Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: determining an association between a sensing service and a communication resource; and sending first information to a second logic unit. The first information may be used to indicate the communication resource, or the first information may be used to indicate the association. According to the present application, by means of establishing associations between sensing services and communication resources, corresponding communication resources can be more reasonably configured for different sensing services. The requirements of different sensing services can be met while communication resources are reasonably utilized.

Description

Communication methods and devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411205470.1, filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on August 29, 2024, entitled "Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of wireless communication, and more particularly to communication methods and apparatus. Background Technology

[0003] In current communication systems, base station functions can be functionally decomposed into multiple functional entities. Different functional entities are used to implement different communication protocol functions within the base station. For example, a base station can be deployed as two parts: a baseband unit (BBU) and a remote radio unit (RRU). Alternatively, a base station can be divided into two functional entities: a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The CU can also be referred to as a centralized unit.

[0004] For perception scenarios, resource allocation is relatively independent, and current resource allocation methods are inefficient. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that, by establishing a correlation between sensing services and communication resources, more rationally configures the communication resources corresponding to different sensing services. This satisfies the needs of different sensing services while making rational use of communication resources.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solution:

[0007] Firstly, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a first logical unit. This first logical unit can be a network device, a component of the network device (e.g., a processor, circuit, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. For ease of description, the following explanation uses an example of execution by a network device. The method may include: determining the association between a sensing service and communication resources; and sending first information to a second logical unit. The first information may be used to indicate communication resources, or it may be used to indicate an association.

[0008] This application establishes a correlation between sensing services and communication resources, enabling more rational allocation of communication resources for different sensing services. This allows for the efficient use of communication resources while meeting the needs of various sensing services.

[0009] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate communication resources, the method may further include: acquiring sensing data associated with the communication resources; and sending second information to a third logic unit based on the association. The second information may include the sensing data, which is associated with a sensing service.

[0010] This application allows the first logic unit to determine the sensing service corresponding to different sensing data based on the association relationship when the first information indicates communication resources, thereby enabling more accurate reporting of sensing data corresponding to different sensing services and improving the processing efficiency of sensing services.

[0011] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate an association, the method may further include: acquiring sensing data associated with the sensing service. The sensing data associated with the sensing service is determined through the association. Then, sending second information to a third logic unit. The second information may include the sensing data.

[0012] This application allows the second logic unit to determine the sensing service corresponding to different sensing data based on the association relationship indicated by the first information, thereby enabling more accurate reporting of sensing data corresponding to different sensing services and improving the processing efficiency of sensing services.

[0013] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0014] This application can be applied to configuring and associating sensing services with various communication domains, thereby enabling flexible configuration of appropriate communication domain resources for different sensing services.

[0015] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0016] This application provides a variety of possible airspace resources to configure appropriate airspace resources for different perception services in different scenarios.

[0017] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0018] This application provides various parameter configurations for indicating spatial resources as MIMO layers, thereby accurately configuring MIMO layer resources corresponding to different sensing services.

[0019] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0020] This application provides various parameter configurations for indicating spatial resources as beams, thereby accurately configuring beam resources corresponding to different sensing services.

[0021] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate the association, the first information also includes a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service.

[0022] This application can indicate each sensing service through the sensing service identifier carried in the first information. This allows the second logic unit to accurately determine the communication resources corresponding to each sensing service based on the first information.

[0023] In one possible design, determining the association between at least one sensing service and at least one communication resource may include: receiving third information from a third logical unit. This third information may include a fourth identifier indicating the sensing service and first quality of service (QoS) requirement information corresponding to the sensing service. Acquiring first channel information, which may be used to indicate the channel state between a second logical unit and the terminal. Determining the association between the sensing service and the communication resource based on the first QoS requirement information and the first channel information.

[0024] The first logic unit of this application can determine the association between sensing services and communication resources through third information sent by the third logic unit. This allows for a more rational allocation of communication resources corresponding to different sensing services.

[0025] In one possible design, the third information could also include the number of perceived services.

[0026] This application can also enable the first logic unit to configure corresponding communication resources for different sensing services more flexibly by indicating the number of sensing services.

[0027] In one possible design, the second information may further include: at least one fourth identifier; or channel indication information. The channel indication information can be used to indicate a logical channel between the first logical unit and the third logical unit. This logical channel is related to the sensing service.

[0028] This application provides multiple ways to report the relationship between sensing data and sensing services, so as to select the appropriate method to report sensing data of different sensing services in different scenarios and improve communication efficiency.

[0029] In one possible design, the first logic unit may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: a sensing least square (LS) function for the frequency domain; a sensing LS function for the time domain; or a sensing range-velocity-angle (RVA) spectrum estimation function.

[0030] This application provides various functional modules that may be deployed in the first logical unit, thereby improving the versatility of the system.

[0031] Secondly, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a second logic unit. This second logic unit can be a network device, a component of the network device (e.g., a processor, circuit, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. For ease of description, the following explanation assumes execution by a network device. The method may include: receiving first information from a first logic unit. The first information may be used to indicate communication resources, or it may be used to indicate the association between a sensing service and communication resources. A sensing signal is transmitted according to the communication resources; and / or, an echo signal of the sensing signal is received according to the communication resources.

[0032] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate the communication resource after receiving the echo signal of the sensed signal based on the communication resource, the method may further include: sending fourth information associated with the communication resource to the first logic unit. This fourth information is determined based on the echo signal of the sensed signal.

[0033] In one possible design, where the method receives the echo signal of the sensing signal based on communication resources, and the first information is used to indicate the association relationship, the method may further include: sending sensing data associated with the sensing service to the first logic unit. The sensing data associated with the sensing service is determined by the echo signal of the sensing signal and the association relationship.

[0034] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0035] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0036] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0037] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0038] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate an association, the first information may further include a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service. Sending sensing data associated with the sensing service to the first logical unit may include sending the sensing data associated with the sensing service to the first logical unit, as well as the fourth identifier or first channel indication information. The first channel indication information may be used to indicate a first logical channel between the first logical unit and the second logical unit. This first logical channel is associated with the sensing service.

[0039] In one possible design, the association can be determined based on the first QoS requirement information and the first channel information corresponding to the perceived service. This first channel information can be used to indicate the channel state between the second logic unit and the terminal.

[0040] In one possible design, the second logic unit may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: frequency domain sensing LS function; or time domain sensing LS function.

[0041] Thirdly, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a third logical unit. This third logical unit can be a network device, a component of the network device (e.g., a processor, circuit, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. For ease of description, the following explanation uses an example executed by a network device. The method may include sending third information to a first logical unit. This third information may include a fourth identifier indicating a sensing service and first QoS requirement information corresponding to the sensing service. This enables the first logical unit to determine the association between the sensing service and communication resources based on the third information and first channel information. The first channel information may be used to indicate the channel state between a second logical unit and a terminal.

[0042] In one possible design, the third information could also include the number of perceived services.

[0043] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0044] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0045] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0046] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0047] In one possible design, the method may further include receiving second information from the first logic unit. This second information may include sensing data, which is associated with a sensing service.

[0048] In one possible design, the second information may further include: at least one fourth identifier; or channel indication information. The channel indication information can be used to indicate a logical channel between the first logical unit and the third logical unit. This logical channel is related to the sensing service.

[0049] Fourthly, a communication device is provided, which may be equipped with a first logical unit (such as a network device implementing the function corresponding to the first logical unit), or a communication module in the network device implementing the function corresponding to the first logical unit, or a chip in the network device implementing the function corresponding to the first logical unit that is responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a system-on-chip (SoC) or system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem module. It may also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first logical unit. The communication device may include: a processing unit for determining the association between a sensing service and a communication resource; and a transceiver unit for sending first information to a second logical unit. The first information may be used to indicate communication resources, or the first information may be used to indicate an association.

[0050] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate communication resources, the processing unit is further configured to: acquire sensing data associated with the communication resources; and, based on the association, control the transceiver unit to send second information to the third logic unit. This second information may include sensing data associated with a sensing service.

[0051] In one possible design, when the first information is used to indicate an association, the processing unit is further configured to acquire sensing data associated with the sensing service. The sensing data associated with the sensing service is determined through the association. The transceiver unit is further configured to send second information to the third logic unit. The second information may include the sensing data.

[0052] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0053] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0054] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0055] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0056] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate the association, the first information also includes a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service.

[0057] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive third information from the third logic unit. This third information may include a fourth identifier indicating the sensing service and first QoS requirement information corresponding to the sensing service. The processing unit is further configured to acquire first channel information, which may be used to indicate the channel state between the second logic unit and the terminal. The processing unit is further configured to determine the association between the sensing service and communication resources based on the first QoS requirement information and the first channel information.

[0058] In one possible design, the third information could also include the number of perceived services.

[0059] In one possible design, the second information may further include: at least one fourth identifier; or channel indication information. The channel indication information can be used to indicate a logical channel between the first logical unit and the third logical unit. This logical channel is related to the sensing service.

[0060] In one possible design, the first logic unit may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: a frequency domain sensing LS function; a time domain sensing LS function; or a sensing RVA spectrum estimation function.

[0061] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, which may be equipped with a second logic unit (such as a network device implementing the corresponding function of the second logic unit), or a communication module in a network device implementing the corresponding function of the second logic unit, or a chip responsible for communication functions in a network device implementing the corresponding function of the second logic unit, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module. It may also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the second logic unit. The communication device may include: a transceiver unit for receiving first information from a first logic unit. The first information may be used to indicate communication resources, or the first information may be used to indicate the association between a sensing service and communication resources. A processing unit for controlling the transceiver unit to send sensing signals according to the communication resources; and / or for controlling the transceiver unit to receive echo signals of the sensing signals according to the communication resources.

[0062] In one possible design, when the first information is used to indicate the communication resource after receiving the echo signal of the sensing signal based on the communication resource, the transceiver unit is further configured to: send fourth information associated with the communication resource to the first logic unit. This fourth information is determined based on the echo signal of the sensing signal.

[0063] In one possible design, when receiving the echo signal of the sensing signal based on communication resources, and using the first information to indicate the association relationship, the transceiver unit is further configured to: send sensing data associated with the sensing service to the first logic unit. The sensing data associated with the sensing service is determined by the echo signal of the sensing signal and the association relationship.

[0064] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0065] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0066] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0067] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0068] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate an association, the first information may further include a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service. The transceiver unit is further configured to: send sensing data associated with the sensing service, and the fourth identifier or first channel indication information, to the first logic unit. The first channel indication information may be used to indicate a first logical channel between the first logic unit and the second logic unit. This first logical channel is associated with the sensing service.

[0069] In one possible design, the association can be determined based on the first QoS requirement information and the first channel information corresponding to the perceived service. This first channel information can be used to indicate the channel state between the second logic unit and the terminal.

[0070] In one possible design, the second logic unit may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: frequency domain sensing LS function; or time domain sensing LS function.

[0071] Sixthly, a communication device is provided, which may deploy a third logic unit (such as a network device implementing the corresponding function of the third logic unit), or a communication module in a network device implementing the corresponding function of the third logic unit, or a chip responsible for communication functions in a network device implementing the corresponding function of the third logic unit, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module. It may also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the third logic unit. The communication device may include: a transceiver unit for sending third information to a first logic unit. The third information may include a fourth identifier indicating a sensing service and first QoS requirement information corresponding to the sensing service. This enables the first logic unit to determine the association between the sensing service and communication resources based on the third information and first channel information. The first channel information may be used to indicate the channel state between a second logic unit and a terminal.

[0072] In one possible design, the third information could also include the number of perceived services.

[0073] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0074] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0075] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0076] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0077] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to: receive second information from the first logic unit. This second information may include sensing data. This sensing data is associated with a sensing service.

