CN112737635B

CN112737635B - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN112737635B
Application number: CN201911032227.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 贺超; 黄亚东; 孔令晓; 潘稻; 曾焱
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-10-28
Filing date: 2019-10-28
Publication date: 2023-02-03
Anticipated expiration: 2039-10-28
Also published as: WO2021082698A1; CN112737635A

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and device. The communication parameters of the power line can be determined according to a data frame transmitted in the power line, wherein the data frame is composed of a plurality of OFDM symbols, the data frame comprises one or a plurality of silent probe units and one or a plurality of signal probe units, so that the noise distribution characteristics of the power line and the channel distribution characteristics of the power line can be obtained according to the data frame, the channel and the noise distribution characteristics of the power line are considered in the process of determining the communication parameters of the power line according to the data frame, the accuracy of the determined communication parameters can be improved, and meanwhile, the process does not need to switch frame types, so that the time overhead is saved.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

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

Background

In the Power Line Communication (PLC) technology, a power line made of copper or other metal or nonmetal material is used to transmit a communication signal, thereby achieving the purpose of transmitting information.

However, the power line itself is used as a medium for transmitting power, and the need for communication transmission is not specifically considered in design and installation. Therefore, in operation, a power line communication device (such as a modem) and a power consumer (such as a household appliance, an industrial appliance, etc.) operate in the same network, and a high frequency signal is generated in the power line network by a special circuit structure and components (such as a rectifier circuit, a motor, etc.) in the power consumer, which causes interference to the power line communication.

At present, a dynamic windowing mode can be adopted to divide an Alternating Current (AC) cycle of a power line into a plurality of communication windows, and different communication parameters are adopted in each communication window for communication, so that the communication effectiveness is improved. The method mainly adopts the steps that a signal probe frame is transmitted in a power line, and a communication window is determined according to the power of the signal probe frame, so that windowing can be performed according to the channel distribution characteristics of the power line, and then the communication parameters of each communication window are determined, wherein the load of the signal probe frame is composed of a plurality of signal probe units. Or, transmitting a silence probe (silent probe) frame in the power line, and determining a communication window according to the power of the silent probe frame, so as to perform windowing according to the noise distribution characteristics of the power line, and further determine the communication parameter of each communication window, wherein the load of the silent probe frame is composed of a plurality of silent probe units.

However, neither the scheme for determining the communication parameters based on the signal probe frame nor the silent probe frame can simultaneously consider the channel distribution characteristics and the noise distribution characteristics of the power line, and thus the communication parameters cannot be optimized. Therefore, in order to obtain the optimal communication parameters, a plurality of frames of different types need to be transmitted, noise or channel characteristics within the whole AC cycle need to be collected due to windowing, which may have a large impact on service transmission, and the manner of transmitting the two frames also involves switching of frame types, resulting in further increase of time overhead.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for optimizing a communication parameter determination process in power line communication.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which may be implemented by a power line communication device or a chip in a power line communication device. The power line communication equipment can be a power line communication modem such as a power modem.

According to the method, a data frame transmitted through a power line may be received, the data frame may be composed of a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, and the data frame may include one or more silent probe units and one or more signal probe units. The frame header of the data frame comprises a first indication, and the first indication is used for indicating that the data frame comprises the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units. And determining the communication parameters of the power line according to the data frame.

By adopting the mode, the communication parameters can be determined according to a type of data frame, and the data frame comprises the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit, the power of the silent probe unit can embody the noise distribution characteristic of the power line, and the power of the signal probe unit can embody the channel distribution characteristic of the power line, so that the process of determining the communication parameters according to the data frame takes the channel and the noise distribution characteristic of the power line into consideration to improve the accuracy of determining the communication parameters, and meanwhile, the process does not need to switch the frame type, thereby saving the time overhead.

For example, a communication window of the power line transmission may also be determined according to the power of the silent probe unit on each OFDM symbol and the power of the signal probe unit on each OFDM symbol, and a communication parameter corresponding to the communication window may also be determined according to the power of the silent probe unit and the power of the signal probe unit in the communication window.

With the above design, the communication windows may be determined by a scheme of calculating power after receiving the data frame, and the communication parameters of each communication window may be determined. In addition, after receiving the data frame, the communication parameters corresponding to the communication window may also be determined by calculating frequency domain equalizer (FEQ) parameters and/or signal to noise ratio (SNR), and the like.

In this application, the communication parameter may include any one or more of an anti-noise reserved coefficient (margin), a B table, a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code rate, or a Guard Interval (GI), and the B table may be used to indicate the number of bits loaded by subcarriers in an OFDM symbol. The LDPC code rate may represent a ratio of significant bits to a code length in LDPC coding. The GI may represent an OFDM inter-symbol guard interval length.

