CN102740447A

CN102740447A - Method for determining timing advance, terminal device, and network side device

Info

Publication number: CN102740447A
Application number: CN201110092611XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 常俊仁; 李亚娟
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2011-04-13
Filing date: 2011-04-13
Publication date: 2012-10-17
Anticipated expiration: 2031-04-13
Also published as: WO2012139454A1; CN102740447B

Abstract

The invention provides a method for determining timing advance (TA), a terminal device, a network side device and a communication system. The method comprises the following steps of: receiving a CSI-RS configuration or activation message of the network side device, wherein the message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS; transmitting a synchronization signal to the network side device on the basis of the CSI-RS configuration or activation message; receiving a TA adjustment message transmitted by the network side device, wherein the message carries a TA value determined by the network side device on the basis of the synchronization signal; on the basis of the TA value carried in the TA adjustment message, determining the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS. The synchronization signal is transmitted by a terminal to a network side on the basis of the CSI-RS configuration or activation message of the network side, and the corresponding TA value is calculated by the network side on the basis of the synchronization signal and then returned to the terminal, thus the terminal is enabled to learn the corresponding relation between the TA value and the CSI-RS, thereby the precision of uplink timing is raised, and uplink synchronization is realized.

Description

Method for determining timing advance, terminal equipment and network side equipment

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the field of wireless communication, in particular to a method for determining timing advance, a terminal device and a network side device.

Background

In the LTE (Long Term Evolution) R11 version, a new operation scenario, namely coordinated multipoint transmission/reception, CoMP (coordinated multi-point) is introduced. The main benefit of performing coordinated multipoint transmission is that the rate of data transmission can be increased, for example, the transmission of video services can be performed smoothly, thereby increasing the user satisfaction. Currently, there are four specific scenarios that require intensive research, namely:

scene 1: CoMP in the isomorphic network site;

scene 2: homogeneous networks with high-power Remote Radio Heads (RRHs);

scene 3: heterogeneous network scenario with low power RRHs, where micro cells with low transmit power serve UEs together with Macro cells (Macro cells), the scenario 3 is characterized in that each micro Cell is connected to a Macro Cell via a high speed optical fiber with negligible transmission delay, and each RRH covered micro Cell (Pico Cell) is an independent Cell with independent Cell identity (CellID)

Scene 4: heterogeneous network scenarios with low power RRH, a micro cell with low transmit power together with a macro cell serve the UE. Scene 4 is common to scene 3 in that the micro cells covered by RRHs are also connected with Macro by high-speed optical fibers, and the main difference from scene 3 is that each RRH is not an independent Cell, and the RRHs, i.e. micro sites (Pico points), do not have independent Cell IDs, but share the same Cell ID with Macro sites.

In scenario 4, when data transmission in a CoMP mode is performed between a network and a UE (User Equipment), different stations transmit different CSI-RSs (Channel state information-Reference signals) to support the UE to perform Channel measurement and the like through the CSI-RSs. And the macro site and the micro site configure different CSI-RSs to carry out CSI-RS transmission. Therefore, multiple CSI-RSs may exist in the CoMP scenario.

In the current LTE system, when the UE maintains an uplink synchronization state, the eNB sends a Timing Advance Command (MAC) PDU (Protocol Data Unit) to notify the UE to adjust the TA value, so as to achieve greater synchronization accuracy.

However, in a CoMP scenario, due to the different distances between the UE and different nodes, the time of arrival of the signal at different nodes will likely be different. Due to the existence of multiple CSI-RSs, if the UE receives one TA and performs timing adjustment on multiple CSI-RSs based on the same TA, the adjustment result may be inaccurate. If the adjustment of the uplink timing advance ta (timing advance) of the UE is not accurate enough, the throughput of the UE will be directly affected, thereby greatly reducing the benefits brought by CoMP transmission.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for determining timing advance, terminal equipment, network side equipment and a communication system, which can improve the accuracy of uplink timing.

In one aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA value is provided, including: receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS; sending a synchronization signal to network side equipment according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message; receiving a TA (timing advance) adjustment message sent by network side equipment, wherein the TA adjustment message carries a TA value determined by the network side equipment based on a synchronization signal; and determining the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the TA value carried in the TA adjusting message.

In another aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA value is provided, including: sending a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message to the terminal equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating the CSI-RS; receiving a synchronous signal sent by the terminal equipment according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message; determining a TA value based on the synchronization signal; and sending a TA (timing advance) adjusting message to the terminal equipment, wherein the TA adjusting message carries the determined TA value.

In another aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA value is provided, including: receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS and comprises indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating whether terminal equipment needs to execute uplink synchronization or not; and acquiring the TA value according to the indication information.

In another aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA value is provided, including: generating a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS and comprises indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment needs to execute uplink synchronization; and sending indication information to the terminal equipment to indicate the TA value to the terminal equipment through the indication information.

In another aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA value is provided, including: receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS; and determining the TA value of the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the downlink timing difference between the currently used CSI-RS and the configured or activated CSI-RS and the TA value of the currently used CSI-RS.

In another aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA value is provided, including: receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS; and determining to execute uplink synchronization to acquire a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS, or determining a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS, wherein a CSI-RS group refers to a set formed by one or more CSI-RSs sharing the same TA value.

In another aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA value is provided, including: sending information of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) group to terminal equipment, wherein the CSI-RS group refers to a set formed by one or more CSI-RSs sharing the same TA value; and sending a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to the terminal equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating the CSI-RS, so that the terminal equipment can determine the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information.

In another aspect, a terminal device is provided, including: the receiving unit is used for receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, and the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS; the sending unit is used for sending a synchronization signal to the network side equipment according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message; the receiving unit is further configured to receive a TA adjustment message sent by the network side device, where the TA adjustment message carries a TA value determined by the network side device based on the synchronization signal; and the determining unit is used for determining the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the TA value carried in the TA adjusting message.

In another aspect, a terminal device is provided, including: the terminal equipment comprises a receiving unit, a sending unit and a receiving unit, wherein the receiving unit is used for receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of the network side equipment, the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS and comprises indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment needs to execute uplink synchronization; and the acquisition unit is used for acquiring the TA value according to the indication information.

In another aspect, a terminal device is provided, including: the receiving unit is used for receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, and the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS; and the determining unit is used for determining the TA value of the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the downlink timing difference between the currently used CSI-RS and the configured or activated CSI-RS and the TA value of the currently used CSI-RS.

In another aspect, a terminal device is provided, including: the receiving unit is used for receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, and the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS; and the determining unit is used for determining to execute uplink synchronization to acquire the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS, or determining the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the group information of the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the CSI-RS, wherein the CSI-RS group refers to a set formed by one or more CSI-RSs sharing the same TA value.

In another aspect, a network-side device is provided, including: the terminal equipment comprises a sending unit, a receiving unit and a sending unit, wherein the sending unit is used for sending a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message to the terminal equipment, and the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating the CSI-RS; the receiving unit is used for receiving a synchronous signal sent by the terminal equipment according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message; a determination unit for determining a TA value based on the synchronization signal; and the sending unit is further configured to send a TA adjustment message to the terminal device, where the TA adjustment message carries the determined TA value.

