Communication method, and device, program product and storage medium

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications. Provided are a communication method, and a device, a program product and a storage medium. In the method, a network apparatus can indicate, to a terminal apparatus, upper bandwidth limits for respectively transmitting a first signal in a plurality of time units, and the upper bandwidth limit in each time unit is further divided into different frequency hopping patterns, such that the terminal apparatus can transmit the first signal in each time unit according to the indicated frequency hopping patterns, in other words, the terminal apparatus can execute two-stage frequency hopping. In this way, each transmission of the first signal can occupy fewer frequency-domain resources, thereby facilitating an improvement in the power spectral density, and also increasing the number of users reusing radio resources.

Description

Communication method, device, program product, and storage medium

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202410983091.9, filed on July 19, 2024, and entitled “A communication method, device, program product, and storage medium”, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, device, program product, and storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0004] Frequency hopping is a spread spectrum technology that uses carrier hopping to achieve spectrum widening. Frequency hopping includes inter-slot frequency hopping. For example, a terminal device can transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) using inter-slot frequency hopping. Specifically, the terminal device can hop in units of slots, and transmit the SRS on one subband in each of the multiple slots. However, in this way, the bandwidth occupied by each frequency hopping is one subband, which is not conducive to the improvement of power spectral density. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a communication method, device, program product, and storage medium for improving power spectral density.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method can be applied to a terminal device side. The terminal device side can refer to a terminal device itself (such as a mobile phone, a vehicle-mounted terminal, etc.), or a module in the terminal device, or a logical module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions. The module in the terminal device, for example, is a processor, a communication module, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal device, such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core, etc. The method includes receiving first information and second information. The first information indicates a bandwidth upper limit of a plurality of time units for transmitting a first signal, and the starting frequency domain positions for transmitting the first signal on at least two time units in the plurality of time units are different. The second information indicates a frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units, wherein the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit in the one time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource occupies a partial bandwidth or the entire bandwidth of the bandwidth upper limit of the one time unit. The first information and the second information, for example, can be received by the terminal device side from a network device side (such as a network device).

[0007] A time unit can include a plurality of sub-time units, and the time unit, for example, is a time slot, and the sub-time unit, for example, is a symbol. The time unit can be any time unit in the plurality of time units, or can be each time unit, or in other words, the time unit can be replaced by any time unit or each time unit. The plurality of time units are time units for transmitting the first signal. The starting frequency domain positions for transmitting the first signal on any two time units in the plurality of time units can be different. The sizes of the bandwidth upper limits for transmitting the first signal on any two time units in the plurality of time units can be the same or different, which is not limited. The bandwidth upper limit refers to the maximum bandwidth for transmitting the first signal, such as a time unit. The frequency hopping patterns of any two time units in the plurality of time units are the same, or the frequency hopping patterns of at least two time units in the plurality of time units are different, which is not limited. The form of the frequency hopping pattern can be a table, a formula, or a pattern (or a graph), etc., and the form is not specifically limited. Optionally, the frequency domain resource can be a positive integer number of resource blocks (RBs), or a positive integer number of resource elements (REs), or resource particles, resource units, or resource elements, etc.

[0008] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device side can obtain the bandwidth upper limit of the bandwidth used for respectively transmitting the first signal in multiple time units, and the starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal in at least two time units is different, so that the terminal device side can transmit the first signal in a frequency hopping manner in multiple time units, which can be regarded as that the terminal device side performs first level frequency hopping, and the network device side can also indicate that one of the time units can correspond to one frequency hopping mode, and the terminal device side can transmit the first signal in the time unit according to the indicated frequency hopping mode, which can be regarded as that the terminal device performs second level frequency hopping. The bandwidth occupied by at least one frequency domain resource indicated by the frequency hopping mode of one time unit is part of the bandwidth upper limit of the time unit or the whole bandwidth, which is equivalent to that the frequency domain resource of the second level frequency hopping is the result of further division of the frequency domain resource of the first level frequency hopping, so that less frequency domain resource can be used for transmitting the first signal at a time, which is beneficial to improve the power spectral density. Since less frequency domain resource is required for transmitting the first signal at a time, the multiplexing capability of the limited frequency domain resource can be increased, and the number of users for multiplexing the limited resource can be increased.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving third information; or, the terminal device side is pre-configured or pre-defined with the third information, for example, the terminal device side is pre-configured or pre-defined with the third information through a protocol, the third information indicates a frequency hopping mode set, each frequency hopping mode in the frequency hopping mode set indicates a frequency domain resource used for transmitting a signal in at least one sub-time unit of a time unit, and each frequency hopping mode in the frequency hopping mode set is associated with an index, wherein: the second information indicates the frequency hopping mode of the multiple time units, including: the second information includes information of the index of the frequency hopping mode of the multiple time units.

[0010] If the frequency hopping modes of the multiple time units are the same, the second information can include information of the index of one frequency hopping mode. If the frequency hopping modes of the multiple time units are different, the second information can include information of the index of multiple frequency hopping modes.

[0011] In this way, in the case that the terminal device receives the third information, the sending end (such as the network device side) can update the third information according to the situation, so as to facilitate the terminal device side to obtain more accurate third information. In the case that the terminal device side is pre-configured or pre-defined with the third information, the number of interactions between the terminal device side and the network device side can be reduced. In addition, the second information can indicate the frequency hopping modes of the multiple time units through the information of the index of the frequency hopping mode of the multiple time units, which is beneficial to reduce the number of bits occupied by the second information and save the resources required for transmitting the second information.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the set of frequency hopping patterns includes multiple levels of frequency hopping patterns, each level of frequency hopping patterns includes at least one frequency hopping pattern, and any two frequency hopping patterns belonging to different levels of frequency hopping patterns satisfy the following conditions: the bandwidths occupied by the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns are different; and / or, the numbers of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns are located are different. Optionally, any two frequency hopping patterns in the same level of frequency hopping patterns indicate the frequency domain resources occupying the same bandwidth and located in the same number of sub-time units.

[0013] In this way, the content of the frequency hopping patterns is enriched, and different levels of frequency hopping patterns can meet different communication requirements of the terminal device side.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending fourth information, the fourth information indicating the sparsity of the channel between the terminal device side and the network device side, and the fourth information being used to determine the frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit. Optionally, the fourth information includes information of the power corresponding to the upper limit of the bandwidth of the one time unit. The fourth information may, for example, be received by the terminal device side from the network device side (e.g., a network device).

[0015] The channel may, for example, be an uplink channel. The sparsity of the channel may, for example, reflect some characteristic changes of the channel, such as power changes or power spectral density changes.

[0016] In this way, the determined frequency hopping pattern is more in line with the actual situation of the channel.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit is: in a first association relationship, a frequency hopping pattern in a level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the first association relationship indicating an association relationship between the multiple levels of frequency hopping patterns and multiple value ranges of the sparsity, and wherein: the smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the smaller the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resources indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel, and the greater the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the greater the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resources indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel.

[0018] In this way, the quality of the first signal is improved while the processing amount of the terminal device side is reduced as much as possible. For example, if the value of the sparsity of the channel is large, it indicates that the channel is relatively flat, and the terminal device side can use less frequency domain resources to send the first signal in the time unit. Without affecting the estimation of the channel based on the first signal too much, the processing amount of the terminal device side can be reduced. For another example, if the value of the sparsity of the channel is small, it indicates that the channel is relatively uneven, and the terminal device side can use more frequency domain resources to send the first signal in the time unit, which is beneficial to increasing the accuracy of the estimation of the channel based on the first signal.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit includes: information of the number of at least one sub-time unit; and information of the first position of each of the at least one frequency domain resource.

[0020] In this way, the terminal device side determines the number of sub-time units used for transmitting the first signal in the time unit and the first position of the at least one frequency domain resource based on the frequency hopping pattern.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the first position of each of the first frequency domain resources is one of: the position of each of the frequency domain resources in the bandwidth upper limit of one time unit; or the position of each of the frequency domain resources in the total bandwidth, the total bandwidth being the total bandwidth of the plurality of time units used for transmitting the first signal.

[0022] In this way, multiple forms of the first position are provided. If the first position of a certain frequency domain resource is the position of the frequency domain resource in the bandwidth upper limit of one time unit, the bandwidth upper limit of one time unit is smaller than the total bandwidth, which is advantageous for saving the number of bits required for indicating the frequency hopping pattern. Or, if the first position of a certain frequency domain resource is the position of the frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, this is advantageous for the terminal device to directly determine the position of the frequency domain resource based on the frequency hopping pattern.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving fifth information, the fifth information indicating a second position, the second position being the position of a starting frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, wherein: the position of each of the frequency domain resources in the total bandwidth is determined based on the second position and the position of each of the frequency domain resources in the bandwidth upper limit of one time unit. The fifth information may be received by the terminal device side from the network device side (such as a network device), for example.

[0024] In this way, a manner of determining the position of the frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth is provided. Moreover, this manner has less changes to the terminal device side and the network device side, and has a low implementation cost.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the second position is determined based on a first parameter, the first parameter representing the order of one time unit used for transmitting the first signal in the plurality of time units. The first parameter may also be understood as the number of times of performing first-level frequency hopping by the terminal device side.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the first parameter satisfies the following formula:

[0027] wherein n SRS is the first parameter, is the number of time units included in one frame, n fa frame number for a frame, a number of a time unit within a frame, T offset an offset between a sub-time unit of a time unit and a starting sub-time unit in at least one sub-time unit, T SRS a frequency hopping period of the first signal.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: frequency hopping transmitting the first signal over a plurality of time units, wherein the first signal is transmitted according to a frequency hopping pattern of a time unit over a time unit. In this way, a mechanism for transmitting the first signal is provided.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving sixth information, the sixth information indicating a starting sub-time unit in a time unit for transmitting the first signal; and the first information further indicating an actual total bandwidth for transmitting the first signal.

[0030] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method can be applied to a network device side. The network device side can refer to a network device itself (for example, a wireless access device, such as a base station device, or a core network device, such as an access and mobility management function (AMF), etc.), or a module in the network device, where the module in the network device can be a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc. in the network device; or can be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions, for example, a central unit (CU) (or a control unit), a distributed unit (DU), a central unit control plane (CU-CP), a central unit user plane (CU-UP), an open central unit (O-CU), or a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC). The RIC can include, for example, a non-real time radio access network intelligent controller (Non-RT RIC) and / or a near-real time RAN intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC). The method comprises: sending first information to a first terminal device side, and sending second information to the first terminal device side. The first information indicates a bandwidth upper limit of a plurality of time units for transmitting a first signal, and a starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal is different in at least two time units of the plurality of time units. The second information indicates a frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units, where the frequency hopping mode of one time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource is a frequency domain resource for transmitting the first signal in at least one sub-time unit in the one time unit, and a bandwidth occupied by the at least one frequency domain resource is part of the bandwidth upper limit or the entire bandwidth of the one time unit.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises: sending third information; where the third information indicates a frequency hopping mode set, each frequency hopping mode in the frequency hopping mode set indicates a frequency domain resource for transmitting a signal in at least one sub-time unit of a time unit, and each frequency hopping mode in the frequency hopping mode set is associated with an index, where: the second information indicates the frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units, comprising: the second information includes information of indexes of the frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the set of frequency hopping patterns includes multiple levels of frequency hopping patterns, each level of frequency hopping patterns includes at least one frequency hopping pattern, and any two frequency hopping patterns belonging to different levels of frequency hopping patterns satisfy the following conditions: the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns is different; and / or, the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns are located is different.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving fourth information respectively from multiple terminal device sides, where the fourth information from one terminal device side indicates the sparsity of the channel between the terminal device side and the network device side, and the multiple terminal device sides include the first terminal device; and determining the frequency hopping pattern corresponding to each of the multiple terminal device sides based on the fourth information from the multiple terminal device sides, where: if the sparsity of the channel corresponding to any two terminal device sides of the multiple terminal device sides is not similar, the frequency hopping patterns corresponding to the two terminal device sides belong to different levels of frequency hopping patterns; and / or, if the sparsity of the channel corresponding to any two terminal device sides of the multiple terminal device sides is similar, the frequency hopping patterns corresponding to the two terminal device sides belong to the same level of frequency hopping patterns. Optionally, the multiple terminal device sides can be replaced by multiple ports, which can belong to at least two terminal device sides or belong to the same terminal device side, and the application is not limited in this regard.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit is: in a first association relationship, one frequency hopping pattern in the first level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the first association relationship indicates the association relationship between the multiple levels of frequency hopping patterns and the multiple value ranges of the sparsity of the channel, where: the smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the smaller the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resources indicated by the first level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel, and the greater the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the greater the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resources indicated by the first level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit includes: information of the number of at least one sub-time unit; and information of the first position of each of the at least one frequency domain resource.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the first position of each first frequency domain resource is one of the following: the position of each frequency domain resource in the upper limit of the bandwidth of one time unit; or, the position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, where the total bandwidth is the total bandwidth of the multiple time units used for transmitting the first signal.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending, to the first terminal device side, fifth information, where the fifth information indicates a second position, and the second position is a position of a starting frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, and where: a position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth is determined based on the second position and a position of each frequency domain resource in an upper limit of the bandwidth of one time unit.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the second position is related to a first parameter, and the first parameter indicates an order of one time unit for transmitting the first signal in the plurality of time units.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the first parameter satisfies the following formula:

[0040] where n SRS is the first parameter, is a quantity of time units included in one frame, n f is a frame number of the one frame, is a number of the one time unit in the one frame, T offset is an offset between a sub-time unit of the one time unit and a starting sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit, T SRS is a frequency hopping period of the first signal.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: frequency-hopping receiving the first signal on the plurality of time units, where the first signal is received according to a frequency hopping pattern of one time unit on one time unit.

[0042] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method is applied to a first terminal device side. The content of the first terminal device side can refer to the content of the terminal device side in the first aspect, which is not repeated here. The method includes: frequency-hopping transmitting a first signal on a plurality of time units, for example, transmitting the first signal to a network device side, where the first signal is transmitted according to a frequency hopping pattern of one time unit on one time unit in the plurality of time units, and where: the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource is a frequency domain resource used for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit in one time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource occupies part of an upper limit of the bandwidth of one time unit or the entire bandwidth.

[0043] Frequency-hopping transmitting the first signal on the plurality of time units can be understood as (or replaced by) that at least two time units in the plurality of time units have different starting frequency domain positions for transmitting the first signal.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the first information is received from the network device, and the second information is received from the network device. The first information indicates a bandwidth upper limit of a plurality of time units for transmitting the first signal, and at least two time units in the plurality of time units have different starting frequency domain positions for transmitting the first signal. The second information indicates a frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving third information; or, the terminal device is pre-configured or pre-defined with the third information, for example, the terminal device is pre-configured or pre-defined with the third information through a protocol. The third information indicates a set of frequency hopping modes. Each frequency hopping mode in the set of frequency hopping modes indicates a frequency domain resource on at least one sub-time unit of a time unit for transmitting a signal. Each frequency hopping mode in the set of frequency hopping modes is associated with an index. The second information indicating the frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units includes: the second information includes information of indexes of the frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the set of frequency hopping modes includes a plurality of levels of frequency hopping modes. Each level of frequency hopping modes includes at least one frequency hopping mode. Any two frequency hopping modes belonging to different levels of frequency hopping modes satisfy the following conditions: the frequency domain resources indicated by the two frequency hopping modes occupy different bandwidths; and / or, the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources indicated by the two frequency hopping modes are located is different. Optionally, any two frequency hopping modes in a same level of frequency hopping modes indicate frequency domain resources occupying the same bandwidth, and the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources are located is the same.

[0047] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending, to the network device, fourth information. The fourth information indicates a sparsity of a channel between the terminal device and the network device. The fourth information is used to determine the frequency hopping mode of the time unit. Optionally, the fourth information includes information of a power corresponding to a bandwidth upper limit of the time unit.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping mode of the time unit is: in a first association relationship, a frequency hopping mode in a first level of frequency hopping modes associated with a value range of the sparsity of the channel. The first association relationship indicates an association relationship between the plurality of levels of frequency hopping modes and a plurality of value ranges of the sparsity of the channel. The smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel is, the smaller the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resources indicated by the first level of frequency hopping modes associated with the sparsity of the channel is. The larger the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel is, the larger the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resources indicated by the first level of frequency hopping modes associated with the sparsity of the channel is.

[0049] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping mode of the time unit includes: information of the number of at least one sub-time unit; and information of a first position of each frequency domain resource in at least one frequency domain resource.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the first position of each first frequency domain resource is one of: a position of each frequency domain resource in a bandwidth cap of a time unit; or a position of each frequency domain resource in a total bandwidth, the total bandwidth being a total bandwidth of the time units for transmitting the first signal.

[0051] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving fifth information from the network device, the fifth information indicating the second position, the second position being a position of a starting frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, wherein: the position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth is determined based on the second position and a position of each frequency domain resource in a bandwidth cap of a time unit.

[0052] In a possible implementation, the second position is determined based on a first parameter, the first parameter representing an order of a time unit for transmitting the first signal in the time units.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the first parameter satisfies the following formula:

[0054] wherein n SRS is the first parameter, is a quantity of time units included in a frame, n f is a frame number of a frame, is a number of a time unit in a frame, T offset is an offset between a sub-time unit of a time unit and a starting sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit, T SRS is a frequency hopping period of the first signal.

