Communication method and apparatus
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/CN2025/146560
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2025-02-28
- Filing Date
- 2025-12-29
- Publication Date
- 2026-09-03
Smart Images
Figure CN2025146560_03092026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Communication methods and devices
[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510239426.0, filed on February 28, 2025, entitled "Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field
[0002] This application relates to the field of wireless communication, and more particularly to communication methods and apparatus. Background Technology
[0003] In current communication systems, base station functions can be functionally decomposed into multiple functional entities. Different functional entities are used to implement different communication protocol functions within the base station. For example, a base station can be deployed as two parts: a baseband unit (BBU) and a remote radio unit (RRU). Alternatively, a base station can be divided into two functional entities: a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The CU can also be called an aggregation unit.
[0004] Currently, the above-mentioned functional entities only support static configuration of the communication functions executed by each functional entity. For flexible and changing communication scenarios, the current configuration method cannot be well adapted, which affects communication efficiency. Summary of the Invention
[0005] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that uses different identifiers to indicate signal streams to perform corresponding operations. For example, the signal stream corresponding to the first identifier performs a channel measurement operation, and the signal stream corresponding to the second identifier performs an equalization operation. This enables dynamic and flexible adjustment of the processing method for different signal streams, thereby better processing of uplink signals and improving communication performance.
[0006] To achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solution:
[0007] Firstly, a communication method is provided, applied to a first functional entity, which may be a network device, a component of the network device (e.g., a processor, circuit, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. For example, the first functional entity may be a radio unit (RU). The method may include: receiving first information. The first information may be used to indicate a first identifier corresponding to a first signal stream and / or a second identifier corresponding to a second signal stream. For example, the first signal stream includes a first pilot signal, and the second signal stream includes a second pilot signal. Performing a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier to obtain second information. And / or, performing a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier to obtain third information. For example, the first type of operation may include a channel measurement operation. The second type of operation may include a first equalization operation. Transmitting fourth information. The fourth information may include the second information and / or the third information.
[0008] This application uses different identifiers to indicate the corresponding operations performed on the signal streams. For example, the signal stream corresponding to the first identifier performs channel measurement operations, and the signal stream corresponding to the second identifier performs equalization operations. This enables dynamic and flexible adjustment of the processing methods for different signal streams, thereby better processing of uplink signals and improving communication performance.
[0009] In one possible design, a first identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity. And / or, a second identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity, and a second balancing operation is performed in the second functional entity.
[0010] This application can indicate whether the first and second functional entities need to perform equalization operations using different identifiers. This allows for flexible adjustment of uplink signal processing methods for different signal flows, improving communication efficiency.
[0011] In one possible design, the second signal stream may have at least one of the following requirements: artificial intelligence (AI) receiver requirements, multi-point cooperative processing requirements, and serial interference cancellation processing requirements.
[0012] This application provides for various possible requirements of the second signal stream, enabling the signal stream with the above requirements to be processed uplink using the second identifier correspondence method, thereby improving communication efficiency.
[0013] In one possible design, the first identifier and / or the second identifier may include at least one of the following identifiers: an identifier for indicating frequency domain resources; an identifier for indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs; or an identifier for indicating the layer to which the signal stream belongs.
[0014] This application provides multiple representations of the identifier to represent the identifier in different scenarios in the manner required by the scenario, thereby improving the system's universality.
[0015] In one possible design, the second information may include the first identifier. And / or, the third information may include the second identifier.
[0016] The first functional entity in this application can also inform the second functional entity of the identifier of the corresponding signal stream, so as to ensure that the second functional entity processes the data signal according to the identifier and uses the operation corresponding to the identifier, thereby improving communication performance.
[0017] In one possible design, the first signal stream may include a first data signal, and the second information may include the first data signal after a first equalization operation. And / or, the second signal stream may include a second data signal, and the third information may include the second data signal after a first equalization operation.
[0018] The first functional entity of this application can also send the data signal after the first equalization operation to the second functional entity, so that the second functional entity can more flexibly perform different processing procedures on the data signal after the first equalization operation based on the channel measurement results or the pilot signal after the first equalization operation, thereby improving communication efficiency.
[0019] In one possible design, where the second information includes the first channel measurement result, performing a first type of operation on the first pilot signal based on the first identifier may include: determining the first channel measurement result based on the first channel matrix information. For example, the first channel matrix information may be obtained by performing channel estimation on the first pilot signal.
[0020] In this application, the first functional entity can obtain channel measurement results based on the first pilot signal and send these results to the second functional entity. This allows the second functional entity to directly perform de-constellation modulation of the data signal based on the channel measurement results. The second functional entity does not need to perform channel measurement, channel estimation, equalization, or other operations based on the pilot signal, reducing its computational complexity and improving communication efficiency.
[0021] In one possible design, the first channel measurement results may include at least one of the following information: signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR); signal to noise ratio (SNR); reference signal receiving power (RSRP); or reference signal received quality (RSRQ).
[0022] This application provides a variety of possible channel measurement results to be applicable to different communication scenarios, and provides feedback on channel measurement results applicable to the specific communication scenario, thereby improving the system's versatility.
[0023] In one possible design, where the third information includes a second pilot signal that has undergone a first equalization operation, performing a second type of operation on the second pilot signal based on the second identifier may include: determining a first equalization weight based on second channel matrix information. For example, the second channel matrix information may be obtained by performing channel estimation on the second pilot signal corresponding to the second identifier. The second pilot signal is then processed using the first equalization weight to obtain the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation.
[0024] In this application, the first functional entity can perform a first equalization operation on the second pilot signal and send the second pilot signal, on which the first equalization operation is performed, to the second functional entity. This enables the second functional entity to perform operations such as channel measurement, channel estimation, and equalization based on the pilot signal, thereby improving the accuracy of uplink signal processing.
[0025] In one possible design, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal. Alternatively, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal and an additional pilot signal.
[0026] This application can be applied to scenarios involving pre-pilot signals or scenarios including auxiliary pilot signals. This allows the pilot signals applicable to different scenarios to undergo corresponding processing, improving the system's versatility.
[0027] Secondly, a communication method is provided, applied to a second functional entity, which may be a network device, a component of the network device (e.g., a processor, circuit, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. For example, the second functional entity may be a distributed unit (DU). The method may include: sending first information. The first information may be used to indicate a first identifier corresponding to a first signal stream and / or a second identifier corresponding to a second signal stream. For example, the first signal stream may include a first pilot signal, and the second signal stream may include a second pilot signal. Receiving fourth information. The fourth information may include second information and / or third information. For example, the second information may be obtained by performing a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier. The first type of operation may include a channel measurement operation. The third information may be obtained by performing a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier. The second type of operation includes a first equalization operation.
[0028] In one possible design, a first identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity. And / or, a second identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity, and a second balancing operation is performed in the second functional entity.
[0029] In one possible design, the second signal stream may have at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirements, multi-point cooperative processing requirements, and serial interference cancellation processing requirements.
[0030] In one possible design, the method may further include: determining a second identifier corresponding to a service flow that has at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirement, multi-point cooperative processing requirement, and serial interference cancellation processing requirement.
[0031] The second functional entity of this application can determine the identifier corresponding to different business requirements. This enables flexible indication of the identifier corresponding to different signal flows, thereby achieving different uplink signal processing procedures.
[0032] In one possible design, the first identifier and / or the second identifier may include at least one of the following identifiers: an identifier for indicating frequency domain resources; an identifier for indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs; or an identifier for indicating the layer to which the signal stream belongs.
[0033] In one possible design, the second information may include the first identifier; and / or, the third information may include the second identifier.
[0034] In one possible design, the first signal stream may include a first data signal, and the second information may include the first data signal after a first equalization operation. And / or, the second signal stream may include a second data signal, and the third information may include the second data signal after a first equalization operation.
[0035] In one possible design, if the second information includes the first channel measurement result, the method may further include: demodulating the first data signal after the first equalization operation based on the first channel measurement result to obtain the first data.
[0036] The second functional entity of this application can demodulate the signal stream corresponding to the first identifier without performing equalization operations, thereby reducing the computational requirements of the second functional entity.
[0037] In one possible design, the first channel measurement result may include at least one of the following information: SINR; SNR; RSRP; or, RSRQ.
[0038] In one possible design, where the third information includes the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation, the method may further include: determining the second equalization weights corresponding to the second equalization operation based on the third channel matrix information. For example, the third channel matrix information may be obtained by performing channel estimation on the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. The second data signal after the second equalization operation is determined based on the second equalization weights and the second data signal after the first equalization operation.
[0039] The second functional entity of this application can also perform a second equalization operation on the signal stream corresponding to the second identifier, so that the second functional entity can process the signal stream with corresponding requirements and improve the processing performance of the uplink signal.
[0040] In one possible design, the method may further include: determining the second channel measurement result based on the third channel matrix information; and demodulating the second data signal after the second equalization operation based on the second channel measurement result to obtain the second data.
[0041] The second functional entity of this application can perform a second equalization operation on the signal stream corresponding to the second identifier, thereby improving the accuracy of the demodulated data of the second signal stream.
[0042] In one possible design, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal. Alternatively, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal and an additional pilot signal.
[0043] In one possible design, receiving the fourth information may include receiving fourth information from L first functional entities. For example, L is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.
[0044] The second functional entity of this application can also receive fourth information sent by multiple first functional entities, so as to perform uplink joint processing based on multiple fourth information and improve the performance of uplink communication.
[0045] In one possible design, the second signal stream may include a second data signal, and the third information may include the second data signal after the first equalization operation and the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. The method may further include: determining the third equalization weights corresponding to the second equalization operation based on fourth channel matrix information. For example, the fourth channel matrix information may be obtained by performing channel estimation on L second pilot signals after the first equalization operation. The third equalization weights are then used to process the L second data signals after the first equalization operation to obtain a multi-stream second data signal after the second equalization operation.
[0046] The second functional entity of this application can also perform joint operations on multiple third information, which is suitable for signal flow that meets the requirements of coordinated multipoint transmission / reception (CoMP) in uplink (UL) applications, thereby achieving more accurate uplink signal processing and improving uplink processing capabilities and efficiency.
[0047] Thirdly, a communication device is provided. This communication device can be a first functional entity (such as a network device implementing the function corresponding to the first functional entity), a communication module within the network device implementing the function corresponding to the first functional entity, or a chip responsible for communication functions within the network device implementing the function corresponding to the first functional entity, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a system-on-chip (SoC) or system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem module. It can also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first functional entity. The communication device may include: a transceiver unit for receiving first information. The first information may be used to indicate a first identifier corresponding to a first signal stream and / or a second identifier corresponding to a second signal stream. For example, the first signal stream includes a first pilot signal, and the second signal stream includes a second pilot signal. A processing unit is used to perform a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier to obtain second information. And / or, to perform a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier to obtain third information. For example, the first type of operation may include a channel measurement operation. The second type of operation may include a first equalization operation. The transceiver unit is also used to transmit fourth information. The fourth piece of information may include the second and / or third information.
[0048] In one possible design, a first identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity. And / or, a second identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity, and a second balancing operation is performed in the second functional entity.
[0049] In one possible design, the second signal stream may have at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirements, multi-point cooperative processing requirements, and serial interference cancellation processing requirements.
[0050] In one possible design, the first identifier and / or the second identifier may include at least one of the following identifiers: an identifier for indicating frequency domain resources; an identifier for indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs; or an identifier for indicating the layer to which the signal stream belongs.
[0051] In one possible design, the second information may include the first identifier. And / or, the third information may include the second identifier.
[0052] In one possible design, the first signal stream may include a first data signal, and the second information may include the first data signal after a first equalization operation. And / or, the second signal stream may include a second data signal, and the third information may include the second data signal after a first equalization operation.
[0053] In one possible design, where the second information includes the first channel measurement result, the processing unit is further configured to: determine the first channel measurement result based on the first channel matrix information. For example, the first channel matrix information may be obtained by performing channel estimation using the first pilot signal.
[0054] In one possible design, the first channel measurement result may include at least one of the following information: SINR; SNR; RSRP; or, RSRQ.
[0055] In one possible design, where the third information includes a second pilot signal that has undergone the first equalization operation, the processing unit is further configured to: determine the first equalization weights based on the second channel matrix information. For example, the second channel matrix information can be obtained by performing channel estimation on the second pilot signal corresponding to the second identifier. The second pilot signal is processed using the first equalization weights to obtain the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation.
[0056] In one possible design, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal. Alternatively, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal and an additional pilot signal.
[0057] Fourthly, a communication device is provided. This communication device can be a second functional entity (such as a network device implementing the corresponding function of the second functional entity), a communication module within the network device implementing the corresponding function of the second functional entity, or a chip responsible for communication functions within the network device implementing the corresponding function of the second functional entity, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module. It can also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the second functional entity. The communication device may include: a transceiver unit for transmitting first information. The first information may be used to indicate a first identifier corresponding to a first signal stream and / or a second identifier corresponding to a second signal stream. For example, the first signal stream may include a first pilot signal, and the second signal stream may include a second pilot signal. The transceiver unit is further configured to receive fourth information. The fourth information may include second information and / or third information. For example, the second information may be obtained by performing a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier. The first type of operation may include a channel measurement operation. The third information may be obtained by performing a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier. The second type of operation includes a first equalization operation.
[0058] In one possible design, a first identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity. And / or, a second identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity, and a second balancing operation is performed in the second functional entity.
[0059] In one possible design, the second signal stream may have at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirements, multi-point cooperative processing requirements, and serial interference cancellation processing requirements.
[0060] In one possible design, the communication device may further include: a processing unit for determining a second identifier corresponding to a service flow that has at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirement, multi-point cooperative processing requirement, and serial interference cancellation processing requirement.
[0061] In one possible design, the first identifier and / or the second identifier may include at least one of the following identifiers: an identifier for indicating frequency domain resources; an identifier for indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs; or an identifier for indicating the layer to which the signal stream belongs.
[0062] In one possible design, the second information may include the first identifier; and / or, the third information may include the second identifier.
[0063] In one possible design, the first signal stream may include a first data signal, and the second information may include the first data signal after a first equalization operation. And / or, the second signal stream may include a second data signal, and the third information may include the second data signal after a first equalization operation.
[0064] In one possible design, if the second information includes the first channel measurement result, the processing unit is further configured to: demodulate the first data signal after the first equalization operation based on the first channel measurement result to obtain the first data.
[0065] In one possible design, the first channel measurement result may include at least one of the following information: SINR; SNR; RSRP; or, RSRQ.
