Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application belongs to the technical field of communications. Provided are a communication method and apparatus, so as to take into account the overheads of beam scanning while ensuring the charging efficiency. The method comprises: executing at least two instances of beam scanning in a first domain; and on the basis of a scanning result of the beam scanning in the first domain, executing beam scanning in a second domain, so as to determine a first beam on the basis of a scanning result of the beam scanning in the second domain, wherein the first beam is used for charging. The first domain is different from the second domain, and the period of the beam scanning in the first domain is a first period; and the period of the beam scanning in the second domain is a second period, and the duration of the second period is greater than the duration of the first period.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202411358037.1, filed on September 26, 2024, and entitled "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, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] In an internet of things (IoT) scenario, an IoT node usually has characteristics such as low cost, small size, and cannot carry a large-capacity battery, and also faces the problem of short standby life. Therefore, wireless energy transfer (WPT) through a base station is one of the important ways to solve the problem of short standby life of the IoT node in the future. Specifically, the base station can first perform beam sweeping to determine, through feedback of the IoT node, what beam to use to charge the IoT node to have a better charging efficiency. Then, the base station can send the beam to the IoT node to charge the IoT node.

[0004] However, the overhead of beam sweeping performed by the base station is usually large, and how to balance the overhead of beam sweeping while ensuring the charging efficiency is a problem to be studied at present. SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus to balance the overhead of beam sweeping while ensuring the charging efficiency.

[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a network device, or by a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the network device, or by a logic node, a logic module, or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the network device. The method includes performing beam sweeping of a first domain at least twice, and performing beam sweeping of a second domain according to the scanning results of the beam sweeping of the first domain, to determine a first beam according to the scanning results of the beam sweeping of the second domain, the first beam being used for charging. The first domain is different from the second domain, the period of the beam sweeping of the first domain is a first period, and the period of the beam sweeping of the second domain is a second period, the time length of the second period being greater than the time length of the first period.

[0008] Therefore, the network device can set different cycle lengths according to different situations to perform different numbers of beam scanning. For example, if the beam for charging changes slowly in the second domain, the length of the second cycle can be greater than the length of the first cycle, so that the network device can perform fewer times of beam scanning in the second domain, such as performing beam scanning in the first domain at least twice and then performing beam scanning in the second domain once, to reduce the overhead. Since the beam changes relatively slowly, even if the length of the cycle is relatively large, the beam for charging can not change within the length, and therefore the charging efficiency can be ensured.

[0009] In a possible design, performing the beam scanning in the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning in the first domain includes: in a case where the beam scanning in the first domain and the beam scanning in the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning in the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning in the first domain.

[0010] Optionally, in a case where the beam scanning in the first domain and the beam scanning in the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning in the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning in the first domain includes: in a case where the beam scanning in the first domain and the beam scanning in the second domain overlap in time, if the priority of the beam scanning in the second domain is higher than the priority of the beam scanning in the first domain, performing the beam scanning in the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning in the first domain.

[0011] That is, in a case where the length of the second cycle can be greater than the length of the first cycle, the first cycle can be included in the second cycle, causing the beam scanning in the first domain and the beam scanning in the second domain to overlap in time. In this case, the priority of the beam scanning in the second domain can be defined as higher by default or by definition, to ensure that the beam scanning in the second domain can be performed in the overall scanning process, thereby ensuring the charging effect of the beam.

[0012] In a possible design, performing the beam scanning in the first domain at least twice includes: in a case where the beam scanning in the first domain and the beam scanning in the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning in the first domain at least twice. Specifically, if the priority of the beam scanning in the second domain is defined as higher, the network device can perform the beam scanning in the second domain by default in a case of time overlap, to ensure that the beam scanning in the second domain can be performed in the overall scanning process, thereby ensuring the charging efficiency of the beam.

[0013] In a possible design, before performing the beam scanning in the first domain at least twice, the method in the first aspect can further include: performing the beam scanning in the second domain. In this case, performing the beam scanning in the first domain at least twice includes: performing the beam scanning in the first domain at least twice according to the scanning result of the beam scanning in the second domain.

[0014] It can be seen that the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain can be performed according to the scanning results of each other, so that the beam scanning of different domains is iteratively performed in a polling manner, and the effect of the beam scanning is further improved, thereby further improving the charging efficiency.

[0015] Optionally, the beam scanning of the second domain is performed in a case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time.

[0016] Further, in the case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, the beam scanning of the second domain is performed, including: in the case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, if the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain, the beam scanning of the second domain is performed. That is, in the case of time conflict, the beam scanning of the second domain is performed in a manner of default or defined priority, so as to ensure that the beam scanning of the second domain can be performed a sufficient number of times in the overall scanning process, thereby ensuring the charging efficiency of the beam.

[0017] Optionally, the beam scanning of the first domain is performed at least twice according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the second domain, including: in the case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, if the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain is higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain, the beam scanning of the first domain is performed at least twice according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the second domain. That is, in the case of time conflict, the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is defined to be higher, so as to ensure that the beam scanning of the second domain can be performed a sufficient number of times in the overall scanning process, thereby ensuring the charging efficiency of the beam.

[0018] In a possible design, the second period is k times of the first period, k is an integer greater than 2, the time of the first p first periods in the second period is configured as the time of performing p times of the beam scanning of the first domain, and the time of the last q first periods in the second period is configured as the time of performing the beam scanning of the second domain, p and q are positive integers, and p+q=k, so that the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain can be sequentially performed.

[0019] In a possible design, the method in the first aspect can further include: performing the beam scanning of the first domain, and receiving first information fed back for the beam scanning of the first domain, so as to perform the beam scanning of the second domain according to the first information. That is, if the effect of the beam scanning of the first domain is not good, the terminal device can indicate switching to perform the beam scanning of the second domain by feeding back the first information, so as to perform the subsequent beam scanning of the first domain by using the scanning result of the beam scanning of the second domain, thereby being able to ensure the charging effect of the first domain.

[0020] In a possible design, the method of the first aspect can further include: performing the beam sweeping of the first domain or the second domain, receiving first information of the feedback of the beam sweeping of the first domain or the second domain, and stopping the performing of the beam sweeping of the first domain and the second domain according to the first information. That is, if the terminal device does not need to perform the beam sweeping, for example, the charging of the terminal device has been completed, the terminal device can indicate to stop the beam sweeping by feeding back the first information, so as to avoid performing redundant beam sweeping and wasting overhead.

[0021] In a possible design, the method of the first aspect can further include: sending configuration information, where the configuration information indicates the beam sweeping configuration of the first domain and / or the beam sweeping configuration of the second domain.

[0022] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a priority relationship between the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain, so that the terminal device can determine which kind of beam sweeping is currently performed by the network device according to the priority relationship in a case where the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain are time-conflicted, to correspondingly receive the beam.

[0023] Optionally, the beam sweeping configuration of the first domain includes at least one of: a time length of a first period, a starting time domain position of the first period, a time for performing the beam sweeping of the first domain within the first period, or a number of beams swept in the first domain, so that the terminal device can align the time-frequency resource of the beam sweeping of the first domain with the network device, to enable the terminal device to receive the beam at a corresponding time domain position.

[0024] Optionally, the beam sweeping configuration of the second domain includes at least one of: a time length of a second period, a starting time domain position of the second period, a time for performing the beam sweeping of the second domain within the second period, or a number of beams swept in the second domain, so that the terminal device can align the time-frequency resource of the beam sweeping of the second domain with the network device, to enable the terminal device to receive the beam at a corresponding time domain position.

[0025] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a time-frequency resource for carrying a scanning result of the beam sweeping of the first domain, and / or a time-frequency resource for carrying a scanning result of the beam sweeping of the second domain, so that the terminal device can feed back the corresponding scanning result on the time-frequency resource, to enable the network device to successfully receive the scanning result.

[0026] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a terminal device, by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the terminal device, or by a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The method includes receiving a first set of beams from a network device; feeding back first information to the network device by measuring the first set of beams, the first information indicating that the network device transmits a second set of beams; receiving the second set of beams from the network device; determining a first beam by measuring the second set of beams, the first beam belonging to the second set of beams, and feeding back second information to the network device, the second information indicating the first beam, the first beam being used for charging.

[0027] In a possible design, the feeding back of the first information to the network device by measuring the first set of beams includes: measuring the first set of beams to obtain measurement results; and feeding back the first information to the network device in a case where the measurement results satisfy a preset condition.

[0028] Optionally, the measurement results satisfying the preset condition includes at least one of the following: all beams in the first set of beams having a signal strength less than a signal strength threshold, all beams in the first set of beams having a voltage for charging less than a voltage threshold, all beams in the first set of beams having a current for charging less than a current threshold, all beams in the first set of beams having a power for charging less than a power threshold, or all beams in the first set of beams having an energy for charging less than an energy threshold.

[0029] In a possible design, the method of the second aspect further includes receiving configuration information from the network device, the configuration information indicating a configuration of the first set of beams and / or a configuration of the second set of beams.

[0030] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a priority relationship between the first set of beams and the second set of beams.

[0031] Optionally, the configuration of the first set of beams includes at least one of the following: a time length of a first period, a starting time domain position of the first period, a time domain position of the first set of beams, or a number of beams in the first set of beams; and the configuration of the second set of beams includes at least one of the following: a time length of a second period, a starting time domain position of the second period, a time domain position of the second set of beams, or a number of beams in the second set of beams.

[0032] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a time-frequency resource used to carry the information fed back by the terminal device to the network device.

[0033] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates at least one of the following thresholds: the signal strength threshold, the voltage threshold, the current threshold, the power threshold, or the energy threshold.

[0034] It can be understood that the technical effects of the method of the second aspect can also be referred to the related descriptions of the method of the first aspect, which will not be repeated.

[0035] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a terminal device, a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the terminal device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The method includes receiving a beam group from a network device; and feeding back first information to the network device when an energy of the terminal device meets a preset condition, the first information indicating the network device to stop sending the beam group.

[0036] In a possible design, the energy of the terminal device meeting the preset condition includes at least one of the following: the energy of the terminal device reaching a preset energy value, or the energy of the terminal device being saturated.

[0037] Optionally, the beam group includes a beam group of a first domain and / or a beam group of a second domain, a period for receiving the beam group of the first domain by the terminal device is a first period, a period for receiving the beam group of the second domain by the terminal device is a second period, and a time length of the second period is greater than a time length of the first period.

[0038] In a possible design, the method of the third aspect further includes receiving configuration information from the network device, the configuration information indicating a configuration of the beam group of the first domain and / or a configuration of the beam group of the second domain.

[0039] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a priority relationship between the beam group of the first domain and the beam group of the second domain.

[0040] Optionally, the configuration of the beam group of the first domain includes at least one of the following: a time length of the first period, a starting time domain position of the first period, a time domain position of the beam group of the first domain, or a number of beams of the beam group of the first domain; and the configuration of the beam group of the second domain includes at least one of the following: a time length of the second period, a starting time domain position of the second period, a time domain position of the beam group of the second domain, or a number of beams of the beam group of the second domain.

[0041] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a time-frequency resource for carrying the information fed back by the terminal device to the network device.

[0042] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates the preset energy value.

[0043] It can be understood that the technical effects of the method of the third aspect can also be referred to the related descriptions of the method of the first aspect, which will not be repeated.

[0044] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus is configured to perform the communication method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0045] In this application, the communication apparatus in the fourth aspect can be a terminal device, or a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the terminal device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. Alternatively, the communication apparatus in the fourth aspect can be a network device, or a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0046] It should be understood that the communication apparatus in the fourth aspect includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the communication method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by executing corresponding software with hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units for performing the functions involved in the communication method.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus includes a processor configured to perform the communication method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0048] In a possible design, the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect can further include a transceiver. The transceiver can be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be configured for the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect to communicate with another communication apparatus.

[0049] In a possible design, the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect can further include a memory. The memory can be integrated with the processor, or can be separately arranged. The memory can be configured to store a computer program and / or data related to the communication method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0050] In this application, the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect can be a terminal device, or a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the terminal device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. Alternatively, the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect can be a network device, or a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0051] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can include a processor, which is coupled to a memory and configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication apparatus to perform the communication method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0052] In a possible design, the communication apparatus in the sixth aspect can further include a transceiver. The transceiver can be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be configured to enable the communication apparatus to communicate with another communication apparatus.

[0053] In this application, the communication apparatus in the sixth aspect can be a terminal device, or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the terminal device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. Alternatively, the communication apparatus in the sixth aspect can be a network device, or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0054] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can include a processor and a memory. The memory can be configured to store a computer program. The processor can be configured to execute the computer program to cause the communication apparatus to perform the communication method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0055] In a possible design, the communication apparatus in the seventh aspect can further include a transceiver. The transceiver can be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be configured to enable the communication apparatus to communicate with another communication apparatus.

[0056] In this application, the communication apparatus in the seventh aspect can be a terminal device, or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the terminal device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. Alternatively, the communication apparatus in the seventh aspect can be a network device, or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0057] In an eighth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can include a processor. The processor can be configured to be coupled to a memory, and to read a computer program in the memory and execute the communication method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the third aspect according to the computer program.

[0058] In a possible design, the communication apparatus in the eighth aspect can further include a transceiver. The transceiver can be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver can be configured to enable the communication apparatus in the eighth aspect to communicate with another communication apparatus.

[0059] In this application, the communication apparatus in the eighth aspect can be a terminal apparatus, or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) of the terminal apparatus, or a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal apparatus. Alternatively, the communication apparatus in the eighth aspect can be a network device, or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) of the network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0060] In the ninth aspect, a processor is provided. The processor is configured to perform the communication method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0061] In the tenth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes a network device configured to perform the method in the first aspect, and a terminal apparatus configured to perform the method in the second aspect or the third aspect.

