Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, relating to the technical field of communications. In the method, by constructing a grating lobe, and using joint scanning of a transmitting array and a receiving array (that is, setting a transmission scanning parameter of a transmitting node and a reception scanning parameter of a receiving node in an association manner), the scanning overhead can be reduced while the sensing performance gain is ensured.

Description

Communication methods and devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411530810.8, filed on October 29, 2024, entitled "Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0003] With the development and advancement of communication technology, in future cellular networks, base stations will not only enable the interconnection of people and things, but will also possess sensing capabilities. This enabling technology, which combines communication and sensing functions in a mutually beneficial and collaborative manner, is called integrated sensing and communication (ISAC). In ISAC, transmitting nodes can send signals, and receiving nodes can receive the echo signals to detect targets and estimate their speed, distance, angle, trajectory, shape, and size. However, for complex sensing scenarios, current sensing performance is relatively poor, and signal scanning time is quite long. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that can improve sensing performance and reduce scanning time overhead.

[0005] The present application is described below from different aspects. It should be understood that the different implementation methods and beneficial effects described below can be referenced from each other.

[0006] Firstly, this application provides a communication method applicable to a central node, which can be a network-side device, such as a network-side access network device. The access network device can be an access network equipment, a module (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system) within the access network equipment, or a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the access network device's functions. In this method, the central node acquires first information, which includes antenna array parameters of a transmitting node and / or antenna array parameters of a receiving node. Based on the first information, the central node can determine the transmission scanning parameters of the transmitting node and the reception scanning parameters of the receiving node. The transmission scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmitting beam, and the reception scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the receiving beam. A first transmission scanning angle in the set of scanning angles of the transmitting beam corresponds to multiple reception scanning angles in the set of scanning angles of the receiving beam, and the multiple reception scanning angles corresponding to the first transmission scanning angle include the pointing angle of the main lobe and the pointing angle of the grating lobe. For example, the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node included in the first information may be sent by the transmitting node to the central node, and the antenna array parameters of the receiving node included in the first information may be sent by the receiving node to the central node.

[0007] In the embodiments of this application, by constructing grating lobes and employing joint scanning of the transceiver array (or associating the transmit scanning parameters of the transmitting node and the receive scanning parameters of the receiving node), scanning overhead can be reduced while ensuring sensing performance gains.

[0008] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters include one or more of the following:

[0009] The number of antenna elements, the minimum spacing between antenna elements, or the arrangement of antenna elements.

[0010] In this implementation, the central node can obtain parameters related to the transmit array and / or the receive array, which facilitates the joint configuration of the transmit scanning parameters of the transmit node and the receive scanning parameters of the receive node.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the set of scanning angles for the transmitted beam includes a first set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a second set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction; the set of scanning angles for the received beam includes a third set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a fourth set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction.

[0012] In this implementation, by configuring the pitch scanning angle and the azimuth scanning angle, it is beneficial to achieve omnidirectional scanning of the sensing area.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ]. n The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t nl ];

[0014] Wherein, n is the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set, and l is the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set.

[0015] Under this implementation, this configuration method (hereinafter referred to as the emission scanning parameter configuration method (1) for easy distinction) is beneficial to reduce configuration overhead. This is because after each of the n pitch angles is combined with each of the l azimuth angles, n×l scanning angles can be obtained.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ]. k The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t k ];

[0017] Wherein, the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set is the same as the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set, and both are k.

[0018] Under this implementation, this configuration method (hereinafter referred to as the emission scanning parameter configuration method (2) for easy distinction) is conducive to improving the flexibility of configuration. This is because the k pitch angles in the first scanning angle set and the k azimuth angles in the second scanning angle set are in one-to-one correspondence, which is conducive to the central node flexibly configuring any angle that needs to be scanned according to the requirements.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0020] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, n is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0021] In this implementation, corresponding to the transmit scanning parameter configuration method (1), the associated receive scanning parameters are configured (for ease of distinction, they will be referred to as the receive scanning parameter configuration method (1-1)). This can enhance beam resolution while enabling the receiving node to acquire echo data or sensing results from multiple directions at the same time, thereby helping to reduce the scanning time overhead.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles includes scanning angles. and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination also satisfies:

[0023] In this implementation, the radiation pattern (i.e., beam shape) of the antenna array in space is simultaneously affected by both the azimuth and elevation antenna elements. In other words, the effects of the azimuth and elevation antenna elements are not completely independent and interfere with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to limit... It should be noted that in this application, i and j in the parameters / formulas represent unknowns, and their range of values ​​differs in different parameters / formulas. For example... and The ranges of values ​​for i and j are different, as will be discussed later.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0025] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set is the same as the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set, and both are k.

[0026] In this implementation, corresponding to the transmit scanning parameter configuration method (2), the associated receive scanning parameters are configured (for ease of distinction, they will be referred to as receive scanning parameter configuration method (2-1)). This can enhance beam resolution while enabling the receiving node to acquire echo data or sensing results from multiple directions at the same time, thereby helping to reduce the scanning time overhead.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles includes scanning angles. and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination also satisfies:

[0028] In this implementation, the radiation pattern (i.e., beam shape) of the antenna array in space is simultaneously affected by both the azimuth and elevation antenna elements. In other words, the effects of the azimuth and elevation antenna elements are not completely independent and interfere with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to limit...

[0029] In one possible implementation, the transmitting node and the receiving node are the same node.

[0030] In this implementation, when the transmitting node and the receiving node are the same node, the associated configuration of the aforementioned transmitting scan parameter configuration method (1) and receiving scan parameter configuration method (1-1), as well as the associated configuration of the transmitting scan parameter configuration method (2) and receiving scan parameter configuration method (2-1), helps to obtain more transmit and receive joint scanning gain.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0032] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, n is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0033] In this implementation, corresponding to the transmit scanning parameter configuration method (1), the associated receive scanning parameters are configured (for ease of distinction, they will be referred to as receive scanning parameter configuration method (1-2) below). This can enhance beam resolution while enabling the receiving node to acquire echo data or sensing results from multiple directions at the same time, thereby helping to reduce the scanning time overhead.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles includes scanning angles. and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination also satisfies:

[0035] In this implementation, the radiation pattern (i.e., beam shape) of the antenna array in space is simultaneously affected by both the azimuth and elevation antenna elements. In other words, the effects of the azimuth and elevation antenna elements are not completely independent and interfere with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to limit...

[0036] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0037] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set is the same as the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set, and both are k.

[0038] In this implementation, corresponding to the transmit scanning parameter configuration method (2), the associated receive scanning parameters are configured (for ease of distinction, they will be referred to as receive scanning parameter configuration method (2-2)). This can enhance beam resolution while enabling the receiving node to acquire echo data or sensing results from multiple directions at the same time.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles includes scanning angles. and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination also satisfies:

[0040] In this implementation, the radiation pattern (i.e., beam shape) of the antenna array in space is simultaneously affected by both the azimuth and elevation antenna elements. In other words, the effects of the azimuth and elevation antenna elements are not completely independent and interfere with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to limit...

[0041] In one possible implementation, the transmitting node and the receiving node are different nodes.

[0042] In this implementation, when the transmitting node and the receiving node are different nodes, the associated configuration of the aforementioned transmitting scan parameter configuration method (1) and receiving scan parameter configuration method (1-2), as well as the associated configuration of the transmitting scan parameter configuration method (2) and receiving scan parameter configuration method (2-2), helps to obtain more transmit and receive joint scanning gain.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the emission scanning angle θ in the first set of scanning angles i and the receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set satisfy:

[0044] Among them, the for or The k1 j k1 is the order of the pitch grating lobe. j satisfy d1 is the pitch spacing between the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the emission scanning angles in the second set of scanning angles and the receiving scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set satisfy:

[0046] Among them, the for or The k2 j k2 is the order of the azimuth grating lobe. j satisfy d2 is the azimuth spacing between the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the transmitting node and the receiving node are different nodes; the transmitting scanning angle θ in the first scanning angle set i The emission scanning angle in the second set of scanning angles The receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set and the receiving scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set satisfy:

[0048] Among them, the for The for The for The for Or, the for The for The for The for Where r is the radius of the sphere in the spherical coordinate system corresponding to the transmitting node, T is the translation matrix, R is the rotation matrix, and k1 j satisfy The k2j satisfy d1 and d2 are the elevation and azimuth spacings between the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, respectively, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

[0049] In one possible implementation, the translation matrix T satisfies:

[0050] Wherein, the t x The t represents the translation of the physical position of the receiving node relative to the physical position of the transmitting node along the x-axis of the coordinate system in which the transmitting node is located. y The t represents the translation of the physical position of the receiving node relative to the physical position of the transmitting node along the y-axis of the coordinate system in which the transmitting node is located. z This represents the amount of translation of the physical position of the receiving node relative to the physical position of the transmitting node along the z-axis of the coordinate system in which the transmitting node is located.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the rotation matrix R satisfies:

[0052] Wherein, α represents the rotation of the coordinate system where the receiving node is located relative to the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located about the x-axis of the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located, β represents the rotation of the coordinate system where the receiving node is located relative to the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located about the y-axis of the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located, and γ represents the rotation of the coordinate system where the receiving node is located relative to the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located about the z-axis of the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located.

[0053] In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0054] Send the transmit scan parameters and / or the receive scan parameters.

[0055] In this implementation, the central node can configure transmission scanning parameters for the transmitting node and reception scanning parameters for the receiving node. This allows the transmitting node to send sensing signals according to the transmission scanning parameters and the receiving node to process the received echo signals according to the reception scanning parameters during the sensing phase. This improves sensing performance and reduces scanning time overhead.

[0056] In one possible implementation, obtaining the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node includes:

[0057] Receive the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0058] In this implementation, the central node can receive the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and the antenna array parameters of the receiving node sent by the transmitting node, in order to determine appropriate transmitting and receiving scanning parameters, thereby improving subsequent sensing performance and reducing scanning time overhead.

[0059] In one possible implementation, before receiving the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node, the method further includes:

[0060] Send a transmit-receive joint sensing service request, which is used to trigger the transmitting node to send the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or trigger the receiving node to send the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0061] In this implementation, the central node can send a joint sensing service request to trigger the corresponding node to feed back antenna array parameters. This allows the transmitting node to feed back its antenna array parameters to the central node based on the central node's request, while supporting joint sensing. Similarly, the receiving node can feed back its antenna array parameters to the central node based on the central node's request, which is highly applicable.

[0062] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node are carried in the capability information of the transmitting node, wherein the capability information of the transmitting node also includes one or more of the following:

[0063] The frequency information supported by the transmitting node, the bandwidth information supported by the transmitting node, the polarization information of the antenna array of the transmitting node, the orientation of the antenna, the physical location information of the transmitting node, or the sensing time information.

[0064] In this implementation, in addition to sending the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node to the central node, the transmitting node can also report other capability information to the central node, which helps to assist the central node in configuring scanning parameters.

[0065] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the receiving node are carried in the capability information of the receiving node, wherein the capability information of the receiving node further includes one or more of the following:

[0066] The frequency information supported by the receiving node, the bandwidth information supported by the receiving node, the polarization information of the antenna array of the receiving node, the orientation of the antenna, the physical location information of the receiving node, or the sensing time information.

[0067] In this implementation, in addition to sending the antenna array parameters of the receiving node to the central node, the receiving node can also report other capability information to the central node, which helps to assist the central node in configuring scanning parameters.

[0068] In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0069] Receive echo data or sensing results from the receiving node.

[0070] In this implementation, the receiving node can directly feed back echo data to the central node, or it can feed back the sensing results obtained after processing the echo data to the central node, which is highly operable.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0072] When the central node and the transmitting node are the same node, a sensing signal is sent according to the transmitting scanning parameters.

[0073] In this implementation, when the central node and the transmitting node are the same node, it does not need to send the transmission scanning parameters, but instead sends the sensing signal according to the transmission scanning parameters, which saves parameter configuration overhead.

[0074] In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0075] When the central node and the receiving node are the same node, the processing order of the echo signal corresponding to the sensing signal is determined according to the receiving scanning parameters.

[0076] In this implementation, when the central node and the receiving node are the same node, it does not need to send the receiving scanning parameters. Instead, after receiving the echo signal, it determines the processing order of the echo signal corresponding to the sensing signal based on the receiving scanning parameters, which saves parameter configuration overhead.