In another aspect, a network-side device is provided, including: the terminal equipment comprises a generating unit, a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, wherein the generating unit is used for generating a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message, the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS and comprises indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment needs to execute uplink synchronization; and the sending unit is used for sending the indication information to the terminal equipment so as to indicate the TA value to the terminal equipment through the indication information.

In another aspect, a network-side device is provided, including: the terminal equipment comprises a sending unit and a receiving unit, wherein the sending unit is used for sending information of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) group to the terminal equipment, and the CSI-RS group refers to a set formed by one or more CSI-RSs sharing the same TA value; and the sending unit is further used for sending a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to the terminal equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating the CSI-RS, so that the terminal equipment can determine the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information.

In another aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the terminal device or the network side device.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the terminal sends the synchronizing signal to the network side according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message of the network side, and the network side calculates the corresponding TA value according to the synchronizing signal and then returns the TA value to the terminal, so that the terminal can know the corresponding relation between the TA value and the CSI-RS, thereby improving the uplink timing precision and realizing uplink synchronization.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a contention-based random access method.

Fig. 2 is a non-contention random access method.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a random access response message.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a TA value in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a TA value in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of an example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 18 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 19 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 20 is a schematic block diagram of a network side device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 21 is a schematic block diagram of a network-side device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a network-side device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The technical scheme of the invention can be applied to various communication systems, such as: GSM, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and the like.

Mobile terminals (Mobile terminals), also referred to as Mobile Users (UEs), Mobile user equipment (ms), etc., may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio access network (e.g., RAN), and may be Mobile terminals, such as Mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers having Mobile terminals, such as portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included, or vehicle-mounted Mobile devices, that exchange languages and/or data with the Radio access network.

The Base Station may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in GSM or CDMA, a Base Station (NodeB) in WCDMA, or an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) in LTE, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and for convenience of description, the following embodiments take e-Node B as an example for explanation.

In The existing 3GPP (The 3rd Generation Partnership Project) LTE system, there are two Random Access (Random Access) methods that can enable a UE to acquire uplink synchronization with a certain component carrier. Fig. 1 is a contention-based random access method, and fig. 2 is a non-contention random access method.

During the contention-based random access method of figure 1,

11: the message 1 "Random Access Preamble" is sent on the uplink RACH (Random Access Channel) Channel, and the Preamble (64) selected implies the size of the message 3 that the UE needs to send.

12: message 2 is a Random Access Response (Random Access Response) sent on a DL-SCH (downlink Link-Share Channel), which is generated by the MAC layer. The specific contents of RandomAccess Response are shown in FIG. 3.

The Timing Advance Command field includes a TA value calculated by the eNB and required to be adjusted by the UE during uplink transmission. The UL Grant field indicates information of bandwidth resources allocated for the UE to transmit the message 3. And the Temporary C-RNTI represents a Temporary identifier allocated for the UE. RAPID in the MAC Header then represents the identifier of the preamble sent by the UE, i.e.: random Access Preamble ID.

13: and the message 3 sends the first scheduled uplink message on an UL-SCH (Up Link-Share Channel) Channel according to the indication of the message 2.

14: message 4 is used to solve the collision problem caused when multiple UEs use the same preamble.

During the non-contention random access method of figure 2,

20: firstly, the eNB can allocate a special random access preamble to the UE for use, so that the problem of contention for using the preamble among a plurality of UEs does not exist;

21: UE sends special preamble to eNB;

22: and after receiving the special preamble, the eNB sends a random access response message to the UE, wherein the structure of the random access response message is the same as that of the random access response message (12) in the contention-based random access.

However, the random access response message of the random access procedure of fig. 1 and 2 cannot adapt to the situation of multiple CSI-RSs in the CoMP scenario.

In the CoMP scenario, after receiving one TA, the UE does not know to which CSI-RS the TA should be applied due to the existence of multiple CSI-RSs. When the UE uses multiple points (Macro and RRH, or multiple RRHs) to transmit uplink data at the same time, due to different distances between the UE and different nodes, the time for signals to reach different nodes may be different, and if the uplink timing advance ta (timing advance) adjustment of the UE is not accurate enough, the throughput of the UE will be directly affected, thereby greatly reducing the benefits brought by CoMP transmission.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a TA value in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method 40 of fig. 4 is performed by a terminal device (e.g., a UE).

At 401, a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, configuration or activation message of a network side device (e.g., eNB or RRH) is received, the CSI-RS configuration or activation message being used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS.

At 402, a synchronization signal is sent to a network side device according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message.

At 403, a TA adjustment message sent by the network side device is received, where the TA adjustment message carries a TA value determined by the network side device based on the synchronization signal.

At 404, a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS is determined according to the TA value carried in the TA adjustment message.

Therefore, the embodiment of the invention enables the terminal to send the synchronizing signal to the network side according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message of the network side, and the network side calculates the corresponding TA value according to the synchronizing signal and then returns the TA value to the terminal, so that the terminal can know the corresponding relation between the TA value and the CSI-RS, thereby improving the uplink timing precision and realizing uplink synchronization.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a TA value in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method 50 of fig. 5 is performed by a network side device (e.g., an eNB or RRH) and corresponds to the method 40 of fig. 4.

At 501, a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, configuration or activation message is transmitted to a terminal device (e.g., a UE), the CSI-RS configuration or activation message being used to configure or activate CSI-RS.

At 502, a synchronization signal transmitted by a terminal device according to a CSI-RS configuration or activation message is received.

At 503, a TA value is determined based on the synchronization signal received in 502.

At 504, a TA adjustment message is sent to the terminal device, where the TA adjustment message carries the TA value determined in 503.

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to specific examples.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of an example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, at 601, a network side (e.g., eNB or RHH) sends a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to a UE, where the message may include an identifier of the CSI-RS, indicating that the UE uses the CSI-RS.

Specifically, the configuration message or the activation message of the CSI-RS is RRC (Radio resource Control) signaling, for example, sent to the UE through an RRC connection reconfiguration message, or MAC (Media Access Control) CE (Control Element) or physical layer signaling. In addition, the network may also send configuration information of the CSI-RS to the UE through an RRC message first, and then, the network further activates the CSI-RS by sending a MAC CE or a physical layer command to instruct the UE to use the CSI-RS. Likewise, the network may further deactivate certain CSI-RS configurations by sending MAC CE or physical layer commands. Here, the MAC CE or the physical layer signaling may explicitly include identification information of CSI-RS that needs to be activated, or may use a Bitmap to indicate whether the corresponding CSI-RS is activated or deactivated through each bit in the Bitmap. For example, an 8-bit Bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding 8 CSI-RSs are activated or deactivated. For example, when the corresponding bit is 1, it may indicate that the corresponding CSI-RS is activated. When a certain CSI-RS is activated, the UE may perform measurement and feedback of the CSI-RS, and the like. In addition, when the corresponding Bit is 0, it may indicate that the corresponding CSI-RS is deactivated, at which time the UE may stop measurement and feedback on the CSI-RS, and vice versa.

