CN111817798B

CN111817798B - Channel measurement method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN111817798B
Application number: CN201910287572.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄宗浩; 庞继勇
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-04-11
Filing date: 2019-04-11
Publication date: 2022-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 2039-04-11
Also published as: WO2020207369A1; CN111817798A

Abstract

The application provides a channel measurement method and a communication device. The method comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment receives first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating a first granularity corresponding to a precoding vector. The precoding reference signal transmitted on the resource to be measured is a precoding reference signal of the same port, and the precoding reference signal transmitted on the resource to be measured is obtained by precoding the reference signal by one or more precoding vectors. The plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured comprise a plurality of frequency domain units corresponding to the first granularity, and the precoding reference signals transmitted on the same frequency domain unit correspond to the same precoding vector; and the terminal equipment performs channel measurement based on the precoding reference signal received on the resource to be measured and sends CSI based on the result of the channel measurement. The network device may perform precoding for the reference signal of the same port by using different precoding vectors to adapt to the frequency selection characteristic of the channel. Thereby facilitating accurate CSI feedback.

Description

Channel measurement method and communication device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a channel measurement method and a communication apparatus.

Background

In a Massive multiple-input multiple-output (Massive MIMO) technology, a network device may reduce interference between multiple users and interference between multiple signal streams of the same user through a precoding technique. Therefore, the signal quality is improved, space division multiplexing is realized, and the frequency spectrum utilization rate is improved.

Currently, a channel measurement method is known. The terminal device may perform channel measurement according to the received reference signal, for example, and determine a precoding vector to be fed back. The reference signal received by the terminal device may be a precoded reference signal, and may be referred to as a beamforming (precoded) reference signal or a precoded reference signal. However, due to the frequency selection characteristic of the channel, the network device uses the same precoding vector to precode the downlink reference signal on the broadband, and the obtained feedback of the terminal device to the Channel State Information (CSI) may not necessarily reflect the most true channel state. And thus may result in a degradation of data transmission performance of the communication system.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a channel measurement method and a communication device, which are used for obtaining accurate feedback of a terminal device on a channel state so as to improve data transmission performance.

In a first aspect, a channel measurement method is provided. The method may be performed by the terminal device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the terminal device. This is not a limitation of the present application.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating a first granularity, the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector, and the precoding vector is used for precoding a reference signal transmitted on a pre-configured resource to be measured; the precoding reference signal transmitted on the resource to be measured is obtained by precoding the reference signal by one or more precoding vectors, the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the relative positions of the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in any two of the plurality of RBs in the RBs respectively belong to the same RB; the plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured comprise a plurality of frequency domain units corresponding to the first granularity, and precoding reference signals transmitted on the same frequency domain unit correspond to the same precoding vector; and performing channel measurement according to the precoding reference signal received on the resource to be measured, and sending Channel State Information (CSI) based on the result of the channel measurement.

In a second aspect, a channel measurement method is provided. The method may be performed by a network device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the network device. This is not a limitation of the present application.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: generating first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating a first granularity, the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector, and the precoding vector is used for precoding a reference signal transmitted on a pre-configured resource to be measured; the precoding reference signal transmitted on the resource to be measured is obtained by precoding the reference signal by one or more precoding vectors, the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the relative positions of the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in any two of the RBs are the same in the respective RBs; the plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured comprise a plurality of frequency domain units corresponding to the first granularity, and precoding reference signals transmitted on the same frequency domain unit are obtained by precoding the same precoding vector; and sending the first indication information.

Therefore, by configuring the first granularity for the resource to be measured, the network device can perform precoding on the reference signals configured on different frequency domain resources for the same CSI-RS resource by using different precoding vectors so as to adapt to the channel state on different frequency domain resources, thereby adapting to the frequency selection characteristic of the channel. When the terminal device performs channel measurement, the terminal device may independently perform channel measurement based on the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first granularity. Therefore, accurate feedback of the channel state is obtained under the condition that the channel frequency selection characteristic is obvious. Thereby being beneficial to improving the data transmission performance of the system.

With reference to the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured.

Correspondingly, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: and sending second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured.

That is, the network device may autonomously select whether to configure the first granularity for the resource to be measured, that is, whether to configure different precoding vectors on different frequency domain units for the resource to be measured. The terminal device may determine a method of channel measurement based on the second indication information. For example, when the frequency domain resource occupies a larger bandwidth and the frequency selection characteristic is obvious, the network device may perform precoding on the reference signal of the same port by using different precoding vectors, and the terminal device may perform channel measurement by using an independent processing manner to obtain feedback of a channel state more matching the frequency selection characteristic of the channel; when the frequency domain resource occupies a smaller bandwidth and the frequency domain correlation is better, the network device can also perform channel measurement by adopting a joint processing mode when the network device can perform precoding on the reference signal of the same port by adopting the same precoding vector, so as to improve the measurement precision. Therefore, the method can adapt to frequency domain resources with different bandwidths, meet different requirements and is very flexible in switching. Meanwhile, more accurate feedback of channel state information can be obtained, and the data transmission performance is favorably improved.

With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the precoding reference signals transmitted on at least two frequency domain units in the resource to be measured correspond to different precoding vectors.

That is, the precoding vectors for the respective frequency domain elements may be the same or different among the plurality of frequency domain elements corresponding to the first granularity. The transmission of the precoded reference signals on each frequency domain unit may be based on precoding the reference signals with the same or different precoding vectors. This is not a limitation of the present application.

In one possible design, precoding vectors corresponding to precoding reference signals transmitted on frequency domain units in the resource to be measured are different from each other.

That is, a different precoding vector may be configured for each frequency domain unit corresponding to the first granularity to generate a precoded reference signal. The precoding vector corresponding to each frequency domain unit can be adapted to the channel state of the frequency domain unit, so that accurate feedback of the terminal device can be obtained.

With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the first granularity is the same as a second granularity, and the second granularity is a granularity of a frequency domain unit on which CSI reporting is based.

That is, the frequency domain element granularity corresponding to precoding vectors and the frequency domain element granularity corresponding to CSI reporting may be the same granularity. In this case, the first granularity and the second granularity may be simultaneous by only one field. Optionally, the first granularity and the second granularity are indicated by a same field. Two granularities are indicated by the same field, which is beneficial to saving signaling overhead.

Of course, in the case that the first granularity is the same as the second granularity, the first granularity and the second granularity may be indicated by different fields or different signaling, which is not limited in this application.

With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the first indication information is carried in a CSI reporting configuration.

For example, the first indication information may be a field carried in the CSI reporting configuration, for example, an existing field may be multiplexed, or a newly added field may be multiplexed. This is not a limitation of the present application.

With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the frequency domain unit is a subband, and the first indication information is carried by a subband granularity field in the CSI reporting configuration.

That is, the first indication information may be carried by a subband granularity field in a CSI reporting configuration defined in an existing protocol. In this case, the granularity indicated by the sub-band granularity is the first granularity or the second granularity described above.

With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners, the first indication information is carried in a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource mapping configuration.

For example, the first indication information may be a field carrying CSI-RS resource mapping configuration, for example, an existing field may be multiplexed, or a newly added field may be added. This is not a limitation of the present application.

Two possible signaling for carrying this first indication information are listed above. This should not be construed as limiting the application in any way. The application does not limit the specific signaling for carrying the first indication information.

In a third aspect, a channel measurement method is provided. The method may be performed by the terminal device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the terminal device. This is not a limitation of the present application.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: receiving second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured; the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting precoding reference signals in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signals in any two of the plurality of RBs are the same; the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by one or more precoding vectors, and the precoding reference signals transmitted on a frequency domain unit corresponding to the first granularity correspond to the same precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is not configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by a precoding vector; and performing channel measurement according to the precoding reference signal received on the resource to be measured, and sending Channel State Information (CSI) based on the result of the channel measurement.

In a fourth aspect, a method of channel measurement is provided. The method may be performed by a network device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the network device. This is not a limitation of the present application.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps: generating second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured; the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting precoding reference signals in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signals in any two of the plurality of RBs are the same; the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by one or more precoding vectors, and the precoding reference signals transmitted on a frequency domain unit corresponding to the first granularity correspond to the same precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is not configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by a precoding vector; and sending the second indication information.

Therefore, the terminal device may determine whether the network device configures the first granularity for the resource to be transmitted based on the second indication information. I.e. whether different precoding vectors are configured on different frequency domain units for the resource to be measured. The terminal device may determine a method of channel measurement based on the second indication information. For example, when the frequency domain resource occupies a larger bandwidth and the frequency selection characteristic is obvious, the network device may perform precoding on the reference signal of the same port by using different precoding vectors, and the terminal device may perform channel measurement by using an independent processing manner to obtain feedback of a channel state more matching the frequency selection characteristic of the channel; when the frequency domain resource occupies a smaller bandwidth and the frequency domain correlation is better, the network device can also perform channel measurement by adopting a joint processing mode when the network device can perform precoding on the reference signal of the same port by adopting the same precoding vector, so as to improve the measurement precision. Therefore, the method can adapt to frequency domain resources with different bandwidths, meet different requirements and is very flexible in switching. Meanwhile, more accurate feedback of channel state information can be obtained, and the data transmission performance is favorably improved.

