Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

A communication method, comprising: a first communication device sending in an i-th frequency domain unit a j-th beam to a second communication device, wherein the value of i is from 1 to N, the value of j is from 1 to M, N is the number of frequency domain units within a frequency domain range where the first communication device can send beams to the second communication device, and the value of M is the number of beams which the first communication device can send. In addition, the first communication device determines a suggested frequency domain unit and beam on the basis of feedback information of the second communication device, and sends a wireless energy-charging signal to the second communication device on the basis of the suggested frequency domain unit and beam. In the technical solution, during a process in which a beam for wireless energy charging is determined, in addition to an energy-charging effect of sending an energy-charging signal on different beams, an energy-charging effect of sending an energy-charging signal on different frequency domain units is also taken into consideration, such that a selection gain of frequency domain units can be obtained, thereby improving the efficiency of energy transmission.

Description

Communication method and communication apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410827151.8, filed on June 25, 2024, entitled "Communication method and communication apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and more particularly, to a communication method and a communication apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] With the development of wireless networks and the evolution of service requirements, there are a large number of internet of things (IoT) nodes in the network. These IoT nodes are low in cost and small in size, and cannot carry a large-capacity battery, facing the problem of short standby life. In order to solve this problem, a method of collecting environmental energy is proposed to provide a continuous source of energy for IoT nodes, in which wireless radio frequency energy is one of the candidate energy sources. For example, wireless energy transfer (WPT) is achieved through a base station to charge the IoT nodes, which is a way to solve the short battery life of IoT.

[0004] In addition, in order to improve the charging efficiency, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology can be used, for example, the multi-antenna technology of the energy transmitting end concentrates the transmitted wireless energy in the direction of the energy receiving end through digital beamforming, and the multiple antennas on the energy receiving end increase the effective area of receiving radio frequency energy collection, which all contribute to the improvement of energy transmission efficiency, in which the transmitted wireless energy can be concentrated in the direction of the energy receiving end by selecting a suitable beam.

[0005] The current beam selection scheme can be that the base station performs initial beam sweeping on the terminal, and determines a suitable beam based on the feedback of the terminal, but this beam selection scheme fails to guarantee that the most suitable beam can be selected each time, and the energy transmission efficiency is low. Therefore, how to improve the energy transmission efficiency becomes a problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a communication method to improve the efficiency of energy transmission.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be performed by a first communication device. In the present application, the first communication device can refer to the first communication device itself (for example, an access network device), a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the first communication device, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the first communication device.

[0008] The method can include: transmitting, to a second communication device, a j-th beam at an i-th frequency domain unit, where i is an integer from 1 to N, j is an integer from 1 to M, N is the number of frequency domain units in a frequency domain range in which the first communication device can transmit beams to the second communication device, and M is the number of beams that the first communication device can transmit. Receiving first information from the second communication device, where the first information is used to determine a first frequency domain unit and a first beam, the first frequency domain unit is one of the N frequency domain units, and the first beam is one of the M beams. Transmitting, to the second communication device, a first signal based on the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, where the first signal is used to wirelessly charge the second communication device.

[0009] Based on the above technical solution, the first communication device can perform beam scanning on the frequency domain units in the frequency domain range in a certain order, and determine the frequency domain unit and the beam used to transmit the first signal according to the feedback of the second communication device. In the technical solution, when determining the beam used for wireless charging, the charging effect of transmitting the charging signal on different frequency domain units is considered in addition to the charging effect of transmitting the charging signal on different beams, so that the selection gain of the frequency domain unit can be obtained, and the energy transmission efficiency is improved.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes an identifier of the first frequency domain unit and an identifier of the first beam.

[0011] Based on the above technical solution, the first information fed back by the second communication device can be the identifier of the first frequency domain unit and the identifier of the first beam determined by the second communication device according to the full beam scanning measurement result of all frequency domain units in the frequency domain range. Therefore, the first communication device can directly obtain the frequency domain unit and the beam used to transmit the first signal according to the first information, which simplifies the operation of the first communication device.

[0012] In some implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes a product of N and M first sub-information, each of the first sub-information is used to determine whether a corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit and whether a corresponding beam is the first beam, and the receiving the first information from the second communication device includes: receiving the first sub-information from the second communication device after transmitting the corresponding beam of the first sub-information to the second communication device at the corresponding frequency domain unit of the first sub-information.

[0013] According to the above technical solution, the first communication device transmits the jth beam to the second communication device at the ith frequency domain unit, which can be transmitting M beams at N frequency domain units. For each received beam, the second communication device can feed back the corresponding first sub-information, and a total of N and M first sub-information can be fed back. Each first sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding frequency domain unit and beam are the first frequency domain unit and the first beam. Thus, the first communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit and the first beam from the N frequency domain units and the M beams based on the feedback of the second communication device.

[0014] In some implementations of the first aspect, the first sub-information includes at least one of a first bit, a first acknowledgement (ACK), a first negative acknowledgement (NACK), or a first identifier, wherein a value of the first bit is used to represent whether the first power is greater than the second power, the first ACK is used to represent that the first power is greater than the second power, the first NACK is used to represent that the first power is less than or equal to the second power, and the first identifier includes an identifier of a frequency domain unit and an identifier of a beam corresponding to a maximum power between the first power and the second power, the first power is a signal receiving power corresponding to the frequency domain unit and the beam of the first sub-information, and the second power is a maximum signal receiving power before the first communication device transmits the beam corresponding to the first sub-information to the second communication device at the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information.

[0015] According to the above technical solution, the first sub-information can be in various forms, improving the flexibility of the solution. In addition, the first sub-information can be in the form of a first bit, a first ACK, a first NACK, or a first identifier, which has a small feedback overhead, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the second communication device as much as possible.

[0016] In some embodiments of the first aspect, if the first power is greater than a second power, the maximum signal receiving power is updated to the first power, a second frequency domain unit is updated to a frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, and a second beam is updated to a beam corresponding to the first sub-information, the second frequency domain unit and the second beam being a frequency domain unit and a beam corresponding to the second power; if the first power is less than or equal to the second power, the maximum signal receiving power remains the second power, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam remain; if the first identifier includes an identifier of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information and an identifier of the beam, the maximum signal receiving power is updated to the first power, the second frequency domain unit is updated to the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second beam is updated to the beam corresponding to the first sub-information; if the first identifier includes an identifier of the second frequency domain unit and an identifier of the second beam, the maximum signal receiving power remains the second power, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam remain.

[0017] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first information includes M second sub-informations, each of the second sub-informations being used to determine whether a corresponding beam thereof is the first beam, and the transmitting, to the second communication device, the jth beam at the ith frequency domain unit includes transmitting, to the second communication device, the jth beam at an nth frequency domain unit, the value of n being one of the 1 to N, and the value of j being 1 to M; and the receiving, from the second communication device, the first information includes receiving, from the second communication device, the second sub-information after transmitting, to the second communication device, the beam corresponding to each of the second sub-informations at the nth frequency domain unit. The method further includes determining the first beam according to the M second sub-informations.

[0018] After determining the first beam according to the M second sub-informations, the transmitting, to the second communication device, the jth beam at the ith frequency domain unit includes transmitting, to the second communication device, the first beam at a pth frequency domain unit, the value of p being a value other than n in the 1 to N; the first information further includes (N-1) third sub-informations, each of the third sub-informations being used to determine whether a corresponding frequency domain unit thereof is the first frequency domain unit, and the receiving, from the second communication device, the first information includes receiving, from the second communication device, the third sub-information after transmitting, to the second communication device, the first beam at the frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information; and the method further includes determining the first frequency domain unit according to the (N-1) third sub-informations.

[0019] Based on the above technical solution, a two-stage beam scanning scheme of traversing frequency domain units and all beams is given, further reducing beam scanning time and feedback overhead. Specifically, the two-stage beam scanning scheme of traversing frequency domain units and all beams can be: traversing M beams in the nth frequency domain unit, and determining the first beam according to the second sub-information fed back by the second communication device, then traversing (N-1) frequency domain units in the first beam, and determining the first frequency domain unit according to the third sub-information fed back by the second communication device.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes N third sub-information, each of the third sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit, the sending the jth beam to the second communication device in the ith frequency domain unit includes: sending the qth beam to the second communication device in the ith frequency domain unit, the value of i is from 1 to N, and the value of q is one of the 1 to M; the receiving the first information from the second communication device includes: receiving the third sub-information from the second communication device after sending the qth beam to the second communication device in the frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information; the method further includes: determining the first frequency domain unit according to the N third sub-information.

[0021] After the determining the first frequency domain unit according to the N third sub-information, the sending the jth beam to the second communication device in the ith frequency domain unit includes: sending the xth beam to the second communication device in the first frequency domain unit, the value of x is one of the 1 to M except the q; the first information further includes (M-1) second sub-information, each of the second sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding beam is the first beam, the receiving the first information from the second communication device includes: receiving the second sub-information from the second communication device after sending the beam corresponding to the second sub-information to the second communication device in the first frequency domain unit; the method further includes: determining the first beam according to the (M-1) second sub-information.

[0022] Based on the above technical solution, a two-stage beam scanning scheme of traversing frequency domain units and all beams is given, further reducing beam scanning time and feedback overhead. Specifically, the two-stage beam scanning scheme of traversing frequency domain units and all beams can be: traversing N frequency domain units in the qth beam, and determining the first frequency domain unit according to the third sub-information fed back by the second communication device, then traversing (M-1) beams in the first frequency domain unit, and determining the first beam according to the third sub-information fed back by the second communication device.

[0023] In some implementations of the first aspect, the second sub-information includes at least one of a second bit, a second ACK, a second NACK, or a second identifier, where a value of the second bit is used to indicate whether the third power is greater than the fourth power, the second ACK is used to indicate that the third power is greater than the fourth power, the second NACK is used to indicate that the third power is less than or equal to the fourth power, and the second identifier includes an identifier of a beam corresponding to a maximum power between the third power and the fourth power, the third power being a signal receiving power of the n-th frequency domain unit and a beam corresponding to the second sub-information, and the fourth power being a maximum signal receiving power before the first communication device transmits the beam corresponding to the second sub-information to the second communication device.

[0024] Based on the above technical solutions, the second sub-information can be in a plurality of different forms, improving flexibility of the solutions. In addition, the second sub-information can be in a form of a second bit, a second ACK, a second NACK, or a second identifier, etc., which has small feedback overhead, so that energy consumed by the second communication device for feedback can be reduced as much as possible.

[0025] In some implementations of the first aspect, the third sub-information includes at least one of a third bit, a third ACK, a third NACK, or a third identifier, where a value of the third bit is used to indicate whether the fifth power is greater than the fourth power, the third ACK is used to indicate that the fifth power is greater than the fourth power, the third NACK is used to indicate that the fifth power is less than or equal to the fourth power, and the third identifier includes an identifier of a frequency domain unit corresponding to a maximum power between the fifth power and the fourth power, the fifth power being a signal receiving power of a frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information and the first beam, and the fourth power being a maximum signal receiving power before the first communication device transmits the first beam to the second communication device at the frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information.

[0026] Based on the above technical solutions, the third sub-information can be in a plurality of different forms, improving flexibility of the solutions. In addition, the third sub-information can be in a form of a third bit, a third ACK, a third NACK, or a third identifier, etc., which has small feedback overhead, so that energy consumed by the third communication device for feedback can be reduced as much as possible.

[0027] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a second communication device. In the absence of special description, the "second communication device" in the present application can refer to the second communication device itself (for example, a terminal device), a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the second communication device, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the second communication device.

[0028] The method can comprise: receiving, at an i-th frequency domain unit, a j-th beam from the first communication device, where i is an integer from 1 to N, j is an integer from 1 to M, N is a number of frequency domain units in a frequency domain range in which the first communication device can send beams to the second communication device, and M is a number of beams that the first communication device can send; sending first information to the first communication device, the first information being used to determine a first frequency domain unit and a first beam, the first frequency domain unit being one of the N frequency domain units, and the first beam being one of the M beams; and receiving, based on the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, a first signal from the first communication device, the first signal being used to wirelessly charge the second communication device.

[0029] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first information comprises an identifier of the first frequency domain unit and an identifier of the first beam.

[0030] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first information comprises a product of N and M first sub-information, each of the first sub-information being used to determine whether a corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit and whether a corresponding beam is the first beam, and the sending of the first information to the first communication device comprises: after receiving, at each of the corresponding frequency domain unit of the first sub-information, a corresponding beam of the first sub-information from the first communication device, sending the first sub-information to the first communication device.

[0031] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first sub-information comprises at least one of a first bit, a first acknowledgement (ACK), a first negative acknowledgement (NACK), or a first identifier, where a value of the first bit is used to represent whether a first power is greater than a second power, the first ACK is used to represent that the first power is greater than the second power, the first NACK is used to represent that the first power is less than or equal to the second power, and the first identifier comprises an identifier of a frequency domain unit and an identifier of a beam corresponding to a maximum power between the first power and the second power, the first power being a signal receiving power corresponding to the frequency domain unit and the beam of the first sub-information, and the second power being a maximum signal receiving power of the first communication device before the first communication device sends, at the frequency domain unit of the first sub-information, the beam corresponding to the first sub-information to the second communication device.