At 602, after receiving the CSI-RS configuration or activation message, the UE initiates an uplink synchronization process and sends a synchronization signal. At this time, the UE may randomly select a Preamble for transmission as the synchronization signal.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, in 602, after receiving a CSI-RS configuration or activation message, the UE determines a downlink timing offset value or a downlink path loss offset value measured on a configured or activated CSI-RS and a CSI-RS that has been configured and used currently, and when a difference between a downlink timing corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS and a downlink timing of a CSI-RS that has been used (or a difference between downlink path losses of the configured or activated CSI-RS and the downlink timing of the CSI-RS that has been configured and used is equal to a threshold value, the UE performs an uplink synchronization process (a random access process). Or, when there is a deviation between the downlink timing corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS and the downlink timing of the CSI-RS already in use (or there is a deviation between downlink path loss of both), the UE performs the uplink synchronization process, which is equivalent to the threshold value being 0.

At 603, the eNB or RRH calculates a TA value based on the received Preamble.

Since the UE sends the randomly selected Preamble at 602, the eNB calculates the TA value corresponding to the Preamble received by the eNB and the TA value corresponding to the Preamble forwarded by the RRH. Alternatively, the eNB and the RRH respectively calculate TA values corresponding to the preambles received by themselves, and then the eNB receives the TA values calculated and fed back by the RRH.

At 604, after obtaining the TA value associated with the configured or activated CSI-RS, the eNB sends a TA adjustment message to the UE to inform the UE of the TA value associated with the configured or activated CSI-RS. Here, the TA adjustment message may be carried by a random access response message.

Because the TA value is calculated and obtained through the Preamble randomly selected by the UE, if the eNB obtains more than one TA value in 603 based on the Preamble, the eNB sends the TA value obtained based on the randomly selected Preamble and the identifier of the CSI-RS associated with the TA value to the UE in the random access response message.

Alternatively, to further reduce the TA adjustment message size, instead of transmitting each TA value, the TA end value (maximum TA value and/or minimum TA value) may be transmitted when transmitting the TA value in the TA adjustment message. Specifically, a maximum TA value and a minimum TA value and an intermediate step value may be transmitted to the UE. And simultaneously, one Bitmap corresponding to each CSI-RS configuration in the network can be sent to the UE. Each bit in the Bitmap corresponds to one CSI-RS configuration. And then respectively indicating whether the TA value corresponding to the CSI-RS is contained in the TA adjusting message or not through the 0 and 1 symbols of the bit. Through the end values, the step length and the Bitmap indication information, the UE can sequentially acquire each TA value and the CSI-RS corresponding to each TA value. This may avoid sending the identity of each CSI-RS and each TA value to the UE, which may reduce the size of the TA adjustment message.

Alternatively, each TA value may be calculated by sending an initial maximum TA value (or minimum TA value) and decrementing (or accumulating) the step size. At this time, a minimum cut-off value (or a maximum cut-off value) needs to be defined, that is, when the UE calculates each TA value according to the initial TA value, if the calculated TA value is smaller than the minimum cut-off value (or larger than the maximum cut-off value), the TA value is stopped from being continuously calculated. Thus, also in conjunction with bitmap, the UE can know to which CSI-RS each calculated TA value corresponds.

Alternatively, the step/cut-off value mentioned in the above method may also be fixed in advance, for example, agreed in advance by the UE and the network side, without interacting with the step/cut-off value in the random access procedure. The size of the TA adjustment message can be further saved at this time.

Or, the TA values may be sequentially sent in the TA adjustment message according to the sequence number of the CSI-RS, and a Bitmap corresponding to each CSI-RS configuration may be sent to the UE at the same time. Each bit in the Bitmap corresponds to one CSI-RS configuration, and whether the TA value corresponding to the CSI-RS is contained in the TA adjusting message or not is indicated through the 0 and 1 symbols of the bit. Therefore, through each TA value and Bitmap indication information which are sequentially sent, the UE can sequentially acquire the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS.

At 605, after receiving the TA adjustment message (for example, carried by the random access response message), the UE determines the TA value corresponding to each configured or activated CSI-RS according to the TA value corresponding to each CSI-RS carried in the TA adjustment message and the CSI-RS configured or activated for the UE in 601.

If the UE determines that the configured or activated CSI-RS(s) fail to acquire the corresponding TA value from the TA adjustment message received in 604, the UE starts retransmission of the random access preamble to acquire the corresponding TA value again through the random access procedure.

At 606, the UE feeds back to the network the identification information of the CSI-RS that did not acquire the TA value in the TA adjustment message. Preferably, the UE sends a random access message 3 to the network, where the message carries an identifier of the UE and identifier information of a CSI-RS that does not acquire the TA value in the TA adjustment message.

At 607, the UE receives a contention resolution message, i.e., RACH message 4, sent by the network.

At 608, after obtaining the TA value corresponding to the configured CSI-RS, the UE may use multiple TA values for uplink data transmission.

Specifically, the UE may dynamically or semi-statically select a TA value corresponding to the CSI-RS with the best measurement result for uplink transmission. Specifically, the UE may select the TA value corresponding to the CSI-RS with the best measurement result for uplink transmission in the unit time of each scheduling or within a certain determined time.

Alternatively, the UE determines the TA value that can be used based on the indication information on the network side. The indication information may be an ID of the CSI-RS or an ID of the TA value. For example, when a PDCCH (physical downlink Control Channel) scheduling command is sent to the UE, the sent PDCCH carries a CSI-RS ID or a TA ID to instruct the UE to transmit uplink data using a corresponding TA value.

Alternatively, the UE may always perform uplink data transmission based on the TA value corresponding to the primary CSI-RS. Here, the primary CSI-RS may be determined by the network and then notified to the UE through RRC message, MAC CE, or physical layer signaling. It may also be that the UE determines itself based on the signal quality of the CSI-RS. In particular, the determination of the primary CSI-RS may be determined based on the coverage of the CSI-RS, e.g., selecting the CSI-RS covering the largest site transmission as the primary CSI-RS. Or the best CSI-RS based on the signal can be determined as the main CSI-RS. Of course, the CSI-RS may be determined in other manners, and these determination manners do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the UE may also detect the PDCCH channel to obtain the scheduling information sent by the network. After acquiring a scheduled Resource Block (Resource Block), the UE sequentially transmits on the scheduled rb (Resource Block) according to the size order of the TA values corresponding to the CSI-RS configurations.

Alternatively, the UE detects the PDCCH channel, acquires scheduling information sent by the network, and then transmits using TA values configured for different CSI-RSs with different antennas or different antenna ports. The UE may use different antennas or different antenna ports to simultaneously perform parallel uplink data transmission using TA values configured for different CSI-RSs, or perform serial uplink data transmission according to a certain timing sequence.

Further, at 609, the TA value may need to be adjusted frequently during data transmission with the network by the UE using multiple TA values. In order to definitely let the UE know to which CSI-RS the sent TA adjustment command should apply the TA value corresponding to, when performing TA adjustment, the TA adjustment message sent by the network needs to include a corresponding "CSI-RS ID" (CSI-RS ID), CSI-RS port number, or CSI-RS group ID, or "TA ID" (TA ID) to instruct the UE to adjust the corresponding TA value.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example of fig. 6, a randomly selected preamble is used as the synchronization signal. The example of fig. 7 uses a dedicated preamble as the synchronization signal.

701 the network side (e.g. eNB or RHH) sends a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to the UE, similar to 601 of fig. 6. The difference is that the CSI-RS configuration or activation message sent in 701 includes a dedicated Preamble allocated for the UE.

