Proximity determination method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a proximity determination method and a communication apparatus. On the basis of the types of ambient Internet of Things devices, the proximities of the ambient Internet of Things devices to a first network device can be determined by using different measurement methods. The solution comprises: for an ambient Internet of Things device having no amplification capability, determining the proximity thereof to a first network device by means of the received power and / or received strength of at least two backscatter signals from at least two ambient Internet of Things devices; and for an ambient Internet of Things device having an amplification capability, determining the proximity thereof to the first network device on the basis of the transmit power and received power of a first signal from the ambient Internet of Things device. In addition, regardless of the types of ambient Internet of Things devices, the proximities of the ambient Internet of Things devices to the first network device can also be determined on the basis of time information of signals exchanged between the ambient Internet of Things devices and the first network device, such as propagation time and round-trip time.

Description

Proximity determination method and communication apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202411097995.8, filed on August 9, 2024, and entitled "Proximity determination method and communication apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication, and in particular, to a proximity determination method and a communication apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] With the development of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, hundreds of millions or even more IoT devices are applied in various industries. In order to reduce the size, cost, complexity and power consumption of IoT devices, IoT devices with different capabilities are usually designed. For example, some IoT devices have energy storage capability and are provided with power amplifiers (such as power amplifiers that can support receiving links and / or power amplifiers that can support sending links); while other IoT devices may not have energy storage capability and are not provided with power amplifiers. For IoT devices with limited energy storage capability (such as no energy storage capability or only provided with power amplifiers that can support receiving links but not provided with power amplifiers that can support sending links), energy collectors (such as capacitors) in the IoT devices can be considered to collect radio waves, light, motion, heat or any other forms of energy to provide energy for batteryless or energy-limited (for example, using capacitors to store energy) devices to complete communication.

[0004] However, the output power of the existing energy collector is usually small, mostly 1 micro-watt (μW) to hundreds of μW, and the collected energy is difficult to meet the energy demand of the IoT device. SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a proximity determination method and a communication apparatus, which can determine the proximity of an ambient power Internet of Things (A-IoT) device relative to a first network device (such as a reader) to save energy consumption for IoT devices with limited energy storage capability.

[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the embodiments provided by the present application include:

[0007] In a first aspect, a proximity determination method is provided, which can be used to determine the proximity between an environmental IoT device without uplink (UL) transmission amplification capability, such as an A-IoT device of Type 1 or 2a, and a first network device, such as a reader. The method comprises: receiving, by the first network device, at least two backscatter signals from each of at least two environmental IoT devices, the at least two backscatter signals being generated by each of the at least two environmental IoT devices based on at least two excitation signals, the at least two excitation signals each having a different transmission power, the at least two excitation signals being transmitted in a carrier generator-to-device (CW2D) link between a second network device and the at least two environmental IoT devices, the at least two backscatter signals being transmitted in a device-to-reader physical channel (PDRCH) between the at least two environmental IoT devices and the first network device; and determining, by the first network device, the proximity between the at least two environmental IoT devices and the first network device based on the received power and / or received strength of the at least two backscatter signals.

[0008] Based on the method, the first network device can instruct each of the at least two environmental IoT devices to transmit at least two backscatter signals to the first network device based on excitation signals with at least two different transmission powers, the first network device can measure the received power and / or received strength of the at least two backscatter signals from each of the at least two environmental IoT devices, and determine whether the at least two environmental IoT devices are proximate to the first network device based on the measured received power and / or received strength, so that the first network device can provide services for the proximate environmental IoT devices, and in turn, the environmental IoT devices proximate to the first network device can report data and / or signaling to the first network device with lower transmission power, which can save energy for devices with limited energy storage capability, and in turn, can reduce interference between environmental IoT devices and improve communication reliability and efficiency.

[0009] In some embodiments, the at least two excitation signals can be provided by an independent excitation signal generator, such as a second network device, and accordingly, the method can further comprise: transmitting, by the first network device, first control information, the first control information being used to instruct the second network device to transmit the at least two excitation signals with at least two different transmission powers to the at least two environmental IoT devices, so as to instruct an external carrier generator, such as the second network device, to provide the at least two excitation signals, the at least two environmental IoT devices can transmit the at least two backscatter signals to the first network device based on the at least two excitation signals, so as to assist the first network device to complete the measurement of the received power and / or received strength of the at least two backscatter signals, and in turn, determine whether the at least two environmental IoT devices are proximate to the first network device.

[0010] Optionally, the first control information can be carried in physical layer control signaling or high layer signaling, the physical layer control signaling including downlink control information (DCI) signaling or sidelink control information (SCI) signaling, the high layer signaling including one or more of the following: medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) signaling or radio resource control (RRC) signaling, that is, the first control information can be multiplexed with downlink signaling for transmission, to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0011] Optionally, the method can further include that the first network device receives a device type and / or a device unique identifier (ID) of the environmental Internet of Things device, the device type and / or the device unique identifier (ID) of the environmental Internet of Things device being carried in a device-to-reader (D2R) control field of the at least two backscatter signals, the D2R control field belonging to a part of a device-to-reader physical channel (PDRCH) between the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices and the first network device, to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0012] In some other embodiments, the at least two excitation signals can also be provided by the first network device, that is, the first network device is integrated with an excitation signal generator at this time, to improve integration and reduce cost; accordingly, the method can further include that the first network device transmits the at least two excitation signals with different transmission powers to the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices.

[0013] In some embodiments, the first network device determines the proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices according to the received power and / or the received intensity of the at least two backscatter signals can include that the first network device determines the proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices according to an absolute value or an average value of a difference between the received power and / or the received intensity of the at least two backscatter signals.

[0014] Based on this scheme, the absolute value or the average value of the difference between the received power and / or the received intensity can reflect the signal attenuation degree in the process of the at least two backscatter signals from the different environmental Internet of Things devices to the first network device, and the environmental Internet of Things device with a smaller attenuation degree is closer to the first network device than the environmental Internet of Things device with a larger attenuation degree, so that the relative proximity between the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices and the first network device can be determined based on the attenuation degree, to reduce the calculation complexity.

[0015] Exemplarily, the at least two environmental IoT devices include a first environmental IoT device and a second environmental IoT device; accordingly, the determining, by the first network device, the proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental IoT devices based on the absolute value or the average value of the difference between the received power and / or the received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals can include: if one or more of the following is met, it is determined that the first environmental IoT device is closer to the first network device than the second environmental IoT device: the absolute value of the difference between the received power of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than the absolute value of the difference between the received power of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair and the second pair are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or, the absolute value of the difference between the received intensity of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than the absolute value of the difference between the received intensity of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair and the second pair are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or, the average value of the difference between the received power of N groups of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than the average value of the difference between the received power of N groups of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of the first pair of the N groups of the first pair and an nth group of the second pair of the N groups of the second pair are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2; or, the average value of the difference between the received intensity of N groups of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than the average value of the difference between the received intensity of N groups of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of the first pair of the N groups of the first pair and an nth group of the second pair of the N groups of the second pair are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2.

[0016] Optionally, if one or more of the following conditions are met, it is determined that the first environmental IoT device is closer to the first network device than the second environmental IoT device: the absolute value of the difference between the received power of the first pair of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received power of the second pair of backscatter signals is greater than the received power difference threshold; or, the absolute value of the difference between the received intensity of the first pair of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received intensity of the second pair of backscatter signals is greater than the received intensity difference threshold; or, the average of the difference between the received power of each pair of backscatter signals in the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and the average of the difference between the received power of each pair of backscatter signals in the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals is greater than the received power difference threshold; or, the average of the difference between the received intensity of each pair of backscatter signals in the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and the average of the difference between the received intensity of each pair of backscatter signals in the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals is greater than the received intensity difference threshold.

[0017] Based on this scheme, on the basis of determining the relative proximity of at least two environmental IoT devices, the received power difference threshold and / or the received intensity difference threshold can be used to determine which of the at least two environmental IoT devices are adjacent to the first network device and which are not, wherein the received power difference threshold and / or the received intensity difference threshold can be the absolute value or average of the minimum received power difference and / or minimum received intensity difference that ensures that the environmental IoT device and the first network device can communicate normally, to improve communication reliability.

[0018] Exemplarily, the at least two environmental IoT devices can comprise a first environmental IoT device and a second environmental IoT device; accordingly, the determining, by the first network device, the proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental IoT devices based on the absolute value or average value of the difference between the received power of the at least two backscattering signals, can comprise: if one or more of the following conditions is met, the first environmental IoT device is determined to be closer to the first network device than the second environmental IoT device: the absolute value of the difference between the received power of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received power of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received power difference threshold, the first pair of backscattering signals and the second pair of backscattering signals are generated based on the same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or, the absolute value of the difference between the received intensity of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received intensity of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received intensity difference threshold, the first pair of backscattering signals and the second pair of backscattering signals are generated based on the same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or, the average value of the difference between the received power of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and the average value of the difference between the received power of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received power difference threshold, the nth group of first pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and the nth group of second pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on the same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2; or, the average value of the difference between the received intensity of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and the average value of the difference between the received intensity of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received intensity difference threshold, the nth group of first pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and the nth group of second pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on the same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2.

[0019] Based on the scheme, it can be determined which of the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices are adjacent to the first network device and which are not based on a difference threshold of received power and / or a difference threshold of received intensity, wherein the difference threshold of received power and / or the difference threshold of received intensity can be an absolute value or an average value of a minimum difference of received power and / or a minimum difference of received intensity that ensures that the environmental Internet of Things device and the first network device can normally communicate, so as to improve communication reliability.

[0020] Further, the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals and the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals can be generated based on the same pair of excitation signals; or the nth group of first pairs of backscatter signals in the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals and the nth group of second pairs of backscatter signals in the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals are generated based on the nth pair of excitation signals in the N pairs of excitation signals. In other words, the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals and the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals can be generated repeatedly based on the same pair of excitation signals, or can be generated based on the N pairs of excitation signals respectively, which can be flexibly selected according to actual conditions, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

[0021] In a second aspect, for an environmental Internet of Things device with amplification capability, such as a type 2b environmental Internet of Things device, a proximity determination method is also provided. The method comprises: a first network device sends second control information to an environmental Internet of Things device, the second control information instructing the environmental Internet of Things device to send a first signal; the first network device receives the first signal from the environmental Internet of Things device; and the first network device determines the proximity of the environmental Internet of Things device to the first network device according to the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal. The second control information or the first signal carries the transmission power of the first signal.

[0022] Based on the method, the first network device can control the environmental Internet of Things device to send the first signal at the indicated transmission power, or the environmental Internet of Things device reports the transmission power of the first signal through the first signal, and the first network device can measure the reception power of the first signal when receiving the first signal, and then determine the attenuation of the first signal in the process from the environmental Internet of Things device to the first network device according to the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal, and determine the proximity between the environmental Internet of Things device and the first network device according to the attenuation, and then determine whether to provide network service for the environmental Internet of Things device according to the proximity determination result.

[0023] In some implementations, the first network device determines the proximity of the environmental IoT device to the first network device according to the transmit power and the receive power of the first signal can include: if one or more of the following conditions are met, the first network device determines that the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device: the receive power of the first signal is greater than or equal to a receive power threshold; or the receive strength of the first signal is greater than a receive strength threshold; or the difference between the transmit power and the receive power of the first signal is less than or equal to a power difference threshold; or the distance between the environmental IoT device and the first network device is less than or equal to a distance threshold.

[0024] The receive power threshold and the receive strength threshold can be the minimum receive power and the minimum receive strength required to ensure normal communication between the environmental IoT device and the first network device, respectively, and their specific values can be determined according to simulation results or historical measurement results. The receive power can be the reference signal receiving power (RSRP), and the receive strength can be the received signal strength indicator (RSSI). The power difference threshold can be the maximum power difference acceptable for normal communication between the environmental IoT device and the first network device, and its specific value can also be determined according to the transmit power of the first signal, simulation results or historical measurement results.

[0025] It can be understood that when one or more of the above four conditions are met, it can be understood that the environmental IoT device is proximate or close to the first network device, and the first network device can provide services for the environmental IoT device.

[0026] In some implementations, the second control information can be carried in a reader-to-device (R2D) control field, which is part of a physical reader-to-device channel (PRDCH) between the first network device and the environmental IoT device, to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0027] Further, in the scheme where the first signal carries the transmit power of the first signal, the transmit power of the first signal can be carried in the D2R control field of the first signal, which is part of a physical device-to-reader channel (PDRCH) between the environmental IoT device and the first network device, thereby reducing signaling interaction and improving efficiency.

[0028] Optionally, the control information in the D2R control field can also carry the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device, so that the first network device provides targeted network services according to the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device.

[0029] In a third aspect, another proximity determination method is provided. The method includes: a first network device sending a second signal, the second signal being used to instruct an environmental IoT device to send a third signal, the third signal carrying a sending time of the third signal and a receiving time of the second signal, or a difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal; the first network device receiving the third signal and determining the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device based on the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal.

[0030] Based on the method, the first network device can obtain the sending time of the second signal and the receiving time of the third signal by itself. After the first network device receives the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the third signal reported by the environmental IoT device, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, the first network device can determine the propagation time of the second signal and the propagation time of the third signal, and / or the sum of the propagation time of the second signal and the propagation time of the third signal, i.e., the round trip time, and further determine whether the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device, so as to determine whether the first network device can provide services for the environmental IoT device.

