CN113196854A

CN113196854A - Beam determination method, beam determination device, and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN113196854A
Application number: CN202180000933.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李明菊
Original assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-16
Filing date: 2021-03-16
Publication date: 2021-07-30
Anticipated expiration: 2041-03-16
Also published as: CN113196854B; WO2022193149A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a beam determination method, a beam determination apparatus, and a storage medium. The beam determination method comprises the following steps: in response to a terminal reporting a beam report, determining a beam to use based on the beam report. By the method and the device, the beam to be used can be determined based on the beam report, so that the beam determination time delay can be reduced, and the signaling overhead can be reduced.

Description

Beam determination method, beam determination device, and storage medium

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a beam determination method, a beam determination apparatus, and a storage medium.

Background

In New Radio technology (NR), for example, when the communication frequency band is at frequency range 2(FR2), beam (beam) -based transmission and reception are required to ensure coverage because high frequency channels are attenuated quickly.

In the related art, a network device transmits beam indication signaling, and a terminal determines a beam used for transmission or reception according to the beam indication signaling. The beam indication signaling includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling and a Downlink Control signaling (DCI). However, when updating the beam, the terminal needs to determine whether to update the beam according to the beam indication signaling. For example, in order to improve the reliability of DCI, Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) Acknowledgement (ACK) feedback needs to be performed on DCI for beam indication, which results in a large beam update delay and a large signaling overhead.

Disclosure of Invention

To overcome the problems in the related art, the present disclosure provides a beam determination method, a beam determination apparatus, and a storage medium.

According to a first aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a beam determination method applied to a terminal, the beam determination method including: in response to the terminal reporting a beam report, determining a beam to use based on the beam report.

In one embodiment, the beam report includes beam measurements, and the beam to be used is determined based on the beam measurements.

In one embodiment, the beams to be used are one or more beams selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

In one embodiment, in response to the reporting of the beam report based on a non-beam group, the beam to be used is a beam with the strongest signal strength, which is selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

In one embodiment, in response to the beam report being reported by a beam group-based method, the beam to be used is a beam group with the strongest signal strength of the beam group selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

In one embodiment, in response to the beam report being reported by a beam group-based method, the beam to be used is a beam with the strongest signal strength selected from one or more beam groups according to the signal strengths corresponding to the beam measurement results.

In one embodiment, the beam determination method further includes: in response to a beam use condition being satisfied, communicating using the beam to be used.

In one embodiment, in response to a beam use condition being met, communicating using the beam to be used comprises:

and in response to meeting a first time condition, using the beam to be used for communication, wherein the first time condition is after a first time threshold after reporting a beam report.

In one embodiment, the beam determination method further includes: determining that no beam indication signaling is received before the first time threshold.

In one embodiment, the beam determination method further includes: in response to receiving the beam indication signaling, communicating using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

In one embodiment, the receiving the beam indication signaling includes: receiving the beam indication signaling within a first time threshold, and/or decoding a beam indicated by the beam indication signaling within the first time threshold.

In one embodiment, the communication using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling includes: in response to a second time condition being met, communicating using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

In one embodiment, the satisfaction of the second time condition includes at least one of:

responsive to beam indication signaling comprising a medium access control element, after receiving a second time threshold after the medium access control element; in response to the beam indication signaling including downlink control information, after a third time threshold after receiving the downlink control information; in response to the beam indication signaling including downlink control information and the terminal having sent hybrid automatic repeat request feedback for the downlink control information, after a fourth time threshold after sending the hybrid automatic repeat request feedback.

In one embodiment, the communication using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling includes at least one of:

in response to the beam indication signaling comprises downlink control information, and the downlink control information schedules a specified channel and/or signal, after a time interval between a time when the downlink control information is received and a time when the specified channel and/or signal is scheduled is greater than a fifth time threshold, transmitting the specified channel and/or signal by using a beam indicated by the beam indication signaling;

after responding to that the beam indication signaling comprises downlink control information, the downlink control information schedules a specified channel and/or signal, and a time interval between the time of receiving the downlink control information and the time of sending hybrid automatic repeat request feedback of the downlink control information is larger than a sixth time threshold, transmitting the hybrid automatic repeat request feedback by using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling;

in response to the beam indication signaling comprises downlink control information, and the downlink control information schedules a specified channel and/or signal, after a seventh time threshold after hybrid automatic repeat request feedback of the downlink control information is sent, transmitting the specified channel and/or signal and the hybrid automatic repeat request feedback by using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

In one embodiment, the beam determination method further includes: transmitting the designated channel and/or signal using the beam to be used and the hybrid automatic repeat request feedback prior to at least one of the fifth time threshold, the sixth time threshold, and the seventh time threshold.

