Communication methods, devices, system, and storage medium

Abstract

The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are communication methods, apparatuses, and a computer-readable storage medium. A communication method comprises: receiving first information sent by a network device, wherein the first information is used for determining that a first reference signal executes sensing measurement and / or communication measurement. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, first information sent by a network device is received to determine whether a first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication, so that beam management for sensing and communication can be unified, thereby reducing resource overheads.

Description

Communication methods, devices, systems and storage media Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to a communication method, device, system, and storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] Sensing fusion technology refers to the integration of wireless communication and sensing functions, enabling wireless communication systems to simultaneously possess both communication and sensing capabilities. While transmitting wireless signals, the device actively detects reflected / diffraction signals to perceive the physical characteristics of the surrounding environment, thereby achieving mutual enhancement of communication and sensing functions. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This disclosure provides a communication method, device, system, and storage medium.

[0004] A first aspect of this disclosure provides a communication method, the method being executed by a terminal, the method comprising:

[0005] Receive first information sent by a network device, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0006] A second aspect of this disclosure provides a communication method, the method being executed by a network device, the method comprising:

[0007] Send first information to the terminal, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0008] A third aspect of this disclosure provides a terminal, including:

[0009] The first transceiver module is used to receive first information sent by the network device, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0010] A fourth aspect of this disclosure provides a network device, including:

[0011] The second transceiver module is used to send first information to the terminal, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurement and / or communication measurement.

[0012] A fifth aspect of this disclosure provides a terminal, including:

[0013] One or more processors;

[0014] The terminal is used to execute the optional implementation of the first aspect described above.

[0015] A sixth aspect of this disclosure provides a network device, including:

[0016] One or more processors;

[0017] The network device is used to perform an optional implementation of the second aspect described above.

[0018] A seventh aspect of this disclosure provides a communication system including a terminal and a network device, wherein the terminal is used to implement the method described in the optional embodiments of the first aspect, and the network device is used to implement the method described in the optional embodiments of the second aspect.

[0019] According to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores executable instructions which are loaded and executed by the processor to implement the method described in the optional embodiments of the first or second aspect.

[0020] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not intended to limit this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0021] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

[0022] Figure 1a is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0023] Figure 1b is a schematic diagram illustrating a perception mode according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0024] Figure 1c is a schematic diagram of a beam pair according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0025] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0026] Figure 3a is a flowchart illustrating the communication method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0027] Figure 3b is a flowchart illustrating the communication method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0028] Figure 4a is a flowchart illustrating the communication method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0029] Figure 4b is a flowchart illustrating the communication method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0030] Figure 5a is a flowchart illustrating the communication method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0031] Figure 5b is a schematic diagram of a beam pair in a communication method shown in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0032] Figure 5c is a schematic diagram of frequency domain resources in a communication method according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0033] Figure 6a is a schematic diagram of the structure of the terminal proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0034] Figure 6b is a schematic diagram of the structure of the network device proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0035] Figure 7a is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0036] Figure 7b is a schematic diagram of the chip structure proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0037] This disclosure provides communication methods, devices, communication systems, and storage media.

[0038] In a first aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication method, which is executed by a terminal, and the method includes:

[0039] Receive first information sent by a network device, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0040] In the above embodiments, the purpose of beam management for unified sensing and communication is achieved by receiving first information sent by the network device to determine whether the first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication, thereby reducing resource overhead.

[0041] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following:

[0042] Measurement configuration information;

[0043] Transmission status indicator (TCI) information related to data transmission;

[0044] Configuration information of the first reference signal.

[0045] In the above embodiments, the network device can notify the terminal whether the first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication through a variety of different information, thereby making it more suitable for different application scenarios.

[0046] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0047] The identifier of the first reference signal;

[0048] First indication information and auxiliary information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, and the auxiliary information is used to determine information about the sensing target;

[0049] The second indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for communication measurement.

[0050] In the above embodiments, by carrying indication information in the measurement configuration information to notify the terminal whether the first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication, the purpose of beam management for unified sensing and communication can be achieved more conveniently.

[0051] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the configuration information of the first reference signal includes at least one of the following:

[0052] The time-domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0053] Frequency domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0054] The quasi-co-address QCL information of the first reference signal;

[0055] The power information of the first reference signal;

[0056] The third indication information is used to indicate whether the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and / or communication measurement;

[0057] The fourth indication information is used to indicate information about at least one first frequency domain resource used for communication measurements.

[0058] In the above embodiments, by carrying indication information in the configuration information of the first reference signal to notify the terminal whether the first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication, the purpose of beam management for unified sensing and communication can be achieved more conveniently.

[0059] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the at least one first frequency domain resource is a subset of the frequency domain resources of the first reference signal.

[0060] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the information of the at least one first frequency domain resource includes one of the following:

[0061] The starting physical resource block (PRB) and ending physical resource block (PRB) of each first frequency domain resource in the at least one first frequency domain resource;

[0062] The starting PRB and the number of PRBs for each of the at least one first frequency domain resources;

[0063] Index of the bandwidth portion (BWP) used for communication.

[0064] In the above embodiments, when the first reference signal is used for communication, it is also necessary to notify the terminal which part of the frequency domain resources of the first sensing signal is used for communication, so that the communication parameters of the first reference signal can be measured on the frequency domain resources used for communication, thereby making the measurement efficiency higher.

[0065] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes the TCI information related to data transmission;

[0066] The first reference signal is used for communication measurement if the first reference signal satisfies the QCL relationship with any TCI configured for communication for the terminal;

[0067] If the first reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured for communication for the terminal, the first reference signal is not used for communication measurement.

[0068] In the above embodiments, the terminal can determine whether to perform sensing and communication operations (or measurements) based on TCI information related to data transmission. This method avoids the terminal measuring reference signals of sensing beams that will definitely not be used for communication, thereby reducing terminal processing overhead.

[0069] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes any one of the following:

[0070] If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, then at least one first receiving beam is used to perform sensing measurement on the first reference signal; or...

[0071] If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and communication measurement, sensing measurement is performed on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam, and communication parameters of the first reference signal are measured based on at least one second receiving beam.

[0072] If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for communication measurement, the communication parameters of the first reference signal are measured using at least one third receiving beam.

[0073] In the above embodiments, after the terminal determines that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication based on the first information from the network device, it can perform sensing measurement on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam, and / or perform communication measurement on the first reference signal based on at least one second receiving beam, thereby achieving the purpose of unified beam management for sensing and communication, reducing resource overhead, avoiding the terminal from separately measuring the beam used for communication and the beam used for sensing, effectively reducing the terminal's repetitive operations, and thus greatly reducing the terminal's power consumption.

[0074] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, performing sensing measurements on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam includes:

[0075] At least one path from the sensed target is detected on each of the at least one first receiving beams;

[0076] Measure information of the first reference signal on each of the at least one path;

[0077] The method further includes:

[0078] The network device reports a first measurement result, which includes at least one of the following:

[0079] Information of the first reference signal on each path;

[0080] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one second receiving beam;

[0081] The values ​​of the parameters are based on the measurements of the optimal receiving beam.

[0082] In the above embodiments, when the terminal performs sensing measurements on the first reference signal using at least one receiving beam, it can further measure information of the first reference signal on each of at least one path from the sensing target detected on the at least one receiving beam, and report the measurement results to the network device. For each receiving beam, the terminal can report the sensing measurement results of one or more paths.

[0083] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, when the transmission beam corresponding to the first reference signal is determined to be used for communication measurement based on the first information, the method further includes:

[0084] The network device is sent a second measurement result, which includes at least one of the following:

[0085] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one third receiving beam;

[0086] The values ​​of the parameters are based on the measurements of the optimal receiving beam.

[0087] In the above embodiments, after the terminal determines the transmission beam corresponding to the first reference signal for communication based on the first information from the network device, it can use at least one receiving beam to measure the communication parameters of the first reference signal, thereby completing sensing and communication measurements based on the same reference signal. This reduces the overhead of the reference signal and also reduces the complexity of terminal processing.

[0088] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the sequence of the first reference signal is determined in one of the following ways:

[0089] Determined by the actual PRB occupied by the first reference signal;

[0090] Determined by a fixed bandwidth, which includes: carrier bandwidth, a BWP, or a configured frequency range.

[0091] In the above embodiments, the sequence of the first reference signal is determined in multiple ways, so that the network device and the terminal send and receive the first reference signal with a consistent understanding, thereby realizing sensing measurement and communication measurement.

[0092] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0093] The terminal receives second information sent by the network device, the second information being used to configure a first method for the terminal to discover communication beam pairs, and a second method for maintaining and updating communication beam pairs;

[0094] The first method includes one of the following:

[0095] Beam scanning is performed based on the first reference signal to identify communication beam pairs;

[0096] Beam scanning was performed based on the second reference signal to discover the communication beam pair;

[0097] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, a communication beam pair is discovered;

[0098] The second method includes one of the following:

[0099] The communication beam pair is maintained and updated based on the second reference signal;

[0100] The communication beam pair is maintained and updated based on the first reference signal;

[0101] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, maintain and update the communication beam pair;

[0102] The second reference signal is used for communication beam management.

[0103] In the above embodiments, by notifying the terminal to discover the communication beam pair in the first way, and by maintaining and updating the communication beam pair in the second way, the function of multiplexing the sensing reference signal to support sensing measurement and communication measurement can be realized.

[0104] Secondly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication method, which is executed by a network device, the method comprising:

[0105] Send first information to the terminal, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0106] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following:

[0107] Measurement configuration information;

[0108] Transmission status indicator (TCI) information related to data transmission;

[0109] Configuration information of the first reference signal.

[0110] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0111] The identifier of the first reference signal;

[0112] First indication information and auxiliary information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, and the auxiliary information is used to determine information about the sensing target;

[0113] The second indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for communication measurement.

[0114] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the configuration information of the first reference signal includes at least one of the following:

[0115] The time-domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0116] Frequency domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0117] The quasi-co-address QCL information of the first reference signal;

[0118] The power information of the first reference signal;

[0119] The third indication information is used to indicate whether the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and / or communication measurement;

[0120] The fourth indication information is used to indicate information about at least one first frequency domain resource used for communication measurements.

[0121] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the at least one first frequency domain resource is a subset of the frequency domain resources of the first reference signal.

