Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and particularly relates to a communication method and apparatus. The first communication apparatus reports amplitude-phase information, wherein the amplitude-phase information is used for indicating at least one of a reflection amplitude or a reflection phase that corresponds to each of a plurality of frequencies, so that a second communication apparatus can send a carrier signal to the first communication apparatus on the basis of the amplitude-phase information, for example, the second communication apparatus can send a carrier signal on a first frequency on the basis of the amplitude-phase information, and the first communication apparatus receives the carrier signal and reflects the carrier signal. The second communication apparatus receives a reflected signal, and determines a first channel response on the basis of the reflected signal and the amplitude-phase information. Therefore, the performance of channel estimation is effectively improved.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202411389566.8, filed on September 29, 2024, with the State Intellectual Property Office of China, and the Chinese patent application No. 202411389566.8 has the title of “Communication method and apparatus”, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] Passive Internet of Things (PIoT) devices become the key to enable the Internet of Everything due to their extremely low cost (e.g., 0.03$~<0.5$) and power consumption (e.g., 1 micro-watt (uW)~500uW). According to the power consumption level and energy source of the passive IoT device, the passive IoT device includes: (1) passive device; (2) semi-passive device; (3) active device.

[0004] Indoor positioning can be achieved through passive Internet of Things. The principle of indoor positioning is as follows: a reader sends a carrier signal through an antenna, and a passive IoT device receives the carrier signal and sends a reflected signal of the carrier signal. When the passive IoT device sends the reflected signal, a positioning reference signal sequence can be modulated on the reflected signal, so that a pico remote radio unit (pRRU) determines positioning information according to the reflected signal received by the pRRU.

[0005] The positioning accuracy of the above scheme needs to be improved, and how to improve the positioning accuracy needs to be solved. SUMMARY

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which can effectively improve the positioning accuracy.

[0007] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which is applied to a first communication apparatus, the first communication apparatus is a terminal device, the terminal device includes but is not limited to a tag, a passive IoT device, an environmental IoT device, etc., or the method is applied to a chip or a functional module in the first communication apparatus, etc., which will not be listed one by one here. The method includes:

[0008] reporting amplitude and phase information, the amplitude and phase information being used to indicate at least one of a reflection amplitude or a reflection phase corresponding to each of the plurality of frequencies; receiving a carrier signal; and transmitting a reflection signal of the carrier signal.

[0009] In embodiments of the present application, the first communication device reports the amplitude and phase information, so that the second communication device can obtain a more accurate first channel response according to the amplitude and phase information. The first channel response can be used to determine at least one of positioning information, sensing information, or perception information. By improving the performance of channel estimation, the positioning accuracy or the perception accuracy or the communication performance is improved.

[0010] It can be understood that the first channel response can also be used to demodulate data information. The method provided in embodiments of the present application can be applied not only to at least one of the positioning field, the perception field, or the sensing field, but also to other fields (such as demodulating data), which will not be listed one by one here.

[0011] In a possible implementation, receiving the carrier signal includes receiving the carrier signal at a first frequency, the first frequency being determined according to the plurality of frequencies.

[0012] As an example, the first frequency is one of the plurality of frequencies. As another example, the first frequency is determined according to the plurality of frequencies and is different from the plurality of frequencies.

[0013] In embodiments of the present application, the first communication device transmits the carrier signal at the first frequency, so that the second communication device can determine the reflection amplitude and phase or the reflection phase corresponding to the first frequency according to the reflection amplitude and phase or the reflection phase corresponding to the plurality of frequencies, thereby improving the performance of channel estimation and improving the positioning accuracy or the perception accuracy.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the method further includes receiving request information, the request information being used to request the first communication device to report the amplitude and phase information.

[0015] In embodiments of the present application, the first communication device can report the amplitude and phase information in a case where the request information is received, thereby enhancing the interaction between the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the request information includes frequency information, and the reporting of the amplitude and phase information includes reporting the amplitude and phase information according to the frequency information.

[0017] In embodiments of the present application, the request information includes the frequency information, so that the first communication device can effectively know which reflection amplitude or reflection phase corresponding to the plurality of frequencies is reported, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the amplitude and phase information includes information of multiple frequencies, and the reflection amplitude or the reflection phase corresponding to each of the multiple frequencies.

[0019] In the embodiments of the present application, the amplitude and phase information includes information of multiple frequencies, so that the second communication device can learn which reflection amplitudes or reflection phases corresponding to the frequencies reported by the first communication device based on the amplitude and phase information, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the reflection signal is generated according to a reference sequence modulation.

[0021] In the embodiments of the present application, the reference sequence includes but is not limited to a positioning reference signal sequence.

[0022] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which is applied to a second communication device, which can be a base station or a distributed unit (DU) or the like, or the method is applied to a chip in the base station or a functional module in the base station or a chip in the DU or a functional module in the DU, and the like, which are not listed one by one here. The method includes:

[0023] receiving amplitude and phase information, the amplitude and phase information being used to indicate at least one of a reflection amplitude or a reflection phase on each of multiple frequencies; transmitting a carrier signal; receiving a reflection signal of the carrier signal; and determining a first channel response according to the reflection signal and the amplitude and phase information.

[0024] In the embodiments of the present application, the first communication device reports the amplitude and phase information, so that the second communication device can determine a more accurate first channel response based on the amplitude and phase information, thereby improving the performance of channel estimation and improving the positioning accuracy or the perception accuracy.

[0025] In a possible implementation, transmitting the carrier signal includes transmitting the carrier signal on a first frequency, the first frequency being determined according to the multiple frequencies.

[0026] As an example, the first frequency is one of the multiple frequencies. As another example, the first frequency is determined according to the multiple frequencies and is different from the multiple frequencies.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the reflection amplitude corresponding to the first frequency is determined according to the amplitude and phase information, or the reflection phase corresponding to the first frequency is determined according to the amplitude and phase information.

[0028] In the embodiments of the present application, the second communication device can determine the reflection amplitude and phase corresponding to the first frequency according to the reflection amplitude and phase corresponding to the plurality of frequencies respectively by transmitting the carrier signal on the first frequency, thereby improving the performance of channel estimation, and improving the positioning accuracy or perception accuracy.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the first channel response is determined according to the reflection signal and the amplitude and phase information, including: determining the second channel response according to the reflection signal; and determining the first channel response according to the second channel response and the amplitude and phase information.

[0030] The second communication device determines the second channel response according to the reflection signal and the reference sequence. The reference sequence includes but is not limited to a positioning reference signal sequence. The reference sequence can also be a parameter sequence used for demodulating data.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the first channel response satisfies:

[0032] A = diag (a1, a2, … aN) N )

[0033] wherein, H represents the second channel response, A H represents the conjugate transpose of A, a n represents the reflection amplitude or reflection phase corresponding to the nth first frequency in the N first frequencies, σ 2 is the noise power, and I is a unit matrix.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: transmitting the measurement result to a third communication device, the measurement result including the positioning information determined according to the first channel response.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: transmitting the measurement result to a third communication device, the measurement result including at least one of the perception information or the sensing information determined according to the first channel response.

[0036] The third communication device can be a location management function (LMF), or a central unit (CU), etc.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: transmitting the request information, the request information being used to request the first communication device to report the amplitude and phase information.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the request information includes frequency information.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the amplitude and phase information includes information of a plurality of frequencies, and the reflection amplitude or the reflection phase corresponding to each frequency of the plurality of frequencies.

[0040] The related description of the second aspect can refer to the first aspect, and will not be described in detail here.

[0041] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a first communication device for performing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner. The first communication device includes a module for performing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner.

[0042] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a second communication device for performing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner. The second communication device includes a module for performing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor and a transceiver. The processor is configured to perform the processing steps in the method of the first aspect to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner. The transceiver is configured to perform the transceiving steps or the input and output steps in the method of the first aspect to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner.

[0044] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which includes a logic circuit and an interface. The logic circuit and the interface are coupled to enable the chip to implement the method of the first aspect to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner.

[0045] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which, when executed on a communication device, enables the method of the first aspect to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner to be implemented.

[0046] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which, when executed on a communication device, enables the method of the first aspect to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner to be implemented.

[0047] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is configured to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner. The second communication device is configured to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation manner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0048] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a radio access network (RAN) based positioning architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG. 2a is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a type A tag according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a type B tag according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG. 2c is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a type C tag according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of frequency hopping estimation of time of arrival (ToA) according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of amplitude-frequency inconsistency according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG. 11a is a schematic diagram of another structure of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG. 11b is a schematic diagram of yet another structure of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0063] To make the technical solution of the present application easy to understand, the present application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0064] The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description and in the claims of the present application are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a specific sequential or chronological order. Descriptions using the terms "including", "containing", "comprising", "having" and the like are meant not to be limiting. For example, a process, method, object, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to only those steps or elements but can include additional steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, object, or apparatus.

