Control channel transmission method and apparatus, network device, terminal device, and medium

Abstract

The present application relates to a control channel transmission method and apparatus, a network device, a terminal device, and a medium. The method comprises: separately sending a physical downlink control channel to a terminal device by means of spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups, wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters, and each symbol group comprises one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols. In the present application, a physical downlink control channel may be separately sent by means of spatial filters corresponding to different symbol groups, thereby realizing repeated transmission of the physical downlink control channel, expanding the coverage of the physical downlink control channel on the edge of a cell, compensating for a missing physical downlink control channel, and improving the coverage rate of control information of the physical downlink control channel.

Description

Transmission methods, devices, network equipment, terminal equipment, and media for control channels Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method, apparatus, network device, terminal device, computer-readable storage medium, and chip for transmitting control channels. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of wireless communication technology, 5G New Radio (NR) technology and Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology have emerged. The LTE system can allocate a control area spanning several Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols and several frequency subcarriers for transmitting the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0003] In traditional technologies, a PDCCH is carried by one or more Control Candidate Elements (CCEs), and each CCE includes multiple Resource Element Groups (REGs). REGs of different PDCCHs can be interleaved and extended across the entire control region to achieve time and frequency gains.

[0004] However, traditional PDCCH transmissions have low coverage of control information. Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to various embodiments of this application, a method, apparatus, network device, terminal device, and medium for transmitting control channel information can improve the coverage of PDCCH transmission control information.

[0006] The first aspect of this application provides a method for transmitting control channels, the method being a network device, the method comprising:

[0007] Physical downlink control channels are transmitted to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0008] A second aspect of this application provides a method for transmitting control channels, the method being applied to a terminal device, the method comprising:

[0009] The receiving network device transmits physical downlink control channels through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0010] A third aspect of this application provides a transmission apparatus for a control channel, the apparatus being applied to a network device, the apparatus comprising:

[0011] The transmitting module is used to transmit physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups respectively; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0012] A fourth aspect of this application provides a transmission apparatus for a control channel, the apparatus being applied to a terminal device, the apparatus comprising:

[0013] The receiving module is used to receive physical downlink control channels transmitted by network devices through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0014] A fifth aspect of this application provides a network device, including a processor, a transmitter, and a memory;

[0015] The memory is used to store computer programs;

[0016] The processor executes the computer program to control the transmitter;

[0017] The transmitter is configured to transmit physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0018] The sixth aspect of this application provides a terminal device, including a processor, a receiver, and a memory;

[0019] The memory is used to store computer programs;

[0020] The processor executes the computer program to control the receiver;

[0021] The receiver is configured to receive physical downlink control channels transmitted by network devices through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0022] A seventh aspect of this application provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the control channel transmission method described above.

[0023] The eighth aspect of this application provides a chip including programmable logic circuitry and / or program instructions, which, when running, can execute the steps of the control channel transmission method described above in the embodiments of this application.

[0024] Details of one or more embodiments of this application are set forth in the following drawings and description. Other features, objects, and advantages of this application will become apparent from the specification, drawings, and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0025] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the conventional technology, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the conventional technology will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the disclosed drawings without creative effort.

[0026] Figure 1 is an application environment diagram of the control channel transmission method in one embodiment;

[0027] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the transmission method of the control channel in one embodiment;

[0028] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the principle of an OFDM symbol group interleaving mapping method in one embodiment;

[0029] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the principle of an OFDM symbol group interleaving mapping method in another embodiment;

[0030] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of a method for continuous mapping within an OFDM symbol group in one embodiment;

[0031] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the principle of a method for continuous mapping within an OFDM symbol group in another embodiment;

[0032] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for transmitting a control channel in one embodiment;

[0033] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction between a network device and a terminal device in one embodiment;

[0034] Figure 9 is a structural block diagram of a control channel transmission device in one embodiment;

[0035] Figure 10 is a structural block diagram of a control channel receiving device in one embodiment;

[0036] Figure 11 is an internal structure diagram of a network device in one embodiment;

[0037] Figure 12 is an internal structure diagram of a terminal device in one embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0038] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0039] The first aspect of this application provides a method for transmitting control channels, the method being a network device, the method comprising:

[0040] Physical downlink control channels are transmitted to terminal devices through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0041] In some embodiments, the at least two symbol groups include a first symbol group and a second symbol group, wherein the first symbol group corresponds to a first spatial filter, the second symbol group corresponds to a second spatial filter, and the first spatial filter is different from the second spatial filter.

[0042] In some embodiments, transmitting the physical downlink control channel to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups includes:

[0043] The same physical downlink control channel is sent to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups.

[0044] In some embodiments, each symbol group includes a first number of control candidate units, which are used to aggregate into physical downlink control channel candidates, wherein the first number is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0045] Each of the control candidate units consists of at least two discrete resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group; or,

[0046] Each of the control candidate units consists of at least two consecutive resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group.

[0047] In some embodiments, at least two associated control candidate units in the symbol group are used to aggregate into a physical downlink control channel candidate; each physical downlink control channel candidate is used to transmit the physical downlink control channel.

[0048] In some embodiments, the control candidate units are associated through an index, or the control candidate units are associated through a preset rule.

[0049] In some embodiments, at least two of the associated control candidate units belong to the same search space.

[0050] In some embodiments, the control candidate units with the same index belong to the same search space.

[0051] In some embodiments, the symbol group includes one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols.

[0052] In some embodiments, the time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol in the symbol group is related to the time-domain position of the terminal device's physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback.

[0053] In some embodiments, the symbol groups are in the same time slot, or the symbol groups are in different time slots.

[0054] In some embodiments, the number of symbol groups is related to the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space.

[0055] A second aspect of this application provides a method for transmitting control channels, the method being applied to a terminal device, the method comprising:

[0056] The receiving network device transmits physical downlink control channels through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0057] In some embodiments, the at least two symbol groups include a first symbol group and a second symbol group, wherein the first symbol group corresponds to a first spatial filter, the second symbol group corresponds to a second spatial filter, and the first spatial filter is different from the second spatial filter.

[0058] In some embodiments, the physical downlink control channels transmitted by the receiving network device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups include:

[0059] The receiving network device transmits the same physical downlink control channel through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups.

[0060] In some embodiments, each symbol group includes a first number of control candidate units, which are used to aggregate into physical downlink control channel candidates, wherein the first number is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0061] Each of the control candidate units consists of at least two discrete resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group; or,

[0062] Each of the control candidate units consists of at least two consecutive resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group.