[0055] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving sixth information, the sixth information indicating a starting sub-time unit in a time unit for transmitting the first signal; and the first information further indicating an actual total bandwidth for transmitting the first signal.

[0056] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method is applied to a network device side. The content of the network device side can refer to the content of the network device side in the second aspect above, which is not repeated here. The method comprises: frequency hopping to receive a first signal on multiple time units, wherein the first signal is received on one time unit according to a frequency hopping pattern of the time unit, for example, from a terminal device side, wherein: the frequency hopping pattern of the time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource is a frequency domain resource used for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit in the time unit, and the bandwidth occupied by the at least one frequency domain resource is part of the upper limit of the bandwidth of the time unit or the entire bandwidth.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the first information is sent to the first terminal device, and the second information is sent to the first terminal device. The first information indicates the upper limit of the bandwidth of the multiple time units used for transmitting the first signal, and the starting frequency domain positions of the first signal used for transmitting on at least two time units in the multiple time units are different. The second information indicates the frequency hopping pattern of the multiple time units, wherein the frequency hopping pattern of the time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource is a frequency domain resource used for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit in the time unit, and the bandwidth occupied by the at least one frequency domain resource is part of the upper limit of the bandwidth of the time unit or the entire bandwidth.

[0058] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises: sending third information; wherein the third information indicates a frequency hopping pattern set, each frequency hopping pattern in the frequency hopping pattern set indicates a frequency domain resource used for transmitting a signal on at least one sub-time unit of a time unit, and each frequency hopping pattern in the frequency hopping pattern set is associated with an index, wherein: the second information indicates the frequency hopping pattern of the multiple time units, comprising: the second information comprises information of the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the multiple time units.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern set comprises multiple levels of frequency hopping patterns, each level of frequency hopping patterns comprises at least one frequency hopping pattern, and any two frequency hopping patterns belonging to different levels of frequency hopping patterns satisfy the following conditions: the bandwidths occupied by the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns are different; and / or, the number of sub-time units where the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns are located is different.

[0060] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving fourth information respectively from a plurality of terminal devices, wherein the fourth information from one terminal device indicates sparsity of a channel between the one terminal device and the network device, and the plurality of terminal devices comprises the first terminal device; determining frequency hopping patterns respectively corresponding to the plurality of terminal devices based on the fourth information from the plurality of terminal devices, wherein: if sparsities of channels corresponding to two terminal devices in the plurality of terminal devices are not similar, then the frequency hopping patterns corresponding to the two terminal devices belong to different levels of frequency hopping patterns; and / or if sparsities of channels corresponding to two terminal devices in the plurality of terminal devices are similar, then the frequency hopping patterns corresponding to the two terminal devices belong to the same level of frequency hopping patterns.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit includes: in a first association relationship, one frequency hopping pattern in a level of frequency hopping patterns associated with a value range of the sparsity of the channel, the first association relationship indicating an association relationship between the plurality of levels of frequency hopping patterns and the plurality of value ranges of the sparsity of the channel, wherein: the smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel is, the smaller the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel is, and the larger the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel is, the larger the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel is.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit includes: information about the number of at least one sub-time unit; and information about the first position of each frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the first position of each frequency domain resource is one of: a position of each frequency domain resource in a bandwidth upper limit of one time unit; or a position of each frequency domain resource in a total bandwidth, the total bandwidth being a total bandwidth of a plurality of time units for transmitting the first signal.

[0064] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending, to the first terminal device, fifth information indicating a second position, the second position being a position of a starting frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource in a total bandwidth, wherein:

[0065] The position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth is determined based on the second position and the position of each frequency domain resource in the bandwidth upper limit of one time unit.

[0066] In a possible implementation, the second position is related to a first parameter, and the first parameter represents an order of one time unit for transmitting the first signal in the plurality of time units.

[0067] In a possible implementation, the first parameter satisfies the following formula:

[0068] wherein n SRS is the first parameter, is a number of time units included in the one frame, n f is a frame number of the one frame, is a number of the one time unit in the one frame, T offset is an offset between a sub-time unit of the one time unit and a starting sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit, T SRS is a frequency hopping period of the first signal.

[0069] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method can be applied to a network device side. The content of the network device side can refer to the content of the network device side in the second aspect, which is not listed here. The method further includes: receiving fourth information respectively from a plurality of terminal device sides, wherein the fourth information from one terminal device side indicates the sparsity of the channel corresponding to the terminal device; determining the frequency hopping mode corresponding to the plurality of terminal device sides respectively based on the fourth information from the plurality of terminal device sides, wherein: if the sparsity of the channels corresponding to two terminal device sides in the plurality of terminal device sides is not similar, the frequency hopping modes corresponding to the two terminal device sides belong to different levels of frequency hopping modes; and / or, if the sparsity of the channels corresponding to two terminal device sides in the plurality of terminal device sides is similar, the frequency hopping modes corresponding to the two terminal device sides belong to the same level of frequency hopping modes, wherein any two frequency hopping modes belonging to different levels of frequency hopping modes satisfy the following conditions: the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping modes occupy different bandwidths; and / or, the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping modes are located is different. Optionally, the plurality of terminal device sides can be replaced by a plurality of ports, which can belong to at least two terminal device sides, or belong to the same terminal device side, which is not limited.

[0070] Optionally, the frequency hopping mode of one terminal device side includes the frequency hopping mode of a plurality of time units, wherein the frequency hopping mode of one time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit in the one time unit, and the bandwidth occupied by the at least one frequency domain resource is part of the bandwidth or the entire bandwidth of the one time unit.

[0071] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device side can allocate different levels of frequency hopping modes to the terminal device side based on the sparsity of the channel of the terminal device side, which is beneficial to increase the number of users for wireless resource multiplexing. In addition, different frequency hopping modes are allocated to terminal device sides with different channel sparsities, which is beneficial to reduce the interference between terminal device sides.

[0072] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending first information to the first terminal device side, and sending second information to the first terminal device side. The first information indicates an upper limit of a bandwidth used for transmitting the first signal in a plurality of time units, and a starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal is different in at least two time units in the plurality of time units. The second information indicates a frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units, and the frequency hopping mode of one time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource is a frequency domain resource used for transmitting the first signal in at least one sub-time unit in the one time unit, and a bandwidth occupied by the at least one frequency domain resource is part of the upper limit of the bandwidth of the one time unit or the entire bandwidth.

[0073] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending third information; and the third information indicates a set of frequency hopping modes, each frequency hopping mode in the set of frequency hopping modes indicates a frequency domain resource used for transmitting a signal in at least one sub-time unit of a time unit, and each frequency hopping mode in the set of frequency hopping modes is associated with an index. The second information indicating the frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units includes: the second information includes information of the index of the frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units.

[0074] In a possible implementation, the set of frequency hopping modes includes a plurality of levels of frequency hopping modes, and each level of frequency hopping modes includes at least one frequency hopping mode, where any two frequency hopping modes belonging to different levels of frequency hopping modes satisfy the following conditions: the frequency domain resources indicated by the any two frequency hopping modes occupy different bandwidths; and / or, the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources indicated by the any two frequency hopping modes are located is different.

[0075] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping mode of a time unit is: in a first association relationship, one frequency hopping mode in a first level of frequency hopping modes associated with a value range of sparseness of a channel, the first association relationship indicates an association relationship between the plurality of levels of frequency hopping modes and a plurality of value ranges of the sparseness of the channel, where: the smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparseness of the channel is, the smaller the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the first level of frequency hopping modes associated with the sparseness of the channel is, and the larger the minimum value of the value range of the sparseness of the channel is, the larger the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the first level of frequency hopping modes associated with the sparseness of the channel is.

[0076] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping mode of a time unit includes: information of the number of at least one sub-time unit; and information of a first position of each frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource.

[0077] In a possible implementation, the first position of each first frequency domain resource is one of: a position of each frequency domain resource in a bandwidth cap of a time unit; or a position of each frequency domain resource in a total bandwidth, the total bandwidth being a total bandwidth used for transmitting the first signal in a plurality of time units.

[0078] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending fifth information to the first terminal device side, the fifth information indicating the second position, the second position being a position of a starting frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource in a total bandwidth, wherein:

[0079] The position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth is determined based on the second position and a position of each frequency domain resource in a bandwidth cap of a time unit.

[0080] In a possible implementation, the second position is related to a first parameter, the first parameter representing an order of a time unit used for transmitting the first signal in the plurality of time units.

[0081] In a possible implementation, the first parameter satisfies the following formula:

[0082] wherein n SRS is the first parameter, is a quantity of time units included in one frame, n f is a frame number of the one frame, is a number of the one time unit in the one frame, T offset is an offset between a sub-time unit of the one time unit and a starting sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit, T SRS is a frequency hopping period of the first signal.

[0083] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device (or communication apparatus). For example, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module), and a communication unit (sometimes also referred to as a communication module). The communication unit is configured to perform a transceiving operation, such as functions related to transmitting and receiving; the communication unit can be referred to as a transceiving unit; optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit is configured to perform a processing operation. Alternatively, the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit is a transmitter and a receiver. Optionally, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module).

[0084] In a first possible implementation, the communication device can be the terminal device side in the first aspect, for example, can be a terminal device, or a module (for example, a chip system) configured in the terminal device. The communication device includes a means or module for performing the corresponding means or module of the first aspect or any possible implementation. For example, the communication unit is configured to receive the first information and the second information.

[0085] In a possible implementation, the communication unit is further configured to receive the third information; or the terminal device is pre-configured or pre-defined with the third information, and the second information indicates the frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units, including: the second information includes information of indexes of the frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units.

[0086] In a possible implementation, the set of frequency hopping patterns includes a plurality of levels of frequency hopping patterns, each level of frequency hopping patterns includes at least one frequency hopping pattern, and any two frequency hopping patterns belonging to different levels of frequency hopping patterns satisfy the following conditions: the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns occupy different bandwidths; and / or, the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns are located is different. Optionally, any two frequency hopping patterns in the same level of frequency hopping patterns indicate frequency domain resources occupying the same bandwidth, and the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources are located is the same.

[0087] In a possible implementation, the communication unit is further configured to send the fourth information.

[0088] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit is: in a first association relationship, one frequency hopping pattern in a level of frequency hopping patterns associated with a value range of the sparsity of the channel, the first association relationship indicating an association relationship between the plurality of levels of frequency hopping patterns and the plurality of value ranges of the sparsity, and wherein: the smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the smaller the bandwidth of the frequency domain resources indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel, and the larger the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the larger the bandwidth of the frequency domain resources indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel.

[0089] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit includes: information of the number of at least one sub-time unit; and information of the first position of each of the at least one frequency domain resource.

[0090] The communication device can also implement the content of any possible implementation of the first aspect, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0091] In a second possible implementation, the communication device can be the network device side of the second aspect, for example, can be the network device side, or a module (for example, a chip system) configured in the network device. The communication device includes means or modules for performing the corresponding means or modules of the second aspect or any possible implementation. For example, the communication unit is configured to send the first information and the second information.

[0092] In a possible implementation, the communication unit is further configured to send the third information, or the terminal device is pre-configured or pre-defined with the third information, wherein: the second information indicates the frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units, and the second information includes information of indexes of the frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units.

[0093] In a possible implementation, the set of frequency hopping patterns includes a plurality of levels of frequency hopping patterns, each level of frequency hopping patterns includes at least one frequency hopping pattern, and any two frequency hopping patterns belonging to different levels of frequency hopping patterns satisfy the following conditions: the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns occupy different bandwidths; and / or, the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources indicated by any two frequency hopping patterns are located is different. Optionally, any two frequency hopping patterns in the same level of frequency hopping patterns indicate frequency domain resources occupying the same bandwidth, and the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources are located is the same.

[0094] In a possible implementation, the communication unit is further configured to receive the fourth information.

[0095] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit is: in a first association relationship, one frequency hopping pattern in a level of frequency hopping patterns associated with a value range of the sparsity of the channel, and the first association relationship indicates an association relationship between the plurality of levels of frequency hopping patterns and the plurality of value ranges of the sparsity, wherein: the smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the smaller the bandwidth of the frequency domain resources indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel, and the larger the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel, the larger the bandwidth of the frequency domain resources indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel.

[0096] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit includes: information of the number of at least one sub-time unit; and information of the first position of each of the at least one frequency domain resource.

[0097] The communication device can also implement the content of any possible implementation of the second aspect, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0098] In a third possible implementation, the communication device can be the terminal device side of the third aspect above, for example, can be a terminal device, or a module (for example, a chip system) configured in the terminal device. The communication device includes means or modules for performing the third aspect above or any possible implementation. For example, the communication unit is configured to send the first signal.

[0099] The communication device can also implement the content of any possible implementation of the third aspect above, which is not listed one by one here.

[0100] In a fourth possible implementation, the communication device can be the network device side of the fourth aspect above, for example, can be a network device, or a module (for example, a chip system) configured in the network device. The communication device includes means or modules for performing the fourth aspect above or any possible implementation. For example, the communication unit is configured to receive the first signal.

[0101] The communication device can also implement the content of any possible implementation of the fourth aspect above, which is not listed one by one here.

[0102] In a fifth possible implementation, the communication device can be the network device side of the fifth aspect above, for example, can be a network device, or a module (for example, a chip system) configured in the network device. The communication device includes means or modules for performing the fifth aspect above or any possible implementation. For example, the communication unit is configured to receive the fourth information from the plurality of terminal devices respectively, and the processing module is configured to determine the frequency hopping pattern corresponding to each of the plurality of terminal devices based on the fourth information from the plurality of terminal devices.

[0103] The communication device can also implement the content of any possible implementation of the fifth aspect above, which is not listed one by one here.

[0104] In a possible design, the communication device is a communication chip, the processing unit can be one or more processors or processor cores, and the communication unit can be an input / output circuit or an input / output interface of the communication chip.

[0105] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device comprises one or more processors. The one or more processors can execute computer programs or instructions in a memory, when the computer programs or instructions are executed, cause the communication device to implement the method in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect, any possible implementation of the third aspect, the fourth aspect, any possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0106] Optionally, the communication device can comprise a memory, in which case the memory can be coupled with the one or more processors, or the memory can be disposed independently of the one or more processors. Alternatively, the memory can exist independently of the communication device.

[0107] In a possible design, the communication device can further comprise an interface circuit, and the processor can be configured to communicate with other devices or components via the interface circuit.

[0108] The communication device can be a terminal device, a communication module in a terminal device, or a chip responsible for communication functions in a terminal device, such as a Modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip comprising a modem module. Alternatively, the communication device can be an access network device or a module in an access network device.

[0109] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device comprises a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from another communication device outside the communication device and transmit the signal to the processor, or send a signal from the processor to another communication device outside the communication device. The processor is configured to implement the method in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect, any possible implementation of the third aspect, the fourth aspect, any possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect, by means of logic circuitry or by executing code instructions. The number of processors can be one or more, and is not limited in this regard.

[0110] In a specific implementation process, the communication device can be a chip, and the processor can be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, and various logic circuits, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the processor.

[0111] In an implementation form, the communication apparatus can be a wireless communication device, i.e., a computer device supporting wireless communication function. Specifically, the wireless communication device can be a terminal device such as a smartphone, or a network device such as a radio access network device (e.g., a base station).

[0112] In yet another implementation form, the communication apparatus can be a part of a wireless communication device, such as an integrated circuit product including a system chip or a communication chip. The system chip can also be referred to as SoC or SoC chip. The communication chip can include a baseband processing chip and a radio frequency processing chip. The baseband processing chip can also be referred to as a modem or a baseband chip. The radio frequency processing chip can also be referred to as a radio frequency transceiver or a radio frequency chip. In physical implementation, part or all of the chips in the communication chip can be integrated inside the SoC chip. For example, the baseband processing chip is integrated in the SoC chip, and the radio frequency processing chip is not integrated with the SoC chip. The interface circuit can be a radio frequency processing chip in the wireless communication device, and the processor can be a baseband processing chip in the wireless communication device. The interface circuit can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuitry, etc. on the chip or chip system. The processor can also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0113] In yet another implementation form, the communication apparatus can be a chip system, which can be composed of chips or contain chips and other discrete devices. The chip system can include, for example, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a CPU, a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a micro controller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or other integrated chips, etc.

[0114] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system.

[0115] In a possible embodiment, the communication system is configured to implement the method in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, or any possible implementation of the second aspect. For example, the communication system includes any of the first possible embodiments discussed in the sixth aspect, and any of the second possible embodiments discussed in the sixth aspect.

[0116] In a possible implementation, the communication system is configured to implement the method in the third aspect, any possible implementation of the third aspect, the fourth aspect, or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect. For example, the communication system comprises any of the third possible implementation of the communication device discussed in the sixth aspect, and any of the fourth possible implementation of the communication device discussed in the sixth aspect.

[0117] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system. The chip system comprises a processor. Optionally, the chip system can further comprise an interface (such as a communication interface). The processor can be configured to implement any of the methods in the first aspect and possible implementation, the second aspect and possible implementation, the third aspect and possible implementation, the fourth aspect and possible implementation, the fifth aspect and possible implementation. Optionally, the chip system further comprises a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program (which can also be referred to as code or instruction). The processor is configured to call and run the computer program from the memory, so that the device installed with the chip system performs the method in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect, any possible implementation of the third aspect, the fourth aspect, any possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect. The implementation of the chip system can refer to the content of the chip system discussed above, which will not be listed here.

