Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: a first communication apparatus receiving configuration information, wherein the configuration information is used for updating first information associated with the first communication apparatus; and sending feedback information, wherein the feedback information is used for indicating channel information associated with the first communication apparatus, the channel information is determined on the basis of the first information associated with the first communication apparatus, and the channel information is used for data transmission. On this basis, it is not necessary to send a DMRS used for assisting with receiving data, so that resource overheads caused by sending a DMRS used for demodulating data of each communication apparatus and a delay caused by processing the DMRS are reduced. Channel information is acquired on the basis of updated first information associated with a terminal device, so that the accuracy of acquiring channel information can be ensured, thereby improving the spectral efficiency of systems.

Description

Communication methods and communication devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411918644.9, filed on December 23, 2024, with the China National Intellectual Property Administration, entitled “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of wireless communication, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Technology

[0003] In communication systems, the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is used to estimate the equivalent channel matrix traversed by the data channel, thereby enabling data detection and demodulation. Specifically, at the transmitter, the DMRS is typically precoded in the same way as the transmitted data signal, ensuring that the DMRS traverses the same equivalent channel as the data signal. At the receiver, based on the known DMRS, a channel estimation algorithm can be used to estimate the equivalent channel. Demodulation of the data signal can then be performed based on this equivalent channel.

[0004] However, with the ever-increasing demands for high-speed, high-reliability, and low-latency communication, modern communication systems will continue to face the challenges of greater capacity, wider coverage, and lower latency. The receiver performs channel estimation based on DMRS with multiple antenna ports; however, DMRS incurs significant pilot air interface resource overhead, and channel estimation suffers from latency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method and a communication device that can reduce the resource overhead caused by transmitting DMRS for demodulation data and the latency caused by processing DMRS, ensure effective acquisition of channel state information, and improve system spectrum efficiency.

[0006] Firstly, a communication method is provided. This method can be applied to a first communication device (that is, can be executed by the first communication device), namely, the first communication device can be a communication equipment (such as a terminal device), or the first communication device can be a component of a communication equipment (such as a chip, chip system, circuit, or communication module).

[0007] The method may include: receiving configuration information, the configuration information being used to update first information associated with the first communication device; and sending feedback information, the feedback information being used to indicate channel information associated with the first communication device, the channel information being determined based on the first information associated with the first communication device.

[0008] In this embodiment, updating the first information can be understood as the network device updating the packets of multiple terminal devices (or multiple reference channels). It should be understood that in data transmission based on a radio-frequency map (RF-map), the network device acquires reference channels and transmits data based on the packet results of the terminal devices (or reference channels). That is, the receiving end can acquire channel information based on the reference channels and then perform data demodulation. However, due to the instability of the communication system or environment, such as the mobility of terminal devices or the variability of the communication environment (e.g., changes in multipath scatterers), the network device needs to update the packets of the terminal devices (or reference channels) in a timely manner to ensure accurate channel information is obtained and improve system frequency efficiency.

[0009] In this application, channel information is illustrated using channel state information as an example, but the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto.

[0010] The first information includes group information and / or quasi-co-location (QCL) information of the group to which the terminal device belongs, obtained by the network device regrouping the terminal device. The group information and / or QCL information of the group to which the terminal device belongs are used to determine the channel state information associated with the terminal device.

[0011] The first information associated with the terminal device is determined based on the first information of multiple terminal devices. That is to say, the network device can configure the terminal device group according to the group selected by multiple terminal devices (e.g., all current terminal devices).

[0012] Based on the above technical solution, before the first communication device transmits data, it receives configuration information. This configuration information is used to update the first information associated with the first communication device. The first communication device can determine the channel state information associated with it based on the latest first information and report it to the network device (e.g., the second communication device). During data transmission, the second communication device determines the channel conditions based on this channel information, thereby performing data scheduling. This eliminates the need to send DMRS for assisting in receiving data, reducing the resource overhead of sending DMRS for demodulating data from various communication devices and the latency caused by processing DMRS. Obtaining channel state information based on the updated first information associated with the terminal device ensures the accuracy of channel state information acquisition and improves system spectral efficiency.

[0013] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: sending first request information, the first request information being used to request the updating of first information associated with the first communication device.

[0014] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can trigger the network device to update the first information associated with the terminal device by triggering signaling (taking the first request information as an example). The UE can trigger packet updates according to its own situation to ensure the accuracy of channel state information acquisition, thereby improving the system spectrum efficiency.

[0015] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving first indication information, the first indication information being used to instruct the second communication device to update the first information associated with the first communication device.

[0016] Based on the above technical solution, network devices can directly trigger the update of the first information associated with terminal devices, and instruct the network devices to update the first information associated with terminal devices through trigger signaling (taking the first indication information as an example). Network devices can trigger packet updates of the RF-map according to communication needs, ensuring the accuracy of channel state information acquisition, thereby improving system spectrum efficiency.

[0017] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: determining that at least one of the following is satisfied: the first information associated with the first communication device has not been updated within a first time period; the transmission requirements of the first communication device have been updated; the first performance index of the first communication device is less than or equal to a first threshold; and the moving distance of the first communication device is greater than or equal to a second threshold.

[0018] Based on the above technical solution, network devices or terminal devices can trigger the updating of the first information associated with the terminal device according to different triggering criteria based on communication needs. This ensures the accuracy of channel state information acquisition and thus improves system spectrum efficiency.

[0019] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first time t1 and the second time t2 satisfy the following first preset condition: Δt = t1 - t2,

[0020] Wherein, the first moment is the moment of receiving or sending the feedback information, the second moment is the moment of sending or receiving the first request information, or the second moment is the moment of sending or receiving the first indication information.

[0021] Based on the above technical solution, by limiting the timing relationship between trigger signaling and update signaling, it is ensured that the channel state information can be updated in a timely manner after the trigger signaling is issued, thus ensuring the accuracy of the obtained channel state information.

[0022] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, before receiving the configuration information, the method further includes: sending capability information, the capability information indicating whether it supports determining channel information associated with the first communication device based on first information associated with the first communication device.

[0023] Capability information can be used by network devices to determine whether to group terminal devices or whether to transmit data to terminal devices based on first information associated with them. Capability information indicates whether it supports determining channel state information associated with a terminal device based on first information associated with it, and can also be replaced with any of the following: whether it supports determining precoding or demodulation information based on first information associated with the terminal device, whether DMRS is used for receiving or transmitting data, and whether grouping is supported.

[0024] Optionally, the capability information may also indicate the update trigger objects supported by the terminal device, for example, the network device instructs the update and / or the terminal device triggers the update.

[0025] Optionally, the capability information may also indicate the triggering rules supported by the terminal device, such as at least one of the triggering rules.

[0026] Optionally, the capability information may also indicate the timing relationship between the triggering signaling and the channel state information update signaling, for example, a first preset condition.

[0027] Based on the above technical solution, the first communication device can provide its own capability information to other communication devices (such as the second communication device) to indicate whether it supports determining the channel state information associated with the first communication device based on the first information associated with the first communication device. In this way, the second communication device can select the device that can obtain accurate channel state information based on the first information for data transmission based on the capabilities of the first communication device.

[0028] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, before receiving the configuration information, the method further includes: receiving second indication information, the second indication information indicating information of Q group communication devices, each group of communication devices in the Q group being associated with a first piece of information, where Q is an integer greater than 1; sending third indication information, the third indication information indicating the group to which the first communication device belongs, the group to which the first communication device belongs satisfying a second preset condition, and the group to which the first communication device belongs belongs to one of the Q group communication devices.

[0029] Based on the above technical solution, the second communication device can provide the first communication device with updated group information of the communication devices, such as information about Q-group communication devices. The first communication device can then select its own group (i.e., the group to which the first communication device belongs) based on the information about the Q-group communication devices and indicate this to the second communication device. When scheduling data from the first communication device, the second communication device can indicate corresponding first information to the first communication device based on the group selected by the first communication device, so that the first communication device can determine the channel state information based on the corresponding first information.

[0030] Secondly, a communication method is provided. This method can be applied to a second communication device (that is, can be executed by the second communication device), namely, the second communication device can be a communication equipment (such as a network device), or the second communication device can be a component of a communication equipment (such as a chip or chip system or circuit or communication module).

[0031] The method may include: sending configuration information, the configuration information being used to update first information associated with a first communication device; and receiving feedback information, the feedback information being used to indicate channel information associated with the first communication device, the channel information being determined based on the first information associated with the first communication device.

[0032] As an example, channel information can be channel state information.

[0033] Based on the above technical solution, before the second communication device transmits data, it provides configuration information to the first communication device. This configuration information is used to update the first information associated with the first communication device. The second communication device can receive the channel state information associated with the first communication device, determined by the first communication device based on the latest associated first information. During data transmission, the second communication device determines the channel conditions based on this channel state information, thereby performing data scheduling. This eliminates the need to send DMRS for assisting in receiving data, reducing the resource overhead of sending DMRS for demodulating data from various communication devices and the latency caused by processing DMRS. Obtaining channel state information based on the updated first information associated with the terminal device ensures the accuracy of channel state information acquisition and improves system spectral efficiency.

[0034] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: receiving first request information; and updating first information associated with the first communication device based on the first request information.

[0035] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate updating first information associated with the first communication device.

[0036] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: determining that at least one of the following is satisfied: the first information associated with the first communication device has not been updated within a first time period; the transmission requirements of the first communication device have been updated; the first performance index of the first communication device is less than or equal to a first threshold; and the moving distance of the first communication device is greater than or equal to a second threshold.

[0037] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first time t1 and the second time t2 satisfy the following first preset condition: Δt = t1 - t2,

[0038] Wherein, the first moment is the moment of receiving or sending the feedback information, the second moment is the moment of sending or receiving the first request information, or the second moment is the moment of sending or receiving the first indication information.

[0039] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: receiving capability information, the capability information indicating whether the first communication device supports determining channel information associated with the first communication device based on first information associated with the first communication device.

[0040] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, before receiving the configuration information, the method further includes: sending second indication information, the second indication information indicating information of Q group communication devices, each group of communication devices in the Q group being associated with a first piece of information, where Q is an integer greater than 1; receiving third indication information, the third indication information indicating the group to which the first communication device belongs, the group to which the first communication device belongs satisfying a second preset condition, and the group to which the first communication device belongs belongs to one of the Q group communication devices.

[0041] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some implementations, the information of the Q-group communication devices includes at least one of the following: multipath component (MPC) information of each communication device in the Q-group communication devices, the centroid position of each communication device in the Q-group communication devices, and the measurement results of the reference signal associated with each communication device in the Q-group communication devices.

[0042] Based on the above technical solution, the group information of the communication devices provided by the second communication device to the first communication device may include the MPC information, centroid position, and measurement results of the reference signal of each group of communication devices. In this way, the first communication device can select the appropriate group based on the above information.

[0043] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some implementations, the Q-group communication device is determined based on at least one of the following: the location of the communication device, the MPC information of the communication device, and the channel of the communication device.

[0044] Based on the above technical solution, the second communication device can group each communication device according to its location, multipath component (MPC) information, channel, etc., so that communication devices in a group can be associated with the same first information.

[0045] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in some implementations, the group to which the first communication device is located satisfies a second preset condition, including at least one of the following: the deviation between the centroid MPC information of the group to which the first communication device is located and the MPC information of the first communication device is less than or equal to a first threshold; the deviation between the centroid position of the group to which the first communication device is located and the position of the first communication device is less than or equal to a second threshold; and the measurement result of the reference signal associated with the group to which the first communication device is located satisfies the first condition.

[0046] In some implementations, in conjunction with the first or second aspect, the second instruction information also indicates the second preset condition.

[0047] In some implementations, in conjunction with the first or second aspect, the first information is: group information of the communication device, or quasi-co-address information.

[0048] Based on the above technical solution, the first information may be the group information of the communication device group, or it may be quasi-co-address information.

[0049] Thirdly, a communication apparatus is provided for performing the methods of the first or second aspect and any possible implementation thereof. Specifically, the apparatus may include units and / or modules for performing the methods of the first or second aspect and any possible implementation thereof, such as processing units and / or communication units.

[0050] In one implementation, the device is a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device). When the device is a communication device, the communication unit can be a transceiver or an input / output interface; the processing unit can be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0051] In another implementation, the device is a chip, chip system, circuit, or communication module for communication equipment (such as terminal equipment or network equipment). When the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit for communication equipment, the communication unit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip, chip system, or circuit; the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit, or logic circuit.

[0052] Fourthly, a communication device is provided, the device comprising: at least one processor configured to cause the device to perform the methods of the first or second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0053] Optionally, the at least one processor is configured to execute computer programs or instructions to perform the methods described in the first or second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0054] Optionally, the device further includes a memory for storing the computer program or instructions.

[0055] Optionally, the at least one processor is coupled to a memory for storing the computer program or instructions. The memory may be located externally to the device.

[0056] Optionally, the device also includes a communication interface through which the processor reads instructions from memory. This can be understood as the communication interface being coupled to the processor and used to input computer programs or instructions to the processor, or to output information from the processor.

[0057] Unless otherwise specified, or if the transmission and acquisition / reception operations involved do not contradict their actual function or internal logic in the relevant description, they can be understood as output, input, or other operations, or as transmission and reception operations performed by radio frequency circuits and antennas. This application does not limit them in this regard.

[0058] In one implementation, the device is a communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device).

[0059] In another implementation, the device is a chip, chip system, circuit, or communication module for communication equipment (such as terminal equipment or network equipment). Optionally, the chip is a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core or a system-in-package (SIP) chip.

[0060] Fifthly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores a computer program (e.g., program code) or instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the methods described in the first or second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0061] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the first or second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0062] A seventh aspect provides a communication system, including a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is used to execute the method provided in any implementation of the first aspect, and the second communication device is used to execute the method provided in any implementation of the second aspect. Attached Figure Description

[0063] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of this application.

[0064] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an ORAN system applicable to an embodiment of this application.

[0065] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an access network device applicable to an embodiment of this application.

[0066] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 400 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0067] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the grouping of terminal devices proposed in an embodiment of this application.

[0068] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the centroid channel proposed in an embodiment of this application.

[0069] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 700 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0070] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 800 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0071] Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0072] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 1000 provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0073] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 1100 provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0074] The technical solutions in this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0075] Before introducing the scheme of this application, the following points should be noted.

[0076] (1) In this application, "instruction" can include direct instruction, indirect instruction, explicit instruction, implicit instruction, etc. When describing an instruction information as indicating A, it can be understood that the instruction information carries A, carries the identifier of A, carries B which is associated with A, carries the identifier of B which is associated with A, etc. In other words, if the receiving side of an instruction information can determine A based on the instruction information, it can be described as the instruction information indicating A, and the specific method of determination is not limited. When it is understood that the instruction information carries A, "instruction" can be replaced with "includes". In this case, a statement such as "send / receive instruction information, the instruction information indicates A" can be replaced with "send / receive A".

[0077] In this application, the information indicated by the instruction information is called the information to be instructed. In specific implementations, there are many ways to indicate the information to be instructed, such as, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be instructed, such as the information to be instructed itself or its index. It can also indirectly indicate the information to be instructed by indicating other information, where there is a relationship between the other information and the information to be instructed. It can also indicate only a part of the information to be instructed, while the other parts are known or pre-agreed upon. For example, 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 instruction overhead to some extent. Furthermore, the information to be instructed can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information pieces, and the sending period and / or timing of these sub-information pieces can be the same or different.

[0078] (2) In this application, the expression " / " is used to indicate that the objects before and after are in an "or" relationship; for example, A / B can mean: A or B. The expression "and / or" is used to indicate that the objects before and after are in a relationship of either "and" or "or"; for example, A and / or B can mean the following: A exists alone, B exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, where A and B can be single or multiple. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions are used to indicate any combination of the listed items; for example, at least one of A, B and / or C can mean the following: A exists alone, B exists alone, C exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, B and C exist simultaneously, A and C exist simultaneously, A, B and C exist simultaneously, where A, B, and C can be single or multiple.