[0065] Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the application. The appearances of the phrase "in an embodiment" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are they necessarily mutually exclusive of one another. It is appreciated that those skilled in the art can devise many embodiments that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the application and, as such, the present application should not be limited to any particular mentioned embodiment.

[0066] In the present application, transmission means sending or receiving, or in other words, transmission means communication.

[0067] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "multiple" means two or more, "at least two" means two or three and more, and "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A, only B, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. "Or" means that there can be two relationships, such as only A, only B; when A and B are not mutually exclusive, it can also mean that there are three relationships, such as only A, only B, and A and B exist at the same time. The character " / " generally means that the associated objects before and after are an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c, can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c".

[0068] The following introduces the system related to the embodiments of the present application.

[0069] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example, can be an internet of things (IoT) system, a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) system, a long term evolution (LTE) system, and can also be a 4th-generation (4G) communication system, a 5th-generation (5G) communication system, a new radio (NR) system, and the like. Among them, the IoT system includes but is not limited to passive IoT or vehicle networking. The communication mode in vehicle networking can be collectively referred to as vehicle-to-everything (V2X, X can represent any thing). For example, V2X includes: vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle to pedestrian (V2P) communication or vehicle to network (V2N) communication, and the like.

[0070] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, such as Wi-Fi and the like. For example, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applicable to the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11 series protocol, for example, 802.11be protocol, 802.11bn protocol or the next generation protocol of 802.11bn protocol, and the like, which will not be listed one by one.

[0071] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a radio access network (RAN)-based positioning architecture according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the positioning architecture includes a terminal device, a RAN (e.g., a next generation RAN (NG-RAN) is exemplarily shown in FIG. 1), a location management function (LMF), and an access and mobility management function (AMF). The RAN includes a next generation node B (gNB) (or a next generation base station) and a next generation evolved node B (ng-eNB) (or a next generation evolved base station). Optionally, FIG. 1 also exemplarily shows a service location protocol (SLP) and an evolved serving mobile location centre (E-SMLC). Optionally, a transmission point (TP) is exemplarily shown in the ng-eNB / gNB in FIG. 1. Here, the positioning architecture is exemplarily shown, and the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the fields of perception and sensing or data transmission, and the like, which are not listed one by one here.

[0072] As shown in FIG. 1, the gNB and the ng-eNB are connected through an Xn interface, the LMF and the ng-eNB / gNB are connected through an NG-C interface, the terminal device and the gNB are connected through an NR-Uu interface, the terminal device and the ng-eNB are connected through an LTE-Uu interface, and the AMF and the LMF are connected through an NLs interface. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the interfaces shown in FIG. 1, and the description of the interfaces can also be referred to the related standards, which are not described in detail here.

[0073] Exemplarily, the AMF receives a positioning service request initiated by a network element (such as a 5th generation core network location services (5GC LCS) entity) in the network about the terminal device a, or the AMF itself initiates a positioning service request of the terminal device a on behalf of the terminal device. The AMF sends the above positioning service request to the LMF, and the LMF is responsible for processing the received positioning service request and initiating a related positioning process. The NG-RAN is responsible for sending and receiving a positioning reference signal and obtaining related positioning information. Optionally, the LMF and the base station interact through new radio (NR) positioning protocol annex (NRPPa) messages. The LMF and the UE interact through long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) messages for UE capability information transmission, assistance information transmission, measurement information transmission, and the like.

[0074] The following introduces each network element involved in FIG. 1.

[0075] LMF: a device or component deployed in a core network to provide positioning functions for terminal devices.

[0076] eNB: a device deployed in a RAN to meet 4G standards and provide wireless communication functions for terminal devices. The eNB can include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small stations), relay stations, access points, wearable devices, or vehicle-mounted devices, and the like. The eNB can also be a transmission and reception point (TRP), a pico remote radio unit (pRRU), or a reader (also known as a reader / writer). Compared with the macro station RRU, the pRRU has small power consumption and light weight.

[0077] gNB: a device deployed in a RAN to meet 5G standards and provide wireless communication functions for terminal devices. The gNB can include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small stations), relay stations, access points, wearable devices, or vehicle-mounted devices, and the like. The gNB can also be a TRP, a transmission measurement function (TMF), a micro pRRU, or a reader. Exemplarily, the gNB includes a CU and a DU integrated on the gNB.

[0078] Terminal device: a device with wireless transceiving function. The terminal device can also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, terminal, subscriber unit, user station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, user agent, or user apparatus, etc. The terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present application can be an IoT terminal, such as an ambient-IoT terminal or a passive IoT terminal, etc. By embedding sensors, microcontroller units (MCUs), etc. into objects (such as IoT terminals, etc.), and cooperating with radio frequency identification, communication, edge computing, etc. technologies, these objects (such as IoT terminals, etc.) are enabled to have the ability of mutual awareness, information interaction, calculation, and self-identification, thereby having the ability to organically connect with the digital world. The IoT terminal can be a tag, a sensor-type IoT terminal. The tag can also be referred to as a radio frequency identification tag, an electronic tag, a radio frequency tag, or a transponder, etc.

[0079] Exemplarily, the passive IoT device can be divided into A-type tags, B-type tags, and C-type tags. The A-type tag can also be referred to as a type-A tag, or a passive device, or a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The B-type tag can also be referred to as a type-B tag, or a semi-passive device, or a semi-passive tag. The C-type tag can also be referred to as a type-C tag, or an active device, or an active tag. The following is described in detail:

[0080] The A-type tag is capable of backscattered communication, without independent signal generation capability and amplification capability. The tag is not equipped with a battery and an energy storage module, and a reader provides energy and a carrier for the tag through a radio frequency signal (or referred to as a carrier signal). The working mode of the tag is to collect energy while communicating, and the tag communicates by collecting part of the energy of the incident signal as communication energy and reflecting the incident radio frequency signal. Since the tag can utilize the incident signal carrier, it does not need high-power radio frequency and power amplifier devices, and its power consumption can be as low as 1 uW, and the cost can be reduced to 0.03-0.05$. Due to the pure passive characteristic, the hardware capability is limited, and the coverage radius is limited. In the urban microcell (UMi) line-of-sight (LOS) / non-line-of-sight (NLOS) channel, the coverage radius is 180 meters / 40 meters, and it is mainly applied to indoor small station scenarios (inter-site distance (ISD) ≥ 30 m).

[0081] FIG. 2a is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a Class A tag according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2a, the Class A tag can receive a carrier signal sent by a reader, obtain energy based on the carrier signal, and reflect the carrier signal to obtain a reflected signal. The reflected signal carries relevant information of the tag and / or a positioning reference signal sequence. The tag feeds back the reflected signal to the reader. The reflected signal can also be referred to as a backscattered signal.

[0082] The Class B tag supports backscattering communication, has energy storage, and does not have an independent signal generation capability. The Class B tag supports tag backscattered signal amplification, is between the Class A tag and the Class C tag, and belongs to a semi-active tag. That is, compared with the Class A tag, the Class B tag adds an energy storage module and a backscattering amplifier circuit. The Class B tag can collect environmental energy (such as solar energy or radio frequency) to provide energy for communication. The power consumption of the Class B tag is about 100 uW, the gain of the backscattering amplifier is within 20 dB, the cost of the Class B tag is about 0.1$, and in a UMi LOS / NLOS scenario, the Class B tag can achieve a coverage radius of 300 meters / 150 meters.

[0083] FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a Class B tag according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2b, the Class B tag can receive a carrier signal sent by a reader, and reflect the carrier signal to obtain a reflected signal. Optionally, the carrier signal is used to provide energy for the tag. The reflected signal carries relevant information of the tag and / or a positioning reference signal sequence. The tag feeds back the reflected signal to the reader.

[0084] The Class C tag supports independent signal generation, and has a milliwatt-level power consumption, which is mainly powered by the environment. Compared with the Class A tag, the Class C tag adds a backscattering amplifier circuit and a carrier signal generation circuit, and is close to a traditional cellular terminal. The energy driving mode of the Class C tag is consistent with that of the Class B tag, the power consumption of the Class C tag is about 500 uW, and the cost of the Class C tag is about 0.5$.

[0085] FIG. 2c is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a Class C tag according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2c, the Class C tag can send a signal to a reader by using energy provided by a power supply when the Class C tag works.