[0118] In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium is configured to store a computer program or instruction, which, when executed, implements the method in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect, any possible implementation of the third aspect, the fourth aspect, any possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0119] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product. When the computer program product is executed, the processor executes the method in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect, any possible implementation of the third aspect, the fourth aspect, any possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect. The computer program product comprises a computer program and / or instruction, etc.

[0120] The beneficial effects of any of the technical solutions in the first aspect to the twelfth aspect can be discussed with reference to the beneficial effects of the corresponding technical solutions in the first aspect, which will not be listed here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0121] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applicable;

[0122] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applicable;

[0123] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an access network device to which embodiments of the present application are applicable;

[0124] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a comb demultiplexing;

[0125] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of frequency hopping;

[0126] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0127] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of at least one sub-time unit provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0128] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a frequency hopping pattern provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0129] FIG. 9 is another schematic diagram of a frequency hopping pattern provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0130] FIG. 10 is yet another schematic diagram of a frequency hopping pattern provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0131] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of fourth information provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0132] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of determining frequency hopping patterns of multiple terminal devices provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0133] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of sub-band frequency domain positions corresponding to first level frequency hopping sub-band indexes provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0134] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0135] FIGS. 15 to 17 are schematic diagrams of three communication devices provided by embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0136] Embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0137] Embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems including network device side and terminal device side. The network device side can refer to the network device itself, or a module in the network device, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions. The terminal device side can refer to the terminal device itself, or a module in the terminal device, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions.

[0138] The various embodiments of this application are applicable to various communication systems (or communication networks, or systems, etc.), such as satellite communication systems, fifth-generation (5G) communication systems, etc. th 5G communication systems, including new radio (NR), future communication systems, device-to-device (D2D), machine-to-machine (M2M), Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems, and other communication systems, are also included. 5G communication systems include non-standalone (NSA) and / or standalone (SA) 5G communication systems. Furthermore, the various embodiments of this application can also be applied to various converged communication systems, such as a system integrating satellite communication systems and 5G communication systems.

[0139] For ease of description, the embodiments of this application are described using the network device side as the network device and the terminal device side as the terminal device. In the following text, "network device" can be replaced with "network device side," and "terminal device" can also be replaced with "terminal device side."

[0140] The communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable is introduced below in connection with the architecture schematic diagram of the communication system shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 1000 includes an access network (AN) 100. Optionally, the communication system can also include a core network (CN) 200 and an Internet 300. The access network 100 can include at least one network device (or network equipment, or network side equipment), such as 110a and 110b in FIG. 1. Among them, 110a is a base station, and 110b is a micro station. The communication system 1000 can also include at least one terminal device (or terminal equipment), such as 120a to 120j in FIG. 1. 120a, 120e, 120f and 120j are mobile phones, 120b is a car, 120c is a fuel dispenser, 120d is a home access point (HAP) arranged indoors or outdoors, 120g is a notebook computer, 120h is a printer, and 120i is a drone. The same terminal device or the same network device can provide different functions in different application scenarios. For example, the mobile phones in FIG. 1 are 120a, 120e, 120f and 120j, the mobile phone 120a can access the base station 110a, connect the car 120b, communicate directly with the mobile phone 120e and access the HAP, the car 120b can access the HAP and communicate directly with the mobile phone 120a, the mobile phone 120f can access the micro station 110b, connect the notebook computer 120g and the printer 120h, and the mobile phone 120j can control the drone 120i.

[0141] 1. Network device

[0142] The network device is a network-side device with wireless transceiving function. The network device can be a device, equipment or module with corresponding communication function located at the network side of a communication system. The network device is usually provided with a communication module, circuit or chip for performing corresponding communication function. The network device is also provided with program instructions for performing corresponding communication function and corresponding program instructions. The network device can include a core network device and / or an access network device. The access network device can be a device in a radio access network (RAN) that provides wireless communication function for terminal equipment, which can be referred to as a RAN device. The RAN can be an access network in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), such as 4G, 5G or future-oriented communication network. The RAN can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a communication network of two or more of the above networks.

[0143] The RAN device can also be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system or an access node in a WiFi system, etc.

[0144] The RAN device can also be a module or unit that completes part of the function of the base station, such as a central unit / control unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU), and can also be a radio unit (RU). The CU and the DU can be separately arranged or can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form of the network device.

[0145] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the network device can also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the network device, or by a control subsystem containing the functions of the network device. The control subsystem containing the functions of the network device herein can be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, intelligent transportation, smart city, etc.

[0146] 2. Terminal device

[0147] The terminal device is a user-side equipment with wireless transceiving function. The terminal device can also be referred to as a terminal equipment, a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal equipment can be widely applied in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiving function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, a mobile station (MS), a subscriber unit, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA) computer, a tablet computer, a wireless modem, a handset, a laptop computer, or a machine type communication (MTC) terminal, etc. The terminal device is usually provided with a communication module, circuit or chip for performing corresponding communication functions, and is also configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions. In various embodiments of the present application, the device for realizing the functions of the terminal device can be a terminal device, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device to realize the functions, such as a chip system or a combination device or component capable of realizing the functions of the terminal device, which can be installed in the terminal device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific equipment form adopted by the terminal device.

[0148] In embodiments of the present application, the functions of the terminal device can also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal device, or by a device that includes the functions of the terminal device.

[0149] The network device and the terminal device can be fixed in position or mobile. The network device and the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can be deployed on water; and can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and artificial satellites in space. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the network device and the terminal device.

[0150] The roles of the network device and the terminal device can be relative. For example, the helicopter or the drone 120i in FIG. 1 can be configured as a mobile network device, and for the terminal device 120j that accesses the wireless access network 100 through 120i, the terminal device 120i is a network device; but for the network device 110a, 120i is a terminal device, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through an interface protocol between network devices and network devices, and in this case, 120i is also a network device relative to 110a. Therefore, the network device and the terminal device can be collectively referred to as a communication device, and 110a and 110b in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication device with a network device function, and 120a-120j in FIG. 1 can be referred to as a communication device with a terminal device function.

[0151] The network device and the terminal device, the network device and the network device, and the terminal device and the terminal device can communicate through a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or both a licensed spectrum and an unlicensed spectrum, without limitation.

[0152] FIG. 2 illustrates a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applicable. FIG. 2 illustrates a possible structure of an access network device. As shown in FIG. 2, the access network device (which can be an eNB or a gNB or a next-generation access network device, for example) communicates with a core network device in a core network through a backhaul and communicates with a terminal device through an air interface.

[0153] For example, the BBU in the access network device communicates with the core network through a backhaul, and the radio unit (RU) in the access network device communicates with at least one UE through an air interface. The BBU communicates with at least one RU through a front haul, and the BBU and the RU can be co-located or not.

[0154] The BBU includes at least one CU and at least one DU, and the CU and the DU can communicate through at least one midhaul link.

[0155] The architecture of the access network device can be an open architecture, in which case the access network device can also be referred to as an O-RAN device or an O-RAN device, etc. The open architecture access network device will be introduced below in combination with the architecture of the access network device shown in FIG. 3.

[0156] FIG. 3 illustrates the module function division and protocol layer in the access network device. As shown in FIG. 3, the access network device includes at least one of a CU, a DU, or a RU.

[0157] In some examples, the CU is a logical node that carries the radio resource control (RRC) layer, the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and other control functions of the access network device. The CU is connected to network nodes such as a core network through some interfaces, which can be E2 interfaces or the like.

[0158] Optionally, the CU can have part of the functions of the core network. The CU (e.g., the PDCP layer and higher layers) is connected to the DU (e.g., the radio link control (RLC) layer and lower layers) through some interfaces, which can be F1 interfaces or the like. In some examples, these interfaces (e.g., F1 interfaces) can provide control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane) functions (e.g., interface management, system information management, UE context management, RRC message transmission, etc.). The application protocol of the F1 interface is, for example, F1AP, which defines the signaling procedures of F1 in some examples. The F1 interface supports the control plane F1-C and the user plane F1-U.

[0159] In some examples, the CU can be split into a control unit-control plane (CU-CP) and a control unit-user plane (CU-UP). The CU-CP is a logical node that carries the RRC layer and the PDCP control (C) (which can be abbreviated as PDCP-C) layer, and is used to implement the control plane function of the CU. The CU-CP can interact with a network element in the core network that is used to implement the control plane function. The network element in the core network that is used to implement the control plane function can be an access and mobility function network element, such as an AMF in a 5G system. The AMF network element is used to be responsible for mobility management in a mobile network, such as location updating of a terminal device, registration of the terminal device to a network, handover of the terminal device, and the like.

[0160] The CU-UP is a logical node that carries the SDAP layer and the PDCP user (U) (which can be abbreviated as PDCP-U) layer, and is used to implement the user plane function of the CU. The CU-UP can interact with a network element in the core network that is used to implement the user plane function. The network element in the core network that is used to implement the user plane function, for example, a user plane function (UPF) in a 5G system, is used to be responsible for forwarding and receiving data in a terminal device.

[0161] The above is an example of the configuration of the CU and the DU. The functions of the CU and the DU can be flexibly configured according to requirements. For example, the CU or the DU can be configured to have more protocol layer functions, or the CU or the DU can be configured to have partial processing functions of the protocol layers. For example, part of the functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are arranged in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are arranged in the DU. For another example, the functions of the CU or the DU can be divided according to the type of service or other system requirements, for example, according to delay. The functions that need to meet a relatively short delay requirement in processing time are arranged in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement are arranged in the CU.

[0162] In some examples, the DU is a logical node that carries the RLC layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, the higher physical (Higher PHY) layer, and other functions. In some examples, the DU can control at least one RU. The DU is connected to the RU through some interfaces, which can be front-haul interfaces. In some examples, the Higher PHY layer includes part of the PHY layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, and the like.

[0163] In some examples, the RU is a logical node that hosts lower physical layer (Lower PHY) and radio frequency (RF) processing.

[0164] In some examples, the RU can be a 3GPP transmission reception point (TRP) or a remote radio head (RRH) or other similar functional entity. In some examples, the Low-PHY includes portions of PHY processing such as fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse fast Fourier transformation (IFFT), digital beamforming and filtering, and other processing functions. The RU communicates with one or more UEs over a wireless link.

[0165] The DU and the RU can or can not be co-located. The DU and the RU exchange control plane information and user plane information via a lower-layer split-CUS-Plane (LLS-CUS / LLS-C / U / S) interface over a fronthaul link. The LLS-CUS can include a LLS-C interface and a LLS-U interface that provide control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane), respectively. In some examples, the control plane (C-Plane) refers to real-time control between the DU and the RU. The DU and the RU have a LLS-M interface of the fronthaul link to exchange management information, and the management plane (M-Plane) refers to non-real-time management operations between the DU and the RU. The management plane (M-Plane) can interact with a management system.

[0166] The DU and the RU can cooperate to collectively implement the functionality of the PHY layer. One DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functionalities that the DU and the RU have can be configured in multiple ways according to design. For example, the DU is configured to implement baseband functionality, and the RU is configured to implement mid- RF functionality. As another example, the DU is configured to implement high-layer functionality in the PHY layer, and the RU is configured to implement low-layer functionality in the PHY layer or to implement the low-layer functionality and RF functionality. The high-layer functionality in the PHY layer can include a portion of the functionality of the PHY layer that is closer to the MAC layer, and the low-layer functionality in the PHY layer can include another portion of the functionality of the PHY layer that is closer to the mid-RF side.

[0167] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as O-RU. Any of the CUs (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DUs and RUs in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. The RA device can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, and can also be a relay node or a donor node, etc.

[0168] In various embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns means "singular noun or plural noun" unless otherwise specified, that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects. For example, A / B means A or B. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c means a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0169] In various embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplarily", "such as", "for example" and the like are used to represent examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "example" in this application should not be interpreted as more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Rather, the word "example" is intended to present the concept in a specific manner. In the embodiments of the present application, "of", "corresponding / relevant" and "corresponding" can be used interchangeably at times, and it should be pointed out that when their differences are not emphasized, the meanings they express are consistent.

[0170] In various embodiments of the present application, "indication" can include direct indication, indirect indication, display indication or implicit indication. When describing that certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A. In the present application, the information indicated by the indication information is referred to as to-be-indicated information. In the specific 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 the 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 indicated only by a part of the to-be-indicated information, 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 various information agreed in advance (for example, the protocol stipulates), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. In addition, the to-be-indicated information can be sent as a whole, or can be sent separately in multiple sub-information, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different.

[0171] In various embodiments of the present application, "sending" and "receiving" represent the direction of signal transmission. For example, "sending information to XX" can be understood as that the destination of the information is XX, which can include direct sending through the air interface, or indirect sending through the air interface by other units or modules. "Receiving information from YY" can be understood as that the source of the information is YY, which can include direct receiving from YY through the air interface, or indirect receiving from YY through the air interface by other units or modules. "Sending" can also be understood as "output" of the chip interface, and "receiving" can also be understood as "input" of the chip interface. In other words, sending and receiving can be carried out between devices, for example, between network devices and terminal devices, or can be carried out within a device, for example, between components, between modules, between chips, between software modules or hardware modules in the device through a bus, a wire or an interface.

[0172] Here, some nouns related to the embodiments of the present application are explained. When not specifically stated, these explanations are to support the meanings of some nouns and make the embodiments of the present application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as strict limitations on the terms in the protection scope required by the present application.

[0173] 1、reference signal (RS)

[0174] It can also be called a pilot signal or a pilot, for example, a signal provided by the sending end to the receiving end for channel estimation, channel sounding, or data demodulation, etc. The reference signal can include uplink reference signal and downlink reference signal. The uplink reference signal is, for example, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) or a sounding reference signal (SRS). The DMRS can include, for example, a DMRS for physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) demodulation (which can be referred to as DMRS for PUCCH) and a DMRS for physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) demodulation (which can be referred to as DMRS for PUCCH), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS). The downlink reference signal is, for example, a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a cell-specific reference signal (C-RS / CRS), or a positioning reference signal (P-RS / PRS). It should be understood that there are many reference signals, and as the standard evolves, the names of the above-mentioned reference signals may change, and more reference signals may appear, which are not specifically limited. The SRS can be an SRS for beam management, or an SRS for codebook-based uplink transmission, or an SRS for non-codebook-based uplink transmission, or an SRS for antenna selection, which is not specifically limited.

[0175] The first signal involved in the embodiments of the present application can be, for example, an uplink reference signal such as the SRS described above, or other non-reference uplink signals (or channels) such as PUCCH, PUSCH, physical random access channel (PRACH) or other uplink signals, etc.

[0176] 2. Full band and sub-band

[0177] The full band refers to the entire frequency range used for signal transmission, for example, the entire spectrum occupied during signal transmission. The sub-band refers to a smaller frequency range in the full band. One full band can be divided into multiple sub-bands.

[0178] 3. Resource (resource)

[0179] It includes time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources.

[0180] 3-1, Time domain resources

[0181] It includes symbol, slot, mini-slot, partial slot, sub-frame, frame (or frame), or sensing slot, etc. A symbol is, for example, one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0182] One slot can include at least one symbol, for example, 14 symbols, or 12 symbols. A slot can have different slot types, and different slot types include different numbers of symbols, such as a mini-slot containing less than 7 symbols, 2 symbols, 3 symbols, 4 symbols, etc., a normal slot containing 7 symbols or 14 symbols, etc.

[0183] According to different subcarrier spacings, each symbol length can be different, and thus the slot length can be different. For example, a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing corresponds to a slot length of 0.5 ms, a 60 kHz subcarrier spacing corresponds to a slot length of 0.125 ms, and so on.

[0184] In the fifth generation (5 th generation, 5G) new radio (NR) system, a slot is a basic time unit in the radio frame structure, which contains a series of OFDM symbols. The length of the slot can vary according to different subcarrier spacings (SCS) to support different use cases and requirements, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) or ultra reliable and low latency communication (URLLC). In 5G NR, the flexibility of slot length is the key to achieving network dynamic scheduling and optimizing resource allocation. For example, a slot can be composed of 14 OFDM symbols, but under certain SCS, the number and duration of slots can be adjusted to meet the delay and transmission requirements of certain services.

[0185] A symbol refers to a symbol period in an OFDM system, which is the smallest unit of time for transmitting data. A symbol contains modulated data on multiple subcarriers. OFDM transmits data by dividing a wideband channel into multiple orthogonal narrowband subcarriers, each of which can independently carry modulated data. In 5G NR, the length of a symbol depends on the subcarrier spacing, and the larger the subcarrier spacing, the shorter the symbol period, which can reduce inter-symbol interference caused by multipath propagation and adapt to rapidly changing wireless environments.

[0186] The time unit involved in the embodiments of the present application can be understood as a unit of time domain resource, or can be understood as a division unit of time domain resource, etc. A time unit includes multiple sub-time units, for example, a time unit is a slot, and a sub-time unit is a symbol. For another example, a time unit is a mini-slot, and a sub-time unit is a symbol, etc.