[0079] (3) In this application, "send" and "receive" indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "send information to XX" can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, which may include direct transmission via the air interface or indirect transmission by other units or modules via the air interface. "Receive information from YY" can be understood as the source of the information being YY, which may include direct reception from YY via the air interface or indirect reception from YY by other units or modules via the air interface. "Send" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receive" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface. In other words, sending and receiving can occur between devices, such as between network devices and terminal devices, or within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules, or hardware modules within the device via a bus, wiring, or interface.

[0080] (4) In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0081] (5) In this application, "first," "second," and "#1," "#2," and "#A" are merely for descriptive convenience and are used to distinguish objects, and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. They are not used to describe the order or sequence of features. It should be understood that such described objects can be interchanged where appropriate in order to describe solutions other than those in the embodiments of this application.

[0082] (6) In this application, "predefined" can mean a standard protocol predefined, or it can mean a pre-agreed or pre-negotiated agreement between devices. Here, "protocol" can refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, for example, it may include fourth-generation (4G) protocols. th Generation 4G network, fifth generation (5G) network th This application does not limit the scope to network protocols such as 5G (generation, 5G), New Radio (NR), 5.5G, and related protocols used in future communication networks.

[0083] (7) In this application, the words “exemplary,” “for example,” etc., are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as an “example” in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Rather, the term “example” is used to present concepts in a specific manner.

[0084] (8) In this application, “of”, “corresponding, relevant”, “corresponding”, and “related” can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction is not emphasized, they have the same meaning.

[0085] (9) In this application, the terms “identifier”, “index”, “number” and “serial number” may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction is not emphasized, they have the same meaning.

[0086] (10) In this application, “when…”, “if” and “if” all refer to the device making a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances, and are not limited to a time, nor do they require the device to make a judgment when it is implemented, nor do they mean that there are other limitations.

[0087] (11) This application involves matrix transformations in several places. For ease of understanding, a unified explanation is provided here. The superscript T indicates transpose, such as A T This represents the transpose of matrix (or vector) A; the superscript * indicates conjugate, such as A * The superscript H represents the conjugate of matrix (or vector) A; the superscript H indicates the conjugate transpose, such as A H This represents the conjugate transpose of matrix (or vector) A. For the sake of brevity, explanations of similar or identical cases will be omitted in the following text.

[0088] Next, we will introduce the communication system to which this application applies.

[0089] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as 5th generation (5G) or new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, and LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication networks. Furthermore, the technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems such as inter-satellite communication and satellite communication.

[0090] As an example, a satellite communication system includes a satellite base station and terminal equipment. The satellite base station provides communication services to the terminal equipment. Satellite base stations can also communicate with each other. A satellite can act as a base station or as a terminal device. Here, "satellite" can refer to drones, hot air balloons, low-Earth orbit satellites, medium-Earth orbit satellites, high-Earth orbit satellites, etc. "Satellite" can also refer to non-terrestrial base stations or non-terrestrial equipment.

[0091] As an example, V2X communication can include: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, and vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication.

[0092] In a communication system, a device can send signals to or receive signals from another device. These signals can include information, signaling, or data. The device can also be replaced by an entity, network entity, communication equipment, communication module, node, communication node, etc. This application uses a device as an example for description.

[0093] The terminal device in this application embodiment can be a device or module that accesses the aforementioned communication system and has corresponding communication functions. The terminal device can include various devices with wireless communication capabilities, which can be used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. The terminal device can be widely used in various scenarios, such as: cellular communication, D2D, V2X, M2M, MTC, IoT, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, etc. The terminal device can be a terminal in any of the above scenarios, such as an MTC terminal, an IoT terminal, etc. Terminal equipment can be user equipment (UE), terminal, fixed equipment, mobile station equipment or mobile equipment, subscriber unit, handheld device, vehicle-mounted equipment, wearable device, cellular phone, smartphone, session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, wireless data card, personal digital assistant (PDA), computer, tablet computer, laptop computer, wireless modem, handset, laptop computer, computer with wireless transceiver capability, smart book, vehicle, satellite, global positioning system (GPS) device, target tracking device, aircraft (e.g., drone, helicopter, multiple helicopters, four helicopters, or airplanes), ship, remote control device, smart home device, industrial equipment, transportation vehicle with wireless communication capability, communication module, or roadside unit with terminal function, all conforming to the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard. The device may be a wireless communication unit (RSU), or a device built into the aforementioned device (e.g., a communication module, modem, or chip in the aforementioned device), or other processing devices connected to the wireless modem.

[0094] It should be understood that in certain scenarios, a UE can also be used as a base station. For example, a UE can act as a scheduling entity, providing sidelink signaling between UEs in V2X, D2D, and other scenarios.

[0095] In this embodiment, the device for implementing the functions of a terminal device, i.e., the terminal device, can be the terminal device itself, or it can be any device capable of supporting the terminal device in implementing the functions, such as a chip system, chip, circuit, or communication module (i.e., a communication module that performs communication functions). This device can be installed in the terminal device. In this embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. Furthermore, the device can also be configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions.

[0096] The network device in this application embodiment can be a device or module with corresponding communication functions. The network device can be a device used to communicate with terminal devices; it can also be called an access network device or a wireless access network device, such as a base station. In this application embodiment, the network device can refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects the terminal device to the wireless network. A base station can broadly encompass, or be replaced by, various names including: NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next-generation NodeB (gNB), relay station, access point, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitter point, master station, auxiliary station, motor slide retainer (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. A base station can be a macro base station, micro base station, relay node, donor node, or a combination thereof. A base station can also refer to a communication module, modem, or chip installed within the aforementioned equipment or apparatus. A base station can also be a mobile switching center, a device that performs base station functions in D2D, V2X, and M2M communications, or a device that performs base station functions in future communication systems. A base station can support networks using the same or different access technologies. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies or device forms used in the network equipment.

[0097] Base stations can be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a mobile base station, and one or more cells can move depending on the location of the mobile base station. In other examples, a helicopter or drone can be configured as a device to communicate with another base station.

[0098] In some deployments, the network devices mentioned in the embodiments of this application may be devices including CU, or DU, or devices including CU and DU, or devices with control plane CU nodes (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)) and user plane CU nodes (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)) and DU nodes.

[0099] In some deployments, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes each implementing some of the base station's functions. For example, RAN nodes can be CUs, DUs, CU-CPs, CU-UPs, or radio units (RUs). CUs and DUs can be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a BBU. RUs can be included in radio equipment or radio units, such as RRUs, AAUs, or RRHs.

[0100] 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, a radio access network can also be an open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN) architecture. In an O-RAN system, CU can also be called an open CU (open CU, O-CU), DU can also be called an open DU (open DU, O-DU), CU-CP can also be called an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), CU-UP can also be called an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and RU can also be called an open RU (open RU, O-RU). 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 modules and hardware modules.

[0101] In this embodiment, the device for implementing the functions of a network device can be a network device itself, or a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing those functions, such as a chip system, chip, circuit, or communication module (i.e., a communication module that performs communication functions). This device can be installed within the network device. In this embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. Furthermore, the device can be configured with program instructions for performing corresponding communication functions. This embodiment only uses a network device as an example to illustrate the device for implementing the functions of a network device, and does not limit the solution of this embodiment.

[0102] Network devices and terminal devices can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can also be deployed in the air on airplanes, balloons, and satellites. This application does not limit the scenario in which the network devices and terminal devices are located.

[0103] Referring to Figure 1, as an example, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication system includes a wireless access network 100. The wireless access network 100 can be a future or higher version of the wireless access network, or a traditional (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) wireless access network. One or more terminal devices (120a-120j, collectively referred to as 120) can be interconnected or connected to one or more network devices (110a, 110b, collectively referred to as 110) in the wireless access network 100. Network elements in the wireless communication system are connected through interfaces (e.g., NG, Xn) or air interfaces.

[0104] When network devices and terminal devices communicate, the network device can manage one or more cells, and a cell can include at least one terminal device. A cell can be understood as an area within the wireless signal coverage range of the network device.

[0105] Figure 1 is just a schematic diagram. The wireless communication system may also include other devices, such as core network devices, wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1.

[0106] Referring to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of an ORAN system applicable to an embodiment of this application, the ORAN system includes a core network, access network equipment, and a UE. As an example, the ORAN system may also include other components besides those shown in Figure 2; specific details are not limited in this application.

[0107] Access network equipment can communicate with the core network (CN) via a backhaul link. Access network equipment can also communicate with the UE via an air interface. Specifically, the BBU in the access network equipment communicates with the core network via a backhaul link. The RU in the access network equipment communicates with at least one UE via an air interface. The BBU communicates with at least one RU via a fronthaul link; the BBU and RU may or may not be co-located. A BBU includes at least one CU and at least one DU, and the CU and DU can communicate via at least one midhaul link.

[0108] Referring to Figure 3, as an example, Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an access network device applicable to an embodiment of this application.

[0109] Optionally, the access network equipment includes a CU. The CU is a logical node that carries the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and other control functions of the access network equipment. The CU can connect to network nodes such as the core network through interfaces, such as the E2 interface. The CU may have some core network functions. The CU (e.g., the PDCP layer and / or higher) connects to the DU (e.g., the radio link control (RLC) layer and lower layers of the DU) through interfaces, such as the F1 interface. Optionally, the F1 interface can provide control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane) functions (e.g., interface management, system information management, UE context management, RRC message transmission, etc.). F1AP is the application protocol of the F1 interface, defining the signaling procedures of F1 in some examples. The F1 interface supports control plane F1-C and user plane F1-U.

[0110] As an example, a CU includes CU-CP and CU-UP. CU-CP is a logical node carrying the control plane (PDCP-C) layer, which carries the RRC layer and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol layer, and is used to implement the CU's control plane functions. CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement control plane functions. These network elements in the core network can be access and mobility function (AMF) network elements, such as the access and mobility management function (AMF) in a 5G system. The AMF network element is responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as terminal device location updates, terminal device registration with the network, and terminal device handover. CU-UP is a logical node carrying the user plane (PDCP-U) layer, which carries the SDAP layer and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol layer, and is used to implement the CU's user plane functions. CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement user plane functions. These network elements in the core network, such as the user plane function (UPF) in a 5G system, are responsible for data forwarding and receiving in terminal devices. The above CU and DU configurations are merely examples. In practical applications, the functions of the CU and DU can be configured as needed. For instance, the CU or DU can be configured to have more protocol layer functions, or to have only some protocol layer processing functions. For example, some RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions above the RLC layer can be placed in the CU, while the remaining RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions below the RLC layer can be placed in the DU. Furthermore, the functions of the CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements. For example, based on latency, functions that require low latency can be placed in the DU, while functions that do not require low latency can be placed in the CU.

[0111] Optionally, the access network equipment includes a DU. As shown in Figure 3, the DU is a logical node carrying the RLC layer, medium access control (MAC) layer, higher physical layer (Higher PHY) layer, and other functions. In some examples, the DU can control at least one RU. The DU connects to the RU through interfaces, which can be fronthaul interfaces. In some examples, the Higher PHY layer includes the PHY layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0112] Optionally, the access network equipment includes a Runner (RU). As shown in Figure 3, the RU is a logical node that carries lower physical layer (Lower PHY) and radio frequency (RF) processing. In some examples, the RU may be a 3GPP transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio head (RRH), or other similar entities. In some examples, the Lower-PHY includes PHY processing functions such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), digital beamforming, and filtering. The RU communicates with one or more UEs via a radio link (such as an RF chain).

[0113] The DU and RU can be co-located or not. The DU and RU exchange control plane and user plane information via a fronthaul link through the lower-layer split CUS-plane (LLS-CUS-Plane) (or O-RAN CUS-Plane) interface. Here, CUS-Plane represents the control plane (C-Plane), user plane (UPlane), and synchronization plane (S-Plane) (CUS-Plane). LLS-CUS may include a lower-layer split control (LLS-C) interface providing the control plane and a lower-layer split user (LLS-U) interface providing the user plane. Additionally, LLS-CUS may include a lower-layer split synchronization (LLS-S) interface providing the synchronization plane. In some examples, the control plane (or control plane) refers to the real-time control between the DU and RU. The DU and RU exchange management plane information via the lower-layer split management (LLS-M) interface of the fronthaul link. The management plane (M-Plane) refers to the non-real-time management operations between the DU and RU.

[0114] DU and RU can cooperate to implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of DU and RU can be configured in various ways depending on the design. For example, a DU can be configured to implement baseband functions, and an RU can be configured to implement mid-RF functions. Another example is that a DU can be configured to implement higher-level functions in the PHY layer, and an RU can be configured to implement lower-level functions in the PHY layer, or to implement both lower-level and RF functions. Higher-level functions in the physical layer can include a portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the MAC layer, while lower-level functions in the physical layer can include another portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the mid-RF side.

[0115] Figures 1 to 3 above are illustrative examples, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto.

[0116] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the terms used in this application will be briefly explained.

[0117] To facilitate a better understanding of the technical solution of this application, some related technologies involved in the technical solution of this application are introduced.

[0118] 1. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology: Utilizing spatial resources, MIMO can increase the capacity and spectral efficiency of a communication system by leveraging array gain, multiplexing and diversity gain, and interference cancellation gain in space without increasing system bandwidth. For example, in LTE systems, MIMO systems can support up to eight layers of transmission using multiple antennas at both the transmitting and receiving ends.

[0119] 2. Reference signal (RS): This refers to the physical signal that transmits a sequence to achieve a specific function. Specifically, the reference signal is a physical signal generated by mapping a specific sequence onto corresponding resources according to a pre-defined resource mapping method. The reference signal can also be called a pilot, reference sequence, or reference signal.

[0120] In this application, the reference signal, as an example, can be any of the following: channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), sounding reference signal (SRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), phase track reference signal (PT-RS), cell reference signal (CRS), etc. Among them, DMRS can be used for demodulation of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). CSI-RS can be used for channel information measurement and to report channel state information (CSI), which includes at least one of the following: precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indication (RI), and channel quality indicator (CQI).

[0121] It should be understood that the reference signals listed above are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting this application. This application does not preclude the possibility of defining other reference signals in future agreements to achieve the same or similar functions.

[0122] 3. Channel Information: This refers to information that reflects channel characteristics and channel quality. As an example, channel information includes at least one of the following: CSI, time-varying channel information, or channel frequency offset information, etc. The following explanation primarily uses CSI as an example of channel information; however, it can be understood that any information reflecting channel characteristics and channel quality is applicable to the embodiments of this application.

[0123] 4. Port: Also known as an antenna port, it can include a transmit port and a receive port. One port can be configured for each virtual antenna, and each virtual antenna can be a weighted combination of multiple physical antennas. The transmit port can be understood as the virtual antenna recognized by the receiver. The receive port can be understood as the receiving antenna of the receiver. For example, in downlink transmission, the receive port can refer to the receiving antenna of the terminal device; similarly, the receive port can also be understood as a virtual antenna.

[0124] A port is a logical concept, typically associated with a reference signal. Therefore, a port can be understood as a transmit / receive interface on the channel through which the reference signal passes. For low frequencies, a port may correspond to one or more antenna elements that jointly transmit the reference signal; the receiver can treat them as a whole without distinguishing between individual elements. For high-frequency systems, a port may correspond to a beam; similarly, the receiver can treat this beam as an interface without needing to differentiate between individual elements.

[0125] Ports can be characterized by antenna port or port, or by resources (such as CSI-RS resources, SRS resources, DMRS resources, PT-RS resources, CRS resources, TRS resources, synchronization signal block (SSB) resources, etc.) or resource groups. That is to say, the port identifier (or index) involved in this application can be replaced by the identifier (or index) of the above-mentioned content. For example, the port identifier (or index) can be replaced by the resource identifier (or index), the pilot resource identifier (or index), the reference signal resource identifier (or index), etc.

