spectrum, specifically for: Based on the location information and channel map of the terminal device, the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located is determined. The channel map is used to indicate the location of multiple grids and the scatterer associated with each of the multiple grids. Based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information, the first echo information is determined.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, characterized in that, The processing unit acquires the second echo information, specifically for: A second request is sent to the SF network element with sensing function, the second request being used to request the acquisition of second echo information; Receive the second echo information from the SF network element.

20. The apparatus according to claim 16, characterized in that, The processing unit determines the first echo information based on the second echo information, specifically for: A third request is sent to the Graph Management Function (MMF) network element. The third request is used to request the scatterer identifier associated with the grid where the terminal device is located. The third request includes the location information of the terminal device. Receive the scatterer identifier from the MMF network element; Based on the scatterer identifier and the second echo information, the first echo information is determined.

21. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that, The communication unit is further used for: A fourth request is sent to the LMF (Location Management Function) network element, the fourth request being used to request the location information of the terminal device; The location information of the terminal device is received from the LMF network element.

22. The apparatus according to any one of claims 16 to 21, characterized in that, Before acquiring the second echo information, the processing unit is also used for: Receive a first request, which is used to request the acquisition of first echo information.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, or to perform the method according to any one of claims 5 to 11.

24. A chip, characterized in that, The device includes a processor that invokes a computer program stored in a memory to cause a communication device including the chip to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 4, or the method of any one of claims 5 to 11.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 4 to be performed, or cause the method of any one of claims 5 to 11 to be performed.

26. A computer program product containing instructions, characterized in that, When it is run on a computer, it causes the method of any one of claims 1 to 4 to be performed, or causes the method of any one of claims 5 to 11 to be performed.

Images