CN115701193A

CN115701193A - Communication method, device and readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN115701193A
Application number: CN202110826340.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张萌
Original assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Current assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-07-21
Filing date: 2021-07-21
Publication date: 2023-02-07
Also published as: WO2023000617A1

Abstract

The application discloses a communication method, a communication device and a readable storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: receiving first indication information from a network device, wherein the first indication information is used for determining a first time window and/or a second time window, the first time window is a time period of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) joint channel estimation, and the second time window is a time period of Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) joint channel estimation; transmitting a plurality of first uplink reference signals on a plurality of PUCCHs of the first time window, and transmitting a plurality of second uplink reference signals on a plurality of PUSCHs of the second time window, wherein the first uplink reference signals are used for the PUCCH joint channel estimation, and the second uplink reference signals are used for the PUSCH joint channel estimation. By the technical scheme, the time of joint channel estimation can be determined, and uplink coverage performance is improved.

Description

Communication method, device and readable storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, an apparatus, and a readable storage medium.

Background

At present, in the field of mobile communications, because uplink coverage is limited due to various factors such as limited transmit power of a terminal device or complex and variable channel environments, a network device may perform uplink channel estimation based on an uplink reference signal uploaded by the terminal device, and configure a reasonable scheduling parameter for uplink transmission of the terminal device according to an uplink channel estimation result, so as to enhance uplink coverage. Since a New Radio (NR) in the existing Radio access technology performs uplink channel estimation based on an uplink reference signal of a time unit, there may be a problem that the uplink reference signal is less, which may cause inaccurate channel estimation. Release 17 of the third Generation Partnership project (3 rd Generation Partnership project,3 gpp) introduces joint Channel estimation of Demodulation Reference signals (DMRSs) of multiple PUSCHs for Uplink coverage enhancement of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), thereby improving the coverage performance of the PUSCH. However, how to determine the time of joint channel estimation is a problem that needs to be solved urgently.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, which can be used for determining the time of joint channel estimation by terminal equipment and improving the uplink coverage performance.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which may be applied to a terminal device, and may also be applied to a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device, and the following description takes the application to the terminal device as an example. The method can comprise the following steps: receiving first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information is used to determine a first Time window (Time domain window) and/or a second Time window, the first Time window is a Time period of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) joint Channel estimation, and the second Time window is a Time period of PUSCH joint Channel estimation; transmitting a plurality of first uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUCCHs of the first time window and/or transmitting a plurality of second uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUSCHs of the second time window, the first uplink reference signals being used for the PUCCH joint channel estimation and the second uplink reference signals being used for the PUSCH joint channel estimation.

In the scheme provided by the application, the terminal device may determine the time of joint channel estimation of the uplink channel through indication information from the network device, which is different from the prior art in which the terminal device cannot determine the time of joint channel estimation of the uplink channel. When the terminal device can simultaneously determine the joint channel estimation time of the PUCCH and the PUSCH through the first indication information, the signaling overhead can be reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes a retransmission number of the PUCCH and/or a retransmission number of the PUSCH, the first time window is determined by the retransmission number of the PUCCH, and the second time window is determined by the retransmission number of the PUSCH.

In the scheme provided by the application, under a retransmission mechanism, the terminal device may determine the time window according to the implicitly indicated information, that is, the time window is determined according to the retransmission times (retransmission) indicated by the network device to the terminal device. The terminal equipment utilizes the existing information of the retransmission times, does not need to determine the time window through additional indication information, and can reduce signaling overhead.

In one possible implementation manner, the first time window includes a first start time unit and a first duration, and the first time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUCCH, and includes: the first starting time unit is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUCCH; the method further comprises the following steps: receiving a first parameter from the network device, where the first duration is a minimum duration of a second duration and a third duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of a terminal device, and the third duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUCCH by the first parameter.

In the scheme provided by the application, under a retransmission mechanism, the terminal device may determine the time window according to the implicitly indicated information, that is, the time window is determined according to the retransmission times (retransmission) indicated by the network device to the terminal device. For example, the duration of the time window may be a duration obtained by multiplying the number of retransmissions by a certain parameter indicated by the network device. Considering that the terminal device is required to maintain power consistency and phase continuity during the joint channel estimation, the time length of the time window can be determined as the minimum time length of the time lengths obtained by multiplying the maximum time length of the power consistency and the phase continuity of the terminal device by the retransmission times, so that the power consistency and the phase continuity of the terminal device can be maintained during the joint channel estimation in the time window.

In one possible implementation manner, the second time window includes a second starting time unit and a fourth time length, and the second time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUSCH and includes: the second starting time is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUSCH; the method further comprises the following steps: receiving a second parameter from the network device, wherein the fourth time length is the minimum time length of the second time length and a fifth time length, the second time length is the maximum time length of maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and the fifth time length is the time length obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUSCH by the second parameter.