[0066] In one possible design, if the third information includes a second pilot signal that has undergone the first equalization operation, the processing unit is further configured to: determine the second equalization weight corresponding to the second equalization operation based on the third channel matrix information. For example, the third channel matrix information can be obtained by performing channel estimation on the second pilot signal that has undergone the first equalization operation. The second data signal that has undergone the second equalization operation is determined based on the second equalization weight and the second data signal that has undergone the first equalization operation.
[0067] In one possible design, the processing unit is further configured to: determine the second channel measurement result based on the third channel matrix information; and demodulate the second data signal after the second equalization operation based on the second channel measurement result to obtain the second data.
[0068] In one possible design, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal. Alternatively, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal and an additional pilot signal.
[0069] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is also used to receive fourth information from L first functional entities. For example, L is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.
[0070] In one possible design, the second signal stream may include a second data signal, and the third information may include the second data signal after the first equalization operation and the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. The processing unit is further configured to: determine the third equalization weight corresponding to the second equalization operation based on the fourth channel matrix information. For example, the fourth channel matrix information may be obtained by performing channel estimation on L second pilot signals after the first equalization operation. The L second data signals after the first equalization operation are processed using the third equalization weight to obtain multi-stream second data signals after the second equalization operation.
[0071] Fifthly, a communication device is provided. This communication device can be a first functional entity (such as a network device implementing the function corresponding to the first functional entity), or a communication module within the network device implementing the function corresponding to the first functional entity, or a chip responsible for communication functions within the network device implementing the function corresponding to the first functional entity, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module. It can also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first functional entity. The communication device may include: a transceiver for receiving first information. The first information may be used to indicate a first identifier corresponding to a first signal stream and / or a second identifier corresponding to a second signal stream. For example, the first signal stream includes a first pilot signal, and the second signal stream includes a second pilot signal. A processor is used to perform a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier to obtain second information. And / or, to perform a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier to obtain third information. For example, the first type of operation may include a channel measurement operation. The second type of operation may include a first equalization operation. The transceiver is also used to transmit fourth information. The fourth information may include the second information and / or the third information.
[0072] In one possible design, a first identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity. And / or, a second identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity, and a second balancing operation is performed in the second functional entity.
[0073] In one possible design, the second signal stream may have at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirements, multi-point cooperative processing requirements, and serial interference cancellation processing requirements.
[0074] In one possible design, the first identifier and / or the second identifier may include at least one of the following identifiers: an identifier for indicating frequency domain resources; an identifier for indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs; or an identifier for indicating the layer to which the signal stream belongs.
[0075] In one possible design, the second information may include the first identifier. And / or, the third information may include the second identifier.
[0076] In one possible design, the first signal stream may include a first data signal, and the second information may include the first data signal after a first equalization operation. And / or, the second signal stream may include a second data signal, and the third information may include the second data signal after a first equalization operation.
[0077] In one possible design, where the second information includes the first channel measurement result, the processor is further configured to: determine the first channel measurement result based on the first channel matrix information. For example, the first channel matrix information may be obtained by performing channel estimation using the first pilot signal.
[0078] In one possible design, the first channel measurement result may include at least one of the following information: SINR; SNR; RSRP; or, RSRQ.
[0079] In one possible design, where the third information includes a second pilot signal that has undergone a first equalization operation, the processor is further configured to: determine a first equalization weight based on the second channel matrix information. For example, the second channel matrix information may be obtained by performing channel estimation on the second pilot signal corresponding to the second identifier. The second pilot signal is then processed using the first equalization weight to obtain the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation.
[0080] In one possible design, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal. Alternatively, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal and an additional pilot signal.
[0081] Sixthly, a communication device is provided. This communication device can be a second functional entity (such as a network device implementing the function corresponding to the second functional entity), a communication module within the network device implementing the function corresponding to the second functional entity, or a chip responsible for communication functions within the network device implementing the function corresponding to the second functional entity, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module. It can also be a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the second functional entity. The communication device may include: a transceiver for transmitting first information. The first information may be used to indicate a first identifier corresponding to a first signal stream and / or a second identifier corresponding to a second signal stream. For example, the first signal stream may include a first pilot signal, and the second signal stream may include a second pilot signal. The transceiver is also used to receive fourth information. The fourth information may include second information and / or third information. For example, the second information may be obtained by performing a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier. The first type of operation may include a channel measurement operation. The third information may be obtained by performing a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier. The second type of operation includes a first equalization operation.
[0082] In one possible design, a first identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity. And / or, a second identifier can be used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity, and a second balancing operation is performed in the second functional entity.
[0083] In one possible design, the second signal stream may have at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirements, multi-point cooperative processing requirements, and serial interference cancellation processing requirements.
[0084] In one possible design, the communication device may further include: a processor for determining a second identifier corresponding to a service flow having at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirement, multi-point cooperative processing requirement, and serial interference cancellation processing requirement.
[0085] In one possible design, the first identifier and / or the second identifier may include at least one of the following identifiers: an identifier for indicating frequency domain resources; an identifier for indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs; or an identifier for indicating the layer to which the signal stream belongs.
[0086] In one possible design, the second information may include the first identifier; and / or, the third information may include the second identifier.
[0087] In one possible design, the first signal stream may include a first data signal, and the second information may include the first data signal after a first equalization operation. And / or, the second signal stream may include a second data signal, and the third information may include the second data signal after a first equalization operation.
[0088] In one possible design, if the second information includes the first channel measurement result, the processor is further configured to: demodulate the first data signal after the first equalization operation based on the first channel measurement result to obtain the first data.
[0089] In one possible design, the first channel measurement result may include at least one of the following information: SINR; SNR; RSRP; or, RSRQ.
[0090] In one possible design, if the third information includes a second pilot signal that has undergone the first equalization operation, the processor is further configured to: determine the second equalization weight corresponding to the second equalization operation based on the third channel matrix information. For example, the third channel matrix information can be obtained by performing channel estimation on the second pilot signal that has undergone the first equalization operation. The processor then determines the second data signal that has undergone the second equalization operation based on the second equalization weight and the second data signal that has undergone the first equalization operation.
[0091] In one possible design, the processor is further configured to: determine the second channel measurement result based on the third channel matrix information; and demodulate the second data signal after the second equalization operation based on the second channel measurement result to obtain the second data.
[0092] In one possible design, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal. Alternatively, the first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal and an additional pilot signal.
[0093] In one possible design, the transceiver is also used to receive fourth information from L first functional entities. For example, L is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.
[0094] In one possible design, the second signal stream may include a second data signal, and the third information may include the second data signal after the first equalization operation and the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. The processor is further configured to: determine the third equalization weight corresponding to the second equalization operation based on the fourth channel matrix information. For example, the fourth channel matrix information may be obtained by performing channel estimation on L second pilot signals after the first equalization operation. The L second data signals after the first equalization operation are processed using the third equalization weight to obtain a multi-stream second data signal after the second equalization operation.
[0095] In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising: a first network device and a second network device, the first network device being configured to perform the methods described in the first aspect and various possible implementations thereof, and the second network device being configured to perform the methods described in the second aspect and various possible implementations thereof.
[0096] Eighthly, a chip is provided, comprising interface circuitry and one or more processors. The one or more processors are coupled to a memory. The memory stores part or all of a computer program or instructions necessary for implementing the functions described in the first and second aspects. The one or more processors are executable to carry out the computer program or instructions, which, when executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the first and second aspects. The interface circuitry is used to implement communication functions within the communication device and / or communication functions between the communication device and other devices or components.
[0097] Ninthly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions; when the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the computer causes the computer to perform a communication method as designed in any of the foregoing aspects.
[0098] A tenth aspect provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a communication method as designed in any of the foregoing aspects.
[0099] The beneficial effects of the methods in any of the second to tenth aspects mentioned above can be referred to the description of the beneficial effects of the methods in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description
[0100] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applied in an embodiment of this application;
[0101] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the functional division of the communication protocol between BBU and RRU provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0102] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a wireless access network architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0103] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of another wireless access network architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0104] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication protocol function division method provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0105] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of another communication protocol function division method provided in the embodiment of this application;
[0106] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another communication protocol function division method provided in the embodiments of this application;
[0107] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of an uplink communication processing procedure provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0108] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of another uplink communication processing procedure provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0109] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a communication scenario provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0110] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication scenario provided by an embodiment of this application;
[0111] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0112] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of an identifier provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0113] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another identifier provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0114] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of another type of identifier provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0115] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of another uplink communication processing procedure provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0116] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0117] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of another uplink communication processing procedure provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0118] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0119] Figure 20 is a timing diagram of the signal flow processing of the first functional entity provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0120] Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of another uplink communication processing procedure provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0121] Figure 22 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0122] Figure 23 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation
[0123] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (110a and 110b in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (120a-120j in Figure 1, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to the RAN node 110. Terminals and RAN nodes can be interconnected via wired or wireless means. The communication system 1000 may also include a core network 200. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 via wireless or wired means. The core network equipment in core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be independent and different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network equipment and the logical functions of the RAN node. Communication system 1000 may also include Internet 300.
[0124] RAN100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, a future communications network, or a future radio access system as defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). RAN100 can also include two or more of the above-mentioned different radio access systems. RAN100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN).
[0125] RAN nodes, also known as radio access network devices, RAN entities, or access nodes, are used to help terminals access communication systems wirelessly. In one application scenario, an RAN node can be a base station (BS), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB / eNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a future base station in a future communication network, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. RAN nodes can be macro base stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110a), micro base stations or indoor stations (as shown in Figure 1, 110b), relay nodes, or master nodes.
[0126] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing different functions of the base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). An RU can also be called a radio frequency unit. Here, the CU performs the functions of the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and can also perform the functions of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For specific descriptions of these protocol layers, refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement radio frequency signal transmission and reception. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as within a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as remote radio units (RRUs) or active antenna units (AAUs). CUs can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.
[0127] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) system, a CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and an RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN nodes in the embodiments of this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. For example, an RAN node can be a server loaded with the corresponding software modules. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the RAN nodes. For ease of description, a base station is used as an example of a RAN node in the following description.
[0128] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, capable of sending signals to or receiving signals from a base station. Terminals can also be called terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the terminal.
[0129] In some examples, the core network 200 may include any core network device such as the access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, the session management function (SMF) entity, the user plane function (UPF) entity, the sensing service control function (SSCF), the sensing data processing function (SDPF), and the unified data management (UDM).
[0130] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminals.
[0131] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be called communication devices with terminal functions.
[0132] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.
[0133] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem, including base station functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal, or by a device that includes terminal functions.
[0134] In a wireless communication system, communication devices are included, and these devices can communicate wirelessly using air interface resources. These communication devices can include network devices and terminal devices; network devices can also be called base station devices, i.e., the wireless access network devices mentioned above. Air interface resources can include at least one of time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, code resources, and spatial resources. These communication devices can also be called communication apparatuses.
[0135] The solutions provided in this application can be applied to wireless communication between communication devices. Wireless communication can include: wireless communication between network devices and terminals, wireless communication between network devices, and wireless communication between terminals. In this application, the term "wireless communication" can also be simply referred to as "communication," and the term "communication" can also be described as "data transmission," "information transmission," or "transmission."
[0136] In global system for mobile communications (GSM), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), long term evolution (LTE), and 5G systems, base stations can be deployed by dividing them into two functional entities: BBU and RRU, according to a bottom-layer partitioning method. This bottom-layer partitioning method can be a partitioning method at the physical layer and the radio frequency (RF) layer. It is understood that in the various embodiments of this application, "segmentation" and "division" can be used interchangeably. The BBU is connected to one or more RRUs via optical fiber, metallic cabling, or microwave links. The BBU primarily performs centralized upper-layer processing of baseband signals. The RRU primarily performs baseband signal reception and transmission, as well as RF signal modulation and demodulation, data processing, and power amplification functions. The RRU is closer to the antenna, resulting in lower feeder loss. In some cases, the RRU can also be called an RU or AAU. The interface between the BBU and RRU can be called a fronthaul interface or a bottom-layer partitioning interface.
[0137] Referring to Figure 2, which illustrates a functional division of the communication protocol between a BBU and an RRU, in related technologies, the interface between the BBU and RRU can use the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol for communication interaction. The CPRI protocol defines the key communication interface specifications for communication between radio equipment control (REC) and radio equipment (RE) in a wireless communication network. For example, the REC can be considered the aforementioned BBU, and the radio equipment can be considered the aforementioned RRU. As shown in Figure 2, the CPRI interface allocates the radio frequency (RF) layer functions to RRU 1, and the physical (PHY) layer and above protocol layer functions to BBU 1. The PHY layer can be further divided into a high PHY layer and a low PHY layer. The high PHY layer can also be called High PHY, and the low PHY layer can also be called Low PHY. Protocol layer functions above the PHY layer can include the radio resource control (RRC) layer, SDAP layer, PDCP layer, radio link control (RLC) layer, and MAC layer.
[0138] The amount of data transmitted between the PHY layer of the BBU and the RF layer of the RRU is directly related to the size of the antenna array on the RRU. The partitioning method specified by the CPRI protocol leads to an excessively large amount of data on the fronthaul interface, which cannot support scenarios with large-scale antenna arrays. The interface between the BBU and RRU can be called the fronthaul interface. In some solutions, an evolution of the CPRI protocol, namely the enhanced CPRI protocol, denoted as eCPRI, has been proposed. Referring again to Figure 2, the eCPRI protocol deploys the lower PHY layer in the RRU (e.g., RRU 2) and the higher PHY layer in the BBU (e.g., BBU 2). Furthermore, the interface specification between the BBU and RRU, i.e., between the higher and lower PHY layers, has been redefined. The eCPRI protocol transforms the interface between the BBU and RRU from the interface between the RF layer and PHY layer specified by the CPRI protocol to an interface between the higher and lower PHY layers, converting the original fiber optic communication between the RF layer and PHY layer into communication within the RRU's internal board or field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip. The data dimension of communication between the higher PHY layer of the BBU and the lower PHY layer of the RRU is reduced, and it is no longer directly related to the size of the antenna array on the RRU.
[0139] The partitioning method used by the aforementioned CPRI or eCPRI interfaces allows the BBU to process baseband signals in a highly centralized manner. As a result, computing resources can be deployed centrally, leading to high resource utilization and low deployment costs.