[0032] In some embodiments of the second aspect, in response to the first power being greater than the second power, the maximum signal receiving power is updated to the first power, the second frequency domain unit is updated to the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second beam is updated to the beam corresponding to the first sub-information, the second frequency domain unit and the second beam being the frequency domain unit and the beam corresponding to the second power; in response to the first power being less than or equal to the second power, the maximum signal receiving power is maintained to be the second power, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam are maintained; in response to the first identification including the identification of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information and the identification of the beam, the maximum signal receiving power is updated to the first power, the second frequency domain unit is updated to the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second beam is updated to the beam corresponding to the first sub-information; in response to the first identification including the identification of the second frequency domain unit and the identification of the second beam, the maximum signal receiving power is maintained to be the second power, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam are maintained.

[0033] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the first information includes M second sub-informations, each of the second sub-informations being used to determine whether the corresponding beam is the first beam, and the receiving, at the i-th frequency domain unit, the j-th beam from the first communication device includes receiving, at the n-th frequency domain unit, the j-th beam from the first communication device, n being one of the 1 to N, and j being from 1 to M; and the sending, to the first communication device, the first information includes sending, to the first communication device, each of the second sub-informations after receiving, at the n-th frequency domain unit, the corresponding beam from the first communication device, the M second sub-informations being used to determine the first beam.

[0034] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the receiving, at the i-th frequency domain unit, the j-th beam from the first communication device further includes receiving, at the p-th frequency domain unit, the first beam from the first communication device, p being a value of the 1 to N except the n; and the first information further includes (N-1) third sub-informations, each of the third sub-informations being used to determine whether the corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit, and the sending, to the first communication device, the first information includes sending, to the first communication device, each of the third sub-informations after receiving, at the corresponding frequency domain unit, the first beam from the first communication device, the (N-1) third sub-informations being used to determine the first frequency domain unit.

[0035] In some implementations of the second aspect, in combination with the second aspect, the first information includes N third sub-information, each of the third sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit, and the receiving the j beam from the first communication device at the i frequency domain unit includes receiving the q beam from the first communication device at the i frequency domain unit, where i is an integer from 1 to N, and q is an integer from 1 to M; and the sending the first information to the first communication device includes sending the third sub-information to the first communication device after receiving the q beam from the first communication device at the frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information, and the N third sub-information is used to determine the first frequency domain unit.

[0036] In some implementations of the second aspect, in combination with the second aspect, the receiving the j beam from the first communication device at the i frequency domain unit further includes receiving the x beam from the first communication device at the first frequency domain unit, where x is an integer from 1 to M except q; and the first information further includes (M-1) second sub-information, each of the second sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding beam is the first beam, and the sending the first information to the first communication device includes sending the second sub-information to the first communication device after receiving the beam corresponding to the second sub-information from the first communication device at the first frequency domain unit, and the (M-1) second sub-information is used to determine the first beam.

[0037] The technical effects of the method shown in the above second aspect and possible designs thereof can refer to the technical effects in the first aspect and possible designs thereof.

[0038] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which is configured to execute the method provided in the first aspect. Specifically, the communication apparatus can include units and / or modules for executing the method provided in any of the implementations of the first aspect, such as a processing unit and an obtaining unit.

[0039] In an implementation, the transceiving unit can be a transceiver, or an input / output interface; and the processing unit can be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiving circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0040] In another implementation, the transceiving unit can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip, chip system or circuit; and the processing unit can be at least one processor, a processing circuit or a logic circuit, etc.

[0041] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus is configured to perform the method of the second aspect. Specifically, the communication apparatus can include units and / or modules for performing the method of the second aspect, such as a processing unit and an obtaining unit.

[0042] In an implementation form, the transceiving unit can be a transceiver, or an input / output interface. The processing unit can be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiving circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0043] In another implementation form, the transceiving unit can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuitry on the chip, chip system or circuit. The processing unit can be at least one processor, a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0044] In a fifth aspect, a processor is provided. The processor is configured to perform the method of any of the implementation forms of the first and second aspects.

[0045] For the sending and obtaining / receiving operations of the processor, if no special description is provided, or if it does not contradict the actual role or inherent logic in the related description, it can be understood as the processor outputting and receiving, inputting and the like, or can be understood as the sending and receiving operations performed by the radio frequency circuit and the antenna, which are not limited in the present application.

[0046] In a sixth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium stores program codes for execution by an apparatus. The program codes include codes for performing the method of any of the implementation forms of the first and second aspects.

[0047] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is caused to perform the method of any of the implementation forms of the first and second aspects.

[0048] In an eighth aspect, a chip is provided. The chip includes one or more processors and a communication interface. The processor reads computer programs or instructions stored on a memory through the communication interface, and performs the method of any of the implementation forms of the first and second aspects.

[0049] Optionally, as an implementation form, the chip further includes a memory. The memory stores computer programs or instructions. The processor is configured to execute the computer programs or instructions stored on the memory. When the computer programs or instructions are executed, the processor is configured to perform the method of any of the implementation forms of the first and second aspects.

[0050] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising the communication apparatus of the third aspect and the communication apparatus of the fourth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0051] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture to which embodiments of the present application are applicable.

[0052] FIG. 2(a) to (d) are schematic diagrams of communication modes between a network device and a terminal device.

[0053] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of energy transfer.

[0054] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of beam sweeping.

[0055] FIG. 5 is another schematic diagram of beam sweeping.

[0056] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0057] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a beam and a frequency domain unit provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0058] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of beam sweeping provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0059] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another beam sweeping provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0060] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of yet another beam sweeping provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0061] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of yet another beam sweeping provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0062] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of yet another beam sweeping provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0063] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of yet another beam sweeping provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0064] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of an ORAN architecture embodiment provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0065] FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0066] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0067] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following points are first explained.

[0068] In this application, "for indicating" can include for directly indicating and for indirectly indicating. When describing that certain indication information is for indicating A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and does not mean that A must be carried in the indication information.

[0069] The information indicated by the indication information is referred to as to-be-indicated information, and in the implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information, for example, but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or an index of the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information and the to-be-indicated information have an association relationship. The to-be-indicated information can also be only indicated in part, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of a specific information can also be achieved by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, a protocol stipulates), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, the common part of each information can be identified and uniformly indicated, so as to reduce the indication overhead caused by separately indicating the same information.

[0070] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, "first", "second", and various numbers (for example, "#1", "#2", etc.) are only for the convenience of description and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of each process below does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the objects thus described can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so as to be able to describe schemes other than the embodiments of the present application. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, "S610" and the like are only for the convenience of description and do not limit the order of execution steps.

[0071] In the embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Rather, the use of "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0072] The "storage" in the embodiments of the present application can refer to storage in one or more memories. The one or more memories can be separately arranged or integrated in the encoder or decoder, processor, or communication device. The one or more memories can be partially separately arranged and partially integrated in the decoder, processor, or communication device. The memory can be any form of storage medium, which is not limited in the present application.

[0073] In the embodiments of the present application, "protocol" can refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, which can include a new radio (NR) protocol and a related protocol applied to a future communication system, which is not limited in the present application.

[0074] In the embodiments of the present application, "of", "corresponding", "relevant", "corresponding", and "associated" can be used interchangeably at times. It should be pointed out that the meanings expressed are consistent when the distinction is not emphasized.

[0075] In the embodiments of the present application, "in the case of", "when", "if" can be used interchangeably at times. It should be pointed out that the meanings expressed are consistent when the distinction is not emphasized.

[0076] The term "and / or" in the present application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent three cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone. In addition, the character " / " in the present application generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it.

[0077] Ninthly, in the embodiments of the present application, the names of messages and devices are only examples, and the names of messages and devices in the present application are not limited in any way, as long as the corresponding functions can be implemented.

[0078] In the present application, “sending” and “receiving” represent the direction of signal transmission. For example, “sending information to XX” can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, and “sending information” can include direct sending or indirect sending through other units or modules. “Receiving information from YY” can be understood as the source of the information being YY, and “receiving information” can include direct reception from YY or indirect reception from YY through other units or modules. In addition to air interface sending or air interface receiving signals implemented at the whole machine level of network devices or terminal devices, “sending” can also be understood as the “output” of the chip interface, and “receiving” can also be understood as the “input” of the chip interface. For example, a modem or a system-level chip (such as a system on a chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip, etc.) sends or receives signals. “Sending” or “receiving” can also be performed by device components, such as sending or receiving signals through several parts, modules, chips of a device using a bus, a wire, or an interface.

[0079] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0080] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile communication system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, 5th generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), and future communication systems, vehicle-to-X (V2X), which can include vehicle to network (V2N), vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle to infrastructure (V2I), vehicle to pedestrian (V2P), etc., LTE-V (long term evolution-vehicle), Internet of Vehicles, machine type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), LTE-M (long term evolution-machine), machine to machine (M2M), etc.

[0081] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application can be applied. The communication system includes at least one network device and at least one terminal device. The network device and the terminal device can sometimes be both referred to as communication apparatuses, for example, the network device in FIG. 1 can be understood as a communication apparatus having a base station function, and the terminal device can be understood as a communication apparatus having a terminal function.

[0082] As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 100 can include at least one network device, such as the network device 110 shown in FIG. 1, and can include at least one terminal device, such as the terminal device 120 shown in FIG. 1. The network device 110 and the terminal device 120 can communicate with each other through a wireless link. Each communication device, such as the network device 110 and the terminal device 120, can be configured with multiple antennas. For each communication device in the communication system 100, the configured multiple antennas can include at least one transmit antenna for transmitting signals and at least one receive antenna for receiving signals. Therefore, each communication device in the communication system 100, such as the network device 110 and the terminal device 120, can communicate with each other through a multi-antenna technology.

[0083] By way of example and not limitation, the network device and the terminal device in the scenario shown in FIG. 1 can communicate with each other in various ways, such as through point-to-point transmission between the network device and the terminal device, through multi-hop (or relay) transmission between the network device and the terminal device, through dual connectivity (DC) or multi-connection transmission between multiple network devices and terminal devices, and the like. As shown in FIG. 2(a)-(d), FIG. 2(a)-(d) are schematic diagrams of communication modes between the network device and the terminal device.

[0084] In FIG. 2(a), point-to-point transmission between the network device and the terminal device is shown. In FIG. 2(b), multi-hop single-connection transmission between the network device and the terminal device is shown. In FIG. 2(c), dual connectivity transmission between the network device and the terminal device is shown. In FIG. 2(d), multi-hop multi-connection transmission between the network device and the terminal device is shown.

[0085] It should be noted that FIG. 2 is exemplary only and does not limit the scope of protection of the present application in any way. The communication mode between the network device and the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application is not limited in any way. For example, the transmission between the network device and the terminal device can be uplink, downlink, access link, backhaul link, or Sidelink, etc.

[0086] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), IOT, virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. The terminal is usually provided with a communication module, circuit or chip for performing corresponding communication functions. The terminal is also configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions.

[0087] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in an IoT system. IoT is an important part of future information technology development, and its main technical feature is to connect objects through communication technology and network, so as to realize the intelligent network of man-machine interconnection and object-object interconnection.

[0088] The network device in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as an access network device, a radio access network (RAN) entity or an access node, etc., which constitutes part of a communication system to help terminals realize wireless access. The communication system can include multiple network devices, which can be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types.

[0089] In a possible scenario, the network device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The network device can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a radio controller. Optionally, the network device can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU).

[0090] In another possible scenario, a plurality of network devices cooperate to assist a terminal to implement wireless access, and different network devices respectively implement part of functions of a base station. For example, a network device can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc., wherein the CU can also be referred to as a control unit. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can be included in the same network element, for example, a baseband unit (BBU). The CU node and the DU node split the protocol layers of the gNB, and the functions of part of the protocol layers are placed in the CU for centralized control, and the functions of the remaining part or all of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU and controlled by the CU.

[0091] The CU is deployed with a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer in a protocol stack; and the DU is deployed with a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, and a physical layer (PHY) in the protocol stack.

[0092] The CU has processing capability of the RRC, the PDCP, and the SDAP. The DU has processing capability of the RLC, the MAC, and the PHY.

[0093] It should be understood that the above division (or splitting) of functions is only an example and does not limit the CU and the DU in this application. That is, there can be other ways of function splitting between the CU and the DU, which are not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0094] The functions of the CU can be implemented by one entity or by different entities. For example, the functions of the CU can be further divided, for example, by separating the control plane (CP) and the user plane (UP), i.e., the control plane of the CU (CU-CP) and the user plane of the CU (CU-UP). The CU-CP and the CU-UP can be implemented by different functional entities, and the CU-CP and the CU-UP can be coupled with the DU to jointly complete the functions of the network device. The control plane of the CU (CU-CP) can further include a further divided architecture, i.e., the CU-CP is further divided into CU-CP1 and CU-CP2. The CU-CP1 includes various radio resource management functions, and the CU-CP2 includes only RRC functions and PDCP-control (C) functions (i.e., basic functions of control plane signaling at the PDCP layer).