With reference to the first to fourth aspects, in some possible implementations, the precoded reference signals transmitted in the resource to be measured correspond to the same port.

The same port may refer to a port corresponding to a reference signal carried on multiple REs with the same relative position on each RB in the same CSI-RS resource. The reference signal referred to herein may be, for example, a precoded reference signal. In this embodiment of the present application, the precoding reference signals of the same port may be obtained by precoding based on different precoding vectors. That is, the precoded reference signals of the same port may correspond to different precoding vectors.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes various means or units for performing the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the third aspect and the first aspect or the third aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute the instructions in the memory to implement the method of the first aspect or the third aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the third aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication device is a terminal device. When the communication device is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in the terminal equipment. When the communication device is a chip configured in a terminal device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transmit-receive circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes various means or units for performing the method of the second aspect or the fourth aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute the instructions in the memory to implement the method of the second or fourth aspect described above and any possible implementation of the second or fourth aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication device is a network device. When the communication device is a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in the network device. When the communication device is a chip configured in a network device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a processor comprising: input circuit, output circuit and processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor performs the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example and without limitation, a receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be output to and transmitted by a transmitter, for example and without limitation, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit that functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner of the processor and various circuits.

In a tenth aspect, a processing apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory, and may receive a signal via the receiver and transmit a signal via the transmitter to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

Optionally, the number of the processors is one or more, and the number of the memories is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integral to the processor or provided separately from the processor.

In a specific implementation process, the memory may be a non-transient memory, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately disposed on different chips.

It will be appreciated that the associated data interaction process, for example, sending the indication information, may be a process of outputting the indication information from the processor, and receiving the capability information may be a process of receiving the input capability information from the processor. In particular, data output by the processor may be output to a transmitter and input data received by the processor may be from a receiver. The transmitter and receiver may be collectively referred to as a transceiver, among others.

The processing means in the tenth aspect described above may be one or more chips. The processor in the processing device may be implemented by hardware or may be implemented by software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated with the processor, located external to the processor, or stand-alone.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions), which when executed, causes a computer to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and of the first to fourth aspects described above.

In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, which stores a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the aforementioned network device and terminal device.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system suitable for a channel measurement method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a corresponding relationship between CSI-RS resources, ports, and precoding vectors provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of time-frequency resources of precoded reference signals of multiple ports in multiple RBs according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a corresponding relationship between a resource to be measured, a port, and a precoding vector provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a first granularity and a second granularity provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a channel measurement method according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: global system for mobile communications (GSM) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) systems, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication systems, future fifth generation (5G) or new radio NR systems, etc.

For the convenience of understanding the embodiments of the present application, a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application will be first described in detail by taking the communication system shown in fig. 1 as an example. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 suitable for use in a vector indication method for constructing a precoding vector according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 100 may include at least one network device, such as the network device 110 shown in fig. 1; the communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as the terminal device 120 shown in fig. 1. Network device 110 and terminal device 120 may communicate via a wireless link. Each communication device, such as network device 110 or terminal device 120, may be configured with multiple antennas. For each communication device in the communication system 100, the configured plurality of antennas may include at least one transmit antenna for transmitting signals and at least one receive antenna for receiving signals. Accordingly, communication between communication devices in the communication system 100, such as between the network device 110 and the terminal device 120, may be via multiple antenna techniques.

It should be understood that the network device in the wireless communication system may be any device having a wireless transceiving function. Such devices include, but are not limited to: evolved Node B (eNB), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (Node B, NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), Home Base Station (e.g., Home evolved NodeB, or Home Node B, HNB), BaseBand Unit (Base band Unit, BBU), Access Point (AP) in Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) system, etc., and may also be 5G, such as NR, gbb in system, or TRP, transmission Point (TRP or TP), one or a group of antennas (including multiple antennas, NB, or a transmission panel) of a Base Station in 5G system, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a Distributed Unit (DU), etc.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may further include an Active Antenna Unit (AAU). The CU implements part of the function of the gNB, and the DU implements part of the function of the gNB, for example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implementing functions of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and a packet data convergence layer (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing a physical layer protocol and a real-time service, and implements functions of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. The AAU implements part of the physical layer processing functions, radio frequency processing and active antenna related functions. Since the information of the RRC layer eventually becomes or is converted from the information of the PHY layer, the higher layer signaling, such as the RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or by the DU + AAU under this architecture. It is to be understood that the network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in an access network (RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application. It should also be understood that terminal equipment in the wireless communication system may also be referred to as User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), a wireless terminal configured in a vehicle, and the like. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios.

It should also be understood that fig. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram that is merely illustrated for ease of understanding, and that other network devices or other terminal devices, which are not shown in fig. 1, may also be included in the communication system 100.

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief description of the processing procedure of the downlink signal at the physical layer before transmission. It should be understood that the processing of the downstream signal described below may be performed by the network device, or may be performed by a chip configured in the network device. For convenience of description, hereinafter, collectively referred to as network devices.

The network device may process a codeword (code word) on a physical channel. Where the codeword may be coded bits that are encoded (e.g., including channel coding). The codeword is scrambled (scrambling) to generate scrambled bits. The scrambled bits are modulation mapped (modulation mapping) to obtain modulation symbols. The modulation symbols are mapped to a plurality of layers (layers), or transport layers, through layer mapping. The modulated symbols after layer mapping are precoded (precoding) to obtain precoded signals. The precoded signal is mapped to a plurality of Resource Elements (REs) after mapping the precoded signal to the REs. These REs are then modulated by Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and transmitted through an antenna port (antenna port).

It should be understood that the above-described processing procedure for the downlink signal is only an exemplary description, and should not limit the present application in any way. For the processing procedure of the downlink signal, reference may be made to the prior art, and a detailed description of the specific procedure is omitted here for brevity.

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following description is briefly made of terms related to the embodiments of the present application.

1. Channel State Information (CSI) report (report): in a wireless communication system, information describing channel properties of a communication link is reported by a receiving device (e.g., a terminal device) to a transmitting device (e.g., a network device). CSI reports may also be referred to simply as CSI. In the embodiments of the present application, the CSI report and the CSI may express the same meaning.

The CSI may include, for example, but not limited to, a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), a Rank Indicator (RI), a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI)), a Layer Indicator (LI), and the like.

Take the example that the terminal device reports the CSI to the network device. The terminal device may report one or more CSI reports in a time unit (e.g., a slot), where each CSI report may correspond to a configuration condition for CSI reporting. The configuration condition for CSI reporting may be determined by CSI reporting configuration (CSI-ReportConfig), for example. The terminal device may generate a CSI report based on a CSI reporting configuration.

2. CSI reporting configuration: a resource (resource for channel measurement) may be configured for channel measurement. An identifier of a CSI resource configuration (CSI-ResourceConfigId) may be associated in the CSI reporting configuration, so as to associate one or more resource sets defined by the CSI resource configuration, such as non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resource sets (NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSets). Since each resource set may include one or more resources, one or more resources may be associated through one CSI reporting configuration. For example, each NZP-CSI-RS resource set may include one or more NZP-CSI-RS resources (NZP-CSI-RS resources), and the same CSI reporting configuration may be associated with the one or more NZP-CSI-RS resources. Since Zero Power (ZP) -CSI-RS is not involved in this application, NZP-CSI-RS is simply referred to as CSI-RS. In other words, the CSI-RS resource in the embodiment of the present application may be specifically embodied in a NZP-CSI-RS resource.

The CSI-RS resource can be determined by configuring the identifier of the associated CSI resource configuration on the CSI report. The CSI-RS resource may be used to configure transmission properties of the CSI-RS. Such as time-frequency resource location, port mapping relationship, power factor, scrambling code, etc. Reference is made in particular to the prior art. The network device may transmit the CSI-RS based on the CSI-RS resource, and the terminal device may receive the CSI-RS based on the CSI-RS resource.

The time-frequency resource for carrying the reference signal may be determined based on the CSI-RS resource, and may specifically be a Resource Element (RE). In the embodiment of the present application, for convenience of distinction and explanation, a time-frequency resource used for carrying a reference signal is denoted as a resource to be measured. The reference signal transmitted through the resource to be measured is used for channel measurement. The network device may configure the resource to be measured for the terminal device, for example, through the above CSI resource configuration. Alternatively, the terminal device may determine the resource to be measured, for example, by the above CSI resource configuration.

In one possible design, the CSI reporting configuration may be an Information Element (IE) in an RRC message. In other words, the CSI reporting configuration may be carried in an RRC message. The signaling carrying the CSI reporting configuration is not limited in the present application. Meanwhile, the name of the CSI reporting configuration is not limited in the application. This application does not exclude the possibility of using other possible terms instead of CSI reporting configurations to achieve the same or similar functionality.

In addition, the CSI resource configuration is configuration signaling for configuring transmission resources of the CSI-RS in the current protocol. For example, may be carried via RRC messages. However, it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the configuration signaling for configuring the transmission resource of the CSI-RS. The signaling for configuring the transmission resource of the CSI-RS may be CSI-RS resource configuration, or other signaling. Meanwhile, the application does not limit the specific signaling carrying the CSI resource configuration. Meanwhile, the name of the CSI resource configuration is not limited in the application. This application does not exclude the possibility of replacing the CSI resource configuration with other possible assignments to achieve the same or similar functionality.