[0140] In future communication systems, Figure 3 illustrates a potential new RAN architecture. This architecture reclassifies base station functions into RU functions, radio network area (RNA) functions, and RAN automation functions. The RNA and RU functions communicate via a low-layer split (LLS) interface, while the RU function and the terminal can communicate via a RAN-UE interface. The RNA function and the core network (CN) communicate via the RAN-CN interface. The RAN automation function manages the RU and RNA functions through a network function (NF) management interface. The RAN automation function is controlled through network management. In this architecture, the RU function can be viewed as the aforementioned RRU or AAU, and the RNA function as the aforementioned BBU.
[0141] In related technologies, to reduce the bandwidth requirements and deployment costs of the fronthaul link in the underlying partitioning method, 3GPP proposed a base station function partitioning method. For example, for gNBs in 5G, a higher-layer partitioning method is adopted, splitting the base station into two functional entities such as CU and DU. The midhaul link between CU and DU has lower network bandwidth requirements. The radio access network shown in Figure 4 is partitioned according to CU and DU. For example, the access network equipment can be a gNB, which can be composed of CU and DU. Of course, DU can include one or more, which is not limited in this embodiment. The gNB can communicate with the core network elements of the 5G core network (5GC) through the next generation (NG) interface. Different gNBs can communicate with each other through the Xn interface, for example, through the Xn-control (C) interface. The CU can communicate with different DUs through the F1 interface.
[0142] Furthermore, Figure 5 illustrates several possible ways to divide communication protocol functions. Communication protocol functions can be divided at the protocol layer granularity. For example, options 1 through 8 are provided. Option 1 can be the communication function division between the RRC layer and the PDCP layer as shown in Figure 5, or option 2 can be the communication function division between the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer as shown in Figure 5. It is understood that subsequent embodiments of this application will be described using the control plane RRC layer as an example. For the user plane division, the RRC layer can be replaced with the SDAP layer, and this will not be elaborated further in the embodiments of this application.
[0143] Option 2 can be the communication function partitioning shown in Figure 5 between the PDCP layer and the higher RLC layer (or, if the RLC layer does not distinguish between higher and lower layers, it can be the RLC layer itself). Option 3 can be the communication function partitioning shown in Figure 5 between the higher and lower RLC layers. Therefore, Option 3 can also be considered as the communication function partitioning within the RLC layer. Option 4 can be the communication function partitioning shown in Figure 5 between the lower RLC layer and the higher MAC layer (or, if the RLC and MAC layers do not distinguish between higher and lower layers, it can be between the RLC layer and the MAC layer). Option 5 can be the communication function partitioning shown in Figure 5 between the higher and lower MAC layers. Therefore, Option 5 can also be considered as the communication function partitioning within the MAC layer. Option 6 can be the communication function partitioning shown in Figure 5 between the lower MAC layer and the higher PHY layer (or, if the MAC and PHY layers do not distinguish between higher and lower layers, it can be between the MAC layer and the PHY layer itself). Option 7 can be the communication function partitioning shown in Figure 5 between the higher and lower PHY layers. Therefore, Option 7 can also be considered as dividing communication functions within the PHY layer. Option 8 can be the division of communication functions between the lower PHY layer (or, if the PHY layer does not distinguish between higher and lower layers) and the RF layer, as shown in Figure 5. This division method in Option 8 is exactly the same as the division method specified in the CPRI protocol.
[0144] As can be seen, more granular division of communication protocol functions can be performed within certain protocol layers. For example, protocol layers such as the RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer can be divided into higher and lower layers. The following description uses the PHY layer as an example to illustrate the division of communication protocol functions within a protocol layer. The division methods for other protocol layers are similar, the difference being that the communication protocol functions within different protocol layers can differ. For specific details, please refer to the communication protocol functions within the corresponding protocol layer; this application does not impose limitations on these aspects.
[0145] Referring to Figure 6, the communication functions within the PHY layer in uplink (UL) communication are divided. It is assumed that the PHY layer can be further divided into functions such as decoding, rate dematching, descrambling, demodulation, equalization, channel estimation, resource element (RE) demapping, digital beamforming (DBF), fast fourier transform (FFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) removal, analog-to-digital conversion, and analog beamforming. Therefore, the division method in option 7 can also include options 7-1, 7-2, 7-2a, and 7-3. Demodulation can also be called demodulation. In the embodiments of this application, demapping can also be called demapping.
[0146] It is worth noting that both radio equipment and resource particles can be abbreviated as RE. Therefore, in order to distinguish between radio equipment and resource particles, in the embodiments of this application, RE can refer to resource particles, while radio equipment is not described by abbreviation.
[0147] For example, referring to Figure 6, option 7-1 could be a functional division of the communication protocol between FFT / CP removal and DBF. Option 7-2 could be a functional division of the communication protocol between RE demapping and channel estimation. Option 7-2a could be a functional division of the communication protocol between DBF and RE demapping. Option 7-3 could be a functional division of the communication protocol between demodulation and descrambling. Option 7-2 can also be referred to as interface e (Ie), Ie for uplink, or Ie division for uplink. Option 7-2 can be considered the same as the uplink division method of the eCPRI protocol.
[0148] In some examples, if the communication protocol function is divided between equalization and demodulation, this division point can be called Uplink Performance Improvement (ULPI)-A, Ie2 for uplink, Ie2 division for uplink, NG-LLS, etc. If the communication protocol function is divided between channel estimation and equalization, this division point can be called ULPI-B. It is worth noting that the channel estimation mentioned in the embodiments of this application can generally be considered as channel estimation using a demodulation reference signal (DMRS). Of course, it is not excluded that other signals can be used for channel estimation, and the embodiments of this application do not limit this.
[0149] The analog beamforming and digital beamforming shown in Figure 6 can be considered as beamforming techniques. Beamforming (BF) is a signal processing technique that uses antenna arrays to transmit and receive signals in a directional manner. By adjusting the basic elements and phase parameters of the antenna array, signals at certain angles can achieve constructive interference, while signals at other angles can achieve destructive interference, allowing the target signal to be aligned with the target receiving device. For example, the analog beamforming function shown in Figure 6 can generate a beam in a specific direction by adjusting the phase of the digital signal on the antenna at a phase shifter in the analog domain. It can be assumed that all antennas are processing the same signal. In some embodiments, for the various communication function modules within the PHY layer, such as the analog beamforming function module, assuming that all antennas in the network device implementing the PHY layer function are processing the same signal, a beam in a specific direction can be obtained by adjusting the phase of the digital signal on the antenna at a phase shifter in the analog domain. For the digital beamforming module, the phase and amplitude of the baseband signals of different data streams can be adjusted so that the transmitted signals on each antenna are different, so as to generate multiple beams with different directions and power intensities more flexibly, thereby making more effective use of spatial diversity and multiplexing.
[0150] In some examples, for uplink communication, the terminal can send a DMRS to the network device, which can be transmitted along with the data signal. The network device can receive the DMRS to perform channel estimation and obtain an estimated channel matrix. The network device can then use this channel matrix for subsequent operations such as receive beamforming and equalization.
[0151] In some examples, an enhanced communication protocol function deployment method is proposed for the aforementioned ULPI-A corresponding communication protocol function partitioning method. For instance, in the ULPI-A corresponding communication protocol function partitioning method, lower-level communication protocol functions such as equalization and channel estimation are deployed on the first functional entity; higher-level communication functions such as demodulation and descrambling are deployed on the second functional entity. Based on this, the second functional entity can also be configured to deploy equalization and channel estimation functions. This enhanced ULPI-A partitioning method can be called option 2, DMRS-based beamforming with equalization (DMRS-BF-EQ).
[0152] Referring to Figure 7, compared to Figure 6, Figure 7 omits the analog beamforming, analog-to-digital, RE demapping, descrambling, and rate matching communication protocol functions. However, it should be understood that the omission of these functions does not mean they are not executed. Specifically, DBF in Figure 6 corresponds to "beamforming + equalization weight calculation" in Figure 7. Correspondingly, "layer demapping" in Figure 7 is not shown in Figure 6. The first functional entity receives the uplink signal, which can be denoted as y. This uplink signal can include data signals and pilot signals. For example, the pilot signal can be DMRS. The first functional entity can perform FFT / CP removal on y to obtain y rx The y rx The input can be fed into the DMRS extraction module in the first functional entity to obtain Y′. dmrs Y′ dmrs The input is fed into the DMRS channel estimation module in the first functional entity to obtain H′. dmrs H′ dmrs The weight W′ can be obtained by inputting the beamforming and equalization weight calculation module in the first functional entity. eq Furthermore, the beamforming + equalization weight calculation module can also be based on H′ dmrs Channel measurements are performed to obtain the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR). The first functional entity can send this SINR to the second functional entity. The first functional entity can also send W′... eq Input the weight application (balancing) module in the first functional entity to obtain y. bf The first functional entity sends the y to the second functional entity. bfIn some examples, the first functional entity may also be deployed with a radio resource management (RRM) measurement module, enabling it to perform RRM measurements and obtain the results. The first functional entity may also send the RRM measurement results to the second functional entity.
[0153] The second functional entity can input the received ybf into the DMRS extraction module within the second functional entity to obtain Y. dmrs Y dmrs The input is fed into the DMRS channel estimation module in the second functional entity to obtain H. dmrs H dmrs The beamforming and equalization weight calculation module in the second functional entity can be used to obtain the weight W. eq The beamforming and equalization weight calculation module in the second functional entity can also be based on H dmrs Obtain the weight W comb The W comb Input is sent to the merger module. This merger module can be configured according to W. comb For y bf The data layer in the middle is processed to obtain y. comb The weight application (balancing) module in the second functional entity is based on W. eq For y comb Processing yields y eq The y eq The input is processed by the layer demapping, and based on the processing result, it is de-sigma modulation (or demodulation) and decoding, until it is input into the higher-level communication protocol function module for subsequent processing.
[0154] Considering that both the first and second functional entities in Figure 7 are equipped with channel estimation and equalization modules, the second functional entity may or may not use these functions. Accordingly, Figure 8 illustrates the case where the second functional entity does not use these functions, and Figure 9 illustrates the case where it uses them. Of course, the information exchanged between the first and second functional entities in Figures 8 and 9 may differ somewhat.
[0155] Referring to Figure 8, when the first functional entity performs channel estimation and equalization functions, but the second functional entity does not, the first functional entity can send the SINR and the equalized data signal to the second functional entity. For example, the SINR can be the SINR at the data layer granularity. In this case, the first functional entity does not need to perform equalization on the DMRS, and correspondingly, it does not send the equalized DMRS. For example, the data signal can be the signal corresponding to the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In this case, it can also be considered that the second functional entity uses a DMRS-free receiving algorithm to perform subsequent operations on the equalized data signal from the first functional entity.
[0156] Referring to Figure 9, when both the first and second functional entities perform channel estimation and equalization functions, the first functional entity can transmit the equalized data signal and the equalized pilot signal without transmitting SINR. The "equalization" in the second functional entity can include DMRS extraction, DMRS channel estimation, equalization weight calculation, combined weight calculation, and weight application, as shown in Figure 7, which will not be elaborated further in this embodiment. In this case, the second functional entity performing the equalization function can be implemented using an advanced DMRS-based receiver, such as successive interference cancellation (SIC) or coordinated multipoint transmission / reception (CoMP).
[0157] In some examples, the management plane (MP) can be used to configure whether the second functional entity enables equalization (such as channel estimation). Alternatively, the management plane can be used to configure the messages that need to be sent between the first and second functional entities, such as whether the first functional entity sends equalized DMRS, whether it sends SINR, and the granularity of SINR. This allows the uplink signal processing to be configured in the manner shown in Figure 8 or Figure 9.
[0158] In the approach shown in Figure 8, the second functional entity has lower complexity and computational load. However, since the second functional entity does not perform channel estimation, it cannot obtain channel information. Therefore, in this approach, the second functional entity cannot support advanced DMRS-based receivers, resulting in poor uplink reception performance. The second functional entity cannot perform DMRS-based SIC, UL CoMP, etc., nor can it support DMRS channel estimation and equalization based on artificial intelligence (AI).
[0159] In the approach shown in Figure 9, UL reception performance is good, and the second functional entity can perform DMRS-based channel estimation and equalization. Therefore, the second functional entity can also support advanced DMRS-based receivers, such as those supporting SIC, UL CoMP, and AI processing. However, in this approach, the second functional entity has high complexity and a large computational load. In the UL CoMP scenario, there may be multiple instances of the first functional entity sending signals to the same second functional entity, resulting in a huge amount of traffic between the second and first functional entities.
[0160] Currently, the communication protocol functions executed on the first and second functional entities are typically statically configured, such as by the network management system through management plane messages, and dynamic adjustment is not supported. Therefore, it is impossible to more finely control uplink reception performance, the complexity and computational load of the second functional entity, and the traffic exchanged between the second and first functional entities.
[0161] Therefore, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that uses different identifiers to instruct signal streams to perform corresponding operations. For example, the signal stream corresponding to the first identifier performs a channel measurement operation, and the signal stream corresponding to the second identifier performs an equalization operation. This enables dynamic and flexible adjustment of the processing method for different signal streams, thereby better processing of uplink signals and improving communication performance.
[0162] The communication method and apparatus will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that the embodiments of this application use a first functional entity and a second functional entity as examples of the execution subjects of the interaction illustration, but this application does not limit the execution subjects of the interaction illustration. For example, the first functional entity and the second functional entity can be network devices. The method executed by the network device in this application can also be implemented by modules (e.g., circuits, processors, chips, or chip systems) in the network device, or by logical nodes, logical modules, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device.
[0163] In the embodiments of this application, the term "wireless communication" can also be abbreviated as "communication", and the term "communication" can also be described as "data transmission", "information transmission" or "transmission".
[0164] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a communication scenario provided in an embodiment of this application.
[0165] As shown in Figure 10, the access network device can be divided into multiple functional entities such as RU 210, DU 220, and CU 230. Of course, the access network device may include one or more RU 210s, one or more DU 220s, and one or more CU 230s. The CU 230 is connected to the 5GC 240 and is used to realize communication with the core network device. In various embodiments of this application, the core network device may also be referred to as a core network element.
[0166] Among them, 5GC 240 can be connected to multiple CU 230, one CU 230 can be connected to multiple DU 220, and one DU 220 can be connected to multiple RU 210.
[0167] The access network device can be a gNB. The access network device provides NR user plane and control plane protocol endpoints to the terminal and communicates with the 5GC 240 via the NG interface. The access network device is used to provide wireless network connectivity between the terminal and the core network.
[0168] The CU 230 can manage the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layer protocols of access network devices and control one or more DU operations. The CU 230 communicates with the DU 220 via the F1 interface.
[0169] The DU 220 can host the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers of access network devices, and its operation is controlled by the CU 230. One DU 220 can support one or more cells, and one cell supports one DU 220.