[0122] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, each first frequency domain resource in the at least one first frequency domain resource has a start physical resource block (PRB) and an end physical resource block (PRB).

[0123] The starting PRB and the number of PRBs for each of the at least one first frequency domain resources;

[0124] Index of the bandwidth portion (BWP) used for communication.

[0125] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes the TCI information related to data transmission;

[0126] The first reference signal is used for communication measurement if the first reference signal satisfies the QCL relationship with any TCI configured for communication for the terminal;

[0127] If the first reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured for communication for the terminal, the first reference signal is not used for communication measurement.

[0128] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0129] The terminal reports a first measurement result, which includes at least one of the following:

[0130] Information of the first reference signal on each of at least one path;

[0131] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one second receiving beam used for communication measurements;

[0132] The terminal measures the values ​​of the communication parameters based on the optimal receiving beam.

[0133] Wherein, the at least one path includes the path from the sensing target detected on each of the at least one first receiving beams when the terminal performs sensing measurement on the first reference signal using the at least one first receiving beam;

[0134] Wherein, the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, or the first reference signal is used for both sensing measurement and communication measurement.

[0135] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments where the first reference signal is used for communication measurements, the method further includes:

[0136] The terminal reports a second measurement result, which includes at least one of the following:

[0137] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one third receiving beam;

[0138] Based on the values ​​of the communication parameters measured by the optimal receiving beam;

[0139] The at least one third receiving beam is used to measure the communication parameters of the first reference signal.

[0140] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the sequence of the first reference signal is determined in one of the following ways:

[0141] Determined by the actual PRB occupied by the first reference signal;

[0142] Determined by a fixed bandwidth, which includes: carrier bandwidth, a BWP, or a configured frequency range.

[0143] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0144] Send second information to the terminal, the second information being used to configure a first method for the terminal to discover communication beam pairs, and a second method for maintaining and updating communication beam pairs;

[0145] The first method includes one of the following:

[0146] Beam scanning is performed based on the first reference signal to identify communication beam pairs;

[0147] Beam scanning was performed based on the second reference signal to discover the communication beam pair;

[0148] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, a communication beam pair is discovered;

[0149] The second method includes one of the following:

[0150] The communication beam pair is maintained and updated based on the second reference signal;

[0151] The communication beam pair is maintained and updated based on the first reference signal;

[0152] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, maintain and update the communication beam pair;

[0153] The second reference signal is used for communication beam management.

[0154] Thirdly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a terminal, including:

[0155] The first transceiver module is used to receive first information sent by the network device, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0156] Fourthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a network device, including:

[0157] The second transceiver module is used to send first information to the terminal, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurement and / or communication measurement.

[0158] Fifthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a terminal, including:

[0159] One or more processors;

[0160] The terminal executes the method described in the optional implementation of the first aspect.

[0161] According to a sixth aspect of the embodiments of this disclosure, a network device is provided, comprising:

[0162] One or more processors;

[0163] The network device performs the method described in the optional implementation of the second aspect.

[0164] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication system including a terminal and a network device, wherein the terminal is used to implement the method described in the optional implementation of the first aspect, and the network device is used to implement the method described in the optional implementation of the second aspect.

[0165] Eighthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in the optional embodiments of the first or second aspect.

[0166] Ninthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a program product that, when executed by a communication device, causes the communication device to perform the method as described in the optional implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0167] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in an optional implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0168] Eleventhly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a chip or chip system including processing circuitry for performing the method described in an optional implementation of the first or second aspect above.

[0169] Understandably, the aforementioned devices, communication equipment, communication systems, storage media, program products, and computer programs for random access are all used to execute the methods proposed in the embodiments of this disclosure. Therefore, the beneficial effects they can achieve can be referred to the beneficial effects in the corresponding methods, and will not be repeated here. The communication equipment can be a terminal or a network device.

[0170] This disclosure provides communication methods, apparatus, devices, systems, and storage media.

[0171] In some embodiments, the terms "communication method" and "for random access" can be used interchangeably, the terms "apparatus for random access" and "information processing apparatus" and "communication apparatus" can be used interchangeably, and the terms "information processing system" and "communication system" can be used interchangeably.

[0172] This disclosure is not exhaustive, but merely illustrative of some embodiments, and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the embodiments disclosed. Unless otherwise specified, each step in a particular embodiment can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be arbitrarily combined. For example, a solution after removing some steps in a particular embodiment can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in a particular embodiment can be arbitrarily interchanged. Furthermore, the optional implementation methods in a particular embodiment can be arbitrarily combined; moreover, the embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, for example, some or all steps of different embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and a particular embodiment can be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementation methods of other embodiments.

[0173] In each of the disclosed embodiments, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of the embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. Technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0174] The terminology used in the embodiments of this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0175] In this embodiment of the disclosure, unless otherwise stated, elements expressed in the singular form, such as "a," "an," "the," "the," "the," "the," "the," "the," "this," etc., can mean "one and only one," or "one or more," "at least one," etc. For example, when using articles such as "a," "an," "the," etc. in translation, the noun following the article can be understood as either a singular expression or a plural expression.

[0176] In the embodiments disclosed herein, "multiple" refers to two or more.

[0177] In some embodiments, the terms “at least one of”, “at least one of”, “at least one of”, “one or more”, “a plurality of”, “multiple”, etc., may be used interchangeably.

[0178] The descriptions in this disclosure, such as "at least one of A, B, C..." or "A and / or B and / or C...", include the case where any one of A, B, C... exists alone, as well as the case where any combination of any of A, B, C... exists alone. Each case can exist alone. For example, "at least one of A, B, C" includes the cases of A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B combination, A and C combination, B and C combination, and A and B and C combination. For example, A and / or B includes the cases of A alone, B alone, and A and B combination.

[0179] In some embodiments, the notation "in one case A, in another case B" or "in response to one case A, in response to another case B" may include the following technical solutions depending on the situation: A is executed regardless of B, i.e., A is executed in some embodiments; B is executed regardless of A, i.e., B is executed in some embodiments; A and B are selectively executed, i.e., A and B are selected for execution in some embodiments; A and B are both executed, i.e., A and B are executed in some embodiments. The same applies when there are more branches such as A, B, and C.

[0180] The prefixes "first," "second," etc., used in the embodiments of this disclosure are merely for distinguishing different descriptive objects and do not impose restrictions on the position, order, priority, quantity, or content of the descriptive objects. The description of the descriptive objects is found in the claims or the context of the embodiments, and the use of prefixes should not constitute unnecessary restrictions. For example, if the descriptive object is a "field," the ordinal numbers preceding "field" in "first field" and "second field" do not restrict the position or order of the "fields." "First" and "second" do not restrict whether the "fields" they modify are in the same message, nor do they restrict the order of "first field" and "second field." Similarly, if the descriptive object is a "level," the ordinal numbers preceding "level" in "first level" and "second level" do not restrict the priority between "levels." Furthermore, the number of descriptive objects is not limited by ordinal numbers and can be one or more. For example, in "first device," the number of "devices" can be one or more. Furthermore, the objects modified by different prefixes can be the same or different. For example, if the object being described is "device", then "first device" and "second device" can be the same device or different devices, and their types can be the same or different. As another example, if the object being described is "information", then "first configuration" and "second configuration" can be the same information or different information, and their content can be the same or different.

[0181] In some embodiments, “including A,” “containing A,” “for indicating A,” and “carrying A” can be interpreted as directly carrying A or indirectly indicating A.

[0182] In some embodiments, the terms “in response to…”, “in response to determining…”, “in the case of…”, “when…”, “if…”, “if…”, etc., can be used interchangeably.

[0183] In some embodiments, the terms “greater than,” “greater than or equal to,” “not less than,” “more than,” “more than or equal to,” “not less than,” “higher than,” “higher than or equal to,” “not lower than,” and “above” can be used interchangeably, as can the terms “less than,” “less than or equal to,” “not greater than,” “less than,” “less than or equal to,” “not more than,” “lower than,” “lower than or equal to,” “not higher than,” and “below”.

[0184] In some embodiments, devices, etc., can be interpreted as physical or virtual, and their names are not limited to the names recorded in the embodiments. Terms such as “device”, “equipment”, “circuit”, “network element”, “node”, “function”, “unit”, “section”, “system”, “network”, “chip”, “chip system”, “entity”, and “subject” can be used interchangeably.

[0185] In some embodiments, the terms "access network device (AN device)," "radio access network device (RAN device)," "base station (BS)," "radio base station," "fixed station," "node," "access point," "transmission point (TP)," "reception point (RP)," "transmission / reception point (TRP)," "panel," "antenna panel," "antenna array," "cell," "macro cell," "small cell," "femto cell," "pico cell," "sector," "cell group," "carrier," "component carrier," and "bandwidth part (BWP)" can be used interchangeably.

[0186] In some embodiments, the terms "terminal", "terminal device", "user equipment (UE)", "user terminal", "mobile station (MS)", "mobile terminal (MT)", "subscriber station", "mobile unit", "subscriber unit", "wireless unit", "remote unit", "mobile device", "wireless device", "wireless communication device", "remote device", "mobile subscriber station", "access terminal", "mobile terminal", "wireless terminal", "remote terminal", "handset", "user agent", "mobile client", and "client" can be used interchangeably.

[0187] In some embodiments, the access network device, core network device, or network device can be replaced by a terminal. For example, various embodiments of this disclosure can also be applied to structures that replace communication between the access network device, core network device, or network device and the terminal with communication between multiple terminals (e.g., also referred to as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, the terminal can also be configured to have all or part of the functions of the access network device. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" can be replaced with terms corresponding to communication between terminals (e.g., "side").

[0188] For example, uplink channels and downlink channels can be replaced with side channels, and uplink links and downlink links can be replaced with side links.

[0189] In some embodiments, the terms "uplink", "uplink", and "physical uplink" can be used interchangeably, as can the terms "downlink", "downlink", and "physical downlink", as well as the terms "sidelink", "sidelink", "sidelink communication", "sidelink communication", "direct connection", "direct link", "direct communication", and "direct link communication".

[0190] In some embodiments, the terms “downlink control information (DCI),” “downlink (DL) assignment,” “DL DCI,” “uplink (UL) grant,” and “UL DCI” can be used interchangeably.