[0078] In one possible design, the second information may further include: at least one fourth identifier; or channel indication information. The channel indication information can be used to indicate a logical channel between the first logical unit and the third logical unit. This logical channel is related to the sensing service.

[0079] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided. This device may be equipped with a first logical unit (such as a network device implementing the corresponding function of the first logical unit), or a communication module within the network device implementing the corresponding function of the first logical unit, or a chip responsible for communication functions within the network device implementing the corresponding function of the first logical unit, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module. It may also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first logical unit. The communication device may include: a processor for determining the association between a sensing service and communication resources; and a transceiver for sending first information to a second logical unit. The first information may be used to indicate communication resources, or the first information may be used to indicate an association.

[0080] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate communication resources, the processor is further configured to: acquire sensing data associated with the communication resources; and, based on the association, control the transceiver to send second information to the third logic unit. This second information may include the sensing data, which is associated with a sensing service.

[0081] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate an association, the processor is further configured to acquire sensing data associated with the sensing service. The sensing data associated with the sensing service is determined through the association. The transceiver is further configured to send second information to the third logic unit. The second information may include the sensing data.

[0082] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0083] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0084] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0085] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0086] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate the association, the first information also includes a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service.

[0087] In one possible design, the transceiver is further configured to receive third information from the third logic unit. This third information may include a fourth identifier indicating the sensing service and first QoS requirement information corresponding to the sensing service. The processor is further configured to acquire first channel information, which may be used to indicate the channel state between the second logic unit and the terminal. The processor is further configured to determine the association between the sensing service and communication resources based on the first QoS requirement information and the first channel information.

[0088] In one possible design, the third information could also include the number of perceived services.

[0089] In one possible design, the second information may further include: at least one fourth identifier; or channel indication information. The channel indication information can be used to indicate a logical channel between the first logical unit and the third logical unit. This logical channel is related to the sensing service.

[0090] In one possible design, the first logic unit may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: a frequency domain sensing LS function; a time domain sensing LS function; or a sensing RVA spectrum estimation function.

[0091] Eighthly, a communication device is provided, which may be equipped with a second logic unit (such as a network device implementing the corresponding function of the second logic unit), or a communication module in the network device implementing the corresponding function of the second logic unit, or a chip responsible for communication function in the network device implementing the corresponding function of the second logic unit, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module. It may also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the second logic unit. The communication device may include: a transceiver for receiving first information from a first logic unit. The first information may be used to indicate communication resources, or the first information may be used to indicate the association between a sensing service and communication resources. A processor for controlling the transceiver to transmit sensing signals according to the communication resources; and / or for controlling the transceiver to receive echo signals of the sensing signals according to the communication resources.

[0092] In one possible design, when the transceiver receives the echo signal of the sensed signal based on the communication resources, and the first information is used to indicate the communication resources, the transceiver is further configured to: send fourth information associated with the communication resources to the first logic unit. This fourth information is determined based on the echo signal of the sensed signal.

[0093] In one possible design, when receiving the echo signal of the sensing signal based on communication resources, and using the first information to indicate the association relationship, the transceiver is further configured to: send sensing data associated with the sensing service to the first logic unit. The sensing data associated with the sensing service is determined by the echo signal of the sensing signal and the association relationship.

[0094] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0095] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0096] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0097] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0098] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate an association, the first information may further include a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service. The transceiver is also configured to: send sensing data associated with the sensing service, and the fourth identifier or first channel indication information, to the first logic unit. The first channel indication information may be used to indicate a first logical channel between the first logic unit and the second logic unit. This first logical channel is associated with the sensing service.

[0099] In one possible design, the association can be determined based on the first QoS requirement information and the first channel information corresponding to the perceived service. This first channel information can be used to indicate the channel state between the second logic unit and the terminal.

[0100] In one possible design, the second logic unit may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: frequency domain sensing LS function; or time domain sensing LS function.

[0101] A ninth aspect provides a communication device that may deploy a third logic unit (such as a network device implementing the corresponding function of the third logic unit), or a communication module within the network device implementing the corresponding function of the third logic unit, or a chip responsible for communication functions within the network device implementing the corresponding function of the third logic unit, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module. It may also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the third logic unit. The communication device may include a transceiver for sending third information to a first logic unit. The third information may include a fourth identifier indicating a sensing service and first QoS requirement information corresponding to the sensing service. This enables the first logic unit to determine the association between the sensing service and communication resources based on the third information and first channel information. The first channel information may be used to indicate the channel state between a second logic unit and a terminal.

[0102] In one possible design, the third information could also include the number of perceived services.

[0103] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0104] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0105] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0106] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0107] In one possible design, the transceiver is further configured to: receive second information from the first logic unit. This second information may include sensing data. This sensing data is associated with a sensing service.

[0108] In one possible design, the second information may further include: at least one fourth identifier; or channel indication information. The channel indication information can be used to indicate a logical channel between the first logical unit and the third logical unit. This logical channel is related to the sensing service.

[0109] A tenth aspect provides a communication system, comprising: a first logic unit determining an association between a sensing service and communication resources; the first logic unit sending first information to a second logic unit; and correspondingly, the second logic unit receiving the first information sent by the first logic unit. The first information may be used to indicate communication resources, or the first information may be used to indicate an association. The second logic unit controls a transceiver to send a sensing signal according to the communication resources; and / or, the second logic unit controls the transceiver to receive an echo signal of the sensing signal according to the communication resources.

[0110] In one possible design, when the first information is used to indicate communication resources, the second logic unit sends fourth information associated with the communication resources to the first logic unit. This fourth information is determined based on the echo signal of the sensed signal. The first logic unit acquires sensed data associated with the communication resources based on the fourth information. The first logic unit then sends second information to the third logic unit according to the association relationship. Accordingly, the third logic unit receives the second information from the first logic unit. This second information may include sensed data associated with a sensed service.

[0111] In one possible design, when the first information is used to indicate an association, the second logic unit sends sensing data associated with the sensing service to the first logic unit. Correspondingly, the first logic unit receives the sensing data associated with the sensing service from the second logic unit. The sensing data associated with the sensing service is determined by the echo signal of the sensing signal and the association relationship. The first logic unit then sends second information to the third logic unit. Correspondingly, the third logic unit receives the second information from the first logic unit. The second information may include the sensing data.

[0112] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0113] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0114] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0115] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0116] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate the association, the first information also includes a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service.

[0117] In one possible design, the third logic unit sends third information to the first logic unit. Correspondingly, the first logic unit receives the third information from the third logic unit. This third information may include a fourth identifier indicating the sensing service and first QoS requirement information corresponding to the sensing service. The first logic unit acquires first channel information, which can be used to indicate the channel state between the second logic unit and the terminal. Based on the first QoS requirement information and the first channel information, the first logic unit determines the association between the sensing service and communication resources.

[0118] In one possible design, the third information could also include the number of perceived services.

[0119] In one possible design, the second information may further include: at least one fourth identifier; or channel indication information. The channel indication information can be used to indicate a logical channel between the first logical unit and the third logical unit. This logical channel is related to the sensing service.

[0120] In one possible design, the first logic unit may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: a frequency domain sensing LS function; a time domain sensing LS function; or a sensing RVA spectrum estimation function.

[0121] In one possible design, the second logic unit may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: frequency domain sensing LS function; or time domain sensing LS function.

[0122] Eleventhly, a communication system is provided, comprising: a first access network device determining an association between a sensing service and communication resources; the first access network device sending first information to a second access network device; and correspondingly, the second access network device receiving the first information sent by the first access network device. The first information may be used to indicate communication resources, or the first information may be used to indicate an association. The second access network device controls a transceiver to send a sensing signal according to the communication resources; and / or, the second access network device controls a transceiver to receive an echo signal of the sensing signal according to the communication resources.

[0123] In one possible design, when the first information is used to indicate communication resources, the second access network device sends fourth information associated with the communication resources to the first access network device. This fourth information is determined based on the echo signal of the sensing signal. The first access network device acquires sensing data associated with the communication resources based on the fourth information. The first access network device then sends second information to the third access network device according to the association relationship. Accordingly, the third access network device receives the second information from the first access network device. This second information may include sensing data associated with a sensing service.

[0124] In one possible design, when the first information is used to indicate an association, the second access network device sends sensing data associated with the sensing service to the first access network device. Correspondingly, the first access network device receives the sensing data associated with the sensing service from the second access network device. The sensing data associated with the sensing service is determined by the echo signal of the sensing signal and the association relationship. The first access network device then sends second information to a third access network device. Correspondingly, the third access network device receives the second information from the first access network device. The second information may include the sensing data.

[0125] In one possible design, the communication resources may include at least one of the following resources: time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; frequency-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; spatial-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or power-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

[0126] In one possible design, where communication resources include spatial resources, the spatial resources may include at least one of the following resources: MIMO layer resources; or, beam resources.

[0127] In one possible design, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of layers; or, the first identifier corresponding to the layer.

[0128] In one possible design, beam resources can be indicated by at least one of the following parameters: the number of transmit beams; a second identifier for the transmit beams; the number of receive beams; or a third identifier for the receive beams.

[0129] In one possible design, where the first information is used to indicate the association, the first information also includes a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service.

[0130] In one possible design, a third access network device sends third information to a first access network device. Correspondingly, the first access network device receives the third information from the third access network device. This third information may include a fourth identifier indicating the sensing service and first QoS requirement information corresponding to the sensing service. The first access network device acquires first channel information, which can be used to indicate the channel state between the second access network device and the terminal. Based on the first QoS requirement information and the first channel information, the first access network device determines the association between the sensing service and communication resources.

[0131] In one possible design, the third information could also include the number of perceived services.

[0132] In one possible design, the second information may further include: at least one fourth identifier; or channel indication information. The channel indication information can be used to indicate a logical channel between the first access network device and the third access network device. This logical channel is related to the sensing service.

[0133] In one possible design, the first access network device may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: frequency domain sensing LS function; time domain sensing LS function; or, sensing RVA spectrum estimation function.

[0134] In one possible design, the second access network device may be equipped with at least one of the following functional modules: frequency-domain sensing LS function; or time-domain sensing LS function.

[0135] In a twelfth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising interface circuitry and one or more processors. The one or more processors are coupled to a memory. The memory stores part or all of a computer program or instructions necessary for implementing the functions described in the first and second aspects. The one or more processors are executable to carry out the computer program or instructions, which, when executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the first, second, and third aspects. The interface circuitry is used to implement communication functions within the communication device and / or communication functions between the communication device and other devices or components.

[0136] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions; when the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the computer causes the computer to perform a communication method as designed in any of the foregoing aspects.

[0137] In a fourteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a communication method as designed in any of the foregoing aspects.

[0138] The beneficial effects of the methods in any of the second to fourteenth aspects mentioned above can be referred to the description of the beneficial effects of the methods in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0139] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applied in an embodiment of this application;

[0140] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the functional segmentation of the communication protocol between BBU and RRU provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0141] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a wireless access network architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0142] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of another wireless access network architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0143] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the functional division of an access network device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0144] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a sensing scene provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0145] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another sensing scenario provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0146] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication scenario provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0147] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0148] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0149] Figure 11 is a functional division diagram provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0150] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0151] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of another functional division provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0152] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0153] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0154] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of another communication scenario provided by an embodiment of this application;

[0155] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0156] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0157] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0158] Figure 20 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0159] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to the RAN node 110. Terminals and RAN nodes can be interconnected via wired or wireless means. The communication system 1000 may also include a core network 200. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 via wireless or wired means. The core network equipment in core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be independent and different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network equipment and the logical functions of the RAN node. Communication system 1000 may also include Internet 300.

