Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: one antenna subarray of an access network device comprises N5 antenna ports, wherein N5 is an integer greater than 2 (i.e., the number of antenna ports comprised in one antenna subarray of the access network device being greater than 2); the access network device can send a downlink reference signal to a terminal by means of at least one antenna subarray; and the terminal determines, on the basis of the downlink reference signal, first parameter sets corresponding to the N5 antenna ports and / or second parameter sets corresponding to N5-1 antenna ports. Compared with a design in which one antenna subarray comprises two antenna ports and the terminal feeds back, to the access network device, one first parameter set corresponding to one antenna port and one second parameter set corresponding to one antenna port, the method enables the terminal to feed back, to the access network device, a PMI that matches the N5 antenna ports. Furthermore, the matched PMI is used to precode downlink data, thereby improving downlink communication performance, for example, increasing downlink throughput.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202411332429.0, filed on September 20, 2024, and entitled “A Communication Method and Apparatus”, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0004] Precoding technology is an important way to improve communication rate. Precoding technology is to use multiple antennas (or called antenna ports), to assign each antenna with a respective weight value to the transmitted data, to achieve the effect of beamforming, so that the transmitted signal of the transmitting end is more matched to the channel condition. How to perform precoding on downlink data is a research direction. SUMMARY

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, the execution subject of the method is an access network device, or a module, unit or component (for example, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, a processor, or other etc.) applied in the access network device, and the method comprises: transmitting, by at least one antenna array, a downlink reference signal to a terminal, the one antenna array comprising N5 antenna ports, the N5 being an integer greater than 2; receiving a precoding matrix index (PMI) from the terminal, the PMI comprising N5 sets of first parameters corresponding to the N5 antenna ports respectively, and / or N5-1 sets of second parameters corresponding to the remaining N5-1 antenna ports except for a first antenna port, each set of first parameters in the N5 sets of first parameters comprising the coordinates of the main beam of the corresponding antenna port, and each set of second parameters in the N5-1 sets of second parameters comprising the phase rotation factor of the corresponding antenna port relative to the first antenna port; and performing precoding on the downlink data of the at least one antenna array according to the precoding matrix corresponding to the PMI.

[0006] By the above design, one antenna array of the access network device includes N5 antenna ports, N5 being an integer greater than 2; that is, the number of antenna ports included by one antenna array of the access network device is greater than 2; the access network device can send a downlink reference signal to the terminal through at least one antenna array; the terminal determines a first parameter set corresponding to the N5 antenna ports and / or a second parameter set corresponding to the N5-1 antenna ports according to the downlink reference signal; compared with the current scheme in which one antenna array includes 2 antenna ports, the terminal feeds back, to the access network device, 1 group of first parameter sets corresponding to 1 antenna port and a second parameter set corresponding to 1 antenna port, and can realize feeding back, to the access network device, a PMI matched with the N5 antenna ports; further, using the matched PMI to precode downlink data can improve the downlink communication performance, such as improving the downlink throughput rate.

[0007] In a possible implementation, a dimension of a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is greater than a first dimension, and a dimension of a second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is greater than a second dimension, the first dimension being a dimension of the first matrix when one antenna array supports 2 antenna ports, and the second dimension being a dimension of the second matrix when one antenna array supports 2 antenna ports.

[0008] In a possible implementation, a dimension of a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is N1*N2*N5 rows, N1 being a number of rows of each panel of the antenna array of the access network device including an antenna array, and N2 being a number of columns of each panel of the antenna array of the access network device including an antenna array.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the first matrix W1 satisfies the following:

[0010] The first matrix W1 is composed of N5 rows and N5 columns of matrices B; each matrix B has N1*N2 rows; the matrices B1 to BN5 are equal or unequal.

[0011] In a possible implementation, when main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, the matrices B1 to BN5 are equal.

[0012] In a possible implementation, when main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, the matrices B1 to BN5 are unequal.

[0013] In a possible implementation, a dimension of a second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is N5 rows and 1 column.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the second matrix W2 satisfies the following:

[0015] wherein P CSI-RS represents the number of ports of a downlink reference signal; represents a phase offset value of N5-1 antenna ports relative to the first antenna port.

[0016] In a possible implementation, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, are respectively determined according to a second parameter set in N5-1 groups of second parameter sets.

[0017] In a possible implementation, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, are both 1.

[0018] In a possible implementation, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, the PMI specifically includes N5-1 groups of second parameter sets, the N5-1 groups of second parameter sets being used to determine a second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the PMI further includes a group of first parameter sets, the group of first parameter sets including a coordinate of a beam of a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports, and the group of first parameter sets being used to determine a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

[0020] In a possible implementation, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, the PMI specifically includes N5 groups of first parameter sets, the N5 groups of first parameter sets being used to determine a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the PMI specifically includes N5 groups of first parameter sets and N5-1 groups of second parameter sets, the N5 groups of first parameter sets being used to determine a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix, and the N5-1 groups of second parameter sets being used to determine a second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending configuration information to the terminal, the configuration information being used to configure the terminal to report channel state information (CSI), the PMI being included in the CSI, and N5 being included in the configuration information.

[0023] ​​​In a possible implementation, the antenna array is a multi-port antenna based on eigenmodes, each port of the multi-port antenna corresponding to a radiation pattern, and the radiation patterns corresponding to different ports are orthogonal to each other.

[0024] In a second aspect, a method for the method of the first aspect is provided. The method is performed by a terminal device, or a module, unit or component (e.g., a chip, a chip system, a circuit, a processor or the like) applied in the terminal device. The method comprises: receiving a downlink reference signal from an access network device; determining a precoding matrix index (PMI) based on the downlink reference signal; and sending the PMI to the access network device, wherein an antenna array of the access network device comprises N5 antenna ports, N5 is an integer greater than 2, the PMI comprises N5 sets of first parameters corresponding to the N5 antenna ports respectively, and / or N5-1 sets of second parameters corresponding to N5-1 antenna ports other than a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports respectively, each of the N5 sets of first parameters comprises a coordinate of a main beam of the corresponding antenna port, and each of the N5-1 sets of second parameters comprises a phase rotation factor of the corresponding antenna port relative to the first antenna port.

[0025] In a possible implementation, a dimension of a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is greater than a first dimension, and a dimension of a second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is greater than a second dimension, the first dimension is a dimension of the first matrix when an antenna array supports 2 antenna ports, and the second dimension is a dimension of the second matrix when an antenna array supports 2 antenna ports.

[0026] In a possible implementation, a dimension of a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is N1*N2*N5 rows, N1 is a number of rows of an antenna array of each panel of the access network device, and N2 is a number of columns of the antenna array of each panel of the access network device.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the first matrix W1 satisfies the following:

[0028] wherein the first matrix W1 is composed of N5 rows and N5 columns of matrices B; a number of rows of each matrix B is N1*N2; the matrices B1 to BN5 are equal or not equal

[0029] In a possible implementation, when main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, the matrices B1 to BN5 are equal.

[0030] In a possible implementation, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, the matrices B1 to BN5 are not equal.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix has a dimension of N5 rows and 1 column.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the second matrix W2 satisfies the following:

[0033] wherein P CSI-RS represents the number of ports of the downlink reference signal; represents a phase offset value of N5-1 antenna ports relative to the first antenna port.

[0034] In a possible implementation, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, are determined according to corresponding second parameter sets in the N5-1 sets of second parameter sets, respectively.

[0035] In a possible implementation, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, are both 1.

[0036] In a possible implementation, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, the PMI specifically includes N5-1 sets of second parameter sets, which are used to determine the second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the PMI further includes a set of first parameter sets, the set of first parameter sets including coordinates of a beam of a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports, and the set of first parameter sets being used to determine a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

[0038] In a possible implementation, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, the PMI specifically includes N5 sets of first parameter sets, which are used to determine the first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the PMI specifically includes N5 sets of first parameter sets and N5-1 sets of second parameter sets, the N5 sets of first parameter sets being used to determine the first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix, and the N5-1 sets of second parameter sets being used to determine the second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.​​​

[0040] In a possible implementation, the method further includes receiving configuration information from the access network device, the configuration information being used to configure the terminal to report channel state information (CSI), and the PMI being included in the CSI, and N5 being included in the configuration information.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the antenna array is a multi-port antenna based on eigenmodes and / or eigenpatterns, each port of the multi-port antenna corresponding to a radiation pattern, and the radiation patterns corresponding to different ports being orthogonal to each other.

[0042] In a third aspect, an apparatus is provided, which can implement the method in the first aspect. For example, the apparatus includes modules, units, or components corresponding to the method described in the first aspect. The modules, units, or components can be implemented in hardware, or implemented in software, or implemented in a combination of hardware and software.

[0043] In one design, the apparatus includes units configured to perform the method in the first aspect.

[0044] In one design, the apparatus includes a processor configured to implement the method in the first aspect. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a memory coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute computer program or instructions stored in the memory to enable the apparatus to implement the method in the first aspect.

[0045] In one design, the apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit configured to receive signals from other apparatuses outside the apparatus and transmit the signals to the processor or send signals from the processor to the other apparatuses outside the apparatus, and the processor is configured to implement the method in the first aspect by logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0046] In one design, the apparatus can be the first apparatus, or a module, unit, or component (e.g., a chip, chip system, circuit, or processor) in the first apparatus that performs the method / operation / step / action described in the first aspect, or is capable of being used in conjunction with the first apparatus.

