Sparse array-based communication methods and communication apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are sparse array-based communication methods and communication apparatus. In a method, a first device determines a first sparse array on the basis of a first parameter M1 and a second parameter M2, and, by means of the first sparse array, sends a first signal to a second device, wherein M1 is used for determining W1 first power units, M2 is used for determining W2 second power units corresponding to the first power units, antenna array elements corresponding to the second power units form a second sparse array, the first power units correspond to a plurality of analog radio frequency links, each analog radio frequency link comprises a corresponding second power unit, and the first sparse array comprises at least one column and / or at least one row of the second sparse array. Thus, the problem of element redundancy can be solved, thereby reducing resource consumption.

Description

Communication method and communication apparatus based on sparse array

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202411075063.3, filed on August 6, 2024, and entitled "Communication method and communication apparatus based on sparse array", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication, and in particular to a communication method and a communication apparatus based on sparse array. BACKGROUND

[0003] In a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system, a beamforming technology can perform weighted summation of signals on each antenna array element. The beamforming technology includes an analog beamforming (ABF) technology, a digital beamforming (DBF) technology, and a hybrid beamforming (HBF) technology.

[0004] The HBF technology can achieve the effect of digital beamforming as much as possible under the condition of meeting the hardware condition, and a large number of antenna units in a small area make it feasible to achieve high beamforming gain.

[0005] However, the current HBF technology has a certain element redundancy, which causes resource waste. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus based on sparse array, which can improve the problem of element redundancy and reduce resource consumption.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a first device, for example, can be executed by the first device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the first device, and can also be implemented by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first device. The first device may, for example, be a network device or a terminal device. The present application does not limit this.

[0008] The method comprises: a first device determining a first sparse array according to a first parameter M1 and a second parameter M2, M1 is used to determine W1 first power units, M2 is used to determine W2 second power units corresponding to each first power unit, each second power unit corresponds to an antenna array element forming a second sparse array, the first power unit corresponds to a plurality of analog radio frequency links, each analog radio frequency link includes a corresponding second power unit, the first sparse array includes at least one column and / or at least one row of the second sparse array, and the first device transmits a first signal through the first sparse array. Based on this, the first device can achieve the purpose of transmitting the first signal to the second device through fewer antenna array elements, thereby improving the problem of element redundancy and reducing resource consumption.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the first sparse array is determined based on a column of antenna array elements and a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array, the column of antenna array elements and the row of antenna array elements form an L-shaped sparse array or a T-shaped sparse array. By using such a sparse array structure, data transmission can be realized through fewer antenna array elements, while ensuring system performance and reducing resource consumption.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the first sparse array includes a column of antenna array elements or a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array. By using such a sparse array structure, data transmission can be realized through fewer antenna array elements, while ensuring system performance and reducing resource consumption.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the first device can transmit the first parameter M1 and the second parameter M2, so that the first device realizes synchronization of the first sparse array with other devices through the synchronization parameters.

[0012] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a second device, for example, can be executed by the second device, or can also be executed by a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the second device, and can also be realized by a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the second device. The second device can be a terminal device or a network device. The present application does not limit this.

[0013] The method comprises: a second device receiving a first signal transmitted through a first sparse array, the first sparse array being determined based on a first parameter M1 and a second parameter M2, M1 being used to determine W1 first power units, M2 being used to determine W2 second power units corresponding to each first power unit, each second power unit corresponding to an antenna array element forming a second sparse array, the first power unit corresponding to a plurality of analog radio frequency links, each analog radio frequency link including a corresponding second power unit, the first sparse array including at least one column and / or at least one row of the second sparse array; and the second device performing direction estimation based on the first sparse array and the first signal.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the direction estimation based on the first sparse array and the first signal comprises: determining, by the second device, a second signal of the first signal, and performing direction estimation according to the second signal, where the second signal corresponds to an antenna array equivalent to the first sparse array, and each antenna element in the antenna array is a non-idle antenna element.

[0015] The second device can determine, according to the first signal, a second signal corresponding to an antenna array equivalent to the first sparse array, so that the second device can perform direction estimation based on the second signal, without adding too much redundant process compared with performing direction estimation based on a signal corresponding to a uniform array, and the calculation complexity is simplified.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the first sparse array is determined based on a column of antenna elements and a row of antenna elements in the second sparse array, and the column of antenna elements and the row of antenna elements form an L-shaped sparse array or a T-shaped sparse array.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the first sparse array includes a column of antenna elements or a row of antenna elements in the second sparse array.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the first parameter M1 and the second parameter M2 are received.

[0019] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which can implement the communication method in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect. The apparatus includes one or more functional units or modules for performing the corresponding method. The functional units or modules included in the apparatus can be implemented by software and / or hardware.

[0020] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes at least one processor configured to perform the communication method in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0021] Optionally, the apparatus can further include a memory configured to store instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor can implement the method described in the above aspects when executing the instructions stored in the memory.

[0022] Optionally, the apparatus can further include a communication interface configured to enable the apparatus to communicate with other devices. For example, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, or other types of communication interfaces.

[0023] In a fifth aspect, a chip system is provided, which includes at least one processor configured to support the implementation of the functions involved in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect, for example, receiving or processing the data and / or information involved in the above method.

[0024] In a possible design of the chip system, the chip system further includes a memory configured to store program instructions and data, and the memory is located in the processor or outside the processor.

[0025] In a possible design of the chip system, the chip system further includes an interface circuit configured to transmit data, and / or a power supply circuit configured to supply power for the chip system.

[0026] The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0027] In a sixth aspect, a communication system is provided, and the communication system includes one or more of the first device and the second device described above.

[0028] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, and the computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to implement the method in any possible implementation manner of the first or second aspect.

[0029] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, and the computer program product includes a computer program (which can also be referred to as code or instructions), which, when executed, causes a computer to perform the method in any possible implementation manner of the first or second aspect.

[0030] The above-described second to eighth aspects and possible implementation manners have the beneficial effects as described above in the first aspect and possible implementation manners of the first aspect, and thus are not described here again. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a uniform linear array antenna according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a horizontal plane direction of a uniform linear array antenna according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a distribution of a sparse array according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a beamforming beam direction according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a typical HBF architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an HBF system model according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method based on a sparse array according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a HBF system model according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an L-shaped sparse array according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a T-shaped sparse array according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a sparse wire array according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an equivalent surface array according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG. 15 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] The technical solutions provided by the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0047] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following points are first explained:

[0048] First, in the present application, indication includes explicit indication (also referred to as direct indication) and implicit indication (also referred to as indirect indication). Among them, the explicit indication information A means to include the information A; the implicit indication information A means to indicate the information A through the correspondence between the information A and the information B and the direct indication information B, and the correspondence between the information A and the information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned or pre-configured; or it can also mean to indicate the information A through the information B and the preset rule.