[0160] RAN100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, a future communications network, or a future radio access system as defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). RAN100 can also include two or more of the above-mentioned different radio access systems. RAN100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0161] RAN nodes, also known as radio access network devices, RAN entities, or access nodes, are used to help terminals access communication systems wirelessly. In one application scenario, an RAN node can be a base station (BS), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB / eNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a future base station in a future communication network, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. RAN nodes can be macro base stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), micro base stations or indoor stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), relay nodes, or master nodes.

[0162] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing different functions of the base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). An RU can also be called a radio frequency unit. Here, the CU performs the functions of the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and can also perform the functions of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For specific descriptions of these protocol layers, refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement radio frequency signal transmission and reception. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as within a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as remote radio units (RRUs) or active antenna units (AAUs). CUs can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0163] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) system, a CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and an RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN nodes in the embodiments of this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. For example, an RAN node can be a server loaded with the corresponding software modules. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the RAN nodes. For ease of description, a base station is used as an example of a RAN node in the following description.

[0164] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, capable of sending signals to or receiving signals from a base station. Terminals can also be called terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the terminal.

[0165] In some examples, the core network 200 may include any core network device such as the access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, the session management function (SMF) entity, the user plane function (UPF) entity, the sensing service control function (SSCF), the sensing data processing function (SDPF), and the unified data management (UDM).

[0166] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminals.

[0167] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with terminal functions.

[0168] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0169] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem, including base station functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal, or by a device that includes terminal functions.

[0170] In a wireless communication system, communication devices are included, and these devices can communicate wirelessly using air interface resources. These communication devices can include network devices and terminal devices; network devices can also be called base station devices, i.e., the wireless access network devices mentioned above. Air interface resources can include at least one of time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, code resources, and spatial resources. These communication devices can also be called communication apparatuses.

[0171] The solutions provided in this application can be applied to wireless communication between communication devices. Wireless communication can include: wireless communication between network devices and terminals, wireless communication between network devices, and wireless communication between terminals. In this application, the term "wireless communication" can also be simply referred to as "communication," and the term "communication" can also be described as "data transmission," "information transmission," or "transmission."

[0172] In global system for mobile communications (GSM), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), long term evolution (LTE), and 5G systems, base stations can be deployed by dividing them into two functional entities: a base unit (BBU) and a radio frequency unit (RRU), according to a bottom-layer partitioning method. This bottom-layer partitioning method can be a partitioning of the physical layer and the radio frequency (RF) portion. It is understood that in the various embodiments of this application, "partitioning" and "division" can be used interchangeably. The BBU is connected to one or more RRUs via optical fiber, metallic cabling, or microwave links. The BBU primarily performs centralized upper-layer processing of baseband signals. The RRU primarily performs baseband signal reception and transmission, as well as RF signal modulation and demodulation, data processing, and power amplification. The RRU is closer to the antenna, resulting in lower feeder loss. In some cases, the RRU can also be called an RU or an AAU. The interface between the BBU and RRU can be called a fronthaul interface or a bottom-layer partitioning interface.

[0173] Referring to Figure 2, which illustrates a functional division of the communication protocol between a BBU and an RRU, in related technologies, the interface between the BBU and RRU can use the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol for communication interaction. The CPRI protocol defines the key communication interface specifications for communication between radio equipment control (REC) and radio equipment (RE) in a wireless communication network. For example, the REC can be considered the aforementioned BBU, and the radio equipment can be considered the aforementioned RRU. As shown in Figure 2, the CPRI interface allocates the radio frequency (RF) layer functions to RRU 1, and the physical (PHY) layer and above protocol layer functions to BBU 1. The PHY layer can be further divided into a high PHY layer and a low PHY layer. The high PHY layer can also be called High PHY, and the low PHY layer can also be called Low PHY. Protocol layer functions above the PHY layer can include the radio resource control (RRC) layer, SDAP layer, PDCP layer, radio link control (RLC) layer, and MAC layer.

[0174] The amount of data transmitted between the BBU's PHY layer and the RRU's RF layer is directly related to the antenna array size. The splitting method specified by the CPRI protocol results in excessively large data volumes on the fronthaul interface, making it unsuitable for scenarios with large-scale antenna arrays. For example, suppose a 9.8 gigabits per second (Gbps) fiber carries two 4-transmit, 4-receive (4T4R) antennas on a CPRI-compliant fronthaul interface, along with a cell with a 20 MHz wireless bandwidth. Then, for a cell with 64 antennas and a 100 MHz bandwidth, approximately 32 9.8 Gbps fibers would need to be deployed on the CPRI interface.

[0175] Some solutions propose an evolution of the CPRI protocol, namely an enhanced CPRI protocol, denoted as eCPRI. Referring again to Figure 2, the eCPRI protocol further refines the communication protocol of the wireless network, such as dividing the PHY layer into a higher PHY layer and a lower PHY layer. The lower PHY layer is deployed in the RRU, and the higher PHY layer is deployed in the BBU. Furthermore, the interface specification between the BBU and RRU, i.e., between the higher and lower PHY layers, has been redefined. The eCPRI protocol transforms the interface between the BBU and RRU from the interface between the RF layer and the PHY layer as defined in the CPRI protocol, to an interface between the higher and lower PHY layers. This transforms the original fiber optic communication between the RF layer and the PHY layer into communication within the RRU's internal board or field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip. Moreover, the data dimension of the communication between the BBU's higher PHY layer and the RRU's lower PHY layer is reduced, no longer directly related to the antenna array size on the RRU.

[0176] The splitting method used in the aforementioned CPRI or eCPRI interfaces allows the BBU to process baseband signals in a highly centralized manner. This enables centralized deployment of computing resources, resulting in high resource utilization and low deployment costs. However, it also places a significant demand on fronthaul link bandwidth, leading to higher fiber optic deployment costs.

[0177] Referring to Figure 3, a new RAN architecture that may be applied in future communication systems is proposed. In this architecture, base station functions are reclassified into RU functions, radio network area (RNA) functions, and RNA automation functions. The RNA function and RU function communicate through a low-layer split (LLS) interface, and the RU function and the terminal can establish a RAN-UE interface for communication. The RNA function and the core network (CN) communicate through the RAN-CN interface. The RAN automation function manages the RU function and RNA function through a network function (NF) management interface. The RAN automation function is controlled through network management. In this architecture, the RU function can be viewed as the aforementioned RRU or AAU, and the RNA function can be viewed as the aforementioned BBU.

[0178] In related technologies, to reduce the pressure on fronthaul link bandwidth and deployment costs caused by the underlying segmentation method, 3GPP proposed a base station function partitioning method. For example, for gNBs in 5G, a higher-layer segmentation method is adopted, splitting the base station into two functional entities such as CU and DU. The midhaul link between CU and DU has lower network bandwidth requirements. The radio access network shown in Figure 4 is divided according to CU and DU. For example, the access network equipment can be a gNB, which can be composed of CU and DU. Of course, DU can include one or more, which is not limited in this embodiment. gNBs can communicate with the core network elements of the 5G core network (5GC) through the next generation (NG) interface. Different gNBs can communicate with each other through the Xn interface, for example, through the Xn-control (C) interface. CUs can communicate with different DUs through the F1 interface.

[0179] In this application, the functional decomposition between the CU and DU in the access network device can be achieved using a static decomposition method, with a fixed division based on the functional granularity of the protocol stack. As shown in Figure 5, the protocol stacks such as the RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer can be located in the DU of the access network device. The MAC layer can also be referred to as Media Access Control, etc., which is not limited to this embodiment. The protocol stacks such as the RRC layer, SDAP layer, and PDCP layer can be located in the CU of the access network device. RRC implements air interface radio resource and air interface connection control, belonging to the control plane (CP) protocol; SDAP performs the mapping between quality of service flow (QoS-flow) and data radio bearer (DRB), belonging to the user plane (UP) protocol. QoS-flow represents the service data flow with specific quality of service (QoS) requirements.

[0180] As shown in Figure 5, for the DU, both the control plane protocol stack and the user plane protocol stack involve RLC, MAC, and PHY. For the CU, PDCP is applicable to both the control plane protocol stack and the user plane protocol stack, RRC corresponds to the control plane protocol stack, and SDAP corresponds to the user plane protocol stack. For executing control plane protocol stack functions, the CU and DU can communicate via the F1-C interface; for executing user plane protocol stack functions, the CU and DU can communicate via the F1-user (user)U interface. Based on the separation of CU and DU, the CU of the access network device can also have separate CP and UP units. The CP of the CU of the access network device can be denoted as gNB-CU-CP, and the UP of the CU can be denoted as gNB-CU-UP. The PDCP layer protocol exists in both the gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP units, while the RRC layer is located above the PDCP layer in the gNB-CU-CP unit, and the SDAP layer is located above the PDCP layer in the gNB-CU-UP unit.

[0181] The RLC layer can provide transparent data transmission as well as non-deterministic and deterministic data transmission modes. The MAC layer is primarily responsible for controlling and connecting the physical media of the physical layer. The PHY layer is responsible for the transmission of bits or groups of bits over the physical medium, including encoding the transmitted information and decoding the received information.

[0182] In integrated communication and sensing scenarios (or communication-sensing integration, communication-sensing integration, and sonic-sensing integration, etc.), device A can send both communication and sensing signals. For sensing signals, there are two scenarios: self-transmission and self-reception, and self-transmission and external reception. For example, device B can receive sensing signals sent by device A, or device B can receive the echo signal of the sensing signal sent by device A, to sense and identify possible objects in the surrounding environment. As shown in Figure 6, taking gNB1 sending a sensing signal as an example, the receiver can be a terminal or gNB2. Alternatively, device A can receive the echo of its own sent sensing signal and process the echo to sense and identify possible objects in the surrounding environment. As shown in Figure 7, taking gNB3 sending a sensing signal as an example, the receiver can still be gNB3. It is understood that Figures 6 and 7 only show the case of network devices sending sensing signals; in other examples, terminals can also send sensing signals.

[0183] Of course, the devices transmitting sensing signals shown in Figures 6 and 7 can also transmit communication signals. In related technologies, time-domain, frequency-domain, and spatial-domain resources are configured relatively independently for different sensing services. However, efficient and reasonable resource allocation for different sensing services is not considered. For example, different sensing services may be correlated, such as having the same sensing area or sensing target. Using completely different resources for sensing would lead to resource waste and limit the number of sensing services that resources can support. Furthermore, different sensing services may have differences; using identical resources for sensing would result in inaccurate sensing results.

[0184] Therefore, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that establishes an association between sensing services and communication resources, enabling more rational configuration of communication resources corresponding to different sensing services. This achieves both efficient use of communication resources and fulfillment of the needs of different sensing services.

[0185] The communication method and apparatus will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that the embodiments of this application use a first functional entity and a second functional entity as examples of the execution subjects of the interaction illustration, but this application does not limit the execution subjects of the interaction illustration. For example, the first functional entity and the second functional entity can be network devices. The method executed by the network device in this application can also be implemented by modules (e.g., circuits, chips, or chip systems) in the network device, or by logical nodes, logical modules, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0186] In the embodiments of this application, the term "wireless communication" can also be abbreviated as "communication", and the term "communication" can also be described as "data transmission", "information transmission" or "transmission".

[0187] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication scenario provided by an embodiment of this application.

[0188] As shown in Figure 8, the access network equipment can be divided into multiple functional entities such as RU 210, DU 220, and CU 230. Of course, the access network equipment may include one or more RU 210s, one or more DU 220s, and one or more CU 230s. The CU 230 is connected to the 5GC 240 and is used to realize communication with the core network equipment. In various embodiments of this application, the core network equipment may also be referred to as a core network element.