[0047] In a fourth aspect, an apparatus is provided, which can implement the method in the second aspect. For example, the apparatus includes modules, units, or components corresponding to the method described in the second aspect. The modules, units, or components can be implemented in hardware, or implemented in software, or implemented in a combination of hardware and software.

[0048] In one design, the apparatus includes units configured to perform the method in the second aspect.

[0049] In one design, the apparatus includes a processor configured to implement a method recited in the second aspect above. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a memory coupled with the processor, and the processor is configured to execute computer program or instructions stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to implement a method recited in the second aspect above.

[0050] In one design, the apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit configured to receive signals from other apparatuses outside the apparatus and transmit the signals to the processor or send signals from the processor to the other apparatuses outside the apparatus, and the processor is configured to implement a method recited in the second aspect above by means of logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0051] In one design, the apparatus can be the second apparatus, or a module, unit or component (e.g., a chip, chip system, circuit or processor, etc.) in the second apparatus that implements the method / operation / step / action described in the second aspect one-to-one, or is capable of matching use with the second apparatus.

[0052] In a fifth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, cause the computer to implement a method recited in the first aspect or the second aspect above.

[0053] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, cause a method recited in the first aspect or the second aspect above to be executed.

[0054] In a seventh aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor configured to implement a method recited in the first aspect or the second aspect above. Optionally, the chip further includes a memory coupled with the processor, and the processor is configured to execute computer program or instructions stored in the memory to cause the chip to implement a method recited in the first aspect or the second aspect above.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes a first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus; wherein the first communication apparatus is configured to implement a method recited in the first aspect above; and the second communication apparatus is configured to implement a method recited in the second aspect above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0056] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an ORAN system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG. 4 and FIG. 10 are flow diagrams of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an antenna panel according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an antenna unit according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG. 7 and FIG. 9 are performance diagrams according to embodiments of the present application;

[0063] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a beam direction according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are structural schematic diagrams of an apparatus according to embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0065] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The specific operation methods, function descriptions and the like in the method embodiments can also be applied to the apparatus embodiments or system embodiments.

[0066] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of a noun means "a singular noun or a plural noun" unless otherwise specified, that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of the present application, the character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it; in the formula of the present application, the character " / " represents a "division" relationship between the associated objects before and after it. "Including at least one of A, B or C" or similar expressions 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, where A, B, C can be singular or plural.

[0067] In the embodiments of the present application, various numbers involved are distinguished for the convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the execution order, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to their functions and inherent logic. The ordinal numbers "first", "second" and the like involved in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and do not limit the size, order, time sequence, priority or importance of the multiple objects.

[0068] Figure 1 illustrates a possible, non-limiting system diagram. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 also includes an Internet 300.

[0069] RAN100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal device (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). RAN100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1).

[0070] Terminal device 120 is connected to RAN node 110 wirelessly. RAN node 110 is connected to core network 200 wirelessly or via wired connection. The core network equipment in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device integrating core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions.

[0071] RAN100 can be used for cellular systems related to the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), such as 4th generation (4G). th generation, 4G), fifth generation (5 th RAN100 can be a generation (5G) mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolution system (such as a future communication network). RAN100 can also be an open access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. RAN100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0072] RAN node 110, forming part of the communication system, assists terminal devices in achieving wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 1000 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal device 120 are relative. For example, network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal devices 120j accessing RAN 100 through network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal device.

[0073] In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a base station in a future communication network, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG. 1), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, an access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application can also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

[0074] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes cooperate to assist a terminal device to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, the RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0075] It can be understood that the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names in different systems, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an open CU (O-CU), the DU can also be referred to as an open DU (O-DU), the CU-CP can also be referred to as an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), the CU-UP can also be referred to as an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and the RU can also be referred to as an open RU (O-RU). For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in the present application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in the embodiments of the present application can be realized by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0076] The terminal device 120 is a device with wireless transceiving function. The terminal device 120 can also be referred to as a terminal device, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal device, etc. The terminal device can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiving function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal device.

[0077] The RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120 can be fixed in position or movable. The RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons and artificial satellites in the air. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120. The RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120 can be deployed in the same scenario or different scenarios, for example, the RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120 are deployed on land at the same time; or the RAN nodes 110 are deployed on land and the terminal devices 120 are deployed on the water surface, etc., which are not exemplified one by one.

[0078] The RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120 can communicate via licensed spectrum, can communicate via unlicensed spectrum, or can simultaneously communicate via both licensed and unlicensed spectrum; for example, the RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120 can communicate via spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), can communicate via spectrum above 6 GHz, or can simultaneously communicate via both spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used by wireless communication.

[0079] The RAN nodes 110 and the terminal devices 120 can be referred to as communication apparatuses; for example, the network elements 110a and 110b in FIG. 1 can be understood as communication apparatuses having functions of base stations; for example, the communication apparatuses can be base stations, or modules, units, or components (for example, chips, chip systems, processors, circuits, or others) applied to base stations. A chip system is composed of a chip, and can also include a chip and other discrete devices. The network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication apparatuses having functions of terminal devices; for example, the communication apparatuses can be terminal devices, or modules, units, or components (for example, chips, chip systems, processors, circuits, or others) applied to terminal devices.

[0080] The scheme of embodiments of the present application can be applied to the communication system 1000 shown in FIG. 1, which can correspond to a terrestrial network (TN). Alternatively, the scheme of embodiments of the present application can also be applied to a non-terrestrial network (NTN). In the communication system of the NTN, the “RAN node” in FIG. 1 can be replaced by “satellite and ground station”. The satellite is deployed in space, and the ground station is deployed on the ground, which can be understood as a base station deployed on the ground, and the ground station can also be referred to as a gateway (GW). The link between the satellite and the terminal device is referred to as a user link, the link between the satellite and the ground station is referred to as a feeder link, and the link between different satellites is referred to as an inter-satellite link. The working mode of the satellite includes transparent and regenerative.

[0081] When the satellite works in the transparent mode, the satellite has the function of signal forwarding, and the ground station has all or part of the functions of a base station, and the ground station can be regarded as a base station. It can be understood that the ground station can be one device (for example, a macro base station, or a micro base station, etc.), or the ground station can implement corresponding functions by multiple RAN nodes (for example, CUs and DUs, etc.), for specific reference to the foregoing description. Alternatively,

[0082] When the satellite works in the regenerative mode, the satellite has the ability to process digital signals, the satellite has all or part of the functions of the base station, and the satellite can be regarded as a base station. Further, for the regenerative mode, it can be subdivided into: all functions of the base station are deployed on the satellite, which is referred to as full function (for example, CU and DU) on satellite, or part of the functions of the base station are deployed on the satellite, which is referred to as partial function (for example, DU) on satellite, and the remaining functions of the base station (for example, CU) are implemented on the ground station.

[0083] The satellite and the ground station can be referred to as communication devices, for example, the satellite can be understood as a communication device with satellite functions, and the ground station can be understood as a communication device with ground station functions.

[0084] It can be understood that, in the communication system corresponding to the TN, the RAN node is used to help the terminal device to implement wireless access, and it can also have other different descriptions, for example, RAN entity, ORAN device, access node, access network device, etc.; in the communication system corresponding to the NTN, the satellite and the ground station help the terminal device to implement wireless access. In the subsequent description of the embodiments of the present application, if no special description is given, the node or device that helps the terminal device to implement wireless access is referred to as "access network device" for description.

[0085] It can be understood that, in the scheme of the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the access network device can also be performed by a module, unit or component (such as a chip) in the access network device, or by a control subsystem containing the functions of the access network device. The control subsystem containing the functions of the access network device herein can be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, intelligent transportation and smart city. The functions of the terminal device can also be performed by a module, unit or component (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal device, or by a device containing the functions of the terminal device.

[0086] FIG. 2 shows a possible, non-limiting schematic diagram of an ORAN system. As shown in FIG. 2, the ORAN system includes a core network device, an access network device and a terminal device. The access network device communicates with the core network device through a backhaul link and communicates with the terminal device through an air interface.

[0087] The access network device includes a BBU and an RU, the BBU communicates with at least one RU through a fronthaul link, and the BBU and the RU can be co-located or not co-located. Specifically, the BBU communicates with the core network device through the backhaul link, and the RU communicates with the terminal device through the air interface. The BBU includes at least one CU and at least one DU, which can communicate through at least one midhaul link.

[0088] FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a possible, non-limiting node function split and protocol layer structure of an access network device. It can be understood that the access network device adopts an ORAN architecture, and the access network device can also be referred to as an ORAN device, which is used to implement wireless access of a terminal device,

[0089] It can be understood that the communication between the access network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer structure can include a control plane protocol layer structure and a user plane protocol layer structure. For example, the control plane protocol layer structure can include the functions of protocol layers such as a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, and a physical layer. For example, the user plane protocol layer structure can include the functions of protocol layers such as a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a physical layer, and in a possible implementation, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer can be further included above the PDCP layer.