3. Precoding reference signals: also known as beamformed (beamformed) reference signals. The beamformed reference signal may be a reference signal that has undergone precoding processing, and may be similar to a Class B (Class B) reference signal in the LTE protocol. In contrast, a reference signal that has not been precoded may be similar to a Class a (Class a) reference signal in the LTE protocol.

In the embodiment of the present application, for convenience of distinction and explanation, a precoded reference signal is referred to as a precoded reference signal; reference signals that are not precoded are simply referred to as reference signals.

It should be understood that the reference signals referred to in the embodiments of the present application may be reference signals for channel measurement. For example, the reference signal may be a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). It should be understood that the above list is merely exemplary and should not constitute any limitation of the present application, which does not exclude the possibility of defining other reference signals in future protocols to achieve the same or similar functionality.

4. Antenna port (antenna port): referred to as a port for short. Which may be understood as a virtual antenna recognized by the receiving end. Or spatially distinguishable transmit antennas. One antenna port may be configured for each virtual antenna, each virtual antenna may be a weighted combination of multiple physical antennas, each antenna port may correspond to one reference signal, and thus, each antenna port (or simply, port) may be referred to as one reference signal port.

Reference signals (including non-precoded reference signals and precoded reference signals) of the same port may refer to time-frequency resources, such as Resource Elements (REs), used for carrying the reference signals, and are the same in relative positions of a plurality of transmission blocks (RBs). Specifically, in any two RBs used for transmitting the reference signal of the same port, the distance between the RE used for carrying the reference signal and the frequency domain starting position of the respective RB is the same, and the distance between the RE and the time domain starting position of the respective RB is the same. For example, in any two RBs for transmitting reference signals of the same port, the number of the RE for carrying the reference signal is the same as the number of the subcarriers of the starting subcarrier interval of the respective belonging RB, and the number of the symbols of the starting symbol of the respective belonging RB is also the same. In short, the reference signals of the same port correspond to time-frequency resources with the same relative position in a plurality of RBs.

In the embodiment of the present application, an antenna port may refer to a port of a reference signal after being precoded. In the prior art, the reference signal of each port may be a precoded reference signal obtained by precoding the reference signal based on the same precoding vector. The precoded reference signal for each port may be transmitted through one or more RBs. Or, the precoded reference signals of the same port transmitted on the resource to be measured may be obtained by precoding the reference signals based on the same precoding vector.

Fig. 2 shows an example of the correspondence relationship between CSI-RS resources, ports, and precoding vectors. As described above, the terminal device may determine the time-frequency resource for carrying the reference signal, that is, the above-mentioned resource to be measured, according to the CSI-RS resource configuration. The reference signal transmitted based on the CSI-RS resource may be a CSI-RS. In the embodiment of the present application, the CSI-RS may be a precoded CSI-RS. The port corresponding to the CSI-RS may be a CSI-RS port.

The network device may configure one or more CSI-RS resources for one set of CSI-RS resources. An example where one set of CSI-RS resources includes two CSI-RS resources is shown in fig. 2. Precoded reference signals corresponding to one or more ports may be transmitted based on one CSI-RS resource. Fig. 2 shows an example of one port corresponding to a precoded reference signal transmitted based on one CSI-RS resource. The frequency-domain occupied bandwidth of each CSI-RS resource may include one or more subbands, and each subband may include one or more RBs.

Specifically, a precoded reference signal transmitted based on CSI-RS resource 1 corresponds to CSI-RS port 1. The precoded reference signal corresponding to the port 1 may be obtained by precoding the reference signal by the precoding vector 1. The precoded reference signals corresponding to port 1 are mapped to subband 1 and subband 2. That is, the ports corresponding to the precoded reference signals transmitted in subband 1 and subband 2 are configured by CSI-RS resource 1.

The precoded reference signals transmitted based on CSI-RS resource 2 correspond to CSI-RS port 2. The precoded reference signal corresponding to port 2 may be obtained by precoding the reference signal with precoding vector 2. The precoded reference signals corresponding to port 2 are mapped to subband 3 and subband 4. That is, the ports corresponding to the precoded reference signals transmitted in subband 3 and subband 4 are configured by CSI-RS resource 2.

In one implementation, the precoded reference signals corresponding to the same port are obtained by precoding the reference signals by the same precoding vector all the time on the bandwidth occupied by the frequency domain of the CSI-RS resource. Therefore, when a precoded reference signal transmitted based on a certain CSI-RS resource corresponds to one port, the precoded reference signal transmitted based on the CSI-RS resource can be obtained by precoding the reference signal based on one precoding vector.

It should be understood that fig. 2 is only an example and shows an example that a precoded reference signal transmitted based on one CSI-RS resource corresponds to one port. In fact, precoded reference signals transmitted based on one CSI-RS resource may also correspond to multiple ports. When the precoded reference signals transmitted based on one CSI-RS resource correspond to a plurality of ports, the precoded reference signals transmitted on each RB may correspond to a plurality of ports in a plurality of RBs included in a bandwidth occupied by a frequency domain of the CSI-RS resource. The precoded reference signals of each port are carried through time-frequency resources with the same relative position in a plurality of RBs. The precoded reference signals of the multiple ports can be distinguished from each other in the same RB by Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) or Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), for example.

As described above, the resource to be measured is a time-frequency resource for carrying reference signals of the same port. When the resource determined based on the CSI-RS resource includes a plurality of RBs, the resource to be measured may include a plurality of REs distributed among the plurality of RBs. That is, the resource to be measured may correspond to a plurality of RBs. In the plurality of RBs, the relative positions of the time-frequency resources used for carrying the precoding reference signals of the same port in the respective RBs are the same. Fig. 3 shows an example of time-frequency resources of precoded reference signals for a plurality of ports in a plurality of RBs. As shown, two subbands, subband 1 and subband 2, are exemplarily shown in fig. 3. Subband 1 includes RB 1 and RB 2, and subband 2 includes RB 3 and RB 4. The two subbands are configured by the same CSI-RS resource and may be used for transmitting reference signals of 4 ports, e.g., port 1 to port 4. As shown in fig. 3, the REs occupied by the reference signals of the same port have the same relative position in the respective RBs. REs with the same shading in fig. 3 correspond to the same port. For example, the REs occupied by the reference signal of port 1 occupy the first subcarrier and the first symbol of each RB in RB 1, RB 2, RB 3, and RB 4. By analogy, this is not further enumerated here. Therefore, the RE with the same shading in fig. 3 can be regarded as an example of the resource to be measured. Four resources to be measured corresponding to four ports are shown in fig. 3.

It should be understood that fig. 3 shows a few examples of resources to be measured, for ease of understanding only. This should not be construed as limiting the application in any way. The number of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured in the frequency domain is not limited to that shown in fig. 3. When the network device configures the reference signals of one or more ports for the terminal device through one CSI-RS resource, the RBs distributed by the REs for carrying the reference signals of the same port correspond to the resource to be measured.

However, in consideration of the frequency-selective characteristic of the channel, if the reference signal is precoded by using the same precoding vector in a broadband, the obtained feedback may not necessarily accurately reflect the most true channel state. This may be particularly apparent in, for example, Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) mode. Therefore, it is desirable to precode reference signals with different precoding vectors on different frequency domain resources.

In order to introduce different precoding vectors to precode reference signals transmitted on different frequency domain resources, the network device may configure more CSI-RS resources for the terminal device according to the above-described method, and configure precoded reference signals of one or more ports for each CSI-RS resource, where the precoded reference signal of each port corresponds to one port. For example, if the network device desires to precode reference signals carried on time-frequency resources with the same relative position through different precoding vectors in subband 1, subband 2, subband 3, and subband 4, a CSI-RS resource may be configured for subband 1, subband 2, subband 3, and subband 4, respectively. I.e. configured by 4 CSI-RS resources.

Therefore, if more precoding vectors are introduced to precode the reference signals, more CSI-RS resources need to be configured. This would greatly increase the signaling overhead for configuring CSI-RS resources.

Based on this, the application provides a channel measurement method, so as to precode a reference signal by adopting different precoding vectors on different frequency domain resources, thereby obtaining accurate feedback of a terminal device on a channel state, and simultaneously not bringing about a large increase of overhead.

The channel measurement method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Before describing the embodiments of the present application, the following description will be made first.

First, in the present embodiment, for convenience of description, when referring to numbering, numbering may be continued from 1. For example, the K CSI-RS resources may include CSI-RS resource 1 through CSI-RS resource K. The N subbands may include subband 1 through subband N, and so on. And so on. For brevity, they are not illustrated one by one here. Of course, the specific implementation is not limited to this, and for example, the numbers may be continuously numbered from 0. It should be understood that the above descriptions are provided for convenience of describing the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application.

Second, in the embodiments of the present application, "for indicating" may include for direct indicating and for indirect indicating. For example, when a certain indication information is described as the indication information I, the indication information may be included to directly indicate I or indirectly indicate I, and does not necessarily represent that I is carried in the indication information.