[0086] The tag can be composed of a coupling element and a chip, a communication module, each tag having a unique identifier (ID) or electronic code, attached or integrated on an object for identifying a target object. The tag can exchange information and communicate through an information transmission medium to achieve intelligent identification, positioning, tracking or supervision of the object and the like. The tag can be widely used in various fields, for example, in logistics or warehousing, the corresponding tag of the article can be identified to achieve the purpose of quickly identifying the article, and the identified article information can be managed. Therefore, in the field of logistics or warehousing, the identification of the tag can be referred to as inventory. For example, a passive tag or a semi-passive tag can be embedded or attached to goods, and stored in a warehouse or a mall, etc. In the logistics process, the information of the tag is automatically collected and acquired by the reader, and the relevant information of the goods can be queried in the goods inventory system by the management personnel, so as to reduce the risk of goods loss or theft, and improve the goods handover speed. Compared with manual inventory, the accuracy and efficiency of inventory can be effectively improved, and the risk of goods diversion and anti-counterfeiting can be prevented. The tag can also be applied to asset management or industrial manufacturing fields, for example, in libraries, art galleries and museums, etc. The management of assets or articles is large or valuable, and a complete management program or strict protection measure is required. When the storage information of books or valuable articles is abnormally changed, the management personnel can be reminded through a preset reminding mechanism, so as to handle the relevant situation. The sensor IoT terminal includes temperature sensors, humidity sensors, light sensors, motion sensors and the like. These sensors detect various parameters in the environment and transmit data to the Internet of Things platform or other devices for analysis and application. For example, temperature sensors are widely used in smart home, industrial control, weather monitoring and other fields, and can accurately measure the environmental temperature and transmit data to the Internet of Things platform for remote monitoring and control.

[0087] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication system includes a terminal device and a RAN device. As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device can be a tag, and the RAN device can be a pRRU, a reader, etc. Optionally, the pRRU and the reader can be the same type, and the reader can also be a pRRU. The specific description of the network element involved in FIG. 3 can be referred to FIG. 1, FIG. 2a-2c, etc., which will not be described in detail here.

[0088] In FIG. 3, the pRRU can determine the positioning information according to the reflection signal received from the tag. The positioning information includes but is not limited to one or more of the following: the arrival phase of the reflection signal (i.e., the angle of arrival (AoA)), the transmission time of the tag to the pRRU (i.e., the time of arrival (ToA)), the distance between the tag and the pRRU, the distance difference between the tag and different pRRUs. The transmission time of the tag to the pRRU can also be referred to as the time delay of the direct path (or the time delay of the direct path).

[0089] The architecture shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 is only an example, and other types of architectures can also appear later as the standard progresses, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0090] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. The RAN is composed of a series of modules, which include but are not limited to at least one of the following: an antenna, a remote radio unit (RRU), a base band unit (BBU). The traditional RAN architecture does not care about the transmission and connection between the internal modules, but cares about the overall input and output, so for the traditional RAN architecture, all modules in the RAN can come from the same manufacturer. The O-RAN architecture defines the connection between the modules in the RAN and the interface standardization, so for the O-RAN architecture, the RAN can be disassembled into multiple modules. Due to the interface standardization, the RAN can be composed of modules from different equipment manufacturers, for example, for ORAN, the antenna can be purchased from company A, the RRU from company B, and the BBU from company C, and finally assembled into a RAN device.

[0091] The following introduces the modules involved in FIG. 4:

[0092] Non-real time RAN intelligent controller (Non-RT RIC): Non-real time intelligent management for implementing RAN functions. The non-real time intelligent management includes, but is not limited to: artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) workflow for model training, AI or ML workflow for model updating, and application / function in the near-real time RAN intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC) based on policy guidance. The Non-RT RIC can be located in a service management and organization (SMO) module.

[0093] Near-real time RAN intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC): Near-real time intelligent management for implementing RAN. Near-real time control and optimization of modules and resources of O-RAN are implemented through data collection and related operations on the E2 interface.

[0094] O-RAN central unit (O-CU): Functions for implementing functions of the radio resource control (RRC) layer, functions of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and functions of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and other control functions in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard.

[0095] O-RAN central unit control plane (O-CU-CP): Similar to the CU-CP in the new radio (NR) system, functions for implementing the RRC layer, and control plane functions of the PDCP layer. The 0-CU-CP belongs to part of the O-CU.

[0096] O-RAN Central Unit User Plane (O-CU-UP): Similar to CU-UP in NR system, used to implement the functions of SDAP layer, and the user plane functions of PDCP layer. O-CU-UP belongs to the part of O-CU.

[0097] O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU): Based on low-layer function split, used to implement the functions of radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer and higher physical layer (higher PHY) in 3GPP standard. The functions of higher physical layer include one or more of the following: forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding, scrambling / descrambling, or modulation / demodulation.

[0098] O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU): Based on low-layer function split, used to implement the functions of lower physical layer (lower PHY) and radio frequency in 3GPP standard. The functions of lower physical layer include one or more of the following: fast fourier transform (FFT) transform / inverse fast fourier transformation (iFFT) transform, digital beamforming, or extraction and filtering of physical random access channel (PRACH). Similar to TRP or remote radio head (RRH) in 3GPP, but includes low physical layer functions such as FFT / iFFT or PRACH extraction.

[0099] O-RAN Cloud (O-Cloud): As a cloud computing platform, it includes physical infrastructure nodes for hosting O-RAN functions such as RIC, O-DU, etc.; supports software components (such as operating system, virtual machine monitoring, container runtime); manages and orchestrates functions.

[0100] The following introduces the interfaces involved in Figure 4:

[0101] A1 interface: interface between non-RT RIC and near-RT RIC, used for intelligent dynamic control of O-RAN internal wireless resources. The non-RT RIC provides policies, rich information and ML model updates, etc. to the near-RT RIC through the A1 interface, and the near-RT RIC provides policy feedback to the non-RT RIC through the A1 interface.

[0102] E2 interface: the E2 interface is an open interface between two endpoints, used to connect the near-RT RIC and the RAN node. The RAN node includes but is not limited to one or more of the following: CU, DU in 5G, O-RAN compatible gNB, O-RAN compatible eNB, O-CU (O-CU-CP and / or O-CU-UP) in O-RAN, O-DU, etc. The RIC can obtain RAN node data collection and feedback through the E2 node, and the RAN node can obtain control feedback of the near-RT RIC through the E2 node.

[0103] O1 interface: interface between management entities in SMO and O-RAN modules, used for operation management. FCAPS management, software management, file management, etc. are implemented through the interface.

[0104] O2 interface: interface between SMO and infrastructure management framework supporting O-RAN virtual network functions.

[0105] E1 interface: interface between CU-CP and CU-UP.

[0106] F1-C interface: interface between CU-CP and DU.

[0107] F1-U interface: interface between CU-UP and DU.

[0108] As an example, under the O-RAN architecture, a network element with positioning function can be a RT RIC, such as a non-RT RIC or a near-RT RIC. After the O-DU completes the multipath measurement and obtains the measurement result, the measurement result can be reported to the RT RIC.

[0109] As another example, under the O-RAN architecture, a network element with positioning function can be an O-CU. After the O-CU receives the multipath measurement result reported by the O-DU and completes the positioning solution.

[0110] Under the O-RAN architecture, the network element with positioning function can also be other new network elements, etc., which are not limited by the embodiments of the present application. The method shown in FIG. 9 below is illustrated by taking the O-CU as an example, but it is not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0111] The O-RAN architecture shown in FIG. 4 is only an example, and other O-RAN architectures can also be used in specific implementations, which are not limited herein.

[0112] The method related to the embodiments of the present application is introduced below.

[0113] The transmit power of the PIoT device is generally 1 uW-100 uW, and the low transmit power leads to a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The direct path energy is relatively low under the low SNR, so that the time delay estimation of the direct path is obviously affected by noise or NLoS path, leading to errors in time of arrival (ToA) measurement and a decrease in positioning accuracy. The bandwidth of the PIoT device can be 180 kHz, the ToA resolution accuracy is 1500 m, and the super-resolution algorithm can achieve a positioning accuracy of 38 meters@90%.

[0114] The frequency hopping technology can overcome the problems of low transmit power and narrow bandwidth of the PIoT device, and achieve high-precision positioning. On the one hand, frequency hopping can accumulate energy and improve SNR, thereby improving the ToA estimation accuracy; on the other hand, frequency hopping can obtain a larger virtual bandwidth such as 20 MHz, and the ToA resolution accuracy is 15 m, and the super-resolution algorithm can achieve a positioning accuracy of meters.

[0115] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of ToA estimation by frequency hopping according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5, the reader transmits carrier signals on different frequencies by time division through an antenna, and the PIoT device modulates the positioning reference signal on the carrier signals of different frequencies (such as for a Class A tag or a Class B tag), or transmits the positioning reference signal using different frequencies on different symbols (such as for a Class C tag). The pRRU splices the small-bandwidth channel estimation results on consecutive frequencies in the order of subcarriers to form a virtual wideband channel estimation result.

[0116] However, when reflecting carrier signals of different frequencies, the PIoT device has a problem of amplitude-frequency inconsistency.