[0062] In the eleventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the communication method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0063] In the twelfth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the communication method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the third aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0064] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless power transmission scenario;

[0065] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless power transmission process;

[0066] FIG. 3 is another schematic diagram of a wireless power transmission process;

[0067] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG. 5 is another schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method in an application scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0083] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a wireless network (Wi-Fi) system, a vehicle to everything (V2X) communication system, a device to device (D2D) communication system, a vehicle networking communication system, a 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system, such as a long term evolution (LTE) system, a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, such as a new radio (NR) system, and a future communication system.

[0084] The technical terms and related technical solutions in the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings.

[0085] WPT:

[0086] With the development of wireless networks and the evolution of service requirements, there are a large number of IoT nodes in the network. These IoT nodes are low in cost, small in size, and cannot carry large-capacity batteries, and are faced with the problem of short standby life. In order to solve this problem, many manufacturers propose to use environmental energy collection to provide a continuous source of energy for IoT nodes. Wireless radio frequency energy is one of the candidate energy sources, which has the advantages of controllable energy size, energy source, and certain penetration and long transmission distance.

[0087] The current radio frequency energy collection scheme mainly considers collecting wireless electromagnetic waves existing in the natural environment. Since the energy sources are not matched and cooperatively optimized, the energy collection efficiency is very low, which cannot meet the daily use requirements of IoT nodes. It is observed that there are a large number of base stations deployed in the cellular mobile communication network, and these base stations have multiple antennas, can emit arbitrarily designed electromagnetic waves and provide directional beams to enhance the radio frequency energy in certain directions, frequency bands and time periods, which can greatly improve the low efficiency problem of energy transmission. Therefore, WPT through base stations is one of the important ways to solve the short battery life of IoT in the future. WPT is also called wireless transmission, wireless charging, etc., and the specific expression is not limited.

[0088] In order to improve the charging efficiency, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) is considered as an effective solution. The multiple antenna technology of the energy transmitting end helps to concentrate the transmitted wireless energy in the direction of the energy receiving end through digital beamforming or so-called energy beamforming technology, while the multiple antennas on the energy receiving end increase the effective area of receiving radio frequency energy collection, both of which help to significantly improve the energy transmission efficiency. However, both the transmitting end and the receiving end beamforming technology need to rely on channel state information (CSI).

[0089] The way to obtain CSI can be roughly divided into two types:

[0090] Method 1: The energy receiving end (such as a transmission terminal) sends a reference signal, and the energy transmitting end (such as a base station) performs channel estimation and utilizes the reciprocity of the channel to infer the CSI of the downlink channel from the CSI of the uplink channel, but this method is usually suitable for time-division duplex (TDD) systems.

[0091] Manner 2: The energy transmitting end (such as a base station) sends a downlink reference signal, and the energy receiving end (such as a power transmission terminal) performs channel estimation. However, this manner requires additional baseband signal processing for channel estimation at the energy receiving end. However, low-cost power transmission terminals usually do not support baseband signal processing. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, after the energy receiving end receives a radio frequency (RF) signal, the RF signal can be converted into a direct current (DC) signal through a rectifier, and the DC signal is used to charge a battery. Subsequently, the energy meter can feed back the battery capacity to the energy transmitting end through a backhaul link. As can be seen, the energy receiving end does not have baseband signal processing capability, and therefore, manner 2 is difficult to implement for low-cost power transmission terminals without baseband signal processing hardware. In addition, for power transmission terminals with baseband signal processing hardware, when the battery capacity is low (cold start), or when the battery capacity is insufficient to support measurement, it is not suitable to perform measurement operations with high power consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to design an efficient and low-power energy measurement feedback scheme.

[0092] To solve the above technical problems, the prior art considers only feeding back the received signal strength, and provides the following two schemes.

[0093] Scheme 1:

[0094] As shown in FIG. 2, the base station can perform initial beam sweeping on the terminal, the terminal determines one of the beams with a signal receiving strength greater than a preset charging threshold as an initial beam, and feeds back information of the beam, and the base station uses the beam as the initial beam to charge the terminal. For example, the beam energy received by the terminal can increase the voltage value, and if the voltage value is greater than a preset voltage threshold, the terminal continuously sends a wireless charging instruction to the base station, such as feeding back the information of the beam, to trigger the base station to use the beam to wirelessly charge the terminal.

[0095] In scheme 1, the initial beam is the first beam whose received energy meets the preset threshold, and all available beams are not traversed, so the selection speed is fast and the feedback overhead is small. However, it cannot guarantee that the most suitable beam is selected each time the beam sweeping is performed, resulting in low power transmission efficiency. In addition, if the preset threshold is set unreasonably, there may be a problem that all beams are scanned but no available beam is found.

[0096] Scheme 2:

[0097] As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal needs to determine the signal receiving strength of the beam corresponding to the base station one by one, and determine the beam with a receiving strength greater than a preset charging threshold as a first beam. When the scanning time is greater than a preset time threshold, or the first beam is greater than a preset number threshold, the beam sweeping is stopped. Then, the base station further determines an initial beam in the determined first beam, and uses the initial beam to perform wireless charging.

[0098] In scheme 2, the first beam is screened by setting a charging threshold, and then the beam with the maximum received signal strength is selected as the initial beam in the first beam. In this case, on the one hand, the determination of the first beam is also limited by the time threshold and the number threshold, and the maximum beam determined is not necessarily the beam with the highest energy transmission efficiency among all beams. On the other hand, selecting the initial beam from the first beam requires storing the received signal strength corresponding to each beam in the first beam, which is not supported by the hardware of the low-cost energy transmission terminal.

[0099] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application propose the following technical solutions. The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0100] The present application will present various aspects, embodiments or features around a system that can include a plurality of devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that each system can include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or can not include all of the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in connection with the drawings. In addition, combinations of these solutions can also be used.

[0101] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplary", "for example", and the like are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design presented as "exemplary" in the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the word "exemplary" is used to present concepts in a concrete manner.

[0102] First, in the present application, "for indicating" can include direct indication and indirect indication. When describing that "information" is used to indicate A, it can include that the information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and does not mean that A must be carried in the information.

[0103] The information indicated by one information is called to be indicated information, and there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information in the specific implementation process, for example, but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or the index of the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information and the to-be-indicated information have an association relationship. The to-be-indicated information can also be only indicated a part, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of a specific information can also be realized by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, the protocol stipulates), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, the common part of each information can be identified and uniformly indicated, so as to reduce the indication overhead caused by separately indicating the same information.

[0104] In addition, the specific indication manner can also be various existing indication manners, for example but not limited to the above indication manners and various combinations thereof. The specific details of various indication manners can refer to the prior art, and will not be described herein. As can be known from the above, for example, when multiple information of the same type needs to be indicated, the indication manner of different information can be different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication manner can be selected according to the specific needs, and the selected indication manner is not limited by the embodiments of the application. In this way, the indication manner involved in the embodiments of the application should be understood as covering various methods that can enable the to-be-indicated party to know the to-be-indicated information.

[0105] The to-be-indicated information can be sent as a whole, or can be divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending occasion of the sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited by the application. The sending period and / or sending occasion of the sub-information can be predefined, for example, predefined according to a protocol, or configured by the transmitting end device by sending configuration information to the receiving end device. The configuration information can include, for example but not limited to, one or a combination of at least two of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control (MAC) layer signaling and physical layer signaling. The MAC layer signaling includes, for example, MAC control element (CE), and the physical (PHY) layer signaling includes, for example, downlink control information (DCI).

[0106] Second, in the embodiments shown below, the first, second and various numerical numbers are only used for differentiation for convenience of description, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the application. For example, different indication information is differentiated.

[0107] Third, “preset” or “predefined” or “preconfigured” can be implemented by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate related information in a device (for example, including a terminal device and a network device), or can be predefined in a protocol, and the specific implementation manner is not limited by the application. The “storage” can mean storage in one or more memories. The one or more memories can be separately arranged or integrated in the encoder or decoder, processor or communication device. The one or more memories can be partially separately arranged and partially integrated in the decoder, processor or communication device. The type of the memory can be any form of storage medium, which is not limited by the application.

[0108] Fourthly, the "protocol" involved in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, can include the LTE protocol of 3GPP (such as the technical specification (TS) 36, that is, the technical specification of the TS36 series), the NR protocol (such as the technical specification of the TS38 series) and the related protocol applied in the future communication system, and the present application is not limited thereto.

[0109] The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. It can be known by those skilled in the art that, with the evolution of network architecture and the appearance of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0110] The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. It can be known by those skilled in the art that, with the evolution of network architecture and the appearance of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0111] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, the communication system suitable for the embodiments of the present application is described in detail taking the communication system shown in FIG. 4 as an example. Exemplarily, FIG. 4 is an architecture schematic diagram of a communication system suitable for the method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0112] FIG. 4 is an architecture schematic diagram of a communication system, which mainly includes a terminal device and a network device.

[0113] The terminal device can be a terminal with transceiver function, or a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) of the terminal device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the terminal device function. The terminal device can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a user station, a mobile station (MS), a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user apparatus. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can be a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a Pad, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a handset, a laptop computer, a machine type communication (MTC) terminal, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a smart home device (such as a refrigerator, a television, an air conditioner, an electric meter, etc.), a smart robot, a mechanical arm, a plant terminal, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in telemedicine, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a road side unit (RSU) with terminal function, etc., a flight device (such as a smart robot, a hot air balloon, a drone, an airplane), etc. The terminal device in the present application can also be a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip, or a vehicle-mounted unit built in a vehicle as one or more components or units. The terminal device can also be other devices with terminal function, for example, the terminal device can also be a device with terminal function in D2D communication. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal device, and the device for realizing the function of the terminal can be a terminal device; or it can be a device capable of supporting the terminal to realize the function, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the terminal or used with the terminal.In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0114] The network device can be an access network device. The access network device is also referred to as a radio access network (RAN) node, or a network device with logical functions of a core network. The RAN node can be for a 3GPP related cellular system, such as a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolved system. The RAN node can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN node can also be a communication system that combines two or more of the above systems. The RAN node can also be referred to as an access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, etc., which constitutes part of a communication system to help terminals to realize wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes in a communication system can be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types.

[0115] In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a Wi-Fi system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in the V2X technology can be an RSU. All or part of the functions of the RAN node in the present application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform such as a cloud platform. The RAN node can also be provided with a communication module, circuit or chip for performing corresponding communication functions, and program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions. The RAN node in the present application can also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node. The device form of the RAN node can be a pole station, a micro base station, a base station, a small station, a macro station, etc., and is not specifically limited.

[0116] In another possible scenario, as shown in FIG. 5, multiple RAN nodes cooperate to assist a terminal to implement wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, the RAN nodes can be baseband units (BBUs) and radio units (RUs), etc. The BBUs and the RUs can be co-located or not co-located. The BBU includes a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), which communicate through a midhaul link. The BBU communicates with a core network through a backhaul link, the DU communicates with the RU through a fronthaul link, and the RU communicates with at least one UE through an air interface. The integrated DU includes the functions of the above-mentioned DU and RU.

[0117] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a commonly used architecture of a RAN chip. As shown in FIG. 6, the CU / DU hardware includes a chassis platform, a mainboard, peripheral devices, and cooling devices. The mainboard contains a processing unit, a memory, internal I / O interfaces, and external connection ports. The hardware accelerator design has an interface, and the hardware functional components include storage of software, hardware, and system debugging interfaces, and a board management controller. The DU system 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 computationally intensive Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) functions are offloaded to the hardware accelerators of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) / graphic processing units (GPUs); or all L1 functions are offloaded to the hardware accelerators based on FPGAs / GPUs, while 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. Similarly, the accelerator has a multi-lane peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface pointing to a central processing unit (CPU), and is externally connected through a gigabit Ethernet (GbE) connection.

[0118] The RU can include three parts: an O-RAN processing unit (OPU), a digital processing unit (DPU), and an RF processing unit. The OPU processes enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) frames of the O-RU front-haul and performs the front-haul interface, the lowest layer L1 (encoding, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, precoding), synchronization, beamforming, and resource unit mapping. The OPU can be implemented as a CPU, FPGA, or application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The DPU performs synchronization, digital down converters (DDC) in up-link (UL), digital up conversion (DUC) in down-link (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 an FPGA or ASIC. The RF processing unit of the O-RU includes transceiver modules, up / down converters, power amplifiers (PAs), low noise amplifiers (LNAs), transmitter (Tx) / receiver (Rx) filters. All conversions between the analog and digital domains (e.g., digital analog converter (DAC) and analog to digital converter (ADC)), RF sampling, frequency conversion using RF, intermediate frequency (IF), and local oscillator (LO) mixing in up and down conversion are performed within the transceiver modules. The physical and logical partitions within the RF processing unit do not require specific boundaries.

[0119] The CU, DU or RU can also have different names in different systems, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in this application. Any of the CU, DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0120] In the ORAN system, the RAN node communicates with the core network through a backhaul link and communicates with the terminal through an air interface. The ORAN system also includes a RAN intelligent controller (RIC), which can specifically include a non-real-time RAN intelligent controller (Non-RT RIC) and a near-real-time RAN intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC). The Non-RT RIC is used to implement non-real-time intelligent management of RAN functions, and the Non-RT RIC is located in a service management and orchestration framework (SMO) module. The Near-RT RIC is used to implement near-real-time intelligent management of the RAN, and implements near-real-time control and optimization of modules and resources of the O-RAN through data collection and related operations on the E2 interface.

[0121] In the embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 7, the connection mode between the network device and the terminal device can be various, such as point-to-point single connection between the network device and the terminal, multi-hop single connection through a relay device, dual connectivity (DC), multi-hop multi-connection through a relay device, etc., and the specific mode is not limited. As long as any network side device in the cellular network charges other devices, it is a network architecture available to the present application.