[0031] It should be noted that the environmental IoT device can actively report the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or can report after receiving the indication of the first network device. Therefore, in some embodiments, the method can further include: the first network device sending third control information, the third control information being used to instruct the environmental IoT device to report the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal.

[0032] Optionally, the sending time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal, or the time difference between the sending time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal can be carried in the control information of the D2R control field of the third signal, the D2R control field being part of a device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the first network device, so as to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0033] Further, the third control information further indicates a device type and / or a device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device, the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device being carried in a D2R control field of the third signal from the device to the reader, the D2R control field belonging to a part of a device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the first network device, so as to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0034] In some embodiments, the third control information can be carried in the second signal, i.e., multiplexing the second signal to carry the third control information, so as to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0035] Optionally, the third control information can be carried in a R2D / D2R control field of the second signal, the R2D / D2R control field belonging to a part of a reader-to-device physical channel PRDCH between the first network device and the environmental IoT device, so as to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0036] In some embodiments, the first network device determines the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device based on a transmission time of the third signal and a reception time of the second signal, or a difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, which can include: if a propagation time of the second signal and / or a propagation time of the third signal is less than or equal to a propagation time threshold, it is determined that the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device, the propagation time of the second signal being a time difference between the reception time of the second signal and the transmission time of the second signal, and the propagation time of the third signal being a time difference between the reception time of the third signal and the transmission time of the third signal, i.e., whether the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device can be determined according to the propagation time of the D2R signal or the R2D signal.

[0037] Optionally, the third signal can be a message 1 (Msg1) or a message 3 (Msg3) in a random access procedure based on a slotted ALOHA mechanism, and the reception time of the third signal can be a time when D2R control information / data in the message 1 or the message 3 arrives at the first network device, i.e., the transmission of the third signal can be implemented by multiplexing the random access procedure. Since the random access procedure belongs to an initial access procedure, it is more appropriate to measure and determine whether the environmental IoT device is proximate to the first network device during the random access procedure phase. This can avoid the waste of signaling caused by discovering that the environmental IoT device is not proximate to the first network device after access, and can effectively reduce signaling overhead, thereby improving efficiency.

[0038] Optionally, the first network device can be synchronized with the environmental IoT device, and the third control information further indicates that the transmission time of the third signal is a specified time. The specified time can be a start time of a time unit, and the time unit can be one of a radio frame, a half frame, or a time slot. In other words, the first network device can infer the transmission time of the third signal according to the reception time of the third signal, i.e., the start time of the same time unit, and further determine the propagation time of the second signal.

[0039] In some embodiments, the first network device determines the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device based on the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, or the difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, including: if the round-trip time is less than or equal to a round-trip time threshold, determining that the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device; wherein the round-trip time is the time difference between the reception time of the second signal and the transmission time of the second signal, the sum of the time difference between the reception time of the third signal and the transmission time of the third signal, or the difference between the time difference between the reception time of the third signal and the transmission time of the second signal and the time difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal.

[0040] Based on this scheme, compared with the propagation time, the round-trip time can eliminate or partially eliminate the negative effects caused by the timing error of the first network device and / or the timing error of the environmental IoT device, and does not need to require the environmental IoT device and the first network device to be accurately synchronized, which can reduce the system complexity and cost, and improve the applicability and reliability.

[0041] Optionally, the second signal can be a message 2 in a random access procedure based on a slotted ALOHA mechanism, the receiving time of the second signal can be a time when R2D control information / data in the message 2 reaches the environmental IoT device; the third signal can be a message 3 in a random access procedure based on a slotted ALOHA mechanism, the receiving time of the third signal can be a time when D2R control information / data in the message 3 reaches the first network device; before the first network device sends the second signal, the method can further comprise: the first network device receives a fourth signal from the environmental IoT device, the fourth signal can be a message 1 in a random access procedure based on a slotted ALOHA mechanism, the receiving time of the fourth signal can be a time when a D2R preamble in the message 1 reaches the first network device; wherein the third signal carries the sending time of the fourth signal, the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the third signal; the round trip time can be an average of the first round trip time and the second round trip time; wherein the first round trip time can be a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the third signal, the second round trip time can be a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the fourth signal and the sending time of the fourth signal and a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal; or, the first round trip time can be a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, the second round trip time can be a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the fourth signal and a time difference between the sending time of the second signal and the receiving time of the fourth signal.

[0042] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for determining proximity between an environmental IoT device without amplification capability, such as an A-IoT device of Type 1 or 2a, and the communication apparatus. The communication apparatus comprises a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module is configured to receive at least two backscattered signals from each of at least two environmental IoT devices, the at least two backscattered signals being generated by each of the at least two environmental IoT devices based on at least two excitation signals, the at least two excitation signals having different transmission powers, the at least two excitation signals being transmitted in a carrier generator-to-device, CW2D, link between a second network device and the at least two environmental IoT devices, the at least two backscattered signals being transmitted in a device-to-reader channel, PDRCH, between the at least two environmental IoT devices and the communication apparatus. The processing module is configured to determine proximity of the communication apparatus to the at least two environmental IoT devices and the first network device based on received powers and / or received intensities of the at least two backscattered signals.

[0043] In some embodiments, the at least two excitation signals can be provided by an independent excitation signal generator, such as a second network device; accordingly, the transceiver module is further configured to send first control information, the first control information being used to instruct the second network device to send the at least two excitation signals with different transmission powers to the at least two environmental IoT devices.

[0044] Optionally, the first control information can be carried in physical layer control signaling or high layer signaling, the physical layer control signaling including downlink control information (DCI) signaling or sidelink control information (SCI) signaling, and the high layer signaling including one or more of the following: medium access control control element (MAC-CE) signaling or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0045] Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a device type and / or a device unique identifier (ID) of the environmental IoT device, the device type and / or the device unique identifier (ID) being carried in a device-to-reader (D2R) control field of the at least two backscatter signals, the D2R control field being part of a device-to-reader physical channel (PDRCH) between the at least two environmental IoT devices and the first network device.

[0046] In other embodiments, the at least two excitation signals can also be provided by the communication apparatus, i.e., the communication apparatus is integrated with an excitation signal generator; accordingly, the transceiver module is further configured to transmit the at least two excitation signals with different transmission powers to the at least two environmental IoT devices.

[0047] In some embodiments, the processing module is further configured to determine the proximity of the communication apparatus to the at least two environmental IoT devices and the first network device according to an absolute value or an average value of a difference between the received powers and / or the received intensities of the at least two backscatter signals.

[0048] Exemplarily, the at least two environmental IoT devices include a first environmental IoT device and a second environmental IoT device; correspondingly, the processing module is further configured to determine that the first environmental IoT device is closer to the communication apparatus than the second environmental IoT device if one or more of the following conditions is met: an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is smaller than an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is smaller than an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or an average value of differences between received powers of N groups of the first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is smaller than an average value of differences between received powers of N groups of the second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of the first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, 1≤n≤N, and N≥2; or an average value of differences between received intensities of N groups of the first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is smaller than an average value of differences between received intensities of N groups of the second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of the first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, 1≤n≤N, and N≥2.

[0049] Optionally, the processing module is further configured to determine that the first environmental IoT device is closer to the communication apparatus than the second environmental IoT device if one or more of the following conditions are met: an absolute value of a difference between the received power of the first pair of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold and an absolute value of a difference between the received power of the second pair of backscatter signals is greater than the received power difference threshold; or an absolute value of a difference between the received intensity of the first pair of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold and an absolute value of a difference between the received intensity of the second pair of backscatter signals is greater than the received intensity difference threshold; or an average of the difference between the received power of each of the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold and an average of the difference between the received power of each of the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals is greater than the received power difference threshold; or an average of the difference between the received intensity of each of the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold and an average of the difference between the received intensity of each of the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals is greater than the received intensity difference threshold.

[0050] Exemplarily, the at least two environmental IoT devices can include a first environmental IoT device and a second environmental IoT device; accordingly, the processing module is further configured to determine that the first environmental IoT device is closer to the communication apparatus than the second environmental IoT device if one or more of the following conditions is met: an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received power difference threshold, the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals being generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, or an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received intensity difference threshold, the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals being generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or an average value of a difference between received powers of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and an average value of a difference between received powers of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received power difference threshold, an nth group of the first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals being generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n being positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2; or an average value of a difference between received intensities of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and an average value of a difference between received intensities of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received intensity difference threshold, an nth group of the first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals being generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n being positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2.

[0051] Further, the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals can be generated based on the same pair of excitation signals; or, an nth group of first pairs of backscattering signals in the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and an nth group of second pairs of backscattering signals in the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on an nth pair of excitation signals in the N pairs of excitation signals.

[0052] It should be noted that the communication apparatus can be a first network device, such as a base station (BS) or a user equipment (UE), or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be arranged in the BS or the UE, and the present application does not limit the same.

[0053] In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus of the fourth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the proximity determination method of the first aspect, which will not be described herein.

[0054] In the fifth aspect, for an environmental Internet of Things device with amplification capability, such as a type 2b environmental Internet of Things device, a communication apparatus is further provided. The communication apparatus comprises a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module is configured to send second control information to the environmental Internet of Things device, and the second control information indicates the environmental Internet of Things device to send a first signal. The transceiver module is further configured to receive the first signal from the environmental Internet of Things device. The processing module is configured to determine the proximity between the environmental Internet of Things device and the first network device according to the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal. The second control information or the first signal carries the transmission power of the first signal.

[0055] In some implementations, the processing module is further configured to determine that the environmental Internet of Things device is close to the communication apparatus if one or more of the following conditions are met: the reception power of the first signal is greater than or equal to a reception power threshold; or, the reception strength of the first signal is greater than a reception strength threshold; or, the difference between the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal is less than or equal to a power difference threshold; or, the distance between the environmental Internet of Things device and the communication apparatus is less than or equal to a distance threshold.

[0056] In some implementations, the second control information can be carried in a reader-to-device (R2D) control field, and the R2D control field belongs to a part of a reader-to-device physical channel (PRDCH) between the first network device and the environmental Internet of Things device.

[0057] Further, in the scheme in which the first signal carries the transmission power of the first signal, the transmission power of the first signal can be carried in a device-to-reader (D2R) control field, and the D2R control field belongs to a part of a device-to-reader physical channel (PDRCH) between the environmental Internet of Things device and the communication apparatus.

[0058] Optionally, the control information in the D2R control field can also carry the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device.

[0059] It should be noted that the communication device can be a first network device, such as a BS or a UE, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be arranged in the BS or the UE, and the present application does not limit the same.

[0060] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device of the fifth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the proximity determination method of the second aspect, which will not be described here.

[0061] In a sixth aspect, another communication device is provided. The communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module is configured to send a second signal, the second signal being used to instruct an environmental IoT device to send a third signal. The transceiver module is further configured to receive the third signal, the third signal carrying a sending time of the third signal and a receiving time of the second signal, or a difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal. The processing module is configured to determine a proximity between the environmental IoT device and the communication device based on the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal.

[0062] In some embodiments, the transceiver module is further configured to send third control information, the third control information being used to instruct the environmental IoT device to report the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal.

[0063] Optionally, the sending time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal, or the time difference between the sending time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal can be carried in the control information of the D2R control field of the third signal, and the D2R control field belongs to a part of a device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the communication device.

[0064] Further, the third control information further instructs to report the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device, and the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device is carried in the D2R control field of the third signal device-to-reader, and the D2R control field belongs to a part of a device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the first network device.

[0065] In some embodiments, the third control information can be carried in the second signal.

[0066] Optionally, the third control information can be carried in a reader-to-device R2D / D2R control field of the second signal, the R2D / D2R control field belonging to a part of a reader-to-device physical channel PRDCH between the first network device and the environmental IoT device.

[0067] In some embodiments, the processing module is further configured to determine that the environmental IoT device is close to the communication apparatus if a propagation time of the second signal and / or a propagation time of the third signal is less than or equal to a propagation time threshold, the propagation time of the second signal being a time difference between a receiving time of the second signal and a sending time of the second signal, and the propagation time of the third signal being a time difference between a receiving time of the third signal and a sending time of the third signal.

[0068] Optionally, the third signal can be a message 1 (Msg1) or a message 3 (Msg3) in a random access procedure based on a slotted ALOHA mechanism, and the receiving time of the third signal is a time when D2R control information / data in the message 1 or the message 3 reaches the communication apparatus.

[0069] Optionally, the communication apparatus and the environmental IoT device can be synchronized, and the third control information further indicates that the sending time of the third signal is a specified time. The specified time can be a start time of a time unit, and the time unit can be one of a radio frame, a half frame, or a time slot.

[0070] In some embodiments, the processing module is further configured to determine that the environmental IoT device is close to the communication apparatus if a round trip time is less than or equal to a round trip time threshold, the round trip time being a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the third signal, or the round trip time being a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal.