[0077] Secondly, this application provides a communication method that can be applied to a transmitting node. The transmitting node can be a terminal-side device, such as a terminal or a communication / processing module within the terminal, or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions (e.g., a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip), or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for processing functions (e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU), an artificial intelligence (AI) processor, or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)). The transmitting node can also be a network-side device, such as a network-side access network device. The access network device can be an access network equipment, a module within the access network equipment (e.g., a circuit, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the access network device's functions. In this method, the transmitting node acquires transmission scanning parameters and can activate some antenna elements in the transmitting node's antenna array to transmit sensing signals according to the transmission scanning parameters. The transmission scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmission beam. The activated antenna elements are antenna elements uniformly arranged in the antenna array of the transmitting node. The pitch spacing between adjacent antenna elements in the activated antenna elements satisfies max{Δd1, (m-1)×Δd1}, and the azimuth spacing satisfies max{Δd2, (0-1)×Δd2}. Δd1 is the minimum spacing between antenna elements along the pitch direction, and Δd2 is the minimum spacing between antenna elements along the azimuth direction. Δd1 and Δd2 are generally half of the carrier wavelength.

[0078] In one possible implementation, obtaining the emission scanning parameters includes:

[0079] Receive the transmission scanning parameters.

[0080] In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0081] Transmit the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node.

[0082] In one possible implementation, before transmitting the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node, the method further includes:

[0083] Receive a transmit-receive joint sensing service request, which is used to trigger the transmitting node to send the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node.

[0084] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node include one or more of the following:

[0085] The number of antenna elements, the minimum spacing between antenna elements, or the arrangement of antenna elements.

[0086] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node are carried in the capability information of the transmitting node, wherein the capability information of the transmitting node also includes one or more of the following:

[0087] The frequency information supported by the transmitting node, the bandwidth information supported by the transmitting node, the polarization information of the antenna array of the transmitting node, the orientation of the antenna, the physical location information of the transmitting node, or the sensing time information.

[0088] In one possible implementation, the set of scanning angles of the transmitted beam includes a first set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a second set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction.

[0089] In one possible implementation, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ]. n The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t nl ];

[0090] Wherein, n is the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set, and l is the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set.

[0091] In one possible implementation, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ]. k The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t k ];

[0092] Wherein, the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set is the same as the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set, and both are k.

[0093] Thirdly, this application provides a communication method that can be applied to a receiving node. The receiving node can be a terminal-side device, such as a terminal or a communication / processing module within a terminal, or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions (e.g., a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core), or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for processing functions (e.g., a GPU, AI processor, or ASIC). The receiving node can also be a network-side device, such as a network-side access network device. The access network device can be an access network equipment, a module within the access network equipment (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system), or a logic node, logic module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the access network device's functions. In this method, the receiving node acquires receiving scanning parameters, which are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the receiving beam; it receives multiple echo signals corresponding to the sensing signal through the receiving beam, the multiple echo signals including echo signals corresponding to the main lobe and echo signals corresponding to the grating lobe; and it determines the processing order of the multiple echo signals according to the receiving scanning parameters.

[0094] In one possible implementation, obtaining the receive scan parameters includes:

[0095] Receive the received scan parameters.

[0096] In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0097] Antenna array parameters of the transmitting and receiving nodes.

[0098] In one possible implementation, prior to the antenna array parameters of the transmitting and receiving nodes, the method further includes:

[0099] The receiving node receives a joint sensing service request, which is used to trigger the receiving node to send the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0100] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the receiving node include one or more of the following:

[0101] The number of antenna elements, the minimum spacing between antenna elements, or the arrangement of antenna elements.

[0102] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the receiving node are carried in the capability information of the receiving node, wherein the capability information of the receiving node further includes one or more of the following:

[0103] The frequency information supported by the receiving node, the bandwidth information supported by the receiving node, the polarization information of the antenna array of the receiving node, the orientation of the antenna, the physical location information of the receiving node, or the sensing time information.

[0104] In one possible implementation, the set of scanning angles of the receiving beam includes a third set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a fourth set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction.

[0105] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0106] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, n is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0107] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0108] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set is the same as the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set, and both are k.

[0109] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0110] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, n is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0111] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0112] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set is the same as the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set, and both are k.

[0113] Fourthly, this application provides a communication device comprising units or modules for performing any of the methods described in the first to third aspects, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0114] Fifthly, this application provides a communication device including a processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor, or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device. The processor uses logic circuits and / or executes computer programs or instructions to implement any of the methods in the first to third aspects, or any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0115] Optionally, the communication interface can be a transceiver, interface circuit, input / output interface, input / output module, chip pin, or other type of communication interface.

[0116] Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory storing computer programs or instructions; the processor is used to invoke the computer program in the memory, causing the communication device to perform the method shown in any of the first to third aspects, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0117] In one possible design, the communication device can be a chip, a chip system, or a device containing a chip that implements the above method.

[0118] In a sixth aspect, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the method shown in any of the first to third aspects, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0119] In a seventh aspect, this application provides a computer program product that, when read and executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the methods in the first to third aspects, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0120] Eighthly, this application provides a chip system including at least one processor and an interface, the processor being configured to read and execute instructions stored in a memory, wherein when the instructions are executed, the chip performs the method as described in any one of the first or third aspects, or the method shown in any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0121] Ninthly, this application provides a communication system that may include a central node. The central node is used to perform the methods shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof. The communication system may also include a transmitting node, which is used to perform the methods shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof. The communication system may further include a receiving node, which is used to perform the methods shown in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Attached Figure Description

[0122] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system used in the embodiments of this application;

[0123] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the perception scene provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0124] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the constructed grating lobe provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0125] Figure 4A is a schematic diagram of the sensing performance when the transmitting beam and the receiving beam point in the same direction, as provided in the embodiment of this application.

[0126] Figure 4B is a schematic diagram of the sensing performance when the transmitting beam and the receiving beam point differently, according to an embodiment of this application.

[0127] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of point-by-point scanning provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0128] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0129] Figure 7 is another flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0130] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of an antenna array provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0131] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of another scenario of the antenna array provided in the embodiment of this application;

[0132] Figure 10 is another flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0133] Figure 11 is another flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0134] Figure 12 is another flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0135] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the sensing performance of a receiving array scanning alone and a transmitting array and receiving array jointly scanning with a grid-lobe structure provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0136] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0137] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0138] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0139] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0140] In the description of this application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, " / " means "or," for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this document is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone. Additionally, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a and b and c. Where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0141] The terms “comprising” and “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the steps or units listed, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0142] In this application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the words "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0143] It is understood that in this application, "when," "if," and "if" all refer to the device making a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances, and are not time-limited, nor do they require the device to make a judgment action when it is implemented, nor do they mean that there are other limitations.

[0144] In this application, the use of singular designations for elements is intended to represent "one or more" rather than "one and only one," unless otherwise specified.

[0145] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, "B corresponding to A" means that there is a correspondence between A and B, and B can be determined based on A. Determining B based on A does not mean that B is determined solely based on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0146] To better understand the embodiments of this application, the system architecture involved in the embodiments of this application will be described first below:

[0147] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system applied in the embodiments of this application. It should be noted that Figure 1 is a possible, non-limiting system schematic diagram. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 10 may also include an Internet 300. RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). Terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to RAN node 110. RAN node 110 is connected to core network 200 wirelessly or via a wired connection. The core network elements in core network 200 and RAN nodes 110 in RAN 100 can be different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device integrating core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions, or a single physical device integrating some core network element functions and some RAN node 110 functions. Terminals can be interconnected with each other, and RAN nodes 110 can be interconnected with each other via wired or wireless means. Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram; this communication system may also include other network devices, such as network management devices, core network devices, another base station, or new devices introduced in the future network (e.g., mobile intelligent units responsible for wireless intelligent functions), etc. These other network devices are connected to the RAN nodes via wired or wireless links.

[0148] RAN 100 can be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 4G, 5G mobile communication systems, or future-oriented evolution systems. RAN 100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. RAN 100 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0149] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as a radio access network device, access network apparatus, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of the communication system and is used to help terminals achieve wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in communication system 10 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are relative. For example, network element 120i in Figure 1 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j accessing RAN 100 through network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; but for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal. RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are sometimes both referred to as communication devices. For example, network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0150] In one possible scenario, RAN node 110 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 WiFi system. RAN node 110 can be a macro base station (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), a micro base station or indoor station (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), a relay node or donor node, or a radio controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, RAN node 110 can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the radio access network equipment in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of RAN node 110 in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). In this application, RAN node 110 can also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of RAN node 110.

[0151] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes 110 collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, with each RAN node 110 implementing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, a RAN node 110 can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. CUs and DUs can be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs).

[0152] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an ORAN system, CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0153] A terminal, also known as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT), is a device used to provide voice or data connectivity to users, or a handheld device or in-vehicle device with wireless connectivity. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, and smart cities. Currently, terminals can include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, handheld computers, mobile internet devices (MIDs), computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices (such as smartwatches, smart bracelets, pedometers, smart glasses, etc.), in-vehicle equipment (such as cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, ships, trains, high-speed trains, etc.), satellite terminals, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, point-of-sale (POS) machines, customer-premises equipment (CPE), light user equipment (UE), reduced capability user equipment (REDCAP UE), wireless terminals in industrial control, smart home devices (such as refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners, electricity meters, etc.), intelligent robots, robotic arms, workshop equipment, wireless terminals in autonomous driving, wireless terminals in telemedicine, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, or wireless terminals in smart homes, and flying equipment (such as intelligent robots, hot air balloons, drones, airplanes), etc. The terminal can also be a vehicle device, such as a complete vehicle device, an in-vehicle module, an in-vehicle chip, an on-board unit (OBU), or a telematics box (T-BOX). The terminal can also be other devices with terminal functions; for example, it can be a device that performs terminal functions in D2D communication. The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form of the terminal. The device used to implement the terminal function can be a terminal itself; it can also be a device capable of supporting the terminal in implementing that function, such as a chip system.The device can be installed in a terminal or used in conjunction with a terminal. In this embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips or include chips and other discrete devices. All or part of the terminal's functions in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

[0154] For ease of description, the following description uses a base station as an example of RAN node 110. Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. Base stations and terminals can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminals.

[0155] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with terminal functions.

[0156] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0157] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem, including base station functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal, or by a device that includes terminal functions.

[0158] In this application, the base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to the terminal, with the downlink information carried on the downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, with the uplink information carried on the uplink channel. To communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a radio connection on a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a radio connection is called the terminal's serving cell. When the terminal communicates with this serving cell, it is also susceptible to interference from signals from neighboring cells.

[0159] In this application, "sending information" can be understood as one device sending information to another device, or it can also be understood as one logical module within a device sending information to another logical module. For example, "base station sending information" can be understood as the base station sending information to another device (such as a terminal), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the base station sending information to logical module 2 in the base station.

[0160] In this application, "receiving information" can be understood as one device receiving information from another device, or it can also be understood as a logical module within a device receiving information from another logical module. For example, "base station receiving information" can be understood as the base station receiving information from another device (such as a terminal), or it can be understood as logical module 1 in the base station receiving information from logical module 2 in the base station.

[0161] In this application, phrases such as "sending information to... (e.g., a terminal)" or related illustrations in the accompanying drawings can be understood as indicating that the destination of the information is a terminal. This can include sending information directly or indirectly to a terminal. Similarly, phrases such as "receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal)," "receiving information from... (e.g., a terminal)," or "receiving information sent by (e.g., a terminal)," or related illustrations in the accompanying drawings, can be understood as indicating that the source of the information is a terminal. This can include receiving information directly or indirectly from a terminal. Information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be interpreted similarly and will not be elaborated further here.

[0162] It should be noted that the central node, transmitting node, and receiving node involved in this application can be various devices supporting wireless sensing functions. Generally, the central node is a network-side device, such as a network-side access network device. This access network device can be an access network equipment, a module within the access network equipment (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system), or a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the access network device's functions. Alternatively, the central node can also be a core network element, such as a location management function (LMF), or a newly defined network element, such as a sensing management function (SMF). Furthermore, the central node can also be a network management device.