In the scheme provided by the application, under a retransmission mechanism, the terminal device may determine the time window according to the implicitly indicated information, that is, the time window is determined according to the retransmission times (retransmission) indicated by the network device to the terminal device. For example, the duration of the time window may be a duration obtained by multiplying the number of retransmissions by a certain parameter indicated by the network device. Considering that the terminal device is required to maintain power consistency and phase continuity during the joint channel estimation, the duration of the time window can be determined as the minimum duration of the durations obtained by multiplying the maximum duration of the power consistency and the phase continuity of the terminal device by the retransmission times, so that the power consistency and the phase continuity of the terminal device can be maintained during the joint channel estimation in the time window.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information includes a first start time unit and a first offset; or the first indication information comprises a second starting time unit and a second offset; or the first indication comprises a first start time unit, a first offset, a second start time unit, and a second offset, the first time window being determined by the first start time unit and the first offset, the second time window being determined by the second start time unit and the second offset.

In the scheme provided by the application, the terminal device can determine the time window according to the explicitly indicated information, that is, the time window is directly determined according to the starting time unit of the time window indicated to the terminal device by the network device and the duration of the time window, so that the uplink reference signals are sent to the network device in the time window, the network device performs joint channel estimation according to the uplink reference signals, and the uplink coverage performance can be improved.

In a possible implementation manner, the parameters of the plurality of first uplink reference signals are the same, and the parameters of the plurality of second uplink reference signals are the same, where the parameters include at least one of: transmit power (Transmit power), frequency domain resource (frequency allocation), modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), transmit Precoding Matrix Indicator (TPMI), transmit data (Tx) spatial parameters (txspatial parameters), and Timing Advance (TA).

In the solution provided in the present application, since power consistency and phase continuity of an uplink reference signal sent by a terminal device need to be ensured during joint channel estimation, at least one of transmission power, frequency domain resources, modulation and coding strategy, transmission precoding matrix indicator, tx spatial parameters, and timing advance of the uplink reference signal used for joint channel estimation needs to be kept the same.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication Information is configured by Downlink Control Information (DCI), or configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC), or configured by a Medium Access Control-Control element (MAC-CE).

In one possible implementation, the first time window includes at least two consecutive time units, and the second time window includes at least two consecutive time units.

In a possible implementation manner, the first uplink reference signal and the second uplink reference signal are DMRSs.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which may be applied to a network device, and may also be applied to a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device, and the following description is given by taking the application to the network device as an example. The method can comprise the following steps: sending first indication information to terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for determining a first time window and/or a second time window, the first time window is a time period of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) joint channel estimation, and the second time window is a time period of Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) joint channel estimation; receiving a plurality of first uplink reference signals from the terminal device on a plurality of PUCCHs of the first time window and/or a plurality of second uplink reference signals from the terminal device on a plurality of PUSCHs of the second time window; and performing joint channel estimation on the PUCCH according to the plurality of first uplink reference signals and/or performing joint channel estimation on the PUSCH according to the plurality of second uplink reference signals.

In the scheme provided by the application, the network device may send the indication information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device determines the time of the joint channel estimation of the uplink channel. Different from the prior art, the terminal device cannot determine the joint channel estimation time of the uplink channel, in the embodiment of the application, after determining the joint channel estimation time of the uplink channel (PUCCH and/or PUSCH), the terminal device may send a plurality of uplink reference signals in the PUCCH and/or PUSCH within the time, so that the network device performs PUCCH and/or PUSCH joint channel estimation according to the plurality of uplink reference signals, and thus uplink coverage performance may be improved. When the network equipment simultaneously instructs the terminal equipment to determine the joint channel estimation time of the PUCCH and the PUSCH through the first indication information, the signaling overhead can be reduced.

It should be understood that the main subject of the second aspect is a network device, the specific contents of the second aspect correspond to the contents of the first aspect, the corresponding features of the second aspect and the advantages achieved by the second aspect may refer to the description of the first aspect, and in order to avoid repetition, the detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

In one possible implementation manner, the first time window includes a first start time unit and a first duration, and the first time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUCCH, and includes: the first starting time unit is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUCCH; the method further comprises the following steps: and sending a first parameter to the terminal equipment, wherein the first duration is the minimum duration in a second duration and a third duration, the second duration is the maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal equipment, and the third duration is the duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUCCH by the first parameter.

In one possible implementation manner, the second time window includes a second starting time unit and a fourth time length, and the second time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUSCH and includes: the second starting time is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUSCH; the method further comprises the following steps: and sending a second parameter to the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth time length is the minimum time length of the second time length and the fifth time length, the second time length is the maximum time length of maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal equipment, and the fifth time length is the time length obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUSCH by the second parameter.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information is configured by DCI, or configured by RRC, or configured by MAC-CE.