[0191] In some embodiments, terms such as "physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)" and "DL data" can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as "physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)" and "UL data".

[0192] In some embodiments, the determination or judgment can be made by a value represented by 1 bit (0 or 1), or by a true or false value (boolean), or by a comparison of numerical values ​​(e.g., a comparison with a predetermined value), but is not limited thereto.

[0193] In some embodiments, "network" can be interpreted as devices included in a network (e.g., access network devices, core network devices, etc.).

[0194] In some embodiments, the acquisition of data, information, etc., may comply with the laws and regulations of the country where the location is situated.

[0195] In some embodiments, data, information, etc., may be obtained with the user's consent.

[0196] Figure 1a is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0197] As shown in Figure 1a, the communication system 100 includes a terminal 101 and a network device 102.

[0198] In some embodiments, terminal 101 includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: mobile phone, wearable device, Internet of Things device, car with communication function, smart car, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, virtual reality (VR) terminal device, augmented reality (AR) terminal device, wireless terminal device in industrial control, wireless terminal device in self-driving, wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, wireless terminal device in smart grid, wireless terminal device in transportation safety, wireless terminal device in smart city, and wireless terminal device in smart home.

[0199] In some embodiments, network device 102 may include at least one of access network device and core network device.

[0200] In some embodiments, the access network device is, for example, a node or device that connects a terminal to a wireless network. The network device may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following in a 5G communication system: evolved Node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), next-generation Node B (gNB), node B (NB), home node B (HNB), home evolved node B (HeNB), wireless backhaul device, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), base band unit (BBU), mobile switching center, base station in a 6G communication system, open RAN, cloud RAN, base station in other communication systems, and access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system.

[0201] In some embodiments, the technical solutions of this disclosure can be applied to the Open RAN architecture. In this case, the interfaces between or within network devices involved in the embodiments of this disclosure can be transformed into internal interfaces of Open RAN. The processes and information interactions between these internal interfaces can be implemented by software or programs.

[0202] In some embodiments, the access network device may be composed of a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The CU may also be called a control unit. The CU-DU structure can separate the protocol layer of the network device. Some of the protocol layer functions are centrally controlled by the CU, while the remaining part or all of the protocol layer functions are distributed in the DU and centrally controlled by the CU. However, this is not the only possibility.

[0203] In some embodiments, the access network device may be a single device, multiple devices, or a group of devices, including all or part of a first network element, a second network element, etc. Network elements may be virtual or physical. Network devices may include, for example, at least one of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), a 5G Core Network (5GCN), and a Next Generation Core (NGC).

[0204] In some embodiments, a core network device may be a single device comprising one or more network elements, or it may be multiple devices or a group of devices, each comprising all or part of the aforementioned one or more network elements. Network elements may be virtual or physical. The core network may include, for example, at least one of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), a 5G Core Network (5GCN), or a Next Generation Core (NGC).

[0205] It is understood that the communication system described in this disclosure is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of this disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions proposed in this disclosure. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions proposed in this disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0206] The following embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to the communication system 100 shown in FIG1a, or to some of the main bodies, but are not limited thereto. The main bodies shown in FIG1a are illustrative. The communication system may include all or some of the main bodies in FIG1a, or it may include other main bodies outside of FIG1a. The number and form of each main body are arbitrary. The connection relationship between the main bodies is illustrative. The main bodies may not be connected or may be connected. The connection can be in any way, it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection, it can be a wired connection or a wireless connection.

[0207] The embodiments disclosed herein can be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G new radio (NR), Future Radio Access (FRA), New-Radio Access Technology (RAT), New Radio (NR), New radio access (NX), Future generation radio access (FX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), and IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth (a registered trademark), Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) networks, Device-to-Device (D2D) systems, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) systems, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) systems, utilizing other systems for random access, and next-generation systems built upon them, etc. Furthermore, multiple systems can be combined (e.g., a combination of LTE or LTE-A with 5G).

[0208] In 5G NR communication beam management, L1-RSRP or L1-SINR are typically used as the measurement quantities for beam management. 5G NR systems support three types of beam scanning. The first method (P1) supports the discovery of the optimal transmit beam and associated receive beam. That is, the transmitter has M transmit beams, the receiver has N receive beams, and the UE measures and reports the optimal K transmit beams and their corresponding L1-RSRP or L1-SINR, where K is less than or equal to 4. The second method (P2) fixes the receive beam and supports the discovery of the optimal transmit beam. The UE measures L1-RSRP or L1-SINR and reports the optimal transmit beam. The third method (P3) fixes the transmit beam and supports the discovery of the optimal receive beam. The UE measures L1-RSRP or L1-SINR to obtain the optimal receive beam.

[0209] Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC), as a novel technology, aims to integrate sensing capabilities into the design of communication systems, enabling these systems to provide sensing as a service alongside communication. During the design process, ISAC systems must simultaneously consider the service requirements of both communication and sensing. When sensing targets based on wireless signals, the process typically involves directly measuring the wireless signals reflected from the target to obtain information such as the time delay, direction / angle, and Doppler frequency of its multipath components, thereby determining the target's location and other parameters.

[0210] ISAC technology mainly includes the following two sensing modes: the first type is mono-static, which means that the same node sends and receives the sensing signal; the second type is bi-static, which means that different nodes send and receive the sensing signal.

[0211] As shown in Figure 1b, based on the type of sensing transmitter and receiver, the sensing mode can be further divided into six modes:

[0212] Base station self-transmitting and self-receiving (i.e., TRP monostatic);

[0213] Base station A transmits and B receives (i.e., TRP-TRP bistatic);

[0214] Terminal transmits to base station and receives from base station (i.e., UE-TRP bistatic);

[0215] Base station transmits to terminal receive (i.e., TRP-UE bistatic);

[0216] Terminal-based self-transmission and self-reception (i.e., UE monostatic);

[0217] Terminal A transmits and B receives (i.e., UE-UE bistatic).

[0218] In sensing services, it is also necessary to discover suitable transmit and receive beams for a sensing target, which is the process of beam management. Transmit and receive beam pairs used for sensing are generally different from those used for communication. For example, in Figure 1c, beam pair 2-B has the highest RSRP, but to accurately sense the target, using beam pair 1-A will bring sensing performance gains.

[0219] To support beam scanning for the aforementioned communication, the system needs to configure reference signals for beam management. To support ISAC operation, the system needs to configure sensing reference signals. The reference signals for beam management of communication and beam management of sensing can be configured independently, resulting in additional resource overhead. Furthermore, the UE needs to measure and manage the beams used for communication and the beams used for sensing separately, which increases repetitive operations for the UE.

[0220] Therefore, how to unify beam management for sensing and communication and reduce resource overhead is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0221] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this disclosure proposes a communication method in which a network device configures information to a terminal to indicate whether a first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication, thereby achieving unified beam management for sensing and communication, reducing resource overhead, avoiding the need for the terminal to separately measure and manage beams used for communication and beams used for sensing, effectively reducing repetitive operations of the terminal, and significantly reducing the power consumption of the terminal.

[0222] Based on the aforementioned wireless communication system, various embodiments of the communication method proposed in this disclosure will be described in detail below.

[0223] Figure 2 is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2, the communication method is used in a communication system 100, and the method includes:

[0224] S201, The network device sends the first information to the terminal.

[0225] In some embodiments, the first information is used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0226] In some embodiments, the terminal receives first information sent by the network device.

[0227] In some embodiments, the first reference signal may be a "synesthetic reference signal" jointly designed for sensing and communication reference signals. However, this disclosure does not limit the name of the first reference signal, and other naming methods may be used, for example, it may still be called a sensing reference signal.

[0228] In some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following:

[0229] Measurement configuration information;

[0230] Transmission status indicator (TCI) information related to data transmission;

[0231] Configuration information for the first reference signal.

[0232] In some embodiments, the terminal may determine that the first reference signal is used for sensing measurements and / or communication measurements based on information configured in the network device, such as measurement configuration information and / or configuration information of the first reference signal.

[0233] In some embodiments, the terminal may determine a first reference signal for sensing and / or communication measurements based on Transmission Status Indicator (TCI) information associated with data transmission.

[0234] In some embodiments, measurement configuration information can be configured via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Optionally, the network device can configure the first reference signal via RRC signaling to be used only for communication, only for sensing, or for both communication and sensing.

[0235] In some embodiments, the network device may configure measurement-related information via RRC signaling, such as measurement configuration information, which includes information indicating a first reference signal for sensing and / or communicating measurements.

[0236] In some embodiments, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0237] Identification of the first reference signal;

[0238] First indication information and auxiliary information, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, and the auxiliary information is used to determine the information of the sensing target;

[0239] The second indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for communication measurement.

[0240] In some embodiments, the network device may configure an identifier (or index) for a first reference signal and configure information indicating whether the first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication, such as: first indication information indicating that the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, and / or, second indication information indicating that the first reference signal is used for communication measurement.

[0241] Optionally, if the measurement configuration information includes first indication information, it may also include auxiliary information for determining the perceived target.

[0242] In some embodiments, auxiliary information may include, but is not limited to, information such as the range of the sensing measurement and the type of the sensing target.

[0243] In some embodiments, the information of the perceived target may include, but is not limited to, the target's velocity, Doppler amplitude, direction / angle, etc.

[0244] In some embodiments, the configuration information of the first reference signal includes at least one of the following:

[0245] Time-domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0246] Frequency domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0247] Quasi-co-address QCL information of the first reference signal;

[0248] Power information of the first reference signal;

[0249] The third indication information is used to indicate whether the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and / or communication measurement;

[0250] The fourth indication information is used to indicate information about at least one first frequency domain resource used for communication measurements.

[0251] In some embodiments, the network device may include information in the configuration information of the first reference signal indicating whether the first reference signal is used for sensing measurements and / or communication measurements. Optionally, the network device may include third indication information in the configuration information of the first reference signal to indicate whether the first reference signal is used for sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0252] In some embodiments, the third indication information may be two indication information, indicating whether the first reference signal is used for sensing and whether it is used for communication, respectively.