[0095] In one possible manner, the CU-CP is responsible for the control plane function, mainly including RRC and PDCP-C. The PDCP-C is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption of control plane data, integrity protection, data transmission, etc. The CU-UP is responsible for the user plane function, mainly including SDAP and PDCP-user (U). The SDAP is mainly responsible for processing data of the core network and mapping the data flow to a bearer. The PDCP-U is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption of the data plane, integrity protection, header compression, sequence number maintenance, data transmission, etc. The CU-CP and the CU-UP are connected through an E1 interface. The CU-CP represents the gNB and is connected to the core network through an Ng interface. The CU-CP is connected to the DU through an F1-C (control plane). The CU-UP is connected to the DU through an F1-U (user plane). Of course, there is also a possible implementation that the PDCP-C is also in the CU-UP.

[0096] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), the DU, or the RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, the radio access network can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture. In the O-RAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an open CU (O-CU), the DU can also be referred to as an open DU (O-DU), the CU-CP can also be referred to as an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), the CU-UP can also be referred to as an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), the DU, and the RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0097] In this embodiment, the communication system may also include core network equipment, i.e., equipment in the core network (CN) that provides service support to the terminal. Examples of core network equipment include: access and mobility management function (AMF) entities, session management function (SMF) entities, user plane function (UPF) entities, etc., which will not be listed here. The AMF entity is responsible for terminal access management and mobility management; the SMF entity is responsible for session management, such as user session establishment; and the UPF entity is a user plane function entity, primarily responsible for connecting to external networks. It should be noted that in this application, entities can also be referred to as network elements or functional entities. For example, an AMF entity can also be called an AMF network element or an AMF functional entity, and an SMF entity can also be called an SMF network element or an SMF functional entity, etc.

[0098] It should be understood that the above naming is defined solely for the purpose of distinguishing different functions and should not constitute any limitation on this application. This application does not preclude the possibility of using other naming conventions in 5G networks and other future networks. For example, in future communication networks, some or all of the above-mentioned network elements may use the terminology from 5G, or they may use other names, etc.

[0099] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, some basic concepts involved in this application will be briefly explained.

[0100] 1. IoT Nodes: With the development of wireless networks and the evolution of business needs, a massive number of IoT nodes exist in the network. IoT nodes are characterized by low cost, small size, and inability to carry large-capacity batteries. Therefore, IoT nodes face the problem of short standby life.

[0101] To address the short standby lifespan of IoT nodes, many manufacturers have proposed using environmental energy harvesting to provide a continuous power source for these nodes. Radio frequency (RF) energy is one such candidate, offering advantages such as controllable energy output and source, as well as good penetration and a relatively long transmission distance.

[0102] Current RF energy harvesting schemes mainly consider harvesting the radio electromagnetic waves existing in the natural environment. Since the energy sources are not matched and optimized, the energy harvesting efficiency is very low, which cannot meet the daily use requirements of IoT nodes. It is observed that there are a large number of base stations deployed in the cellular mobile communication network. These base stations have multiple antennas, can emit arbitrarily designed electromagnetic waves and provide directional beams to enhance the RF energy in certain directions, frequency bands and time periods, which can greatly improve the low efficiency of energy transmission. Therefore, WPT through base stations is one of the important ways to solve the short battery life of IoT in the future.

[0103] In order to improve the energy charging efficiency, MIMO is considered as an effective solution. The multi-antenna technology at the energy transmitting end helps to concentrate the transmitted wireless energy in the direction of the energy receiving end through digital beamforming or so-called energy beamforming technology, while the multiple antennas at the energy receiving end increase the effective area of receiving RF energy collection, both of which help to significantly improve the energy transmission efficiency, wherein the transmitted wireless energy can be concentrated in the direction of the energy receiving end by selecting a suitable beam.

[0104] The way of selecting a beam in the present application includes but is not limited to the following two ways:

[0105] As a possible implementation, the transmitting end and / or the receiving end selects a suitable beam as the energy transmission beam based on CSI measurement. The way of obtaining CSI will be introduced below, which will not be described here.

[0106] As another possible implementation, the transmitting end and / or the receiving end can select a suitable beam from a preset beam set. For example, the transmitting end and / or the receiving end is currently not suitable for CSI measurement to determine the beam, and then a suitable beam can be selected from the preset beam set as the energy transmission beam. The way of selecting a beam will be introduced below, which will not be described here.

[0107] 2. Obtain CSI: As an example but not limited, the current method of obtaining CSI can be roughly divided into two kinds:

[0108] The first method is that the energy receiving end sends a reference signal, the energy transmitting end performs channel estimation and utilizes the reciprocity of the channel to infer the CSI of the downlink channel from the CSI of the uplink channel. This scheme is suitable for TDD systems.

[0109] The second method is that the energy transmitting end sends a downlink reference signal, and the energy receiving end performs channel estimation. However, this scheme requires additional baseband signal processing for channel estimation at the energy receiving end. This is not feasible for low-cost wireless energy terminal without baseband signal processing hardware.

[0110] In addition, for the energy transfer terminal with baseband signal processing hardware, the CSI measurement operation with high power consumption is not suitable in the stage of low power (e.g., cold start, low power, etc.) or the stage of insufficient power to support CSI measurement.

[0111] 3. Wireless charging: As shown in FIG. 3, after the energy receiver receives the radio frequency signal through the radio frequency unit, the direct current signal is obtained through the rectifier to charge the rechargeable battery.

[0112] The process of wireless charging in the present application is not limited, and mainly relates to how to select the beam for transmitting the wireless charging signal. The wireless charging method and the wireless charging signal are not limited.

[0113] 4. Beam selection: In order to improve the charging efficiency, a suitable beam can be selected to charge the terminal. For example, a beam with signal receiving strength greater than a preset charging threshold is selected as an initial beam.

[0114] As shown in FIG. 4, the base station performs initial beam scanning on the terminal, the terminal determines one of the beams with signal receiving strength greater than a preset charging threshold as an initial beam, and feeds back the beam information, and the base station charges the terminal with the initial beam.

[0115] As shown in FIG. 5, the terminal needs to determine the signal receiving strength of the beam corresponding to the transmitting device one by one, and the beam with receiving strength greater than a preset charging threshold is selected as a first beam. When the scanning time is greater than a preset time threshold, or the number of first beams is greater than a preset number threshold, the beam scanning is stopped. The initial beam is further determined in the determined first beam.

[0116] The above briefly introduces the scene to which the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied, and introduces the basic concepts that can be involved in the embodiments of the present application. In the basic concepts, it is introduced that the way for the IoT node to obtain energy can be obtained from the base station, and in order to improve the charging efficiency, a suitable beam can be selected to concentrate the transmitted wireless energy in the direction of the energy receiver.

[0117] The above scheme about beam selection introduces that in the initial beam scanning stage, the first beam whose received energy meets the preset threshold is selected as the initial beam, such as the beam selection mode shown in FIG. 4. However, in this beam selection mode, it cannot be guaranteed that the most suitable beam is selected each time, and the energy transmission efficiency is low. In addition, if the preset charging threshold is set unreasonably, there may be problems such as that all beams are scanned and no available beam is found.

[0118] In addition, the above scheme about beam forming also introduces that in the initial beam scanning stage, the first beam is selected by setting a charging threshold, and then the beam with the strongest received signal strength in the first beam is selected as the initial beam, such as the beam selection mode shown in FIG. 5. However, in this beam selection mode, the determination of the first beam is also limited by the time threshold and the number threshold, so the determined maximum beam may not be the beam with the highest energy transmission efficiency among all beams. On the other hand, selecting the initial beam from the first beam requires storing the received signal strength corresponding to each beam in the first beam, which has a higher requirement for the terminal.

[0119] Moreover, the beam selection modes shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 do not involve beam scanning in the frequency dimension, but only perform beam scanning on a single frequency domain unit (such as a subcarrier).

[0120] In order to solve the problems existing in the above beam selection, the present application provides a communication method to select the beam and frequency domain unit with the highest energy transmission efficiency and perform beam information feedback to improve the energy transmission efficiency.

[0121] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a system that communicates through a multi-antenna technology, for example, the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1. The communication system can include at least one network device and at least one terminal device.

[0122] The embodiments shown below do not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, as long as the execution subject can communicate according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application by running a program in which the code of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is recorded. For example, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be executed by a first communication device. In the case where no specific description is made, the "first communication device" in the present application can refer to the first communication device itself (for example, a network device), or can be a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first communication device, or can be a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the function of the first communication device. For another example, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be executed by a second communication device. In the case where no specific description is made, the "second communication device" in the present application can refer to the second communication device itself (for example, a terminal device), or can be a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the second communication device, or can be a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the function of the second communication device.

[0123] FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application, including the following steps:

[0124] S610, the first communication device sends a beam j to the second communication device at a frequency domain unit i, and correspondingly, the second communication device receives the beam j from the first communication device at the frequency domain unit i.

[0125] Specifically, i takes a value from 1 to N, and j takes a value from 1 to M, where N and M are positive integers, the value of N is the number of frequency domain units included in a first frequency domain range, the value of M is the number of beams that the first communication device can send, and the first frequency domain range is a frequency domain range in which the first communication device can send beams to the second communication device. The first frequency domain range can be a range corresponding to a certain frequency band or other frequency domain resource, and the embodiment does not make any limitation on the first frequency domain range.

[0126] It should be understood that, in the embodiment, the first communication device sends a beam j to the second communication device at a frequency domain unit i, and i takes a value from 1 to N and j takes a value from 1 to M, which means that the first communication device can traverse all frequency domain units and all beams, including but not limited to:

[0127] 1) all beams of a certain frequency domain unit are traversed first, and then all beams of the next frequency domain unit are traversed, for example, i takes a value of 1, j takes a value from 1 to M, then i takes a value of 2, j takes a value from 1 to M, and so on until i takes a value of N and j takes a value from 1 to M.

[0128] 2) First traverse all frequency domain units of a certain beam, and then traverse all frequency domain units of the next beam, for example, i from 1 to N, j takes 1, and then from 1 to N, j takes 2, and so on to i from 1 to N, j is M. 3) First fix the frequency domain unit to traverse all beams, determine the recommended beam, and then traverse the frequency domain unit with the recommended beam, for example, i takes n, j from 1 to M, and the recommended beam is determined to be the first beam, and then i takes values from 1 to N except n, and j takes the identifier of the first beam.

[0129] 4) First fix the beam to traverse all frequency domain units, determine the recommended frequency domain unit, and then traverse the beam with the recommended frequency domain unit, for example, i from 1 to N, j takes q, and the recommended frequency domain unit is determined to be the first frequency domain unit, and then i takes the identifier of the first frequency domain unit, and j takes values from 1 to M except q.

[0130] 5) For N frequency domain units and M beams, each time a certain frequency domain unit and beam are randomly scanned, i takes values from 1 to N, and j takes values from 1 to M.

[0131] In this application, the frequency domain unit includes but is not limited to any one of the following:

[0132] Frequency points, frequency bands, subcarriers, carriers, resource blocks (resource blocks, RB), or resource elements (resource elements, RE), etc. Smaller frequency domain unit division can make the energy of the first signal more focused, and improve the energy efficiency.

[0133] In this embodiment, when the first communication device traverses all frequency domain units and all beams, the second communication device can feed back the first information to the first communication device, so that the first communication device can know the frequency domain unit and the beam of the energy charging signal sent to the second communication device. The method flow shown in FIG. 6 further comprises:

[0134] S620, the second communication device sends the first information to the first communication device, and correspondingly, the first communication device receives the first information from the second communication device.

[0135] Specifically, the first information is used to indicate the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, the first frequency domain unit is one of the N frequency domain units, and the first beam is one of the M beams. For the first communication device, the first information is used to determine the first frequency domain unit and the first beam.

[0136] As a possible implementation, the first information can include an identification of the first frequency domain unit and an identification of the first beam. Thus, the first communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit according to the identification of the first frequency domain unit included in the first information, and determine the first beam according to the identification of the first beam included in the first information.

[0137] In the present application, the first communication device transmits the jth beam to the second communication device in the ith frequency domain unit, i takes a value from 1 to N, and j takes a value from 1 to M. After the first communication device traverses all the frequency domain units and beams, the second communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit and the first beam according to the measurement results corresponding to the N frequency domain units and M beams, and report the identification of the first frequency domain unit and the identification of the first beam to the first communication device through the first information.

[0138] For example, in the above case where N=2 and M=2, after the first communication device traverses all the frequency domain units and beams, the second communication device can determine the second frequency domain unit as the first frequency domain unit and the first beam as the first beam according to power #1, power #2, power #3, and power #4 corresponding to the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, the first frequency domain unit and the second beam, the second frequency domain unit and the first beam, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam respectively, and report the identification of the second frequency domain unit and the identification of the first beam to the first communication device through the first information.