[0090] As shown in FIG. 3, the access network device includes logical nodes such as a CU, a DU, and an RU. The CU can be connected to a core network through an interface, for example, the interface can be referred to as an E2 interface. Alternatively, the CU can have part of the functions of the core network. The CU can control at least one DU, and the CU can be connected to the DU through an interface, for example, the interface can be referred to as an F1 interface. Further, a control panel (CP) interface can be referred to as an F1-C, and a user panel (UP) interface can be referred to as an F1-U. The DU can control at least one RU, and the DU can be connected to the RU through an interface, for example, the interface can be a fronthaul interface.

[0091] 1. CU

[0092] The CU can be a logical node that carries the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and other control functions of the access network device. That is, the CU can implement the functions of the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, the PDCP layer, and certain control functions.

[0093] Further, the CU can be split into a CU-CP and a CU-UP. Referring to FIG. 3, the CU-CP is a logical node carrying a control plane part of PDCP (PDCP-C) of an RRC layer and a PDCP layer, for implementing a control plane function of the CU. The CU-CP can interact with a network element for implementing a control plane function in a core network. The network element for implementing the control plane function in the core network can be an access and mobility function network element, for example, an access and mobility management function (AMF) in a 5G communication system. Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, the CU-UP is a logical node carrying a user plane part of PDCP (PDCP-U) layer of an SDAP layer and a PDCP layer, for implementing a user plane function of the CU. The CU-UP can interact with a network element for implementing a user plane function in a core network. The network element for implementing the user plane function in the core network, for example, a user plane function (UPF) in a 5G communication system.

[0094] 2、DU

[0095] The DU can be a logical node carrying an RLC layer, a MAC layer, a higher physical (Higher PHY) layer, and other functions. For example, the higher physical layer can include partial processing functions of the PHY layer, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, and the like. That is, the DU can implement the functions of the RLC layer, the MAC layer, the higher physical layer, and other functions.

[0096] It can be understood that the above configuration of the CU and the DU is merely an example, and the CU and the DU can be configured to have functions as needed. For example, the CU or the DU can be configured to have functions of more protocol layers, or the CU or the DU can be configured to have partial processing functions of the protocol layers. For example, partial functions of the RLC layer and functions of protocol layers above the RLC layer are provided in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and functions of protocol layers below the RLC layer are provided in the DU. For another example, the functions of the CU or the DU can be divided according to a service type or other system requirements, for example, according to a delay requirement. Functions that need to meet a relatively low delay requirement in terms of processing time are provided in the DU, and functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement are provided in the CU.

[0097] 3、RU

[0098] The RU can be a logical node that carries lower physical layer (Lower PHY) and radio frequency (RF) chain processing. For example, the lower physical layer includes partial processing functions of the physical layer, such as fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse fast Fourier transformation (IFFT), digital beamforming, and filtering, etc. That is, the RU can implement the functions of the physical layer and the radio frequency.

[0099] In one possible implementation, the RU can be a 3GPP transmission reception point (TRP) or a remote radio head (RRH) or other similar functional entity. The RU communicates with one or more terminal devices through a wireless link.

[0100] The DU and the RU can be co-located or not co-located, without limitation. Referring to FIG. 3, the DU and the RU can include an O-RAN control user and synchronization (CUS-Plane) plane and an O-RAN management plane (M-Plane). The O-RAN CUS plane can be referred to as the CUS plane, and the O-RAN management plane can be referred to as the management plane. Further, the CUS plane can be split into a control plane (C-Plane) and a user plane (U-Plane). Optionally, the control plane refers to a real-time control plane between the DU and the RU. The management plane refers to a non-real-time management operation between the DU and the RU.

[0101] Referring to FIG. 3, the DU and the RU exchange information of the control plane and information of the user plane through a lower-layer split CUS-Plane (LLS-CUS) interface via a fronthaul link. Further, the LLS-CUS interface can include an LLS-C interface corresponding to the control plane and an LLS-U interface corresponding to the user plane. The DU and the RU exchange information of the management plane through an LLS-M interface of the fronthaul link. Referring to FIG. 3, the LLS-M interface can also be connected to an external management system.

[0102] It can be understood that the DU and the RU can cooperate to jointly implement the functions of the physical layer. One DU can be connected with one or more RUs. The functions of the DU and the RU can be configured in multiple ways according to design. For example, the DU is configured to implement baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement radio frequency functions. For another example, the DU is configured to implement high-layer functions in the physical layer, and the RU is configured to implement low-layer functions in the physical layer or implement the low-layer functions and radio frequency functions. The high-layer functions in the physical layer can include a part of functions of the physical layer that are closer to the MAC layer, and the low-layer functions in the physical layer can include another part of functions of the physical layer that are closer to the radio frequency side.

[0103] Precoding technology is an important way to improve communication rate. The precoding technology is that the sending end uses multiple antennas (or antenna ports) to assign respective weights to the data sent by each antenna, so as to realize beamforming effect, so that the signal sent by the sending end is more matched to the channel condition. For example, taking downlink precoding as an example, the downlink signal sent by the access network device is X, the downlink channel is H, the downlink precoding matrix is W, and the noise is N0. Then the downlink signal sent by the access network device is S = WX; and the downlink signal received by the terminal is Y = HWX + N0.

[0104] In the new radio (NR) protocol, the access network device sends a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) to the terminal; the terminal measures the CSI-RS to obtain a measurement result; and the terminal reports downlink channel state information (CSI) to the access network device according to the measurement result. For example, the downlink CSI includes information such as a rank indicator (RI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), and a precoding matrix indicator (PMI). Among them, the RI is used to indicate the number of layers of the downlink transmission recommended by the terminal, the CQI is used to indicate the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) supported by the current downlink channel condition recommended by the terminal, and the PMI is used to indicate the precoding scheme recommended by the terminal.

[0105] In one understanding, the number of layers of PMI feedback corresponds to the RI. For example, if the RI indicates that the number of layers of downlink transmission is n, the PMI indicates the PMI of n layers. For each layer of PMI, the access network device can use the corresponding PMI to precode the downlink signal, so as to realize beamforming to send the downlink signal to the terminal. That is, the access network device uses each layer of PMI for precoding, so as to form a corresponding beam, and uses the corresponding beam to send the downlink signal to the terminal, so as to realize beamforming and improve the transmission quality of the downlink signal.

[0106] In the current scheme, the access network device can determine the corresponding codebook according to the PMI fed back by the terminal. The downlink data is precoded by using the corresponding codebook. For example, if one antenna array of the access network device includes 2 antenna ports, the PMI fed back by the terminal includes [i 1,1 ,i 1,2 ,i 1,3 , i2].

[0107] In one description, i 1,1 ,i 1,2 ,i 1,3 may be considered as one set of first parameter set, and i2may be considered as one set of second parameter set. That is, the PMI fed back by the terminal includes one set of first parameter set and one set of second parameter set. The one set of first parameter set includes i 1,1 ,i 1,2 ,i 1,3 and the one set of second parameter set includes i2.

[0108] The codebook used by the access network device to precode the downlink data can be represented as: W = W1*W2. Wherein, the codebook W can be a type I codebook. The access network device can determine the matrix B according to the above-mentioned one set of first parameter set, and the matrix B constitutes the first matrix W1:

[0109] In one understanding, the first row of the above-mentioned first matrix W1 corresponds to the first antenna port included in one antenna array, and the second row of the above-mentioned first matrix W1 corresponds to the second antenna port included in one antenna array. The main beam direction of the 2 antenna ports included in one antenna array is the same or approximately the same, so the matrix B in the two rows of the first matrix W1 is the same. The one set of first parameter set fed back by the terminal to the access network device can correspond to any one of the above-mentioned 2 antenna ports. Since the main beam directions of the 2 antenna ports are the same, the coordinates corresponding to the main beam directions of the 2 antenna ports (such as i 1,1 ,i 1,2 ,i 1,3 ) are the same. Therefore, the terminal feeds back one set of first parameter set to the access network device.

[0110] The access network device can determine the parameter according to the second parameter set According to the parameter Determine the second matrix W2:

[0111] The first row of the second matrix W1 corresponds to the first antenna port included in one antenna array; the second row of the second matrix W2 corresponds to the second antenna port included in one antenna array; the parameter included in the first parameter set corresponding to the first antenna port and the second parameter set corresponding to the second antenna port fed back by the terminal to the access network device Indicates the phase rotation factor of the second antenna port corresponding to the first antenna port.

[0112] In the actual product form of the access network device, such as a macro base station or a micro base station, the size of the antenna is often limited. In order to obtain higher communication performance, such as spectrum efficiency, on the limited antenna aperture, a new design method needs to be used to design the antenna. For example, by increasing the number of antenna ports supported by one antenna array, the total number of antenna ports under a fixed aperture can be increased, and the maximum number of data streams supported by the system can be increased. Under the premise of increasing the number of antenna ports supported by one antenna array, how the terminal feeds back the PMI matched with the number of antenna ports to the access network device, and how to design the codebook matched with the antenna port are technical problems solved by the embodiments of the present application.