[0187] 3-2, Frequency domain resource

[0188] The unit of frequency domain resource can be a frequency domain unit, or the frequency domain resource can be divided into one or more frequency domain units. The frequency domain unit includes, for example, a band, a carrier, a bandwidth part (BWP), a sub-band, an RB, an RE, or a sub-channel, etc.

[0189] A sub-band includes one or more RBs. An RB is a basic unit for frequency domain resource allocation in a fifth generation (5 th generation,5G) new radio (NR) system. An RB is composed of a certain number of subcarriers, which span part or all of the symbols of a slot. In a given slot, the network can allocate one or more RBs for data transmission.

[0190] For example, an RB contains 12 subcarriers with subcarrier spacing ranging from 15 kHz to 240 kHz. The subcarrier spacing can be designed according to different scenarios and requirements, etc., so that the network can flexibly adapt to different quality of service (QoS) requirements and user experience needs. The concept of RB is to optimize and simplify the allocation of wireless resources. In 5G NR, the network can allocate one or more RBs to users according to their data needs. This allocation can be dynamic or semi-static, depending on the mobility and service requirements of the users.

[0191] A RE is the most basic unit of physical layer transmission in 5G NR. Each RE corresponds to one subcarrier in the frequency domain and one symbol in the time domain. In simple terms, a RE is a time-frequency grid in which a modulated data symbol or a reference signal can be transmitted. For example, SRS is transmitted through a set of specific resource elements, which are organized in one or more slots and span several subcarriers. Such a configuration allows SRS to cover the entire bandwidth, providing full-band channel information. The configuration of SRS (i.e., the resource elements it occupies) is defined by higher layer signaling and can be dynamically changed to adapt to different network conditions and user needs.

[0192] A subchannel is the smallest unit of frequency domain resources occupied by a physical sidelink shared channel, and a subchannel can include one or more resource blocks (RBs). The bandwidth of a wireless communication system in the frequency domain can include multiple RBs, for example, in the various possible bandwidths of an LTE system, the included physical resource blocks (PRBs) can be 6, 15, 25, 50, etc.

[0193] 4. Bandwidth and bandwidth cap

[0194] The bandwidth can also be referred to as the actual bandwidth, actual transmission bandwidth, or actual measurement bandwidth, etc., without limitation on its name. The bandwidth refers to the frequency range of the frequency spectrum occupied by the signal in the frequency domain. The size of the bandwidth refers to the width occupied by the signal in the frequency domain. The size of the bandwidth can be the difference between the frequency at the start position of the bandwidth in the frequency domain and the frequency at the end position of the bandwidth in the frequency domain.

[0195] The size of the bandwidth can have various representations. For example, the size of the bandwidth can be represented by the value of the frequency width, for example, the size of the bandwidth used to transmit the first signal on a certain time slot is 1 megahertz (MHz), that is, there will be 1 MHz used to transmit the first signal on the time slot.

[0196] For another example, the size of the bandwidth can also be represented by the number of frequency units. For example, the size of the bandwidth actually used to transmit the first signal on a certain time slot is 24 subcarriers, or 2 RBs, or 1 subband, etc.

[0197] The bandwidth used to transmit the signal on a certain time unit is less than or equal to the bandwidth cap used to transmit the signal on the time unit, or the bandwidth used to transmit the signal on a certain time unit is part or all of the bandwidth cap used to transmit the signal on the time unit.

[0198] The bandwidth upper limit can also be referred to as a maximum measurement bandwidth, a measurement bandwidth, a maximum bandwidth, or an upper limit bandwidth, etc. The bandwidth upper limit refers to a maximum bandwidth or a maximum frequency range used for transmitting a signal. For example, the bandwidth upper limit of a time unit used for transmitting a first signal can be understood as a maximum frequency range of the time unit used for transmitting the first signal. Specifically, for example, the bandwidth upper limit of a time unit used for transmitting a first signal is 24 RBs, that is, a maximum of 24 RBs are used for transmitting the first signal on the time unit.

[0199] The sizes of the bandwidths used for transmitting signals on the two time units related by the embodiments of the present application can be the same, but the starting positions and / or ending positions of the two bandwidths in the frequency domain can be different. Similarly, the sizes of the bandwidth upper limits used for transmitting signals on the two time units related by the embodiments of the present application can be the same, but the starting positions and / or ending positions of the two bandwidth upper limits in the frequency domain can be different.

[0200] 5. Channel measurement (or estimation)

[0201] The terminal device can send a reference signal to the network device, and the network device measures the channel based on the reference signal. Similarly, the network can also send a reference signal to the terminal device, and the terminal device measures the channel based on the reference signal.

[0202] In a time-division duplexing (TDD) system, based on the assumption of uplink and downlink channel reciprocity, SRS can be used to measure the uplink channel. The terminal device sends SRS to the network device, and the network device measures the uplink channel by receiving these signals.

[0203] 6. Comb multiplexing

[0204] The signals of multiple terminal devices can be sent on different frequency domain resources on the same symbol of the same time slot. The frequency domain resources occupied by the multiple terminal devices in the frequency domain can be distinguished by configuring different comb modes. For example, the comb mode can make the signal of a certain terminal device be mapped every interval of one or more subcarriers, thereby forming a comb-shaped spectral distribution. The comb size is used to represent the number of subcarriers between the signals of a certain terminal device, and the comb size can be referred to as a comb size, a comb number, or a comb interval, etc., without limitation on its name. For example, the comb size is 2, which means that the terminal device transmits signals every 2 subcarriers on a symbol.

[0205] Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram of comb-based multiplexing. FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of UE1 and UE2 comb-based multiplexing of frequency domain resources in a symbol. As shown in FIG. 4, the comb size of UE1 is 2, and the comb size of UE2 is also 2. Specifically, UE1 uses the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th subcarriers in the symbol to transmit signals, and UE2 uses the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th subcarriers in the symbol to transmit signals.

[0206] 7. Code division multiplexing

[0207] It is to distinguish different original signals by different encoding. For example, signals on different ports can occupy the same resource, and be distinguished by cyclic shift of signals on different ports. For example, in the resource mapping process of the physical layer, the SRS frequency domain sequence is mapped to the corresponding resource particle according to the time-frequency position allocated by the related parameters, and then converted (such as IFFT) to form a symbol in the time domain. Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence has good constant amplitude zero auto correlation (CAZAC) characteristics, so the same ZC sequence can be used to distinguish different phase rotations (cyclic shifts in the time domain) on the same RE.

[0208] 8. Wideband SRS transmission

[0209] By transmitting a wideband SRS, the full band (also referred to as the entire target frequency band) of the SRS is covered at one time. The advantage of this method is that only one SRS transmission is needed to report the information of the full band of the entire SRS to the network device. For example, the 1st, 2nd, or 4th symbol in the last 6 symbols of a subframe can be used to send SRS, which can be a wideband SRS or a narrowband SRS. These symbols used for transmitting SRS cannot be used for transmitting uplink data. Therefore, from the perspective of resource utilization, wideband SRS transmission uses fewer symbols to detect the entire bandwidth, and is therefore more efficient.

[0210] 9. Narrowband SRS frequency hopping transmission

[0211] By transmitting multiple narrowband SRSs and performing frequency hopping in the frequency domain, these consecutively transmitted SRSs are then combined to cover the full band of the SRS. This method is more advantageous when uplink path loss is high because wideband SRS transmission can result in a relatively low power spectral density (PSD). Power spectral density can be expressed as power per RB, where power per RB = total symbol power / number of RBs included in each frequency hopping bandwidth. Narrowband SRS transmission allows limited transmit power to be concentrated within a narrow frequency range, and frequency hopping can improve signal gain, thereby improving the accuracy of channel estimation.

[0212] 10. Frequency hopping

[0213] In 5G NR, especially in broadband scenarios, due to power consumption limitations, terminal devices may not be able to transmit SRS covering the entire bandwidth at once. Therefore, SRS frequency hopping allows terminal devices to transmit different frequency portions of SRS at different time instances. This allows the terminal device to poll the entire bandwidth through time segmentation under power constraints. The more frequency hopping operations, the fewer RBs occupied by each hop, and the higher the power spectral density of the signal.

[0214] Frequency hopping is typically done in units of time slots, where one time slot measures a bandwidth; this is called inter-time slot frequency hopping. It can also be done in units of symbols, where network devices can configure multiple frequency hopping within a single time slot using multiple symbols; this is called intra-time slot frequency hopping.

[0215] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of frequency hopping. In Figure 5, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents sub-bands. Figure 5(1) illustrates one type of inter-slot frequency hopping. As shown in Figure 5(1), SRS is transmitted on sub-band 0 of time slot 0, SRS is transmitted on sub-band 1 of time slot 1, ... and SRS is transmitted on sub-band Su of time slot T. Each time slot hops only once. T and Su are both positive integers.

[0216] Therefore, it is evident that inter-slot frequency hopping operates with sub-bands as the smallest unit in the frequency domain, which is detrimental to improving power spectral density. Furthermore, since each terminal device occupies at least one sub-band for each transmitted signal, this limits the number of users whose resources can be reused. The number of users involved in the embodiments of this application can be the number of ports or the number of terminal devices, and is not limited thereto.

[0217] Fig. 5 (2) illustrates an inter-slot frequency hopping. As shown in Fig. 5 (2), the SRS is transmitted on the subband 0 of the first symbol in the time slot 0, the SRS is transmitted on the subband 1 of the second symbol in the time slot 0, the SRS is transmitted on the subband 2 of the third symbol in the time slot 0, the SRS is transmitted on the subband 3 of the fourth symbol in the time slot 0, the SRS is transmitted on the subband 4 of the first symbol in the time slot 1, the SRS is transmitted on the subband 5 of the second symbol in the time slot 1, the SRS is transmitted on the subband 6 of the third symbol in the time slot 1, the SRS is transmitted on the subband 7 of the fourth symbol in the time slot 1, the SRS is transmitted on the subband (Su-3) of the first symbol in the time slot T, the SRS is transmitted on the subband (Su-2) of the second symbol in the time slot T, the SRS is transmitted on the subband (Su-1) of the third symbol in the time slot T, and the SRS is transmitted on the subband Su of the fourth symbol in the time slot T. Each time slot hops four times.

[0218] It can be seen that, compared with the inter-slot frequency hopping, the intra-slot frequency hopping is compressed in time, but not compressed in frequency. That is, the intra-slot frequency hopping still hops in the frequency domain with the subband as the minimum unit, which is not conducive to improving the power spectral density. In addition, since the signal transmitted by each terminal device occupies at least one subband each time, this also limits the number of users that can be multiplexed by the wireless resources.

[0219] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication scheme. In the scheme, the network device can indicate the upper limit of the bandwidth of the first signal transmitted by the terminal device in a plurality of time units (such as time slots), and the terminal device transmits in a frequency hopping manner in the plurality of time units, which is equivalent to performing a first level frequency hopping. In addition, each time unit is also divided into different frequency hopping modes (models). Specifically, the time domain resources and the frequency domain resources in each time unit can be divided into different frequency hopping modes. The terminal device transmits the first signal in each time unit according to the indicated frequency hopping mode, which is equivalent to performing a second level frequency hopping. In this way, the frequency domain resources occupied by the single transmission of the first signal can be less, which is conducive to improving the power spectral density and enhancing the multiplexing capability of the wireless resources, so as to increase the number of users multiplexed by the wireless resources. In addition, different frequency hopping modes can be provided for different terminal devices (or ports) to use, which is also conducive to increasing the number of multiplexed users.

[0220] The communication scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings corresponding to the embodiments of the present application, the steps indicated by the dashed lines are optional steps. In addition, the network device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be, for example, the network device (e.g., a base station) involved in FIG. 1, the access network device or the core network device involved in FIG. 2, or the access network device involved in FIG. 3. The first terminal device may be, for example, the terminal device involved in FIG. 1 or the terminal device involved in FIG. 2. In addition, with the continuous evolution of standards, the names and / or functions of devices may change, which is not limited herein.

[0221] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The steps involved in FIG. 6 will be described below.

[0222] S601. The network device sends first information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first information from the network device.

[0223] For example, the first information indicates that the bandwidth of the multiple time units used for transmitting the first signal is limited, and the starting frequency domain positions of the first signal transmitted on the at least two time units are different.

[0224] At least one sub-time unit (or part or all of the sub-time units) in each of the multiple time units is used for transmitting (or sending or receiving) the first signal, or it can be described that the multiple time units are used for transmitting the first signal, or it can be described that the first signal occupies part or all of the sub-time units in each of the multiple time units to transmit the first signal. The content of the time unit, the sub-time unit and the first signal can be referred to the content of the time unit, the sub-time unit and the first signal discussed above, which will not be listed here. The first signal may be, for example, an SRS.

[0225] The bandwidth upper limit of the plurality of time units for transmitting the first signal can be referred to as the bandwidth upper limit of each of the plurality of time units, or the bandwidth upper limit of the plurality of time units, etc. The set of the bandwidth upper limit of the plurality of time units for transmitting the first signal can be the full band of the first signal, that is, the bandwidth upper limit of a certain time unit for transmitting the first signal is a part of the frequency range in the full band of the first signal. For the sake of simplicity of description, the bandwidth upper limit of a certain time unit for transmitting the first signal is referred to as the bandwidth upper limit of the time unit hereinafter. The bandwidth upper limit of a time unit in the plurality of time units represents the bandwidth for transmitting the first signal on the time unit. The content of the bandwidth upper limit can refer to the content of the bandwidth upper limit discussed above, which is not listed here. The time unit involved in each embodiment of the present application can refer to any time unit in the plurality of time units, or can refer to each time unit in the plurality of time units. That is, the time unit in each embodiment of the present application can be replaced by any time unit or each time unit. For the sake of convenience of description, the time unit is referred to as the first time unit hereinafter. The first time unit involved hereinafter can be replaced by any time unit or each time unit.

[0226] The relationship of the bandwidth upper limits of the plurality of time units is introduced below in combination with A1 or A2.

[0227] A1, the bandwidth upper limits of any two time units in the plurality of time units are the same.

[0228] For example, the time unit is a time slot, and the plurality of time units includes time slot 0, time slot 1 and time slot 2. The bandwidth upper limits of time slot 0, time slot 1 and time slot 2 are all 12 RBs, or all 12 REs, etc.

[0229] Under A1, the first information can indicate one bandwidth upper limit, which is the bandwidth upper limit of each of the plurality of time units. Alternatively, the first information can also indicate the bandwidth upper limits of the plurality of time units. The implementation of the first information indicating the bandwidth upper limits of the plurality of time units under A1 is exemplified below.

[0230] In a possible implementation, the first information includes (or indicates) a frequency hopping index, a second parameter and a frequency hopping parameter, which are used to determine (or used to indicate) the bandwidth upper limit of each of the plurality of time units.

[0231] The frequency hopping index can be represented as C SRS , the second parameter can be represented as B SRS , and the frequency hopping parameter can be represented as b hop . Taking the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit as an example, the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit can be represented as the following formula (1). The formula and the equation can be replaced by each other.

[0232] wherein, denotes the number of subcarriers occupied by the first signal in the first time unit; m SRS,b denotes the number of RBs occupied by the first signal in the first time unit in the frequency domain; is the number of subcarriers occupied by one RB, such as the value of K is 12; K TC denotes the comb size. Wherein, m SRS,b and both can be used to represent the upper limit of the bandwidth of the first time unit, but the units used to represent the upper limit of the bandwidth are different.

[0233] Optionally, m SRS,b is determined based on the frequency hopping index C SRS and the second parameter B SRS .

[0234] Exemplarily, the first terminal device and the network device are both pre-configured with the second association relationship, for example, both are configured with the second association relationship through a protocol. Alternatively, the network device indicates (or configures) the second association relationship for the first terminal device, for example, the network device can indicate the second association relationship for the first terminal device through high layer signaling (such as radio resource control (RRC)) or other signaling. The corresponding relationship corresponding to the embodiments of the present application can be referred to as an association relationship, a correlation relationship, etc., and the name thereof is not limited.

[0235] Example 1, the second association relationship indicates the corresponding relationship between a plurality of frequency hopping indexes C SRS and a plurality of second parameters B SRS . In this way, the first information can include the frequency hopping index C SRS and the second parameter B SRS , so that the first terminal device can determine the total bandwidth and the upper limit of the bandwidth of each time unit in the plurality of time units from the second association relationship based on the frequency hopping index C SRS and the second parameter B SRS included in the first information. The total bandwidth represents the sum (or total bandwidth) of the bandwidths for transmitting the first signal on the plurality of time units.

[0236] Example 2, the second association relationship can indicate the corresponding relationship between a plurality of frequency hopping indexes C SRS , a plurality of second parameters B SRS , and the frequency hopping number corresponding to the first level frequency hopping. In this way, the first information can include the frequency hopping index C SRS and the second parameter B SRS , so that the first terminal device can determine the total bandwidth and the upper limit of the bandwidth of each time unit in the plurality of time units from the second association relationship based on the frequency hopping index C SRS and the second parameter BSRS From the second association relationship, the total bandwidth, the bandwidth upper limit of each time unit in the plurality of time units, and the frequency hopping number corresponding to the first level frequency hopping are determined. The frequency hopping number corresponding to the first level frequency hopping can also be understood as the number of time units used for transmitting the first signal, i.e., the number of the plurality of first time units.