[0163] The transmitting and receiving nodes can be network-side devices, such as network-side access network devices, or terminal-side devices, such as terminals or communication / processing modules within terminals. Optionally, the central node, transmitting node, and receiving node can be different nodes, or they can be the same node, or the central node and transmitting node can be the same node, or the central node and receiving node can be the same node, etc., and this application does not limit this. That is to say, the functions of different nodes can be deployed on the same node or deployed on different nodes. The transmitting and receiving nodes can also be collectively referred to as sensing nodes.

[0164] Optionally, the transmitting node and the receiving node can be the same node. Generally speaking, a sensing scenario where the transmitting node and the receiving node are the same node is called a single-base sensing scenario. For example, Figure 2(a) is a schematic diagram of a single-base sensing scenario. The sensing node can be a network-side device such as a base station, station (STA), access point, or wireless router, or a terminal-side device such as a mobile phone, tablet, automated guided vehicle (AGV), drone, or car. The central node is generally a network-side device. In a single-base sensing scenario, the sensing node can transmit and receive signals independently for sensing and measurement.

[0165] Optionally, the transmitting node and the receiving node can be different nodes. Generally speaking, a sensing scenario where the transmitting node and the receiving node are different nodes is called a dual-base sensing scenario. Figure 2(b) is a schematic diagram of a dual-base sensing scenario. As shown in Figure 2(b), the central node, the transmitting node, and the receiving node are different nodes. There is a communication link between the transmitting node, the receiving node, and the central node. The central node, the transmitting node, and the receiving node can exchange information and configure parameters. The transmitting node and the receiving node have independent sensing capabilities. The transmitting node or the receiving node can be a network-side device such as a base station, STA, AP, or wireless router, or a terminal-side device such as a mobile phone, tablet, AGV, drone, or car (Figure 2(b) only uses a base station as an example). The central node is generally a network-side device. In the dual-base sensing scenario, the transmitting node sends a sensing signal, and the receiving node receives the echo signal corresponding to the sensing signal and performs sensing measurement through signal processing.

[0166] Optionally, in the dual-base scenario, there are two special scenarios, as shown in Figure 2(c): the central node and the transmitting node coincide, in which case the central node has both the functions of a central node and a transmitting node, that is, the central node and the transmitting node are the same node. As shown in Figure 2(d), the central node and the receiving node coincide, in which case the central node has both the functions of a central node and a receiving node, that is, the central node and the receiving node are the same node.

[0167] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, some knowledge / terms used in the solutions of this application are introduced below. It should be noted that these explanations are for the purpose of making the embodiments of this application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0168] 1. Sensing signals

[0169] Sensing signals refer to signals used to sense or detect targets, or signals used to sense or detect environmental information. For example, a sensing signal is an electromagnetic wave transmitted by a network-side device to sense environmental information. Sensing signals can also be called radar signals, radar sensing signals, detection signals, radar detection signals, environmental sensing signals, etc., and are not limited to these terms in the embodiments of this application.

[0170] 2. Echo signal

[0171] Echo signal refers to the electromagnetic feedback signal generated by electromagnetic waves (in this embodiment, the sensing signal) passing through the sensing target, such as transmission, scattering, and reflection.

[0172] 3. Perceived target

[0173] The sensed target can include various tangible objects on the ground that can be sensed, such as mountains, forests, or buildings, and can also include mobile objects such as vehicles, drones, pedestrians, and terminal devices. That is, the sensed target can be an active target or a passive target. An active target is one that can actively emit signals, such as a mobile terminal or a car, while a passive target is one that cannot actively emit signals, such as mountains or buildings. The sensed target can feed back electromagnetic waves to the network-side device. The sensed target can also be called a sensing target, a detected target, a sensed object, a sensed device, etc., and this application does not limit the terminology used in its embodiments.

[0174] 4. Antenna array

[0175] Generally, the directivity of a single antenna is limited. To suit various applications, two or more individual antennas operating at the same frequency are fed and spatially arranged according to certain requirements to form an antenna array, also called an antenna array or array antenna. The antenna radiating elements that make up an antenna array are called array elements, or antenna vibrators, etc. Antenna arrays can enhance and improve the directivity of the radiation field and increase the intensity of the radiation field.

[0176] For ease of description, in the following embodiments, the antenna array of the transmitting node can be simply referred to as the transmitting array, and the antenna array of the receiving node can be simply referred to as the receiving array.

[0177] 5. Roof orientation

[0178] The orientation of the antenna array of a network-side device is simply referred to as the antenna orientation. The antenna orientation of a network-side device includes both the azimuth and elevation angles of the antenna array.

[0179] 6. Grating lobe (GL)

[0180] For a uniform linear array containing multiple radiating elements, if the spacing d between the active / used antenna elements in the array exceeds one wavelength, side lobes with amplitudes equal to the main lobe will periodically appear; these are called grating lobes. The beamwidth and gain amplitude of the grating lobe are approximately the same as those of the main lobe.

[0181] For example, please refer to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of the grating lobe construction provided in the embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 3, assuming that the antenna array of the transmitting node is a 1×31 uniform linear array, and the minimum spacing between the antenna elements Δd=0.5λ, that is, half of the carrier wavelength, or half wavelength, if only the antenna elements at the head and tail ends are selected (that is, only antenna elements 1 and 31 are turned on) to transmit signals, then the spacing between the turned-on antenna elements is 15 times the wavelength. At this time, the corresponding transmission beam will have 1 main lobe and 30 grating lobes.

[0182] 7. 3dB beamwidth

[0183] The 3dB beamwidth is the angle between two directions in which the radiated power of the array antenna decreases by 3dB on either side of the direction of maximum radiated power. The 3dB beamwidth determines the antenna's ability to distinguish two adjacent targets at the same distance, and has a crucial impact on sensing performance (including imaging processing). The narrower the beam, the better the directivity and focus on the target.

[0184] Currently, traditional communication networks are evolving into integrated communication and sensing networks. Integrated communication and sensing refers to the addition of wireless sensing capabilities to traditional communication functions. Wireless sensing technology utilizes electromagnetic waves generated by a transmitting antenna to illuminate the sensing area, forming multiple propagation paths. The receiving antenna receives the echo signal from the superimposed multipath paths, which reflects various information about the signal propagation space. By analyzing and processing the received echo signal, the characteristics of the signal propagation space can be obtained, enabling sensing functions such as target localization, motion monitoring, and scene imaging.

[0185] Currently, compared to scanning the transmitting array or the receiving array alone, joint scanning by the transmitting and receiving arrays enhances sensing performance. As shown in Figure 4A, when both the transmitting and receiving arrays have 31 antenna elements and the minimum spacing between the antenna elements is half a wavelength, the corresponding beams for the transmitting array, the receiving array, and the combined beam are Tx-Beam, Rx-Beam, and TRx-Beam, respectively. In this case, the transmitting and receiving beams point in the same direction, forming a combined transmitting and receiving beam. It should be noted that the transmitting beam in this application refers to the actual beam transmitted in space, while the receiving beam is a virtual equivalent beam formed by digital signal processing at the receiving node and is not visible in space.

[0186] As can be seen from Figure 4A, compared to the transmit beam (or the beam formed by the transmit array scanning alone) and the receive beam (or the beam formed by the receive beam scanning alone), the transmit-receive combined beam (or the beam formed by the transmit array and the receive array scanning together) has a narrower main lobe (i.e., a narrower 3dB beamwidth) and lower sidelobes, thus resulting in better sensing performance. For example, the sensing resolution performance and sidelobe performance (such as integrated sidelobe ratio (ISLR) and peak to sidelobe ratio (PSLR)) are both improved.

[0187] Figure 4B shows the sensing performance of the transmit beam, receive beam, and transmit / receive combined beam when the transmit and receive beams point in different directions. As can be seen from Figure 4B, the transmit / receive combined beam exhibits multiple peaks, and the sidelobe performance (such as ISLR and PSLR) deteriorates.

[0188] As described above, the gain of joint transmit and receive beam scanning requires appropriate transmit and receive beam parameters. As shown in Figures 4A and 4B, the joint transmit and receive beams only achieve optimal performance gain when their directions are the same. Furthermore, when scanning a defined sensing area, the current transmit beam needs to scan point-by-point (i.e., transmit a beam in one direction each time) to cover the entire sensing area. However, this point-by-point scanning method results in significant scanning time overhead, especially for complex sensing scenarios. How to reduce the transmit scanning time overhead while ensuring sensing performance gain is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0189] For example, Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of point-by-point scanning provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 5, the scanning angle at time t1 is -17.45°, the scanning angle at time t2 is 0°, and the scanning angle at time t3 is 17.45°. In addition, Figure 5 also shows the sensing performance of the beam corresponding to the transmitting array scanning alone (i.e., Tx-Beam), the beam corresponding to the receiving array scanning alone (i.e., Rx-Beam), and the beam corresponding to the joint scanning of the transmitting and receiving arrays (i.e., TRx-Beam). As can be seen from Figure 5, when the transmitting and receiving beams point in the same direction, the joint scanning of the transmitting and receiving arrays has a greater gain than the scanning of the transmitting or receiving arrays alone.

[0190] Based on this, this application proposes a communication method that, by constructing grating lobes and configuring the transmission scanning parameters of the transmitting node and the reception scanning parameters of the receiving node, improves sensing performance and reduces scanning time overhead. Compared to current implementation schemes that try to avoid grating lobe generation in the sensing process (because grating lobes may cause angle measurement ambiguity and affect transmission power), this application utilizes the characteristics of grating lobes to achieve multi-beam scanning, thus greatly reducing scanning overhead. For example, taking elevation scanning as an example, the set of angles to be scanned can be changed from the third scanning angle set to the first scanning angle set, and the scanning time overhead is 1 / m of the original, where m is the sum of the number of main lobes and grating lobes in the elevation direction.

[0191] It should be noted that in the description of this application, "instruction information" can include direct and indirect instructions, as well as explicit and implicit instructions. The information indicated by a certain piece of information (such as the instruction information of an antenna vibrator in the following text) is called the instruction information. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the instruction information. For example, the instruction information can be directly indicated, including the instruction information itself or its index. Alternatively, the instruction information can be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where there is a correlation between the other information and the instruction information. Furthermore, only a part of the instruction information can be indicated, while the other parts are known, pre-agreed, or deducible. Additionally, the instruction of specific information can be achieved by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol-defined) arrangement of various pieces of information, thereby reducing the instruction overhead to some extent.

[0192] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application... The symbols ~, ˉ, ` and ˇ at the top of ā, à, and ǎ are only used to distinguish different objects.

[0193] It should be noted that the coordinate system corresponding to / located in the transmitting node in this application embodiment can also be described as the coordinate system corresponding to / located in the transmitting array. Similarly, the coordinate system corresponding to / located in the receiving node can also be described as the coordinate system corresponding to / located in the receiving array. In this application embodiment, asin is the inverse sine function in inverse trigonometric functions, acos is the inverse cosine function in inverse trigonometric functions, atan is the inverse tangent function in inverse trigonometric functions, and max is the maximum value function. In addition, i and j involved in the parameters / formulas in this application represent unknowns, and their value ranges are different in different parameters / formulas.

[0194] The communication method and apparatus provided in this application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that this application uses a central node, a transmitting node, and a receiving node as examples to illustrate the interaction. The central node can be a network-side device, such as a network-side access network device. This access network device can be an access network equipment, a module within the access network equipment (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system), or a logical node, logical module, or software capable of implementing all or part of the access network device's functions. Alternatively, the central node can also be a core network element or network management equipment, etc., without limitation. The transmitting and receiving nodes can be network-side devices, or they can also be terminal-side devices, such as a terminal or a communication / processing module within the terminal, or a circuit or chip within the terminal responsible for communication / processing functions (e.g., a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip), or a SoC chip / SIP chip containing a modem core, or a GPU / AI processor / ASIC).

[0195] Please refer to Figure 6, which is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 6, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0196] S601, The central node obtains first information, which includes the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0197] Generally speaking, the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node in the first message can be sent by the transmitting node to the central node, or by other management nodes to the central node, or they can be pre-stored in the central node. Similarly, the antenna array parameters of the receiving node in the first message can be sent by the receiving node to the central node, or by other management nodes to the central node, or they can be pre-stored in the central node.