[0071] Optionally, the second signal can be a message 2 in a random access procedure based on a slotted ALOHA mechanism, the receiving time of the second signal is a time when R2D control information / data in the message 2 reaches the environmental Internet of Things device; the third signal is a message 3 in the random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, the receiving time of the third signal is a time when D2R control information / data in the message 3 reaches the communication apparatus; the transceiver module is further configured to receive a fourth signal from the environmental Internet of Things device before sending the second signal, the fourth signal can be a message 1 in the random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, the receiving time of the fourth signal is a time when a D2R preamble in the message 1 reaches the communication apparatus; wherein the third signal carries a sending time of the fourth signal, a receiving time of the second signal, and a sending time of the third signal; the round trip time is an average of the first round trip time and the second round trip time; wherein the first round trip time can be a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the third signal, and the second round trip time can be a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the fourth signal and the sending time of the fourth signal and a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal; or, the first round trip time can be a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, and the second round trip time can be a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the fourth signal and a time difference between the sending time of the second signal and the receiving time of the fourth signal.

[0072] It should be noted that the communication apparatus can be a first network device, such as a BS or a UE, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be arranged in the BS or the UE, and the present application does not limit the same.

[0073] In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus of the sixth aspect can refer to the technical effects of the proximity determination method of the third aspect, which will not be described here.

[0074] The transceiver module of the fourth aspect to the sixth aspect is used to realize the transceiving function. Further, the transceiver module can include a receiving module and a sending module. The sending module and the receiving module are respectively used to realize the sending function and the receiving function of the communication apparatus of the fourth aspect to the sixth aspect.

[0075] Optionally, the communication apparatus of the fourth aspect to the sixth aspect can further include a storage module, which stores a program or an instruction. When the processing module executes the program or the instruction, the communication apparatus of the fourth aspect to the sixth aspect can execute the proximity determination method of any implementation manner of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0076] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The apparatus can include a module or means for performing any one of the aspects or implementation forms of the first to third aspects.

[0077] In a possible design of the seventh aspect, the communication apparatus can be the first network device, e.g., a base station or a reader, or a chip (system) or other component or element configured in the base station or the reader.

[0078] It should be understood that the communication apparatus includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the proximity determination method in any one of the implementation forms of the first to third aspects, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by a combination of hardware and software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units for performing functions involved in the proximity determination method.

[0079] In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus can refer to those of the proximity determination method in any one of the implementation forms of the first to third aspects, which will not be repeated here.

[0080] In an eighth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The apparatus can include a processor coupled with a memory, the memory configured to store a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the proximity determination method in any one of the implementation forms of the first to third aspects.

[0081] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can further include a transceiver. The transceiver can be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be configured to enable the communication apparatus to communicate with other communication apparatuses.

[0082] In this application, the communication apparatus can be the first network device, e.g., a base station or a reader, or a chip (system) or other component or element configured in the base station or the reader.

[0083] In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus can refer to those of the proximity determination method in any one of the implementation forms of the first to third aspects, which will not be repeated here.

[0084] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system can include a first network device, and one or more environmental IoT devices.

[0085] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium can store computer programs or instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the proximity determination method in any one of the implementation forms of the first to third aspects.

[0086] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer program codes. When the computer program codes are run on a computer, the computer is caused to implement the proximity determination method according to any implementation of the first aspect to the third aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0087] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system in a deployment scenario 1 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system in a deployment scenario 2 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system in the deployment scenario 1 and the deployment scenario 2 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a frame format according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a proximity determination method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the frame format according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a scenario to which the proximity determination method according to an embodiment of the present application is applied;

[0094] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a proximity determination method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the frame format according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a proximity determination method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0097] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the frame format according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0098] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the proximity determination method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a scenario to which the proximity determination method according to an embodiment of the present application is applied;

[0100] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of the proximity determination method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0101] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of the proximity determination method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0102] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0103] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0104] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0105] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as an environmental Internet of Things, a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a vehicle to everything (V2X) communication system, a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a vehicle Internet of Things communication system, a 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system such as a long term evolution (LTE) system, a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system such as a new radio (NR) system, and a future communication system such as a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, and the like.

[0106] The present application will present various aspects, embodiments or features around a system which can include a plurality of devices, components, modules, and the like. It should be understood and appreciated that each of the various systems can include additional devices, components, modules, and the like, and / or can not include all of the devices, components, modules, and the like discussed in connection with the figures. Additionally, a combination of these approaches can be used.

[0107] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the words “exemplary”, “for example”, and the like are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any implementation or design scheme described as “exemplary” in the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other implementations or design schemes. Rather, the word “exemplary” is used to present concepts in a concrete manner.

[0108] In the embodiments of the present application, “information”, “signal”, “message”, “channel”, and “signaling” can be used interchangeably at times, and it should be pointed out that the meanings expressed are consistent when the distinction is not emphasized. “Of”, “corresponding”, and “corresponding” can be used interchangeably at times, and it should be pointed out that the meanings expressed are consistent when the distinction is not emphasized.

[0109] In the embodiments of the present application, sometimes the subscript such as W1 may be mistakenly written in the form of non-subscript such as W1, and the meanings expressed thereby are consistent when no emphasis is placed on the distinction.

[0110] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, first, the related technologies and technical terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are introduced.

[0111] In recent years, the Internet of Things has attracted widespread attention in the field of wireless communication. It is expected that more and more "things" will be connected to each other to improve production efficiency and living comfort. In order to further reduce the size, complexity, cost and power consumption of Internet of Things devices, hundreds of billions or even trillions of Internet of Things devices can be deployed for various applications and provide additional value to the entire value chain. Generally, all Internet of Things devices are not manually replaced with rechargeable batteries to provide power, otherwise it will lead to high maintenance costs, serious environmental problems, and even safety hazards.

[0112] However, most of the existing wireless communication devices are powered by batteries and need to be manually replaced or charged. Automation and digitization in various industries require new Internet of Things technologies to support devices without energy storage capabilities, such as battery-free devices, or energy storage devices that do not need to be manually replaced or charged. Therefore, Internet of Things use cases, traffic scenarios, device limitations are being studied for collecting environmental energy to support communication, and new potential service requirements and new key performance indicators (KPIs) are being determined. For example, it can be considered to provide energy for battery-free or limited energy storage (e.g., using capacitors) devices by collecting radio waves, light, motion, heat, or any other form of energy.

[0113] Generally, the output power of the energy collector provided for devices without energy storage capabilities or devices with limited energy storage capabilities is usually small, mostly 1 μW to hundreds of μW, and the collected energy is difficult to meet the energy demand of the device, and will result in too short effective communication distance of the Internet of Things device, which may be only a few tens of centimeters or a few meters. An example type of application is asset identification, which currently mainly relies on barcodes and radio frequency identification (RFID) in most industries. The main advantages of these two technologies are the ultra-low complexity and small size of the tags. However, due to the effective communication distance of up to a few meters, these RFID devices usually need to be scanned by a handheld reader, which will result in intensive labor and time-consuming operations, or a large number of RFID devices need to be deployed, but this will result in high deployment costs. In addition, the lack of interference management solutions results in serious interference problems between RFID readers and RFID devices, and between RFID devices, especially in the case of dense deployment, thereby making it difficult for RFID identification technology to support seamless coverage of large-scale networks.

[0114] It can be seen that in the case of large-scale dense deployment of the above A-IoT devices without energy storage capability or with limited energy storage capability (such as RFID access control), how to accurately determine the proximity between the A-IoT devices and the reader, and reduce or eliminate interference between each other based on the proximity, to improve communication quality and efficiency, are problems to be solved.

[0115] Among them, proximity is used to represent the distance between the A-IoT device and the reader. Therefore, the reader can only communicate with one or more A-IoT devices closest to itself (or the distance is less than or equal to a preset threshold), and does not communicate with A-IoT devices far away (such as the distance is greater than the preset threshold), so that the A-IoT device can report data and / or signaling to the reader with lower transmission power, to eliminate or reduce interference between A-IoT devices, and improve communication reliability and efficiency.

[0116] The types of A-IoT devices involved in the embodiments of the present application include:

[0117] Type 1: The peak power consumption is about 1 μW, has a simple energy storage device such as a storage capacitor, and the initial sampling frequency offset (SFO) is up to 10 X ppm (X is a positive integer), and neither downlink (DL) amplification circuit nor uplink (UL) amplification circuit is provided in the device, and the UL transmission of the device is performed in the form of backscattering on an externally provided carrier (also referred to as an excitation signal).

[0118] Type 2a: The peak power consumption is usually less than or equal to a few hundred μW, has a simple energy storage device such as a storage capacitor, and the SFO is up to 10 X ppm (X is a positive integer), and has no amplification capability, and the UL transmission of the device is still performed in the form of backscattering on an externally provided carrier.

[0119] Type 2b: The peak power consumption is usually less than or equal to a few hundred μW, has a reliable energy storage device such as a battery, and the SFO is up to 10 X ppm (X is a positive integer), and can perform DL transmission amplification and / or amplification in the device, and the UL transmission of the device is generated internally (built-in UL power amplifier).

[0120] It can be seen that the type 1 and type 2a A-IoT devices are both energy storage capability limited devices, and the UL transmission needs to rely on an external device, such as a carrier wave generator (CW), to provide an excitation signal, and the type 1 and type 2a A-IoT devices can use the to-be-sent signal to modulate the excitation signal provided by the CW, and transmit the modulated excitation signal carrying the to-be-sent signal; the type 2b A-IoT device has complete amplification capability and can complete DL transmission and UL transmission by itself, without the need for a CW to provide an excitation signal.

[0121] The above various types of A-IoT devices can be deployed in various scenarios, such as the following deployment scenario 1 (indoor-to-indoor, topology 1) scenario and deployment scenario 2 (indoor-to-outdoor, topology 2). The following will be described respectively.

[0122] Exemplarily, FIG. 1 is an architecture schematic diagram of a communication system of the deployment scenario 1 provided by the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the network architecture includes a BS and an ambient IoT device, and the ambient IoT device can directly perform uplink and downlink bidirectional communication with the BS, so as to transmit A-IoT data and / or signaling between the A-IoT device and the BS. The BS can be an indoor microcell station, such as a home base station, an access point, etc.

[0123] Exemplarily, FIG. 2 is an architecture schematic diagram of a communication system of the deployment scenario 2 provided by the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2, the network architecture includes a BS, an ambient IoT device and an intermediate node, and the uplink and downlink bidirectional communication between the ambient IoT device and the BS is all forwarded through the intermediate node, so as to transmit A-IoT data and / or signaling between the A-IoT device and the BS. The intermediate node can be an A-IoT capable UE, such as an ambient IoT enabled mobile phone, etc., and the BS can be an outdoor macrocell station.

[0124] It should be noted that the BS (microcell station) in the above deployment scenario 1 and the intermediate node in the deployment scenario 2 can directly communicate with the A-IoT device, such as directly reading the data collected by the A-IoT device, for example, environmental data (such as temperature, humidity, air pressure, etc.) and the state of the A-IoT device itself, etc., or instructing the A-IoT device to perform a measurement task, which is also commonly referred to as a reader / writer.

[0125] Exemplarily, FIG. 3 is several example diagrams of communication systems of the deployment scenario 1 and the deployment scenario 2 provided by the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 3, (a) to (d) are four examples of the deployment scenario 1, and (e) to (h) are four examples of the deployment scenario 2. Among them, R1 and R2 represent the reader, D represents the A-IoT device, BS represents the macro cell base station, CW represents the carrier generator, R2D represents the link from the reader to the A-IoT device, which is used for the reader to send data and / or signaling, such as read (read) command, write (write) command, and the like, to the A-IoT device, CW2D represents the link from the CW to the A-IoT device, which is used for the CW to transmit a carrier signal (excitation signal) to the A-IoT device, and D2R represents the link from the A-IoT device to the reader, which is used for the A-IoT device to send data and / or signaling to the reader.

[0126] It is easy to understand that, for the A-IoT device with amplification capability, such as the A-IoT device of the type 2b described above, the CW does not need to be deployed, as shown in (d) and (h) of FIG. 3, while for the A-IoT device without amplification capability, such as the A-IoT device of the type 1 and the type 2a described above, the CW needs to be deployed, as shown in (a) to (c) and (e) to (f) of FIG. 3. Further, for the case where the CW needs to be deployed, the CW can be deployed together with the reader, as shown in (a), (b), (e) and (f) of FIG. 3, or can be independently deployed, as shown in (c) and (g) of FIG. 3, which is not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0127] In addition, in the above deployment scenario 1 and deployment scenario 2, the spectrum considered to be used can be the FR1 licensed spectrum in frequency-division duplex (FDD), can be in-band to NR, guard band to NR or independent frequency band. The traffic type that can be considered can be device-originated-device-terminated triggered (DO-DTT), device-terminated (DT), and the focus is on indoor inventory and indoor command representative use cases. The study also evaluates whether a unified air interface can solve the device-originated-autonomous (DO-A) use case.

[0128] Among them, the representative use cases (rUCs) can include the following use cases for deployment scenarios and connection topologies:

[0129] rUC1: indoor inventory;

[0130] rUC2: indoor sensing;

[0131] rUC3: indoor positioning;

[0132] rUC4: indoor command.

[0133] In summary, various types of A-IoT devices generally have different capabilities. To this end, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can design different measurement methods for various types of A-IoT devices with different capabilities, and determine the proximity of various types of A-IoT devices based on the measurement results.