[0117] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of amplitude-frequency inconsistency according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6, amplitude-frequency inconsistency refers to the fact that when reflecting carrier signals of different frequencies, the PIoT device has fluctuations in amplitude, leading to equivalent introduction of multipath (multipath leads to different channel responses of different frequencies), and a decrease in ToA estimation performance. The above-mentioned amplitude can be replaced by power, which is determined according to the amplitude, such as power equal to the square of the amplitude. For example, the amplitude-frequency fluctuation of the PIoT device is up to 30 dB within a range of 18 MHz. That is, the difference between the highest power and the lowest power within the range of 18 MHz is 30 dB.

[0118] Table 1 exemplarily shows the relationship between the amplitude fluctuation of different frequencies and the root mean squared error (RMRE) of ToA estimation. As shown in FIG. 1, the amplitude of the reflected signal fluctuates at different frequencies, and the greater the amplitude fluctuation at each frequency, the greater the RMRE of ToA estimation, resulting in greater ToA estimation error and poorer positioning accuracy.

[0119] Table 1

[0120] In view of this, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device, which can effectively improve the positioning accuracy.

[0121] In the embodiments of the present application, the first communication device reports the amplitude and phase information, so that the second communication device can determine the channel response according to the amplitude and phase information. For example, the channel response can be used to determine the positioning information, thereby improving the positioning accuracy. The first communication device can be a terminal device, and the second communication device can be a base station, a DU, an O-DU, or a network element with positioning function in an O-RAN architecture, etc. For other descriptions of the first communication device and the second communication device, please refer to the above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0122] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. The first communication device and the second communication device involved in the method can refer to the above, or refer to FIGS. 10-12 below, which will not be described in detail here. The method can be applied to the first communication device and the second communication device, or applied to the chip or functional module in the first communication device, the chip or functional module in the second communication device, etc. For ease of description, the first communication device and the second communication device will be taken as examples for description hereinafter. As shown in FIG. 7, the method comprises:

[0123] 701. The first communication device reports amplitude and phase information, which is used to indicate at least one of the reflection amplitude or the reflection phase corresponding to each frequency in a plurality of frequencies. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives the amplitude and phase information.

[0124] The reflection amplitude corresponding to a frequency is the amplitude of the reflected signal at the frequency (which can be referred to as the absolute reflection amplitude) when the first communication device transmits the reflected signal at the frequency, or the relative amplitude of the reflected signal at the frequency, such as the amplitude fluctuation relative to other frequencies (which can be referred to as the relative reflection amplitude), or the amplitude difference between the highest amplitude and the lowest amplitude in a frequency range corresponding to the frequency (which can be referred to as the relative reflection amplitude). The reflection amplitude corresponding to a frequency can also be used to represent the power of the reflected signal at the frequency. The above-mentioned other frequencies are frequencies in the plurality of frequencies.

[0125] The reflection phase corresponding to a frequency is the phase of a reflection signal at the frequency when the first communication device transmits the reflection signal at the frequency (which can be referred to as absolute reflection phase), or the relative phase of the reflection signal at the frequency, such as phase fluctuation relative to other frequencies (which can be referred to as relative reflection phase), or the phase difference between the maximum phase and the minimum phase in a frequency range corresponding to the frequency (which can be referred to as relative reflection phase). The other frequencies are frequencies in the plurality of frequencies.

[0126] That is, the reflection amplitude corresponding to each frequency can include the reflection amplitude at the frequency (including absolute reflection amplitude or relative reflection amplitude), or the relative reflection amplitude in a frequency range corresponding to the frequency. Similarly, the reflection phase corresponding to each frequency can include the reflection phase at the frequency (including absolute reflection phase or relative reflection phase), or the relative reflection phase in a frequency range corresponding to the frequency. The frequency range corresponding to the frequency can be a frequency range between adjacent frequencies in the plurality of frequencies.

[0127] The content of the amplitude and phase information is described below.

[0128] As a possible implementation manner 1, the amplitude and phase information includes the reflection amplitude and phase corresponding to each frequency in the plurality of frequencies, and / or the reflection phase corresponding to each frequency in the plurality of frequencies.

[0129] As another possible implementation manner 2, the amplitude and phase information includes a reference amplitude, and a plurality of differential amplitudes corresponding to the reflection amplitudes of the plurality of frequencies relative to the reference amplitude. That is, the amplitude and phase information includes the reference amplitude, and the plurality of differential amplitudes relative to the reference amplitude. Alternatively, the amplitude and phase information includes a reference phase, and a plurality of differential phases corresponding to the reflection phases of the plurality of frequencies relative to the reference phase. That is, the amplitude and phase information includes the reference phase, and the plurality of differential phases relative to the reference phase. Alternatively, the amplitude and phase information includes the reference amplitude, the plurality of differential amplitudes, the reference phase, and the plurality of differential phases.

[0130] The differential amplitude can be quantized by X bits, where X can be 3 or 4 or 5, and the like, which will not be listed one by one here. For example, the value range of the differential amplitude is 1-16 (only as an example), X=4, 0000 indicates that the differential amplitude is 1, 0001 indicates that the differential amplitude is 2, and so on, and 1111 indicates that the differential amplitude is 16. The differential phase can be quantized by Y bits, where Y can be 3 or 4 or 5, and the like, which will not be listed one by one here. The size relationship between X and Y is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0131] The reference amplitude or the reference phase can be determined by the first communication device, or indicated by the second communication device through a broadcast message or a unicast message, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0132] It can be understood that, for the convenience of subsequent reference, some implementation manners, or some examples, etc. are numbered in the embodiments of the present application.

[0133] For the implementation manner 1 and the implementation manner 2, the amplitude and phase information can include the information of the plurality of frequencies, or can not include the information of the plurality of frequencies, which is described in detail as follows.

[0134] In a possible implementation manner, the amplitude and phase information further includes the information of the plurality of frequencies. For example, the information of the plurality of frequencies includes at least one of the start frequency, the end frequency or the frequency interval in the plurality of frequencies. Alternatively, the information of the plurality of frequencies includes at least one of the lowest frequency, the highest frequency or the frequency interval in the plurality of frequencies. The frequency interval is used to indicate the interval between adjacent frequencies in the plurality of frequencies. Of course, the information of the plurality of frequencies can also be contained in other information besides the amplitude and phase information, which is not described in detail herein.

[0135] In another possible implementation manner, the plurality of frequencies is determined by the first communication device according to the frequency information. For example, the second communication device sends the frequency information, and the frequency information is used by the first communication device to determine the plurality of frequencies. Optionally, in the implementation manner, the amplitude and phase information can further include indication information, which is used to indicate whether the frequency indicated by the frequency information is consistent with the plurality of frequencies, or the indication information is used to indicate the frequency offset between the frequency indicated by the frequency information and the plurality of frequencies. Optionally, in the implementation manner, the amplitude and phase information can further include the information of the plurality of frequencies.

[0136] As an example, the frequency indicated by the frequency information is consistent with the plurality of frequencies. For example, the frequency information includes at least one of a start frequency, an end frequency, or a frequency interval of the plurality of frequencies. For example, the start frequency indicated by the frequency information is 890 MHz, and the end frequency is 915 MHz. The frequency interval is 1 MHz, and the first communication device can report the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to each 1 MHz in 890 MHz-915 MHz, such as the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to 890 MHz, the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to 891 MHz, and so on. Alternatively, the frequency interval is 2 MHz, and the first communication device can report the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to each 2 MHz in 890 MHz-915 MHz, such as the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to 890 MHz, the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to 892 MHz, and so on. Alternatively, the frequency interval is 0.5 MHz, and the first communication device can report the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to each 0.5 MHz in 890 MHz-915 MHz, such as the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to 890 MHz, the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to 890.5 MHz, and so on. The frequency interval can be included in the frequency information, or determined by the first communication device, or predefined by a standard.

[0137] As another example, the frequency indicated by the frequency information is inconsistent with the plurality of frequencies. For example, the frequency indicated by the frequency information includes more frequencies than the plurality of frequencies. For example, the frequency indicated by the frequency information includes part of the plurality of frequencies. For example, the frequency range indicated by the frequency information is 890 MHz-915 MHz, and the frequency range of the plurality of frequencies is 890 MHz-905 MHz. For example, the frequency range indicated by the frequency information is 890 MHz-915 MHz, and the frequency interval indicated by the frequency information is 1 MHz. The frequency range of the plurality of frequencies is 890 MHz-915 MHz, and the frequency interval of the plurality of frequencies can be 0.5 MHz or 2 MHz, and so on.

[0138] In another possible implementation, the plurality of frequencies is predefined by a standard. For example, the plurality of frequencies is predefined by a standard as a frequency corresponding to each 1 MHz in 890 MHz-915 MHz, or a frequency corresponding to each 2 MHz in 890 MHz-915 MHz, or a frequency corresponding to each 0.5 MHz in 890 MHz-915 MHz. Here, the frequencies are not listed one by one.

