Positioning method and apparatus, communication device, and readable storage medium

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and discloses a positioning method and apparatus, a communication device, and a readable storage medium. The positioning method in the embodiments of the present application comprises: a first device sending a first signal to a second device during movement; receiving, during movement, a second signal sent by the second device, the second signal being a periodic signal generated on the basis of the first signal; obtaining a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value from an inertial measurement unit in the first device, wherein there is an association relationship between the second measurement value and the second signal; and on the basis of the first measurement value and the second measurement value, estimating a direction of arrival (DOA) or an angle of departure (AOD) between the first device and the second device, and / or estimating location information of the second device.

Description

Positioning method and apparatus, communication device, and readable storage medium

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] The present application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411054321.X, filed on August 2, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and specifically relates to a positioning method and apparatus, a communication device, and a readable storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0004] Due to the low cost, no need for battery power supply, small size, and other advantages of low-power tag devices (such as passive tags, semi-passive tags, etc.), there is a positioning demand for tags in scenarios such as article finding, logistics tracking, and pet positioning. Tag positioning technology based on backscattering is considered a low-cost and low-power solution. The tag device itself does not need to generate a carrier, but modulates its own modulation data onto a radio frequency carrier transmitted by a third-party device, thereby achieving low-cost, low-power, and small device positioning. However, due to the limitations of low-power tag devices and simple hardware circuit, the tag angle measurement and positioning method usually faces the problems of few antennas and poor synchronization performance, and thus there is often a problem of low positioning accuracy. In this case, how to improve the positioning accuracy under the condition of few antennas and poor synchronization performance is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a positioning method, apparatus, communication device, and readable storage medium, which can solve the problem of how to improve the positioning accuracy under the condition of few antennas and poor synchronization performance.

[0006] In a first aspect, a positioning method is provided, which is performed by a first device, and the method comprises:

[0007] The first device sends a first signal to a second device during movement;

[0008] The first device receives a second signal sent by the second device during movement, the second signal being a periodic signal generated according to the first signal;

[0009] The first device obtains a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device, the second measurement value and the second signal having an association relationship;

[0010] The first device estimates a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device and / or estimates position information of the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value.

[0011] In a second aspect, a positioning method is provided, performed by a second device, and the method comprises:

[0012] The second device receives a first signal transmitted by a first device in a movement process;

[0013] The second device generates a second signal according to the first signal, and the second signal is a periodic signal;

[0014] The second device transmits the second signal to the first device in the movement process, and the second signal is used for at least one of the following: estimating a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device, and estimating position information of the second device.

[0015] In a third aspect, a positioning apparatus is provided, applied to a first device, and comprising:

[0016] A first transmitting module is configured to transmit a first signal to a second device in a movement process of the first device;

[0017] A first receiving module is configured to receive a second signal transmitted by the second device in the movement process of the first device, and the second signal is a periodic signal generated according to the first signal;

[0018] A first processing module is configured to obtain a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device, the second measurement value and the second signal have a correlation relationship; and estimate a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device and / or estimate position information of the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value.

[0019] In a fourth aspect, a positioning apparatus is provided, applied to a second device, and comprising:

[0020] A fourth receiving module is configured to receive a first signal transmitted by a first device in a movement process;

[0021] A second processing module is configured to generate a second signal according to the first signal, and the second signal is a periodic signal;

[0022] A third transmitting module is configured to transmit the second signal to the first device in the movement process; and the second signal is used for at least one of the following: estimating a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device, and estimating position information of the second device.

[0023] In a fifth aspect, there is provided a positioning apparatus configured to perform the steps of the method of the first aspect, or to implement the steps of the method of the second aspect.

[0024] In a sixth aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising a processor and a memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the method of the first aspect, or implementing the steps of the method of the second aspect.

[0025] In a seventh aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising a processor and a communication interface, when the communication device is a first device, the communication interface is configured to transmit a first signal to a second device during a movement of the first device, and receive a second signal transmitted by the second device, the second signal being a periodic signal generated according to the first signal; the processor is configured to obtain a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device, the second measurement value and the second signal being associated, and estimate a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device, and / or estimate a position information of the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value. When the communication device is a second device, the communication interface is configured to receive a first signal transmitted by a first device during a movement of the first device; the processor is configured to generate a second signal according to the first signal, the second signal being a periodic signal; the communication interface is further configured to transmit the second signal to the first device during the movement, the second signal being used for at least one of estimating a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device, and estimating a position information of the second device.

[0026] In an eighth aspect, there is provided a readable storage medium storing a program or instructions executable by a processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the method of the first aspect, or implementing the steps of the method of the second aspect.

[0027] In a ninth aspect, there is provided a wireless communication system comprising at least a first device and a second device, the first device being configured to perform the steps of the method of the first aspect, and the second device being configured to perform the steps of the method of the second aspect.

[0028] In a tenth aspect, there is provided a chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled to the processor, the processor being configured to execute a program or instructions, implementing the method of the first aspect, or implementing the method of the second aspect.

[0029] In a eleventh aspect, a computer program / program product is provided, which is stored in a storage medium, and is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the method according to the first aspect, or to implement the steps of the method according to the second aspect.

[0030] In the embodiments of the present application, the first device can send a first signal to the second device in the moving process, and receive a second signal sent by the second device in the moving process, the second signal being a periodic signal generated according to the first signal, a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device are obtained, the second measurement value and the second signal have a correlation relationship, and the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device is estimated, and / or the position information of the second device is estimated according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value. Thus, a virtual antenna array can be constructed by the movement of the first device, and the angle measurement and positioning of the second device (such as a tag device) can be realized, so as to improve the positioning accuracy and stability in the case of few antennas and poor synchronization performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0031] FIGS. 1A to 1E show schematic diagrams of a backscattering-based communication architecture in the embodiments of the present application;

[0032] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a positioning method provided in the embodiments of the present application;

[0033] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of another positioning method provided in the embodiments of the present application;

[0034] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a positioning process in the first embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of angle measurement based on a virtual antenna array in the second embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of relative positioning based on angle measurement in the fourth embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a positioning apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application;

[0038] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another positioning apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application;

[0039] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application;

[0040] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal provided in the embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] With reference to the drawings and the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly described. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, but not all of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art are within the scope of the present application.

[0042] The terms "first", "second", and the like in the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first", "second" are generally a class, and are not limited to the number of objects, for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "or" in the present application means at least one of the connected objects. For example, the protection scope of "A or B" at least covers three schemes, namely, scheme one: including A and not including B; scheme two: including B and not including A; scheme three: including A and B. In addition, the terms "A and / or B", "at least one of A and B", "at least one of A or B" also at least cover the above three schemes, respectively. The character " / " generally represents that the objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0043] The term "indication" in the present application can be a direct indication (or explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or implicit indication). Among them, the direct indication can be understood as that the sender explicitly informs the receiver of specific information, operation to be performed or request result, etc. in the sent indication; the indirect indication can be understood as that the receiver determines the corresponding information according to the indication sent by the sender, or judges and determines the operation to be performed or the request result according to the judgment result.

[0044] It is worth noting that the techniques described in embodiments of the present application are not limited to Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, and can be applicable to other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in embodiments of the present application, and the described techniques can be applicable to the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies, as well as other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for the purpose of example, and NR terminology is used in most of the following description, but these techniques can also be applied to systems other than NR systems, such as 6th Generation (6G) communication systems. th

[0045] In order to facilitate understanding of embodiments of the present application, the following is first described.

[0046] Backscatter communication (BSC) refers to a backscatter communication device using radio frequency signals in other devices or the environment for signal modulation to transmit its own information, which is a typical low-power Internet of Things device. The basic composition modules and main functions of the backscatter communication sending end include:

[0047] - Antenna unit: used for receiving radio frequency signals, control commands, and at the same time for sending modulated backscatter signals.

[0048] - Energy harvesting module or power supply module: This module is used for the backscatter communication device to harvest radio frequency energy, or other energy harvesting, including but not limited to solar energy, kinetic energy, mechanical energy, thermal energy, etc. In addition to including an energy harvesting module, it can also include a battery power supply module, at which time the backscatter communication device is a semi-passive device. The energy harvesting module or power supply module supplies power to all other modules in the device.

[0049] ​- Microcontroller: including controlling baseband signal processing, energy storage or data scheduling state, switch switching, system synchronization, etc.

[0050] - Signal receiving module: for demodulating control commands or data, etc. sent by the reverse scattering communication receiving end or other network nodes.

[0051] - Encoding and modulation module: channel encoding and signal modulation under the control of the controller, and modulation is realized by selecting different load impedances under the control of the controller through the selection switch.

[0052] - Memory or sensing module: for storing device ID information, location information or sensing data, etc.

[0053] In addition to the above typical constituent modules, the future reverse scattering communication transmitter can also integrate tunnel diode amplifier modules, low noise amplifier modules, etc. to improve the receiving sensitivity and transmission power of the transmitter.

[0054] Optionally, the basic constituent modules and main functions of the reverse scattering communication receiving end include:

[0055] - Antenna unit: for receiving modulated reverse scattering signals.

[0056] - Reverse scattering signal detection module: for detecting the reverse scattering signals sent by the reverse scattering communication transmitter, including but not limited to ASK detection, PSK detection, FSK detection or QAM detection, etc.

[0057] - Demodulation and decoding module: demodulating and decoding the detected signals to recover the original information stream.

[0058] The reverse scattering communication device controls the reflection coefficient Γ of the modulation circuit by adjusting its internal impedance, thereby changing the amplitude, frequency, phase, etc. of the incident signal, realizing the modulation of the signal. The reflection coefficient Γ can be represented as:

[0059] Where Z0 is the antenna characteristic impedance; Z1 is the load impedance; j represents a complex number, θ T represents the phase. Assuming that the incident signal is represented as S in (t), then the output signal is Therefore, by properly controlling the reflection coefficient, corresponding amplitude modulation, frequency modulation or phase modulation can be achieved. Based on this, the backscatter communication device can be a tag in a traditional radio frequency identification (RFID), or a passive or semi-passive Internet of Things (IoT) device. Here, the backscatter communication device can be collectively referred to as a BSC device.