[0134] Exemplarily, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a frame format provided by the embodiments of the present application. As shown in (a) of FIG. 4, the frame format is used for the reader to send data and / or signaling to the A-IoT device, and mainly includes the following fields or domains:

[0135] R2D preamble, used to carry a preamble for R2D link synchronization;

[0136] R2D / D2R control domain, wherein the R2D part is used to carry configuration information of the R2D link, such as resource configuration information of the R2D link, modulation and coding scheme, etc., which can be used for the A-IoT device to decode the received R2D data (data carried by the PRDCH described below), and the D2R part is used to carry configuration information of the A-IoT device to send D2R data (such as measurement data and the state of the A-IoT device) to the reader, such as resource configuration information of the D2R link, modulation and coding scheme, etc.;

[0137] Physical reader-to-device channel (PRDCH), used for the reader to send data and / or signaling of the R2D link to the A-IoT device;

[0138] Cyclic redundancy check (CRC), used for the A-IoT device to check the D2R frame from the reader.

[0139] As shown in (b) of FIG. 4, the frame format is used for the A-IoT device to send data and / or signaling to the reader, and mainly includes the following fields or domains:

[0140] D2R preamble, used to carry a preamble for D2R link synchronization;

[0141] D2R control field, used to carry configuration information of D2R data (e.g. data carried by PDRCH, which can include measurement data and state of A-IoT device, etc.) sent by A-IoT device to reader, such as resource configuration information of D2R link, modulation and coding scheme, etc.

[0142] PDRCH (physical device-to-reader channel), used to send D2R data and / or signaling from reader to A-IoT device;

[0143] CRC, used to check D2R frame from A-IoT device by reader.

[0144] In combination with (a) and (b) in FIG. 4, different measurement tasks can be configured for A-IoT devices with different capabilities to determine proximity. For example, as shown in (a) of FIG. 4, the reader can carry device type or device identifier of A-IoT device in R2D / D2R control field to A-IoT device, so as to issue measurement tasks matching the capability of A-IoT device for different types of A-IoT device. Similarly, as shown in (b) of FIG. 4, A-IoT device can also carry its own device type and / or device identifier in D2R control field to report to reader, so as to distinguish the measurement data and device state information reported by different types of A-IoT device, so as to provide services for different types of A-IoT device, such as customizing different proximity determination schemes, etc.

[0145] It should be noted that the proximity determination method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the communication between the reader and A-IoT device in any of the network architectures of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, and the specific implementation can refer to the method embodiments described below, which will not be described here.

[0146] It should be noted that the scheme in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other communication systems, and the corresponding names can also be replaced by the names of the corresponding functions in other communication systems.

[0147] It should be understood that FIG. 1, FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 is only a simplified schematic diagram for illustration, and other devices can also be included in the communication system, which are not shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 or FIG. 3.

[0148] The proximity determination method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with FIG. 5-FIG. 15.

[0149] Exemplarily, FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a proximity determination method provided by the embodiments of the present application, which is applicable to the environmental Internet of Things device without amplification capability. The proximity determination method can be applied to the communication between the first network device, the second network device and the environmental Internet of Things device. Taking (c) or (g) in FIG. 3 as an example, the first network device can be a reader (labeled as R in (c) or (g) in FIG. 3), the second network device can be a carrier generator (labeled as CW in (c) or (g) in FIG. 3), and the environmental Internet of Things device can be an A-IoT device (labeled as D in (c) or (g) in FIG. 3). Among them, the environmental Internet of Things device can be an environmental Internet of Things device without amplification capability, such as a Type 1 or Type 2a A-IoT device, and the first network device can be independently deployed with the second network device or integrated together.

[0150] As shown in FIG. 5, the method comprises the following steps:

[0151] S501, each of the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices sends at least two backscattering signals to the first network device, the at least two backscattering signals are backscattering signals generated by each environmental Internet of Things device based on at least two excitation signals, the transmission power of the at least two excitation signals is different from each other, the at least two excitation signals are transmitted in a carrier generator to device CW2D link between the second network device and the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices, and the at least two backscattering signals are transmitted in a device to reader physical channel PDRCH between the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices and the first network device. Accordingly, the first network device receives at least two backscattering signals from each of the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices.

[0152] S502, the first network device determines the proximity of the first network device and the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices to the first network device according to the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals.

[0153] Based on the method, the first network device can instruct each of the at least two environmental IoT devices to send at least two backscattering signals to the first network device based on at least two excitation signals of different transmission powers, the first network device can measure the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals from each environmental IoT device, and determine whether the at least two environmental IoT devices are proximate to the first network device according to the measured received power and / or received intensity, so that the first network device provides services for the proximate environmental IoT devices, and in turn, the environmental IoT devices proximate to the first network device can report data and / or signaling to the first network device with lower transmission power, which can save energy consumption for devices with limited energy storage capability, and in turn, can reduce interference between environmental IoT devices, improve communication reliability and efficiency.

[0154] In some embodiments, the at least two excitation signals can be provided by an independent excitation signal generator, such as a second network device; accordingly, the method can further include:

[0155] S503, the first network device sends first control information, the first control information being used to instruct the second network device to send at least two excitation signals of different transmission powers to the at least two environmental IoT devices; accordingly, the second network device receives the first control information.

[0156] S504, the second network device sends the at least two excitation signals of different transmission powers based on the first control information; accordingly, each of the at least two environmental IoT devices can send at least two backscattering signals to the first network device based on the at least two excitation signals of different transmission powers after receiving the at least two excitation signals of different transmission powers, i.e., performing S501 described above.

[0157] Based on the scheme, the first network device can instruct an external carrier generator, such as a second network device, to provide at least two excitation signals, and each of the at least two environmental IoT devices can send at least two backscattering signals to the first network device based on the at least two excitation signals, to assist the first network device to complete the measurement of the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals, and in turn, determine whether the at least two environmental IoT devices are proximate to the first network device.

[0158] Optionally, the first control information can be carried in physical layer (PHY, layer 1, L1) control signaling or high layer signaling. The physical layer control signaling can include DCI signaling or physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) signaling, and the high layer signaling can include layer 2 (L2) signaling such as MAC CE signaling and / or layer 3 (L3) signaling such as RRC signaling. That is, the first control information can be multiplexed with downlink signaling to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0159] In some embodiments, the method can further include: the at least two environmental IoT devices sending their device types and / or device unique identification numbers (IDs) to the first network device; and the first network device receiving the device types and / or device unique identification numbers of the environmental IoT devices, so that the first network device provides targeted network services according to the device types and / or device unique identification numbers of the environmental IoT devices.

[0160] Optionally, as shown in (a) of FIG. 6, the first network device can carry the types or device unique identification numbers (IDs) of the environmental IoT devices in the R2D / D2R control domain to the A-IoT devices, so as to issue measurement tasks matching the capabilities of the environmental IoT devices to environmental IoT devices of different types.

[0161] Optionally, as shown in (b) of FIG. 6, the device types and / or device unique identification numbers of the environmental IoT devices can be carried in the D2R control domain of the at least two backscatter signals, that is, the device types and / or device unique identification numbers of the environmental IoT devices are reported by multiplexing the backscatter signals, thereby reducing signaling interaction and improving efficiency.

[0162] If the first network device needs to configure different measurement tasks according to the types of the environmental IoT devices, the first network device can further send configuration information of different measurement tasks to environmental IoT devices of different types, which can include the device types and / or device unique identification numbers of the environmental IoT devices. The IDs of the environmental IoT devices can correspond to the device types of the environmental IoT devices.

[0163] The at least two excitation signals can be carrier signals for providing carriers and energy for environmental IoT devices without amplification capability, so that the environmental IoT devices send data and / or signaling to the first network device based on the at least two excitation signals. The data and / or signaling can be carried in the at least two backscatter signals.

[0164] Exemplarily, the first network device or the second network device can transmit at least two excitation signals with different transmission powers to the environmental Internet of Things devices in a certain order. Correspondingly, after any environmental Internet of Things device receives any excitation signal, the environmental Internet of Things device can carry data and / or signaling to be sent to the first network device on the excitation signal, for example, the environmental Internet of Things device can generate a corresponding baseband signal from the data and / or signaling to be sent, and modulate the any excitation signal by using the baseband signal, and then send the modulated excitation signal in a backscattering manner.

[0165] In other embodiments, when the first network device integrates the excitation signal generator, the at least two excitation signals with different transmission powers can also be provided by the first network device, that is, the first network device can send the at least two excitation signals with different transmission powers by itself, and perform the functions of S503 and S504 described above; correspondingly, the method can further include:

[0166] The first network device transmits at least two excitation signals with different transmission powers to at least two environmental Internet of Things devices.

[0167] Based on this scheme, the first network device and the second network device can be integrated together, or the first network device also has the function of the second network device, so as to improve the integration degree and reduce the cost.

[0168] In some embodiments, S502, the first network device determines the proximity of the first network device and the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices to the first network device according to the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals, can include:

[0169] The first network device determines the proximity of the first network device and the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices to the first network device according to the absolute value or average value of the difference between the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals.

[0170] Based on this scheme, the absolute value or average value of the difference between the received power and / or received intensity can reflect the signal attenuation degree in the process of the at least two backscattering signals from each environmental Internet of Things device to the first network device, and the environmental Internet of Things device with smaller signal attenuation degree is closer to the first network device than the environmental Internet of Things device with larger signal attenuation degree, so as to determine the relative proximity between the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices and the first network device.

[0171] In some embodiments, the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices include a first environmental Internet of Things device and a second environmental Internet of Things device; correspondingly, the first network device determines the proximity of the first network device and the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices to the first network device according to the absolute value or average value of the difference between the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals, can include:

[0172] If one or more of the following are satisfied, the first environmental IoT device is determined to be closer to the first network device than the second environmental IoT device:

[0173] An absolute value of a difference between received powers of a first pair of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a second pair of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair of backscattering signals and the second pair of backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers, or,

[0174] An absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a first pair of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a second pair of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair of backscattering signals and the second pair of backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or,

[0175] An average value of differences between received powers of N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than an average value of differences between received powers of N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of first pairs of backscattering signals from the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and an nth group of second pairs of backscattering signals from the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2; or,

[0176] An average value of differences between received intensities of N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than an average value of differences between received intensities of N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of first pairs of backscattering signals from the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and an nth group of second pairs of backscattering signals from the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2.

[0177] Exemplarily, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a scenario to which the proximity determination method shown in FIG. 5 is applicable. In FIG. 7, the first network device can be a reader-writer, the second network device can be a CW, the first ambient Internet of Things device and the second ambient Internet of Things device can be A-IoT1 and A-IoT2 respectively, the first transmission power can be 10 dBm, and the second transmission power can be -10 dBm. As shown in FIG. 7, the reader-writer instructs the CW to transmit a first excitation signal and a second excitation signal (i.e., signals on the CW2D link in the figure) at 10 dBm and -10 dBm respectively. Then, after receiving the two excitation signals, A-IoT1 and A-IoT2 both transmit a first backscattering signal and a second backscattering signal (i.e., signals on the D2R link in the figure) to the reader-writer based on the two excitation signals. Subsequently, the reader-writer can determine, according to the absolute value or average value of the difference (difference 1) between the received powers of the first backscattering signal and the second backscattering signal transmitted by A-IoT1, or the difference (difference 1) between the received intensities of the first backscattering signal and the second backscattering signal transmitted by A-IoT1, and according to the difference (difference 2) between the received powers of the first backscattering signal and the second backscattering signal transmitted by A-IoT2, or the difference (difference 2) between the received intensities of the first backscattering signal and the second backscattering signal transmitted by A-IoT2, that the distance between A-IoT1 and the first network device is less than the distance between A-IoT2 and the first network device, and that A-IoT1 is closer to the reader-writer than A-IoT2, if difference 1 < difference 2, or difference 1 < difference 2. The received power and the received intensity can be measured when the reader-writer receives the first backscattering signal and the second backscattering signal, the received power can be RSRP, and the received intensity can be RSSI. Accordingly, the difference between the received powers can be the difference between RSRPs, denoted as ΔRSRP, and the difference between the received intensities can be the difference between RSSIs, denoted as ΔRSSI. The measurement and calculation method of ΔRSRP is shown in the formula in FIG. 7, and ΔRSSI can be obtained by a similar method, which will not be described herein again.

[0178] Further, the absolute value or average value of the difference between the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals from the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices can be sorted, and then a preset proportion or a preset number of environmental Internet of Things devices with the smallest absolute value or average value of the difference between the received power and / or received intensity are determined as the environmental Internet of Things devices adjacent to the first network device, and the remaining environmental Internet of Things devices are determined as the environmental Internet of Things devices not adjacent to the first network device. The preset proportion or the preset number can be determined according to the total number of environmental Internet of Things devices and the capacity of the first network device (the maximum number of environmental Internet of Things devices that can be served, i.e., the maximum number of users). For example, the first network device can receive backscattering signals from 50 environmental Internet of Things devices, and the first network device can simultaneously serve 40 environmental Internet of Things devices, the preset proportion can be set to 50%, 70%, 80%, etc., and the preset number can be 20, 25, 32, etc., that is, the preset number or the number of environmental Internet of Things devices obtained by converting the preset proportion should not be greater than the system capacity of the first network device.