[0049] Second, in the present application, the information C used for the determination of the information D includes that the information D is determined based on the information C only, and also includes that the information D is determined based on the information C and other information. In addition, the information C used for the determination of the information D can also be indirectly determined, such as the case that the information D is determined based on the information E, and the information E is determined based on the information C.

[0050] Thirdly, in the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it, but does not rule out the case that the associated objects before and after it represent an "and" relationship. The specific meaning can be understood in combination with the context. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these 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 and b; a and c; b and c; or a and b and c. Where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0051] Fourthly, in the present application, the use of prefixes such as "first", "second", and the like is only for the convenience of distinguishing different things belonging to the same name category, and does not constrain the order, size, or quantity of the things. For example, "first parameter" and "second parameter" are only different parameters, and there is no time sequence, size relationship or priority relationship between them. For example, "first power unit" and "second power unit" are only different power units, and there is no time sequence, size relationship or priority relationship between them.

[0052] Fifthly, in the embodiments of the present application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the device will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, not limited to time, and also does not require the device to have a judgment action when it is implemented. It also does not mean that there are other limitations.

[0053] The technical solutions provided in the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (TDD), a sidelink (SL) communication system, a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system or a new radio access technology (NR). The 5G mobile communication system can include non-standalone (NSA) and / or standalone (SA). The technical solutions provided in the present application can also be applied to future communication networks. The present application is not limited in this regard.

[0054] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, there are six sub-scenarios, (a) in FIG. 1 is terminal device self-transmission and self-reception, including a terminal device 101 and a sensing target 102. (b) in FIG. 1 is terminal device A transmission and terminal device B reception, including a terminal device 103, a terminal device 104 and a sensing target 105. (c) in FIG. 1 is terminal device transmission and network device reception, including a terminal device 106, a network device 107 and a sensing target 108. (d) in FIG. 1 is network device self-transmission and self-reception, including a network device 109 and a sensing target 110. (e) in FIG. 1 is network device A transmission and network device B reception, including a network device 111, a network device 112 and a sensing target 113. (f) in FIG. 1 is network device transmission and terminal device reception, including a network device 114, a terminal device 115 and a sensing target 116. The sensing target is not limited to vehicles, low-altitude drones, pedestrians, but also includes other moving or stationary objects.

[0055] It should be understood that the network device or the terminal device described above can be configured with multiple antennas, which can include at least one transmitting antenna for transmitting signals and at least one receiving antenna for receiving signals. In addition, the network device or the terminal device also additionally includes a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, and those skilled in the art can understand that they can each include multiple components (such as processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, or antennas, etc.) related to signal transmission and reception. Therefore, the network device and the terminal device can communicate through multiple antenna technology.

[0056] It should be understood that the communication system shown in FIG. 1 is only a schematic diagram, and other terminal devices and network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, can also be included in the communication system described above, which are not shown in FIG. 1. The number of network devices and terminal devices included in the communication system is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0057] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a user unit, a user station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user apparatus.

[0058] The terminal device can be a device providing voice / data, for example, a handheld device with wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. At present, some examples of terminals are: mobile phone, tablet computer, notebook computer, palm computer, mobile internet device (MID), wearable device, virtual reality (VR) device, augmented reality (AR) device, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in self-driving, wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, wireless terminal in smart grid, wireless terminal in transportation safety, wireless terminal in smart city, wireless terminal in smart home, cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication function, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, wearable device, terminal device in a 5G network, or terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. The embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0059] By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. The wearable device can also be referred to as a wearable smart device, which is a general term for devices that are designed and developed by applying wearable technology to daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. The wearable device is a portable device that is directly worn on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also a device that realizes powerful functions through software support and data interaction and cloud interaction. The general wearable smart device includes devices with full functions, large size, and the ability to realize complete or partial functions without relying on a smart phone, such as smart watches or smart glasses, and devices that focus on a certain application function and need to be used in cooperation with other devices, such as smart phones, such as various smart wristbands and smart jewelry for monitoring vital signs.

[0060] In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device can be a terminal device, or can be an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, for example, a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device or used in matching with the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include the chip and other discrete devices. In the embodiments of the present application, only the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device is taken as an example for description, and the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is not limited in this way.

[0061] The network device in the embodiments of the present application can be a device for communicating with a terminal device, which can also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device, such as a network device can be a base station. The network device in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that accesses a terminal device to a wireless network. The base station can broadly cover various names in the following or be replaced by the following names, such as: Node B (NodeB), evolved Node B (eNB), next generation Node B (gNB), relay station, access point, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), primary station, secondary station, multi-standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), radio unit (RU), positioning node, satellite base station, cellular base station, etc. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node or the like, or a combination thereof. The base station can also refer to a communication module, modem or chip used in the above-mentioned devices or apparatuses. The base station can also be a mobile switching center and a device that performs the function of a base station in D2D, V2X, M2M communication, a network side device in a future communication network, a device that performs the function of a base station in a future communication system, etc. The base station can support networks of the same or different access technologies. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.In some deployments, the network device mentioned by embodiments of the present application can be a device including a CU, or a DU, or a device including a CU and a DU, or a control plane CU node (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)) and a user plane CU node (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)) and a DU node. For example, the network device can include a gNB-CU-CP, a gNB-CU-UP and a gNB-DU.

[0062] In some deployments, wireless access by a terminal is assisted by cooperation of multiple RAN nodes, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, the RAN node can be a CU, a DU, a CU-CP, a CU-UP, or an RU, etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, for example, in a BBU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, included in an RRU, an AAU or an RRH.

[0063] The RAN node can support one or more types of front interfaces, and different front interfaces respectively correspond to DUs and RUs with different functions. If the front interface between the DU and the RU is a common public radio interface (CPRI), the DU is configured to implement one or more of the baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement one or more of the radio frequency functions. If the front interface between the DU and the RU is another interface, compared with the CPRI, part of the baseband functions of the downlink and / or uplink, such as one or more of precoding, digital beamforming (BF), or fast inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / adding a cyclic prefix (CP) for the downlink, or one or more of digital beamforming (BF), or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / removing a cyclic prefix (CP) for the uplink, are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation. In a possible implementation, the interface can be an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI). Under the eCPRI architecture, the splitting manner between the DU and the RU is different, corresponding to different categories (Cat) of eCPRI, such as eCPRI Cat A, B, C, D, E, F.