[0170] The RU 210 can be referred to as a wireless unit, radio frequency unit, or radio frequency remote unit. Its main functions include receiving and transmitting baseband signals, as well as modulation and demodulation of radio frequency signals, data processing, and power amplification. The RU can be deployed close to the antenna, resulting in low feeder loss.
[0171] 5GC 240 may include one or more possible core network elements such as AMF entity, SMF entity, UPF entity, UDM entity, etc. 5GC and RAN together constitute the 5G network, providing users with service channels to connect to data networks and servers. Of course, 5GC 240 can also be replaced by the core network of future communication systems; this application embodiment does not limit this.
[0172] The RAN provides wireless network connectivity between the UE and the core network. The RAN can include access network equipment, such as gNBs. In some cases, "access network equipment" can refer to the entire RAN. RAN deployment can include centralized RAN (CRAN) and distributed RAN (DRAN). CRAN uses a separate BBU and RRU architecture, with each BBU located in a central equipment room, forming a BBU pool. It communicates with the RRUs via the fronthaul network. DRAN uses a distributed deployment of BBUs and RRUs. Each BBU is deployed separately in a rack, while the RRUs can be deployed together in the rack with the BBUs, or the RRUs can be deployed close to the antenna on a tower.
[0173] In some examples, RU 210, DU 220, and CU 230 can be deployed on the same physical device or on different physical devices. Alternatively, some functional entities of RU 210, DU 220, and CU 230 may be deployed on the same physical device, while other functional entities may be deployed on different physical devices. This embodiment of the application does not impose any limitations on this.
[0174] It is understandable that access network equipment can also include cases where it is split into two functional entities. For example, if CU 230 and DU 220 are deployed on the same physical device, CU 230 and DU 220 can be regarded as one functional entity. Alternatively, if DU 220 and RU 210 are deployed on the same physical device, DU 220 and RU 210 can be regarded as one functional entity.
[0175] Of course, this application is not limited to the 5G network architecture; the embodiments of this application are also applicable to LTE networks and other possible future network architectures such as future communication networks. It should be understood that the embodiments of this application can be applied to any network architecture with communication connectivity capabilities.
[0176] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication scenario provided by an embodiment of this application.
[0177] The embodiments of this application can also be applied to O-RAN network architecture. Therefore, Figure 11 illustrates a scenario under the O-RAN architecture. In the O-RAN architecture, access network devices can be divided into three functional entities: O-RU, O-DU, and O-CU. The O-RU is similar to the aforementioned RU, the O-DU is similar to the aforementioned DU, and the O-CU is similar to the aforementioned CU. The interfaces between these functional entities can be referred to the descriptions in the previous embodiments, and will not be repeated here. The O-RAN network architecture may also include a near-real-time RAN intelligent controller (RIC) and service management and orchestration (SMO).
[0178] The near real-time RIC is primarily used to collect network information and perform necessary optimization tasks. The near real-time RIC communicates with the O-CU and O-DU via the E2 interface. The near real-time RIC may include a QoS management module, a radio connection management module, an interference management module, and a mobility management module.
[0179] The SMO can include multiple functional modules, such as a non-real-time RIC, a configuration module, a policy module, a design module, and an inventory module. The main functions of the SMO can include operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM) of cloud infrastructure. For example, it can operate, maintain, and manage cloud infrastructure through the O2 interface. The SMO can also operate, maintain, and manage the RAN through the O1 interface. The SMO can also include a non-real-time RIC, such as one that combines artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics to achieve non-real-time macro-control and intervention of the O-RAN through the A1 interface. Each functional entity in the O-RAN can function as an independent entity and communicate with the SMO independently using the O1 interface. In some examples, the SMO and near-real-time RIC can communicate through either the A1 or O1 interface; the appropriate communication path can be selected based on the actual situation, which will not be elaborated further in this embodiment.
[0180] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application.
[0181] This communication process is applicable to, but not limited to, the communication scenarios shown in Figures 1, 10, and 11. This method can be applied to LTE, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE TDD, 5G systems, or NR systems, future communication systems (such as future communication systems), and V2X. V2X can include vehicle-to-network (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), long-term evolution-vehicle (LTE-V), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), MTC, IoT, long-term evolution-machine (LTE-M), machine-to-machine (M2M), and device-to-device (D2D) wireless communication scenarios. In the embodiments of this application, the first functional entity and the second functional entity can be access network devices. In this application, the first functional entity and the second functional entity can be deployed on the same access network device or on different access network devices; this is not a limitation in the embodiments thereof. In various embodiments of this application, the functional entity can also be referred to as a network-side device, network device, network equipment, logical unit, etc., and is not limited thereto. For example, the second functional entity can be a DU, and the first functional entity can be an RU. In other examples, the second functional entity can also be O-DU, CU, O-CU, or RNA, etc., and the first functional entity can also be O-RU, O-DU, or DU, etc., and this is not a limitation in the embodiments thereof.
[0182] The method may include the following steps:
[0183] S101, the second functional entity sends first information to the first functional entity. Correspondingly, the first functional entity receives the first information from the second functional entity.
[0184] In some examples, the first information can be used to indicate a first identifier corresponding to a first signal stream. And / or, the first information can be used to indicate a second identifier corresponding to a second signal stream. For example, the first signal stream may include a first pilot signal, and the second signal stream may include a second pilot signal. As another example, the first signal stream may also include a first data signal, and the second signal stream may also include a second data signal. In various embodiments of this application, a signal stream may also be referred to as a data stream.
[0185] In some embodiments, the first identifier can be used to indicate that a first equalization operation is performed in the first functional entity. For example, the first identifier can be used to indicate that a first equalization operation is performed on a first data signal within the first functional entity. The first equalization operation may not be performed on the first pilot signal. Taking a first signal stream as an example, the first functional entity can perform channel estimation on the received first pilot signal to obtain first channel matrix information, and determine corresponding equalization weights based on the first channel matrix information. The first functional entity can process the first data signal according to the equalization weights. The first functional entity can also perform channel measurement based on the first pilot signal to obtain channel measurement results. The first functional entity may not perform the first equalization operation on the first pilot signal, that is, it may not use the aforementioned equalization weights to process the first pilot signal.
[0186] And / or, the second identifier can be used to indicate that a first equalization operation is performed in the first functional entity, and a second equalization operation is performed in the second functional entity. For example, the second identifier can be used to indicate that within the first functional entity, a first equalization operation is performed on a second data signal and a second pilot signal; and within the second functional entity, a second equalization operation is performed on a second data signal that has undergone the first equalization operation, using a second pilot signal that has undergone the first equalization operation. Unlike the first identifier, for the second signal stream indicated by the second identifier, the first functional entity can also perform a first equalization operation on the second pilot signal in the second signal stream.
[0187] Taking the second signal stream as an example, the first functional entity can perform channel estimation on the received second pilot signal to obtain second channel matrix information, and determine the corresponding equalization weights based on the second channel matrix information. The first functional entity can process the second data signal according to the equalization weights. The first functional entity can also process the second pilot signal according to the equalization weights. That is, within the first functional entity, both the first equalization operation is performed on the data signal and the first equalization operation is performed on the pilot signal. For the second functional entity, channel estimation can be performed based on the pilot signal equalized by the first functional entity, and the equalized pilot signal can be equalized again.
[0188] Of course, the specific implementation process for different signal flows described above can be found in the description of the subsequent related embodiments.
[0189] In other embodiments, a first identifier is used to indicate that the data signal in the signal stream requires only one equalization operation, and a second identifier is used to indicate that the data signal in the signal stream requires two equalization operations.
[0190] Alternatively, in some examples, the aforementioned first information may also be generated by the first functional entity and sent to the second functional entity. For example, the first functional entity determines which signal streams undergo equalization only on the first functional entity (including not performing equalization on the pilot signal but performing channel measurement on the pilot signal), corresponding to the first identifier; and which signal streams undergo equalization on both the first and second functional entities (including the first functional entity performing equalization on the pilot signal but not performing channel measurement on the pilot signal), corresponding to the second identifier. This application does not limit the scope of the embodiments described herein.
[0191] This application embodiment can use different identifiers to indicate whether the first functional entity and the second functional entity need to perform equalization operations. This allows for flexible adjustment of the uplink signal processing method for different signal streams, improving communication efficiency.
[0192] In some embodiments, the second functional entity can determine whether the signal flow corresponds to a first identifier or a second identifier based on different requirements of the signal flow. For example, if the signal flow has an AI receiver requirement, it can be determined that the signal flow corresponds to the second identifier. Similarly, if the signal flow has a multi-point cooperative processing requirement, it can be determined that the signal flow corresponds to the second identifier. Furthermore, if the signal flow has a serial interference cancellation processing requirement, it can be determined that the signal flow corresponds to the second identifier. In some examples, if the signal flow simultaneously has AI receiver and multi-point cooperative processing requirements, or simultaneously has AI receiver and serial interference cancellation processing requirements, or simultaneously has multi-point cooperative processing and serial interference cancellation processing requirements, or simultaneously has AI receiver, multi-point cooperative processing, and serial interference cancellation processing requirements, it can be determined that the signal flow corresponds to the second identifier. The aforementioned signal flows can be considered as the second signal flow. In other examples, these signal flows can also be determined to correspond to the second identifier based on whether there are more or fewer requirements. For example, there may be more or fewer requirements, such as network peak rate requirements, average data rate requirements, etc., which can be selected according to the actual situation, and will not be elaborated further in this embodiment.
[0193] Understandably, a second signal stream with any of the aforementioned potential requirements may imply more complex and extensive computations. Furthermore, the second functional entity typically possesses stronger data processing capabilities than the first functional entity, and it can communicate with one or more first functional entities. To a certain extent, the second functional entity can also acquire more signals from different first functional entities, meaning it can obtain more macroscopic information. Therefore, a second identifier-based approach could be considered, allowing the second signal stream to undergo a second equalization operation via the second functional entity. This would improve the efficiency and accuracy of uplink signal processing.
[0194] Correspondingly, if a signal stream does not have the requirements of the second signal stream, then such a signal stream can be considered as the first signal stream.
[0195] This application provides various possible requirements for the second signal stream, enabling the signal stream with the above requirements to be processed uplink using the second identifier correspondence method, thereby improving communication efficiency.
[0196] In some examples, the second functional entity can identify a service flow with at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirement, multi-point cooperative processing requirement, and serial interference cancellation processing requirement, corresponding to a second identifier. This type of signal flow is, of course, a second signal flow. This allows the first information sent by the second functional entity to the first functional entity to indicate that the second signal flow corresponds to the second identifier.
[0197] The second functional entity in this application embodiment can determine the identifier corresponding to different service requirements. This enables flexible indication of the identifier corresponding to different signal flows, thereby achieving different uplink signal processing procedures.
[0198] In some cases, the first data signal corresponding to the first identifier and the data signal corresponding to the second identifier received by the first functional entity may be two different signals. In other cases, the first data signal corresponding to the first identifier and the data signal corresponding to the second identifier received by the first functional entity may be contained in the same signal. In this case, the first functional entity needs to perform a first equalization operation on this same signal to separate the first data signal and the second data signal.
[0199] In some embodiments, the first identifier and / or the second identifier may be collectively referred to as identifiers. For example, an identifier may be an identity (ID) or an index.
[0200] For example, the identifier may include an identifier used to indicate a frequency domain resource. For instance, a frequency domain resource can be any frequency domain resource granularity such as RE, resource element group (REG), resource block (RB), resource block group (RBG), carrier, or frequency band; this embodiment of the application does not limit this. For instance, a frequency band may include 5G frequency bands, future communication system frequency bands, etc. Referring to Figure 13, assuming the first identifier indicates frequency domain resource 1 and the second identifier indicates frequency domain resource 2, it means that signal streams A1 of UE 1, A2 of UE 2, and A3 of UE 3 transmitted on frequency domain resource 1 are processed according to the method corresponding to the first identifier; signal streams B1 of UE 1, B4 of UE 4, and B5 of UE 5 transmitted on frequency domain resource 2 are processed according to the method corresponding to the second identifier. It can be seen that even signal streams belonging to the same UE 1 will undergo different processing because they are transmitted on different frequency domain resources.
[0201] For example, the identifier can include an identifier indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs. For instance, some signal streams correspond to a first identifier, meaning these signal streams belong to the first terminal; others correspond to a second identifier, meaning these signal streams belong to the second terminal. Referring to Figure 14, different UEs are distinguished by different UE identifiers. Assume UE 1 has the first identifier, while the identifiers of UE 2, UE 3, UE 4, and UE 5 belong to the second identifier. It can be seen that signal stream C1 of UE 1 is processed using the method corresponding to the first identifier; signal streams D2 of UE 2, D3 of UE 3, D4 of UE 4, and D5 of UE 5 are processed using the method corresponding to the second identifier. It can be seen that in this case, the UE identifier distinguishes which UE signal streams are processed using the method corresponding to the first identifier and which UE signal streams are processed using the method corresponding to the second identifier. Different signal processing methods can also be implemented for different signal streams of different UEs belonging to the same frequency domain resource.
[0202] For example, the identifier can include an identifier for the layer of the terminal to which the signal stream belongs. For instance, a terminal may have multiple signal streams, such as a rank of 2, indicating two layers of signal streams. Furthermore, different uplink signal processing procedures can be performed for signal streams of different layers.
[0203] For example, the identifier may also include: an identifier for indicating frequency domain resources and an identifier for indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs; or, an identifier for indicating frequency domain resources and an identifier for indicating the layer to which the signal stream belongs; or, an identifier for indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs and an identifier for indicating the layer to which the signal stream belongs; or, an identifier for indicating frequency domain resources, an identifier for indicating the terminal to which the signal stream belongs, and an identifier for indicating the layer to which the signal stream belongs.
[0204] Referring to Figure 15, an identifier is used to indicate frequency domain resources and an identifier to indicate the terminal to which the signal stream belongs. For example, if a signal stream 111 is indicated by the identifier of UE 1 and the identifier of frequency domain resource 1, then this signal stream can be processed using the method corresponding to the first identifier. Similarly, if a signal stream 112 is indicated by the identifier of UE 1 and the identifier of frequency domain resource 2, then this signal stream can be processed using the method corresponding to the first identifier. And if a signal stream 113 is indicated by the identifier of UE 2 and the identifier of frequency domain resource 1, then this signal stream can be processed using the method corresponding to the first identifier.