[0179] In some other embodiments, the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices can include a first environmental Internet of Things device and a second environmental Internet of Things device; accordingly, the first network device determines the proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices according to the absolute value or average value of the difference between the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals can include:

[0180] If one or more of the following conditions are met, it is determined that the first environmental Internet of Things device is closer to the first network device than the second environmental Internet of Things device:

[0181] The absolute value of the difference between the received power of a first pair of backscattering signals in the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental Internet of Things device is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received power of a second pair of backscattering signals in the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental Internet of Things device is greater than the received power difference threshold, the first pair of backscattering signals and the second pair of backscattering signals are generated based on the same pair of excitation signals, and the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers, or

[0182] The absolute value of the difference between the received intensity of a first pair of backscattering signals in the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental Internet of Things device is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received intensity of a second pair of backscattering signals in the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental Internet of Things device is greater than the received intensity difference threshold, the first pair of backscattering signals and the second pair of backscattering signals are generated based on the same pair of excitation signals, and the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or

[0183] an average of a difference of received power of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals of the first environmental Internet of Things device is less than or equal to a difference of received power threshold, and an average of a difference of received power of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals of the second environmental Internet of Things device is greater than the difference of received power threshold, an nth group of the first pairs of backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmitting powers, N and n are positive integers, 1≤n≤N, and N≥2; or

[0184] an average of a difference of received power of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals of the first environmental Internet of Things device is less than or equal to a difference of received power threshold, and an average of a difference of received power of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals of the second environmental Internet of Things device is greater than the difference of received power threshold, an nth group of the first pairs of backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmitting powers, N and n are positive integers, 1≤n≤N, and N≥2.

[0185] Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 7, the first network device can be the reader-writer in FIG. 7, the second network device can be the CW in FIG. 7, the first and second ambient Internet of Things devices can be A-IoT1 and A-IoT2 in FIG. 7 respectively, the first transmission power can be 10 dBm, and the second transmission power can be -10 dBm. As shown in FIG. 7, the reader-writer instructs the CW to transmit the first and second excitation signals (i.e. the signals on the CW2D link in the figure) at 10 dBm and -10 dBm respectively. Then, after receiving the two excitation signals, A-IoT1 and A-IoT2 both transmit the first and second backscattering signals (i.e. the signals on the D2R link in the figure) to the reader-writer based on the two excitation signals. Subsequently, the reader-writer can determine that A-IoT1 is close to the reader-writer and A-IoT2 is not close to the reader-writer according to the absolute value or average value of the difference in received power (difference 1 in received power) between the first and second backscattering signals transmitted by A-IoT1, or the difference in received intensity (difference 1 in received intensity) between the first and second backscattering signals, and according to the difference in received power (difference 2 in received power) between the first and second backscattering signals transmitted by A-IoT2, or the difference in received intensity (difference 2 in received intensity) between the first and second backscattering signals, if difference 1 in received power≤ difference threshold in received power, and difference 2 in received power> difference threshold in received power, or if difference 1 in received intensity≤ difference threshold in received intensity, and difference 2 in received intensity> difference threshold in received intensity.

[0186] Based on this scheme, the difference threshold in received power and / or the difference threshold in received intensity can be combined to determine which of the at least two ambient Internet of Things devices are close to the first network device and which are not, wherein the difference threshold in received power and / or the difference threshold in received intensity can be the absolute value or average value of the minimum difference in received power and / or the minimum difference in received intensity that ensures that the ambient Internet of Things device and the first network device can normally communicate, so as to improve the communication reliability.

[0187] It should be noted that the above schemes for determining relative proximity and threshold schemes can also be combined. Exemplarily, on the basis of having determined the relative proximity of the at least two ambient Internet of Things devices, if one or more of the following conditions are met, it is determined that the first ambient Internet of Things device is closer to the first network device than the second ambient Internet of Things device:

[0188] The absolute value of the difference in received power of the first pair of backscattering signals is less than or equal to the difference threshold in received power, and the absolute value of the difference in received power of the second pair of backscattering signals is greater than the difference threshold in received power; or,

[0189] The absolute value of the difference in received intensity of the first pair of backscattering signals is less than or equal to the difference threshold in received intensity, and the absolute value of the difference in received intensity of the second pair of backscattering signals is greater than the difference threshold in received intensity; or,

[0190] the average value of the difference between the received powers of each pair of backscatter signals in the Nth group of first pairs of backscatter signals is less than or equal to the difference between received power threshold, and the average value of the difference between the received powers of each pair of backscatter signals in the Nth group of second pairs of backscatter signals is greater than the difference between received power threshold; or,

[0191] the average value of the difference between the received intensities of each pair of backscatter signals in the Nth group of first pairs of backscatter signals is less than or equal to the difference between received intensity threshold, and the average value of the difference between the received intensities of each pair of backscatter signals in the Nth group of second pairs of backscatter signals is greater than the difference between received intensity threshold.

[0192] As shown in FIG. 7, in combination with the foregoing example, taking ΔRSRP as an example, the absolute value or average value of the difference between the received powers of A-IoT1 is less than the absolute value or average value of the difference between the received powers of A-IoT2, that is, A-IoT1 is closer to the reader-writer than A-IoT2. Then, assuming that the difference between received power threshold is 10 dB, if the ΔRSRP of the backscatter signal of A-IoT1 is ≤10 dB, and the ΔRSRP of the backscatter signal of A-IoT2 is >10 dB, it is considered that A-IoT1 is adjacent to the reader-writer, and A-IoT2 is not adjacent to the reader-writer.

[0193] Based on this scheme, on the basis of determining the relative proximity of the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices, the difference between received power threshold and / or the difference between received intensity threshold can be used to determine which of the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices are adjacent to the first network device and which are not, wherein the difference between received power threshold and / or the difference between received intensity threshold can be the absolute value or average value of the minimum difference between received power and / or the minimum difference between received intensity that ensures that the environmental Internet of Things device and the first network device can normally communicate, so as to improve communication reliability.

[0194] Further, the Nth group of first pairs of backscatter signals and the Nth group of second pairs of backscatter signals can be generated based on the same pair of excitation signals; or,

[0195] the Nth group of first pairs of backscatter signals and the Nth group of second pairs of backscatter signals are generated based on the Nth pair of excitation signals in the N pairs of excitation signals.

[0196] In other words, the Nth group of first pairs of backscatter signals and the Nth group of second pairs of backscatter signals can be repeatedly generated based on the same pair of excitation signals, or can be generated based on the N pairs of excitation signals respectively, which can be flexibly selected according to actual conditions, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

[0197] For the environmental IoT device with amplification capability, such as the type 2b environmental IoT device, the embodiment of the present application further provides a proximity determination method, which can be applied to the communication between the first network device and the environmental IoT device. Since the type 2b environmental IoT device has autonomous amplification capability, it does not need the CW to provide the excitation signal. The following will be described in detail in combination with FIG. 8 and FIG. 9.

[0198] Exemplarily, FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of another proximity determination method provided by the embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 8, the method comprises the following steps.

[0199] S801, the first network device sends second control information to the environmental IoT device, and the second control information instructs the environmental IoT device to send a first signal. Correspondingly, the environmental IoT device receives the second control information.

[0200] S802, the environmental IoT device sends the first signal to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first signal from the environmental IoT device.

[0201] S803, the first network device determines the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device according to the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal.

[0202] The second control information or the first signal carries the transmission power of the first signal.

[0203] Based on the method, the first network device can control the environmental IoT device to send the first signal at the indicated transmission power, or the environmental IoT device reports the transmission power of the first signal it sends through the first signal, and the first network device can measure the reception power of the first signal when receiving the first signal, and then determine the attenuation of the first signal in the process from the environmental IoT device to the first network device according to the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal, and then determine the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device according to the attenuation, and determine whether to provide network service for the environmental IoT device according to the proximity determination result.

[0204] In some implementations, S803, the first network device determines the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device according to the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal, can comprise:

[0205] If one or more of the following conditions are met, the first network device determines that the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device: the reception power of the first signal is greater than or equal to a reception power threshold; or,

[0206] The reception strength of the first signal is greater than a reception strength threshold; or,

[0207] a difference between the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal is less than or equal to a power difference threshold; or

[0208] a distance between the environmental IoT device and the first network device is less than or equal to a distance threshold, which can be a maximum distance at which the environmental IoT device and the first network device can normally communicate.

[0209] wherein the reception power threshold and the reception strength threshold can be respectively a minimum reception power and a minimum reception strength required to ensure normal communication between the environmental IoT device and the first network device, and their specific values can be determined according to simulation results or historical measurement results. The reception power can be RSRP, and the reception strength can be RSSI. The power difference threshold can be a maximum power attenuation that can be accepted to ensure normal communication between the environmental IoT device and the first network device, and its specific value can be determined according to the transmission power of the first signal, simulation results or historical measurement results.

[0210] It can be understood that when one or more of the above four conditions are met, it can be understood that the environmental IoT device is adjacent or close to the first network device, and the first network device can provide services for the environmental IoT device.

[0211] Taking the communication system shown in (d) and (h) in FIG. 3 as an example, the first network device can be a reader (labeled R in (d) and (h) in FIG. 3), and the environmental IoT device can be an A-IoT device (labeled D in (d) and (h) in FIG. 3) with the ability to actively generate UL transmission, such as a Type 2b A-IoT device (without CW). The relationship between the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal can be represented as: wherein P r is the reception power of the first signal received by the reader, P t is the transmission power of the first signal transmitted by the A-IoT device, d is the distance between the A-IoT device and the reader, c0 is a constant related to antenna parameters and signal frequency, and n is a propagation factor whose value depends on the propagation environment of the first signal. Taking the logarithm of both sides of the formula, we get: 10lg(P r )=10lg(c0P t )-10nlg(d)=A-10nlg(d), wherein A=10lg(c0P t ). Therefore, the power of the first signal received at the reader is: P r=A-10nlg(d), that is, as long as the reader knows the D2R transmission power of the A-IoT, the distance between them can be calculated, and then the distance is used to determine whether the A-IoT device is close to the reader. If yes, the reader can provide services for the A-IoT device, and if no, the reader does not provide services for the A-IoT device, at which time other readers with a closer distance can provide services for the A-IoT device.

[0212] In some embodiments, the second control information can be carried in a reader-to-device R2D control field, which is part of a reader-to-device physical channel PRDCH between the first network device and the environmental IoT device, to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0213] Optionally, as shown in (a) of FIG. 9, the second control information can be carried in the R2D control field. Optionally, as shown in (a) of FIG. 9, the second control information can include the transmission power of the first signal, that is, the transmission power of the first signal can be carried in the R2D control field as part of the second control information and sent to the environmental IoT device, to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0214] Optionally, as shown in (b) of FIG. 9, in the scheme in which the first signal carries the transmission power of the first signal, the transmission power of the first signal can also be carried in the D2R control field of the first signal, that is, the first signal is multiplexed to report the transmission power of the first signal, thereby reducing signaling interaction and improving efficiency.

[0215] In addition, the control information in the D2R control field can also carry the device type and / or device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device, so that the first network device provides targeted network services according to the device type and / or device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device.

[0216] Optionally, as shown in (b) of FIG. 9, the device type and / or device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device can be carried in the D2R control field of the first signal, that is, the first signal is multiplexed to report the device type and / or device unique identification number of the environmental IoT device, thereby reducing signaling interaction and improving efficiency.

[0217] By way of example, FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of another proximity determination method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method can be applied to any of the communication systems shown in FIGS. 1-3. Taking any of (a) to (h) in FIG. 3 as an example, the first network device can be a reader (labeled R in (a) to (h) in FIG. 3), and the environmental IoT device can be an A-IoT device (labeled D in (a) to (h) in FIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 10, the method includes:

[0218] S1001, the first network device sends a second signal, the second signal being used to instruct the environmental IoT device to send a third signal. Correspondingly, the environmental IoT device receives the second signal.

[0219] S1002, the environmental IoT device sends the third signal, the third signal carrying a sending time of the third signal and a receiving time of the second signal, or a difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the third signal.

[0220] S1003, the first network device determines the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device based on the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal.

[0221] Based on the method, the first network device can obtain the sending time of the second signal and the receiving time of the third signal by itself. After the first network device receives the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the third signal reported by the environmental IoT device, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, the first network device can determine the propagation time of the second signal and the propagation time of the third signal, and / or the sum of the propagation time of the second signal and the propagation time of the third signal, i.e., the round trip time, and then determine whether the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device according to the propagation time or the round trip time, so as to determine whether the first network device can provide services for the environmental IoT device.

[0222] It should be noted that the environmental IoT device can actively report the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or report after receiving the indication of the first network device. Therefore, in some embodiments, the method can further include:

[0223] The first network device sends third control information, the third control information being used to instruct the environmental IoT device to report the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal.

[0224] In some embodiments, the third control information can be carried in the second signal, i.e., multiplexing the second signal to carry the third control information, so as to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0225] Optionally, as shown in (a) of FIG. 11, the third control information can be carried in the reader-to-device R2D / D2R control field of the second signal, the R2D / D2R control field belonging to part of the reader-to-device physical channel PRDCH between the first network device and the environmental IoT device, so as to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0226] Optionally, as shown in (b) of FIG. 11, the sending time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal, or the time difference between the sending time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal can be carried in the control information of the D2R control field of the third signal, which belongs to a part of the device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the first network device, so as to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0227] Further, the third control information also indicates the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device. As shown in (b) of FIG. 11, the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device can be carried in the D2R control field of the third signal device-to-reader, which belongs to a part of the device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the first network device, so as to reduce signaling interaction and improve efficiency.