[0064] Taking eCPRI Cat A as an example, for downlink transmission, the DU is configured to implement layer mapping and one or more functions (i.e., one or more of encoding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping) before layer mapping, while other functions (e.g., one or more of RE mapping, digital beamforming (BF), or inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / adding cyclic prefix (CP)) after layer mapping are implemented in the RU. For uplink transmission, the DU is configured to implement de-mapping and one or more functions (i.e., one or more of decoding, de-rate matching, de-scrambling, de-modulation, inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT), channel equalization, de-RE mapping) before de-mapping, while other functions (e.g., one or more of digital BF or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / CP removal) after de-mapping are implemented in the RU. It can be understood that the function description of the DU and the RU corresponding to various types of eCPRI can refer to the eCPRI protocol, which is not described here.

[0065] In a possible design, the processing unit in the BBU for implementing baseband functions is referred to as a base band high (BBH) unit, and the processing unit in the RRU / AAU / RRH for implementing baseband functions is referred to as a base band low (BBL) unit.

[0066] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0067] In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device can be the network device, or can be an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit plus a software module. The apparatus can be installed in the network device or used in matching with the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, only the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device is taken as an example for illustration, and the present application is not limited by the embodiments.

[0068] The network device and / or the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water surface; and can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons and satellites in the air. The scenarios in which the network device and the terminal device are located are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the terminal device and the network device can be hardware devices, or can be software functions running on special hardware, software functions running on general hardware, such as virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform), or entities including special or general hardware devices and software functions. The specific forms of the terminal device and the network device are not limited in the present application.

[0069] In the embodiments of the present application, in order to better understand the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the terms involved in the present application will be briefly explained as follows.

[0070] Beamforming technology refers to adjusting the amplitude and / or phase of a signal so that the radiated signal radiated by the antenna array has a certain directivity, which can achieve higher antenna array gain. The main lobe of the radiation pattern of the antenna array can be referred to as a beam. The amplitude and / or phase adjustment is achieved after the signal is filtered by a spatial domain transmission filter. Different spatial domain transmission filters use different spatial filtering parameters to achieve beams in different directions. In the embodiments of the present application, the spatial filtering parameter can be replaced by the beam, or the spatial filtering parameter can be replaced by the spatial domain transmission filter. The spatial domain transmission filter can also be referred to as a spatial filter. Antenna arrays, also known as array antennas, are mainly divided into two categories: one is a uniform array antenna with the same spacing between array elements, and the other is a non-uniform array antenna. Since the uniform array antenna will have a grating lobe problem as the spacing between array elements increases, and the angle estimation degree of freedom is one less than the number of array elements, the non-uniform array antenna can better solve these problems. The non-uniform array (for example, a sparse array) uses the compact size advantage of high-frequency antennas, while increasing the number of antennas, thereby achieving significant beamforming gain. Among them, the coprime array as a kind of array structure of the sparse array can achieve lower peak sidelobe level, improve the number of direction of arrival (DOA) estimation, and achieve better array antenna performance.

[0071] Exemplarily, FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a uniform linear array antenna, as shown in FIG. 2, the spacing between each array antenna (for example, X1(t), X2(t), …, and X n (t)) is d, which is an array antenna with the same spacing, excitation, and phase of each array element. The signal strength or signal level in a certain direction (for example, the angle θ between the vertical direction of X1(t)) can be represented as S(t). In order to solve the radar false alarm problem, a low sidelobe effect can be formed by weighting design in the vertical direction at the same time. In addition, this antenna form can also be designed as a uniform circular array, a uniform rectangular array, and other antenna forms to meet the two-dimensional DOA estimation and higher precision scene use.

[0072] Although the uniform linear array can estimate the angle of the target when the signal-to-noise ratio is high, it does not have core competitiveness in sidelobe suppression. At this time, the direction estimation is generally performed by a super-resolution DOA estimation method.

[0073] Exemplarily, FIG. 3 shows a horizontal plane direction diagram of a uniform linear array antenna. As shown in FIG. 3, the main lobe and the side lobe vary in the time domain (for example, [-100, 100]), and the gain of the main lobe and the side lobe varies in the frequency domain (for example, [-30, 10]). The main lobe is the direction with the maximum gain in the radiation pattern (for example, the array gain value 10 dB corresponding to the time domain position 0 in FIG. 3), which usually corresponds to the incident direction of the signal. The side lobe is a direction other than the main lobe with smaller gain (for example, the array gain value 4 dB corresponding to the time domain position 20 in FIG. 3), and the existence of the side lobe can cause interference and false alarm. It can be seen that the uniform linear array antenna pattern has no obvious suppression effect on the side lobe in the absence of noise.

[0074] Therefore, when performing array signal processing to obtain higher resolution DOA / beamforming angles, a higher precision parameter estimation method is usually used, including multiple signal classification (MUSIC), estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT), minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR), and the like.

[0075] Exemplarily, FIG. 4 shows a diagram of the distribution of a sparse array. As shown in FIG. 4, there is signal distribution in the occupied antenna elements (or non-idle antenna elements), and there is no signal distribution in the idle antenna elements. It can be seen that the occupied antenna elements are not uniformly distributed.

[0076] Compared with a single sensor antenna, the array antenna has outstanding advantages, mainly in the control of the beam, the resolution of the spatial spectrum, and the ability to resist noise and interference.

[0077] Array signal processing refers to arranging a plurality of array antennas according to a certain geometric topology, collecting and receiving the spatial incoming wave signals, and obtaining the characteristic information of the transmission signals after processing the information. After processing and analyzing the array signals, the spatial domain filtering, parameter estimation, signal source separation, target tracking, and the like of the spatial domain signals can be realized, while the influence of noise and interference is suppressed. Based on the above advantages, the array signal processing theory and technology have gradually become a research hotspot in the field of signal processing and are rapidly applied in the field of information processing.

[0078] In a MIMO system, the beamforming technology can make the antenna beam point to a certain direction by adjusting the weighted sum of the signal on each antenna element, that is, the antenna energy is concentrated to a certain user, for example, FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the beamforming beam pointing, as shown in FIG. 5, the antenna beams of the network device are concentrated to the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 respectively.