[0198] It should be understood that in the embodiments of this application, the first information including the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node represents three relationships: ① the first information includes the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node; ② the first information includes the antenna array parameters of the receiving node; ③ the first information includes both the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0199] It should be noted that the central node, transmitting node, and receiving node involved in this application can be different nodes (as shown in Figure 2(b)), or the central node and transmitting node can be the same node (as shown in Figure 2(c)), or the central node and receiving node can be the same node (as shown in Figure 2(d)), or the transmitting node and receiving node can be the same node (as shown in Figure 2(a)). Generally, scenarios where the transmitting node and receiving node are the same node are called single-base sensing scenarios, and scenarios where the transmitting node and receiving node are different nodes are called dual-base sensing scenarios. The different scenarios will be described separately later, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0200] S602. The central node determines the transmission scanning parameters of the transmitting node and the reception scanning parameters of the receiving node based on the first information.

[0201] The transmit scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmit beam, while the receive scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the receive beam. In this embodiment, the transmit scanning parameters determining the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmit beam can be understood as the transmit scanning parameters directly indicating the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmit beam; for example, the transmit scanning parameters may include the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmit beam. Optionally, the transmit scanning parameters determining the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmit beam can also be understood as the transmit scanning parameters indirectly indicating the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmit beam; for example, the transmit scanning parameters may include angle index values ​​and time index values, where one angle index value corresponds to one set of scanning angles and one time index value corresponds to one scanning order. The understanding of the receive scanning parameters determining the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the receive beam is similar and will not be repeated here.

[0202] Understandably, in the embodiments of this application, the first transmit scanning angle in the set of transmit beam scanning angles corresponds to multiple receive scanning angles in the set of receive beam scanning angles. Here, the first transmit scanning angle can be any one of the transmit scanning angles in the set of transmit beam scanning angles. The multiple receive scanning angles corresponding to the first transmit scanning angle include the pointing angle of the main lobe and the pointing angle of the grating lobe. Optionally, the above-mentioned "the multiple receive scanning angles corresponding to the first transmit scanning angle include the pointing angle of the main lobe and the pointing angle of the grating lobe" can be understood as the multiple receive scanning angles corresponding to the first transmit scanning angle being the pointing angle of the main lobe and the pointing angle of the grating lobe, respectively. Alternatively, it can be understood as the multiple receive scanning angles corresponding to the first transmit scanning angle being the pointing angle of the main lobe ± a preset angle 1, and the pointing angle of the grating lobe ± a preset angle 2. That is, the multiple receive scanning angles corresponding to the first transmit scanning angle are angles where the pointing angle of the main lobe is within a certain angle error range, and angles where the pointing angle of the grating lobe is within a certain angle error range.

[0203] The four scenarios shown in Figure 2 will be explained below.

[0204] Please refer to Figure 7, which is another flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in this application embodiment. The scenario corresponding to Figure 7 is a single-base sensing scenario, with one central node and one sensing node. The sensing node is full-duplex, meaning it simultaneously acts as both a transmitting and receiving node. The central node configures sensing resource parameters, as shown in Figure 2(a). As shown in Figure 7, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0205] S701, The central node acquires the antenna array parameters of the sensing node.

[0206] In some feasible implementations, the sensing nodes can send their antenna array parameters to the central node. Alternatively, other management nodes can send the sensing nodes' antenna array parameters to the central node. Alternatively, the sensing nodes' antenna array parameters can be pre-stored in the central node, allowing the central node to directly read the stored sensing nodes' antenna array parameters; this is not limited.

[0207] For ease of understanding, this application embodiment primarily illustrates the sending of antenna array parameters from a sensing node to a central node. In one possible implementation, before the sensing node sends the antenna array parameters to the central node, the central node may first send a transmit-receive joint sensing service request to the sensing node. This transmit-receive joint sensing service request triggers the sensing node to send the antenna array parameters. For example, after receiving the transmit-receive joint sensing service request, if the sensing node supports sensing functions, it can feed back the antenna array parameters to the central node.

[0208] Understandably, the antenna array parameters of a sensing node may include one or more of the following: the number of antenna elements in the antenna array, the minimum spacing between antenna elements (or the minimum spacing or minimum interval between adjacent antenna elements), or the arrangement of antenna elements. The minimum spacing between antenna elements may include the minimum spacing between antenna elements in the elevation direction and the minimum spacing between antenna elements in the azimuth direction. For simplicity, in this embodiment, the minimum spacing between antenna elements in the elevation direction can be represented as Δd1, and the minimum spacing between antenna elements in the azimuth direction can be represented as Δd2. Optionally, the values ​​of Δd1 and Δd2 can be 0.5λ, 0.6λ, or 0.8λ, etc., and this application does not limit them. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of this application will mainly use Δd1 and Δd2 as 0.5λ for illustrative purposes.

[0209] For example, antenna array parameters can be carried in the capability information of the sensing node. Optionally, the capability information of the sensing node may also include one or more of the following: frequency information supported by the sensing node, bandwidth information supported by the sensing node, polarization information of the antenna array of the sensing node, antenna orientation, physical location information of the sensing node, or sensing time information, etc. Here, the sensing time information can also be called sensing operating time information or time information supporting the execution of sensing operations. The physical location information of the sensing node is used to indicate the physical location of the sensing node. This physical location information can be the coordinate values ​​of the physical location (i.e., direct indication) or the index of the physical location (i.e., indirect indication).

[0210] S702. The central node determines the transmit scanning parameters and receive scanning parameters of the sensing node based on the antenna array parameters of the sensing node.

[0211] In some feasible implementations, the central node can construct grating lobes based on the transmission scanning parameters of the sensing node, and then determine the configuration of the transmission and reception scanning parameters. Specifically, in constructing grating lobes, this embodiment can increase the spacing of the activated antenna elements in the transmission array. For example, for a moving transmission node, this can be achieved by increasing the movement interval when the transmission node transmits signals; for a fixed transmission node, this can be achieved by adding windows or closing some antenna elements in the transmission array to increase the spacing of the used antenna elements. For ease of understanding, this embodiment mainly uses a fixed transmission node as an example for illustrative explanation. That is, this application can configure some antenna elements in the antenna array of the activated transmission node to transmit sensing signals, wherein the used antenna elements are antenna elements uniformly arranged in the antenna array of the transmission node, and the elevation spacing between adjacent antenna elements in the activated antenna elements satisfies (m-1)×Δd1, and the azimuth spacing satisfies (0-1)×Δd2, where Δd1 and Δd2 are the minimum spacing between antenna elements along the elevation and azimuth directions, respectively. Optionally, in the embodiments of this application, "enabled antenna element" can also be replaced with descriptions such as selected antenna element, adopted antenna element, used antenna element, or enabled antenna element, etc., without limitation.

[0212] For example, please refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of an antenna array provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 8, the antenna array includes 49 antenna elements. It is assumed that the minimum spacing between the elevation and azimuth antenna elements is the same, both being 0.5λ, and the antenna elements are arranged in a 7×7 pattern. Taking the numbering of the antenna elements in the antenna array from left to right and from top to bottom as an example, if the selected antenna elements to be activated are antenna elements 1, 3, 5, 7, 15, 17, 19, 21, 29, 31, 33, 35, 43, 45, 47, and 49 as shown in Figure 8, then theoretically, the corresponding transmitted beam will have 1 main lobe and 8 grating lobes.

[0213] The aforementioned transmit scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scan angles and scan order of the transmit beam, and the receive scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scan angles and scan order of the receive beam. Further understanding of how the transmit scanning parameters determine the set of scan angles and scan order of the transmit and receive beams can be found in the description of step S602 in Figure 6 above, and will not be repeated here. Any transmit scanning angle in the set of transmit beam scan angles (hereinafter referred to as the first transmit scanning angle for ease of description) corresponds to multiple receive scanning angles in the set of receive beam scan angles. The multiple receive scanning angles corresponding to the first transmit scanning angle include the pointing angle of the main lobe and the pointing angle of the grating lobe. Further understanding of the multiple receive scanning angles corresponding to the first transmit scanning angle, including the pointing angle of the main lobe and the pointing angle of the grating lobe, can be found in the description of step S602 in Figure 6 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0214] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, the scanning angle set of the transmitted beam includes a first scanning angle set corresponding to the elevation direction and / or a second scanning angle set corresponding to the azimuth direction. The scanning angle set of the received beam includes a third scanning angle set corresponding to the elevation direction and / or a fourth scanning angle set corresponding to the azimuth direction. Optionally, the elevation direction can also be referred to as the vertical direction, and the azimuth direction can also be referred to as the horizontal direction.

[0215] In one possible transmission scanning parameter configuration (1), the first scanning angle set mentioned above can be [θ1, θ2, ..., θ n The second set of scanning angles can be The scanning order of the transmitted beam can be [t1, t2, ..., t nl Where n is the number of transmission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set, and l is the number of transmission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set. That is, after combining each of the n pitch angles in the first scanning angle set with each of the l azimuth angles in the second scanning angle set, n×l scanning angles can be obtained.

[0216] For a concrete example, taking n=3 and l=2, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, θ3], and the second set of scanning angles is... The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t6], that is:

[0217] At time t1, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0218] At time t2, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0219] At time t3, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is:

[0220] At time t4, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0221] At time t5, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is:

[0222] At time t6, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is:

[0223] Corresponding to the above transmission scanning parameter configuration method (1), there is the following reception scanning parameter configuration method (1-1): The third scanning angle set can be The fourth set of scanning angles can be The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: Where m⁻¹ is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation-direction transmitted beam, o⁻¹ is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth-direction transmitted beam, n is the number of transmitted scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmitted scan angles included in the second scan angle set. Optionally, the combination of scan angles in the above-mentioned third and fourth scan angle sets should also satisfy:

[0224] For example, taking elevation scanning as an example, the first set of scanning angles of the transmitted beam is: [θ1, θ2, ..., θ n If the third scanning angle set of the corresponding receiving beam is: Each emission scanning angle θ in the first set of scanning angles i The m receiving scanning angles corresponding to the third scanning angle set Where m-1 represents the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation-direction transmitted beam. Where θ is the transmission scanning angle in the first scanning angle set. i and the receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set satisfy:

[0225] In this embodiment of the application, k1 j It can be an integer, specifically a positive integer, a negative integer, or zero. It represents the order of the pitch towards the grating lobe, k1. j The range of values ​​for satisfies: d1 is the elevation spacing between the active antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam. Here, i and j are integers, and 1≤i≤n, 1≤j≤m.

[0226] For example, taking azimuth scanning as an example, the set of second scanning angles of the transmitted beam is: The corresponding set of fourth scanning angles for the receiving beam is: Each emission scanning angle in the second scanning angle set The corresponding o receiving scanning angles in the third scanning angle set Where o-1 represents the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmitted beam. The transmitted scanning angles in the second scanning angle set... and the receiving scan angle in the fourth scan angle set satisfy:

[0227] In this embodiment of the application, k2 j It can be an integer, specifically a positive integer, a negative integer, or zero, representing the order of the azimuth grating lobe, k2. j The range of values ​​for satisfies: d2 is the azimuth spacing between the active antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam. Here, i and j are integers, and 1≤i≤l, 1≤j≤o.

[0228] For a concrete example, with n=3, l=2, m=3, and o=3, the set of third scanning angles is: The fourth set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: That is:

[0229] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0230] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0231] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0232] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0233] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0234] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0235] In practical implementation, the radiation pattern (i.e., beam shape) of the antenna array in space is simultaneously affected by both the azimuth and elevation antenna elements. That is, the effects of the azimuth and elevation antenna elements are not completely independent but rather mutually interfering. Therefore, the scanning angles in the third scanning angle set... and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination should also satisfy: Based on this, in the example above, at any given moment, the angles that the receiving beam can actually scan simultaneously may be less than 9.

[0236] In one possible configuration of the emission scanning parameters (2), the first scanning angle set mentioned above can be [θ1, θ2, ..., θ k The second set of scanning angles can be The scanning order of the transmitted beam can be [t1, t2, ..., t k The first scanning angle set contains the same number of transmission scanning angles as the second scanning angle set, and both are k. In other words, k elevation angles from the first scanning angle set are combined one-to-one with k azimuth angles from the second scanning angle set to obtain k scanning angles.