[0228] In some embodiments, S1003, the first network device determines the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device based on the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, which can include:

[0229] If the propagation time of the second signal and / or the propagation time of the third signal is less than or equal to the propagation time threshold, it is determined that the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device, the propagation time of the second signal is the time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal, and the propagation time of the third signal is the time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the third signal, i.e., whether the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device can be determined according to the propagation time of the D2R signal or the R2D signal.

[0230] Based on this scheme, the first network device can determine whether the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device based on the propagation time of the D2R signal, such as the third signal, i.e., the distance problem of whether the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device can be converted into a time problem to be solved, without the need to calculate the distance, which can reduce the calculation amount and improve the efficiency.

[0231] Optionally, the third signal can be a message 1 (Msg1) or a message 3 (Msg3) in a random access procedure based on a slotted ALOHA mechanism, and a receiving time of the third signal is a time when D2R control information / data in the message 1 or the message 3 arrives at the first network device, that is, the transmission of the third signal can be implemented by multiplexing the random access procedure. Since the random access procedure belongs to an initial access procedure, it is more appropriate to measure and determine whether the ambient IoT device is proximate to the first network device in the random access procedure stage. This can avoid the waste of signaling caused by the discovery of the ambient IoT device not being proximate to the first network device after access, effectively reduce the signaling overhead, and thus improve the efficiency.

[0232] Optionally, when the first network device is synchronized with the ambient IoT device, the third control information can further indicate that the sending time of the third signal is a specified time. The specified time can be a starting time of a time unit, and the time unit can be one of a radio frame, a half frame, or a time slot. The amount of data required for each transmission is less than or equal to one time unit. That is, the first network device can infer the sending time of the third signal according to the receiving time of the third signal, and then determine the propagation time of the second signal, without the ambient IoT device reporting the sending time of the third signal, so as to reduce the amount of reported data and improve the efficiency.

[0233] Some examples are described below. Exemplarily, FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for determining the proximity between an A-IoT device and a reader based on a propagation time according to an embodiment of the present application, and FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a scenario for determining the proximity between an A-IoT device and a reader based on a propagation time according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0234] As shown in FIG. 12, when the A-IoT device and the reader are time-synchronized, and it is agreed that the A-IoT device can only send the third signal at a specified time, such as the starting time of a time unit, the reader can know the time (i.e., the sending time t1 of the third signal) when any A-IoT device sends the third signal. Subsequently, when the reader receives the third signal, the reader records the timestamp of the arrival time of the third signal (i.e., the receiving time t2 of the third signal). Finally, the reader can obtain the flight time of the third signal by subtracting the sending time of the third signal from the receiving time of the third signal, that is, the propagation time t of the third signal t2-t1, and thus d=cxt is satisfied. Wherein, d is the distance from the A-IoT device to the reader, c is the propagation speed of the third signal (i.e., the speed of light), and t is the propagation time (flight time) of the third signal.

[0235] Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 13, the measurement of the propagation time can be implemented by using a slotted-ALOHA random access mechanism. The principle is that the wireless channel is divided into small, fixed-length time units in time, such as radio frames, half-frames, time slots, etc., and it is stipulated that each A-IoT device can only send the third signal at a fixed time in the time unit, such as the starting time of the time unit, i.e., the reader can know the sending time t1 of the third signal, and the data length of each transmission is less than or equal to one time unit. In the slotted-ALOHA mechanism, the wireless channel is divided into multiple time units in time, and any A-IoT device (labeled as A-IoT1, A-IoT2 in FIG. 13) is only allowed to send the third signal at the starting time of the time unit, i.e., the time unit corresponds to the data transmission time. Then, since all A-IoT devices are synchronized with the reader, when any A-IoT sends data, it can be accurately matched with the next available time unit.

[0236] As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, when the A-IoT device wants to initiate a D2R transmission, it will wait until the starting time of the next time unit to send the message 1 (Msg1, i.e., the third signal): random access preamble. Then, the reader calculates the relative distance between them according to the received preamble: d = c x (t2-t1), and judges whether the A-IoT device is close to the reader according to the distance. If it is judged to be close, message 2 (Msg2) is sent: random access response. If it is judged to be far away, message 2 can not be sent, and the process ends. In addition, the A-IoT device can also send the D2R preamble in message 3 (Msg3) instead of message 1, i.e., the third signal can also be message 3, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0237] It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 13, if a collision conflict occurs, i.e., multiple A-IoT devices send message 1 (the third signal) in the same time unit, the reader can not be able to distinguish the multiple A-IoT devices due to mutual interference between the multiple A-IoT devices, at which time the reader can instruct the multiple A-IoT devices to send message 1 (the third signal) in the next multiple time units, respectively.

[0238] In some embodiments, the first network device determines the proximity between the environmental Internet of Things device and the first network device based on the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, or the difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, including:

[0239] If the round trip time is less than or equal to the round trip time threshold, it is determined that the environmental Internet of Things device is close to the first network device;

[0240] The round-trip time can be a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal, a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the third signal, or

[0241] The round-trip time can also be a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal.

[0242] Based on the scheme, compared with the propagation time, the round-trip time can eliminate or partially eliminate the negative effects caused by the timing error of the first network device and / or the timing error of the environmental IoT device, and does not have to require the environmental IoT device and the first network device to be precisely synchronized, can reduce the system complexity and cost, and improve the applicability and reliability.

[0243] Some examples are described below.

[0244] For example, FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a method for determining the proximity between an A-IoT device and a reader based on a round-trip time according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0245] As shown in (a) of FIG. 14, for the A-IoT devices of types 1 and 2a, the reader can initiate a round-trip communication to measure the time. At time t1, the reader sends a R2D signal (i.e., the second signal), the A-IoT device receives the R2D signal at time t2, then the A-IoT device sends a D2R signal (i.e., the third signal) at time t3, and finally the reader receives the D2R signal at time t4. Therefore, the round-trip time is

[0246] Specifically, for Type 1 and Type 2a A-IoT devices, the required clock signal can be provided by a clock generator (CG). As shown in (a) of FIG. 14, first, at time t1, the reader transmits a R2D signal (i.e., a second signal), and then the A-IoT device receives the R2D signal at time t2 and records a timestamp using its own clock generator (e.g., using the clock acquisition part of the control field of the R2D signal to obtain the reception time of the R2D signal). Subsequently, at time t3, the A-IoT device transmits a D2R signal (i.e., a third signal) and reports / carryes t3 and t2, or (t3-t2) on the preamble or control field of the D2R signal to the reader. Finally, the reader receives the D2R signal at time t4. Thus, the reader makes a proximity judgment based on the time difference (t3-t2) or the timestamps t3 and t2 reported / carryed by the A-IoT device and the time difference (t4-t1) measured and calculated by itself, and reports the proximity judgment result to the BS: the ID of the reader and the ID(s) and / or type of the A-IoT device(s) proximate thereto (e.g., reported through L1 control signaling or high-layer signaling).

[0247] It should be noted that the above round-trip time can have an error, which mainly comes from the clock drift of the reader and the A-IoT device hardware. Specifically, first, the clocks of the reader and the A-IoT device are modeled as follows:

[0248] where e a and e b are the clock errors of the reader and the A-IoT device, respectively. Then, substituting and into T, we have Thus, the error is:

[0249] Alternatively, as shown in (b) of FIG. 14, for Type 2b A-IoT devices, an additional data transmission can be added on the basis of the operations shown in (a) of FIG. 14 to further reduce the error. Specifically, the A-IoT device transmits a D2R signal 1 (i.e., a fourth signal) to the reader at time t1, the reader receives the D2R signal 1 at time t2, then transmits a R2D signal (i.e., a second signal) at time t3, the A-IoT device receives the R2D signal at time t4, and then the A-IoT device transmits a D2R signal 2 (i.e., a third signal) at time t5, and the reader receives the D2R signal 2 at time t6. At this time, the round-trip time

[0250] Specifically, as shown in (b) of FIG. 14, first, at time t1, the A-IoT device sends a D2R signal 1 (i.e., the fourth signal) in response to the indication of the reader, carries the device type and / or the device unique identification number of the A-IoT device in the preamble or the D2R control field of the D2R signal 1, and records the time stamp t1 by using its own clock generator (e.g., acquires t1 by using the clock acquisition part of the R2D control field). Subsequently, the reader receives the D2R signal 1 at time t2, and sends an R2D signal (i.e., the second signal) at time t3. The A-IoT device receives the R2D signal at time t4, and records the time stamp; thereafter, at time t5, the A-IoT device again sends a D2R signal 2 (i.e., the third signal) in response to the target reader, and reports / carries (t5-t4) and (t4-t1) to the reader through the D2R control field of the D2R signal 2, while the reader receives the D2R signal 2 at time t6. Therefore, the reader performs proximity judgment according to the time difference reported by the A-IoT attenuation ratio or the time stamps (t5-t4) and (t4-t1) carried and the measurement results (t6-t3) and (t3-t2) of itself, and reports the proximity judgment result to the BS corresponding to the reader: the ID of the reader and the device type and / or the device unique identification number of the A-IoT device proximate thereto (which can be reported through L1 control signaling or high-layer signaling).

[0251] It should be noted that the above round-trip time can have an error, which mainly comes from the clock drift of the hardware of the reader and the A-IoT device. Specifically, first, the clock of the reader and the A-IoT device is modeled as follows:

[0252] where e a and e b are the clock errors of the reader and the A-IoT device, respectively. Then, substituting and into T, we have Therefore, the error is:

[0253] It should be noted that in the process of measuring and calculating the round-trip time, multiple measurements can be performed to obtain an average value, so as to further eliminate the round-trip time error caused by the clock error of the reader and the A-IoT device, and improve the measurement accuracy.

[0254] Further, the flow shown in (a) and (b) of FIG. 14 can reuse the random access procedure to confirm whether the environmental IoT device is proximate to the first network device as early as possible to reduce signaling overhead and improve efficiency. By way of example, FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of the flow of (b) of FIG. 14 combined with a random access procedure. As shown in FIG. 15, the second signal can be a message 2 (Msg2: random access response) in the random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, the sending time of the second signal is the time t3 at which the first network device sends the message 2, and the receiving time of the second signal is the time t4 at which the R2D control information / data in the message 2 arrives at the environmental IoT device; the third signal is a message 3 (Msg3: D2R transmission) in the random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, the sending time of the third signal is the time t5 at which the first network device sends the message 3, and the receiving time of the third signal is the time t6 at which the D2R control information / data in the message 3 arrives at the first network device;

[0255] Before the first network device sends the second signal, the method can further include:

[0256] The first network device receives a fourth signal from the environmental IoT device, the fourth signal can be a message 1 (Msg1: random access preamble) in the random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, the sending time of the fourth signal is the time t1 at which the first network device sends the message 1, and the receiving time of the fourth signal is the time t2 at which the D2R preamble in the message 1 arrives at the first network device;

[0257] The third signal carries the sending time t1 of the fourth signal, the receiving time t4 of the second signal, and the sending time t5 of the third signal.

[0258] The round trip time can be an average of the first round trip time and the second round trip time.

[0259] The first round trip time can be the sum of the time difference between the receiving time t4 of the second signal and the sending time t3 of the second signal and the time difference between the receiving time t6 of the third signal and the sending time t5 of the third signal, and the second round trip time can be the sum of the time difference between the receiving time t2 of the fourth signal and the sending time t1 of the fourth signal and the time difference between the sending time t3 of the second signal and the receiving time t2 of the fourth signal; or

[0260] The first round trip time can be the difference between the time difference between the receiving time t6 of the third signal and the sending time t3 of the second signal and the time difference between the sending time t5 of the third signal and the receiving time t4 of the second signal, and the second round trip time can be the difference between the time difference between the receiving time t4 of the second signal and the sending time t1 of the fourth signal and the time difference between the sending time t3 of the second signal and the receiving time t2 of the fourth signal.

[0261] The proximity determination method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above in combination with FIG. 5-FIG. 15. The communication apparatus for performing the proximity determination method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below in combination with FIG. 16 and FIG. 17.

[0262] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication apparatus. The apparatus includes a unit or module for performing the terminal function or the access network function in the proximity determination method provided by the above method embodiments.

[0263] In a possible design, the communication apparatus can be a terminal such as a mobile phone, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be arranged in the terminal, or an apparatus or device containing the terminal device.

[0264] It should be understood that the communication apparatus can include a module, a unit, or a means corresponding to the proximity determination method described in the above method embodiments, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units for performing the functions involved in the above proximity determination method.

[0265] Exemplarily, FIG. 16 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 16, the communication apparatus 1600 includes a processing module 1601 and a transceiver module 1602. For ease of illustration, FIG. 16 only shows the main components of the communication apparatus 1600.

[0266] In some embodiments, the communication apparatus 1600 can be applicable to the communication system shown in any of (a) to (c) or (e) to (g) of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, and perform the function of the first network device in the proximity determination method shown in FIG. 5 to determine the proximity between an environment Internet of Things device without amplification capability, such as an A-IoT device of Type 1 or 2a, and the communication apparatus 1600.