[0139] As another possible implementation, the first information can include other information that can be used to determine the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, so that the first communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit and the first beam according to the first information. In this implementation, the content included in the first information is related to the manner in which the first communication device transmits beams on different frequency domain units. For example, for the following manner one, the first information includes N*M first sub-information; for example, for the following manner two, the first information includes M second sub-information and (N-1) third sub-information; for example, for the following manner three, the first information includes N third sub-information and (M-1) second sub-information. The following will be described in combination with specific beam scanning manners (the following manner one to three), which will not be described here in detail.

[0140] It should be understood that the form of the first information in this embodiment is not limited in any way, and other information that can determine the first frequency domain unit and the first beam is also within the protection scope of the present application, which will not be described one by one here.

[0141] Further, after the first communication device receives the above first information, the first communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit and the first beam according to the first information, so that the first communication device can transmit a charging signal to the second communication device based on the first frequency domain unit and the first beam to realize charging for the second communication device. Thus, the method flow shown in FIG. 6 further includes:

[0142] S630, the first communication device sends the first signal to the second communication device, and correspondingly, the second communication device receives the first signal from the first communication device.

[0143] Specifically, the first communication device sends the first signal to the second communication device based on the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, and the first signal is used for wireless charging of the second communication device. The first frequency domain unit is a frequency domain unit occupied by the first signal, and the first frequency domain unit can also be referred to as an optimal frequency domain unit, a best frequency domain unit, a recommended frequency domain unit, etc. The first beam is a beam for sending the first signal, and the first beam can also be referred to as an optimal beam, a best beam, a recommended beam, etc.

[0144] Exemplarily, the first frequency domain unit and the first beam are a frequency domain unit i and a beam j, i takes a value from 1 to N, and j takes a value from 1 to M, and the frequency domain unit and the beam with the maximum signal receiving power. The signal receiving power can also be replaced by the strength of the received signal, the amplitude of the received signal, or the direct current power stored after the rectifier of the received signal, etc. For example, in the above-mentioned N=2, M=2, the first frequency domain unit and the first beam are: the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 1, the frequency domain unit 2 and the beam 1, the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 2, and the frequency domain unit 2 and the beam 2, and the frequency domain unit and the beam with the maximum signal receiving power. It should be understood that the specific form of the first signal in this embodiment is not limited in any way, and can be used for wireless charging of the second communication device, and can refer to the description of the related wireless charging signal at present, which will not be described in detail here.

[0145] In the communication method shown in FIG. 6, the first communication device can perform beam scanning on the frequency domain units in the frequency domain range in a certain order, such as traversing all frequency domain units and all beams in the above-mentioned several traversal modes shown in step S610. Further, the first communication device can determine the frequency domain unit and the beam for sending the first signal according to the feedback of the second communication device. In this technical solution, in the process of determining the beam for wireless charging, in addition to considering the charging effect of sending the charging signal on different beams, the charging effect of sending the charging signal on different frequency domain units is also considered, so that the selection gain of the frequency domain unit can be obtained, and the energy transmission efficiency is improved.

[0146] The first communication device mentioned above sends the jth beam to the second communication device at the ith frequency domain unit, i can take a value from 1 to N, and j can take a value from 1 to M, indicating that all frequency domain units and beams can be traversed, as shown in FIG. 7, the first communication device can send different beams (such as beam #1, beam #2, …, beam #M shown in FIG. 7) to the second communication device at different frequency domain units (such as frequency domain unit #1, frequency domain unit #2, …, frequency domain unit #N shown in FIG. 7).

[0147] It should be noted that the manner of traversal in this embodiment is not limited in any way. Exemplarily, the first communication device traverses all the frequency domain units and beams, including but not limited to the following possible manners:

[0148] Manner one: The first communication device can perform full-beam scanning on all frequency domain units in a frequency domain range in a certain order.

[0149] Specifically, in the case shown in the manner one, the first communication device transmits the jth beam to the second communication device at the ith frequency domain unit, including that the first communication device transmits M beams to the second communication device at each of the N frequency domain units, or the first communication device transmits each of the M beams at each of the N frequency domain units.

[0150] For example, all beams of a certain frequency domain unit can be scanned first, and then all beams of the next frequency domain unit are scanned. For another example, all frequency domain units of a certain beam can be scanned first, and then all frequency domain units of the next beam are scanned. For another example, scanning can be performed in other orders, which are not limited here.

[0151] Exemplarily, in the case shown in the manner one, the second communication device can feed back a first sub-information after each scanning. According to the scanning manner shown in the above manner one, a product of N and M times of scanning will be performed, and then the first information for determining the first frequency domain unit and the first beam includes the product of N and M first sub-informations, any one of which is used to indicate whether the frequency domain unit and the beam of this scanning are the currently recommended frequency domain unit and beam among all the currently scanned frequency domain units and beams, i.e., each first sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit, and to determine whether the corresponding beam is the first beam.

[0152] Specifically, for each of the product of N and M first sub-informations, the second communication device can feed back after each scanning. Alternatively, in the case shown in the manner one, the above step S620 that the second communication device transmits the first information to the first communication device can be:

[0153] After the frequency domain unit corresponding to each first sub-information transmits the beam corresponding to the first sub-information to the second communication device, the first sub-information from the second communication device is received.

[0154] For example, the first communication device described above can send the jth beam to the second communication device in the ith frequency domain unit, and can send M beams in N frequency domain units respectively, and the second communication device can feed back the corresponding first sub-information for each received beam, and a total of N and M products of first sub-information can be fed back, and each first sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding frequency domain unit and beam are the first frequency domain unit and the first beam described above. For example, N = 2 and M = 2 described above, the second communication device can receive the first beam in the first frequency domain unit and feed back the first sub-information #1, which is used to determine whether the first frequency domain unit and the first beam are the first frequency domain unit and the first beam described above; receive the first beam in the second frequency domain unit and feed back the first sub-information #2, which is used to determine whether the second frequency domain unit and the first beam are the first frequency domain unit and the first beam described above; receive the second beam in the first frequency domain unit and feed back the first sub-information #3, which is used to determine whether the first frequency domain unit and the second beam are the first frequency domain unit and the first beam described above; receive the second beam in the second frequency domain unit and feed back the first sub-information #4, which is used to determine whether the second frequency domain unit and the second beam are the first frequency domain unit and the first beam described above.

[0155] For example, the first sub-information includes at least one of the following:

[0156] a first bit, a first acknowledgement (ACK), a first negative acknowledgement (NACK), or a first identifier,

[0157] The value of the first bit is used to indicate whether the first power is greater than the second power, the first ACK is used to indicate that the first power is greater than the second power, the first NACK is used to indicate that the first power is less than or equal to the second power, and the first identifier includes the identifier of the frequency domain unit and the identifier of the beam corresponding to the maximum power of the first power and the second power. The first power is the signal receiving power corresponding to the frequency domain unit and the beam corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second power is the maximum signal receiving power before the first communication device sends the beam corresponding to the first sub-information to the second communication device in the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information.

[0158] It should be noted that the signal receiving power in the present application can also be replaced by the strength of the received signal, the amplitude of the received signal, or the direct current power stored after the rectifier of the received signal, etc. For the convenience of description, the signal receiving power is taken as an example in the present application. When the first sub-information feeds back other receiving parameters, the description of the first sub-information feeding back the signal receiving power is referred to, and the description is not repeated.

[0159] In the case shown in mode one, the first communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit and the first beam according to the N and M products of the first sub-information fed back by the second communication device.

[0160] For example, the first bit is a 1-bit design. If the bit value is 1, it indicates that the first power is greater than the second power. If the bit value is 0, it indicates that the first power is less than or equal to the second power.

[0161] For example, if the first power is greater than the second power, the first identifier includes the identifier of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information and the identifier of the beam. If the first power is less than or equal to the second power, the first identifier includes the identifier of the second frequency domain unit and the identifier of the second beam.

[0162] The identifier of the frequency domain unit can be the index of the frequency domain unit, or can be the offset value between the index of the frequency domain unit and the index of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the current maximum signal receiving power, and the like information capable of identifying the frequency domain unit. The identifier of the beam can be the index of the beam, or can be the offset value between the index of the beam and the index of the beam corresponding to the current maximum signal receiving power, and the like information capable of identifying the beam.

[0163] It should be understood that the second power described above is the current maximum signal receiving power, and the frequency domain unit (such as the second frequency domain unit) corresponding to the second power is the current recommended frequency domain unit, and the beam (such as the first beam) corresponding to the second power is the current recommended beam. Specifically, in the process of traversal shown in mode one, the current maximum signal receiving power, the current recommended frequency domain unit, and the current recommended beam can be updated. For example, the updating mode can be:

[0164] If the first power is greater than the second power, the maximum signal receiving power is updated to the first power, the second frequency domain unit is updated to the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second beam is updated to the beam corresponding to the first sub-information.

[0165] If the first power is less than or equal to the second power, the maximum signal receiving power remains the second power, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam remain.

[0166] If the first identifier includes the identifier of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information and the identifier of the beam, the maximum signal receiving power is updated to the first power, the second frequency domain unit is updated to the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second beam is updated to the beam corresponding to the first sub-information.

[0167] If the first identifier includes the identifier of the second frequency domain unit and the identifier of the second beam, the maximum signal receiving power remains the second power, the current recommended frequency domain unit maintains the second frequency domain unit, and the current recommended beam maintains the second beam.

[0168] The feedback of the second communication device in the case of mode one will be described in detail below in combination with FIG. 8. As can be seen from FIG. 8, in the case of mode one, the specific process of the second communication device feeding back N and M first sub-information products is as follows:

[0169] Step one: the ith frequency domain unit receives the jth beam. In the case of mode one, 1≤i≤N, 1≤j≤M, then the first communication device sends M beams to the second communication device on each of the N frequency domain units, or in other words, the first communication device sends each of the M beams on each of the N frequency domain units.

[0170] Step two: the second communication device determines the signal receiving power of the beam received by the frequency domain unit in this scan, denoted as the first power.

[0171] Step three: it is determined whether the first power is greater than the maximum signal receiving power recorded locally before receiving the beam, denoted as the second power.

[0172] If the determination result of step three is that the first power is less than or equal to the second power, then:

[0173] Step four: it is determined whether the traversal is completed. For example, it is determined whether i is equal to N and j is equal to M, if i=N, j=M, the traversal is completed, i.e., the beam scanning is ended; if i≠N and / or j≠M, the traversal is not completed, i.e., the beam scanning is not ended.

[0174] If the determination result of step four is that the traversal is completed, for example, the above-mentioned receiving the jth beam by the ith frequency domain unit is the last beam scan (e.g., i=N, j=M). The beam scanning process is ended, and the second power is determined as the maximum signal receiving power, and the frequency domain unit and the beam corresponding to the second power are the recommended frequency domain unit and the recommended beam.

[0175] If the determination result of step four is that the traversal is not completed, for example, there are other frequency domain units and / or beams that have not been scanned, then return to step one and continue scanning.

[0176] If the determination result of step three is that the first power is greater than the second power, then:

[0177] Step five: the current maximum signal receiving power, the recommended frequency domain unit and the recommended beam are updated. Specifically, the first power is taken as the current maximum signal receiving power, the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first power is taken as the recommended frequency domain unit, and the beam corresponding to the first power is taken as the recommended beam.

[0178] After the above-mentioned step five of updating the current maximum signal receiving power, the recommended frequency domain unit and the recommended beam is executed, then:

[0179] Step four: judging whether the traversal is completed.

[0180] If the result of step four is that the traversal is completed, for example, the above-mentioned receiving the jth beam in the ith frequency domain unit is the last time of beam scanning (e.g., i = N, j = M). The beam scanning process is ended, and the first power is determined as the maximum signal receiving power, and the frequency domain unit and the beam corresponding to the first power are the suggested frequency domain unit and the suggested beam.

[0181] If the result of step four is that the traversal is not completed, for example, there are other frequency domain units and / or beams that have not been scanned, then return to step one to continue scanning.

[0182] For the convenience of understanding, the following describes the way of the second communication device feeding back information in the case shown in mode one in combination with a specific example:

[0183] Example one: the frequency domain units include frequency domain unit 1, frequency domain unit 2 and frequency domain unit 3, and the beams include beam 1, beam 2 and beam 3.

[0184] As shown in FIG. 9, the second communication device feedback process includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0185] Step one: when starting to perform beam scanning, the second communication device does not receive the charging beam, and the current maximum signal receiving power X recorded by the first communication device and the second communication device is 0 dBm. max

[0186] Step two: the first communication device transmits beam 1 in frequency domain unit 1, and the signal receiving power 1 received by the second communication device in the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 1 is 1 dBm, which is greater than X max , then sends the first communication device feedback of the first sub-information #1 for the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 1.

[0187] For example, the feedback bit 1 indicates that the signal receiving power 1 in the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 1 is the current maximum, and the first communication device then records the indexes of the corresponding frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 1 as the current suggested frequency domain unit and the suggested beam, i.e., the current suggested beam Beam opt = 1, and the current suggested frequency domain unit F opt = 1. In addition, the second communication device updates the current maximum signal receiving power as 1 dBm, i.e., X max = 1 dBm.