According to a second aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a beam determination apparatus, including:

a transmitting unit configured to report a beam report; a processing unit configured to determine a beam to use based on the beam report.

In one embodiment, the transmitting unit uses the beam to be used for communication in response to a beam use condition being satisfied.

In one embodiment, the sending unit uses the beam to be used for communication in response to a first time condition being met, where the first time condition is after a first time threshold after reporting a beam report.

In one embodiment, the processing unit is further configured to determine that no beam indication signaling has been received before the first time threshold.

In one embodiment, the beam determination apparatus further comprises a receiving unit configured to receive beam indication signaling. In response to the receiving unit receiving the beam indication signaling, the transmitting unit communicates using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

In one embodiment, in response to the second time condition being met, the transmitting unit communicates using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

in response to the beam indication signaling comprising downlink control information, and the downlink control information scheduling a designated channel and/or signal, after a seventh time threshold after sending hybrid automatic repeat request feedback of the downlink control information, transmitting at least one of the designated channel and/or signal and the hybrid automatic repeat request feedback using a beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

In one embodiment, the transmitting unit transmits the specified channel and/or signal and the hybrid automatic repeat request feedback using the beam to be used before at least one of the fifth time threshold, the sixth time threshold and the seventh time threshold.

According to a third aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a beam determination apparatus, including:

a processor; a memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

wherein the processor is configured to: the method of the first aspect or any one of the embodiments of the first aspect is performed.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a storage medium having instructions stored therein, where the instructions when executed by a processor of a terminal enable the terminal to perform the beam determination method of the first aspect or any one of the embodiments of the first aspect.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can have the following beneficial effects: and responding to the report of the beam reported by the terminal, determining the beam to be used based on the beam report, and determining the beam to be used after the beam report is reported, so that the signaling overhead of beam indication can be reduced, and the time delay of beam determination can be reduced.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system in accordance with an example embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a timing diagram illustrating a determination of a time to use a beam for communication based on a first time threshold in accordance with an example embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a timing diagram illustrating determination of a beam to be used for communication based on beam indication signaling in accordance with an example embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a flow chart illustrating a method of beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a beam determination apparatus according to an example embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for beam determination according to an example embodiment.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the exemplary embodiments below are not intended to represent all implementations consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present disclosure, as detailed in the appended claims.

The beam determination method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to the wireless communication system shown in fig. 1. Referring to fig. 1, the wireless communication system includes a terminal and a network device. The terminal is connected with the network equipment through wireless resources and transmits and receives data.

It is understood that the wireless communication system shown in fig. 1 is only a schematic illustration, and other network devices, such as a core network device, a wireless relay device, a wireless backhaul device, etc., may also be included in the wireless communication system, which is not shown in fig. 1. The number of network devices and the number of terminals included in the wireless communication system are not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

It is further understood that the wireless communication system of the embodiments of the present disclosure is a network providing wireless communication functions. Wireless communication systems may employ different communication technologies, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (Carrier Sense Multiple Access). Networks can be classified into 2G (english: generation) networks, 3G networks, 4G networks or future evolution networks, such as 5G networks, according to factors such as capacity, rate and delay of different networks, and the 5G networks can also be referred to as New Radio Networks (NR). For ease of description, this disclosure will sometimes simply refer to a wireless communication network as a network.

Further, the network devices referred to in this disclosure may also be referred to as radio access network devices. The radio access network device may be: a base station, an evolved node B (eNB), a home base station, an Access Point (AP), a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a Transmission Point (TP), a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, and the like, and may also be a gNB in an NR system, or may also be a component or a part of a device constituting the base station. When a vehicle networking (V2X) communication system, the network device may also be a vehicle-mounted device. It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the network device are not limited.

Further, the Terminal referred to in this disclosure may also be referred to as a Terminal device, a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), and the like, and is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a User. For example, the terminal may be a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, or the like having a wireless connection function. Currently, some examples of terminals are: a smart Phone (Mobile Phone), a Pocket Computer (PPC), a palm top Computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a notebook Computer, a tablet Computer, a wearable device, or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. Furthermore, when being a communication system of the internet of vehicles (V2X), the terminal device may also be a vehicle-mounted device. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the specific technologies and the specific device forms adopted by the terminal.