[0237] Optionally, the first information further includes (or indicates) a frequency hopping parameter b hop In this way, the first terminal device can determine the frequency hopping index C SRS , the second parameter B SRS , and the frequency hopping parameter b hop from the second association relationship, and further determine the measured total bandwidth from the second association relationship. The measured total bandwidth is the sum of the bandwidths actually used for transmitting the first signal in the plurality of time units. The measured total bandwidth is less than or equal to the total bandwidth.

[0238] The form of the second association relationship can be one or more tables, one or more functions, etc., and is not limited in form. For example, refer to Table 1 below for an example of the second association relationship provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0239] Table 1

[0240] As shown in Table 1, the total bandwidth m SRS,0 supports a maximum of 272 RBs (i.e., 272 RBs) and a minimum of 4 RBs (i.e., 4 RBs), and the bandwidth upper limit of each time unit is an integer multiple of 4 RBs. The total bandwidth can be indicated by the frequency hopping index C SRS with a value of 0 to 63, corresponding to 64 different configurations. In different configurations, the total bandwidth m SRS,0 may be the same (for example, C SRS = 61-63), but the optional bandwidth upper limit m SRS,b may be different. For example, the bandwidth upper limit can be indicated by B SRS , for example, the bandwidth upper limit occupied on the first time unit is m SRS,b (where b = B SRS ). The frequency hopping number of the first level frequency hopping is calculated by b hop ∈ {0, 1, 2, 3}, if b hop ≥ B SRS , no frequency hopping occurs, and if b hop < B SRS , frequency hopping occurs.

[0241] The following is an example combined with Table 1.

[0242] It is assumed that the network device indicates C SRS= 24, b hop = 0. The first terminal device can determine the total bandwidth for transmitting the first signal as m SRS,0 = 96 RB.

[0243] Example 1, if B SRS = 0, b hop > B SRS No frequency hopping, the measured total bandwidth is The upper limit of the bandwidth on the first time unit is m SRS,0 = 96 RB, the frequency hopping number of the first level frequency hopping is N0= 1, that is, no frequency hopping.

[0244] Example 2, if B SRS = 1, b hop < B SRS Frequency hopping is required, the measured total bandwidth is The upper limit of the bandwidth on the first time unit is m SRS,0 = 48 RB, the frequency hopping number of the first level frequency hopping is N0*N1= 2, or the number of multiple time units is 2.

[0245] Example 3, if B SRS = 2, b hop < B SRS Frequency hopping is required, the measured total bandwidth is The upper limit of the bandwidth on the first time unit is m SRS,0 = 24 RB, the frequency hopping number of the first level frequency hopping is N0*N1*N2= 4, or the number of multiple time units is 4.

[0246] Example 4, if B SRS = 3, b hop < B SRS Frequency hopping is required, the measured total bandwidth is The upper limit of the bandwidth on the first time unit is m SRS,0 = 4B, the frequency hopping number of the first level frequency hopping is N0*N1*N2*N3= 24, or the number of multiple time units is 24.

[0247] Suppose the network device indicates C SRS = 24, b hop = 1. The first terminal device can determine the total bandwidth for transmitting the first signal as m SRS0 = 96 RB.

[0248] Example 5, if B SRS = 1, b hop > B SRS No frequency hopping, the measured total bandwidth is The upper limit of the bandwidth on the first time unit is m SRS,0= 48 RBs, the number of frequency hopping of the first level frequency hopping is N1 = 1.

[0249] Example 6, if B SRS = 2, b hop <B SRS To hop frequency, the actual total bandwidth is The bandwidth upper limit on the first time unit is m SRS,0 = 24 RBs, the number of frequency hopping of the first level frequency hopping is N1*N2 = 2, or the number of multiple time units is 2.

[0250] Example 7, if B SRS = 3, b hop <B SRS To hop frequency, the actual total bandwidth is The bandwidth upper limit on the first time unit is m SRS,0 = 4 RBs, the number of frequency hopping of the first level frequency hopping is N1*N2*N3 = 12, or the number of multiple time units is 12.

[0251] The above Table 1 is an example of the second association relationship, and the content and form of the second association relationship are not limited in practice.

[0252] A2, the bandwidth upper limit of at least two time units in the multiple time units is different.

[0253] For example, the multiple time units include time slot 1 to time slot 3, the bandwidth upper limit of time slot 1 and time slot 2 is 12 RBs, and the bandwidth upper limit of time slot 3 is 24 RBs.

[0254] Under A2, the first information can respectively indicate the bandwidth upper limit of the multiple time units.

[0255] For example, the first information includes a first bitmap, and the first bitmap is used to indicate the bandwidth upper limit corresponding to each time unit in the multiple time units. In this way, it is beneficial to save the bit overhead of the first information.

[0256] For example, the multiple time units include two time units, the first bitmap is 100110, and “100” in the first bitmap indicates that the bandwidth upper limit for transmitting the first signal on the first time unit is 4 RBs or 4 REs, and “110” in the first bitmap indicates that the bandwidth upper limit for transmitting the first signal on the first time unit is 6 RBs or 6 REs.

[0257] The starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal on at least two of the plurality of time units is different, or the starting position of at least two of the plurality of time units for transmitting the first signal in the frequency domain is described, or it can be described that the transmission mode (or transmission mode) of the first signal on the plurality of time units is frequency hopping transmission, or the first signal is frequency hopping transmitted on the plurality of time units, or it can be described that the first terminal device performs first-level frequency hopping on the plurality of time units. The starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal on a certain time unit can be understood as the position of the frequency domain for transmitting the first signal on the time unit.

[0258] Optionally, the starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal on any two of the plurality of time units is different.

[0259] For example, the time unit is a time slot, and the plurality of time units includes time slot 0, time slot 1 and time slot 2. The starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal on time slot 0 is, for example, the 2nd RB, the starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal on time slot 1 is the 5th RB, and the starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal on time slot 2 is the 7th RB. As can be seen, the starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal on time slot 0, time slot 1 and time slot 2 is different.

[0260] The first information can be carried in downlink control information (DCI), RRC or other signaling, which is not limited. For example, the first information is carried in the frequency hopping (freqHopping) field in RRC.

[0261] S602, the network device sends second information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the second information from the network device. The second information indicates the frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units, and the frequency hopping mode of the first time unit indicates that at least one frequency domain resource occupies part or all of the bandwidth of the upper limit of the bandwidth of the first time unit.

[0262] The frequency hopping mode can also be called measurement mode, transmission mode, frequency hopping pattern, frequency hopping pattern, or frequency hopping resource arrangement, etc., and its name is not limited. In the following, the frequency hopping mode of the first time unit is taken as an example to introduce the frequency hopping mode of the plurality of time units.

[0263] The frequency hopping mode of the first time unit can be understood as indicating how the first terminal device performs second-level frequency hopping within the first time unit, or in other words, indicating how the first terminal device frequency hopping transmits the first signal within the first time unit.

[0264] For example, the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource used for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit of the first time unit, that is, the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource used for transmitting the first signal on the at least one sub-time unit.

[0265] Since the second-level frequency hopping involved in the embodiment of the present application is a further division of the first-level frequency hopping, the bandwidth occupied by the at least one frequency domain resource is actually part of the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit or the entire bandwidth. For example, the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit is 12 RBs, specifically the first RB to the 12th RB, and then the bandwidth occupied by the at least one frequency domain resource can be part of the RBs or all the RBs from the first RB to the 12th RB.

[0266] In a possible implementation, the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit specifically indicates (or includes) the following contents of B1 and B2. Or, indicating the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit needs to indicate the following contents of B1 and B2, or the contents of B1 and B2 are used to explicitly indicate the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit, or the second information indicating the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit includes indicating the contents shown in B1 and B2. The contents of B1 and B2 are introduced respectively as follows.

[0267] B1, information of the number of sub-time units on the first time unit used for transmitting the first signal, that is, information of the number of at least one sub-time unit.

[0268] For example, the number of at least one sub-time unit can be a positive integer. The number of at least one sub-time unit can be represented by For example, “∈” represents belonging to.

[0269] In a possible implementation, the network device indicates the position of the starting sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit to the first terminal device. The starting sub-time unit can be understood as the sub-time unit on the first time unit that starts to be used for transmitting the first signal. For example, the network device sends the sixth information to the first terminal device. The sixth information indicates the starting sub-time unit. Optionally, the sixth information can also be carried in the DCI or the RRC, for example, the sixth information is carried in the resourceMapping field in the RRC.

[0270] For example, the sixth information indicates the first offset value. The first offset value represents the number of sub-time units of the interval between the starting sub-time unit and the ending sub-time unit in the first time unit, and the first offset value is a positive integer. The first offset value can be represented by offset For example, l offset∈ {0, 1, …, 13}. In this way, the first terminal device can determine the starting sub-time unit based on the first offset value.

[0271] For example, the formula for determining the starting sub-time unit is as follows.

[0272] wherein lo represents the number (or index, or identifier, etc.) of the starting sub-time unit; represents the total number of sub-time units included in the first time unit.

[0273] For example, FIG. 7 illustrates an example of at least one sub-time unit. FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which a time unit is a slot and a sub-time unit is a symbol.

[0274] (1) in FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of at least one sub-time unit. As shown in (1) in FIG. 7, l offset = 2, then the starting sub-time unit lo = 11, and the at least one sub-time unit includes symbol 11.

[0275] (2) in FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of at least one sub-time unit. As shown in (2) in FIG. 7, l offset = 11, then the starting sub-time unit lo = 2, and the at least one sub-time unit includes symbol 2 to symbol 13.

[0276] In a possible implementation, the network device further indicates the frequency hopping period of the first signal to the terminal device, or the terminal device is preconfigured or predefined with the frequency hopping period of the first signal. The frequency hopping period of the first signal is used to indicate the duration of the interval between two adjacent time units in the plurality of time units. For example, if the frequency hopping period of the first signal is 2 slots, then the terminal device transmits the first signal on the first slot and transmits the first signal on the third slot. Alternatively, the terminal device is preconfigured or predefined with the frequency hopping period of the first signal, which is not specifically limited.

[0277] B2, information of the first position of each frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource.

[0278] Case 1: The first position of each frequency domain resource can be the absolute position of each frequency domain resource.

[0279] Under Case 1, the first position of each frequency domain resource can be the position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth. In this way, the first terminal device can determine the absolute position of the at least one frequency domain resource based on the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0280] Case 2: The first position of each frequency domain resource can be the relative position of each frequency domain resource.

[0281] In case 2, the first position of each frequency domain resource can be the position of each frequency domain resource in the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit. In this way, the first terminal device can determine the relative position of the at least one frequency domain resource based on the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0282] For example, the first position of each frequency domain resource is the relative index of each frequency domain resource with respect to the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit. For example, the first number of the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit is P, P is an integer. The first number can also be referred to as a reduction factor, which means that the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit is divided into P frequency domain resources, or P parts of frequency domain resources. P is, for example, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8, etc.

[0283] For example, if P is 4, and the index of the frequency domain resource in one of the sub-time units in the first time unit is 1, then the frequency domain resource on one of the sub-time units is the frequency domain resource with a relative index of 1 in 4 frequency domain resources.

[0284] The above is an introduction to the content of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit. In fact, the content of each frequency hopping pattern in the plurality of time units can refer to the content of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0285] The following describes the way in which the second information indicates the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit. The way in which the second information indicates the frequency hopping pattern of each time unit in the plurality of time units can refer to the content of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit, and the repeated parts will not be listed.

[0286] The first terminal device can be pre-configured or pre-defined with third information, which indicates a set of frequency hopping patterns. For example, the network device and the first terminal device can pre-configure or pre-define a set of frequency hopping patterns through a protocol. The set of frequency hopping patterns includes at least one frequency hopping pattern, for example, the set of frequency hopping patterns includes 4, 6, 16, or 26 frequency hopping patterns. Each frequency hopping pattern in the at least one frequency hopping pattern can be associated with an index. The content of the at least one frequency hopping pattern can refer to the content of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit described above, and the repeated parts will not be listed here. Alternatively, the first terminal device can also receive the third information from the network device. In this way, the second information can carry information of the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit. Thus, the first terminal device can determine the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit from the set of frequency hopping patterns according to the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0287] Optionally, the same index can be associated with a plurality of frequency hopping patterns of different numbers of sub-time units, and the second information can further indicate the number of sub-time units of the first time unit used for transmitting the first signal. In this way, the first terminal device can determine the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit according to the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit and the number of sub-time units of the first time unit used for transmitting the first signal.

[0288] The frequency hopping pattern set can have various forms, such as one or more bit sequences, one or more formulas, one or more tables, or one or more patterns, etc., and the form is not limited. For example, refer to Table 2 for an example of a frequency hopping pattern set provided by an embodiment of the present application. In Table 2, the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit is divided into 4 frequency domain resources, i.e., the first number corresponding to the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit is 4.

[0289] Table 2

[0290] In Table 2, “-” represents no corresponding frequency hopping pattern, and {X1, X2, X3, X4} in the table represents a frequency hopping pattern, and the number of X1 to X4 represents the number of frequency domain resources divided by the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit. If any one of X1 to X4 (such as X3) is equal to 0, it means that there is no frequency domain resource for transmitting the first signal on the X3th sub-time unit, and if any one of X1 to X4 (such as X3) is not equal to 0, there is a frequency domain resource for transmitting the first signal on the X3th sub-time unit, and the index of the frequency domain resource relative to the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit is X3, and so on.

[0291] Examples 1 to 28 are listed below in combination with Table 2. In Examples 1 to 16, the number of at least one sub-time unit is taken as an example. In addition, FIG. 8 shows the frequency hopping patterns of Examples 1 to 16, respectively.

[0292] In Example 1, the second information indicates that the index of the first time unit is 0, then the at least one sub-time unit includes the first sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with an index of 1 on the first sub-time unit.

[0293] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (1) shown in FIG. 8, and the first sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 1. (1) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0294] Example 2, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 1, it means that the at least one sub-time unit includes the second sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 2 on the second sub-time unit.

[0295] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (2) in FIG. 8, the second sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 2. (2) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0296] Example 3, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 2, it means that the at least one sub-time unit includes the third sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 3 on the third sub-time unit.

[0297] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (3) in FIG. 8, the third sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 3. (3) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0298] Example 4, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 3, it means that the at least one sub-time unit includes the fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 4 on the fourth sub-time unit.

[0299] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (4) in FIG. 8, the fourth sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 4. (4) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0300] Example 5, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 4, it means that the at least one sub-time unit includes the second sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 3 on the second sub-time unit.

[0301] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (5) in FIG. 8, the second sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 3. (5) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0302] Example 6, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 5, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises a third sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises a frequency domain resource on the third sub-time unit with an index of 4.

[0303] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (6) in FIG. 8, the first signal is transmitted on the frequency domain resource 4 in the third sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit. (6) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0304] Example 7, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 6, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises a first sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises a frequency domain resource on the first sub-time unit with an index of 2.

[0305] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (7) in FIG. 8, the first signal is transmitted on the frequency domain resource 2 in the first sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit. (7) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0306] Example 8, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 7, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises a fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises a frequency domain resource on the fourth sub-time unit with an index of 1.

[0307] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (8) in FIG. 8, the first signal is transmitted on the frequency domain resource 1 in the fourth sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit. (8) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0308] Example 9, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 8, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises a first sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises a frequency domain resource on the first sub-time unit with an index of 3.

[0309] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (9) in FIG. 8, the first signal is transmitted on the frequency domain resource 3 in the first sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit. (9) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0310] Example 10, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 9, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises a second sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises a frequency domain resource on the second sub-time unit with an index of 4.

[0311] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (10) of FIG. 8, where the second sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 4. (10) of FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0312] Example 11, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 10, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises a third sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises a frequency domain resource on the third sub-time unit with an index of 1.

[0313] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (11) of FIG. 8, where the third sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 1. (11) of FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0314] Example 12, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 11, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises a fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises a frequency domain resource on the fourth sub-time unit with an index of 2.

[0315] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (12) of FIG. 8, where the fourth sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 2. (12) of FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0316] Example 13, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 12, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises a first sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises a frequency domain resource on the first time unit with an index of 4.

[0317] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (13) of FIG. 8, where the first sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 4. (13) of FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0318] Example 14, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 13, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises the fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises the frequency domain resource with index 3 on the fourth sub-time unit.

[0319] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (14) in FIG. 8, the fourth sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 3. (14) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0320] Example 15, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 14, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises the frequency domain resource of the second sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises the frequency domain resource with index 1 on the second sub-time unit.

[0321] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (15) in FIG. 8, the second sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 1. (15) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0322] Example 16, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 15, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises the third sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource comprises the frequency domain resource with index 2 on the third sub-time unit.

[0323] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (16) in FIG. 8, the third sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit transmits the first signal on the frequency domain resource 2. (16) in FIG. 8 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0324] Examples 17 to 24 take the number of at least one sub-time unit as 2 as an example. In addition, FIG. 9 shows the frequency hopping patterns of examples 17 to 24 respectively.

[0325] Example 17, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 0, then the at least one sub-time unit comprises the first sub-time unit and the second sub-time unit, the at least one frequency domain resource comprises the frequency domain resource with index 1 on the first sub-time unit, and the frequency domain resource with index 2 on the second time unit.