[0063] In some embodiments, at least two associated control candidate units in the symbol group are used to aggregate into a physical downlink control channel candidate; each physical downlink control channel candidate is used to transmit the physical downlink control channel.

[0064] In some embodiments, the control candidate units are associated through an index, or the control candidate units are associated through a preset rule.

[0065] In some embodiments, at least two of the associated control candidate units belong to the same search space.

[0066] In some embodiments, the control candidate units with the same index belong to the same search space.

[0067] In some embodiments, the symbol group includes one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols.

[0068] In some embodiments, the time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol in the symbol group is related to the time-domain position of the terminal device's physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback.

[0069] In some embodiments, the symbol groups are in the same time slot, or the symbol groups are in different time slots.

[0070] In some embodiments, the number of symbol groups is related to the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space.

[0071] A third aspect of this application provides a transmission apparatus for a control channel, the apparatus being applied to a network device, the apparatus comprising:

[0072] The transmitting module is used to transmit physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups respectively; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0073] A fourth aspect of this application provides a transmission apparatus for a control channel, the apparatus being applied to a terminal device, the apparatus comprising:

[0074] The receiving module is used to receive physical downlink control channels transmitted by network devices through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0075] The fifth aspect of this application provides a network device, including a processor, a transmitter, and a memory;

[0076] The memory is used to store computer programs;

[0077] The processor executes the computer program to control the transmitter;

[0078] The transmitter is configured to transmit physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0079] The sixth aspect of this application provides a terminal device, including a processor, a receiver, and a memory;

[0080] The memory is used to store computer programs;

[0081] The processor executes the computer program to control the receiver;

[0082] The receiver is configured to receive physical downlink control channels transmitted by network devices through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0083] A seventh aspect of this application provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the control channel transmission method described above.

[0084] The eighth aspect of this application provides a chip including programmable logic circuitry and / or program instructions, which, when running, can execute the steps of the control channel transmission method described above in the embodiments of this application.

[0085] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a control channel transmission method provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the scenario includes: a first terminal 100, a second terminal 200, and a network device 300. The first terminal 100 and the second terminal 200 can transmit data via the network, and the first terminal 100 and the network device 300 can transmit data via the network.

[0086] Among them, network equipment 300 can be a base station (BTS) in Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a base station (NodeB, NB) in Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, a relay station or access point, or a base station in a 5G network, etc., and is not limited here.

[0087] The first terminal 100 and the second terminal 200 can be wireless terminals. A wireless terminal can be a device that provides voice and / or other service data connectivity to a user, or a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. The wireless terminal can communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (RAN). The wireless terminal can be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) or a computer with a mobile terminal, for example, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile device. They exchange voice and / or data with the radio access network. The wireless terminal can also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile, remote station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, user device, or user equipment, without limitation herein.

[0088] In traditional technologies, the control channel in 5G NR and other systems (such as LTE) uses a single-slot, multi-symbol transmission method. A PDCCH transmission can occur within a search space, which is mapped to a Control Resource Set (CORESET). The concept of CORESET defines the time-frequency resource set carrying control information. User terminals detect the NR-PDCCH channel within this time-frequency resource set to obtain scheduling information. The configuration information of CORESET mainly includes the following: the Physical Resource Block (PRB) occupied by the CORESET; the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the CORESET; the initial value of the PDCCH Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) scrambling sequence; the precoding granularity in the frequency domain; the mapping type between CCE and REG; quasi-co-address information for antenna ports; an indication of whether a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) field appears in DCI format 1_1; and the NR PDCCH search space set.

[0089] PDCCH monitoring for NR user terminals is performed within a PDCCH search space set. Since each different aggregation level's candidate set constitutes a search space, a search space set consists of multiple search spaces. The configuration information for the PDCCH search space set includes the following: Search space set ID; ControlResourceSetId, indicating the configuration ID of the control resource set and configuring the time-frequency resources of the PDCCH search space set; the period of the monitored slot and the offset within the period; currently, NR supports periods of 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, and 2560 slots; the starting symbol of the monitored slot; Duration, indicating the number of slots continuously monitored at the start of a period of the PDCCH search space set; MonitoringSymbolsWithinSlot, indicating which symbols within the monitored slot are used for PDCCH monitoring; Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) candidate set, indicating the configuration information of the PDCCH candidates, including the number of candidates at each aggregation level; and the type of search space, indicating whether the PDCCH search space is a public search space or a terminal-specific search space.

[0090] Network devices send downlink control information (DCI) to terminals. DCI is used for downlink scheduling / uplink granting or to transmit common control information. DCI is carried via PDCCH. In addition, network devices configure a search space and different aggregation levels (AL) for the terminals. For example, the network device configures the number of candidate PDCCHs the terminal needs to monitor at each aggregation level. Correspondingly, on the terminal side, the terminal needs to perform blind PDCCH detection in the search space, and the maximum number of PDCCHs the terminal can blindly detect within a time slot is related to the subcarrier spacing. For example, with a 15kHz subcarrier spacing, the maximum number of PDCCHs the terminal can detect within a time slot is 44. As shown in Table 1, μ values ​​of 0, 1, 2, and 3 correspond to subcarrier spacings of 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, and 120kHz, respectively.

[0091] Table 1

[0092] In 5G NR systems, DCI uses polar coding, requiring decoding each time the terminal detects the PDCCH, which increases power consumption and processing latency. A PDCCH's transmission resources can include M1 CCEs, corresponding to different aggregation levels (ALs). For example, the relationship between aggregation levels and the number of CCEs (M1 = 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32) is shown in Table 2. Each CCE can include M2 ​​REGs. For example, with M2 = 6, one REG corresponds to one PRB in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The transmission reliability varies depending on the number of CCEs occupied by the PDCCH; for example, the more CCEs the PDCCH occupies, the higher its transmission reliability.

[0093] Table 2

[0094] As a result, the PDCCH in traditional technology cannot support multi-beam transmission, and the PDCCH cannot transmit control information by flexibly aggregating OFMD symbols, resulting in low coverage.

[0095] It should be noted that the beneficial effects or technical problems solved by the embodiments of this application are not limited to this one, but may also be other implicit or related problems. For details, please refer to the description of the embodiments below.

[0096] Before introducing the specific embodiments of this application, the technical terms involved in this invention will be explained:

[0097] Physical downlink control channel: This refers to the physical downlink control channel used to carry scheduling and other control information, specifically including transmission format, resource allocation, uplink scheduling permission, power control, and uplink retransmission information. Simply put, it carries downlink control information, including resource allocation and other control information on one or more terminals.