[0122] In the communication system, the interaction between the network device and the terminal device can be applied to wireless communication / energy supply between communication devices. The wireless communication / energy supply between communication devices can include wireless communication / energy supply between a network device and a terminal, wireless communication / energy supply between network devices, and wireless communication / energy supply between terminals. In the embodiments of the present application, the term "wireless communication" can also be referred to as "communication", and the term "communication" can also be described as "data transmission" and "information transmission". The term "wireless energy supply" can also be referred to as "energy supply", "energy transmission", "charging", and the term "energy supply" can also be described as "wireless energy transmission", "wireless charging", "wireless energy transmission", "radio frequency energy transmission", "radio frequency energy transmission", "radio frequency energy supply", "radio frequency charging", and the like.

[0123] Specifically, the network device can set different cycle lengths according to different situations to perform different numbers of beam scans in different domains. For example, taking the first domain and the second domain as examples, the first domain and the second domain are different, such as the first domain being a frequency domain and the second domain being a spatial domain, or the first domain being a spatial domain and the second domain being a frequency domain. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application take the first domain as a frequency domain and the second domain as a spatial domain as an example for introduction, and other cases can be understood with reference.

[0124] For example, in the case of weak mobility of the terminal device, the change of the beam used for energy supply to the terminal device can be slower than the change of the spatial domain in which the beam is located. Therefore, the network device can set (or protocol predefine) the cycle of beam scanning in the first domain (i.e., the frequency domain) to be shorter than the cycle of beam scanning in the second domain (i.e., the spatial domain), so that the network device can perform at least two times of beam scanning in the first domain first, and then perform one time of beam scanning in the second domain according to the scanning results of the at least two times of beam scanning in the first domain, to determine the beam used for energy supply to the terminal device according to the scanning result of the beam scanning in the second domain, and use the beam to supply energy to the terminal device. Since the number of times of beam scanning in the second domain is relatively less than the number of times of beam scanning in the first domain, the overhead of beam scanning can be reduced, and in the case of relatively slow change of the beam, even if the length of the cycle is relatively large, the beam used for energy supply to the terminal device can not change within the length of the cycle, and therefore the energy supply efficiency can be ensured.

[0125] The following introduces the terms related to the embodiments of the present application:

[0126] 1) Beam scanning in the first domain:

[0127] The first domain is a frequency domain, and the beam scanning of the first domain can also be referred to as frequency domain scanning or frequency domain beam scanning. Specifically, the network device can send one of a plurality of beams to the terminal on a plurality of frequency domain units respectively, to determine a frequency domain unit in which the beam for charging the terminal device is located from the plurality of frequency domain units. The period of the beam scanning of the first domain is a first period, that is, the network device can periodically perform the beam scanning of the first domain. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the period of the first domain beam scanning is T_f, that is, the first domain beam scanning is performed every T_f time domain units. T_f can be adjusted according to actual conditions. For example, if the channel fading of the frequency domain is slow, the network device can set T_f to be relatively large; for another example, if the channel fading of the frequency domain is fast, the network device can set T_f to be relatively small. The specific value can be set according to actual conditions, and the embodiments of the present application do not make any limitation.

[0128] 2) The time domain unit can be any one or a combination of a plurality of the following: a symbol, a slot, a subframe, a frame, a radio frame, or a time domain resource / time domain unit of other granularity, and the specific implementation is not limited. The time domain unit can also be referred to as a time domain resource. Taking a symbol as an example, one time domain unit can also include one or more symbols, and the specific number is not limited and can be selected according to actual conditions. The plurality of time domain units can be protocol predefined or preconfigured, or the plurality of time domain units can also be dynamically determined by the network device. It can be understood that the positions of the plurality of time domain units in the time domain can be continuous or discontinuous, and the specific implementation is not limited, and the specific implementation can also be referred to in the following related introduction.

[0129] 3) The frequency domain unit can be any one of the following: a subcarrier, a subcarrier group, a carrier, a carrier group, or a frequency domain resource of other granularity, and the specific implementation is not limited. The frequency domain unit can also be referred to as a frequency domain resource. Taking a subcarrier as an example, one frequency domain unit can also include one or more subcarriers, and the specific number is not limited and can be selected according to actual conditions. The plurality of frequency domain units can be protocol predefined or preconfigured, or the plurality of frequency domain units can also be dynamically determined by the network device, for example, the network device can determine which frequency bands / bandwidths / part-bandwidths are supported by the terminal through capability negotiation with the terminal, to determine the corresponding frequency domain unit therefrom. It can be understood that the positions of the plurality of frequency domain units in the frequency domain can be continuous or discontinuous, and the specific implementation is not limited, and the specific implementation can also be referred to in the following related introduction.

[0130] 4) Beam can refer to a special transmission effect with a direction formed by a transmitter of a network device through an antenna array. The beam can be a wide beam, or a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The technology for forming the beam can be a beamforming technology, such as a digital beamforming technology, an analog beamforming technology, or a hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology, etc., or other technologies, which are not limited. It should be understood that the beam is an exemplary expression, which can be replaced by expressions such as digital beam, analog beam, spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial parameter, transmission configuration index (TCI), TCI-state, etc.

[0131] 5) The plurality of beams can be all beams of the network device that can be shaped. For example, assuming that the antenna panel of the network device can shape 32 beams, the 32 beams are spatially directed to different directions, and the plurality of beams are the 32 beams, that is, in the spatial scanning, the network device can scan all the beams once. Alternatively, the plurality of beams can also be part of the beams that can be shaped by the network device, such as the network device can select the beams in the direction of the terminal according to the position of the terminal. Continuing the above assumption, 12 beams of the 32 beams are directed to the direction of the terminal, and the plurality of beams are the 12 beams.

[0132] 6) Beam scanning in the second domain:

[0133] The second domain is a spatial domain, and the beam scanning in the second domain can also be referred to as spatial scanning, or spatial domain beam scanning. Specifically, the network device can transmit a plurality of beams to the terminal device in a frequency domain unit of a plurality of frequency domain units, respectively, to determine a beam for charging the terminal device from the plurality of beams. For details, please refer to the relevant description below, which will not be repeated here. The period of the beam scanning in the second domain is a second period, that is, the network device can periodically perform the beam scanning in the second domain. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the period of the second domain beam scanning is T_b, that is, the network device performs the second domain beam scanning once every T_b time domain units. T_b can be adjusted according to actual conditions. For example, if the mobility of the terminal device is relatively weak, and the signal changes relatively slowly in the spatial domain, the network device can set the time length T_b to be relatively large; for another example, if the mobility of the terminal device is relatively strong, and the signal changes relatively quickly in the spatial domain, the network device can set the time length T_b to be relatively small. The specific value can be set according to actual conditions, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit it.

[0134] It can be understood that, due to the setting of the first period and the second period, the beam scanning of the first domain in a certain first period conflicts with the beam scanning of the second domain in a certain second period, and therefore the network device can determine, according to a certain strategy, whether to perform the beam scanning of the first domain or the beam scanning of the second domain at the time, and specific details can be referred to in the following description, which will not be repeated here. In other words, for two adjacent beam scanning of the first domain or the second domain, the interval time length may be greater than the period time length in the case of no time conflict, and the interval time length is the period time length in the case of no time conflict.

[0135] The above is the related description of some terms involved in the embodiments of the present application. The specific process of the beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain in the communication system is described in detail below.

[0136] FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application, which can be applied to the above communication system, such as the interaction between the terminal device and the network device. The terminal device can be the terminal device itself, or a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the terminal device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. For ease of understanding, the following method is described by taking the terminal device as an example. The network device can be the network device itself, or a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the network device. For ease of understanding, the following method is described by taking the network device as an example.

[0137] As shown in FIG. 9, the flow of the communication method is as follows:

[0138] S901, the network device performs at least two times of beam scanning of the first domain.

[0139] Taking any one of the at least two times of beam scanning of the first domain as an example, the specific process of the beam scanning can be as follows:

[0140] In the first period, the network device can send a second beam of a plurality of beams to the terminal device on a plurality of frequency domain units, respectively. The second beam can be a preset beam, such as a beam that has not been scanned in the second domain before the present beam scanning of the first domain, and the present beam scanning can use a beam defined by a protocol or preconfigured, such as the second beam. Alternatively, the second beam can also be a beam determined by performing the beam scanning of the second domain, such as a beam determined by the last time of performing the beam scanning of the second domain.

[0141] In a possible implementation, the network device can continuously transmit the second beams to the terminal on multiple frequency domain units, and each second beam can be carried on a corresponding time domain unit, that is, the multiple transmissions of the second beams are continuous in time. For ease of understanding, as shown in (a) of FIG. 10, it is assumed that the multiple frequency domain units include a frequency domain unit #1, a frequency domain unit #2, a frequency domain unit #3, and a frequency domain unit #4. The network device transmits a beam #1 on the frequency domain unit #1 and a time domain unit #1, then transmits the beam #1 on the frequency domain unit #2 and a next time domain unit #2 adjacent to the time domain unit #1, then transmits the beam #1 on the frequency domain unit #3 and a next time domain unit #3 adjacent to the time domain unit #2, and finally transmits the beam #1 on the frequency domain unit #4 and a next time domain unit #4 adjacent to the time domain unit #3.

[0142] It can be understood that "#1, #2, #3, etc." in the embodiments of the present application are mainly used for differentiation. For example, the time domain unit #1 represents one time domain unit, the time domain unit #2 represents another time domain unit, for another example, the beam scanning #1 represents the first domain / second domain beam scanning performed once, the beam scanning #2 represents the first domain / second domain beam scanning performed another time, for another example, the scanning result #1 represents the scanning result of one beam scanning, and the scanning result #2 represents the scanning result of another beam scanning. The related content in the following can be understood, and will not be repeated.

[0143] Alternatively, in another possible implementation, the network device can also discontinuously transmit the second beams to the terminal on multiple frequency domain units, that is, the multiple transmissions of the second beams are discontinuous in time. For ease of understanding, as shown in (b) of FIG. 10, the network device can transmit a beam #1 on a frequency domain unit #1 and a time domain unit #1, then transmit the beam #1 on a frequency domain unit #2 and a time domain unit #3 spaced one time domain unit from the time domain unit #1, then transmit the beam #1 on a frequency domain unit #3 and a time domain unit #5 spaced one time domain unit from the time domain unit #3, and finally transmit the beam #1 on a frequency domain unit #4 and a time domain unit #7 spaced one time domain unit from the time domain unit #5. Of course, the above is an example of spacing one time domain unit, which is not as a limitation. For example, a plurality of time domain units can be spaced, and the number of time domain units spaced between each adjacent two beam scans can also be different.

[0144] It can be understood that the above is an example of each second beam being carried on a corresponding time domain unit, but is not as a limitation. For example, the number of time domain units in which each second beam is located can be different, and it can also be considered that the duration of each second beam is different, such as a first transmission duration of 1 time slot or symbol, a second transmission duration of 2 time slots or symbols, and the like. The specific selection can be made by the network device according to the actual situation, or the protocol can be directly defined, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations.

[0145] Additionally, the above is an example of continuous frequency domain units. The frequency domain units can also be discontinuous. For example, the network device transmits beam #1 on frequency domain unit #1 and time domain unit #1, then transmits beam #1 on frequency domain unit #3 which is one frequency domain unit apart from frequency domain unit #2 and time domain unit #2, then transmits beam #1 on frequency domain unit #5 which is one frequency domain unit apart from frequency domain unit #3 and time domain unit #3, and finally transmits beam #1 on frequency domain unit #7 which is one frequency domain unit apart from frequency domain unit #5 and time domain unit #4. Of course, the above is an example of one frequency domain unit apart, and is not limiting. For example, several frequency domain units apart can also be used, and the number of frequency domain units apart between each two adjacent beam scans can also be different.

[0146] The terminal device can receive multiple times of receiving detection in the first period. For the terminal device, the time of the first period and the time domain resource (or time unit) of the multiple times of receiving detection of the terminal device can be protocol predefined or preconfigured by the network device. For details, refer to the relevant description below, which will not be described here. For example, the terminal device can perform signal detection on each time domain unit where the second beam is located to determine the signal strength on the time domain unit, denoted as signal strength #1, and a plurality of signal strengths #1 are determined. The signal strength can be represented by reference signal receiving power (RSRP), or can be represented by other means, such as the strength / amplitude of the received signal, the direct current power stored after the rectifier, etc., without limitation. For another example, the terminal device can also use the energy received on each time domain unit where the second beam is located to charge, to determine the charging result, denoted as charging result #1, which can be voltage, current, power, and energy, etc., and a plurality of charging results #1 are determined.

[0147] It should be understood that the purpose of the terminal device receiving the beam is mainly for charging, such as collecting the energy of the full frequency band through the antenna for charging, and the terminal device can not need to know the frequency domain unit where the received beam is located, and can not need to know whether the first domain or the second domain beam scanning is currently performed. Therefore, the network device can also not need to inform the terminal of the frequency domain unit where the beam is located and whether the first domain or the second domain beam scanning is currently performed. The terminal device can perform full frequency band receiving detection on each time domain unit. Of course, if the terminal device needs to perceive the frequency domain unit where the beam is located and whether the first domain or the second domain beam scanning is currently performed, the network device can also pre-configure this information to the terminal device. In this case, the terminal device can also perform receiving detection on the frequency domain unit corresponding to each time domain unit.

[0148] The terminal device can feed back the scanning result of the beam scanning in the first domain to the network device according to the plurality of signal strengths #1 and / or the plurality of charging results #1, denoted as a scanning result #1. The scanning result #1 can be used to indicate the frequency domain information of the optimal beam, such as a first frequency domain unit, which is the frequency domain unit where the beam used for charging the terminal device is located, or the frequency domain unit where the optimal beam is located.