[0189] Among them, 5GC 240 can be connected to multiple CU 230, one CU 230 can be connected to multiple DU 220, and one DU 220 can be connected to multiple RU 210.

[0190] The access network device can be a gNB. The access network device provides NR user plane and control plane protocol endpoints to the terminal and communicates with the 5GC 240 via the NG interface. The access network device is used to provide wireless network connectivity between the terminal and the core network.

[0191] The CU 230 can manage the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layer protocols of access network devices and control one or more DU operations. The CU 230 communicates with the DU 220 via the F1 interface.

[0192] The DU 220 can host the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers of access network devices, and its operation is controlled by the CU 230. One DU 220 can support one or more cells, and one cell supports one DU 220.

[0193] The RU 210 can be referred to as a wireless unit, radio frequency unit, or radio frequency remote unit. Its main functions include receiving and transmitting baseband signals, as well as modulation and demodulation of radio frequency signals, data processing, and power amplification. The RU can be deployed close to the antenna, resulting in low feeder loss.

[0194] 5GC 240 may include one or more possible core network elements such as AMF entity, SMF entity, UPF entity, UDM entity, etc. 5GC and RAN together constitute the 5G network, providing users with service channels to connect to data networks and servers. Of course, 5GC 240 can also be replaced by the core network of future communication systems; this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0195] The RAN provides wireless network connectivity between the UE and the core network. The RAN can include access network equipment, such as gNBs. In some cases, "access network equipment" can refer to the entire RAN. RAN deployment can include centralized RAN (CRAN) and distributed RAN (DRAN). CRAN uses a separate BBU and RRU architecture, with each BBU located in a central equipment room, forming a BBU pool. It communicates with the RRUs via the fronthaul network. DRAN uses a distributed deployment of BBUs and RRUs. Each BBU is deployed separately in a rack, while the RRUs can be deployed together in the rack with the BBUs, or the RRUs can be deployed close to the antenna on a tower.

[0196] In some examples, RU 210, DU 220, and CU 230 can be deployed on the same physical device or on different physical devices. Alternatively, some functional entities of RU 210, DU 220, and CU 230 may be deployed on the same physical device, while other functional entities may be deployed on different physical devices. This embodiment of the application does not impose any limitations on this.

[0197] It is understandable that access network equipment can also include cases where it is split into two functional entities. For example, if CU 230 and DU 220 are deployed on the same physical device, CU 230 and DU 220 can be regarded as one functional entity. Alternatively, if DU 220 and RU 210 are deployed on the same physical device, DU 220 and RU 210 can be regarded as one functional entity.

[0198] Of course, this application is not limited to the 5G network architecture; the embodiments of this application are also applicable to LTE networks and other possible future network architectures such as future communication networks. It should be understood that the embodiments of this application can be applied to any network architecture with communication connectivity capabilities.

[0199] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0200] As shown in Figure 9, the embodiments of this application can be applied to this network architecture. This network architecture may include a first core network element and a second core network element located in the core network. For example, the first core network element can be used to handle sensing services. For instance, it may have functions such as initiating sensing services, configuring basic sensing services, collecting and processing sensing data, and opening sensing service functions. The first core network element can be called a sensing function (SF) element. Alternatively, the first core network element can also be called a sensing function node, a sensing service function server, etc., but this application does not limit the specific terminology used in its embodiments.

[0201] The network architecture may also include a first logical unit, a second logical unit, a third logical unit, and a fourth logical unit located in the access network. For example, the first logical unit may be the aforementioned DU, or gNB-DU, or RAN-DU. The second logical unit may be the aforementioned RU, or gNB-RU, or RAN-RU. The third logical unit may be the aforementioned CU, or gNB-CU, or RAN-CU. Of course, the BBU and RRU partitioning method shown in the foregoing examples can also be referenced, such as integrating the first and third logical units together. Alternatively, it can be based on the CU and DU partitioning method, i.e., integrating the first and second logical units together. The embodiments of this application are not limited herein.

[0202] In some examples, the fourth logical unit can be an access network device or logical unit used to provide services. For instance, the fourth logical unit is used to implement processing functions for sensing services or sensing signals, such as channel estimation and angle-velocity-range spectrum estimation of sensing signals. The fourth logical unit can be called a service unit (SU), or an SU node, sensing service node, sensing service function entity, etc. The names of the third logical unit are not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0203] As shown in Figure 9, the fourth logic unit has a communication interface for signal transmission with the first logic unit; this interface could be called the S1 interface. The fourth logic unit also has a data plane and / or control plane interface with the first core network element. In some examples, the fourth logic unit may also have a communication interface for signal transmission with the second logic unit; this interface could be called the S2 interface. The fourth logic unit may also have a communication interface for signal transmission with the third logic unit. The third logic unit may have a data plane and / or control plane interface with the second core network element.

[0204] In some examples, the first logic unit communicates with the second logic unit via an LLS. The first logic unit may have an F1 interface with the third logic unit.

[0205] In some embodiments, the architecture shown in FIG9 can be used to configure one or more of the time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, spatial-domain resources, and power-domain resources for the second logic unit to transmit sensing signals. For example, an SF network element can configure communication resources for the RU through a DU or SU.

[0206] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of this application.

[0207] This communication process is applicable to, but not limited to, the communication scenarios shown in Figures 1 and 8, and to the network architecture shown in Figure 9. This method can be applied to LTE, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE TDD, 5G systems, or NR systems, future communication systems (such as future communication systems), and V2X. V2X can include vehicle-to-network (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), long-term evolution-vehicle (LTE-V), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), MTC, IoT, long-term evolution-machine (LTE-M), machine-to-machine (M2M), and device-to-device (D2D) wireless communication scenarios. The first, second, third, and fourth logical units involved in the embodiments of this application can be access network devices. The first logical unit, the second logical unit, the third logical unit, and / or the fourth logical unit can be deployed on the same access network device or on different access network devices, and this application embodiment does not impose such a limitation. The first core network element and / or the second core network element can be deployed on the same core network device or on different core network devices, and this application embodiment does not impose such a limitation.

[0208] The following embodiments of this application will be described using DU as the first logic unit, RU as the second logic unit, and CU as the third logic unit as an example. It should be noted that in this application, the logic unit can also be called a functional entity. For example, the first logic unit can also be called the first functional entity.

[0209] In subsequent embodiments, it can be assumed that the CU and SU are deployed on a single device. Alternatively, the CU and SU can be considered as a single logical unit. That is, the CU in subsequent embodiments can be considered as a CU with SU functionality. Of course, in other examples, the CU and SU can be deployed independently, and this application embodiment does not impose any limitations on this.

[0210] The method may include the following steps:

[0211] S101, the first logic unit determines the association between the sensing service and the communication resources.

[0212] In various embodiments of this application, the sensing service may also be referred to as a sensing service, a sensing task, etc. For example, the association between the sensing service and communication resources may also be referred to as the association between the sensing service and communication resources, or the association between the sensing task and communication resources. In other examples, the association between the sensing service and communication resources may also be referred to as the association between the sensing target and communication resources, the association between the sensing angle and communication resources, the association between the sensing speed and communication resources, the association between the sensing distance and communication resources, the association between the sensing channel estimation and communication resources, the association between the sensing constant false alarm rate (CFAR) and communication resources, the association between clustering and communication resources, the association between "target tracking and filtering" and communication resources, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the name of this association.

[0213] For example, regarding the relationship between clustering and communication resources, the performance requirements for clustering differ across different sensing services, therefore the communication resources required for different sensing services can also differ. Similarly, regarding the relationship between "target tracking and filtering" and communication resources, the performance requirements for target tracking and filtering differ across different sensing services, therefore the communication resources required for different sensing services can also differ.

[0214] In other words, this association can be considered as the association between any parameter related to perception and communication resources. Specifically, the relevant parameters can be selected according to the actual situation, and this application embodiment does not limit it.

[0215] In some embodiments, the sensing service and the communication resource can be in a one-to-one correspondence, or a one-to-many or many-to-one relationship. For example, one sensing service can correspond to one communication resource, or one sensing service can correspond to multiple communication resources. Conversely, one communication resource can correspond to multiple sensing services. This application does not limit the scope of the embodiments.

[0216] In some embodiments, communication resources may include time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals. For example, communication resources may be time-domain resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals. Alternatively, communication resources may be time-domain resources used by the RU to receive echo signals of sensing signals. Or, communication resources may be time-domain resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals and time-domain resources used to receive echo signals of sensing signals.

[0217] In other embodiments, communication resources may include frequency domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals. For example, communication resources may be frequency domain resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals. Alternatively, communication resources may be frequency domain resources used by the RU to receive echo signals of sensing signals. Or, communication resources may be frequency domain resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals and frequency domain resources used to receive echo signals of sensing signals.

[0218] In some other embodiments, communication resources may include spatial resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals. For example, communication resources may be spatial resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals. Alternatively, communication resources may be spatial resources used by the RU to receive echo signals of sensing signals. Or, communication resources may be spatial resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals and spatial resources used to receive echo signals of sensing signals.

[0219] In some cases, spatial resources may include multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layer resources. For example, a MIMO layer can also be called a MIMO stream.

[0220] For example, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by the number of layers. For instance, the spatial resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals can be represented by the number of layers used in transmitting and / or receiving signals. Alternatively, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by a first identifier corresponding to each layer. This first identifier can be a layer identifier; for example, the spatial resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals can be represented by the layer identifier used in transmitting and / or receiving signals. Furthermore, MIMO layer resources can be indicated by both the number of layers and the first identifier corresponding to each layer. For instance, the spatial resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals can be represented by the number of layers used in transmitting and / or receiving signals, and the layer identifier corresponding to each layer.

[0221] In various embodiments of this application, the identifier may be an identity (ID) or an index.

[0222] This application provides various parameter configurations for indicating spatial resources as MIMO layers, thereby accurately configuring MIMO layer resources corresponding to different sensing services.

[0223] In other examples, spatial resources may include beam resources, or simply beams. In various embodiments of this application, a beam may also be referred to as a spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial domain parameter, quasi-co-location (QCL) type D, transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, etc. A beam can be understood as the main lobe of a directional array pattern. For specific meanings regarding beams, please refer to related technologies; these will not be elaborated upon further in the embodiments of this application.

[0224] For example, beam resources can be indicated by the number of transmitted beams. For instance, the spatial resources used for transmitting the signal can be represented by the number of beams used in the transmitted signal. Alternatively, beam resources can be indicated by a second identifier of the transmitted beams. For instance, the spatial resources used for transmitting the signal can be represented by the beam identifier of the transmitted beam. Furthermore, beam resources can be indicated by the number of received beams. For instance, the spatial resources used for receiving the signal can be represented by the number of beams used in the received signal. Finally, beam resources can be indicated by a third identifier of the received beams. For instance, the spatial resources used for receiving the signal can be represented by the beam identifier of the received beam.

[0225] This application provides various parameter configurations for indicating spatial resources as beams, thereby accurately configuring beam resources corresponding to different sensing services.

[0226] This application provides various possible airspace resources to configure appropriate airspace resources for different sensing services in different scenarios.

[0227] In some embodiments, communication resources may include power domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals. For example, communication resources may be power domain resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals. Alternatively, communication resources may be power domain resources used by the RU to receive echo signals of sensing signals. Or, communication resources may be power domain resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals and power domain resources used to receive echo signals of sensing signals.