[0253] For example, a network device may use 1 bit to indicate whether the sensing reference signal is used for sensing. For instance, a bit value of 1 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used for sensing, and a bit value of 0 indicates that the sensing reference signal is not used for sensing, but this is not limited to that. The network device may use another bit to indicate whether the sensing reference signal is used for communication. For instance, a bit value of 1 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used for communication, and a bit value of 0 indicates that the sensing reference signal is not used for communication, but this is not limited to that.

[0254] In some embodiments, the third indication information may be an indication that simultaneously indicates whether the first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication.

[0255] For example, a network device may use 2 bits to indicate whether the sensing reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication. For instance, a bit value of 10 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used only for sensing, a bit value of 01 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used only for communication, and a bit value of 11 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used for both sensing and communication, but is not limited to these.

[0256] In some embodiments, if the configuration information of the first reference signal does not include third indication information, the measurement configuration information can be used to determine whether the first reference signal can be used for sensing and / or communication.

[0257] In some embodiments, if the third indication information indicates that the first reference signal is used for communication, or for sensing and communication, the configuration information may further include fourth indication information for indicating information on at least one first frequency domain resource used for communication measurement.

[0258] Optionally, the network device may configure the first reference signal for communication in the configuration information of the first reference signal, or, when used for sensing and communication, it may also need to configure one or more frequency domain resources for communication measurement.

[0259] In some embodiments, at least one first frequency domain resource is a subset of the frequency domain resources of the first reference signal.

[0260] In some embodiments, one or more first frequency domain resources configured by the network device for communication measurements may be a subset of the frequency domain resources of the first reference signal. For example, assuming the frequency domain resources of the first reference signal are carrier bandwidth, each frequency domain resource used for communication measurements is a portion of the carrier bandwidth.

[0261] In some embodiments, information about at least one first frequency domain resource includes one of the following:

[0262] At least one first frequency domain resource, each first frequency domain resource has a start physical resource block (PRB) and an end physical resource block (PRB);

[0263] The initial PRB and the number of PRBs for each first frequency domain resource in at least one first frequency domain resource.

[0264] Index of the bandwidth portion (BWP) used for communication.

[0265] In some embodiments, the network device may indicate one or more frequency portions of the first reference signal used for communication measurements by one of the following methods:

[0266] Method 1: Indicate the start PRB and end PRB of each first frequency domain resource in at least one first frequency domain resource;

[0267] Method 2: Indicate the starting PRB and the number of PRBs for each first frequency domain resource in at least one first frequency domain resource;

[0268] Method 3: Indicates the index of the BWP used for communication.

[0269] In some embodiments, the first information includes TCI information related to data transmission;

[0270] The first reference signal is used for communication measurement if the first reference signal satisfies the QCL relationship with any TCI configured for communication for the terminal;

[0271] If the first reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured for communication for the terminal, the first reference signal is not used for communication measurement.

[0272] In some embodiments, if the first reference signal satisfies a QCL relationship with any TCI configured for communication for the terminal, the first reference signal is used for communication measurement.

[0273] If the first reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured for communication for the terminal, then the first reference signal is not used for communication measurement.

[0274] In some embodiments, the network device may be configured with TCI information related to data transmission, and the terminal may determine whether to perform sensing and communication operations (or measurements) based on the TCI information.

[0275] Optionally, if the first reference signal satisfies a QCL relationship with a TCI configured for communication by the terminal, the first reference signal is used for communication measurement. In this case, the terminal can measure the communication parameters of the first reference signal, such as measuring information like L1-RSRP or L1-SINR of the first reference signal.

[0276] Optionally, if the first reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured for communication by the terminal, the first reference signal is not used for communication measurement. In this case, the terminal does not need to measure the communication parameters of the first reference signal (e.g., L1-RSRP or L1-SINR of the first reference signal).

[0277] S202, The terminal performs sensing measurements and / or communication measurements based on the first information.

[0278] In some embodiments, the terminal performing sensing measurements and / or communication measurements based on the first information may specifically include any of the following:

[0279] If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, at least one first receiving beam is used to perform sensing measurement on the first reference signal;

[0280] If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and communication measurement, sensing measurement is performed on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam, and communication parameters of the first reference signal are measured based on at least one second receiving beam.

[0281] If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for communication measurement, then the communication parameters of the first reference signal are measured based on at least one third receiving beam.

[0282] In some embodiments, if the terminal determines, based on first information, that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, then at least one first receiving beam is used to perform sensing measurement on the first reference signal.

[0283] In some embodiments, if the terminal determines that the first reference signal is used for sensing based on the first information, it can determine that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, and perform sensing measurement on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam. Optionally, the sensing measurement includes, but is not limited to, measuring the velocity, Doppler, direction / angle information of the sensing target.

[0284] In some embodiments, if the terminal determines, based on first information, that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and communication measurement, then at least one first receiving beam is used to perform sensing measurement on the first reference signal, and the communication parameters of the first reference signal are measured based on at least one second receiving beam.

[0285] In some embodiments, if the terminal determines, based on first information, that the first reference signal is used for sensing and communication, it can determine that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing and communication measurements, and perform sensing measurements on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam, and measure the communication parameters of the first reference signal based on at least one second receiving beam. Optionally, the sensing measurements include, but are not limited to, measuring the velocity, Doppler, direction / angle information of the sensed target. Optionally, the communication parameters may include, but are not limited to, L1-RSRP (Level 1 Reference Signal Received Power) and / or L1-SINR (L1-Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio).

[0286] In some embodiments, based on the first information, if it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for communication measurement, then the communication parameters of the first reference signal are measured using at least one receiving beam.

[0287] In some embodiments, communication parameters may include, but are not limited to, L1-RSRP and / or L1-SINR.

[0288] In some embodiments, if the terminal determines that the first reference signal is used for communication based on the first information, it can determine that the transmit beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for communication measurement, and use at least one receive beam to measure the L1-RSRP and / or L1-SINR of the first reference signal.

[0289] In some embodiments, performing sensing measurements on a first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam includes:

[0290] Detect at least one path from the sensed target on each of at least one first receiving beam;

[0291] Measure information about the first reference signal on each of at least one path.

[0292] In some embodiments, the information of the first reference signal may include, but is not limited to, the signal strength, time delay, direction / angle, Doppler frequency, etc.

[0293] In some embodiments, the terminal performing sensing measurements on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam may include: the terminal detecting at least one path from the sensing target on each receiving beam, and measuring information such as the intensity, time delay, direction / angle, and Doppler frequency of the first reference signal on each of the at least one path.

[0294] It should be noted that at least one first receiving beam and at least one second receiving beam can be different receiving beams, the same receiving beam, or partially the same receiving beam. Optionally, the receiving beam used for sensing measurements and the optimal receiving beam used for communication measurements can be different receiving beams.

[0295] S203. The terminal reports the measurement results to the network device.

[0296] In some embodiments, the measurement results reported by the terminal to the network device may include at least one of the following:

[0297] Information of a first reference signal on at least one path from the sensed target detected on each first receiving beam;

[0298] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one second receiving beam and values ​​of communication parameters measured based on the optimal receiving beam.

[0299] In some embodiments, if the terminal determines that the first reference signal is used for sensing based on the first information, the reported measurement result can be the first measurement result, which includes: information on the first reference signal on each path of at least one path from the sensing target detected on each first receiving beam (e.g., but not limited to signal strength, time delay, direction / angle, Doppler frequency, etc.).

[0300] In some embodiments, if the terminal determines that the first reference signal is used for sensing and communication based on the first information, the reported measurement result may be a first measurement result, which includes: information on the first reference signal detected on each path of at least one path from the sensing target on each first receiving beam (e.g., but not limited to signal strength, time delay, direction / angle, Doppler frequency, etc.), and indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one second receiving beam and values ​​of communication parameters measured based on the optimal receiving beam (e.g., but not limited to L1-RSRP and / or L1-SINR values).

[0301] In some embodiments, if the terminal determines that the first reference signal is used for communication based on the first information, the reported measurement result may be a second measurement result, which includes: indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one third receiving beam and the value of the communication parameters measured based on the optimal receiving beam (e.g., but not limited to the values ​​of L1-RSRP and / or L1-SINR).

[0302] In some embodiments, prior to step S202 described above, the following may also be included:

[0303] S200, the network device sends the second information to the terminal.

[0304] In some embodiments, the second information is used to configure a first method for the terminal to discover communication beam pairs, and a second method for maintaining and updating communication beam pairs.

[0305] In some embodiments, the first approach includes one of the following:

[0306] Beam scanning is performed based on the first reference signal to identify communication beam pairs;

[0307] Beam scanning was performed based on the second reference signal to discover the communication beam pair;

[0308] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, the communication beam pair was discovered;

[0309] In some embodiments, the second approach includes one of the following:

[0310] Maintain and update communication beam pairs based on the second reference signal;

[0311] Maintain and update the communication beam pair based on the first reference signal;

[0312] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, maintain and update the communication beam pair;

[0313] The second reference signal is used for communication beam management.

[0314] In some embodiments, when configuring the sensing and communication measurements of a terminal, the network device may use a combination of a first reference signal (e.g., a sensing reference signal) and a second reference signal (e.g., a communication beam management reference signal).

[0315] In some embodiments, the network device can be configured to allow the terminal to perform a communication beam scan based on a communication beam management reference signal to discover a suitable communication beam pair for the terminal. The terminal can then continue to maintain and update the communication beam pair using the communication beam management reference signal; alternatively, the terminal can maintain and update the communication beam pair based on a sensing reference signal.

[0316] In some embodiments, the network device can be configured to allow the terminal to perform a communication beam scan based on a sensing reference signal and a communication beam management reference signal to discover a suitable communication beam pair for the terminal. The terminal can then continue to maintain and update the communication beam pair using the communication beam management reference signal; alternatively, the terminal can maintain and update the communication beam pair based on the sensing reference signal; or alternatively, the terminal can maintain and update the communication beam pair based on both the sensing reference signal and the communication beam management reference signal. Optionally, the sensing reference signal and the communication beam management reference signal can be mapped to the same or different transmission beams.

[0317] In some embodiments, the network device can be configured to use a sensing reference signal for communication beam scanning to discover a suitable communication beam pair for the UE. The terminal can then continue to use the sensing reference signal to maintain and update the communication beam pair.

[0318] In some embodiments, step S202 may include: the terminal performing sensing measurement and / or communication measurement based on the first information and the second information.