At 702, the UE initiates an uplink synchronization process after receiving a CSI-RS configuration or activation message. At this time, the UE will transmit the dedicated Preamble. At this time, a downlink timing deviation value or a downlink path loss deviation value of the configured or activated CSI-RS and the currently used CSI-RS may be determined first, and an uplink synchronization process may be initiated according to the determination result.

At 703, the eNB or RRH calculates a TA value based on the received Preamble. The method for the eNB or the RRH to calculate the TA value based on the special Preamble is as follows:

if the special Preamble is allocated for the UE along with the configuration or activation of the CSI-RS of the eNB, the eNB calculates a TA value through a Preamble signal received by the eNB;

if the dedicated Preamble is allocated for the UE along with the configuration or activation of the CSI-RS of the RRH, the eNB calculates the TA value according to the Preamble received at the RRH (i.e. the Preamble forwarded by the RRH to the eNB), or the RRH calculates the TA value after receiving the dedicated Preamble, and then transmits the TA value to the eNB.

At 704, after acquiring the TA value associated with the configured or activated CSI-RS, the eNB sends a TA adjustment message to the UE to inform the UE of the TA value associated with the configured or activated CSI-RS. Here, the TA adjustment message may be carried by a random access response message.

Since the TA value is obtained through the dedicated Preamble, the eNB sends the TA value associated with the CSI-RS configured or activated in 701 to the UE in a random access response message. When there is more than one CSI-RS configured or activated in 701, in order to assist the UE to distinguish TA values corresponding to different CSI-RSs, the random access response message should indicate an identifier of the CSI-RS configuration, a CSI-RS group identifier, or a TA identifier corresponding to each TA value, respectively. Alternatively, the eNB may also send the TA values to the UE after sorting according to the size of the identifier of the CSI-RS configured or activated in 701.

Alternatively, as described above with reference to 604, the TA adjustment message of 704 may also carry a TA end value, or a TA end value and a step value, or a TA end value and a cutoff value, to save the message size.

705-706 are the same as 605-606 of FIG. 6, respectively. Since the UE sends a dedicated preamble in 702, contention resolution is not required in the embodiment of fig. 7, i.e. RACH message 4 is not required.

707, the UE performs uplink data transmission using the TA value, as in 608 of fig. 6.

The synchronization signal of the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the preamble. Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example of fig. 8, a sounding Reference signal srs (sounding Reference signal) is used as the synchronization signal.

At 801, the network sends a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to the UE, which may contain an identification of the CSI-RS, instructing the UE to use the CSI-RS. The CSI-RS configuration or activation message may further include configuration information of an SRS that the UE needs to transmit. The SRS configuration information can be at least one of time-frequency position information of SRS transmitted, configured for the UE, or an SRS sequence, or an identifier of the SRS. Here, the SRS sequence or SRS identifier may be associated with the configured/activated CSI-RS.

The description of other related CSI-RS configuration or activation messages is the same as that of 601 and will not be repeated here.

At 802, the UE sends a sounding reference signal, SRS, to the network after receiving the CSI-RS configuration or activation message. The SRS reference signal transmitted by the UE may be an SRS preconfigured by the system for the UE, or an SRS reference signal configured for the UE in a CSI-RS configuration or activation message in 801.

At this time, a downlink timing deviation value or a downlink path loss deviation value of the configured or activated CSI-RS and the currently used CSI-RS may be determined first, and an uplink synchronization process may be initiated according to the determination result.

At 803, the eNB or RRH calculates a TA value based on the received SRS reference signal. Specifically, the method of calculating the TA value is similar to the dedicated preamble-based calculation method in 703, and is not repeated here.

At 804, after calculating and acquiring the TA value associated with the configured or activated CSI-RS, the eNB sends a TA adjustment message to the UE to notify the UE of the TA value associated with the configured or activated CSI-RS. Specifically, the information carried in the TA adjustment message is similar to the case where the preamble is a dedicated preamble in 704.

At 805, after receiving the TA adjustment message, the UE determines TA values corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RSs according to the TA values corresponding to the CSI-RSs carried in the TA adjustment message and the CSI-RSs configured or activated for the UE in 801.

Similar to 605 described above, if the UE determines that the configured or activated CSI-RS fails to successfully acquire the corresponding TA value from the received TA adjustment message, the UE initiates retransmission of the SRS signal to acquire the corresponding TA value again through the uplink synchronization process.

Therefore, the terminal sends the synchronizing signal to the network side according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message of the network side, the network side calculates the corresponding TA value according to the synchronizing signal and then returns the TA value to the terminal, and the terminal can know the corresponding relation between the TA value and the CSI-RS, so that the accuracy of uplink timing is improved, and uplink synchronization is realized.

Examples of maintaining and using multiple TA values are described above. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited in this regard and one TA value (final TA value) may be maintained and used. Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

901 as in 601 of fig. 6, the network sends a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to the UE, which may contain an identifier of the CSI-RS, indicating that the UE uses the CSI-RS.

At 902, after receiving the CSI-RS configuration or activation message, the UE performs an uplink synchronization procedure (random access procedure) and sends a synchronization signal to obtain a new TA value. At this time, the UE may randomly select a Preamble for transmission, or send an SRS signal preconfigured by the network, or if the CSI-RS configuration message or the activation message includes information of a dedicated Preamble or SRS signal, the UE transmits the dedicated Preamble or SRS signal.

At 903, the eNB or RRH calculates a TA value based on the received synchronization signal.

Specifically, if the synchronization signal transmitted by the UE is a dedicated preamble or SRS signal, the method for the eNB or RRH to calculate the TA value based on the dedicated preamble or SRS signal is as follows:

the eNB calculates a final TA value according to the synchronization signal received by the RRH (or the RRH and the eNB) corresponding to each configured/activated CSI-RS. For example, the eNB may calculate TA values corresponding to the synchronization signals on the RRHs corresponding to the CSI-RSs, and then average the TA values to obtain a final TA value, for example:

wherein N is the number of TA corresponding to the CSI-RS currently configured or activated by the UE, TA_iFor each corresponding TA value.

Or, the eNB may also assign different weight values to different TA values, and then perform weighted averaging to calculate a final TA value. For example

Wherein N is the number of TA corresponding to the CSI-RS currently configured or activated by the UE, TA_iFor each corresponding TA value. Alpha is alpha_iLess than or equal to 1, and is the weight value corresponding to each TA value, and

if the UE sends the Preamble which is randomly selected, the eNB calculates the TA value corresponding to the Preamble received by the eNB and the TA value corresponding to the Preamble forwarded by the RRH. Or the eNB calculates the TA value corresponding to the Preamble received by the eNB and receives the TA value corresponding to the Preamble calculated and fed back by the RRH. The eNB may then calculate an average or weighted average of the respective TA values as a final TA value in the manner described above.

At 904, after obtaining a TA value (final TA value) associated with the configured or activated CSI-RS, the eNB sends a TA adjustment message to the UE. The TA adjustment message may be carried by a random access response message when the UE transmits a preamble. The eNB sends the final TA value to the UE in a TA adjustment message.