[0228] In other embodiments, communication resources may include code domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals. For example, code domain resources may include resources such as codewords, code sequences, and / or orthogonal codes. For instance, communication resources may be code domain resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals. Alternatively, communication resources may be code domain resources used by the RU to receive echo signals of sensing signals. Or, communication resources may be code domain resources used by the RU to transmit sensing signals and code domain resources used to receive echo signals of sensing signals.

[0229] In the various embodiments of this application, the received signal may be an echo signal of the received sensing signal or a received sensing signal.

[0230] The embodiments of this application can be applied to configuring and associating sensing services with various different communication domains, thereby enabling flexible configuration of appropriate communication domain resources for different sensing services.

[0231] In some examples, the association between the perception service and the communication resources can be pre-configured in the first logical unit, which directly obtains the pre-configured association.

[0232] For example, the CU can send information to the DU indicating the association between the sensing service and the communication resources, and the DU determines the association between the sensing service and the communication resources based on this information.

[0233] For example, DU can determine the association between sensing services and communication resources on its own.

[0234] S102, the first logic unit sends first information to the second logic unit. Correspondingly, the second logic unit receives the first information from the first logic unit.

[0235] In some examples, the first information can be used to indicate the communication resources corresponding to each sensing service determined in S101. For example, the first information can be used to indicate all communication resources corresponding to all sensing services.

[0236] In other examples, the first information can be used to indicate the association between the sensing service and the communication resource determined in S101. For example, the first information can be used to indicate each sensing service and the corresponding communication resource. In this case, the first information also includes a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service. For example, the first information also includes a sensing service identifier to indicate each sensing service.

[0237] In this embodiment, the sensing service identifier carried in the first information can indicate each sensing service. This allows the second logic unit to accurately determine the communication resources corresponding to each sensing service based on the first information.

[0238] In some embodiments, the first logic unit may be equipped with a perceptual least square (LS) function module for the frequency domain.

[0239] For example, a time-domain sensing LS function module can be deployed in the first logic unit.

[0240] For example, the first logic unit may be equipped with a range-velocity-angle (RVA) spectrum estimation function module.

[0241] In some examples, the first logic unit may be equipped with a frequency-domain sensing LS function module and a time-domain sensing LS function module; or, it may be equipped with a frequency-domain sensing LS function module and a sensing RVA spectrum estimation function module; or, it may be equipped with a time-domain sensing LS function module and a sensing RVA spectrum estimation function module; or, it may be equipped with a frequency-domain sensing LS function module, a time-domain sensing LS function module, and a sensing RVA spectrum estimation function module.

[0242] It is understood that the first logical unit may also deploy higher-level functional modules such as the perception CFAR functional module, clustering functional module, target tracking and filtering functional module, target recognition functional module, and point cloud processing module, but this embodiment of the application does not limit this.

[0243] This application provides various functional modules that may be deployed in the first logical unit, thereby improving the versatility of the system.

[0244] In some embodiments, a frequency-domain sensing LS function module may be deployed in the second logic unit.

[0245] For example, a time-domain sensing LS function module can be deployed in the first logic unit.

[0246] In some examples, the first logic unit may be equipped with a frequency-domain sensing LS function module and a time-domain sensing LS function module.

[0247] It is understood that the second logic unit may also deploy lower-level functional modules such as the RE demapping module, but this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0248] This application provides various functional modules that may be deployed in the first logical unit, thereby improving the versatility of the system.

[0249] S103, the second logic unit sends a sensing signal according to the communication resources. And / or, the second logic unit receives the echo signal of the sensing signal according to the communication resources.

[0250] For example, the second logic unit can determine the communication resource for transmitting the sensing signal based on the first information received in S102, and transmit the sensing signal based on that communication resource. As another example, the second logic unit can determine the communication resource corresponding to the echo signal of the received sensing signal based on the first information received in S102, and receive the echo signal of the sensing signal based on that communication resource.

[0251] This application's embodiments establish a relationship between sensing services and communication resources, enabling more rational configuration of communication resources corresponding to different sensing services. This achieves both efficient use of communication resources and fulfillment of the needs of different sensing services.

[0252] In the communication method provided in this application embodiment, the first logic unit in S101 can independently determine the association between the sensing service and the communication resources. Specifically, the implementation can refer to the following scheme: the third logic unit sends third information to the first logic unit. Correspondingly, the first logic unit receives the third information from the third logic unit. The third information may include a fourth identifier indicating the sensing service and first quality of service (QoS) requirement information corresponding to the sensing service.

[0253] For example, the third information can be called a sensing service request, sensing business request, or sensing task request, etc., which is not limited in this embodiment. The third information may include one or more sensing service identifiers (i.e., fourth identifiers) and the QoS requirements corresponding to each sensing service. The QoS requirements corresponding to different sensing services may be the same or different. For example, sensing service 1 corresponds to QoS requirement 1, sensing service 2 corresponds to QoS requirement 2, sensing service 3 corresponds to QoS requirement 1, etc. In some examples, the third information may also include the number of sensing services. For example, the third information indicates 5 sensing service identifiers, which respectively indicate 5 sensing services. However, the first logic unit does not need to configure corresponding communication resources for each of these 5 sensing services. Therefore, the number of sensing services, such as 3, can be used to instruct the first logic unit to configure corresponding communication resources for 3 of the 5 sensing services. For example, it could be the sensing services corresponding to the first 3 sensing service identifiers, or the sensing services corresponding to the last 3 sensing service identifiers, or the sensing services corresponding to 3 sensing service identifiers selected according to a pre-set selection rule. The specific selection method is not limited in this embodiment. It should also be understood that the above description of the number of fourth identifiers and the number of sensing services is merely an exemplary description, and the specific selection can be made according to the actual situation. This application embodiment does not limit the specific number of identifiers.

[0254] The embodiments of this application can also indicate the number of sensing services, so that the first logic unit can more flexibly configure corresponding communication resources for different sensing services.

[0255] The first logic unit can also acquire first channel information. This first channel information can be used to indicate the channel state between the second logic unit and the terminal. It can be considered that the first channel information is used to indicate the air interface channel state. This first channel information can be actively sent from the second logic unit to the first logic unit; alternatively, it can be acquired by the first logic unit from the second logic unit and then sent back to the first logic unit by the second logic unit. For a detailed description of the process of acquiring the first channel information, please refer to the relevant technical descriptions; these will not be repeated here.

[0256] The first logic unit can determine the association between sensing services and communication resources based on the third information and the first channel information. For example, the first logic unit can configure the corresponding communication resources for each sensing service based on one or more of the following: at least one fourth identifier, the first QoS requirement information corresponding to each sensing service, the number of sensing services, and the first channel information. Simultaneously, the association between each sensing service and the communication resources can be obtained.

[0257] In this embodiment, the first logic unit can determine the association between sensing services and communication resources through third information sent by the third logic unit. This allows for a more rational configuration of communication resources corresponding to different sensing services.

[0258] In some embodiments, when the first logic unit receives at least one fourth identifier, different second logic channels can be established with the third logic unit for different sensing services. Each second logic channel corresponds to a sensing service. This allows the first logic unit to directly send data to the third logic unit based on the second logic channel. By carrying indication information indicating the second logic channel, the data is implicitly associated with the sensing service corresponding to that second logic channel.

[0259] In some examples, the first logical unit can actively trigger the establishment of a logical channel with the third logical unit. In other examples, the third logical unit may request the establishment of a logical channel with the first logical unit. Specific implementation processes can refer to related technologies, such as the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) tunneling protocol, which will not be elaborated upon in this application. In various embodiments of this application, the aforementioned logical channel may also be referred to as a data channel or a sensing data channel, etc., and this application does not limit this terminology.

[0260] The following sections will describe the solutions for the second logic unit after receiving the echo signal of the sensing signal based on communication resources, using two different scenarios.

[0261] Scenario 1:

[0262] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate communication resources. For example, it may indicate all communication resources corresponding to all sensing services. After receiving the echo signal of the sensing signal according to the communication resources, the second logic unit can perform signal processing on the received echo signal. This processing may include operations such as cyclic prefix (CP) removal, fast Fourier transform (FFT), and resource element (RE) de-mapping to obtain the first data. This first data is understood to be the data obtained by the second logic unit through processing the echo signal of the sensing signal. The first data is associated with the communication resources.

[0263] The second logic unit can send fourth information to the first logic unit. Correspondingly, the first logic unit can receive the fourth information from the second logic unit. This fourth information includes first data. Therefore, it can be considered that the fourth information is determined by the second logic unit based on the echo signal of the sensed signal. The first logic unit can continue processing based on this first data to obtain sensed data associated with the communication resource. For example, the first logic unit can perform sensed LS in the time domain and / or frequency domain to obtain sensed data associated with the communication resource.

[0264] For example, the second logic unit can also perform sensing LS for the time domain and / or frequency domain to obtain sensing data associated with communication resources. The second logic unit can then send this sensing data to the first logic unit. This application does not limit the scope of the embodiments described herein.

[0265] For the first logic unit, based on the association between the sensing service and the communication resources determined in S101, it can determine which sensing service the sensing data corresponds to, or determine the sensing service identifier corresponding to the sensing data. The first logic unit can send second information to the third logic unit. The second information may include the sensing data obtained above. Of course, the second information may also indicate which sensing service the sensing data is associated with, or the second information may also indicate the sensing service identifier associated with the sensing data.

[0266] For example, the second information may directly carry at least one fourth identifier. That is, it may carry at least one sensing service identifier to indicate the sensing service corresponding to each sensing data. For example, the at least one fourth identifier may be carried in the third information received by the first logic unit.

[0267] For example, the second information may carry second channel indication information. This second channel indication information can be used to indicate the logical channel between the first logic unit and the third logic unit. This logical channel is related to the sensing service. For example, the second logic unit and the third logic unit may establish different logical channels for different sensing services. Therefore, by carrying the second channel indication information indicating the logical channel in the second information sent by the second logic unit, it can be implicitly indicated which sensing service the sensing data in the second information corresponds to, or it can be considered as implicitly indicating the sensing service identifier corresponding to the sensing data in the second information. For example, this logical channel can be established as described in the foregoing related embodiments. Specific details can be found in the foregoing embodiments. The embodiments in this application will not be repeated here.

[0268] In this embodiment, when the first information indicates communication resources, the first logic unit determines the sensing service corresponding to different sensing data based on the association relationship, thereby enabling more accurate reporting of sensing data corresponding to different sensing services and improving the processing efficiency of sensing services.

[0269] Scenario 2:

[0270] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate the association between a sensing service and a communication resource. The second logic unit can then process the echo signal of the sensing signal to obtain sensing data. Based on the association between the sensing service and the communication resource, it determines which sensing service each piece of sensing data corresponds to, or determines the sensing service identifier corresponding to each piece of sensing data. The specific process by which the second logic unit processes the echo signal of the sensing signal can be referred to the description of the corresponding embodiment in Case 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0271] In this scenario, the second logic unit can send sensing data associated with the sensing service to the first logic unit. Correspondingly, the first logic unit receives the sensing data associated with the sensing service sent by the second logic unit. The second logic unit can also send second information to the third logic unit. Correspondingly, the third logic unit receives the second information from the second logic unit. This second information may include the sensing data. It is understood that since the second logic unit knows the sensing service corresponding to the sensing data when it receives it, it can send sensing data corresponding to different sensing services to the third logic unit without needing to determine the sensing service corresponding to each piece of sensing data again.

[0272] The specific method by which the second logic unit sends sensing data to the third logic unit can be referred to the description of the corresponding embodiment in Case 1, and will not be repeated here in the embodiments of this application.

[0273] In this embodiment, when the first information indicates an association relationship, the second logic unit determines the sensing service corresponding to different sensing data based on the association relationship, thereby enabling more accurate reporting of sensing data corresponding to different sensing services and improving the processing efficiency of sensing services.