In the present disclosure, communication is performed between a network device and a terminal based on a beam. In the related art, a network device transmits beam indication signaling, and a terminal determines a beam used for transmission or reception according to the beam indication signaling. In R15/16, the beam indication signaling contains MAC CE and DCI. The MAC CE and DCI may be used to schedule a designated channel and/or signal for transmission using a beam. Wherein, a certain channel or signal is transmitted by using a beam, and the certain channel or signal is transmitted by using a Quasi-co-location (QCL) parameter corresponding to a reference signal indicated by a transmission configuration indication state (TCI state) corresponding to the beam, where the QCL parameter of Type D corresponds to the beam, and the reference signal indicated by the TCI state includes at least one of: a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), and a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS). And the beam of each channel or reference signal is an independent indication.

The MAC CE may be used to indicate a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) beam. The DCI may be used to indicate beams of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). Further, beams of respective reference signals such as CSI-RS, Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), TRS, etc. may also be indicated by MAC CE or DCI.

The concept of common beam (common beam) is proposed in R17, and common beam means that multiple channels or reference signals use the same beam and indicate signaling indication using one beam. That is, one beam indication signaling indicates a general beam of a variety of channels or reference signals. For example, the common beam may also be indicated by the MAC CE or DCI. Because the DCI indicates a general beam, in order to improve the reliability of the DCI, Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) correct Acknowledgement (ACK) feedback needs to be performed on the DCI for the beam indication, which results in a large delay for determining a beam to be used and a large signaling overhead.

In the related art, if the beam information cannot be obtained by the beam indication signaling, a default beam may be used, where the default beam is a beam of a control resource set (CORESET) corresponding to a certain PDCCH.

In view of this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a beam determining method, where after a beam report is reported, a terminal determines a beam to be used based on the beam report, and then determines the beam to be used after the beam report is reported, so as to reduce signaling overhead of beam indication and reduce time delay of beam determination.

In one implementation, the beam to be used in the embodiment of the present disclosure may be an initially used beam determined by the terminal, or may be a beam determined by the terminal for updating.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, the beam determination method including the following steps, as shown in fig. 2.

In step S11, a beam report is reported and a beam to be used is determined based on the beam report.

Wherein the beam report is a beam report generated based on a measurement result obtained by the beam measurement.

The beam determining method in the embodiment of the disclosure can determine the beam to be used based on the reported beam report, thereby reducing signaling overhead of beam indication and reducing time delay of beam determination.

It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the order between the timing of determining the beam to be used and the timing of reporting the beam report is not limited. For example, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the beams to be used may be determined before, after, or simultaneously with the reporting of the beam report. Since the terminal may determine the beam report after completing the beam measurement, the beam to be used may be determined, and the terminal determines when the beam to be used is before the beam report, after the beam report, or while the beam report is being reported, which is not limited herein.

In the beam determining method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network device may configure a reporting mode of a beam report for the terminal. The reporting mode of the beam report may be a reporting mode based on a beam group (group), or a reporting mode based on a non-beam group (non group). In other words, the beam report may be a group-based beam report, a non-group-based beam report, or a non-group-based beam report.

Further, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of beams included in the beam report reported by the terminal may be one or more.

In an implementation manner, in the beam determining method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of beams included in the beam report may be determined based on a beam report reporting manner. For example, in the non-beam group based reporting mode, the number of beams in the reported beam report is at least one, that is, the reporting mode includes only reporting one beam. For another example, in the reporting mode based on the beam group, if it supports simultaneous reception of multiple beams in the beam group, the beam in the reported beam report may be a beam in at least one beam group, that is, include at least one beam group, and may report one beam group or multiple beam groups, where each beam group includes multiple beams. For another example, in a reporting mode based on beam groups, if multiple beams among the beam groups are supported to be received simultaneously, a beam in a reported beam report may be multiple beam groups, each beam group includes at least one beam, that is, only two beam groups may be reported, each beam group includes one beam, or multiple beam groups may be reported, and each beam group includes multiple beams.

The beam determination method in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed by a terminal. The terminal carries out beam measurement and reports a beam report based on the beam measurement result. The beam measurement results are included in the beam report. Thus, the beam to be used may be determined based on the measurement results included in the beam report.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 3, the beam determination method includes the following steps.

In step S21, a beam to be used is determined based on the beam measurement result included in the beam report.

In the beam determining method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the signal strength corresponding to the measurement result may include at least one of the following: layer1 Reference Signal Received power (Layer1-Reference Signal Received)

Power, L1-RSRP), Layer1 Signal to Interference Noise Ratio (Layer1-Signal Interference Noise Ratio, L1-SINR), and Layer1 Reference Signal Received Quality (L1-Reference Signal Received Quality, L1-RSRQ), among others.

In the beam determining method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, a beam to be used may be determined based on the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result. In one embodiment, the beams to be used are one or more beams selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 4, the beam determination method includes the following steps.