[0079] According to the difference of the beamforming occurrence position, the beamforming is divided into ABF and DBF. The DBF forms the beam in the digital baseband before the real-time domain range; the ABF forms the beam in the analog baseband before the frequency domain range. The ABF technology uses the analog phase shifter with low cost, which can only adjust the phase but cannot adjust the amplitude, and the generated beam is not necessarily accurate. The ABF has a simple hardware structure, low implementation cost, no multiple RF links, and can only transmit a single data stream. In the structure of the DBF, each antenna corresponds to an RF link, and multiple RF links participate in the generation of the beam, so multiple data streams can be transmitted together. The DBF uses a complex hardware structure, which can flexibly adjust the phase and amplitude to generate an accurate beam. However, when the number of antennas is large, the hardware implementation of the entire structure is very complex, and the cost is high.

[0080] For a large-scale MIMO system, the HBF technology emerges as the times require, which combines the advantages of DBF and ABF, and can significantly reduce the hardware element complexity and power consumption while maintaining high performance. By combining ABF and DBF, the system can flexibly adjust under different operating conditions to meet various application requirements. FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a typical HBF architecture, as shown in FIG. 6, the HBF includes a first chip, two second chips and an antenna unit, the first chip can be an 8-channel chip for example, the second chip can be a 4-channel chip for example, the array size of the antenna unit is 32 rows*16 columns, and the polarization mode is dual polarization, therefore, the total number of array elements is 32 rows*16 columns*2=1024, and the number of channels is 8.

[0081] On the basis of such a typical architecture, FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of an HBF system model. As shown in FIG. 7, the HBF system model can include a baseband module, an intermediate frequency (IF) module, and a radio frequency (RF) module. The baseband module mainly completes digital beamforming, and can also include modulation, layer mapping, fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), and other related functions. The intermediate frequency module mainly implements clipping, digital-to-analog conversion, etc. Among them, the digital-to-analog conversion is mainly implemented through a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) in the intermediate frequency module. Optionally, the functions of the intermediate frequency module can also be integrated into the radio frequency module for implementation. Among them, the radio frequency module includes multiple radio frequency links, in each radio frequency link, a mixer is connected to the input end of a first power amplifier (PA), the output end of the first PA is connected to multiple analog radio frequency links, and each analog radio frequency link is connected to an antenna array element. The analog radio frequency link can include a phase shifter and a second PA. The power of the first PA is relatively large, for example, the power range of the first PA is several watts to several tens of watts, and the power of the second PA is relatively small, for example, the power range of the second PA is several milliwatts to several hundred milliwatts.

[0082] For example, at the transmitting end, after the baseband signal (for example, 1, 2, …, Ns) is modulated and channel encoded, it is sent to the baseband module, and after digital beamforming, one or more beams are formed. The beamformed signal is converted to IF through up-conversion. After the IF signal is processed by the IF module, it is converted into an analog signal. The RF module converts the processed signal through up-conversion, filtering, amplification, and modulation, and sends it through an array antenna.

[0083] The current HBF technology has a certain element redundancy, which causes resource waste.

[0084] Therefore, the present application provides a communication method based on a sparse array. A first device can determine the positions of the antenna array elements of the sparse array according to predefined parameters, and can send a signal to a second device through the determined sparse array. By improving the problem of element redundancy on the basis of the existing HBF technology, resource consumption is reduced.

[0085] The method provided by the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the technical solutions of the present application can be applied to the communication system as shown in FIG. 1.

[0086] It should be understood that the following is only for the convenience of understanding and illustration, and the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below by taking the interaction between the first device and the second device as an example.

[0087] The first device may, for example, be a terminal device or a network device; and the second device may be a terminal device or a network device. The first device and the second device may be independent devices, or the first device and the second device may be integrated in the same device, for example, the first device and the second device may be implemented as different apparatuses in one device. When the first device and the second device are integrated in the same device, the device may correspond to the self-transmitting and self-receiving terminal device in (a) of FIG. 1 or the self-transmitting and self-receiving network device in (d) of FIG. 1. When the first device and the second device are independent devices, the first device may correspond to the terminal device in (b) of FIG. 1; the second device may correspond to the terminal device shown in (b) of FIG. 1; or the first device may also correspond to the terminal device shown in (c) of FIG. 1; the second device may correspond to the network device shown in (c) of FIG. 1; or the first device may also correspond to the network device in (e) of FIG. 1; the second device may correspond to the network device shown in (e) of FIG. 1; or the first device may also correspond to the network device shown in (f) of FIG. 1; and the second device may correspond to the terminal device shown in (f) of FIG. 1.

[0088] However, it should be understood that this should not constitute any limitation on the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application. As long as the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be implemented according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application by running a program in which the code of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is recorded, the program can be used as the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application. For example, the first device shown in the following embodiments can also be replaced by a component in the first device, such as a chip, a chip system or other functional modules capable of calling and executing programs. The second device can also be replaced by a component in the second device, such as a chip, a chip system or other functional modules capable of calling and executing programs.

[0089] FIG. 8 shows a communication method 800 based on a sparse array provided by an embodiment of the present application, which includes steps 810 to 830. The following describes each step in the method 800 in detail.

[0090] In step 810, the first device determines a first sparse array according to a first parameter M1 and a second parameter M2, where M1 is used to determine W1 first power units, M2 is used to determine W2 second power units corresponding to each first power unit, each second power unit corresponds to an antenna array element to form a second sparse array, the first power unit corresponds to a plurality of analog radio frequency links, each analog radio frequency link includes a corresponding second power unit, and the first sparse array includes at least one column and / or at least one row of the second sparse array.

[0091] The first power unit can be included in a radio frequency module, and each analog radio frequency link corresponding to the first power unit can include a second power unit. Referring to FIG. 9, the antenna array includes a plurality of antenna elements (e.g., antenna elements 0-10), each of which is connected to the output end of an analog radio frequency link, or each of which belongs to an analog radio frequency link. The plurality of analog radio frequency links can be divided into groups, and the input ends of the analog radio frequency links in each group are connected to the same first power unit, such as the first power unit 1 connected to the analog radio frequency links 1 and 2. Each analog radio frequency link includes a phase shifter and a second power unit, such as the input end of the second power unit 1 connected to the output end of the phase shifter 1. Among them, the first power unit can be a first PA, and the second power unit can be a second PA. The power of the first PA is larger, for example, the power range of the first PA is several watts to several tens of watts, and the power of the second PA is smaller, for example, the power range of the second PA is several milliwatts to several hundred milliwatts, which is not limited.