[0237] For a concrete example, taking k=3, the first set of scanning angles can be [θ1, θ2, θ3], and the second set of scanning angles can be... The scanning order of the transmitted beam can be [t1, t2, t3], that is:

[0238] At time t1, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0239] At time t2, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0240] At time t3, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is:

[0241] Corresponding to the above-mentioned transmit scanning parameter configuration method (2), there is the following receive scanning parameter configuration method (2-1): The third scanning angle set can be The fourth set of scanning angles can be The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and k is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set / the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0242] Taking elevation scanning as an example, the first set of scanning angles for the transmitted beam is: [θ1,θ2,…,θ k If the third scanning angle set of the corresponding receiving beam is: Each emission scanning angle θ in the first set of scanning angles i The corresponding m×o receiving scanning angles in the third scanning angle set Where m-1 represents the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation-direction transmitted beam, and o-1 represents the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth-direction transmitted beam. The transmission scanning angle θ in the first scanning angle set... i and the receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set satisfy:

[0243] Among them, regarding k1 j For an understanding of d1 and λ, please refer to the aforementioned descriptions; they will not be repeated here. Here, i and j are both integers, and 1 ≤ i ≤ k, 1 ≤ j ≤ m × o.

[0244] Taking azimuth scanning as an example, the set of second scanning angles for the transmitted beam is as follows: The corresponding set of fourth scanning angles for the receiving beam is: Each emission scanning angle in the second scanning angle set The corresponding m×o receiving scanning angles in the third scanning angle set Where m-1 represents the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation-direction transmitted beam, and o-1 represents the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth-direction transmitted beam. The transmitted scanning angles in the second scanning angle set... and the receiving scan angle in the fourth scan angle set satisfy:

[0245] Among them, regarding k2 j For an understanding of d2 and λ, please refer to the aforementioned descriptions; they will not be repeated here. Here, i and j are both integers, and 1 ≤ i ≤ k, 1 ≤ j ≤ m × o.

[0246] For a concrete example, with k=3, m=3, and o=3, the set of third scanning angles is as follows: The fourth set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: That is:

[0247] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... One-to-one combination, that is

[0248] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... One-to-one combination, that is

[0249] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... One-to-one combination, that is

[0250] In practical implementation, the radiation pattern (i.e., beam shape) of the antenna array in space is simultaneously affected by both the azimuth and elevation antenna elements. That is, the effects of the azimuth and elevation antenna elements are not completely independent but rather mutually interfering. Therefore, the scanning angles in the third scanning angle set... and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination should also satisfy: Based on this, in the example above, at any given moment, the angles that the receiving beam can actually scan simultaneously may be less than 9.

[0251] S703, the central node sends transmission and reception scanning parameters to the sensing node. Correspondingly, the sensing node receives the transmission and reception scanning parameters from the central node.

[0252] Optionally, the transmit scanning parameters may also include indication information of the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node. This indication information can be the antenna element's serial number / number / index, etc. Understandably, the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node are sparse antenna elements (i.e., the activated antenna elements in the transmit array are uniformly arranged, and the elevation spacing between adjacent antenna elements satisfies max{Δd1, (m-1)×Δd1}, and the azimuth spacing satisfies max{Δd2, (0-1)×Δd2)}. For example, as shown in Figure 8, when the sensing node acts as the transmitting node, assuming m = 3 and o = 3, the antenna elements activated in the antenna array are antenna element 1, antenna element 3, antenna element 5, antenna element 7, antenna element 15, antenna element 17, antenna element 19, antenna element 21, antenna element 29, antenna element 31, antenna element 33, antenna element 35, antenna element 43, antenna element 45, antenna element 47, and antenna element 49.

[0253] Optionally, the receiving scanning parameters may also include indication information of the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the receiving node. Here, the antenna element indication information can be the antenna element's sequence number / number / index, etc. Understandably, the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the receiving node are dense antenna elements (i.e., the activated antenna elements in the receiving array are evenly arranged, and the interval between adjacent antenna elements along the azimuth and elevation directions is Δd). For example, as shown in Figure 9, when the sensing node acts as the receiving node, the activated antenna elements in the antenna array can be antenna element 10, antenna element 11, antenna element 12, linear antenna element 13, antenna element 17, antenna element 18, antenna element 19, antenna element 20, antenna element 24, antenna element 25, antenna element 26, antenna element 27, antenna element 31, antenna element 32, antenna element 33, and antenna element 34.

[0254] S704, the sensing node performs sensing measurements based on the transmit scanning parameters and receive scanning parameters.

[0255] Understandably, after receiving the transmit and receive scan parameters, the sensing node can perform sensing measurements based on these parameters. Specifically, when acting as a transmitting node, the sensing node can activate some antenna elements in its antenna array to transmit sensing signals based on the transmit scan parameters. When acting as a receiving node, after receiving multiple echo signals corresponding to the sensing signal, the sensing node can determine the processing order of these echo signals based on the receive scan parameters. Here, the multiple echo signals corresponding to each sensing signal include the echo signal corresponding to the main lobe and the echo signal corresponding to the grating lobe.

[0256] S705. The sensing node sends echo data or sensing results to the central node. Correspondingly, the central node receives the echo data or sensing results from the sensing node.

[0257] Understandably, after a sensing node performs a sensing measurement, it can process the echo signal to obtain echo data, which is then fed back to the central node. The central node can then process the echo data to obtain the sensing result. Alternatively, the sensing node can directly process the data to obtain the sensing result and feed it back to the central node. For example, the sensing result can be the speed, distance, angle, trajectory, shape, and size of the detected target, etc., but this application does not limit this information.

[0258] In this embodiment, when the transmitting and receiving nodes are the same node, the central node can construct grating lobes based on the antenna array parameters of that node, and then determine the configuration of the transmitting and receiving scanning parameters. Utilizing the characteristics of the grating lobes, multi-beam scanning can be achieved, thus significantly reducing scanning overhead. For example, taking elevation scanning as an example, the set of angles to be scanned changes from the third set to the first set, reducing the scanning time overhead to 1 / m of the original. Furthermore, since grating lobe formation only requires sparse transmitting antennas, the occupation of transmitting antenna resources is also reduced. Moreover, compared to single-beam scanning, the parallel multi-beam structure constructed using grating lobes in this embodiment can improve anti-interference capabilities, thereby enhancing sensing performance.

[0259] Please refer to Figure 10, which is another flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in this embodiment. The scenario corresponding to Figure 10 is dual-base sensing, which involves a central node and a dual-base sensing link. The dual-base sensing link consists of a transmitting node and a receiving node, as shown in Figure 2(b). The central node calculates the transmission and reception scanning parameter configurations and sends the transmission and reception scanning parameter configurations to the transmitting and receiving nodes, respectively. It should be noted that this embodiment only includes one dual-base sensing link; multiple dual-base sensing links can be considered as a repetition of a single dual-base sensing link. As shown in Figure 10, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0260] S1001, The central node obtains the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0261] In some feasible implementations, the transmitting node can send its antenna array parameters (hereinafter referred to as "transmit array parameters") to the central node, and the receiving node can send its antenna array parameters (hereinafter referred to as "receive array parameters") to the central node. Alternatively, other management nodes can send the transmit and receive array parameters to the central node. Alternatively, the transmit and receive array parameters can be pre-stored in the central node, allowing the central node to directly read its stored transmit and receive array parameters; this is not limited.

[0262] For ease of understanding, this application embodiment mainly illustrates the sending of antenna array parameters from the transmitting node to the central node and the sending of antenna array parameters from the receiving node to the central node. In one possible implementation, before the transmitting node sends the transmitting array parameters to the central node and the receiving node sends the receiving array parameters to the central node, the central node may first send a joint transmitting and receiving sensing service request to the transmitting node and a joint transmitting and receiving sensing service request to the receiving node. This joint transmitting and receiving sensing service request is used to trigger sensing nodes (here, sensing nodes include the transmitting node and the receiving node) to send antenna array parameters. For example, after the transmitting node receives the joint transmitting and receiving sensing service request, if the transmitting node supports sensing functionality, the transmitting node can feed back the transmitting array parameters to the central node. Similarly, after the receiving node receives the joint transmitting and receiving sensing service request, if the receiving node supports sensing functionality, the receiving node can feed back the receiving array parameters to the central node.

[0263] Understandably, the antenna array parameters of a transmitting / receiving node may include one or more of the following information: the number of antenna elements in the antenna array, the minimum spacing between the antenna elements, or the arrangement of the antenna elements. For example, the transmitting array parameters may be carried in the transmitting node's capability information. Optionally, the transmitting node's capability information may also include one or more of the following information: the frequency points supported by the transmitting node, the bandwidth supported by the transmitting node, the polarization information of the transmitting node's antenna array, the orientation of the antenna, the physical location information of the transmitting node, or sensing time information, etc. Here, sensing time information can also be called sensing operating time information or time information supporting the execution of sensing operations. The physical location information of the transmitting node is used to indicate the physical location of the transmitting node. This physical location information can be the coordinates of the physical location (i.e., a direct indication) or an index of the physical location (i.e., an indirect indication). Similarly, the receiving array parameters can be carried in the capability information of the receiving node. Optionally, the capability information of the receiving node may also include one or more of the following: frequency information supported by the receiving node, bandwidth information supported by the receiving node, polarization information of the antenna array of the receiving node, antenna orientation, physical location information of the receiving node, or sensing time information, etc.

[0264] S1002. The central node determines the transmit scanning parameters of the transmit node and the receive scanning parameters of the receive node based on the antenna array parameters of the transmit node and the antenna array parameters of the receive node.

[0265] In some feasible implementations, the central node can determine the transmission scanning parameters of the transmitting node and the reception scanning parameters of the receiving node based on the transmission array parameters and the reception array parameters. The transmission scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmission beam, while the reception scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the receiving beam. Any transmission scanning angle in the set of scanning angles of the transmission beam (i.e., the first transmission scanning angle) corresponds to multiple reception scanning angles in the set of scanning angles of the receiving beam. These multiple reception scanning angles corresponding to the first transmission scanning angle include the pointing angles of the main lobe and the pointing angles of the grating lobe. Further understanding of the multiple reception scanning angles corresponding to the first transmission scanning angle, including the pointing angles of the main lobe and the pointing angles of the grating lobe, can be found in step S602 of Figure 6 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0266] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, the scanning angle set of the transmitted beam includes a first scanning angle set corresponding to the elevation direction and / or a second scanning angle set corresponding to the azimuth direction. The scanning angle set of the received beam includes a third scanning angle set corresponding to the elevation direction and / or a fourth scanning angle set corresponding to the azimuth direction. Optionally, the elevation direction can also be referred to as the vertical direction or the azimuth direction, and the azimuth direction can also be referred to as the horizontal direction.

[0267] In one possible transmission scanning parameter configuration (1), the first scanning angle set mentioned above can be [θ1, θ2, ..., θ n The second set of scanning angles can be The scanning order of the transmitted beam can be [t1, t2, ..., t nl Where n is the number of transmission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set, and l is the number of transmission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set. That is, after combining each of the n pitch angles in the first scanning angle set with each of the l azimuth angles in the second scanning angle set, n×l scanning angles can be obtained.

[0268] For a concrete example, taking n=3 and l=2, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, θ3], and the second set of scanning angles is... The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t6], that is:

[0269] At time t1, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0270] At time t2, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0271] At time t3, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is:

[0272] At time t4, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0273] At time t5, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is:

[0274] At time t6, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is:

[0275] Corresponding to the above-mentioned transmit scanning parameter configuration method (1), there are the following receive scanning parameter configuration methods (1-2): The third scanning angle set can be The fourth set of scanning angles can be The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, n is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0276] For a concrete example, with n=3, l=2, m=3, o=3, the set of third scanning angles is: The fourth set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: That is:

[0277] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0278] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0279] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0280] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0281] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0282] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... The respective combinations, that is

[0283] In practical implementation, the radiation pattern (i.e., beam shape) of the antenna array in space is simultaneously affected by both the azimuth and elevation antenna elements. That is, the effects of the azimuth and elevation antenna elements are not completely independent but rather mutually interfering. Therefore, the scanning angles in the third scanning angle set... and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination should also satisfy: Based on this, in the example above, at any given moment, the angles that the receiving beam can actually scan simultaneously may be less than 9.

[0284] In one possible configuration of the emission scanning parameters (2), the first scanning angle set mentioned above can be [θ1, θ2, ..., θ k The second scanning angle set can be [t1, t2, ..., t]. k The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam can be... The first scanning angle set contains the same number of transmission scanning angles as the second scanning angle set, and both are k. In other words, k elevation angles from the first scanning angle set are combined one-to-one with k azimuth angles from the second scanning angle set to obtain k scanning angles.