In step S31, one or more beams are selected as beams to be used according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

In the beam determining method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network device may configure a reporting mode of a beam report for the terminal. The reporting mode of the beam report may be a reporting mode based on a beam group, or a reporting mode based on a non-beam group. In other words, the beam report may be a beam report based on a beam group or a beam report based on a non-beam group.

In an implementation manner, in the beam determining method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more beams may be selected as beams to be used according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result based on a reporting manner of a beam report.

In one embodiment, in response to the reporting of the beam report based on the non-beam group, the beam to be used is the beam with the strongest signal strength, which is selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 5, the beam determination method includes the following steps.

In step S41, in response to the beam report being reported in a non-beam group based manner, according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result, one beam with the strongest beam signal strength is selected as the beam to be used.

It will be appreciated that, typically when a terminal makes a beam determination, one or more beams may be determined as the beams to be used, one of which is typically a value.

In another embodiment, in response to the report of the beam report based on the beam group, the determination of the beam to be used may be performed based on the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result of the beam group.

The beam measurement result of the beam group may be understood as a measurement result corresponding to a beam with the strongest signal strength, which corresponds to the beam measurement results of the plurality of beams included in the beam group, as the measurement result of the beam group. Alternatively, the measurement result of the beam group may be an average value of signal intensities corresponding to the beam measurement results of the plurality of beams included in the beam group. The beam measurement result of the beam group may also have other calculation manners, which is not limited herein.

In the related art, the terminal supports simultaneous reception of beams within a beam group or supports simultaneous reception of beams between beam groups, so that the determination of a beam to be used may be performed in different manners based on signal intensities corresponding to beam measurement results of the beam group based on beam group attributes according to a plurality of beams that the terminal supports simultaneous reception.

In one embodiment, if the terminal supports the simultaneously received beams as the beams in the beam group and the terminal cannot simultaneously receive the beams between the beam groups, the beam to be used may be the beam in the beam group with the strongest signal strength of the beam group selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 6, the beam determination method includes the following steps.

In step S51, in response to the beam report reported by the beam group-based method, a beam group with the strongest signal strength of the beam group is selected as a beam to be used according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

In one example, there are a total of 2 beam groups, for example. And respectively determining the signal intensity corresponding to the beam measurement result of the beam group aiming at the 2 beam groups. The signal strength of the beam measurement result of the beam group may be understood as a measurement result corresponding to a beam with the strongest signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result of the plurality of beams included in the beam group. For example, beam group 1 includes beam 1 and beam 2, and the signal intensity of beam 1 is stronger than that of beam 2; beam set 2 includes beam 3 and beam 4, with beam 3 having a stronger signal strength than beam 4. Then the beam measurement of beam set 1 is the signal strength of beam 1 and the beam measurement of beam set 2 is the signal strength of beam 3. When the signal strength of beam 1 is stronger than that of beam 3, then beam set 1 is selected as the beam set to be used, i.e., beams 1 and 2 are selected as the beams to be used. Or may be an average value of signal strengths corresponding to beam measurement results of a plurality of beams included in the beam group. For example, beam set 1 includes beam 1 and beam 2; beam set 2 includes beam 3 and beam 4. Then the beam measurement of beam set 1 is the average of the signal strength of beam 1 and the signal strength of beam 2 is denoted as average 1 and the beam measurement of beam set 2 is the average of the signal strength of beam 3 and the signal strength of beam 4 is denoted as average 2. When the average value 1 is larger than the average value 2, the beam group 1 is selected as the beam group to be used, that is, the beam 1 and the beam 2 are selected as the beams to be used. In another embodiment, if the terminal supports that the simultaneously received beams are beams among beam groups and the terminal cannot simultaneously receive beams in the beam groups, the beam to be used may be a beam with the strongest signal strength selected from one or more beam groups according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 7, the beam determination method includes the following steps.

In step S61, in response to the beam report reported by the beam group-based method, a beam with the strongest signal strength in each beam group is selected from the one or more beam groups according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result, and the selected beam is used as a beam to be used.

In one example, there are a total of 2 beam groups, for example. And respectively determining the beam with the strongest signal intensity corresponding to the beam measurement result in the beam group aiming at the 2 beam groups. For example, beam group 1 includes beam 1 and beam 2, and the signal intensity of beam 1 is stronger than that of beam 2; beam set 2 includes beam 3 and beam 4, with beam 3 having a stronger signal strength than beam 4. Then beam 1 and/or beam 3 is selected as the beam to be used. According to the beam determining method in the embodiment of the disclosure, the beam to be used can be determined after the beam report is reported, so that the signaling overhead of beam indication can be reduced, and the time delay of beam determination can be reduced.