If the information indicated by the indication information is referred to as information to be indicated, in a specific implementation process, there are many ways of indicating the information to be indicated, for example, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or an index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein an association relationship exists between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other part of the information to be indicated is known or predetermined. For example, the indication of the specific information may be implemented by means of a predetermined arrangement order of the respective information (e.g., protocol specification), thereby reducing the indication overhead to some extent. Meanwhile, the universal parts of all information can be identified and indicated in a unified mode, so that the indicating overhead caused by independently indicating the same information is reduced.

The specific indication method may be any of various existing indication methods, such as, but not limited to, the above indication methods, various combinations thereof, and the like. The specific details of various indication modes can refer to the prior art, and are not described in detail herein. As can be seen from the above description, when a plurality of information of the same type are required to be indicated, for example, different information may be indicated differently. In a specific implementation process, a required indication manner may be selected according to a specific need, and the indication manner selected in the embodiment of the present application is not limited, so that the indication manner related to the embodiment of the present application should be understood to cover various methods that enable a party to be indicated to obtain information to be indicated.

The information to be indicated may be sent together as a whole, or may be sent separately by dividing into a plurality of pieces of sub information, and the sending periods and/or sending timings of these pieces of sub information may be the same or different. Specific transmission method this application is not limited. The sending period and/or sending timing of the sub information may be predefined, for example, predefined according to a protocol, or may be configured by the transmitting end device by sending configuration information to the receiving end device. The configuration information may include, for example and without limitation, one or a combination of at least two of radio resource control signaling, such as RRC signaling, MAC layer signaling, such as MAC-CE signaling, and physical layer signaling, such as Downlink Control Information (DCI).

Third, in the embodiments shown below, the first, second and various numerical numbers are merely for convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, to distinguish different indication information, to distinguish different granularities, etc.

Fourth, in the embodiments shown below, "predefined" may be implemented by saving a corresponding code, table, or other means that can be used to indicate related information in advance in a device (for example, including a terminal device and a network device), and the present application is not limited to a specific implementation manner thereof. Wherein "saving" may refer to saving in one or more memories. The one or more memories may be separate devices or may be integrated in the encoder or decoder, the processor, or the communication device. The one or more memories may also be provided as a portion of a stand-alone device, a portion of which is integrated into a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The type of memory may be any form of storage medium and is not intended to be limiting of the present application.

Fifth, the "protocol" referred to in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, and may include, for example, an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and a related protocol applied in a future communication system, which is not limited in the present application.

Sixth, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, and c, may represent: a, or, b, or, c, or, a and b, or, a and c, or, b and c, or, a, b and c. Wherein a, b and c may be single or plural respectively.

Seventh, for convenience of understanding only, the channel measurement method provided by the present application is described in detail with CSI-RS as an example of a reference signal for channel measurement. Correspondingly, the transmission resource of the CSI-RS can be configured through CSI-RS resource configuration and the like. This should not be construed as limiting the application in any way. For example, the CSI-RS described above may also be replaced with SRS or signals that may be used to achieve the same or similar functionality. The CSI-RS resources corresponding thereto may also be replaced with SRS resources or reference signal resources that can be used to achieve the same or similar functionality.

The method provided by the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a system that communicates by a multi-antenna technology, for example, the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1. The communication system may include at least one network device and at least one terminal device. The network device and the terminal device can communicate through a multi-antenna technology.

It should be understood that the method provided by the embodiment of the present application is not limited to the communication between the network device and the terminal device, and may also be applied to the communication between the terminal device and the terminal device, and the like. The application does not limit the application scenario of the method. In the embodiments shown below, the channel measurement method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail by taking an interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example, only for convenience of understanding and explanation.

It should also be understood that the embodiments shown below do not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, as long as the communication can be performed according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application by running the program recorded with the code of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application may be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module capable of calling the program and executing the program in the terminal device or the network device.

Hereinafter, the channel measurement method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail by taking interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example without loss of generality.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating a channel measurement method 400 provided by an embodiment of the present application from the perspective of device interaction. As shown in fig. 4, the method 400 may include steps 410 through 460. The steps in method 400 are described in detail below.

In step 410, the network device generates first indication information indicating a first granularity.

Specifically, the first granularity is defined to facilitate distinguishing from CSI reporting granularity referred to later. In an embodiment of the present application, the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector. The precoding vector may be a precoding vector for precoding a reference signal transmitted on a pre-configured resource to be measured. In the embodiment of the present application, the first granularity may refer to a frequency domain granularity. Based on the first granularity, a plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured in the frequency domain may be divided into one or more frequency domain units. Each frequency domain unit may include one or more RBs. Each frequency domain unit may be referred to as a subband. The frequency domain units partitioned based on the first granularity may be referred to as subbands corresponding to the first granularity.

The plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured in the frequency domain may be distributed by REs configured by the same CSI-RS resource and having the same relative position in each RB when the reference signal is configured by the CSI-RS resource. For example, one resource to be measured in fig. 3 may include 4 RBs, i.e., RB 1 to RB 4.

In the resource to be measured, the precoded reference signal transmitted on each subband can be obtained by precoding the reference signal by the same precoding vector. The precoding reference signals of the same port transmitted on different subbands can be obtained by precoding the reference signals by the same precoding vector, and can also be obtained by precoding the reference signals by different precoding vectors. Therefore, the precoded reference signals transmitted over the plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured may be obtained by precoding the reference signals by one or more precoding vectors. Briefly, the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector.

In the embodiment of the present application, precoding reference signals carried by one resource to be measured correspond to the same port. That is, in a resource to be measured, although it is possible to precode a reference signal via different precoding vectors, the precoded reference signal can still be defined as a precoded reference signal of one port. However, it should be understood that defining the precoding reference signal carried by the one resource to be measured as the precoding reference signal of one port is only one possible definition manner, and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The application also does not exclude the possibility that multiple REs with the same relative position in multiple RBs for transmitting reference signals in the same CSI-RS resource configuration in future protocols carry precoded reference signals of multiple ports. In this case, the same precoding vector may correspond to one port. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that no matter how a port is defined, it does not affect the understanding of the first granularity corresponding to precoding vectors in this application. For convenience of understanding and explanation, a precoded reference signal carried by one resource to be measured is defined as a precoded reference signal of one port.

For understanding, the relationship between ports, subbands and precoding reference signals will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 5 shows the correspondence of ports, subbands and precoding vectors. As shown in fig. 4, a network device may configure one or more CSI-RS resources for one set of CSI-RS resources. Fig. 4 shows an example of a network device configuring one CSI-RS resource for one CSI-RS resource set. The precoded reference signals transmitted on one CSI-RS resource may correspond to one or more ports. Fig. 4 shows an example of one port corresponding to a precoded reference signal transmitted on a CSI-RS resource. RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured on the frequency domain, which is determined based on the CSI-RS resource, may be divided into 4 sub-bands, that is, sub-bands 1 to 4, based on the first granularity. It can be understood that the relative positions of the REs for carrying precoding reference signals in the 4 subbands in the respective RBs are the same. The precoded reference signals transmitted in the 4 subbands may correspond to the same port, such as port 1 shown in fig. 4.

Each subband in fig. 4 may correspond to a precoding vector. The precoded reference signals transmitted on each subband may be obtained by precoding the reference signals based on a precoding vector. As shown in fig. 4, the precoded reference signal corresponding to port 1 in subband 1 may be obtained by precoding the reference signal with precoding vector 1. The precoded reference signal in subband 2 corresponding to port 1 may be obtained by precoding the reference signal with precoding vector 2. The precoded reference signals in subband 3 corresponding to port 1 may be obtained by precoding the reference signals with precoding vector 3. The precoded reference signals in subband 4 corresponding to port 1 may be obtained by precoding the reference signals with precoding vector 4. By analogy, for the sake of brevity, this is not listed one by one.

It should be understood that the precoding vectors applied to different subbands may be the same or different. For example, two of the four precoding vectors 1 to 4 may be different from each other, may be partially the same, or may be completely the same.

It should be noted that although the precoding vectors applied to different subbands may be identical, such as the four precoding vectors of the precoding vector 1 to the precoding vector 4 described above are identical precoding vectors, the terminal device still considers that the precoding reference signals received on the four subbands are generated based on the four different precoding vectors. Therefore, the terminal device still performs channel estimation respectively based on the precoding reference channel received on each sub-band.

It should also be understood that fig. 4 is only an example, and shows an example of one port corresponding to the precoded reference signal transmitted on each subband. In fact, the precoded reference signals transmitted on each subband may also correspond to multiple ports. For example, the precoded reference signal transmitted on subband 1 may be obtained by precoding the reference signal by precoding vector 1 and another precoding vector (e.g., precoding vector 5); the precoded reference signal transmitted on subband 2 may be obtained by precoding the reference signal with precoding vector 2 and another precoding vector (e.g., precoding vector 6); the precoded reference signal transmitted on subband 3 may be obtained by precoding the reference signal with precoding vector 3 and another precoding vector (e.g., precoding vector 7); the precoded reference signal transmitted on subband 4 may be obtained by precoding the reference signal with precoding vector 4 and another precoding vector (e.g., precoding vector 8). At this time, precoding vectors 1 to 4 may correspond to one port (e.g., port 1 described above), and precoding vectors 5 to 8 may correspond to another port (e.g., denoted as port 2).