In one possible design, the frame header in the data frame may further include a second indication, where the second indication is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the silence probe unit or units and is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the signal probe unit or units. In addition, the second indication may also be sent independently from the data frame, for example, before receiving the data frame, the powerline communication device may also receive a second indication transmitted through the powerline to know subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbol respectively occupied by the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit in the data frame, where the second indication may be sent by the powerline communication device sending the data frame.

In one possible design, one or more of the silent probe units in a data frame may be located between two of the signal probe units. In addition, one or more of the signal probe units in the data frame may be located between two of the silent probe units.

By adopting the design, the signal probe unit and the silent probe unit are alternately distributed, so that the windowing result is more accurate, and the accuracy of communication parameters is improved.

In one possible design, a signal probe unit is distributed between any two consecutive silence probe units in the data frame, and a silence probe unit is distributed between any two consecutive signal probe units in the data frame.

By adopting the design, the signal probe unit and the silent probe unit are alternately distributed according to the proportion of 1:1, so that the accuracy of the windowing result is further improved, and the accuracy of the communication parameters is improved.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which may be a power line communication device or a chip in a power line communication device. The power line communication device may be a power modem or other power line communication modem. The communication means may be adapted to perform functions or steps or operations provided in the first aspect described above or any possible design of the first aspect. The communication device may implement each function or step or operation of the above methods in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. For example, functional modules corresponding to functions or steps or operations in the above methods may be provided in a communication device to support the communication device to execute the above methods.

When the communication device of the second aspect is implemented by software modules, the communication device may include a communication module and a processing module, which are coupled to each other, wherein the communication module may be configured to support the communication device for communication, and the processing module may be configured to perform processing operations on the communication device, such as generating information/messages to be transmitted or processing received signals to obtain the information/messages.

For example, the communication module may be configured to receive a data frame transmitted through a power line, where the data frame is composed of a plurality of OFDM symbols, the data frame includes one or more silent probe units and one or more signal probe units, and a frame header of the data frame includes a first indication indicating that the data frame includes the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units.

Illustratively, the processing module may be configured to determine a communication window of the power line transmission according to a power of a silent probe unit on each OFDM symbol and a power of a signal probe unit on each OFDM symbol. The processing module can also be used for determining the communication parameters corresponding to the communication window according to the power of the silent probe unit and the power of the signal probe unit in the communication window.

In addition, after the communication module receives the data frame, the processing module may also determine the communication parameter corresponding to the communication window by calculating the FEQ parameter or the SNR.

In this application, the communication parameter may include any one or more of an anti-noise reservation coefficient, a B table, a low density check code LDPC code rate, or a guard interval GI, where the B table may be used to indicate a number of bits loaded by a subcarrier in an OFDM symbol.

In one possible design, the frame header in the data frame may further include a second indication, where the second indication is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more silent probe units and is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more signal probe units. The second indication may be transmitted independently of the data frame.

When the communication device according to the second aspect is implemented by hardware components, the communication device may comprise a processor for performing the functions or steps or operations provided in the first aspect described above and/or any possible design of the first aspect. The communication device may also include a memory. Wherein the memory may be used to store instructions from which the processor may be used to invoke and execute the instructions to perform the functions or steps or operations provided in the first aspect and/or any possible design of the first aspect described above. The communication device may further include a communication interface for the communication device to communicate over the power line.

When the communication apparatus according to the second aspect is implemented by a hardware component, the communication interface may be configured to receive a data frame transmitted through a power line, where the data frame is composed of a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM symbols, the data frame includes one or more silence detection silence probe units and one or more signal detection signal probe units, and a header of the data frame includes a first indication, where the first indication is used to indicate that the data frame includes the one or more silence probe units and the one or more signal probe units. The processor is operable to determine a communication parameter of the power line based on the data.

For example, the processor may determine the communication window of the power line transmission according to the power of the silent probe unit on each OFDM symbol and the power of the signal probe unit on each OFDM symbol. And the processor can determine the communication parameters corresponding to the communication window according to the power of the silent probe unit and the power of the signal probe unit in the communication window.

In addition, after the communication interface receives the data frame, the processor may also determine the communication parameters corresponding to the communication window by calculating FEQ parameters or SNR.

In the present application, the communication parameter may include any one or more of an anti-noise reserved coefficient, a B table, a low density check code LDPC code rate, or a guard interval GI, where the B table may be used to indicate the number of bits loaded by a subcarrier in an OFDM symbol.

In one possible design, the frame header further includes a second indication, where the second indication is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more silent probe units and is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more signal probe units.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which may include the communication apparatus shown in the second aspect and a transmitter. Wherein the communication device shown in the second aspect may be constituted by software modules and/or hardware components. The transmitter may be configured to transmit data frames over the power line. Specifically, the transmitter may be a power line communication device or a chip in the power line communication device.