[0149] The scanning result #1 can implicitly indicate the first frequency domain unit by indicating which one of the plurality of receiving detections of the terminal device is the best. For example, the plurality of frequency domain units are M frequency domain units, M is an integer greater than 1, i.e., the second beam is transmitted M times by the network device, and it can also be considered that the terminal device performs M times of receiving detection. Therefore, the scanning result #1 can indicate that the xth receiving detection is the best, and the frequency domain unit where the beam of the xth receiving detection is located is the first frequency domain unit, i.e., implicitly indicating the first frequency domain unit. In one possible implementation, the scanning result #1 includes first information, which can be a K1-bit information element, 2 K1 M, for example, M = 10, K1 = 4, the first information is 4 bits, 0000 indicates that the 1st receiving detection is the best, 0001 indicates that the 2nd receiving detection is the best, and so on, and 1001 indicates that the 10th receiving detection is the best. Of course, if the terminal device knows which frequency domain unit each receiving detection is performed in, the scanning result #1 can also directly indicate the first frequency domain unit, such as including the frequency value of the first frequency domain unit.

[0150] In one possible manner, the terminal device can immediately feed back the scanning result #1 to the network device when the beam scanning in the first domain of this time ends. For example, the time domain unit where the scanning result #1 is located is the next time domain unit of the time domain unit where the last transmitted second beam in the plurality of second beams is located, to ensure the utilization rate of time domain resources. Alternatively, the terminal device can wait for a period of time after the beam scanning in the first domain of this time ends, and then feed back the scanning result #1 to the network device. Of course, the specific time domain resource in which the terminal device feeds back the scanning result can also be predefined by the protocol, or can also be preconfigured by the network device, and the specific implementation can be referred to the related description below, which will not be described herein. In addition, the specific frequency domain resource in which the terminal device feeds back the scanning result can also be predefined by the protocol, or can also be preconfigured by the network device, and the specific implementation can be referred to the related description below, which will not be described herein.

[0151] After receiving the scanning result #1, the network device can send a second beam to the terminal device on the first frequency domain unit according to the scanning result #1. For example, the scanning result #1 indicates that the xth receiving detection is the best, the network device can determine the xth receiving detection as the network device sending the xth second beam, and determine the frequency domain unit where the xth second beam is located as the first frequency domain unit. In the remaining time of the first period, the network device can send a second beam to the terminal device on the first frequency domain unit. Correspondingly, the terminal device can receive the second beam to charge.

[0152] S902, the network device performs beam scanning of a second domain (e.g., denoted as beam scanning #1 of the second domain) according to a scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain.

[0153] In S902, the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain can be denoted as scanning result #2, and the scanning result #2 can be the scanning result of the last time of performing the beam scanning of the first domain in the at least two times of beam scanning of the first domain. If the beam scanning of the first domain introduced in S901 is the last time of performing the beam scanning of the first domain, the scanning result #1 and the scanning result #2 are the same scanning result.

[0154] The network device can determine a frequency domain unit according to the scanning result #2. For ease of understanding, taking the frequency domain unit as the first frequency domain unit, the process of the beam scanning #1 of the second domain can be as follows:

[0155] In the second period and on the first frequency domain unit, the network device can send multiple beams to the terminal device respectively.

[0156] In a possible implementation, the network device can continuously send multiple beams to the terminal device, and each beam can be carried on a corresponding time domain unit, that is, the sending of the multiple beams is continuous in time. For ease of understanding, an example is introduced as shown in (c) of FIG. 10. It is assumed that the multiple beams include beam #1, beam #2, beam #3, and beam #4. The network device first sends the beam #1 on the frequency domain unit #1 and the time domain unit #1, then sends the beam #2 on the frequency domain unit #1 and the time domain unit #2 adjacent to the time domain unit #1, then sends the beam #3 on the frequency domain unit #1 and the time domain unit #3 adjacent to the time domain unit #2, and finally sends the beam #4 on the frequency domain unit #1 and the time domain unit #4 adjacent to the time domain unit #3.

[0157] Alternatively, in another possible implementation, the network device can also discontinuously transmit multiple beams to the terminal device, i.e., the transmission of multiple beams is discontinuous in time. For example, as shown in (d) of FIG. 10, assuming that the multiple beams include beam #1, beam #2, beam #3, and beam #4, the network device can transmit beam #1 on frequency domain unit #1 and time domain unit #1, then transmit beam #2 on frequency domain unit #1 and time domain unit #3 which is one time domain unit apart from time domain unit #1, then transmit beam #3 on frequency domain unit #1 and time domain unit #5 which is one time domain unit apart from time domain unit #3, and finally transmit beam #4 on frequency domain unit #1 and time domain unit #7 which is one time domain unit apart from time domain unit #5. Of course, the above is an example of being one time domain unit apart, which is not a limitation. For example, it can also be several time domain units apart, and the number of time domain units apart between each two adjacent beam scans can also be different.

[0158] It can be understood that the above is an example of each beam being carried on a corresponding time domain unit, but is not a limitation. For example, the number of time domain units in which each beam is located can be different, and the duration of each beam can also be considered to be different, such as the duration of the first transmitted beam being 1 time slot or symbol, the duration of the second transmitted beam being 2 time slots or symbols, etc. The specific selection can be made by the network device according to the actual situation, or the protocol can also be directly defined, and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations.

[0159] For the terminal device, similar to the first period described above, the time of the second period and the time domain resources (or time units) on which the terminal device receives and detects multiple times can be pre-defined by the protocol or pre-configured by the network device, and specific details can be referred to the relevant description below, which will not be described here. In the second period, the terminal device can also perform signal detection on the time domain unit in which each beam is located to determine the signal strength on the time domain unit, such as signal strength #2, and a plurality of signal strengths #2 are determined. For another example, the terminal device can also use the energy received on the time domain unit in which each beam is located to charge, to determine the charging result, such as charging result #2, and a plurality of charging results #2 are determined.

[0160] It should also be understood that, similar to the beam scanning in the first domain, in the beam scanning in the second domain, the network device can also not inform the terminal of the frequency domain unit in which the beam is located and whether the current beam scanning is in the first domain or the second domain. Of course, if the terminal device needs to perceive the frequency domain unit in which the beam is located and whether the current beam scanning is in the first domain or the second domain, the network device can also pre-configure this information to the terminal device. In this case, the terminal device can also perform receiving detection on the frequency domain unit corresponding to each time domain unit.

[0161] The terminal device can feed back a scanning result of the beam sweeping #1 of the second domain to the network device according to the plurality of signal strengths #2 and / or the plurality of charging results #2, denoted as a scanning result #3. The scanning result #3 can be used for the spatial domain information of the optimal beam, such as a beam indicated by a beam index in the spatial domain, such as the first beam, which also means that the first beam is the optimal beam in the spatial domain, that is, the beam that can be used for charging.

[0162] The scanning result #3 can implicitly indicate the first beam by indicating which one of the plurality of receiving detections of the terminal device is the best. For example, the plurality of beams is N beams, N is an integer greater than 1, and it can be considered that the terminal device performs N receiving detections. Thus, the scanning result #3 can indicate that the yth receiving detection is the best, and the beam detected by the yth receiving detection is the first beam, that is, implicitly indicating the first beam. In one possible implementation, the scanning result #3 includes second information, and the second information can be a K2-bit information element, 2 K2 greater than or equal to N, for example, M = 6 and K2 = 3, the second information is 3 bits, 000 indicates that the 1st receiving detection is the best, 001 indicates that the 2nd receiving detection is the best, and so on, and 100 indicates that the 8th receiving detection is the best. Of course, if the terminal device knows the index / identifier of the beam of each receiving detection through pre-configuration or protocol pre-definition, the scanning result #3 can also directly indicate the first beam, such as including the index / identifier of the first beam.

[0163] It can be understood that the first information and the second information can be different information elements, or can be the same information element, without limitation.

[0164] The terminal device can immediately feed back the scanning result #3 to the network device in the case that the beam sweeping #1 of the second domain ends. For example, the time domain unit where the scanning result #3 is located is the next time domain unit of the time domain unit where the last transmitted beam in the plurality of beams is located, so as to ensure the time domain resource utilization. Alternatively, the terminal device can wait for a period of time after the beam sweeping #1 of the second domain ends, and then feed back the scanning result #3 to the network device. Of course, the specific time domain resource at which the terminal device feeds back the scanning result can also be pre-defined by the protocol, or can also be pre-configured by the network device, and specific details can be referred to the related description below, which will not be described herein. In addition, the specific frequency domain resource at which the terminal device feeds back the scanning result can also be pre-defined by the protocol, or can also be pre-configured by the network device, and specific details can be referred to the related description below, which will not be described herein.

[0165] S903, the network device determines the first beam according to the scanning result of the beam sweeping of the second domain (the scanning result #3 described above).

[0166] The first beam is used for charging, or the first beam is the beam used for charging.

[0167] For example, the scanning result #3 indicates that the yth receiving detection is the best, the network device can determine the yth receiving detection as the network device sending the first beam, i.e., determine the first beam. In the remaining time of the second period, the network device can send the first beam to the terminal device on the first frequency domain unit. Correspondingly, the terminal device can receive the first beam to be charged.

[0168] It can be understood that, in the time from the terminal device feeding back the scanning result #3 to the next time of performing the beam scanning of the first domain, if the time does not perform the beam scanning of the second domain, i.e., no new frequency domain unit is determined, the network device can always send the first beam to the terminal device on the first frequency domain unit to charge the terminal device until the next time of performing the beam scanning of the first domain. If the time performs the beam scanning of the second domain and a new frequency domain unit is determined, the network device can send the first beam to the terminal device on the new frequency domain unit until the next time of performing the beam scanning of the first domain.

[0169] For the convenience of understanding, the S901-S903 are introduced below through a specific flow.

[0170] The above is the overall introduction of the flow of S901-S903, and some special cases in the flow are introduced below.

[0171] In the embodiment of the present application, if the time of the first period or the second period is long enough, or the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain need to be alternately performed to timely adjust the beam of energy transmission, the time of the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain may overlap. If the time of the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlaps, the network device can determine whether to perform the beam scanning of the first domain or the beam scanning of the second domain in the overlapping time according to the priority relationship of the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain, or can also default to perform the beam scanning of the first domain or the beam scanning of the second domain in the time overlap, which is introduced below in combination with the above S901-S902 and in different cases.

[0172] Case 1: S901 is the first time of the network device performing the beam scanning, and the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

[0173] For S901, in the case of the time of the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlapping, the network device can perform at least two times of the beam scanning of the first domain, such as defaulting to perform at least two times of the beam scanning of the first domain.

[0174] As an example, the first period is recorded as a small period, the second period is recorded as a large period, and the same applies below, which will not be repeated. Taking 3 small periods contained in 1 large period as an example. In the 1st small period, the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, and the network device performs the beam scanning of the first domain once by default in the 1st small period. Then, the time of the 2nd and 3rd small periods in the 1st large period is the charging time, which does not conflict with the beam scanning in the large period, so the network device performs the beam scanning of the first domain once again in the 2nd and 3rd small periods.

[0175] For S902, in the case where the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, the network device can perform the beam scanning #1 of the second domain according to the scanning result #2. For example, if the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain, the network device can perform the beam scanning #1 of the second domain according to the scanning result #2. Continuing the above example, in the 4th small period, the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, and the network device can perform the beam scanning #1 of the second domain in the 4th small period according to the scanning result #2 and the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain being higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain. Then, the same applies, which will not be repeated.

[0176] It can be seen that if the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is defined to be higher, the network device can perform the beam scanning of the second domain by default in some time overlap cases, so as to ensure that the beam scanning of the second domain can be performed in the overall scanning process, and to ensure the charging effect of the beam.

[0177] For convenience of understanding, a specific scenario is introduced below.

[0178] As shown in (a) of FIG. 11, it is assumed that the time length T_b of the large period is 18 time domain units, the time length T_f of the small period is 6 time domain units, i.e., T_b = 3*T_f, and the time of the large period is aligned with the time of the small period. The beam scanning of the first domain is frequency domain scanning, the beam scanning of the second domain is spatial domain scanning, M = 2, and N = 3, each scanning (or each beam) occupies one time domain unit, and the specific process is as follows:

[0179] In the first sub-cycle, the time for space domain scanning is time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #3, and the time for frequency domain scanning is time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #2, that is, time conflict. The network device performs frequency domain scanning in the first sub-cycle by default, such as performing the first frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #2, receiving the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the first frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #3, and charging the terminal on time domain unit #4 to time domain unit #6 according to the scanning result. For the second sub-cycle, the network device performs the second frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #7 to time domain unit #8, receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the second frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #9, and charges the terminal on time domain unit #10 to time domain unit #12 according to the scanning result. For the third sub-cycle, the network device performs the third frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #13 to time domain unit #14, receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the third frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #15, and charges the terminal on time domain unit #16 to time domain unit #18 according to the scanning result.

[0180] In the fourth sub-cycle, the time for space domain scanning is time domain unit #19 to time domain unit #21, and the time for frequency domain scanning is time domain unit #19 to time domain unit #20, that is, time conflict. The network device performs space domain scanning in the fourth sub-cycle according to the priority of space domain scanning being higher than the priority of frequency domain scanning, such as performing the first space domain scanning on time domain unit #19 to time domain unit #21, receiving the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the first space domain scanning on time domain unit #22, and charging the terminal on time domain unit #23 to time domain unit #24 according to the scanning result. Then, the same is true for the subsequent sub-cycles, which will not be described herein.

[0181] Case 2: The S901 is not the first beam scanning performed by the network device, and the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

[0182] Before the S901, the network device can perform the first beam scanning, such as performing the beam scanning of the second domain, which is recorded as the second beam scanning of the second domain #2.