[0126] Currently, DMRS is mainly used to estimate the equivalent channel matrix experienced by data channels (such as physical downlink share channel (PDSCH) and physical uplink share channel (PUSCH)) or control channels (such as physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)) for data detection and demodulation. For the transmitting end, DMRS is usually precoded in the same way as the transmitted data signal to ensure that DMRS and data signals experience the same equivalent channel. Assume the transmitting end sends a DMRS vector s and a transmitted data signal vector x, and DMRS and data signals undergo the same precoding (multiplied by the same precoding matrix). For example, the received data signal vector y and DMRS vector r satisfy equations (1) and (2), respectively.

[0127] in, Let 'x' represent the equivalent channel traversed by the data signal and DMRS, and 'x' represent the data. The receiver, based on the known DMRS vector 's', uses channel estimation algorithms, such as least squares (LS) channel estimation and minimum mean square error (MMSE) channel estimation, to obtain the equivalent channel. The estimation is based on the equivalent channel, which allows for the demodulation of the data signal.

[0128] Currently, the types of DMRS include the following: Type 1 DMRS, Type 2 DMRS, Enhanced Type 1 DMRS (eType 1 DMRS), and Enhanced Type 2 DMRS (eType 2 DMRS).

[0129] For Type 1 DMRS, a maximum of 8 orthogonal ports are supported, with a corresponding frequency domain density of 3 resource elements (REs) (also called resource cells or resource particles), 1 resource block (RB), or 1 port. Each port can occupy 3 REs per RB. For Type 2 DMRS, a maximum of 12 orthogonal ports are supported, with a corresponding frequency domain density of 2 RBs, 1 RB, or 1 port. Each port can occupy 2 REs per RB. For eType 1 DMRS, a maximum of 16 orthogonal ports are supported, with a corresponding frequency domain density of 3 REs, 2 RBs, or 1 port. For eType 2 DMRS, a maximum of 24 orthogonal ports are supported, with a corresponding frequency domain density of 1 RE, 1 RB, or 1 port. Taking PDSCH as an example, the DMRS for PDSCH can include: front-loaded DMRS (FL DMRS) and add-on DMRS. FL DMRS typically occupies 1 or 2 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols (such as OFDM symbol 2 and OFDM symbol 3). When FL DMRS occupies 1 OFDM symbol, Add-on DMRS typically occupies 0, 1, or 2 OFDM symbols; when FL DMRS occupies 2 OFDM symbols, Add-on DMRS typically occupies 2 OFDM symbols.

[0130] On the one hand, DMRS consumes a lot of resources; on the other hand, the receiving end needs to estimate the channel based on DMRS before demodulating the data, resulting in a relatively large delay.

[0131] In view of this, this application proposes a scheme in which the receiving end can obtain accurate channel information based on the reference channel and then perform data demodulation, thereby avoiding the sending end from sending DMRS when transmitting data, reducing the resource overhead and latency caused by DMRS, and improving data transmission performance and user experience.

[0132] The methods provided by the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments provided by this application can be applied to the scenarios shown in the above figures and are not limited thereto. Furthermore, the terms used below are as explained above and will not be repeated hereafter.

[0133] In the following embodiments, for ease of understanding and explanation, examples are mainly given of a terminal device (i.e., an example of the first communication device) and a network device (i.e., an example of the second communication device). The terminal device can also be replaced by a component of the terminal device (i.e., an example of the first communication device), such as a chip, chip system, circuit, or communication module. Similarly, the network device can also be replaced by a component of the network device (i.e., an example of the second communication device), such as a chip, chip system, circuit, or communication module. Furthermore, the steps described below as being performed by a single execution entity can also be divided into steps performed by multiple execution entities, which can be logically and / or physically separated.

[0134] In the following embodiments, the channels mentioned repeatedly (such as reference channels and target channels) can be channels corresponding to frequency domain units or channels corresponding to time units. A time unit can be a symbol, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a mini-slot, a slot, a partial slot, a subframe, or a radio frame, etc. A frequency domain unit can be a resource block (RB), a subcarrier, a resource block group (RBG), a predefined subband, a precoding resource block group (PRG), a bandwidth part (BWP), a resource element (RE) (also called a resource cell or resource particle), a carrier, or a serving cell.

[0135] Referring to Figure 4, as an example, Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 400 provided in an embodiment of this application. The method 400 shown in Figure 4 may include the following steps.

[0136] 410. The terminal device receives the configuration information, and the network device sends the configuration information accordingly.

[0137] The configuration information is used to update the first information associated with the terminal device.

[0138] The first information associated with the terminal device is determined based on the first information of multiple terminal devices.

[0139] As an example, configuration information is carried in at least one of the following signaling: radio resource control (RRC), downlink control information (DCI), and media access control (MAC) layer signaling (such as MAC control element (CE) (MAC CE)).

[0140] Regarding the first information, at least the following two implementation methods are included.

[0141] In one possible implementation, the first information is the group information of the terminal device. Based on this, the configuration information in 410 may include the group information of the terminal device.

[0142] The group information of the terminal devices includes information about the group to which the terminal device belongs, such as the identifier (or index, number, or sequence number) of the group. Specifically, the network device groups (or clusters) multiple terminal devices to obtain Q groups of terminal devices (or Q clusters of terminal devices, i.e., an example of Q groups of communication devices). Each group of terminal devices in the Q groups includes at least one terminal device, and each group of terminal devices in the Q groups is associated with a first piece of information. In other words, each piece of first information is associated with at least one terminal device. It can be understood that in this embodiment, the first information is the group information of the terminal devices. Therefore, the Q groups of terminal devices are associated with Q pieces of group information, and each group of terminal devices is associated with one piece of group information. It is understood that in this embodiment of the application, the network device updates the group information associated with the terminal device through configuration information, which means that the network device regroups multiple terminal devices. The terminal devices in the Q group obtained after regrouping may or may not have been in the Q group before the regrouping. The group information of the terminal device may be the same as before the update or may be different from the update. That is, the network device updates the group information associated with the terminal device, and does not limit the group to which the terminal device belongs to will necessarily change after regrouping multiple terminal devices.

[0143] The relevant schemes for network devices to group terminal devices will be explained in detail later.

[0144] In a second possible implementation, the first piece of information is quasi-co-address information. Based on this, the configuration information in 410 can include the quasi-co-address information of the terminal device.

[0145] Quasi-co-location (QCL), also known as quasi-co-location, is used to define the relationship between ports. Since ports are defined by signals (such as reference signals), QCL essentially refers to the relationship between signals. Signals with a QCL relationship have the same parameters, or the signals corresponding to ports with a QCL relationship have the same parameters, or the parameters of one port can be used to determine the parameters of another port with a QCL relationship, or the two ports have the same parameters, or the parameter difference between the two ports is less than a certain threshold. The parameters can include one or more of the following: delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average delay, and spatial Rx parameters. One possible implementation is to indicate the QCL relationship between two signals through a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (TCI-state or TCI state).

[0146] Optionally, the target channel and the reference channel have a QCL relationship; in other words, the signal on the target channel and the signal on the reference channel have a QCL relationship.

[0147] A reference channel is relative to a target channel. The target channel, also called a channel or MIMO channel, can represent the channel carrying data during transmission, or the channel where the terminal device is located, or the channel containing the data, or the transmission resources included in the data. A reference channel can represent a channel similar to the target channel. When a terminal device on the target channel transmits data, because the reference channel and the target channel have certain similarities, the terminal device on the target channel can perform some operations based on the reference channel, such as CSI acquisition and auxiliary demodulation of data. Assuming H1 is the reference channel and H2 is the target channel, as an example, the reference channel H1 and the target channel H2 can be at least one of the following: two channels that are spatially (or spatially) similar, two channels that are temporally similar, or two channels that are frequency-similar. Assume a group of terminal devices are associated with a reference channel H... A As an example, the H A This refers to the centroid channel of one or more target channels contained in the group of terminal devices. This application primarily uses target channels and reference channels as examples for description; the names of target channels and reference channels do not limit the scope of protection of this application.

[0148] In the embodiments of this application, the centroid channel is mentioned several times, and will be explained uniformly here. The centroid channel can also be called the group centroid channel or the clustering centroid channel. Taking the centroid channel of one or more target channels as an example, the centroid channel of one or more target channels is determined under the condition of spatial consistency, given a channel range or channel set, and a channel (i.e., the centroid channel) is determined from the channel range or channel set such that the average similarity of this channel with the one or more target channels is greater than or equal to a threshold (such as making the average similarity of this channel with the one or more target channels the highest). The similarity metric can be, for example, cosine similarity. Taking cosine similarity as an example, the centroid channel satisfies formula (3).

[0149] Among them, H centroid Represents the centroid channel; cs(H,H) n ) represents the calculation of channel H and channel H n The cosine similarity, where H belongs to the channel set #1, i.e., H∈{H a H b ,…},H n This represents the nth target channel among one or more target channels (e.g., denoted as N target channels); argmax represents the parameter that is maximized.

[0150] Optionally, the configuration information includes reference channel information, that is, the first information is reference channel information.

[0151] Specifically, the network device groups multiple terminal devices into Q groups of terminal devices. Each group in the Q group includes at least one terminal device, and each group of terminal devices in the Q group is associated with a reference channel. This can also be understood as each terminal device in the group being associated with a single reference channel. In other words, each reference channel is associated with at least one terminal device. It is understood that in this embodiment, the network device updates the QCL information associated with the terminal devices (taking reference channel information as an example) through configuration information. This indicates that the network device regroups the multiple terminal devices. The reference channel of the terminal device may be the same as before the update, or it may be different. That is, updating the reference channel associated with the terminal device does not necessarily mean that the reference channel of the terminal device will change after regrouping the multiple terminal devices.

[0152] The information of the reference channel includes information that can be used to characterize the reference channel, or may include information related to the reference channel. As an example, the information of the reference channel includes at least one of the following: the identifier of the reference channel (or index, number, or sequence number, etc.), the channel matrix (or channel vector) of the reference channel, and the PMI of the reference channel.

[0153] The above describes two possible implementations of the first information. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, updating the first information can be understood as the network device updating packets for multiple terminal devices (or multiple reference channels). It should be understood that in RF-map-based data transmission, the network device acquires reference channels and transmits data based on the packet results for the terminal devices (or reference channels). That is, the receiving end can acquire channel information based on the reference channels and then perform data demodulation. However, due to the instability of the communication system or environment, such as the mobility of terminal devices or the variability of the communication environment (e.g., changes in multipath scatterers), the network device needs to update the packets for the terminal devices (or reference channels) in a timely manner to ensure accurate channel information is obtained and improve system frequency efficiency.

[0154] In this application, channel information is illustrated using channel state information as an example. This application does not limit the specific channel information, and will not repeat the description below.

[0155] The following describes the triggering scheme for updating the first piece of information.

[0156] An optional implementation, method 400, further includes: the terminal device triggering an update of the first information associated with the terminal device.

[0157] As an example, the terminal device sends a trigger signaling message (taking a first request message as an example), which requests the network device to update the first information associated with the terminal device. Accordingly, the network device receives the first request message and updates the first information associated with the terminal device based on the first request message.

[0158] For example, the configuration of the trigger signaling sent by the terminal device can be static, semi-static, or dynamic, and the trigger signaling can be transmitted via PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0159] In one possible implementation, the terminal device can determine to send the first request information according to the triggering rules. That is, if the terminal device determines that the triggering rules are met, the terminal device can trigger an update and send the first request information to the network device.

[0160] As an example of a triggering rule, if the first information associated with the terminal device is not updated within the first time period, the terminal device can send a first request to the network device.

[0161] Specifically, the duration of the timer for the first time period is defined as T1. If the first information associated with the terminal device is not updated within the duration T1, the terminal device sends a first request message to trigger the network device to update the first information. Alternatively, if the time since the last update of the first information associated with the terminal device exceeds T1, the terminal device sends a first request message to trigger the network device to update the first information. In other words, if the network device does not re-group the terminal device within the duration T1, the terminal device can send a first request message to trigger the network device to re-group the terminal device. Or, if the time since the last grouping of the terminal device exceeds T1, the terminal device can send a first request message to trigger the network device to re-group the terminal device.

[0162] As an example of the triggering rule, when the terminal device updates its transmission requirements, the terminal device can send a first request message to the network device.

[0163] Specifically, when the transmission requirements of a terminal device change, such as data transmission rate, data transmission volume, transmission latency, or stability, in order to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the system, the terminal device can send a first request message to the network device so that the network device can make corresponding adjustments by updating packets.

[0164] As an example of the triggering rule, if the first performance indicator of the terminal device is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can send the first request information to the network device.

[0165] Specifically, a communication performance threshold is defined. For example, a first performance indicator is defined as a first threshold. When the first performance indicator is less than or equal to this first threshold, the terminal device can send a first request message to trigger the network device to re-packetize the terminal device. Alternatively, when the terminal device detects a decline in communication performance that fails to meet communication requirements, it can trigger the network device to update the terminal device's packets.

[0166] For example, communication performance thresholds are usually set based on specific communication performance indicators, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), and throughput. This application does not limit these indicators.

[0167] As an example of the triggering rule, if the moving distance of the terminal device is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the terminal device can send the first request information to the network device.

[0168] Specifically, a movement distance threshold, such as a second threshold, is defined for the terminal device. When the terminal device determines (e.g., based on its own movement speed) that the movement distance is greater than or equal to the second threshold, it can send a first request message to trigger the network device to re-packetize the terminal device. Alternatively, when the terminal device detects that it has moved far from its initial position (greater than or equal to the second threshold), and the communication quality of the wireless link with the current network device may degrade and fail to meet communication requirements, the network device can be triggered to update the terminal device's packets.

[0169] Alternatively, method 400 may further include: the network device triggering an update of the first information associated with the terminal device.

[0170] As an example, the network device sends a first indication message, which indicates that first information associated with the first communication device needs to be updated. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication message and determines, based on it, that the first information associated with the terminal device needs to be updated.

[0171] For example, the configuration of the trigger signaling sent by the network device can be static, semi-static, or dynamic, and the trigger signaling can be transmitted via PDCCH or PDSCH.

[0172] In one possible implementation, the network device can determine to send the first indication information based on the triggering rules. That is, if the network device determines that the triggering rules are met, the network device can trigger an update and send the first indication information to the terminal device.

[0173] As an example of a triggering rule, if the first information associated with the terminal device is not updated within the first time period, the network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device.

[0174] Specifically, the duration of the timer for the first time period is defined as T1. Within the duration T1, if the network device detects that the first information associated with the terminal device has not been updated, the network device sends a first indication message to instruct the terminal device to update the first information. Alternatively, if the network device detects that the time since the last update of the first information associated with the terminal device exceeds T1, the network device sends a first indication message to instruct the terminal device to update the first information. In other words, if the network device does not re-group the terminal device within the duration T1, the network device can send a first indication message to instruct that the terminal device needs to be re-grouped. Or, if the time since the last grouping of the terminal device exceeds T1, the network device can send a first indication message to instruct that the terminal device needs to be re-grouped.

[0175] As an example of the triggering rule, when the terminal device updates its transmission requirements, the network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device.

[0176] Specifically, when the transmission requirements of a terminal device change, such as data transmission rate, data transmission volume, transmission latency, or stability, in order to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the system, the network device can send a first indication message to the terminal device, notifying the terminal device that the network device needs to update packets.

[0177] As an example of the triggering rule, if the first performance indicator of the terminal device is less than or equal to the first threshold, the network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device.

[0178] Specifically, a communication performance threshold is defined. For example, a first performance indicator threshold is defined as a first threshold. When the first performance indicator is less than or equal to this first threshold, the network device can send a first indication message to the terminal device, indicating that the network device needs to re-packetize the terminal device. Alternatively, when the network device or the terminal device detects a decline in communication performance that fails to meet communication requirements, the network device sends a first indication message indicating that the terminal device's packets need to be updated.