Illustratively, in the communication system, the transmitter may be configured to transmit a data frame over a power line, the communication apparatus may be configured to receive the data frame transmitted over the power line, the data frame being composed of a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM symbols, the data frame including one or more silent probe units and one or more signal probe units, a header of the data frame including a first indication indicating that the data frame includes the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units, and the communication apparatus may be configured to determine the communication parameters of the power line according to the data frame.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions (or programs) which, when invoked for execution on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect.

Illustratively, when the readable storage medium is invoked for execution on a computer, the computer is operable to determine communication parameters of the power line from the data frame. The data frame is composed of a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, the data frame comprises one or more silence detection (silent) probe units and one or more signal detection (signal) probe units, a frame header of the data frame comprises a first indication, and the first indication is used for indicating that the data frame comprises the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units. The data frame may be received by a communication interface of the computer over a power line.

The computer can also determine a communication window of the power line transmission according to the power of the silent probe unit on each OFDM symbol and the power of the signal probe unit on each OFDM symbol. And the processor can determine the communication parameters corresponding to the communication window according to the power of the silent probe unit and the power of the signal probe unit in the communication window.

In addition, the computer may also determine the communication parameters corresponding to the communication window by calculating FEQ parameters or SNR.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which may contain instructions, which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a chip and/or a chip system comprising a chip, which chip may comprise a processor. The chip may also include a memory (or memory module) and/or a communication interface (or communication module). The chip may be adapted to perform the method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect. The chip system may be formed by the above chip, and may also include the above chip and other discrete devices, such as a memory (or a storage module) and/or a communication interface (or a communication module).

Advantageous effects in the second to sixth aspects and possible designs thereof described above reference may be made to the description of advantageous effects of the method described in the first aspect and possible designs thereof.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a power line communication system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a windowed AC cycle and a MAC cycle for a power line;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a data frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a data frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a data frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a data frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a data frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a data frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a data frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to improve the effectiveness of power line transmission and save time overhead, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which is applicable to a power line communication system.

An exemplary power line communication system may have the architecture shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 1, the power line communication system may include a power line, a gateway device, a plurality of power line communication devices, and a terminal or other network-using device. The power line is used for transmitting power signals, and the voltage signals can be used for driving electric appliances. The gateway device is connected with the Internet and used for providing access to the Internet. The power line communication device may include a gateway side power line communication device (e.g., a first power line communication device shown in fig. 1) to which the gateway side power line communication device is connected. The power line communication device may further include a terminal-side power line communication device (e.g., a second power line communication device shown in fig. 1) for providing a network signal to a network-using device such as a terminal.

The first power line communication device may receive data transmitted from the gateway device to the terminal from the internet when transmitting the data to the terminal from the internet. The first power line communication device may also modulate data from the gateway onto the PLC signal and couple to the power line so that the data packet may be forwarded using the power line. The second power line communication device may be configured to demodulate a PLC signal transmitted by the power line, and forward the demodulated data to the terminal device, so that a network device such as a terminal receives a data packet on the internet side. Similarly, the system shown in fig. 1 may also implement data transmission from the terminal to the internet side.

The above power line communication device may specifically be a power modem or other type of power line communication modem.

In the current power line communication, in terms of protocol design, according to the channel characteristics of a power line, an Alternating Current (AC) cycle of 2 power lines is used as a Medium Access Control (MAC) cycle of protocol communication, and according to the impedance change characteristics of an electrical appliance, one MAC cycle is divided into a plurality of communication windows, so that the channel capacity is maximally utilized. As shown in fig. 2, a schematic diagram of a power line AC cycle, a MAC cycle, and a divided communication window is shown.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can be used for acquiring the channel distribution characteristics (such as channel attenuation) and the noise distribution characteristics of the power line through one data frame, and determining one or more communication windows according to the channel distribution characteristics and the noise distribution characteristics. The communication parameters of the communication windows can be determined according to each communication window, and data transmission is carried out in each communication window according to the corresponding communication parameters, so that the effectiveness of data transmission in each window is improved, and packet loss is reduced.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the application can be executed by a power line communication device (hereinafter referred to as a first communication device). As shown in fig. 1, when a data frame provided by the present application is transmitted into a power line by a first power line communication apparatus (or a transmitter provided integrally with the first power line communication apparatus), the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application may be performed by a second power line communication apparatus, and the second power line communication apparatus may be regarded as a first communication device. Similarly, when the data frame provided by the present application is transmitted into the power line by the second power line communication device (or the transmitter provided integrally with the second power line communication device), the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application may be performed by the first power line communication device, and the first power line communication device may be regarded as the first communication apparatus. As shown in fig. 3, the method may specifically include the following steps:

s101: receiving a data frame transmitted through a power line, the data frame being composed of a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, the data frame including one or more silent probe units and one or more signal probe units, a frame header (header) of the data frame including a first indication indicating that the data frame includes the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units.