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the precoding reference signals mapped to the same time-frequency resource in each RB of the resource to be measured are denoted as the precoding reference signals of the same port. That is to say, the precoded reference signals of the same port transmitted on the resource to be measured may be obtained by precoding the reference signals based on one or more precoding vectors. This is equivalent to extending the definition of the port. In the resource to be measured, one port is not limited to correspond to one precoding vector, and may correspond to a plurality of precoding vectors. And within a sub-band partitioned based on the first granularity, one port may be associated with one precoding vector. Alternatively, the precoded reference signals of the same port transmitted on the subband corresponding to the first granularity may correspond to one precoding vector.

When the number of ports is greater than 1, the precoding vectors acting on the same subband are different from each other. For example, precoding vector 1 is different from precoding vector 5, precoding vector 2 is different from precoding vector 6, precoding vector 3 is different from precoding vector 7, and precoding vector 4 is different from precoding vector 8.

However, it should be understood that the present application does not limit the relationship between precoding vector 1 and precoding vectors 6 to 8, nor the relationship between precoding vector 2 and precoding vector 5, precoding vector 7, and precoding vector 8, nor the relationship between precoding vector 3 and precoding vector 5, precoding vector 6, and precoding vector 8, nor the relationship between precoding vector 4 and precoding vector 5 to precoding vector 7.

In an optional embodiment, the precoded reference signals of the same port transmitted on at least two subbands in the resource to be measured correspond to different precoding vectors. That is to say, the precoded reference signals of the same port transmitted on at least two subbands in the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by different precoding vectors. Taking the example shown in fig. 4 as an example, at least two precoding vectors are different from each other among the precoding vectors 1 to 4 corresponding to the subbands 1 to 4, respectively.

Further, precoding vectors corresponding to precoding reference signals of the same port transmitted on each subband in the resource to be measured are different from each other. Taking the example shown in fig. 4 as an example, any two precoding vectors are different from each other among the precoding vectors 1 to 4 corresponding to the subbands 1 to 4, respectively.

When the frequency domain of the resource to be measured occupies a large bandwidth, the reference signals transmitted on the resource of different frequency domains are precoded through different precoding vectors, so that the network equipment can precode the reference signals by using different precoding vectors. This fully considers the frequency selection characteristic of the channel, so that the precoding vector acting on the CSI-RS can be matched with the channel states of different frequency bands. Especially, under the condition that the system bandwidth is wide or the channel multipath delay is large, the feedback of the terminal equipment is facilitated more accurately, so that the CSI fed back by the terminal equipment can be close to a real channel to a greater extent. The accurate feedback is beneficial to the network equipment to adopt the precoding matrix adaptive to the channel state to carry out data transmission, thereby being beneficial to improving the data transmission performance.

The network device may indicate the first granularity, for example, through existing signaling. That is, the first indication information may be carried in existing signaling. The network device may also indicate the first granularity through additional signaling. That is, the first indication information may also be carried in the newly added signaling. The application does not limit the specific signaling for carrying the first indication information.

In one possible design, the first granularity is the same as the second granularity. Here, the second granularity is named for convenience of distinguishing from the first granularity described above. The second granularity may specifically refer to a granularity of subbands on which CSI reporting is based. The subbands partitioned based on the second granularity may be referred to as subbands corresponding to the second granularity.

In the NR protocol, the network device may indicate the second granularity by a CSI reporting configuration. Specifically, the CSI reporting configuration includes a subband granularity (subband size) field, where the granularity specifically indicated by the subband granularity field is the second granularity. If the first granularity and the second granularity are defined as the same granularity, the granularity corresponding to the precoding vector and the granularity based on which the CSI is reported may be the same frequency domain granularity. In this case, the network device may multiplex the subband granularity field to indicate both the first granularity and the second granularity. That is, optionally, the first indication information is carried in a subband granularity field of the CSI reporting configuration. That is, the network device may multiplex an existing field in existing signaling to indicate the first granularity.

Referring to fig. 5, when the first granularity is the same as the second granularity, any one of the sub-bands 1 to 4 may be a sub-band corresponding to the first granularity, or may be a sub-band corresponding to the second granularity. That is, the terminal device may perform channel estimation based on each of the subbands 1 to 4, and may report CSI based on each of the subbands 1 to 4, respectively. The first granularity and the second granularity are defined as the same granularity, so that signaling overhead brought by indicating the first granularity can be reduced, and meanwhile, the granularity of precoding vectors performed by the terminal equipment and the granularity of CSI feedback can be unified, thereby facilitating the processing of the terminal equipment.

In another possible design, the first granularity is different from the second granularity.

The network device may also indicate the first granularity in a CSI reporting configuration when the first granularity is different from the second granularity. That is, optionally, the first indication information is carried in a CSI reporting configuration. The network device indicates the first granularity, for example, by adding a field in the CSI reporting configuration. Specifically, the CSI reporting configuration may include a first granularity field and a second granularity field. Wherein the first granularity field is operable to indicate a first granularity and the second granularity field is operable to indicate a second granularity. Optionally, the second granularity field may be a subband granularity field in a CSI reporting configuration in the current protocol.

The network device may also indicate the first granularity in a CSI-RS resource map when the first granularity is different from the second granularity. That is, optionally, the first indication information is carried in the CSI-RS resource map.

In one implementation, a network device may add a subband granularity field in a CSI-RS resource map to indicate a first granularity. For example, the subband granularity field may be expressed as:

subband granularity enumerates { value 1, value 2} (subband granularity estimated { value 1, value 2 }).

Value 1 and value 2 can be understood as two optional values of the first granularity. The network device may indicate, through the signaling, which of the two selectable values the first granularity is specific to. The value 1 and the value 2 may be, for example, 0 and 1, respectively, and correspond to two selectable values, respectively. For example, if 0 is carried in the signaling, it indicates that the first value of the two selectable values is adopted; if the signaling carries 1, it means that the second value of the two selectable values is adopted.

As an embodiment, the first granularity may have a correspondence with a bandwidth part (BWP). The protocol may have a predefined correspondence of bandwidth parts (BWPs) to the first granularity. The BWP may be specifically represented by the number of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) included in the BWP, and the first granularity may be specifically represented by the number of PRBs included in a subband corresponding to the first granularity. The following table shows an example of the correspondence of BWP to the first granularity:

thus, the network device may also indirectly indicate two selectable values of the first granularity through BWP. When the terminal device determines BWP, two selectable values of the first granularity may be determined according to the predefined correspondence. The terminal device may further determine the first granularity from a value indicated in the CSI-RS resource map.

It should be understood that the above is merely an example, showing an example where the first granularity corresponds to BWP. This should not be construed as limiting the application in any way. The present application does not limit the number of PRBs included in the first granularity corresponding to a BWP when the BWP includes different PRBs. The first granularity is not limited to corresponding to BWP, but may correspond to other parameters, which are not listed here for brevity.

Optionally, the first granularity is greater than or equal to the second granularity.

Fig. 6 shows an example of the first granularity and the second granularity. As shown in fig. 6, subbands 1 to 4 are subbands divided based on the first granularity. The subbands I to VIII are subbands divided based on the second granularity. It can be seen that each sub-band corresponding to the first granularity may include two sub-bands corresponding to the second granularity. The same CSI-RS port corresponds to different precoding vectors on sub-bands 1 to 4 respectively. The terminal device may perform channel measurement based on the precoded reference signal received on subband 1, and obtain CSI measurement results corresponding to subband I and subband II, respectively. Thereafter, the terminal device may feed back CSI corresponding to subband I to the network device; meanwhile, the terminal device may also feed back CSI corresponding to subband II to the network device. By analogy, for the sake of brevity, this is not listed one by one.

In step 420, the terminal device receives first indication information. Accordingly, in step 420, the network device transmits the first indication information. The first indication information is used for indicating the first granularity.

The network device may carry the first indication information, e.g., through higher layer signaling, to indicate the first granularity to the terminal device. The specific signaling for carrying the first indication information is listed in the step 410, and is not described herein again for brevity.

Optionally, the method further comprises: step 430, the network device sends the pre-coding reference signal on the resource to be transmitted. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the precoded reference signal on the resource to be transmitted. The precoded reference signal to be transmitted over the resource to be transmitted may be obtained by precoding the reference signal with one or more precoding vectors.

The network device may precode reference signals of the same port based on a first granularity. As described above, in the sub-band corresponding to the first granularity, the precoded reference signals on the same sub-band are generated based on the same precoding vector; the precoded reference signals on different subbands may be generated based on the same or different precoding vectors. The network device may autonomously select a precoding vector used to precode the reference signal on each subband according to the frequency selective characteristics of the channel. Therefore, although the precoded reference signals transmitted on the resource to be transmitted are precoded reference signals of the same port, the precoded reference signals may correspond to one or more precoding vectors.

The terminal device may receive the precoded reference signal on the resource to be transmitted, and in step 440, perform channel measurement according to the precoded reference signal received on the resource to be measured.