[0098] Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDM) symbols: These symbols divide a single data symbol into multiple subsymbols, which are then modulated onto different subcarriers and transmitted by superposition. The subcarriers in an OFDM symbol are orthogonal, meaning they can transmit simultaneously on the same frequency band without interfering with each other. Due to the orthogonality of the subcarriers, even if some subcarriers are interfered with, it will not affect the transmission of other subcarriers.

[0099] Control Candidate Unit (CCU): Also known as a control channel unit, in communication technology, especially in 5G NR systems, the CCU is the basic building block of the physical downlink control channel, used to carry downlink control information sent from network devices to terminals. The number of CCUs determines the capacity and coverage of the physical downlink control channel. Network devices select an appropriate number of CCUs to configure the physical downlink control channel based on channel conditions to adapt to different transmission requirements.

[0100] Resource Element (RE): The smallest resource unit in Long Term Evolution (LTE), it is a unit corresponding to one subcarrier on an OFDM symbol, that is, a time-frequency resource unit consisting of one subcarrier in the frequency domain and one symbol in the time domain.

[0101] Resource Block (RB): The basic unit used for resource scheduling in Long Term Evolution (LTE). An RB contains 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain.

[0102] Resource unit group: A resource package composed of REs.

[0103] The search space of the physical downlink control channel can be understood as a set of resources. The terminal can assume these resources as candidates for the physical downlink control channel and attempt to search and decode them to obtain control information.

[0104] The technical solution of this application and how the technical solution of this application solves the above-mentioned technical problems are described in detail below with specific embodiments. These specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described again in some embodiments. The embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0105] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG2, a method for transmitting a control channel is provided. Taking the application of this method to the network device in FIG1 as an example, the method includes step 201.

[0106] Step 201: Send physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups respectively.

[0107] In this embodiment, a symbol group can be a single symbol or at least two consecutive symbols. The network device transmits the physical downlink control channel based on the spatial filter corresponding to the symbol group.

[0108] Each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0109] Optionally, each symbol group includes a first number of control candidate units, which are used to aggregate into physical downlink control channel candidates. The first number is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0110] In this embodiment of the application, a symbol group may contain only one symbol. When a symbol group contains two or more symbols, these symbols are continuous, that is, they need to maintain continuity in the time domain.

[0111] Optionally, a number of discrete resource unit groups or resource elements can be selected from within the orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM) symbol group to form control candidate units. These control candidate units are used to carry the physical downlink control channel. At least two symbol groups in all symbol groups have different spatial filters, thus enabling the physical downlink control channel to be repeatedly transmitted in a symbol group division manner.

[0112] For example, at least two symbol groups include a first symbol group and a second symbol group, wherein the first symbol group corresponds to a first spatial filter and the second symbol group corresponds to a second spatial filter, and the first spatial filter is different from the second spatial filter.

[0113] Optionally, a mapping relationship exists between symbol groups and spatial filters. Specifically, at least two symbol groups correspond to different spatial filters, and each symbol group corresponds to one spatial filter. For example, each symbol group can be configured to correspond to one spatial filter, or at least two symbol groups can correspond to the same spatial filter. When two symbol groups are used to transmit the same physical downlink control channel to the terminal device, the spatial filters corresponding to these two symbol groups are different.

[0114] In this embodiment, the network device transmits the physical downlink control channel through spatial filters corresponding to different symbol groups, enabling repeated transmission of control information. For example, based on at least two symbol groups, the relationships between the PDCCH and the scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), acknowledgment (ACK) feedback, and channel state information (CSI) feedback can be defined.

[0115] In this embodiment, by using spatial filters corresponding to different symbol groups to send control information of the same physical downlink control channel, the coverage of the physical downlink control channel at the cell edge can be improved, thereby filling the gap in the physical downlink control channel.

[0116] In one optional implementation, each control candidate unit consists of at least two discrete resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group. It should be understood that the embodiments of this application do not limit the way resource elements within a symbol group are divided; for example, they can be divided into multiple resource unit groups (each resource unit group containing multiple resource elements), or they can be divided directly on a resource element basis.

[0117] In this embodiment, interleaving mapping can be performed on a resource unit basis within each symbol group to obtain several control candidate units. Alternatively, interleaving mapping can be performed on a resource element basis within each symbol group to obtain several control candidate units. Interleaving can be understood as a discrete selection method, that is, selecting several discrete resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group.

[0118] For example, assuming that the symbol group contains one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols, the control candidate unit can be obtained in the following manner.

[0119] Method 1: Use a row-column interleaver to perform interleaving mapping within the OFMD symbol group, with RB as the unit.

[0120] Row-column interleavers are a type of interleaver widely used in communication and data storage. Their main working principle is to rearrange the input serial data stream according to a predetermined pattern. For example, data can be stored row-by-row in random access memory and then read column-by-column. This method distributes the data to different locations, mitigating potential errors or interference in the data stream and improving the reliability and error correction capabilities of data transmission.

[0121] Alternatively, when applying row-column interleavers to OFDM symbol group interleaving mapping, the network device can write the RBs on each OFDM symbol according to the rows of the interleaver, and then output them according to the columns of the interleaver, thereby completing the symbol group interleaving.

[0122] Method 2: Perform OFMD symbol group interleaving mapping using resource unit groups as the interleaving unit.

[0123] For example, as shown in Figure 3, a method for interleaving mapping within an OFDM symbol group is provided. Symbol 0 contains multiple resource unit groups (denoted as REG0, REG1, REG2, REG3, REG4, REG5, REG6, REG7, ...). Each resource unit group corresponds to a resource block (denoted as RB0, RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5, RB6, RB7, ...). Optionally, taking interleaving mapping within a symbol group as an example, the interleaving unit is REG. That is, at least two REGs are aggregated to form a CCE. Aggregation can be understood as the merging of two REGs.

[0124] As shown in Figure 3, REG0, REG3, and REG6 can be aggregated together to form the first control candidate unit (CCE0); REG1, REG4, and REG7 can be aggregated together to form the second control candidate unit (CCE1); and REG2, REG5, and REG8 (not shown in the figure) can be aggregated together to form the third control candidate unit (CCE2).