S102: and determining the communication parameters of the power line according to the data frame.

By adopting the mode, the communication parameters can be determined according to a type of data frame, and the data frame comprises the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit, the power of the silent probe unit can reflect the noise distribution characteristic of the power line, and the power of the signal probe unit can reflect the channel distribution characteristic of the power line, so that the process of determining the communication parameters according to the data frame takes the channel and the noise distribution characteristic of the power line into consideration, the accuracy of determining the communication parameters can be improved, and meanwhile, the process does not need to switch the frame type, so that the time overhead is saved.

Next, a data frame according to the present application will be described with reference to fig. 4 as an example. As shown in fig. 4, a data frame may include a preamble, a header, and a payload.

Among other things, the preamble sequence may be used for synchronization. In addition, the preamble sequence may also be used for initial channel estimation (initial channel estimation), for Automatic Gain Control (AGC), and the like. The frame header may include parameter information of a physical layer (PHY) layer, such as an Identification (ID) of a sending end device (also referred to as a Source Identification (SID)), an ID of a receiving end device (also referred to as a Destination Identification (DID)), and the like. For example, the frame header may be composed of at least one consecutive OFDM symbol (hereinafter may be simply referred to as a symbol). In some embodiments, the data frame may also include additional channel estimation information. Specifically, the additional channel estimation information is located between the frame header and the load, and is carried on at least one symbol, that is, the number of the symbols carrying the additional channel estimation information is one or more, which is not limited herein. The payload may include a plurality of silent probe units and a plurality of signal probe units.

At the frame header part, the above first indication may be carried. For example, it may be indicated by a specific field (may be referred to as field 0) in the frame header that the data frame includes the silent probe unit(s) and the signal probe unit(s). The above meaning indicated by the first indication may be known by the relevant protocol definition, configuration information indication (e.g. configuration information sent by the first communication device to the second communication device, or configuration information sent by the second communication device to the first communication device, or configuration information common to the first communication device and the second communication device), or by pre-configuration.

Illustratively, the payload of the data frame may be composed of signal probe units and silent probe units which alternately appear. Alternatively, one or more silent probe units are located between two signal probe units, and/or one or more signal probe units are located between two silent probe units.

Specifically, the arrangement of the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit can be various. The following description is made with reference to fig. 5 to 10, respectively.

In one possible example, as shown in fig. 5, a data frame may include a plurality of OFDM symbols in a time domain, where each single probe unit may occupy all subcarrier bits of one OFDM symbol (or each single probe unit occupies one OFDM symbol), and each signal probe unit in the data frame may occupy all subcarrier bits of one OFDM symbol (or each signal probe unit occupies one OFDM symbol).

In addition, as shown in fig. 5, in the data frame, one OFDM symbol occupied by the signal probe unit may be included between two adjacent OFDM symbols occupied by the silent probe unit in the time domain, and one OFDM symbol occupied by the silent probe unit may be included between two adjacent OFDM symbols occupied by the signal probe unit.

It should be understood that the first symbol of the payload of the data frame shown in fig. 5 is composed of the whole silent probe unit, and the first symbol of the payload of the data frame in the time domain may also be composed of the signal probe unit, so as to obtain the data frame structure in the time domain shown in fig. 6.

In another possible example, if each silent probe unit occupies all subcarrier bits of one OFDM symbol in the time domain (or each silent probe unit occupies one OFDM symbol), and each signal probe unit in the data frame occupies all subcarrier bits of one OFDM symbol (or each signal probe unit occupies one OFDM symbol). In addition, one or more silent probe units may be used as one silent probe unit group and one or more signal probe units may be used as one signal probe unit group, and the loads may be configured in such a manner that the silent probe unit groups and the signal probe unit groups alternate. As shown in fig. 7, two silent probe units adjacent in the time domain are a silent probe unit group, one signal probe unit is a signal probe unit group, and then the silent probe unit group and the signal probe unit group which alternately appear form the load of the data frame.

In further examples, each silent probe unit in the data frame may also occupy a fraction of the total subcarrier bits of one OFDM symbol, and each signal probe unit in the data frame may occupy a fraction of the total subcarrier bits of one OFDM symbol, the subcarrier bits of each symbol being occupied by one or more silent probe units and one or more signal probe units.

For example, as shown in fig. 8, in the time domain, one OFDM symbol is composed of a plurality of subcarrier bits in the frequency domain, and the subcarrier bits of each symbol are occupied by one or more silent probe units (as shown by dashed arrows in fig. 8) and one or more signal probe units (as shown by solid arrows in fig. 8), wherein each dashed arrow and each solid arrow represents one subcarrier bit.