[0139] In the embodiments of the present application, the frequency can also be referred to as a frequency point. The amplitude and phase information can also be used to indicate at least one of the reflection amplitude or the reflection phase corresponding to each of the plurality of frequency points. In view of the relationship between the frequency and the frequency band, in the embodiments of the present application, the start frequency and the end frequency, or the lowest frequency and the highest frequency, can also be represented by the frequency band. For example, the information of the plurality of frequencies can also include the frequency band A and the frequency interval.

[0140] The following describes a manner in which the first communication device reports the amplitude and phase information:

[0141] As a possible implementation manner 3, the first communication device reports the amplitude and phase information to the second communication device as a capability. For example, after the first communication device is associated with the second communication device, the first communication device can report the capability of the first communication device to the second communication device, and the capability of the first communication device includes the amplitude and phase information. Optionally, the capability of the first communication device also includes the type of the first communication device, such as an A-type tag, a B-type tag, or a C-type tag.

[0142] As another possible implementation manner 4, before the first communication device reports the amplitude and phase information, the first communication device receives request information from the second communication device, and the request information is used to request the first communication device to report the amplitude and phase information. That is, the second communication device can send the request information to the first communication device, the first communication device receives the request information, and then reports the amplitude and phase information.

[0143] As an example a, the request information is used to trigger the first communication device to report the amplitude and phase information. The first communication device reports the amplitude and phase information according to the request information in the case where the first communication device receives the request information. For example, the request information occupies 1 bit, and the value of the 1 bit is 1, which indicates that the second communication device triggers the first communication device to report the amplitude and phase information. For another example, the request information occupies 2 bits, and the values of the 2 bits are a first value, which indicates that the second communication device triggers the first communication device to report the amplitude and phase information, and the values of the 2 bits are a second value, which indicates that the second communication device triggers the first communication device to report other information. For the example a, the request information can not include the frequency information.

[0144] As another example b, the request information includes the frequency information, and the frequency information is used to determine the plurality of frequencies. The first communication device reports the amplitude and phase information according to the frequency information in the case where the first communication device receives the request information including the frequency information. The description of the frequency information can refer to the related description of the implementation manner 1 and the implementation manner 2, which will not be described in detail here.

[0145] As another example c, the request information comprises request information of amplitude and / or request information of phase. The request information of amplitude is used to request the first communication device to report the reflection amplitude corresponding to each of the plurality of frequencies. The request information of phase is used to request the first communication device to report the reflection phase corresponding to each of the plurality of frequencies.

[0146] As another example d, the request information comprises frequency information and request information of amplitude, or frequency information and request information of phase, or frequency information, request information of amplitude and request information of phase. The related description of example d can refer to example b and example c, and will not be described in detail here.

[0147] As another possible implementation 5, the first communication device can automatically report the amplitude and phase information. Compared with the implementation 3, the amplitude and phase information is reported to the second communication device as the capability of the first communication device. In the implementation 5, the first communication device can automatically report the amplitude and phase information after a trigger event. The trigger event can include but is not limited to that the first communication device successfully associates with the second communication device, or the first communication device successfully accesses the second communication device, or the first communication device receives a broadcast message.

[0148] The above-mentioned implementations 3-5 are only examples, and in specific implementation, the first communication device can have more opportunities to report the amplitude and phase information, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0149] In a possible implementation, after the second communication device receives the amplitude and phase information, the method shown in FIG. 7 further comprises:

[0150] The second communication device determines at least one of the reflection amplitude or the reflection phase corresponding to the first frequency according to the amplitude and phase information. That is, the reflection amplitude or the reflection phase corresponding to the first frequency is determined according to the amplitude and phase information.

[0151] As an example, the amplitude and phase information comprises the reflection amplitude and / or the reflection phase corresponding to the first frequency. The first frequency can be a frequency in the plurality of frequencies mentioned above.

[0152] As another example, the amplitude and phase information does not include the reflection amplitude and reflection phase corresponding to the first frequency. The first frequency can be a frequency different from the plurality of frequencies determined by the second communication device according to the plurality of frequencies. The second communication device can derive the reflection amplitude (or reflection phase) corresponding to the first frequency according to the reflection amplitude (or reflection phase) corresponding to the known frequencies in the amplitude and phase information. For example, the second communication device determines the reflection amplitude (or reflection phase) corresponding to the first frequency by an interpolation method. The interpolation method includes, but is not limited to, linear interpolation. For example, the amplitude and phase information includes the reflection amplitude a1 corresponding to the frequency f1, the reflection amplitude a2 corresponding to the frequency f2, and the frequency f3 is located in the frequency range of (f1, f2). The reflection amplitude a3 corresponding to the frequency f3 can be determined according to the frequencies f1, f2, a1 and a2. For example, the reflection amplitude a3 corresponding to the frequency f3 satisfies:

[0153] As described above, the amplitude and phase information can include information of a plurality of frequencies, or can not include information of a plurality of frequencies. Optionally, in the case that the amplitude and phase information includes information of a plurality of frequencies, the first frequency can be determined according to the plurality of frequencies. Optionally, in the case that the amplitude and phase information does not include information of a plurality of frequencies, the first frequency can be determined according to the frequency information.

[0154] 702、The second communication device transmits a carrier signal. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives the carrier signal.

[0155] The second communication device can transmit the carrier signal at the first frequency. For example, the second communication device can transmit the carrier signal at a plurality of first frequencies. The description of the first frequency can be referred to the above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0156] 703、The first communication device transmits a reflection signal of the carrier signal. Correspondingly, the second communication device receives the reflection signal.

[0157] The reflection signal is generated according to modulation of the reference sequence. The reflection signal can be determined according to the carrier signal and the signal corresponding to the reference sequence. For example, the reflection signal is generated according to modulation of the positioning reference signal sequence. For example, after receiving the carrier signal, the first communication device can modulate the positioning reference signal sequence to the carrier signal and reflect the modulated carrier signal (i.e. the reflection signal). For another example, after receiving the carrier signal, the first communication device can modulate the data it needs to transmit to the carrier signal and reflect the modulated carrier signal.

[0158] 704、The second communication device determines the first channel response according to the reflection signal and the amplitude and phase information.

[0159] That is, the second communication device can estimate the channel response according to the reflection signal and the amplitude and phase information, so as to obtain a more accurate first channel response.

[0160] The second communication device determines the first channel response based on the reflected signal and amplitude-phase information, including: the second communication device determines the second channel response based on the reflected signal; and determines the first channel response based on the second channel response and amplitude-phase information.

[0161] The second communication device determines a second channel response based on the reflected signal and a positioning reference signal sequence, or determines a second channel response based on the reflected signal and a sensing reference sequence. Alternatively, the second communication device compensates for the second channel response based on amplitude and phase information to obtain a first channel response.

[0162] In one possible implementation, the first channel response satisfies:

[0163] A = diag(a1, a2, ... a N )

[0164] in, H represents the first channel response, and A represents the second channel response. H Let a represent the conjugate transpose of A. n σ represents the reflection amplitude or reflection phase corresponding to the nth first frequency out of N first frequencies. 2 Let I be the noise power, and I be the identity matrix.

[0165] As an example, a n =c. a n This represents the reflection amplitude corresponding to the nth first frequency in the Nth first frequency.

[0166] As another example, a n This represents the reflection phase corresponding to the nth first frequency in the Nth first frequency.

[0167] As yet another example, a n It is a complex number, including both the amplitude c and the phase. like a n This represents the reflection amplitude and reflection phase corresponding to the nth first frequency in the Nth first frequency.

[0168] In another possible implementation, the first channel response satisfies:

[0169] A = diag(a1, a2, ... a N )

[0170] wherein, H represents the second channel response, A H denotes the conjugate transpose of A, a n denotes the reflection amplitude or reflection phase corresponding to the nth first frequency in the N first frequencies.

[0171] The above-mentioned manner of determining the first channel response according to the second channel response and the amplitude-phase information is only an example, and in a specific implementation, the second communication device can also determine the first channel response by referring to other manners. It can be understood that the first channel response and the second channel response can also be collectively referred to as a channel response, or a channel estimation response, or a channel frequency response, etc., and the specific name of the first channel response and the second channel response is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0172] In a possible implementation, after the second communication device determines the first channel response, the method shown in FIG. 7 further includes:

[0173] The second communication device sends the measurement result to the third communication device, and the measurement result includes information determined according to the first channel response. The information includes at least one of positioning information, sensing information or sensing information.

[0174] For example, the positioning information includes but is not limited to ToA or AoA, etc. The sensing information includes but is not limited to temperature, humidity or pressure, etc. The sensing information includes but is not limited to the distance of the target or the speed of the target, etc.