[0183] For example, in the case where the time for the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time for the beam scanning of the second domain, the network device can perform the second beam scanning of the second domain #2, such as performing the second beam scanning of the second domain #2 according to the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain being higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain. As an example, 1 large cycle contains 3 sub-cycles, and other cases can be referred to. In the first sub-cycle, the time for the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time for the beam scanning of the second domain, and the network device performs the second beam scanning of the second domain #2 in the first sub-cycle according to the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain being higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

[0184] For S901, the time of the beam scanning of the first domain does not overlap with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, and the network device can normally perform the beam scanning of the first domain at least twice according to the scanning result (denoted as scanning result #4) of the beam scanning #2 of the second domain. Wherein, the network device can determine a second beam according to the scanning result #4 to perform the beam scanning of the first domain at least twice using the second beam. The specific principle of the network device determining the second beam is similar to the above-mentioned principle of the network device determining the first beam, and can be understood with reference to the above-mentioned principle, and will not be described here. Continuing the above-mentioned example, the time of the 2nd and 3rd small periods in the 1st large period is the charging time, which does not conflict with the beam scanning in the large period, and therefore in the 2nd and 3rd small periods, the network device performs the beam scanning of the first domain twice according to the scanning result #4, respectively.

[0185] For S902, in the case that the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, the network device can perform the beam scanning #1 of the second domain, for example, according to the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain being higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain. Continuing the above-mentioned example, in the 1st small period, the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, and the network device performs the beam scanning #1 of the second domain in the 4th small period according to the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain being higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

[0186] For the convenience of understanding, a specific scenario is introduced below.

[0187] As shown in (b) of FIG. 11, it is assumed that the time length T_b of the large period is 18 time domain units, the time length T_f of the small period is 6 time domain units, i.e., T_b = 3*T_f, the time of the large period is aligned with the time of the small period, M = 2, N = 3, and each scanning occupies one time domain unit. The specific process is as follows:

[0188] In the first sub-cycle, the time for the space domain scanning is time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #3, and the time for the frequency domain scanning is time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #2, that is, time conflict. According to the priority of the space domain scanning being higher than the priority of the frequency domain scanning, the network device performs the space domain scanning in the first sub-cycle, such as performing the first space domain scanning on the time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #3, receiving the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the first space domain scanning on the time domain unit #4, and charging the terminal according to the scanning result on the time domain unit #5 to time domain unit #6. For the second sub-cycle, the network device performs the first frequency domain scanning on the time domain unit #7 to time domain unit #8, receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the first frequency domain scanning on the time domain unit #9, and charges the terminal according to the scanning result on the time domain unit #10 to time domain unit #12. For the third sub-cycle, the network device performs the second frequency domain scanning on the time domain unit #13 to time domain unit #14, receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the second frequency domain scanning on the time domain unit #15, and charges the terminal according to the scanning result on the time domain unit #16 to time domain unit #18.

[0189] In the fourth sub-cycle, the time for the space domain scanning is time domain unit #19 to time domain unit #21, and the time for the frequency domain scanning is time domain unit #19 to time domain unit #20, that is, time conflict. According to the priority of the space domain scanning being higher than the priority of the frequency domain scanning, the network device performs the space domain scanning in the fourth sub-cycle, such as performing the second space domain scanning on the time domain unit #19 to time domain unit #21, receiving the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the second space domain scanning on the time domain unit #20, and charging the terminal according to the scanning result on the time domain unit #21 to time domain unit #24. Then, the same is repeated, and details are not repeated.

[0190] Case 3: S901 is not the first time that the network device performs the beam scanning, and the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain is higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain.

[0191] Before S901, the network device can perform the beam scanning for the first time, such as performing the beam scanning of the second domain, which is still recorded as the second beam scanning #2 of the second domain.

[0192] For example, in the case that the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, the network device can perform the beam scanning #2 of the second domain, such as the default beam scanning #2 of the second domain. As an example, 3 small periods are contained in 1 large period, and other cases can be referred to. In the 1st small period, the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, and the network device performs the beam scanning #2 of the second domain in the 1st small period by default. After that, the time of the 2nd and 3rd small periods in the 1st large period is the charging time, which does not conflict with the beam scanning in the large period, and the network device continues to perform the beam scanning of the first domain.

[0193] For S901, in the case that the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, the network device can perform the beam scanning of the first domain at least twice. For example, if the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain is higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain, the network device can perform the beam scanning of the first domain at least twice according to the scanning result #4. The scanning result #4 can be referred to the above description, and will not be described here. Continuing the above example, in the 4th small period, the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, and the network device can perform the beam scanning of the first domain once in the 4th small period according to the scanning result #4 and the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain being higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain. After that, the time of the 5th and 6th small periods in the 1st large period is the charging time, which does not conflict with the beam scanning in the large period, and therefore the network device performs the beam scanning of the first domain twice in the 5th and 6th small periods, respectively.

[0194] For S902, in the case that the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, the network device can perform the beam scanning #1 of the second domain, such as performing the beam scanning #2 of the second domain by default, which is similar to the above description of performing the beam scanning #2 of the second domain, and can be understood with reference, and will not be described here.

[0195] It can be seen that, in the case of time conflict, by defining the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain to be higher, it is ensured that the beam scanning of the second domain can be performed a sufficient number of times in the overall scanning process, thereby ensuring the charging efficiency of the beam. In addition, in the case that the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is set to be higher, the network device also needs to perform the beam scanning of the second domain by default at some time.

[0196] For the convenience of understanding, a specific scenario is introduced below.

[0197] As shown in (c) of FIG. 11, it is assumed that the length of the long period T_b is 18 time domain units, the length of the short period T_f is 6 time domain units, i.e., T_b = 3*T_f, the time alignment of the long period and the short period is 0, and M = 2 and N = 3. Each scan occupies one time domain unit. The specific process is as follows:

[0198] In the first short period, the time of the spatial domain scan is time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #3, and the time of the frequency domain scan is time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #2, i.e., time conflict. The network device defaults to performing the spatial domain scan in the first short period, such as performing the first spatial domain scan on time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #3, receiving the scan result fed back by the terminal for the first spatial domain scan on time domain unit #4, and charging the terminal on time domain unit #5 to time domain unit #6 according to the scan result. For the second short period, the network device performs the first frequency domain scan on time domain unit #7 to time domain unit #8, receives the scan result fed back by the terminal for the first frequency domain scan on time domain unit #9, and charges the terminal on time domain unit #10 to time domain unit #12 according to the scan result. For the third short period, the network device performs the second frequency domain scan on time domain unit #13 to time domain unit #14, receives the scan result fed back by the terminal for the second frequency domain scan on time domain unit #15, and charges the terminal on time domain unit #16 to time domain unit #18 according to the scan result.

[0199] In the fourth short period, the time of the spatial domain scan is time domain unit #19 to time domain unit #21, and the time of the frequency domain scan is time domain unit #19 to time domain unit #20, i.e., time conflict. The network device performs the frequency domain scan in the fourth short period according to the priority of the frequency domain scan being higher than the priority of the spatial domain scan, such as performing the third frequency domain scan on time domain unit #19 to time domain unit #20, receiving the scan result fed back by the terminal for the third frequency domain scan on time domain unit #21, and charging the terminal on time domain unit #22 to time domain unit #24 according to the scan result. For the fifth short period and the sixth short period, the network device continues to perform the frequency domain scan.

[0200] In the seventh short period, the time of the spatial domain scan is time domain unit #37 to time domain unit #39, and the time of the frequency domain scan is time domain unit #37 to time domain unit #38, i.e., time conflict. The network device defaults to performing the spatial domain scan in the seventh short period, such as performing the second spatial domain scan on time domain unit #37 to time domain unit #39, receiving the scan result fed back by the terminal for the second spatial domain scan on time domain unit #40, and charging the terminal on time domain unit #41 to time domain unit #42 according to the scan result. Then, the process is repeated, and details are not described herein.

[0201] It can be understood that the above is an example of time alignment starting with a large period and a small period, the large period being an integer multiple of the small period, and the time length of the small period being greater than the time length of performing the spatial domain scanning. If the time starting with the large period and the small period is not aligned, or the large period is not an integer multiple of the small period, or the time length of the small period is less than or equal to the time length of performing the spatial domain scanning, some special cases can occur between the spatial domain scanning and the frequency domain scanning, such as the time of performing the spatial domain scanning and subsequent energy charging can overlap with the time of at least two small periods. In this case, the network device can perform the spatial domain scanning in the at least two small periods, and charge the terminal according to the scanning result. In addition, for this case, the large period needs to be 3 times or more than 3 times of the small period to ensure that there is still time to perform the frequency domain scanning in the large period.

[0202] For the convenience of understanding, the following will also be introduced through a specific scenario.

[0203] As shown in (d) of FIG. 11, it is assumed that the time length T_b of the large period is 18 time domain units, the time length T_f of the small period is 6 time domain units, that is, T_b = 3*T_f, M = 2, N = 7, and each scanning occupies one time domain unit. The specific process is as follows:

[0204] In the first large period, the time of the spatial domain scanning is time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #7, which is greater than the time length of one small period, so the spatial domain scanning and the energy charging can be performed in the time of the first small period and the second small period. For example, the network device performs the first spatial domain scanning on the time domain unit #1 to the time domain unit #7, receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the first spatial domain scanning on the time domain unit #8, and charges the terminal according to the scanning result on the time domain unit #9 to the time domain unit #12. Then, for the third small period, the network device performs the first frequency domain scanning on the time domain unit #13 to the time domain unit #14, receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the first frequency domain scanning on the time domain unit #15, and charges the terminal according to the scanning result on the time domain unit #16 to the time domain unit #19. Then, the same is true, and the details are not repeated.

[0205] It can be understood that the above is only an example of setting the priority of beam scanning or selecting which beam scanning to perform by default, and the network device can also solve the problem of time conflict by defining the order of beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain. For example, the second period is k times of the first period, k is an integer greater than 2, the time of the first p first periods in the second period is configured as the time of performing p times of beam scanning of the first domain, the time of the last q first periods in the second period is configured as the time of performing beam scanning of the second domain, p and q are positive integers, and p+q=k, so that the beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain can be sequentially performed.

[0206] In summary, the network device can set different cycle lengths according to different situations to perform different numbers of beam sweeping. For example, if the beam for charging changes slowly in the second domain, the length of the second cycle can be greater than the length of the first cycle, so that the network device can perform fewer times of beam sweeping in the second domain, such as performing at least two times of beam sweeping in the first domain and then performing one time of beam sweeping in the second domain, to reduce the overhead. Since the beam changes relatively slowly, even if the length of the cycle is relatively large, the beam for charging can not change within the length, and thus the charging efficiency can also be ensured.

[0207] Optionally, in combination with S901-S903, the method further includes: the network device sending configuration information, and correspondingly, the terminal device receiving the configuration information.

[0208] The configuration information can indicate the beam sweeping configuration of the first domain and / or the beam sweeping configuration of the second domain.

[0209] The beam sweeping configuration of the first domain can include at least one of the following: the length of the first cycle, the starting time domain position of the first cycle, the time for performing the beam sweeping of the first domain within the first cycle, or the number of beams scanned in the first domain, so that the terminal device can align the time-frequency resources of the beam sweeping of the first domain with the network device, so that the terminal device can receive the beam at the corresponding time domain position.

[0210] The length of the first cycle is the time interval between every two times of beam sweeping of the first domain, which is represented as T_f. The starting time domain position of the first cycle can be understood as the starting time of the beam sweeping of the first domain. The time for performing the beam sweeping of the first domain within the first cycle can include the time domain position of each beam in the beam sweeping of the first domain, which can be the index of the time domain unit. It can be understood that in the beam sweeping of the first domain, the network device can send the same beam on different frequency domain units, i.e., the same beam is sent multiple times, so it can be regarded as one beam group, or in other words, the beam group of the first domain. Therefore, the time domain position of each beam can also be understood as the time domain position of the beam group of the first domain. The number of beams scanned in the first domain can be consistent with the number of frequency domain units, such as the above-mentioned M, and can also be understood as the number of beams of the beam group of the first domain. It should be understood that if the configuration information does not indicate the length and the starting time domain position of the first cycle, the network device can also issue the time for performing the beam sweeping of the first domain before each time of performing the beam sweeping of the first domain, i.e., each time of scanning is configured with the corresponding time domain resource.

[0211] The beam sweeping configuration of the second domain can comprise at least one of a length of the second period, a starting time domain position of the second period, a time within the second period at which the beam sweeping of the second domain is performed, or a number of beams swept in the second domain, to enable the terminal device to align with the network device on the time-frequency resource of the beam sweeping of the second domain, so that the terminal device can receive the beams at the corresponding time domain positions.

[0212] The length of the second period is the time interval between every two beam sweepings of the second domain, denoted as T_b. The starting time domain position of the second period can be understood as the starting time of the beam sweeping of the second domain. The time within the second period at which the beam sweeping of the second domain is performed can comprise the time domain positions at which each beam in the beam sweeping of the second domain is respectively located, and can also be the index of the time domain unit. It can be understood that in the beam sweeping of the second domain, the network device can respectively transmit a plurality of beams on the same frequency domain unit, and the plurality of beams can be considered as a beam group, such as a beam group of the second domain. Therefore, the time domain position at which each beam is respectively located can also be understood as the time domain position of the beam group of the second domain. The number of beams swept in the second domain can be consistent with the number of the plurality of beams, such as N described above, and can also be understood as the number of beams of the beam group of the second domain. It should be understood that if the configuration information does not indicate the length and the starting time domain position of the second period, the network device can also issue the time at which the beam sweeping of the second domain is performed before each execution of the beam sweeping of the second domain, i.e., each scanning is configured with the corresponding time domain resource.