[0060] Optionally, the backscatter-based communication architecture can include at least the following modes:

[0061] (1) Topology 1: As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station in Topology 1 is both a radio frequency source or transmitting device and a receiving device, so Topology 1 is a monostatic backscatter communication system (MBCS) architecture. A traditional RFID system is a typical MBCS, which includes an ambient IoT device and a reader. The IoT device can be a tag, and the reader can be a base station. The tag communicates directly with the reader, and the reader can have a frequency division duplexing (FDD) functional module. In Topology 1, the transmitting device of the control signaling and the receiving device of the backscatter signal are the same device, and the transmitting device of the radio frequency (RF) carrier source can be the same device as the aforementioned device or an independent device.

[0062] (2) Topology 2: As shown in FIG. 1B, in Topology 2, an ambient IoT device (such as a tag) receives control signaling and carrier signals transmitted by an intermediate node. The control signaling can be indicated by a network device (such as a base station (gNB)) through the intermediate node, and the intermediate node can be a user equipment (UE), a repeater, an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, etc. The intermediate node can also act as a relay to forward IoT data to the gNB.

[0063] (3) Topology 3: Topology 3 involves a Bistatic Backscatter Communications System (BBCS), in which the radio frequency source, the BSC transmitting device and the BSC receiving device are separate; in Topology 3, the Ambient IoT Device (such as a Tag) transmits IoT data / uplink signaling to the base station and receives data / signaling transmitted by the auxiliary node, as shown in FIG. 1C; or the Ambient IoT Device (such as a Tag) transmits IoT data / uplink signaling to the auxiliary node and receives data / signaling transmitted by the base station, as shown in FIG. 1D; the base station and the auxiliary node communicate through the Uu interface, and the auxiliary node can be a UE, a repeater, an IAB, etc.

[0064] (4) Topology 4: As shown in FIG. 1E, in Topology 4, the UE communicates with the Tag as a Reader. This architecture also belongs to a monostatic backscatter communication architecture, the difference being that the Reader is a UE rather than a base station.

[0065] Due to the low cost, low power consumption and small size of the backscatter communication device, it can be widely applied to goods inventory and tracking, personal item finding, parking lot vehicle positioning, store positioning in shopping malls and platform positioning in museums, etc. The measurement parameters required to support backscatter communication positioning can include but are not limited to Received Signal Strength (RSS), Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Direction Of Arrival (DOA), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Angle of Departure (AOD) phase information, Time Of Arrival (TOA) or Round-Trip Time (RTT), Time Difference Of Arrival (TDOA), Phase Difference of Arrival (PDOA), etc. Among them, DOA and AOA are the same angle, and the concepts are the same. Without loss of generality, the following is described in terms of DOA.

[0066] Optionally, the schemes in the present application can be applied in LTE systems, 5th Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) systems, etc. thThe angle-of-arrival (AOA) or the position of the first device can be determined based on the first measurement value and the second measurement value.

[0067] The positioning method, device, communication device and readable storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with the drawings and some embodiments and application scenarios.

[0068] Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a flowchart of a positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application, the method being performed by a first device. As shown in FIG. 2, the method comprises the following steps:

[0069] Step 21: The first device sends a first signal to a second device during movement.

[0070] Step 22: The first device receives a second signal sent by the second device during movement, the second signal being a periodic signal generated according to the first signal.

[0071] Step 23: The first device obtains a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device, the second measurement value being associated with the second signal.

[0072] Step 24: The first device estimates the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device and / or estimates the position information of the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value.

[0073] In the embodiments of the present application, the first device is a device with angle-of-arrival / positioning capability and supporting movement, which can include but is not limited to a smart phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a smart earphone, an augmented reality (AR) device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an extended reality (XR) device, a mix reality (MR) device, a robot, etc., and can also include a repeater, a relay device, a WiFi node, a Zigbee node, a LoRa node, a Bluetooth node, etc. supporting movement.

[0074] The second device is a device to be positioned, which can include but is not limited to an RFID tag, a Third Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP) AIoT tag, a WiFi / Zigbee / LoRa / Bluetooth tag, or other low-power devices. For example, the second device can be a passive tag or a semi-passive tag.

[0075] The inertial measurement unit (IMU) is specifically a set of sensors, which can be used to accurately measure and detect key information such as acceleration, angular velocity, and direction of the device. For example, the inertial measurement unit IMU can include three single-axis accelerometers, a single single-axis gyroscope, and a magnetometer, etc.; wherein the accelerometer is used to detect the acceleration signal of the corresponding device on the independent three-axis of the carrier coordinate system, and the gyroscope is used to detect the angular velocity signal of the corresponding device relative to the navigation coordinate system, measure the angular velocity and acceleration of the object in three-dimensional space, and output the coordinate change amount, velocity, etc. of the corresponding device relative to the initial position after error compensation and inertial navigation calculation.

[0076] Through the scheme of the embodiment of the present application, the first device can send a first signal to the second device during movement, and receive a second signal sent by the second device during movement, the second signal being a periodic signal generated according to the first signal, obtain a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device, the second measurement value and the second signal having a correlation relationship, and estimate the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device and / or estimate the position information of the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value. Thus, a virtual antenna array can be constructed by the movement of the first device, and the angle measurement and positioning of the second device (such as a tag device) can be realized, thereby improving the positioning accuracy and stability in the case of few antennas and poor synchronization performance.

[0077] Optionally, the movement trajectory of the first device can include at least one of the following:

[0078] a non-linear trajectory;

[0079] a movement trajectory with non-constant acceleration.

[0080] Optionally, the first signal can satisfy at least one of the following:

[0081] (a) the first signal is a periodic synchronization signal, such as a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), a Preamble signal, etc.

[0082] (b) the first signal is a periodic reference signal for positioning or angle measurement, such as a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), etc.

[0083] (c) the first signal is a periodic and sequence-known measurement reference signal, such as a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), a Phase-Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), a Dedicated demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), a Preamble signal, etc.

[0084] (d) the first signal is a periodic and modulation-information or input-bit known data signal, i.e., the first signal is a modulated signal.

[0085] (e) the first signal is a carrier signal, such as a sine signal, a cosine signal, a chirp signal, etc.

[0086] Optionally, when the first signal is a periodic signal, the period of the first signal can be the same as or different from the period of the second signal. For example, a threshold parameter δ can be configured by the system, and the period T1 of the first signal and the period T2 of the second signal satisfy: |T1-T2|≤δ.

[0087] Optionally, when the first signal is a periodic signal, the second signal can be obtained by backscattering the first signal according to a fixed reflection coefficient. Alternatively, when the first signal is a carrier signal, the second signal can be obtained by backscattering modulation of the first signal according to configuration or indication information.

[0088] Optionally, the correlation between the second measurement value and the second signal can be that the measurement time of the first measurement value of the second signal is the same as the measurement time of the second measurement value, or the measurement time of the first measurement value of the second signal and the measurement time of the second measurement value are in the same time window. The size of the time window can be specified by the system or protocol. In this way, the measurement time of the first measurement value and the second measurement value can be the same or close, thereby improving the accuracy of the estimated DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device and / or the position information of the second device.

[0089] Optionally, the first measurement value of the second signal can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0090] a reference signal strength (RSS) of the second signal;

[0091] a received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the second signal;

[0092] an amplitude of the second signal;

[0093] a phase of the second signal;

[0094] a frequency of the second signal;

[0095] a covariance matrix of the second signal;

[0096] an autocorrelation matrix of the second signal;

[0097] a statistical value obtained from multiple measurement values of the second signal, such as a maximum value, an average value, a minimum value, a weighted value, etc.

[0098] a statistical value obtained from multiple measurement values of the second signal obtained by using multiple antennas, or a statistical value obtained from multiple measurement values of the second signal obtained by using multiple antennas.

[0099] In an optional implementation, k (k≥1) antennas of the first device can be used to obtain k first measurement values of the second signal, or to obtain a statistical value such as a maximum value, an average value, etc. of the measurement values of the k second signals.

[0100] Optionally, the second measurement value obtained based on the inertial measurement unit (IMU) can include at least one of the following:

[0101] acceleration information, such as acceleration information output by an accelerometer in the inertial measurement unit within a moving time T2, which is equal to a period of the second signal;

[0102] angular velocity information, such as angular velocity information outputted by a gyroscope in an inertial measurement unit within a moving time T2, which is equal to one period time of the second signal;

[0103] azimuth information, such as azimuth information outputted by a gyroscope in an inertial measurement unit within a moving time T2, which is equal to one period time of the second signal;

[0104] magnetic induction information, such as magnetic induction intensity outputted by a magnetometer in an inertial measurement unit within a moving time T2, which is equal to one period time of the second signal;

[0105] yaw angle information, such as yaw angle information outputted by a magnetometer in an inertial measurement unit within a moving time T2, which is equal to one period time of the second signal;

[0106] position information, such as relative position information of the first device within a preset time window or within one period time T2 of the second signal;

[0107] a statistical value of the plurality of measurement values of the inertial measurement unit, such as a maximum value, an average value, a minimum value, a weighted value, a measurement time earliest measurement value, a measurement time latest measurement value, etc.

[0108] In an optional implementation, the first device can obtain initial measurement values of the IMU before moving, so as to be used for subsequent correction.