[0175] For example, the jth pRRU estimates the channel response h i on the frequency f i,j by using a channel estimation algorithm (such as a least square (LS) algorithm). i,j satisfies:

[0176] wherein, α i,j is the amplitude of the channel response between the jth pRRU and the tag on the frequency f i , and is the phase of the channel response between the jth pRRU and the tag on the frequency f i , and satisfies:

[0177] wherein, τ j is the propagation time experienced by the positioning reference signal sent by the tag to the jth pRRU, that is, the ToA estimated by the pRRU according to the channel response.

[0178] The above-mentioned ToA determination manners through the first channel response are only examples, and in actual implementation, the ToA can also be determined through other manners, which are not listed one by one here. The ToA determination manner through the first channel response is not described in detail here.

[0179] The third communication device can be an LMF, or a CU, or an O-CU, etc. The third communication device can be a network element with a positioning function, which can receive measurement results and complete positioning calculation. It can be understood that in actual implementation, the network element with a positioning function can also be a chip in the CU or a chip in the O-CU, etc., which are not listed one by one here.

[0180] Generally, the second channel obtained by the second communication device according to the reflected channel superimposes the influence of the reflection characteristic of the first communication device. In the embodiment of the application, the first communication device reports the amplitude and phase information, so that the second communication device can compensate the second channel response according to the amplitude and phase information to obtain a more accurate first channel response. Thus, the performance of channel estimation is improved in the case of non-ideal reflection characteristic of the first communication device, and the positioning accuracy or perception accuracy is improved.

[0181] The method provided in FIG. 7 is described below in combination with specific examples.

[0182] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the application. In FIG. 8, the first communication device is taken as an example of a tag, the second communication device is taken as an example of a TRP, and the third communication device is taken as an example of an LMF. As shown in FIG. 8, the method includes the following steps.

[0183] 801. The LMF sends a positioning request to the TRP, and the positioning request is used to initiate a positioning process. Correspondingly, the TRP receives the positioning request.

[0184] For example, the LMF can send the positioning request to the TRP of a serving cell, and can also send the positioning request to the TRP of a neighbor cell.

[0185] It can be understood that the positioning request shown in FIG. 8 is only an example. For example, after the TRP receives the positioning request, the TRP can also send a positioning response to the LMF (not shown in FIG. 8) for the positioning request. The specific description of the positioning request and the positioning response can be referred to the related standards, which are not described in detail here.

[0186] 802. The TRP sends request information, and correspondingly, the tag receives the request information.

[0187] 803. The tag sends amplitude and phase information, and correspondingly, the TRP receives the amplitude and phase information.

[0188] The description of the request information and the amplitude and phase information can be referred to the description of step 701, which is not described in detail here.

[0189] It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the steps or modules represented by dashed lines in the drawings are optional.

[0190] 804. The TRP transmits a carrier signal, and correspondingly, the tag receives the carrier signal.

[0191] The TRP in the serving cell transmits the carrier signal. The TRP in the neighboring cell can also transmit the carrier signal.

[0192] The description of the carrier signal is referred to the description of step 702 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0193] 805. The tag transmits a reflected signal of the carrier signal, and correspondingly, the TRP receives the reflected signal.

[0194] The TRP in the serving cell receives the reflected signal. The TRP in the neighboring cell can also receive the reflected signal.

[0195] The description of the reflected signal is referred to the description of step 703 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0196] 806. The TRP determines a first channel response according to the reflected signal and the amplitude and phase information, and determines positioning information according to the first channel response.

[0197] The TRP in the serving cell can determine the first channel response, and the TRP in the neighboring cell can also determine the first channel response.

[0198] The description of step 806 is referred to the description of step 704 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0199] 807. The TRP transmits a measurement result to the LMF, the measurement result including the positioning information. Correspondingly, the LMF receives the measurement result.

[0200] After receiving the measurement result, the LMF can perform positioning calculation. For example, the LMF can determine the position of the tag and other information according to the measurement result transmitted by the TRP in the serving cell and the measurement result transmitted by the TRP in the neighboring cell.

[0201] Other descriptions of the positioning process involved in FIG. 8 can be referred to the related standards, and the embodiments of the present application will not be repeated here.

[0202] In the embodiments of the present application, the tag reports the reflection amplitude and phase (including at least one of the reflection amplitude or the reflection phase) of multiple frequencies, so that the TRP can compensate the estimated channel response (i.e., the second channel response) according to the reflection amplitude and phase of the multiple frequencies, and determine the measurement result according to the compensated channel response (i.e., the first channel response), and report the measurement result to the LMF. Thus, the estimation performance of the channel response is improved in the case that the reflection characteristics of the tag are not ideal, thereby improving the ToA estimation performance and improving the positioning accuracy.

[0203] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. In FIG. 9, the first communication device is taken as an example of a tag, the second communication device is taken as an example of a DU, and the third communication device is taken as an example of a CU or an LMF. As shown in FIG. 9, the method includes the following steps.

[0204] 901. The LMF sends a positioning request to the CU and / or the DU, and the positioning request is used to initiate a positioning process. Correspondingly, the CU receives the positioning request. The DU receives the positioning request.

[0205] For example, the LMF can send the positioning request to the DU of the serving cell, and also send the positioning request to the DU of the neighboring cell.

[0206] It can be understood that the positioning request shown in FIG. 9 is only an example. For example, after the CU or the DU receives the positioning request, the CU or the DU can also send a positioning response to the LMF in response to the positioning request.

[0207] 902. The DU sends request information, and correspondingly, the tag receives the request information.

[0208] 903. The tag sends amplitude and phase information, and correspondingly, the DU receives the amplitude and phase information.

[0209] The request information and the amplitude and phase information are described above with reference to step 701 or FIG. 8, and will not be described in detail here.

[0210] 904. The DU sends a carrier signal, and correspondingly, the tag receives the carrier signal.

[0211] The carrier signal is described above with reference to step 702 or FIG. 8, and will not be described in detail here.

[0212] 905. The tag sends a reflection signal of the carrier signal, and correspondingly, the DU receives the reflection signal.

[0213] The reflection signal is described above with reference to step 703 or FIG. 8, and will not be described in detail here.

[0214] 906. The DU determines a first channel response according to the reflection signal and the amplitude and phase information, and determines positioning information according to the first channel response.

[0215] The description of step 906 refers to the description of step 704 or FIG. 8, which will not be repeated here.

[0216] 907. The DU sends the measurement result including the positioning information to the CU. Correspondingly, the CU receives the measurement result.

[0217] Optionally, after receiving the measurement result, the CU can also send the measurement result to the LMF. After receiving the measurement result, the LMF can perform positioning calculation.

[0218] For other descriptions of the positioning process involved in FIG. 9, please refer to the relevant standards, and the embodiments of the present application will not be repeated here.

[0219] In the embodiments of the present application, the DU can be used to perform signal reception and signal processing, and the CU can be used for measurement control. The method provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the system architecture of O-RAN, for example, the second communication device can also be an O-DU, and the third communication device can be an O-CU; for another example, the steps implemented by the DU in FIG. 9 can be performed by the O-DU, and the steps implemented by the CU can be performed by the O-CU.

[0220] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application can improve the estimation performance of the channel response in the case of non-ideal tag reflection characteristics, thereby improving the ToA estimation performance and improving the positioning accuracy.

[0221] In the above various implementation manners or examples, the places not described in detail in one implementation manner or example can refer to other implementation manners or examples. The various implementation manners or examples shown above can be separate embodiments, or can be combined with each other, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

[0222] The communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application will be introduced below.

[0223] The present application divides the functional modules of the communication device according to the above-mentioned method embodiments. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module. It should be noted that the division of the modules in the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division mode can be used. The communication device of the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 10-12.

[0224] Figure 10 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, the communication apparatus includes a processing module 1001 and a transceiver module 1002. The transceiver module 1002 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing module 1001 is configured to implement corresponding processing functions. The transceiver module 1002 can also be referred to as an interface, a communication interface, or a communication module, etc.

[0225] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be configured to perform actions performed by a first communication apparatus in the above method embodiments. In this case, the first communication apparatus can be a terminal device (such as an IoT terminal, etc.). Alternatively, the communication apparatus can be a chip or a functional module configured in a device, etc. The transceiver module 1002 is configured to perform transceiver-related operations of the first communication apparatus in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 1001 is configured to perform processing-related operations of the first communication apparatus in the above method embodiments.

[0226] For example, the processing module 1001 is configured to determine the amplitude and phase information.

[0227] The transceiver module 1002 is configured to send or output the amplitude and phase information, receive or input a carrier signal, and send or output a reflected signal of the carrier signal.

[0228] For example, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to receive or input the request information. Optionally, the processing module 1001 is further configured to parse the request information.