[0092] The W1 first power units can be part or all of the first power units in the HBF system, and the W2 second power units can be part of the second power units in the HBF system. By determining the W1 first power units and the W2 second power units, the antenna elements corresponding to each second power unit form a second sparse array, that is, the non-idle antenna elements selected by the second sparse array can be determined.

[0093] The first parameter M1 and the second parameter M2 can be used to determine the W1 first power units and the W2 second power units, and the antenna elements corresponding to each second power unit form a second sparse array, so that the second sparse array can be determined by the first parameter M1 and the second parameter M2. The second sparse array can be a two-dimensional sparse surface array.

[0094] In a possible implementation, the positions of the antenna elements of the second sparse array can be determined by L s ={md1+nd2}, where m={1, 3, …, 2M1-1}, n={1, 2, …, M2}, d1=length(m)*d2, d2=λ / 2, length(m)≥2, length(n)≥2. Wherein m is a set of first power units, n is a set of second power units corresponding to each first power unit, set length(length), d1 is the spacing between each first power unit, d2 is the spacing between each second power unit, and λ is the wavelength.

[0095] Optionally, the antenna element occupying the 0th position corresponding to the second power unit is predefined, or in other words, the second power unit corresponding to the antenna element occupying the 0th position and the first power unit corresponding to the first power unit are predefined.

[0096] In an example, when M1=3 and M2=2, m={1, 3, 5} and n={1, 2}, 1 in m corresponds to 1 and 2 in n, 3 in m corresponds to 1 and 2 in n, and 5 in m corresponds to 1 and 2 in n. Therefore, W1 in the W1 first power units is 3, and W2 in the W2 first power units is 6. For example, FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of an HBF system model, as shown in FIG. 9, the HBF system model can include a baseband module, an IF module, and an RF module. Among them, the second sparse array corresponding to the second power unit is as shown in FIG. 9, the antenna elements in the 0th, 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 9th, and 10th positions are non-idle antenna elements (or in other words, occupied antenna elements), wherein the antenna elements in the 5th and 6th positions also correspond to the second power unit set n={1, 2}, and the antenna elements in the 9th and 10th positions also correspond to the second power unit set n={1, 2}. For the convenience of distinguishing the positions of the antenna elements of the second sparse array, the antenna elements shown in FIG. 9 are sequentially sorted according to the order of non-idle antenna elements and idle antenna elements.

[0097] The modules included in the HBF system model shown in FIG. 9 are similar to those in FIG. 7, which are described in detail in the schematic diagram shown in FIG. 7, and the similar contents in FIG. 7 will not be repeated here. The difference from FIG. 7 is that the first device transmits the signal processed by the radio frequency through the first sparse array, which is determined by the second sparse array, so that compared with the uniform array, a smaller number of antenna elements can be used to achieve the purpose of transmitting signals to other devices and reduce resource consumption.

[0098] In the first embodiment, the above-mentioned second sparse array can be used as the first sparse array, that is, the first device can transmit the first signal through the second sparse array. In the second embodiment, in order to further reduce resource consumption, the first device can further improve the sparsity of the non-idle antenna elements based on the second sparse array.

[0099] Based on the above-mentioned second embodiment, the first sparse array can include at least one column and / or at least one row of the second sparse array, and the first sparse array can include the following possible examples:

[0100] In example one, the first sparse array can be an L-shaped sparse array or a T-shaped sparse array composed of one column of antenna elements and one row of antenna elements in the second sparse array. Generally, the second sparse array is a two-dimensional planar array, and thus can include multiple columns of antenna elements and multiple rows of antenna elements, each column of antenna elements can be referred to as a vertical linear array, and each row of antenna elements can be referred to as a horizontal linear array. In this case, the one column of antenna elements in the first sparse array can be any column of antenna elements in the second sparse array, and the one row of antenna elements in the first sparse array can be any row of antenna elements in the second sparse array.

[0101] For example, the one column of antenna elements and the one row of antenna elements can form an L-shaped sparse array as shown in FIG. 10, in which the horizontal linear array and the vertical linear array respectively include six occupied antenna elements and four idle antenna elements, and the occupied antenna elements and the idle antenna elements can be spaced two by two.

[0102] For another example, the one column of antenna elements and the one row of antenna elements can form a T-shaped sparse array as shown in FIG. 11, in which the horizontal linear array and the vertical linear array respectively include six occupied antenna elements and four idle antenna elements, and the occupied antenna elements and the idle antenna elements can be spaced two by two.

[0103] Optionally, the L-shaped sparse array and the T-shaped sparse array can be equivalent to each other, and no limitation is made in this regard.

[0104] In example two, the first sparse array includes one column of antenna elements or one row of antenna elements in the second sparse array. As described above, the second sparse array can be a two-dimensional planar array including multiple columns of antenna elements and multiple rows of antenna elements, and the one column of antenna elements in the first sparse array can be any column of antenna elements in the second sparse array, and the one row of antenna elements in the first sparse array can be any row of antenna elements in the second sparse array.

[0105] For example, the one row of antenna elements can form a sparse linear array as shown in FIG. 12, which includes six occupied antenna elements and four idle antenna elements, and the occupied antenna elements and the idle antenna elements are spaced two by two.

[0106] In example three, the first sparse array is an equivalent planar array determined based on one column of antenna elements and one row of antenna elements in the second sparse array. The one column of antenna elements and the one row of antenna elements in the second sparse array can refer to the description of example one.

[0107] For example, FIG. 13 shows a schematic diagram of an equivalent planar array, which is equivalent to the T-shaped sparse array shown in FIG. 11, for example, the direction vector of the x-axis of the T-shaped sparse array can be multiplied with the direction vector of the y-axis to be equivalent to a planar array. The equivalent planar array includes a two-dimensional element distribution, for example, 10 rows by 10 columns of antenna elements, and the position of each antenna element can be determined by its row index and column index in the equivalent planar array. Among them, the antenna elements in the first row, the second row, the fifth row, the sixth row, the ninth row and the tenth row of the equivalent planar array can include occupied antenna elements and idle antenna elements, for example, 6 occupied antenna elements and 4 idle antenna elements, respectively, and the third row, the fourth row, the seventh row and the eighth row of antenna elements are idle antenna elements. The antenna elements in the first column, the second column, the fifth column, the sixth column, the ninth column and the tenth column of the equivalent planar array can include occupied antenna elements and idle antenna elements, for example, 6 occupied antenna elements and 4 idle antenna elements, respectively, and the third column, the fourth column, the seventh column and the eighth column of antenna elements are idle antenna elements.