[0125] For example, as shown in Figure 4, another method for interleaving mapping within OFDM symbol groups is provided. A symbol group contains two symbols (symbol 0 and symbol 1). Symbol 0 contains multiple resource blocks (denoted as REG0, REG2, REG4, REG6, REG8, REG10, ...), and symbol 1 also contains multiple resource blocks (denoted as REG1, REG3, REG5, REG7, REG9, REG11, ...). Each pair of resource unit groups corresponds to one resource block (denoted as RB0, RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5, ...). Optionally, taking interleaving mapping within two symbol groups as an example, the interleaving unit is REG. That is, at least two REGs from different symbols are aggregated to form a CCE.

[0126] As shown in Figure 4, REG0, REG1, REG6, and REG7 can be aggregated together to form the first control candidate unit (CCE0); REG2, REG3, REG8, and REG9 can be aggregated together to form the second control candidate unit (CCE1); and REG4, REG5, REG10, and REG11 can be aggregated together to form the third control candidate unit (CCE2).

[0127] It should be understood that the embodiments of this application do not limit the number of REGs involved in the interleaving; that is, a CCE can be formed by interleaving 2 REGs, or by interleaving 3, 4, 6, 12, etc. The CCE can be discrete or integrated. Integrated means that the REGs contained in the CCE are continuous, while discrete means that the REGs contained in the CCE are discontinuous.

[0128] It should be understood that, in addition to the intra-group interleaving mapping of two symbols shown in Figure 4, interleaving mapping can also be performed within a symbol group containing more than two symbols. The specific implementation process is similar to the method shown in Figure 4, and will not be repeated here.

[0129] In this embodiment of the application, at least two resource unit groups obtained by interleaving can be merged to obtain an aggregated control candidate unit.

[0130] It should be understood that the implementation principle is similar regardless of whether the interleaving mapping is performed in units of REG or RE within a symbol group. Therefore, the interleaving principle in units of RE will not be elaborated further.

[0131] In another alternative implementation, each control candidate unit may consist of at least two consecutive resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group.

[0132] Similarly, in the embodiments of this application, assuming that the symbol group contains one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols, the consecutive mapping within the OFDM symbol group can be performed in a time-domain priority manner according to the resource unit group; or, the consecutive mapping within the OFDM symbol group can be performed in a frequency-domain priority manner according to the resource unit group.

[0133] The resource unit group time-domain priority method is applied to symbol groups containing two or more symbols. For example, taking a symbol group containing two symbols, the ID of the first REG can be set in the first OFDM symbol, the ID of the second REG in the second OFDM symbol, and the third REG will cycle back to the first OFDM symbol, and so on.

[0134] For example, as shown in Figure 5, a method for continuous mapping within an OFDM symbol group is provided. Symbol 0 contains multiple resource unit groups (denoted as REG0, REG1, REG2, REG3, REG4, REG5, REG6, REG7, ...). Each resource unit group corresponds to a resource block (denoted as RB0, RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5, RB6, RB7, ...). Optionally, taking continuous mapping within a symbol group as an example, REG0, REG1, and REG2 can be aggregated together to form the first control candidate unit (CCE0); REG3, REG4, and REG5 can be aggregated together to form the second control candidate unit (CCE1). And so on, three consecutive REG mappings can be formed into one CCE.

[0135] For example, as shown in Figure 6, another method for contiguous mapping within OFDM symbol groups is provided. A symbol group contains two symbols (symbol 0 and symbol 1). Symbol 0 contains multiple resource blocks (denoted as REG0, REG2, REG4, REG6, REG8, REG10, ...), and symbol 1 also contains multiple resource blocks (denoted as REG1, REG3, REG5, REG7, REG9, REG11, ...). Each pair of resource unit groups corresponds to one resource block (denoted as RB0, RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5, ...). Optionally, taking consecutive mappings within two symbol groups as an example, REG0, REG1, REG2, and REG3 can be aggregated together to form the first control candidate unit (CCE0); REG4, REG5, REG6, and REG7 can be aggregated together to form the second control candidate unit (CCE1); and REG8, REG9, REG10, and REG11 can be aggregated together to form the third control candidate unit (CCE2). In this embodiment, four consecutive REG mappings can be formed into one CCE.

[0136] It should be understood that when REGs are aggregated to form CCEs using the intra-group continuous mapping method, the embodiments of this application do not limit the number of REGs participating in the aggregation.

[0137] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, the symbol group can be in the same time slot, or the symbol group can be in different time slots.

[0138] Optionally, candidate units can be associated through an index, or they can be associated through preset rules.

[0139] It should be noted that the embodiments of this application do not limit the relationship between control candidate units.

[0140] For example, the preset rule could be to set an arithmetic offset and associate CCEs that are spaced one number apart. Specifically, assuming there are four CCEs (denoted as CCE0, CCE1, CCE2, and CCE3 respectively), CCE0 can be associated with CCE2, and CCE1 can be associated with CCE3.

[0141] For example, suppose 10 CCEs (denoted as CCE0, CCE1, ..., CCE8, CCE9) are aggregated in the first symbol group, and 10 CCEs (denoted as CCE0, CCE1, ..., CCE8, CCE9) are also aggregated in the second symbol group. Based on this, CCEs with the same number can be aggregated, and CCEs with the same number belong to the same search space. For example, two CCE0s belong to the first search space, two CCE1s belong to the second search space, and so on.

[0142] It should be understood that at least two associated control candidate units in a symbol group are used to aggregate into a physical downlink control channel candidate; each physical downlink control channel candidate is used to transmit a physical downlink control channel.

[0143] Among them, at least two control candidate units that are related belong to the same search space.

[0144] Among them, control candidate units with the same index belong to the same search space.

[0145] In this embodiment, associations between different CCEs can be established based on an index. This approach is very flexible. For example, the search space can be freely set to reside within a single symbol group, or the search space can span two or more symbol groups.

[0146] In this embodiment, the time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol in the symbol group is related to the time-domain positions of the terminal device's physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback. Therefore, based on the time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol, the time-frequency relationship between the physical downlink control channel and at least one of the scheduled physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback can be determined.

[0147] In this embodiment, the number of symbol groups is related to the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space. The terminal side can determine the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space based on the number of symbol groups, or flexibly adjust the monitoring period, thereby improving the reception success rate and quality of the physical downlink control channel.

[0148] In the aforementioned control channel transmission method, physical downlink control channels are transmitted to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; a mapping relationship exists between symbol groups and spatial filters. This allows the same physical downlink control channel control information to be transmitted based on spatial filters corresponding to different symbols. Since each symbol group contains one or at least two consecutive symbols, this method can flexibly aggregate multiple symbol groups, achieving repeated transmission of the physical downlink control channel. By transmitting the physical downlink control channel through different symbol groups, repeated transmission can improve the coverage of the physical downlink control channel at the cell edge, filling gaps in the physical downlink control channel and thus improving the coverage rate of the physical downlink control channel control information.