[0229] In another embodiment of the present application, the communication apparatus can be configured to perform actions performed by a second communication apparatus in the above method embodiments. In this case, the communication apparatus can be a base station, a CU or a DU, an O-CU or an O-DU, etc. Alternatively, the communication apparatus can be a chip or a functional module configured in a device, etc. The transceiver module 1002 is configured to perform transceiver-related operations of the second communication apparatus in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 1001 is configured to perform processing-related operations of the second communication apparatus in the above method embodiments.

[0230] The transceiver module 1002 is configured to receive or input the amplitude and phase information, and the processing module 1001 can be configured to parse the amplitude and phase information to determine at least one of a reflected amplitude or a reflected phase corresponding to the first frequency.

[0231] The transceiver module 1002 is further configured to send or output a carrier signal, and receive or input a reflected signal of the carrier signal.

[0232] The processing module 1001 is further configured to determine a first channel response according to the reflected signal and the amplitude and phase information. Optionally, the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine positioning information or perception information according to the first channel response.

[0233] Optionally, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to send or output the measurement result.

[0234] For example, the transceiver module 1002 can be an antenna module. For another example, the transceiver module 1002 can be an input / output module. Optionally, in each of the above embodiments, the communication device can further include a storage module, which can be configured to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 1001 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage module, so that the communication device implements the above method embodiments.

[0235] In each of the above embodiments, the specific description of the terms or steps can refer to the description in the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0236] It can be understood that the division of the modules in the above device is only a logical functional division. Each function can correspond to a functional module, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional module. In actual implementation, all or part of the modules can be integrated into one physical entity, or can be distributed in different physical entities. In addition, the functional modules can be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0237] In one example, the functional modules in any of the above devices can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microcontroller units (MCUs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), or a combination of at least two of the above integrated circuit forms.

[0238] The above introduces the communication device of the embodiments of the present application. The following introduces possible product forms of the communication device. Any product form that has the functions of the communication device described in FIG. 10 falls within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. The following introduction is only an example and does not limit the product form of the communication device of the embodiments of the present application.

[0239] In a possible implementation, in the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 10, the processing module 1001 can be one or more processors, and the transceiver module 1002 can be a transceiver, or the transceiver module 1002 can also be a sending module and a receiving module, the sending module can be a transmitter, and the receiving module can be a receiver, and the sending module and the receiving module are integrated in one device, for example, a transceiver. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor and the transceiver can be coupled, and the connection manner of the processor and the transceiver is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In the process of executing the above method, the process of sending information in the above method can be the process of outputting the above information by the processor. When the above information is output, the processor outputs the above information to the transceiver, so that the transceiver transmits. After the above information is output by the processor, the above information can also need to be processed further, and then reaches the transceiver. Similarly, the process of receiving information in the above method can be the process of receiving the input above information by the processor. When the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the above information and inputs it to the processor. Further, after the transceiver receives the above information, the above information can need to be processed further, and then input to the processor.

[0240] FIG. 11a is another structural schematic diagram of the communication apparatus provided by the embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 11a, the communication apparatus 110 includes one or more processors 1120 and a transceiver 1110.

[0241] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be used to execute the steps or methods or functions executed by the first communication apparatus, for example, the processor 1120 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the processing module 1001 shown in FIG. 10, and the transceiver 1110 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the transceiver module 1002 shown in FIG. 10. The specific description of the processor 1120 and the transceiver 1110 can refer to FIG. 10 or the method embodiments shown above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0242] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be used to execute the steps or methods or functions executed by the first communication apparatus, for example, the processor 1120 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the processing module 1001 shown in FIG. 10, and the transceiver 1110 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the transceiver module 1002 shown in FIG. 10. The specific description of the processor 1120 and the transceiver 1110 can refer to FIG. 10 or the method embodiments shown above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0243] In the various implementations of the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 11a, the transceiver can include a receiver for performing the functions (or operations) of receiving and a transmitter for performing the functions (or operations) of transmitting. The transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices / apparatuses via a transmission medium.

[0244] Optionally, the communication apparatus 110 can further include one or more memories 1130 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1130 is coupled to the processor 1120. The coupling between the communication apparatus, units or modules in the embodiments of the present application can be indirect coupling or communication connection between the communication apparatus, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, for information interaction between the communication apparatus, units or modules. The processor 1120 can operate in cooperation with the memory 1130. The processor 1120 can execute the program instructions stored in the memory 1130. Optionally, at least one of the one or more memories can be included in the processor.

[0245] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific connection medium between the transceiver 1110, the processor 1120 and the memory 1130. In FIG. 11a, the memory 1130, the processor 1120 and the transceiver 1110 are connected through a bus 1140, which is represented by a thick line in FIG. 11a. The connection mode between other components is only schematically illustrated and is not limited. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For convenience of representation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 11a, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0246] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor can be a general processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, etc., which can implement or execute the disclosed methods, steps and logic block diagrams in the embodiments of the present application. The general processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as execution completed by a hardware processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor, etc.

[0247] In the embodiments of the present application, the memory can include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), a random access memory (RAM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), a read-only memory (ROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), and the like. The memory is any storage medium that can be used to carry or store program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can be read and / or written by a computer (such as the communication device shown in the present application and the like). The memory in the embodiments of the present application can also be a circuit or any other device capable of realizing a storage function, used for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0248] The processor 1120 is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the whole communication device, executing software programs, and processing data of the software programs. The memory 1130 is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The transceiver 1110 can include a control circuit and an antenna, and the control circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, and the like, are mainly used for receiving user input data and outputting data to users.

[0249] When the communication device is powered on, the processor 1120 can read the software program in the memory 1130, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor 1120 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted, and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit converts the baseband signal into a radio frequency signal, and transmits the radio frequency signal through the antenna in the form of electromagnetic waves. When data is transmitted to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1120. The processor 1120 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0250] In another implementation, the radio frequency circuit and the antenna can be arranged independently of the processor performing baseband processing, for example, in a distributed scenario, the radio frequency circuit and the antenna can be arranged remotely from the communication device.

[0251] The communication apparatus shown in the embodiments of the present application can also have more components, etc. than Fig. 11a, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The method performed by the processor and the transceiver shown above is only an example, and the steps specifically performed by the processor and the transceiver can refer to the method introduced above.

[0252] Fig. 11b is another structure schematic diagram of the communication apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application. Fig. 11b exemplarily shows the architecture schematic diagram of the CU, the structure schematic diagram of the DU, and the structure schematic diagram of the RU. Fig. 11b also exemplarily shows the interfaces between different network elements. The following is described in detail.

[0253] The CU is used to implement L2 and L3 functions. The DU is used to implement L1 and part of L2 functions. The RU is used to implement L1 computing and radio frequency (RF) digital part functions. Other descriptions about the CU, the DU and the RU can refer to the description of Fig. 4 above, which is not described in detail here.

[0254] The backhaul interface can be used to carry the traffic between the CU and the core network. The midhaul interface can be used to carry the traffic between the CU and the DU. The front haul (FH) interface is used to carry the traffic between the RU and the DU.

[0255] Fig. 11b is exemplarily shown in the case that the DU and the RU are physically arranged respectively. In the specific implementation, the DU and the RU can also be physically arranged centrally, such as the integrated DU which can be used to implement the functions of the DU and the RU functions described above.

[0256] Fig. 11b also exemplarily shows the chip architecture of each network element.

[0257] The hardware of the CU can include a case platform (not shown in the figure), a mainboard (not shown in the figure), peripheral devices (not shown in the figure) and cooling devices (not shown in the figure). The mainboard contains a processing unit, a memory (not shown in the figure), an internal input / output (I / O) interface (not shown in the figure) and an external connection port (not shown in the figure). The hardware of the CU also includes a hardware accelerator. The hardware accelerator includes an interface and a hardware function component, and the hardware function component includes a storage of software, hardware and system debugging interface, a single board management controller. For example, the processing unit can include a general processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) and the like.

[0258] Similar to the hardware of the CU, the hardware of the DU can also include a chassis platform (not shown in the figure), a motherboard (not shown in the figure), peripheral devices (not shown in the figure), and cooling devices (not shown in the figure). The motherboard contains a processing unit, a memory (not shown in the figure), internal I / O interfaces (not shown in the figure), and external connection ports (not shown in the figure). The hardware of the DU also includes a hardware accelerator. The hardware accelerator includes an interface and a hardware function component, which includes a software, a storage of a hardware and system debugging interface, and a single board management controller. For example, the processing unit can include a general-purpose processor such as a CPU and the like.

[0259] The DU is usually implemented using a multi-core processor and one or more hardware accelerators. Part of the DU protocol stack can be implemented in software running on the multi-core processor, and the computation-intensive L1 and L2 functions can be offloaded to the FPGA / GPU-based hardware accelerator; or all L1 functions are offloaded to the FPGA / GPU-based hardware accelerator, and other protocol stack contents are implemented in software running on the processor; or all the protocol stack is implemented in software running on the processor. The hardware accelerator supports interconnection with an x86 or non-x86 processor, and the accelerator has a multi-channel PCIe interface pointing to the CPU and is externally connected through a gigabit Ethernet (GE) connection.