[0108] It should be understood that the number and position of occupied antenna elements and idle antenna elements in FIGS. 10-13 are only examples and are not limiting.

[0109] In some embodiments, before determining the first sparse array, the first device can first determine the mode of the antenna array. For example, the mode of the antenna array can include mode 1 and mode 2, where mode 1 indicates that the first device will use a uniform array to transmit signals, and mode 2 indicates that the first device will use a sparse array to transmit signals.

[0110] If the first device determines that the mode of the antenna array is mode 1 described above, the first device transmits signals to the second device through the uniform array. If the first device determines that the mode of the antenna array is mode 2 described above, the first device can transmit signals to the second device through the sparse array.

[0111] Optionally, the first device can send the determined mode of the antenna array to the second device, so that the second device determines whether to use the same antenna array as the first device according to the size of its own antenna array.

[0112] In some embodiments, before determining the first sparse array, the first device can first send parameters corresponding to the mode of the antenna array to the second device, for example, the mode of the antenna array can include mode 1 and mode 2, where the parameter corresponding to mode 1 is M, and the parameter corresponding to mode 2 is a first parameter M1 and a second parameter M2.

[0113] For example, the first device determines mode 1, and can send parameter M to the second device, and the second device can determine the positions of the antenna elements of the uniform array through M. For another example, the first device determines mode 2, and can send parameters M1 and M2 to the second device, and the second device can determine the positions of the antenna elements of the second sparse array through M1 and M2, and further determine the first sparse array through the second sparse array.

[0114] In some embodiments, the first device can determine the transmission mode before determining the first sparse array.

[0115] For example, the first device is a network device, and the network device can determine one of the following transmission modes:

[0116] a. Network device-network device self-initiated self-reception-mono-static: confirming the working mode of the network device through the way of receiving the echo;

[0117] b. Network device-terminal device self-initiated other-reception-bi-static: the network device side transmits a downlink signal, which is received and sensed by the terminal device side to the target distance;

[0118] c. Network device-network device self-initiated other-reception-bi-static: the network device side transmits a signal, which is received and sensed by the network device side.

[0119] For example, the first device is a terminal device, and the terminal device can determine one of the following transmission modes:

[0120] d. Terminal device-terminal device self-initiated self-reception-mono-static: confirming the working mode of the terminal device through the way of receiving the echo;

[0121] e. Terminal device-network device self-initiated other-reception-bi-static: the terminal device side transmits an uplink signal, which is received and sensed by the network device side;

[0122] f. Terminal device-terminal device self-initiated other-reception-bi-static: the terminal device transmits a signal, which is received and sensed by the terminal device side.

[0123] Based on the different transmission modes, the structure of the array antenna used for transmitting signals between the first device and the second device can be different.

[0124] In some embodiments, the first device can determine the structure of the array antenna before determining the first sparse array. For example, the mode of the array antenna can include mode 1 and mode 2, and the structure of the sparse array of mode 2 can be a sparse linear array as shown in FIG. 12, an L-shaped sparse array as shown in FIG. 10, a T-shaped sparse array as shown in FIG. 11, or a surface array as shown in FIG. 13.

[0125] Optionally, the first device can send the determined array structure to the second device to facilitate the second device to determine whether to adopt the same array structure as the first device.

[0126] In some embodiments, before the first device determines the first sparse array, the first device can first determine whether the first device and the second device adopt the same array structure.

[0127] For example, when the second device and the first device adopt the same array structure, the second device can receive the signal sent by the first device through the same array; when the second device and the first device adopt different array structures, the second device receives the signal sent by the first device based on the other array structure. No limitation is made in this regard.

[0128] In step 820, the first device sends a first signal to the second device through the first sparse array. Correspondingly, the second device receives the first signal from the first device through the first sparse array.

[0129] For example, the first device can perform beamforming based on the first sparse array to send the first signal. For example, the first device can adjust the phase of each array antenna in the first sparse array at the transmitting end by obtaining the channel information between the first device and the second device, so that the second device receives the signal from the first device at the position of the receiving antenna, so that the second device obtains the optimal receiving performance.

[0130] In general, the first device can perform beamforming based on the first sparse array, can concentrate the signal energy in the direction of the first signal to be transmitted, thereby enhancing the first signal quality, improving the signal-to-noise ratio, and effectively improving the coverage range of the first signal.

[0131] In some embodiments, before the first device sends the first signal to the second device through the first sparse array, the first device can first equivalently convert the first sparse array into a uniform surface array, or in other words, simulate a uniform surface array, and by adjusting the phase and amplitude of each array element in the array, more accurate beam control can be achieved. The equivalent uniform surface array can realize beamforming through uniformly distributed antenna elements.

[0132] For example, each dimension (such as horizontal (H) dimension and / or vertical (V) dimension) in the first sparse array can be sparse, and the first device can equivalently convert the first sparse array into a uniform surface array with the largest aperture through Khatri-Rao multiplication, such as the direction vectors of the L-shaped sparse array, the T-shaped sparse array or the x-axis and the y-axis of the surface array. By equivalently converting the first sparse array into a uniform surface array, the system performance can be ensured with fewer antenna elements while reducing resource consumption.

[0133] In step 830, the second device performs direction estimation based on the first sparse array and the first signal.

[0134] The second device can process the first sparse array through a signal processing algorithm (for example, MUSIC) to achieve high-resolution direction estimation. The processing steps of the MUSIC algorithm can include: first constructing a covariance matrix of the first sparse array, and then performing eigenvalue decomposition to obtain the eigenvectors of the first signal subspace and the noise subspace. Through analysis of the first signal subspace, the frequency and direction estimation of the first signal can be obtained.

[0135] Exemplarily, if the above first sparse array can include L antenna array elements, the positions are n s = [n1, n2,..., n L ]*d, and λ is the wavelength. The received first signal can be represented as: x(t) = As(t) + n(t), A can be an array stream type matrix, which can be specifically represented as: A = [α(θ1),...,[α(θ k )]. θ k may be the angle of the kth receiving beam. n(t) can be channel noise, which can be specifically represented as

[0136] On this basis, the covariance matrix of the received first signal x(t) of the array antenna can be represented as: R xx = E[xx H ] = ARssA H + σ 2 I L , where R ss is a diagonal matrix, and the diagonal elements can be unknown quantities, such as I L is an L*L unit matrix. At this time, by vectorizing R xx , the vectorized representation of R xx can be obtained, which can be specifically represented as: where z1 is a one-by-multi-dimensional vector, ⊙ is the Hadamard product, vec(·) represents vectorization.