At 905, after receiving the TA adjustment message, the UE finds that the TA adjustment message carries the final TA value determined by the eNB, and then uses the final TA value in the subsequent uplink output transmission process.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another example of an uplink synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention. In fig. 10, the same or similar processes as those of fig. 9 use the same or similar reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof are appropriately omitted.

901-902 of fig. 10 is the same as 901-902 of fig. 9, and the description is not repeated.

At 903a, the eNB calculates a TA value (possibly multiple TA values) in a similar way as described above for 603, 703 or 803.

At 904a, similar to 604, 704 or 804, the eNB sends a TA adjustment message to the UE to inform the UE of the configured or activated CSI-RS associated TA value. Here, the TA adjustment message may be carried by a random access response message.

At 905a, after receiving the TA adjustment message (e.g., carried by the random access response message), the UE calculates a final TA value as follows:

the UE determines the TA values corresponding to all the configured or activated CSI-RSs, and then calculates and acquires one finally used TA value (final TA value) based on the TA values corresponding to the CSI-RSs. Specifically, the UE may average the TA values corresponding to the CSI-RSs to obtain a final TA value, that is, the final TA value

Or, the UE may also assign different weight values to different TA values, and then perform weighted averaging to calculate a final TA value. For example

in this way, the UE determines the final TA value and can directly use the final TA value in the subsequent uplink output transmission process.

The embodiment of the invention can also be used for the UE to autonomously determine the TA value. Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a timing advance TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method of fig. 11 is performed by a terminal device (e.g., a UE).

And 1101, receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of the network side equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating the CSI-RS.

And 1102, determining the TA value of the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the downlink timing difference between the currently used CSI-RS and the configured or activated CSI-RS and the TA value of the currently used CSI-RS.

Therefore, the embodiment of the invention can autonomously determine the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CRI-RS by the terminal.

The currently used CRI-RS is one that has been configured/activated in a previous procedure. In the embodiment of the invention, the terminal can calculate the TA value of the configured/activated CRI-RS according to the timing information of the currently configured/activated CRI-RS.

For example, if the downlink timing of the configured/activated CSI-RS is taken as a reference, the calculation formula of the uplink timing value of the configured/activated CSI-RS is: TA 2' ═ TA1+ Δ, where Δ is the downlink timing difference.

If the downlink timing of the configured/activated CSI-RS is taken as a reference, a calculation formula of the uplink timing value of the configured/activated CSI-RS is as follows: TA2 ═ TA1+2 Δ, where Δ is the downlink timing difference. Where TA1 is the uplink timing for CSI-RS that has been configured/activated.

After obtaining the uplink timing value corresponding to the configured/activated CSI-RS, the UE can use the TA value to send uplink data to the network.

Or, before performing uplink data transmission, the UE firstly transmits an SRS signal to the network by using the calculated TA value corresponding to each CSI-RS and a certain initial power, and after receiving the SRS signal transmitted by the UE, the network feeds back a TA adjustment message to the UE. The TA adjustment message is sent as in the previous embodiment and will not be repeated here. And after receiving the TA adjusting message, the UE uses the TA value corresponding to the CSI-RS indicated in the TA adjusting message to execute the transmission of the uplink data.

Specifically, the certain initial power P for transmitting SRS_SRSThe following method can be used for calculation:

P_SRS＝P₀+α·PL

wherein, P₀For a system-specific power parameter, the P₀May be site-specific, i.e. each CSI-RS may correspond to a different P, respectively₀The term "CSI-RS" refers to the expected received power at the station corresponding to each CSI-RS. PL is a path loss value measured by the UE aiming at the configured or activated CSI-RS, alpha is a parameter configured by the network for the UE, the value of the parameter is less than or equal to 1, and different CSI-RSs (or sites corresponding to different CSI-RSs) can correspond to different alpha values.

In addition, the embodiment of the invention can indicate whether the terminal needs to execute uplink synchronization or not through the indication information. Fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a timing advance TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method of fig. 12 is performed by a terminal device (e.g., a UE).

And 1201, receiving a CSI-RS configuration or activation message of the network side device, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS and comprises indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal device needs to execute uplink synchronization.

And 1202, acquiring a TA value according to the indication information.

Therefore, the terminal can determine whether uplink synchronization needs to be executed according to the indication of the network side, and acquire corresponding TA values according to different modes.

Fig. 13 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a timing advance TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method of fig. 13 is performed by a network side device (e.g., an eNB or RRH) and corresponds to the method of fig. 12.

1301, generating a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS and comprises indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment needs to execute uplink synchronization;

and 1302, sending a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to the terminal equipment to indicate the TA value to the terminal equipment through the indication information.

According to the indication of the indication information, the terminal can acquire the TA value in various ways. For example, when the indication information indicates that uplink synchronization does not need to be performed, the network side may carry a new TA value in the CSI-RS configuration or activation message, and the UE performs uplink data transmission according to the TA value carried in the message. The new TA value may be calculated and obtained by the eNB based on the SRS signal transmitted by the UE or the uplink data transmitted by the UE. Alternatively, the UE may calculate the TA value itself, for example, according to the method shown in fig. 11. Alternatively, the UE may acquire the TA value in other manners, such as a CSI-RS group manner described below.

On the other hand, when the indication information indicates that uplink synchronization needs to be performed, the terminal may initiate uplink synchronization to acquire the TA value in a manner described in fig. 4, fig. 6 to fig. 10, and the like. For example, the UE may send a random access preamble as a synchronization signal to the network side device, so that the network side device calculates a TA value according to the preamble signal, and then the UE receives the TA value calculated by the network side device. Or, the UE sends the sounding reference signal or the uplink data to the network side device, so that the network side device calculates the TA value according to the sounding reference signal or the uplink data, and receives the TA value calculated by the network side device.

It is contemplated that if one station can transmit multiple CSI-RSs, the CSI-RSs may be grouped, i.e., multiple CSI-RSs that may share the same timing advance TA value may be grouped into one group. Generally, multiple CSI-RSs belonging to one CSI-RS group are configured for use by one station. This can further improve the efficiency of acquiring the TA value.

Fig. 14 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a timing advance TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method of fig. 14 is performed by a terminal device (e.g., a UE).

1401, receiving a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, configuration or activation message of a network side device, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS.

1402, determining to execute uplink synchronization to obtain a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS, or determining a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS, wherein a CSI-RS group refers to a set of one or more CSI-RS sharing the same TA value.

For example, when the configured or activated CSI-RS and a currently used CSI-RS belong to the same CSI-RS group, the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS is determined to be the TA value of the CSI-RS group. Or when the configured or activated CSI-RS and the current CSI-RS do not belong to the same CSI-RS group, determining to execute uplink synchronization to acquire a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS. At this time, the terminal may initiate uplink synchronization to acquire the TA value in a manner described in fig. 4, fig. 6 to fig. 10, and the like. Similar to the manner of acquiring uplink synchronization described in the foregoing fig. 4, fig. 6 to fig. 10, and the like, in this embodiment, in order to further reduce the size of the TA adjustment message, when the TA value is sent in the TA adjustment message, not every TA value may be sent, but a TA end value (a maximum TA value and/or a minimum TA value) is sent. Specifically, a maximum TA value and a minimum TA value and an intermediate step value may be transmitted to the UE. And simultaneously, transmitting a Bitmap corresponding to each CSI-RS group or each CSI-RS to the UE. Each bit in the Bitmap corresponds to a CSI-RS group or a CSI-RS respectively. And then respectively indicating whether the TA value corresponding to the CSI-RS group or the CSI-RS is contained in the TA adjusting message or not through the 0 and 1 symbols of the bit. Through the end values, the step length and the Bitmap indication information, the UE can sequentially acquire each TA value and the CSI-RS or the CSI-RS group corresponding to each TA value. This may avoid sending the identity of each CSI-RS and each TA value to the UE, or sending the identity of each CSI-RS group and each TA value to the UE, which may reduce the size of the TA adjustment message.