[0267] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to receive at least two backscattering signals from each of the at least two environment Internet of Things devices, the at least two backscattering signals being backscattering signals generated by each of the at least two environment Internet of Things devices based on at least two excitation signals, the at least two excitation signals each having a different transmission power, the at least two excitation signals being transmitted in a carrier-wave-to-device (CW2D) link between the second network device and the at least two environment Internet of Things devices, and the at least two backscattering signals being transmitted in a device-to-reader physical channel (PDRCH) between the at least two environment Internet of Things devices and the communication apparatus 1600.

[0268] The processing module 1601 is configured to determine the proximity of the communication apparatus 1600 to the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices and the first network device according to the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals.

[0269] In some embodiments, the at least two excitation signals can be provided by an independent excitation signal generator, such as the second network device; accordingly, the transceiver module 1602 is further configured to send first control information, the first control information being used to instruct the second network device to send the at least two excitation signals with different transmission powers to the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices.

[0270] Optionally, the first control information can be carried in physical layer control signaling or high layer signaling, the physical layer control signaling including downlink control information (DCI) signaling or sidelink control information (SCI) signaling, and the high layer signaling including one or more of the following: medium access control control element (MAC-CE) signaling, radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0271] In some other embodiments, the at least two excitation signals can also be provided by the communication apparatus 1600, i.e., the communication apparatus 1600 is integrated with an excitation signal generator; accordingly, the transceiver module 1602 is further configured to transmit the at least two excitation signals with different transmission powers to the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices.

[0272] In some embodiments, the processing module 1601 is further configured to determine the proximity of the communication apparatus 1600 to the at least two environmental Internet of Things devices and the first network device according to an absolute value or an average value of a difference between the received power and / or received intensity of the at least two backscattering signals.

[0273] Exemplarily, the at least two environmental IoT devices include a first environmental IoT device and a second environmental IoT device; correspondingly, the processing module 1601 is further configured to determine that the first environmental IoT device is closer to the communication apparatus 1600 than the second environmental IoT device if one or more of the following conditions is met: an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is smaller than an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, and the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is smaller than an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, and the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or an average value of differences between received powers of N groups of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is smaller than an average value of differences between received powers of N groups of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals in the N groups of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals in the N groups of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, 1≤n≤N, and N≥2; or an average value of differences between received intensities of N groups of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is smaller than an average value of differences between received intensities of N groups of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals in the N groups of the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals in the N groups of the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, 1≤n≤N, and N≥2.

[0274] Optionally, the processing module 1601 is further configured to determine that the first environmental Internet of Things device is closer to the communication apparatus 1600 than the second environmental Internet of Things device if one or more of the following conditions are met: the absolute value of the difference between the received powers of the first pair of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received powers of the second pair of backscatter signals is greater than the received power difference threshold; or the absolute value of the difference between the received intensities of the first pair of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received intensities of the second pair of backscatter signals is greater than the received intensity difference threshold; or the average of the difference between the received powers of each pair of backscatter signals in the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and the average of the difference between the received powers of each pair of backscatter signals in the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals is greater than the received power difference threshold; or the average of the difference between the received intensities of each pair of backscatter signals in the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and the average of the difference between the received intensities of each pair of backscatter signals in the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals is greater than the received intensity difference threshold.

[0275] Exemplarily, the at least two environmental IoT devices can include a first environmental IoT device and a second environmental IoT device; accordingly, the processing module 1601 is further configured to determine that the first environmental IoT device is closer to the communication apparatus 1600 than the second environmental IoT device if one or more of the following conditions is met: an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received power difference threshold, the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, or an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a first pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a second pair of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received intensity difference threshold, the first pair of the at least two backscattering signals and the second pair of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or an average value of a difference between received powers of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and an average value of a difference between received powers of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received power difference threshold, an nth group of the first pairs of the N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pairs of the N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2; or an average value of a difference between received intensities of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and an average value of a difference between received intensities of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is greater than the received intensity difference threshold, an nth group of the first pairs of the N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscattering signals and an nth group of the second pairs of the N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2.

[0276] Further, the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals can be generated based on the same pair of excitation signals; or, an nth group of first pairs of backscattering signals in the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and an nth group of second pairs of backscattering signals in the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on an nth pair of excitation signals in the N pairs of excitation signals.

[0277] In some embodiments, the transceiver 1602 is further configured to receive the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device.

[0278] Optionally, the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device can be carried in the D2R control field of the at least two backscattering signals.

[0279] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 1600 can be a first network device, such as a base station BS or a UE, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be disposed in the BS or the UE, and the present application does not limit the same.

[0280] In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus 1600 can refer to the technical effects of the proximity determination method shown in FIG. 5, which will not be described here.

[0281] In other embodiments, the communication apparatus 1600 can be applied to the communication system shown in any one of (d) or (h) of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, and perform the function of the first network device in the proximity determination method shown in FIG. 8 to determine the proximity between the environmental IoT device with amplification capability, such as the Type 2b A-IoT device, and the communication apparatus 1600.

[0282] The transceiver 1602 is configured to send second control information to the environmental IoT device, and the second control information indicates that the environmental IoT device sends the first signal. The transceiver 1602 is further configured to receive the first signal from the environmental IoT device. The processing module 1601 is configured to determine the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device according to the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal. The second control information or the first signal carries the transmission power of the first signal.

[0283] In some implementations, the processing module 1601 is further configured to determine that the environmental IoT device is close to the communication apparatus 1600 if one or more of the following conditions are met: the reception power of the first signal is greater than or equal to a reception power threshold; or, the reception strength of the first signal is greater than a reception strength threshold; or, the difference between the transmission power and the reception power of the first signal is less than or equal to a power difference threshold; or, the distance between the environmental IoT device and the communication apparatus 1600 is less than or equal to a distance threshold.

[0284] In some embodiments, the second control information can be carried in a reader-to-device R2D control field, which belongs to a part of a reader-to-device physical channel PRDCH between the communication apparatus 1600 and the environmental IoT device.

[0285] Further, in the scheme where the first signal carries the transmission power of the first signal, the transmission power of the first signal can be carried in a device-to-reader D2R control field, which belongs to a part of a device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the communication apparatus 1600.

[0286] Optionally, the control information in the D2R control field can further carry a device type and / or a device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device.

[0287] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 1600 can be a first network device such as a BS or a UE, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be arranged in the BS or the UE, and the present application does not limit the same.

[0288] In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus 1600 can refer to the technical effects of the proximity determination method shown in FIG. 8, which will not be described here.

[0289] In some embodiments, the communication apparatus 1600 can be applied in the communication system shown in any one of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, and perform the function of the first network device in the proximity determination method shown in FIG. 10 to determine the proximity between the environmental IoT device such as an A-IoT device and the communication apparatus 1600.

[0290] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to send a second signal, the second signal being used to instruct an environmental IoT device to send a third signal. The transceiver module 1602 is further configured to receive the third signal, the third signal carrying a transmission time of the third signal and a reception time of the second signal, or a difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal. The processing module 1601 is configured to determine the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the communication apparatus 1600 based on the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, or the difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal.

[0291] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1602 is further configured to send third control information, the third control information being used to instruct the environmental IoT device to report the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, or the difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal.

[0292] Optionally, the transmission time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal, or the time difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal can be carried in the control information of the D2R control field of the third signal, the D2R control field belonging to a part of the device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the communication apparatus 1600.

[0293] In some embodiments, the third control information can be carried in the second signal.

[0294] Optionally, the third control information can be carried in the reader-to-device R2D / D2R control field of the second signal, the R2D / D2R control field belonging to a part of the reader-to-device physical channel PRDCH between the communication apparatus 1600 and the environmental IoT device.

[0295] In some embodiments, the processing module 1601 is further configured to determine that the environmental IoT device is close to the communication apparatus 1600 if the propagation time of the second signal and / or the propagation time of the third signal is less than or equal to a propagation time threshold, the propagation time of the second signal being the time difference between the reception time of the second signal and the transmission time of the second signal, and the propagation time of the third signal being the time difference between the reception time of the third signal and the transmission time of the third signal.

[0296] Optionally, the third signal can be message 1 (Msg1) or message 3 (Msg3) in a random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, and the reception time of the third signal is the time when the D2R control information / data in the message 1 or the message 3 arrives at the communication apparatus 1600.

[0297] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1600 and the environmental IoT device can be synchronized, and the third control information further indicates that the transmission time of the third signal is a specified time. The specified time can be the start time of a time unit, and the time unit can be one of the following: a radio frame, a half frame, or a time slot.

[0298] In some embodiments, the processing module 1601 is further configured to determine that the environmental IoT device is close to the communication apparatus 1600 if the round trip time is less than or equal to a round trip time threshold, the round trip time being the sum of the time difference between the reception time of the second signal and the transmission time of the second signal, and the time difference between the reception time of the third signal and the transmission time of the third signal, or the round trip time being the difference between the time difference between the reception time of the third signal and the transmission time of the second signal, and the time difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal.

[0299] Optionally, the second signal can be a message 2 in a random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, the receiving time of the second signal can be a time when R2D control information / data in the message 2 reaches the environmental IoT device; the third signal can be a message 3 in the random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, the receiving time of the third signal can be a time when D2R control information / data in the message 3 reaches the communication apparatus 1600; the transceiver module 1602 is further configured to receive a fourth signal from the environmental IoT device before sending the second signal, the fourth signal can be a message 1 in the random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, the receiving time of the fourth signal can be a time when a D2R preamble in the message 1 reaches the communication apparatus 1600; wherein the third signal carries a sending time of the fourth signal, a receiving time of the second signal and a sending time of the third signal; the round trip time can be an average of the first round trip time and the second round trip time; wherein the first round trip time can be a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the third signal, the second round trip time can be a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the fourth signal and the sending time of the fourth signal and a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal; or, the first round trip time can be a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, the second round trip time can be a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the fourth signal and a time difference between the sending time of the second signal and the receiving time of the fourth signal.

[0300] In some embodiments, the third control information can further indicate a device type and / or a device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device.

[0301] Optionally, the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device can be carried in a D2R preamble or a D2R control field of the third signal.

[0302] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 1600 can be a first network device, such as a BS or a UE, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be arranged in the BS or the UE, and the present application does not limit the same.

[0303] In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus 1600 can refer to the technical effects of the proximity determination method shown in FIG. 10, which will not be described here.

[0304] It should be noted that the transceiver module 1602 is configured to implement the transceiving function of the communication device 1600. Optionally, the transceiver module 1602 can include a receiving module and a sending module (not shown in FIG. 16). The sending module and the receiving module are configured to implement the sending function and the receiving function of the communication device 1600, respectively.

[0305] Optionally, the communication device 1600 can further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 16), which stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1601 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 1600 can perform the functions of the first network device in the above method embodiments.

[0306] Exemplarily, FIG. 17 is a structural schematic diagram of another communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication device can be a first network device, such as a BS or a UE, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be arranged in the BS or the UE. As shown in FIG. 17, the communication device 1700 can include a processor 1701. Optionally, the communication device 1700 can further include a memory 1702 and / or a transceiver 1703. The processor 1701 is coupled with the memory 1702 and the transceiver 1703, for example, through a communication bus.

[0307] The various constituent components of the communication device 1700 will be specifically introduced below in combination with FIG. 17:

[0308] The processor 1701 is the control center of the communication device 1700, which can be one processor or collectively refer to multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 1701 is one or more central processing units (CPUs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, such as one or more microprocessors (digital signal processors, DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0309] Optionally, the processor 1701 can perform various functions of the communication device 1700 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 1702 and calling data stored in the memory 1702.

[0310] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 1701 can include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG. 17.

[0311] In a particular implementation, as an example, the communication apparatus 1700 can also include multiple processors, such as the processor 1701 and the processor 1704 shown in FIG. 17. Each of the processors can be a single-CPU or a multi-CPU. The processor herein can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0312] The memory 1702 is configured to store a software program for implementing the solutions of the present application, and the processor 1701 is configured to control the execution of the software program. The specific implementation can refer to the above-mentioned method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0313] Optionally, the memory 1702 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, a magneto-optical disk, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory 1702 can be integrated with the processor 1701 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 1701 through the interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 17) of the communication apparatus 1700. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

[0314] The transceiver 1703 is configured to communicate with other communication apparatuses. For example, the communication apparatus 1700 can be a BS, and the transceiver 1703 can be configured to enable the BS to directly communicate with an A-IoT device. For another example, the communication apparatus 1700 can also be a UE, and the transceiver 1703 can be configured to enable the UE to communicate with an A-IoT device.

[0315] Optionally, the transceiver 1703 can include a receiver and a transmitter (not shown in FIG. 17). The receiver is configured to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter is configured to implement the transmitting function.

[0316] Optionally, the transceiver 1703 can be integrated with the processor 1701, or exist independently, and be coupled with the processor 1701 through an interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 17) of the communication apparatus 1700, and embodiments of the present application do not make a limitation in this regard.

[0317] It should be noted that the structure of the communication apparatus 1700 does not constitute a limitation on the communication apparatus, and an actual communication apparatus can include more or fewer components than those shown, or combine certain components, or have a different arrangement of components.

[0318] In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus 1700 can refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the above method embodiments, which will not be described here again.

[0319] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication system. The communication system includes one or more first network devices, and one or more environmental Internet of Things devices.