[0113] In view of the above, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, in which: one antenna array of the access network device includes N5 antenna ports, N5 is an integer greater than 2; that is, the number of antenna ports included in one antenna array of the access network device is greater than 2; the access network device can send downlink reference signals to the terminal through at least one antenna array; the terminal determines the first parameter set corresponding to the N5 antenna ports and / or the second parameter set corresponding to the N5-1 antenna ports according to the downlink reference signals; relative to the current scheme in which one antenna array includes two antenna ports, the terminal feeds back one group of first parameter sets corresponding to one antenna port and the second parameter set corresponding to one antenna port to the access network device, which can realize the terminal feeding back the PMI matched with the N5 antenna ports to the access network device; further, using the matched PMI to precode the downlink data can improve the downlink communication performance, such as improving the throughput rate of the downlink.

[0114] In each flowchart of the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject can be a terminal, an access network device, or a module, unit, or component (for example, a chip, a chip system, a processor, a circuit, or the like) in the terminal or the access network device. Hereinafter, the execution subject is taken as an example of a terminal and an access network device. When the execution subject is a module, unit, or component in the terminal or the access network device, the receiving / sending can be understood as inputting / outputting, that is, the module communicates with other modules or components of the terminal or the access network device. In addition, the processing performed by a single execution subject can also be divided into processing performed by multiple execution subjects, which can be logically and / or physically separated. For example, the processing performed by the access network device can be divided into processing performed by at least one of a CU, a DU, and an RU.

[0115] As shown in FIG. 4, the embodiments of the present application provide a flow of a communication method, including the following steps:

[0116] Optionally, step 400: the access network device sends configuration information to the terminal, and the terminal receives the configuration information from the access network device.

[0117] The configuration information is used to configure the terminal to report CSI. The CSI at least includes PMI. For specific contents included in the CSI, refer to the description of step 1010 in FIG. 10 below. The configuration information includes N5. When receiving the configuration information, the terminal can know that one antenna array of the access network device supports N5 antenna ports according to the parameter N5 in the configuration information. The terminal can feed back the PMI to the access network device according to the design that one antenna array supports N5 antenna ports. For example, the PMI fed back by the terminal includes N5 sets of first parameter sets and / or N5-1 sets of second parameter sets.

[0118] Step 410: the access network device sends a downlink reference signal to the terminal through at least one antenna array; correspondingly, the terminal receives the downlink reference signal from the access network device.

[0119] For example, the access network device can include at least one antenna array, each antenna array including N5 antenna ports, N5 being an integer greater than 2. That is, each antenna array includes more than 2 antenna ports. The access network device can send a downlink reference signal through the at least one antenna array, for example, the downlink reference signal can be a CSI-RS or a synchronizing signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), etc. The terminal measures the received downlink reference signal, determines N5 sets of first parameter sets and / or N5-1 sets of second parameter sets corresponding to the N5 antenna ports of one antenna array. The terminal feeds back the PMI to the access network device, which includes N5 sets of first parameter sets and / or N5-1 sets of second parameter sets in the PMI.

[0120] For example, the antennas of the access network device can take the form of an antenna array. The antenna array can be composed of Ng antenna panels, which can be referred to as panels for short. As shown in FIG. 5, each panel includes N1 rows and N2 columns of antenna arrays, and each panel includes a total of N1*N2 antenna arrays. Each antenna array includes N5 antenna ports, and the access network device includes a total of N1*N2*Ng*N5 antenna ports. In one possible implementation, the access network device sends a downlink reference signal using N1*N2 antenna arrays in one panel, or in one panel, the access network device can select part of the N1*N2 antenna arrays; and send a downlink reference signal using the selected part of the N1*N2 antenna arrays. Since each antenna array includes N5 antenna ports, the terminal can determine N5 sets of first parameter sets and / or N5-1 sets of second parameter sets corresponding to the N5 antenna ports of one antenna array by measuring the downlink reference signal sent through the antenna array.

[0121] Each of the N5 sets of first parameters includes the coordinates of the main beam of the corresponding antenna port in the beam distribution diagram. For example, the horizontal position coordinates (such as i 1,1 ) of the main beam in the beam distribution diagram and the vertical position coordinates (such as i 1,2 ) of the main beam in the beam distribution diagram. In one description, the main beam can also be referred to as the strongest beam. Each of the N5-1 sets of second parameters includes the phase rotation factor of the corresponding antenna port relative to the first antenna port (such as It can be understood that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, the "first antenna port" can be any one of the antenna ports in one antenna array of the access network device, without limitation. In one possible implementation, the above-mentioned first antenna port can be the first antenna port (such as the first antenna port can be described as antenna port 1) in one antenna array.

[0122] In a possible implementation, the antenna array and the antenna port (which can be referred to as a port for short) in the embodiments of the present application can satisfy the following description: the antenna array can be a multi-port antenna based on eigenmodes and / or eigenmodes, each port of the multi-port antenna corresponds to a radiation pattern, and the radiation patterns corresponding to different ports are orthogonal to each other.

[0123] Step 420: The terminal determines the PMI according to the downlink reference signal.

[0124] Step 430: The terminal sends the PMI to the access network device, and the access network device receives the PMI from the terminal.

[0125] In a possible implementation, the PMI is included in the CSI. For example, the terminal can send the CSI to the access network device, and the CSI includes the PMI. In addition, the PMI also includes the RI, the layer indicator (LI), the CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), and the CQI.

[0126] In the formula, the RI is used to indicate the number of layers of the downlink transmission recommended by the terminal; the LI is used to indicate the layer corresponding to the current CSI feedback of the terminal; in one understanding, one layer represents one virtual channel. In the embodiments of the present application, one antenna port can generate one or more beams, and each beam corresponds to one layer. The CSI-RS resource indicator is used to indicate one CSI-RS resource. The terminal includes the CSI-RS resource indicator in the CSI when performing CSI feedback, so that the access network device can know that the CSI fed back by the terminal is determined based on which CSI-RS resource. In a possible implementation, the access network device can configure N5 CSI-RS resources for the terminal for one antenna array, and each antenna port of the N5 antenna ports of one antenna array corresponds to one CSI-RS resource. The CQI is used to indicate the MCS supported by the current downlink channel condition recommended by the terminal.

[0127] Step 440: The access network device performs precoding on the downlink data corresponding to the at least one antenna array according to the precoding matrix corresponding to the PMI.

[0128] For example, the precoding matrix W is composed of a first matrix W1 and a second matrix W2. For example, the precoding matrix W = the first matrix W1 * the second matrix W2. In one description, the precoding matrix W, the first matrix W1 and the second matrix W2 can all be referred to as a codebook. The access network device can determine the first matrix W1 according to the N5 sets of first parameters included in the PMI; and / or, the access network device determines the second matrix W2 according to the N5-1 sets of second parameters included in the PMI; further, the corresponding precoding matrix W is determined according to the first matrix W1 and the second matrix W2; for example, the precoding matrix W = the first matrix W1 * the second matrix W2. The access network device uses the precoding matrix W to precode the downlink data corresponding to at least one antenna array. For example, one panel of the access network device includes N1*N2 antenna arrays. The access network device can precode the downlink data corresponding to the N1*N2 antenna arrays according to the above precoding matrix.

[0129] In the scheme of the embodiments of the present application, the dimensions of the first matrix W1 and the second matrix W2 are both improved, relative to the design of supporting 2 antenna ports for one antenna array. For example, the dimension of the first matrix W1 is greater than a first dimension, and the dimension of the second matrix W2 is greater than a second dimension, the first dimension being the dimension of the first matrix W1 when one antenna array supports 2 antenna ports, and the second dimension being the dimension of the second matrix W2 when one antenna array supports 2 antenna ports.

[0130]

First matrix W1

[0131] In one possible implementation, the dimension of the first matrix W1 is N1*N2*N5 rows, and the number of columns of the first matrix W1 is not limited. Wherein, N1 is the number of rows of antenna arrays included in each panel of the antenna array of the access network device, N2 is the number of columns of antenna arrays included in each panel of the antenna array of the access network device, and N5 is the number of antenna ports included in one antenna array of the access network device. For example, the first matrix W1 satisfies the following:

[0132] Wherein, the first matrix W1 is composed of N5 rows and N5 columns of matrices B; or described as: the first matrix W1 includes N5 rows and N5 columns, each row includes a matrix B, and the remaining elements in each row are equal to 0 except the matrix B. It can be understood that the first matrix W1 is a diagonal matrix, which means that the elements outside the main diagonal are all 0. As can be seen, in the above first matrix W1, the elements outside the main diagonal are all 0, and the elements (or matrices) of the main diagonal are matrices B1 to BN5 in turn. Wherein, in the above matrices B1 to BN5, the number of rows of each matrix B is N1*N2.

[0133] It is understandable that matrices B1 to BN5 may or may not be equal. For example, in one possible implementation, matrices B1 to BN5 are equal when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device meet the same condition. Alternatively, matrices B1 to BN5 are not equal when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device do not meet the same condition. In one possible implementation, the access network device can determine whether the difference in the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array is less than a threshold; if it is less than (or less than or equal to) the threshold, then the beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device are considered to meet the same condition, and the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device are considered to be the same or approximately the same. Alternatively, if the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device do not meet the same condition, it is considered that the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device are not the same.

