CN112020889B

CN112020889B - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN112020889B
Application number: CN201980014056.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李晓卡; 李军; 王俊伟
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-30
Filing date: 2019-03-30
Publication date: 2024-04-09
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-30
Also published as: WO2020199063A1; CN112020889A

Abstract

A method and apparatus for communication, wherein the method comprises: receiving a first reference signal and performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal; in the embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, the time-frequency offset compensation value used for performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal is configured before the first reference signal is received, so that the first reference signal is compensated based on the configured time-frequency offset compensation value, and the problem that the time-frequency offset estimation value calculated based on the compensated first reference signal is inaccurate due to unreasonable configuration time of the time-frequency offset compensation value is avoided, on the other hand, the first reference signal is the reference signal using the time-frequency offset compensation value for the first time, and because the time-frequency offset compensation value is configured before the second reference signal using the time-frequency offset compensation value for the first time is received, the subsequent reference signals can be compensated based on the time-frequency offset compensation value, so that the accuracy of the time-frequency offset estimation value calculated based on the compensated subsequent reference signal is effectively ensured.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus.

Background

Higher carrier frequencies (typically greater than 6 GHz) such as 28GHz, 38GHz, or 72GHz frequency bands, etc. are employed in the 5th generation (the 5th generation,5G) communication systems to achieve greater bandwidth, higher transmission rates wireless communications. Because of the higher carrier frequency, the transmitted wireless signal experiences more serious fading in the space propagation process, and the wireless signal is difficult to detect even at the receiving end. For this reason, beamforming (BF) technology is adopted in the 5G system to obtain a gain with good directivity, improve the power in the transmitting direction, and improve the signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (signal to interference plus noise ratio, SINR) at the receiving end.

By employing beamforming techniques, the transmitting device and the receiving device may communicate on different beams. Since the coverage direction and coverage of different beams may be different, such as beam 1, beam 2 and beam 3 illustrated in fig. 1a, the coverage direction and coverage of beam 1, beam 2 and beam 3 may be different, resulting in a possible difference in the large scale parameter characteristic parameters (such as average delay, doppler shift) of the signals transmitted on beam 1, beam 2 and beam 3. If there is a difference in the average delays of the signals transmitted on beam 1, beam 2 and beam 3, a time offset may be caused; if there is a difference in doppler shift of the signals transmitted on beam 1, beam 2 and beam 3, a frequency shift may be caused. The time offset and the frequency offset (abbreviated as time-frequency offset) can cause that the receiving end equipment cannot accurately analyze the received signals, and in order to solve the problem, the time-frequency offset compensation value is needed to carry out corresponding time-frequency offset compensation on the signals transmitted on different beams. However, since the time-frequency offset compensation value is dynamically changed, further research is still needed on how to configure the time-frequency offset compensation value.

Disclosure of Invention

An embodiment of the present application is directed to providing a communication method and apparatus, which are used for solving the technical problem that a time-frequency offset estimation result is not accurate enough due to unreasonable configuration time of a time-frequency offset compensation value.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, including:

receiving a first reference signal; performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal;

the time-frequency offset compensation value used for performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal is configured before the first reference signal is received, and the first reference signal is the reference signal using the time-frequency offset compensation value for the first time.

By adopting the method, on one hand, the time-frequency offset compensation value used for time-frequency offset compensation of the first reference signal is configured before the first reference signal is received, so that the first reference signal is compensated based on the configured time-frequency offset compensation value, the problem that the time-frequency offset estimation value calculated based on the compensated first reference signal is inaccurate due to unreasonable configuration time of the time-frequency offset compensation value is avoided, and on the other hand, the first reference signal is the reference signal using the time-frequency offset compensation value for the first time, and the time-frequency offset compensation value is configured before the first reference signal using the time-frequency offset compensation value for the first time is received, so that the subsequent reference signals can be compensated based on the time-frequency offset compensation value, and the accuracy of the time-frequency offset estimation value calculated based on the compensated subsequent reference signal is effectively ensured.

In one possible design, the time-frequency offset compensation value is configured at a beginning time of a first time slot in which the first reference signal is located.

In one possible design, the time-frequency offset compensation value is configured at a beginning time of a first time slot before a first time slot in which the first reference signal is located.

In one possible design, the time slot in which the second reference signal is located includes the first time slot and a second time slot, where the second time slot is adjacent to and before the first time slot; the second reference signal is a reference signal for time-frequency offset estimation; the method further comprises the steps of: and discarding the time-frequency offset compensation of the second reference signal by using the time-frequency offset compensation value.

With the above method, since the time-frequency offset compensation value is configured between two time slots where the second reference signal is located, if the second reference signal is received and the time-frequency offset compensation is performed on the second reference signal, a part of the signal (located in the second time slot) of the second reference signal is compensated using the time-frequency offset compensation value before configuration, and another part of the signal (located in the first time slot) is compensated using the time-frequency offset compensation value before configuration, thereby resulting in inaccurate time-frequency offset estimation value calculated based on the compensated second reference signal. Therefore, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is to discard the time-frequency offset compensation for the second reference signal using the time-frequency offset compensation value, or may also be understood as discarding the reception of the second reference signal on the second time slot and the first time slot, so as to avoid the problem that may be caused by inaccurate time-frequency offset estimation value. In this case, specific processing may be referred to the description in the embodiment. Alternatively, in other possible cases, the second reference signal may be received, but correction of the signal located on the second time slot is required at this time, as described in the detailed description.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, where the method includes:

receiving configuration information of N reference signals for time-frequency offset estimation, wherein the configuration information of the N reference signals is used for indicating time domain resources where the plurality of reference signals are located; the plurality of reference signals includes a first reference signal; further, according to the time domain resources where the plurality of reference signals are located, a time-frequency offset compensation value for performing time-frequency offset compensation on M reference signals in the N reference signals is configured at a first time; m, N are integers, and M is less than or equal to N;

wherein, there is no first reference signal in the M reference signals, and the first time is located between a start time and an end time of a time domain resource of the first reference signal.