[0179] For example, communication performance thresholds are usually set based on specific communication performance indicators, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), throughput, etc., which are not limited in this application embodiment.

[0180] As an example of the triggering rule, if the moving distance of the terminal device is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device.

[0181] Specifically, a movement distance threshold, such as a second threshold, is defined for the terminal device. When the terminal device determines, or the network device detects (e.g., based on its own movement speed), that the movement distance is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the network device can send a first indication message indicating that the terminal device needs to be re-grouped. Alternatively, when the terminal device detects that it has moved far from its initial position (greater than or equal to the second threshold), and the communication quality of the wireless link with the current network device may degrade, failing to meet communication requirements, the network device can send a first indication message indicating that the terminal device needs to be re-grouped.

[0182] It is understood that the above examples of possible triggering rules are provided for illustration. Triggering rules can be set according to specific application requirements, and the embodiments of this application do not limit them.

[0183] The following section introduces solutions related to network device grouping.

[0184] Optionally, method 400 further includes: the network device determining the Q group of terminal devices.

[0185] Specifically, network devices group multiple terminal devices into Q groups. Each group within a Q group includes one or more terminal devices, and each group contains different terminal devices. Each group is associated with a single piece of first information. In other words, the terminal devices within a group are associated with the same first information, which is the precoding information used when transmitting data or the demodulation information used when receiving data. This first information can be used to determine the information associated with each group. The number of terminal devices in each Q group may be the same or different; this is not limited. It can be understood that when a group of terminal devices includes only one terminal device, the group itself can also be called a terminal device.

[0186] Grouping multiple terminal devices can also be replaced by grouping (or clustering) multiple target channels to obtain Q groups of channels (or Q clusters of channels, or Q clusters). Each group of channels in the Q groups includes one or more target channels. The target channels contained in each group are different. Each group of channels is associated with a reference channel (i.e., an example of the first information).

[0187] Taking the target channel and reference channel as an example, the packet operation of a network device can be represented as: f(H1,H2,H3,H4,……,H) k )={H A H B H C}, where f() represents the grouping algorithm; H i (i = 1, 2, ..., k) represents the target channel; H A H B H C This represents the reference channel associated with each group of terminal devices. The grouping algorithm is not limited; for example, it can be a clustering algorithm, such as agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) or the K-means algorithm.

[0188] The following section, with reference to Figure 5, describes the grouping operations of network devices.

[0189] Referring to Figure 5, as an example, Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of terminal device grouping proposed in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 5, it is assumed that the network coverage area of ​​the network device includes at least 5 terminal devices, referred to as UE1, UE2, UE3, UE4, and UE5, respectively. The target channel of UE1 can be denoted as H1, the target channel of UE2 as H2, the target channel of UE3 as H3, the target channel of UE4 as H4, and the target channel of UE5 as H5. In one possible scenario, the network device can divide the 5 terminal devices (or the target channels of the 5 terminal devices) into 3 groups of terminal devices based on a grouping algorithm (such as AHC or Kmeans algorithm), and the reference channels associated with these 3 groups of terminal devices are H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5, respectively. A H B H C .

[0190] Specifically, UE1 and UE2 are a group of terminal devices (referred to as group A). ​​In other words, the target channel H1 of UE1 and the target channel H2 of UE2 are a group, and group A is associated with the reference channel H. A That is, the first piece of information associated between UE1 and UE2 is the reference channel H. A Information about group A or group A (such as the identifier of group A). ​​As an example, H... A These are the centroid channels of H1 and H2. Similarly, UE3 and UE4 are a group of terminal devices (denoted as group B). In other words, the target channel H3 of UE3 and the target channel H4 of UE4 are a group, and group B is associated with the reference channel H. B That is, the first piece of information associated with UE3 and UE4 is the reference channel H. B Information about group B or group B (such as the identifier of group B). As an example, H... B These are the centroid channels for H3 and H4. Similarly, UE5 is a group of terminal devices (denoted as group C). In other words, UE5's target channel H5 is a group, and group C is associated with the reference channel H. C That is, the first piece of information associated with UE5 is the reference channel H. C Information about group C or group C (such as the identifier of group C). As an example, H... C This refers to the centroid channel of H5 or H5. For ease of description, we will take group A as an example. Group A can also be referred to as the group where UE1 and UE2 are located. That is, the group where UE1 is located is group A, and the group where UE2 is located is group A. Group B and group C are similar and will not be described in detail here.

[0191] One possible implementation is that the network device determines the Q group of terminal devices based on at least one of the following: the location of the terminal device, the multipath parameters of the terminal device, and the channel of the terminal device. In other words, the network device groups multiple terminal devices based on at least one of the above. Several examples are given below.

[0192] Example 1: Network devices determine Q-group terminal devices based on their locations. Specifically, when terminal devices in different locations receive signals, the weighting coefficients corresponding to the channel matrices determined by the signals are different because the channels they pass through are different. Therefore, terminal devices can be grouped based on their locations.

[0193] As an example, the location of a terminal device may include the azimuth angle of departure (AoD) and / or the zenith angle of departure (ZoD).

[0194] For example, taking UE1 and UE2 in Figure 5 as an example, if the azimuth departure angles of UE1 and UE2 are relatively close (e.g., the deviation between the azimuth departure angles of UE1 and UE2 is less than or equal to threshold #1), and / or, the pitch departure angles of UE1 and UE2 are relatively close (e.g., the deviation between the pitch departure angles of UE1 and UE2 is less than or equal to threshold #2), then it can be determined that the spatial distance between UE1 and UE2 is relatively close, and the distance of the large weighting coefficients corresponding to the estimated channel matrices is also relatively close. Therefore, they can be regarded as a group of terminal devices, that is, the precoding information when UE1 and UE2 transmit data or the demodulation information when receiving data can be determined based on the same first information (e.g., reference channel).

[0195] For another example, taking UE1 and UE3 in Figure 5 as examples, if the azimuth departure angles of UE1 and UE3 differ significantly (e.g., the deviation between the azimuth departure angles of UE1 and UE3 is greater than threshold #1), and / or, the pitch departure angles of UE1 and UE3 differ significantly (e.g., the deviation between the pitch departure angles of UE1 and UE3 is greater than threshold #2), then it can be determined that the spatial distance between UE1 and UE3 differs significantly. The distances corresponding to the large weighting coefficients of the channel matrices estimated separately also differ significantly. Therefore, they cannot be considered as a group of terminal devices. That is, the precoding information when UE1 and UE3 transmit data or the demodulation information when receiving data cannot be determined based on the same first information.

[0196] Example 2: Network devices determine Q-group terminal devices based on the multipath parameters of the terminal devices. Specifically, when terminal devices in different locations receive signals, the multipath parameters of the terminal devices in different locations also differ because the signals pass through different channels. Therefore, terminal devices can be grouped based on their multipath parameters.

[0197] Multipath parameters can represent the relevant information of each path when a signal is transmitted through a channel, such as the multipath component parameters of the transmitting antenna and / or the multipath component parameters of the receiving antenna. Multipath parameters can also be called multipath information or multipath component (MPC) information. In this embodiment, for simplicity, MPC information is used for description.

[0198] As an example, MPC information includes at least one of the following: angle, delay, power, polarization, Doppler, phase, etc. The angle may include at least one of the following: horizontal angle of arrival (AOA), horizontal angle of departure (AOD), vertical angle of arrival (ZOA), and vertical angle of departure (ZOD). AOA and ZOA refer to the horizontal and vertical angles of arrival of the signal via the wireless channel to the receiving antenna, respectively. AOD and ZOD refer to the horizontal and vertical angles of departure of the signal transmitted via the transmitting antenna, respectively.

[0199] The MPC information of the terminal device can be obtained through a sensing system, or based on historical channel data, or measured based on a reference signal; there are no restrictions on which one is obtained.

[0200] For example, taking UE1 and UE2 in Figure 5 as examples, if the angles of UE1 and UE2 are relatively close (e.g., the deviation between the angles of UE1 and UE2 is less than or equal to threshold #3), it can be determined that the MPC information of UE1 and UE2 is relatively close. That is, the precoding information when UE1 and UE2 send data or the demodulation information when receiving data can be determined based on the same first information (e.g., reference channel).

[0201] For another example, taking UE1 and UE4 in Figure 5 as an example, if the angles of UE1 and UE4 differ significantly (e.g., the deviation between the angles of UE1 and UE4 is greater than the threshold #3), it can be determined that the MPC information of UE1 and UE4 differs significantly. Therefore, they cannot be considered as a group of terminal devices. That is, the precoding information when UE1 and UE4 send data or the demodulation information when receiving data cannot be determined based on the same first information.

[0202] Example 3: The network device determines the Q group terminal devices based on the channel of the terminal device.

[0203] As an example, the channel of a terminal device can be its frequency domain channel. That is, network devices can group terminal devices based on the frequency domain channels of each terminal device.

[0204] For example, taking UE1 and UE2 in Figure 5 as examples, if the frequency domain channels of UE1 and UE2 are relatively close (e.g., the deviation between the frequency domain channels of UE1 and UE2 is less than or equal to threshold #4), then it can be determined that the target channels of UE1 and UE2 can be used as a group of terminal devices. That is, the precoding information when UE1 and UE2 send data or the demodulation information when receiving data can be determined based on the same first information (e.g., reference channel).

[0205] For another example, taking UE1 and UE4 in Figure 5 as examples, if the frequency domain channels of UE1 and UE4 are large (such as the deviation between the frequency domain channels of UE1 and UE4 being greater than the threshold #4), it can be determined that the target channels of UE1 and UE4 cannot be used as a group of terminal devices. That is, the precoding information when UE1 and UE4 send data or the demodulation information when receiving data cannot be determined based on the same first information.

[0206] The deviation between the frequency domain channels of terminal devices can be characterized by distance. Taking UE1 and UE2 as examples, assuming that the channel matrix of the frequency domain channel of UE1 is H1 and the channel matrix of the frequency domain channel of UE2 is H2, the network device can calculate the distance, such as Euclidean distance, between the weighting coefficients corresponding to the channel matrix H1 and the weighting coefficients corresponding to the channel matrix H2 to determine whether the frequency domain channels of UE1 and UE2 are similar (that is, the deviation between the frequency domain channels of UE1 and UE2).

[0207] Taking Euclidean distance as an example. To calculate the Euclidean distance between the weighted coefficients corresponding to channel matrix H1 and channel matrix H2, we can first normalize the weighted coefficients corresponding to channel matrix H1 and channel matrix H2 to obtain vectors x and y representing the weighted coefficients corresponding to channel matrix H1 and channel matrix H2, respectively. Vectors x and y satisfy: ||x||2=1, ||y||2=1. Here, |||2 represents the L2 norm of the vector, or Euclidean norm. The Euclidean distance between the weighted coefficients corresponding to channel matrix H1 and the weighted coefficients corresponding to channel matrix H2 can be expressed as: ||xy||2. Assuming the threshold #3 is ε, for example, ε is 0.1. If the distance between the weighted coefficients corresponding to channel matrix H1 and the weighted coefficients corresponding to the channel matrix H2 of the reference subband satisfies ||xy||2≤ε, then UE1 and UE2 can be considered as a group of terminal devices. If the distance between the weighted coefficients corresponding to the channel matrix H1 and the weighted coefficients corresponding to the channel matrix H2 of the reference subband does not satisfy ||xy||2≤ε, or in other words, ||xy||2>ε, then UE1 and UE2 cannot be used as a group of terminal devices.

[0208] It is understood that Euclidean distance is merely one possible implementation for calculating the distance between the weighted coefficients corresponding to the channel matrices of two frequency domain channels, and the embodiments of this application are not limited to this. This distance can also be, for example, Wasserstein distance (also known as earth mover's distance), Jensen-Shannon divergence (JS divergence), cosine similarity, normalized cross-correlation coefficient, F-norm, etc. The formula for calculating the distance in the examples above can also be adjusted accordingly, and this application does not limit this. Other examples of the above distances and their possible implementations can be found in existing technologies, which will not be detailed here.

[0209] It is also understood that the thresholds mentioned in the embodiments of this application (such as threshold #1, threshold #2, threshold #3, threshold #4 mentioned above, and threshold #5, threshold #6, threshold #7, etc. mentioned below) may be predefined, configured, or indicated, and are not limited thereto.

[0210] Optionally, method 400 further includes: the network device sending second indication information, the second indication information indicating information about the terminal devices in group Q, each terminal device in group Q being associated with a first piece of information. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information.

[0211] The information of the terminal devices in group Q can also be called the grouping result. Specifically, after the network device groups multiple terminal devices, it indicates the grouping result to the terminal devices.

[0212] As an example, the information of the Q group of terminal devices includes: the identifier of each group of terminal devices in the Q group, and / or, a specific quantity of each group of terminal devices in the Q group. In other words, the second indication information may indicate the identifier of each group of terminal devices in the Q group, and / or, a specific quantity of each group of terminal devices in the Q group.

[0213] The identifier for each group of terminal devices in group Q, referred to as the group identifier, can be used to identify each group of terminal devices, or to identify the first information associated with each group of terminal devices. Taking Q=3, with the three groups of terminal devices referred to as the first group, the second group, and the third group, as an example, the identifier for each group of terminal devices in group Q can include the identifier of the first group, the identifier of the second group, and the identifier of the third group.

[0214] Among them, the specific quantities of each group of terminal devices in the Q-group, or the parameters of each group of terminal devices in the Q-group, represent information related to each group of terminal devices. As an example, the specific quantities of each group of terminal devices in the Q-group include at least one of the following: MPC information of each group of terminal devices in the Q-group, centroid position of each group of terminal devices in the Q-group, centroid channel of each group of terminal devices in the Q-group, and measurement results of the reference signal of each group of terminal devices in the Q-group. This information is described below.

[0215] 1) The MPC information of each terminal device in group Q can represent the measurement results of the MPC of each terminal device in group Q.

[0216] Taking a group of terminal devices as an example, the MPC information of this group of terminal devices may include at least one of the following: the MPC information of each terminal device in the group, the MPC information of the reference channel associated with the group of terminal devices, and the MPC information of the centroid position corresponding to the group of terminal devices. For details on MPC information, please refer to the preceding description; it will not be repeated here.

[0217] 2) The centroid position of each group of terminal devices in group Q can represent the centroid position of one or more terminal devices contained in each group of terminal devices in group Q. The second indication information can indicate relevant information about the centroid position of each group of terminal devices in group Q, such as the azimuth departure angle and / or pitch departure angle of the centroid position.

[0218] The centroid position (or centroid location) can refer to the location of the centroid channel or the position of the centroid channel, or the coordinates of the centroid channel. The centroid position can be represented by coordinates, which can be geospatial coordinates, such as GPS coordinates, or geospatial coordinates or grid coordinates relative to network devices; or it can be signal space coordinates, such as the coordinates in the signal space defined by the terminal device measuring the signal strength of multiple network devices; there is no limitation on this.

[0219] 3) The centroid channel of each group of terminal devices in group Q can represent the centroid channel of one or more target channels contained in each group of terminal devices in group Q. The second indication information can indicate the relevant information of the centroid channel of each group of terminal devices in group Q. As an example, the relevant information of the centroid channel of each group of terminal devices in group Q includes at least one of the following: the centroid channel of each group of terminal devices in group Q, the projection matrix corresponding to the centroid channel of each group of terminal devices in group Q, and the PMI of the centroid channel of each group of terminal devices in group Q. In other words, the second indication information can indicate at least one of the above.