[0134] In one description: the main beam directions of N5 antenna ports supported by an antenna array of an access network device satisfy the same condition can be replaced with: the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by an antenna array of an access network device are the same or approximately the same. If the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by an antenna array of an access network device do not satisfy the same condition, this can be replaced with: the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by an antenna array of an access network device are not the same. Furthermore, in the description of this application, "supports" and "includes" are interchangeable and not distinguished. For example, if an antenna array supports N5 antenna ports, it can be alternatively described as: an array includes N5 antenna ports.

[0135]

Second Matrix W2

[0136] In one possible implementation, the second matrix W2 has a dimension of N5 rows and 1 column. Here, N5 represents the number of antenna ports in an antenna array of the access network device. For example, the second matrix W2 satisfies the following:

[0137] Among them, P CSI-RS Indicates the number of ports for the downlink reference signal; to This represents the phase offset value of N5-1 antenna ports relative to the first antenna port. (The above...) to The values ​​can be the same or different. For example, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by an antenna array of an access network device meet the same condition, to The values of the N5-1 sets of second parameters can be different, for example, the corresponding The values of the N5-1 sets of second parameters can be different, for example, the corresponding Alternatively, the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device do not satisfy the same condition, and The values of the N5-1 sets of second parameters can be different, for example, the corresponding The values of the N5-1 sets of second parameters can be different, for example, the corresponding The values of the N5-1 sets of second parameters can be different, for example, the corresponding The values of the N5-1 sets of second parameters can be different, for example, the corresponding

[0138] It can be understood that the first matrix W1 is composed of a matrix B with N5 rows and N5 columns, and the second matrix W2 has a dimension of N5 rows and 1 column. The first matrix W1 and the second matrix W2 are adapted to each other. For example, the precoding matrix W = the first matrix W1 * the second matrix W2, and the precoding matrix W satisfies the following:

[0139] The following describes the PMI fed back by the terminal and the corresponding first matrix W1 and second matrix W2 under different PMI feedback in combination with three examples:

[0140]

Example One

[0141] The main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device satisfy the same condition, and the PMI fed back by the terminal specifically includes: N5-1 sets of second parameters, which are used to determine the second matrix W2. Further, the PMI fed back by the terminal also includes: a set of first parameters, which includes the coordinates of the beam of a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports, and the set of first parameters is used to determine the first matrix W1. The first antenna port can be any one of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device. For example, the first antenna port can be the first antenna port (such as antenna port 1) in the N5 antenna ports.

[0142] In Example One, the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device satisfy the same condition, and the phase rotation factors of the N5 antenna ports are different. Therefore, the PMI fed back by the terminal includes a set of first parameters and N5-1 sets of second parameters.

[0143] It can be understood that the set of first parameters includes the coordinates of a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device. For example, the main beam of the first antenna port corresponds to the horizontal coordinate i 1,1The vertical coordinate i of the main beam at the first antenna port in the beam distribution diagram is... 1,2 In other words, the above set of first parameters can be represented as [i 1,1 i 1,2 ].

[0144] Optionally, in the case of multiple transmission layers corresponding to one antenna port, the aforementioned set of first parameters further includes the offset value i of the other beam of the first antenna port relative to the main beam in the beam distribution diagram. 1,3 For example, in one specification, when an antenna port corresponds to 2, 3, and 4 transmission layers (e.g., the rank value is 2, 3, and 4), the aforementioned set of first parameters also includes the aforementioned offset value i. 1,3 .

[0145] In one interpretation, the aforementioned N5-1 set of second parameters includes the phase rotation factors of the N5-1 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device relative to the first antenna port. For example, the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device are represented as: antenna port 1, antenna port 2, ..., antenna port N5. The aforementioned first antenna port can specifically be: antenna port 1. The terminal can feed back to the access network device the phase rotation factor i of antenna port 2 relative to antenna port 1. 2,1 The phase rotation factor i at antenna port 2 corresponds to that at antenna port 1. 2,2 Similarly, the phase rotation factor of antenna port N5 corresponds to that of antenna port 1. The second parameter set of group N5-1 above can be expressed as:

[0146] It is understandable that the above N5-1 group of second parameter sets includes the second parameter sets of N5-1 groups, and each group of second parameter sets includes one parameter i2. The above i 2,1 It can be the first set of second parameters, i 2,2 It can be considered as another two sets of second parameters, and similarly... It can be considered as the second parameter set of the N5-1 group.

[0147] As can be seen in Example 1, the PMI fed back by the terminal to the access network device includes [a set of first parameters and N5-1 sets of second parameters]. This set of first parameters can be represented as [i 1,1 i 1,2 The second parameter set of group N5-1 can be represented as In other words, the PMI fed back by the terminal to the access network equipment can be expressed as:

[0148] In this embodiment, the aforementioned set of first parameters is used to determine the first matrix W1. Specifically, the first matrix W1 is composed of matrix B. Since the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna element of the first access network device are the same or approximately the same, the matrices B1 to BN5 constituting the first matrix W1 are identical. The first matrix W1 can be represented as:

[0149] In one possible implementation, the access network device can, based on a first set of parameters (i) included in the PMI, 1,1 i 1,2 Let matrix B be determined; for example, the first matrix B satisfies the following:

[0150] Furthermore, the access network device determines the first matrix W1 based on matrix B.

[0151] The aforementioned set of N5-1 second parameters is used to determine the second matrix W2. Specifically, the second matrix W2 can be represented as:

[0152] Among them, the number P of ports that the first access network device can obtain downlink reference signals CSI-RS The above to These are the phase rotation factors corresponding to antenna port 1 for antenna ports 2 to N5. The access network equipment can determine the phase rotation factors based on the first set of second parameters i fed back from the terminal. 2,1 Determine the phase rotation factor of antenna port 2 corresponding to antenna port 1. Similarly, the access network device can use the second set of second parameters i fed back by the terminal. 2,2 Determine the phase rotation factor of antenna port 3 corresponding to antenna port 1. Similarly, the access network device can use the second parameter set of group N5-1. Determine the phase rotation factor of antenna port N5 relative to antenna port 1.

[0153] Wherein, the phase rotation factor of antenna port n+1 corresponding to antenna port 1 can be expressed as: The value of n ranges from 1 to N⁵⁻¹.

[0154] in, q n =i 2,n When n takes values ​​from 1 to N⁵⁻¹, the corresponding values ​​of the phase rotation factor are as follows:

[0155] Afterwards, the access network device can determine a precoding matrix W according to the first matrix W1 and the second matrix W2; wherein the precoding matrix W = the first matrix W1 * the second matrix W2. The access network device can utilize the precoding matrix W to precode downlink data of at least one antenna array.

[0156] To verify the performance advantage of the scheme of Example One provided by the embodiments of the present application relative to the current scheme, simulation comparison can be performed: for example, the access network device can obtain the directional diagram of the corresponding antenna unit when one antenna array of the access network device includes N5 antenna ports, and the directional diagram of the corresponding antenna unit when one antenna array of the access network device includes 2 antenna ports; the above two directional diagrams are imported into a simulation platform for system simulation. For example, the following considerations can be made during system simulation:

[0157] System simulation based on the ideal feedback generation of the precoding matrix: comparison of the system throughput of the access network device with one antenna array supporting 2 antenna ports and the access network device with one antenna array supporting N5 antenna ports. Based on the current PMI feedback method and codebook and the PMI feedback method and codebook provided by Example One of the present application, the same scenario is simulated to determine whether the system performance corresponding to the PMI feedback method and codebook provided by Example One of the present application is improved, and the specific performance improvement amount.

[0158] For example, the access network device can adopt a three-port antenna array, which can refer to FIG. 6b. One panel of the access network device includes 8 rows and 4 columns of antenna arrays, each antenna array includes 3 antenna ports, and the access network device as a transmitting end (Tx) panel supports a total of 96 (8*4*3) antenna ports. Alternatively, the access network device can adopt a dual-polarized antenna array, which can refer to FIG. 6a. One panel of the access network device as a transmitting end (Tx) includes 8 rows and 4 columns of antenna arrays, each antenna array includes 2 antenna ports, and one panel of the access network device supports a total of 64 (8*4*2) antenna ports. For the terminal side as a receiving end (Rx), a dual-polarized antenna array of 1 row and 2 columns can be adopted, and the terminal side supports a total of 4 (1*2*2) antenna ports.

[0159] The directional diagrams of the above two kinds of antenna units can be imported into the simulation platform RA2030, the channel model is selected as 3GPP-38.901-Uma-NloS channel, three sectors, sector angle of 120°, 20 terminals per sector, center frequency of 800MHz, carrier bandwidth of 20MHz, height of the access network device of 25 meters, height of the terminal of 1.5 meters, terminal position randomly generated, and antenna driving mode of 1 drive 4 in the vertical direction. The simulation results are shown in Table 1:

[0160] Table 1

[0161] As shown in Table 1, under ideal feedback, the downlink throughput of the 3-antenna port is 701.73 Mbit / s, and the downlink throughput of the dual-polarized 2-antenna port is 618.48 Mbit / s. As shown in FIG. 7, the system performance of the 3-antenna port is improved by 13% relative to the dual-polarized 2-antenna port. It can be proved that the downlink throughput can be improved by using the design of the 3-antenna port relative to the 2-antenna port. Further, under the current scheme, the downlink throughputs of the 2-antenna port and the 3-antenna port are 315.42 Mbit / s and 254.91 Mbit / s, respectively. Under the example 1 provided by the embodiment of the present application, the downlink throughput of the 3-antenna port is 339.68 Mbit / s. As shown in FIG. 7, under the current scheme, the performance of the 3-antenna port is 20% lower than that of the dual-polarized 2-antenna port; under the scheme of the example 1 of the present application, the system performance of the 3-antenna port is 7.7% higher than that of the dual-polarized 2-antenna port; and under the scheme of the example 1 of the present application, the performance of the 3-antenna port is improved by 33% relative to the current scheme. This can fully prove that, under the scheme of the example 1 of the embodiment of the present application, the performance of the 3-antenna port, such as the downlink throughput, can be improved relative to the current scheme.