In one possible design, the first reference signal is present in a reference signal other than the M reference signals of the N reference signals; the method further comprises the steps of: and discarding the time-frequency offset estimation of the first reference signal. The foregoing method may also be understood as omitting to perform time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal by using the foregoing time-frequency offset compensation value, or omitting to receive the first reference signal.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where the method is applied to a receiving end device, and the method includes:

receiving a first reference signal sent by a sending terminal device; performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal by adopting an i-th time-frequency offset compensation value, calculating a first time-frequency offset estimation value of the first reference signal after time-frequency offset compensation according to the first reference signal after time-frequency offset compensation, and generating an i+1-th time-frequency offset compensation value according to the first time-frequency offset estimation value if the first time-frequency offset estimation value is larger than a preset threshold value; updating the ith time frequency offset compensation value to the (i+1) time frequency offset compensation value according to the time unit where N reference signals are located, wherein i is a positive integer; the N reference signals are reference signals for time-frequency offset estimation, the N reference signals comprise the first reference signals, and N is an integer greater than 1.

In the embodiment of the application, when the ith frequency offset compensation value is updated to the (i+1) th frequency offset compensation value, the time units where the N reference signals are located are fully considered, so that the ith frequency offset compensation value can be updated to the (i+1) th frequency offset compensation value at a proper moment.

In one possible design, updating the i-th time frequency offset compensation value to the i+1-th time frequency offset compensation value according to a time unit where the N reference signals are located includes: according to the time unit where the N reference signals are located, if at least one alternative time exists in a set time period after the time when the i+1 time frequency offset compensation value is generated, updating the i time frequency offset compensation value to the i+1 time frequency offset compensation value at the alternative time closest to the time when the i+1 time frequency offset compensation value is generated;

wherein each of the at least one alternative time instance meets the following condition:

the starting position is positioned at the ending position of the first time unit or the starting position of the second time unit; for each reference signal of the N reference signals, if the time unit in which the reference signal is located includes the first time unit, the second time unit is not included, or if the second time unit is included, the first time unit is not included.

In one possible design, the method further comprises: according to the time unit where the N reference signals are located, if it is determined that no alternative time meeting the conditions exists in a set time period after the time when the (i+1) th time frequency offset compensation value is generated, updating the (i) th time frequency offset compensation value to the (i+1) th time frequency offset compensation value at a first time;

The first time is the end position of the third time unit or the start position of the fourth time unit; the N reference signals comprise second reference signals, and the time unit in which the second reference signals are located comprises the third time unit and the fourth time unit.

In one possible design, the method further comprises:

discarding the reception of the second reference signal in the third time unit and the fourth time unit.

In one possible design, the method further comprises:

receiving the second reference signal sent by the sending end equipment, wherein the second reference signal comprises a first part signal positioned in the third time unit and a second part signal positioned in the fourth time unit;

performing first time frequency offset compensation on the first part of signals by adopting an ith time frequency offset compensation value, performing second time frequency offset compensation on the first part of signals after the first time frequency offset compensation by adopting a difference value between the (i+1) th time frequency offset compensation value and the ith time frequency offset compensation value, and performing time frequency offset compensation on the second part of signals by adopting the (i+1) th time frequency offset compensation value;

And calculating to obtain a second time frequency offset estimation value according to the first time frequency offset compensated part of signals and the second time frequency offset compensated part of signals.

In one possible design, after the calculating obtains the second time-frequency offset estimation value, the method further includes:

receiving a second target signal which is transmitted by the transmitting end equipment and has a QCL relation with the second reference signal;

and performing first time frequency offset compensation on the second target signal by adopting the i+1th time frequency offset compensation value, performing second time frequency offset compensation on the second target signal subjected to the first time frequency offset compensation by adopting the second time frequency offset estimation value, and further analyzing the second target signal subjected to the second time frequency offset compensation.

In one possible design, after the updating the i-th time frequency offset compensation value to the i+1-th time frequency offset compensation value, the method further includes:

receiving a first target signal which is transmitted by the transmitting end equipment and has a QCL relation with the first reference signal; and carrying out time-frequency offset compensation on the first target signal by adopting the i+1th time-frequency offset compensation value, and analyzing the first target signal subjected to time-frequency offset compensation.

In one possible design, the N reference signals further include a third reference signal;

after the i-th time frequency offset compensation value is updated to the i+1-th time frequency offset compensation value, the method further includes:

receiving a third reference signal sent by the sending end equipment; and performing time-frequency offset compensation on the third reference signal by adopting the i+1th time-frequency offset compensation value, and calculating a third time-frequency offset estimation value of the third reference signal after the time-frequency offset compensation.

In one possible design, after the calculating the third time-frequency offset estimate of the time-frequency offset compensated third reference signal, the method further includes:

receiving a third target signal which is transmitted by the transmitting end equipment and has a QCL relation with the third reference signal;

and performing first time frequency offset compensation on the third target signal by adopting the i+1th time frequency offset compensation value, performing second time frequency offset compensation on the third target signal subjected to the first time frequency offset compensation by adopting the third time frequency offset estimation value, and further analyzing the third target signal subjected to the second time frequency offset compensation.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide an apparatus, which may be a terminal device, or may also be a semiconductor chip disposed in the terminal device. The device has the function of realizing the various possible designs of the above-mentioned first to third aspects. The functions can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide an apparatus comprising: a processor and a memory; the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the memory, which when executed, cause the apparatus to perform the method as in any one of the possible designs of the first to third aspects described above.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible designs of the aspects.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising a computer program or instructions which, when executed, implement the method in any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible designs of the aspects.

Drawings

FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram of coverage direction and coverage of different beams;

FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram of a system architecture suitable for use in embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 1c is a schematic diagram of another system architecture applicable to embodiments of the present application;

fig. 2a is a schematic diagram of resources occupied by a TRS according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of an implementation process of implementation 1 in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2c is a schematic diagram of an implementation process of implementation 2 in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2d is an exemplary diagram of time units occupied by reference signals according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a flow chart corresponding to a method for updating a time-frequency offset compensation value according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4a is a diagram of another example of time units occupied by reference signals according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4b is a diagram of yet another example of time units occupied by reference signals according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4c is a diagram of yet another example of time units occupied by reference signals according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a possible exemplary block diagram of an apparatus involved in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more apparent, the embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained for easy understanding by those skilled in the art.

(1) Terminal equipment: the device with wireless receiving and transmitting functions can be deployed on land, and comprises indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); but may also be deployed in the air (e.g., on aircraft, balloon, satellite, etc.). The terminal device 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 (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), etc. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to application scenarios. A terminal device may also sometimes be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal device, a UE unit, a UE station, a mobile station, a remote terminal device, a mobile device, a UE terminal device, a wireless communication device, a UE proxy, a UE apparatus, or the like.