[0109] Optionally, in order to estimate the DOA, the AOD and / or the position information of the second device, a plurality of first measurement values and second measurement values can be obtained. The above obtaining the first measurement value of the second signal and the second measurement value of the inertial measurement unit in the first device can include any one of the following:

[0110] (1) the first device obtains m first measurement values within m periods of the second signal and m second measurement values of the inertial measurement unit within the m periods, m≥2; that is, m first measurement values and m second measurement values can be obtained within m periods of the second signal by using a single antenna, and the first measurement value of the second signal within the mth period is associated with the second measurement value of the IMU within the mth period;

[0111] (2) The first device obtains, in each of m periods of the second signal, a first measurement value of k second signals obtained based on k antennas, and m second measurement values of the inertial measurement unit in the m periods, m≥2, k≥2; that is, m first measurement values and m second measurement values can be obtained in m periods of the second signal respectively by using k antennas, and the first measurement value of the k second signals is a measurement value in the same signal period, and the first measurement value of the second signal in the mth period is associated with the second measurement value of the IMU in the mth period.

[0112] Optionally, to meet the measurement requirement, the m satisfies at least one of the following conditions:

[0113] 1) The duration of the m periods is less than or equal to a time threshold T thr , that is, mT2≤T thr , the time threshold T thr may be a preconfigured or protocol-agreed time parameter; or the duration of the m periods is less than or equal to the working duration allowed by the inertial measurement unit to meet the error range;

[0114] 2) The error value of the DOA or AOD estimated based on the first measurement value and the second measurement value in the m periods is less than or equal to a first error threshold, which can be a preconfigured or protocol-agreed parameter; or the confidence of the DOA or AOD estimated based on the first measurement value and the second measurement value in the m periods is greater than or equal to a first confidence threshold, which can be a preconfigured or protocol-agreed parameter;

[0115] 3) The m is less than or equal to a maximum measurement number M max allowed by the measurement of the DOA or AOD once max , the maximum measurement number M

[0116] 4) The m is less than or equal to the maximum measurement number allowed by the inertial measurement unit in the DOA or AOD error range.

[0117] In the embodiments of the present application, the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device can be estimated in various ways.

[0118] The process of estimating the DOA or AOD in the above step 24 can include:

[0119] The first device estimates the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device by using a DOA or AOD estimation algorithm according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value; wherein the DOA or AOD estimation algorithm can include at least one of the following:

[0120] Beamforming algorithm; for example, the specific estimation process based on the Beamforming algorithm can be found in the following embodiment four;

[0121] Multiple Signal Classification (MUSCI) algorithm; for example, the specific estimation process based on the MUSCI algorithm can be found in the following embodiment two and embodiment three;

[0122] Estimation of Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariance Techniques (ESPRIT) algorithm;

[0123] Unitary ESPRIT algorithm.

[0124] For the Beamforming algorithm, the MUSCI algorithm, the ESPRIT algorithm and the Unitary ESPRIT algorithm, the embodiments of the present application are not specifically limited and can refer to the existing algorithm content.

[0125] Optionally, the position information of the second device can be obtained by using multiple DOA or AOD estimations. The process of estimating the position information of the second device in the above step 24 can include:

[0126] The first device estimates n DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value, such as m first measurement values and m second measurement values in the moving process, n≥2;

[0127] The first device estimates the position information of the second device according to the n DOA or AOD; for example, after obtaining the n DOA or AOD, a known positioning algorithm can be used to estimate the position information of the second device, and the positioning algorithm can include but is not limited to multi-angle positioning algorithms such as AOA, AOD, etc.

[0128] Optionally, the position information of the second device can be the phase position information of the first device and the second device, including relative distance and relative angle, etc., and can also be the absolute position information of the second device.

[0129] Optionally, the n DOA can satisfy at least one of the following but is not limited to:

[0130] (1) The intervals between the n DOA are the same or different, or the intervals between the n AOD are the same or different;

[0131] (2) the second signals corresponding to the n DOAs have the same or different number of periods, or the second signals corresponding to the n AODs have the same or different number of periods; for example, when the second signals corresponding to the n DOAs or AODs have different number of periods, the corresponding number of periods can be M1, M2, …, M n .

[0132] (3) the n DOAs are obtained under the same or different motion trajectories of the first device, or the n AODs are obtained under the same or different motion trajectories of the first device; that is, the n DOAs or AODs can be obtained based on the same motion trajectory, or can be obtained based on different motion trajectories;

[0133] (4) the n DOAs are obtained using the measurement values of the inertial measurement unit based on the same or different initial speed and direction angle, or the n AODs are obtained using the measurement values of the inertial measurement unit based on the same or different initial speed and direction angle; that is, the n DOAs or AODs can use the IMU measurement values based on the same initial speed and direction angle, or can use the IMU measurement values based on different initial speed and direction angle;

[0134] (5) the n DOAs are obtained based on the same or different reference signal (such as the same or different first signal), or the n AODs are obtained based on the same or different reference signal;

[0135] (6) the n DOAs are obtained based on the same or different frequency domain resource, or the n AODs are obtained based on the same or different frequency domain resource; for example, the frequency domain resources for receiving / transmitting the first signal / second signal can be the same or different;

[0136] (7) the n is less than or equal to the maximum number of DOAs allowed by position measurement, or the n is less than or equal to the maximum number of DOAs or AODs allowed by position measurement; the maximum number can be a preconfigured or protocol agreed parameter;

[0137] (8) the error of the position information estimated based on the n DOAs is less than or equal to a second error threshold, which can be a preconfigured or protocol agreed parameter; or the confidence of the position information estimated based on the n DOAs is greater than or equal to a second confidence threshold, which can be a preconfigured or protocol agreed parameter;

[0138] (9) the error of the n AOD-estimated position information is less than or equal to a third error threshold, which can be a pre-configured or protocol-agreed parameter; or the confidence of the n AOD-estimated position information is greater than or equal to a third confidence threshold, which can be a pre-configured or protocol-agreed parameter.

[0139] Optionally, the above sending the first signal to the second device during the movement can comprise:

[0140] The first device sends the first signal to the second device during the movement according to the first information, wherein the first information can be network-configured or indicated information, and the first information can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0141] a) a signal period T1 of the first signal;

[0142] b) baseband signal parameters of the first signal, such as but not limited to modulation mode, coding mode, reference signal generation sequence, etc.;

[0143] c) a signal waveform of the first signal, such as a waveform of a pseudo-random signal, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal, a Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) signal, a sine signal, a cosine signal, etc.;

[0144] d) a transmission power or a transmission power level of the first signal;

[0145] e) time domain resource information of the first signal, such as but not limited to signal length and corresponding frame, subframe, time slot, symbol, etc. information of the first signal;

[0146] f) frequency domain resource information of the first signal, such as but not limited to frequency, bandwidth, Subcarrier Spacing (SCS), Radio Bearer (RB), Resource Block Group (RBG), Bandwidth Part (BWP), etc. information;

[0147] g) time-frequency domain pattern mode or comb size, etc. of the first signal;

[0148] h) spatial domain resource information of the first signal, such as but not limited to antenna, code word, layer, antenna port, etc. information;

[0149] i) polarization resource information of the first signal, such as, but not limited to, vertical linear polarization, horizontal linear polarization, left circular polarization, right circular polarization, and the like.

[0150] Optionally, the first device can perform signaling interaction and association with the second device. The positioning method in the embodiments of the present application can further include:

[0151] The first device receives the capability information reported by the second device; wherein the capability information is capability information related to generation / sending of the second signal, and the capability information can include at least one of the following:

[0152] antenna capability of the second device;

[0153] modulation mode supported by the second device;

[0154] modulation order supported by the second device;

[0155] modulation rate supported by the second device;

[0156] bandwidth supported by the second device;

[0157] working frequency point supported by the second device;

[0158] frequency shifting capability of the second device;

[0159] reflection coefficient of the second device;

[0160] amplifier information of the second device.

[0161] In this way, with the reported capability information, the first device can determine the manner in which the second device generates the second signal. For example, if the backscatter modulation mode supported by the second device or the measurement signal does not meet the parameter requirements of the second signal, then at this time the first signal sent by the first device can be a periodic signal, and the second signal is only a reflection signal of the first signal; or, if the second device supports modulation, then the first signal can be a carrier signal, and the second signal is a backscatter modulation signal or a positioning measurement signal.

[0162] Optionally, the above positioning method can further include:

[0163] The first device receives device information reported by the second device; the device information is, for example, Electronic Product Code (EPC), Tag Identifier (TID), device identification ID, and the like;

[0164] The first device establishes an association relationship between the first device and the second device according to the device information.

[0165] Thus, after establishing the association between the first device and the second device, the second device can respond to the first device in time, thereby realizing positioning of the second device.

[0166] In an optional embodiment, the first device can obtain the EPC code, TID code, device ID, etc. of the second device through an inventory process or a registration process, etc.

[0167] Optionally, the positioning method can further include:

[0168] The first device sends configuration information to the second device; wherein the configuration information is used to configure the second device with at least one of the following: a radio network temporary identity (RNTI), a preamble sequence, a synchronization sequence, a signal parameter of the first signal, and a signal parameter of the second signal.

[0169] For example, the RNTI, preamble sequence, and / or synchronization sequence can be used for scrambling or association, etc. when the second device sends the second signal. The signal parameter of the first signal / second signal can be used by the second device when transmitting / receiving signals.

[0170] Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application, the method being executed by the second device, as shown in FIG. 3, the method includes the following steps:

[0171] Step 31: The second device receives the first signal sent by the first device in the moving process;

[0172] Step 32: The second device generates the second signal according to the first signal, wherein the second signal is a periodic signal;

[0173] Step 33: The second device sends the second signal to the first device in the moving process, wherein the second signal is used for at least one of the following: estimating the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device, and estimating the position information of the second device.

[0174] In the embodiments of the present application, the first device is a device with angle measurement / positioning capability and supporting movement, which can include but is not limited to a smart phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a smart earphone, an AR device, a VR device, an XR device, an MR device, a robot, etc., and can also include a repeater supporting movement, a relay device, a WiFi node, a Zigbee node, a LoRa node, a Bluetooth node, etc.

[0175] The second device is a device to be positioned, which can include but is not limited to an RFID tag, a 3GPP AIoT tag, a WiFi / Zigbee / LoRa / Bluetooth tag, or other low-power devices. For example, the second device can be a passive tag or a semi-passive tag.