[0162] It can be understood that even if the scheme of the example 1 of the embodiment of the present application is used, the performance (such as the downlink throughput) of the 3-antenna port is still lower than that of the ideal feedback, which is mainly caused by the feedback quantization error of the real codebook determined according to the PMI fed back by the terminal relative to the ideal feedback.

[0163] Under the scheme of the above example 1, the corresponding dimensions of the first matrix W1 and the second matrix W2 are increased to match the N5 antenna ports; further, in the PMI feedback, a plurality of sets of second parameters are newly added to match the N5-1 antenna ports, so that the PMI fed back by the terminal and the precoding matrix match the N5 antenna ports, and the system performance, such as the downlink throughput, is improved.

[0164]

Example 2

[0165] The main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device do not satisfy the same condition, and the PMI fed back by the terminal specifically includes N5 sets of first parameter sets, which are used to determine the first matrix W1. In this example 2, the terminal does not need to feed back the second parameter set to the access network device, that is, the PMI fed back by the terminal does not include the second parameter set, and the access network device does not need to determine the second matrix W2 according to the second parameter set of the PMI feedback, thereby saving the feedback overhead of the air interface.

[0166] In one understanding, the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by one antenna array of the access network device are different, and each of the N5 antenna ports reports a first parameter set. Since each antenna port independently reports a corresponding first parameter set, and the main beam direction selected by each antenna port is different, the terminal does not need to feed back the second parameter set in the PMI.

[0167] For example, taking one antenna array of the access network device supporting 3 antenna ports as an example, that is, the value of N5 is equal to 3: as shown in FIG. 8, the main beam directions (or main radiation directions, or strongest radiation directions) of the 3 antenna ports are the following three directions: (θ=10°, φ=0°), (θ=10°, φ=120°), (θ=10°, φ=240°).

[0168] Wherein, θ represents the beam squint angle of one antenna port in the elevation angle direction, and φ represents the beam squint angle of one antenna port in the horizontal angle direction. As can be seen, the above-mentioned 3 antenna ports have the same beam squint angle θ=10° in the elevation angle direction, and different beam squint angles φ in the horizontal angle direction. At this time, it can be considered that the main beam directions of the above-mentioned three antenna ports are different.

[0169] In one understanding, the terminal feeds back N5 first parameter sets to the access network device, and each first parameter set corresponds to one antenna port. For example, each first parameter set includes the horizontal coordinate i 1,1 of the main beam of the corresponding antenna port in the beam distribution map 1,2 . That is, the above-mentioned first parameter set can be represented as [i 1,1 ,i 1,2 ]. Alternatively, the above-mentioned first parameter set further includes the offset value i 1,3 of the other beam of the corresponding antenna port in the beam distribution map corresponding to the main beam. At this time, the above-mentioned first parameter set can be represented as [i 1,1 ,i 1,2 ,i 1,3 ].

[0170] In one description, in order to identify each first parameter set corresponding to the port, the following description can be used: for any antenna port n, 1<n<=N5, the first parameter set corresponding to the antenna port n is specifically [i 1,1,n ,i 1,2,n ,i 1,3,n ]; wherein, i 1,1,n represents the horizontal coordinate of the main beam of the antenna port n in the beam distribution map, and i 1,2,nindicates the horizontal coordinate corresponding to the main beam of the antenna port n in the beam pattern. 1,3,n indicates the offset of another beam of the antenna port n relative to the main beam in the beam pattern.

[0171] In one understanding, in the current scheme, one antenna array of the access network device supports 2 antenna ports, and the terminal feeds back a PMI of one antenna port to the access network device, which is specifically [i 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,1 In Example Two, one antenna array of the access network device supports N5 antenna ports, and the terminal feeds back a PMI of N5 antenna ports to the access network device, and the improvement of the PMI relative to the current PMI is:

[0172] 1. i 1,1 is extended to i 1,1,1 1,1,2 1,1,N5 ; wherein i 1,1,n indicates the horizontal coordinate corresponding to the main beam of the nth (1

[0173] 2. i 1,2 is extended to i 1,2,1 1,2,2 1,2,N5 ; wherein i 1,2,n indicates the vertical coordinate corresponding to the main beam of the nth (1 1,3,n .

[0174] 3. i 1,3 is extended to i 1,3,1 1,3,2 1,3,N5 ; wherein i 1,3,n indicates the offset of another beam of the nth (1 1,3 .

[0175] 4. i2 is no longer fed back.

[0176] As can be seen from the above, in the scheme of Example Two, the PMI fed back by the terminal to the access network device can be specifically [i 1,1,1 1,1,2 1,1,N5 1,2,1 1,2,2 1,2,N5 1,3,1 1,3,2 .​​​​​​​​​​​​1,3,N5 ]. Wherein,

i 1,1,1 ,i 1,2,1 ,i 1,3,1 ,

i 1,1,2 ,i 1,2,2 ,i 1,3,2 ,

i 1,1,N5 ,i 1,2,N5 ,i 1,3,N5

[0177] It can be understood that when the value of the rank is other than 2, 3 or 4, the above-mentioned each set of first parameters can not include i 1,3 related parameters. For example, the PMI fed back by the terminal to the access network device can be specifically [i 1,1,1 ,i 1,1,2 ,…,i 1,1,N5 ,i 1,2,1 ,i 1,2,2 ,…,i 1,2,N5 ]. Wherein,

i 1,1,1 ,i 1,2,1

i 1,1,2 ,i 1,2,2

i 1,1,N5 ,i 1,2,N5

[0178] Since the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports supported by an antenna array of the access network device do not satisfy the same condition, the matrices B1 to BN5 in the first matrix W1 are not the same. The first matrix W1 satisfies the following:

[0179] For example, when the access network device receives the PMI fed back by the terminal, the matrix B1 is determined according to the first set of first parameters included in the PMI, the matrix B2 is determined according to the second set of first parameters included in the PMI, and in the same way, the matrix BN5 is determined according to the N5th set of first parameters included in the PMI.

[0180] Taking

i 1,1,n ,i 1,2,n

[0181] Wherein l n = i1,1,n

[0182] wherein m n = i 1,2,n

[0183] The second parameter set is not included in the PMI fed back by the terminal, and the access network device does not need to determine the second matrix W2 according to the fed-back second parameter set. The second matrix W2 satisfies the following:

[0184] Similar to the design idea of Example 1, the system simulation is performed on the scheme of Example 2, and the simulation results are shown in Table 2:

[0185] Table 2

[0186] Based on the above simulation results, it can be seen that, as shown in FIG. 9, under ideal feedback, the system performance of 3-antenna ports is improved by 13% compared with that of 2-antenna ports; using the current scheme, the system performance of 3-antenna ports is 20% lower than that of 2-antenna ports; and using the scheme of Example 2 of the present application, the system performance of 3-antenna ports is 8.3% higher than that of 2-antenna ports using the existing scheme, and the system performance of 3-antenna ports using the scheme of Example 2 of the present application is improved by 34% compared with that of 2-antenna ports using the current scheme. This fully proves that, compared with the current scheme, the scheme of Example 2 of the present application can improve the performance of 3-antenna ports, such as the downlink throughput.

[0187] Using the scheme of Example 2 described above, the terminal reports 1 set of first parameter sets corresponding to each antenna port to the access network device, and the access network device can select the beam of each port more accurately based on the 1 set of first parameter sets corresponding to each antenna port; further, the terminal does not need to feed back the second parameter set to the access network device, thereby saving the overhead of the terminal feeding back the PMI.

[0188] In one understanding, in Examples 1 and 2, the terminal can feed back the PMI to the access network device according to whether the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports are the same, and the PMI includes N5 sets of first parameter sets and / or N5-1 sets of second parameter sets, which can simplify the reporting parameters of the PMI.

[0189]

Example Three

[0190] In this Example Three, the PMI fed back by the terminal to the access network device specifically includes N5 sets of first parameter sets and N5-1 sets of second parameter sets, the N5 sets of first parameter sets are used to determine the first matrix W1, and the N5-1 sets of second parameter sets are used to determine the second matrix W2.

[0191] In one understanding, this example three is a combination of example one and example two. For example, in the above example one, the PMI fed back by the terminal to the access network device includes the N5-1 sets of second parameter sets, and in the above example two, the PMI fed back by the terminal to the access network device includes the N5 sets of first parameter sets; this example three combines the above example one and example two, and the PMI fed back by the terminal to the access network device includes the N5 sets of first parameter sets and the N5-1 sets of second parameter sets.