(2) Network equipment: may be a device in communication with the terminal device, such as a base station or a base station controller, etc. The network device may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and may communicate with terminal devices located within that coverage area (cell). The network device may be a base station (base transceiver station, BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (global system for mobile communications, GSM) or code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), a base station (NodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA) system, an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario, or a network device in a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a future 5G network, for example, a base station (gnob or gNB) or a transceiver point (transmission receiving point/transmission reception point, TRP) in a New Radio (NR), or a network device in a future evolved public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN) network, etc., the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

(3) Beam (beam): a major problem with high frequency communications is that the signal energy drops sharply with transmission distance, resulting in a short signal transmission distance. To overcome this problem, high frequency communication adopts an analog beam technique, weighting processing is performed by a large-scale antenna array, and signal energy is concentrated in a small range to form a signal (called an analog beam, abbreviated as a beam) similar to a light beam, thereby increasing a transmission distance.

The beam is a communication resource and may be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other type of beam. The technique of forming the beam may be a beam forming technique or other means of technique. The beamforming technique may be embodied as a digital beamforming technique, an analog beamforming technique, a hybrid digital/analog beamforming technique, or the like. Different beams may be considered different communication resources, and the same information or different information may be transmitted over different beams. Alternatively, multiple beams having the same or similar communication characteristics may be considered as one beam, which may include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and the like. It is to be appreciated that one or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be considered a set (or group) of antenna ports, and that a beam can also be referred to as a spatial filter (spatial filter).

(4) The first, second, etc. numbers referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, nor indicate the sequence. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. "at least one" means one or more. At least two means two or more. "at least one," "any one," or the like, refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one of a, b, or c (species ) may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

Fig. 1b is a schematic diagram of a system architecture suitable for the embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1b, the architecture includes one or more network devices (such as network device 101) and one or more terminal devices (such as terminal device 102) located within the coverage area of network device 101. In the system architecture shown in fig. 1b, the network device 101 may communicate with the terminal device 102 via a wireless air interface.

Fig. 1c is a schematic diagram of another system architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application. As depicted in fig. 1c, the architecture includes a plurality of network devices (e.g., first network device 1031, second network device 1032) and one or more terminal devices (e.g., terminal device 104). The first network device 1031, the second network device 1032 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area within which the terminal device 104 is located. In the system architecture shown in fig. 1c, both the first network device 1031 and the second network device 1032 can communicate with the terminal device 102 via a wireless air interface. Further, the system architecture illustrated in fig. 1c may support coordinated multipoint (coordinated multi-point, COMP) transmission, i.e. the first network device 1031 and the second network device 1032 may transmit downlink data to the terminal device 104 by using a coordinated multipoint transmission manner.

It should be appreciated that the system architecture illustrated in fig. 1b and 1c may be adapted for use in communication systems of various radio access technologies, such as long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) communication systems, 5G communication systems, and other possible communication systems.

Fig. 1b and fig. 1c are only schematic diagrams of an architecture of a communication system, in which the number of network devices and the number of terminal devices in the communication system are not limited, and in addition to the network devices and the terminal devices, other devices, such as a core network device, a wireless relay device, and a wireless backhaul device, may be included in the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable, which is also not limited. And, the network device in the embodiment of the present application may integrate all functions into one independent physical device, or may distribute the functions on a plurality of independent physical devices, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. In addition, the terminal device in the embodiment of the application may be connected to the network device in a wireless manner.

The system architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly describing the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of the communication system architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is applicable to similar technical problems.

Taking the system architecture illustrated in fig. 1c as an example, in the scenario of coordinated multi-point transmission, the first network device may be a serving network device, and the second network device may be a coordinated network device; alternatively, the first network device may be a cooperative network device and the second network device a serving network device. It should be noted that in the scenario of coordinated multi-point transmission, there may be a plurality of coordinated network devices, and only one coordinated network device is illustrated in fig. 1 c.

The coordinated multi-point transmission scenario may support multiple scheduling manners, for example, the service network device may send control signaling to the terminal device, and the coordinated network device may send data to the terminal device; alternatively, the serving network apparatus may send control signaling to the terminal apparatus, the serving network apparatus and the cooperative network apparatus may send data to the terminal apparatus simultaneously, or the serving network apparatus and the cooperative network apparatus may send control signaling to the terminal apparatus simultaneously, and the serving network apparatus and the cooperative network apparatus may send data to the terminal apparatus simultaneously. The embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited thereto. Further, communication may be performed between the serving network device and the cooperating network device and between the plurality of cooperating network devices, e.g. the transfer of control messages via an X2 interface. It can be seen that the coordinated multi-point transmission scenario can support joint scheduling of network devices, and also can support independent scheduling of network devices. In the separate scheduling of network devices, two network devices respectively and separately transmit control signaling, and two network devices jointly transmit data. In joint scheduling of network devices, control signaling may be sent through one of the network devices, and the two network devices jointly send data.

Taking joint scheduling of network devices as an example, in one possible scenario, a first network device may send a target signal 1 to a terminal device through a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH), where the target signal 1 may include a control signal, such as downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI), where the PDCCH may be located on a resource indicated by a control-resource set (CORESET) configured in advance by the first network device for the terminal device (such as CORESET-1); and, the first network device may transmit the target signal 2 to the terminal device through a physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH), the target signal 2 may include, for example, a data signal and a demodulation reference signal (demodulation reference signal, DMRS) (such as DMRS-1), and the second network device may transmit the target signal 3 to the terminal device through the PDSCH, and the target signal 3 may include, for example, a data signal and a DMRS (such as DMRS-2).

Further, in a 5G communication system, DMRS may be transmitted through a beam formed by a DMRS antenna port group (DMRS group), where the DMRS group may be configured through higher layer signaling, e.g., the higher layer signaling configuration divides 12 antenna ports (e.g., DMRS antenna ports 1000-1011) into two groups: antenna ports {1000 1002 1004 1006 1008 1010} are one group and antenna ports {1001 1003 1005 1007 1009 1011} are another group; alternatively, antenna ports {1000-1005} are one set and antenna ports {1006-1011} are another set. Thus, in one example, the DMRS-1 may be transmitted via a beam (e.g., beam 2 as illustrated in fig. 1 a) formed by DMRS group1 (e.g., antenna port {1000 1002 1004 1006 1008 1010 }), and DMRS-2 may be transmitted via a beam (e.g., beam 3 as illustrated in fig. 1 a) formed by DMRS group2 (e.g., antenna port {1001 1003 1005 1007 1009 1011 }).