[0220] Referring to Figure 6, as an example, Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the centroid channel proposed in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 6, matrix A represents the centroid channel, and matrix U represents the projection matrix corresponding to the centroid channel. Taking matrix A as an example with a dimension of n×m, n represents the dimension related to the spatial frequency domain (e.g., the number of transmit antenna ports, the number of frequency domain subcarriers), and m represents the dimension related to the spatial domain, time domain, etc. (e.g., the number of receive antenna ports, the number of time domain TTIs). Matrix A can be transformed into matrix U and matrix C through matrix decomposition, where the dimension of matrix U is n×r. The dimension of matrix C is r×m, and the specific process satisfies formula (4). A=U A ×S A ×(V A ) H (4)

[0221] Among them, U A Let U be the matrix obtained by SVD decomposition of matrix A. A The dimension is n×n, U A The column vectors of S can be called left singular vectors. A Let S be the matrix obtained by decomposing matrix A using SVD. A The dimension is n×m, S A Elements on the diagonal are called singular values. V A Let V be the matrix obtained by SVD decomposition of matrix A. A The dimension is m×m, V A The column vectors of matrix A can be called right singular vectors. Matrix U can be constructed from r left singular vectors obtained by SVD decomposition of matrix A, i.e., matrix U = U A [:,1:r], which represents the expression from matrix U A The first to the rth columns are taken to form matrix U, meaning matrix U has a dimension of n×r. The columns of matrix U can represent the dimension of projecting the n rows onto the subspace. The dimension of the subspace can be used to determine the number of resources for a reference signal (such as CSI-RS). Here, r is a positive integer less than or equal to m.

[0222] 4) The measurement results of the reference signal for each group of terminal devices in group Q can represent the measurement results of the reference signal previously fed back by one or more terminal devices contained in each group of terminal devices in group Q. As an example, the measurement results of the reference signal include at least one of the following: reference signal receiving power (RSRP), reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) (or simply signal-to-noise ratio).

[0223] Taking a group of terminal devices as an example, the measurement results of the reference signals of the group of terminal devices may include at least one of the following: the measurement results of the reference signals of each terminal device in the group of terminal devices, the measurement results of the reference signals of the centroid position corresponding to the group of terminal devices, and the measurement results of the reference signals on the centroid channel corresponding to the group of terminal devices.

[0224] The above is an illustrative example, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. As an example, the information of the Q group of terminal devices further includes: information about the terminal devices contained in each group of terminal devices in the Q group (such as the identifier of the terminal device), and / or, the information of the Q group of terminal devices also includes first information corresponding to each group of terminal devices in the Q group. For example, the information of the Q group of terminal devices includes the correspondence shown in Table 1.

[0225] Taking Table 1 as an example, each terminal device can determine its group and the reference channel associated with it based on Table 1. For example, UE1 can determine that the identifier of the group to which UE1 belongs is N#1 and the reference channel associated with UE1 is H. A That is, the reference channel associated with the group to which UE1 belongs is H. A UE3 can determine that the identifier of the group to which UE3 belongs is N#2 and the reference channel associated with UE3 is H. B That is, the reference channel associated with the group to which UE3 belongs is H. B And so on.

[0226] It is understood that Table 1 is for illustrative purposes only, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. For example, Table 1 may also include a column indicating the target channel of the terminal device. Furthermore, Table 1 may not include a reference channel, or the reference channel may be replaced with specific quantities of the aforementioned groups of terminal devices.

[0227] Table 1

[0228] The following example, shown in Figure 5, illustrates two ways to implement the second instruction information.

[0229] In one possible implementation, the network device sends a second indication message to multiple terminal devices. In other words, the network device notifies multiple terminal devices of the packet result; for example, the network device broadcasts the packet result, and the multiple terminal devices receive the packet result accordingly. For instance, taking the example in Figure 5, the network device sends three sets of terminal device information to UE1, UE2, UE3, UE4, and UE5.

[0230] The second possible implementation involves the network device sending a second instruction to each terminal device. In other words, the network device sends the packet results corresponding to each terminal device, that is, the packet results related to each terminal device. For example, taking the example in Figure 5, the network device sends group A information to UE1 and UE2; the network device sends group B information to UE3 and UE4; and the network device sends group C information to UE5.

[0231] Alternatively, after receiving the second instruction information, the terminal device determines the group to which it belongs.

[0232] In one possible implementation, the terminal device directly determines the group designated by the network device based on the second indication information. Therefore, the group the terminal device belongs to is the group indicated by the network device. Specifically, the network device sends the second indication information to the terminal device, which indicates the information of terminal devices in group Q; the terminal device determines its group based on this information. For example, the information of the terminal devices in group Q may include the correspondence shown in Table 1. Alternatively, the network device directly indicates the group the terminal device belongs to.

[0233] In a second possible implementation, the terminal device selects a group of terminal devices (referred to as the target group) from the Q group of terminal devices based on the second indication information. The group to which the terminal device belongs is the group selected by the terminal device. Specifically, the network device sends the second indication information to the terminal device, which indicates the information of the Q group of terminal devices; based on this information, the terminal device selects the target group from the Q group of terminal devices as the group to which the terminal device belongs.

[0234] As an example, the target group satisfies the second preset condition. The second preset condition includes at least one of the following: the deviation between the centroid MPC information of the target group and the MPC information of the terminal device is less than or equal to threshold #5 (i.e., an example of the first threshold); the deviation between the centroid position of the target group and the position of the terminal device is less than or equal to threshold #6 (i.e., an example of the second threshold); and the measurement result of the reference signal of the target group satisfies the first condition.

[0235] Optionally, the second instruction information may also indicate a second preset condition.

[0236] In other words, the terminal device can select the target group from the terminal devices in group Q based on any of the following methods.

[0237] One possible implementation is that the terminal device determines the target group based on the MPC information of each group of terminal devices in group Q and the MPC information of the terminal devices themselves. As an example, the deviation between the centroid MPC information of the target group and the MPC information of the terminal devices is less than or equal to a threshold #5. That is, the terminal device selects a group of terminal devices from group Q whose centroid MPC information deviates from the terminal devices' MPC information from the target group by a deviation less than or equal to threshold #5.

[0238] Another possible implementation involves the terminal device determining the target group based on the centroid position of each group of terminal devices in group Q and the position of the terminal device itself. As an example, the deviation between the centroid position of the target group and the position of the terminal device is less than or equal to a threshold #6.

[0239] Another possible implementation involves the terminal device determining the target group based on the centroid channel of each terminal device in the Q-group and the target channel of the terminal device. As an example, the deviation between the centroid channel of the target group and the target channel of the terminal device is less than or equal to a threshold #7.

[0240] For example, taking Q=3 as an example, the operation of the terminal device selecting a group can be expressed as: g(H n H A H B H C )=H A ,g(H m H A H B H C )=H B Where g() represents the algorithm for selecting groups, which can be the algorithm for calculating Euclidean distance mentioned earlier, or other algorithms; H n H m Indicates the target channel of the terminal device; H A H B H C This indicates the reference channels for the three sets of terminal devices indicated by the network device. That is, for the target channel H... n Terminal devices, based on algorithms from H A H B H C Select H A As the reference channel, that is, the terminal device selects H AThe corresponding group is the target group; for the target channel H m Terminal devices, based on algorithms from H A H B H C Select H B As the reference channel, that is, the terminal device selects H B The corresponding group is the target group. The method for determining the algorithm used by the terminal device to select the group is not limited. For example, the algorithm used by the terminal device to select the group can be predefined, indicated by the network device, or determined by the device itself. Furthermore, the type of algorithm used by the terminal device to select the group is not limited; it can be the Euclidean distance algorithm mentioned above, or other algorithms.

[0241] Another possible implementation involves the terminal device determining the target group based on the measurement results of the reference signals of each group of terminal devices in the Q-group. As an example, the measurement results of the reference signals of the target group satisfy a first condition. For instance, if the measurement results of the reference signals include the RSRP of the reference channel, the terminal device can select the group of terminal devices in the Q-group with the highest RSRP value (i.e., an example of the first condition) (or, the group of terminal devices whose RSRP value is greater than or equal to threshold #7 (i.e., an example of the first condition) as the target group.

[0242] Further optionally, method 400 further includes: the terminal device sending third indication information, the third indication information indicating the target group.

[0243] The third indication information can be implemented using at least one bit. Assume there are three groups of terminal devices: group A, group B, and group C.

[0244] For example, the third indication information is implemented using 2 bits. For instance, if the 2 bits are "01", it indicates that the terminal device has selected group A; if the 2 bits are "10", it indicates that the terminal device has selected group B; and if the 2 bits are "11", it indicates that the terminal device has selected group C. The case where the bit is "00" is not limited; for example, if the 2 bits are "00", it indicates that the terminal device has not selected a group, or that the terminal device has not selected a group from group A, group B, or group C.

[0245] For example, the third indication information is implemented using a 3-bit bitmap. Each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a group. The first value of a bit indicates that the group is selected by the terminal device, and the second value of a bit indicates that the group is not selected by the terminal device. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Taking the first value as 1 and the second value as 0 as an example, if the 3-bit bitmap value is "001", it means that the terminal device has selected group A; if the 3-bit bitmap value is "010", it means that the terminal device has selected group B; and if the 3-bit bitmap value is "100", it means that the terminal device has selected group C.

[0246] The above-described implementation of the third indication information is an illustrative example, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. For example, each of the Q group terminal devices indicated by the network device corresponds to an identifier, and the terminal device can indicate the group selected by indicating the identifier of the selected group.

[0247] Assuming that in step 410, the first information contained in the configuration information includes the first information associated with the group to which UE1 is located (e.g., group #1), and further optionally, the target group indicated by UE1 through the third indication information may be the same as or different from group #1, this is not limited.

[0248] In one possible scenario, the target group indicated by the third instruction information is the same as group #1. Based on this, the group configured (or scheduled) by the network device for the terminal device is the target group reported by the terminal device.

[0249] Another possible scenario is that the target group indicated by the third instruction information is different from group #1. Based on this, the network device can select a suitable group as the group for the terminal device based on the target group reported by the terminal device and the actual communication situation, such as the current service distribution of each terminal device and the amount of buffered data.

[0250] It is understandable that after receiving the third instruction information, the network device can send configuration information based on the third instruction information. That is, the network device can configure the terminal device's group according to the group selected by the terminal device. In other words, the group configured by the network device for the terminal device can be the same as or different from the group selected by the terminal device. For example, the network device can determine the service distribution of all terminal devices based on the groups returned by all terminal devices. Based on this, the network device can select a suitable group for the terminal device to match the current service requirements.

[0251] The above example illustrates the use of a terminal device sending a third instruction message, but the embodiments of this application are not limited to this. For example, if the terminal device agrees (or confirms) to the group indicated by the network device through the second instruction message, the terminal device may not need to send a third instruction message to the network device, or the terminal device may directly send a confirmation message to the network device.

[0252] The above section introduced the relevant schemes for network device grouping. The following section introduces the scheme for terminal devices to report their capabilities before network devices are grouped.

[0253] In an optional implementation, method 400 further includes: the terminal device sending capability information. The capability information indicates whether it supports determining the channel information associated with the terminal device based on first information associated with the terminal device. In one possible implementation, the terminal device sends this capability information to the network device during the initial cell access procedure.

[0254] The capability information can be used by network devices to determine whether to group terminal devices or whether to transmit data to terminal devices based on first information associated with them. The specific content of the capability information indication is not limited in this application. For example, whether the capability information indication supports determining the channel state information associated with the terminal device based on the first information associated with it can be replaced with any of the following: whether it supports determining precoding or demodulation information based on the first information associated with the terminal device, whether DMRS is used to receive or transmit data, and whether grouping is supported.

[0255] As an example, capability information includes at least one of the following: supported precoding processing methods, supported equalization processing methods, the number of channels that can be simultaneously scheduled, the number of streams supported, and the supported frequency domain resource granularity.

[0256] Optionally, the capability information may also indicate the update trigger objects supported by the terminal device, for example, the network device instructs the update and / or the terminal device triggers the update.

[0257] Optionally, the capability information may also indicate the triggering conditions supported by the terminal device, such as at least one of the triggering rules.

[0258] Optionally, the capability information may also indicate the timing relationship between the triggering signaling and the channel state information update signaling, for example, a first preset condition.

[0259] Method 400 also includes step 420.

[0260] Step 420: The terminal device sends feedback information based on the configuration information, and the network device receives the feedback information accordingly.

[0261] The feedback information is determined based on the first information associated with the terminal device. The feedback information is used to indicate the channel information associated with the terminal device.

[0262] For example, the feedback information includes channel state information associated with the terminal device.

[0263] In an optional implementation, method 400 further includes: the terminal device determining channel state information associated with the terminal device based on first information associated with the terminal device.

[0264] The process of determining channel state information by terminal equipment is described below, taking into account two scenarios of the first information.

[0265] In scenario 1, the first information is quasi-co-addressable information. For example, if the target channel and the reference channel of the terminal device have a QCL relationship, the first information is the information of the reference channel associated with the terminal device.

[0266] Specifically, the operation of the terminal device includes the following steps.

[0267] 1) The terminal device determines the channel state information reference signal of the reference channel based on the configuration information. For example, the configuration information may include information about the group to which the terminal device belongs and the channel state information reference signal of the reference channel associated with the group to which the terminal device belongs.

[0268] 2) The terminal device obtains the channel state information associated with the terminal device by measuring the reference signal of the reference channel associated with the group to which the terminal device belongs.

[0269] Scenario 2: The first information is the group information of the terminal device, such as the identifier of the terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs.

[0270] Specifically, the operation of the terminal device includes the following steps.

[0271] 1) The terminal device determines the group to which it belongs based on the configuration information, and further determines the channel state information reference signal of the reference channel associated with the terminal device. For example, the configuration information may include the correspondence between the identifier of the group to which the terminal device belongs and the channel state information reference signal of the reference channel associated with the group to which the terminal device belongs.

[0272] 2) The terminal device obtains the channel state information associated with the terminal device by measuring the reference signal of the reference channel associated with the group to which the terminal device belongs.

[0273] As an example, channel state information can be MPC information and / or PMI information of the terminal device.

[0274] For example, feedback information sent by the terminal device can be transmitted via PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0275] An optional implementation, method 400, further includes: defining the timing relationship between triggering signaling and channel state information update signaling.

[0276] As an example, the first time t1 and the second time t2 satisfy the following first preset condition: Δt = t1 - t2,

[0277] The first moment is the moment when the channel state information is updated, for example, the moment when the terminal device sends feedback information or the network device receives feedback information; the second moment is the moment when the update is triggered, for example, the moment when the terminal device sends the first request information or the network device sends the first indication information.

[0278] For example, the timing relationship between triggering signaling and channel state information update signaling can be indicated by network devices or reported by terminal devices.

[0279] It is understandable that the process from triggering the update of the first piece of information on the terminal device to completing the update of that information needs to be completed within a time interval Δt. This ensures that the channel state information is updated in a timely manner, thus guaranteeing the system's spectral efficiency.

[0280] The above describes how network devices can update packets for multiple terminal devices and indicate the packet results to the terminal devices. The terminal devices obtain channel state information based on the updated packets and report it to the network devices. The network devices can then schedule data from multiple groups of terminal devices based on the channel state information.

[0281] Optionally, method 400 may also include step 430.

[0282] Step 430: The terminal device receives the scheduling information, and the network device sends the scheduling information accordingly.

[0283] The scheduling information includes Z first pieces of information, each of which is associated with a terminal device. Each of the Z first pieces of information is associated with at least one terminal device, and Z is an integer equal to or greater than 1.

[0284] As an example, scheduling information is carried in at least one of the following signaling: radio resource control (RRC), downlink control information (DCI), and media access control (MAC) layer signaling (such as MAC control element (CE) (MAC CE)).

[0285] Regarding the first piece of information, please refer to the description in step 410, which will not be repeated here.

[0286] In one possible implementation, the first information is the group information of the terminal devices. Based on this, the scheduling information includes Z group information, which are the group information associated with Z groups of terminal devices, with each group of terminal devices associated with one group information.