In addition, as shown in fig. 8, one subcarrier bit occupied by the signal probe unit may be included between two adjacent subcarrier bits occupied by the silent probe unit, and one subcarrier bit occupied by the silent probe unit may be included between two adjacent subcarrier bits occupied by the signal probe unit.

It should be understood that the first subcarrier bit of the first symbol of the payload of the data frame shown in fig. 8 is occupied by the silent probe unit, and similarly, the first subcarrier bit of the first symbol of the payload of the data frame can also be occupied by the signal probe unit, thereby obtaining the data frame structure shown in fig. 9.

In another possible example, if each silent probe unit occupies a part of all subcarrier bits of one OFDM symbol in the time domain and each signal probe unit in the data frame occupies a part of all subcarrier bits of one OFDM symbol, one or more silent probe units may be used as one silent probe unit group and one or more signal probe units may be used as one signal probe unit group, and the silent probe unit group and the signal probe unit group are alternated to form a load. As shown in fig. 10, 3 silent probe units are a silent probe unit group, 3 signal probe units are a signal probe unit group, and then the silent probe units and the signal probe units which appear alternately form the load of the data frame.

It should be understood that fig. 5-10 above describe possible structures of the data frame provided by the embodiment of the present application in the time domain by way of example, but it should not be understood that the structure of the data frame provided by the present application is limited to the structures shown in fig. 5-10 above. The structure of the data frame provided by the present application also includes other structures not shown in fig. 5 to 10. For example, the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit in the data frame do not take the form of alternate appearance; or in other words, the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit in the data frame are arranged in a random mode.

For example, the frame header of the data frame may further include a second indication, where the second indication is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more silent probe units and is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more signal probe units. The above meaning indicated by the second indication may be known by the relevant protocol definition, the configuration information indication (such as the configuration information sent by the first communication device to the second communication device, or the configuration information sent by the second communication device to the first communication device, or the configuration information shared by the first communication device and the second communication device), or by pre-configuration.

In particular, the second indication may be a specific field in the frame header.

For example, field 1 may be used to indicate the arrangement of the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit as shown in fig. 5; the field 2 can be used to indicate the arrangement of the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit as shown in fig. 6; the field 3 can be used to indicate the arrangement of the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit as shown in fig. 7; the field 4 can be used to indicate the arrangement of the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit as shown in fig. 8; the field 5 can be used to indicate the arrangement of the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit as shown in fig. 9; the field 6 can be used to indicate the arrangement of the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit as shown in fig. 10.

The second indication may be transmitted independently of the data frame. For example, the second indication and the data frame may be sent by the second communication device through a power line, and before receiving the data frame, the first communication device may receive the second indication transmitted through the power line, and know subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbol respectively occupied by the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit in the data frame.

An example of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 11.

As shown in fig. 11, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application may include the following steps:

s201: the second communication device sends a data frame through a power line, wherein the data frame is composed of a plurality of OFDM symbols, the data frame comprises one or more silent probe units and one or more signal probe units, a frame header of the data frame comprises a first indication, and the first indication is used for indicating that the data frame comprises the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units.

In particular, one or more silent probe units and one or more signal probe units may carry the payload of a data frame.

S202: the first communication device receives a data frame over the power line.

S203: the first communication device calculates the power of the silent probe unit on the OFDM symbol and the power of the signal probe unit on the OFDM symbol. After determining that the header of the data frame includes the first indication, the first communication device may perform the step S203.

For example, the power of the silent probe unit on an OFDM symbol may be the average power of the silent probe unit on each OFDM symbol. The power of the signal probe unit on the OFDM symbol may be an average power of the signal probe unit on each OFDM symbol.

The first communication device may calculate the power of the unit of silent probe on each OFDM symbol of the received signal, starting from the next symbol (or first symbol of the payload) of the symbol occupied by the head (header symbol), and calculate the power of the unit of signal probe on each OFDM symbol of the received signal.

It should be understood that when all the sub-carrier bits of an OFDM symbol are occupied by a silent probe unit, the power of the OFDM symbol is the power of the silent probe unit on this OFDM symbol. Similarly, when all the subcarrier bits of an OFDM symbol are occupied by a signal probe unit, the power of the OFDM symbol is the power of the signal probe unit on the OFDM symbol.

Taking the signal probe unit as an example, the average power of the signal probe unit in the OFDM symbol can be determined according to the following formula:

P _i ＝∑ _N s ² (ii) a (formula one)

Wherein, P _i The average power of the signal probe unit in the OFDM symbol is represented, s is the amplitude of each sampling point or each subcarrier, and N represents the number of the OFDM symbols occupied by the signal probe unit. Wherein, if the signal probe unit occupies all subcarriers of the OFDM symbol, s represents each sampling point in the OFDM symbolIf the signal probe unit occupies a part of subcarriers in all subcarriers of the OFDM symbol, s represents the amplitude of each subcarrier in the OFDM symbol.