[0176] For the manner of estimating the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device by using the second signal, and / or estimating the position information of the second device, refer to the description in the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0177] The scheme of the embodiments of the present application can construct a virtual antenna array through the movement of the first device, and thus realize angle measurement and positioning of the second device (such as a tag device), thereby improving the positioning accuracy and stability in the case of few antennas and poor synchronization performance.

[0178] Optionally, the movement trajectory of the first device can include at least one of the following:

[0179] a non-linear trajectory;

[0180] a movement trajectory with non-constant acceleration.

[0181] Optionally, the first signal can satisfy at least one of the following:

[0182] (a) the first signal is a periodic synchronization signal, such as a PSS, a SSS, a Preamble signal, etc.;

[0183] (b) the first signal is a periodic reference signal for positioning or angle measurement, such as a PRS, etc.;

[0184] (c) the first signal is a periodic and sequence-known measurement reference signal, such as a CSI-RS, a SRS, a PTRS, a DM-RS, a Preamble signal, etc.;

[0185] (d) the first signal is a periodic and modulation information or input bit known data signal, i.e., the first signal is a modulated signal;

[0186] (e) the first signal is a carrier signal, such as a sine signal, a cosine signal, a chirp signal, etc.

[0187] Optionally, when the first signal is a periodic signal, the period of the first signal and the period of the second signal can be the same or different. For example, a threshold parameter δ can be configured by the system, and the period T1 of the first signal and the period T2 of the second signal satisfy: |T1-T2|≤δ.

[0188] Optionally, when the first signal is a periodic signal, the second signal can be obtained by backscattering the first signal according to a fixed reflection coefficient. That is, the process of generating the second signal can include: the second device, when the first signal is a periodic signal, backscatters the first signal according to a reflection coefficient to obtain the second signal.

[0189] Optionally, when the first signal is a carrier signal, the second signal can be obtained by backscattering modulation of the first signal according to configuration or indication information. That is, the process of generating the second signal can include: the second device, when the first signal is a carrier signal, backscatters modulation of the first signal according to configuration or indication information to obtain the second signal.

[0190] In the embodiments of the present application, the second signal can be generated according to configuration or indication information. The above-mentioned way of generating the second signal can include:

[0191] The second device generates a second signal according to second information and the first signal; wherein the second information can include at least one of the following:

[0192] The reflection coefficient of the second device; for example, when the first signal is a periodic signal, the second signal can be generated according to the reflection coefficient;

[0193] The signal period T2 of the second signal;

[0194] The baseband signal parameters of the second signal, such as but not limited to modulation mode, coding mode, reference signal generation sequence, etc.

[0195] The signal waveform of the second signal, such as the waveform of a pseudo-random signal, an OFDM signal, a CSS signal, a sine signal, a cosine signal, etc.

[0196] Optionally, the second information is configured or indicated by the first device, or the second information is pre-configured by the network, pre-configured by the system or agreed by the protocol.

[0197] Optionally, the above-mentioned sending of the second signal to the first device in the moving process can include:

[0198] The second device sends the second signal to the first device in the moving process according to third information; wherein the third information can include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0199] The transmission power of the second signal;

[0200] The time domain resource information of the second signal, such as but not limited to the signal length and corresponding frame, subframe, time slot, symbol, etc. information of the second signal;

[0201] Frequency domain resource information of the second signal, such as but not limited to frequency, bandwidth, subcarrier spacing SCS, radio bearer RB, resource block group RBG, bandwidth part BWP, and the like;

[0202] Time-frequency domain pattern mode or comb size of the second signal, and the like;

[0203] Spatial domain resource information of the second signal, such as but not limited to antenna, codeword, layer, antenna port, and the like;

[0204] Polarization resource information of the second signal, such as but not limited to vertical linear polarization, horizontal linear polarization, left-handed circular polarization, right-handed circular polarization, and the like.

[0205] Optionally, the third information is configured or indicated by the first device, or the third information is preconfigured by the network, preconfigured by the system, or agreed by the protocol.

[0206] Optionally, the positioning method in the embodiments of the present application can further include:

[0207] The second device sends capability information to the first device; wherein the capability information is related to the capability information of generating / sending the second signal, and the capability information can include at least one of the following:

[0208] Antenna capability of the second device;

[0209] Modulation mode supported by the second device;

[0210] Modulation order supported by the second device;

[0211] Modulation rate supported by the second device;

[0212] Bandwidth supported by the second device;

[0213] Operating frequency point supported by the second device;

[0214] Frequency shifting capability of the second device;

[0215] Reflection coefficient size of the second device;

[0216] Amplifier information of the second device.

[0217] In this way, the first device can determine the manner in which the second device generates the second signal by means of the transmitted capability information. For example, if the second device supports the backscatter modulation manner or the measurement signal does not meet the parameter requirement of the second signal, the first signal transmitted by the first device can be a periodic signal, and the second signal can be a reflection signal of the first signal. Or, if the second device supports modulation, the first signal can be a carrier signal, and the second signal can be a backscatter modulation signal or a positioning measurement signal.

[0218] Optionally, the second device can send device information, such as a product electronic code (EPC), a tag identification number (TID), a device ID, etc., to the first device, so that the first device establishes an association between the first device and the second device according to the device information, and the second device responds to the first device in a timely manner.

[0219] In an optional embodiment, the second device can send its EPC code, TID code, device ID, etc., to the first device through an inventory flow or a registration process, etc.

[0220] Optionally, the second device can receive configuration information sent by the first device; the configuration information is used to configure the second device with at least one of the following: RNTI, preamble sequence, synchronization sequence, signal parameters of the first signal and signal parameters of the second signal, etc. For example, the RNTI, preamble sequence and / or synchronization sequence can be used for scrambling or association when the second device transmits the second signal. The signal parameters of the first / second signal can be used by the second device when transmitting / receiving signals.

[0221] The present application will be described below in conjunction with specific embodiments. Since the signaling flow for estimating DOA and AOD is similar, only the estimation of DOA and positioning based on DOA will be described below as an example, and the same method can be extended to AOD estimation and positioning based on multiple AOD measurement values.

[0222] Embodiment One

[0223] In this embodiment one, as shown in FIG. 4, the interaction flow between the first device (such as a mobile device) and the second device (such as a tag device) can include:

[0224] Step 41: Optionally, the first device and the second device perform association, inventory, registration, capability interaction, etc.

[0225] Step 42: Optionally, the first device sends indication information to the second device, which is used to indicate the signal parameters of the first signal or the second signal.

[0226] Step 43: The first device records the initial orientation, position, angular velocity information, etc. of the IMU, and moves according to a certain trajectory / speed / acceleration, and sends a first signal to the second device during the movement; the specific content of the first signal can be referred to in the above embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0227] Step 44: The second device receives the first signal and generates a second signal based on the obtained first signal; the specific content of the second signal can be referred to in the above embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0228] Step 45: The second device sends a periodic second signal to the first device during the movement.

[0229] Step 46: The first device receives the second signal and estimates the DOA, AOD and / or the position information of the second device based on the obtained second signal and the associated IMU information. The specific estimation method can be referred to in the above embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0230] Embodiment Two

[0231] In this embodiment two, the estimation process of the first device estimating the DOA based on the second signal and the position information output by the IMU is given. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the movement trajectory of the first device (such as the first movement trajectory) is a non-straight trajectory, or a non-uniform speed movement trajectory. As shown in FIG. 5, the following takes the first device (such as a mobile device) only configured with a single antenna and moving in a non-straight trajectory as an example for illustration.

[0232] (1) The first device generates and sends a first signal s(t).

[0233] Optionally, the first signal can be a synchronization signal, a reference signal, or a data signal with known modulation information / input bits, with a period of T1; the first signal can also be a carrier signal specially used for backscatter modulation.

[0234] (2) The second device receives the first signal and generates a second signal according to the first signal, including the following cases:

[0235] (a) When the first signal is a synchronization signal, a reference signal, or a data signal with known modulation information / input bits, with a period of T1, the second device can perform backscatter with a fixed reflection coefficient to generate a second signal y(t) with a period of T2, where |T1-T2|≤δ, δ is a threshold parameter configured by the system, that is: y(t) = h(t)·α·s(t) + w1(n)

[0236] where h is the channel coefficient or channel response between the first device and the second device, a is the reflection coefficient, and w1(n) is the signal noise at the second device end.

[0237] (b) When the first signal is a carrier signal, the second device can modulate according to the configuration or indication information, generate a second signal y(t) with a period of T2, that is: y(t) = h(t) · a · b(t) · s(t) + w1(n)

[0238] Wherein b(t) is the backscatter modulation signal of the second device, or the reference signal generated according to the system configuration.

[0239] (3) The second device sends the generated periodic second signal with a time interval of T2 to the first device, and the first device receives the second signal.

[0240] For example, the received second signal can be represented as: r(t) = h(t) · y(t) + w2(n)

[0241] Wherein w2(n) is the partial signal noise of the first device. For the convenience of illustration, only the above 2(a) case is taken as an example, and at this time the second signal can be represented as: r(t) = h(t) · (h(t) · a · s(t) + w1(n)) + w2(n) = h(t) · h(t) · a · s(t) + h · w1(n) + w2(n) = g(t) · s(t) + w(n)

[0242] Wherein g(t) = a · h(t) · h(t) represents the cascade channel or double-path channel response between the first device and the second device, and w(n) is the receiving noise of the first device.

[0243] Correspondingly, the baseband signal of the received second signal can be represented as:

[0244] Wherein r[m, n] represents the nth baseband sampling value of the mth (1≤m≤M) signal period, g[m, n] is the cascade channel response, s[n] represents the baseband signal of the first signal in the mth (1≤m≤M) signal period, φ0 is the initial phase (including phase deviation and accumulated frequency offset) of the received signal in the first signal period and remains unchanged in all signal periods of the DOA measurement, f0 is the frequency offset between the first device and the second device (limited by the hardware capability of the second device, the frequency of the oscillator of the second device is not accurate and unstable) and remains unchanged in all signal periods of the DOA measurement, t m represents the time elapsed from the reception of the second signal of the first signal period to the second signal of the mth signal period at the receiving end; T s represents the sampling time at the first device end, and w(m, n) is the Gaussian white noise.