Therefore, by means of the CSI-RS group sharing the same TA value, the UE can determine the TA value without performing uplink synchronization every time, signaling resources are saved, and system efficiency is improved.

The UE may acquire the group information of the CSI-RS in various ways. One way is for the UE to determine the group of CSI-RSs itself. For example, the UE may determine the CSI-RS group according to a deviation of downlink timing between downlink timing of the configured/activated CSI-RS and one or more currently configured/activated CSI-RS based on the message for configuring or activating the CSI-RS received in 1401. Specifically, when the UE measures that a timing deviation between the downlink timing of the configured/activated CSI-RS and the downlink timing of the currently configured/activated one or more CSI-RSs exceeds a preset threshold, the UE determines that the configured/activated CSI-RS and the currently configured/activated one or more CSI-RSs do not belong to the same CSI-RS group. Otherwise, when the downlink timing difference is smaller than a preset threshold, the UE determines that the configured/activated CSI-RS and one or more currently configured/activated CSI-RSs belong to the same CSI-RS group.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the UE may also know the group information of the CSI-RS from the network side. Fig. 15 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of determining a timing advance TA value according to another embodiment of the present invention. The method of fig. 15 is performed by a network side device (e.g., an eNB or RRH).

1501, information of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) group is sent to the terminal equipment, and the CSI-RS group refers to a set formed by one or more CSI-RSs sharing the same TA value.

1502, sending a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to the terminal device, the CSI-RS configuration or activation message being used for configuring or activating the CSI-RS, so that the terminal device determines a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information.

The group information may be carried by the eNB through broadcast system messages, dedicated signaling, or cell handover commands. For example, the eNB groups different CSI-RSs according to the sharing of a TA value, divides the CSI-RSs that can share a TA into a group, and then broadcasts the group information of the CSI-RSs to the UE in a system message broadcasting manner.

Alternatively, the eNB may also notify the UE already in a connected state of the grouping information of the CSI-RS using dedicated signaling. The eNB may send the information of the CSI-RS group to the UE by using dedicated signaling after the UE initially establishes the RRC connection. When cell handover is performed, group information of the CSI-RS may be transmitted to the UE through a handover command.

The various ways of sending the group information by the network side may be replaced by each other, or may be used simultaneously.

Fig. 16 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device 160 of fig. 16 includes a receiving unit 161, a transmitting unit 162, and a determining unit 163.

The receiving unit 161 is configured to receive a CSI-RS configuration or activation message of a network side device, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS.

The sending unit 162 is configured to send a synchronization signal to the network side device according to the CSI-RS configuration or the activation message.

The receiving unit 161 is further configured to receive a TA adjustment message sent by the network side device, where the TA adjustment message carries a TA value determined by the network side device based on the synchronization signal.

The determining unit 163 is configured to determine a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the TA value carried in the TA adjustment message.

The receiving unit 161 and the transmitting unit 162 may be interfaces and may be combined into one unit. The determining unit 163 may be a processor.

An example of the terminal device 160 is the UE described above, and may perform various processes related to the terminal in the methods described in fig. 4 to 10, which are not described in detail to avoid repetition. For example, the transmitting unit 162 may transmit a dedicated preamble or SRS signal configured by the network side device, or transmit a randomly selected preamble as the synchronization signal. The TA adjustment message received by the receiving unit 161 may include at least one of a CSI-RS identity, a CSI-RS port number, a CSI-RS group identity, and a TA identity.

Fig. 17 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device 170 of fig. 17 includes a receiving unit 171 and an acquisition unit 172.

The receiving unit 171 is configured to receive a CSI-RS configuration or activation message of a network side device, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS and includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate whether a terminal device needs to perform uplink synchronization.

The obtaining unit 172 is configured to obtain a TA value according to the indication information.

The receiving unit 171 may be an interface. The obtaining unit 172 may be a processor.

An example of the terminal device 170 is the UE described above, and may perform various processes related to the terminal in the method described in fig. 12, which are not described in detail to avoid repetition.

For example, when the indication information indicates that uplink synchronization does not need to be performed, obtaining unit 172 obtains a TA value carried in the CSI-RS configuration or activation message.

On the other hand, when the indication information indicates that uplink synchronization needs to be performed, the obtaining unit 172 of the terminal 170 may initiate uplink synchronization to obtain the TA value in a manner described in fig. 4, fig. 6 to fig. 10, and the like. For example, the UE may send a random access preamble as a synchronization signal to the network side device, so that the network side device calculates a TA value according to the preamble signal, and then the UE receives the TA value calculated by the network side device. Or, the UE sends the sounding reference signal or the uplink data to the network side device, so that the network side device calculates the TA value according to the sounding reference signal or the uplink data, and receives the TA value calculated by the network side device.

Fig. 18 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device 180 of fig. 18 includes a receiving unit 181 and a determining unit 182.

The receiving unit 181 is configured to receive a CSI-RS configuration or activation message of a network side device, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS.

The determining unit 182 is configured to determine a TA value of the configured or activated CSI-RS according to a downlink timing difference between the currently used CSI-RS and the configured or activated CSI-RS and the TA value of the currently used CSI-RS.

The receiving unit 181 may be an interface. The determination unit 182 may be a processor.

An example of the terminal device 180 is the UE described above, and may perform various processes related to the terminal in the method described in fig. 11, which are not described in detail to avoid repetition.

If the downlink timing of the configured/activated CSI-RS is taken as a reference, a calculation formula of the uplink timing value of the configured/activated CSI-RS is as follows: TA2 ═ TA1+2 Δ, where Δ is the downlink timing difference.

Fig. 19 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device 190 of fig. 19 includes a receiving unit 191 and a determining unit 192.

The receiving unit 191 is configured to receive a CSI-RS configuration or activation message of a network side device, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS.

The determining unit 192 is configured to determine to perform uplink synchronization to acquire a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS, or determine a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS, where a CSI-RS group refers to a set formed by one or more CSI-RS sharing the same TA value.

The receiving unit 191 may be an interface. The determination unit 192 may be a processor.

An example of the terminal device 190 is the UE described above, and may perform various processes related to the terminal in the method described in fig. 14, which are not described in detail to avoid repetition.

For example, when the configured or activated CSI-RS belongs to the same CSI-RS group as one currently used CSI-RS, the determining unit 192 determines the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS as the TA value of the CSI-RS group. Alternatively, when the configured or activated CSI-RS and the currently used CSI-RS do not belong to the same CSI-RS group, the determining unit 192 determines to perform uplink synchronization to acquire a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS. At this time, the determining unit 192 may initiate uplink synchronization to acquire the TA value in a manner described in fig. 4, fig. 6 to fig. 10, and the like.