[0285] For a concrete example, taking k=3, the first set of scanning angles can be [θ1, θ2, θ3], and the second set of scanning angles can be... The scanning order of the transmitted beam can be [t1, t2, t3], that is:

[0286] At time t1, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0287] At time t2, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is .

[0288] At time t3, the pointing angle of the main lobe of the transmitted beam is:

[0289] Corresponding to the above-mentioned transmit scanning parameter configuration method (2), there is the following receive scanning parameter configuration method (2-2): The third scanning angle set is The fourth set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and the number of transmit scan angles contained in the first scan angle set is the same as the number of transmit scan angles contained in the second scan angle set, and both are k.

[0290] For a concrete example, with k=3, m=3, and o=3, the set of third scanning angles is as follows: The fourth set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: That is:

[0291] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... One-to-one combination, that is

[0292] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... One-to-one combination, that is

[0293] exist At any given moment, theoretically, the receiving beam can simultaneously receive echo signals from 9 angles (or, in other words, the receiving beam can simultaneously scan echo signals from 9 angles). These 9 angles are... One-to-one combination, that is

[0294] In practical implementation, the radiation pattern (i.e., beam shape) of the antenna array in space is simultaneously affected by both the azimuth and elevation antenna elements. That is, the effects of the azimuth and elevation antenna elements are not completely independent but rather mutually interfering. Therefore, the scanning angles in the third scanning angle set... and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination should also satisfy: Based on this, in the example above, at any given moment, the angles that the receiving beam can actually scan simultaneously may be less than 9.

[0295] It should be noted that in a single-base scenario, the transmit and receive arrays overlap, and the coordinate systems corresponding to the transmit and receive angles are the same. However, in the dual-base scenario corresponding to this embodiment, the coordinate systems corresponding to the transmit and receive angles are different. Therefore, the elevation direction corresponds to the receiving scanning angle. With the emission scanning angle θ i The relationship between them, and the corresponding horizontal receiving scanning angle. With the scanning angle of the launch The relationships between them are more complex and require corresponding coordinate transformations.

[0296] Specifically, if the receiving scanning parameter configuration method is as described above (1-2), then the transmitting scanning angle θ in the first scanning angle set... i The emission scanning angle in the second scanning angle set The receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set and the receiving scan angle in the fourth scan angle set satisfy:

[0297] It should be noted that i and j are both integers. Specifically, for and For example, 1≤i≤n, 1≤j≤m, for and For example, 1≤i≤l, 1≤j≤o.

[0298] If the receiving scan parameter configuration method described above (2-2) is used, then the transmitting scan angle θ in the first scan angle set... i The emission scanning angle in the second scanning angle set The receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set and the receiving scan angle in the fourth scan angle set satisfy:

[0299] It should be noted that i and j are both integers. Specifically, for and For example, 1≤i≤k, 1≤j≤m×o.

[0300] It should be noted that in the above formula, r is the radius of the sphere in the spherical coordinate system corresponding to the transmitting node, T is the translation matrix, R is the rotation matrix, and k1 j k1 represents the order of the pitch towards the grating lobe. j The range of values ​​for satisfies: k2 j Let k2 be the order of the azimuth grating lobe. jThe range of values ​​for satisfies: d1 and d2 are the elevation and azimuth spacings between the active antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, respectively, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

[0301] In the embodiments of this application, the translation matrix T satisfies:

[0302] Among them, t x t represents the translation of the physical position of the receiving node relative to the physical position of the transmitting node along the x-axis of the coordinate system in which the transmitting node is located. y t represents the translation of the physical position of the receiving node relative to the physical position of the transmitting node along the y-axis of the coordinate system in which the transmitting node is located. z This represents the amount of translation of the physical position of the receiving node relative to the physical position of the transmitting node along the z-axis of the coordinate system in which the transmitting node is located.

[0303] In the embodiments of this application, the rotation matrix R satisfies:

[0304] Where α represents the rotation of the receiving node's coordinate system relative to the transmitting node's coordinate system around the x-axis of the transmitting node's coordinate system, β represents the rotation of the receiving node's coordinate system relative to the transmitting node's coordinate system around the y-axis of the transmitting node's coordinate system, and γ represents the rotation of the receiving node's coordinate system relative to the transmitting node's coordinate system around the z-axis of the transmitting node's coordinate system.

[0305] S1003, the central node sends transmission scan parameters to the transmitting node and reception scan parameters to the receiving node. Correspondingly, the transmitting node receives the transmission scan parameters from the central node, and the receiving node receives the reception scan parameters from the central node.

[0306] For an understanding of the transmit scanning parameters and receive scanning parameters in step S1003, please refer to the relevant description in the aforementioned step S703, which will not be repeated here.

[0307] S1004. The transmitting node activates some antenna elements in its antenna array to transmit sensing signals according to the transmission scanning parameters.

[0308] In some feasible implementations, after the transmitting node receives the transmission scanning parameters, it can activate a portion of the antenna elements in its antenna array to sequentially transmit sensing signals according to the scanning order in the received transmission scanning parameters. It should be understood that since the activated portion of the antenna elements in the transmitting node's antenna array are sparse antenna elements, although the transmitting node only transmits sensing signals to one scanning angle at each moment—that is, only one steering vector is used to generate the transmission signal—it can actually form multiple (e.g., m×0) transmission beams in various directions.

[0309] S1005. The receiving node receives multiple echo signals corresponding to the sensing signal and determines the processing order of the multiple echo signals according to the receiving scanning parameters.

[0310] In some feasible implementations, the receiving node can receive multiple echo signals corresponding to the sensed signal through the activated antenna elements in the receiving array. Based on the receiving scanning parameters, the processing order of these multiple echo signals can be determined. Here, the multiple echo signals corresponding to each sensed signal include the echo signal corresponding to the main lobe and the echo signal corresponding to the grating lobe. Alternatively, the receiving node can perform signal processing on the echo signals to form receiving beams along different directions. As described above, the receiving beam is a virtual equivalent beam formed by the receiving node through digital signal processing, and it is invisible in space.

[0311] S1006. The receiving node sends echo data or sensing results to the central node. Correspondingly, the central node receives the echo data or sensing results from the receiving node.

[0312] Understandably, after receiving the echo signal, the receiving node can process the received echo signal to obtain echo data, and then feed the echo data back to the central node. Subsequently, the central node can process the echo data to obtain the sensing results. Alternatively, the receiving node can also process the echo data after processing it to obtain the sensing results, and then feed the sensing results back to the central node.

[0313] In this embodiment, when the transmitting node and the receiving node are different nodes, the central node can construct grating lobes based on the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node, and determine the configuration of the transmitting and receiving scanning parameters based on the antenna array parameters of both the transmitting and receiving nodes. This utilizes the grating lobe characteristics to achieve multi-beam scanning, thus significantly reducing scanning overhead. This is because although the transmitting node only sends a beam to one scanning angle, the grating lobes effectively generate multiple beams. Furthermore, since grating lobe formation requires only sparse transmitting antennas, the resource consumption of transmitting antennas is reduced. Moreover, compared to single-beam scanning, the parallel multi-beam structure constructed using grating lobes in this embodiment improves anti-interference capabilities, thereby enhancing sensing performance.

[0314] Please refer to Figure 11, which is another flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in this application embodiment. The scenario corresponding to Figure 11 is a special case of dual-base sensing, where the central node and the transmitting node are the same node, as shown in Figure 2(c). In this case, the central node has both the functions of a central node and a transmitting node. As shown in Figure 11, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0315] S1101, The central node obtains the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0316] In some feasible implementations, the receiving node can send its antenna array parameters to the central node. Alternatively, other management nodes can send the receiving node's antenna array parameters to the central node. Alternatively, the receiving node's antenna array parameters can be pre-stored in the central node, allowing the central node to directly read the stored parameters; this is not limited.

[0317] For ease of understanding, the embodiments of this application are mainly illustrated by the example of a receiving node sending its antenna array parameters to a central node. In one possible implementation, before the receiving node sends the antenna array parameters to the central node, the central node may first send a transmit-receive joint sensing service request to the receiving node. This transmit-receive joint sensing service request is used to trigger the receiving node to send the antenna array parameters. For example, after the receiving node receives the transmit-receive joint sensing service request, if the receiving node supports sensing functions, the receiving node can feed back the antenna array parameters to the central node.

[0318] Information regarding the antenna array parameters of the receiving node can be found in the aforementioned description of the antenna array parameters for the receiving node, and will not be repeated here.

[0319] S1102. The central node determines the transmit scanning parameters and receive scanning parameters based on its own antenna array parameters and the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0320] In some feasible implementations, the central node can construct grating lobes based on its own antenna array parameters, and then determine the configuration of transmit and receive scan parameters based on its own antenna array parameters and the antenna array parameters of the receiving node. For an understanding of grating lobe construction, as well as transmit and receive scan parameters, please refer to the description of grating lobe construction in S1002 above, and the related descriptions of transmit and receive scan parameters in S1002; these will not be repeated here.

[0321] S1103, The central node sends the receive scan parameters to the receiving node. Correspondingly, the receiving node receives the receive scan parameters from the central node.

[0322] S1104. The central node activates some antenna elements in its own antenna array to send sensing signals according to the transmission scanning parameters.

[0323] S1105. The receiving node receives multiple echo signals corresponding to the sensing signal and determines the processing order of the multiple echo signals according to the receiving scanning parameters.

[0324] S1106. The receiving node sends echo data or sensing results to the central node. Correspondingly, the central node receives the echo data or sensing results from the receiving node.

[0325] For an understanding of steps S1103 to S1106, please refer to the relevant descriptions in Figure 7 or Figure 10 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0326] In this embodiment, when the transmitting node and the central node are the same node, the central node can construct grating lobes based on its own antenna array parameters, and determine the configuration of the transmitting and receiving scanning parameters based on the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and the receiving node. This utilizes the grating lobe characteristics to achieve multi-beam scanning, thus significantly reducing scanning overhead. Furthermore, since grating lobe formation only requires sparse transmitting antennas, the resource consumption of transmitting antennas is also reduced. Moreover, compared to single-beam scanning, the parallel multi-beam structure constructed using grating lobes in this embodiment can improve anti-interference capabilities, thereby enhancing sensing performance.

[0327] Please refer to Figure 12, which is another flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in this application embodiment. The scenario corresponding to Figure 12 is a special case of dual-base sensing, where the central node and the receiving node are the same node, as shown in Figure 2(d). In this case, the central node has both the functions of a central node and a receiving node. As shown in Figure 12, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0328] S1201, The central node obtains the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node.

[0329] In some feasible implementations, the transmitting node can send its antenna array parameters to the central node. Alternatively, other management nodes can send the transmitting node's antenna array parameters to the central node. Alternatively, the transmitting node's antenna array parameters can be pre-stored in the central node, allowing the central node to directly read the stored transmitting node's antenna array parameters; this is not limited.

[0330] For ease of understanding, the embodiments of this application are mainly illustrated by the example of a transmitting node sending its antenna array parameters to a central node. In one possible implementation, before the transmitting node sends the antenna array parameters to the central node, the central node may first send a transmit-receive joint sensing service request to the transmitting node. This transmit-receive joint sensing service request is used to trigger the transmitting node to send the antenna array parameters. For example, after the transmitting node receives the transmit-receive joint sensing service request, if the transmitting node supports sensing functions, it can feed back the antenna array parameters to the central node.

[0331] Information regarding the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node can be found in the aforementioned description of the antenna array parameters for the transmitting node, and will not be repeated here.

[0332] S1202. The central node determines the transmission scanning parameters and the reception scanning parameters based on its own antenna array parameters and the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node.

[0333] In some feasible implementations, the central node can construct grating lobes based on the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node, and then determine the configuration of the transmit scanning parameters and receive scanning parameters based on its own antenna array parameters and the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node. For an understanding of grating lobe construction, as well as the transmit and receive scanning parameters, please refer to the description of grating lobe construction in S1002 above, and the related descriptions of transmit and receive scanning parameters in S1002; these will not be repeated here.

[0334] S1203, The central node sends the transmission scan parameters to the transmitting node. Correspondingly, the transmitting node receives the transmission scan parameters from the central node.

[0335] S1204. The transmitting node activates some antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node to send sensing signals according to the transmission scanning parameters.

[0336] S1205. The central node receives multiple echo signals corresponding to the sensing signal and determines the processing order of the multiple echo signals according to the receiving scanning parameters.