[0319] In the above embodiments, the sequence of the first reference signal is determined in one of the following ways:

[0320] Determined by the actual PRB occupied by the first reference signal;

[0321] Determined by a fixed bandwidth, which includes: maximum bandwidth, a BWP, or a configured frequency range.

[0322] In some embodiments, the maximum bandwidth can be the carrier bandwidth.

[0323] In some embodiments, the sequence of the first reference signal may be generated according to the actual PRB occupied by the first reference signal, or according to the carrier bandwidth, or according to a fixed BWP, or according to a configured frequency range.

[0324] Optionally, the sequence of the first reference signal can be generated according to a frequency range configured by the network device, or according to a frequency range configured by the terminal itself.

[0325] In some embodiments, the names of information, etc., are not limited to those described in the embodiments. Terms such as "information", "message", "signal", "signaling", "report", "configuration", "indication", "instruction", "command", "channel", "parameter", "domain", "field", "symbol", and "data" can be used interchangeably.

[0326] In some embodiments, terms such as “send,” “transmit,” “report,” “distribute,” “transfer,” “bidirectional transmission,” “send and / or receive” can be used interchangeably.

[0327] In some embodiments, terms such as "certain," "preset," "default," "set," "indicated," "a certain," "any," and "first" can be used interchangeably. "Certain A," "preset A," "default A," "set A," "indicated A," "a certain A," "any A," and "first A" can be interpreted as A pre-defined in a protocol or the like, or as A obtained through setting, configuration, or instruction, or as specific A, a certain A, any A, or first A, but are not limited thereto.

[0328] In some embodiments, terms such as “in the case of,” “when,” “when,” “if,” “if,” etc., can be used interchangeably.

[0329] The method involved in the embodiments of this disclosure may include at least one of steps S200 to S203. For example, step S201 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, steps S201 and S202 may be implemented as independent embodiments, steps S201, S202 and S203 may be implemented as independent embodiments, steps S201 and S200 may be implemented as independent embodiments, and steps S201, S200 and S202 may be implemented as independent embodiments, but are not limited thereto.

[0330] In some embodiments, step S200 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0331] In some embodiments, step S202 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0332] In some embodiments, step S203 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0333] Figure 3a is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3a, the communication method can be executed by terminal 101, and the method includes:

[0334] S301, Obtain first information.

[0335] In some embodiments, obtaining the first information can be understood as receiving the first information. Optionally, the terminal receives the first information sent (or configured) by the network device. Optionally, the terminal may also receive the first information sent by other devices.

[0336] In some embodiments, the first information is used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements. The optional first reference signal may be referred to as, but is not limited to, a sensing reference signal.

[0337] The optional implementation of step S301 can be found in the optional implementation of step S201 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0338] S302, Perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements based on the first information.

[0339] The optional implementation of step S302 can be found in the optional implementation of step S202 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0340] S303. Report the measurement results.

[0341] The optional implementation of step S303 can be found in the optional implementation of step S203 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0342] The method involved in the embodiments of this disclosure may include at least one of steps S301 to S303. For example, step S301 may be implemented as a standalone embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

[0343] In some embodiments, step S302 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0344] In some embodiments, step S303 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0345] Figure 3b is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3b, the communication method can be executed by terminal 101, and the method includes:

[0346] S311, Obtain first information.

[0347] In some embodiments, the terminal receives first information sent by the network device.

[0348] In some embodiments, the first information is used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0349] The optional implementation of step S311 can be found in the optional implementation of step S201 in Figure 2, the optional implementation of step S301 in Figure 3a, and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figures 2 and 3a, which will not be repeated here.

[0350] In some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following:

[0351] Measurement configuration information;

[0352] Transmission status indicator (TCI) information related to data transmission;

[0353] Configuration information for the first reference signal.

[0354] In some embodiments, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0355] Identification of the first reference signal;

[0356] First indication information and auxiliary information, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, and the auxiliary information is used to determine the information of the sensing target;

[0357] The second indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for communication measurement.

[0358] In some embodiments, the configuration information of the first reference signal includes at least one of the following:

[0359] Time-domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0360] Frequency domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0361] Quasi-co-address QCL information of the first reference signal;

[0362] Power information of the first reference signal;

[0363] The third indication information is used to indicate whether the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and / or communication measurement;

[0364] The fourth indication information is used to indicate information about at least one first frequency domain resource used for communication measurements.

[0365] In some embodiments, at least one first frequency domain resource is a subset of the frequency domain resources of the first reference signal.

[0366] In some embodiments, information about at least one first frequency domain resource includes one of the following:

[0367] At least one first frequency domain resource, each first frequency domain resource has a start physical resource block (PRB) and an end physical resource block (PRB);

[0368] The initial PRB and the number of PRBs for each first frequency domain resource in at least one first frequency domain resource.

[0369] Index of the bandwidth portion (BWP) used for communication.

[0370] In some embodiments, the first information includes TCI information related to data transmission;

[0371] The first reference signal is used for communication measurement if the first reference signal satisfies the QCL relationship with any TCI configured for communication for the terminal;

[0372] If the first reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured for communication for the terminal, the first reference signal is not used for communication measurement.

[0373] In some embodiments, the above method may further include any of the following:

[0374] If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, then at least one first receiving beam is used to perform sensing measurement on the first reference signal; or,

[0375] If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and communication measurement, then at least one first receiving beam is used to perform sensing measurement on the first reference signal, and communication-related parameters of the first reference signal are measured based on at least one second receiving beam.

[0376] If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for communication measurement, then the communication-related parameters of the first reference signal are measured based on at least one third receiving beam.

[0377] The above-mentioned optional implementation methods can be found in the optional implementation methods of step S202 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0378] In some embodiments, performing sensing measurements on a first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam includes:

[0379] Detect at least one path from the sensed target on each of at least one first receiving beam;

[0380] Measure information about the first reference signal on each of at least one path.

[0381] Optionally, the above method may also include:

[0382] Report the first measurement result to the network device, the first measurement result including at least one of the following:

[0383] Information on the first reference signal on each path;

[0384] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one second receiving beam;

[0385] The values ​​of the parameters are based on the optimal receiving beam measurement.

[0386] The above optional implementation methods can be found in the optional implementation methods of steps S202 and S203 in Figure 2, as well as other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0387] In some embodiments, the above method may further include:

[0388] Send a second measurement result to the network device, the second measurement result including at least one of the following:

[0389] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one third receiving beam;

[0390] The values ​​of the parameters are based on the optimal receiving beam measurement.

[0391] The above optional implementation methods can be found in the optional implementation methods of steps S202 and S203 in Figure 2, as well as other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0392] In some embodiments, the sequence of the first reference signal is determined in one of the following ways:

[0393] Determined by the actual PRB occupied by the first reference signal;

[0394] Determined by a fixed bandwidth, which includes: maximum bandwidth, a BWP, or a configured frequency range.

[0395] In some embodiments, the above method may further include:

[0396] The terminal receives second information sent by a network device, the second information being used to configure a first method for discovering communication beam pairs and a second method for maintaining and updating communication beam pairs;

[0397] The first method includes one of the following:

[0398] Beam scanning is performed based on the first reference signal to identify communication beam pairs;

[0399] Beam scanning was performed based on the second reference signal to discover the communication beam pair;

[0400] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, the communication beam pair was discovered;

[0401] The second method includes one of the following:

[0402] Maintain and update communication beam pairs based on the second reference signal;

[0403] Maintain and update the communication beam pair based on the first reference signal;

[0404] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, maintain and update the communication beam pair;

[0405] The second reference signal is used for communication beam management.

[0406] The above-mentioned optional implementation methods can be found in the optional implementation methods of step S200 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0407] Figure 4a is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4a, the method involved in this embodiment is executed by network device 102, and the method includes:

[0408] S401, Send the first message.

[0409] In some embodiments, the network device sends first information to the terminal.

[0410] In some embodiments, the first information is used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0411] The optional implementation of step S401 can be found in the optional implementation of step S201 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0412] S402, Receive the measurement results reported by the terminal.

[0413] In some embodiments, the measurement results reported by the terminal received by the network device may include at least one of the following:

[0414] Information of at least one directional first reference signal from the sensed target detected on each of at least one first receiving beam;

[0415] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one second receiving beam;

[0416] The values ​​of the communication parameters are based on the optimal receive beam measurement.

[0417] The optional implementation of step S401 can be found in the optional implementation of step S203 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0418] The method involved in the embodiments of this disclosure may include at least one of steps S401 to S402. For example, step S401 may be implemented as a standalone embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

[0419] In some embodiments, step S402 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0420] Figure 4b is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4b, the method involved in this embodiment is executed by network device 102, and the method includes:

[0421] S411, Send the first message.

[0422] In some embodiments, the network device sends first information to the terminal.

[0423] In some embodiments, the first information is used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0424] The optional implementation of step S411 can be found in the optional implementation of step S201 in Figure 2, the optional implementation of step S401 in Figure 4a, and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figures 2 and 4a, which will not be repeated here.

[0425] In some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following:

[0426] Measurement configuration information;

[0427] Transmission status indicator (TCI) information related to data transmission;

[0428] Configuration information for the first reference signal.

[0429] In some embodiments, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0430] Identification of the first reference signal;

[0431] First indication information and auxiliary information, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, and the auxiliary information is used to determine the information of the sensing target;

[0432] The second indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for communication measurement.

[0433] In some embodiments, the configuration information of the first reference signal includes at least one of the following:

[0434] Time-domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0435] Frequency domain resources of the first reference signal;

[0436] Quasi-co-address QCL information of the first reference signal;

[0437] Power information of the first reference signal;

[0438] The third indication information is used to indicate whether the first reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication measurements;

[0439] The fourth indication information is used to indicate information about at least one first frequency domain resource used for communication measurements.

[0440] In some embodiments, at least one first frequency domain resource is a subset of the frequency domain resources of the first reference signal.

[0441] In some embodiments, information about at least one first frequency domain resource includes one of the following:

[0442] At least one first frequency domain resource, each first frequency domain resource has a start physical resource block (PRB) and an end physical resource block (PRB);

[0443] The initial PRB and the number of PRBs for each first frequency domain resource in at least one first frequency domain resource.

[0444] Index of the bandwidth portion (BWP) used for communication.