[0326] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (1) in FIG. 9, the frequency domain resource 1 in the first sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource 2 in the second sub-time unit transmit the first signal. (1) in FIG. 9 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0327] Example 18, the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 2, then the at least one sub-time unit includes the third sub-time unit and the fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 3 in the third sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource with index 4 in the fourth time unit.

[0328] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (2) in FIG. 9, the frequency domain resource 3 in the third sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource 4 in the fourth sub-time unit transmit the first signal. (2) in FIG. 9 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0329] Example 19, the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 4, then the at least one sub-time unit includes the second sub-time unit and the third sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 3 in the second sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource with index 4 in the fourth time unit.

[0330] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (3) in FIG. 9, the frequency domain resource 3 in the second sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource 4 in the fourth sub-time unit transmit the first signal. (3) in FIG. 9 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0331] Example 20, the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 6, then the at least one sub-time unit includes the first sub-time unit and the fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 2 in the first sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource with index 1 in the fourth time unit.

[0332] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (4) in FIG. 9, the frequency domain resource 2 in the first sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource 1 in the fourth sub-time unit transmit the first signal. (4) in FIG. 9 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0333] Example 21, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 8, then the at least one sub-time unit includes a first sub-time unit and a second sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes a frequency domain resource with index 3 in the first sub-time unit and a frequency domain resource with index 4 in the second sub-time unit.

[0334] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (5) in FIG. 9, the frequency domain resource 3 in the first sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource 4 in the second sub-time unit. (5) in FIG. 9 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0335] Example 22, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 10, then the at least one sub-time unit includes a third sub-time unit and a fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes a frequency domain resource with index 1 in the third sub-time unit and a frequency domain resource with index 2 in the fourth sub-time unit.

[0336] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (6) in FIG. 9, the frequency domain resource 1 in the third sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource 2 in the fourth sub-time unit. (6) in FIG. 9 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0337] Example 23, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 12, then the at least one sub-time unit includes a first sub-time unit and a fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes a frequency domain resource with index 4 in the first sub-time unit and a frequency domain resource with index 3 in the fourth sub-time unit.

[0338] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (7) in FIG. 9, the frequency domain resource 4 in the first sub-time unit and the frequency domain resource 3 in the fourth sub-time unit. (7) in FIG. 9 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0339] Example 24, the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 14, then the at least one sub-time unit includes a second sub-time unit and a third sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes a frequency domain resource with an index of 1 on the second sub-time unit and a frequency domain resource with an index of 2 on the third time unit.

[0340] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (8) in FIG. 9, a frequency domain resource 1 on a second sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit and a frequency domain resource 2 on a third sub-time unit transmit the first signal. (8) in FIG. 9 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0341] Examples 25 to 28 take the number of the at least one sub-time unit as 4 as an example. In addition, FIG. 10 illustrates the frequency hopping pattern of each of examples 1 to 16.

[0342] Example 25, the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 0, then the at least one sub-time unit includes a first sub-time unit to a fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes a frequency domain resource with an index of 1 on the first sub-time unit, a frequency domain resource with an index of 2 on the second sub-time unit, a frequency domain resource with an index of 3 on the third sub-time unit, and a frequency domain resource with an index of 4 on the fourth time unit.

[0343] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource on the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (1) in FIG. 10, a frequency domain resource 1 on a first sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit, a frequency domain resource 2 on a second sub-time unit, a frequency domain resource 3 on a third sub-time unit, and a frequency domain resource 4 on a fourth sub-time unit transmit the first signal. (1) in FIG. 10 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0344] Example 26, the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 4, then the at least one sub-time unit includes a first sub-time unit to a fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes a frequency domain resource with an index of 2 on the first sub-time unit, a frequency domain resource with an index of 3 on the second sub-time unit, a frequency domain resource with an index of 4 on the third sub-time unit, and a frequency domain resource with an index of 1 on the fourth time unit.

[0345] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (2) in FIG. 10, where the frequency domain resource 2 in the first sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource 3 in the second sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource 4 in the third sub-time unit, and the frequency domain resource 1 in the fourth sub-time unit are used to transmit the first signal. (2) in FIG. 10 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0346] In example 27, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 8, the at least one sub-time unit includes the first sub-time unit to the fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 3 in the first sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource with index 4 in the second sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource with index 1 in the third sub-time unit, and the frequency domain resource with index 2 in the fourth sub-time unit.

[0347] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (3) in FIG. 10, where the frequency domain resource 3 in the first sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource 4 in the second sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource 1 in the third sub-time unit, and the frequency domain resource 2 in the fourth sub-time unit are used to transmit the first signal. (3) in FIG. 10 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0348] In example 28, if the second information indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is 12, the at least one sub-time unit includes the first sub-time unit to the fourth sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 4 in the first sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource with index 1 in the second sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource with index 2 in the third sub-time unit, and the frequency domain resource with index 3 in the fourth sub-time unit.

[0349] In this case, the at least one frequency domain resource in the at least one sub-time unit can refer to (4) in FIG. 10, where the frequency domain resource 4 in the first sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource 1 in the second sub-time unit, the frequency domain resource 2 in the third sub-time unit, and the frequency domain resource 3 in the fourth sub-time unit are used to transmit the first signal. (4) in FIG. 10 can also be regarded as another representation of the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit.

[0350] For example, refer to Table 3 for an example of a set of frequency hopping patterns provided by an embodiment of the present application. In Table 3, the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit is divided into 4 frequency domain resources, i.e., the first quantity of the bandwidth upper limit of the first time unit is 4.

[0351] Table 3

[0352] In Table 3, "-" represents no corresponding frequency hopping pattern. The content of the frequency hopping pattern corresponding to each index in Table 3 is the same as that in Table 2, which will not be listed one by one here, for example, taking the quantity of at least one sub-time unit as 1 as an example, the second information indicates that the index of the first time unit is 0, then the at least one sub-time unit includes the first sub-time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource includes the frequency domain resource with index 1 on the first sub-time unit. However, the representation method of Table 3 is different from that of Table 2, that is, in the case of at least one time unit quantity being 1 or 2, the sub-time unit indicated by the frequency hopping pattern is related to the sub-time unit in the case of at least one time unit quantity being 4, or in other words, the frequency hopping pattern in the case of at least one time unit quantity being 1 or 2 is the result of further splitting the frequency hopping pattern in the case of at least one time unit quantity being 4. In this way, the storage resources occupied by Table 3 and the transmission resources required to transmit Table 3 can be relatively saved.

[0353] As shown in Table 3, for example, the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 1 and index being 0 to 3 is obtained by splitting the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 4 and index being 0, and the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 2 and index being 0 and 2 is obtained by splitting the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 4 and index being 1.

[0354] For example, the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 1 and index being 4 to 7 is obtained by splitting the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 4 and index being 4, and the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 2 and index being 4 and 6 is obtained by splitting the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 4 and index being 4.

[0355] For example, the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 1 and index being 8 to 11 is obtained by splitting the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 4 and index being 8, and the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 2 and index being 8 and 10 is obtained by splitting the frequency hopping pattern with at least one time unit quantity being 4 and index being 8.

[0356] For example, the frequency hopping pattern of which the number of at least one time unit is 1 and the index is 12 to 15 is obtained by splitting the frequency hopping pattern of which the number of at least one time unit is 4 and the index is 12, and the frequency hopping pattern of which the number of at least one time unit is 2 and the index is 12 and 14 is obtained by splitting the frequency hopping pattern of which the number of at least one time unit is 4 and the index is 12.

[0357] The above FIG. 8 to FIG. 10, Table 2 or Table 3 are examples of the form and content of the frequency hopping pattern set, and actually do not limit the specific form and content of the frequency hopping pattern.

[0358] In a possible case, the frequency hopping patterns of at least two time units in the plurality of time units are different. The frequency hopping patterns of the two time units being different includes that the bandwidths of the frequency domain resources indicated by the frequency hopping patterns of the two time units are different, and / or the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources indicated by the frequency hopping patterns are located (or correspond to) is different.

[0359] For example, the bandwidth of the frequency domain resources indicated by the frequency hopping pattern 1 is 12 RBs, and the bandwidth of the frequency domain resources indicated by the frequency hopping pattern 2 is 24. For another example, the number of sub-time units corresponding to the frequency domain resources indicated by the frequency hopping pattern 1 is 1, and the number of sub-time units corresponding to the frequency domain resources indicated by the frequency hopping pattern 2 is 2. For another example, the bandwidth of the frequency domain resources indicated by the frequency hopping pattern 1 is 12 RBs, and the number of corresponding sub-time units is 1, and the bandwidth of the frequency domain resources indicated by the frequency hopping pattern 2 is 24 RBs, and the number of corresponding sub-time units is 2.

[0360] In the case that the frequency hopping patterns of at least two time units in the plurality of time units are different, the second information can indicate the frequency hopping patterns of the plurality of time units respectively. For example, the second information includes index information of the frequency hopping patterns of the plurality of time units respectively, and the number of sub-time units of each time unit in the plurality of time units for transmitting the first signal.

[0361] For another example, the second information includes index information of the frequency hopping patterns of the plurality of time units respectively. For example, the second information includes a second bit pattern, and the second bit pattern indicates the index information of the frequency hopping patterns of the plurality of time units respectively.

[0362] For example, the plurality of time units include time slot 1, time slot 3 and time slot 4, and the second bit pattern is 111000. The “11” in the second bit pattern indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the time slot 1 is 3, the “10” indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the time slot 3 is 2, and the “00” indicates that the index of the frequency hopping pattern of the time slot 4 is 0.

[0363] In another possible case, the frequency hopping patterns of the multiple time units are all the same. In this case, the second information can indicate one frequency hopping pattern, and the multiple time units all adopt the frequency hopping pattern. For example, the second information includes index information of a frequency hopping pattern. For example, the second information indicates "1111", which indicates that the frequency hopping patterns of the multiple time units are all the frequency hopping pattern with index 15.

[0364] For another example, the second information includes index information of a frequency hopping pattern and the number of sub-time units in a time unit of the multiple time units used for transmitting the first signal. In this case, the number of sub-time units in any two time units of the multiple time units used for transmitting the first signal is the same.

[0365] In a possible design, the set of frequency hopping patterns can be divided into (or include) multiple levels of frequency hopping patterns (or can also be referred to as multiple types of frequency hopping patterns, or multiple frequency hopping patterns, etc.). That is, any frequency hopping pattern in at least one frequency hopping pattern in the set of frequency hopping patterns belongs to a level of frequency hopping patterns, or any frequency hopping pattern in the at least one frequency hopping pattern belongs to a level of frequency hopping patterns.

[0366] Any two frequency hopping patterns belonging to the same level in the set of frequency hopping patterns indicate the same bandwidth of frequency domain resource occupation, and the number of sub-time units corresponding to any two frequency hopping patterns belonging to the same level is also the same. In addition, the frequency hopping patterns belonging to different levels in the set of frequency hopping patterns indicate different bandwidths of frequency domain resource occupation, and / or the number of sub-time units corresponding to the frequency hopping patterns is different.

[0367] For example, any two frequency hopping patterns in FIG. 8 belong to the same level of frequency hopping patterns, any two frequency hopping patterns in FIG. 9 belong to the same level of frequency hopping patterns, and any two frequency hopping patterns in FIG. 10 belong to the same level of frequency hopping patterns.

[0368] For another example, any frequency hopping pattern in FIG. 8 and any frequency hopping pattern in FIG. 9 indicate different bandwidths of frequency domain resource occupation, and the number of sub-time units corresponding to the frequency hopping patterns is different. Any frequency hopping pattern in FIG. 8 and any frequency hopping pattern in FIG. 10 indicate different bandwidths of frequency domain resource occupation, and the number of sub-time units corresponding to the frequency hopping patterns is different. Any frequency hopping pattern in FIG. 9 and any frequency hopping pattern in FIG. 10 indicate different bandwidths of frequency domain resource occupation, and the number of sub-time units corresponding to the frequency hopping patterns is different.

[0369] For example, the multi-level frequency hopping pattern includes a first level (which can be denoted as level 1) frequency hopping pattern, a second level (which can be denoted as level 2) frequency hopping pattern, and a third level (which can be denoted as level 3) frequency hopping pattern. The frequency domain resource occupied by the first level frequency hopping pattern indicates a bandwidth that is greater than the frequency domain resource occupied by the second level frequency hopping pattern, and the frequency domain resource occupied by the second level frequency hopping pattern indicates a bandwidth that is greater than the frequency domain resource occupied by the third level frequency hopping pattern.

[0370] The set of frequency hopping patterns can be divided into multi-level frequency hopping patterns. In this way, the network device can allocate different levels of frequency hopping patterns to different terminal devices to meet the needs of different terminal devices. In addition, different terminal devices can use different frequency hopping patterns, and limited resources can be reused for a larger number of users.

[0371] The following describes a manner in which the network device determines the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit. The manner in which the network device determines the frequency hopping pattern of a time unit other than the first time unit among the plurality of time units can refer to the content of determining the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0372] Manner one: The network device determines the frequency hopping pattern for the first terminal device based on the capability of the first terminal device.

[0373] If the capability of the first terminal device is weak, the network device can allocate a certain level of frequency hopping pattern to the first terminal device, which indicates a larger bandwidth of the frequency domain resource occupied, to avoid that the first terminal device does not support measurement on a small bandwidth. If the capability of the first terminal device is strong, the network device can allocate a certain level of frequency hopping pattern to the first terminal device, which indicates a smaller bandwidth of the frequency domain resource occupied.

[0374] Manner two: The network device determines the frequency hopping pattern for the first terminal device based on the communication quality requirement of the first terminal device.

[0375] If the communication quality requirement of the first terminal device is high, the network device can allocate a certain level of frequency hopping pattern to the first terminal device, which indicates a smaller bandwidth of the frequency domain resource occupied, to facilitate the improvement of the power spectral density of the first signal. If the communication quality requirement of the first terminal device is low, the network device can allocate a certain level of frequency hopping pattern to the first terminal device, which indicates a larger bandwidth of the frequency domain resource occupied, to reduce the processing amount of the first terminal device.

[0376] Manner three: The network device determines the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit according to the frequency hopping patterns of other terminal devices. The plurality of terminal devices include the first terminal device. The other terminal devices are terminal devices other than the first terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices.

[0377] For example, the network device can determine the frequency hopping pattern in the set of frequency hopping patterns that is not used by other terminal devices, and select the frequency hopping pattern that has less interference with other terminal devices from the frequency hopping patterns that are not used by other terminal devices as the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit. In this way, the manner of determining the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit is simple, and is conducive to reducing the interference between terminal devices in transmitting the first signal.

[0378] In a fourth manner, the network device can determine the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit according to fourth information from the first terminal device. The fourth information can be obtained by the network device from the first terminal device, the network device sends a downlink reference signal to the first terminal device, and the first terminal device measures the downlink reference signal to obtain the fourth information.

[0379] The fourth information indicates the sparsity of the channel corresponding to the first terminal device. The channel refers to the channel between the first terminal device and the network device. The sparsity of the channel represents the condition of the channel, or represents the gain variation of the channel, or represents the power variation of the channel, or represents the spectral density variation of the channel. For example, the smaller the value of the sparsity of the channel, the flatter the channel, or the smaller the gain variation of the channel, or the smaller the power variation of the channel, or the smaller the spectral density variation of the channel; the larger the value of the sparsity of the channel, the less flat the channel, or the larger the gain variation of the channel, or the larger the power variation of the channel, or the larger the spectral density variation of the channel.

[0380] The sparsity of the channel can include different granularities of channel sparsity, or in other words, the sparsity of the channel can be divided into different granularities of channel sparsity, which is not limited.

[0381] In a possible design, the granularity of the sparsity of the channel is a full band, and the fourth information can indicate the sparsity of the channel corresponding to the full band. For example, if at least one bit in the fourth information has a value of 1, it indicates that the sparsity of the channel is relatively dense, and the network device can determine a frequency hopping pattern with a larger occupied bandwidth for the first terminal device. For example, if at least one bit in the fourth information has a value of 0, it indicates that the sparsity of the channel is relatively sparse, and the network device can determine a frequency hopping pattern with a smaller occupied bandwidth for the first terminal device.

[0382] Optionally, a formula for calculating the sparsity of the channel can refer to the content of the following formula (3).

[0383] Wherein, S represents the channel sparsity, r1, r2 and r3 are all real numbers, r3 is greater than r2, r2 is greater than r1, gain max represents the maximum channel gain corresponding to the upper limit of the bandwidth of the one time unit, gain mindenotes the minimum channel gain corresponding to the bandwidth upper limit in the one time unit, gain avg denotes the average channel gain corresponding to the bandwidth upper limit in the one time unit, w1 and w2 are both real numbers, and w1 is less than w2. For example, r1, r2 and r3 in equation (1) can be 1, 2 and 3 respectively, and w1 and w2 can be 1.5 and 2 respectively.

[0384] In the case where the sparsity is calculated by using equation (3) above, if the value of the sparsity is larger, it indicates that the channel is flatter, and if the value of the sparsity is smaller, it indicates that the channel is sparser.

[0385] The first association relationship indicates the association relationship between the multi-level frequency hopping mode and the multiple value ranges of the sparsity. The smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity, or the smaller the maximum value of the value range of the sparsity, the smaller the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the first-level frequency hopping mode associated with the sparsity. The larger the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity, or the larger the maximum value of the value range of the sparsity, the larger the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the first-level frequency hopping mode associated with the sparsity.