[0192] In one understanding, the application scenario of example three is not limited. For example, when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports of one antenna array of the access network device satisfy the same condition, the scheme of example three is used; or when the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports of one antenna array of the access network device do not satisfy the same condition, the scheme of example three is used; or in the embodiments of the present application, the above condition is not concerned, as long as one antenna array of the access network device supports N5 antenna ports, the scheme of example three can be used.

[0193] The difference between this example three and example two is that in example three, the PMI fed back by the terminal includes not only the N5 sets of first parameter sets but also the N5-1 sets of second parameter sets. The N5-1 sets of second parameter sets can be expressed as: i 2,1 , 2,2 , 2,N5-1 ;

[0194] Wherein, i 2,n represents the phase rotation factor of the n+1th antenna port relative to the 1st antenna port, 1<n<=N5-1.

[0195] Of course, it can be understood that i 2,1 can be considered as a set of second parameter sets corresponding to the second antenna port, which includes i 2,1 ; i 2,2 can be considered as a set of second parameter sets corresponding to the third antenna port, which includes i 2,2 ; similarly, i 2,N5-1 can be considered as a set of second parameter sets corresponding to the N5th antenna port, which includes i 2,N5-1 .

[0196] After receiving the PMI, the access network device can determine the matrices B1 to BN5 in the first matrix W1 according to the N5 sets of first parameter sets included in the PMI, which can be referred to the description of example two. The first matrix W1 satisfies:

[0197] The access network device determines the matrices B1 to BN5 in the second matrix W2 according to the N5-1 sets of second parameter sets included in the PMI. To The specific process can refer to the description of Example One. The second matrix W2 satisfies the following:

[0198] Taking an example in which the PMI reported by the terminal to the access network device is included in the CSI, the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is described. As shown in FIG. 10, a flowchart is provided, including:

[0199] Step 1010: The access network device sends configuration information to the terminal, and the terminal receives the configuration information from the access network device.

[0200] In a possible implementation, the configuration information in step 1010 is used for at least one of the following configurations, including:

[0201] 1. CSI-RS resource configuration, configuring CSI-RS on the resource block at the physical layer.

[0202] For example, the access network device can configure the terminal to receive CSI-RS on the resource block at the physical layer, such as configuring CSI-RS resources. The terminal can receive CSI-RS on the corresponding physical layer resource according to the configuration of the access network device; further, the terminal can determine the CSI by measuring the CSI-RS; further, the terminal can report the CSI to the access network device according to the CSI reporting configured by the access network device.

[0203] 2. CSI-resource set (CSI-resource set) and CSI-resource config (CSI-resource config).

[0204] For example, the access network device can combine one or more CSI-RS into a high-level structure based on a specific purpose.

[0205] 3. CSI-report config (CSI-report config) for configuring the terminal to report CSI.

[0206] For example, the access network device can configure the parameters of the CSI report (such as reporting period, number, triggering condition, codebook configuration, etc.). The terminal can report the CSI to the access network device according to the above configuration.

[0207] In a possible implementation, in the above codebook configuration, at least one of the following is included:

[0208] Ng: the number of antenna panels of the access network device;

[0209] N1: the number of antenna array elements in the horizontal direction of one panel of the access network device;

[0210] N2: the number of antenna elements in a vertical direction of one panel of the access network device;

[0211] N3: the number of subbands;

[0212] N4: the number of phase alphabets.

[0213] In the embodiments of the present application, in the above codebook configuration, a parameter N5 is newly added:

[0214] N5: the number of antenna ports supported by one antenna element of the access network device.

[0215] The above parameters Ng, N1 to N5 can be carried in the CSI-ReportConfig signaling and the CodebookConfig of the RRC parameters for CSI report.

[0216] Step 1020: the terminal sends the CSI to the access network device, and the access network device receives the CSI from the terminal.

[0217] For example, the terminal performs CSI measurement according to the configuration of the access network device, for example, the terminal performs CSI-RS measurement on the CSI-RS resource configured by the access network device, and reports the measurement result (such as CSI) to the network, which can be referred to as operation measurement and reporting. The CSI includes RI, LI, CRI, CQI and PMI. The improvement of PMI can refer to the description of the above examples one to three. When the access network device receives the CSI reported by the terminal, the access network device can adjust the PHY / MAC parameters, such as MCS, antenna configuration, or CSI codebook (which can be understood as a codebook for precoding, such as W), etc. In a possible implementation manner, the CSI can be carried in the CSI report, and the CSI report can be carried in the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

[0218] Taking the PMI reporting in example one as an example: one antenna array of the access network device supports N5 antenna ports, the directions of the main beams of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition: the terminal receives configuration information from the access network device, and obtains N5 in the codebook configuration in the above configuration information. The phase of each of the N5 antenna ports included in one antenna array can be measured, and N5-1 sets of second parameter sets are determined. For example, the access network device can obtain the phase rotation factor (i2) of the remaining N5-1 antenna ports corresponding to the first antenna port from the measurement of the phase of the N5 antenna ports, and the phase rotation factor of the N5-1 antenna ports corresponding to the first antenna port can be considered as N5-1 sets of second parameter sets; at the same time, the terminal measures the coordinates of the main beam of the above first antenna port and the like, and determines a set of first antenna sets. The PMI fed back by the terminal to the access network device includes a set of first parameter sets and N5-1 sets of second parameter sets. The terminal feeds back a set of first parameter sets to the access network device, which is the same as the PMI feedback of the current scheme, and the measurement report wideband beam set selection part of the terminal does not need to add feedback parameters. It can be understood that the first parameter set is used to determine the first matrix W1, and the function of the first matrix W1 is to select the wideband beam. Since the scheme of example 1 does not increase the first parameter set relative to the current scheme, it can be considered that the part used for wideband beam selection in the measurement report fed back by the terminal to the access network device does not add feedback parameters. The terminal feeds back N5-1 sets of second parameter sets to the access network device, which is different from the PMI feedback of the current scheme (it can be considered that in the current PMI feedback scheme, the terminal feeds back one set of second parameter sets to the access network device), and the measurement report beam selection and phase adjustment part of the terminal feedback adds feedback parameters. It can be understood that the second parameter set is used to determine the second matrix W2, and the function of the second matrix W2 is beam selection and phase adjustment; since the scheme of example 1 adds at least one set of second parameter sets relative to the current scheme, it can be considered that the part used for beam selection and phase adjustment in the measurement report fed back by the terminal to the access network device adds feedback parameters.

[0219] Step 1030: The access network device sends downlink data to the terminal, and the terminal receives the downlink data from the access network device.

[0220] This step 1030 can be considered as a data transmission (transmit data) stage. The access network device can use the PMI included in the above-mentioned CSI to determine the corresponding precoding matrix (i.e. codebook), use the determined precoding matrix to precode the downlink data corresponding to each antenna array of the access network device, and the access network device sends the precoded downlink data to the terminal.

[0221] It can be understood that the "access network device" in the embodiments of the present application can adopt the ORAN architecture, and the access network device can include logical nodes such as CU, DU, and RU. For example, the RU in the access network device can receive the PMI from the terminal; and the RU sends the PMI to the DU and / or CU. The CU and / or DU can precode the downlink data of at least one antenna array according to the precoding matrix corresponding to the PMI, and the like. Further, the CU can be split into a CU-CP and a CU-UP. Specifically, the CU-CP can perform the action of precoding the downlink data of at least one antenna array according to the precoding matrix corresponding to the PMI.

[0222] In the embodiments provided by the present application, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is introduced from the perspective of interaction between the terminal and the access network device. In order to realize the functions of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the terminal or the access network device can include hardware structures and / or software modules to realize the above-mentioned functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or hardware structures plus software modules. Whether a certain function in the above-mentioned functions is executed in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module depends on the design constraints of the specific application of the technical solution.

[0223] Based on the same concept as the above method embodiments, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are structural schematic diagrams of possible communication apparatuses provided by the embodiments of the present application. These communication apparatuses can realize the functions of the terminal or the access network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and thus can realize the beneficial effects possessed by the above-mentioned method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be a terminal, an access network device, or a unit, module, or component applied to a terminal or an access network device (such as a chip, chip system, circuit, processor, or other etc.). In the following description, the "unit" is taken as an example for illustration. For example, in the following description, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit. The processing unit in the following description can also be replaced by: a processing module or a processing component, etc. The transceiver unit can also be replaced by: a transceiver unit or a transceiver component. For example, the transceiver component can refer to a communication module.

[0224] As shown in FIG. 11, the communication apparatus 1100 includes a processing unit 1110 and a transceiver unit 1120. The communication apparatus 1100 is used to realize the functions of the terminal or the access network device in the above-mentioned FIG. 4.

[0225] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1120 can also be referred to as an output unit, an interface unit, or a communication unit, etc. In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1120 includes at least one of a sending unit or a receiving unit. The sending unit and the receiving unit can be integrated together, or be two independent units, etc.