In one possible implementation, the first uplink reference signal and the second uplink reference signal are DMRSs.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus.

The beneficial effects can be seen from the description of the first aspect, which is not described herein again. The communication device has the functionality to implement the actions in the method instance of the first aspect described above. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

The communication device includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information is used to determine a first time window and/or a second time window, the first time window is a time period for joint channel estimation of a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, and the second time window is a time period for joint channel estimation of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH;

a transmitting unit, configured to transmit a plurality of first uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUCCHs in the first time window and/or a plurality of second uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUSCHs in the second time window, where the first uplink reference signals are used for the PUCCH joint channel estimation and the second uplink reference signals are used for the PUSCH joint channel estimation.

In one possible implementation manner, the first time window includes a first start time unit and a first duration, and the first time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUCCH, and includes:

the first starting time unit is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUCCH;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a first parameter from the network device, where the first duration is a minimum duration of a second duration and a third duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and the third duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission frequency of the PUCCH by the first parameter.

In one possible implementation manner, the second time window includes a second starting time unit and a fourth time length, and the second time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUSCH and includes:

the second starting time is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUSCH;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second parameter from the network device, where the fourth duration is a minimum duration of the second duration and a fifth duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and the fifth duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission frequency of the PUSCH by the second parameter.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information includes a first start time unit and a first offset; or

The first indication information comprises a second starting time unit and a second offset; or

The first indication includes a first start time unit, a first offset, a second start time unit, and a second offset, the first time window is determined by the first start time unit and the first offset, and the second time window is determined by the second start time unit and the second offset.

In a possible implementation manner, the parameters of the plurality of first uplink reference signals are the same, and the parameters of the plurality of second uplink reference signals are the same, where the parameters include at least one of: transmit power, frequency domain resources, modulation and coding strategy, transmit precoding matrix indication, tx spatial parameters, and timing advance.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is configured by DCI, or configured by RRC, or configured by MAC-CE.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus.

The beneficial effects can be seen from the description of the second aspect, and are not described in detail herein. The communication device has the functionality to implement the actions in the method example of the second aspect described above. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

The communication device includes:

a sending unit, configured to send first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information is used to determine a first time window and/or a second time window, the first time window is a time period for joint channel estimation of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and the second time window is a time period for joint channel estimation of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH);

a receiving unit, configured to receive a plurality of first uplink reference signals from the terminal device on a plurality of PUCCHs of the first time window and/or a plurality of second uplink reference signals from the terminal device on a plurality of PUSCHs of the second time window;

an estimating unit, configured to perform joint channel estimation on the PUCCH according to the plurality of first uplink reference signals and/or perform joint channel estimation on the PUSCH according to the plurality of second uplink reference signals.

the first start time unit is a time unit of a first transmission of the PUCCH;

the sending unit is further configured to send a first parameter to the terminal device, where the first duration is a minimum duration of a second duration and a third duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and the third duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUCCH by the first parameter.

the second starting time is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUSCH;

the sending unit is further configured to send a second parameter to the terminal device, where the fourth duration is a minimum duration of the second duration and a fifth duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and the fifth duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUSCH by the second parameter.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information includes a first start time unit and a first offset; or alternatively

The first indication includes a first start time unit, a first offset, a second start time unit, and a second offset, the first time window is determined by the first start time unit and the first offset, and the second time window is determined by the second start unit and the second offset.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal or a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from a communication apparatus other than the communication apparatus, and an output interface for outputting information to the communication apparatus other than the communication apparatus, wherein the processor calls a computer program stored in the memory to execute the communication method provided by the first aspect or any of the embodiments of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the communication apparatus may be a network device or a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device. The apparatus may comprise a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from a communication apparatus other than the communication apparatus, and an output interface for outputting information to the communication apparatus other than the communication apparatus, the processor calling a computer program stored in the memory to execute the communication method provided by the second aspect or any of the embodiments of the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system comprising at least one terminal and at least one network device, configured to perform any one of the methods of the first or second aspects when the at least one terminal device and the at least one network device are operating in the communication system.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions which, when executed, cause the method of the first aspect and any one of its possible implementations or the second aspect and any one of its possible implementations to be performed.

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising executable instructions that, when run on a user equipment, cause the method of the first aspect and any one of its possible implementations or of the second aspect and any one of its possible implementations to be performed.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor and may further include a memory, and is configured to implement the method of the first aspect and any one of its possible implementations or the second aspect and any one of its possible implementations. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the application, and that for a person skilled in the art, other drawings can be derived from them without inventive effort.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments section of the present application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments of the present application only and is not intended to be limiting of the present application. The definitions of technical terms that may appear in the embodiments of the present application are given first:

(1) Time window

The time window refers to a time period having a time domain length. In the embodiments of the present application, the time window refers to joint channel estimation using uplink reference signals of multiple PUSCHs or uplink reference signals of multiple PUCCHs within a range indicated by the time window.