[0137] It can be understood that since the model of the received signal of the first sparse array antenna is represented by vectorization, the vectorization expression is similar to the array structure of the uniform linear array antenna, which is a one-by-multi-dimensional structure. Therefore, the first sparse array antenna can also be equivalent to a uniform linear array antenna or a uniform surface array through appropriate signal processing procedures, and the antenna element position can be represented as: virtual array (viarray) = (n a -n bd, a≥1, b≤L. That is, the equivalent uniform linear array antenna or the antenna element position of the uniform surface array can be obtained by the difference of the antenna element position of the first sparse array antenna.

[0138] For example, if the sparse linear array is {0, 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10}, the positions of 0, 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10 are the positions of the non-idle antenna elements, which can be supplemented by the virtual array=(n a -n b )*d, the 0, 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10 in {0, 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10} can be regarded as n a or n b For example, when n a =5, n b =2, n a -n b =+3, and when n a =2, n b =5, n a -n b =-3. Similarly, the antenna elements of 0, ±1, ±2, ±3, ±4, ±5, ±6, ±7, ±8, ±9, ±10 can be obtained. Therefore, the uniform linear array is composed of the occupied antenna elements and the idle antenna elements, i.e., {0, ±1, ±2, ±3, ±4, ±5, ±6, ±7, ±8, ±9, ±10}. In this way, by using a smaller number of elements, the equivalent larger uniform linear array can reduce resource consumption.

[0139] In some embodiments, the uniform surface array or the uniform linear array determined by the virtual array can correspond to a second signal, and thus the second device can perform direction estimation according to the second signal, which can be a signal determined based on the first signal. In this way, compared with performing direction estimation based on the signal corresponding to the uniform array, the process does not increase too much redundancy, and the computational complexity is simplified.

[0140] Based on the above scheme, the first device can achieve the purpose of sending the first signal to the second device by using fewer antenna elements in the first sparse array, so as to improve the problem of element redundancy and reduce resource consumption.

[0141] It should be understood that the processes shown in FIG. 8 are only examples, and should not constitute any limitation on the present application. In other embodiments, the processes can also include more or fewer steps.

[0142] It should also be understood that the size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to their functions and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0143] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above in combination with the drawings. The apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below in combination with the drawings.

[0144] FIG. 14 to FIG. 15 are schematic block diagrams of possible communication apparatuses provided by the embodiments of the present application. These communication apparatuses can be used to implement the functions of the first device or the second device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments.

[0145] The communication apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in FIG. 14. The communication apparatus 1400 includes a communication unit 1410 and a processing unit 1420. The communication unit 1410 can be used to perform the actions of receiving or sending, and the processing unit 1420 can be used to perform actions other than receiving and sending, such as generating information or messages, processing received information or messages, etc.

[0146] A possible design is that the communication apparatus 1400 is used to implement the functions of the first device in the above method embodiment shown in FIG. 8. For example, the communication apparatus can be the first device, or a component (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.) configured in the first device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing part or all of the functions of the first device.

[0147] Exemplarily, when the communication apparatus 1400 is used to implement the functions of the first device in the method 800, the processing unit 1420 is configured to determine a first sparse array according to a first parameter M1 and a second parameter M2, the M1 is used to determine W1 first power units, the M2 is used to determine W2 second power units corresponding to each first power unit, each second power unit corresponds to an antenna array element group forming a second sparse array, the first power unit corresponds to a plurality of analog radio frequency links, each analog radio frequency link includes a corresponding second power unit, and the first sparse array includes at least one column and / or at least one row of the second sparse array; and the communication unit 1410 is configured to send a first signal through the first sparse array.

[0148] Optionally, the first sparse array is determined based on a column of antenna array elements and a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array, and the column of antenna array elements and the row of antenna array elements form an L-shaped sparse array or a T-shaped sparse array.

[0149] Optionally, the first sparse array includes a column of antenna array elements or a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array.

[0150] Optionally, the communication unit 1410 is further configured to send the first parameter M1 and the second parameter M2.

[0151] In a possible design, the communication apparatus 1400 is configured to implement the functions of the second device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 8. For example, the communication apparatus can be the second device, or a component (for example, a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.) configured in the second device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing part or all of the functions of the second device.

[0152] For example, when the communication apparatus 1400 is configured to implement the functions of the second device in the method 800, the communication unit 1410 is configured to receive a first signal sent by a first sparse array, the first sparse array is determined based on a first parameter M1 and a second parameter M2, M1 is used to determine W1 first power units, M2 is used to determine W2 second power units corresponding to each first power unit, each second power unit corresponds to a second sparse array formed by an antenna array element, the first power unit corresponds to a plurality of analog radio frequency links, each analog radio frequency link includes a corresponding second power unit, and the first sparse array includes at least one column and / or at least one row of the second sparse array; and the processing unit 1420 is configured to perform direction estimation based on the first sparse array and the first signal.

[0153] Optionally, the first sparse array is determined based on a column of antenna array elements and a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array, and the column of antenna array elements and the row of antenna array elements form an L-shaped sparse array or a T-shaped sparse array.

[0154] Optionally, the first sparse array includes a column of antenna array elements or a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array.

[0155] Optionally, performing direction estimation based on the first sparse array and the first signal includes that the processing unit 1420 is further configured to determine a second signal of the first signal, the second signal corresponds to an antenna array equivalent to the first sparse array, and each antenna array element in the antenna array is a non-idle antenna array element; and perform direction estimation according to the second signal.

[0156] Optionally, the communication unit 1410 is further configured to receive the first parameter M1 and the second parameter M2.

[0157] It should also be understood that the communication unit 1410 in the communication apparatus 1400 can also be referred to as a transceiver unit, and the communication unit 1410 can include a sending module and exclude a receiving module. Alternatively, the communication unit 1410 can include a receiving module and exclude a sending module. Specifically, whether the sending module and the receiving module are included in the communication apparatus 1400 can depend on whether the sending action and the receiving action are included in the above-mentioned scheme. The receiving module can be configured to perform the receiving action in the above-mentioned scheme, and the sending module can be configured to perform the sending action in the above-mentioned scheme.