[0445] In some embodiments, the first information includes TCI information related to data transmission;

[0446] The first reference signal is used for communication measurement if the first reference signal satisfies the QCL relationship with any TCI configured for communication for the terminal;

[0447] If the first reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured for communication for the terminal, the first reference signal is not used for communication measurement.

[0448] In some embodiments, the above method may further include:

[0449] The first measurement result reported by the receiving terminal includes at least one of the following:

[0450] Information of the first reference signal on each of at least one path;

[0451] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one second receiving beam used for communication measurements;

[0452] The terminal measures the values ​​of communication parameters based on the optimal receiving beam.

[0453] Wherein, at least one path includes the path from the sensing target detected on each of the at least one first receiving beams when the terminal performs sensing measurement on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam.

[0454] The above-mentioned optional implementation methods can be found in the optional implementation methods of step S203 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0455] In some embodiments, where the first reference signal is used for communication measurements, the above method may further include:

[0456] The receiving terminal reports a second measurement result, which includes at least one of the following:

[0457] Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one third receiving beam;

[0458] The values ​​of communication parameters are based on the optimal receive beam measurement;

[0459] At least one third receiving beam is used to measure the communication parameters of the first reference signal.

[0460] The above-mentioned optional implementation methods can be found in the optional implementation methods of step S203 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0461] In some embodiments, the sequence of the first reference signal is determined in one of the following ways:

[0462] Determined by the actual PRB occupied by the first reference signal;

[0463] Determined by a fixed bandwidth, which includes: maximum bandwidth, a BWP, or a configured frequency range.

[0464] In some embodiments, the above method may further include:

[0465] Send a second message to the terminal, the second message being used to configure a first method for the terminal to discover communication beam pairs, and a second method for maintaining and updating communication beam pairs;

[0466] The first method includes one of the following:

[0467] Beam scanning is performed based on the first reference signal to identify communication beam pairs;

[0468] Beam scanning was performed based on the second reference signal to discover the communication beam pair;

[0469] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, the communication beam pair was discovered;

[0470] The second method includes one of the following:

[0471] Maintain and update communication beam pairs based on the second reference signal;

[0472] Maintain and update the communication beam pair based on the first reference signal;

[0473] Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, maintain and update the communication beam pair;

[0474] The second reference signal is used for communication beam management.

[0475] The above-mentioned optional implementation methods can be found in the optional implementation methods of step S200 in Figure 2 and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0476] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 5, the method involved in this embodiment is used in a communication system 100, and the method includes:

[0477] S501, The network device sends the first information to the terminal.

[0478] The optional implementations of step S501 can be found in the optional implementations of step S201 in Figure 2, step S301 in Figure 3a, step S311 in Figure 3b, step S401 in Figure 4a, step S411 in Figure 4b, and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figures 2, 3a, 3b, 4a, and 4b, which will not be repeated here.

[0479] S502. The terminal performs sensing and / or communication measurements based on the first information and reports the measurement results to the network device.

[0480] The optional implementations of step S502 can be found in the optional implementations of steps S202 and S203 in Figure 2, the optional implementations of steps S302 and S303 in Figure 3a, and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figures 2 and 3a, which will not be repeated here.

[0481] In some embodiments, the above methods may include the methods of the embodiments described above on the communication system side, terminal side, network equipment side, core network equipment side, etc., which will not be repeated here.

[0482] This disclosure also provides an optional implementation where, in order to accurately measure the time delay of the sensed target during sensing operations, a larger bandwidth is required for the sensing reference signal. To accurately measure the Doppler frequency and velocity of the sensed target, more OFDM symbols need to be configured in time for the sensing reference signal. Simultaneously, to measure the direction / angle of the sensed target, multiple transmit and receive beams can be configured, allowing the optimal transmit / receive beam pair to be used for target sensing operations. The sensing reference signal transmitted and received according to the above beams can be used to discover the optimal beam pair for communication.

[0483] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the reference signals for sensing and communication can be jointly designed, and such reference signals can be called sensing reference signals. However, this embodiment of the disclosure does not limit the name of such reference signals, and other naming methods can also be used. For example, they can still be called sensing reference signals, although under certain conditions they can support the discovery and maintenance of transmit and receive beam pairs for communication.

[0484] The method of this disclosure embodiment is described below using "sensory reference signal" as an example.

[0485] Measurement of sensing and communication:

[0486] In some embodiments, the network device may configure one or more sensing reference signals for the UE, and the UE may perform beam-related operations for sensing and / or communication based on the sensing reference signals. Optionally, different sensing reference signals may use the same or different transmission beams.

[0487] In some embodiments, whether the UE performs sensing and communication operations in response to a sensing reference signal can be configured via RRC signaling.

[0488] Optionally, the sensing reference signal can be configured via RRC signaling to be used only for sensing, only for communication, or for both communication and sensing. In particular, when sensing measurements and communication measurements are configured simultaneously, the UE's measurements based on the sensing reference signal can be used for both sensing-related and communication-related operations.

[0489] For example, a measurement configuration may include at least a portion of the following information:

[0490] • A synaptic reference signal, for example, can be an identifier or index of the configured synaptic reference signal, but is not limited to this.

[0491] • Measurement of perception and related auxiliary information, where the auxiliary information can be information such as the range of perception and the type of the perceived target, used to help the UE determine the information of the perceived target (e.g., the direction / angle, speed, etc. of the perceived target).

[0492] • Indication information for communication-related measurements such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR.

[0493] In some embodiments, whether a UE performs sensing and communication operations in response to a sensing reference signal can be determined by TCI information transmitted by the UE.

[0494] In some embodiments, if the sensing reference signal and a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) configured by the UE for communication satisfy a QCL relationship, the UE measures information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR of the sensing reference signal. Optionally, information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR can be used to select and update the TCI used for communication.

[0495] In some embodiments, if the sensing reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured by the UE for communication, then the UE does not need to measure information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR of the sensing reference signal.

[0496] In some embodiments, whether a UE performs sensing and communication operations for a sensing reference signal can be configured via RRC signaling and jointly determined based on the TCI information of the UE's data transmission.

[0497] In some embodiments, for a configured sensing reference signal that can be used for communication measurements, if the sensing reference signal and a TCI configured by the UE for communication satisfy a QCL relationship, the UE measures information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR of the sensing reference signal. Optionally, information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR can be used to select and update the TCI used for communication.

[0498] In some embodiments, for a configured sensing reference signal that can be used for communication measurement, if the sensing reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured by the UE for communication, then the UE does not need to measure information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR of the sensing reference signal.

[0499] In some embodiments, for a UE, for a sensing reference signal transmitted using a transmit beam, in order to support sensing operations, the UE may need to receive the sensing reference signal with one or more receive beams, thereby detecting delay, Doppler and orientation / angle information about the sensing target and reporting it to the network device.

[0500] In some embodiments, for a sensing reference signal transmitted using a transmit beam, the UE may detect paths from the sensing target on one or more receive beams. For a path of the sensing target, the UE may further measure and report indication information of the strength of the sensing reference signal on these paths.

[0501] In some embodiments, for a sensing reference signal transmitted with a transmit beam, in order to support communication operation, the UE may also measure information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR of the sensing reference signal, thereby determining whether the transmit beam is suitable for communication operation.

[0502] In some embodiments, Figure 5b illustrates a schematic diagram of sensing and L1-RSRP measurement based on a sensing reference signal. For the sensing reference signal of TX beam 1, the UE can detect the path from the sensing target on both receive beams 1 and 2. For the sensing reference signal of TX beam 2, the UE can detect the path from the sensing target on receive beam 3. Additionally, the UE can measure the L1-RSRP of the sensing reference signal. In Figure 5b, the L1-RSRP measured by the UE using receive beam 4 is the maximum, thus allowing the base station and the UE to communicate using transmit beam 2 and receive beam 4.

[0503] In some embodiments, for a UE, for a sensing reference signal transmitted using a transmit beam, if the transmit beam is used only for the UE's sensing operations, the UE can perform sensing-related measurements on the reference signal using only one or more receive beams, including the time delay, Doppler, and direction / angle information of the sensing target. Optionally, for a path of the sensing target, the UE can further measure and report indication information of the strength of the sensing reference signal on this path. Optionally, other UEs in the network may be communicating with the base station using the transmit beam.

[0504] In some embodiments, for a UE, for a sensing reference signal transmitted using a single transmit beam, if the transmit beam is only used for communication with the UE, the UE may only measure information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR of the sensing reference signal. Optionally, other UEs in the network may be using the transmit beam for sensing operations.

[0505] In some embodiments, during the initial target search phase, the UE may need to traverse all possible transmit and receive beams. Once information about the target is obtained, the UE may detect the sensed target on only one or more of the required receive beams. Optionally, for a sensing reference signal using one transmit beam, the UE may receive sensing assistance information to measure the time delay, Doppler, and orientation / angle information of the sensed target on one or more receive beams.

[0506] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned measurements such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR can be performed based on the PRB of a portion of the frequency range of the sensing reference signal. Optionally, for a sensing reference signal using a transmit beam, the UE may only report the indication information of the optimal receive beam and the measured L1-RSRP or L1-SINR information.

[0507] It should be noted that the optimal receiving beam for L1-RSRP or L1-SINR information measured by the UE is not necessarily a receiving beam for target sensing.

[0508] In embodiments of this disclosure, during the initial communication beam scanning phase, the UE may need to traverse all possible transmit and receive beams. In subsequent communications, the UE can maintain communication reliability by measuring only a small number of transmit and receive beams.

[0509] In some embodiments, the sequence of the syn-sensing reference signal may be generated according to its actual occupied PRBs and the sequence may be mapped starting from the first PRB of the syn-sensing reference signal.

[0510] In some embodiments, the sequence of the sensing reference signal may be generated and transmitted in a fixed manner according to the maximum bandwidth, such as the carrier bandwidth, thereby ensuring that the sequence segment on each PRB within the carrier bandwidth is independent of the starting PRB index providing the reference signal within the carrier bandwidth.

[0511] In some embodiments, the sequence of the inductive reference signal may be generated and transmitted in a fixed manner according to a BWP, thereby ensuring that the sequence fragment on each PRB within the BWP is independent of the starting PRB index providing the reference signal within the BWP.

[0512] In some embodiments, the sensing reference signal may be configured within a frequency range, and its sequence may be generated and transmitted according to said frequency range.