Specifically, the terminal device may estimate a channel matrix according to a precoded reference signal received on a resource to be measured, and then determine CSI according to the estimated channel matrix. The CSI may include, for example, one or more of: RI, CQI, PMI, CRI, and LI, etc.

The following details the difference between the terminal device processing modes in the case where the first granularity is not configured and the case where the first granularity is configured.

If the network device does not configure the first granularity, the corresponding relationship between the ports, the precoding vectors and the subbands may refer to fig. 2, for example. Take the correspondence between CSI-RS resource 1, port 1, precoding vector 1, subband 1, and subband 2 shown in fig. 2 as an example. The terminal device may perform channel measurement based on a reference CSI-RS received on each CSI-RS pilot RE on the time-frequency resource corresponding to the CSI-RS port 1. Channel measurements may be obtained based on sub-band 1 and sub-band 2, respectively. In addition, in order to improve the measurement accuracy, joint filtering may be performed on the measurement results obtained based on the sub-band 1 and the sub-band 2, so as to obtain a channel measurement result after filtering processing. It can be understood that the channel measured by the terminal device based on the precoded reference signal is an equivalent channel, that is, a channel that has undergone a precoding operation. Thereafter, the terminal device may perform CSI feedback based on the channel measurement result obtained after the filtering process. For convenience of differentiation and description, the method in which the terminal device performs joint channel measurement on the time-frequency resource corresponding to one CSI-RS port is referred to as a channel measurement method of joint processing. It will be appreciated that filtering the measurements for a plurality of sub-bands exploits the correlation of the channel in the frequency domain. However, if the channel frequency selection characteristic is obvious and the frequency domain correlation is not good, the CSI obtained by filtering the measurement results of multiple sub-bands may not be very accurate.

If the network device configures the first granularity, the correspondence between the ports, the precoding vectors, and the subbands may refer to fig. 6, for example. Take the corresponding relationship of CSI-RS resource 1, port 1, precoding vectors 1 to 4 and subbands 1 to 4, and subbands I to VIII shown in fig. 6 as an example. The terminal device may perform channel measurement based on the precoding reference signals received on the sub-band 1, the sub-band 2, the sub-band 3, and the sub-band 4, respectively, to obtain a channel measurement result corresponding to each sub-band. Therefore, the network device can configure different precoding vectors for the reference signals transmitted on different subbands according to the frequency selection characteristic of the channel, so as to obtain more accurate feedback of the terminal device. Thereafter, the terminal device may perform CSI feedback on the channel measurement result measured based on each of the subbands 1 to 4 with the second granularity as granularity. That is, channel measurement results are fed back based on the sub-bands I to VIII. For the sake of distinguishing from the above joint processing, the method in which the terminal device estimates the channel based on the first granularity and performs channel measurement is referred to as the channel measurement method of independent processing. It can be understood that, under the condition that the channel frequency selection characteristic is obvious, if separate precoding vectors are used for precoding each subband to perform channel measurement of each subband, the obtained CSI feedback is more accurate compared with the channel measurement mode of joint processing.

It should be understood that the joint processing and the independent processing are only two different processing modes when the terminal device performs channel measurement. In the present application, only names are given for distinguishing the two different processing modes, and the names should not limit the present application in any way.

As previously described, the network device may multiplex existing signaling, with existing fields indicating a first granularity. If the network device does not additionally inform the terminal device that the first granularity has been configured for the resource to be measured. The terminal device may still make CSI measurements and feedback based only on the second granularity. Thus, the network device may inform the terminal device that the first granularity has been configured for the resource to be measured.

Optionally, the method further comprises: in step 450, the terminal device receives second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the network device configures the first granularity for the resource to be measured. Accordingly, in step 450, the network device sends the second indication information, which is used to indicate that the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured.

The network device may signal to the terminal device whether the first granularity is configured. The terminal device may determine a specific processing manner in the channel estimation and measurement process according to whether the first granularity is configured. It can be understood that, if the network device configures the first granularity for the resource to be measured, the terminal device may determine that the precoding reference signal on the resource to be measured may be obtained by precoding the reference signal based on one or more precoding vectors, and the terminal device may perform channel measurement in an independent processing manner; if the network device does not configure the first granularity for the resource to be measured, the terminal device may determine that the precoding reference signal transmitted on the resource to be measured is obtained by precoding the reference signal based on a precoding vector, and the terminal device may perform channel measurement in a joint processing manner.

In one possible design, the second indication information is carried in a CSI reporting configuration. The second indication information may be specifically carried in a frequency domain restriction (freqrestictorchannelmeasurements) parameter used for channel measurement in the CSI reporting configuration. For example, the parameter may specifically be:

frequency domain restriction enumeration { configured, unconfigured }for channel measurements

(freqRestrictionForChannelMeasurements ENUMERATED{configured,notConfigured})。

For example, the network device may indicate the frequency-domain restriction parameter for channel measurement in the CSI reporting configuration through an indication field of one bit. If the indication field is 0, it indicates unconfiguration; when the indication field is 1, it indicates configured. It should be understood that the indication field illustrated herein is only one possible implementation manner for indicating frequency domain restriction parameters for channel measurement, and the information indicated by different values in the indication field is also only an example, and therefore, no limitation should be made to the present application.

It should also be understood that carrying the second indication information through the CSI reporting configuration is also only one possible implementation manner, and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The application does not limit the specific signaling and the specific indication mode for carrying the second indication information.

Therefore, the terminal device can perform channel estimation based on the first granularity, and independently process the channel matrix of each sub-band corresponding to the first granularity when performing channel measurement, and perform channel measurement based on the second granularity.

In step 460, the terminal device transmits CSI according to the result of the channel measurement. Accordingly, in step 460, the network device receives the CSI, which is obtained by performing channel measurement according to the precoded reference signal sent on the resource to be measured.

As previously described, the terminal device may feed back based on the second granularity when feeding back CSI. Feeding back one or more of the following items for each sub-band corresponding to the second granularity respectively: RI, CQI, PMI, CRI, and LI, etc. After the terminal device feeds back CSI based on the sub-band corresponding to the second granularity, the network device may determine the number of transmission layers, Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), precoding matrix, and the like used when transmitting data through the sub-band.

It should be noted that the second granularity is the granularity of the subband on which the terminal device reports the CSI. But does not indicate that the terminal device needs to report the CSI based on each subband corresponding to the second granularity in the plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be transmitted. For example, sub-bands I to VIII corresponding to the second granularity are shown in fig. 6. But does not represent that the terminal device needs to report CSI on a per subband basis from subband I to subband VIII. The terminal device may determine the sub-band on which the CSI needs to be reported according to an indication of the network device, such as CSI reporting bandwidth (CSI-reporting band) in CSI reporting configuration. The subband for reporting CSI may be a part or all of the subband corresponding to the second granularity in the RB corresponding to the resource to be measured.

Therefore, by configuring the first granularity for the resource to be measured, the embodiment of the application can enable the network device to perform precoding for the reference signals configured on different frequency domain resources by the same CSI-RS resource by using different precoding vectors so as to adapt to the frequency selection characteristic of the channel. The terminal device may also perform processing based on the first granularity and the second granularity when performing channel measurement. Therefore, accurate feedback of the channel state is obtained under the condition that the channel frequency selection characteristic is obvious. Thereby being beneficial to improving the data transmission performance of the system.

The channel measurement method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 4 to 6. It should be understood that the second indication information and the first indication information are not necessarily used in combination. The network device may send the second indication information to the terminal device separately, so that the terminal device determines the channel measurement mode.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a channel measurement method 700 according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the method 700 may include steps 710-740.

In step 710, the network device generates second indication information indicating whether the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured.

The details of the resource to be measured, the first granularity, and the related content of the second indication information have been described in detail in the method 400, and are not described herein again for brevity.

In step 720, the network device transmits the second indication information. Accordingly, in step 720, the terminal device receives the second indication information.

The network device may send the second indication information, for example, by higher layer signaling. CSI reporting configurations as listed in method 400 above, and the like. The application is not limited to the specific signaling carrying the second indication information.

Since the step 450 of the method 400 has been described in detail above for the specific process of the network device sending the second indication information, the specific description of the steps 710 and 720 is omitted here for the sake of brevity.

In step 730, the terminal device performs channel measurement based on the received precoded reference signal.

Specifically, if the second indication information indicates that the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured, the terminal device may perform channel measurement based on each subband corresponding to the first granularity according to the received precoding reference signal, and independently process a subband measurement result to determine the CSI.

If the second indication information indicates that the first granularity is not configured for the resource to be measured, the terminal device may perform joint processing on the measurement result of the reference signal according to the received precoded reference signal to determine the CSI.

Since the detailed description of the channel measurement performed by the terminal device is given in step 440 of the method 400 above, the detailed description of step 730 is omitted here for brevity.

In step 740, the terminal device transmits CSI based on the result of the channel measurement. Accordingly, the network device receives CSI, which is determined based on the result of the channel measurement.

Since step 460 in method 400 has described the specific procedure of sending CSI by the terminal device in detail, the specific description of step 740 is omitted here for brevity.

Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device may determine, based on the second indication information, whether the network device configures the first granularity for the resource to be transmitted, that is, the terminal device may determine, based on the second indication information, what manner to perform channel measurement, for example, a joint processing manner or an independent processing manner. When the frequency domain resource occupies a larger bandwidth and the frequency selection characteristic is obvious, the network equipment can adopt different precoding vectors to precode the reference signal of the same port, and the terminal equipment can adopt an independent processing mode to carry out channel measurement so as to obtain the feedback of the channel state which is more matched with the frequency selection characteristic of the channel; when the frequency domain resource occupies a smaller bandwidth and the frequency domain correlation is better, the network device can also perform channel measurement by adopting a joint processing mode when the network device can perform precoding on the reference signal of the same port by adopting the same precoding vector, so as to improve the measurement precision. Therefore, the method can adapt to frequency domain resources with different bandwidths, meet different requirements and is very flexible in switching. Meanwhile, more accurate feedback of channel state information can be obtained, and the data transmission performance is favorably improved.

It should be understood that, in the foregoing embodiments, the sequence numbers of the processes do not imply an execution sequence, and the execution sequence of the processes should be determined by functions and internal logic of the processes, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

The channel measurement method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 4 to 7. Hereinafter, a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 8 to 10.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown, the communication device 1000 may include a transceiving unit 1100 and a processing unit 1200.

In one possible design, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the terminal device in the above method embodiment, and may be, for example, the terminal device or a chip configured in the terminal device.

Specifically, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to a terminal device in the method 400 or the method 700 according to an embodiment of the present application, and the communication apparatus 1000 may include a unit for performing the method performed by the terminal device in the method 400 in fig. 4 or the method 700 in fig. 7. Also, the units and other operations and/or functions described above in the communication device 1000 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 400 in fig. 4 or the method 700 in fig. 7.

When the communication device 1000 is used to execute the method 400 in fig. 4, the transceiver unit 1100 may be used to execute the steps 420 and 430, and the steps 450 and 460 in the method 400, and the processing unit 1200 may be used to execute the step 440 in the method 400. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to perform the method 700 in fig. 7, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to perform the steps 720 and 740 in the method 700, and the processing unit 1200 is configured to perform the step 730 in the method 700. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

It is further understood that when the communication apparatus 1000 is a terminal device, the transceiver unit 1100 in the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the transceiver 2020 in the terminal device 2000 shown in fig. 9, and the processing unit 1200 in the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the processor 2010 in the terminal device 2000 shown in fig. 9.

It should also be understood that when the communication device 1000 is a chip configured in a terminal device, the transceiver unit 1100 in the communication device 1000 may be an input/output interface.

In another possible design, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the network device in the above method embodiment, and may be, for example, a network device or a chip configured in a network device.

Specifically, the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the network device in the method 400 or the method 700 according to the embodiment of the present application, and the communication apparatus 1000 may include a unit for performing the method performed by the network device in the method 400 in fig. 4 or the method 700 in fig. 7. Also, the units and other operations and/or functions described above in the communication device 1000 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the method 400 in fig. 4 or the method 700 in fig. 7.

When the communication device 1000 is used to execute the method 400 in fig. 4, the transceiver unit 1100 may be used to execute the steps 420 and 430, and the steps 450 and 460 in the method 400, and the processing unit 1200 may be used to execute the step 410 in the method 400. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

When the communication device 1000 is configured to perform the method 700 in fig. 7, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to perform the steps 720 and 740 in the method 700, and the processing unit 1200 is configured to perform the step 710 in the method 700. It should be understood that the specific processes of the units for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the above method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

It should also be understood that when the communication apparatus 1000 is a network device, the transceiving unit in the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the transceiver 3200 in the network device 3000 shown in fig. 10, and the processing unit 1200 in the communication apparatus 1000 may correspond to the processor 3100 in the network device 3000 shown in fig. 10.

It should also be understood that when the communication device 1000 is a chip configured in a network device, the transceiver unit 1100 in the communication device 1000 may be an input/output interface.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 2000 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 2000 can be applied to the system shown in fig. 1, and performs the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiment. As shown, the terminal device 2000 includes a processor 2010 and a transceiver 2020. Optionally, the terminal device 2000 further comprises a memory 2030. The processor 2010, the transceiver 2002 and the memory 2030 may be in communication with each other via the interconnection path to transfer control and/or data signals, the memory 2030 may be used for storing a computer program, and the processor 2010 may be used for retrieving and executing the computer program from the memory 2030 to control the transceiver 2020 to transmit and receive signals. Optionally, the terminal device 2000 may further include an antenna 2040, configured to receive a wireless signal, so as to output downlink data or downlink signaling carried in the wireless signal to the transceiver 2020, and further configured to send uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 2020 through the wireless signal.

The processor 2010 and the memory 2030 may be combined into a processing device, and the processor 2010 is configured to execute the program codes stored in the memory 2030 to achieve the above functions. In particular, the memory 2030 may be integrated with the processor 2010 or may be separate from the processor 2010. The processor 2010 may correspond to the processing unit in fig. 8.

The transceiver 2020 may correspond to the transceiver in fig. 8, and may also be referred to as a transceiver. The transceiver 2020 may include a receiver (or receiver, receiving circuit) and a transmitter (or transmitter, transmitting circuit). Wherein the receiver is used for receiving signals, and the transmitter is used for transmitting signals.

It should be understood that terminal device 2000 shown in fig. 9 is capable of implementing various processes involving the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in fig. 4 or fig. 7. The operations and/or functions of the modules in the terminal device 2000 are respectively to implement the corresponding flows in the above-described method embodiments. Reference may be made specifically to the description of the above method embodiments, and a detailed description is appropriately omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

The processor 2010 may be configured to perform the actions described in the preceding method embodiments that are implemented within the terminal device, and the transceiver 2020 may be configured to perform the actions described in the preceding method embodiments that the terminal device transmits to or receives from the network device. Please refer to the description of the previous embodiment of the method, which is not repeated herein.

Optionally, the terminal device 2000 may further include a power supply 2050 for supplying power to various devices or circuits in the terminal device.

In addition, in order to further improve the functions of the terminal device, the terminal device 2000 may further include one or more of an input unit 2060, a display unit 2070, an audio circuit 2080, a camera 2090, a sensor 2100, and the like, and the audio circuit may further include a speaker 2082, a microphone 2084, and the like.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided in the embodiment of the present application, which may be a schematic structural diagram of a base station, for example. The base station 3000 can be applied to the system shown in fig. 1, and performs the functions of the network device in the above method embodiment. As shown, the base station 3000 may include one or more radio frequency units, such as a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) 3100 and one or more baseband units (BBUs) (which may also be referred to as Distributed Units (DUs)) 3200.

The RRU 3100 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, and corresponds to the transceiver unit 1200 in fig. 8. Alternatively, the transceiving unit 3100 may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiving circuit, or transceiver, etc., which may comprise at least one antenna 3101 and a radio frequency unit 3102. Alternatively, the transceiving unit 3100 may include a receiving unit and a transmitting unit, the receiving unit may correspond to a receiver (or receiver, receiving circuit), and the transmitting unit may correspond to a transmitter (or transmitter, transmitting circuit). The RRU 3100 part is mainly used for transceiving and converting radio frequency signals to baseband signals, for example, for sending indication information to a terminal device. The BBU 3200 section is mainly used for performing baseband processing, controlling a base station, and the like. The RRU 3100 and the BBU 3200 may be physically disposed together or may be physically disposed separately, i.e. distributed base stations.

The BBU 3200, which is a control center of the base station and may also be referred to as a processing unit, may correspond to the processing unit 1100 in fig. 8, and is mainly used for performing baseband processing functions, such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spreading, and the like. For example, the BBU (processing unit) may be configured to control the base station to perform an operation procedure related to the network device in the foregoing method embodiment, for example, to generate the foregoing first indication information and second indication information, precode a reference signal, and the like.

In an example, the BBU 3200 may be formed by one or more boards, and the boards may collectively support a radio access network of a single access system (e.g., an LTE network), or may respectively support radio access networks of different access systems (e.g., an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The BBU 3200 also includes a memory 3201 and a processor 3202. The memory 3201 is used to store necessary instructions and data. The processor 3202 is used for controlling the base station to perform necessary actions, for example, for controlling the base station to execute the operation flow related to the network device in the above method embodiment. The memory 3201 and processor 3202 may serve one or more boards. That is, the memory and processor may be provided separately on each board. Multiple boards may share the same memory and processor. In addition, each single board can be provided with necessary circuits.

It should be understood that the base station 3000 shown in fig. 10 can implement the various processes involving network devices in the method embodiments shown in fig. 4 or fig. 7. The operations and/or functions of the respective modules in the base station 3000 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows in the above-described method embodiments. Reference may be made specifically to the description of the above method embodiments, and a detailed description is appropriately omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

BBU 3200 as described above can be used to perform actions described in previous method embodiments as being implemented internally by a network device, while RRU 3100 can be used to perform actions described in previous method embodiments as being sent by or received from a terminal device by a network device. Please refer to the description of the previous embodiment of the method, which is not repeated herein.

It should be understood that the base station 3000 shown in fig. 10 is only one possible architecture of a network device, and should not limit the present application in any way. The method provided by the application can be applied to network equipment with other architectures. E.g., network equipment including CUs, DUs, and Active Antenna Units (AAUs), etc. The present application is not limited to the specific architecture of the network device.