[0226] When the communication apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of the access network device in FIG. 4, specifically: the transceiver unit 1120 is configured to send, to a terminal, a downlink reference signal through at least one antenna array, the one antenna array including N5 antenna ports, N5 being an integer greater than 2; the transceiver unit 1120 is further configured to receive, from the terminal, a precoding matrix index PMI, the PMI including N5 sets of first parameters corresponding to the N5 antenna ports respectively, and / or N5-1 sets of second parameters corresponding to the remaining N5-1 antenna ports except for a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports respectively, each of the N5 sets of first parameters including a coordinate of a main beam of the corresponding antenna port, and each of the N5-1 sets of second parameters including a phase rotation factor of the corresponding antenna port relative to the first antenna port; and the processing unit 1110 is configured to perform precoding on downlink data of the at least one antenna array according to a precoding matrix corresponding to the PMI.

[0227] When the communication apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal in FIG. 4, specifically: the transceiver unit 1120 is configured to receive, from an access network device, a downlink reference signal; the processing unit 1110 is configured to determine a precoding matrix index PMI according to the downlink reference signal; and the transceiver unit 1120 is further configured to send, to the access network device, the PMI, one antenna array of the access network device including N5 antenna ports, N5 being an integer greater than 2, the PMI including N5 sets of first parameters corresponding to the N5 antenna ports respectively, and / or N5-1 sets of second parameters corresponding to the remaining N5-1 antenna ports except for a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports respectively, each of the N5 sets of first parameters including a coordinate of a main beam of the corresponding antenna port, and each of the N5-1 sets of second parameters including a phase rotation factor of the corresponding antenna port relative to the first antenna port.

[0228] For specific functions of the transceiver unit 1120 and the processing unit 1110, refer to the description of the flowchart in FIG. 4 in the method embodiment.

[0229] It can be understood that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division manner can be used. In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application can be integrated in one physical device (for example, in a processor), or each functional unit can be a separate physical device, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit for implementation. The integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware, or in the form of a software functional module, etc.

[0230] As shown in FIG. 12, the communication apparatus 1200 includes a processor 1210 and an interface circuit 1220. The processor 1210 and the interface circuit 1220 are coupled with each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1220 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication apparatus 1200 can further include a memory 1230 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1210 or storing input data required by the processor 1210 for executing instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1210 executes instructions.

[0231] When the communication apparatus 1200 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 4, the processor 1210 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 1110, and the interface circuit 1220 is configured to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1120.

[0232] When the communication apparatus is a chip applied to a terminal, the chip implements the functions of the terminal in the method embodiments. The chip receives information sent by an access network device to the terminal through other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal; or the chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal, and the information is sent by the terminal to the access network device.

[0233] When the communication apparatus is a module applied to an access network device, the module implements the functions of the access network device in the method embodiments. The module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the access network device, and the information is sent by a terminal to the access network device; or the module sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the access network device, and the information is sent by the access network device to the terminal. The module of the access network device can be a chip of the access network device, or a DU or other module. The DU can be a DU under the O-RAN architecture.

[0234] Embodiments of the present application also provide a communication apparatus, which includes a processor configured to implement the functions of the terminal or the access network device in FIG. 4. Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes a memory, and the processor is coupled with the memory and configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in the memory to implement the functions of the terminal or the access network device in FIG. 4. Optionally, the communication apparatus can be a chip or a chip system.

[0235] Embodiments of the present application also provide a communication apparatus, which includes a processor and an interface circuit configured to receive signals from other apparatuses outside the apparatus and transmit the signals to the processor or send signals from the processor to other apparatuses outside the apparatus, and the processor is configured to implement the functions of the terminal or the access network device in FIG. 4 by logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0236] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores instructions, the instructions can also be referred to as a computer program, computer program code, etc. The instructions run on a computer, so that the computer executes the functions of the terminal or the access network device in Fig. 4.

[0237] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which comprises a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions run on a computer, the functions of the terminal or the access network device in Fig. 4 are realized.

[0238] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiment of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0239] The memory in the embodiment of the present application can be a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art.

[0240] The method steps in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented in hardware, or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable ROM, an erasable programmable ROM, an electrically EPROM, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC.

[0241] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment or other programmable apparatus. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs or instructions can be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center through wired or wireless manner. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center and the like integrated with one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; or an optical medium, for example, a digital video disc; or a semiconductor medium, for example, a solid state disk. The computer readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile storage media.

[0242] In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other if there is no special description and logical conflict, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to an access network device, and the method comprises: sending a downlink reference signal to a terminal through at least one antenna array element, wherein the at least one antenna array element comprises N5 antenna ports, and N5 is an integer greater than 2; receiving a precoding matrix index PMI from the terminal, wherein the PMI comprises N5 sets of first parameters corresponding to the N5 antenna ports respectively, and / or N5-1 sets of second parameters corresponding to N5-1 antenna ports other than a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports respectively, each of the N5 sets of first parameters comprises a coordinate of a main beam of the corresponding antenna port, and each of the N5-1 sets of second parameters comprises a phase rotation factor of the corresponding antenna port relative to the first antenna port; precoding downlink data of the at least one antenna array element according to a precoding matrix corresponding to the PMI.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The dimension of a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is greater than a first dimension, and the dimension of a second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is greater than a second dimension, wherein the first dimension is the dimension of the first matrix when one antenna array element supports two antenna ports, and the second dimension is the dimension of the second matrix when one antenna array element supports two antenna ports.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The dimension of the first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is N1*N2*N5 rows, N1 is the number of rows of an antenna array element included in each panel of an antenna array of the access network device, and N2 is the number of columns of the antenna array element included in each panel of the antenna array of the access network device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first matrix W1 satisfies the following: The first matrix W1 is composed of N5 rows and N5 columns of matrices B; each matrix B has N1*N2 rows; and the matrices B1 to BN5 are equal or unequal.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, When the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, the matrices B1 to BN5 are equal.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein, When the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, the matrices B1 to BN5 are unequal.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The dimension of the second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is N5 rows and 1 column.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The second matrix W2 satisfies the following: P CSI-RS represents the number of ports of the downlink reference signal; To The phase offset value of N5-1 antenna ports relative to the first antenna port is represented.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, To are determined according to the second parameter set in the N5-1 group of second parameter sets, respectively.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein, The main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, At are all 1.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, When the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, the PMI specifically comprises N5-1 sets of second parameters, which are used to determine the second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The PMI further comprises a set of first parameters, which comprises a coordinate of a beam of a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports, and the set of first parameters is used to determine a first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, When the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, the PMI specifically comprises N5 sets of first parameters, which are used to determine the first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

14. A communication method, comprising: The method is applied to a terminal, and the method comprises: receiving a downlink reference signal from an access network device; determining a precoding matrix index PMI according to the downlink reference signal; The PMI is sent to the access network device, one antenna array of the access network device includes N5 antenna ports, the N5 is an integer greater than 2, the PMI includes N5 sets of first parameter sets corresponding to the N5 antenna ports respectively, and / or N5-1 sets of second parameter sets corresponding to the remaining N5-1 antenna ports except a first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports respectively, each of the N5 sets of first parameter sets includes the coordinates of the main beam of the corresponding antenna port, and each of the N5-1 sets of second parameter sets includes the phase rotation factor of the corresponding antenna port relative to the first antenna port.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The dimension of the first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is greater than a first dimension, and the dimension of the second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is greater than a second dimension, the first dimension is the dimension of the first matrix when one antenna array supports 2 antenna ports, and the second dimension is the dimension of the second matrix when one antenna array supports 2 antenna ports.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that, The dimension of the first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is N1*N2*N5 rows, the N1 is the number of rows of the antenna array of each panel of the access network device, and the N2 is the number of columns of the antenna array of each panel of the access network device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The first matrix W1 satisfies the following: The first matrix W1 is composed of N5 rows and N5 columns of matrix B; the number of rows of each matrix B is N1*N2; the matrix B1 to BN5 are equal or not equal.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, When the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, the matrix B1 to BN5 are equal.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein, When the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, the matrix B1 to BN5 are not equal.

20. The method of any one of claims 14 to 19, wherein, The dimension of the second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix is N5 rows and 1 column.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, The second matrix W2 satisfies the following: P CSI-RS represents the number of ports of the downlink reference signal; To The phase offset value of the N5-1 antenna ports relative to the first antenna port is represented.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein, The main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, To are determined according to the corresponding second parameter set in the N5-1 group of second parameter sets, respectively.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein, The main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, At are all 1.

24. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 23, characterized in that, When the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports satisfy the same condition, the PMI specifically includes: N5-1 sets of second parameter sets, which are used to determine the second matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein, The PMI further includes a set of first parameter sets, which includes the coordinates of the beam of the first antenna port in the N5 antenna ports, and the set of first parameter sets is used to determine the first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

26. The method of any one of claims 14 to 23, wherein, When the main beam directions of the N5 antenna ports do not satisfy the same condition, the PMI specifically includes: N5 sets of first parameter sets, which are used to determine the first matrix corresponding to the precoding matrix.

27. A communications device, characterized by The unit for implementing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, or the unit for implementing the method as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 26.

28. A communications device, characterized by The communication device includes at least one processor, which is configured to enable the communication device to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, or the method as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 26.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein, Also included is a memory storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed, cause a communication device to perform the method of any of claims 1-13, or the method of any of claims 14-26.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium has stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause a communication device to perform the method of any of claims 1-13, or the method of any of claims 14-26.

31. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product includes instructions that, when executed, cause a communication device to perform the method of any of claims 1-13, or the method of any of claims 14-26.

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