In one example, if a first network device transmits PDCCH (core-1) through beam 1 illustrated in fig. 1a and PDSCH (DMRS-1) through beam 2 illustrated in fig. 1a, and a second network device transmits PDSCH (DMRS-1) through beam 3 illustrated in fig. 1a, in this case, to ensure that target signals transmitted through these channels can be correctly received by a terminal device, the first network device may configure the terminal device with corresponding reference signals for time-frequency offset tracking. The reference signal may be used for time-frequency offset estimation, and in one example, the reference signal may be a tracking reference signal (tracking reference signal, TRS), a synchronization signal block (synchronization signal block, SSB), or may be another signal that may be used for time-frequency offset estimation, which is not specifically limited.

Further, taking the reference signal as the TRS as an example, the first network device may send configuration information of the TRS to the terminal device, where the configuration information of the TRS may include a TRS period, a TRS length, and a number of TRS symbols, and further may include a TRS bandwidth, a TRS frequency domain interval, and a TRS time domain interval, which are not specifically limited. Wherein, the TRS period represents a period of TRS, for example, may be set to Y in ms; the TRS length indicates a length of the TRS in each TRS period, and may be set to X in units of slots (slots), for example, each slot may contain 14 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, OFDM) symbols; the TRS symbol number indicates the number of OFDM symbols contained in the TRS in each slot; the TRS bandwidth represents a bandwidth of the TRS band, for example, a unit may be a number of Resource Blocks (RBs); the TRS frequency domain interval represents a subcarrier spacing of the TRS in the frequency domain within each RB; the TRS time domain interval represents an interval of TRS in the time domain within each RB.

Referring to fig. 2a, an example of a TRS is shown. In fig. 2a, each cell can be understood as one Resource Element (RE), the TRS length is 2 slots, and the TRS contains 2 symbols (6 th symbol and 11 th symbol, respectively) in each slot. If the TRS period is 3ms, the TRS of the next period may be located in slots n+6 and n+7 when the duration of each slot is 0.5 ms.

In this embodiment of the present application, the first network device may configure multiple reference signals for the terminal device to perform time-frequency offset tracking, which is shown in table 1, and is an example of a relationship between the reference signals configured for the first network device and the target signal.

Table 1: example of relation of reference Signal to target Signal

Target channel (target signal)	Reference signal
		PDSCH(DMRS-1)	TRS1
PDSCH(DMRS-2)	TRS2
		PDCCH (control signal)	SSB5

In table 1, the antenna port of TRS1 has a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship with DMRS Goup1 of PDSCH, that is, the beam direction of transmitting TRS1 coincides with the beam direction of DMRS-1 of PDSCH. The antenna port of TRS2 has a QCL relationship with DMRS Goup2 of PDSCH, i.e., the beam direction of transmitting TRS2 coincides with the beam direction of DMRS-2 of PDSCH. QCL relationship exists between the antenna port of SSB5 and the antenna port of the control signal of PDCCH, that is, the beam direction for transmitting SSB5 is consistent with the beam direction for transmitting the control signal of PDCCH.

The signals sent by the antenna ports with QCL relationship undergo the same large-scale fading and have the same large-scale characteristic parameters, for example, when the antenna port a and the antenna port B are said to have QCL relationship, it means that the channel large-scale characteristic parameters estimated by the signal 1 on the antenna port a are also suitable for the signal 2 on the antenna port B. In the embodiment of the present application, the antenna port a and the antenna port B have a QCL relationship, which may also be described as that the signal 1 and the signal 2 have a QCL relationship. Wherein the large scale feature parameters include one or more of the following: delay spread, doppler shift, average channel gain, average delay, etc. In a 5G communication system, the large scale feature parameters may also include spatial information such as one or more of angle of arrival (AOA), angle of arrival spread (angle of arival spread, AAS), transmit departure angle (angle of departure, AOD), departure angle spread (angle of departure spread, ADS), spatial correlation (spatial correlation), and the like.

It should be noted that, taking PDSCH (DMRS-1) as an example, the first network device may configure one or more reference signals having a QCL relationship with PDSCH (DMRS-1) for the terminal device, when configuring multiple reference signals, configuration information of the multiple reference signals may be different, and the multiple reference signals may be used to perform time-frequency offset estimation on PDSCH in different dimensions. The present embodiment will be described by way of example only in the case of configuring the TRS 1.

In one possible implementation (abbreviated as implementation 1), time-frequency offset compensation may be performed on each target signal based on each reference signal, for example, as shown in fig. 2b, a time-frequency offset estimation result of TRS1 may be used for time-frequency offset compensation of DMRS-1 of PDSCH, a time-frequency offset estimation result of TRS2 may be used for time-frequency offset compensation of DMRS-2 of PDSCH, and a time-frequency offset estimation result of SSB5 may be used for time-frequency offset compensation of control signal of PDCCH. That is, after receiving DMRS-1 of PDSCH, the terminal device may perform time-frequency offset compensation on DMRS-1 based on a time-frequency offset compensation value a1 (the time-frequency offset compensation value a1 is generated according to the time-frequency offset estimation result of TRS 1), so as to analyze DMRS-1, and obtain a channel estimation value of PDSCH for transmitting DMRS-1, where the channel estimation value may be used to demodulate data transmitted in the PDSCH; after receiving the DMRS-2 of the PDSCH, the terminal device may perform time-frequency offset compensation on the DMRS-2 based on a time-frequency offset compensation value a2 (the time-frequency offset compensation value a2 is generated according to the time-frequency offset estimation result of the TRS 2), so as to analyze the DMRS-2, and obtain a channel estimation value of the PDSCH for transmitting the DMRS-2, where the channel estimation value may be used to demodulate data transmitted in the PDSCH; after receiving the control signal of the PDCCH, the terminal equipment can perform time-frequency offset compensation on the control signal based on a time-frequency offset compensation value a3 (the time-frequency offset compensation value a3 is generated according to the time-frequency offset estimation result of SSB 5), so as to analyze the control signal.