Fig. 20 is a schematic block diagram of a network side device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The network-side device 200 of fig. 20 includes a transmitting unit 201, a receiving unit 202, and a determining unit 203.

The sending unit 201 is configured to send a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to the terminal device, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS;

the receiving unit 202 is configured to receive a synchronization signal sent by the terminal device according to the CSI-RS configuration or the activation message.

The determining unit 203 is configured to determine a TA value based on the synchronization signal.

The sending unit 201 is further configured to send a TA adjustment message to the terminal device, where the TA adjustment message carries the determined TA value.

The receiving unit 202 and the transmitting unit 201 may be interfaces and may be combined into one unit. The determination unit 203 may be a processor.

The network side device 200, which is an example of the eNB or RRH described above, may perform various processes related to the network side in fig. 5-10, and is not described in detail to avoid repetition.

Fig. 21 is a schematic block diagram of a network-side device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The network-side device 210 of fig. 21 includes a generating unit 211 and a transmitting unit 212.

The generating unit 211 is configured to generate a CSI-RS configuration or activation message, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS and includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal device needs to perform uplink synchronization.

The sending unit 212 is configured to send the indication information to the terminal device, so as to indicate the TA value to the terminal device through the indication information.

The transmitting unit 212 may be an interface. The generating unit 211 may be a processor.

The network device 210 is, for example, the eNB or RRH, and may perform various processes related to the network in fig. 13, and is not described in detail to avoid redundancy.

Fig. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a network-side device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The network-side device 220 of fig. 22 includes a transmission unit 221.

The sending unit 221 is configured to send information of a CSI-RS group to the terminal device, where the CSI-RS group is a set formed by one or more CSI-RSs sharing the same TA value.

The sending unit 221 is further configured to send a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to the terminal device, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate the CSI-RS, so that the terminal device determines a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information.

The transmitting unit 221 may be an interface.

The network side device 220 is, for example, the eNB or RRH, and may perform various processes related to the network side in fig. 15, and is not described in detail to avoid redundancy.

The communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention may include the terminal device or the network side device.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements and algorithm steps of the examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both, and that the components and steps of the examples have been described in a functional general in the foregoing description for the purpose of illustrating clearly the interchangeability of hardware and software. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, value, comprising:

receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS;

sending a synchronization signal to the network side equipment according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message;

receiving a TA (timing advance) adjustment message sent by the network side equipment, wherein the TA adjustment message carries a TA value determined by the network side equipment based on the synchronization signal;

and determining a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the TA value carried in the TA adjusting message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is radio resource control, RRC, signaling, medium access control, control element, MAC, CE, or physical layer signaling.

3. The method of claim 1,

the sending the synchronization signal to the network side device includes:

transmitting a dedicated preamble or a sounding reference signal configured by the network side device as the synchronization signal, or,

transmitting a randomly selected preamble as the synchronization signal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving the TA adjustment message sent by the network side device comprises:

receiving the TA adjustment message, where the TA adjustment message carries the TA value determined by the network side device and a CSI-RS identifier, a CSI-RS port number, a TA identifier, or a CSI-RS group identifier corresponding to the determined TA value, or,

receiving the TA adjustment message, where the TA adjustment message carries a plurality of TA values arranged according to an order corresponding to a plurality of configured or activated CRI-RSs, or,

and receiving the TA adjusting message, wherein the TA adjusting message carries a TA end value used for calculating the TA value, or the TA end value and the step value used for calculating the TA value, or the TA end value and the cut-off value used for calculating the TA value.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

the TA adjustment message comprises bitmap indication, each indication bit of the bitmap corresponds to one CSI-RS or CSI-RS group respectively, and each indication bit is used for indicating whether the TA adjustment message comprises a TA value of the CSI-RS or the CSI-RS group corresponding to each indication bit.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a corresponding TA value of the CSI-RS with the best measurement result to perform uplink data transmission; or,

receiving indication information sent by network side equipment, wherein the indication information is used for specifying a TA (timing advance) value used in uplink data transmission and carrying out the uplink data transmission by using the TA value specified by the indication information; or,

performing uplink data transmission based on the corresponding TA value of the main CSI-RS; or,

detecting a PDCCH (physical downlink control channel) to obtain a plurality of scheduled resource blocks, and sequentially carrying out uplink data transmission on the plurality of scheduled resource blocks according to the size sequence of the TA (timing advance) values; or,

and performing uplink data transmission by using the TA values corresponding to different CSI-RSs through different antennas or different antenna ports.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the indication information comprises at least one of a CSI-RS identity, a CSI-RS port number, a CSI-RS group identity, a TA identity.

8. The method of claim 1,

receiving the TA adjustment message sent by the network side device includes: receiving the TA adjusting message, wherein the TA adjusting message carries a final TA value determined by the network side equipment,

determining a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the TA adjustment message comprises: determining the final TA value as a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS.

9. The method of claim 1,

receiving the TA adjustment message sent by the network side device includes: receiving the TA adjusting message, wherein the TA adjusting message carries a plurality of TA values determined by the network side equipment,

determining a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the TA adjustment message comprises: and obtaining a final TA value according to the plurality of TA values, and determining the final TA value as the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein obtaining a final TA value from the plurality of TA values comprises:

calculating an average or weighted average of the plurality of TA values, the average or weighted average being the final TA value.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting a synchronization signal to the network side device according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message comprises:

determining a downlink timing deviation value or a downlink path loss deviation value of the configured or activated CSI-RS and the currently used CSI-RS;

and when the downlink timing deviation value or the downlink path loss deviation value is larger than a preset threshold value, sending a synchronous signal to the network side equipment.

12. The method according to one of claims 1 to 11, wherein receiving a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, configuration or activation message of a network side device comprises:

receiving the CSI-RS configuration or activation message, the CSI-RS configuration or activation message further used for deactivating other CSI-RSs.

13. The method of any of claims 1 to 11, further comprising: when the TA value of at least one configured or activated CSI-RS is not successfully acquired, starting retransmission of the synchronization signal to acquire the unsuccessfully acquired TA value.

14. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, value, comprising:

sending a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message to terminal equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS;

receiving a synchronization signal sent by the terminal equipment according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message;

determining a TA value based on the synchronization signal;

and sending a TA (timing advance) adjusting message to the terminal equipment, wherein the TA adjusting message carries the determined TA value.

15. The method of claim 14,

the sending of the channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, configuration or activation message to the terminal device comprises: transmitting the CSI-RS configuration or activation message further including information of a sounding reference signal or a dedicated preamble configured for the terminal device,

receiving the synchronization signal sent by the terminal device according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message includes: and receiving the special preamble or the sounding reference signal sent by the terminal equipment.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein sending a TA adjustment message to the terminal device comprises:

sending the TA adjustment message, wherein the TA adjustment message carries a TA value determined by the network side equipment and a CSI-RS identifier, a CSI-RS port number, a TA identifier or a CSI-RS group identifier corresponding to the determined TA value, or,

and sending the TA adjusting message, wherein the TA adjusting message carries TA values which are arranged according to the sequence corresponding to the plurality of the CRI-RSs which are configured or activated.