[0287] Specifically, network devices can schedule data from some or all of the terminal devices in group Q (such as group Z) using scheduling information. That is, the scheduling information includes information about Z groups associated with the terminal devices in group Z. It can be understood that in this embodiment, when a network device schedules data from a certain group of terminal devices, it means that the network device schedules data from at least one terminal device in that group. In other words, the data scheduled by the network device includes data from one or more terminal devices in that group. That is, scheduling data from a group of terminal devices does not necessarily mean that the network device schedules data from all terminal devices in that group.

[0288] In another possible implementation, the first information is quasi-co-address information. Based on this, the scheduling information includes Z quasi-co-address information entries. These Z quasi-co-address information entries are associated with Z groups of terminal devices, with one quasi-co-address information entry associated with each group of terminal devices.

[0289] Optionally, the scheduling information includes reference channel information, that is, the first information is reference channel information. Based on this, the scheduling information includes information on Z reference channels, which are associated with Z groups of terminal devices, with each group of terminal devices associated with one reference channel. The statement that each group of terminal devices is associated with one reference channel can also be understood as each terminal device within that group being associated with a single reference channel.

[0290] Specifically, the network device groups multiple terminal devices into Q groups of terminal devices. The network device can determine the data to schedule Z groups of terminal devices based on the channel state information fed back by the terminal devices. That is, the scheduling information includes the information of Z reference channels associated with Z groups of terminal devices, with each group of terminal devices associated with one reference channel.

[0291] As mentioned above, in the embodiments of this application, the network device can group terminal devices. When scheduling data, the network device can carry group information associated with each group of terminal devices or reference channel information associated with each group of terminal devices in the scheduling information. The terminal devices can determine precoding information or demodulation information based on the group information or reference channel information contained in the scheduling information, and then send or receive data.

[0292] Optionally, the scheduling information may also include at least one of the following: group information of terminal devices associated with each of the Z first pieces of information, number of streams associated with each of the Z first pieces of information, frequency domain resources associated with each of the Z first pieces of information, and port mapping information for each of the Z first pieces of information. These pieces of information are described below.

[0293] 1) The group information of the terminal device associated with the first information represents information related to the group to which the terminal device belongs. As an example, the group information of the terminal device associated with the first information includes the identifier of the group to which the terminal device belongs. For example, the scheduling information includes the identifier of group A to which UE1 belongs and the identifier of group B to which UE2 belongs.

[0294] 2) The frequency domain resources associated with the first information refer to the frequency domain resources of the data that can be determined based on the frequency domain resources associated with the first information when transmitting and / or receiving data based on the first information. For example, when transmitting and / or receiving data based on the first information, the location of the frequency domain resources of the data is the frequency domain resources associated with the first information. The frequency domain resources associated with the first information may include the number of frequency domain units associated with the first information, or may include the location of the frequency domain resources associated with the first information.

[0295] 3) The port mapping information of the first information may include: the port associated with the first information and / or the number of streams (or transport layers) associated with the first information.

[0296] The port associated with the first information indicates that when data is sent and / or received based on the first information, the port for that data can be determined based on the port associated with the first information. For example, when data is sent and / or received based on the first information, the port for that data is the port associated with the first information. The port associated with the first information may include the number of ports associated with the first information and / or the port number associated with the first information. The port associated with the first information may also be replaced by a group of ports associated with the first information.

[0297] The number of streams associated with the first information (denoted as R) indicates that when data is sent and / or received based on the first information, the number of data streams can be determined based on R. For example, when data is sent and / or received based on the first information, the number of data streams is R, that is, data with stream R being sent and / or received based on the first information.

[0298] It is understood that the above describes various pieces of information, which can be used individually or in combination. For example, if the first information is quasi-co-location information (such as reference channel information), then the scheduling information may include at least one of the following in addition to the first information: group information of terminal devices associated with each of the Z pieces of first information, number of flows associated with each of the Z pieces of first information, frequency domain resources associated with each of the Z pieces of first information, and port mapping information for each of the Z pieces of first information. If the first information is group information of terminal devices, then the scheduling information may include at least one of the following in addition to the first information: number of flows associated with each of the Z pieces of first information, frequency domain resources associated with each of the Z pieces of first information, and port mapping information for each of the Z pieces of first information.

[0299] It can also be understood that when scheduling information includes multiple pieces of information, these multiple pieces of information can be carried in one signaling message or in different signaling messages, without limitation.

[0300] It is also understandable that scheduling information may include other information, such as resource information for each data item.

[0301] Optionally, method 400 may further include step 440 or step 450.

[0302] In step 440, the terminal device receives data based on the demodulation information. Correspondingly, the network device transmits the data based on the precoded information.

[0303] As an example, the data in step 440 is downlink data, such as PDSCH (or data on PDSCH).

[0304] The demodulation information is determined based on first information associated with the terminal device. The demodulation information represents information related to the terminal device's reception and / or demodulation of data. As an example, the demodulation information includes the equivalent channel and / or equalization weights.

[0305] For example, a terminal device (e.g., UE1) determines demodulation information based on first information associated with UE1, and receives data from a network device based on this demodulation information. In this case, the terminal device receiving data based on the demodulation information can also be described as: the terminal device receiving data based on the first information associated with it. Here, Z can be equal to 1, or it can be greater than 1.

[0306] For another example, a terminal device (denoted as UE1) determines demodulation information based on the first information associated with UE1 and (Z-1) other first information pieces, and receives data from the network device based on this demodulation information. The (Z-1) other first information pieces represent the first information among the Z first information pieces contained in the scheduling information, excluding the first information associated with UE1. In this case, the terminal device receiving data based on the demodulation information can also be described as: the terminal device receiving data based on Z first information pieces. Here, Z is greater than 1.

[0307] The precoding information is determined based on first information associated with the terminal device. The precoding information represents information related to the precoding process when the network device transmits data. As an example, the precoding information includes precoding weights.

[0308] For example, the network device determines precoding information based on first information associated with a terminal device (e.g., UE1), and sends data to UE1 based on the precoding information. In this case, the network device sending data based on the precoding information can also be described as: the network device sending data to the terminal device based on the first information associated with the terminal device.

[0309] For another example, the network device determines precoding information based on the first information associated with the terminal device (e.g., UE1) and (Z-1) other first information pieces, and sends data to UE1 based on this precoding information. The (Z-1) other first information pieces represent the first information among the Z first information pieces contained in the scheduling information, excluding the first information associated with UE1. In this case, the network device sending data based on the precoding information can also be described as: the network device sending data based on Z first information pieces. Here, Z is greater than 1.

[0310] In step 450, the terminal device sends data based on the precoded information. Correspondingly, the network device receives the data based on the demodulated information.

[0311] As an example, the data in step 450 is upstream data, such as PUSCH (or data on PUSCH).

[0312] The precoding information is determined based on first information associated with the terminal device. The precoding information represents information related to the precoding process when the terminal device transmits data. As an example, the precoding information includes precoding weights.

[0313] For example, a terminal device (referred to as UE1) determines precoding information based on first information associated with UE1, and sends data to a network device based on the precoding information. In this case, the terminal device sending data based on the precoding information can also be described as: the terminal device sending data to the network device based on the first information associated with it.

[0314] For another example, a terminal device (denoted as UE1) determines precoding information based on the first information associated with UE1 and (Z-1) other first information pieces, and sends data to the network device based on this precoding information. The (Z-1) other first information pieces represent the first information among the Z first information pieces contained in the scheduling information, excluding the first information associated with UE1. In this case, the terminal device sending data based on the precoding information can also be described as: the terminal device sending data based on Z first information pieces. Here, Z is greater than 1.

[0315] The demodulation information is determined based on first information associated with the terminal device. The demodulation information represents information related to the network device's reception and / or demodulation of data. As an example, the demodulation information includes equivalent channel and / or equalization weights.

[0316] For example, the network device determines demodulation information based on first information associated with a terminal device (e.g., UE1), and receives data from UE1 based on this demodulation information. In this case, the network device receiving data based on the demodulation information can also be described as: the network device receiving data from the terminal device based on the first information associated with the terminal device. Here, Z can be equal to 1 or greater than 1.

[0317] For another example, the network device determines demodulation information based on the first information associated with the terminal device (e.g., UE1) and (Z-1) other first information pieces, and receives data from UE1 based on this demodulation information. The (Z-1) other first information pieces represent the first information among the Z first information pieces contained in the scheduling information, excluding the first information associated with UE1. In this case, the network device receiving data based on the demodulation information can also be described as: the network device receiving data based on Z first information pieces. Here, Z is greater than 1.

[0318] The specific implementation of steps 440 and 450 will be described in detail later.

[0319] The first piece of information associated with the terminal device is denoted as first information #A. Based on the information that may be included in the scheduling information, several examples are listed below.

[0320] In one possible scenario, the scheduling information in step 430 may also include the number of streams associated with the first information #A (e.g., denoted as R). In this case, in step 440, the terminal device may also receive data based on the number of streams associated with the first information #A, for example, the terminal device may receive data from stream R. Alternatively, in step 450, the terminal device may also send data based on the number of streams associated with the first information #A, for example, the terminal device may send data from stream R.

[0321] In another possible scenario, the scheduling information in step 430 may also include the frequency domain resources associated with the first information #A. In this case, in step 440, the terminal device may also receive data based on the frequency domain resources associated with the first information #A. For example, when the terminal device receives data, the frequency domain resources of the data are the frequency domain resources associated with the first information #A. Alternatively, in step 450, the terminal device may also send data based on the frequency domain resources associated with the first information #A. For example, when the terminal device sends data, the frequency domain resources of the data are the frequency domain resources associated with the first information #A.

[0322] In another possible scenario, the scheduling information in step 430 may also include the port associated with the first information #A. In this case, in step 440, the terminal device may also receive data based on the port associated with the first information #A; for example, when the terminal device receives data, the port for that data is the port associated with the first information #A. Alternatively, in step 450, the terminal device may also send data based on the port associated with the first information #A; for example, when the terminal device sends data, the port for that data is the port associated with the first information #A.

[0323] The above examples are illustrative and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. For example, the above multiple scenarios can be used in combination.

[0324] The specific implementation of steps 440 and 450 is described below.

[0325] In some scenarios, network devices may simultaneously schedule multiple terminal devices to send and / or receive data. Taking the example shown in Figure 5, as illustrated in Figure 5(b), the network device can simultaneously schedule data from UE1 and UE3. That is, the scheduling information includes first information associated with UE1 and first information associated with UE3. Taking UE1 as an example, UE1 can determine demodulation information based on the first information associated with it and receive data based on the demodulation information; or UE1 can also determine demodulation information based on the first information associated with multiple simultaneously scheduled terminal devices (such as all simultaneously scheduled terminal devices, such as UE1 and UE3) and receive data based on the demodulation information.

[0326] The following describes the specific implementation of steps 440 and 450, taking into account two scenarios of the first information. In the example below, we will illustrate this by showing the network device simultaneously scheduling data from UE1 and UE3.

[0327] Scenario 1: The first information is quasi-co-addressable information. For example, if the target channel and reference channel of the terminal device have a QCL relationship, the first information is the information of the reference channel associated with the terminal device. Taking the network device simultaneously scheduling data for UE1 and UE3 as an example, the scheduling information includes the reference channel associated with UE1 (i.e., H... A Information about UE3, and the reference channel associated with UE3 (i.e., H).B (information).

[0328] The specific implementation of step 440 will be described below.

[0329] As mentioned earlier, in step 440, the terminal device receives data based on the demodulation information. Correspondingly, the network device transmits the data based on the precoding information. Some examples are described below. The parameters in the following examples are interchangeable; to avoid redundancy, identical parameters will not be repeated.

[0330] Example 1, in step 440, UE1 receives data based on demodulation information, which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1. A The information is determined based on the first information associated with the terminal device (i.e., the reference channel). In this example, the terminal device determines the demodulation information based on the first information associated with the terminal device (i.e., the reference channel).

[0331] For example, the operation of UE1 includes the following steps.

[0332] 1) UE1 can be based on H A Calculate the precoding (e.g., precoding weights), such as h. T (H A ) = P A Among them, P A This refers to the precoding of UE1, which is the precoding of the data sent from the network device to UE1. T () indicates the precoding processing method or algorithm for calculating precoding at the receiving end (e.g., UE1). This can be predefined or indicated by the network device. For distinction, in this embodiment, h is used. T () represents the precoding processing method or algorithm used to calculate the precoding at the receiving end (i.e., the data receiver), and h() represents the precoding processing method or algorithm used to calculate the precoding at the sending end (i.e., the data sender). It can be understood that in actual communication, h() and h... T () may be the same or different, and this is not limited. This will not be elaborated further below.

[0333] 2) UE1 is based on H A and P A An equivalent channel can be obtained. The equivalent channel of UE1 (that is, the equivalent channel of the data received by UE1) is: H n ·P A Among them, H n It can be the reference channel H A Alternatively, it can be a channel measured based on a common reference signal, which can be at the cell level or a reference channel H. A For associated terminal device groups, this is not limited.

[0334] Example 2, in step 440, UE1 receives data based on demodulation information, which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1. A The information and the reference channel (H) associated with UE3 B The information is determined based on the first information associated with the terminal device (i.e., the reference channel) and the first information associated with other terminal devices simultaneously scheduled (i.e., the reference channel associated with UE3).

[0335] For example, the operation of UE1 includes the following steps.

[0336] 1) UE1 is based on H A and H B Calculate the precoding (e.g., precoding weights), such as h. T (H A H B )=P=[P A ,P B ]. Among them, P B This refers to the precoding of data sent from the network device to UE3. [P] A ,P B ] indicates that the calculated precode includes P A and P B .

[0337] 2) UE1 is based on H A and P A An equivalent channel can be obtained. The equivalent channel of UE1 (that is, the equivalent channel of the data received by UE1) is: H n ·P A .

[0338] 3) UE1 determines the equilibrium weights (i.e., UE1 performs MIMO equilibrium), which involves calculating the weighting matrix W (e.g., denoted as W). A One possible implementation is that UE1 can determine the equilibrium weights based on the following algorithm: h R (H n ·P A H m ·P B ) = W A Another possible implementation, UE1 can determine the equilibrium weights based on the following algorithm: h R (H n H A H B ) = W A Among them, h R () indicates the equalization processing method or the algorithm for calculating the equalization weights. It can be predefined or indicated by the network device.

[0339] Example 3, in step 440, UE3 receives data based on demodulation information, which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE3. B The information is determined based on the first information associated with the terminal device (i.e., the reference channel). In this example, the terminal device determines the demodulation information based on the first information associated with the terminal device (i.e., the reference channel).

[0340] For example, the operation of UE3 includes the following steps.

[0341] 1) UE3 can be based on H B Calculate the precoding (e.g., precoding weights), such as h. T (H B ) = P B .

[0342] 2) UE3 is based on H B and P B The equivalent channel can be obtained. The equivalent channel of UE3 (that is, the equivalent channel of the data received by UE3) is: H m ·P B Among them, H m It can be the reference channel H B Alternatively, it can be a channel measured based on a common reference signal, which can be at the cell level or a reference channel H. B For associated terminal device groups, this is not limited.

[0343] Example 4, in step 440, UE3 receives data based on demodulation information, which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1. A The information and the reference channel (H) associated with UE3 B The information is determined based on the first information associated with the terminal device (i.e., the reference channel) and the first information associated with other terminal devices simultaneously scheduled (i.e., the reference channel associated with UE1).

[0344] For example, the operation of UE3 includes the following steps.

[0345] 1) UE3 is based on H A and H B Calculate the precode, such as h T (H A H B )=P=[P A ,P B ].

[0346] 2) UE3 is based on H B and P BAn equivalent channel can be obtained. The equivalent channel of UE3 (that is, the equivalent channel of the data received by UE3) is: H m ·P B .