[0149] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG7, a method for receiving a control channel is provided. Taking the application of this method to the terminal device in FIG1 as an example, the method includes step 701. Wherein:

[0150] Step 701: Receive the physical downlink control channels transmitted by the network device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups.

[0151] In this embodiment, the terminal receives physical downlink control channels transmitted by the network device through spatial filters corresponding to different symbol groups.

[0152] Each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols, and each symbol group includes a first number of control candidate units, which are used to aggregate into physical downlink control channel candidates; each physical downlink control channel candidate is used to transmit a physical downlink control channel. Optionally, the first number is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0153] In this embodiment, a symbol group may contain only one symbol. When a symbol group contains two or more symbols, these symbols are consecutive, meaning they need to maintain continuity in the time domain. Optionally, at least two symbol groups have different spatial filters, and each symbol group corresponds to one spatial filter, thereby enabling the physical downlink control channel to be repeatedly transmitted in a symbol group division manner.

[0154] For example, at least two symbol groups include a first symbol group and a second symbol group, wherein the first symbol group corresponds to a first spatial filter and the second symbol group corresponds to a second spatial filter, and the first spatial filter is different from the second spatial filter.

[0155] Optionally, a mapping relationship exists between symbol groups and spatial filters. For example, each symbol group can be configured to correspond to a single spatial filter, or at least two symbol groups can correspond to the same spatial filter. When two symbol groups are used to transmit the same physical downlink control channel to the terminal device, the spatial filters corresponding to these two symbol groups are different.

[0156] The embodiments of this application can realize a wide-coverage control channel, where the physical downlink control channel repeats in units of symbol groups. By transmitting the control information of the same physical downlink control channel through spatial filters corresponding to different symbol groups, the coverage range of the physical downlink control channel at the cell edge can be improved, thereby filling the gaps in the physical downlink control channel.

[0157] In one optional implementation, each control candidate unit consists of at least two discrete resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group. It should be understood that the embodiments of this application do not limit the way resource elements within a symbol group are divided; for example, they can be divided into multiple resource unit groups (each resource unit group containing multiple resource elements), or they can be divided directly on a resource element basis.

[0158] In this embodiment, interleaving mapping can be performed on a resource unit basis within each symbol group to obtain at least two control candidate units. Alternatively, interleaving mapping can be performed on a resource element basis within each symbol group to obtain at least two control candidate units. Interleaving can be understood as a discrete selection method.

[0159] For example, assuming a symbol group contains one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols, a row-column interleaver can be used to perform interleaving mapping within the OFDM symbol group, with RBs as the unit. The row-column interleaver is a type of interleaver widely used in communication and data storage. Its main working principle is to rearrange the input serial data stream according to a predetermined pattern. For example, data can be stored row-by-row in random access memory and then read column-by-column. This method disperses the data to different locations, thus dispersing potential errors or interference in the data stream and improving the reliability and error correction capability of data transmission.

[0160] Alternatively, when applying row-column interleavers to OFDM symbol group interleaving mapping, the network device can write the RBs on each OFDM symbol according to the rows of the interleaver, and then output them according to the columns of the interleaver, thereby completing the symbol group interleaving.

[0161] Referring to Figure 3, OFMD symbol group interleaving mapping can also be performed using resource unit groups as the interleaving unit. Symbol 0 contains multiple resource unit groups (denoted as REG0, REG1, REG2, REG3, REG4, REG5, REG6, REG7, ...). Each resource unit group corresponds to a resource block (denoted as RB0, RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5, RB6, RB7, ...). Optionally, taking an intra-symbol group interleaving mapping as an example, the interleaving unit is REG. That is, at least two REGs are aggregated to form a CCE.

[0162] As shown in Figure 3, REG0, REG3, and REG6 can be aggregated together to form the first control candidate unit (CCE0); REG1, REG4, and REG7 can be aggregated together to form the second control candidate unit (CCE1); and REG2, REG5, and REG8 (not shown in the figure) can be aggregated together to form the third control candidate unit (CCE2).

[0163] Referring to Figure 4, a symbol group contains two symbols (symbol 0 and symbol 1). Symbol 0 contains multiple resource blocks (denoted as REG0, REG2, REG4, REG6, REG8, REG10, ...), and symbol 1 also contains multiple resource blocks (denoted as REG1, REG3, REG5, REG7, REG9, REG11, ...). Each pair of resource units corresponds to one resource block (denoted as RB0, RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5, ...). Optionally, taking interleaving mapping within two symbol groups as an example, the interleaving unit is REG. That is, at least two REGs from different symbols are aggregated to form a CCE.

[0164] As shown in Figure 4, REG0, REG1, REG6, and REG7 can be aggregated together to form the first control candidate unit (CCE0); REG2, REG3, REG8, and REG9 can be aggregated together to form the second control candidate unit (CCE1); and REG4, REG5, REG10, and REG11 can be aggregated together to form the third control candidate unit (CCE2).

[0165] It should be understood that the embodiments of this application do not limit the number of REGs involved in the interleaving; that is, a CCE can be formed by interleaving 2 REGs, or by interleaving 3, 4, 6, 12, etc. The CCE can be discrete or integrated. Integrated means that the REGs contained in the CCE are continuous, while discrete means that the REGs contained in the CCE are discontinuous.

[0166] It should be understood that, in addition to the intra-group interleaving mapping of two symbols shown in Figure 4, interleaving mapping can also be performed within a symbol group containing more than two symbols. The specific implementation process is similar to the method shown in Figure 4, and will not be repeated here.

[0167] In this embodiment of the application, at least two resource unit groups obtained by interleaving can be merged to obtain an aggregated control candidate unit.

[0168] It should be understood that the implementation principle is similar regardless of whether the unit is REG or RE within the symbol group. Therefore, the interleaving principle of RE will not be elaborated further.

[0169] In another alternative implementation, each control candidate unit consists of at least two consecutive resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group.

[0170] Similarly, in the embodiments of this application, assuming that the symbol group contains one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols, the consecutive mapping within the OFDM symbol group can be performed in a time-domain priority manner according to the resource unit group; or, the consecutive mapping within the OFDM symbol group can be performed in a frequency-domain priority manner according to the resource unit group.

[0171] The resource unit group time-domain priority method is applied to symbol groups containing two or more symbols. For example, taking a symbol group with two symbols, the ID of the first REG can be set in the first OFDM symbol, the ID of the second REG in the second OFDM symbol, and the third REG will cycle back to the first OFDM symbol, and so on.