[0205] Accordingly, for example, if a signal stream 221 is indicated by the identifier of UE 3 and the identifier of frequency domain resource 1, then this signal stream can be processed using the method corresponding to the second identifier. Similarly, if a signal stream 222 is indicated by the identifier of UE 4 and the identifier of frequency domain resource 2, then this signal stream can be processed using the method corresponding to the second identifier. And again, if a signal stream 223 is indicated by the identifier of UE 5 and the identifier of frequency domain resource 2, then this signal stream can be processed using the method corresponding to the second identifier.
[0206] Optionally, the second functional entity may also determine the first identifier and / or the second identifier based on the frequency domain resources scheduled by its own Layer 2 function, the terminals scheduled on each frequency domain resource, and the flow of each terminal.
[0207] In some examples, if the aforementioned identifier indicates a frequency domain resource, it is possible to directly determine whether the data signal received on the corresponding frequency domain resource is a first data signal or a second data signal based on the frequency domain resource indicated by the first identifier and / or the frequency domain resource indicated by the second identifier. If the aforementioned identifier indicates a terminal identifier or a terminal layer identifier, then the signal on a certain frequency domain resource may contain signals from multiple terminals or multiple layers superimposed, meaning the first data signal and the second data signal are contained within the same signal. Subsequently, the first functional entity can perform a first equalization operation on the signal on that frequency domain resource to separate the first data signal and the second data signal.
[0208] It is understood that Figures 13 to 15 above are merely exemplary descriptions of an identifier, and can be adapted to the actual situation. The embodiments of this application are not limited here.
[0209] This application provides multiple representations of the identifier to represent the identifier in different scenarios in the manner required by the scenario, thereby improving the system's versatility.
[0210] In some embodiments, the aforementioned first pilot signal and / or second pilot signal can be collectively referred to as pilot signals. In some examples, the pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal. For example, the pilot signal may be a DMRS located on the second or third symbol. In other examples, the pilot signal may include a pre-pilot signal and an additional pilot signal. In other examples, the additional pilot signal may also be referred to as a post-pilot signal. For example, the additional pilot signal may be an additional DMRS. The specific manifestation of the pilot signal can be found in related technologies, and will not be elaborated further in the embodiments of this application.
[0211] In the various embodiments of this application, the pilot signal can be a DMRS or any other possible reference signal, such as a sounding reference signal (SRS), etc. The embodiments of this application are not limited to this.
[0212] The embodiments of this application can be applied to scenarios involving pre-pilot signals or scenarios including auxiliary pilot signals. This allows the pilot signals applicable to different scenarios to undergo corresponding processing, improving the system's versatility.
[0213] In some embodiments, the second functional entity may periodically send first information to the first functional entity at certain time intervals. For example, this time interval may be called the transmission time interval (TTI). The TTI can be one or more symbols, slots, subframes, frames, etc., and this embodiment does not limit this. In some examples, the first information may also be semi-statically configured. For example, each time the second functional entity sends the first information, the first functional entity may continue to process the signal stream according to the signal stream processing method indicated by the first information. This continues until the second functional entity sends the first information again, at which point it processes the signal stream according to the new signal stream processing method indicated by the first information. In other examples, the first information may also be statically configured. For example, once the second functional entity sends the first information, the first functional entity processes the signal stream according to the signal stream processing method indicated by the first information, remaining unchanged. The specific configuration method can be determined according to the actual situation, and this embodiment does not limit this.
[0214] S102, the first functional entity performs a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier to obtain second information; and / or performs a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier to obtain third information.
[0215] In some embodiments, the first functional entity may determine a first identifier corresponding to the first signal stream based on first information. Based on the first identifier, it determines to perform a first type of operation on the first pilot signal in the first signal stream. As mentioned in S101, for the first signal stream indicated by the first identifier, the first functional entity does not perform a first equalization operation on the first pilot signal. The first functional entity may perform a channel measurement operation on the first pilot signal. For example, the first type of operation may include various operations performed by the first functional entity based on the first identifier, such as a channel measurement operation performed on the first pilot signal. The first type of operation may also include a channel estimation operation performed on the first pilot signal, a first equalization operation performed on the first data signal, etc.
[0216] In some examples, based on the first type of operation mentioned above, the first functional entity can perform channel measurements on the first pilot signal to determine the first channel measurement result. For example, the first channel measurement result may include SINR. Alternatively, the first channel result may include signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Another example is that the first channel result may include reference signal receiving power (RSRP). Yet another example is that the first channel result may include reference signal received quality (RSRQ).
[0217] For example, the first channel measurement results may also include: SINR, SNR; or, SINR, RSRP; or, SINR, RSRQ; or, SNR, RSRP; or, SNR, RSRQ; or, RSRP, RSRQ; or, SINR, SNR and RSRP; or, SINR, SNR and RSRQ; or, SINR, RSRP and RSRQ; or, SNR, RSRP and RSRQ; or, SINR, SNR, RSRP and RSRQ.
[0218] In some examples, SINR may include the pre-equalization SINR, referred to as pre-SINR. For example, the pre-equalization SINR may be at the RBG granularity. In other examples, SINR may include the post-equalization SINR, referred to as post-SINR. For example, the post-equalization SINR may be at the RBG granularity or the flow granularity. Of course, the above only shows some possible SINR granularities. In other examples, other possible SINR granularities can be determined according to the actual situation, and this application embodiment does not limit this.
[0219] This application provides various possible channel measurement results to be applicable to different communication scenarios, providing feedback on channel measurement results applicable to the specific communication scenario and improving the system's versatility.
[0220] In some examples, the first functional entity can perform channel measurement on the first pilot signal based on the first identifier to obtain second information. For example, the first functional entity performs channel estimation based on the first pilot signal to obtain first channel matrix information. This first channel matrix information is used to represent the channel determined based on the first pilot signal. The first functional entity can determine the first channel measurement result based on the first channel matrix information. The aforementioned second information may include the first channel measurement result. If the first channel measurement result is SINR, the first functional entity can obtain the SINR based on the first channel matrix information and the signal received by the first functional entity. The specific implementation process for determining SINR can be referred to related technologies, and will not be elaborated further in the embodiments of this application.
[0221] For example, the first channel measurement result mentioned above can be for each signal stream. That is, the first functional entity determines the first channel measurement result corresponding to each signal stream. This process is similar to the SINR determination process of the first functional entity shown in Figure 8.
[0222] In some examples, the first pilot signal during the channel measurement operation described above may include a pre-pilot signal and an additional pilot signal, so that the first functional entity can obtain more accurate channel estimation results.
[0223] In this embodiment, the first functional entity can obtain channel measurement results based on the first pilot signal and send these results to the second functional entity. This allows the second functional entity to directly perform de-constellation modulation of the data signal based on the channel measurement results. The second functional entity does not need to perform channel measurement, channel estimation, equalization, or other operations based on the pilot signal, reducing its computational complexity and improving communication efficiency.
[0224] In other embodiments, the first functional entity can determine, based on the first information, that the identifier corresponding to the second signal stream is a second identifier. Based on this second identifier, it determines to perform a second type of operation on the second pilot signal in the second signal stream. As mentioned in S101, for the second signal stream indicated by the second identifier, the first functional entity performs a first equalization operation on the second pilot signal. In this case, the first functional entity may not perform a channel measurement operation on the second pilot signal. For example, the second type of operation may include various operations performed by the first functional entity based on the second identifier, such as the first equalization operation performed on the second pilot signal. The second type of operation may also include a channel estimation operation performed on the second pilot signal, a first equalization operation performed on the second data signal, etc.
[0225] In some examples, based on the second type of operation mentioned above, the first functional entity can perform a first equalization operation on the second pilot signal to obtain third information. For instance, the first functional entity can perform channel estimation on the second pilot signal to obtain second channel matrix information. This second channel matrix information is used to represent the channel determined based on the second pilot signal. The first functional entity can determine the first equalization weight based on this second channel matrix information. Assume that N terminals are scheduled on a certain uplink frequency domain resource, and each terminal n is scheduled with K... n If the stream signal is used, then the total number of streams K to be scheduled can be equal to ∑ n K n N is a positive integer, and n is a positive integer less than or equal to N. Assuming P is the number of antenna ports of the first functional entity, the channel represented by the second channel matrix information can be denoted as H∈C. P×K Where C is a complex number. Assume the signal received by the first functional entity is denoted as y, which may include the second pilot signal y. 第二导频 and data signal y 数据 The first functional entity can determine the interference noise covariance matrix Q = (y) based on H. 数据 -Hx 目标 )(y 数据 -Hx 目标 ) T =(H 干扰 x 干扰 +Z 噪声 (H) 干扰 x 干扰 +Z 噪声 ) T ∈C P×K Here, the superscript T denotes the transpose matrix. 目标 The signal sent by the terminal to the first functional entity, x 干扰 Signals sent by other terminals to the first functional entity (i.e., x) 目标 (Interference signals received). H 干扰 Indicates sending x干扰 The equivalent channel between the terminal and the first functional entity. Z 噪声 This represents potential noise in the environment. Wherein, the aforementioned y... 数据 The signal received by the first functional entity, excluding the pilot signal, can be understood as the data signal received by the first functional entity. In some cases, such as when the aforementioned identifier indicates a frequency domain resource, the first functional entity can determine whether the data signal received on the corresponding frequency domain resource is a first data signal or a second data signal based on the identifier. In other examples, the aforementioned identifier may indicate a terminal identifier or a terminal's layer identifier. In this case, the signal transmitted on a certain frequency domain resource may contain signals from multiple terminals or multiple layers superimposed. The first functional entity cannot directly determine which terminal or which layer of a terminal the data signal is for based on the received data signal. Therefore, the above formula uses y 数据 A description is provided. Of course, if the first functional entity can distinguish the second data signal, the above y... 数据 It can be replaced with y 第二数据 .
[0226] In some cases, the above Q can be approximated by subtracting the channel covariance matrix of the target terminal from the autocorrelation covariance matrix of the received signal. For example... Furthermore, Q can also be approximated by estimating the covariance matrix of the interfering channel plus the covariance matrix of the noise floor, such as... Of course, other equivalent methods can be used to determine an approximate value of Q, and this application does not limit this. The first functional entity can determine the first equilibrium weight W1 based on Q, for example, W1 = H. H (HH H +Q) -1 ∈C K×P It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, the superscript H represents the conjugate transpose matrix, not the channel matrix. The process of determining W1 described above can be determined according to the weighted minimum mean square error (WMMSE) principle. This first equalization weight can also be called the interference rejection combining (IRC)-WMMSE weight.
[0227] Understandably, although the first functional entity cannot directly distinguish the first data signal in the first signal stream corresponding to the first identifier and the second data signal in the second signal stream corresponding to the second identifier from the received data signals in some scenarios, the first functional entity can determine the pilot signal of the corresponding signal stream based on different identifiers, then perform channel estimation based on each pilot signal to obtain the channel H of each signal stream, and then determine the Q and W1 corresponding to these signal streams based on the channel H of different signal streams or their combination.
[0228] The first functional entity can process the received data signal using a first equalization weight to obtain a data signal that has undergone the first equalization operation. For example, the data signal after the first equalization operation is denoted as y. 经过第一均衡的数据 So, y 经过第一均衡的数据 =W1*y 数据 ∈C K×1 When the first identifier and the second identifier indicate different frequency domain resource identifiers, the first data signal and the second data signal are two different signals. W1 can be calculated by the first functional entity based on the second pilot signal corresponding to the second identifier. Therefore, the first functional entity can use W1 corresponding to the second pilot signal to process the received data signal, that is, to perform an equalization operation related to the data signal corresponding to the second identifier on the data signal, thereby determining the second data signal y after the first equalization operation. When the first identifier and the second identifier indicate different terminal identifiers or different layer identifiers of terminals on a certain frequency domain resource, the first data signal and the second data signal are contained in the same data signal. W1 is calculated by the first functional entity based on the first pilot signal corresponding to the first identifier and the second pilot signal corresponding to the second identifier. Then, by performing an equalization operation on the data signal, the first functional entity can simultaneously obtain the first data of the first data signal y corresponding to the first identifier after the first equalization and the second data of the second data signal y corresponding to the second identifier after the first equalization. That is, y 经过第一均衡的数据 It can include the first data of y after the first equalization and the second data of y after the first equalization.
[0229] The first functional entity can process the second pilot signal using a first equalization weight to obtain a second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. The aforementioned third information may include the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. For example, the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation is denoted as y's second pilot signal after the first equalization. Then, y's second pilot signal after the first equalization = W1*y 第二导频 ∈C K×1In some cases, such as when the first and second identifiers indicate different terminal identifiers or different layer identifiers of a terminal on a certain frequency domain resource, the first data signal and the second data signal are contained in the same data signal. Considering that the first equalization weight is jointly calculated based on the pilot signals corresponding to the first and second identifiers, the first functional entity can select the portion of the first equalization weight corresponding to the second identifier to process the second pilot signal. For example, selecting the portion of the first equalization weight corresponding to the terminal or layer indicated by the second identifier can be done by selecting it along the row vector dimension.
[0230] Similarly, although the first functional entity does not correspond to the first pilot signal y 第一导频 Perform the first equalization operation, but the first functional entity needs to process the first data signal y. 第一数据 Perform the first equalization operation. For example, as mentioned in the previous example, if the first functional entity can distinguish between the first data signal and the second data signal, then the first functional entity can use W1 corresponding to the first data signal to process y. 第一数据 This yields the first data of y after the first equalization. For example, if the first data signal and the second data signal are contained within the same signal y... 数据 In this case, the first functional entity cannot distinguish between the first data signal and the second data signal. Therefore, the first functional entity can process y using W1, which is calculated jointly with the first and second data signals. 数据 The first data of y after the first equalization is obtained. As mentioned in the previous example, the first functional entity can simultaneously obtain the first data of y after the first equalization and the second data of y after the first equalization, which will not be repeated in the embodiments of this application.
[0231] It is understood that the first data signal and the second data signal after the first equalization operation can be regarded as multi-stream constellation symbols to be demodulated, or beam signals in a general sense. In the embodiments of this application, the first equalization operation can be considered as an equalization operation performed on the first functional entity.
[0232] In some examples, the signal stream received by the first functional entity mentioned in the foregoing embodiments includes a first signal stream and a second signal stream. The first functional entity uses W1, which corresponds to both the first and second signal streams, to perform equalization processing on the signal streams to obtain the first and second signal streams, thereby distinguishing the first signal stream corresponding to the first identifier and the second signal stream corresponding to the second identifier. For example, the first identifier and the second identifier correspond to signals from different terminals or different layers of terminals on a certain frequency domain resource. When the first functional entity receives signals containing data from different terminals or data from different layers of terminals on that frequency domain resource, it processes the received signals using equalization weights W1 corresponding to the different terminals or different layers of terminals to obtain the data from the different terminals or different layers of terminals.