When all the sub-carrier bits of the OFDM symbol are occupied by the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit, the first communication device may perform Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on the received OFDM symbol, and calculate the power of the signal probe unit within the OFDM symbol and the power of the silent probe unit within the OFDM symbol according to the power of the sub-carrier after the FFT.

S204: the first communication device determines the position of the breakpoint of the first type according to the power of the silent probe unit on each OFDM symbol, and determines the position of the breakpoint of the second type according to the power of the signal probe unit on each OFDM symbol.

The positions of the above breakpoints of the first type can be determined according to the power difference between the silent probe units on the two adjacent OFDM symbols, and the positions of the breakpoints of the second type can be determined according to the power difference between the signal probe units on the two adjacent OFDM symbols.

Taking a signal probe unit as an example, when a first type of break point is determined, whether a boundary between two OFDM symbols meets a break point condition can be determined according to the following formula, and if so, the boundary position is taken as the position of the first type of break point:

wherein, P _i Represents the average power of the signal probe unit within an OFDM symbol, P _ave (k) Represents the power of the signal probe unit in the OFDM symbol between the last breakpoint (or the start position of the load) of the first type and the current boundary position. X, Y is a set value, for example, X =0.8, y =1.2.

Illustratively, P can be determined according to the following formula _ave (k)：

P _ave (k)＝∑ _n s ² (ii) a (formula three)

Where n represents the number of OFDM symbols from the last breakpoint of the first type (or the start position of the load) to the current boundary position, and s is the amplitude of each sample point or each subcarrier.

S205: and the first communication device determines a communication window according to the position of the first type of breakpoint and the position of the second type of breakpoint.

For example, when the first communication device determines that a plurality of first type breakpoints and a plurality of second type breakpoints exist in the AC cycle, two adjacent breakpoints of the plurality of first type breakpoints and the plurality of second type breakpoints can be regarded as one communication window. Wherein the time domain positions of the two adjacent break points can be referred to as windowing coefficients, and the windowing coefficients are used for representing the boundary positions of the communication window.

For example, the communication window determined by the first communication device may satisfy one or more of the following conditions:

condition 1, considering from the implementation level, 1 MAC cycle is generally divided into 256 (or other values) time windows to reduce the implementation complexity, so the window length of the communication window may also be rounded by 1/256MAC cycle, for example, the MAC cycle is 20 milliseconds (ms), and the window length of the communication window may be an integer multiple of (20/256) ms. For example, when the spacing between two adjacent breakpoints a and B does not satisfy an integer multiple of (20/256) ms, the region between the breakpoint a and the time domain position C, which is the closest time domain position to the breakpoint B among the time domain positions such that the spacing between the breakpoint a and the time domain position C satisfies an integer multiple of (20/256) ms, may be determined as one communication window.

Condition 2, the window length of the communication window is not less than 0.5ms. And if the current communication window is smaller than the preset communication window, the communication window is drawn into the last communication window.

And 3, the number of the communication windows in one MAC period is not more than M, wherein M is a positive integer. For example M =10.

S206: and the first communication device determines the communication parameters of each communication window according to the power of the silent probe unit and the signal probe unit in each communication window.

The above manner of determining the communication parameters can be referred to in the prior art.

Illustratively, the communication parameter refers to an anti-noise reserved coefficient, such as a margin parameter. In addition, the communication parameters may further include any one or more of a bit loading table (or B-table), a low density parity check code (LDPC) code rate, or a Guard Interval (GI). Wherein, the B table can be used to indicate the number of bits loaded by the sub-carriers in the OFDM symbol. The LDPC code rate may represent a ratio of significant bits to a code length in LDPC coding. The GI may represent an OFDM inter-symbol guard interval length.

The scheme of determining the communication window according to the power of the silent probe unit and the power of the signal probe unit and determining the communication parameters of the communication window is described in the above fig. 11 by way of example. It should be appreciated that after receiving the data frame, the first communication device may also determine the communication parameters by calculating frequency domain equalizer (FEQ) parameters and/or signal to noise ratio (SNR). It should be understood that the manner in which the communication parameters are determined based on the FEQ parameters and/or the SNR after the data frame is received may refer to the manner in which the communication parameters are determined based on the FEQ parameters and/or the SNR in the prior art.

For example, the first communication device may demodulate a signal probe unit in the data frame, obtain the FEQ coefficient, calculate the constellation error, and finally obtain the SNR. The FEQ parameter can reflect the channel change of the power line, and the SNR can reflect the noise change of the power line, so that the input can be provided for dynamic windowing according to the FEQ parameter and the SNR, and communication parameters such as an anti-noise reserved coefficient and the like can also be estimated from noise fluctuation.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, the method, that is, the method flow provided in the embodiments of the present application, is introduced from the perspective of the function implemented by the power line communication device. In order to implement the functions in the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the power line communication device may include a hardware structure and/or a software module, and the functions are implemented in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure and a software module. Whether any of the above-described functions is implemented as a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the technical solution.