[0347] 3) UE3 determines the equilibrium weights (i.e., UE3 performs MIMO equilibrium), which involves calculating the weighting matrix W (e.g., denoted as W). B One possible implementation is that UE3 can determine the equilibrium weights based on the following algorithm: h R (H m ·P B H n ·P A ) = W B Another possible implementation, UE3 can determine the equilibrium weights based on the following algorithm: h R (H m H B H A ) = W B .

[0348] Examples 1 to 4 above are mainly described from the perspective of terminal devices, while examples 5 and 6 below are described from the perspective of network devices.

[0349] Example 5: The network device sends data to UE1 based on precoded information (e.g., precoded information #1), which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1. A The information is determined by the network device; the network device sends data to UE3 based on precoded information (such as precoded information #2), which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE3. B The information is determined. In this example, the network device can determine the precoded information of the data sent to each terminal device based on the first information associated with each terminal device.

[0350] For example, the network device uses the reference channel H associated with UE1. A Determine the precoding (e.g., precoding weights), such as h(H) A ) = P A The network device is based on the reference channel H associated with UE3. B Determine the precoding (e.g., precoding weights), such as h(H) B ) = P B h() represents the precoding processing method or algorithm for calculating precoding at the sending end (such as a network device). It can be predefined or configured by the network device.

[0351] Example 6: The network device sends data to UE1 and UE3 based on precoded information, which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1.A Information on UE3 and the reference channel associated with UE3 (i.e., H). B The information is determined based on the first information associated with multiple terminal devices that are simultaneously scheduled. In this example, the network device determines the demodulation information based on the first information associated with them.

[0352] For example, the network device uses the reference channel H associated with UE1. A and the reference channel H associated with UE3 B Determine the precoding (such as the precoding weights), e.g., h(H) A H B )=P=[P A P B ]. Among them, P A Precoding of data sent from the network device to UE1; P B Pre-encoding of data sent from network devices to UE3.

[0353] The specific implementation of step 450 will be described below.

[0354] As mentioned earlier, in step 450, the network device receives data based on demodulation information. Correspondingly, the terminal device transmits this data based on precoding information. Some examples are described below. The parameters in the following examples are interchangeable; to avoid redundancy, identical parameters will not be repeated.

[0355] Example 1, in step 450, the network device receives data from UE1 based on demodulation information (e.g., demodulation information #1), which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1. A The information is determined by the network device; the network device receives data from UE2 based on demodulation information (such as demodulation information #2), which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE3. B The information is confirmed.

[0356] This example can be referenced from the data reception operation of UE1 in Example 1 above, or the data reception operation of UE3 in Example 3, which will not be repeated here.

[0357] Example 2, in step 450, the network device receives data from UE1 and UE2 based on demodulation information, which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1. A The information and the reference channel associated with UE3 (i.e., H) B The information is confirmed.

[0358] For example, operating a network device involves the following steps.

[0359] 1) Network devices are based on H A and H BCalculate precoding, such as in, Precoding of the data sent by UE1 to the network device; Precoding of the data sent by UE3 to the network device; P UL Precoding of uplink data (i.e., data sent by terminal devices and received by network devices) calculated by network devices. The calculated precode includes and In the embodiments of this application, P and P UL Both refer to precoding; the P and P's are used to distinguish between downlink and uplink transmissions. UL This indicates that, in actual communication, precoding can be uniformly represented by P or other letters (or parameters), without any restrictions.

[0360] 2) The network device obtains an equivalent channel. The equivalent channel for the data sent by UE1 to the network device is: The equivalent channel for the data sent by UE3 to the network device is: in, It can be the reference channel H A Alternatively, it can be a channel measured based on a common reference signal, which can be at the cell level or a reference channel H. A For associated terminal device groups, this is not limited. It can be the reference channel H B Alternatively, it can be a channel measured based on a common reference signal, which can be at the cell level or a reference channel H. B For associated terminal device groups, this is not limited.

[0361] 3) The network device determines the balance weights (i.e., the network device performs MIMO balance), which involves calculating the weighting matrix W (e.g., denoted as W). UL One possible implementation is that the network device can determine the balance weights based on the following algorithm: Another possible implementation is that the network device can determine the balance weights based on the following algorithm: in, This represents the weighted matrix of the data sent by UE1 to the network device. This represents the weighted matrix of the data sent by UE3 to the network device.

[0362] Examples 1 and 2 above are mainly described from the perspective of network devices, while examples 3 and 4 below are described from the perspective of terminal devices.

[0363] Example 3, in step 450, UE1 sends data based on precoding information, which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1. A The information is determined by either the reference channel associated with UE1 (i.e., H) or the precoding information is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1. A The information and the reference channel (H) associated with UE3 B The information is confirmed.

[0364] Example 4, in step 450, UE3 sends data based on precoding information, which is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE3. B The information is determined by either the reference channel associated with UE1 (i.e., H) or the precoding information is based on the reference channel (i.e., H) associated with UE1. A The information and the reference channel (H) associated with UE3 B The information is confirmed.

[0365] The above explanation used the example of the first information being the reference channel information; the following explanation uses the example of the first information being the group information.

[0366] Scenario 2: The first information is the group information of the terminal device, such as the identifier of the terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs. Taking the network device simultaneously scheduling data for UE1 and UE3 as an example, the scheduling information includes information about the group to which UE1 belongs (e.g., group A) and information about the group to which UE3 belongs (e.g., group B).

[0367] As an example, in this scenario, the Z first pieces of information can be implemented using at least one bit. Assume there are four groups of terminal devices: group A, group B, group C, and group D.

[0368] For example, Z pieces of initial information are implemented using a 4-bit bitmap. Each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a group. The first value of a bit indicates that the group is a group scheduled by the network device, and the second value of a bit indicates that the group is not a group scheduled by the network device. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Taking the first value as 1 and the second value as 0 as an example, if the 4-bit bitmap is "1001", it means that the network device schedules groups A and D, that is, the terminal devices scheduled by the network device include one or more terminal devices in group A and one or more terminal devices in group D.

[0369] In this scenario, the terminal device can first determine the reference channel information, and then send or receive data based on the reference channel information. Optionally, the terminal device can determine the reference channel information based on any of the following methods.

[0370] One possible implementation is that the scheduling information also includes reference channel information. In this case, the terminal device can directly determine the reference channel information associated with it based on the scheduling information, and then determine the precoding information and send data based on the reference channel information; or determine the demodulation information and receive data based on the demodulation information.

[0371] Another possible implementation involves the terminal device determining the reference channel information associated with it based on the correspondence between the terminal device group and the reference channel. This correspondence can be indicated to the terminal device by the network device, predefined, or determined by the terminal device itself (e.g., calculated by the terminal device); there is no limitation on this.

[0372] Optionally, step 440 includes: receiving or transmitting data based on first information associated with the terminal device when a fourth preset condition is met; in other words, when the fourth preset condition is met, the precoding information or demodulation information is determined based on the first information associated with the terminal device. When the fourth preset condition is not met, method 400 further includes: receiving or transmitting data based on DMRS; in other words, when the fourth preset condition is not met, the precoding information or demodulation information is determined based on DMRS transmitted along with the data.

[0373] The fourth preset condition can be predefined or indicated by the network device, and there is no limitation on it.

[0374] As an example, the fourth preset condition could be a condition related to the communication environment.

[0375] One possible implementation is that the fourth preset condition is: there are no online CSI measurements or the number of online CSI measurements is less than or equal to a threshold.

[0376] For example, if there is no online CSI measurement, data is received or transmitted based on the first information associated with the terminal device; if there is an online CSI measurement, data is received or transmitted based on DMRS.

[0377] For example, if the number of online CSI measurements is less than or equal to a threshold, data is received or transmitted based on the first information associated with the terminal device; if the number of online CSI measurements is greater than the threshold, data is received or transmitted based on DMRS.

[0378] Another possible implementation, the fourth preset condition is: the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to threshold #7 (i.e., an example of the third threshold).

[0379] For example, if the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to threshold #7 and less than or equal to threshold #3, then data is received or transmitted based on the first information associated with the terminal device; if the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to threshold #7 and greater than threshold #7, then data is received or transmitted based on DMRS.

[0380] It is understood that the above are possible examples, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. For example, during online CSI measurement, data can also be received or transmitted based on first information associated with the terminal device.

[0381] The various solutions of the embodiments of this application have been described above. It is understood that, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of the various solutions are consistent and can be referenced by each other. For ease of understanding, the specific process applicable to the embodiments of this application is described below. It is understood that the process described below is only an example, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. Content not described in detail below can be referred to the description in the preceding methods, and will not be repeated hereafter.

[0382] Referring to Figure 7, as an example, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 700 provided in an embodiment of this application. Method 700 can be used in the above-described method 400, and method 700 is applicable to scenarios where a network device sends data to a terminal device. The method 700 shown in Figure 7 may include the following steps.

[0383] 701a, Terminal device triggers update group.

[0384] As an example, a terminal device sends a first request message that requests the network device to regroup multiple terminal devices.

[0385] For example, a network device can obtain a Q group of terminal devices by regrouping multiple terminal devices.

[0386] For example, multiple terminal devices may or may not be Q-group terminal devices before being regrouped.

[0387] 701b, Network device triggers update packet.

[0388] As an example, the network device sends a first instruction message that instructs the network device to regroup multiple terminal devices.

[0389] For example, a network device can obtain a Q group of terminal devices by regrouping multiple terminal devices.

[0390] For example, multiple terminal devices may or may not be Q-group terminal devices before being regrouped.

[0391] Steps 701a and 701b above are optional steps, and there is no specific order to these steps; any step may be selected for execution.

[0392] 710, Network device indicates packet results.

[0393] For example, the network device sends a second indication message indicating the information of the terminal devices in group Q, i.e., the result of the repackaging; accordingly, the terminal device receives the second indication message and determines the information of the repackaging terminal devices in group Q based on the second indication message. It can be understood that in step 710, at least one terminal device can receive the packetization result indicated by the network device, and the at least one terminal device can be all terminal devices related to the packetization result.

[0394] 720. The terminal device determines the target group based on the grouping results.

[0395] One possible implementation is that the terminal device directly determines the target group based on the packet results, using the grouping information provided by the network device.

[0396] Another possible implementation is that the terminal device selects a group of terminal devices as the target group from the Q group of terminal devices based on the grouping results.

[0397] For details on this, please refer to the description of determining the group to which the terminal device belongs in Method 400 above; it will not be repeated here.

[0398] 730, The terminal device indicates the target group to the network device.

[0399] For example, a terminal device sends a third instruction message to a network device, which instructs a target group.

[0400] 740. The network device sends configuration information to configure the first information associated with the terminal device.

[0401] The first piece of information includes group information and / or QCL information of the group to which the terminal device belongs, obtained by the network device regrouping the terminal device. The group information and / or QCL information of the group to which the terminal device belongs are used to determine the channel state information associated with the terminal device.

[0402] For example, a network device may use configuration information to indicate first information associated with the group to which the terminal device belongs. This group may be the same as or different from the target group indicated by the terminal device through third indication information.

[0403] It is understandable that the first information associated with a terminal device is determined based on the first information of multiple terminal devices. That is to say, the network device can configure the terminal device's group according to the group selected by multiple terminal devices (e.g., all current terminal devices). The group configured by the network device for the terminal device can be the same as or different from the group (target group) selected by the terminal device. For example, the network device can determine the service distribution of all terminal devices based on the groups returned by all current terminal devices. Based on this, the network device can select a suitable group for the terminal device to match the current service requirements.

[0404] 750, The terminal device sends feedback information to provide feedback on the channel status information associated with the terminal device.

[0405] Specifically, the terminal device determines the channel state information associated with the terminal device based on the first information (the latest updated information) associated with the terminal device, and reports the channel state information associated with the terminal device to the network device through feedback information.

[0406] Specifically, the method by which the terminal device determines the channel state information based on the first information associated with the terminal device can be referred to in the detailed description in step 420, and will not be repeated here.

[0407] 760. The network device sends scheduling information based on the channel state information associated with the terminal device. The scheduling information includes Z pieces of first information.

[0408] Specifically, network devices (such as base stations) can understand the channel conditions of each terminal device by acquiring the CSI of each terminal device. Based on these channel conditions, the network devices can decide how to allocate uplink or downlink resources to multiple terminal devices to achieve optimal transmission performance.

[0409] In other words, the network device schedules Z groups of terminal devices based on the channel state information associated with multiple terminal devices. This means that the network device schedules data from multiple terminal devices belonging to group Z. Taking Figure 5(b) as an example, suppose the network device schedules groups A and B, meaning the network device will send data to UE1 in group A and UE3 in group B. Taking the example of the network device sending data to UE1 in group A and UE3 in group B, in step 740, the network device can send scheduling information to UE1 and UE3.

[0410] The Z first pieces of information can be group information of Z groups of terminal devices; or they can be information of Z reference channels, each reference channel being associated with at least one terminal device, and the terminal devices associated with different reference channels belonging to different terminal device groups.

[0411] Furthermore, network devices can also indicate the number of streams corresponding to each group of terminal devices. For example, assuming there are 4 groups of terminal devices, and the network device schedules 2 groups of terminal devices to receive data through scheduling information, and the scheduling result indicated in the scheduling information sent by the network device is "0420", then it can be understood that the network device schedules data from at least one terminal device in the second group and at least one terminal device in the third group, but does not schedule data from the first group and the fourth group; and the number of streams for the data from at least one terminal device in the second group is 4, and the number of streams for the data from at least one terminal device in the third group is 2.

[0412] The scheduling information may also include other information, which can be found in the relevant description in method 400.

[0413] 770. The network device determines the precoding information (such as the precoding weights) based on the first information.

[0414] Take, for example, the network device is about to send data to UE1 in group A and UE3 in group B.

[0415] One possible implementation is that the network device can determine the precoding information (such as the precoding weights) based on the first information associated with UE1, that is, the network device determines the precoding information based on the reference channel H associated with UE1. A Determine the precoding information, such as h(H) A ) = P A The network device can determine the precoding information (such as the precoding weights) based on the first information associated with UE3, that is, the network device determines the precoding information based on the reference channel H associated with UE3. B Determine the precoding information, such as h(H) B ) = P B h() represents the precoding processing method or the algorithm for calculating precoding, which can be predefined or configured by the network device.

[0416] Another possible implementation is that the network device can determine the precoding information (such as the precoding weights) based on the first information associated with UE1 and UE3, such as h(H A H B )=P=[P A P B ]. Among them, P A This refers to the precoding of UE1, which is the precoding of the data sent from the network device to UE1; P B This refers to the precoding of UE3, which is the precoding of the data sent from the network device to UE3.

[0417] 780, Network device sends data.

[0418] For example, the network device sends data to UE1 (referred to as data 1) and data to UE2 (referred to as data 2).

[0419] 790, The terminal device receives data based on the first information associated with the terminal device, or the terminal device receives data based on Z pieces of first information.

[0420] One possible implementation is that the terminal device receives data based on first information associated with it. Specifically, the terminal device determines demodulation information based on the first information associated with it and receives data based on the demodulation information. Taking UE1 as an example, UE1 can calculate precoding (such as precoding weights) and equivalent channels based on the reference channel associated with UE1's target group (i.e., group A).

[0421] One possible implementation is that the terminal device receives data based on Z pieces of first information. Specifically, the terminal device determines demodulation information based on the first information associated with the terminal device and (Z-1) pieces of first information other than the first information associated with the terminal device, and receives data based on the demodulation information. Taking UE1 as an example, UE1 can perform MIMO equalization based on the currently scheduled groups (i.e., group A and group B), that is, calculate the weighting matrix.

[0422] For the two implementation methods mentioned above, please refer to the relevant descriptions in Method 400 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0423] Based on the above technical solution, by updating the grouping of terminal devices and associating each group with a reference channel, the terminal devices can obtain demodulation information (such as precoding weights or equalization weights) using the updated reference channel associated with their group, and then receive data based on the demodulation information. This reduces the resource overhead of transmitting DMRS across multiple ports and the latency caused by processing DMRS from multiple ports, ensures effective acquisition of channel state information, and improves system spectral efficiency.