[0188] Step three: the first communication device transmits beam 2 in frequency domain unit 2, and the signal receiving power 2 received by the second communication device in the frequency domain unit 2 and the beam 2 is 0.5 dBm, which is less than X max ​If the signal received power 2 under the frequency domain unit 2 and the beam 2 is not the current maximum, the first communication device keeps the recommended beam Beam

[0189] For example, the feedback bit 0 indicates that the signal received power 2 under the frequency domain unit 2 and the beam 2 is not the current maximum, and the first communication device keeps the recommended beam Beam opt = 1, the recommended frequency domain unit F opt = 1, and the maximum signal received power maintained by the second communication device is still X max = 1 dBm.

[0190] Step four: the first communication device transmits the beam 3 at the frequency domain unit 3, and the signal received power 3 received by the second communication device at the frequency domain unit 3 and the beam 3 is 1.5 dBm, which is greater than X max = 1 dBm, the first sub-information #3 for the frequency domain unit 3 and the beam 3 is fed back to the first communication device.

[0191] For example, the feedback bit 1 indicates that the signal received power 3 under the frequency domain unit 3 and the beam 3 is the current maximum, and the first communication device records the corresponding indexes of the frequency domain unit 3 and the beam 3 as the current recommended frequency domain unit and the recommended beam, i.e., the current recommended beam Beam opt = 3, and the current recommended frequency domain unit F opt = 3. In addition, the second communication device updates the current maximum signal received power to 1.5 dBm, i.e., X max = 1.5 dBm.

[0192] The above example one is only for illustrating the feedback mechanism under the beam scanning in the case of mode one, and does not expand the whole process of the beam scanning, nor limit the order of the beam scanning. The complete beam scanning process needs to traverse and scan all frequency bands and all beams. The second communication device can feed back under each scan according to the feedback mechanism illustrated above, so that the first communication device can obtain the globally recommended beam information and the frequency domain unit information after the traversal scanning is completed.

[0193] In addition, the form of the first sub-information fed back by the second communication device is not limited. Considering the hardware limitation and power consumption limitation of the low-cost second communication device, the fed back information should not be too long. In addition to the 1-bit design, ACK / NACK can also be fed back, or the current recommended beam index and the identification of the recommended frequency domain unit, etc.

[0194] Mode two: the first communication device can first scan all beams of a certain frequency domain unit, determine the first beam, and then scan the remaining frequency domain units based on the first beam to determine the first frequency domain unit.

[0195] For example, the first communication device first transmits the jth beam to the second communication device at the nth frequency domain unit, where n is one of 1 to N, and j is one of 1 to M. Then, after determining the first beam, the first communication device transmits the first beam to the second communication device at the pth frequency domain unit, where p is one of 1 to N except n.

[0196] That is, in this implementation, the value of i from 1 to N can be understood as follows: i first takes the value of n, and then takes the value of one of 1 to N except n.

[0197] For example, in the case shown in Mode Two, the scanning process includes two stages (Stage One and Stage Two described below):

[0198] Stage One: Determine the recommended beam (i.e., the first beam).

[0199] In the case shown in Stage One, the first communication device transmits the jth beam to the second communication device at the ith frequency domain unit, including:

[0200] The first communication device transmits the jth beam to the second communication device at the nth frequency domain unit, where n is one of 1 to N, and j is one of 1 to M. That is, all beams of a certain frequency domain unit are scanned first.

[0201] In the case shown in Stage One, the second communication device can feed back a second sub-information after each scan in Stage One. According to the scanning mode shown in Stage One, a total of M scans will be performed. Therefore, the first information for determining the first frequency domain unit and the first beam includes M second sub-information in the scanning process of Stage One. Any one of the second sub-information indicates whether the beam scanned this time is the currently recommended beam among all the beams that have been scanned so far. That is, each second sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding beam is the first beam.

[0202] Optionally, the second sub-information includes at least one of the following: a second bit, a second ACK, a second NACK, or a second identifier, where the value of the second bit is used to represent whether the third power is greater than the fourth power, the second ACK is used to represent that the third power is greater than the fourth power, the second NACK is used to represent that the third power is less than or equal to the fourth power, and the second identifier includes the identifier of the beam corresponding to the maximum power between the third power and the fourth power. The third power is the signal reception power of the beam corresponding to the second sub-information at the nth frequency domain unit, and the fourth power is the maximum signal reception power before the first communication device transmits the beam corresponding to the second sub-information to the second communication device.

[0203] For example, the second bit is designed as a 1-bit bit. If the bit value is 1, it means that the third power is greater than the fourth power. If the bit value is 0, it means that the third power is less than or equal to the fourth power.

[0204] Exemplarily, if the third power is greater than the fourth power, the first identification comprises an identification of the nth frequency domain unit and an identification of the beam corresponding to the second sub-information; if the third power is less than or equal to the fourth power, the first identification comprises an identification of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the fourth power and an identification of the beam.

[0205] Optionally, in the case shown in stage one, the step S620 that the second communication device sends the first information to the first communication device can be:

[0206] After the first communication device sends each beam corresponding to the second sub-information to the second communication device in the nth frequency domain unit, the first communication device receives the second sub-information from the second communication device.

[0207] For example, N=2 and M=2, in stage one, the second communication device can receive the first beam in the first frequency domain unit and feed back the second sub-information #1, which is used to determine whether the first beam is the first beam; receive the second beam in the first frequency domain unit and feed back the second sub-information #2, which is used to determine whether the first beam is the first beam.

[0208] Further, in the scanning process of stage one, the first communication device can determine the first beam based on the feedback information of the second communication device, that is, the first communication device can determine the first beam based on the M second sub-information.

[0209] In the case shown in mode two, after determining the first beam through the scanning process shown in stage one, the remaining frequency domain units can be scanned based on the first beam to determine the first frequency domain unit, and the beam scanning process in the case shown in mode two further comprises:

[0210] Stage two: determining the recommended frequency domain unit (i.e. the first frequency domain unit).

[0211] After the first communication device determines the first beam based on the M second sub-information, the first communication device sends the jth beam to the second communication device in the ith frequency domain unit, which comprises:

[0212] The first communication device sends the first beam to the second communication device in the pth frequency domain unit, and the value of p is 1 to N excluding n. That is, the remaining frequency domain units are scanned based on the first beam.

[0213] In the case shown in stage two, the second communication device can feed back a third sub-information after each scan in stage two. According to the above-mentioned scanning mode shown in stage two, a total of (N-1) scans will be performed, and the first information for determining the first frequency domain unit and the first beam includes (N-1) third sub-information in the scanning process in this stage two. Any one of the third sub-information is used to indicate whether the frequency domain unit of this scan is the currently recommended frequency domain unit among all the frequency domain units that have been scanned in the first beam, i.e. each third sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit.

[0214] Optionally, the third sub-information includes at least one of the following: a third bit, a third ACK, a third NACK, or a third identifier, wherein the value of the third bit is used to represent whether the fifth power is greater than the fourth power, the third ACK is used to represent that the fifth power is greater than the fourth power, the third NACK is used to represent that the fifth power is less than or equal to the fourth power, and the third identifier includes the identifier of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the maximum power of the fifth power and the fourth power. The fifth power is the signal receiving power of the third sub-information corresponding frequency domain unit and the first beam, and the fourth power is the maximum signal receiving power of the first communication device before the first communication device sends the first beam to the second communication device in the third sub-information corresponding frequency domain unit.

[0215] For example, the third bit is a 1-bit design. If the bit value is 1, it means that the fifth power is greater than the fourth power. If the bit value is 0, it means that the fifth power is less than or equal to the fourth power.

[0216] For example, if the fifth power is greater than the fourth power, the first identifier includes the identifier of the third sub-information corresponding frequency domain unit and the first beam identifier. If the fifth power is less than or equal to the fourth power, the first identifier includes the identifier of the fourth power corresponding frequency domain unit and the beam identifier.

[0217] Optionally, in the case shown in stage two, the above-mentioned step S620 that the second communication device sends the first information to the first communication device can be:

[0218] The first communication device receives the third sub-information from the second communication device after sending the first beam to the second communication device in the third sub-information corresponding frequency domain unit.

[0219] For example, the above-mentioned N=2, M=2, and the first beam determined in stage one is the first beam. The second communication device can receive the first beam in the second frequency domain unit and feed back the third sub-information #1, which is used to determine whether the second frequency domain unit is the above-mentioned first frequency domain unit.

[0220] Further, during the scanning process of stage two, the first communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit based on the feedback information of the second communication device, i.e., the first communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit based on (N-1) third sub-information.

[0221] The feedback of the second communication device in the case of mode two will be described in detail below in combination with FIG. 10. As can be seen from FIG. 10, in the case of mode two, the specific process in which the second communication device feeds back M second sub-information and (N-1) third sub-information is as follows:

[0222] Step 1.1: The nth frequency domain unit receives the jth beam. In the case of mode two, in stage one, n is a value in 1 to N, 1≤j≤M, and then the first communication device sends M beams to the second communication device on a certain frequency domain unit of the N frequency domain units.

[0223] Step 1.2: The second communication device determines the received signal power of the jth beam of the nth frequency domain unit in this scanning, denoted as a third power.

[0224] Step 1.3: It is judged whether the third power is greater than the maximum signal received power recorded locally before receiving the jth beam, denoted as a fourth power.

[0225] If the result of step 1.3 is that the third power is less than or equal to the fourth power, then:

[0226] Step 1.4: It is judged whether the beam traversal is completed. For example, it is judged whether j is equal to M. If j=M, the traversal is completed, i.e., the beam scanning of stage one is ended, and if j≠M, the traversal is not completed, i.e., the beam scanning of stage one is not ended.

[0227] If the result of step 1.4 is that the beam traversal is not completed, for example, there are other beams that have not been scanned, then return to step 1.1 to continue scanning.

[0228] If the result of step 1.4 is that the beam traversal is completed, for example, the above-mentioned receiving the jth beam on the nth frequency domain unit is the last time of beam scanning (e.g., j=M). The beam scanning process of stage one is ended, and the fourth power corresponding beam is determined as the recommended beam (i.e., the first beam). The frequency domain unit traversal process of stage two is performed.

[0229] If the result of step 1.3 is that the third power is greater than the fourth power, then:

[0230] Step 1.5: The current maximum signal received power and the recommended beam are updated. Specifically, the third power is taken as the current maximum signal received power, and the third power corresponding beam is taken as the recommended beam.

[0231] After performing the above step 1.5 of updating the current maximum signal receiving power and the recommended beam, then performing:

[0232] The above step 1.4: judging whether the beam traversal is completed.

[0233] If the judgment result of step 1.4 is that the beam traversal is not completed, for example, there are other beams that have not been scanned, then return to step 1.1 to continue scanning.

[0234] If the judgment result of step 1.4 is that the beam traversal is completed, for example, the above-mentioned receiving the jth beam in the nth frequency domain unit is the last time of beam scanning (for example, j=M). End the beam scanning process of phase one, and determine that the third power is the maximum signal receiving power, and the beam corresponding to the third power is the recommended beam (i.e. the first beam). Perform the frequency domain unit traversal process of phase two.

[0235] Specifically, the frequency domain unit scanning of phase two includes:

[0236] Step 2.1: receiving the first beam in the pth frequency domain unit, the value of p is 1 to N excluding n. That is, the first beam determined in the above phase one is scanned as the reference for the remaining frequency domain units.

[0237] Step 2.2: determining the signal receiving power of the first beam of the pth frequency domain unit in this scan, denoted as the fifth power.

[0238] Step 2.3: judging whether the fifth power is greater than the maximum signal receiving power recorded locally before receiving the first beam of the pth frequency domain unit, which is denoted as the fourth power.

[0239] If the judgment result of step 2.3 is that the fifth power is less than or equal to the fourth power, then performing:

[0240] Step 2.4: judging whether the frequency domain unit traversal is completed. For example, judging whether j is equal to M, if j=M, then the traversal is completed, i.e. the beam scanning of phase one is ended, if j≠M, then the traversal is not completed, i.e. the beam scanning of phase one is not ended.

[0241] If the judgment result of step 2.4 is that the frequency domain unit traversal is not completed, for example, there are other frequency domain units that have not been scanned, then return to step 2.1 to continue scanning.

[0242] If the judgment result of step 2.4 is that the frequency domain unit traversal is completed, for example, the above-mentioned receiving the first beam in the pth frequency domain unit is the last time of frequency domain unit scanning (for example, p=N-1). End the frequency domain unit scanning process of phase two, and determine that the frequency domain unit corresponding to the fourth power is the recommended frequency domain unit (i.e. the first frequency domain unit).

[0243] If the result of step 2.3 is that the fifth power is greater than the fourth power, then the following is performed:

[0244] Step 2.5: update the current maximum signal receiving power and the recommended frequency domain unit. Specifically, the fifth power is taken as the current maximum signal receiving power, and the frequency domain unit corresponding to the fifth power is taken as the recommended frequency domain unit.