[0513] Optionally, when measuring information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR, for a sensing reference signal, based on the frequency portion configured for measuring information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR, the UE can determine a sequence segment on the frequency portion.

[0514] In some embodiments, Figure 5c illustrates a schematic diagram of using a sensing reference signal to measure L1-RSRP. To improve the accuracy of the delay measurement, the sensing reference signal can be transmitted along a carrier band (BW). The actual bandwidth of the communication is limited to the bandwidth portion (BWP), and correspondingly, the L1-RSRP used to characterize the communication channel level also needs to be measured within the BWP. The PRB used for L1-RSRP measurement can be a subset of the BWP.

[0515] Configuration of the induction reference signal

[0516] In some embodiments, when configuring a sensing reference signal for a UE, the network device can configure the reference signal to be used only for sensing, only for communication, or for both sensing and communication. Optionally, when a sensing reference signal can be used for a UE's communication operation, it is necessary to further configure which portion of the frequency resources of the sensing reference signal is used to measure information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR. Using this method, the sensing reference signal can be configured with a large bandwidth, thereby meeting the performance requirements of delay measurement. At the same time, because the measurement of L1-RSRP or L1-SINR is restricted to a portion of the bandwidth, the complexity of communication-related measurements is reduced.

[0517] In some embodiments, the network device can be configured such that multiple frequency portions of the sensing reference signal can be used to measure information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR. The UE can measure multiple frequency portions separately and report the corresponding L1-RSRP or L1-SINR information separately.

[0518] In some embodiments, the configuration of the sensing reference signal may include at least a portion of the following information:

[0519] • Time resources (or described as time-domain resources);

[0520] • Frequency resources (or described as frequency domain resources);

[0521] • Information related to QCL;

[0522] • Power-related information;

[0523] • Whether it can be used as an indication of sensing and / or communication;

[0524] • One or more frequency components used to measure information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR.

[0525] In some embodiments, a network device may configure a sensing reference signal to indicate whether it can be used for sensing and / or communication.

[0526] Method 1: Indicate whether it can be used for sensing and whether it can be used for communication, respectively.

[0527] Optionally, the network device may use 1 bit to indicate whether the sensing reference signal is used for sensing. For example, a bit value of 1 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used for sensing, and a bit value of 0 indicates that the sensing reference signal is not used for sensing, but it is not limited to this.

[0528] Optionally, the network device may use an additional bit to indicate whether the sensing reference signal is used for communication. For example, a bit value of 1 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used for communication, and a bit value of 0 indicates that the sensing reference signal is not used for communication, but it is not limited to this.

[0529] Method 2: Indicates that it can only be used for sensing, can only be used for communication, or can be used for both sensing and communication.

[0530] Optionally, the network device may use 2 bits to indicate whether the sensing reference signal is used for sensing and / or communication. For example, a bit value of 10 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used only for sensing, a bit value of 01 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used only for communication, and a bit value of 11 indicates that the sensing reference signal is used for both sensing and communication, but is not limited to this.

[0531] In some embodiments, the configuration of the sensing reference signal does not need to include information indicating whether it can be used for sensing and / or communication. In this case, the ability of the sensing reference signal to be used for sensing and / or communication can be determined based on information in the measurement configuration.

[0532] In some embodiments, for a sensing reference signal that can be used for measurements such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR, one or more frequency portions of the sensing reference signal used for measuring information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR can be indicated by the following method.

[0533] Method 1: Indicate the start and end PRBs of one or more frequency sections respectively.

[0534] Method 2: Indicate the starting PRB and the number of PRBs for one or more frequency sections respectively.

[0535] Method 3: Indicate the BWP index of the communication. Using this method, it is not necessary to indicate additional PRB information. For example, the UE can determine part or all of the PRB measurement information such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR within the frequency range of the corresponding BWP for measuring the sensing reference signal.

[0536] In the above indication method, the indication information for the start PRB, end PRB, and number of PRBs can be at the granularity of one or more PRBs. Optionally, the start PRB, end PRB, and number of PRBs can be defined within the carrier bandwidth or within a communication BWP.

[0537] Hybrid use of inductive reference signals and communication beam management reference signals

[0538] In some embodiments, when configuring UE sensing and measurements such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR, the network may use a combination of sensing reference signals and communication beam management reference signals. In 5G systems, communication beam management reference signals may refer to SSB, CSI-RS, and are used for beam scanning, radio link monitoring (RLM), or beam failure detection (BFD), etc.

[0539] Method 1: The network configuration allows the UE to perform a communication beam scan based on the communication beam management reference signal, discovering suitable communication beam pairs for the UE. Subsequently, on one hand, the UE can continue to maintain and update the communication beam pairs using the communication beam management reference signal. On the other hand, the UE can also maintain and update the communication beam pairs based on the sensing reference signal.

[0540] Method 2: Configure the UE's sensing reference signal and communication beam management reference signal in the network. The sensing reference signal and communication beam management reference signal can be mapped to the same or different transmit beams. The UE performs a communication beam scan based on the sensing reference signal and communication beam management reference signal to discover suitable communication beam pairs. Next, the UE can continue to maintain and update the communication beam pairs using the communication beam management reference signal. Alternatively, the UE can also maintain and update the communication beam pairs based on the sensing reference signal.

[0541] Method 3: The network configures the UE to use the sensing reference signal for communication beam scanning to discover suitable communication beam pairs for the UE. The UE can then continue to use the sensing reference signal to maintain and update the communication beam pairs.

[0542] This disclosure also provides an apparatus for implementing any of the above methods. For example, an apparatus is provided that includes units or modules for implementing the steps performed by the terminal in any of the above methods. Alternatively, another apparatus is provided that includes units or modules for implementing the steps performed by a network device (e.g., an access network device, a core network functional node, a core network device, etc.) in any of the above methods.

[0543] It should be understood that the division of units or modules in the above device is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into a single physical entity, or they can be physically separated. Furthermore, the units or modules in the device can be implemented by a processor calling software: for example, the device includes a processor connected to a memory containing instructions. The processor calls the instructions stored in the memory to implement any of the above methods or to implement the functions of the units or modules in the above device. The processor can be, for example, a general-purpose processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or a microprocessor, and the memory can be internal or external to the device. Alternatively, the units or modules in the device can be implemented in the form of hardware circuits. The functions of some or all of the units or modules can be achieved through the design of the hardware circuits. The aforementioned hardware circuits can be understood as one or more processors. For example, in one implementation, the aforementioned hardware circuit is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The functions of some or all of the aforementioned units or modules are achieved through the design of the logical relationships between the components within the circuit. As another example, in another implementation, the aforementioned hardware circuit can be implemented through a programmable logic device (PLD). Taking a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) as an example, it can include a large number of logic gates. The connection relationships between the logic gates are configured through configuration files, thereby achieving the functions of some or all of the aforementioned units or modules.

[0544] All units or modules of the above devices can be implemented entirely through processor-invoked software, entirely through hardware circuits, or partially through processor-invoked software with the remainder implemented through hardware circuits. In this embodiment, the processor is a circuit with signal processing capabilities. In one implementation, the processor can be a circuit with instruction read and execute capabilities, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU) (which can be understood as a microprocessor), or a digital signal processor (DSP). In another implementation, the processor can implement certain functions through the logical relationships of hardware circuits. These logical relationships are fixed or reconfigurable. For example, the processor may be a hardware circuit implemented using an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), such as an FPGA. In a reconfigurable hardware circuit, the process of the processor loading a configuration document and configuring the hardware circuit can be understood as the process of the processor loading instructions to implement the functions of some or all of the above units or modules. In addition, it can also be hardware circuits designed for artificial intelligence, which can be understood as ASICs, such as Neural Network Processing Units (NPUs), Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), and Deep Learning Processing Units (DPUs).

[0545] Figure 6a is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 6a, the terminal may include at least one of a first transceiver module 611, a first processing module 612, etc.

[0546] In some embodiments, the first transceiver module 611 is used to receive first information sent by a network device, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

[0547] Optionally, the first transceiver module 611 is used to execute the steps related to sending and receiving signaling executed by the terminal in any of the above methods, such as steps S201 and S203 shown in Figure 2, which will not be described again here.

[0548] Optionally, the first processing module 612 described above is used to execute the measurement-related steps performed by the terminal in any of the above methods, such as step S202 shown in Figure 2, which will not be described again here.

[0549] Figure 6b is a schematic diagram of the network device proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 6b, the network device includes at least one of a second transceiver module 621, a second processing module 622, etc.

[0550] In some embodiments, the second transceiver module 621 is used to send first information to the terminal, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurement and / or communication measurement.

[0551] Optionally, the second transceiver module 621 is used to execute the steps related to sending and receiving signaling performed by the network device in any of the above methods, such as steps S201 and S203 shown in Figure 2, which will not be described again here.

[0552] Figure 7a is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device 7100 proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure. The communication device 7100 can be a network device (e.g., access network device, core network device, etc.), a terminal (e.g., user equipment, etc.), a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the network device in implementing any of the above methods, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the terminal in implementing any of the above methods. The communication device 7100 can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments; for details, please refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0553] As shown in Figure 7a, the communication device 7100 includes one or more processors 7101. The processor 7101 can be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, such as a baseband processor or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU can be used to control communication devices (e.g., base stations, baseband chips, terminal devices, terminal device chips, DUs or CUs, etc.), execute programs, and process program data. The processor 7101 is used to invoke instructions to cause the communication device 7100 to execute any of the above methods.

[0554] In some embodiments, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more transceivers 7103. When the communication device 7100 includes one or more transceivers 7103, the transceiver 7103 performs at least one of the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above-described method (e.g., at least one of steps S201 and S203 shown in FIG. 2, but not limited thereto), and the processor 7101 performs at least one of other steps (e.g., step S202 shown in FIG. 2, but not limited thereto). In optional embodiments, the transceiver may include a receiver and / or a transmitter, which may be separate or integrated together. Optionally, the terms transceiver, transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, interface circuit, interface, etc., can be used interchangeably; the terms transmitter, transmitting unit, transmitter, transmitting circuit, etc., can be used interchangeably; and the terms receiver, receiving unit, receiver, receiving circuit, etc., can be used interchangeably.