It should be noted that, in implementation 1, taking the loop corresponding to TRS1 as an example, the time-frequency offset compensation value may be updated continuously, for example, in the initial situation, the time-frequency offset compensation value may be a preset value a00, if TRS1 is received in the 1 st TRS1 period (for convenience of description, referred to as TRS 1-1), the time-frequency offset compensation may be performed on TRS1-1 by a00, the time-frequency offset estimation value of TRS1-1 after the time-frequency offset compensation is calculated, and if the time-frequency offset estimation value is greater than a preset threshold, the time-frequency offset compensation value a01 is generated, and the time-frequency offset compensation value of the loop corresponding to TRS1 is updated to a01; if TRS1-2 is received in the 2 nd TRS1 period, a01 can be adopted to perform time-frequency offset compensation on TRS1-2, and calculate the time-frequency offset estimation value of TRS1-2 after the time-frequency offset compensation, if the time-frequency offset estimation value is greater than a preset threshold, a time-frequency offset compensation value a02 is generated, and the time-frequency offset compensation value of a loop corresponding to TRS1 is updated to a02; if TRS1-3 is received in the 3 rd TRS1 period, time-frequency offset compensation can be carried out on TRS1-3 by adopting a02, and a time-frequency offset estimated value of TRS1-3 after the time-frequency offset compensation is calculated, if the time-frequency offset estimated value is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value, the time-frequency offset compensated value of a loop corresponding to TRS1 is unchanged and still is a02; and so on. The preset threshold may be set by those skilled in the art according to actual needs, and is not specifically limited.

In another possible implementation manner (simply referred to as implementation manner 2), one of the reference signals may be selected for cost saving, for example, TRS1 may be selected, where a loop corresponding to TRS1 is used as a main loop for time-frequency offset compensation, and a time-frequency estimation result of TRS1 may compensate for time-frequency offset of all signals. In this case, referring to fig. 2c, the time-frequency offset estimation result of TRS1 is used for time-frequency offset compensation of DMRS-1 of PDSCH, DMRS-2 of PDSCH and control signal of PDCCH; the time frequency offset estimation result of TRS2 is used for correcting the difference between the time frequency offset estimation result and the time frequency offset estimation result of TRS 1; the time-frequency offset estimation result of SSB5 is used to correct the difference between it and the time-frequency offset estimation result of TRS 1. That is, after receiving the DMRS-1 of the PDSCH, the terminal device may perform first time frequency offset compensation on the DMRS-1 based on the time frequency offset compensation value b1 (the time frequency offset compensation value b1 is generated according to the time frequency offset estimation result of the TRS 1), so as to analyze the DMRS-1, and obtain a channel estimation value of the PDSCH for transmitting the DMRS-1, where the channel estimation value may be used to demodulate data transmitted in the PDSCH; after receiving the DMRS-2 of the PDSCH, the terminal device may perform first time frequency offset compensation on the DMRS-2 based on the time frequency offset compensation value b1, and perform second time frequency offset compensation on the DMRS-2 based on the time frequency offset compensation value b2 (the time frequency offset compensation value b2 is used for correcting the difference between the time frequency offset estimation results of the TRS2 and the TRS 1), so as to analyze the DMRS-2, so as to obtain a channel estimation value of the PDSCH for transmitting the DMRS-2, where the channel estimation value may be used for demodulating data transmitted in the PDSCH; after receiving the control signal of the PDCCH, the terminal device may perform first time frequency offset compensation on the control signal based on the time frequency offset compensation value b1, and perform second time frequency offset compensation on the control signal based on the time frequency offset compensation value b3 (the time frequency offset compensation value b3 is used for correcting the difference between the time frequency offset estimation results of the SSB5 and the TRS 1), so as to analyze the control signal.

It should be noted that, in implementation 2, taking the first time of time-frequency offset compensation as an example, the time-frequency offset compensation value may be updated continuously, and the updating manner is described in implementation 1 above.

However, in implementation 1, the time-frequency offset compensation is performed on each target signal based on the reference signal on each loop, so the time-frequency offset compensation value on each loop is independent, while in implementation 2, the time-frequency offset compensation of the main loop directly acts on other loops, so when the time-frequency offset compensation value is updated, if the updating time is unreasonable, the time-frequency offset estimation value on other loops may be inaccurate, and thus the signals cannot be received accurately.

Taking frequency offset estimation as an example, the analysis is as follows:

Δθ=2×pi×Δf×t … … formula 1

Where Δθ represents the phase deviation, t represents time, and Δf represents the frequency offset.

As can be seen from equation 1, in the case of a certain frequency offset, the phase deviation is a function of time, so that the frequency offset can be calculated from the phase deviation.

The steps of performing phase deviation estimation based on the TRS will be described below with reference to the resource distribution of the TRS illustrated in fig. 2 a. In fig. 2a, the 4 columns of symbols of the TRS are distributed over the 6 th and 10 th symbols of the slot n, the 6 th and 10 th symbols of the slot n+1.

Wherein the phase deviation delta theta can be obtained between the 6 th symbol and the 10 th symbol in the time slot n through cross product operation ₁ Further, from the above formula 1, it can be seen that:

Δθ ₁ ＝2π*Δf _x *Δt ₁ … … equation 2

Wherein Δt is ₁ Representing the time difference, Δf, between the 6 th symbol and the 10 th symbol in slot n _x Representing the frequency offset between the 6 th symbol and the 10 th symbol in slot n.

And then can obtain:

in the same way, the frequency offset between the 10 th symbol of slot n and the 6 th symbol of slot n+1 is:

wherein, delta theta ₂ Representing the phase offset, Δt, between the 10 th symbol of slot n and the 6 th symbol of slot n+1 ₂ Representing the time difference, Δf, between the 10 th symbol and the 6 th symbol in slot n _y Representing the frequency offset between the 10 th symbol and the 6 th symbol in slot n.

The basic assumption of frequency offset estimation is: the frequency offset among the multiple symbols is the same, and the frequency offset obtained among different symbols is combined to obtain a frequency offset estimation value. Therefore, Δf is as described above _x And Δf _y And combining to obtain the frequency offset estimation value of the TRS. There are various ways to combine them, such as averaging.

It should be noted that, in the foregoing method, only the frequency offset between the 6 th symbol and the 10 th symbol in the slot n and the frequency offset between the 10 th symbol in the slot n and the 6 th symbol in the slot n+1 are combined to obtain the frequency offset estimation value of the TRS, and in other possible manners, the frequency offset between the 6 th symbol in the slot n and the 10 th symbol in the slot n+1 may be obtained, and then the three frequency offsets are combined to obtain the frequency offset estimation value of the TRS.