Further, in the beam determination method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, after determining the beam to be used based on the beam report, the communication using the beam to be used may be started when a condition is satisfied.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 8, the beam determination method includes the following steps.

In step S71, in response to the beam use condition being satisfied, communication is performed using the beam to be used.

In the beam determination method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the beam use condition may be a time condition set based on time.

In an implementation manner, the embodiment of the present disclosure may determine the beam usage condition based on the time for the terminal to report the beam report. For example, a time threshold may be defined in embodiments of the present disclosure. For convenience of description, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, a beam usage condition determined based on a time at which a terminal reports a beam report is referred to as a first time condition, and a time threshold may be referred to as a first time threshold.

In an implementation manner, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, a beam to be used may be used for communication when a first time condition is met, where the first time condition is after a first time threshold after reporting a beam report, that is, it may also be understood that, after the first time threshold, the beam to be used may be used for communication.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 9, the beam determination method includes the following steps.

In step S81, a beam to be used is used for communication in response to a first time condition being met, the first time condition being after a first time threshold after reporting a beam report.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the starting position of the first time threshold is a beam report reporting time. Assuming that the reporting time of the beam report is t0, and the time threshold is set to t1, when t1-t0 are greater than or equal to the first time threshold, the terminal adopts a new beam determined in the beam report based on time t 0. Fig. 10 is a timing diagram illustrating a determination of a time to use a beam for communication based on a first time threshold in accordance with an example embodiment. Referring to fig. 10, the terminal transmits a beam report at time t0, and the first time threshold is set to t 1. In this case, whether to use a beam to be used for communication may be determined according to the first time threshold. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal may use the beam to be used as a new beam for communication at time t 1. Until time t1, the beam to be used is not used for communication.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the terminal performs communication using the beam to be used determined based on the beam report, the communication may be performed without receiving the beam indication signaling. That is, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, before the beam performs communication using the beam to be used determined based on the beam report, it is determined that the beam indication signaling is not received before the first time threshold. That is, if the beam indication signaling that can be used for indicating a new beam is not received within the first time threshold, the terminal uses the beam to be used determined based on the beam report to perform communication after being greater than or equal to the first time threshold.

In the beam indication method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, in response to receiving the beam indication signaling, the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling may be used for communication.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 11, the beam determination method includes the following steps.

In step S91, in response to receiving the beam indication signaling, communication is performed using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

In the beam determination method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the beam indication signaling may be received within the first time threshold, or may be received after the first time threshold. In an example, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, if beam indication signaling, such as MAC CE or DCI, which may be used to indicate a beam, is received within a first time threshold, communication is performed according to a new beam indicated by the beam indication signaling. The beam indication signaling indicates a beam through TCI state or spatial relationship info.

In an implementation manner, the terminal involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure receives a time for beam indication signaling indicating a beam within a first time threshold, which may be, on the one hand, a time for receiving the beam indication signaling within the first time threshold, and/or a time for decoding a beam indicated by the beam indication signaling within the first time threshold.

In the beam determining method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, if it is determined that a beam to be used, which is determined based on a beam report, is not suitable for being used as a new beam, for example, the beam is scheduled to another terminal, the network device may send a beam indication signaling to the terminal, and the beam that the terminal can use is indicated through the beam indication signaling. And the terminal receives the beam indication signaling sent by the network equipment and carries out communication based on the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling. This way, it can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, an optimized method for determining a beam based on a report is adopted, that is, a way of indicating a beam based on a beam indication signaling replaces a way of determining a beam based on a beam report. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, if the beam indication signaling is received within the first time threshold, the timing of the first time threshold may be stopped, that is, after the first time threshold is ended, the new beam determined based on the beam report may not be used, but the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling is used for communication.

Fig. 12 is a timing diagram illustrating determination of a beam to be used for communication based on beam indication signaling in accordance with an example embodiment. Referring to fig. 12, the terminal transmits the beam report at time t0, the first time threshold is set to t1, and the time when the terminal receives the beam indication signaling such as MAC CE or DCI is t 2. Where t2 is smaller than t1, in this case, the terminal may stop timing the first time threshold after time t2, and communicate using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling according to the beam indication signaling of the MAC CE, DCI, or the like received at time t 2.

Further, in the beam determination method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, when performing communication using a beam indicated by the beam indication signaling, a beam usage condition that satisfies the communication using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling may be determined based on a preset time rule, and may be referred to as a second time condition hereinafter. That is, in response to the second time condition being satisfied, communication is performed using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a beam determination method according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 13, the beam determination method includes the following steps.