[0213] Optionally, the configuration information can also indicate the priority relationship between the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain, or the priority relationship between the beam group of the first domain and the beam group of the second domain. For example, the configuration information can comprise priority information, which is 1 bit, 0 indicating that the priority of the beam sweeping of the first domain is higher than the priority of the beam sweeping of the second domain, and 1 indicating that the priority of the beam sweeping of the second domain is higher than the priority of the beam sweeping of the first domain. In this way, when the terminal device determines that the time of the beam sweeping of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam sweeping of the second domain according to the period information and the time of the beam sweeping, the terminal device can determine whether to receive the beam group of the first domain or the beam group of the second domain at the time according to the priority relationship. Of course, if the priority relationship between the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain is predefined by the protocol, the configuration information does not need to be indicated again.

[0214] Additionally, if the network device solves the time conflict problem by defining the order of beam sweeping of the first domain and the second domain, the configuration information can also indicate the order of beam sweeping of the first domain and the second domain. For example, the configuration information can include the p value and the q value described above, indicating that the time of the first p first periods in the second period is configured to perform p times of beam sweeping of the first domain, and the time of the last q first periods in the second period is configured to perform beam sweeping of the second domain. Of course, if the order of beam sweeping of the first domain and the second domain is predefined by the protocol, the configuration information does not need to be indicated again.

[0215] Optionally, for the first beam sweeping, if the network device performs in the default manner, the configuration information can also indicate whether the first beam sweeping is the beam sweeping of the first domain or the beam sweeping of the second domain. For example, the configuration information can include information of the first beam sweeping, such as a 1-bit information, 0 indicating that the first beam sweeping is the beam sweeping of the first domain, and 1 indicating that the first beam sweeping is the beam sweeping of the second domain. Of course, if whether the first beam sweeping is the beam sweeping of the first domain or the beam sweeping of the second domain is predefined by the protocol, the configuration information does not need to be indicated again.

[0216] Optionally, the configuration information also indicates time-frequency resources (such as denoted as first time-frequency resources) for carrying the scanning results of the beam sweeping of the first domain, and / or time-frequency resources (such as denoted as second time-frequency resources) for carrying the scanning results of the beam sweeping of the second domain.

[0217] For example of the first time-frequency resources, the second time-frequency resources can be understood with reference to the following:

[0218] For example, the configuration information can include time domain location information of the first time-frequency resources. The time domain location information of the first time-frequency resources can be a time domain offset, such as a time domain offset (offset) relative to the end of the beam sweeping. The granularity of the time domain offset can be a time domain unit, such as an offset of how many time domain units. For example, the time domain offset is 1, indicating the next time domain unit after the end of the beam sweeping, that is, the above-mentioned immediate feedback of the scanning results. For another example, the time domain offset is 2, indicating waiting for a time domain unit before feedback. The specific value of the time domain offset can be selected according to the actual situation, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit it.

[0219] For another example, the configuration information can also include frequency domain location information of the first time-frequency resources. In one possible implementation, the frequency domain location information can be a frequency resource indicator (FRIV) field, which can be used to indicate that the frequency domain location of the first time-frequency resources is located in which subchannels, as shown in the following formula (1).

[0220] wherein, denotes the starting frequency domain unit in the frequency domain resource, L subCH denotes the number of frequency domain units occupied by the frequency domain resource.

[0221] Alternatively, the frequency domain location information of the first time-frequency resource can also be indicated by a frequency domain offset, such as a frequency domain offset relative to a frequency domain reference location predefined or preconfigured by a protocol.

[0222] Of course, if the time-frequency location of the first time-frequency resource is predefined by a protocol, the configuration information does not need to be indicated.

[0223] It should also be understood that if the time domain offsets of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource are the same, such as both being the next time domain unit after the end of beam sweeping, the time domain location information of the first time-frequency resource and the time domain location information of the second time-frequency resource can also be the same information, such as offset = 1.

[0224] For ease of understanding, the above S901-S904 will be introduced below through a specific flow.

[0225] As shown in FIG. 12, in one specific scenario, the terminal device described above is a UE, and the network device described above is a gNB. The flow is specifically as follows:

[0226] S1201, the gNB sends configuration information to the UE.

[0227] The configuration information indicates the beam sweeping configurations of the first domain and the second domain, the time-frequency location of the first time-frequency resource, and the priority relationship between the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain. For details, reference can be made to the related introduction of S904.

[0228] S1202, the gNB sends M beams #1 to the UE.

[0229] The first first period T_f performs frequency domain scanning, and the gNB sends beams #1 to the UE on M frequency domain units, a total of M beams #1. The beams #1 can be initially preset beams.

[0230] S1203, the UE feeds back a frequency domain unit x to the gNB.

[0231] S1204, the gNB sends beams #1 to the UE on the frequency domain unit x.

[0232] Among them, S1204 is used to charge the UE.

[0233] S1205, the gNB sends M beams #1 to the UE.

[0234] In the second second period T_f, the gNB continues to perform the frequency domain scanning, such as transmitting beam #1 to the UE on the M frequency domain units, a total of M beam #1s.

[0235] S1206, the UE feeds back the frequency domain unit y to the gNB.

[0236] S1207, the gNB transmits beam #1 to the UE on the frequency domain unit y.

[0237] Wherein, S1207 is used to charge the UE.

[0238] It can be understood that S1202-S1207 can also refer to the related introduction of S901 described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0239] S1208, the gNB transmits N beams to the UE on the frequency domain unit y.

[0240] In the third second period T_f, the gNB performs the spatial domain scanning, such as transmitting N beams to the UE on the frequency domain unit y. Beam #1 also belongs to N beams.

[0241] S1209, the UE feeds back beam #2 to the gNB.

[0242] Beam #2 is the charging beam.

[0243] S1210, the gNB transmits beam #2 to the UE on the frequency domain unit y.

[0244] Wherein, S1210 is used to charge the UE.

[0245] It can be understood that S1208-S1210 can also refer to the related introduction of S902-S903 described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0246] After that, by analogy, it will not be repeated.

[0247] It can be understood that the scheme of the embodiments of the present application has the following technical effects:

[0248] As shown in (a) of FIG. 13, to improve the energy transfer efficiency to the wireless energy transfer terminal, the optimal beam needs to be determined according to the feedback in the two dimensions of the spatial domain and the frequency domain. Therefore, the base station can perform global scanning in the spatial domain and the frequency domain, such as performing full spatial domain beam scanning on all frequency domain units in the energy transfer frequency band in a certain order. As shown by the dashed line #2 in (b) of FIG. 13, in this case, the energy transfer efficiency after global scanning is relatively high. However, the global scanning has the disadvantage of long scanning time, and if the mechanism of terminal feedback after each scanning is adopted, the number of terminal feedbacks is also relatively large, and the energy consumed by the feedback is also relatively large. In other words, the global scanning cannot balance the scanning delay and the overhead. Alternatively, the network device can also fix a certain frequency domain unit and perform full spatial domain beam scanning on the frequency domain unit, so as to reduce the number of scanning and ensure the delay and overhead of scanning. However, as shown by the dashed line #1 in (b) of FIG. 13, the disadvantage of this scheme is that the energy transfer efficiency is relatively low. On this basis, the scheme of the embodiment of the present application not only can perform frequency domain scanning and spatial domain scanning, but also reduces the number of spatial domain scanning by setting a size period, in which case, as shown by the solid line in (b) of FIG. 13, the scanning overhead and the energy transfer efficiency can be balanced.

[0249] Alternatively, in combination with S901-S903, the method of the embodiment of the present application can also have other processes, as shown in FIG. 14, the method further includes:

[0250] S1401, the network device performs beam scanning in the first domain, and the terminal device receives the beam group in the first domain sent by the network device.

[0251] The network device performing beam scanning in the first domain is specifically sending the beam group in the first domain to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device can receive the beam group in the first domain. The beam scanning in the first domain can be initial scanning or any scanning after the initial scanning, and the specific implementation principle of the beam scanning in the first domain can be referred to the related description of S901, which will not be described here.

[0252] S1402, the terminal device feeds back first information to the network device by measuring the beam group in the first domain.

[0253] In S1402, the first information can instruct the network device to send the beam group in the second domain, or in other words, instruct the network device to perform beam scanning in the second domain or perform global scanning.

[0254] For example, the first information in S1402 can be the same as the first information in S901, and the first information in S1602 can be a special value, e.g., denoted as a first value. For example, the first information is 4 bits, and the first value can be a reserved value, e.g., 1111, for indicating that the feedback content is not for indicating a certain beam, but for indicating that the network device sends a beam group of the second domain. Alternatively, the first information in S1402 can be different from the first information in S901, e.g., independent handshake information, or other forms, without limitation.

[0255] The terminal device can measure the beam group of the first domain to obtain a measurement result. The measurement result can include at least one of the following: the signal strength of the beam group of the first domain (e.g., the signal strength of each beam), the voltage for charging of the beam group of the first domain, the current for charging of the beam group of the first domain, the power for charging of the beam group of the first domain, or the energy for charging of the beam group of the first domain, etc. In a case where the measurement result satisfies a preset condition, the terminal device feeds back first information to the network device.

[0256] For example, the measurement result satisfying the preset condition can include at least one of the following: the signal strength of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than a signal strength threshold, the voltage for charging of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than a voltage threshold, the current for charging of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than a current threshold, the power for charging of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than a power threshold, or the energy for charging of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than an energy threshold. The thresholds can be preconfigured by the network device, e.g., the configuration information indicates at least one of the thresholds: the signal strength threshold, the voltage threshold, the current threshold, the power threshold, or the energy threshold, or can be determined by the terminal device, without specific limitation.

[0257] S1403, the network device performs beam scanning of the second domain according to the first information, and the terminal device receives a beam group of the second domain from the network device.

[0258] The network device performs the beam sweeping of the second domain specifically by sending a beam group of the second domain to the terminal device, and accordingly, the terminal device can receive the beam group of the second domain. The beam sweeping of the second domain can be performed by the network device once or multiple times, for example, the network device performs the beam sweeping of the second domain on a certain frequency domain unit, or performs the beam sweeping of the second domain on each frequency domain unit, that is, the network device can perform only the beam sweeping of the second domain or perform the full-domain sweeping. It should be understood that the network device performing the beam sweeping of the second domain can be performed immediately, that is, the second period can not be considered, and the beam sweeping of the second domain is started immediately after receiving the first information, or the beam sweeping of the second domain can be performed according to the time in the second period, and the specific implementation is not limited.

[0259] For the full-domain sweeping, if the network device has previously issued the configuration of the full-domain sweeping to the terminal device, such as the beam sweeping order of the first domain and the second domain in the full-domain sweeping, the number of beams in the full-domain sweeping, the start time of the full-domain sweeping, the time-frequency position of the terminal device for feeding back the full-domain sweeping, or the configuration of the full-domain sweeping is predefined by the protocol, then the network device can directly perform the full-domain sweeping, otherwise, the network device can first send the configuration of the full-domain sweeping to the terminal device, and then perform the full-domain sweeping. In addition, the same is true for the beam sweeping of the second domain, which will not be repeated here.

[0260] It should be understood that the specific implementation principle of the beam sweeping of the second domain can also refer to the related description of S902 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0261] S1404, the terminal device determines the first beam by measuring the beam group of the second domain.

[0262] The first beam belongs to the beam group of the second domain, and the first beam is used for charging. In the case of performing the full-domain sweeping, the terminal device can also determine the frequency domain unit, such as the first frequency domain unit, where the first beam is located, and the specific implementation principle can also refer to the related description of S902-S903 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0263] S1405, the terminal device feeds back the second information to the network device.

[0264] The second information can be used to indicate the first beam, and in the case of determining the first frequency domain unit by the terminal device, the second information can also be used to indicate the first frequency domain unit, and the specific implementation principle can also refer to the related description of S902-S903 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0265] It can be seen that in the beam scanning of the first domain, it is possible that all the beams scanned in the domain do not reach the start voltage, such as all the beams cannot charge the terminal device, the terminal device cannot calculate the energy of each beam, or it can be understood that the energy collected under each beam is 0 (or close to 0), so the terminal device cannot compare and feed back the optimal beam. In this case, the terminal device can feed back a special code, such as a first value, to intervene or release the subsequent beam scanning scheme, timely adjust and correct the entire beam scanning process, and determine the beam that can be used for charging, thereby ensuring the subsequent charging effect.

[0266] For easy understanding, a specific scenario is introduced below.

[0267] As shown in FIG. 15, it is assumed that M = 2 and N = 3, and each scan occupies a time domain unit. The specific process is as follows:

[0268] The network device performs frequency domain scanning in the first small period, such as performing the first frequency domain scanning on the time domain unit #1 to the time domain unit #2, and receiving the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the first frequency domain scanning on the time domain unit #3. The scanning result indicates a first value. The network device determines to switch to full domain scanning according to the first value. The network device performs full domain scanning on the time domain unit #4 to the time domain unit #9, such as that the network device transmits the beams #1 to #3 on the frequency domain unit #1 and on the time domain unit #4 to #6 respectively, and transmits the beams #1 to #3 on the frequency domain unit #2 and on the time domain unit #7 to #9 respectively. The scanning result fed back by the terminal device for the full domain scanning is received on the time domain unit #10, such as the frequency domain unit #2 and the beam #2. The network device transmits the beam #2 on the frequency domain unit #2 to the terminal device for charging, and the duration of the charging is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. After that, the network device can perform beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain in turn in the manner of the large period and the small period. For details, reference can be made to the related description of FIG. 9, and details are not described herein again.

[0269] Alternatively, in combination with S901-S903, the method of the embodiments of the present application can also have other processes, as shown in FIG. 16. The method further includes:

[0270] S1601, the network device performs beam scanning of the first domain or the second domain, and the terminal device receives the beam group from the network device.