According to the above analysis, for example, referring to fig. 2d, when TRS1 is located in time slot n and time slot n+1, TRS2 is located in time slot n+2 and time slot n+3, ssb5 is located in time slot n+4 and time slot n+5, after receiving TRS1 in time slot n and time slot n+1 and generating a new time-frequency offset compensation value, if the time-frequency offset compensation value is updated at the end time of time slot n+2, the frequency offset estimation result of TRS2 will be inaccurate, and similarly, the time-frequency estimation result of TRS2 will also be inaccurate.

Based on the above, the embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for solving the technical problem that the time frequency offset estimation value is not accurate enough due to unreasonable configuration time of the time frequency offset compensation value. The method provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to the receiving end equipment. In this embodiment of the present application, the sending end device may be the network device 101 illustrated in fig. 1b, and the receiving end device may be the terminal device 102 illustrated in fig. 1 b; alternatively, the transmitting end device may include the network device 1031 and the network device 1032 illustrated in fig. 1c, and the receiving end device may be the terminal device 104 illustrated in fig. 1 c; the specific examples are not limited.

Specifically, the method may include: receiving a reference signal a, and performing time-frequency offset compensation on the reference signal a; the time-frequency offset compensation value used for time-frequency offset compensation of the reference signal a is configured before the reference signal a is received, and the reference signal a is the reference signal using the time-frequency offset compensation value for the first time.

Therefore, on one hand, the time-frequency offset compensation value used for time-frequency offset compensation of the reference signal a is configured before the reference signal a is received, so that the reference signal a is compensated based on the configured time-frequency offset compensation value, the problem that the time-frequency offset estimation value calculated based on the compensated reference signal a is inaccurate due to unreasonable configuration time of the time-frequency offset compensation value is avoided, and on the other hand, the reference signal a is the reference signal using the time-frequency compensation value for the first time, and the time-frequency offset compensation value is configured before the reference signal a using the time-frequency offset compensation value for the first time is received, so that the subsequent reference signals can be compensated based on the time-frequency offset compensation value, and the accuracy of the time-frequency offset estimation value calculated based on the compensated subsequent reference signal is effectively ensured.

In one example, the time-frequency offset compensation value may be configured at the beginning of the first slot in which reference signal a is located.

In yet another example, the time-frequency offset compensation value is configured at a start time of a first time slot before a first time slot in which the reference signal a is located. In this case, if the time slot in which the reference signal b is located includes a first time slot and a second time slot, the second time slot is adjacent to and located before the first time slot; reference signal b is a reference signal for time-frequency offset estimation, and the time-frequency offset compensation of reference signal b using the time-frequency offset compensation value may be abandoned. It should be noted that, in other possible embodiments, the above-mentioned time-frequency offset compensation value may also be received and used to perform time-frequency offset compensation on the reference signal b, and specific implementation may be seen below.

It should be noted that, the reference signals 1 and 2 described above may be reference signals other than the reference signals (such as the TRS1 described above) on the primary loop, which is not limited in particular.

The method provided in the embodiment of the present application is specifically described below with reference to fig. 3, where the method includes a specific implementation of configuration time frequency offset compensation value (or update time frequency offset compensation value) and time frequency offset compensation.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart corresponding to a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 3, where the method includes:

step 301, a first reference signal sent by a sending end device is received.

Here, the loop corresponding to the first reference signal may be a main loop of time-frequency offset compensation.

Step 302, performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal by using the i-th time-frequency offset compensation value, calculating a first time-frequency offset estimation value of the first reference signal after time-frequency offset compensation according to the first reference signal after time-frequency offset compensation, and if the first time-frequency offset estimation value is greater than a preset threshold, generating an i+1-th time-frequency offset compensation value according to the first time-frequency offset estimation value. The preset threshold may be set by those skilled in the art according to actual needs, and is not specifically limited.

Step 303, updating the i-th time frequency offset compensation value to the i+1-th time frequency offset compensation value according to the time unit where the N reference signals are located, where i is a positive integer. The N reference signals are signals for time-frequency offset estimation, for example, may be TRS or SSB; the N reference signals may include a first reference signal.

Here, none of the N reference signals may have a quasi-co-sited QCL relationship (such as TRS1, TRS2, SSB5 illustrated in table 1), or, in other possible cases (such as configuring a certain channel with multiple reference signals having a QCL relationship, multiple reference signals may be used for time-frequency offset estimation of different dimensions), some of the N reference signals may also have a quasi-co-sited QCL relationship. Hereinafter, description will be mainly made by taking an example that N reference signals do not have a quasi-co-sited QCL relationship.

Specifically, the receiving end device may receive configuration information of N reference signals sent by the sending end device, where the configuration information is used to indicate a time unit where the N reference signals are located, so that the receiving end device may acquire the time unit where the N reference signals are located, where the time unit may be a time slot. The specific content included in the configuration information may be found in the description above.

Further, the receiving end device may update the i-th frequency offset compensation value to the i+1-th frequency offset compensation value at an alternative time closest to the time of generating the i+1-th frequency offset compensation value, if it is determined that at least one alternative time exists in the set time period after the time of generating the i+1-th frequency offset compensation value according to the time unit where the N reference signals are located; the set time period after the time of generating the i+1-th time offset compensation value may be a time period between the time of generating the i+1-th time offset compensation value and the starting time of the time unit where the first reference signal of the next period is located. For example, referring to fig. 4a, the period of the first reference signal is a time length of 6 time units, the time unit in which the currently received first reference signal is located includes time unit 1 and time unit 2, the time unit in which the first reference signal in the next period is located includes time unit 7 and time unit 8, and the time length between the time when the i+1th time offset compensation value is generated and the starting time of time unit 7 is the set time period.

In the embodiment of the present application, each of the at least one alternative time meets the following condition: the starting position is positioned at the ending position of the first time unit or the starting position of the second time unit; for each of the N reference signals, if the time unit in which the reference signal is located includes the first time unit, the second time unit is not included, or if the second time unit is included, the first time unit is not included. For example, referring to fig. 4b, the N reference signals include a first reference signal, a reference signal 2 and a reference signal 3, where a time unit in which the first reference signal is located includes a time unit 1 and a time unit 2, a time unit in which the reference signal 2 is located includes a time unit 3 and a time unit 4, and a time unit in which the reference signal 3 is located includes a time unit 5 and a time unit 6, and then the candidate time meeting the condition may be: the starting time of time cell 3 (or the ending time of time cell 2), the starting time of time cell 5 (or the ending time of time cell 4), the starting time of time cell 7 (or the ending time of time cell 6).