In step S101, in response to the second time condition being satisfied, communication is performed using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

In the beam determination method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second time condition may be determined based on the beam indication signaling. In an example, if the beam indication signaling is only used for indicating a beam, the second time condition for communication using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling may be determined based on a time rule of the beam indication signaling.

In one embodiment, the communication using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling in the embodiment of the present disclosure may be at least one of the following manners:

the first method is as follows: in response to the beam indication signaling including the MAC CE, communicating using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling after a second time threshold after receiving the MAC CE.

The second method comprises the following steps: in response to the beam indication signaling comprising DCI, communicating using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling after a third time threshold after receiving the DCI.

The third method comprises the following steps: in response to the beam indication signaling including the DCI and the terminal having transmitted the HARQ ACK for the DCI, the terminal communicates using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling after a fourth time threshold after transmitting the HARQ ACK.

In the beam determining method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, if the beam indication signaling is DCI, and the DCI schedules the designated channel and/or signal, at least one of the following manners may be adopted to determine to use the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling for communication based on a time rule of the beam indication signaling.

The method is as follows: in response to the beam indication signaling comprising DCI, and the DCI scheduling the designated channel and/or signal, transmitting the designated channel and/or signal using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling after a time interval between a time of receiving the DCI and a time of scheduling the designated channel and/or signal is greater than a fifth time threshold. The designated channel and/or signal may be, for example, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, CSI-RS, SRS, or the like. In one example, if the time interval between the DCI and the DCI-scheduled PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH or CSI-RS, SRS, etc. is greater than the fifth time threshold, the DCI-scheduled PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH or CSI-RS, SRS, etc. may use the new beam indicated by the DCI for communication.

The fifth mode is as follows: and transmitting the HARQ ACK by using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling after the beam indication signaling comprises the DCI, the DCI schedules the specified channel and/or signal, and the time interval between the time of receiving the DCI and the time of transmitting the HARQ ACK of the DCI is larger than a sixth time threshold. In an example, if the time interval between the DCI and the HARQ ACK feedback for the DCI is greater than the sixth time threshold, the HARQ ACK may also use the beam indicated by the DCI for communication.

The method six: in response to the beam indication signaling including the DCI and the DCI scheduling the designated channel and/or signal, transmitting at least one of the designated channel and/or signal and the HARQ ACK using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling after a seventh time threshold after transmitting the HARQ ACK for the DCI. In other words, the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling needs to be used after the seventh time threshold after the HARQ ACK transmission for this DCI.

In one embodiment, in the beam determination method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, before at least one of the fifth time threshold, the sixth time threshold, the seventh time threshold, and the like, the designated channel and/or signal may be transmitted using the beam to be used, which is determined based on the beam report, and the HARQ ACK.

In an example, if DCI that may be used to indicate a new beam is received within a first time threshold and the DCI schedules PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH or CSI-RS, SRS, etc., the DCI-scheduled PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH or CSI-RS may also use a beam to be used that is determined based on the beam report to communicate after the first time threshold but before the fifth time threshold, or the sixth time threshold, or the seventh time threshold. For HARQ ACK feedback, after the first time threshold but before the sixth time threshold, the beam to be used determined based on the beam report may be used for communication.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, transmitting a certain channel or signal by using a beam means transmitting a certain channel or signal by using a QCL parameter indicated by a TCI state corresponding to a beam.

It should be further noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the various time thresholds mentioned above may be determined in at least one of the following manners:

a) a network device indication;

b) configuring a protocol;

c) the terminal reports based on the capability;

d) and after the terminal reports based on the capability, the network equipment indicates again.

It should be further noted that the beams to be used (beams determined based on the beam report and/or beams determined based on the beam indication signaling) determined in the beam determination method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may be applicable to all communication transmissions or to some specific communication transmissions. For example, certain specific PDCCHs may be communicated using beams determined based on the beam report, while beams of other communication transmissions are communicated using beams indicated by the beam indication signaling.

It is further understood by those skilled in the art that the various embodiments/examples described above in connection with the embodiments of the present disclosure can be used in combination with the foregoing embodiments, or can be used independently. Whether used alone or in conjunction with the foregoing embodiments, implement principles similar thereto. In the implementation of the disclosure, some examples are described in the implementation mode used together; of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that such illustration is not a limitation of the disclosed embodiments.

The beam determining method provided by the embodiment of the disclosure determines the beam to be used based on the beam report, and can determine the beam to be used after the beam report is reported, thereby reducing signaling overhead of beam indication and reducing time delay of beam determination.

Further, the beam determining method provided by the present disclosure may be understood as a beam determining method without beam indication signaling, after the terminal reports a beam report, the terminal determines a new beam based on a beam measurement result indicated by the beam report, and starts to use the new beam when a certain condition is met, thereby reducing signaling overhead of beam indication, and simultaneously reducing time delay of beam determination.