[0245] After performing the above step 2.5 to update the current maximum signal receiving power and the recommended frequency domain unit, the following is performed:

[0246] The above step 2.4: determine whether the frequency domain unit traversal is completed.

[0247] If the result of step 2.4 is that the frequency domain unit traversal is completed, for example, the above-mentioned receiving the first beam as the last beam scanning in the nth frequency domain unit (such as p=N-1). End the frequency domain unit scanning process in phase two, and determine that the fifth power is the maximum signal receiving power, and the frequency domain unit corresponding to the fifth power is the recommended frequency domain unit (i.e. the first frequency domain unit).

[0248] If the result of step 2.4 is that the frequency domain unit traversal is not completed, for example, there are other frequency domain units that have not been scanned, then return to step 2.1 and continue scanning.

[0249] In order to facilitate understanding, the following will combine specific examples to illustrate the way the second communication device feeds back information in the case shown in mode two:

[0250] Example two: the frequency domain unit includes frequency domain unit 1, frequency domain unit 2 and frequency domain unit 3, and the beam includes beam 1 and beam 2.

[0251] As shown in FIG. 11, the second communication device feedback process includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0252] Step one: when starting to perform beam scanning, the second communication device does not receive the charging beam, and the current maximum signal receiving power X recorded by the first communication device and the second communication device is 0 dBm. max

[0253] Step two: the first communication device transmits beam 1 in frequency domain unit 1, and the signal receiving power 1 received by the second communication device in the frequency domain unit 1 and beam 1 is 1 dBm, which is greater than X msx Therefore, the second communication device sends feedback to the first communication device for the second sub-information #1 of frequency domain unit 1 and beam 1.

[0254] For example, feedback bit 1 indicates that the signal receiving power 1 in frequency domain unit 1 and beam 1 is the current maximum, and the first communication device then records the index of the corresponding beam 1 as the current recommended beam, that is, the current recommended beam Beam opt ​= 1. In addition, the second communication device updates the current maximum signal received power to 1 dBm, i.e., X max = 1 dBm.

[0255] Step three: the first communication device fixes the frequency domain unit 1 and transmits the beam 2, and the signal received power 2 received by the second communication device under the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 2 is 0.5 dBm, which is less than X determined in the above step two max , the second sub-information #2 for the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 2 is fed back to the first communication device.

[0256] For example, the feedback bit 0 indicates that the signal received power 2 under the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 2 is not the current maximum, and the first communication device keeps the recommended beam Beam opt = 1 unchanged, and the maximum signal received power maintained by the second communication device is still X max = 1 dBm.

[0257] Step four: the scanning of all beams of the frequency domain unit 1 is completed, and it is determined that the recommended beam is the beam 1, and then the beam 1 is scanned in the full frequency band.

[0258] Step five: the first communication device transmits the beam 1 in the frequency domain unit 2, and the signal received power 3 received by the second communication device under the frequency domain unit 2 and the beam 1 is 1.5 dBm, which is greater than X max , the third sub-information #1 for the frequency domain unit 2 and the beam 1 is fed back to the first communication device.

[0259] For example, the feedback bit 1 indicates that the signal received power 3 under the frequency domain unit 2 and the beam 1 is the current maximum, and the first communication device records the index of the corresponding frequency domain unit 2 as the current recommended frequency domain unit, i.e., the current recommended beam Beam opt = 1, the current recommended frequency domain unit F opt = 2. In addition, the second communication device updates the current maximum signal received power to 1.5 dBm, i.e., X max = 1.5 dBm.

[0260] Step six: the first communication device transmits the beam 1 in the frequency domain unit 3, and the signal received power 4 received by the second communication device under the frequency domain unit 3 and the beam 1 is 3 dBm, which is greater than X max , the third sub-information #2 for the frequency domain unit 3 and the beam 1 is fed back to the first communication device.

[0261] For example, the feedback bit 1 indicates that the signal received power 4 under the frequency domain unit 3 and the beam 1 is the current maximum, and the first communication device records the index of the corresponding frequency domain unit 3 as the current recommended frequency domain unit, i.e., the current recommended beam Beam opt= 1, the current recommended frequency domain unit F opt = 3. In addition, the second communication device updates the current maximum signal receiving power to 3 dBm, i.e., X max = 3 dBm.

[0262] The first four steps in the above example two are the first stage of fixed frequency domain unit scanning, which determines the recommended beam. The fifth and sixth steps are the second stage, which scans the full frequency band using the recommended beam to determine the recommended frequency domain unit. After two-stage scanning, the recommended frequency domain unit and the recommended beam are finally determined.

[0263] Method three: The first communication device can first scan all frequency domain units of a certain beam to determine the first frequency domain unit, and then scan the remaining beams based on the first frequency domain unit to determine the first beam.

[0264] For example, the first communication device first transmits the qth beam to the second communication device at the ith frequency domain unit, where i takes a value from 1 to N, and q takes a value from 1 to M. Then, the first communication device transmits the xth beam to the second communication device at the first frequency domain unit, where x takes a value from 1 to M excluding q.

[0265] That is, in this implementation, j takes a value from 1 to M, which can be understood as: j first takes a value of q, and then takes a value from 1 to M excluding q.

[0266] Exemplarily, in the case shown in this method three, the scanning process includes two stages (stage three and stage four described below):

[0267] Stage three: Determine the recommended frequency domain unit (i.e., the first frequency domain unit).

[0268] In the case shown in stage three, the first communication device transmits the jth beam to the second communication device at the ith frequency domain unit, including:

[0269] The first communication device transmits the qth beam to the second communication device at the ith frequency domain unit, where i takes a value from 1 to N, and q takes a value from 1 to M. That is, all frequency domain units of a certain beam are first scanned.

[0270] In the case shown in stage three, the second communication device can feed back a third sub-information after each scanning in stage three. According to the scanning method shown in stage three, a total of N times of scanning will be performed. Therefore, the first information for determining the first frequency domain unit and the first beam includes N third sub-information in the scanning process of stage one, and any third sub-information is used to indicate whether the frequency domain unit of this scanning is the current recommended frequency domain unit among all currently scanned frequency domain units, i.e., each third sub-information is used to determine whether the corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit.

[0271] Optionally, the third sub-information related description can refer to the description of the third information in the above-mentioned manner two, which will not be repeated here.

[0272] Optionally, in the case shown in stage three, the step S620 of sending the first information from the second communication device to the first communication device can be:

[0273] After the first communication device sends the q-th beam to the second communication device in the frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information, it receives the third sub-information from the second communication device.

[0274] For example, N=2 and M=2, in stage three, the second communication device can receive the first beam in the first frequency domain unit and feed back the third sub-information #1, which is used to determine whether the first frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit mentioned above; receive the first beam in the second frequency domain unit and feed back the third sub-information #2, which is used to determine whether the second frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit mentioned above.

[0275] Further, in the scanning process of stage three, the first communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit based on the feedback information of the second communication device, that is, the first communication device can determine the first frequency domain unit based on the N third sub-information.

[0276] In the case shown in manner three, after determining the first frequency domain unit through the scanning process shown in the above-mentioned stage three, the remaining beams can be scanned based on the first frequency domain unit to determine the first beam unit, and the beam scanning process in the case shown in manner three further includes:

[0277] Stage four: determine the recommended frequency domain unit (i.e. the first frequency domain unit).

[0278] After the first communication device determines the first frequency domain unit according to the N third sub-information, it sends the j-th beam to the second communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit, including:

[0279] In the first frequency domain unit, the x-th beam is sent to the second communication device, and x is a value other than q in 1 to M. That is, the remaining beams are scanned based on the first frequency domain unit.

[0280] In the case shown in stage four, the second communication device can feed back a second sub-information after each scan in stage four. According to the scanning mode shown in stage four, a total of (M-1) scans are performed, and thus the first information for determining the first frequency domain unit and the first beam includes (M-1) second sub-informations. Each second sub-information is used to indicate whether the beam scanned in this time is the currently recommended beam among all the beams that have been scanned in the first frequency domain unit.

[0281] Optionally, the second sub-information can be described in the above-described manner two.

[0282] Optionally, in the case shown in stage four, the step S620 of sending the first information by the second communication device to the first communication device can be:

[0283] The first communication device receives the second sub-information from the second communication device after sending the beam corresponding to the second sub-information to the second communication device in the first frequency domain unit.

[0284] For example, N=2 and M=2, the first frequency domain unit determined in stage three is the first frequency domain unit, and the second communication device can receive the second beam in the first frequency domain unit and feed back the second sub-information #1, which is used to determine whether the second beam is the first beam.

[0285] Further, in the scanning process in stage four, the first communication device can determine the first beam based on the feedback information of the second communication device, i.e., the first communication device can determine the first beam based on the (M-1) second sub-informations.

[0286] The feedback of the second communication device in the case shown in manner three will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 12, in the case shown in manner three, the specific process of the second communication device feeding back N third sub-informations and (M-1) second sub-informations is as follows:

[0287] Step 3.1: The ith frequency domain unit receives the qth beam. In the case shown in manner three, in stage three, q is a value in 1 to M, and 1≤i≤N, and thus the first communication device sends the qth beam to the second communication device in each frequency domain unit of the N frequency domain units.

[0288] Step 3.2: The second communication device determines the received signal power of the qth beam of the ith frequency domain unit in this scan, denoted as the fifth power.

[0289] Step 3.3: judging whether the fifth power is greater than the locally recorded maximum signal receiving power before receiving the qth beam, the maximum signal receiving power being recorded as the fourth power.

[0290] If the judging result of step 3.3 is that the fifth power is less than or equal to the fourth power, then the following is performed:

[0291] Step 3.4: judging whether the frequency domain unit traversal is completed. For example, judging whether i is equal to N, if i=N, the traversal is completed, i.e. the beam scanning of phase one is ended, if i≠N, the traversal is not completed, i.e. the frequency domain unit scanning of phase three is not ended.

[0292] If the judging result of step 3.4 is that the frequency domain unit traversal is not completed, for example, there are other frequency domain units not scanned, then returning to step 3.1 to continue scanning.

[0293] If the judging result of step 3.4 is that the frequency domain unit traversal is completed, for example, the above-mentioned receiving the qth beam in the ith frequency domain unit is the last frequency domain unit scanning (e.g. i=N). Ending the frequency domain unit scanning process of phase three, and determining that the fourth power corresponds to the suggested frequency domain unit (i.e. the first frequency domain unit). Proceeding to the beam traversal process of phase four.

[0294] If the judging result of step 3.3 is that the fifth power is greater than the fourth power, then the following is performed:

[0295] Step 3.5: updating the current maximum signal receiving power and the suggested frequency domain unit. Specifically, taking the fifth power as the current maximum signal receiving power, and taking the frequency domain unit corresponding to the fifth power as the suggested frequency domain unit.

[0296] After performing the above-mentioned step 3.5 to update the current maximum signal receiving power and the suggested frequency domain unit, then the following is performed:

[0297] The above-mentioned step 3.4: judging whether the frequency domain unit traversal is completed.

[0298] If the judging result of step 3.4 is that the frequency domain unit traversal is not completed, for example, there are other frequency domain units not scanned, then returning to step 3.1 to continue scanning.

[0299] If the judging result of step 3.4 is that the frequency domain unit traversal is completed, for example, the above-mentioned receiving the qth beam in the ith frequency domain unit is the last frequency domain unit scanning (e.g. i=N). Ending the frequency domain unit scanning process of phase three, and determining that the fifth power is the maximum signal receiving power, and the frequency domain unit corresponding to the fifth power is the suggested frequency domain unit (i.e. the first frequency domain unit). Proceeding to the frequency domain unit traversal process of phase four.

[0300] Specifically, the beam scanning of phase four includes:

[0301] Step 4.1: the first frequency domain unit sends the xth beam to the second communication device, x is a value from 1 to M excluding q. That is, the first frequency domain unit determined in the above phase three is used as a reference to scan the remaining beams.

[0302] Step 4.2: determine the signal receiving power of the xth beam of the first frequency domain unit in this scan, denoted as the third power.

[0303] Step 4.3: determine whether the third power is greater than the maximum signal receiving power recorded locally before receiving the xth beam, denoted as the fourth power.

[0304] If the result of step 4.3 is that the third power is less than or equal to the fourth power, then:

[0305] Step 4.4: determine whether the beam traversal is complete. For example, determine whether x is equal to M-1, if x = M-1, the traversal is complete, i.e. the beam scanning of phase four ends, if x ≠ M-1, the traversal is not complete, i.e. the beam scanning of phase four does not end.

[0306] If the result of step 4.4 is that the beam traversal is not complete, for example, there are other beams that have not been scanned, then return to step 4.1 and continue scanning.

[0307] If the result of step 4.4 is that the beam traversal is complete, for example, the above receiving the xth beam at the first frequency domain unit is the last beam scanning (e.g. x = M-1). End the beam scanning process of phase four, and determine the fourth power corresponding beam as the recommended beam (i.e. the first beam).