[0233] In this embodiment, the first functional entity can perform a first equalization operation on the second pilot signal and send the second pilot signal to the second functional entity. This enables the second functional entity to perform channel measurement, channel estimation, equalization, and other operations based on the pilot signal, thereby improving the accuracy of uplink signal processing.
[0234] In some embodiments, the second information may further include the first data signal that has undergone the first equalization operation mentioned above. And / or, the third information may further include the second data signal that has undergone the first equalization operation. That is, regardless of which signal stream, the first functional entity can inform the second functional entity of the data signal that has undergone the first equalization operation. For example, the aforementioned second information and / or third information, along with the data signal that has undergone the first equalization operation, can be carried in the same message or signaling and sent. Or, for example, the data signal that has undergone the first equalization operation can be sent independently of the aforementioned second information and / or third information; this application embodiment does not limit this.
[0235] In this embodiment, the first functional entity can also send the data signal after the first equalization operation to the second functional entity, so that the second functional entity can more flexibly perform different processing procedures on the data signal after the first equalization operation based on the channel measurement results or the pilot signal after the first equalization operation, thereby improving communication efficiency.
[0236] In some embodiments, the second information determined by the first functional entity may further include a first identifier. And / or, the third information determined by the first functional entity may further include a second identifier. Considering that the first functional entity can perform different processing on the signal stream based on different identifiers, the second functional entity can also perform different processing on the signals obtained by the first functional entity for different processing. Therefore, the second functional entity needs to know the identifier corresponding to the signal sent by the first functional entity in order to perform appropriate operations. The specific operations performed by the second functional entity can be referred to the description in S103 below.
[0237] In this embodiment, the first functional entity can also inform the second functional entity of the identifier of the corresponding signal stream, so as to ensure that the second functional entity processes the data signal according to the identifier and uses the operation corresponding to the identifier, thereby improving communication performance.
[0238] S103, the first functional entity sends the fourth information to the second functional entity. Correspondingly, the second functional entity receives the fourth information from the first functional entity.
[0239] In some examples, the fourth information may include the second and / or third information mentioned in S102. For instance, if the first functional entity performs a corresponding operation on the first signal stream, then the fourth information may include the second information. Similarly, if the first functional entity performs a corresponding operation on the second signal stream, then the fourth information may include the third information.
[0240] In some examples, for the first signal stream, the first channel measurement result, the first identifier, and the first data signal after the first equalization operation can be carried in the same message and sent from the first functional entity to the second functional entity. In other examples, one or more of the first channel measurement result, the first identifier, and the first data signal after the first equalization operation can be carried in the same message; or they can be carried in different messages, which is not limited in this embodiment. For the second signal stream, the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation, the second identifier, and the second data signal after the first equalization operation can be carried in the same message and sent from the first functional entity to the second functional entity. In other examples, one or more of the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation, the second identifier, and the second data signal after the first equalization operation can be carried in the same message; or they can be carried in different messages, which is not limited in this embodiment.
[0241] In some embodiments, when the fourth information includes the second information, it means that the second functional entity can receive the first channel measurement result, the first identifier, and the first data signal after the first equalization operation. For the first data signal after the first equalization operation, the second functional entity does not need to perform the equalization operation again. For example, the second functional entity can determine that no equalization operation is needed based on the first identifier. Alternatively, the second functional entity can determine that no equalization operation is needed based on the acquired first channel measurement result. The second functional entity can directly demodulate the first data signal after the first equalization operation based on the first channel measurement result, such as through constellation demodulation, to obtain the first data.
[0242] In this embodiment, the second functional entity can demodulate the signal stream corresponding to the first identifier without performing equalization operations, thereby reducing the computational requirements of the second functional entity.
[0243] In some embodiments, where the fourth information includes the third information, it means that the second functional entity can receive the second pilot signal, the second identifier, and the second data signal after the first equalization operation. For the second data signal after the first equalization operation, the second functional entity can perform a second equalization operation again. For example, the second functional entity can determine that a second equalization operation needs to be performed on the second data signal after the first equalization operation based on the second identifier. Alternatively, the second functional entity can determine that a second equalization operation needs to be performed on the second data signal after the first equalization operation based on the acquired second pilot signal. The second functional entity can perform channel estimation based on the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation to obtain third channel matrix information. The second functional entity can determine the second equalization weight corresponding to the second equalization operation based on the third channel matrix information. The second functional entity processes the second data signal after the first equalization operation according to the second equalization weight, i.e., performs the second equalization operation, to obtain the second data signal after the second equalization operation.
[0244] For example, considering that the aforementioned second signal stream may be a signal stream requiring an AI receiver, the second functional entity can employ an AI receiver (or an AI iterative receiver) to perform a second equalization operation on the second data signal after the first equalization operation. For instance, the second functional entity can be equipped with an AI model, and the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation, along with the original pilot signal, can be input into the AI model to obtain third channel matrix information. This third channel matrix information can indicate the equivalent channel H determined based on the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. e =W1H. Of course, the above equation represents an equivalence relation and does not mean that H is calculated based on W1H. e The second functional entity can be based on this H. e Determine the interference noise covariance matrix Q e For example, Q e =(y after the second data of the first equalization - H) e x 目标 (y after the second data of the first equalization - H) e x 目标 ) T Of course, x here 目标 This can be equivalently considered as the signal sent by the terminal to the second functional entity via the air interface and the first functional entity, H e This can be equivalently understood as the air interface wireless channel and the first pre-equalization processing of the first functional entity on x. 目标 (The impact). Of course, the specific Q e The method for determining [the value] can be referred to the description in the foregoing related embodiments, and will not be repeated in the embodiments of this application. Furthermore, based on Q... eDetermine the second equilibrium weight, i.e., W. e =H e H (H e H e H +Q e ) -1 The second functional entity adopts W. e The second data signal y, after undergoing the first equalization operation, is then processed by performing a second equalization operation to obtain the second data signal y after the second equalization operation. This second data signal y after the second equalization operation can be equal to W. e *y is the second data after the first equalization. In some examples, the second functional entity can also use the second data signal after the second equalization operation, as well as the second data signal after the first equalization operation, to adjust the AI model. For example, the second data signal after the second equalization operation can be used as a label, and the second data signal after the first equalization operation can be used as a sample to calculate a loss function to adjust the parameters in the AI model, thereby improving the accuracy of the AI model in subsequent channel estimation of pilot signals. The specific process of adjusting the AI model parameters can be found in related technologies, and will not be described in detail in the embodiments of this application.
[0245] For example, considering that the second signal stream mentioned above may be a signal stream with SIC requirements, the second functional entity can use a SIC receiver to perform a second equalization operation on the second data signal after the first equalization operation. For instance, the second functional entity can demodulate the signal stream of each terminal sequentially. For example, when the second functional entity demodulates the signal stream of the nth terminal, it can treat the signal streams of the first n-1 terminals as interference and eliminate them. Let the signal streams of the first n-1 terminals be denoted as the interference signal ∑. n∈[1，n-1] y passes through the second data of the second equilibrium, n = ∑ n∈[1，n-1] W 1,n H n x n , where x n This represents the data signal of the nth signal stream obtained after demodulation by the second functional entity. The second functional entity can eliminate the aforementioned interference signals from the signal stream of the nth terminal, resulting in the interference-free signal stream y. e,n =y e -∑ n∈[1，n-1] W 1,n H n x n The y here e This is the data signal superimposed on the signal streams received by the second functional entity from each terminal. e,nThis can be understood as the second data signal corresponding to the signal stream of the nth terminal after interference elimination, processed by the first equalization operation. The second functional entity performs channel estimation based on the pilot signal to obtain the equivalent channel H. e,n =W 1,n H n The H e,n This can be considered as the second functional entity determining the equivalent channel for the signal flow of the nth terminal based on the second pilot signal after first equalization. The second functional entity can then use this equivalent channel H... e,n Determine the interference noise covariance matrix Q e,n =(y e,n -H e,n x 目标 )(y e,n -H e,n x 目标 ) T Among them, Q e,n This represents the interference-noise covariance matrix corresponding to the signal flow of the nth terminal after interference cancellation. The second functional entity can determine the second equalization weight corresponding to the signal flow of the nth terminal, i.e., W. e,n =H e,n H (H e,n H e,n H +Q e,n ) -1 The second functional entity is based on this W. e,n For y e,n The data is processed to obtain the second data signal W after the second equalization operation. e,n *y e,n Similarly, the (n+1)th subsequent signal flow can also be represented by x. n =W e,n *y e,n This is done to eliminate interference signals. The process continues until the second functional entity de-modulates and decodes the constellation to obtain the complete terminal signal stream. In some cases, the aforementioned y... e,n It can also be replaced with y' e,n y represents the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation, after interference has been eliminated. e It can also be replaced with y' e This represents the second pilot signal received by the second functional entity after undergoing the first equalization operation. The second functional entity can perform channel estimation based on the interference-free pilot signal to obtain the equivalent channel H. e,n =W 1,n H n .
[0246] In this embodiment of the application, the second functional entity can also perform a second equalization operation on the signal stream corresponding to the second identifier, so that the second functional entity can process the signal stream with corresponding requirements and improve the processing performance of the uplink signal.
[0247] In some embodiments, after obtaining the second data signal after the second equalization operation through one or more of the above methods, the second functional entity can demodulate the second data signal after the second equalization operation. However, since the first functional entity does not perform channel measurement for the second signal stream, the second functional entity can also perform channel measurement based on the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. For example, the second functional entity performs channel estimation based on the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation to obtain a third channel matrix. And performs channel measurement based on the third channel matrix to obtain a second channel measurement result. The process of obtaining the third channel matrix can be referred to the description of the foregoing related embodiments, and the process of obtaining the second channel measurement result can be referred to the process of obtaining the first channel measurement result, which will not be repeated in this application. The second functional entity can demodulate the second data signal after the second equalization operation based on the second channel measurement result to obtain the second data. This process is similar to the process of obtaining the first data, and will not be repeated in this application.
[0248] In this application embodiment, the second functional entity can perform a second equalization operation on the signal stream corresponding to the second identifier, thereby improving the accuracy of the demodulated data of the second signal stream.
[0249] This application embodiment uses different identifiers to indicate the corresponding operations performed on the signal streams. For example, the signal stream corresponding to the first identifier performs channel measurement operations, and the signal stream corresponding to the second identifier performs equalization operations. This enables dynamic and flexible adjustment of the processing methods for different signal streams, thereby better processing of uplink signals and improving communication performance.
[0250] In the communication method provided in this application embodiment, considering that some of the second signal streams may have UL CoMP requirements, the second functional entity can communicate with one or more first functional entities. Therefore, the second functional entity receiving fourth information may further include: the second functional entity receiving fourth information from L first functional entities. For example, L is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.
[0251] In some embodiments, it is assumed that there are L first functional entities and 1 second functional entity. The second functional entity can receive fourth information from the L first functional entities. This fourth information may include second information or third information. For the second information included in the L fourth information, the second functional entity can directly demodulate it based on the first channel measurement, referring to the manner described in the foregoing embodiments.
[0252] For each of the L pieces of fourth information that includes third information, the second functional entity can perform joint processing based on this third information. The following explanation will take the example where each of the L pieces of fourth information includes third information.
[0253] For example, the second functional entity can concatenate L second pilot signals that have undergone the first equalization operation and perform channel estimation to obtain the fourth channel matrix information. For example, the equivalent matrix indicated by the fourth channel matrix information can be denoted as... It should be noted that in this embodiment, "W" 1,L H L "W" in the aforementioned embodiments 1,n H n The difference lies in the fact that in "W" 1,L H L The subscript L in “” indicates different first functional entities, while in “W” 1,n H n The subscript 'n' in the string indicates the signal flow of different terminals within the same functional entity scenario. The second functional entity can be based on this H. 联合 Determine the third equilibrium weights corresponding to the second equilibrium operation, for example, based on H. 联合 Determine the interference noise covariance matrix Q 联合 =(y 拼接 -H 联合 x' 目标 )(y 拼接 -H 联合 x' 目标 ) T ∈C KL×KL Where, x' 目标 This can be understood as x corresponding to L first functional entities respectively. 目标 The superimposed signal. y 拼接 This can represent the signal obtained by splicing L second data signals that have undergone the first equalization operation. 拼接 This can also be understood as the signal obtained by splicing together the L signals received by the second functional entity. Of course, specifically Q... 联合 The method for determining this can be referred to the description in the foregoing related embodiments, and will not be repeated in the embodiments of this application. And according to Q... 联合 The third equilibrium weight can be denoted as W. 联合 =H 联合 H (H 联合 H 联合 H +Q 联合 ) -1 ∈C K×KL The second functional entity can adopt this W. 联合Processing y 拼接 , obtain W 联合 *y 拼接 ∈C K×1 The W 联合 *y 拼接 This can be considered as the second data signal of the K-stream after undergoing a second equalization operation. In some examples, Where, x 目标，l Z represents the signal sent by the l-th terminal to the first functional entity, where l is a positive integer from 1 to L. l This represents the noise during the communication process between the l-th terminal and the first functional entity.
[0254] In some examples, assume there are L first functional entities and 1 second functional entity. There may be a second signal stream with UL CoMP requirements, processed by U of the L first functional entities. In the above example, during the joint processing of the third information by the second functional entity, L can be replaced with U, as will not be elaborated further in this application. For example, U can be a positive integer less than L and greater than 1.
[0255] The second functional entity in this application embodiment can also perform joint operations on multiple third information, enabling more accurate uplink signal processing for signal streams that meet UL CoMP requirements, thereby improving uplink processing capability and efficiency.
[0256] The second functional entity in this application embodiment can also receive fourth information sent by multiple first functional entities, so as to perform uplink joint processing based on multiple fourth information and improve the performance of uplink communication.
[0257] The above solution will now be described in conjunction with more specific embodiments.
[0258] Referring to Figure 16, which illustrates another uplink communication processing procedure, and taking RU as the first functional entity and DU as the second functional entity as an example, the architecture of RU and DU dynamically performing the first and second equalization operations according to identifiers is given. RU can use the equalization weights obtained according to the WMMSE principle to perform interference suppression and combining processing on the received uplink signal, which can also be called pre-equalization, first equalization, first-level equalization, etc., to obtain the K-stream signal. This K-stream signal can be considered as a generalized beam signal. DU can schedule the identifiers corresponding to different signal streams according to TTI to dynamically perform the second equalization operation as needed, also called post-equalization, second equalization, second-level equalization, etc.