[0158] It can be understood that the division of units in the above apparatus is only a logical function division, one function unit can be used for each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one function unit. In actual implementation, all or part of the units can be integrated into one physical entity, or can be distributed in different physical entities. In addition, the above function units can be realized in the form of hardware, or in the form of software, or in the form of hardware combined with software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical scheme. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0159] Another communication apparatus provided in the present application is shown in FIG. 15. The communication apparatus 1500 includes at least one processor 1510. The at least one processor 1510 can be used to execute computer programs or instructions in the memory to implement the steps performed by the first device or the second device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 8.

[0160] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1500 can further include at least one memory 1520 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1510 or storing input data required by the processor 1510 to run instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1510 runs instructions. The at least one processor 1510 and the at least one memory 1520 can be separately arranged. For example, each memory can be connected with one or more processors, so that the connected processor can read information from the memory, store and / or write information in the memory. Alternatively, the at least one processor 1510 and the at least one memory 1520 can be integrated together, for example, one or more memories can be integrated in one processor.

[0161] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1500 further includes an interface circuit 1530, which can be used for transmitting data and / or signaling. The at least one processor 1510 and the interface circuit 1530 are coupled with each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1530 can be a transceiver, an input / output circuit, a bus, a module, a pin or other types of communication interfaces, wherein the input circuit in the input / output circuit can be used for receiving, and the output interface can be used for transmitting.

[0162] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1500 further includes a power supply circuit 1540, which can be used for supplying power to the communication apparatus 1500.

[0163] When the communication apparatus 1500 is used to implement the method in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the processor 1510 is configured to perform the functions of the processing unit described above, and the interface circuit 1520 is configured to perform the functions of the receiving unit and / or the sending unit described above. The interface circuit 1520 is configured to send or receive, and the specific configuration can be determined according to whether the communication apparatus 1500 performs a sending action or a receiving action in the scheme.

[0164] It can be understood that when the communication apparatus 1500 is a communication device (for example, the first device or the second device), the interface circuit 1520 can be a transceiver, which can specifically include a transmitter and a receiver, the transmitter is configured to send signals, and the receiver is configured to receive signals. When the communication apparatus 1500 is a chip applied to a communication device, the interface circuit 1520 can be an input / output circuit, a bus, a module, a pin, or other types of communication interfaces, wherein the input circuit in the input / output circuit can be configured to receive, and the output interface can be configured to send.

[0165] It should be understood that in the communication apparatus 1500 shown in FIG. 15, the processor 1510 can correspond to the processing unit 1420 in the communication apparatus 1400 described above, and the interface circuit 1520 can correspond to the communication unit 1410 in the communication apparatus 1400 described above.

[0166] It should also be understood that the coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, and is used for information interaction between devices, units or modules. The specific connection medium between the at least one processor 1510, the at least one memory 1520, the interface circuit 1530 and the power supply circuit 1540 in the embodiments of the present application is not limited. In FIG. 15, the processor 1510, the memory 1520, the interface circuit 1530 and the power supply circuit 1540 are connected through the bus 1550. The bus 1550 is represented by a thick line in FIG. 15, and the connection mode between other components is only schematically illustrated and is not limited. The bus can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For convenience of representation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 15, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0167] It can be appreciated that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0168] 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 RAM can be used, 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). It should be noted that the memory of the system and method described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0169] The present application also provides a communication system, which includes the first device and the second device described above.

[0170] The application further provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), which, when executed, causes a computer to perform the method performed by the first device or the second device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8.

[0171] The application further provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions). When the computer program is executed, it causes a computer to perform the method performed by the first device or the second device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8.

[0172] The terms "unit", "module" and the like used in the specification can be used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, combinations of hardware and software, software, or software in execution.

[0173] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. The choice of hardware or software implementation 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 application. In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices, apparatuses and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are only illustrative, for example, the division of the units is only a logical functional division, and actual implementation can have another division, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be omitted or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the displayed or discussed units can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0174] 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, i.e. they can be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0175] In addition, the functional units in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0176] In the above embodiments, the functions of the various functional units can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions can be implemented in the form of one or more computer programs that run on a computer. When the computer programs are run on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are wholly or partially generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer programs can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that includes one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (for example, solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0177] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional 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 software products. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for making a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) execute all or part of the steps of the various embodiments of the present application. The storage medium mentioned above includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, ROM, RAM, magnetic disk or optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0178] 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 communication method based on a sparse array, characterized in that, The method comprises: determining a first sparse array according to a first parameter M1 and a second parameter M2, the M1 being used to determine W1 first power units, the M2 being used to determine W2 second power units corresponding to each of the first power units, each of the second power units corresponding to an antenna array element forming a second sparse array, the first power units corresponding to a plurality of analog radio frequency links, each of the analog radio frequency links comprising a corresponding second power unit, the first sparse array comprising at least one column and / or at least one row of the second sparse array; transmitting a first signal through the first sparse array.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first sparse array is determined based on a column of antenna array elements and a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array, the column of antenna array elements and the row of antenna array elements forming an L-shaped sparse array or a T-shaped sparse array.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first sparse array comprises a column of antenna array elements or a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further comprises: transmitting the first parameter M1 and the second parameter M2.

5. A communication method based on a sparse array, characterized by, The method comprises: receiving a first signal transmitted through a first sparse array, the first sparse array being determined based on a first parameter M1 and a second parameter M2, the M1 being used to determine W1 first power units, the M2 being used to determine W2 second power units corresponding to each of the first power units, each of the second power units corresponding to an antenna array element forming a second sparse array, the first power units corresponding to a plurality of analog radio frequency links, each of the analog radio frequency links comprising a corresponding second power unit, the first sparse array comprising at least one column and / or at least one row of the second sparse array; performing direction estimation based on the first sparse array and the first signal.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The first sparse array is determined based on a column of antenna array elements and a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array, the column of antenna array elements and the row of antenna array elements forming an L-shaped sparse array or a T-shaped sparse array.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, The first sparse array comprises a column of antenna array elements or a row of antenna array elements in the second sparse array.

8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that, The performing direction estimation based on the first sparse array and the first signal comprises: determining a second signal of the first signal, the second signal corresponding to an antenna array equivalent to the first sparse array, each of the antenna array elements in the antenna array being a non-idle antenna array element; performing direction estimation according to the second signal.

9. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving the first parameter M1 and the second parameter M2.

10. A communications device, characterized by comprise one or more functional units for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. A communications device, characterized by comprise a processor configured to execute program code to cause the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

12. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, characterized in that, The computer program, when executed by a processor, causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 to be performed.

13. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program, when executed by a processor, causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 to be performed.

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