[0308] If the result of step 4.3 is that the third power is greater than the fourth power, then:

[0309] Step 4.5: update the current maximum signal receiving power and the recommended beam. Specifically, the third power is used as the current maximum signal receiving power, and the beam corresponding to the third power is used as the recommended beam.

[0310] After performing the above step 4.5 to update the current maximum signal receiving power and the recommended beam, then:

[0311] The above step 4.4: determine whether the beam traversal is complete.

[0312] If the result of step 4.4 is that the beam traversal is not complete, for example, there are other beams that have not been scanned, then return to step 4.1 and continue scanning.

[0313] If the result of step 4.4 is that beam traversal is complete, for example, the x-th beam received in the first frequency domain unit is the last beam scan (e.g., x = M-1), the beam scanning process in stage four ends, and the third power is determined to be the maximum signal received power, and the beam corresponding to the third power is the suggested beam (i.e., the first beam).

[0314] To facilitate understanding, the following example illustrates how the second communication device feeds back information in the scenario described in Method 3:

[0315] Example 3: The frequency domain unit includes frequency domain unit 1 and frequency domain unit 2, and the beam includes beam 1, beam 2 and beam 3.

[0316] As shown in Figure 13, the feedback process of the second communication device includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0317] Step 1: At the start of beam scanning, the second communication device did not receive the charging beam. The maximum signal received power X recorded by the first and second communication devices is... max It is 0dBm.

[0318] Step 2: The first communication device transmits beam 1 in frequency domain unit 1. The second communication device receives a signal with a received power of 1 dBm in the same frequency domain unit 1 and beam 1, which is greater than X. max Then, it sends feedback third sub-information #1 for frequency domain unit 1 and beam 1 to the first communication device.

[0319] For example, feedback bit 1 indicates that the signal received power 1 under frequency domain unit 1 and beam 1 is currently at its maximum. The first communication device then records the index of the corresponding frequency domain unit 1 as the currently suggested frequency domain unit, i.e., the currently suggested frequency domain unit F. opt =1. Additionally, the second communication device updates its current maximum signal reception power to 1dBm, i.e., X. max =1dBm.

[0320] Step 3: The first communication device fixes beam 1 and transmits beam 1 in frequency domain unit 2. The second communication device receives a signal power 2 of 0.5 dBm in this frequency domain unit 2 and under beam 1, which is less than X determined in Step 2 above. max Then, it sends feedback of the third sub-information #2 for frequency domain unit 2 and beam 1 to the first communication device.

[0321] For example, feedback bit 0 indicates that the received signal power 2 under frequency domain unit 2 and beam 1 is not currently at its maximum, and the first communication device maintains the currently recommended frequency domain unit F. opt =1 remains unchanged, and the maximum signal receiving power maintained by the second communication device remains X. max =1dBm.

[0322] Step four: all frequency domain unit scanning of beam 1 is completed, and the recommended frequency domain unit is determined as frequency domain unit 1, and then the beam scanning is performed with the frequency domain unit 1.

[0323] Step five: the first communication device transmits beam 2 at the frequency domain unit 1, and the signal received power 3 received by the second communication device at the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 2 is 1.5 dBm, which is greater than X max Then, the second communication device sends feedback to the first communication device for the second sub-information #1 for the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 2.

[0324] For example, the feedback bit 1 indicates that the signal received power 3 at the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 2 is the current maximum, and the first communication device records the index of the corresponding beam 2 as the current recommended beam, that is, the current recommended beam Beam opt = 2, and the current recommended frequency domain unit F opt = 1. In addition, the second communication device updates the current maximum signal received power as 1.5 dBm, that is, X max = 1.5 dBm.

[0325] Step six: the first communication device transmits beam 3 at the frequency domain unit 1, and the signal received power 4 received by the second communication device at the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 3 is 3 dBm, which is greater than X max Then, the second communication device sends feedback to the first communication device for the second sub-information #2 for the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 3.

[0326] For example, the feedback bit 1 indicates that the signal received power 4 at the frequency domain unit 1 and the beam 3 is the current maximum, and the first communication device records the index of the corresponding beam 3 as the current recommended beam, that is, the current recommended beam Beam ppt = 3, and the current recommended frequency domain unit F opt = 1. In addition, the second communication device updates the current maximum signal received power as 3 dBm, that is, X max = 3 dBm.

[0327] The process steps one to four in the above example three are the third stage fixed beam scanning, which determines the recommended frequency domain unit. The steps five to six are the fourth stage, which performs full beam scanning with the recommended frequency domain unit, and determines the recommended beam. Through the two-stage scanning, the recommended frequency domain unit and the recommended beam are finally determined.

[0328] As an example but not limitation, the communication method shown in the above FIG. 6 can be applied to the ORAN scenario. For the convenience of understanding, the application of the communication method in the ORAN scenario is briefly introduced below in combination with FIG. 14:

[0329] Exemplarily, the scanning manner shown in the above manner one in the beam scanning manner, the beam scanning request and feedback process in the ORAN scene includes but is not limited to at least one of the following steps:

[0330] Step 1: the core network sends the beam scanning request information to the access network device through the backhaul link, and the control unit (CU) of the access network device receives the request.

[0331] Or the beam scanning request information does not pass through the core network device, that is, the step 1 is an optional step.

[0332] Optionally, the CU includes a central processing unit (CPU) of an X86 architecture or an ARM architecture, and a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or other accelerator type chips; the X86 type chip or the chip based on the ARM architecture processes the instruction from the core network, wherein some logical operations involved, such as simple summation and other underlying operation modules are processed by the FPGA, the GPU, or the other accelerator, and the results are fed back to the CPU after processing, and the CPU performs further control operation, for example, judges whether to send the control instruction to the DU. The interface between the CPU and the FPGA, the GPU, or the other accelerator can be the function of the bus and the peripheral component interface express (PCIe).

[0333] Step 2: the control unit sends the beam scanning instruction to the distributed unit (DU), and the distributed unit receives the beam scanning instruction.

[0334] Optionally, the DU also includes a CPU of an X86 architecture or an ARM architecture, and an FPGA, a GPU, or other accelerator type chips; the X86 type chip or the chip based on the ARM architecture processes the request instruction from the CU, wherein some logical operations involved, such as simple summation and other underlying operation modules are processed by the FPGA, the GPU, or the other accelerator, and the results are fed back to the CPU after processing, and the CPU performs further control operation, for example, judges whether to send the control instruction to the RU. The interface between the CPU and the FPGA, the GPU, or the other accelerator can be the function of the PCIe.

[0335] Step 3: the distributed unit sends the beam scanning instruction to the radio unit (RU) through the fronthaul link, and the RU sends the beam to the UE for beam scanning. For example, the beam scanning manner shown in the above manner one is adopted, and all frequency domain units in the frequency domain range are scanned in a certain order.

[0336] Optionally, the RU comprises a front-haul processing unit for processing the indication signaling from the DU, the front-haul processing unit can be a CPU, or a special chip such as an FPGA or an ASIC type chip; the front-haul processing chip schedules the digital signal processing module to process the signal from the RF processing module based on the instruction from the DU; the digital signal processing module performs operations related to FFT, modulation and demodulation, etc.; the RF processing chip mainly processes operations such as down-conversion, spectrum splicing / shifting, and sends the processing result to the digital processing chip.

[0337] Step 4: The terminal receives the beam and feeds back the related information. For example, the signaling format fed back by the terminal can refer to the format of the first sub-information in the above-mentioned mode one, which is not described herein again.

[0338] Step 5: The radio frequency unit receives the beam information fed back by the terminal, and returns the information to the distributed unit DU after down-conversion processing for further processing.

[0339] Step 6: The distributed unit receives the baseband signal for processing, and transmits the beam information after processing to the control unit CU through the middle transmission link.

[0340] Step 8: The control unit continues to scan the next beam, and repeats the above steps until the scanning is completed, and the control unit CU finally obtains the recommended frequency domain unit and the recommended beam.

[0341] Step 9: The control unit can return the recommended frequency domain unit and the recommended beam to the core network device, or can not return the specific scanning information, directly returns the indication that the scanning is completed, or can not return any information to the core network device, directly charges the terminal according to the recommended frequency domain unit and the recommended beam.

[0342] Step 10: If the core network device receives the information from the control unit, the core network device sends the charging instruction to the control unit according to the beam information fed back by the control unit, and the control unit receives the instruction and transmits the charging signal through the radio frequency unit after the middle transmission and the front-haul.

[0343] It should be understood that the size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0344] It should also be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other if there is no special description and logical conflict, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0345] It should also be understood that, in some of the above embodiments, the devices in the existing network architecture are mainly exemplarily described, and it should be understood that the specific forms of the devices are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, devices having the same functions in the future are also applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0346] It can be understood that, in each of the above method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by the devices (such as the first communication device and the second communication device) can also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) applicable to the devices.

[0347] It can also be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application can not depend on other features in some scenarios, or can be combined with other features in some scenarios, and are not limited. In addition, simple modifications of the embodiments of the present application are also within the protection scope of the present application.

[0348] The above describes the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application in detail in combination with FIG. 6. The above communication method is mainly introduced from the perspective of the first communication device and the second communication device. It can be understood that the first communication device and the second communication device contain corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for executing various functions in order to implement the above functions.

[0349] Those skilled in the art should realize that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in combination with the embodiments disclosed in the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is realized in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0350] The following describes the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application in combination with FIG. 15 and FIG. 16. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and therefore, the content not described in detail can be referred to the above method embodiments, and some content will not be described again for brevity.

[0351] The embodiments of the present application can divide the function modules of the sending terminal device or the receiving terminal device according to the above method examples. For example, each function module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated in one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software function module. It should be noted that the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division manner can be used. The following will be described by taking the division of each function module according to each function as an example.

[0352] FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of the communication apparatus 10 provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication apparatus 10 includes a transceiver module 11 and a processing module 12. The transceiver module 11 can realize corresponding communication functions, and the processing module 12 is configured to perform data processing. In other words, the transceiver module 11 is configured to perform receiving and sending related operations, and the processing module 12 is configured to perform other operations except receiving and sending. The transceiver module 11 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit. The transceiver module 11 can include a receiving module and / or a sending module. The receiving module is configured to perform receiving related operations, and the sending module is configured to perform sending related operations.

[0353] Optionally, the communication apparatus 10 can further include a storage module 13. The storage module 13 can be configured to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processing module 12 can read the computer programs or instructions and / or data in the storage module, so that the apparatus realizes the actions of the device in the foregoing method embodiments. The above modules can also be referred to as units, such as a transceiver unit, a processing unit, a storage unit, and the like.

[0354] In one design, the communication apparatus 10 can correspond to the first communication device in the above method embodiments, or be a component (such as a chip) of the first communication device.

[0355] The communication apparatus 10 can realize the steps or processes performed by the first communication device corresponding to the above method embodiments. The transceiver module 11 can be configured to perform the receiving and sending related operations of the first communication device in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 12 can be configured to perform the processing related operations of the first communication device in the above method embodiments.

[0356] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module 11 is configured to transmit, to the second communication device, a j-th beam at an i-th frequency domain unit, where i is an index ranging from 1 to N, j is an index ranging from 1 to M, N is a number of frequency domain units in a frequency domain range in which the first communication device is capable of transmitting beams to the second communication device, and M is a number of beams that the first communication device is capable of transmitting. The transceiver module 11 is further configured to receive first information from the second communication device, where the first information is used to determine a first frequency domain unit and a first beam, the first frequency domain unit being one of the N frequency domain units, and the first beam being one of the M beams. The transceiver module 11 is further configured to transmit, to the second communication device, a first signal based on the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, where the first signal is used to wirelessly charge the second communication device.

[0357] When the communication apparatus 10 is configured to perform the method in FIG. 6, the transceiver module 11 can be configured to perform the steps of receiving and transmitting information in the method, such as steps S610, S620, and S630, and the processing module 12 can be configured to perform the processing steps in the method.

[0358] It should be understood that the specific processes by which the units perform the corresponding steps described above have been described in detail in the method embodiments, and thus will not be described again here for brevity.

[0359] In another design, the communication apparatus 10 can correspond to the second communication device in the method embodiments above, or be a component (such as a chip) of the second communication device.

[0360] The communication apparatus 10 can implement the steps or processes performed by the second communication device in the method embodiments above, where the transceiver module 11 can be configured to perform the operations related to receiving and transmitting of the second communication device in the method embodiments above, and the processing module 12 can be configured to perform the operations related to processing of the second communication device in the method embodiments above.

[0361] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module 11 is configured to receive, from the first communication device, a j-th beam at an i-th frequency domain unit, where i is an index ranging from 1 to N, j is an index ranging from 1 to M, N is a number of frequency domain units in a frequency domain range in which the first communication device is capable of transmitting beams to the second communication device, and M is a number of beams that the first communication device is capable of transmitting. The transceiver module 11 is further configured to transmit, to the first communication device, first information used to determine a first frequency domain unit and a first beam, the first frequency domain unit being one of the N frequency domain units, and the first beam being one of the M beams. The transceiver module 11 is further configured to receive, from the first communication device, a first signal based on the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, where the first signal is used to wirelessly charge the second communication device.