The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device, which comprises a processor and an interface; the processor is configured to perform the method of any of the above method embodiments.

It is to be understood that the processing means described above may be one or more chips. For example, the processing device may be a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), a Microcontroller (MCU), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor described above may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 or fig. 7.

There is also provided a computer readable medium having program code stored thereon, which when run on a computer causes the computer to perform the method of the embodiment shown in fig. 4 or fig. 7, according to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a system, which includes the foregoing one or more terminal devices and one or more network devices.

The network device in the foregoing device embodiments completely corresponds to the terminal device and the network device or the terminal device in the method embodiments, and the corresponding module or unit executes the corresponding steps, for example, the communication unit (transceiver) executes the steps of receiving or transmitting in the method embodiments, and other steps besides transmitting and receiving may be executed by the processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific elements may be referred to in the respective method embodiments. The number of the processors may be one or more.

As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between 2 or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps (step) described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. 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 application.

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 application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

In the above embodiments, the functions of the functional units may be fully or partially implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions (programs). The procedures or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part when the computer program instructions (programs) are loaded and executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units 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 application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including 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 application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application 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 application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of channel measurement, comprising:

receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating a first granularity, the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector, and the precoding vector is used for precoding a reference signal transmitted on a pre-configured resource to be measured; the precoding reference signal transmitted on the resource to be measured is obtained by precoding the reference signal by one or more precoding vectors, the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the relative positions of the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in any two of the plurality of RBs in the RBs respectively belong to the same RB; the plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured comprise a plurality of frequency domain units corresponding to the first granularity, and precoding reference signals transmitted on the same frequency domain unit correspond to the same precoding vector;

and performing channel measurement according to the precoding reference signal received on the resource to be measured, and sending Channel State Information (CSI) based on the result of the channel measurement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second indication information is carried in frequency domain restriction parameters for channel measurement in a CSI reporting configuration.

4. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the precoded reference signals transmitted on at least two frequency domain elements in the resource to be measured correspond to different precoding vectors.

5. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein the first granularity is the same as a second granularity, the second granularity being a granularity of a frequency-domain unit on which CSI reporting is based.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first granularity is indicated by a same field as the second granularity.

7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first indication information is carried in a CSI reporting configuration.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the frequency domain unit is a subband, and the first indication information is carried by a subband granularity field in the CSI reporting configuration.

9. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first indication information is carried in a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource mapping configuration.

10. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the precoded reference signals transmitted in the resource to be measured correspond to the same port.

11. A method of channel measurement, comprising:

generating first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating a first granularity, the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector, and the precoding vector is used for precoding a reference signal transmitted on a pre-configured resource to be measured; the precoding reference signal transmitted on the resource to be measured is obtained by precoding the reference signal by one or more precoding vectors, the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the relative positions of the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in any two of the RBs are the same in the respective RBs; the plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured comprise a plurality of frequency domain units corresponding to the first granularity, and precoding reference signals transmitted on the same frequency domain unit are obtained by precoding the same precoding vector;

and sending the first indication information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

and sending second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second indication information is carried in frequency domain restriction parameters for channel measurement in a CSI reporting configuration.

14. The method according to any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the precoded reference signals transmitted on at least two frequency domain elements in the resource to be measured correspond to different precoding vectors.

15. The method of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the first granularity is the same as a second granularity, the second granularity being a granularity of a frequency domain unit on which CSI reporting is based.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first granularity is indicated by a same field as the second granularity.

17. The method of any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the first indication information is carried in a CSI reporting configuration.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the frequency domain unit is a subband, and wherein the first indication information is carried by a subband granularity field in the CSI reporting configuration.

19. The method of any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the first indication information is carried in a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource mapping configuration.

20. The method according to any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the precoded reference signals transmitted in the resource to be measured correspond to the same port.

21. A method of channel measurement, comprising:

receiving second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured; the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting precoding reference signals in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signals in any two of the plurality of RBs are the same; the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by one or more precoding vectors, and the precoding reference signals transmitted on a frequency domain unit corresponding to the first granularity correspond to the same precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is not configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by a precoding vector;

22. The method of claim 21, wherein precoded reference signals transmitted in the resources to be measured correspond to the same port.

23. A method of channel measurement, comprising:

generating second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured; the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting precoding reference signals in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signals in any two of the plurality of RBs are the same; the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by one or more precoding vectors, and the precoding reference signals transmitted on a frequency domain unit corresponding to the first granularity correspond to the same precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is not configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by a precoding vector;

and sending the second indication information.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein precoded reference signals transmitted in the resources to be measured correspond to the same port.

25. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a transceiving unit, configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first granularity, where the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector, and the precoding vector is used to precode a reference signal transmitted on a pre-configured resource to be measured; the precoding reference signal transmitted on the resource to be measured is obtained by precoding the reference signal by one or more precoding vectors, the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the relative positions of the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in any two of the plurality of RBs in the RBs respectively belong to the same RB; the plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured comprise a plurality of frequency domain units corresponding to the first granularity, and precoding reference signals transmitted on the same frequency domain unit correspond to the same precoding vector;

and the processing unit is used for carrying out channel measurement according to the precoding reference signal received on the resource to be measured and sending Channel State Information (CSI) based on the result of the channel measurement.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to receive second indication information indicating that the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the second indication information is carried in frequency domain restriction parameters for channel measurement in a CSI reporting configuration.

28. The apparatus according to any of claims 25 to 27, wherein the precoded reference signals transmitted on at least two frequency domain elements in the resource to be measured correspond to different precoding vectors.

29. The apparatus of any one of claims 25-27, wherein the first granularity is the same as a second granularity, the second granularity being a granularity of a frequency-domain unit on which CSI reporting is based.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the first granularity is indicated by a same field as the second granularity.

31. The apparatus of any one of claims 25-27, wherein the first indication information is carried in a CSI reporting configuration.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the frequency domain unit is a subband, and wherein the first indication information is carried by a subband granularity field in the CSI reporting configuration.

33. The apparatus of any one of claims 25-27, wherein the first indication information is carried in a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource mapping configuration.

34. The apparatus according to any of claims 25 to 27, wherein the precoded reference signals transmitted in the resource to be measured correspond to the same port.

35. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a processing unit, configured to generate first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first granularity, where the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector, and the precoding vector is used to precode a reference signal transmitted on a pre-configured resource to be measured; the precoding reference signal transmitted on the resource to be measured is obtained by precoding the reference signal by one or more precoding vectors, the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the relative positions of the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signal in any two of the RBs are the same in the respective RBs; the plurality of RBs corresponding to the resource to be measured comprise a plurality of frequency domain units corresponding to the first granularity, and precoding reference signals transmitted on the same frequency domain unit are obtained by precoding the same precoding vector;

and the transceiving unit is used for sending the first indication information.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to receive second indication information indicating that the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the second indication information is carried in frequency domain restriction parameters for channel measurement in a CSI reporting configuration.

38. The apparatus according to any of claims 35 to 37, wherein the precoded reference signals transmitted on at least two frequency domain elements in the resource to be measured correspond to different precoding vectors.

39. The apparatus of any one of claims 35-37, wherein the first granularity is the same as a second granularity, the second granularity being a granularity of a frequency-domain unit on which CSI reporting is based.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the first granularity is indicated by a same field as the second granularity.

41. The apparatus of any one of claims 35-37, wherein the first indication information is carried in a CSI reporting configuration.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the frequency domain unit is a subband, and wherein the first indication information is carried by a subband granularity field in the CSI reporting configuration.

43. The apparatus of any one of claims 35-37, wherein the first indication information is carried in a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource mapping configuration.

44. The apparatus according to any of claims 35 to 37, wherein the precoded reference signals transmitted in the resource to be measured correspond to the same port.

45. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver unit, configured to receive second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether a first granularity is configured for a resource to be measured; the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting precoding reference signals in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signals in any two of the plurality of RBs are the same; the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by one or more precoding vectors, and the precoding reference signals transmitted on a frequency domain unit corresponding to the first granularity correspond to the same precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is not configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by a precoding vector;

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein precoded reference signals transmitted in the resources to be measured correspond to the same port.

47. A communications apparatus, comprising:

the processing unit is used for generating second indication information, and the second indication information is used for indicating whether the first granularity is configured for the resource to be measured or not; the resource to be measured comprises time-frequency resources used for transmitting precoding reference signals in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs), and the time-frequency resources used for transmitting the precoding reference signals in any two of the plurality of RBs are the same; the first granularity is a granularity corresponding to a precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by one or more precoding vectors, and the precoding reference signals transmitted on a frequency domain unit corresponding to the first granularity correspond to the same precoding vector; when the resource to be measured is not configured with the first granularity, precoding reference signals transmitted on the resource to be measured are obtained by precoding the reference signals by a precoding vector;

and the transceiving unit is used for sending the second indication information.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein precoded reference signals transmitted in the resources to be measured correspond to the same port.

49. A communications apparatus comprising at least one processor configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-24.

50. A computer-readable medium, comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 24.