[0424] Referring to Figure 8, as an example, Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 800 provided in an embodiment of this application. This method 800 can be used in the above-described method 400, and method 800 is applicable to scenarios where a terminal device sends data to a network device. The method 800 shown in Figure 8 may include the following steps.

[0425] 801a, Terminal device triggers update group.

[0426] 801b, Network device triggers update packet.

[0427] 810, Network device indicates update packet results.

[0428] 820, The terminal device determines the target group based on the updated grouping results.

[0429] 830, The terminal device indicates the target group to the network device.

[0430] 840, The network device sends configuration information to configure the first information associated with the terminal device.

[0431] 850, The terminal device sends feedback information to provide feedback on the channel status information associated with the terminal device.

[0432] Steps 810-850 can be referred to the previous steps 710-750, and will not be repeated here.

[0433] 860. The network device sends scheduling information based on the channel state information associated with the terminal device. The scheduling information includes Z pieces of first information.

[0434] Step 860 is similar to step 760, except that the data scheduled by the network device in step 760 is downlink data, while the data scheduled by the network device in step 860 is uplink data.

[0435] 870, The terminal device determines the precoding information (such as the precoding weights) based on the first information associated with the terminal device.

[0436] Taking UE1 as an example, which is about to send data to the network device. For example, UE1 can send data based on the reference channel H associated with UE1. A Determine the precoding, such as in, Precoding of the data sent by UE1 to the network device; P B This refers to the precoding of UE3, that is, the precoding of the data sent from the network device to UE3. As mentioned earlier, the superscript T indicates transpose, that is... H represents the reference channel A Transpose.

[0437] Step 850 is an example illustration, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. For example, when determining the precoding information, the terminal device may also refer to the first information associated with other terminal devices scheduled by the network device.

[0438] 880, The terminal device sends data to the network device.

[0439] 890, the network device receives data based on Z first pieces of information.

[0440] For example, the network device determines the equivalent channel and / or equalization weights based on Z pieces of first information, and then receives and demodulates data based on the determined equivalent channel and / or equalization weights. For instance, the network device can calculate precoding (such as precoding weights) and the equivalent channel based on the reference channel associated with UE1. Furthermore, the network device can also perform MIMO equalization based on the reference channels associated with other currently scheduled terminal devices (i.e., the reference channel associated with UE1 out of the Z reference channels), i.e., calculate the weighting matrix. This can be referred to the relevant description in method 400 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0441] Based on the above technical solution, by updating the grouping of terminal devices and associating each group with a reference channel, network devices can obtain demodulation information (such as precoding weights and equalization weights) using the updated scheduled group-associated reference channels, and then receive data based on the demodulation information. This reduces the resource overhead of transmitting DMRS on multiple ports and the latency caused by processing DMRS on multiple ports, ensures effective acquisition of channel state information, and improves system spectral efficiency.

[0442] It is understood that in some of the above embodiments, a group of terminal devices and a group of terminal devices are sometimes used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction is not emphasized, the meanings they express are consistent.

[0443] It can also be understood that in some of the above embodiments, the repeated mention of scheduling data from a group of terminal devices indicates that the scheduled data includes data from at least one terminal device in the group, such as scheduling data from some terminal devices in the group, or scheduling data from all terminal devices in the group. That is, scheduling data from a group of terminal devices is not limited to scheduling data from all terminal devices in the group.

[0444] The methods provided by the embodiments of this application have been described in detail above with reference to Figures 4 to 8. The apparatus provided by the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 9 to 11. It should be understood that the descriptions of the apparatus embodiments correspond to the descriptions of the method embodiments; therefore, any content not described in detail can be referred to the method embodiments above, and for the sake of brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0445] Referring to Figure 9, as an example, Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 900 includes a transceiver unit 910. The transceiver unit 910 can be used to implement corresponding communication functions. The transceiver unit 910 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit. Optionally, the communication device 900 further includes a processing unit 920. The processing unit 920 can be used to perform processing, such as determining demodulation information.

[0446] Optionally, the device 900 may further include a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data, and the processing unit 920 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit to enable the device to implement the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0447] In a first possible design, the device 900 can be the first communication device in the aforementioned embodiments (the terminal device shown in Figures 4, 7, and 8). The device 900 can implement the steps or processes executed by the first communication device in the above method embodiments. Specifically, the transceiver unit 910 can be used to perform operations related to the transmission and reception of the first communication device in the above method embodiments (such as sending and / or receiving data or messages), as shown by 410, 420, or 430 in Figure 4, and by 701a, 701b, 710, 730, 740, 750, 760, and 780 in Figure 7, and by 801a, 801b, 810, 830, 840, 850, 860, and 880 in Figure 8; the processing unit 920 can be used to perform processing-related operations of the first communication device in the above method embodiments, or operations other than transmission and reception (such as operations other than sending and / or receiving data or messages), as shown by 720 and 790 in Figure 7, and by 820 and 870 in Figure 8.

[0448] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 910 is configured to receive configuration information, which is used to update first information associated with the first communication device; the transceiver unit 910 is also configured to send feedback information, which is used to indicate channel information associated with the first communication device, and the channel information is determined based on the first information associated with the first communication device.

[0449] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send a first request message, the first request message being used to request an update of the first information associated with the first communication device.

[0450] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to receive first indication information, which is used to instruct the second communication device to update the first information associated with the first communication device.

[0451] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to transmit capability information, the capability information indicating whether it supports determining the channel information associated with the first communication device based on the first information associated with the first communication device.

[0452] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to receive second indication information, the second indication information indicating information of Q group communication devices, each group of communication devices in the Q group communication devices being associated with a first piece of information, where Q is an integer greater than 1; the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send third indication information, the third indication information indicating the group to which the first communication device belongs, the group to which the first communication device belongs satisfying a second preset condition, and the group to which the first communication device belongs to one of the Q group communication devices.

[0453] In a second possible design, the device 900 can be the second communication device in the aforementioned embodiments (the network device shown in Figures 4, 7, and 8). This device 900 can implement the steps or processes performed by the second communication device corresponding to those in the above method embodiments. Specifically, the transceiver unit 910 can be used to perform operations related to the transmission and reception of the second communication device in the above method embodiments (such as sending and / or receiving data or messages), as shown by 410, 420, or 430 in Figure 4, and by 701a, 701b, 710, 730, 740, 750, 760, and 780 in Figure 7, and by 801a, 801b, 810, 830, 840, 850, 860, and 880 in Figure 8; the processing unit 920 can be used to perform processing-related operations of the second communication device in the above method embodiments, or operations other than transmission and reception (such as operations other than sending and / or receiving data or messages), as shown by 770 in Figure 7 and 890 in Figure 8.

[0454] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 910 is configured to send configuration information for updating first information associated with the first communication device; the transceiver unit 910 is also configured to receive feedback information for indicating channel information associated with the first communication device, the channel information being determined based on the first information associated with the first communication device.

[0455] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to receive first request information; the processing unit 920 is configured to update the first information associated with the first communication device according to the first request information.

[0456] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send first indication information, which is used to indicate updating the first information associated with the first communication device.

[0457] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to receive capability information, the capability information indicating whether the first communication device supports determining channel information associated with the first communication device based on first information associated with the first communication device.

[0458] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send second indication information, the second indication information indicating information of Q group communication devices, each group of communication devices in the Q group communication devices being associated with a first piece of information, where Q is an integer greater than 1; the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to receive third indication information, the third indication information indicating the group to which the first communication device belongs, the group to which the first communication device belongs satisfying a second preset condition, and the group to which the first communication device belongs to one of the Q group communication devices.

[0459] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the above-mentioned corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0460] It should also be understood that the device 900 here is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" here can refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), electronic circuitry, a processor (e.g., a shared processor, a proprietary processor, or a group processor, etc.) and memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, integrated logic circuitry, and / or other suitable components supporting the described functions. In an alternative example, those skilled in the art will understand that the device 900 can specifically be the communication device in the above embodiments, and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the communication device in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, these will not be described again here.

[0461] The apparatus 900 of each of the above-described schemes has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the communication device (such as the first communication device, or the second communication device) in the above-described methods. The function can be implemented in hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (e.g., the transmitting unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as processing units, can be replaced by processors, each performing the transceiver operations and related processing operations in the respective method embodiments.

[0462] In addition, the transceiver unit 910 described above can also be a transceiver circuit (for example, it may include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit can be a processing circuit.

[0463] It should be noted that the device in Figure 9 can be the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the foregoing embodiments, or it can be a circuit, chip, or chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). The transceiver unit can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit is a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. No limitations are imposed here.

[0464] Referring to Figure 10, as an example, Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 1000 provided in an embodiment of this application. The device 1000 includes a processor 1010, which is coupled to a memory 1020. The memory 1020 is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processor 1010 is used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 1020, or to read the data stored in the memory 1020, in order to execute the methods in the above method embodiments.

[0465] Optionally, there may be one or more processors 1010.

[0466] Optionally, the memory 1020 may be one or more.

[0467] Alternatively, the memory 1020 can be integrated with the processor 1010, or it can be set separately.

[0468] Optionally, as shown in FIG10, the device 1000 further includes a transceiver 1030 for receiving and / or transmitting signals. For example, the processor 1010 is used to control the transceiver 1030 to receive and / or transmit signals.

[0469] As an example, processor 1010 may have the functions of processing unit 920 shown in FIG9, memory 1020 may have the functions of storage unit, and transceiver 1030 may have the functions of transceiver unit 910 shown in FIG9.

[0470] As one option, the device 1000 is used to implement the operations performed by the communication device (such as the first communication device, or the second communication device) in the various method embodiments described above.

[0471] For example, processor 1010 is used to execute computer programs or instructions stored in memory 1020 to implement the relevant operations of the communication device in the various method embodiments described above.

[0472] It should be understood that the processor mentioned 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, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0473] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory and / or non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM includes the following forms: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0474] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0475] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0476] Referring to Figure 11, as an example, Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 1100 provided in an embodiment of this application. The chip system 1100 (or may also be referred to as a processing system) includes logic circuitry 1110 and an input / output interface 1120.

[0477] The logic circuit 1110 can be a processing circuit in the chip system 1100. The logic circuit 1110 can be coupled to a memory unit, calling instructions from the memory unit, enabling the chip system 1100 to implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of this application. The input / output interface 1120 can be an input / output circuit in the chip system 1100, outputting processed information from the chip system 1100, or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system 1100 for processing.

[0478] As one approach, the chip system 1100 is used to implement the operations performed by the communication device (such as the first communication device, or the second communication device) in the various method embodiments described above.

[0479] For example, logic circuit 1110 is used to implement processing-related operations performed by a communication device (such as a first communication device or a second communication device) in the above method embodiments; input / output interface 1120 is used to implement sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by a communication device (such as a first communication device or a second communication device) in the above method embodiments.

[0480] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions for implementing the methods executed by a communication device (such as a first communication device or a second communication device) in the above-described method embodiments. For example, when the computer program or instructions are run on the communication device, the communication device (such as the first communication device or the second communication device) performs the above-described methods (such as method 400, method 700, or method 800).

[0481] This application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the methods described above, which are performed by a communication device (such as a first communication device or a second communication device). For example, when the computer program or instructions are run on the communication device, the communication device (such as the first communication device or the second communication device) performs the methods described above (such as method 400, method 700, or method 800).

[0482] This application also provides a communication system, which includes a first communication device and / or a second communication device from the embodiments described above. For example, the system includes the terminal device and network device from the embodiment of FIG4; as another example, the system includes the terminal device and network device from the embodiment of FIG7; as yet another example, the system includes the terminal device and network device from the embodiment of FIG8.

[0483] The explanations and beneficial effects of the relevant contents in any of the devices provided above can be found in the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0484] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of apparatus or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0485] 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 instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. For example, the computer can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) 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 media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., DVDs), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks, SSDs). For example, the aforementioned available media include, but are not limited to, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks, and other media capable of storing program code.

[0486] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first communication device, comprising: Receive configuration information, the configuration information being used to update the first information associated with the first communication device; Send feedback information, which is used to indicate the channel information associated with the first communication device, and the channel information is determined based on the first information associated with the first communication device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a first request message, which is used to request the update of the first information associated with the first communication device.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive first instruction information, which is used to instruct the second communication device to update the first information associated with the first communication device.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The method further includes determining that at least one of the following is satisfied: The first information associated with the first communication device was not updated within the first time period; The transmission requirements of the first communication device are updated; The first performance indicator of the first communication device is less than or equal to the first threshold. The first communication device moves a distance greater than or equal to the second threshold.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The first time t1 and the second time t2 satisfy the following first preset condition: Δt = t1 - t2, Wherein, the first moment is the moment of receiving or sending the feedback information, the second moment is the moment of sending or receiving the first request information, or the second moment is the moment of sending or receiving the first indication information.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, Before receiving the configuration information, the method further includes: Send capability information, which indicates whether it supports determining the channel information associated with the first communication device based on first information associated with the first communication device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, Before receiving the configuration information, the method further includes: Receive second indication information, the second indication information indicating information of Q group communication devices, each group of communication devices in the Q group of communication devices is associated with a first piece of information, where Q is an integer greater than 1; Send a third indication message, which indicates the group to which the first communication device belongs, the group to which the first communication device belongs meets the second preset condition, and the group to which the first communication device belongs belongs to one of the Q group communication devices.

8. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a second communication device, including: Send configuration information, which is used to update the first information associated with the first communication device; The system receives feedback information, which indicates channel information associated with the first communication device. The channel information is determined based on first information associated with the first communication device.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive the first request information; Update the first information associated with the first communication device according to the first request information.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a first instruction message, which is used to instruct the updating of the first information associated with the first communication device.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The method further includes determining that at least one of the following is satisfied: The first information associated with the first communication device was not updated within the first time period; The transmission requirements of the first communication device are updated; The first performance indicator of the first communication device is less than or equal to the first threshold. The first communication device moves a distance greater than or equal to the second threshold.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8-11, characterized in that, The first time t1 and the second time t2 satisfy the following first preset condition: Δt = t1 - t2, Wherein, the first moment is the moment of receiving or sending the feedback information, the second moment is the moment of sending or receiving the first request information, or the second moment is the moment of sending or receiving the first indication information.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8-12, characterized in that, Before sending the configuration information, the method further includes: The capability information indicates whether the first communication device supports determining the channel information associated with the first communication device based on first information associated with the first communication device.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8-13, characterized in that, Before receiving the configuration information, the method further includes: Send a second indication message, which indicates information about Q groups of communication devices, where each group of communication devices in the Q groups is associated with a first message, and Q is an integer greater than 1; Receive a third indication message, the third indication message indicating the group to which the first communication device is located, the group to which the first communication device is located meets the second preset condition, and the group to which the first communication device is located belongs to one of the Q group communication devices.

15. The method according to claim 7 or 14, characterized in that, The information of the Q-group communication device includes at least one of the following: The multipath component (MPC) information of each communication device in the Q-group communication devices, the centroid position of each communication device in the Q-group communication devices, and the measurement results of the reference signal associated with each communication device in the Q-group communication devices.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The Q-group communication device is determined based on at least one of the following: the location of the communication device, the MPC information of the communication device, and the channel of the communication device.

17. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The group to which the first communication device belongs meets the second preset condition, including at least one of the following: The deviation between the centroid MPC information of the group to which the first communication device belongs and the MPC information of the first communication device is less than or equal to a first threshold; The deviation between the centroid of the group containing the first communication device and the position of the first communication device is less than or equal to the second threshold. The measurement results of the reference signal associated with the group to which the first communication device belongs satisfy the first condition.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that, The first information is: group information of the communication device, or quasi-co-address information.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes modules or units for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a processor, the processor being configured to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 18.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 18.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 18.

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