[0337] It should be understood that the multiple echo signals corresponding to each sensing signal include the echo signal corresponding to the main lobe and the echo signal corresponding to the grating lobe. The central node can obtain echo data by performing signal processing on the received echo signals. Further, data processing on the echo data can yield the sensing results.

[0338] In this embodiment, when the receiving node and the central node are the same node, the central node can construct grating lobes based on the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node, and determine the configuration of the transmitting and receiving scanning parameters based on the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and its own antenna array parameters. This utilizes the grating lobe characteristics to achieve multi-beam scanning, thus significantly reducing scanning overhead. Furthermore, since grating lobe formation only requires sparse transmitting antennas, the resource consumption of transmitting antennas is also reduced. Moreover, compared to single-beam scanning, the parallel multi-beam structure constructed using grating lobes in this embodiment can improve anti-interference capabilities, thereby enhancing sensing performance.

[0339] For example, please refer to Figure 13, which illustrates the sensing performance of a receiver array scanning alone and a transmitter array and receiver array jointly scanning with a grating-lobe structure. Assuming Figure 13 is illustrated using the uniform linear array shown in Figure 3 as an example, as shown in Figure 13, when the sine value of the main lobe pointing angle of the transmitted beam is 0 (e.g., When the receiving array scans the corresponding receiving beam alone, it is shown in Figure 13(a1). When the transmitting and receiving arrays scan together, the corresponding transmit and receive beam is shown in Figure 13(a2). When the sine value of the main lobe pointing angle of the transmitting beam is 0.135 (e.g. When the receiving array scans the corresponding receiving beam alone, it is shown in Figure 13(b1). When the transmitting and receiving arrays scan together, the corresponding transmit and receive beam is shown in Figure 13(b2). When the sine value of the main lobe pointing angle of the transmitting beam is -0.135 (e.g. When the receiving array scans the receiving beam alone, it is shown as (c1) in Figure 13. When the transmitting and receiving arrays scan together, the corresponding transmit and receive beam is shown as (c2) in Figure 13. By comparing the left and right sides of Figure 13, it can be seen that when the direction of the receiving beam is the same as the direction of the main lobe or grating lobe of the transmitting beam, the resulting transmit and receive beam (as shown in (a2), (b2) and (c2) in Figure 13) has better sensing performance than the individual receiving beam (as shown in (a1), (b1) and (c1) in Figure 13). That is, the main lobe of the transmit and receive beam is narrower and the side lobes are lower. In addition, the scanning of the receiving beam is actually achieved internally by processing the echo signal. That is, by configuring the grating lobes of the transmitting array, the directional scanning of the main lobe plus the number of grating lobes can be achieved simultaneously, thus reducing the scanning overhead of the beam.

[0340] The communication device provided in this application will now be described in detail with reference to Figures 14 to 16.

[0341] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed by hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0342] Figures 14 to 16 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the central node, transmitting node, or receiving node in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the central node, transmitting node, or receiving node can be a terminal or an access network device (e.g., a base station), for example, it can be one of the terminals 120a-120j shown in Figure 1, or it can be RAN node 110a or 110b shown in Figure 1. Optionally, it can also be a module (e.g., a circuit, chip, or chip system, etc.) applied to a terminal (e.g., a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions) or an access network device. Here, the module of the access network device can be the baseband chip of the access network device, or it can be a CU, DU, or other module, or it can be a device under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, open DU, etc.

[0343] As shown in Figure 14, the communication device 1400 includes a processing unit 1410 and a transceiver unit 1420. The transceiver unit 1420 and the processing unit 1410 can be software, hardware, or a combination of both. Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage unit 1430 for storing device program code and / or data, not shown in Figure 14.

[0344] The transceiver unit 1420 can implement sending and / or receiving functions. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 can also be referred to as a communication unit. The transceiver unit 1420 may further include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, wherein the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function, and the sending unit is used to implement the sending function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1420 can be used to receive information sent by other devices, and can also be used to send information to other devices.

[0345] When the communication device 1400 is used to implement the function of the central node in the method embodiments shown in FIG7, FIG10, FIG11 or FIG12:

[0346] Processing unit 1410 or transceiver unit 1420 is used to acquire first information, the first information including antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0347] Processing unit 1410 is configured to determine the transmission scanning parameters of the transmitting node and the reception scanning parameters of the receiving node based on the first information;

[0348] The transmit scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scan angles and the scan order of the transmit beam, and the receive scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scan angles and the scan order of the receive beam. The first transmit scanning angle in the set of scan angles of the transmit beam corresponds to multiple receive scanning angles in the set of scan angles of the receive beam. The multiple receive scanning angles corresponding to the first transmit scanning angle include the pointing angle of the main lobe and the pointing angle of the grating lobe.

[0349] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters include one or more of the following:

[0350] The number of antenna elements, the minimum spacing between antenna elements, or the arrangement of antenna elements.

[0351] In one possible implementation, the set of scanning angles for the transmitted beam includes a first set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a second set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction; the set of scanning angles for the received beam includes a third set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a fourth set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction.

[0352] In one possible implementation, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ]. n The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t nl ];

[0353] Wherein, n is the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set, and l is the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set.

[0354] In one possible implementation, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ]. k The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t k ];

[0355] Wherein, the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set is the same as the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set, and both are k.

[0356] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0357] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, n is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0358] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles includes scanning angles. and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination also satisfies:

[0359] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0360] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set is the same as the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set, and both are k.

[0361] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles includes scanning angles. and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination also satisfies:

[0362] In one possible implementation, the transmitting node and the receiving node are the same node.

[0363] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0364] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, n is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0365] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles includes scanning angles. and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination also satisfies:

[0366] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0367] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set is the same as the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set, and both are k.

[0368] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles includes scanning angles. and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination also satisfies:

[0369] In one possible implementation, the transmitting node and the receiving node are different nodes.

[0370] In one possible implementation, the emission scanning angle θ in the first set of scanning angles i and the receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set satisfy:

[0371] Among them, the for or The k1 j k1 is the order of the pitch grating lobe. j satisfy d1 is the pitch spacing between the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

[0372] In one possible implementation, the emission scanning angles in the second set of scanning angles and the receiving scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set satisfy:

[0373] Among them, the for or The k2 j k2 is the order of the azimuth grating lobe. j satisfy d2 is the azimuth spacing between the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

[0374] In one possible implementation, the transmitting node and the receiving node are different nodes; the transmitting scanning angle θ in the first scanning angle set i The emission scanning angle in the second set of scanning angles The receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set and the receiving scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set satisfy:

[0375] Among them, the for The for The for The for Or, the for The for The for The for Where r is the radius of the sphere in the spherical coordinate system corresponding to the transmitting node, T is the translation matrix, R is the rotation matrix, and k1 j satisfy The k2 j satisfy d1 and d2 are the elevation and azimuth spacings between the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, respectively, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

[0376] In one possible implementation, the translation matrix T satisfies:

[0377] Wherein, the t x The t represents the translation of the physical position of the receiving node relative to the physical position of the transmitting node along the x-axis of the coordinate system in which the transmitting node is located. y The t represents the translation of the physical position of the receiving node relative to the physical position of the transmitting node along the y-axis of the coordinate system in which the transmitting node is located. z This represents the amount of translation of the physical position of the receiving node relative to the physical position of the transmitting node along the z-axis of the coordinate system in which the transmitting node is located.

[0378] In one possible implementation, the rotation matrix R satisfies:

[0379] Wherein, α represents the rotation of the coordinate system where the receiving node is located relative to the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located about the x-axis of the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located, β represents the rotation of the coordinate system where the receiving node is located relative to the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located about the y-axis of the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located, and γ represents the rotation of the coordinate system where the receiving node is located relative to the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located about the z-axis of the coordinate system where the transmitting node is located.

[0380] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to:

[0381] Send the transmit scan parameters and / or the receive scan parameters.

[0382] In one possible implementation, when acquiring the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node, the transceiver unit 1420 is used to:

[0383] Receive the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0384] In one possible implementation, before receiving the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to:

[0385] Send a transmit-receive joint sensing service request, which is used to trigger the transmitting node to send the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or trigger the receiving node to send the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0386] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node are carried in the capability information of the transmitting node, wherein the capability information of the transmitting node also includes one or more of the following:

[0387] The frequency information supported by the transmitting node, the bandwidth information supported by the transmitting node, the polarization information of the antenna array of the transmitting node, the orientation of the antenna, the physical location information of the transmitting node, or the sensing time information.

[0388] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the receiving node are carried in the capability information of the receiving node, wherein the capability information of the receiving node further includes one or more of the following:

[0389] The frequency information supported by the receiving node, the bandwidth information supported by the receiving node, the polarization information of the antenna array of the receiving node, the orientation of the antenna, the physical location information of the receiving node, or the sensing time information.

[0390] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to:

[0391] Receive echo data or sensing results from the receiving node.

[0392] In one possible implementation, the processing unit 1410 is further configured to:

[0393] When the central node and the transmitting node are the same node, the sensing signal is transmitted through the transceiver unit 1420 according to the transmission scanning parameters.

[0394] In one possible implementation, the processing unit 1410 is further configured to:

[0395] When the central node and the receiving node are the same node, the processing order of the echo signal corresponding to the sensing signal is determined according to the receiving scanning parameters.

[0396] When the communication device 1400 is used to implement the function of the transmitting node in the method embodiments shown in FIG7, FIG10, FIG11 or FIG12:

[0397] The transceiver unit 1420 or the processing unit 1410 is used to acquire transmission scanning parameters, which are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmission beam;

[0398] Processing unit 1410 is configured to activate a portion of the antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node to transmit sensing signals according to the transmission scanning parameters. The activated portion of the antenna elements are antenna elements uniformly arranged in the antenna array of the transmitting node. The pitch spacing between adjacent antenna elements in the activated portion satisfies max{Δd1, (m-1)×Δd1}, and the azimuth spacing satisfies max{Δd2, (0-1)×Δd2}. Δd1 is the minimum spacing between antenna elements along the pitch direction, and Δd2 is the minimum spacing between antenna elements along the azimuth direction. Δd1 and Δd2 are generally half the carrier wavelength.

[0399] In one possible implementation, when acquiring the transmission scan parameters, the transceiver unit 1420 is used for:

[0400] Receive the transmission scanning parameters.

[0401] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to:

[0402] Transmit the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node.

[0403] In one possible implementation, before transmitting the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to:

[0404] Receive a transmit-receive joint sensing service request, which is used to trigger the transmitting node to send the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node.

[0405] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node include one or more of the following:

[0406] The number of antenna elements, the minimum spacing between antenna elements, or the arrangement of antenna elements.

[0407] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node are carried in the capability information of the transmitting node, wherein the capability information of the transmitting node also includes one or more of the following:

[0408] The frequency information supported by the transmitting node, the bandwidth information supported by the transmitting node, the polarization information of the antenna array of the transmitting node, the orientation of the antenna, the physical location information of the transmitting node, or the sensing time information.

[0409] In one possible implementation, the set of scanning angles of the transmitted beam includes a first set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a second set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction.

[0410] In one possible implementation, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ]. n The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t nl ];

[0411] Wherein, n is the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set, and l is the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set.

[0412] In one possible implementation, the first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ]. k The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t k ];

[0413] Wherein, the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set is the same as the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set, and both are k.

[0414] When the communication device 1400 is used to implement the function of the receiving node in the method embodiments shown in FIG7, FIG10, FIG11 or FIG12:

[0415] The transceiver unit 1420 is used to acquire receiving scanning parameters, which are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the receiving beam;

[0416] The transceiver unit 1420 is used to receive multiple echo signals corresponding to the sensing signal, the multiple echo signals including the echo signal corresponding to the main lobe and the echo signal corresponding to the grating lobe.

[0417] The processing unit 1410 is used to determine the processing order of the plurality of echo signals according to the received scanning parameters.

[0418] In one possible implementation, when acquiring the receive scan parameters, the transceiver unit 1420 is used to:

[0419] Receive the received scan parameters.

[0420] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1420 is used for:

[0421] Antenna array parameters of the transmitting and receiving nodes.

[0422] In one possible implementation, before the antenna array parameters of the transmitting and receiving nodes, the transceiver unit 1420 is further configured to:

[0423] The receiving node receives a joint sensing service request, which is used to trigger the receiving node to send the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

[0424] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the receiving node include one or more of the following:

[0425] The number of antenna elements, the minimum spacing between antenna elements, or the arrangement of antenna elements.