[0386] Taking the multi-level frequency hopping mode including the first-level frequency hopping mode, the second-level frequency hopping mode and the third-level frequency hopping mode as an example.

[0387] For example, if the sparsity of the channel is in the first value range, the frequency hopping mode of the one time unit is one of the first-level frequency hopping modes. If the sparsity of the channel is in the second value range, the frequency hopping mode of the one time unit is one of the second-level frequency hopping modes, wherein the maximum value of the first value range is smaller than the minimum value of the second value range. If the sparsity of the channel is in the third value range, the frequency hopping mode of the one time unit is one of the third-level frequency hopping modes, wherein the maximum value of the second value range is smaller than the minimum value of the third value range.

[0388] Please refer to Table 4 below for a schematic diagram of a first association relationship provided by an embodiment of the present application. In Table 4, the values of r1, r2 and r3 in equation (3) are taken as 1, 2 and 3 respectively as an example.

[0389] Table 4

[0390] As shown in Table 4, if the sparsity of the channel is 1, the level of the frequency hopping pattern corresponding to the plurality of time units is level 1, i.e., the first level frequency hopping pattern (i.e., level 1). If the sparsity of the channel is 2, the level of the frequency hopping pattern corresponding to the plurality of time units is level 2, i.e., the second level frequency hopping pattern (i.e., level 1). If the sparsity of the channel is 3, the level of the frequency hopping pattern corresponding to the plurality of time units is level 3, i.e., the third level frequency hopping pattern (i.e., level 3).

[0391] In another possible design, the granularity of the sparsity of the channel is a subband, and the fourth information can indicate the sparsity of the channel corresponding to the at least one subband respectively. The at least one subband can include the bandwidth upper limit corresponding to each of the plurality of time units, etc.

[0392] In this example, each of the plurality of bits in the fourth information can be used to indicate the sparsity of the channel corresponding to the bandwidth upper limit corresponding to one of the plurality of time units. For example, referring to FIG. 11, an example of the fourth information provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. FIG. 11 shows the channel spectral density (e.g., the power spectral density of the channel), and the sparsity of the channel corresponding to the channel spectral density. As shown in FIG. 11, the plurality of bits in the fourth information is: 11100011000011100. Wherein "1" represents not sparse, and "0" represents sparse. The fourth information indicates that the sparsity of the channel corresponding to the bandwidth upper limit corresponding to the plurality of time units is: not sparse, not sparse, not sparse, sparse, sparse, sparse, not sparse, not sparse, sparse, sparse, sparse, sparse, not sparse, not sparse, not sparse, sparse, sparse. If the value of the sparsity of the bandwidth upper limit corresponding to a time unit is smaller (or more sparse), the network device can determine a smaller frequency hopping pattern occupied by the first terminal device. If the value of the sparsity of the bandwidth upper limit corresponding to a time unit is larger (or less sparse), the network device can determine a larger frequency hopping pattern occupied by the first terminal device.

[0393] For example, the network device can also determine the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit from the first association relationship, i.e., the frequency hopping pattern in the first level frequency hopping pattern associated with the value range of the sparsity of the bandwidth upper limit corresponding to the first time unit. The content of the first association relationship can refer to the content of the first association relationship discussed above, which will not be repeated here.

[0394] In the case that the network device serves multiple terminal devices, optionally, the network device can receive a fourth information respectively from the multiple terminal devices, i.e., receive multiple fourth information. The network device can determine the frequency hopping pattern corresponding to each of the multiple terminal devices based on the multiple fourth information. This optional implementation can be regarded as an independent embodiment, and the remaining steps involved in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 can be regarded as optional steps. The multiple terminal devices include the first terminal device. The fourth information from one terminal device can indicate the channel sparsity corresponding to the full band, or the channel sparsity corresponding to the upper limit of the bandwidth in the multiple time units, without limitation.

[0395] For example, the network device determines the channel sparsity of each of the multiple terminal devices based on the multiple fourth information. The network device can assign different frequency hopping patterns in the same level of frequency hopping pattern to at least two terminal devices with similar channel sparsity, and / or assign different frequency hopping patterns in different levels of frequency hopping pattern to terminal devices with dissimilar channel sparsity. Optionally, the network device can divide terminal devices with similar channel sparsity into a terminal device group, and so on, the network device can divide multiple terminal device groups, and assign different frequency hopping patterns in the same level of frequency hopping pattern to terminal devices in each of the multiple terminal device groups.

[0396] Therefore, if the channel sparsity of two terminal devices in the multiple terminal devices is dissimilar, the frequency hopping patterns corresponding to the two terminal devices belong to different levels of frequency hopping pattern, and / or if the channel sparsity of two terminal devices in the multiple terminal devices is similar, the frequency hopping patterns corresponding to the two terminal devices belong to the same level of frequency hopping pattern.

[0397] The at least two terminal devices with similar channel sparsity can be at least two terminal devices with the same value of channel sparsity, and the at least two terminal devices with dissimilar channel sparsity can be at least two terminal devices with different values of channel sparsity. Alternatively, the at least two terminal devices with similar channel sparsity can be at least two terminal devices with a difference between the values of channel sparsity less than or equal to a first threshold value, and the at least two terminal devices with dissimilar channel sparsity can be at least two terminal devices with a value of channel sparsity greater than the first threshold value. The first threshold value can be pre-configured or pre-defined, or determined by the network device, without specific limitation. The first threshold value is a natural number, for example, 0.5 or 1, without limitation on the value.

[0398] For example, refer to FIG. 12, which is a schematic diagram of determining frequency hopping patterns of multiple terminal devices according to an embodiment of the present application. In FIG. 12, three UEs, UE1, UE2 and UE3, are taken as an example of the multiple terminal devices, and UE1 is taken as an example of the first terminal device. As shown in FIG. 12, UE1, UE2 and UE3 report the sparseness of their respective channels to the network device as 1.5, 1.5 and 3 respectively. Then the network device divides UE1 and UE2 into a first UE group and divides UE3 into a second UE group. The network device allocates the frequency hopping pattern in level 1 in Table 4 to UE1 and UE2, and allocates the frequency hopping pattern in level 3 in Table 4 to UE3.

[0399] In the optional implementation above, the network device determines the frequency hopping pattern for the multiple terminal devices from the frequency hopping pattern set based on the multiple fourth information, which reduces the probability of resource collision of the terminal devices, and any frequency hopping pattern in the frequency hopping pattern set can be used by the terminal devices, thereby improving the usage rate of the frequency hopping pattern set and increasing the number of users for resource reuse, such as increasing the number of ports or the number of terminal devices for resource reuse.

[0400] In the second way, the frequency hopping pattern of the multiple time units is flexibly determined based on the sparseness of the channel, so that the flexibility of the frequency hopping pattern of the multiple time units is higher. In addition, the more sparse the channel is, the larger bandwidth-occupied frequency hopping pattern can be determined. In this case, the channel changes less, so even if the bandwidth-occupied frequency hopping pattern is used, it will not excessively affect the accuracy of measuring the channel, i.e., the accuracy of measuring the channel by using the first signal. In addition, the number of times of sending the first signal by the first terminal device can be reduced, thereby reducing the number of information interactions between the first terminal device and the network device. In addition, the less sparse the channel is, the smaller bandwidth-occupied frequency hopping pattern can be determined. In this case, the channel changes more, so indicating the smaller bandwidth-occupied frequency hopping pattern is beneficial to improving the power spectral density of sending the first signal, and thus the accuracy of measuring the channel can be improved.

[0401] The above is an example of the way in which the network device determines the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit. In fact, there can be multiple ways in which the network device determines the frequency hopping pattern of the first time unit, which are not limited herein.

[0402] The second information and the first information can be the same information or different information. In the case that the first information and the second information are different information, the first information and the second information can be carried in different signaling or can be carried in the same signaling, such as DCI or RRC. In the case that the first information and the second information are different information, the order of sending the first information and the second information by the network device can be arbitrary. For example, the network device sends the first information first and then sends the second information. Or, the network device sends the first information and the second information at the same time.

[0403] S603, the first terminal device sends a first signal to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first signal from the first terminal device. For example, the first terminal device can send the first signal by frequency hopping on multiple time units and send the first signal on each time unit according to the frequency hopping mode of the time unit. The content of the first signal can refer to the content of the first signal discussed above, which will not be listed here.

[0404] Before the first terminal device sends the first signal on each time unit, the resource for sending the first signal on each time unit can be determined based on the first information and the second information, so that the first signal is sent based on the determined resource.

[0405] The following is an example of determining the content of at least one frequency domain resource in the first time unit.

[0406] If the content of the first position of each frequency domain resource in the frequency hopping mode of the first time unit is different, the content of the at least one frequency domain resource is also different, which will be illustrated below.

[0407] C1, if the first position of each frequency domain resource in the frequency hopping mode of the first time unit is the absolute position of each frequency domain resource, the first terminal device can determine the at least one frequency domain resource according to the frequency hopping mode of the first time unit.

[0408] C2, if the first position of each frequency domain resource in the frequency hopping mode of the first time unit is the relative position of each frequency domain resource, the first terminal device can determine the position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth according to the second position and the position of each frequency domain resource in the upper limit of the bandwidth of the first time unit. The second position can be indicated by the fifth information from the network device, and the second position is the position of the starting frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, that is, the starting frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource refers to the starting frequency domain resource for transmitting the first signal on the frequency domain corresponding to the first time unit.

[0409] In a possible implementation, the first terminal device determines the second position based on the first parameter. The first parameter represents an order of the first time unit for transmitting the first signal in a plurality of time units, or can be understood as a counting result of a frequency hopping number of the first level frequency hopping transmission when the first time unit is used for transmitting the first signal. For example, the plurality of time units include time slot 0, time slot 1 and time slot 2, if the first time unit is time slot 2, the order of the first time unit is 3, that is, the frequency hopping number of the first level frequency hopping is 3, that is, the value of the first parameter is 3.

[0410] For example, the first parameter satisfies the following formula (4).

[0411] Wherein, n SRS is the first parameter, is the number of time units included in a frame, n f is the frame number of a frame, is the number of the first time unit in a frame, T offset is the offset between the sub-time unit of the first time unit and the starting sub-time unit in the at least one sub-time unit, T SRS is the frequency hopping period of the first signal.

[0412] Optionally, if b hop ≥B SRS , that is, no frequency hopping transmission, the first parameter and the second position can satisfy the following formula (5).

[0413] Wherein, n b represents the index of the second position, or represents the position index of the starting frequency domain resource; n RRC represents the third parameter, which can be pre-configured or pre-defined in the terminal device and the network device, or configured to the terminal device by the network device, and no specific limitation is made to this; mod represents the modulo operation; N b represents the number of values of N0, N1, N2 or N3 in Table 1.

[0414] Optionally, if b hop <B SRS , that is, frequency hopping transmission, the first parameter and the second position can satisfy the following formula (6).

[0415] Wherein, since the value of N0 is fixed as 1, the value of n0 can be calculated as 0. In the case of frequency hopping (b hop <B SRS ), is time-varying, wherein F b (n SRS) can be expressed as the content of the following formula (7).

[0416] In combination with the content of the above formula (4) and (6), the position of one of the at least one frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth can be expressed as the content of the following formula (8).

[0417] wherein, represents the starting position of one of the at least one frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, represents the starting position of the total bandwidth, K TC is the comb size, n b represents the index of the second position, B SRS is the first parameter, represents the number of subcarriers included in the bandwidth upper limit in the first time unit.

[0418] For example, the position of one of the at least one frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth can also be expressed as the content of the following formula (9).

[0419] wherein, P represents the first number, and p represents the index of the position of one of the frequency domain resources in the first time unit.

[0420] For example, it is assumed that C SRS = 18, B SRS = 3, and the frequency hopping parameter b hop = 0. The number of RBs allocated by each layer is respectively m SRS,b = 72, 24, 12, 4 (b = 0, 1, 2, 3). When n SRS = 0, according to the content of the above formula (8) or formula (9) and the above table 1, the frequency position index can be calculated as n b = 0, 2, 1, 0, respectively. With the increase of n SRS , the process of SRS frequency hopping of the first 5 times is as follows.

[0421] Table 5

[0422] Referring to FIG. 13, a schematic diagram of the starting frequency domain of the first level frequency hopping provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0423] As shown in FIG. 13, and in combination with the content of Table 1 above, if at the 0th layer, n0=0, then the upper limit of the bandwidth of the first time unit is 72 RBs. If at the 1st layer, n1=0, 1 or 0, then the upper limit of the bandwidth of the first time unit is 24 RBs. If at the 2nd layer, n2=0, 1, 0, 1, 0 or 1, then the upper limit of the bandwidth of the first time unit is 12 RBs. If at the 3rd layer, n3=0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, then the upper limit of the bandwidth of the first time unit is 4 RBs.

[0424] As shown in FIG. 13, the starting position (n0) of the first signal transmitted on the first time unit is the 16th frequency domain resource from left to right; the starting position (n1) of the first signal transmitted on the second time unit is the 4th frequency domain resource from left to right; the starting position (n2) of the first signal transmitted on the third time unit is the 10th frequency domain resource from left to right; the starting position (n3) of the first signal transmitted on the fourth time unit is the 13th frequency domain resource from left to right; the starting position (n4) of the first signal transmitted on the fifth time unit is the 1st frequency domain resource from left to right; the starting position (n5) of the first signal transmitted on the sixth time unit is the 7th frequency domain resource from left to right. SRS SRS SRS SRS SRS SRS

[0425] S603 is an optional step, shown in dashed lines in FIG. 6. Alternatively, S603 can be an independent embodiment, and in this embodiment, the rest of the content discussed in FIG. 6 can be optional implementations in this embodiment.

[0426] To improve the power spectral density of the transmitted signal, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication scheme. In this scheme, the terminal device can transmit the first signal on multiple time units (such as time slots) in frequency hopping, which is equivalent to first-level frequency hopping transmission. In addition, the upper limit of the bandwidth in each time unit can also be split and mapped into different frequency hopping patterns, and the terminal device can transmit the first signal in frequency hopping according to the indicated frequency hopping pattern in each time unit, which is equivalent to second-level frequency hopping transmission. In this way, the terminal device can occupy less frequency domain resources in a single transmission of the first signal, which is conducive to improving the power spectral density. In addition, different frequency hopping patterns can be provided for different ports or terminal devices, which is conducive to increasing the number of multiplexed users.

[0427] S1401. The terminal device transmits the first signal to the network device in frequency hopping on multiple time units. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first signal from the terminal device in frequency hopping on multiple time units.​​​​​​

[0428] The first signal is transmitted on one of the plurality of time units according to a frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit, the frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit indicating at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource being a frequency domain resource used for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit of the one time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource occupying a partial bandwidth or a whole bandwidth of an upper limit of the bandwidth of the one time unit.

[0429] The first signal, the plurality of time units, the at least one sub-time unit, the at least one frequency domain resource, and the upper limit of the bandwidth can be the same as those described above with reference to FIG. 6, which will not be repeated here.

[0430] In a possible implementation, the network device can send the first information and the second information to the terminal device. The first information indicates an upper limit of a bandwidth of the plurality of time units used for transmitting the first signal. The second information indicates a frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units. The first information and the second information can be the same as those described above with reference to FIG. 6, which will not be repeated here.

[0431] Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication device. Any of the communication devices shown in FIGS. 15 to 17 will be introduced below. The communication device is, for example, the network device (such as a base station) related to FIG. 1, the access network device or the core network device related to FIG. 2, or the access network device related to FIG. 3, or the terminal device related to FIG. 1, the terminal device related to FIG. 2, etc., or can be a module thereof, etc., which will not be specifically limited.

[0432] As shown in FIG. 15, the communication device 1500 can include modules or units corresponding to the above-mentioned method embodiments. In a possible design, the communication device 1500 includes a processing unit 1510 and a communication unit 1520. The communication unit 1520 is configured to perform a transceiving operation, such as functions related to sending and receiving; the communication unit 1520 can be referred to as a transceiving unit; optionally, the communication unit 1520 includes a receiving unit and a sending unit. The processing unit 1510 is configured to perform a processing operation. Alternatively, the communication unit 1520 can be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit 1520 is a transmitter and a receiver. Optionally, the communication device 1500 further includes a storage unit 1530. The storage unit 1530 is configured to store program codes or data of the device. The storage unit 1530 is an optional unit as shown in FIG. 15 by a dashed box.

[0433] In a first embodiment, the communication apparatus 1500 can be the terminal device in the method embodiments of Figure 6 described above, a communication module in the terminal device, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal device, etc., or realize the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments of Figure 6. For example, the communication apparatus 1500 is a communication module in the terminal device, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal device.

[0434] In the above embodiment, the communication unit 1520 is configured to perform the steps of receiving the first information in S601, and receiving the second information in S602.

[0435] The communication apparatus 1500 can also implement other steps performed by the network device in the method embodiments of Figure 6 described above, which are not listed one by one here.

[0436] In a second embodiment, the communication apparatus 1500 can be the network device in the method embodiments of Figure 6 described above, a communication module in the network device, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the network device, etc., or realize the functions of the network device in the method embodiments of Figure 6. For example, the communication apparatus 1500 is a communication module in the network device, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the network device.