[0172] For example, referring to Figure 5, symbol 0 contains multiple resource unit groups (denoted as REG0, REG1, REG2, REG3, REG4, REG5, REG6, REG7, ...). Each resource unit group corresponds to a resource block (denoted as RB0, RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5, RB6, RB7, ...). Optionally, taking consecutive mappings within a symbol group as an example, REG0, REG1, and REG2 can be aggregated together to form the first control candidate unit (CCE0); REG3, REG4, and REG5 can be aggregated together to form the second control candidate unit (CCE1). And so on, three consecutive REG mappings can form a CCE.

[0173] For example, referring to Figure 6, a symbol group contains two symbols (symbol 0 and symbol 1). Symbol 0 contains multiple resource blocks (denoted as REG0, REG2, REG4, REG6, REG8, REG10, ...), and symbol 1 also contains multiple resource blocks (denoted as REG1, REG3, REG5, REG7, REG9, REG11, ...). Each pair of resource units corresponds to one resource block (denoted as RB0, RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5, ...). Optionally, taking continuous mapping within two symbol groups as an example, REG0, REG1, REG2, and REG3 can be aggregated together to form the first control candidate unit (CCE0); REG4, REG5, REG6, and REG7 can be aggregated together to form the second control candidate unit (CCE1); and REG8, REG9, REG10, and REG11 can be aggregated together to form the third control candidate unit (CCE2). In this embodiment of the application, four consecutive REGs can be mapped to form a CCE.

[0174] It should be understood that when REGs are aggregated to form CCEs using the intra-group continuous mapping method, the embodiments of this application do not limit the number of REGs participating in the aggregation.

[0175] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, the symbol group can be in the same time slot, or the symbol group can be in different time slots.

[0176] Optionally, candidate units can be associated through an index, or they can be associated through preset rules.

[0177] It should be noted that the embodiments of this application do not limit the relationship between control candidate units.

[0178] For example, the preset rule could be to set an arithmetic offset, such as associating CCEs that are one number apart. Specifically, assuming there are four CCEs (denoted as CCE0, CCE1, CCE2, and CCE3 respectively), CCE0 can be associated with CCE2, and CCE1 can be associated with CCE3.

[0179] For example, suppose 10 CCEs (denoted as CCE0, CCE1, ..., CCE8, CCE9) are aggregated in the first symbol group, and 10 CCEs (denoted as CCE0, CCE1, ..., CCE8, CCE9) are also aggregated in the second symbol group. Based on this, CCEs with the same number can be aggregated, and CCEs with the same number belong to the same search space. For example, two CCE0s belong to the first search space, two CCE1s belong to the second search space, and so on.

[0180] It should be understood that at least two associated control candidate units in a symbol group are used to aggregate into a physical downlink control channel candidate; each physical downlink control channel candidate is used to transmit a physical downlink control channel.

[0181] Among them, at least two control candidate units that are related belong to the same search space.

[0182] Among them, control candidate units with the same index belong to the same search space.

[0183] In this embodiment, the association between different CCEs can be established based on an index. This approach is very flexible. The search space can be freely set to reside within a single symbol group, or it can span two or more symbol groups.

[0184] In this embodiment, the time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol in the symbol group is related to the time-domain positions of the terminal device's physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback. Therefore, based on the time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol, the time-frequency relationship between the physical downlink control channel and at least one of the scheduled physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback can be determined.

[0185] For example, the terminal can determine the time-frequency relationship between the physical downlink control channel and at least one of the scheduled physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback, based on the characteristics of the physical downlink control channel. Optionally, the characteristics of the physical downlink control channel may include: the mapping relationship of OFDM symbol groups, the association relationship between the search space and OFDM symbol groups, etc.

[0186] For example, the time domain position of the physical downlink shared channel can be determined based on the time domain position of the last OFDM symbol group transmitting control information in the physical downlink control channel and the K0 parameter.

[0187] In this embodiment, each OFDM symbol has its specific period, i.e., duration. An OFDM symbol group consists of multiple OFDM symbols arranged sequentially in the time domain. The symbol period determines the duration each symbol occupies in the time domain, thus affecting the overall length of the symbol group in the time domain. Therefore, the time domain position of the physical downlink shared channel can be determined based on the time domain position of the last OFDM symbol group and the K0 parameter. The K0 parameter is used to determine the time slot offset between the DCI received by the terminal on the PDCCH channel and its scheduled PDSCH, and its value ranges from 0 to 32.

[0188] For example, the time domain position of the physical layer uplink shared channel can be determined based on the time domain position of the last OFDM symbol group transmitting control information in the physical downlink control channel and the K1 parameter.

[0189] In this embodiment, the K1 parameter represents the delay between the end of the time slot used for transmitting PDSCH and the start of the time slot used for returning the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) acknowledgment.

[0190] For example, the time-domain location of the acknowledgment feedback can be determined based on the time-domain location of the last OFDM symbol group transmitting control information in the physical downlink control channel and the K2 parameter.

[0191] In this embodiment, the K2 parameter represents the time slot offset between the PDCCH of the DCI used for PUSCH allocation and the actual PUSCH to be allocated.

[0192] For example, the time-domain location of the channel state information feedback is determined based on the time-domain location of the last OFDM symbol group transmitting control information in the physical downlink control channel and the K3 parameter.

[0193] In this embodiment, the K3 parameter represents the time slot offset between the DCI received by the terminal on the PDCCH channel and its scheduling resources. Specifically, the K3 parameter is used to characterize the receive time slot offset of the PDSCH.

[0194] In this embodiment, the terminal receives physical downlink control channels transmitted based on different symbol groups, thereby accurately identifying the time-frequency relationship between the physical downlink control channel and the scheduled physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback through the repeatedly transmitted physical downlink control channels.

[0195] In this embodiment, the number of symbol groups is also related to the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space. Therefore, the terminal side can determine the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space based on the number of symbol groups, or flexibly adjust the monitoring period, thereby improving the success rate and quality of physical downlink control channel reception.

[0196] For example, the number of symbol groups can be determined based on a set of values ​​pre-configured or predefined by higher layers and the bits of control information transmitted through the physical downlink control channel.

[0197] For example, the number of symbol groups can also be determined based on the control information transmitted through the physical downlink control channel, or directly based on the configuration information of the higher layers.