As shown in fig. 12, a communication apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application may include a communication module 1201 and a processing module 1202, where the communication module 1201 and the processing module 1202 are coupled to each other. The communication device 1200 may be used to perform the steps performed by the terminal device 101 in the above method embodiments. The communication module 1201 may be used to support the communication device 1200 for communication, and the communication module 1201 may have a wired communication function, for example, to receive and/or transmit data frames through a power line. The processing module 1202 may be configured to support the communication apparatus 1200 to execute the processing actions of the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments, including but not limited to: generate information, messages, etc. sent by the communication module 1201, and/or demodulate and decode signals received by the communication module 1201, determine communication parameters from received data frames, etc.

In performing the steps performed by the powerline communication device in the above method embodiment, the above communication module 1201 may be configured to receive a data frame transmitted through a powerline, where the data frame is composed of a plurality of OFDM symbols, the data frame includes one or more silent probe units and one or more signal probe units, and a header of the data frame includes a first indication, where the first indication is used to indicate that the data frame includes the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units. The processing module 1202 may be configured to determine a communication parameter of the power line from the data frame.

For example, the processing module 1202 may be configured to determine a communication window of the power line transmission according to the power of the silent probe unit on each OFDM symbol and the power of the signal probe unit on each OFDM symbol, and determine a communication parameter corresponding to the communication window according to the power of the silent probe unit and the power of the signal probe unit in the communication window.

In addition, after receiving the data frame, the processing module 1202 may also determine the communication parameter corresponding to the communication window by calculating the FEQ parameter and/or the SNR.

Illustratively, the data frame may include a structure as described in any of fig. 4-10.

In this application, the communication parameter includes any one or more of an anti-noise reserved coefficient, a B table, an LDPC code rate, or a GI.

In one possible design, the frame header in the data frame may further include a second indication, where the second indication is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more silent probe units and is used to indicate subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more signal probe units. The second indication may be transmitted independently of the data frame. Further, the second indication may also be sent independently of the data frame, for example, the communication module 1201 may receive the second indication through the powerline before receiving the data frame, the second indication being sent independently of the data frame.

The communication device may also include the structure shown in fig. 13. As shown in fig. 13, communications device 1300 may include a processor 1301, memory 1302, and a communications interface 1303.

The processor 1301 can be used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling a communication apparatus, executing a software program, processing data of the software program, and the like. The memory 1302 may be used to store a program and data, and the processor 1301 may execute the method performed by the power line communication apparatus in the embodiment of the present application based on the program. The communication interface 1303 is applicable to the communication apparatus 1300 in the present application to perform power line communication, for example, receiving a signal transmitted through a power line and transmitting a signal to the power line.

Illustratively, the above processors may be used to perform the steps performed by the processing module 1202. The communication interface 1303 may be used to perform steps performed by the communication module 1201.

Specifically, the communication interface 1303 may be configured to receive a data frame transmitted through a power line, where the data frame may be composed of a plurality of OFDM symbols, the data frame includes one or more silence detection silence probe units and one or more signal detection signal units, and a frame header of the data frame includes a first indication, where the first indication is used to indicate that the data frame includes the one or more silence probe units and the one or more signal probe units. The processor 1301 can be configured to determine a communication parameter of the power line according to the data.

For example, the processor 1301 can determine the communication window of the powerline transmission according to the power of the silent probe unit on each OFDM symbol and the power of the signal probe unit on each OFDM symbol. And, the processor 1301 may determine the communication parameter corresponding to the communication window according to the power of the silent probe unit and the power of the signal probe unit in the communication window.

In addition, after the communication interface 1303 receives the data frame, the processor 1301 may also determine the communication parameter corresponding to the communication window by calculating the FEQ parameter or the SNR.

It should be understood that the above communication means may also be constituted by a chip. For example, the chip includes a processor 1301. Additionally, the chip may be coupled to any one or more components of memory 1302 or communication interface 1303.

Based on the same concept as the method embodiments, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program causes the computer to execute the method described in the method embodiments and any possible implementation manner of the method embodiments.

Based on the same concept as the method embodiment, the present application further provides a computer program product, which when called by a computer, can enable the computer to implement the method involved in any one of the possible implementation manners of the method embodiment and the method embodiment.