[0259] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application.
[0260] This communication process is applicable to, but not limited to, the communication scenarios shown in Figures 1, 10, and 11, as well as the architecture shown in Figure 16. This method can be applied to LTE, LTE FDD systems, LTE TDD, 5G systems, or NR systems, future communication systems (such as future communication systems), V2X (where V2X can include V2N, V2V, V2I, V2P, etc.), LTE-V, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), MTC, IoT, long-term evolution-machine, LTE-M, M2M, D2D, and other wireless communication scenarios. In this embodiment, the first functional entity is RU and the second functional entity is DU. In other examples, the first functional entity can also be O-RU, DU, or O-DU, and the second functional entity can also be O-DU, CU, or O-CU, etc. This embodiment does not limit the specific functional entity. Compared to the method shown in Figure 12, Figure 17 shows a more detailed execution process, which may include the following steps:
[0261] S201, DU sends the first message to RU. Correspondingly, RU receives the first message from DU.
[0262] In some examples, the DU determines a first identifier and / or a second identifier based on the time-frequency resources and user information scheduled by the UL. The user information can be terminal-related information, service flow-related information, etc., which are not limited in this embodiment. The DU then notifies the RU of this first information. The first identifier can be used to distinguish a first signal flow that requires a first type of operation, and the second identifier can be used to distinguish a second signal flow that requires a second type of operation. This allows the DU or RU to perform either the first type of operation or the second type of operation on the signal flows corresponding to different identifiers.
[0263] The aforementioned first identifier and / or second identifier can be collectively referred to as identifiers. For example, an identifier can be any of the following:
[0264] Option 1: Frequency domain resource identifier of type 1 and / or frequency domain resource identifier of type 2. See Figure 13 for reference.
[0265] Option 2: UE identifier of type 1 and / or UE identifier of type 2. See Figure 14 for reference.
[0266] Option 3: Frequency domain resource identifier and UE identifier of type 1; and / or, frequency domain resource identifier and UE identifier of type 2. See Figure 15 for reference.
[0267] Option 4: Frequency domain resource identifier, UE identifier, and strat identifier of type 1; and / or, frequency domain resource identifier, UE identifier, and strat identifier of type 2.
[0268] For example, the granularity of the aforementioned frequency domain resources can be RE, REG, RB, or RBG granularity, and this application embodiment does not limit this.
[0269] In some examples, the first message can be sent at every transmission time interval or every time slot. It can also be sent periodically at other fixed time intervals; or, the first message can be sent with a semi-static configuration, that is, the configuration remains unchanged each time it is sent until the next transmission; or, the first message can be a one-time static configuration, that is, the configuration is sent only once and remains unchanged.
[0270] It is understood that S201 is similar to S101, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.
[0271] The processing procedures for the first signal stream and the processing procedures for the second signal stream will be described separately below.
[0272] For the first signal stream:
[0273] S202, RU performs a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier to obtain the second information.
[0274] Understandably, for the first data signal, the RU still performs channel estimation and equalization operations to obtain the first data signal after the first equalization operation.
[0275] For the first pilot signal, the RU does not perform the first equalization operation on it. The RU also does not send the first pilot signal to the DU. Naturally, since the first equalization operation is not performed on the first pilot signal, there will be no first pilot signal that has undergone the first equalization operation, and the RU will not send the first pilot signal that has undergone the first equalization operation.
[0276] In some examples, the RU performs channel measurements based on the first pilot signal to obtain a first channel measurement result. For example, the first channel measurement result may include the SINR corresponding to each signal stream. This first channel measurement result can be used in the likelihood decision operation during the deconstellation modulation process, so that the subsequent DU can directly use the first channel measurement result to perform deconstellation modulation on the received first data signal after the first equalization operation.
[0277] Optionally, the RU can use both pre-pilot and post-pilot signals to perform channel estimation to improve the accuracy of channel estimation.
[0278] It is understood that S202 is similar to S102, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.
[0279] S203, RU sends the second information to DU. Correspondingly, DU receives the second information from RU.
[0280] For example, the second information may include the first data signal after the first equalization operation and the first channel measurement result. Optionally, the second information may also include a first identifier. The first data signal after the first equalization operation, the first identifier, and the first channel measurement result may be carried in the same information, or in different information, or partially carried in the same information; this application embodiment does not limit this.
[0281] For example, the first channel measurement result can be associated with the first identifier.
[0282] It is understood that S203 is similar to S103, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.
[0283] S204, DU demodulates the first data signal after the first equalization operation based on the first channel measurement result to obtain the first data.
[0284] For example, DU can directly use the first channel measurement results to perform deconstellation modulation on the first data signal after the first equalization operation based on the first identifier to obtain the corresponding data.
[0285] For the second signal stream:
[0286] S205, RU performs a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier to obtain the third information.
[0287] Understandably, for the second data signal, the RU still performs channel estimation and equalization operations to obtain the second data signal after the first equalization operation.
[0288] For the second pilot signal, a first equalization operation can be performed on it. The process of performing the first equalization operation on the second pilot signal is the same as the process of performing the first equalization operation on the second data signal. In this scenario, the RU may not perform channel measurement on the second pilot signal, therefore the RU will not subsequently send the corresponding channel measurement results to the DU.
[0289] Optionally, the RU can perform channel estimation using a pre-pilot signal instead of a post-pilot signal. This avoids the RU collecting all the post-pilot signals before performing channel estimation, which would result in excessively long processing times. Furthermore, it ensures that the DU can acquire the second pilot signal transmitted by the RU after the first equalization operation as quickly as possible.
[0290] In some cases, if the first information includes both a first identifier indicating a first signal stream and a second identifier indicating a second signal stream, the RU can perform joint detection processing on the first and second signal streams to improve the channel estimation accuracy and interference suppression effect of the second signal stream.
[0291] For example, RU can first process the received data signal y 数据 Perform the first equalization operation to obtain the channel estimation information H corresponding to the first signal stream. 第一导频 After the first data of x undergoes the first equalization, RU can use the first signal stream as an interference signal, such as reconstructing the interference signal H. 第一导频 x is the first data after the first equalization. This first data after the first equalization can be considered as the first data y after the first equalization obtained by the RU performing the first equalization operation on the data signal in the aforementioned embodiment. The RU can remove the interference signal from the received signal to obtain the interference-free data signal y. 数据 -H 第一导频 x is the first data signal after the first equalization. RU can perform the first equalization operation again on this interference-free data signal to obtain the second data signal after the first equalization operation. This increases the accuracy of the second signal stream equalization processing and obtains joint detection gain.
[0292] It is understood that S205 is similar to S102, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.
[0293] S206, RU sends third information to DU. Correspondingly, DU receives the third information from RU.
[0294] For example, the third information may include the second data signal after the first equalization operation and the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. Optionally, the third information may also include a second identifier. The first data signal after the first equalization operation, the second identifier, and the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation may be carried in the same information, or in different information, or partially carried in the same information. This application embodiment does not limit this.
[0295] For example, the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation can be associated with the second identifier.
[0296] It is understood that S206 is similar to S103, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.
[0297] S207, DU determines the second equalization weight corresponding to the second equalization operation based on the third channel matrix information.
[0298] S208, DU determines the second data signal after the second equalization operation based on the second equalization weight and the second data signal after the first equalization operation.
[0299] S209, DU demodulates the second data signal after the second equalization operation based on the second channel measurement results to obtain the second data.
[0300] For example, the DU can perform channel estimation on the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation, and perform a second equalization operation on the second data signal after the first equalization operation, based on the second identifier, to obtain a second data signal after the second equalization operation. During this process, the DU can determine a second channel measurement result based on the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation. The DU can then use this second channel measurement result to perform deconstellation modulation on the second data signal after the second equalization operation.
[0301] In some examples, during the second equalization operation of DU, advanced receiving algorithms based on SIC or iterative receiving algorithms based on AI can be used. For details, please refer to the description of the relevant embodiments above. The embodiments in this application will not be repeated here.
[0302] It is understood that the execution of S201 to S204, or S205 to S209, can be determined based on the type of signal flow present. Of course, if both the first and second signal flows are present, then S201 to S204 and S205 to S209 can be executed simultaneously, and this embodiment of the application does not impose any limitations.
[0303] This application embodiment provides the process of dynamically executing the second equalization operation under the architecture shown in Figure 16. At a finer granular time-frequency-space resource dimension, the UL beamforming or IRC processing methods corresponding to the first and second equalization operations can be flexibly and dynamically used, which can finely balance the UL receiving performance and DU load / processing complexity.
[0304] Referring to Figure 18, another uplink communication processing diagram is shown, similar to Figure 16, except that multiple RUs are present. That is, this communication architecture includes one DU and L RUs. This scenario considers a cooperative communication architecture where multiple cooperating RUs and one DU dynamically perform a first equalization operation and a joint second equalization operation according to an identifier. For example, multiple CoMP receiving RUs dynamically perform the first equalization operation according to the first information sent by the DU (IRC processing of different streams according to the WMMSE principle). The DU dynamically performs a joint second equalization operation on the signals output by multiple cooperating RUs to enhance uplink reception performance.
[0305] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided by an embodiment of this application.
[0306] This communication process is applicable to, but not limited to, the communication scenarios shown in Figures 1, 10, and 11, as well as the architecture shown in Figure 18. This method can be applied to LTE, LTE FDD systems, LTE TDD, 5G systems, or NR systems, future communication systems (such as future communication systems), V2X (where V2X can include V2N, V2V, V2I, V2P, etc.), LTE-V, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), MTC, IoT, long-term evolution-machine, LTE-M, M2M, D2D, and other wireless communication scenarios. In this embodiment, the first functional entity is RU and the second functional entity is DU. In other examples, the first functional entity can also be O-RU, DU, or O-DU, and the second functional entity can also be O-DU, CU, or O-CU, etc. This embodiment does not limit the specific functional entity. Compared to the method shown in Figure 12, Figure 19 shows a more detailed execution process, which may include the following steps:
[0307] S301, the DU sends the first information to L RUs. Correspondingly, each of the L RUs receives the first information from the DU.
[0308] For example, the second identifier can remain the same; the first identifier can be unrestricted, for example, depending on the actual UL scheduling situation of each RU in this cell.
[0309] It is understood that S203 is similar to S101 and S201, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.
[0310] The processing procedures for the first signal stream and the processing procedures for the second signal stream will be described separately below.
[0311] For the first signal stream:
[0312] S302, each of the L RUs performs a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier to obtain the second information.
[0313] S303, each of the L RUs sends the second information to the DU. Correspondingly, the DU receives the second information from the L RUs.
[0314] It is understood that S302-S303 are similar to S202-S203, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.
[0315] S304, DU demodulates the first data signal after the first equalization operation based on the first channel measurement result to obtain the first data.
[0316] For example, regarding the second information, DU can directly use the first channel measurement results to perform deconstellation modulation on the first data signal after the first equalization operation based on the first identifier to obtain the corresponding data.
[0317] It is understood that S304 is similar to S204, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.
[0318] For the second signal stream:
[0319] S305, each of the L RUs performs a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier to obtain the third information.
[0320] S306, each of the L RUs sends third information to the DU. Correspondingly, the DU receives the third information from the L RUs.
[0321] It is understood that S305-S306 are similar to S205-S206, and will not be described again in the embodiments of this application.
[0322] S307, DU determines the third equalization weight corresponding to the second equalization operation based on the fourth channel matrix information.
[0323] S308, DU uses the third equalization weight to process L second data signals that have undergone the first equalization operation, and obtains multiple second data signals that have undergone the second equalization operation.
[0324] S309, DU demodulates the second data signal of the multi-stream after the second equalization operation based on the third channel measurement results to obtain the third data.
[0325] For example, the DU can use the third information sent by L RUs, which corresponds to the second identifier. Then, the DU can perform joint channel estimation and joint equalization on the second data signals output by multiple RUs after the first equalization operation. Alternatively, the DU can concatenate the received L second data signals after the first equalization operation and perform joint channel estimation and joint equalization on the concatenated signal.
[0326] It is understood that the implementation process of S307-S309 can refer to the relevant embodiments of the aforementioned second functional entity jointly processing signals sent by multiple first functional entities, and will not be repeated in the embodiments of this application.
[0327] In this embodiment, the RU can dynamically perform a first equalization operation based on the first information sent by the DU, and the DU can dynamically perform a joint second equalization operation. By flexibly and dynamically using the first equalization operation and the joint second equalization operation at a finer-grained time, frequency, and space resource dimension, the high UL reception performance brought by the multi-RU collaborative service terminal and the larger uplink forward transmission traffic brought by the multi-RU collaborative service terminal can be finely balanced.
[0328] In the communication method provided in this application embodiment, for the scheme described in Figures 12 to 19 above, the first functional entity (such as RU) can perform uplink processing on the first signal stream and the second signal stream respectively according to time windows of different lengths. Taking the identifier as a frequency domain resource identifier as an example, assume that the first identifier indicates the first signal stream corresponding to frequency domain resource 1, and the second identifier indicates the second signal stream corresponding to frequency domain resource 2. Taking the first functional entity as RU and the second functional entity as DU as an example, referring to Figure 20, for example, RU receives a signal stream in time slot f, and this signal stream may include the first signal stream and the second signal stream.
[0329] For the first signal stream corresponding to the first identifier, the RU is scheduled to perform DMRS channel estimation, equalization, and other operations. The RU can process the first signal stream according to time windows at the time slot level. For example, if the RU receives all signals on 14 symbols within a time window of one time slot length, the RU will obtain all data signals on frequency domain resource 1 after equalization (for example, it may include data from different terminals or different layers of different terminals). The RU will then transmit all the data signals on frequency domain resource 1 to the DU.
[0330] In this scenario, it's understandable that the RU waits for a time window of one time slot length, primarily to receive all the pre-pilot and post-pilot signals. This allows the RU to use all the pilot signals to perform channel estimation and, based on the channel estimation result, perform equalization on all data signals. This improves the accuracy of the RU's channel estimation and equalization.
[0331] For the second signal stream corresponding to the second identifier, the DU is also scheduled to perform DMRS channel estimation, equalization, and other operations. The RU can then process the second signal stream according to symbol-level time windows. For example, the RU can process the signal on each symbol and send the equalized signal to the DU. For the DU, signal processing is still performed according to time slot-level time windows. For instance, if the DU receives equalized signals from 14 symbols within the same time slot, it will then perform channel estimation, equalization, and other operations on subsequent DUs together.