[0274] In some embodiments, a logical channel can also be established between the first logical unit and the second logical unit. This is similar to the process of establishing a logical channel between the first logical unit and the third logical unit in the aforementioned embodiments. In this case, when the second logical unit sends sensing data associated with a sensing service to the first logical unit, it can indicate which sensing service the sensing data corresponds to, or the sensing service identifier corresponding to the sensing data, by carrying a fourth identifier or first channel indication information. The first channel indication information can be used to indicate the first logical channel between the first logical unit and the second logical unit. Different first logical channels are associated with different sensing services.

[0275] In various embodiments of this application, the channel indication information may also be referred to as channel address information, channel address indication information, channel identification information, or channel index information, etc., and this application embodiment does not limit it here.

[0276] The above solution will now be described through more specific embodiments.

[0277] Assuming the communication resources are spatial resources, such as MIMO layer resources, refer to Figure 11. Assume the first logical unit is DU, the second logical unit is RU, and the third logical unit is CU (or CU and SU are centrally deployed). RU performs RE demapping and lower-level functions, while DU performs sensing channel estimation, also known as sensing LS (including time-domain and / or frequency-domain functions). Optionally, DU can also perform sensing RVA spectrum estimation, sensing CFAR, and point cloud processing. These functions can also be deployed on CU or SU, and this embodiment does not limit this. DU can be responsible for allocating one or more streams for each sensing service and mapping the received stream identifier to a sensing service identifier.

[0278] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application.

[0279] This communication process is applicable to, but not limited to, the communication scenarios shown in Figures 1 and 8, and to the network architecture shown in Figure 9. This method can be applied to LTE, LTE FDD, LTE TDD, 5G systems, or NR systems, as well as future communication systems (such as future communication systems), V2X (which can include V2N, V2V, V2I, V2P, etc.), LTE-V, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), MTC, IoT, LTE-M, M2M, D2D, and other wireless communication scenarios. In this application's embodiments, CU, DU, RU, and SU can be access network devices. CU, DU, RU, and / or SU can be deployed on the same access network device or on different access network devices; this application's embodiments do not impose such limitations.

[0280] The method may include the following steps:

[0281] S201, SF sends third information to AMF. Accordingly, AMF receives the third information from SF.

[0282] S202, the AMF sends a third message to the CU. Correspondingly, the CU receives the third message from the AMF.

[0283] For example, the SF can initiate a sensing service request (i.e., third-party information) to the CU through the AMF. This sensing service request can carry the number of sensing services, the sensing service ID, and the QoS requirements for each sensing service. The QoS requirements information can include required parameters such as the accuracy of the sensing results, the resolution of the sensing results, and the latency of the sensing services. In some examples, the QoS requirements information can also be called QoS requirement information; this embodiment of the application does not limit this terminology.

[0284] S203, CU sends third information to DU. Correspondingly, DU receives the third information from CU.

[0285] Optionally, the CU and DU establish logical channels (also known as data channels) for different sensing services based on the number and identifier of the sensing services in the sensing service request message. For example, the CU and DU can use the GPRS protocol as the endpoint protocol for this channel. Different sensing services are distinguished by the GPRS tunnel endpoint address.

[0286] S204, DU determines the number of layers that each sensing service can use, and the corresponding layer identifiers, based on the third information and the first channel information.

[0287] For example, the DU can allocate the number of usable layers and the corresponding layer identifiers for each sensing service based on the QoS requirement information in the sensing service request and the channel state of the air interface. That is, it determines the number of layers and layer identifiers corresponding to different sensing services. In various embodiments of this application, a layer can also be referred to as a stream; that is, a MIMO layer is also called a MIMO stream.

[0288] In some cases, the layer number and layer identifier of different sensing services can overlap. That is, the communication resources corresponding to different sensing services can be the same.

[0289] S205, DU sends the first message to RU. Correspondingly, RU receives the first message from DU.

[0290] For example, the DU sends the total number of layers used by different sensing services, along with the corresponding layer identifiers, to the RU. For instance, the first piece of information includes the total number of layers used by different sensing services, and the corresponding layer identifiers.

[0291] S206, the RU transmits a sensing signal according to communication resources. And / or, the RU receives the echo signal of the sensing signal according to communication resources.

[0292] For example, based on the total number of sensing service layers issued by the DU, the RU maps the sensing symbol data stream into multiple streams equal to the total number of layers. It then performs precoding, RE mapping, antenna port mapping, inverse fast Fourier transformation (iFFT), and CP addition on these multi-stream symbol data to obtain the sensing air interface signal. The RU then transmits this sensing signal over the air interface.

[0293] For example, the RU can receive the echo signal of the sensing signal over the air interface. The RU performs CP removal and FFT on the received echo signal to obtain the data of the sensing signal on multiple antenna ports, i.e., the first data.

[0294] S207, RU sends the fourth message to DU. Correspondingly, DU receives the fourth message from RU.

[0295] For example, the RU sends the first data (i.e., the fourth information) from multiple antenna ports to the DU. The DU can then perform perceptual LS processing on the first data from these multiple antenna ports to obtain perceptual data from multiple layers.

[0296] Optionally, DU can further perform functions such as spectral estimation, CFAR, and point cloud processing on the sensed data.

[0297] S208, DU sends a second message to CU. Correspondingly, CU receives the second message from DU.

[0298] For example, the DU maps the layer identifiers of different flows obtained after the perception LS processing to perception service identifiers based on the mapping relationship between the identifiers of different perception services and the layer number and layer identifiers. The DU can send the processed perception data and the associated service identifiers to the CU, and can carry the corresponding perception service identifiers in the perception data packets (i.e., the second information). Perception data with the same layer identifier can be mapped to different perception services.

[0299] For example, the DU can also directly map data corresponding to different layer identifiers of different sensing services to the corresponding second logical channels based on the mapping relationship between layer identifiers and identifiers of different sensing services, as well as the mapping relationship between identifiers of different sensing services and second logical channels, for transmission to the CU. The GPRS tunnel endpoint address of the second logical channel can be added to the header of the data packet.

[0300] The CU can send the perceptual RVA spectrum information or point cloud information obtained from processing data from each perceptual service to the SF. Optionally, the CU can perform further processing on the data received from each perceptual service of the DU, including perceptual RVA spectrum estimation, perceptual CFAR, and point cloud processing. The SF can further perform functions such as perceptual target recognition and tracking to obtain the final perceptual result.

[0301] In some embodiments, CU can be replaced by SU, or DU can be replaced by SU.

[0302] In some cases, the first information may be carried in separate control plane signaling (such as O-RAN control plane messages) or separate management plane signaling (such as O-RAN management plane messages) sent by the DU to the RU.

[0303] In some cases, the fourth piece of information can be carried in the traffic flow data packets sent from the RU to the DU, such as in the enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) data packets.

[0304] In this embodiment, the DU determines the number of layers and layer identifiers associated with different sensing services and sends the total number of layers to the RU. This enables the RU to correctly map multi-stream data to complete all sensing services. Simultaneously, by mapping the layer identifiers of different sensing data to sensing service identifiers through the DU and sending the sensing data along with the associated sensing service identifiers to the CU, or by mapping the sensing data to the corresponding logical channel between the CU and DU and sending it to the CU, the CU can identify the sensing service to which different sensing data belongs for further processing, thus meeting the QoS requirements of different sensing services.

[0305] Assuming the communication resources are spatial resources, such as MIMO layer resources, as shown in Figure 13, similar to Figure 11, the difference lies in that the RU performs RE demapping and lower-level functions, and the RU performs the sensing channel estimation function, also known as the sensing LS function (including time domain and / or frequency domain).

[0306] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application.

[0307] This communication process is applicable to, but not limited to, the communication scenarios shown in Figures 1 and 8, and to the network architecture shown in Figure 9. This method can be applied to LTE, LTE FDD, LTE TDD, 5G systems, or NR systems, as well as future communication systems (such as future communication systems), V2X (which can include V2N, V2V, V2I, V2P, etc.), LTE-V, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), MTC, IoT, LTE-M, M2M, D2D, and other wireless communication scenarios. In this application's embodiments, CU, DU, RU, and SU can be access network devices. CU, DU, RU, and / or SU can be deployed on the same access network device or on different access network devices; this application's embodiments do not impose such limitations.

[0308] The method may include the following steps:

[0309] S301, SF sends third information to AMF. Accordingly, AMF receives the third information from SF.

[0310] S302, the AMF sends third information to the CU. Accordingly, the CU receives the third information from the AMF.

[0311] S303, CU sends third information to DU. Correspondingly, DU receives the third information from CU.

[0312] S304, DU determines the number of layers that each sensing service can use, and the corresponding layer identifiers, based on the third information and the first channel information.

[0313] The implementation process of S301-S304 is similar to that of S201-S204, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.

[0314] S305, DU sends the first message to RU. Correspondingly, RU receives the first message from DU.

[0315] For example, the DU sends the different perception service identifiers, along with the associated tier number and tier identifier, to the RU. For instance, the first information includes the different perception service identifiers, along with the associated tier number and tier identifier.

[0316] S306, the RU transmits sensing signals according to communication resources. And / or, the RU receives echo signals of the sensing signals according to communication resources.

[0317] The implementation process of S306 is similar to that of S206, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.

[0318] S307, the RU sends sensing data to the DU. Correspondingly, the DU receives sensing data from the RU.

[0319] For example, the RU can map different layer identifiers to perception service identifiers based on the mapping relationship between perception service identifiers and layer numbers and identifiers. It then sends the perception data of each layer along with its associated perception service identifier to the DU. For instance, the RU can perform perception LS processing to obtain perception data from multiple layers.

[0320] For example, the RU can map sensing data corresponding to different sensing service identifiers to the corresponding first logical channels of the DU-RU for transmission based on the mapping relationship between the sensing service identifier and the first logical channel of the DU-RU. Identifiers of the same layer can be mapped to different sensing service identifiers.

[0321] S308, DU sends a second message to CU. Correspondingly, CU receives the second message from DU.

[0322] The implementation process of S308 is similar to that of S208, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.

[0323] In some cases, the sensing data sent by the RU to the DU can be carried in the service flow data packets sent by the RU to the DU, such as the eCPRI data packets.

[0324] In this embodiment, the DU determines different sensing service identifiers, along with their associated layer numbers and layer identifiers, and sends them to the RU. This enables the RU to accurately map multi-layer data and complete all sensing services, and the RU can identify the sensing service identifier to which each processed layer signal belongs. The RU maps the layer identifiers of different sensing data to sensing service identifiers and sends the sensing data along with the associated sensing service identifiers to the DU. Alternatively, the RU maps the layer data corresponding to different sensing service identifiers to the corresponding DU-RU logical channel, allowing the DU to identify the sensing service to which each received layer signal belongs, thereby further meeting the QoS requirements of different sensing services.

[0325] The following section describes a more specific implementation of the scheme involved in this application when the airspace resource is a beam resource.

[0326] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application.

[0327] This communication process is applicable to, but not limited to, the communication scenarios shown in Figures 1 and 8, and to the network architecture shown in Figure 9. This method can be applied to LTE, LTE FDD, LTE TDD, 5G systems, or NR systems, as well as future communication systems (such as future communication systems), V2X (which can include V2N, V2V, V2I, V2P, etc.), LTE-V, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), MTC, IoT, LTE-M, M2M, D2D, and other wireless communication scenarios. In this application's embodiments, CU, DU, RU, and SU can be access network devices. CU, DU, RU, and / or SU can be deployed on the same access network device or on different access network devices; this application's embodiments do not impose such limitations.

[0328] The method may include the following steps:

[0329] S401, SF sends third information to AMF. Accordingly, AMF receives the third information from SF.