Based on the same concept, the embodiment of the disclosure also provides a beam determination device.

It is to be understood that the beam determining apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure includes hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the above functions. The disclosed embodiments can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software, in combination with the exemplary elements and algorithm steps disclosed in the disclosed embodiments. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives 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 disclosure.

Fig. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a beam determination apparatus according to an example embodiment. Referring to fig. 14, the beam determination apparatus 100 includes a transmission unit 101 and a processing unit 102.

A transmitting unit 101 configured to report a beam report. A processing unit 102 configured to determine a beam to be used based on the beam report.

In one embodiment, beam measurements are included in the beam report and the beam to be used is determined based on the beam measurements.

In one embodiment, the beams to be used are one or more beams selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement.

In one embodiment, in response to the beam report being reported by the beam group-based method, the beam to be used is the beam group with the strongest signal strength of the beam group selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

In one embodiment, in response to the report of the beam report based on the beam group, the beam to be used is the beam with the strongest signal strength selected from one or more beam groups according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

In one embodiment, in response to the beam use condition being satisfied, the transmitting unit 101 uses a beam to be used for communication.

In one embodiment, the sending unit 101 uses the beam to be used for communication in response to a first time condition being met, where the first time condition is after a first time threshold after reporting the beam report.

In one embodiment, the processing unit 102 is further configured to determine that no beam indication signaling has been received before the first time threshold.

In one embodiment, the beam determination apparatus 100 further includes a receiving unit 103, and the receiving unit 103 is configured to receive the beam indication signaling. In response to the reception unit 103 receiving the beam indication signaling, the transmission unit 101 performs communication using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

In one embodiment, the receiving unit 103 receives the beam indication signaling, including: receiving the beam indication signaling within a first time threshold, and/or decoding a beam indicated by the beam indication signaling within the first time threshold.

In one embodiment, in response to the second time condition being met, the transmitting unit 101 uses the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling for communication.

In one embodiment, satisfying the second time condition includes at least one of:

after a second time threshold after receiving the MAC CE in response to the beam indication signaling including the MAC CE. After a third time threshold after receiving the DCI in response to the beam indication signaling comprising the DCI. After a fourth time threshold after transmitting the HARQ ACK feedback in response to the beam indication signaling including the DCI and the terminal having transmitted the HARQ ACK feedback for the DCI.

in response to the beam indication signaling comprising DCI, and the DCI scheduling the designated channel and/or signal, transmitting the designated channel and/or signal using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling after a time interval between a time of receiving the DCI and a time of scheduling the designated channel and/or signal is greater than a fifth time threshold.

And transmitting HARQ ACK feedback by using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling after the beam indication signaling comprises the DCI, the DCI schedules the specified channel and/or signal, and the time interval between the time of receiving the DCI and the HARQ ACK feedback time of transmitting the DCI is larger than a sixth time threshold.

In response to the beam indication signaling including the DCI and the DCI scheduling the designated channel and/or signal, transmitting at least one of the designated channel and/or signal and the HARQ ACK feedback using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling after a seventh time threshold after transmitting the HARQ ACK feedback for the DCI.

In one embodiment, the transmitting unit 101 transmits the designated channel and/or signal using the beam to be used and HARQ ACK feedback before at least one of the fifth time threshold, the sixth time threshold and the seventh time threshold.

With regard to the apparatus in the above-described embodiment, the specific manner in which each module performs the operation has been described in detail in the embodiment related to the method, and will not be elaborated here.

Fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for beam determination according to an example embodiment. For example, the apparatus 200 may be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, an exercise device, a personal digital assistant, and the like.

Referring to fig. 15, the apparatus 200 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 202, a memory 204, a power component 206, a multimedia component 208, an audio component 210, an input/output (I/O) interface 212, a sensor component 214, and a communication component 216.

The processing component 202 generally controls overall operation of the device 200, such as operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing components 202 may include one or more processors 220 to execute instructions to perform all or a portion of the steps of the methods described above. Further, the processing component 202 can include one or more modules that facilitate interaction between the processing component 202 and other components. For example, the processing component 202 can include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component 208 and the processing component 202.

The memory 204 is configured to store various types of data to support operations at the apparatus 200. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the device 200, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and so forth. The memory 204 may be implemented by any type or combination of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic or optical disks.

Power components 206 provide power to the various components of device 200. Power components 206 may include a power management system, one or more power sources, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for device 200.