[0320] Optionally, the communication system can further include a second network device.

[0321] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor.

[0322] It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. Among them, the nonvolatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0323] The above-described embodiments can be implemented in part or in whole through software, hardware (e.g., circuitry), firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the above-described embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When loaded and executed by a computer, the computer instructions or computer programs can produce the processes or functions described above in accordance with the embodiments of the present application. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, such as from a website site, a computer, a server, or a data center to another website site, a computer, a server, or a data center through a wired (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium or a collection of medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, a data center, etc. containing one or more available medium. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid-state disk.

[0324] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this document is merely used to describe an associated relationship between associated objects, and can represent three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent three cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally represents an "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects, but can also represent an "and / or" relationship. The specific meaning can be understood according to the context before and after.

[0325] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of the items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0326] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of the above-described processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to their functions and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0327] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0328] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working processes of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0329] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are only schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0330] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0331] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically independently, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0332] If the functions are implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application essentially or the parts that contribute to the prior art or parts of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0333] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A proximity determination method, characterized by, Comprising: The first network device receives at least two backscattering signals from each of at least two environmental IoT devices, the at least two backscattering signals being generated by the each of the at least two environmental IoT devices based on at least two excitation signals, the at least two excitation signals each having a different transmission power, the at least two excitation signals being transmitted in a carrier wave generator-to-device (CW2D) link between a second network device and the at least two environmental IoT devices, the at least two backscattering signals being transmitted in a device-to-reader (D2R) physical channel (PDRCH) between the at least two environmental IoT devices and the first network device; The first network device determines a proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental IoT devices based on a received power and / or a received strength of the at least two backscattering signals.

2. The proximity determination method of claim 1, wherein, Further comprising: The first network device transmits first control information, the first control information being indicative of the second network device transmitting the at least two excitation signals having different transmission powers to the at least two environmental IoT devices.

3. The proximity determination method of claim 2, wherein, The first control information is carried in a physical layer control signaling or a higher layer signaling, the physical layer control signaling comprising a downlink control information (DCI) signaling or a sidelink control information (SCI) signaling, the higher layer signaling comprising one or more of a medium access control control element (MAC-CE) signaling or a radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

4. The proximity determination method of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, Further comprising: The first network device receives a device type and / or a device unique identification (ID) of the environmental IoT device, the device type and / or the device unique ID of the environmental IoT device being carried in a device-to-reader (D2R) control field of the at least two backscattering signals, the D2R control field being part of a device-to-reader physical channel (PDRCH) between the at least two environmental IoT devices and the first network device.

5. The proximity determination method of claim 1, wherein, Further comprising: The first network device transmits the at least two excitation signals having different transmission powers to the at least two environmental IoT devices.

6. The proximity determination method of any one of claims 1-5, wherein, The first network device determines a proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental IoT devices based on a received power and / or a received strength of the at least two backscattering signals, comprising: The first network device determines the proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental IoT devices based on an absolute value or an average value of a difference between the received power and / or the received strength of the at least two backscattering signals.

7. The proximity determination method of claim 6, wherein, The at least two environmental IoT devices comprise a first environmental IoT device and a second environmental IoT device; The first network device determines the proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental IoT devices based on an absolute value or an average value of a difference between the received power and / or the received strength of the at least two backscattering signals, comprising: The first network device determines the proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental IoT devices based on an absolute value or an average value of a difference between the received power and / or the received strength of the at least two backscattering signals, comprising: If one or more of the following is met, it is determined that the first environmental IoT device is closer to the first network device than the second environmental IoT device: An absolute value of a difference between received powers of a first pair of the at least two backscatter signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a second pair of the at least two backscatter signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair of backscatter signals and the second pair of backscatter signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmit powers, or, An absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a first pair of the at least two backscatter signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a second pair of the at least two backscatter signals from the second environmental IoT device, the first pair of backscatter signals and the second pair of backscatter signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmit powers; or, An average of differences between received powers of N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscatter signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than an average of differences between received powers of N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscatter signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of first pairs of backscatter signals of the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals and an nth group of second pairs of backscatter signals of the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmit powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2; or, An average of differences between received intensities of N groups of first pairs of the at least two backscatter signals from the first environmental IoT device is less than an average of differences between received intensities of N groups of second pairs of the at least two backscatter signals from the second environmental IoT device, an nth group of first pairs of backscatter signals of the N groups of first pairs of backscatter signals and an nth group of second pairs of backscatter signals of the N groups of second pairs of backscatter signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmit powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2.

8. The proximity determination method of claim 7, wherein, If one or more of the following is met, it is determined that the first environmental IoT device is closer to the first network device than the second environmental IoT device: The absolute value of the difference between the received powers of the first pair of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received powers of the second pair of backscatter signals is greater than the received power difference threshold; or, The absolute value of the difference between the received intensities of the first pair of backscatter signals is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and the absolute value of the difference between the received intensities of the second pair of backscatter signals is greater than the received intensity difference threshold. an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of the first pair of backscattering signals is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of the second pair of backscattering signals is greater than the received intensity difference threshold; or an average value of a difference between received powers of each pair of backscattering signals in the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, and an average value of a difference between received powers of each pair of backscattering signals in the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals is greater than the received power difference threshold; or an average value of a difference between received intensities of each pair of backscattering signals in the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, and an average value of a difference between received intensities of each pair of backscattering signals in the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals is greater than the received intensity difference threshold.

9. The proximity determination method of claim 6, wherein, the at least two environmental IoT devices include a first environmental IoT device and a second environmental IoT device; the first network device determines the proximity of the first network device to the at least two environmental IoT devices based on an absolute value or an average value of a difference between received powers and / or received intensities of the at least two backscattering signals, including: if one or more of the following conditions are met, the first environmental IoT device is determined to be closer to the first network device than the second environmental IoT device: an absolute value of a difference between received powers of a first pair of backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device and a second pair of backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received power difference threshold, the first pair of backscattering signals and the second pair of backscattering signals being generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers, or an absolute value of a difference between received intensities of a first pair of backscattering signals from the first environmental IoT device and a second pair of backscattering signals from the second environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a received intensity difference threshold, the first pair of backscattering signals and the second pair of backscattering signals being generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals being two excitation signals with different transmission powers; or An average of a difference between received powers of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals of the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a difference between received powers threshold, and an average of a difference between received powers of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals of the second environmental IoT device is greater than the difference between received powers threshold, an nth group of first pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and an nth group of second pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmitting powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2; or, An average of a difference between received intensities of each pair of the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals of the first environmental IoT device is less than or equal to a difference between received intensities threshold, and an average of a difference between received intensities of each pair of the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals from the at least two backscattering signals of the second environmental IoT device is greater than the difference between received intensities threshold, an nth group of first pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and an nth group of second pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals, the pair of excitation signals are two excitation signals with different transmitting powers, N and n are positive integers, and 1≤n≤N, N≥2.

10. The proximity determination method of any one of claims 7-9, wherein, The N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on a same pair of excitation signals; or An nth group of first pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of first pairs of backscattering signals and an nth group of second pairs of backscattering signals of the N groups of second pairs of backscattering signals are generated based on an nth pair of excitation signals of N pairs of excitation signals.

11. A proximity determination method, characterized by, Comprising: The first network device sends second control information to the environmental IoT device, the second control information indicating the environmental IoT device to send a first signal; The first network device receives the first signal from the environmental IoT device; The first network device determines the proximity of the environmental IoT device to the first network device according to the transmitting power and the receiving power of the first signal; Wherein, the second control information or the first signal carries the transmitting power of the first signal.

12. The proximity determination method of claim 11, wherein, The first network device determines the proximity of the environmental IoT device to the first network device according to the transmitting power and the receiving power of the first signal, comprising: If one or more of the following conditions are met, the first network device determines that the environmental IoT device is close to the first network device: The receiving power of the first signal is greater than or equal to a receiving power threshold; or The receiving intensity of the first signal is greater than a receiving intensity threshold; or The difference between the transmitting power and the receiving power of the first signal is less than or equal to a difference between powers threshold; or The distance between the environmental IoT device and the first network device is less than or equal to a distance threshold.

13. The proximity determining method of claim 11 or 12, wherein, The second control information is carried in a reader-to-device R2D control field, which belongs to a part of a reader-to-device physical channel PRDCH between the first network device and the environmental IoT device.

14. The proximity determination method of any one of claims 11-13, wherein, The transmission power of the first signal is carried in a device-to-reader D2R control field, which belongs to a part of a device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the first network device.

15. The proximity determination method of claim 14, wherein, The control information in the D2R control field also carries a device type and / or a device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device.

16. A proximity determination method, comprising: Comprising: The first network device sends a second signal, which is used to instruct the environmental IoT device to send a third signal; The first network device receives the third signal, which carries a transmission time of the third signal and a reception time of the second signal, or a difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal; The first network device determines the proximity between the environmental IoT device and the first network device based on the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, or the difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal.

17. The proximity determination method of claim 16, wherein, Also comprising: The first network device sends third control information, which is used to instruct the environmental IoT device to report the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, or the difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal.

18. The proximity determination method of claim 17, wherein, The transmission time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal, or the time difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the arrival time of the second signal is carried in the control information of the D2R control field of the third signal, which belongs to a part of the device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the first network device.

19. The proximity determination method of claim 18, wherein, The third control information also instructs to report a device type and / or a device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device, and the device type and / or the device unique identification number ID of the environmental IoT device is carried in the D2R control field of the third signal device-to-reader, which belongs to a part of the device-to-reader physical channel PDRCH between the environmental IoT device and the first network device.

20. The proximity determination method of any one of claims 17-19, wherein, The third control information is carried in the second signal.

21. The proximity determination method of claim 20, wherein, The third control information is carried in the reader-to-device R2D / device-to-reader D2R control field of the second signal, which belongs to a part of the reader-to-device physical channel PRDCH between the first network device and the environmental IoT device.

22. The proximity determination method of any one of claims 17-21, wherein, The first network device determines the proximity between the environmental Internet of Things device and the first network device based on the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, or the difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, including: If the propagation time of the second signal and / or the propagation time of the third signal is less than or equal to a propagation time threshold, it is determined that the environmental Internet of Things device is close to the first network device, the propagation time of the second signal is the time difference between the reception time of the second signal and the transmission time of the second signal, and the propagation time of the third signal is the time difference between the reception time of the third signal and the transmission time of the third signal.

23. The proximity determination method of claim 22, wherein, The third signal is message 1 or message 3 in a random access procedure based on a slotted ALOHA mechanism, and the reception time of the third signal is the time when the D2R control information / data in the message 1 or the message 3 reaches the first network device.

24. The proximity determining method of claim 22 or 23, wherein, The first network device synchronizes with the environmental Internet of Things device, and the third control information further indicates that the transmission time of the third signal is a specified time.

25. The proximity determining method of claim 24, wherein, The specified time is the start time of a time unit, and the time unit is one of a radio frame, a half frame, or a time slot.

26. The proximity determining method of any one of claims 17-21, wherein, The first network device determines the proximity between the environmental Internet of Things device and the first network device based on the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, or the difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal, including: If the round trip time is less than or equal to a round trip time threshold, it is determined that the environmental Internet of Things device is close to the first network device; Wherein, the round trip time is the sum of the time difference between the reception time of the second signal and the transmission time of the second signal, and the time difference between the reception time of the third signal and the transmission time of the third signal, or, The round trip time is the difference between the time difference between the reception time of the third signal and the transmission time of the second signal, and the time difference between the transmission time of the third signal and the reception time of the second signal.

27. The proximity determining method of claim 26, wherein, The second signal is message 2 in a random access procedure based on a slotted ALOHA mechanism, and the reception time of the second signal is the time when the R2D control information / data in the message 2 reaches the environmental Internet of Things device; The third signal is message 3 in the random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, and the reception time of the third signal is the time when the D2R control information / data in the message 3 reaches the first network device; Before the first network device transmits the second signal, the method further includes: The first network device receives a fourth signal from the environmental Internet of Things device, the fourth signal is message 1 in the random access procedure based on the slotted ALOHA mechanism, and the reception time of the fourth signal is the time when the D2R preamble in the message 1 reaches the first network device; The third signal carries a sending time of the fourth signal, a receiving time of the second signal, and a sending time of the third signal. The round trip time is an average of a first round trip time and a second round trip time. The first round trip time is a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and a sending time of the second signal and a time difference between a receiving time of the third signal and a sending time of the third signal, and the second round trip time is a sum of a time difference between the receiving time of the fourth signal and a sending time of the fourth signal and a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the second signal; or The first round trip time is a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the third signal and the sending time of the second signal and a time difference between the sending time of the third signal and the receiving time of the second signal, and the second round trip time is a difference between a time difference between the receiving time of the second signal and the sending time of the fourth signal and a time difference between the sending time of the second signal and the receiving time of the fourth signal.

28. A communications device, characterized by Comprising: A processor coupled with a memory, the memory storing a program or instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the proximity determination method of any one of claims 1-27.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program or instructions stored, which, when executed, cause a computer to perform the proximity determination method of any one of claims 1-27.

30. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product includes computer program code, which, when running on a computer, causes the computer to implement the proximity determination method of any one of claims 1-27.

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