Based on the same concept as the method embodiments described above, the present application also provides a chip or a chip system, which may include a processor. The chip may further include or be coupled with a memory (or a storage module) and/or a communication interface (or a communication module), where the communication interface (or the communication module) may be used to support the chip to perform wired communication, the memory (or the storage module) may be used to store a program, and the processor may call the program to implement the method mentioned in any one of the possible implementations of the method embodiments and the method embodiments. The chip system may include the above chip, and may also include the above chip and other discrete devices, such as a memory (or a storage module) and/or a communication interface (or a communication module).

Based on the same concept as the method embodiment, the application also provides a communication system which can comprise the communication device and the transmitter. The communication system may be configured to implement the method described above in any one of the possible implementations of the method embodiments. Illustratively, the communication system may have a structure as shown in fig. 1.

In the communication system, the transmitter may be configured to transmit a data frame over a power line, the communication apparatus may be configured to receive the data frame transmitted over the power line, the data frame is composed of a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM symbols, the data frame includes one or more silent probe units and one or more signal probe units, a header of the data frame includes a first indication, the first indication is used to indicate that the data frame includes the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units, and the communication apparatus may be configured to determine a communication window for the power line transmission according to a power of the silent probe unit on each OFDM symbol and a power of the signal probe unit on each OFDM symbol.

Embodiments of the present application are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus, and computer program products according to embodiments. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

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.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving a data frame transmitted through a power line, wherein the data frame is composed of a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, the data frame comprises one or more silence detection (silent) probe units and one or more signal detection (signal) probe units, and a frame header of the data frame comprises a first indication for indicating that the data frame comprises the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units;

determining communication parameters of the power line according to the data frame;

the determining the communication parameters of the power line according to the data frame comprises:

determining the position of a first type of breakpoint according to the power difference between the silent probe units on two adjacent OFDM symbols, and determining the position of a second type of breakpoint according to the power difference between the signal probe units on two adjacent OFDM symbols;

taking two adjacent breakpoints in the plurality of breakpoints of the first type and the plurality of breakpoints of the second type as a communication window;

and determining the communication parameters corresponding to the communication window according to the power of the silent probe unit and the power of the signal probe unit in the communication window.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the frame header further comprises a second indication indicating subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more silent probe units and indicating subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more signal probe units.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of said silent probe units are located between two of said signal probe units; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

one or more of the signal probe units are located between two of the silent probe units.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein one of said signal probe units is disposed between any two consecutive of said silent probe units and one of said silent probe units is disposed between any two consecutive of said signal probe units.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication parameters comprise at least one of:

noise-resistant reserved coefficients; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

b table, the said B table is used for expressing the bit number loaded by subcarrier in OFDM symbol; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

low density check code LDPC code rate; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

a guard interval GI.

6. A communication device is characterized by comprising a communication module and a processing module;

the communication module is configured to receive a data frame transmitted through a power line, where the data frame is composed of a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, the data frame includes one or more silence detection (silent) probe units and one or more signal detection (signal) probe units, a frame header of the data frame includes a first indication, and the first indication is used to indicate that the data frame includes the one or more silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units;

the processing module is used for determining communication parameters of the power line according to the data;

the processing module is specifically configured to:

taking two adjacent breakpoints in the first breakpoints and the second breakpoints as a communication window;

7. The communications apparatus of claim 6, wherein the frame header further includes a second indication indicating subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more silent probe units and indicating subcarrier bits of the OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more signal probe units.

8. The communications apparatus of claim 6, wherein one or more of the silent probe units are located between two of the signal probe units; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

9. The communications apparatus of claim 6, wherein one of the signal probe units is disposed between any two consecutive silent probe units, and wherein one of the silent probe units is disposed between any two consecutive signal probe units.

10. The communications apparatus of claim 6, the communications parameters comprise at least one of:

a guard interval GI.

11. A communication device comprising a communication interface and a processor;

the communication interface is used for receiving a data frame transmitted through a power line, wherein the data frame is composed of a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, the data frame comprises one or more silence detection (Silent) probe units and one or more signal detection (signal) probe units, and a frame header of the data frame comprises a first indication which is used for indicating that the data frame comprises the one or more Silent probe units and the one or more signal probe units;

the processor is used for determining communication parameters of the power line according to the data;

the processor is specifically configured to:

12. The communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the frame header further includes a second indication indicating subcarrier bits of OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more silent probe units and indicating subcarrier bits of OFDM symbols occupied by the one or more signal probe units.

13. The communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein one or more of the silent probe units are located between two of the signal probe units; and/or the presence of a gas in the atmosphere,

one or more of the signal probe units are positioned between two of the silent probe units.

14. The communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein one of the signal probe units is disposed between any two consecutive silent probe units, and wherein one of the silent probe units is disposed between any two consecutive signal probe units.

15. The communications apparatus of claim 11, the communications parameters comprise at least one of:

noise-resistant reserved coefficients; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

a low density check code LDPC code rate; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

a guard interval GI.