[0426] In one possible implementation, the antenna array parameters of the receiving node are carried in the capability information of the receiving node, wherein the capability information of the receiving node further includes one or more of the following:

[0427] The frequency information supported by the receiving node, the bandwidth information supported by the receiving node, the polarization information of the antenna array of the receiving node, the orientation of the antenna, the physical location information of the receiving node, or the sensing time information.

[0428] In one possible implementation, the set of scanning angles of the receiving beam includes a third set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a fourth set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction.

[0429] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0430] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, n is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0431] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0432] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set is the same as the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set, and both are k.

[0433] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0434] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, n is the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set, and l is the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set.

[0435] In one possible implementation, the third set of scanning angles is: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows:

[0436] Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam, and the number of transmit scan angles included in the first scan angle set is the same as the number of transmit scan angles included in the second scan angle set, and both are k.

[0437] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 1410 and the transceiver unit 1420, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figures 7, 10, 11 or 12.

[0438] It is understood that the division of units in the above-described device is merely a logical functional division. Each function can correspond to a functional unit, or two or more functions can be integrated into one functional unit. In actual implementation, all or some units can be integrated into a single physical entity, or they can be distributed across different physical entities. Furthermore, the aforementioned functional units can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both. Whether a function is executed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0439] In one example, the functional unit in any of the above devices may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as: one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microcontroller units (MCUs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms.

[0440] In one example, storage unit 1430 may include random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory and / or registers, etc.

[0441] As shown in Figure 15, the communication device 1500 includes a processor 1510, and optionally an interface circuit 1520. The processor 1510 and the interface circuit 1520 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1520 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may also include a memory 1530 for storing computer programs or instructions executed by the processor 1510, or storing input data required by the processor 1510 to execute instructions, or storing data generated by the processor 1510 after executing computer programs or instructions.

[0442] When the communication device 1500 is used to implement the method shown in FIG7, FIG10, FIG11 or FIG12, the processor 1510 is used to implement the function of the processing unit 1410, and the interface circuit 1520 is used to implement the function of the transceiver unit 1420.

[0443] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a central node, the central node chip implements the functions of the central node in the above method embodiments. The central node chip receives information sent to the central node by the transmitting node or receiving node through other modules (such as an RF module or antenna) in the central node; or, the central node chip sends information to other modules (such as an RF module or antenna) in the central node, information that the central node sends to the transmitting node or receiving node.

[0444] When the aforementioned communication device is a module applied to a transmitting node, the transmitting node module implements the functions of the transmitting node in the above method embodiments. The transmitting node module receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the transmitting node, which is sent to the transmitting node by the central node or the receiving node; or, the transmitting node module sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the transmitting node, which is sent to the central node or the receiving node by the transmitting node.

[0445] When the aforementioned communication device is a module applied to a receiving node, the receiving node module implements the functions of the receiving node in the above method embodiments. The receiving node module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) within the receiving node, information sent to the receiving node by the central node or transmitting node; or, the receiving node module sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) within the receiving node, information sent from the receiving node to the central node or transmitting node.

[0446] As shown in Figure 16, the communication device includes a processor 1610, a memory 1620, and a transceiver 1630. The processor 1610 is mainly used for processing communication protocols and data; controlling the central node, transmitting node, or receiving node; executing software programs; and processing data from the software programs. The memory 1620 can store computer program code, software programs, and data. The transceiver 1630 includes a transmitter 1631, a receiver 1632, radio frequency circuitry (not shown in the figure), and an antenna 1633.

[0447] The processor 1610 can also be called a processing unit, processing board, processing module, or processing device. The transceiver 1630 can also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver, or transceiver device.

[0448] Optionally, the device in transceiver 1630 used to implement the receiving function can be considered a receiving module, and the device in transceiver 1630 used to implement the transmitting function can be considered a transmitting module. That is, transceiver 1630 includes a receiver and / or a transmitter. A transceiver may also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver module, or transceiver circuit, etc. A receiver may also be called a receiver unit, receiving module, or receiving circuit, etc. A transmitter may also be called a transmitter, transmitting module, or transmitting circuit, etc.

[0449] Processor 1610 is used to execute the processing operations of the central node in the embodiments shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 10, FIG. 11, or FIG. 12. Transceiver 1630 is used to execute the transmit / receive operations of the central node in the embodiments shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 10, FIG. 11, or FIG. 12. Alternatively, processor 1610 is used to execute the processing operations of the transmitting node in the embodiments shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 10, FIG. 11, or FIG. 12. Transceiver 1630 is used to execute the transmit / receive operations of the transmitting node in the embodiments shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 10, FIG. 11, or FIG. 12. Alternatively, processor 1610 is used to execute the processing operations of the receiving node in the embodiments shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 10, FIG. 11, or FIG. 12. Transceiver 1630 is used to execute the transmit / receive operations of the receiving node in the embodiments shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 10, FIG. 11, or FIG. 12.

[0450] When the communication device 1600 is a chip, the chip includes a processor and a transceiver. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface. The processor can be a processing module integrated on the chip, a microprocessor, or an integrated circuit. In the above method embodiments, the transmitting operation of the central node can be understood as the chip's output, and the receiving operation of the central node can be understood as the chip's input. Similarly, in the above method embodiments, the transmitting operation of the transmitting node can be understood as the chip's output, and the receiving operation of the transmitting node can be understood as the chip's input. Likewise, in the above method embodiments, the transmitting operation of the receiving node can be understood as the chip's output, and the receiving operation of the receiving node can be understood as the chip's input.

[0451] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions for implementing the methods executed by the central node, transmitting node, or receiving node in the above method embodiments.

[0452] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, it enables the computer to implement the methods performed by the central node, the transmitting node, or the receiving node in the above method embodiments.

[0453] This application also provides a computer program product containing a program or instructions, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to implement the method executed by the central node, the transmitting node, or the receiving node in the above method embodiments.

[0454] This application also provides a communication system, which includes a central node and a transmitting node as described in the above embodiments. The central node is used to perform some or all of the operations performed by the central node in the above method embodiments, the transmitting node is used to perform some or all of the operations performed by the transmitting node in the above method embodiments, and the receiving node is used to perform some or all of the operations performed by the receiving node in the above method embodiments.

[0455] This application also provides a chip device, including a processor, for calling a computer program or computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the method provided in the embodiments shown in FIG7, FIG10, FIG11 or FIG12.

[0456] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG7, FIG10, FIG11 or FIG12, and the output of the chip device corresponds to the transmitting operation in any one of the embodiments shown in FIG7, FIG10, FIG11 or FIG12.

[0457] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0458] Optionally, the chip device may also include a memory in which computer programs or computer instructions are stored.

[0459] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0460] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in an access network device or terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the access network device or terminal.

[0461] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0462] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. Technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0463] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the central node, including: Obtain first information, which includes the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node; The transmission scanning parameters of the transmitting node and the reception scanning parameters of the receiving node are determined based on the first information. The transmit scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scan angles and the scan order of the transmit beam, and the receive scanning parameters are used to determine the set of scan angles and the scan order of the receive beam. The first transmit scanning angle in the set of scan angles of the transmit beam corresponds to multiple receive scanning angles in the set of scan angles of the receive beam. The multiple receive scanning angles corresponding to the first transmit scanning angle include the pointing angle of the main lobe and the pointing angle of the grating lobe.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The antenna array parameters include one or more of the following: The number of antenna elements, the minimum spacing between antenna elements, or the arrangement of antenna elements.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The set of scanning angles for the transmitted beam includes a first set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a second set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction; the set of scanning angles for the received beam includes a third set of scanning angles corresponding to the pitch direction and / or a fourth set of scanning angles corresponding to the azimuth direction.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ n The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t nl ]; Wherein, n is the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set, and l is the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first set of scanning angles is [θ1, θ2, ..., θ k The second set of scanning angles is The scanning sequence of the transmitted beam is [t1, t2, ..., t k ]; Wherein, the number of emission scanning angles included in the first scanning angle set is the same as the number of emission scanning angles included in the second scanning angle set, and both are k.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The third scanning angle set is as follows: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, and o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The third scanning angle set is as follows: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, and o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The third set of scanning angles and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination satisfies: Among them, the for The for Or, the aforementioned for The for 9. The method according to any one of claims 6-8, characterized in that, The transmitting node and the receiving node are the same node.

10. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The third scanning angle set is as follows: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, and o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam.

11. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The third scanning angle set is as follows: The fourth scanning angle set is as follows: The scanning sequence of the receiving beam is as follows: Where m-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the elevation transmit beam, and o-1 is the number of grating lobes corresponding to the azimuth transmit beam.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, The third set of scanning angles and the scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set The combination satisfies: Among them, the for The for Or, the aforementioned for The for 13. The method according to any one of claims 10-12, characterized in that, The transmitting node and the receiving node are different nodes.

14. The method according to any one of claims 6-9, characterized in that, The emission scanning angle θ in the first set of scanning angles i and the receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set satisfy: Among them, the for or The k1 j k1 is the order of the pitch grating lobe. j satisfy d1 is the pitch spacing between the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

15. The method according to any one of claims 6-9, characterized in that, The emission scanning angle in the second set of scanning angles and the receiving scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set satisfy: Among them, the for or The k2 j k2 is the order of the azimuth grating lobe. j satisfy d2 is the azimuth spacing between the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10-13, characterized in that, The emission scanning angle θ in the first set of scanning angles i The emission scanning angle in the second set of scanning angles The receiving scanning angle in the third scanning angle set and the receiving scanning angle in the fourth scanning angle set satisfy: (x′,y′,z′,1)=(x,y,z,1)×T×R; Among them, the for The for The for The for Or, the aforementioned for The for The for The for Where r is the radius of the sphere in the spherical coordinate system corresponding to the transmitting node, T is the translation matrix, R is the rotation matrix, and k1 j satisfy The k2 j satisfy d1 and d2 are the elevation and azimuth spacings between the activated antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node, respectively, and λ is the carrier wavelength of the transmitted beam.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1-16, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send the transmit scan parameters and / or the receive scan parameters.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1-17, characterized in that, The acquisition of the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node includes: Receive the antenna array parameters of the transmitting node and / or the antenna array parameters of the receiving node.

19. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the transmitting node, including: Obtain the transmission scanning parameters, which are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the transmission beam; According to the transmission scanning parameters, a portion of the antenna elements in the antenna array of the transmitting node are activated to transmit sensing signals. The activated portion of the antenna elements are antenna elements uniformly arranged in the antenna array of the transmitting node. The pitch spacing between adjacent antenna elements in the activated portion satisfies max{Δd1, (m-1)×Δd1}, and the azimuth spacing satisfies max{Δd2, (0-1)×Δd2}. Δd1 is the minimum spacing between antenna elements along the pitch direction, and Δd2 is the minimum spacing between antenna elements along the azimuth direction.

20. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to receiving nodes, including: Obtain the receiving scanning parameters, which are used to determine the set of scanning angles and the scanning order of the receiving beam; Receive multiple echo signals corresponding to the sensing signal, the multiple echo signals including the echo signal corresponding to the main lobe and the echo signal corresponding to the grating lobe; The processing order of the plurality of echo signals is determined based on the received scanning parameters.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes units or modules for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 1-18, or units or modules for implementing the method as described in claim 19, or units or modules for implementing the method as described in claim 20.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor that executes a computer program or instructions to cause the communication device to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-18, or to cause the communication device to implement the method as claimed in claim 19, or to cause the communication device to implement the method as claimed in claim 20.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and a transceiver, the transceiver being used to send and receive information, and the processor being used to execute computer programs or instructions to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-18, or to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in claim 19, or to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in claim 20.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to receive signals from other communication devices besides the communication device and transmit them to the processor, or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices besides the communication device. The processor is configured to execute computer programs or instructions to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-18, or to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in claim 19, or to cause the communication device to implement the method as described in claim 20.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to invoke a computer program stored in the memory, causing the communication device to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-18, or to implement the method as described in claim 19, or to implement the method as described in claim 20.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a communication device, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-18, or the method as described in claim 19, or the method as described in claim 20.

27. A computer program product, characterized in that, Includes computer program code that, when run on a computer, implements the method of any one of claims 1-18, or implements the method of claim 19, or implements the method of claim 20.

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