[0555] In some embodiments, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more memories 7102 for storing instructions. Optionally, all or part of the memories 7102 may also be located outside the communication device 7100.

[0556] In some embodiments, a transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, which may be separate or integrated. Optionally, the terms transceiver, transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, etc., may be used interchangeably; the terms transmitter, transmitting unit, transmitter, transmitting circuit, etc., may be used interchangeably; and the terms receiver, receiving unit, receiver, receiving circuit, etc., may be used interchangeably.

[0557] Optionally, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more interface circuits 7104, which are connected to the memory 7102. The interface circuits 7104 can be used to receive signals from the memory 7102 or other devices, and can be used to send signals to the memory 7102 or other devices. For example, the interface circuits 7104 can read instructions stored in the memory 7102 and send the instructions to the processor 7101.

[0558] The communication device 7100 described in the above embodiments may be a network device or a terminal, but the scope of the communication device 7100 described in this disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device 7100 may not be limited by FIG. 7a. The communication device may be an independent device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: (1) an independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem; (2) a collection of one or more ICs, optionally, the IC collection may also include storage components for storing data and programs; (3) an ASIC, such as a modem; (4) a module that can be embedded in other devices; (5) a receiver, terminal device, smart terminal device, cellular phone, wireless device, handheld device, mobile unit, vehicle device, network device, cloud device, artificial intelligence device, etc.; (6) others, etc.

[0559] Figure 7b is a schematic diagram of the structure of the chip 7200 proposed in an embodiment of this disclosure. For cases where the communication device 7100 can be a chip or a chip system, please refer to the schematic diagram of the chip 7200 shown in Figure 7b, but it is not limited thereto.

[0560] Chip 7200 includes one or more processors 7201. Chip 7200 is used to perform any of the above methods.

[0561] In some embodiments, chip 7200 further includes one or more interface circuits 7202. Optionally, terms such as interface circuit, interface, and transceiver pin can be used interchangeably. In some embodiments, chip 7200 further includes one or more memories 7203 for storing data. Optionally, all or part of the memories 7203 may be located outside of chip 7200. Optionally, interface circuit 7202 is connected to memory 7203, and interface circuit 7202 can be used to receive data from memory 7203 or other devices, and interface circuit 7202 can be used to send data to memory 7203 or other devices. For example, interface circuit 7202 can read data stored in memory 7203 and send the data to processor 7201.

[0562] In some embodiments, the interface circuit 7202 performs at least one of the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above-described method (e.g., at least one of steps S201 and S203 shown in FIG. 2, but not limited thereto). The interface circuit 7202 performing the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above-described method refers, for example, to the interface circuit 7202 performing data interaction between the processor 7201, the chip 7200, the memory 7203, or the transceiver device. In some embodiments, the processor 7201 performs at least one of other steps (e.g., step S202 shown in FIG. 2, but not limited thereto).

[0563] This disclosure also provides a program product that, when executed by the communication device 7100, causes the communication device 7100 to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the program product is a computer program product.

[0564] This disclosure also proposes a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the above methods.

[0565] The technical solutions described in the embodiments of this disclosure can be combined arbitrarily without conflict.

[0566] Other embodiments of the invention will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention that follow the general principles of the invention and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the invention are indicated by the following claims.

[0567] It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise structure described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of the invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is executed by a terminal, and the method includes: Receive first information sent by a network device, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information includes at least one of the following: Measurement configuration information; Transmission status indicator (TCI) information related to data transmission; Configuration information of the first reference signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following: The identifier of the first reference signal; First indication information and auxiliary information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, and the auxiliary information is used to determine information about the sensing target; The second indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for communication measurement.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The configuration information of the first reference signal includes at least one of the following: The time-domain resources of the first reference signal; Frequency domain resources of the first reference signal; The quasi-co-address QCL information of the first reference signal; The power information of the first reference signal; The third indication information is used to indicate whether the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and / or communication measurement; The fourth indication information is used to indicate at least one first frequency domain resource used for communication measurements.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The at least one first frequency domain resource is a subset of the frequency domain resources of the first reference signal.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, The information of the at least one first frequency domain resource includes one of the following: The starting physical resource block (PRB) and ending physical resource block (PRB) of each first frequency domain resource in the at least one first frequency domain resource; The starting PRB and the number of PRBs for each of the at least one first frequency domain resources; Index of the bandwidth portion (BWP) used for communication.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2-6, characterized in that, The first information includes the TCI information related to data transmission; The first reference signal is used for communication measurement when the first reference signal and the TCI configured for communication for the terminal satisfy the QCL relationship. If the first reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with the TCI configured for communication for the terminal, the first reference signal is not used for communication measurement.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The method further includes any one of the following: If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, at least one first receiving beam is used to perform sensing measurement on the first reference signal; If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and communication measurement, sensing measurement is performed on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam, and communication parameters of the first reference signal are measured based on at least one second receiving beam. If, based on the first information, it is determined that the transmitting beam corresponding to the first reference signal is used for communication measurement, then the communication parameters of the first reference signal are measured based on at least one third receiving beam.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The step of performing sensing measurements on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam includes: At least one path from the sensed target is detected on each of the at least one first receiving beams; Measure information of the first reference signal on each of the at least one path; The method further includes: Report the first measurement result to the network device; The first measurement result includes at least one of the following: Information of the first reference signal on each path; Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one second receiving beam; The values ​​of the parameters are based on the measurements of the optimal receiving beam.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, When the transmission beam corresponding to the first reference signal is determined to be used for communication measurement based on the first information, the method further includes: The network device is sent a second measurement result, which includes at least one of the following: Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one third receiving beam; The values ​​of the parameters are based on the measurements of the optimal receiving beam.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The sequence of the first reference signal can be determined in one of the following ways: Determined by the actual PRB occupied by the first reference signal; Determined by a fixed bandwidth, which includes: carrier bandwidth, a bandwidth portion BWP, or a configured frequency range.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The method further includes: The terminal receives second information sent by the network device, the second information being used to configure a first method for the terminal to discover communication beam pairs, and a second method for maintaining and updating communication beam pairs; The first method includes one of the following: Beam scanning is performed based on the first reference signal to identify communication beam pairs; Beam scanning was performed based on the second reference signal to discover the communication beam pair; Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, a communication beam pair is discovered; The second method includes one of the following: The communication beam pair is maintained and updated based on the second reference signal; The communication beam pair is maintained and updated based on the first reference signal; Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, maintain and update the communication beam pair; The second reference signal is used for communication beam management.

13. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is performed by a network device, and the method includes: Send first information to the terminal, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The first information includes at least one of the following: Measurement configuration information; Transmission status indicator (TCI) information related to data transmission; Configuration information of the first reference signal.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following: The identifier of the first reference signal; First indication information and auxiliary information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement, and the auxiliary information is used to determine information about the sensing target; The second indication information is used to indicate that the first reference signal is used for communication measurement.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that, The configuration information of the first reference signal includes at least one of the following: The time-domain resources of the first reference signal; Frequency domain resources of the first reference signal; The quasi-co-address QCL information of the first reference signal; The power information of the first reference signal; The third indication information is used to indicate whether the first reference signal is used for sensing measurement and / or communication measurement; The fourth indication information is used to indicate information about at least one first frequency domain resource used for communication measurements.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The at least one first frequency domain resource is a subset of the frequency domain resources of the first reference signal.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that, The information of the at least one first frequency domain resource includes one of the following: ： The starting physical resource block (PRB) and ending physical resource block (PRB) of each first frequency domain resource in the at least one first frequency domain resource; The starting PRB and the number of PRBs for each of the at least one first frequency domain resources; Index of the bandwidth portion (BWP) used for communication.

19. The method according to any one of claims 14-18, characterized in that, The first information includes the TCI information related to data transmission; The first reference signal is used for communication measurement if the first reference signal satisfies the QCL relationship with any TCI configured for communication for the terminal; If the first reference signal does not satisfy the QCL relationship with any of the TCIs configured for communication for the terminal, the first reference signal is not used for communication measurement.

20. The method according to any one of claims 13-19, characterized in that, The method further includes: The terminal reports a first measurement result, which includes at least one of the following: Information of the first reference signal on each of at least one path; Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one second receiving beam used for communication measurements; The terminal measures the values ​​of the communication parameters based on the optimal receiving beam. Wherein, the at least one path includes the path from the sensing target detected on each of the at least one first receiving beams when the terminal performs sensing measurement on the first reference signal using at least one first receiving beam.

21. The method according to any one of claims 13-19, characterized in that, When the first reference signal is used for communication measurements, the method further includes: The terminal reports a second measurement result, which includes at least one of the following: Indication information of the optimal receiving beam in at least one third receiving beam; Based on the values ​​of the communication parameters measured by the optimal receiving beam; The at least one third receiving beam is used to measure the communication parameters of the first reference signal.

22. The method according to any one of claims 13-21, characterized in that, The sequence of the first reference signal can be determined in one of the following ways: Determined by the actual PRB occupied by the first reference signal; Determined by a fixed bandwidth, which includes: carrier bandwidth, a bandwidth portion (BWP), or a configured frequency range.

23. The method according to any one of claims 13-22, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send second information to the terminal, the second information being used to configure a first method for the terminal to discover communication beam pairs, and a second method for maintaining and updating communication beam pairs; The first method includes one of the following: Beam scanning is performed based on the first reference signal to identify communication beam pairs; Beam scanning was performed based on the second reference signal to discover the communication beam pair; Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, a communication beam pair is discovered; The second method includes one of the following: The communication beam pair is maintained and updated based on the second reference signal; The communication beam pair is maintained and updated based on the first reference signal; Based on the second reference signal and the first reference signal, maintain and update the communication beam pair; The second reference signal is used for communication beam management.

24. A terminal, characterized in that, include: The first transceiver module is used to receive first information sent by the network device, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurements and / or communication measurements.

25. A network device, characterized in that, include: The second transceiver module is used to send first information to the terminal, the first information being used to determine a first reference signal to perform sensing measurement and / or communication measurement.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, include: One or more processors; The processor is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, or 13 to 23.

27. A communication system, characterized in that, include: A terminal and a network device, wherein the terminal is used to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 12, and the network device is used to implement the method of any one of claims 13 to 23.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores executable instructions that are loaded and executed by a processor to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, or 13 to 23.

Images