[0245] Suppose the cascade channel of the mth signal period is:

[0246] wherein γ represents the amplitude of the channel, represents the wave vector, represents the relative value of the mth virtual antenna coordinate to the initial coordinate when the second signal of the mth signal period is received. which can be further expressed as:

[0247] wherein θ[m] represents the azimuth angle of the first device when the second signal of the mth signal period is received, and can be considered the same within the M signal periods of estimating the DOA; (x[m], y[m]) is the planar position coordinate of the x-axis and y-axis of the IMU sensor output associated with the second signal, i.e., the position coordinate of the x-axis and y-axis of the IMU sensor output within the same time window or time window when the second signal of the mth signal period is received, at which time:

[0248] (4) The first device receives the second signal of the M signal periods and estimates the DOA.

[0249] Since the signal phase in the second signal received by the first device is affected by both the frequency offset and the coordinate (x[m], y[m]) corresponding to the motion trajectory of the first device, it is necessary to eliminate the influence of the frequency offset on the DOA estimation in the process of estimating the DOA. There are two possible solutions.

[0250] Solution 1: Estimate the frequency offset first and then estimate the DOA after compensating for the frequency offset.

[0251] In this solution 1, the first device is stationary for a period of time before performing the first trajectory motion, for example, the stationary time can be K (K≥1) signal periods. Since the first device is in a stationary state at this time, the only factor causing the phase change of the second signal received by the first device is the frequency offset, so the first device can easily estimate the frequency offset f0. After that, the first device moves according to the first trajectory and compensates for the frequency offset of the received second signal:

[0252] After obtaining the frequency offset compensated signal The DOA angle can be estimated based on the Beamforming algorithm, MUSIC algorithm, ESPRIT algorithm, and unitary ESPRIT algorithm.

[0253] The following will only take the MUSIC algorithm as an example for description, but the present application is not limited thereto.

[0254] The second signal after frequency offset compensation The M periodic signals can be written in a stacked column vector form, such as:

[0255] where a1(θ) represents a steering vector, and is expressed as:

[0256] p[n] is a constant in all virtual antenna arrays, and is expressed as:

[0257] is a signal noise vector with a dimension of Mx1, and its covariance matrix is can be expressed as:

[0258] Further, a second signal after frequency offset compensation is defined as The covariance matrix of the second signal is with a dimension of MxM, and is expressed as:

[0259] wherein represents the expectation of the signal, (·) * represents the conjugate of the signal. Meanwhile, define represents the matrix whose dimension is Mx(M-K). Therefore, the MUSIC spectrum can be constructed as:

[0260] By searching for the maximum spectrum peak value, the DOA angle θ can be estimated:

[0261] The advantage of the above scheme 1 is that the calculation of the DOA angle is relatively simple, but it is necessary to ensure that the first device is stationary for a period of time before performing the first motion trajectory, and to ensure that the frequency offset remains unchanged during the stationary phase and the first motion trajectory phase.

[0262] Scheme 2: Jointly estimate the frequency offset and the DOA.

[0263] In this scheme 2, the first device can estimate the frequency offset and the DOA angle simultaneously during the execution of the first trajectory motion. Like the above scheme 1, this scheme can also estimate the DOA angle based on the Beamforming algorithm, the MUSIC algorithm, the ESPRIT algorithm, the unitary ESPRIT algorithm, etc. Hereinafter, only the MUSIC algorithm is taken as an example for description.

[0264] Specifically, the second signal r[m, n] received by the first device can be written in the form of a stacked column vector of M periodic signals, denoted as: r[n] = a2(θ, f0)p[n] + w[n]

[0265] wherein a2(θ, f0) represents a steering vector:

[0266] p[n] is constant in all virtual antenna arrays, denoted as:

[0267] w[n] is a signal noise vector with a dimension of M x 1, and its covariance matrix is w[n] can be denoted as:

[0268] Further, the covariance matrix R of the second signal r[m, n] is defined, which has a dimension of M x M, and can be denoted as:

[0269] wherein represents the expectation of the signal, (·) * represents the conjugate of the signal. At the same time, E w represents the eigenvector matrix corresponding to the (M-K) smallest eigenvalues of the matrix R, which has a dimension of M x (M-K). Therefore, the MUSIC spectrum can be constructed as:

[0270] By searching for the maximum spectral peak, the DOA angle θ can be estimated:

[0271] The advantage of the scheme 2 is that the first device does not need to be in a stationary state to estimate the frequency offset first, and then estimate the DOA after compensating for the frequency offset, but can estimate the frequency offset and DOA when the first trajectory is moving, so the time for estimating the DOA is less.

[0272] It is worth noting that the first device in the second embodiment estimates the DOA based on the first measurement value of the second signal and the position information of the IMU associated with the second signal, and the first device is a single antenna configuration, and the first motion trajectory is a non-straight trajectory. In addition, the above only gives two design examples of DOA estimation, but the scheme in the present application is not limited to the above two DOA estimation algorithms, and will not be repeated.

[0273] Embodiment three

[0274] For some mobile devices, the ability to output accurate position coordinates is not enough, and some mobile devices can only output acceleration information. In this embodiment three, the first device can estimate the DOA based on the first measurement value of the second signal and the acceleration information of the IMU associated with the second signal, and the first device is a single antenna configuration. Without loss of generality, the following takes the MUCIS algorithm for jointly estimating frequency offset and DOA as an example to briefly describe the DOA estimation process.

[0275] First, define μ x,y (t), v x,y (t) and a(t) represent the relative position, velocity and acceleration of the first device along the first trajectory at time t in the plane coordinate system, respectively, and the three have the following relationship: v x,y (t) = v x,y (t0) - (t-t0)a(t0)

[0276] Wherein, μ x,y (t0), v x,y (t0) and a(t0) represent the initial position, velocity and acceleration of the first device when it receives the second signal of the first signal period. The phase change caused by the second signal between the two signal periods (i.e. the time interval is T2) can be expressed as:

[0277] Wherein:

[0278] Wherein, ω(t) represents the angular velocity caused by the frequency offset and remains unchanged in one DOA estimation, φ(t) represents the total phase generated by the frequency offset, motion and time accumulation, v x (t) and v y (t) represent the velocities along the x-axis and y-axis, respectively. Further, the above formula can be written as:

[0279] In the above formula, the second term can be estimated by jointly estimating the frequency offset and DOA in the above embodiment two, that is, considering the phase change caused by the average rate as part of the frequency offset for estimation, so that the third term is only related to the angle θ and the component of the acceleration a(t).

[0280] Based on the above analysis, the DOA can be estimated according to similar steps as in the above embodiment two, including:

[0281] (1) The first device generates and transmits the first signal s(t).

[0282] (2) The second device receives the first signal and generates a second signal according to the first signal, taking the case of 2(a) as an example.

[0283] (3) The second device sends the generated periodic second signal with a time interval of T2 to the first device, and the first device receives the second signal.

[0284] Based on the above analysis, the baseband signal of the received signal of the first device in the mth signal period can be expressed as:

[0285] where v x [m] and v y [m] represent the velocity along the x-axis and y-axis when the second signal of the mth signal period is received, and a[m] represents the acceleration along the x-axis and y-axis when the second signal of the mth signal period is received.

[0286] (4) The first device receives the second signal of M signal periods and estimates the DOA.

[0287] In the second signal received by the first device, the signal phase is affected by both the frequency offset and the acceleration corresponding to the motion trajectory of the first device. The following will take the MUSIC algorithm as an example for illustration.

[0288] Specifically, the second signal r[m,n] received by the first device can be written in the form of a stacked column vector of M periodic signals, expressed as: r[n] = a3(θ, f0)p[n] + w[n]

[0289] where a3(θ, f0) represents the steering vector:

[0290] In addition, the steering vector a3(θ, f0) can also be written in another form of steering vector, that is:

[0291] where That is, the frequency is not the actual frequency offset f0 between the first device and the first device, but includes the frequency offset caused by the angular velocity during the motion.

[0292] p[n] is a constant in all virtual antenna arrays, expressed as:

[0293] w[n] is a signal noise vector with a dimension of M x 1, and its covariance matrix is w[n] can be expressed as:

[0294] Assume that the covariance matrix of the second signal r[m, n] is defined as R, with a dimension of M x M, R can be expressed as:

[0295] wherein, represents the expectation of the signal, (·) * represents the conjugate of the signal. At the same time, define E w represents the eigenvector matrix corresponding to the (M-K) smallest eigenvalues of the matrix R, with a dimension of M x (M-K). Therefore, the MUSIC spectrum can be constructed as:

[0296] By searching for the maximum spectral peak, the DOA angle θ can be estimated:

[0297] Note that the frequency is not the actual frequency offset f0 of the first device and the first device, but includes the frequency offset caused by the angular velocity during the movement.

[0298] In the third embodiment, the first device estimates the DOA based on the first measurement value of the second signal and the acceleration information of the IMU associated with the second signal, and the first device is a single antenna configuration, the first motion trajectory is a non-straight trajectory, or the first trajectory is a straight trajectory but the acceleration is not constant. The benefits achieved by the third embodiment are: only the IMU output acceleration information is needed, without the need for accurate position information, thereby reducing the cost and hardware capability requirements of the mobile device integrated with the IMU.

[0299] Embodiment four

[0300] In the above-mentioned embodiments two and three, a single antenna configuration of the first device is taken as an example for description, and the fourth embodiment is taken as an example of a dual-antenna configuration of the first device to describe the process of estimating the DOA based on the scheme in the present application. Without loss of generality, the joint frequency offset and DOA estimation, and the DOA estimation based on the Beamforming algorithm are taken as examples for description, but the same scheme can also be extended to the MUSIC algorithm, the ESPRIT algorithm, and the unitary ESPRIT algorithm. The process of estimating the DOA can include

[0301] (1) The first device generates and transmits the first signal s(t).