If the receiving end device determines that there is no candidate time meeting the condition within the set time period after the time of generating the i+1th time offset compensation value, for example, as shown in fig. 4c, the N reference signals include a first reference signal, a reference signal 2, a reference signal 3, and a reference signal 4, the time unit where the first reference signal is located includes a time unit 1 and a time unit 2, the time unit where the reference signal 2 is located includes a time unit 2 and a time unit 3, the time unit where the reference signal 3 is located includes a time unit 3 and a time unit 4, and the time unit where the reference signal 4 is located includes a time unit 4 and a time unit 5, where, in this case, the receiving end device may update the i-th time offset compensation value to the i+1th time offset compensation value at the first time. The first time is an end position of the third time unit or a start position of the fourth time unit, the time unit where the second reference signal is located includes the third time unit and the fourth time unit, and the second reference signal may be a reference signal 2, a reference signal 3 or a reference signal 4. When the second reference signal is the reference signal 2, the first time may be the start time of the time unit 3 (or the end time of the time unit 2); when the second reference signal is the reference signal 3, the first time may be the start time of the time unit 4 (or the end time of the time unit 3); when the second reference signal is the reference signal 4, the first time instant may be the start time instant of the time unit 5 (or the end time instant of the time unit 4).

Further, in one possible implementation manner, the receiving end device may forgo receiving the second reference signal in the third time unit and the fourth time unit, so as to avoid inaccurate time-frequency offset estimation results of the second reference signal received in the third time unit and the fourth time unit. Subsequently, after the receiving end device receives the second target signal having the QCL relationship with the second reference signal and sent by the sending end device, the receiving end device may use the last time frequency offset estimation result to compensate.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the receiving end device may receive the second reference signal in the third time unit and the fourth time unit, where the second reference signal includes a first portion signal located in the third time unit and a second portion signal located in the fourth time unit, where the receiving end device may perform first time frequency offset compensation on the first portion signal using the i-th time frequency offset compensation value, perform second time frequency offset compensation on the first portion signal after the first time frequency offset compensation using a difference between the i+1-th time frequency offset compensation value and the i-th time frequency offset compensation value, and perform time frequency offset compensation on the second portion signal using the i+1-th time frequency offset compensation value; and further, according to the first partial signal after the second time frequency offset compensation and the second partial signal after the time frequency offset compensation, a second time frequency offset estimation value is obtained through calculation. Because the first partial signal is subjected to time-frequency offset compensation twice, the method is equivalent to adopting the (i+1) th time-frequency offset compensation value to perform time-frequency offset compensation on the first partial signal, so that the calculated second time-frequency offset estimation value is more accurate. Subsequently, after the receiving end device receives the second target signal having the QCL relation with the second reference signal and sent by the sending end device, the receiving end device may perform first time frequency offset compensation on the second target signal by using the i+1th time frequency offset compensation value, and perform second time frequency offset compensation on the second target signal after the first time frequency offset compensation by using the second time frequency offset estimation value, so as to demodulate the second target signal after the second time frequency offset compensation. The specific implementation process of performing time-frequency offset compensation on the second target signal may be shown in fig. 2c, where the second target signal may be DMRS-2 of PDSCH in fig. 2c, or may also be a control signal of PDCCH in fig. 2 c.

Illustratively, taking the second reference signal as an example of the reference signal 2 illustrated in fig. 4c, after updating the i-th time frequency offset compensation value to the i+1-th time frequency offset compensation value, the receiving end device further includes: receiving a third reference signal sent by a sending terminal device; and performing time-frequency offset compensation on the third reference signal by adopting the i+1th time-frequency offset compensation value, and calculating a third time-frequency offset estimation value of the third reference signal after the time-frequency offset compensation. Subsequently, if the receiving end device receives the third target signal having the QCL relationship with the third reference signal and sent by the sending end device, the receiving end device may perform first time frequency offset compensation on the third target signal by using the i+1th time frequency offset compensation value, and perform second time frequency offset compensation on the third target signal after the first time frequency offset compensation by using the third time frequency offset estimation value, so as to analyze the third target signal after the second time frequency offset compensation. The specific implementation process of performing time-frequency offset compensation on the third target signal may be shown in fig. 2c, and if the second target signal is DMRS-2 of PDSCH in fig. 2c, the third target signal may be a control signal of PDCCH in fig. 2 c; if the second target signal is the control signal of the PDCCH in fig. 2c, the third target signal may be DMRS-2 of the PDSCH in fig. 2 c.

In this embodiment of the present application, after the receiving end device updates the i-th time frequency offset compensation value to the i+1-th time frequency offset compensation value, if a first target signal having a QCL relationship with the first reference signal and sent by the sending end device is received, the i+1-th time frequency offset compensation value may be used to perform time-frequency offset compensation on the first target signal, and analyze the first target signal after time-frequency offset compensation. A specific implementation process of performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first target signal may be shown in fig. 2c, where the first target signal is DMRS-1 of PDSCH in fig. 2 c.

The above description has been presented mainly from the point of interaction between the transmitting device and the receiving device. It will be appreciated that, in order to implement the above-described functions, the transmitting-end device or the receiving-end device may include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules that perform the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the elements and algorithm steps of the examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is implemented as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. 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.

In case of integrated units (modules) fig. 5 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of the apparatus referred to in the embodiments of the present application, which apparatus 500 may be in the form of software. The apparatus 500 may include: a processing unit 502 and a communication unit 503. The processing unit 502 is used for controlling and managing the actions of the device 500. The communication unit 503 is used to support communication of the apparatus 500 with other devices. Alternatively, the communication unit 503, also referred to as a transceiver unit, may comprise a receiving unit and/or a transmitting unit for performing receiving and transmitting operations, respectively. The apparatus 500 may further comprise a storage unit 501 for storing program code and/or data of the apparatus 500.

Wherein the processing unit 502 may be a processor or controller that may implement or execute the various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the present application's embodiment disclosure. The communication unit 503 may be a communication interface, a transceiver, a transceiving circuit, etc., wherein the communication interface is generally called, and in a specific implementation, the communication interface may include a plurality of interfaces. The storage unit 501 may be a memory.