[0332] Understandably, once the RU receives the pre-pilot signal, it can begin performing channel estimation using that pre-pilot signal and then pre-equalizing each received data signal based on the channel estimation result. This speeds up the channel estimation and equalization processing on the RU side. Meanwhile, the DU waits to receive all the RU-equalized pre-pilot and post-pilot signals, then uses all the RU-equalized pilot signals to perform channel estimation and equalizes all data signals based on the channel estimation result. This improves the accuracy of the DU's channel estimation and equalization.
[0333] In this embodiment, the RU can process the signal streams corresponding to different identifiers according to time windows of different lengths. This enables the pooling of computing resources for each functional entity and achieves dynamic load balancing.
[0334] In the embodiments described in Figures 12 to 20, the information exchanged between the DU and RU can also be carried in separate control plane signaling (such as RAN control plane messages) or separate management plane signaling (such as RAN management plane messages).
[0335] The UL communication function partitioning architecture applied in the embodiments of this application can also be extended to a scenario where equalization (including DMRS channel estimation) is performed on one of the first and second functional entities, and different signal flows are indicated by the identifier to perform equalization (including DMRS channel estimation) on the first or second functional entity.
[0336] In this embodiment, the first functional entity and the second functional entity can periodically send the latest or historical channel estimation information to each other. Alternatively, the first functional entity can periodically send channel measurement results to the second functional entity. For example, the aforementioned channel estimation information or channel measurement results can be sent at the frequency domain resource granularity (RE level), UE, or UE layer granularity. The first and second functional entities can also update the channel estimation information or channel measurement results stored and maintained locally. During the equalization process (or the de-constellation modulation process) performed by the first and second functional entities, the first and second functional entities (or the second functional entity) can combine the current DMRS channel estimation information and the locally updated historical channel estimation information to improve the accuracy of UL reception processing. It is understood that the channel estimation information can also be called channel estimation state parameters, and the channel measurement results can also be called channel measurement state parameters.
[0337] Within each cycle (which can be TTI level, slot level, or a longer cycle), the RU can send to the DU one or more of the following: the latest channel estimation information corresponding to the first identifier, the historical channel estimation information corresponding to the first identifier, the latest channel measurement result corresponding to the first identifier, the historical channel measurement result corresponding to the first identifier, the latest channel estimation information corresponding to the second identifier, the historical channel estimation information corresponding to the second identifier, the latest channel measurement result corresponding to the second identifier, and the historical channel measurement result corresponding to the second identifier. For example, the RU sends one or more of the above information in or after step 103. Referring to Figure 21, for example, in or after the aforementioned S103, the RU can send one or more of the above information to the DU. Accordingly, the DU can update and maintain the one or more received information. It is understood that some communication protocol functional modules are omitted in Figure 21, but this does not mean that other communication protocol functional modules are not included. The specific communication protocol functional modules that may be included can be referred to the aforementioned related embodiments, and will not be repeated in the embodiments of this application.
[0338] Similarly, when the DU also performs equalization, it can send one or more of the following to the RU: the latest channel estimation information corresponding to the first identifier, the historical channel estimation information corresponding to the first identifier, the latest channel estimation information corresponding to the second identifier, and the historical channel estimation information corresponding to the second identifier. Considering that the RU does not need to demodulate the data signal, the DU does not need to send channel measurement results to the RU. Accordingly, the RU can update and maintain one or more of the aforementioned received information.
[0339] In some embodiments, the embodiments of this application can also be applied to flexible UL reception processing in multi-carrier scenarios and spectrum sharing scenarios. For example, different frequency domain resources indicated by the identifier can be replaced with different frequency band resources in multi-carrier scenarios or 5G frequency band resources and future communication system frequency band resources in multi-standard spectrum sharing scenarios (or dynamic frequency domain sharing scenarios), so that the DU and RU perform specific equalization function processing on the signal streams on the carrier / frequency band resources corresponding to the different identifiers received.
[0340] It is understood that each of the above embodiments of this application can be implemented independently or in combination with each other; there is no absolute subordinate relationship between the embodiments, and they can be combined with each other under any conditions to obtain the corresponding effect.
[0341] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the network device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.
[0342] Figures 22 and 23 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the first or second functional entity in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device can be the RAN node 110 shown in Figure 1, wherein the RAN node can also be called an access network device or a network device. The communication device can also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the network device.
[0343] In this embodiment of the application, the device for implementing the function of the network device can be the network device itself, or it can be a device that enables the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device.
[0344] In this embodiment of the application, the chip system may be composed of chips, or it may include chips and other discrete devices.
[0345] As shown in Figure 22, the communication device 2200 includes a processing unit 2210 and a transceiver unit 2220. The communication device 2200 is used to implement the functions of the first functional entity (such as RU) and the second functional entity (such as DU) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 12, 17, and 19.
[0346] When the communication device 2200 is used to implement the function of the first functional entity in the method embodiment shown in FIG12: the transceiver unit 2220 is used to receive first information. The processing unit 2210 is used to perform a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier to obtain second information; and / or, perform a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier to obtain third information. The transceiver unit 2220 is also used to send fourth information.
[0347] When the communication device 2200 is used to implement the functions of the second functional entity in the method embodiment shown in FIG12: the transceiver unit 2220 is used to send first information. The transceiver unit 2220 is also used to receive fourth information. The processing unit 2210 is used to perform any processing function in the second functional entity other than sending and receiving.
[0348] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 2210 and the transceiver unit 2220, please refer to the relevant description of the method embodiments shown in Figures 12, 17 and 19.
[0349] As shown in Figure 23, the communication device 2300 includes a processor 2310 and an interface circuit 2320. The processor 2310 and the interface circuit 2320 are coupled together. It is understood that the interface circuit 2320 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 2300 may also include a memory 2330 for storing instructions executed by the processor 2310, or storing input data required by the processor 2310 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 2310 executes instructions. Sometimes, the interface circuit 2320 can also be understood as part of the processor 2310, in which case the communication device 2300 includes the processor 2310.
[0350] When the communication device 2300 is used to implement the methods shown in FIG12, FIG17 and FIG19, the processor 2310 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 2210, and the interface circuit 2320 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 2220.
[0351] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to an access network device, the access network device chip implements the functions of the access network device in the above method embodiments. The access network device chip receives information from a terminal or core network device, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the access network device, and then sent to the access network device chip by these modules. The access network device chip sends information to a terminal or core network device, which can be understood as the information being sent down to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the terminal or core network device, and then sent back to the terminal or core network device by these modules.
[0352] In this application, entity A sends information to entity B, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Similarly, entity B receives information from entity A, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Entities A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules within RAN nodes or terminals. Information transmission and reception can be between RAN nodes and terminals, such as between a base station and a terminal; between two RAN nodes, such as between a CU and a DU; or between different modules within a single device, such as between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or between a base station chip and other modules of the base station.
[0353] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or one or more of other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), microprocessor units (MPUs), microcontroller units (MCUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), artificial intelligence processors (AI processors), or neural processing units (NPUs); or, the processor mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components (or parts), or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.
[0354] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in memory, such as volatile memory and / or non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). The volatile memory can be a cache or random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM includes a variety of forms, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). The memory can also be in registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, compact disc (CD) ROMs, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art.
[0355] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in a base station or terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a base station or terminal.
[0356] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.
[0357] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.
[0358] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects; in the formulas of this application, the character " / " indicates a "division" relationship between the preceding and following related objects. "Including at least one of A, B, and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.
[0359] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.
[0360] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.
[0361] The terms "first" and "second," etc., used in the specification and drawings of the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish different objects or to distinguish different processing of the same object. The terms "first" and "second," etc., can distinguish identical or similar items with substantially the same function and effect. For example, "first device" and "second device" are merely to distinguish different devices and do not limit their order. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first" and "second," etc., do not limit the quantity or execution order, and that "first" and "second," etc., do not necessarily imply that they are different.
[0362] Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, used in the description of the embodiments of this application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the steps or units listed, but may optionally include other steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or devices.
[0363] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner to facilitate understanding.
[0364] It is understood that the term "embodiment" used throughout the specification means that a specific feature, structure, or characteristic related to an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the embodiments of this application. Therefore, the various embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these specific features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It is understood that in the various embodiments of the embodiments of this application, the sequence number of each process does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.
[0365] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, "...when" and "if" both refer to the corresponding processing that will be carried out under certain objective circumstances, and are not limited to a time, nor do they require a judgment action during implementation, nor do they imply any other limitations.
[0366] It is understood that some optional features in the embodiments of this application can be implemented independently in certain scenarios without relying on other features, such as the current solution on which they are based, to solve the corresponding technical problems and achieve the corresponding effects. Alternatively, they can be combined with other features as needed in certain scenarios. Correspondingly, the apparatus given in the embodiments of this application can also implement these features or functions, which will not be elaborated here.
[0367] In the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other. In the various embodiments of this application, and in the various implementation methods / methods / implementations within each embodiment, unless otherwise specified or logically conflicting, the terminology and / or descriptions between different embodiments and between the various implementation methods / methods / implementations within each embodiment are consistent and can be mutually referenced. The technical features in different embodiments and the various implementation methods / methods / implementations within each embodiment can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation methods, methods, or implementation approaches based on their inherent logical relationships. The following descriptions of the embodiments of this application do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application.
Claims
1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive first information, the first information being used to indicate a first identifier corresponding to a first signal stream and / or a second identifier corresponding to a second signal stream, wherein the first signal stream includes a first pilot signal and the second signal stream includes a second pilot signal; Perform a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier to obtain second information, wherein the first type of operation includes channel measurement operation; and / or, A second type of operation is performed on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier to obtain third information, wherein the second type of operation includes a first equalization operation; Send a fourth message, which includes the second message and / or the third message.
2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first identifier is used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity; and / or, the second identifier is used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity and a second balancing operation is performed in the second functional entity.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The second signal stream has at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirements, multi-point collaborative processing requirements, and serial interference cancellation processing requirements.
4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The first identifier and / or the second identifier includes at least one of the following identifiers: Identifiers used to indicate frequency domain resources; An identifier used to indicate the terminal to which the signal stream belongs; or, An identifier used to indicate the layer to which a signal stream belongs.
5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The second information includes the first identifier; and / or, the third information includes the second identifier.
6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The first signal stream includes a first data signal, and the second information includes the first data signal after a first equalization operation; and / or, The second signal stream includes a second data signal, and the third information includes the second data signal after a first equalization operation.
7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The second information includes the first channel measurement result; the step of performing a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier includes: The first channel measurement result is determined based on the first channel matrix information, wherein the first channel matrix information is obtained by performing channel estimation using the first pilot signal.
8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first channel measurement result includes at least one of the following information: Signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR); Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR); Reference signal received power RSRP; or, Reference signal reception quality (RSRQ).
9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The third information includes a second pilot signal that has undergone the first equalization operation; The second type of operation performed on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier includes: The first equalization weight is determined based on the second channel matrix information, wherein the second channel matrix information is obtained by performing channel estimation using the second pilot signal corresponding to the second identifier; The second pilot signal is processed using the first equalization weight to obtain the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation.
10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal include: a pre-pilot signal; or, The first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal include: the pre-pilot signal and the additional pilot signal.
11. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Send first information, the first information being used to indicate a first identifier corresponding to a first signal stream and / or a second identifier corresponding to a second signal stream, wherein the first signal stream includes a first pilot signal and the second signal stream includes a second pilot signal; Receive fourth information, wherein the fourth information includes second information and / or third information, the second information is obtained by performing a first type of operation on the first pilot signal according to the first identifier, the first type of operation including a channel measurement operation, and the third information is obtained by performing a second type of operation on the second pilot signal according to the second identifier, the second type of operation including a first equalization operation.
12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The first identifier is used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity; and / or, the second identifier is used to indicate that a first balancing operation is performed in the first functional entity and a second balancing operation is performed in the second functional entity.
13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that, The second signal stream has at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirements, multi-point collaborative processing requirements, and serial interference cancellation processing requirements.
14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second identifier is used to identify service flows that have at least one of the following requirements: AI receiver requirement, multi-point cooperative processing requirement, and serial interference cancellation processing requirement.
15. The method according to any one of claims 11-14, characterized in that, The first identifier and / or the second identifier includes at least one of the following identifiers: Identifiers used to indicate frequency domain resources; An identifier used to indicate the terminal to which the signal stream belongs; or, An identifier used to indicate the layer to which a signal stream belongs.
16. The method according to any one of claims 11-15, characterized in that, The second information includes the first identifier; and / or, the third information includes the second identifier.
17. The method according to any one of claims 11-16, characterized in that, The first signal stream includes a first data signal, and the second information includes the first data signal after a first equalization operation; and / or, The second signal stream includes a second data signal, and the third information includes the second data signal after a first equalization operation.
18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The second information includes the first channel measurement result; the method further includes: The first data is obtained by demodulating the first data signal after the first equalization operation based on the first channel measurement result.
19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The first channel measurement result includes at least one of the following information: Signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR); Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR); Reference signal received power RSRP; or, Reference signal reception quality (RSRQ).
20. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The third information includes a second pilot signal that has undergone a first equalization operation; the method further includes: The second equalization weights corresponding to the second equalization operation are determined based on the third channel matrix information, wherein the third channel matrix information is obtained by performing channel estimation on the second pilot signal after the first equalization operation; The second data signal after the second equalization operation is determined based on the second equalization weight and the second data signal after the first equalization operation.
21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second channel measurement result is determined based on the third channel matrix information; The second data is obtained by demodulating the second data signal after the second equalization operation based on the second channel measurement result.
22. The method according to any one of claims 11-21, characterized in that, The first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal include: a pre-pilot signal; or, The first pilot signal and / or the second pilot signal include: the pre-pilot signal and the additional pilot signal.
23. The method according to any one of claims 11-22, characterized in that, The receipt of the fourth information includes: Receive the fourth information from L first functional entities, where L is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.
24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that, The second signal stream includes a second data signal, and the third information includes the second data signal after a first equalization operation and a second pilot signal after a first equalization operation; the method further includes: The third equalization weight corresponding to the second equalization operation is determined based on the fourth channel matrix information, wherein the fourth channel matrix information is obtained by performing channel estimation on L second pilot signals that have undergone the first equalization operation; The L second data signals that have undergone the first equalization operation are processed using the third equalization weight to obtain the second data signals that have undergone the second equalization operation.
25. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-24.
26. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-24 through logic circuits, executable code and / or executable instructions.
27. The communication device according to claim 26, characterized in that, The communication device further includes a memory for storing the code and / or the instructions.
28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-24.
29. A computer program product comprising a computer program or instructions, characterized in that, When the computer program or instructions are executed by the communication device, they implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-24.