[0302] (2) The second device receives the first signal and generates the second signal based on the first signal, taking only the case 2(a) as an example.

[0303] (3) The second device transmits the periodic second signal with a time interval of T2 to the first device, and the first device receives the second signal through the dual-antenna.

[0304] Specifically, the baseband signals of the second signals received by the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 of the first device are respectively denoted as:

[0305] wherein r 1 [m,n] and r 2 [m,n] represent the n-th baseband sampling value of the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 in the m-th (1≤m≤M) signal period, respectively, g 1 [m,n] and g 2 [m,n] are the cascade channel responses between the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 and the second device, respectively, and s[n] represents the first signal baseband signal of the m-th (1≤m≤M) signal period, and are the initial phases (including phase deviation and accumulated frequency offset) of the received signals of the first signal period on the antenna 1 and the antenna 2, respectively. Without loss of generality, it can be assumed that and remains unchanged in all signal periods of the DOA measurement, f0is the frequency offset between the first device and the second device (limited by the hardware capability of the second device, the frequency of the oscillator of the second device is not accurate and unstable) and remains unchanged in all signal periods of the DOA measurement, t m represents the time elapsed by the first device for receiving the second signal of the first signal period and the second signal of the m-th signal period; T s represents the sampling time at the first device end, w 1 (m,n) and w 2 (m,n) are the Gaussian white noises of the signals received on the antenna 1 and the antenna 2, respectively.

[0306] The cascade channels of the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 of the first device and the second device in the m-th signal period can be respectively denoted as:

[0307] wherein γ1and γ2represent the amplitudes of the cascade channels of the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 and the second device, respectively, represents the wave vector, and represent the relative values of the m-th virtual antenna coordinates and the initial coordinates when the second signal of the m-th signal period is received on the antenna 1 and the antenna 2, respectively. Further, it can be obtained that:

[0308] (4) The first device receives the second signals of M signal periods and estimates the DOA.

[0309] Specifically, the second signals received by the first device on the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 can be written in the form of a stacked column vector of 2M period signals, denoted as:

[0310] wherein, denotes the Kronecker product operation, a 1 and a 2 (θ, f0) and a

[0311] p[n] is constant in all virtual antenna arrays, and is expressed as:

[0312] W dual [n] is a signal noise vector with a dimension of 2M x 1, and its covariance matrix is W dual [n] can be expressed as:

[0313] Further, define the covariance matrix of r dual [n] as R dual , which has a dimension of 2M x 2M, and is expressed as:

[0314] wherein, denotes the expectation of the signal, (·) * denotes the conjugate of the signal.

[0315] Without loss of generality, this embodiment four takes the Beamforming algorithm to estimate DOA as an example. Based on the above content, the Beamforming spectrum can be expressed as: BF (θ, f0) = (A dual ) * · R dual · A dual

[0316] By searching the highest peak of the Beamforming spectrum, the angle DOA and the frequency offset f0 can be estimated, i.e.:

[0317] The advantage of the scheme in this embodiment four is that the measurable quantities of the dual antenna are increased, so that more accurate DOA estimation values can be obtained. Further, based on the dual antenna to estimate DOA is suitable for any frequency offset model and motion trajectory, etc., so the range of application is wider than that of the single antenna.

[0318] Embodiment five

[0319] In the above embodiments two to four, how to estimate the DOA between the first device and the second device based on the second signals of M signal periods is mainly described. As shown in FIG. 6, how to estimate the position information of the second device based on n (n≥2) DOA angles, including the relative position between the first device and the second device and / or the absolute position of the second device, is mainly described in this embodiment five. The specific process includes:

[0320] (1) According to the method in the above embodiments two to four, the DOA between the first device and the second device is measured based on the second signals of multiple signal periods, that is, the DOA of the first device is measured;

[0321] (2) According to the method in (1), n (n≥2) DOAs of the first device are obtained;

[0322] (3) The first device performs a positioning algorithm based on the n (n≥2) DOAs of the first device to obtain the position information of the second device; the positioning algorithm can include but is not limited to multi-angle positioning algorithms such as AOA and AOD.

[0323] Optionally, the position information of the second device includes the relative position between the first device and the second device, and the relative position is the relative position between the first device and the second device when the first device last received the second signal.

[0324] Optionally, the position information of the second device includes the absolute position of the second device; in this case, the first device can calculate the absolute position of the second device according to its own absolute position and the measured relative position between the first device and the second device.

[0325] The positioning method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be executed by a positioning device. In the embodiments of the present application, the positioning method executed by the positioning device is taken as an example to illustrate the positioning device provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0326] Embodiments of the present application provide a positioning apparatus. As an example, the positioning apparatus can be a communication device or a component in a communication device, such as a chip, etc. The positioning apparatus comprises a receiving module, a sending module and a processing module. The receiving module, the sending module and the processing module can be implemented by software or by hardware. When implemented by hardware, the processing module can be implemented by a processor. The processor can include a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, etc., such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Artificial Intelligent (AI) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Network Processor (NP), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a gate circuit, a transistor, a discrete hardware component, etc. The receiving module and the sending module can be implemented by a communication interface, which can include one or more of a transceiver, a pin, a circuit, a bus, a radio frequency unit, etc.

[0327] Specifically, referring to FIG. 7, when the positioning apparatus is a first device or a component in the first device, the positioning apparatus 70 comprises:

[0328] a first sending module 71, configured to send a first signal to a second device during movement of the first device;

[0329] a first receiving module 72, configured to receive a second signal sent by the second device during the movement of the first device, the second signal being a periodic signal generated according to the first signal;

[0330] a first processing module 73, configured to obtain a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device, the second measurement value being associated with the second signal; and estimate a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device and / or estimate position information of the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value.

[0331] Optionally, a measurement time of the first measurement value is the same as a measurement time of the second measurement value, or the measurement time of the first measurement value and the measurement time of the second measurement value are within a same time window.

[0332] Optionally, the first signal satisfies at least one of the following:

[0333] The first signal is a periodic synchronization signal.

[0334] The first signal is a periodic reference signal for positioning or angle measurement.

[0335] The first signal is a periodic and sequence-known measurement reference signal.

[0336] The first signal is a periodic and modulation information or input bit known data signal.

[0337] The first signal is a carrier signal.

[0338] Optionally, the first measurement value of the second signal includes at least one of the following:

[0339] A reference signal strength, RSS, of the second signal.

[0340] A received signal strength indication, RSSI, of the second signal.

[0341] An amplitude of the second signal.

[0342] A phase of the second signal.

[0343] A frequency of the second signal.

[0344] A covariance matrix of the second signal.

[0345] An autocorrelation matrix of the second signal.

[0346] A statistical value obtained from a plurality of measurement values of the second signal.

[0347] A plurality of measurement values of the second signal obtained by using a plurality of antennas, or a statistical value of a plurality of measurement values of the second signal obtained by using a plurality of antennas.

[0348] Optionally, the second measurement value includes at least one of the following:

[0349] Acceleration information.

[0350] Angular velocity information.

[0351] Azimuth information.

[0352] Magnetic induction information.

[0353] Yaw angle information.

[0354] Position information.

[0355] A statistical value of a plurality of measurement values of the inertial measurement unit.

[0356] Optionally, the first processing module 73 is specifically configured to perform any one of the following:

[0357] obtain m first measurement values in m periods of the second signal and m second measurement values of the inertial measurement unit in the m periods, m≥2;

[0358] obtain, in each of the m periods of the second signal, a first measurement value of k second signals obtained based on k antennas, and m second measurement values of the inertial measurement unit in the m periods, m≥2, k≥2.

[0359] Optionally, the m satisfies at least one of the following:

[0360] the duration of the m periods is less than or equal to a time threshold, or the duration of the m periods is less than or equal to a working duration allowed by the inertial measurement unit to meet an error range;

[0361] an error value of the estimated DOA or AOD based on the first measurement values and the second measurement values in the m periods is less than or equal to a first error threshold, or a confidence of the estimated DOA or AOD based on the first measurement values and the second measurement values in the m periods is greater than or equal to a first confidence threshold;

[0362] the m is less than or equal to a maximum measurement number allowed by measuring a DOA or AOD once;

[0363] the m is less than or equal to a maximum measurement number allowed by the inertial measurement unit to meet a DOA or AOD error range.

[0364] Optionally, the first processing module 73 is specifically configured to: according to the first measurement values and the second measurement values, estimate the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device by using a DOA or AOD estimation algorithm;

[0365] wherein the DOA or AOD estimation algorithm comprises at least one of the following:

[0366] a beamforming algorithm;

[0367] a multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm;

[0368] an ESPRIT algorithm;

[0369] a unitary ESPRIT algorithm.

[0370] Optionally, the first processing module 73 is specifically configured to: estimate n DOAs or AODs between the first device and the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value, n≥2; and estimate the position information of the second device according to the n DOAs or AODs.

[0371] Optionally, the n DOAs or AODs satisfy at least one of the following conditions:

[0372] Intervals between the n DOAs are the same or different, or intervals between the n AODs are the same or different.

[0373] The number of periods of the second signal corresponding to the n DOAs is the same or different, or the number of periods of the second signal corresponding to the n AODs is the same or different.

[0374] The n DOAs are obtained under the same or different motion trajectories of the first device, or the n AODs are obtained under the same or different motion trajectories of the first device.

[0375] The n DOAs are obtained using measurement values of an inertial measurement unit based on the same or different initial speed and direction angle, or the n AODs are obtained using measurement values of an inertial measurement unit based on the same or different initial speed and direction angle.

[0376] The n DOAs are based on the same or different reference signals, or the n AODs are based on the same or different reference signals.

[0377] The n DOAs are based on the same or different frequency domain resources, or the n AODs are based on the same or different frequency domain resources.