[0198] In this embodiment, the terminal can determine the number of times the downlink control channel (PDCCH) is repeatedly transmitted based on the number of symbol groups, and decode the received multiple transmissions of the physical downlink control channel, thereby filling the gaps in the PDCCH and enhancing the coverage performance of the PDCCH.

[0199] For example, when the physical downlink control channel is repeatedly transmitted in at least two symbol groups, the number of repeated transmissions is determined to be z times; where z is a natural number greater than 1; the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space is increased by a factor of z.

[0200] In this embodiment, on the network device side, a mechanism for statically and dynamically indicating the number of PDCCH transmission repetitions can be adopted. This allows the network device to dynamically determine the number of repetitions for each transmission based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the terminal's real-time location, thereby saving unnecessary repetitions. On the terminal side, the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space can be flexibly adjusted based on the number of repetitions, thereby improving the reliability of physical downlink control channel reception.

[0201] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG8, a signaling interaction diagram between a network device and a terminal device is provided, which is applied to the network device and terminal device shown in FIG1, and may include the following steps:

[0202] Step 801: The network device sends physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups.

[0203] Step 802: The terminal device receives the physical downlink control channels sent by the network device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups.

[0204] In this application embodiment, steps 801 to 802 incorporate the method embodiments shown in Figures 2 and 7. For the specific implementation process and technical effects, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figures 2 and 7, which will not be repeated here.

[0205] Based on the same inventive concept, this application also provides a control channel transmission apparatus for implementing the control channel transmission method described above. The solution provided by this apparatus is similar to the implementation described in the above method; therefore, the specific limitations of one or more control channel transmission apparatus embodiments provided below can be found in the limitations of the control channel transmission method described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0206] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG9, a transmission device for a control channel is provided, applied to a network device, the device including:

[0207] The transmitting module 901 is used to transmit physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups respectively; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0208] In some embodiments, at least two symbol groups include a first symbol group and a second symbol group, wherein the first symbol group corresponds to a first spatial filter, the second symbol group corresponds to a second spatial filter, and the first spatial filter is different from the second spatial filter.

[0209] In some embodiments, the transmitting module 901 is specifically used to transmit the same physical downlink control channel to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups.

[0210] In some embodiments, each symbol group includes a first number of control candidate units, which are used to aggregate into physical downlink control channel candidates, wherein the first number is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0211] Each control candidate unit consists of at least two discrete resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group; or,

[0212] Each control candidate unit consists of at least two consecutive resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group.

[0213] In some embodiments, at least two associated control candidate units in a symbol group are used to aggregate into a physical downlink control channel candidate; each physical downlink control channel candidate is used to transmit a physical downlink control channel.

[0214] In some embodiments, control candidate units are associated through an index, or control candidate units are associated through a preset rule.

[0215] In some embodiments, at least two associated control candidate units belong to the same search space.

[0216] In some embodiments, control candidate units with the same index belong to the same search space.

[0217] In some embodiments, the symbol group contains one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols.

[0218] In some embodiments, the time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol in the symbol group is related to the time-domain position of the terminal device physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment information feedback, and channel state information feedback.

[0219] In some embodiments, symbol groups may be in the same time slot or in different time slots.

[0220] In some embodiments, the number of symbol groups is related to the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space.

[0221] Each module in the aforementioned control channel transmission device can be implemented entirely or partially through software, hardware, or a combination thereof. These modules can be embedded in hardware within or independently of the processor in a computer device, or stored in software within the memory of the computer device, so that the processor can invoke and execute the operations corresponding to each module.

[0222] Based on the same inventive concept, this application also provides a control channel transmission apparatus for implementing the control channel transmission method described above. The solution provided by this apparatus is similar to the implementation described in the above method; therefore, the specific limitations in one or more control channel transmission apparatus embodiments provided below can be found in the limitations of the control channel receiving method described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0223] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG10, a transmission device for a control channel is provided, applied to a terminal device, the device including:

[0224] The receiving module 1001 is used to receive physical downlink control channels transmitted by network devices through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0225] In some embodiments, at least two symbol groups include a first symbol group and a second symbol group, wherein the first symbol group corresponds to a first spatial filter, the second symbol group corresponds to a second spatial filter, and the first spatial filter is different from the second spatial filter.

[0226] In some embodiments, the receiving module 1001 is specifically used to receive the same physical downlink control channel transmitted by the network device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups.

[0227] In some embodiments, each symbol group includes a first number of control candidate units, which are used to aggregate into physical downlink control channel candidates, wherein the first number is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0228] Each control candidate unit consists of at least two discrete resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group; or,

[0229] Each control candidate unit consists of at least two consecutive resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group.

[0230] In some embodiments, at least two associated control candidate units in a symbol group are used to aggregate into a physical downlink control channel candidate; each physical downlink control channel candidate is used to transmit a physical downlink control channel.

[0231] In some embodiments, control candidate units are associated through an index, or control candidate units are associated through a preset rule.

[0232] In some embodiments, at least two associated control candidate units belong to the same search space.

[0233] In some embodiments, control candidate units with the same index belong to the same search space.

[0234] In some embodiments, the symbol group contains one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols.

[0235] In some embodiments, the time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol in the symbol group is related to the time-domain position of the terminal device physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment information feedback, and channel state information feedback.

[0236] In some embodiments, symbol groups may be in the same time slot or in different time slots.

[0237] In some embodiments, the number of symbol groups is related to the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space.

[0238] Each module in the aforementioned control channel transmission device can be implemented entirely or partially through software, hardware, or a combination thereof. These modules can be embedded in hardware within or independently of the processor in a computer device, or stored in software within the memory of the computer device, so that the processor can invoke and execute the operations corresponding to each module.

[0239] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG11, a network device 1100 is provided. The network device 1100 may include a receiver 1101, a memory 1102, a processor 1103, at least one communication bus 1104, and a transmitter 1105. The communication bus 1104 is used to realize communication connections between components. The memory 1102 may include high-speed RAM memory, and may also include non-volatile memory (NVM), such as at least one disk storage. The memory 1102 may store various programs for performing various processing functions and implementing the method steps of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the transmitter 1105 may be a radio frequency processing module or a baseband processing module in the network device, and the receiver 1101 may also be a radio frequency processing module or a baseband processing module in the network device. The transmitter 1105 and the receiver 1101 may be integrated together to form a transceiver. Both the transmitter 1105 and the receiver 1101 may be coupled to the processor 1103, and can perform receiving or transmitting actions under the instruction or control of the processor 1103.