[0271] The network device performing beam scanning of the first domain or the second domain specifically means that the network device transmits the beam group of the first domain and / or the second domain to the terminal device. Thus, the terminal device can receive the beam group, which can include the beam group of the first domain and / or the beam group of the second domain. For details of the implementation principle, reference can be made to the related description of S901-S902, and details are not described herein again.

[0272] S1602, in the case that the energy of the terminal device meets the preset condition, feedback the first information to the network device. The network device receives the first information of the beam scanning feedback for the first domain or the second domain.

[0273] The energy of the terminal device meeting the preset condition can include at least one of the following: the energy of the terminal device reaching a preset energy value, or the energy of the terminal device being saturated. The preset energy value can be configured by the network device in advance, and the configuration information described above can also indicate the preset energy value, or it can be determined by the terminal device itself, which is not limited.

[0274] In S1602, the first information can indicate that the network device stops sending beam groups.

[0275] The first information in S1602 and the first information in S901 can be the same information. For example, in S1602, the first information can be a special value, denoted as a second value. Taking the first information of 4 bits as an example, the second value can be a reserved value used to indicate a beam, such as 1110, to indicate that the feedback content is not to indicate a certain beam, but to indicate to stop performing beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain. Alternatively, the first information in S1602 and the first information in S901 can be different information, such as independent handshake information, or other forms, which are not limited, or the terminal device can not send feedback to implicitly indicate to perform beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain.

[0276] It can be understood that if the first information in S1602 and the first information in S1402 are implemented by multiplexing the same information, the first value and the second value need to be distinguished, such as the first value being 1111 and the second value being 1110.

[0277] S1603, the network device stops performing beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain according to the first information.

[0278] As can be seen, in the first domain or the second domain beam scanning, there can be a case where the terminal device has sufficient power. In this case, the terminal device can stop subsequent beam scanning by feeding back a special code, such as a second value, and the related time-frequency resources can be released for communication to improve communication capacity.

[0279] As shown in FIG. 17, it is assumed that the length T_b of the large period is 12 time domain units, the length T_f of the small period is 6 time domain units, i.e., T_b = 3 * T_f, the large period and the small period start at the same time, M = 2, N = 3, and each scan occupies one time domain unit. The specific process is as follows:

[0280] In the first sub-period, the time for spatial domain scanning is time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #3, and the time for frequency domain scanning is time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #2, that is, time conflict. The network device performs frequency domain scanning in the first sub-period, for example, performs the first frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #1 to time domain unit #2, receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the first frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #3, and according to the scanning result, charges the terminal on time domain unit #4 to time domain unit #6. For the second sub-period, the network device performs the second frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #7 to time domain unit #8, receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the second frequency domain scanning on time domain unit #9, and according to the scanning result, charges the terminal on time domain unit #10 to time domain unit #12. In the third sub-period, the network device performs spatial domain scanning, for example, performs the first spatial domain scanning on time domain unit #13 to time domain unit #15, receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal for the first spatial domain scanning on time domain unit #16, and the scanning result indicates the second value. According to the second value, the network device determines to stop performing spatial domain scanning and frequency domain scanning, and time domain unit #16 and time domain units after time domain unit #16 are used for communication.

[0281] The method of the embodiment of the present application in the ORAN scenario will be introduced below with reference to FIG. 5.

[0282] Step 1-1: The core network can send a beam scanning instruction to the access network device through the backhaul link. The beam scanning instruction includes request information and the contents in the above-mentioned configuration information, such as the beam scanning configuration of the first domain, the beam scanning configuration of the second domain, and the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource, and additionally, the number of cycles, that is, the number of scanning. The request information can be used to request to perform beam scanning. The CU of the access network device receives the beam scanning instruction, or the CU can also not receive the beam scanning instruction of the core network, that is, step 1-1 is optional.

[0283] Step 1-2: The CU sends the beam scanning instruction to the DU.

[0284] Step 1-3: The DU sends the beam scanning instruction to the RU through the front-haul link. The RU sends the beam to the UE to perform beam scanning, that is, to perform beam scanning of a certain cycle, such as beam scanning of the first domain or beam scanning of the second domain.

[0285] Step 1-4: The terminal device receives the beam and feeds back the scanning result on the specified time-frequency position, that is, the first time-frequency resource or the second time-frequency resource mentioned above.

[0286] Step 1-5: The RU receives the scanning result fed back by the terminal device, performs down-conversion processing on the scanning result, and then returns the scanning result to the DU for further processing.

[0287] Step 1-6: The DU processes the received baseband signal and transmits the scanning result after processing to the CU through the middle transmission link.

[0288] Step 1-7: The CU continues to perform beam scanning in the next cycle, and repeats steps 1-3 to 1-6, until the specified cycle number, i.e., the iteration number, is reached, and the CU obtains the spatial domain information (such as the index of the beam) and the frequency domain information (such as the frequency domain unit) of the optimal beam.

[0289] Step 1-8: The CU can return the spatial domain information and the frequency domain information of the optimal beam to the core network, or can not return specific information, such as directly returning an indication that the scanning has been completed, or can not return any information to the device of the core network, and directly sends the optimal beam to charge the terminal.

[0290] Step 1-9: If the core network receives information from the CU, such as the spatial domain information and the frequency domain information of the optimal beam, the core network can send a charging instruction to the CU according to the information fed back by the CU, and the CU receives the instruction and sends it to the RU through the middle transmission and front transmission, and the RU sends the optimal beam according to the charging instruction to charge the terminal.

[0291] It can be understood that the beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain in the above steps 1-1 to 1-9 can also refer to the related description of S901-S903 described above, and will not be repeated here. In addition, for the methods shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 16, they can also be applied to the ORAN scene, and specific reference can be made to the above steps 1-1 to 1-9

[0292] It can be understood that the beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain in the above steps 1-1 to 1-9 can also refer to the related description of S901-S903 described above, and will not be repeated here. In addition, for the methods shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 16, they can also be applied to the ORAN scene, and specific reference can be made to the above steps 1-1 to 1-9

[0293] It should also be understood that the core network requests the access network device to perform beam scanning, or the CU initiates beam scanning, and the terminal beam scanning is completed through the cooperation between the CU / DU / RU, and finally the RU charges the terminal according to the spatial domain information and the frequency domain information of the optimal beam, which helps to improve the charging efficiency. The number of scans (or iterations) can be determined by the core network or the access network. In the case of the core network issuing configuration information, the DU can determine the spatial and frequency information of the transmission energy signal based on the configuration information and the processing of the baseband signal, thereby improving the transmission energy efficiency.

[0294] The method of the embodiment of the application in the chip architecture is introduced below with reference to FIG. 6.

[0295] Step 2-1: The core network sends a beam scanning instruction to the access network device through the backhaul link. For details, refer to the related description of step 1-1, which will not be repeated here. The CU of the access network device receives the beam scanning instruction. The CU includes a CPU of X86 architecture or ARM architecture and a chip of the type of FPGA / GPU / other accelerator. The X86 type chip or the chip based on the ARM architecture processes the beam scanning instruction from the core network, some logical operations involved, such as simple summation, are processed by the FPGA / GPU / other accelerator, and the result is fed back to the CPU after processing. The CPU performs further control operations, such as determining whether to send a control instruction to the DU. The interface between the CPU and the FPGA / GPU / other accelerator can be a function of PCIe. Alternatively, the CU can not receive the beam scanning instruction from the core network, i.e., step 1-1 is optional.

[0296] Step 2-2: The CU sends a beam scanning instruction to the DU, and the DU receives the scanning instruction. The DU also includes a CPU of X86 architecture or ARM architecture and a chip of the type of FPGA / GPU / other accelerator; the X86 type chip or the chip based on the ARM architecture processes the request instruction from the CU, some logical operations involved, such as simple summation, are processed by the FPGA / GPU / other accelerator, and the result is fed back to the CPU after processing. The CPU performs further control operations, such as determining whether to send a control instruction to the RU. The interface between the CPU and the FPGA / GPU / other accelerator can be a function of PCIe.

[0297] Step 2-3: The DU sends a beam scanning instruction to the RU through the fronthaul link. The RU includes a fronthaul processing unit for processing the indication signaling from the DU. The fronthaul processing unit can be a CPU or a special chip, such as an FPGA / ASIC type chip; the fronthaul processing chip schedules a digital signal processing module for processing based on the instruction from the DU. The digital signal processing module performs operations including FFT, modulation and demodulation, etc. The digital signal processing module triggers an RF processing model for processing, such as step 2-4.

[0298] Step 2-4: The RF processing module performs a certain period of beam scanning, such as first domain beam scanning or second domain beam scanning, and receives the scanning results fed back by the terminal device. The processing of the RF processing module mainly includes down-conversion, spectrum splicing / moving operations, etc. The RF processing module feeds back the scanning results to the DU through the digital signal processing module and the fronthaul processing unit after processing.

[0299] Step 2-5: The DU processes the received baseband signal and transmits the processed scanning results to the CU through the middlehaul link.

[0300] Step 2-6: The CU continues to scan the beams of the next cycle, repeats the above steps 2-2 to 2-6 until the number of iterations is reached, and the CU obtains the spatial information and frequency information of the optimal beam.

[0301] Step 2-7: The CU can return the spatial information and frequency information of the optimal beam to the core network, or can not return specific information, such as directly returning an indication that the scanning has been completed, or can not return any information to the device of the core network, and directly send the optimal beam to charge the terminal.

[0302] Step 2-8: If the core network receives information from the CU, such as the spatial information and frequency information of the optimal beam, the core network can send a charging instruction to the CU according to the information fed back by the CU, and the CU receives the instruction and sends it to the RU through the middle transmission and front transmission, and the RU sends the optimal beam according to the charging instruction to charge the terminal.

[0303] It can be understood that the beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain in the above steps 2-1 to 2-8 can also refer to the related description of the above S901-S903, which will not be repeated here. In addition, for the methods shown in the above FIG. 14 and FIG. 16, they can also be applied to the ORAN scene, which can be understood with reference to the above steps 2-1 to 2-8, which will not be repeated here.

[0304] It can be understood that the internal cooperation between different chips in the access network device, such as the CPU mainly controlling logical decision, the accelerator processing parallel simple operation, and the digital processing chip specially performing digital signal processing operation, is beneficial to improve the efficiency. Through the mutual cooperation between the chips, the efficient beam scanning process is realized, thereby improving the energy transmission efficiency. In addition, the chips of the access network device need to specify the number of cycles and the time-frequency position of the related time-frequency resources, and analyze the scanning results fed back by the terminal device, and finally determine the spatial information and frequency information of the optimal beam.

[0305] FIG. 18 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 18, the communication device 1800 includes a transceiver module 1802 and a processing module 1801. For the convenience of description, FIG. 18 only shows the main components of the communication device.

[0306] In a possible implementation, the communication device 1800 can be used to implement the functions of the network device in the above method shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 14 or FIG. 16.

[0307] For example, the processing module 1801 is configured to control the transceiver module 1802 to perform beam sweeping of a first domain for at least two times, and control the transceiver module 1802 to perform beam sweeping of a second domain according to a result of the beam sweeping of the first domain, and determine a first beam according to a result of the beam sweeping of the second domain. The first beam is used for charging, the first domain is different from the second domain, a period of the beam sweeping of the first domain is a first period, a period of the beam sweeping of the second domain is a second period, and a time length of the second period is greater than a time length of the first period.

[0308] In a possible design, the processing module 1801 is configured to, in a case where the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain overlap in time, control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam sweeping of the second domain according to the result of the beam sweeping of the first domain.

[0309] Optionally, the processing module 1801 is configured to, in a case where the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain overlap in time, control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam sweeping of the second domain according to the result of the beam sweeping of the first domain, if a priority of the beam sweeping of the second domain is higher than a priority of the beam sweeping of the first domain.

[0310] In a possible design, the processing module 1801 is configured to, in a case where the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain overlap in time, control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam sweeping of the first domain for at least two times.

[0311] In a possible design, the processing module 1801 is configured to, before performing the beam sweeping of the first domain for at least two times, control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam sweeping of the second domain. In this case, the processing module 1801 is further configured to control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam sweeping of the first domain for at least two times according to a result of the beam sweeping of the second domain.

[0312] Optionally, the processing module 1801 is configured to, in a case where the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain overlap in time, control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam sweeping of the second domain.

[0313] Further, the processing module 1801 is configured to, in a case where the beam sweeping of the first domain and the beam sweeping of the second domain overlap in time, control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam sweeping of the second domain, if a priority of the beam sweeping of the second domain is higher than a priority of the beam sweeping of the first domain.

[0314] Optionally, the processing module 1801 is configured to, in the case that the time of the beam scanning of the first domain overlaps with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, if the priority of the beam scanning of the first domain is higher than the priority of the beam scanning of the second domain, control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam scanning of the first domain at least twice according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the second domain.

[0315] In a possible design, the second period is k times of the first period, k is an integer greater than 2, the time of the first p first periods in the second period is configured to be the time of performing p times of the beam scanning of the first domain, the time of the last q first periods in the second period is configured to be the time of performing the beam scanning of the second domain, p and q are positive integers, and p+q=k, so that the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain can be sequentially performed.

[0316] In a possible design, the processing module 1801 is configured to control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam scanning of the first domain, and the transceiver module 1802 is configured to receive first information fed back for the beam scanning of the first domain, and the processing module 1801 is configured to control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam scanning of the second domain according to the first information.

[0317] In a possible design, the processing module 1801 is configured to control the transceiver module 1802 to perform the beam scanning of the first domain or the beam scanning of the second domain, the transceiver module 1802 is configured to receive first information fed back for the beam scanning of the first domain or the beam scanning of the second domain, and the processing module 1801 is configured to control the transceiver module 1802 to stop performing the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain according to the first information.

[0318] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1802 is further configured to send configuration information, and the configuration information indicates the beam scanning configuration of the first domain and / or the beam scanning configuration of the second domain.