[0378] The n is less than or equal to a maximum number of DOAs allowed by position measurement, or the n is less than or equal to a maximum number of DOAs or AODs allowed by position measurement.

[0379] An error of the position information estimated based on the n DOAs is less than or equal to a second error threshold, or a confidence of the position information estimated based on the n DOAs is greater than or equal to a second confidence threshold.

[0380] An error of the position information estimated based on the n AODs is less than or equal to a third error threshold, or a confidence of the position information estimated based on the n AODs is greater than or equal to a third confidence threshold.

[0381] Optionally, the motion trajectory of the first device includes at least one of the following conditions:

[0382] Non-linear trajectory

[0383] Moving trajectory with non-constant acceleration.

[0384] Optionally, the first sending module 71 is specifically configured to: send the first signal to the second device during movement according to first information; wherein the first information includes at least one of the following:

[0385] Signal period of the first signal;

[0386] Baseband signal parameter of the first signal;

[0387] Signal waveform of the first signal;

[0388] Transmission power of the first signal;

[0389] Time domain resource information of the first signal;

[0390] Frequency domain resource information of the first signal;

[0391] Time-frequency domain pattern mode of the first signal;

[0392] Spatial domain resource information of the first signal;

[0393] Polarization resource information of the first signal.

[0394] Optionally, the positioning apparatus 70 further includes:

[0395] A second receiving module configured to receive capability information reported by the second device; wherein the capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0396] Antenna capability of the second device;

[0397] Modulation mode supported by the second device;

[0398] Modulation order supported by the second device;

[0399] Modulation rate supported by the second device;

[0400] Bandwidth supported by the second device;

[0401] Operating frequency point supported by the second device;

[0402] Frequency shifting capability of the second device;

[0403] Reflection coefficient size of the second device;

[0404] Amplifier information of the second device.

[0405] Optionally, the positioning apparatus 70 further includes:

[0406] The third receiving module is configured to receive device information reported by the second device.

[0407] The establishing module is configured to establish an association relationship between the first device and the second device according to the device information.

[0408] Optionally, the positioning apparatus 70 further includes:

[0409] The second sending module is configured to send configuration information to the second device, where the configuration information is used to configure the second device with at least one of the following: a wireless network temporary identifier, a preamble sequence, a synchronization sequence, a signal parameter of the first signal, and a signal parameter of the second signal.

[0410] The positioning apparatus 70 provided by the embodiments of the present application can implement each process of the method embodiments shown in FIG. 2 and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0411] Referring to FIG. 8, when the positioning apparatus is a second device or a component in the second device, the positioning apparatus 80 includes:

[0412] The fourth receiving module 81 is configured to receive a first signal sent by a first device in a moving process.

[0413] The second processing module 82 is configured to generate a second signal according to the first signal, where the second signal is a periodic signal.

[0414] The third sending module 83 is configured to send the second signal to the first device in the moving process, where the second signal is used for at least one of the following: estimating a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device, and estimating position information of the second device.

[0415] Optionally, the first signal satisfies at least one of the following:

[0416] The first signal is a periodic synchronization signal.

[0417] The first signal is a periodic reference signal for positioning or angle measurement.

[0418] The first signal is a periodic measurement reference signal with known sequence.

[0419] The first signal is a periodic data signal with known modulation information or input bits.

[0420] The first signal is a carrier signal.

[0421] Optionally, the second processing module is specifically configured to perform any one of the following:

[0422] In a case where the first signal is a periodic signal, the first signal is backscattered according to a reflection coefficient to obtain the second signal;

[0423] In a case where the first signal is a carrier signal, the first signal is backscattered modulated according to configuration or indication information to obtain the second signal.

[0424] Optionally, the second processing module is specifically used for generating the second signal according to second information and the first signal; and the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0425] a reflection coefficient of the second device;

[0426] a signal period of the second signal;

[0427] a baseband signal parameter of the second signal;

[0428] a signal waveform of the second signal.

[0429] Optionally, the second information is configured or indicated by the first device, or the second information is network pre-configuration, system pre-configuration or protocol agreement.

[0430] Optionally, the third sending module is specifically used for sending the second signal to the first device in the moving process according to third information; and the third information includes at least one of the following:

[0431] a sending power of the second signal;

[0432] time domain resource information of the second signal;

[0433] frequency domain resource information of the second signal;

[0434] a time-frequency domain pattern mode of the second signal;

[0435] space domain resource information of the second signal;

[0436] polarization resource information of the second signal.

[0437] Optionally, the third information is configured or indicated by the first device, or the third information is network pre-configuration, system pre-configuration or protocol agreement.

[0438] The positioning device 80 provided by the embodiments of the present application can realize each process of the method embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described here.

[0439] As shown in FIG. 9, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 90, comprising a processor 91 and a memory 92, wherein the memory 92 stores programs or instructions executable by the processor 91, for example, when the communication device 90 is the first device, the programs or instructions are executed by the processor 91 to implement each step of the positioning method embodiment shown in FIG. 2 and achieve the same technical effects. When the communication device 90 is the second device, the programs or instructions are executed by the processor 91 to implement each step of the positioning method embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0440] The embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to run programs or instructions to implement the steps in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 2 and achieve the same technical effects. The terminal can be the positioning apparatus shown in FIG. 7.

[0441] Specifically, FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a terminal for implementing the embodiment of the present application.

[0442] The terminal 1000 includes, but is not limited to, at least part of the following components: a radio frequency unit 1001, a network module 1002, an audio output unit 1003, an input unit 1004, a sensor 1005, a display unit 1006, a user input unit 1007, an interface unit 1008, a memory 1009, and a processor 1010.

[0443] Those skilled in the art can understand that the terminal 1000 can further include a power supply (such as a battery) for supplying power to each component, and the power supply can be logically connected to the processor 1010 through a power management system, so as to realize functions such as power management, discharge management, and power consumption management through the power management system. The terminal structure shown in FIG. 10 does not constitute a limitation on the terminal, and the terminal can include more or fewer components than those shown, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements, which are not described herein.

[0444] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the input unit 1004 can include a graphics processor 10041 and a microphone 10042, and the graphics processor 10041 processes image data of a still picture or a video obtained by an image capture device (such as a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. The display unit 1006 can include a display panel 10061, which can be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, etc. The user input unit 1007 includes at least one of a touch panel 10071 and other input devices 10072. The touch panel 10071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 10071 can include two parts of a touch detection device and a touch controller. The other input devices 10072 can include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, on-off keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, a joystick, and the like, which will not be described here.

[0445] In the embodiments of the present application, after the radio frequency unit 1001 receives the downlink data from the network side device, it can be transmitted to the processor 1010 for processing. In addition, the radio frequency unit 1001 can send uplink data to the network side device. Generally, the radio frequency unit 1001 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, an amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, etc.

[0446] The memory 1009 can be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 1009 can mainly include a first storage area storing programs or instructions and a second storage area storing data, wherein the first storage area can store an operating system, at least one application program required by a function (such as a sound playing function, an image playing function, etc.), and the like. In addition, the memory 1009 can include a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Static RAM (SRAM), a Dynamic RAM (DRAM), a Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), a Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), an Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), a Synch link DRAM (SLDRAM), and a Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 1009 in the embodiments of the present application includes but is not limited to these and any other suitable type of memory.

[0447] The processor 1010 can include one or more processing units; optionally, the processor 1010 integrates an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly processes operations related to an operating system, a user interface, and an application program, and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communication signals, such as a baseband processor. It can be understood that the above-mentioned modem processor can also not be integrated into the processor 1010.

[0448] The radio frequency unit 1001 is configured to transmit a first signal to a second device during movement of the terminal 1000, and receive a second signal transmitted by the second device, wherein the second signal is a periodic signal generated according to the first signal.

[0449] The processor 1010 is configured to obtain a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device, the second measurement value being associated with the second signal; estimate a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device and / or estimate position information of the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value.

[0450] It can be understood that the implementation process of each implementation manner mentioned in the embodiment can refer to the related description of the method embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and achieve the same or corresponding technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0451] The embodiment of the present application further provides a readable storage medium, wherein a program or instructions are stored on the readable storage medium, the program or instructions are executed by a processor to implement each process of the positioning method embodiments shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, and the same technical effects can be achieved. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0452] The processor is the processor in the terminal in the above embodiments. The readable storage medium includes a computer readable storage medium, such as a computer readable only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc. In some examples, the readable storage medium can be a non-transitory readable storage medium.

[0453] The embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, wherein the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled with the processor, and the processor is configured to run a program or instructions to implement each process of the positioning method embodiments shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, and the same technical effects can be achieved. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0454] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiment of the present application can also be referred to as a system chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system on chip, etc.

[0455] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program / program product, wherein the computer program / program product is stored in a storage medium, and the computer program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement each process of the positioning method embodiments shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, and the same technical effects can be achieved. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein.

[0456] The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, including a first device and a second device, wherein the first device can be used to execute the steps of the positioning method as shown in FIG. 2, and the second device can be used to execute the steps of the positioning method as shown in FIG. 3.

[0457] It should be noted that, in the present document, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but can also include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by "comprises a", "comprising", or the like does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the methods and apparatuses of the present application can be carried out by specific hardware, by software, or by a combination of hardware and software. It is therefore, contemplated to this patent to cover any and all modifications, variations, or equivalents that fall within the scope of the present application. Accordingly, where a concept can have been illustrated in only one of the exemplary embodiments, various aspects of the concept can be modified and / or combined to produce a variety of other embodiments that are not specifically illustrated. Thus, for purposes of describing the present application, certain aspects of the application can be presented in terms of sequences of actions, but it should be appreciated that these sequences are examples and are not limiting. The sequences of actions could be changed, and other sequences could be implemented. Moreover, it should be appreciated that sometimes it is easier to describe one aspect of the application in terms of another aspect of the application. Therefore, the description herein of one aspect of the application in terms of another aspect of the application is used merely to more particularly exemplify the application. It should be appreciated that the use of the word "about" in describing the application is intended to mean that the amount or value in question is not exact but is intended to include the amount or value in question plus or minus 10% of the amount or value in question.