[0240] The memory 1102 is used to store computer programs; the processor 1103 executes the computer programs to control the transmitter; the transmitter 1105 is used to send physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups respectively; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0241] The processor 1103 in this embodiment can be a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device). The processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0242] The memory 1102 in this embodiment can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or it can include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), Double Data Rate Synchronous DRAM (DDRSDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous DRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memories described in the embodiments of this application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0243] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG12, a terminal device 1200 is provided, which may include at least one processor 1201, a memory 1202, at least one network interface 1204, and a user interface 1203. The various components in the terminal 1200 are coupled together via a bus system 1205. It is understood that the bus system 1205 is used to implement communication between these components. In addition to a data bus, the bus system 1205 also includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus. However, for clarity, all buses are labeled as bus system 1205 in FIG12. Furthermore, this embodiment also includes a transceiver 1206, which may be multiple elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium.

[0244] The user interface 1203 may include a display, keyboard, or clicking device (e.g., mouse, trackball, touchpad, or touchscreen).

[0245] The processor 1201 in this embodiment can be a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device). The processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0246] The memory 1202 in this embodiment can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or it can include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous DRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 1202 of the systems and methods described in the embodiments of the present invention is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0247] In some embodiments, memory 1202 stores the following elements, executable modules or data structures, or subsets thereof, or extended sets thereof: operating system 12021 and application program 12022. Operating system 12021 includes various system programs, such as a framework layer, core library layer, driver layer, etc., for implementing various basic services and handling hardware-based tasks. Application program 12022 includes various applications, such as a media player, browser, etc., for implementing various application services. Programs implementing the methods of the embodiments of the present invention can be included in application program 12022.

[0248] In this embodiment, the program or instructions stored in memory 1202 are invoked; specifically, the program or instructions stored in application program 12022 may be used.

[0249] Transceiver 1206 is used to receive physical downlink control channels transmitted by network devices through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

[0250] Some or all of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can also be applied to processor 1201, or implemented by processor 1201, or implemented by processor 1201 in conjunction with other components (e.g., transceivers). Processor 1201 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in processor 1201 or by instructions in the form of software. The processor 1201 mentioned above may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this invention. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this invention can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or being executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can reside in a mature storage medium in the field, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers. This storage medium is located in memory 1202. The processor 1201 reads the information in memory 1202 and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the methods shown in Figures 7 and 8.

[0251] In one embodiment, a communication system is also provided, including a terminal device and a network device. Detailed descriptions of the terminal device and the network device can be found in the corresponding steps of the method embodiments described above.

[0252] In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided having a computer program stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the above method embodiments.

[0253] In one embodiment, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the above method embodiments.

[0254] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0255] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementation methods of this application, and while the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of this application, and these all fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this patent application should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting control channels, characterized in that, The method is applied to a network device, and the method includes: Physical downlink control channels are transmitted to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The at least two symbol groups include a first symbol group and a second symbol group, wherein the first symbol group corresponds to a first spatial filter and the second symbol group corresponds to a second spatial filter, and the first spatial filter is different from the second spatial filter.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of transmitting physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups includes: The same physical downlink control channel is sent to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each symbol group includes a first number of control candidate units, which are used to aggregate into physical downlink control channel candidates, wherein the first number is an integer greater than or equal to 1; Each of the control candidate units consists of at least two discrete resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group; or, Each of the control candidate units consists of at least two consecutive resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The symbol group has at least two associated control candidate units for aggregation into a physical downlink control channel candidate; each physical downlink control channel candidate is used to transmit the physical downlink control channel.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The control candidate units are associated through an index, or the control candidate units are associated through a preset rule.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, At least two of the aforementioned control candidate units that are associated belong to the same search space.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The control candidate units with the same index belong to the same search space.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The symbol group contains one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol in the symbol group is related to the time-domain positions of the physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback of the terminal device.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The symbol groups are in the same time slot, or the symbol groups are in different time slots.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The number of symbol groups is related to the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space.

13. A method for transmitting control channels, characterized in that, The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method includes: The receiving network device transmits physical downlink control channels through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The at least two symbol groups include a first symbol group and a second symbol group, wherein the first symbol group corresponds to a first spatial filter and the second symbol group corresponds to a second spatial filter, and the first spatial filter is different from the second spatial filter.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The physical downlink control channel transmitted by the receiving network device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups includes: The receiving network device transmits the same physical downlink control channel through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups.

16. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, Each symbol group includes a first number of control candidate units, which are used to aggregate into physical downlink control channel candidates, wherein the first number is an integer greater than or equal to 1; Each of the control candidate units consists of at least two discrete resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group; or, Each of the control candidate units consists of at least two consecutive resource unit groups or resource elements within a symbol group.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The symbol group has at least two associated control candidate units for aggregation into a physical downlink control channel candidate; each physical downlink control channel candidate is used to transmit the physical downlink control channel.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The control candidate units are associated through an index, or the control candidate units are associated through a preset rule.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, At least two of the aforementioned control candidate units that are associated belong to the same search space.

20. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The control candidate units with the same index belong to the same search space.

21. The method according to any one of claims 13-20, characterized in that, The symbol group contains one OFDM symbol or at least two consecutive OFDM symbols.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that, The time-domain position of the last OFDM symbol in the symbol group is related to the time-domain positions of the physical downlink shared channel, physical layer uplink shared channel, acknowledgment feedback, and channel state information feedback of the terminal device.

23. The method according to any one of claims 13-20, characterized in that, The symbol groups are in the same time slot, or the symbol groups are in different time slots.

24. The method according to any one of claims 13-20, characterized in that, The number of symbol groups is related to the monitoring period of the physical downlink control channel search space.

25. A transmission device for a control channel, characterized in that, The device is used in a network device, and the device includes: The transmitting module is used to transmit physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups respectively; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

26. A transmission device for a control channel, characterized in that, The device is used in a terminal device, and the device includes: The receiving module is used to receive physical downlink control channels transmitted by network devices through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

27. A network device, characterized in that, Includes processor, transmitter, and memory; The memory is used to store computer programs; The processor executes the computer program to control the transmitter; The transmitter is configured to transmit physical downlink control channels to the terminal device through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

28. A terminal device, characterized in that, Includes processor, receiver, and memory; The memory is used to store computer programs; The processor executes the computer program to control the receiver; The receiver is configured to receive physical downlink control channels transmitted by network devices through spatial filters corresponding to at least two symbol groups; wherein there is a mapping relationship between the symbol groups and the spatial filters; each symbol group contains one symbol or at least two consecutive symbols.

29. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24.

Images