17. The method according to one of claims 14 to 16, wherein receiving the synchronization signal transmitted by the terminal device according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message comprises:

and receiving the randomly selected lead code sent by the terminal equipment.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein sending a TA adjustment message to the terminal device comprises:

sending the TA adjustment message, wherein the TA adjustment carries the TA value determined by the network side equipment and the CSI-RS identification, the CSI-RS port number, the TA identification or the CSI-RS group identification corresponding to the determined TA value, or,

and sending the TA adjusting message, wherein the TA adjusting message carries a TA end value used for calculating the TA value, or the TA end value and the step value used for calculating the TA value, or the TA end value and the cut-off value used for calculating the TA value.

19. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, value, comprising:

receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS and comprises indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating whether terminal equipment needs to execute uplink synchronization or not;

and obtaining a TA value according to the indication information.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein obtaining a TA value according to the indication information comprises: when the indication information indicates that uplink synchronization does not need to be performed,

and acquiring the TA value carried in the CSI-RS configuration or activation message.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein obtaining a TA value according to the indication information comprises: when the indication information indicates that uplink synchronization needs to be performed,

sending a random access lead code to network side equipment, and receiving a TA value calculated by the network side equipment according to the lead code; or,

and sending a sounding reference signal or uplink data to the network side equipment, and receiving a TA (timing advance) value calculated by the network side equipment according to the sounding reference signal or the uplink data.

22. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, value, comprising:

generating a CSI-RS configuration or activation message, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS and comprises indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating whether terminal equipment needs to execute uplink synchronization;

and sending the CSI-RS configuration or activation message to a terminal device so as to indicate a TA value to the terminal device through the indication information.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the TA value is carried in the CSI-RS configuration or activation message when the indication information indicates that uplink synchronization does not need to be performed, or wherein the TA value is carried in the CSI-RS configuration or activation message,

when the indication information indicates that uplink synchronization needs to be executed, the method further includes: and receiving a random access preamble, a sounding reference signal or uplink data sent by the terminal equipment, and calculating the TA value according to the random access preamble, the sounding reference signal or the uplink data.

24. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, value, comprising:

and determining the TA value of the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the downlink timing difference between the currently used CSI-RS and the configured or activated CSI-RS and the TA value of the currently used CSI-RS.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein determining the TA value of the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the downlink timing difference between the currently used CSI-RS and the configured or activated CSI-RS and the TA value of the currently used CSI-RS comprises:

if the configured or activated CSI-RS downlink timing is taken as a reference, the configured or activated CSI-RS TA value is the current used CSI-RS TA value plus twice the downlink timing difference, or;

and if the downlink timing of the currently used CSI-RS is taken as a reference, the TA value of the configured or activated CSI-RS is the TA value of the currently used CSI-RS plus the downlink timing difference.

26. The method of claim 24 or 25, further comprising:

sending a sounding reference signal to network side equipment by using the configured or activated TA value and the initial power of the CSI-RS;

and receiving a TA (timing advance) adjustment message fed back by the network side equipment to the sounding reference signal, wherein the TA adjustment message carries a TA value calculated by the network side equipment according to the sounding reference signal.

27. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, value, comprising:

determining to perform uplink synchronization to acquire a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS, or determining a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS,

wherein the CSI-RS group refers to a set of one or more CSI-RSs sharing the same TA value.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

receiving the group information of the CSI-RS sent by a network side device, or,

and determining the group information of the CSI-RS according to the timing deviation between the configured or activated CSI-RS and the currently used CSI-RS.

29. The method of claim 27 or 28, wherein determining to perform uplink synchronization to acquire the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of CSI-RS, or wherein determining the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of CSI-RS comprises:

when the configured or activated CSI-RS and a currently used CSI-RS belong to the same CSI-RS group, determining the TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS as the TA value of the CSI-RS group, or,

and when the configured or activated CSI-RS and the current CSI-RS do not belong to the same CSI-RS group, determining to execute uplink synchronization so as to acquire a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein receiving group information of CSI-RSs sent by a network side device comprises:

and receiving the group information carried by the network side equipment through a broadcast message, a special signaling or a cell switching command.

31. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, value, comprising:

sending information of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) group to terminal equipment, wherein the CSI-RS group refers to a set formed by one or more CSI-RSs sharing the same TA value;

and sending a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to a terminal device, wherein the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS, so that the terminal device determines a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein sending information of a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, group to a terminal device comprises:

and sending the group information carried by a broadcast system message, dedicated signaling or a cell switching command.

33. A terminal device, comprising:

the terminal comprises a receiving unit, a sending unit and a receiving unit, wherein the receiving unit is used for receiving a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message of network side equipment, and the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating a CSI-RS;

a sending unit, configured to send a synchronization signal to the network side device according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a TA adjustment message sent by the network side device, where the TA adjustment message carries a TA value determined by the network side device based on the synchronization signal;

a determining unit, configured to determine a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the TA value carried in the TA adjustment message.

34. The terminal device according to claim 33, wherein the transmitting unit transmits a dedicated preamble or a sounding reference signal configured by the network side device as the synchronization signal, or transmits a randomly selected preamble as the synchronization signal.

35. A terminal device, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a CSI-RS configuration or activation message of a network side device, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS and includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate whether a terminal device needs to perform uplink synchronization;

and the acquisition unit is used for acquiring the TA value according to the indication information.

36. The terminal device of claim 35, wherein the obtaining unit obtains the TA value carried in the CSI-RS configuration or activation message when the indication information indicates that uplink synchronization does not need to be performed.

37. A terminal device, comprising:

and the determining unit is used for determining the TA value of the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the downlink timing difference between the currently used CSI-RS and the configured or activated CSI-RS and the TA value of the currently used CSI-RS.

38. A terminal device, comprising:

a determining unit, configured to determine to perform uplink synchronization to acquire a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS, or determine a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information of the CSI-RS,

39. A network-side device, comprising:

the terminal equipment comprises a sending unit, a receiving unit and a sending unit, wherein the sending unit is used for sending a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration or activation message to the terminal equipment, and the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used for configuring or activating the CSI-RS;

a receiving unit, configured to receive a synchronization signal sent by the terminal device according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message;

a determining unit for determining a TA value based on the synchronization signal;

the sending unit is further configured to send a TA adjustment message to the terminal device, where the TA adjustment message carries the determined TA value.

40. A network-side device, comprising:

a generating unit, configured to generate a CSI-RS configuration or activation message, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS and includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate whether a terminal device needs to perform uplink synchronization;

and the sending unit is used for sending the indication information to the terminal equipment so as to indicate the TA value to the terminal equipment through the indication information.

41. A network-side device, comprising:

the terminal equipment comprises a sending unit and a receiving unit, wherein the sending unit is used for sending information of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) group to the terminal equipment, and the CSI-RS group refers to a set formed by one or more CSI-RSs sharing the same TA value;

the sending unit is further configured to send a CSI-RS configuration or activation message to a terminal device, where the CSI-RS configuration or activation message is used to configure or activate a CSI-RS, so that the terminal device determines a TA value corresponding to the configured or activated CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS configuration or activation message and the group information.

42. A communication system, comprising:

the terminal device of any one of claims 33-36; or,

the network side device according to any of claims 37-41.