The multimedia component 208 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the device 200 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a Touch Panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive an input signal from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, slide, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundary of a touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 208 includes a front facing camera and/or a rear facing camera. The front camera and/or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data when the device 200 is in an operating mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode. Each front camera and rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zoom capability.

The audio component 210 is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, audio component 210 includes a Microphone (MIC) configured to receive external audio signals when apparatus 200 is in an operational mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signals may further be stored in the memory 204 or transmitted via the communication component 216. In some embodiments, audio component 210 also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

The I/O interface 212 provides an interface between the processing component 202 and peripheral interface modules, which may be keyboards, click wheels, buttons, etc. These buttons may include, but are not limited to: a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

The sensor component 214 includes one or more sensors for providing various aspects of status assessment for the device 200. For example, the sensor assembly 214 may detect an open/closed state of the device 200, the relative positioning of components, such as a display and keypad of the device 200, the sensor assembly 214 may also detect a change in the position of the device 200 or a component of the device 200, the presence or absence of user contact with the device 200, the orientation or acceleration/deceleration of the device 200, and a change in the temperature of the device 200. The sensor assembly 214 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of a nearby object without any physical contact. The sensor assembly 214 may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor assembly 214 may also include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The communication component 216 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the apparatus 200 and other devices. The device 200 may access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 216 receives a broadcast signal or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 216 further includes a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communications. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus 200 may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors or other electronic components for performing the above-described methods.

In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions, such as memory 204, comprising instructions executable by processor 220 of device 200 to perform the above-described method is also provided. For example, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium may be a ROM, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

It is further understood that the use of "a plurality" in this disclosure means two or more, as other terms are analogous. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. The singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It will be further understood that the terms "first," "second," and the like are used to describe various information and that such information should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another and do not denote a particular order or importance. Indeed, the terms "first," "second," and the like are fully interchangeable. For example, a first time condition may also be referred to as a second time condition, and similarly, a second time condition may also be referred to as a first time condition, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

It is further to be understood that while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this is not to be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in serial order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain environments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

It will be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements described above and shown in the drawings and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A beam determination method is applied to a terminal, and is characterized in that the beam determination method comprises the following steps:

in response to the terminal reporting a beam report, determining a beam to use based on the beam report.

2. The beam determination method of claim 1, wherein beam measurements are included in the beam report, and wherein the beam to be used is determined based on the beam measurements.

3. The beam determination method of claim 2, wherein the beams to be used are one or more beams selected according to signal strengths corresponding to beam measurements.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein in response to the beam report being reported on a non-beam group basis, the beam to be used is a beam with the strongest signal strength, which is selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the beam to be used is a beam group with the strongest signal strength selected according to the signal strength corresponding to the beam measurement result in response to the beam report being reported based on a beam group method.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the beam to be used is a beam with the strongest signal strength selected from one or more beam groups according to the signal strengths corresponding to the beam measurement results in response to the beam report being reported based on a beam group method.

7. The beam determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

in response to a beam use condition being satisfied, communicating using the beam to be used.

8. The beam determination method of claim 7, wherein communicating using the beam to be used in response to a beam use condition being met, comprises:

9. The beam determination method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining that no beam indication signaling is received before the first time threshold.

10. The beam determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:

in response to receiving the beam indication signaling, communicating using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

11. The beam determination method of claim 10, wherein the receiving the beam indication signaling comprises:

receiving the beam indication signaling within a first time threshold, and/or decoding a beam indicated by the beam indication signaling within the first time threshold.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling for communication comprises:

in response to a second time condition being met, communicating using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling.

13. The beam determination method of claim 12, wherein the satisfying the second time condition comprises at least one of:

responsive to beam indication signaling comprising a medium access control element, after receiving a second time threshold after the medium access control element;

in response to the beam indication signaling including downlink control information, after a third time threshold after receiving the downlink control information;

in response to the beam indication signaling including downlink control information and the terminal having sent hybrid automatic repeat request feedback for the downlink control information, after a fourth time threshold after sending the hybrid automatic repeat request feedback.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the communication using the beam indicated by the beam indication signaling comprises at least one of:

15. The beam determination method of claim 14, further comprising:

transmitting the designated channel and/or signal using the beam to be used and the hybrid automatic repeat request feedback prior to at least one of the fifth time threshold, the sixth time threshold, and the seventh time threshold.

16. A beam determination apparatus, comprising:

a transmitting unit configured to report a beam report;

a processing unit configured to determine a beam to use based on the beam report.

17. A beam determination apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

wherein the processor is configured to: performing the beam determination method of any one of claims 1 to 15.

18. A storage medium having stored therein instructions that, when executed by a processor of a terminal, enable the terminal to perform the beam determination method of any one of claims 1 to 15.