[0330] S402, the AMF sends a third message to the CU. Correspondingly, the CU receives the third message from the AMF.

[0331] S403, CU sends third information to DU. Correspondingly, DU receives the third information from CU.

[0332] The implementation process of S401-S403 is similar to that of S201-S203 and S301-S303, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.

[0333] S404,DU determines the beam information available for each sensing service based on the third information and the first channel information.

[0334] For example, the DU can allocate the number of transmit beams, transmit beam IDs, receive beams, and receive beam IDs to each sensing service based on the QoS requirement information in the sensing service request and the air interface channel state. That is, the DU determines the association between different sensing service IDs and one or more transmit beam IDs, and the association between different sensing service IDs and one or more receive beam IDs. Alternatively, the DU determines the association between different sensing service IDs and one or more transmit beam IDs, and the association between each transmit beam ID and a receive beam ID. The transmit or receive beams used by different sensing services can overlap.

[0335] In other examples, the beam information described above can also be replaced by one or more of the time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, and power resources.

[0336] S405, DU sends the first message to RU. Correspondingly, RU receives the first message from DU.

[0337] For example, the DU sends beam information (i.e., first information) used by different sensing services to the RU, including the association between the different sensing service IDs and the transmitting beam IDs, and / or the association between the different sensing service IDs and the receiving beam IDs. Alternatively, it may include the association between the different sensing service IDs and the transmitting beam IDs, as well as the association between each transmitting beam ID and the receiving beam ID.

[0338] In a sensing scenario where A transmits and B receives, DU can send the transmit beam ID information associated with different sensing services to RU1, and send the receive beam ID information associated with different sensing services to RU2. Alternatively, DU can send to RU2 the association relationship between different sensing services and transmit beam IDs, as well as the association relationship between each transmit beam ID and receive beam ID.

[0339] Optionally, in this step, the DU may also send transmit beam information or receive beam information to the RU without explicitly sending the association information between the beam and the sensing task. In this case, there is an association between different beams and the sensing service, which can be pre-configured or protocol-predefined.

[0340] S406, the RU transmits sensing signals according to communication resources. And / or, the RU receives echo signals of the sensing signals according to communication resources.

[0341] For example, the RU can use the transmit beam ID issued by the DU to transmit the sensing signal over the air interface. Alternatively, the RU can use the receive beam ID issued by the DU to receive the echo signal of the sensing signal over the air interface.

[0342] In some examples, the RU can perform corresponding processing on the echo signal. For specific implementation methods, please refer to S206 and S306. The embodiments of this application will not be described in detail here.

[0343] S407, RU sends sensing data to DU. Correspondingly, DU receives sensing data from RU.

[0344] For example, the RU sends the processed sensing data of different beams, along with the received beam ID, to the DU.

[0345] For example, the RU maps the processed receive beam IDs to corresponding sensing task IDs based on the association between different sensing service identifiers and receive beam IDs. Then, it sends the sensing data and the associated sensing task IDs to the DU. The sensing data packets can carry the corresponding sensing task IDs.

[0346] For example, the RU can map different sensing data to the corresponding DU-RU's first logical channel and transmit it to the DU based on the mapping relationship between different sensing service identifiers and receive beam IDs, as well as the association relationship between different sensing service identifiers and the first logical channel. For example, the RU can add the GPRS tunnel endpoint address or GPRS tunnel endpoint identifier of the first logical channel to the packet header.

[0347] S408, DU sends a second message to CU. Correspondingly, CU receives the second message from DU.

[0348] For example, the DU receives sensing data and a received beam ID. Based on the association between different sensing service IDs and received beam IDs, the sensing service ID corresponding to the sensing data can be determined. The sensing data and the associated sensing service ID are then sent to the CU. For instance, the second information includes the sensing data and the associated sensing service ID.

[0349] For example, the DU can map the sensing data of different sensing services to the corresponding second logical channel and transmit it to the CU based on the association relationship between different sensing service IDs and the second logical channel between the CU and the DU. For example, the second information includes sensing data and second address indication information.

[0350] In some cases, the beam identifier and / or awareness service identifier sent by the RU to the DU can be carried in the service flow data packets sent by the RU to the DU, such as eCPRI data packets.

[0351] The implementation process of the remaining parts in S401-S408 can be referred to S201-S208 and S301-S308, and will not be repeated here in the embodiments of this application.

[0352] This application embodiment determines the association between the sensing service ID and the transmit beam ID, and / or the association between the sensing service ID and the receive beam ID, or the association between time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, power-domain resources and the sensing service ID through the DU, and notifies the RU. This enables the RU to accurately use the transmit and receive beams, and to use the corresponding time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, and power-domain resources to complete all sensing services. The RU maps the beam ID (or time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, power-domain resources) of the received signal to the corresponding sensing service ID, and sends the sensing data of different receive beams (or time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, power-domain resources) along with the receive beam ID (or time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, power-domain resources) to the DU. Alternatively, the RU maps the sensing data of different receive beams (or time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, power-domain resources) to the corresponding DU-RU first logical channel, enabling the DU to distinguish the sensing service to which the sensing data of different receive beams or time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, and power-domain resources belong, for further processing.

[0353] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of another communication scenario provided by an embodiment of this application.

[0354] Considering that the aforementioned embodiments can also be applied to the O-RAN network architecture, Figure 16 illustrates a scenario under the O-RAN architecture. In this O-RAN architecture, access network devices can be divided into three functional entities: O-RU, O-DU, and O-CU. The O-RU is similar to the aforementioned RU, the O-DU is similar to the aforementioned DU, and the O-CU is similar to the aforementioned CU. The interfaces between these functional entities can be referred to the descriptions in the aforementioned embodiments, and will not be repeated here. The O-RAN network architecture may also include a near-real-time RAN intelligent controller (RIC) and service management and orchestration (SMO).

[0355] The near real-time RIC is primarily used to collect network information and perform necessary optimization tasks. The near real-time RIC communicates with the O-CU and O-DU via the E2 interface. The near real-time RIC may include a QoS management module, a radio connection management module, an interference management module, and a mobility management module.

[0356] The SMO can include multiple functional modules, such as non-real-time RIC, configuration, policy, design, and inventory modules. The main functions of the SMO can include cloud infrastructure operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM). For example, it can operate, maintain, and manage cloud infrastructure through the O2 interface. The SMO can also operate, maintain, and manage the RAN through the O1 interface. The SMO can also include a non-real-time RIC, such as one that combines artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics to achieve non-real-time macro-control and intervention of the O-RAN through the A1 interface. Each functional entity in the O-RAN can function as an independent entity, communicating with the SMO independently using the O1 interface. In some examples, the SMO and near-real-time RIC can communicate via either the A1 or O1 interface; the appropriate communication path can be selected based on the specific circumstances, which will not be elaborated further in this embodiment.

[0357] The following section, using Figures 17 and 18, describes how to implement the above solution in the O-RAN scenario.

[0358] Similar to Figure 9, Figure 17 uses O-DU as the first logical unit, O-RU as the second logical unit, O-CU as the third logical unit, SF as the first core network element, and AMF as the second core network element as an example. This architecture may also include the near real-time RIC and SMO shown in Figure 17. The SMO may include a non-real-time RIC. The specific interfaces between the units can be found in the description of the foregoing embodiments; these will not be repeated here.

[0359] As can be seen from the architecture shown in Figure 17, the SF can configure the association between the perception service and communication resources to the RU through the AMF, as well as the near real-time RIC and / or SMO.

[0360] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of this application. This communication process is applicable to, but not limited to, the communication scenarios shown in Figures 1 and 16, and can be applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 17. This method can be applied to LTE, LTE FDD systems, LTE TDD, 5G systems, or NR systems, future communication systems (such as future communication systems), V2X (where V2X can include V2N, V2V, V2I, V2P, etc.), LTE-V, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), MTC, IoT, LTE-M, M2M, D2D, and other wireless communication scenarios. The O-CU, O-DU, and O-RU involved in the embodiments of this application can be network devices. The O-CU, O-DU, and O-RU can be deployed on the same network device or on different network devices; this is not limited in this embodiment. The AMF and / or SF can be deployed on the same core network device or on different core network devices; this is not limited in this embodiment.

[0361] The method may include the following steps:

[0362] S501, SF sends third information to AMF. Correspondingly, AMF receives the third information from SF.

[0363] S502, the AMF sends third information to the O-CU. Accordingly, the O-CU receives the third information from the AMF.

[0364] The implementation process of S501-S502 is similar to that of S201-S202, S301-S302, and S401-S402, except that CU is replaced by O-CU. The embodiments of this application will not be described in detail here.

[0365] S503, the O-CU sends third information to the near real-time RIC or SMO. Correspondingly, the near real-time RIC or SMO receives the third information from the CU.

[0366] For example, the O-CU can forward the perception task request information issued by the SF to the near real-time RIC through the E2 interface, or to the SMO (such as the non-real-time RIC in the SMO) through the O1 interface. Alternatively, the O-CU can first forward the request information to the near real-time RIC function through the E2 interface, and then the near real-time RIC can further forward it to the SMO or the non-real-time RIC function in the SMO through the A1 interface.

[0367] S504, near real-time RIC or SMO, determines the association between sensing services and communication resources based on third information and first channel information.

[0368] For example, near real-time RIC or SMO can determine the communication resources corresponding to each sensing task based on the sensing task request information, such as the number of layers and layer identifiers. Alternatively, it can determine the number of transmit beams, transmit beam ID, receive beam number, and receive beam ID corresponding to each sensing task. Or, it can determine one or more of the time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, and power-domain resources corresponding to each sensing task. Specific implementation processes can be found in the corresponding descriptions in S204, S304, and S404, and will not be repeated here in the embodiments of this application.

[0369] S505, the near real-time RIC or SMO sends the first message to the O-DU. Correspondingly, the O-DU receives the first message from the near real-time RIC or SMO.

[0370] For example, the near-real-time RIC or SMO sends the association between the aforementioned sensing service and communication resources to the O-DU. For instance, the first information indicates the association between the sensing service and the communication resources, or it indicates the aforementioned communication resources. For example, when the association between the sensing service and the communication resources is generated by the near-real-time RIC, the near-real-time RIC can send the first information to the O-DU via the E2 interface. Alternatively, the near-real-time RIC can first send the first information to the O-CU via the E2 interface, and then the O-CU can forward it to the O-DU via the F1 interface.

[0371] For example, when the association between the sensing service and communication resources is generated by the SMO, the SMO can directly send this first information to the O-DU via the O1 interface. Alternatively, the SMO can first send the first information to the near real-time RIC via the A1 interface, and the near real-time RIC can then forward it to the O-DU via the E2 interface. Alternatively, the near real-time RIC can also first send the first information to the O-CU via the E2 interface, and then the O-CU can forward it to the O-DU via the F1 interface.

[0372] O-RU can obtain first information in the following two ways.

[0373] Method 1:

[0374] S506, the O-DU sends the first message to the O-RU. Correspondingly, the O-RU receives the first message from the O-DU.

[0375] For example, the O-DU sends the first information to the O-RU through the LLS interface.

[0376] Method 2:

[0377] S507, the SMO sends the first message to the O-RU. Correspondingly, the O-RU receives the first message from the near real-time RIC or the SMO.

[0378] For example, the SMO can send this initial information directly to the O-RU via the O1 interface.

[0379] The interfaces involved in the above steps can be understood by referring to the architecture shown in Figures 16 and 17.