[0319] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates the priority relationship between the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain, so that, in the case that the time of the beam scanning of the first domain conflicts with the time of the beam scanning of the second domain, the terminal device can determine which kind of beam scanning is currently performed by the network device according to the priority relationship, to correspondingly receive the beam.

[0320] Optionally, the beam scanning configuration of the first domain includes at least one of the following: the time length of the first period, the starting time domain position of the first period, the time of performing the beam scanning of the first domain within the first period, or the number of beams scanned in the first domain, so that the terminal device can align the time-frequency resource of the beam scanning of the first domain with the network device, so that the terminal device can receive the beam at the corresponding time domain position.

[0321] Optionally, the beam sweeping configuration of the second domain comprises at least one of a length of the second period, a starting time domain position of the second period, a time for performing the beam sweeping of the second domain within the second period, or a number of beams swept in the second domain, so that the terminal device can align with the network device on the time-frequency resource of the beam sweeping of the second domain, so that the terminal device can receive the beam at the corresponding time domain position.

[0322] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a time-frequency resource for carrying the scanning result of the beam sweeping of the first domain, and / or a time-frequency resource for carrying the scanning result of the beam sweeping of the second domain, so that the terminal device can feed back the corresponding scanning result on the time-frequency resource, so that the network device can successfully receive the scanning result.

[0323] Optionally, the transceiver 1802 can include a sending module (not shown in FIG. 18) and a receiving module (not shown in FIG. 18). The sending module is configured to implement the sending function of the communication device 1800, and the receiving module is configured to implement the receiving function of the communication device 1800.

[0324] Optionally, the communication device 1800 can further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 18), which stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1801 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 1800 can perform the functions of the network device in the methods shown in FIGS. 9, 14 or 16.

[0325] It can be understood that the communication device 1800 can be a network device, or a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) of the network device, or a logic node, a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device, which is not limited in the present application.

[0326] In another possible implementation, the communication device 1800 can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method shown in FIG. 14.

[0327] The transceiver 1802 is configured to receive the beam group of the first domain sent by the network device; the processing module 1801 is configured to control the transceiver 1802 to feed back the first information to the network device by measuring the beam group of the first domain, the first information indicating the beam group of the second domain sent by the network device; the transceiver 1802 is configured to receive the beam group of the second domain from the network device; the processing module 1801 is configured to determine the first beam by measuring the beam group of the second domain, the first beam belonging to the beam group of the second domain; the transceiver 1802 is configured to feed back the second information to the network device, the second information being used to indicate the first beam, and the first beam being used for charging.

[0328] In a possible design, the processing module 1801 is configured to measure the beam group of the first domain to obtain a measurement result, and control the transceiver module 1802 to feed back first information to the network device in a case where the measurement result meets a preset condition.

[0329] Optionally, the measurement result meeting the preset condition comprises at least one of the following: the signal strength of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than a signal strength threshold, the voltage used for charging of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than a voltage threshold, the current used for charging of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than a current threshold, the power used for charging of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than a power threshold, or the energy used for charging of all beams in the beam group of the first domain is less than an energy threshold.

[0330] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1802 is further configured to receive configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information indicates the configuration of the beam group of the first domain and / or the configuration of the beam group of the second domain.

[0331] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a priority relationship between the beam group of the first domain and the beam group of the second domain.

[0332] Optionally, the configuration of the beam group of the first domain comprises at least one of the following: a time length of the first period, a starting time domain position of the first period, a time domain position of the beam group of the first domain, or a number of beams of the beam group of the first domain; and the configuration of the beam group of the second domain comprises at least one of the following: a time length of the second period, a starting time domain position of the second period, a time domain position of the beam group of the second domain, or a number of beams of the beam group of the second domain.

[0333] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a time-frequency resource used to carry the information fed back by the terminal device to the network device.

[0334] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates at least one of the following thresholds: the signal strength threshold, the voltage threshold, the current threshold, the power threshold, or the energy threshold.

[0335] Optionally, the transceiver module 1802 can include a sending module (not shown in FIG. 18) and a receiving module (not shown in FIG. 18). The sending module is configured to implement the sending function of the communication apparatus 1800, and the receiving module is configured to implement the receiving function of the communication apparatus 1800.

[0336] Optionally, the communication apparatus 1800 can further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 18), which stores a program or instructions. When the processing module 1801 executes the program or instructions, the communication apparatus 1800 can perform the functions of the terminal device in the method shown in FIG. 14.

[0337] It can be understood that the communication apparatus 1800 can be a terminal device, can be a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) of a terminal device, can be a logic node, a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of a terminal device, and the present application does not limit this.

[0338] In another possible implementation, the communication apparatus 1800 can be used to implement the functions of a terminal device in the method shown in FIG. 16.

[0339] For example, the transceiver module 1802 is configured to receive the beam group from the network device; and the processor 1801 is configured to control the transceiver module 1802 to feed back first information to the network device in a case where the energy of the terminal device meets a preset condition, the first information indicating the network device to stop sending the beam group.

[0340] In a possible design, the energy of the terminal device meeting the preset condition includes at least one of the following: the energy of the terminal device reaching a preset energy value, or the energy of the terminal device being saturated.

[0341] Optionally, the beam group includes a first-domain beam group and / or a second-domain beam group, a period for the terminal device to receive the first-domain beam group is a first period, and a period for the terminal device to receive the second-domain beam group is a second period, a time length of the second period being greater than a time length of the first period.

[0342] In a possible design, the transceiver module 1802 is configured to receive configuration information from the network device, the configuration information indicating a configuration of the first-domain beam group and / or a configuration of the second-domain beam group.

[0343] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a priority relationship between the first-domain beam group and the second-domain beam group.

[0344] Optionally, the configuration of the first-domain beam group includes at least one of the following: a time length of the first period, a starting time domain position of the first period, a time domain position of the first-domain beam group, or a number of beams of the first-domain beam group; and the configuration of the second-domain beam group includes at least one of the following: a time length of the second period, a starting time domain position of the second period, a time domain position of the second-domain beam group, or a number of beams of the second-domain beam group.

[0345] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates a time-frequency resource used to carry the information fed back by the terminal device to the network device.

[0346] Optionally, the configuration information further indicates the preset energy value.

[0347] Optionally, the transceiver module 1802 can include a transmitting module (not shown in FIG. 18) and a receiving module (not shown in FIG. 18). The transmitting module is configured to implement the transmitting function of the communication device 1800, and the receiving module is configured to implement the receiving function of the communication device 1800.

[0348] Optionally, the communication device 1800 can further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 18), which stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 1801 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 1800 can perform the functions of the terminal device in the method shown in FIG. 16.

[0349] It can be understood that the communication device 1800 can be a terminal device, or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the terminal device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device, which is not limited in the present application.

[0350] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1800 can refer to the technical effects of the communication method described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0351] FIG. 19 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the terminal device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device; or the communication device can be a network device, or a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of the network device, or a logic node, a logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. As shown in FIG. 19, the communication device 1900 can include a processor 1901. Optionally, the communication device 1900 can further include a memory 1902 and / or a transceiver 1903. The processor 1901 is coupled with the memory 1902 and the transceiver 1903, for example, through a communication bus.

[0352] The components of the communication device 1900 will be described in detail below in combination with FIG. 19:

[0353] The processor 1901 is the control center of the communication device 1900, which can be one processor or a plurality of processing elements. For example, the processor 1901 is one or more CPUs, or is an ASIC, or is one or more integrated circuits configured to implement one or more embodiments of the present application, for example, one or more microprocessors (digital signal processors, DSPs), or one or more FPGAs.

[0354] Optionally, the processor 1901 can execute various functions of the communication device 1900 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 1902, and calling data stored in the memory 1902, such as the communication method shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 14 or FIG. 16.

[0355] In a specific implementation, as an example, the processor 1901 can include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG. 19.

[0356] In a specific implementation, as an example, the communication device 1900 can also include multiple processors, such as the processor 1901 and the processor 1904 shown in FIG. 19. Each of these processors can be a single-CPU or a multi-CPU. The processor here can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0357] The memory 1902 is configured to store software programs for executing the solutions of the present application, and the processor 1901 is configured to control the execution. The specific implementation can refer to the above method embodiments, and will not be described here.

[0358] Optionally, the memory 1902 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory 1902 can be integrated with the processor 1901 or exist independently and be coupled with the processor 1901 through the interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 19) of the communication device 1900, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

[0359] The transceiver 1903 is configured to communicate with other communication devices. For example, the communication device 1900 is a terminal, and the transceiver 1903 can be configured to communicate with a network device or another terminal. For another example, the communication device 1900 is a network device, and the transceiver 1903 can be configured to communicate with a terminal or another network device.

[0360] Optionally, the transceiver 1903 can include a receiver and a transmitter (not shown in FIG. 19). The receiver is configured to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter is configured to implement the transmitting function.

[0361] Optionally, the transceiver 1903 can be integrated with the processor 1901, or can exist independently and be coupled to the processor 1901 through an interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 19) of the communication device 1900. The embodiments of the present application do not make a limitation in this regard.

[0362] It can be understood that the structure of the communication device 1900 shown in FIG. 19 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device, and an actual communication device can include more or fewer components than those shown, or combine certain components, or have different arrangement of components.

[0363] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1900 can refer to the technical effects of the methods described in the above method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0364] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a CPU, and can also be other general-purpose processors, DSPs, ASICs, FPGAs or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor.

[0365] It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. Among them, the nonvolatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0366] The above-described embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware (such as a circuit), firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the above-described embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are wholly or partially generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center through a wired (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. containing one or more available medium collections. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid-state disk.

[0367] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which can make a computer execute the above-described communication method when the computer program is executed by the computer. In other words, the computer program includes instructions for implementing the above-described communication.

[0368] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which includes computer program code, and when the computer program code is executed on a computer, the computer can execute the above-described communication method.

[0369] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system, which includes a first device and a second device for executing the above-described communication method.

[0370] The embodiments of the present application also provide a chip, which can include a processor for executing the above-described communication method. Optionally, the chip further includes a memory coupled to the processor, and the memory stores a program for executing the above-described communication method.

[0371] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this document is merely used to describe associated relationship, and it can mean three relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean that A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally means that the associated objects before and after the " / " are in an "or" relationship, but can also mean an "and / or" relationship, which can be understood according to the context before and after.

[0372] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of the items, including a single item or any combination of multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be singular or plural.

[0373] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0374] Those skilled in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are realized in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0375] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working process of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0376] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are only schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the shown or discussed objects can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0377] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, i.e., may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment scheme.

[0378] In addition, the functional units in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can be physically present separately, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0379] If the functions are realized in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application or the parts that essentially contribute to the prior art or the parts of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of software products. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various program code storage media.

[0380] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: performing beam scanning of a first domain at least twice, a period of the beam scanning of the first domain being a first period; performing beam scanning of a second domain according to a scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain, the first domain being different from the second domain; a period of the beam scanning of the second domain being a second period, a time length of the second period being greater than a time length of the first period; determining a first beam according to a scanning result of the beam scanning of the second domain, the first beam being used for charging.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The performing of the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain comprises: in a case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The performing of the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain comprises: in a case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain, if a priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than a priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, The performing of the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain comprises: in a case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain, if a priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than a priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The performing of the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain comprises: in a case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain, if a priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than a priority of the beam scanning of the first domain. The performing of the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain comprises: in a case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain, if a priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than a priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The performing of the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain comprises: in a case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain, if a priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than a priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The performing of the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain comprises: in a case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain, if a priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than a priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein, The performing of the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain comprises: in a case where the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain overlap in time, performing the beam scanning of the second domain according to the scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain, if a priority of the beam scanning of the second domain is higher than a priority of the beam scanning of the first domain.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein, The second period is k times of the first period, k is an integer greater than 2, the first p periods of time in the second period are configured to perform p times of beam scanning of the first domain, and the last q periods of time in the second period are configured to perform beam scanning of the second domain, p and q are positive integers, and p+q=k.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The method further comprises: performing beam scanning of the first domain; receiving first information of feedback of the beam scanning of the first domain; performing beam scanning of the second domain according to the first information.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The method further comprises: performing beam scanning of the first domain or the second domain; receiving first information of feedback of the beam scanning; stopping performing beam scanning of the first domain and the second domain according to the first information.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending configuration information, the configuration information indicating a beam scanning configuration of the first domain and / or a beam scanning configuration of the second domain.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The configuration information further indicates a priority relationship between the beam scanning of the first domain and the beam scanning of the second domain.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The beam scanning configuration of the first domain comprises at least one of a time length of the first period, a starting time domain position of the first period, a time of performing beam scanning of the first domain within the first period, or a number of beams scanned in the first domain.

15. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein, The beam scanning configuration of the first domain comprises at least one of a time length of the second period, a starting time domain position of the second period, a time of performing beam scanning of the second domain within the second period, or a number of beams scanned in the second domain.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12-15, characterized in that, The configuration information further indicates time-frequency resources for carrying a scanning result of the beam scanning of the first domain, and / or time-frequency resources for carrying a scanning result of the beam scanning of the second domain.

17. The method of any one of claims 1-16, wherein, The first domain is a frequency domain, and the second domain is a spatial domain; or the first domain is a spatial domain, and the second domain is a frequency domain.

18. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises a module for performing the method of any one of claims 1-17.

19. A communications device, characterized by Comprise: a processor; The processor is configured to be coupled with a memory, and the memory is configured to store computer instructions, when the processor executes the instructions, to enable the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-17.

20. The communication apparatus according to claim 19, wherein The communication device is a chip.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium comprises a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, to enable the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-17.

22. A computer program product, characterised in that, Comprise a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, to enable the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-17.

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