[0362] When the communication apparatus 10 is configured to perform the method in FIG. 6, the transceiver module 11 can be configured to perform the steps of receiving and / or transmitting information in the method, such as steps S610, S620 and S630; and the processing module 12 can be configured to perform the processing steps in the method.

[0363] It should be understood that the specific procedures of the respective steps performed by the modules or units are described in detail in the above method embodiments, and thus are not described herein again for the sake of brevity.

[0364] It should also be understood that the communication apparatus 10 herein is embodied in the form of functional modules. The term “module” herein can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and / or other suitable components that provide the described functionality. In an optional example, those skilled in the art can understand that the apparatus 10 can be embodied as the mobility management network element in the above embodiments, and can be configured to perform the respective procedures and / or steps in the above method embodiments corresponding to the mobility management network element; or the apparatus 10 can be embodied as the terminal device in the above embodiments, and can be configured to perform the respective procedures and / or steps in the above method embodiments corresponding to the terminal device, which are not described herein again for the sake of brevity.

[0365] The communication apparatus 10 in the above schemes has the function of performing the respective steps performed by the device (e.g., the first communication device) in the above methods. The function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions; for example, the transceiver module can be replaced by a transceiver (e.g., the transmitting module in the transceiver module can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving module in the transceiver module can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing module, can be replaced by a processor, which respectively perform the receiving and / or transmitting operations and the related processing operations in the respective method embodiments.

[0366] In addition, the transceiver module 11 can also be a transceiver circuit (e.g., which can include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing module can be a processing circuit.

[0367] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of another communication apparatus 20 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 20 includes a processor 21, which is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in a memory 22, or read data / signaling stored in the memory 22, to perform the methods in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the processor 21 is one or more.

[0368] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 16, the communication apparatus 20 further includes a transceiver 23 configured to receive and / or send signals. For example, the processor 21 is configured to control the transceiver 23 to receive and / or send signals. The transceiver 23 can include a receiver configured to receive signals and / or a transmitter configured to send signals. If the communication apparatus 20 is a chip, the transceiver 23 is an input / output interface of the chip, where the output corresponds to the sending and the input corresponds to the receiving.

[0369] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 16, the communication apparatus 20 further includes a memory 22 configured to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The memory 22 can be integrated with the processor 21 or can be separately arranged. Optionally, the memory 22 is one or more.

[0370] As an option, the communication apparatus 20 is configured to implement operations performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above various method embodiments.

[0371] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor.

[0372] It should also be understood that the memory referred to in the embodiments of the application can be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM). For example, the RAM can be used as an external cache. As an example but not limitation, the RAM includes the following various forms: static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM) and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0373] It should be noted that when the processor is a general processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated in the processor.

[0374] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0375] The embodiments of the application provide a chip system. The chip system (or also can be called processing system) includes a logic circuit and an input / output interface.

[0376] Among them, the logic circuit can be a processing circuit in the chip system. The logic circuit can be coupled to the storage unit, call the instructions in the storage unit, so that the chip system can realize the method and function of the embodiments of the application. The input / output interface can be an input / output circuit in the chip system, output the information processed by the chip system, or input the data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system for processing.

[0377] As a solution, the chip system is configured to implement operations performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method embodiments.

[0378] For example, the logic circuit is configured to implement processing-related operations performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method embodiments; and the input / output interface is configured to implement sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0379] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions for implementing the method performed by the device in the above method embodiments.

[0380] For example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method embodiments.

[0381] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which contains the computer program or instructions, and the computer program or instructions, when executed by a computer, implement the method performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method embodiments.

[0382] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system, which includes the first communication device and the second communication device as described above.

[0383] The above description of the related content of any of the apparatuses provided and the beneficial effects can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be described here again.

[0384] Those skilled in the art can appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are realized in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0385] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described system, apparatus and unit can refer to the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments, which will not be described here again.

[0386] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other manners. For example, the described device embodiments are merely schematic. The division of the units is merely logical function division. There can be other division manners in actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections can be indirect couplings or communication connections through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0387] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, i.e., can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0388] In addition, each functional unit in the various embodiments of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can be a physically separate unit, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0389] If the functions are realized in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes a number of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0390] The above is merely specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first communication device, including: The first communication device sends the j-th beam to the second communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit, where i ranges from 1 to N, j ranges from 1 to M, N is the number of frequency domain units in the frequency domain range in which the first communication device can send beams to the second communication device, and M is the number of beams that the first communication device can send. Receive first information from the second communication device, the first information being used to determine a first frequency domain unit and a first beam, the first frequency domain unit being one of N frequency domain units and the first beam being one of M beams; Based on the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, a first signal is sent to the second communication device, and the first signal is used to wirelessly charge the second communication device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information includes the identifier of the first frequency domain unit and the identifier of the first beam.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information includes N and M product first sub-information, each first sub-information used to determine whether its corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit, and to determine whether its corresponding beam is the first beam. Receiving the first information from the second communication device includes: After the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information sends the beam corresponding to the first sub-information to the second communication device, the first sub-information from the second communication device is received.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first sub-information includes at least one of the following: The first bit, the first positive acknowledgment (ACK), the first negative acknowledgment (NACK), or the first identifier. Wherein, the value of the first bit is used to indicate whether the first power is greater than the second power, the first ACK is used to indicate that the first power is greater than the second power, the first NACK is used to indicate that the first power is less than or equal to the second power, the first identifier includes the identifier of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the largest power among the first power and the second power and the identifier of the beam, the first power is the signal received power corresponding to the frequency domain unit and the beam corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second power is the maximum signal received power of the first communication device before the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information sends the beam corresponding to the first sub-information to the second communication device.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, If the first power is greater than the second power, the maximum signal received power is updated to the first power, the second frequency domain unit is updated to the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, the second beam is updated to the beam corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam are the frequency domain unit and power corresponding to the second power. If the first power is less than or equal to the second power, the maximum signal received power remains at the second power, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam remain unchanged. If the first identifier includes the identifier of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information and the identifier of the beam, the maximum signal received power is updated to the first power, the second frequency domain unit is updated to the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second beam is updated to the beam corresponding to the first sub-information. If the first identifier includes the identifier of the second frequency domain unit and the identifier of the second beam, the maximum signal received power remains the second power, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam remain unchanged.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information includes M second sub-information items, each of which is used to determine whether its corresponding beam is the first beam. The step of sending the j-th beam to the second communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit includes: The j-th beam is transmitted to the second communication device in the n-th frequency domain unit, where n is one of 1 to N and j is from 1 to M. The receiving of the first information from the second communication device includes: After the nth frequency domain unit sends the beam corresponding to each of the second sub-informations to the second communication device, the second sub-information from the second communication device is received. The method further includes: The first beam is determined based on the M second sub-information.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, After determining the first beam based on the M second sub-information, the step of sending the j-th beam to the second communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit includes: The first beam is transmitted to the second communication device in the p-th frequency domain unit, where the value of p is a value other than n among 1 to N; The first information further includes (N-1) third sub-information, each of the third sub-information being used to determine whether its corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit. Receiving the first information from the second communication device includes: After the frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information sends the first beam to the second communication device, the third sub-information is received from the second communication device. The method further includes: The first frequency domain unit is determined based on the (N-1) third sub-information.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information includes N third sub-information items, each of which is used to determine whether its corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit. The step of sending the j-th beam to the second communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit includes: In the i-th frequency domain unit, the q-th beam is transmitted to the second communication device, where the value of i is from 1 to N, and the value of q is one of the values ​​from 1 to M. The receiving of the first information from the second communication device includes: After the frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information sends the q-th beam to the second communication device, the third sub-information is received from the second communication device; The method further includes: The first frequency domain unit is determined based on the N third sub-information.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, After determining the first frequency domain unit based on the N third sub-information, the step of sending the j-th beam to the second communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit includes: In the first frequency domain unit, the x-th beam is transmitted to the second communication device, wherein the value of x is any value other than q among the values ​​from 1 to M; The first information further includes (M-1) second sub-information, each second sub-information used to determine whether its corresponding beam is the first beam, and receiving the first information from the second communication device includes: After the first frequency domain unit sends the beam corresponding to the second sub-information to the second communication device, the second sub-information from the second communication device is received. The method further includes: The first beam is determined based on the (M-1) second sub-information.

10. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a second communication device, including: The j-th beam from the first communication device is received in the i-th frequency domain unit, where i ranges from 1 to N, j ranges from 1 to M, N is the number of frequency domain units in the frequency domain range in which the first communication device can send beams to the second communication device, and M is the number of beams that the first communication device can send. Send first information to the first communication device, the first information being used to determine a first frequency domain unit and a first beam, the first frequency domain unit being one of N frequency domain units, and the first beam being one of M beams; Based on the first frequency domain unit and the first beam, a first signal is received from the first communication device, and the first signal is used to wirelessly charge the second communication device.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The first information includes the identifier of the first frequency domain unit and the identifier of the first beam.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The first information includes N and M product first sub-information, each first sub-information used to determine whether its corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit, and to determine whether its corresponding beam is the first beam. Sending the first information to the first communication device includes: After receiving the beam corresponding to the first sub-information from the first communication device, each frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information sends the first sub-information to the first communication device.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The first sub-information includes at least one of the following: The first bit, the first positive acknowledgment (ACK), the first negative acknowledgment (NACK), or the first identifier. Wherein, the value of the first bit is used to indicate whether the first power is greater than the second power, the first ACK is used to indicate that the first power is greater than the second power, the first NACK is used to indicate that the first power is less than or equal to the second power, the first identifier includes the identifier of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the largest power among the first power and the second power and the identifier of the beam, the first power is the signal received power corresponding to the frequency domain unit and the beam corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second power is the maximum signal received power of the first communication device before the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information sends the beam corresponding to the first sub-information to the second communication device.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, If the first power is greater than the second power, the maximum signal received power is updated to the first power, the second frequency domain unit is updated to the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, the second beam is updated to the beam corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam are the frequency domain unit and power corresponding to the second power. If the first power is less than or equal to the second power, the maximum signal received power remains at the second power, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam remain unchanged. If the first identifier includes the identifier of the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information and the identifier of the beam, the maximum signal received power is updated to the first power, the second frequency domain unit is updated to the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first sub-information, and the second beam is updated to the beam corresponding to the first sub-information. If the first identifier includes the identifier of the second frequency domain unit and the identifier of the second beam, the maximum signal received power is maintained at the second power, and the second frequency domain unit and the second beam are maintained.

15. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The first information includes M second sub-information items, each second sub-information item being used to determine whether its corresponding beam is the first beam. Receiving the j-th beam from the first communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit includes: The j-th beam from the first communication device is received in the n-th frequency domain unit, where n is one of 1 to N and j is from 1 to M. Sending the first information to the first communication device includes: After the nth frequency domain unit receives the beam corresponding to each of the second sub-information from the first communication device, it sends the second sub-information to the first communication device, wherein the M second sub-information are used to determine the first beam.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The step of receiving the j-th beam from the first communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit further includes: The first beam from the first communication device is received in the p-th frequency domain unit, where the value of p is a value other than n among 1 to N; The first information further includes (N-1) third sub-information, each of the third sub-information being used to determine whether its corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit. Sending the first information to the first communication device includes: After the frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information receives the first beam from the first communication device, it sends the third sub-information to the first communication device. The (N-1) third sub-information pieces are used to determine the first frequency domain unit.

17. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The first information includes N third sub-information items, each of which is used to determine whether its corresponding frequency domain unit is the first frequency domain unit. Receiving the j-th beam from the first communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit includes: The q-th beam from the first communication device is received in the i-th frequency domain unit, where the value of i is from 1 to N, and the value of q is one of the values ​​from 1 to M. Sending the first information to the first communication device includes: After the frequency domain unit corresponding to the third sub-information receives the q-th beam from the first communication device, it sends the third sub-information to the first communication device. The N third sub-information pieces are used to determine the first frequency domain unit.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The step of receiving the j-th beam from the first communication device in the i-th frequency domain unit further includes: The x-th beam from the first communication device is received in the first frequency domain unit, where the value of x is any value from 1 to M except for q; The first information further includes (M-1) second sub-information items, each second sub-information item being used to determine whether its corresponding beam is the first beam. Sending the first information to the first communication device includes: After the first frequency domain unit receives the beam corresponding to the second sub-information from the first communication device, it sends the second sub-information to the first communication device, wherein the (M-1) second sub-information pieces are used to determine the first beam.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor coupled to a memory for storing computer programs or instructions, the processor for executing the computer programs or instructions in the memory such that the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 is performed, or that the method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 18 is performed.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 18 to be performed.

21. A chip system, characterized in that, Includes: a processor for retrieving and running a computer program from memory, such that the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 18 is performed.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that, When the computer program product is run on a computer, the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 18 is performed.

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