[0260] The RU includes three parts: an O-RAN processing unit (ORU) (e.g., the RAN FH processing unit as shown in FIG. 11b), a digital processing unit (DPU) of the O-RU, and an RF processing unit. For example, the ORU receives an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) frame from the O-RAN fronthaul, and performs the bottom layer L1 (encoding, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, precoding), synchronization, beamforming, and resource unit mapping through the fronthaul interface. The OPU can be implemented as a CPU, FPGA, or ASIC. The DPU can be used to perform synchronization, digital down conversion (DDC) (digital down conversion in UL), digital up conversion (DUC) (digital up conversion in DL), crest factor reduction (CFR), and digital pre-distortion (DPD) to improve power amplifier efficiency by reducing the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) / adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of the RF front end. The DPU can be implemented as a FPGA or ASIC. The RF processing unit includes a transceiver module, up / down converter, power amplifier (PA), low noise amplifier (LNA), transmit (Tx) / receive (Rx) filter. All conversions between the analog and digital domains can be performed within the transceiver module. The conversions include, but are not limited to: digital to analog converter (DAC), analog to digital converter (ADC); RF sampling, frequency conversion using RF, intermediate frequency (IF), and local oscillator (LO) mixing in upconversion and downconversion. Optionally, the physical and logical partitions within the RF processing unit do not require specific boundaries, i.e., the physical and logical partitions can not be distinguished.

[0261] In another possible implementation, in the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 10, the processing module 1001 can be one or more logic circuits, and the transceiver module 1002 can be an input / output interface, also referred to as a communication interface, or an interface circuit, or an interface, etc. Alternatively, the transceiver module 1002 can also be a sending module and a receiving module, the sending module can be an output interface, and the receiving module can be an input interface, and the sending module and the receiving module are integrated into one module, for example, an input / output interface.

[0262] FIG. 12 is a structural schematic diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 12, the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 12 includes a logic circuit 1201 and an interface 1202. That is, the processing module 1001 can be implemented by the logic circuit 1201, and the transceiver module 1002 can be implemented by the interface 1202. The logic circuit 1201 can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit, or a system on chip (SoC) chip, etc., and the interface 1202 can be a communication interface, an input / output interface, a pin, etc. For example, FIG. 12 is a chip including the logic circuit 1201 and the interface 1202, taking the communication apparatus as the chip.

[0263] In an embodiment of the present application, the logic circuit and the interface can also be coupled to each other. The specific connection mode of the logic circuit and the interface is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the logic circuit 1201 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the processing module 1001 shown in FIG. 10, and the interface 1202 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the transceiver module 1002 shown in FIG. 10. The specific description of the logic circuit 1201 and the interface 1202 can be referred to the method embodiments shown in FIG. 10 or the above description, and will not be described in detail here.

[0264] The communication apparatus shown in the embodiments of the present application can be in the form of hardware to implement the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, or in the form of software to implement the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0265] The embodiments of the present application further provide a communication system including a first communication apparatus (or a chip in the first communication apparatus) and a second communication apparatus (or a chip in the second communication apparatus), and the first communication apparatus and the second communication apparatus can be used to execute the method in any of the preceding embodiments.

[0266] In addition, the present application further provides a computer program for implementing the operations and / or processes performed by the respective communication apparatuses in the method provided by the present application.

[0267] The application further provides a computer readable storage medium, wherein computer code is stored in the computer readable storage medium, and when the computer code is run on a computer (such as each communication device shown above and the like), the computer code causes the computer to perform operations and / or processes performed by each communication device in the method provided by the application.

[0268] The application further provides a computer program product, wherein the computer program product comprises computer code or a computer program, and when the computer code or the computer program is run on a computer (such as each communication device shown above and the like), operations and / or processes performed by each communication device in the method provided by the application are performed.

[0269] In several embodiments provided by the application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, communication device and method can be implemented in other manners. For example, the embodiments of the communication device described above are merely schematic; for example, the division of the modules is merely a logical function division; an actual implementation can be another division manner, for example, multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections between different modules can be indirect couplings or communication connections through some interfaces, communication devices or modules, and can be electric, mechanical or in other forms.

[0270] The modules illustrated as separated components can or can not be physically separated, and the components illustrated as modules can or can not be physical modules, that is, can be located in one place, or can be distributed on multiple network modules. According to actual needs, some or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the technical effects of the scheme provided by the embodiments of the application.

[0271] In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the application can be integrated in one processing module, or each module can be physically present alone, or two or more modules can be integrated in one module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module.

[0272] The integrated module, if implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as an independent product, can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application essentially or say the part that contributes to the prior art, or the whole or part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, includes a plurality of instructions to make a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) execute all or part of the steps of the method described in various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned readable storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a first communication device, or the method is applied to a chip in the first communication device, and the method comprises: reporting amplitude and phase information, the amplitude and phase information being used to indicate at least one of a reflection amplitude or a reflection phase corresponding to each of a plurality of frequencies; receiving a carrier signal; sending a reflection signal of the carrier signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The receiving of the carrier signal comprises: receiving the carrier signal at a first frequency, the first frequency being determined according to the plurality of frequencies.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first frequency being determined according to the plurality of frequencies comprises: the first frequency being one of the plurality of frequencies.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving request information, the request information being used to request the first communication device to report the amplitude and phase information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The request information comprises frequency information, and the reporting of the amplitude and phase information comprises: reporting the amplitude and phase information according to the frequency information.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The amplitude and phase information comprises information of the plurality of frequencies and at least one of a reflection amplitude or a reflection phase corresponding to each of the plurality of frequencies.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The reflection signal is generated according to a positioning reference signal sequence modulation.

8. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a second communication device, or the method is applied to a chip in the second communication device, and the method comprises: receiving amplitude and phase information, the amplitude and phase information being used to indicate at least one of a reflection amplitude or a reflection phase at each of a plurality of frequencies; sending a carrier signal; receiving a reflection signal of the carrier signal; determining a first channel response according to the reflection signal and the amplitude and phase information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The sending of the carrier signal comprises: sending the carrier signal at a first frequency, the first frequency being determined according to the plurality of frequencies.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, A reflection amplitude corresponding to the first frequency is determined according to the amplitude and phase information, or a reflection phase corresponding to the first frequency is determined according to the amplitude and phase information.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The first frequency being determined according to the plurality of frequencies comprises: the first frequency being one of the plurality of frequencies.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8-11, characterized in that, The determining of the first channel response according to the reflection signal and the amplitude and phase information comprises: determining a second channel response according to the reflection signal; determining the first channel response according to the second channel response and the amplitude and phase information.

13. The method according to any one of claims 9-12, characterized in that, The first channel response satisfies: A = diag (a1, a2,... an) N ) wherein denotes the first channel response, H denotes a second channel response, A H denotes the conjugate transpose of A, a n denotes the reflection amplitude or reflection phase corresponding to the nth first frequency of the N first frequencies, σ 2 is the noise power, I is the identity matrix.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8-13, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending measurement results to a third communication device, the measurement results comprising positioning information determined according to the first channel response.

15. The method according to any one of claims 8-14, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending request information, the request information being used to request a first communication device to report amplitude and phase information.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The request information comprises frequency information.

17. The method according to any one of claims 8-15, characterized in that, The amplitude and phase information comprises information of the plurality of frequencies and at least one of a reflection amplitude or a reflection phase corresponding to each of the plurality of frequencies.

18. The method according to any one of claims 8-17, characterized in that, The second communication device is a base station or a distributed unit (DU).

19. A communications device, characterized by The chip comprises a module for performing the method of any of claims 1-7, or the chip comprises a module for performing the method of any of claims 8-18.

20. A communications device, characterized by comprising a processor and a transceiver for transceiving information, the processor configured to cause the communication device to implement the method of any of claims 1-7, or the processor configured to cause the communication device to implement the method of any of claims 8-18.

21. A chip, characterized by comprising a logic circuit and an interface, the logic circuit and the interface coupled; the interface for inputting and / or outputting information, the logic circuit configured to cause the chip to implement the method of any of claims 1-7, or the logic circuit configured to cause the chip to implement the method of any of claims 8-18.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, the computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when implemented, causes the method of any of claims 1-7 to be performed, or the method of any of claims 8-18 to be performed.

23. A computer program product, characterised in that, the computer program product, when implemented, causes the method of any of claims 1-7 to be performed, or the method of any of claims 8-18 to be performed.

24. A communication system, characterized by comprising a first communication device configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-7, and a second communication device configured to perform the method of any of claims 8-18.

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