[0380] In some embodiments, for a sensing scenario where A transmits and B receives, taking communication resources as beam resources as an example, the near real-time RIC or SMO can send transmit beam ID information associated with different sensing services to O-RU 1, and the near real-time RIC or SMO can send receive beam ID information associated with different sensing services to O-RU 2. Alternatively, the near real-time RIC or SMO can send to O-RU 2 the association relationship between different sensing services and transmit beam IDs, as well as the association relationship between each transmit beam ID and receive beam ID.

[0381] Optionally, the near real-time RIC or SMO can also send transmit beam or receive beam information to the O-RU without explicitly sending the association information between the beam and the sensing service.

[0382] S508, the O-RU transmits sensing signals according to communication resources. And / or, the O-RU receives echo signals of the sensing signals according to communication resources.

[0383] The implementation process of S507 is similar to that of S206, S306, and S406, except that RU is replaced by O-RU. The embodiments of this application will not be described in detail here.

[0384] S509, the O-RU sends sensing data to the O-DU. Correspondingly, the O-DU receives the sensing data from the O-RU.

[0385] S510, the O-DU sends the second information to the O-CU. Correspondingly, the O-CU receives the second information from the O-DU.

[0386] The implementation process of S509-S510 is similar to that of S207-S208, S307-S308, and S407-S408, except that DU is replaced with O-DU and CU is replaced with O-CU. The embodiments of this application will not be described in detail here.

[0387] In some embodiments, the near real-time RIC function can be specifically defined as the QoS management function, wireless connection management function, or interference management function integrated in the near real-time RIC, and the SMO function can be specifically defined as the non-real-time RIC module function, manifest module function, design module function, or configuration module included in the SMO. The relevant functional module descriptions can be referred to the relevant descriptions in Figure 16, and will not be repeated here in the embodiments of this application.

[0388] This application embodiment forwards sensing service request information to the near real-time RIC or SMO via the O-CU. This allows the near real-time RIC or SMO to allocate corresponding communication resources according to the QoS requirements of different sensing services. The near real-time RIC or SMO determines the association between sensing services and communication resources and notifies the O-DU and O-RU. This enables the O-DU and O-RU to identify the sensing task to which the data of the corresponding communication resources belongs.

[0389] It is understood that each of the above embodiments of this application can be implemented independently or in combination with each other; there is no absolute subordinate relationship between the embodiments, and they can be combined with each other under any conditions to obtain the corresponding effect.

[0390] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the network device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0391] Figures 19 and 20 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the first or second logic unit in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device can be the RAN node 110 shown in Figure 1, wherein the RAN node can also be called an access network device or a network device. The communication device can also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the network device.

[0392] In this embodiment of the application, the device for implementing the function of the network device can be the network device itself, or it can be a device that enables the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device.

[0393] In this embodiment of the application, the chip system may be composed of chips, or it may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0394] As shown in Figure 19, the communication device 1900 includes a processing unit 1910 and a transceiver unit 1920. The communication device 1900 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 10, 12, 14, 15, and 18.

[0395] When the communication device 1900 is used to implement the function of the first logic unit in the method embodiment shown in FIG10: the processing unit 1910 is used to determine the association between the sensing service and the communication resources. The transceiver unit 1920 is used to send the first information to the second logic unit.

[0396] When the communication device 1900 is used to implement the function of the second logic unit in the method embodiment shown in FIG10: the transceiver unit 1920 is used to receive first information from the first logic unit. The processing unit 1910 is used to control the transceiver unit 1920 to send a sensing signal according to communication resources, and / or the processing unit 1910 is used to control the transceiver unit 1920 to receive the echo signal of the sensing signal according to communication resources.

[0397] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 1910 and the transceiver unit 1920, please refer to the relevant description of the method embodiments shown in Figures 10, 12, 14, 15, and 18.

[0398] As shown in Figure 20, the communication device 2000 includes a processor 2010 and an interface circuit 2020. The processor 2010 and the interface circuit 2020 are coupled together. It is understood that the interface circuit 2020 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 2000 may also include a memory 2030 for storing instructions executed by the processor 2010, or storing input data required by the processor 2010 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 2010 executes instructions. Sometimes, the interface circuit 2020 can also be understood as part of the processor 2010, in which case the communication device 2000 includes the processor 2010.

[0399] When the communication device 2000 is used to implement the methods shown in Figures 10, 12, 14, 15, and 18, the processor 2010 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1910, and the interface circuit 2020 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1920.

[0400] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to an access network device, the access network device chip implements the functions of the access network device in the above method embodiments. The access network device chip receives information from a terminal or core network device, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the access network device, and then sent to the access network device chip by these modules. The access network device chip sends information to a terminal or core network device, which can be understood as the information being sent down to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the terminal or core network device, and then sent back to the terminal or core network device by these modules.

[0401] In this application, entity A sends information to entity B, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Similarly, entity B receives information from entity A, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Entities A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules within RAN nodes or terminals. Information transmission and reception can be between RAN nodes and terminals, such as between a base station and a terminal; between two RAN nodes, such as between a CU and a DU; or between different modules within a single device, such as between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or between a base station chip and other modules of the base station.

[0402] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit, or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0403] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in a base station or terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a base station or terminal.

[0404] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0405] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0406] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects; in the formulas of this application, the character " / " indicates a "division" relationship between the preceding and following related objects. "Including at least one of A, B, and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.

[0407] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

[0408] In this application, the base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to the terminal, with the downlink information carried on the downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, with the uplink information carried on the uplink channel. To communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a radio connection on a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a radio connection is called the terminal's serving cell. When the terminal communicates with this serving cell, it is also susceptible to interference from signals from neighboring cells.

[0409] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0410] The terms "first" and "second," etc., used in the specification and drawings of the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish different objects or to distinguish different processing of the same object. The terms "first" and "second," etc., can distinguish identical or similar items with substantially the same function and effect. For example, "first device" and "second device" are merely to distinguish different devices and do not limit their order. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first" and "second," etc., do not limit the quantity or execution order, and that "first" and "second," etc., do not necessarily imply that they are different.

[0411] Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, used in the description of the embodiments of this application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the steps or units listed, but may optionally include other steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or devices.

[0412] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner to facilitate understanding.

[0413] It is understood that the term "embodiment" used throughout the specification means that a specific feature, structure, or characteristic related to an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the embodiments of this application. Therefore, the various embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these specific features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It is understood that in the various embodiments of the embodiments of this application, the sequence number of each process does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0414] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, "...when" and "if" both refer to the corresponding processing that will be carried out under certain objective circumstances, and are not limited to a time, nor do they require a judgment action during implementation, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0415] It is understood that some optional features in the embodiments of this application can be implemented independently in certain scenarios without relying on other features, such as the current solution on which they are based, to solve the corresponding technical problems and achieve the corresponding effects. Alternatively, they can be combined with other features as needed in certain scenarios. Correspondingly, the apparatus given in the embodiments of this application can also implement these features or functions, which will not be elaborated here.

[0416] In the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other. In the various embodiments of this application, and in the various implementation methods / methods / implementations within each embodiment, unless otherwise specified or logically conflicting, the terminology and / or descriptions between different embodiments and between the various implementation methods / methods / implementations within each embodiment are consistent and can be mutually referenced. The technical features in different embodiments and the various implementation methods / methods / implementations within each embodiment can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation methods, methods, or implementation approaches based on their inherent logical relationships. The following descriptions of the embodiments of this application do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a first logic unit, and the method includes: Determine the relationship between sensing services and communication resources; Send first information to the second logic unit, the first information being used to indicate the communication resource, or the first information being used to indicate the association relationship.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information is used to indicate the communication resource, and the method further includes: Acquire sensing data associated with the communication resources; Based on the association, a second message is sent to the third logic unit, wherein the second message includes the perception data, and the perception data is associated with the perception service.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information is used to indicate the association relationship, and the method further includes: Obtain the perception data associated with the perception service, wherein the perception data associated with the perception service is determined through the association relationship; Send second information to the third logic unit, wherein the second information includes the perceived data.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The communication resources include at least one of the following resources: Time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; Frequency domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; The airspace resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or, Power domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The communication resources include the airspace resources, and the airspace resources include at least one of the following resources: Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layer resources; or, Beam resources.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The MIMO layer resources are indicated by at least one of the following parameters: The number of layers; or, The first identifier corresponding to the layer.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The beam resources are indicated by at least one of the following parameters: Number of transmitted beams; The second identifier of the transmitted beam; The number of receiving beams; or, The third identifier of the receiving beam.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information is used to indicate the association relationship, and the first information also includes a fourth identifier used to indicate the sensing service.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, Determining the association between at least one sensing service and at least one communication resource includes: Receive third information from a third logic unit, the third information including a fourth identifier for indicating the sensing service and first quality of service (QoS) requirement information corresponding to the sensing service; Obtain first channel information, which is used to indicate the channel state between the second logic unit and the terminal; Based on the first QoS requirement information and the first channel information, the association between the sensing service and the communication resources is determined.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The third piece of information also includes the number of the sensing services.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The second information also includes: The at least one fourth identifier; or Channel indication information, which is used to indicate the logical channel between the first logic unit and the third logic unit, and the logical channel is related to the perception service.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The first logical unit has at least one of the following functional modules deployed: Perceptual least squares (LS) function for the frequency domain; For time-domain sensing LS functionality; or, Sensing distance, velocity, angle, and RVA spectrum estimation function.

13. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a second logic unit, and the method includes: Receive first information from a first logic unit, the first information being used to indicate communication resources, or the first information being used to indicate the association between the sensing service and the communication resources; Send sensing signals according to the communication resources; and / or, The echo signal of the sensing signal is received according to the communication resources.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The method further includes receiving the echo signal of the sensed signal based on the communication resource, wherein the first information is used to indicate the communication resource. A fourth piece of information associated with the communication resource is sent to the first logic unit, the fourth piece of information being determined based on the echo signal of the sensed signal.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The method further includes receiving the echo signal of the sensed signal according to the communication resources, wherein the first information is used to indicate the association relationship, and the method further includes: Sensing data associated with the sensing service is sent to the first logic unit, wherein the sensing data associated with the sensing service is determined by the echo signal of the sensing signal and the association relationship.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13-15, characterized in that, The communication resources include at least one of the following resources: Time-domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; Frequency domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; The airspace resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals; or, Power domain resources used for transmitting and / or receiving signals.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The communication resources include the airspace resources, and the airspace resources include at least one of the following resources: Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) layer resources; or, Beam resources.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The MIMO layer resources are indicated by at least one of the following parameters: The number of layers; or, The first identifier corresponding to the layer.

19. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The beam resources are indicated by at least one of the following parameters: Number of transmitted beams; The second identifier of the transmitted beam; The number of receiving beams; or, The third identifier of the receiving beam.

20. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The first information is used to indicate the association relationship, and the first information also includes a fourth identifier used to indicate the sensing service; Sending the sensing data associated with the sensing service to the first logic unit includes: The first logic unit sends sensing data associated with the sensing service, as well as the fourth identifier or first channel indication information, to the first logic unit. The first channel indication information is used to indicate a first logical channel between the first logic unit and the second logic unit, and the first logical channel is associated with the sensing service.

21. The method according to any one of claims 13-20, characterized in that, The association is determined based on the first quality of service (QoS) requirement information and the first channel information corresponding to the perceived service. The first channel information is used to indicate the channel state between the second logic unit and the terminal.

22. The method according to any one of claims 13-21, characterized in that, The second logic unit has at least one of the following functional modules deployed: For the perceptual least squares (LS) function in the frequency domain; or, Aware LS function for the time domain.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a module for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 12, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 13 to 22.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 22, through logic circuits or executing code instructions.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 22.

26. A computer program product, comprising a computer program or instructions, characterized in that, When the computer program or instructions are executed by the communication device, they implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 22.

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