[0437] In the above embodiment, the communication unit 1520 is configured to perform the steps of sending the first information in S601, and sending the second information in S602.

[0438] The communication apparatus 1500 can also implement other steps performed by the network device in the method embodiments of Figure 6 described above, which are not listed one by one here.

[0439] In a third embodiment, the communication apparatus 1500 can be the terminal device in the method embodiments of Figure 14 described above, a communication module in the terminal device, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal device, etc., or realize the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments of Figure 14. For example, the communication apparatus 1500 is a communication module in the terminal device, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal device.

[0440] In the above embodiment, the communication unit 1520 is configured to perform the step of sending the first signal in S1401.

[0441] The communication apparatus 1500 can also implement other steps performed by the terminal device in the method embodiments of Figure 14 described above, which are not listed one by one here.

[0442] In a fourth embodiment, the communication apparatus 1500 can be the network device, the communication module in the network device, the circuitry or chip responsible for communication function in the network device, or the like, or implement the function of the network device in the method embodiments of FIG. 14. For example, the communication apparatus 1500 is the communication module in the network device, or the circuitry or chip responsible for communication function in the network device.

[0443] In the above embodiment, the communication unit 1520 is configured to perform the step of receiving the first signal in S1401.

[0444] The communication apparatus 1500 can also implement other steps performed by the network device in the method embodiments of FIG. 14, which are not listed one by one here.

[0445] In a fifth embodiment, the communication apparatus 1500 can be the network device, the communication module in the network device, the circuitry or chip responsible for communication function in the network device, or the like, or implement the function of the network device in the method embodiments of FIG. 6. For example, the communication apparatus 1500 is the communication module in the network device, or the circuitry or chip responsible for communication function in the network device.

[0446] In the above embodiment, the communication unit 1520 is configured to receive the fourth information from the plurality of terminal devices respectively, and the processing unit 1510 is configured to determine the frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of terminal devices based on the plurality of fourth information.

[0447] The communication apparatus 1500 can also implement other steps performed by the network device in the method embodiments of FIG. 6, which are not listed one by one here.

[0448] In a possible design, when the communication apparatus 1500 is the terminal device, the communication module in the terminal device, the access network device, or the communication module in the access network device, the function of the processing unit 1510 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor can include a Modem chip, or a System on Chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip including a Modem core. The function of the communication unit 1520 can be implemented by the transceiver circuit.

[0449] In a possible design, when the communication apparatus 1500 is the circuitry or chip responsible for communication function in the terminal device, or the circuitry or chip responsible for communication function in the access network device, such as a Modem chip or a System on Chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip including a Modem core, the function of the processing unit 1510 can be implemented by the circuit system including one or more processors or processor cores in the chip. The function of the communication unit 1520 can be implemented by the interface circuit or data transceiver circuit on the chip.

[0450] It can be understood that the division of units in the above apparatus is only a logical division of functions, and each function can correspond to a functional unit, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional unit. In actual implementation, all or part of the units can be integrated into one physical entity, or can be distributed in different physical entities. In addition, the above functional units can be implemented in the form of hardware, or in the form of software, or in the form of hardware combined with software. Whether a certain function is implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical scheme. Professional technicians 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.

[0451] In one example, the functional units in any of the above apparatuses can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microcontroller units (MCUs), one or more DSPs, or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms.

[0452] In one example, the storage unit 1530 can include random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, and / or registers, etc.

[0453] The communication apparatus shown in FIG. 16 is described below. As shown in FIG. 16, the communication apparatus 1600 includes a processor 1610. Optionally, the communication apparatus 1600 further includes an interface circuit 1620 and a memory 1630. The processor 1610 and the interface circuit 1620 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1620 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. The memory 1630 is used to store instructions executed by the processor 1610 or to store input data required by the processor 1610 to run instructions or to store data generated after the processor 1610 runs instructions. The interface circuit 1620 and the memory 1630 are optional modules, which are shown in a dashed box in FIG. 16. In addition, one processor 1610 and one memory 1630 are taken as an example in FIG. 16, and in fact, the number of processors 1610 and memories 1630 is not limited.

[0454] The communication device 1600 is configured to implement the method embodiments shown in any of FIG. 6 or FIG. 14. Optionally, the processor 1610 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 1510 described above, and the interface circuit 1620 is configured to implement the functions of the communication unit 1520 described above.

[0455] For example, the communication device 1600 can be configured to implement the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 6, or the functions of the terminal device or the network device in any of the method embodiments shown in FIG. 14.

[0456] When the communication device 1600 described above is a chip applied to a device (such as the terminal device or the network device described above), the device chip implements the functions of the device in the method embodiments described above. The device chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the device, and the information is sent by other devices to the device; or the device chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the device, and the information is sent by the device to other devices. The communication device 1600 described above can be a baseband chip of a device, or a DU or other modules, and the DU described above can be a DU under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0457] The processor 1610 can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. In addition, the memory involved in each embodiment of the present application can include a volatile memory such as a random access memory (RAM). The memory can also include a non-volatile memory such as a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD).

[0458] The communication apparatus shown in Fig. 17 is described below. As shown in Fig. 17, the communication apparatus 1700 includes a processor 1710 and a transceiver 1730. The processor 1710 can also be referred to as a processing unit, a processing board, a processing module, a processing device, etc. The implementation of the processor 1710 can refer to the content of the processor 1610 in Fig. 16. The transceiver 1730 can also be referred to as a transceiving unit, a transceiver, a transceiving device, etc. The transceiver 1730 includes a transmitter 1731, a receiver 1732, and an antenna 1733. Optionally, the transceiver 1730 can further include a radio frequency circuit, an input / output device, etc., which are not limited herein.

[0459] Optionally, the devices in the transceiver 1730 for implementing the receiving function are regarded as a receiving module, and the devices in the transceiver 1730 for implementing the transmitting function are regarded as a transmitting module, i.e., the transceiver 1730 includes a receiver and a transmitter. The transceiver can also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiving module, or a transceiving circuit, etc. The receiver can also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving module, or a receiving circuit, etc. The transmitter can also be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitting module, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0460] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1700 can further include a memory 1720, which can store computer program codes and / or data.

[0461] The processor 1710 is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the communication apparatus 1700, executing software programs, processing data of the software programs, etc. The memory 1720 is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for conversion between baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing of the radio frequency signals. The antenna 1733 is mainly used for transceiving radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The input / output device, e.g., a touch screen, a display screen, a keyboard, etc., is mainly used for receiving data input by a user and outputting data to the user.

[0462] When data needs to be sent, the processor 1710 outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit after baseband processing of the data to be sent, and the radio frequency circuit sends a radio frequency signal in the form of an electromagnetic wave to the outside through an antenna after radio frequency processing of the baseband signal. When data is sent to the communication device 1700, the radio frequency circuit receives a radio frequency signal through an antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor, and the processor 1710 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data. For ease of illustration, only one memory 1720, one processor 1710, and one transceiver 1730 are shown in FIG. 17, and in actual terminal products, there can be one or more processors 1710 and one or more memories 1720. The memory 1720 can also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc. The memory 1720 can be arranged independently of the processor 1710, or can be integrated with the processor 1710, and no limitation is made thereto.

[0463] The antenna and the radio frequency circuit having the transceiving function in the embodiments of the present application are regarded as the communication unit of the communication device 1700, and the processor having the processing function is regarded as the processing unit of the communication device 1700. The processor 1710 is configured to perform the processing actions of the terminal device or the network device side in the method embodiments described above with reference to FIG. 6 or FIG. 14, and the transceiver 1730 is configured to perform the transceiving actions of the terminal device or the network device side in the method embodiments described above.

[0464] When the communication device 1700 is a chip, the chip includes a processor and a transceiver. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface, and the processor can be a processing module integrated on the chip or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit. Optionally, the chip can further include a memory. The sending operation of the terminal device or the network device in the method embodiments described above can be understood as the output of the chip, and the receiving operation of the terminal device or the network device in the method embodiments described above can be understood as the input of the chip.

[0465] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication system. The communication system includes a terminal device and a network device.

[0466] In a possible embodiment, the terminal device can implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 6, and the network device can implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 6.

[0467] In another possible embodiment, the terminal device can implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 14, and the network device can implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 14.

[0468] This application provides a chip system comprising a processor and an interface. The processor is used to call and execute instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, it implements the method shown in either Figure 6 or Figure 14.

[0469] This application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer programs or instructions that, when run, implement any of the method embodiments shown in FIG6 or FIG14.

[0470] This application provides a program product that, when executed, enables a processor to implement the method embodiment shown in either FIG6 or FIG14. The program product is, for example, a computer program product, specifically a computer program and / or instructions. The processor is, for example, a processor running in a computer.

[0471] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0472] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0473] The various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be based on its function and internal logic.

Claims

A communication method characterized by comprising: Applied to a terminal device side, the method comprises: receiving first information, the first information indicating an upper limit of bandwidth for transmitting a first signal in a plurality of time units, a starting frequency domain position for transmitting the first signal being different in at least two time units in the plurality of time units; receiving second information, the second information indicating a frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units, wherein the frequency hopping pattern of one time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource being a frequency domain resource for transmitting the first signal in at least one sub-time unit in the one time unit, the at least one frequency domain resource occupying a partial bandwidth or a whole bandwidth of the upper limit of bandwidth of the one time unit. According to the method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: receiving third information; or the terminal device side is pre-configured or pre-defined with third information; wherein the third information indicates a frequency hopping pattern set, each frequency hopping pattern in the frequency hopping pattern set indicating a frequency domain resource for transmitting a signal in at least one sub-time unit of a time unit, each frequency hopping pattern in the frequency hopping pattern set being associated with an index, wherein: the second information indicating the frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units comprises: the second information comprising information of indexes of the frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the frequency hopping pattern set comprises a plurality of levels of frequency hopping patterns, each level of frequency hopping patterns comprising at least one frequency hopping pattern, wherein any two frequency hopping patterns belonging to different levels of frequency hopping patterns satisfy the following conditions: the frequency domain resources indicated by the any two frequency hopping patterns occupy different bandwidths; and / or the number of sub-time units in which the frequency domain resources indicated by the any two frequency hopping patterns are located is different. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the method further comprises: sending fourth information, the fourth information indicating a sparsity of a channel between the terminal device side and a network device side, the fourth information being used to determine the frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit is: in a first association relationship, one frequency hopping pattern in a first level of frequency hopping patterns associated with a value range of the sparsity of the channel, the first association relationship indicating an association relationship between the plurality of levels of frequency hopping patterns and a plurality of value ranges of the sparsity of the channel, wherein: the smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel is, the smaller the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the first level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel is, and the larger the minimum value of the value range of the sparsity of the channel is, the larger the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the first level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparsity of the channel is. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit comprises: information of the number of the at least one sub-time unit; and information of a first position of each frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the first position of each first frequency domain resource is one of: a position of each frequency domain resource in the upper limit of bandwidth of the one time unit; or a position of each frequency domain resource in a total bandwidth, the total bandwidth being a total bandwidth for transmitting the first signal in the plurality of time units. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises: receiving fifth information, the fifth information indicating a second position, the second position being a position of a starting frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, wherein: a position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth is determined based on the second position and a position of each frequency domain resource in a bandwidth cap of the one time unit. The method of claim 8, wherein the second position is determined based on a first parameter, the first parameter representing an order of the one time unit in the plurality of time units for transmitting the first signal. The method of claim 9, wherein The first parameter satisfies the following formula: wherein n SRS is the first parameter, n is the number of time units included in one intra frame f frame number of the one frame, T is a number of the one time unit within the one frame offset T is an offset between a sub-time unit of the one time unit and a start sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit SRS T is a frequency hopping period of the first signal. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: frequency hopping transmitting the first signal on the plurality of time units, wherein the first signal is transmitted on the one time unit according to a frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit. A communication method characterized by comprising: applicable to a network device side, the method comprises: transmitting first information to a first terminal device side, the first information indicating a bandwidth cap of a plurality of time units for transmitting a first signal, starting frequency domain positions for transmitting the first signal on at least two time units in the plurality of time units being different; transmitting second information to the first terminal device side, the second information indicating a frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units, wherein a frequency hopping pattern of one time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource being a frequency domain resource for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit in the one time unit, the at least one frequency domain resource occupying a partial bandwidth or a whole bandwidth of the bandwidth cap of the one time unit. According to the method of claim 12, wherein: the method further comprises: transmitting third information; wherein the third information indicates a frequency hopping pattern set, each frequency hopping pattern in the frequency hopping pattern set indicating a frequency domain resource on at least one sub-time unit of a time unit for transmitting a signal, each frequency hopping pattern in the frequency hopping pattern set being associated with an index, wherein: the second information indicating the frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units comprises: the second information comprising information of an index of the frequency hopping pattern of the plurality of time units. The method of claim 13, wherein the frequency hopping pattern set comprises multiple levels of frequency hopping patterns, each level of frequency hopping patterns comprising at least one frequency hopping pattern, wherein any two frequency hopping patterns belonging to different levels of frequency hopping patterns satisfy the following conditions: the frequency domain resources indicated by the any two frequency hopping patterns occupy different bandwidths; and / or, the number of sub-time units where the frequency domain resources indicated by the any two frequency hopping patterns are located is different. The method of claim 14, wherein The method further comprises: receiving fourth information respectively from a plurality of terminal device sides, wherein the fourth information from one terminal device side indicates a sparsity of a channel between the one terminal device side and the network device side, the plurality of terminal device sides comprising the first terminal device side; determining frequency hopping patterns corresponding to the plurality of terminal device sides respectively based on the fourth information from the plurality of terminal device sides, wherein: if the sparsities of the channels corresponding to two terminal device sides in the plurality of terminal device sides are not similar, the frequency hopping patterns corresponding to the two terminal device sides belong to different levels of frequency hopping patterns; and / or, If the sparseness of the channels corresponding to two terminal device sides in the plurality of terminal device sides are similar, the frequency hopping patterns corresponding to the two terminal device sides belong to the same level of frequency hopping patterns. The method of claim 15, wherein The frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit is: In the first association relationship, one frequency hopping pattern in the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the value range of the sparseness of the channel, the first association relationship indicates the association relationship between the plurality of levels of frequency hopping patterns and the plurality of value ranges of the sparseness of the channel, wherein: The smaller the minimum value of the value range of the sparseness of the channel is, the smaller the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparseness of the channel is, and the larger the minimum value of the value range of the sparseness of the channel is, the larger the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain resource indicated by the level of frequency hopping patterns associated with the sparseness of the channel is. The method according to any one of claims 12-16, characterized in that The frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit includes: Information of the number of the at least one sub-time unit; and Information of the first position of each frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource. The method of claim 17, wherein The first position of each first frequency domain resource is one of the following: The position of each frequency domain resource in the bandwidth upper limit of the one time unit; or The position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, the total bandwidth being the total bandwidth of the plurality of time units used for transmitting the first signal. The method of claim 18, wherein The method further includes: sending fifth information to the first terminal device side, the fifth information indicating a second position, the second position being the position of a starting frequency domain resource in the at least one frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth, wherein: The position of each frequency domain resource in the total bandwidth is determined based on the second position and the position of each frequency domain resource in the bandwidth upper limit of the one time unit. The method of claim 19, wherein The second position is related to a first parameter, the first parameter representing the order of the one time unit in the plurality of time units for transmitting the first signal. The method of claim 20, wherein The first parameter satisfies the following formula: wherein n SRS is the first parameter, n is the number of time units included in one intra frame f frame number of the one frame, T is a number of the one time unit within the one frame offset T is an offset between a sub-time unit of the one time unit and a start sub-time unit of the at least one sub-time unit SRS T is a frequency hopping period of the first signal. The method according to any one of claims 12-21, characterized in that The method further includes: Frequency hopping receiving the first signal on the plurality of time units, wherein the first signal is received on the one time unit according to the frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit. A communication method characterized by comprising: Applied to a terminal device side, the method includes: Frequency hopping transmitting a first signal on a plurality of time units, wherein the first signal is transmitted on one time unit of the plurality of time units according to a frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit, wherein: The frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource being a frequency domain resource used for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit in the one time unit, the bandwidth occupied by the at least one frequency domain resource being a partial bandwidth or a total bandwidth of the bandwidth upper limit of the one time unit. A communication method characterized by comprising: Applied to a network device side, the method includes: Frequency hopping receiving a first signal on a plurality of time units, wherein the first signal is received on one time unit of the plurality of time units according to a frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit, wherein: The frequency hopping pattern of the one time unit indicates at least one frequency domain resource, the at least one frequency domain resource being a frequency domain resource used for transmitting the first signal on at least one sub-time unit in the one time unit, and the at least one frequency domain resource occupying a partial bandwidth or a whole bandwidth of an upper limit of a bandwidth of the one time unit. A communication device characterized by comprising: The device comprises a communication unit configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-11, or perform the method according to any one of claims 12-22, or perform the method according to claim 23, or perform the method according to claim 24. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product, when executed, causes a processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-11, or perform the method according to any one of claims 12-22, or perform the method according to claim 23, or perform the method according to claim 24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized by The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1-11 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 12-22 is implemented, or the method according to claim 23 is implemented, or the method according to claim 24 is implemented.

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