The apparatus 500 may be a receiving-end device in any of the above embodiments, or may also be a semiconductor chip disposed in the receiving-end device. The processing unit 502 may support the apparatus 500 to perform the actions of the receiving end device in the method examples above. Alternatively, the processing unit 502 mainly performs the internal actions of the receiving-end apparatus in the method example, and the communication unit 503 may support communication between the apparatus 500 and other apparatuses.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication unit is configured to receive a first reference signal; the processing unit is used for performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal; the time-frequency offset compensation value used for performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal is configured before the first reference signal is received, and the first reference signal is the reference signal using the time-frequency offset compensation value for the first time.

In one possible design, the time slot in which the second reference signal is located includes the first time slot and a second time slot, where the second time slot is adjacent to and before the first time slot; the second reference signal is a reference signal for time-frequency offset estimation;

the processing unit gives up using the time-frequency offset compensation value to perform time-frequency offset compensation on the second reference signal.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the units (modules) is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual practice. The functional modules in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing module, or each module may exist alone physically, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module. The integrated modules may be implemented in hardware or in software functional modules.

The integrated modules, if implemented in the form of software functional modules 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 embodiments of the present application may be essentially or a part contributing to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor (processor) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The storage medium may be a variety of media such as a memory that can store program codes.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of an apparatus 600 comprising a processor 610, a memory 620 and a transceiver 630. In one example, the apparatus 600 may implement the functions of the apparatus 500 illustrated in fig. 5, specifically, the functions of the communication unit 503 illustrated in fig. 5 may be implemented by a transceiver, the functions of the processing unit 502 may be implemented by a processor, and the functions of the storage unit 501 may be implemented by a memory. In yet another example, the apparatus 600 may be a terminal device in the above method embodiment, and the apparatus 600 may be configured to implement the method corresponding to the terminal device described in the above method embodiment, and specifically may refer to the description in the above method embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application. For convenience of explanation, fig. 7 shows only major components of the terminal device. As shown in fig. 7, the terminal device 700 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input-output means. The terminal device 700 may be applied in the system architecture shown in fig. 1b and 1c, and perform the functions of the terminal device in the above-described method embodiment.

The processor is mainly used for processing the communication protocol and the communication data, controlling the whole terminal device, executing the software program, processing the data of the software program, for example, for controlling the terminal device to execute the actions described in the above method embodiments. The memory is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The control circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals. The control circuit together with the antenna, which may also be called a transceiver, is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are mainly used for receiving data input by a user and outputting data to the user.

When the terminal device is started, the processor can read the software program in the storage unit, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data is required to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor carries out baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and then outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit, and the radio frequency circuit carries out radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal outwards in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal equipment, the radio frequency circuit receives a radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor, and the processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that fig. 7 shows only one memory and processor for ease of illustration. In an actual terminal device, there may be multiple processors and memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or storage device, etc., and embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

As an alternative implementation manner, the processor may include a baseband processor, which is mainly used for processing the communication protocol and the communication data, and a central processor, which is mainly used for controlling the whole terminal device, executing a software program, and processing the data of the software program. The processor in fig. 7 integrates the functions of a baseband processor and a central processing unit, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that the baseband processor and the central processing unit may be separate processors, interconnected by bus technology, etc. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal device may include multiple baseband processors to accommodate different network formats, and that the terminal device may include multiple central processors to enhance its processing capabilities, and that the various components of the terminal device may be connected by various buses. The baseband processor may also be referred to as a baseband processing circuit or baseband processing chip. The central processing unit may also be expressed as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing the communication protocol and the communication data may be built in the processor, or may be stored in the storage unit in the form of a software program, which is executed by the processor to realize the baseband processing function.

The terminal device 700 shown in fig. 7 is capable of carrying out the various processes involving the terminal device in the method embodiment illustrated in fig. 3. The operations and/or functions of the respective modules in the terminal device 700 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows in the above-described method embodiments. Reference is specifically made to the description of the above method embodiments, and detailed descriptions are omitted here as appropriate to avoid redundancy.

In implementation, each step in the method provided in the present embodiment may be implemented by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor or an instruction in a software form. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor for execution.

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be implemented by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in software form. The processor may be a general purpose central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), general purpose processor, digital signal processing (digital signal processing, DSP), application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuits, ASIC), field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware components, or any combination thereof; combinations of computing functions may also be implemented, for example, including one or more microprocessor combinations, a combination of DSP and microprocessor, and the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It will be appreciated that the memory or storage units in embodiments of the application may be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile 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. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus 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.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part 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 programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer program or instructions may be stored in or transmitted across a computer-readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, tape; but also optical media such as DVD; but also semiconductor media such as Solid State Disks (SSDs).

The various illustrative logical blocks and circuits described in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, 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, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the general purpose processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software element executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software elements may be stored in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In an example, a storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC, which may reside in a terminal device. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in different components in a terminal device.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Although the embodiments of the present application have been described in connection with specific features, it will be apparent that various modifications and combinations thereof can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the application. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are merely exemplary illustrations of embodiments of the application defined in the appended claims and are considered to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents of the embodiments of the application.

Claims

1. A method of communication, the method comprising:

receiving a first reference signal;

performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal by using a time-frequency offset compensation value;

the first reference signal is a reference signal which uses the time frequency offset compensation value for the first time and is used for time frequency offset estimation;

the time frequency offset compensation value is configured at the beginning time of the first time slot where the first reference signal is located; or the time frequency offset compensation value is configured at the beginning time of the first time slot before the first time slot where the first reference signal is located.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the time slot of the second reference signal comprises the first time slot and a second time slot, and the second time slot is adjacent to the first time slot and is positioned in front of the first time slot; the second reference signal is a reference signal for time-frequency offset estimation;

The method further comprises the steps of: and discarding the time-frequency offset compensation of the second reference signal by using the time-frequency offset compensation value.

3. A communication device, the device comprising:

a communication unit for receiving a first reference signal;

the processing unit is used for performing time-frequency offset compensation on the first reference signal by using the time-frequency offset compensation value;

the time frequency offset compensation value is configured at the beginning time of the first time slot where the first reference signal is located; or,

the time-frequency offset compensation value is configured at a start time of a first time slot before a first time slot where the first reference signal is located.

4. A device according to claim 3, characterized in that:

5. A communication device comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored on the memory, which when executed, cause the device to perform the method of claim 1 or 2.

6. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, implement the method of claim 1 or 2.