[0458] From the above description of the embodiments, it is apparent that the method of the above embodiments can be realized by means of a computer software product and general hardware platform, of course, it can also be realized by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disc, optical disc, etc.), and includes a plurality of instructions for making the terminal or network side device execute the method described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0459] The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above specific embodiments, and the above specific embodiments are only illustrative, but not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many forms of embodiments under the inspiration of the present application without departing from the scope of the present application and the protection scope of the claims, and these embodiments all belong to the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

A positioning method comprises: a first device sends a first signal to a second device during movement; the first device receives a second signal sent by the second device during movement, the second signal being a periodic signal generated according to the first signal; the first device obtains a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device, the second measurement value being associated with the second signal; the first device estimates a direction of arrival (DOA) or an angle of departure (AOD) between the first device and the second device and / or estimates position information of the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value. The method of claim 1, wherein, The measurement time of the first measurement value is the same as the measurement time of the second measurement value, or the measurement time of the first measurement value and the measurement time of the second measurement value are within the same time window. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The first signal satisfies at least one of the following: The first signal is a periodic synchronization signal; The first signal is a periodic reference signal for positioning or angle measurement; The first signal is a periodic measurement reference signal with known sequence; The first signal is a periodic data signal with known modulation information or input bits The first signal is a carrier signal. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The first measurement value of the second signal includes at least one of the following: Reference signal strength (RSS) of the second signal; Received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the second signal; Amplitude of the second signal; Phase of the second signal; Frequency of the second signal; Covariance matrix of the second signal; Autocorrelation matrix of the second signal; Statistical value obtained according to multiple measurement values of the second signal; Measurement values of multiple second signals obtained by multiple antennas, or statistical values of measurement values of multiple second signals obtained by multiple antennas. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein The second measurement value includes at least one of the following: Acceleration information; Angular velocity information; Azimuth information; Magnetic induction information; Yaw angle information; Position information; Statistical value of multiple measurement values of the inertial measurement unit. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The first device obtains the first measurement value of the second signal and the second measurement value of the inertial measurement unit in the first device, including any of the following: The first device obtains m first measurement values of the second signal in m periods and m second measurement values of the inertial measurement unit in the m periods, m≥2; The first device obtains k first measurement values of k second signals based on k antennas in each of m periods of the second signal and m second measurement values of the inertial measurement unit in the m periods, m≥2, k≥2. The method of claim 6, wherein, The m satisfies at least one of the following: The duration of the m periods is less than or equal to a time threshold, or the duration of the m periods is less than or equal to the working duration allowed by the inertial measurement unit within an error range. an error value of the DOA or AOD estimated based on the first measurement value and the second measurement value in the m periods is less than or equal to a first error threshold value, or a confidence level of the DOA or AOD estimated based on the first measurement value and the second measurement value in the m periods is greater than or equal to a first confidence threshold value; the m is less than or equal to a maximum number of measurements allowed for measuring the DOA or AOD once; the m is less than or equal to a maximum number of measurements allowed for the DOA or AOD error range of the inertial measurement unit. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first device estimates a direction of arrival (DOA) or an angle of departure (AOD) between the first device and the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value, including: the first device estimates the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device by using a DOA or AOD estimation algorithm according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value; wherein the DOA or AOD estimation algorithm includes at least one of: a beamforming algorithm; a multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm; an ESPRIT algorithm; a unitary ESPRIT algorithm. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the estimation of the position information of the second device includes: the first device estimates n DOAs or AODs between the first device and the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value, n≥2; the first device estimates the position information of the second device according to the n DOAs or AODs. The method of claim 9, wherein, the n DOAs or AODs satisfy at least one of: intervals between the n DOAs are the same or different, or intervals between the n AODs are the same or different; a number of periods of the second signal corresponding to the n DOAs is the same or different, or a number of periods of the second signal corresponding to the n AODs is the same or different; the n DOAs are obtained under the same or different motion trajectories of the first device, or the n AODs are obtained under the same or different motion trajectories of the first device; the n DOAs are obtained using measurement values of the inertial measurement unit based on the same or different initial speed and direction angle, or the n AODs are obtained using measurement values of the inertial measurement unit based on the same or different initial speed and direction angle; the n DOAs are obtained based on the same or different reference signals, or the n AODs are obtained based on the same or different reference signals; the n DOAs are obtained based on the same or different frequency domain resources, or the n AODs are obtained based on the same or different frequency domain resources; the n is less than or equal to a maximum number of DOAs allowed for position measurement, or the n is less than or equal to a maximum number of DOAs or AODs allowed for position measurement; an error of the position information estimated based on the n DOAs is less than or equal to a second error threshold value, or a confidence level of the position information estimated based on the n DOAs is greater than or equal to a second confidence threshold value; An error of the position information based on the n AOD estimates is less than or equal to a third error threshold, or a confidence of the position information based on the n AOD estimates is greater than or equal to a third confidence threshold. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein The movement trajectory of the first device includes at least one of: a non-linear trajectory; a movement trajectory with non-constant acceleration. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein The first device sends a first signal to a second device during movement, including: The first device sends the first signal to the second device during movement according to first information; The first information includes at least one of: a signal period of the first signal; a baseband signal parameter of the first signal; a signal waveform of the first signal; a transmission power of the first signal; time domain resource information of the first signal; frequency domain resource information of the first signal; a time-frequency domain pattern mode of the first signal; spatial domain resource information of the first signal; polarization resource information of the first signal. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising: The first device receives capability information reported by the second device; The capability information includes at least one of: antenna capability of the second device; modulation mode supported by the second device; modulation order supported by the second device; modulation rate supported by the second device; bandwidth supported by the second device; working frequency point supported by the second device; frequency shifting capability of the second device; reflection coefficient size of the second device; amplifier information of the second device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising: The first device receives device information reported by the second device; The first device establishes an association relationship between the first device and the second device according to the device information. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising: The first device sends configuration information to the second device, wherein the configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following for the second device: a wireless network temporary identifier, a preamble sequence, a synchronization sequence, a signal parameter of the first signal, and a signal parameter of the second signal. A positioning method, comprising: The second device receives a first signal sent by a first device during movement; The second device generates a second signal according to the first signal, the second signal being a periodic signal; The second device sends the second signal to the first device during movement; wherein the second signal is used for at least one of the following: estimating a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device, or estimating position information of the second device. The method of claim 16, wherein, The first signal satisfies at least one of the following: The first signal is a periodic synchronization signal; The first signal is a periodic reference signal for positioning or angle measurement; The first signal is a periodic measurement reference signal with known sequence; The first signal is a periodic data signal with known modulation information or input bits The first signal is a carrier signal. The method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein The second device generates a second signal according to the first signal, including any one of the following: The second device generates a second signal according to the first signal, including any one of the following: The second device backscatters the first signal according to a reflection coefficient to obtain the second signal when the first signal is a periodic signal. The second device backscatters modulates the first signal according to configuration or indication information to obtain the second signal when the first signal is a carrier signal. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein The second device generates a second signal according to the first signal, comprising: The second device generates the second signal according to second information and the first signal. The second information comprises at least one of the following: The reflection coefficient of the second device; The signal period of the second signal; The baseband signal parameter of the second signal; The signal waveform of the second signal. The method of claim 19, wherein, The second information is configured or indicated by the first device, or the second information is network pre-configuration, system pre-configuration or protocol agreement. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 20, wherein The second device sends the second signal to the first device in the moving process, comprising: The second device sends the second signal to the first device in the moving process according to third information. The third information comprises at least one of the following: The transmission power of the second signal; The time domain resource information of the second signal; The frequency domain resource information of the second signal; The time-frequency domain pattern mode of the second signal; The spatial domain resource information of the second signal; The polarization resource information of the second signal. The method of claim 21, wherein, The third information is configured or indicated by the first device, or the third information is network pre-configuration, system pre-configuration or protocol agreement. A positioning apparatus, comprising: A first sending module, configured to send a first signal to a second device in a moving process of a first device; A first receiving module, configured to receive a second signal sent by the second device in the moving process of the first device, the second signal being a periodic signal generated according to the first signal; A first processing module, configured to obtain a first measurement value of the second signal and a second measurement value of an inertial measurement unit in the first device, the second measurement value and the second signal having an association relationship; estimate a DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device and / or estimate position information of the second device according to the first measurement value and the second measurement value. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein The measurement time of the first measurement value and the measurement time of the second measurement value are the same, or the measurement time of the first measurement value and the measurement time of the second measurement value are in the same time window. The apparatus of claim 23 or 24, wherein The first signal satisfies at least one of the following: The first signal is a periodic synchronization signal; The first signal is a periodic reference signal for positioning or angle measurement; The first signal is a periodic measurement reference signal with known sequence; The first signal is a periodic data signal with known modulation information or input bits The first signal is a carrier signal. A positioning apparatus, comprising: A fourth receiving module, configured to receive a first signal sent by a first device in a moving process; A second processing module, configured to generate a second signal according to the first signal, the second signal being a periodic signal; A third sending module configured to send the second signal to the first device in the moving process, wherein the second signal is used for at least one of the following: estimating the DOA or AOD between the first device and the second device, and estimating the position information of the second device. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein The second processing module is configured to perform any one of the following: In a case where the first signal is a periodic signal, backscattering the first signal according to a reflection coefficient to obtain the second signal; In a case where the first signal is a carrier signal, backscattering modulating the first signal according to configuration or indication information to obtain the second signal. A communication device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing programs or instructions executable on the processor, the programs or instructions being executed by the processor to implement the steps of the positioning method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or to implement the steps of the positioning method according to any one of claims 16 to 22. A readable storage medium, the readable storage medium storing programs or instructions executable on a processor, the programs or instructions being executed by the processor to implement the positioning method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or to implement the steps of the positioning method according to any one of claims 16 to 22.

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