(2) Time cell

Data or information may be carried over time-frequency resources, which may include resources in the time domain and resources in the frequency domain. In the time domain, a time-frequency resource may include one or more time units (or may also be referred to as time-domain units). A time unit may be one symbol or several symbols, or one mini-slot (mini-slot), or one slot (slot), or one subframe (subframe). One subframe may be 1 millisecond (ms) in duration in the time domain, one slot may consist of 7 or 14 symbols, and one mini-slot may include at least one symbol (e.g., 2 symbols or 7 symbols or 14 symbols, or any number of symbols less than or equal to 14 symbols). The above time unit sizes are listed only for the convenience of understanding the scheme of the present application and should not be construed as limiting the present application. It is understood that the time unit size may be other values, and the application is not limited thereto. The time units mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be replaced by time domain units, and different transmission time units may represent complete non-overlapping time domains.

Currently, in the field of mobile communication, due to various factors such as limited transmission power of a terminal device or complex and variable channel environment, uplink coverage is limited, so that a network device can perform uplink channel estimation based on an uplink reference signal uploaded by the terminal device and configure a reasonable scheduling parameter for uplink transmission of the terminal device according to an uplink channel estimation result to enhance uplink coverage. Since a New Radio (NR) in the existing Radio access technology performs uplink channel estimation based on an uplink reference signal of a time unit, there may be a problem that the uplink reference signal is less, which may cause inaccurate channel estimation. Release 17 of the third Generation Partnership project (3 rd Generation Partnership project,3 gpp) introduces joint Channel estimation of Demodulation Reference signals (DMRSs) of multiple PUSCHs for Uplink coverage enhancement of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), thereby improving the coverage performance of the PUSCH. However, how to determine the time of joint channel estimation is an urgent problem to be solved.

The technical problem to be solved by the embodiment of the present application may include: in the embodiment of the application, the terminal device may determine, through indication information from the network device, a time for joint channel estimation of the PUCCH and/or the PUSCH, and transmit a plurality of uplink reference signals in the time for the PUCCH and/or the PUSCH, so that the network device performs PUCCH and/or PUSCH joint channel estimation according to the plurality of uplink reference signals, thereby improving uplink coverage performance.

Based on the above, in order to better understand a communication method and a related apparatus proposed in the present application, a network architecture applied in the embodiments of the present application is described below.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the network architecture may include a network device 101 and a terminal device 102. The terminal device 102 may be connected to the network device 101 in a wireless manner, and may be accessed to the core network through the network device 101. The terminal device 102 may be fixed in position or may be mobile.

The network device 101 may be an entity for transmitting or receiving a signal, may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, and the network device may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a base station (NodeB, NB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, an evolved NodeB, eNB, or eNodeB in an LTE system, a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, or a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a network device in a 5G network or a network device in a PLMN network that is evolved in the future, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited. The network device may be a device in a wireless network, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN) node that accesses a terminal to the wireless network. Currently, some examples of RAN nodes are: a base station, a next generation base station gNB, a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), an evolved Node B (eNB), a home base station, a baseband unit (BBU), or an Access Point (AP) in a WiFi system. In one network configuration, a network device may include a Centralized Unit (CU) node, or a Distributed Unit (DU) node, or a RAN device including a CU node and a DU node.

Terminal equipment 102, is a user-side entity for receiving or transmitting signals, such as user equipment, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. The terminal device may also be a mobile phone (handset), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a tablet (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation security), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a pedometer, etc.), a terminal device in 5G network or a terminal device in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) for future evolution, etc., which are not limited by the embodiments of the present application. The terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held, worn or vehicle-mounted, can be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship and the like), and can be deployed in the air (such as an airplane, a balloon, a satellite and the like).

By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal may also be a wearable device. Wearable equipment can also be called wearable intelligent equipment, is the general term of applying wearable technique to carry out intelligent design, develop the equipment that can dress to daily wearing, like glasses, gloves, wrist-watch, dress and shoes etc.. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothing or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also realizes powerful functions through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable smart device includes full functionality, large size, and can implement full or partial functionality without relying on a smart phone, such as: smart watches or smart glasses and the like, and only focus on a certain type of application functions, and need to be used in cooperation with other devices such as smart phones, such as various smart bracelets for physical sign monitoring, smart jewelry and the like. In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal may also be a terminal in an internet of things (IoT) system, the IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and the main technical feature of the present application is to connect an article with a network through a communication technology, so as to implement an intelligent network with interconnected human-computer and interconnected objects. In the embodiment of the present application, the IOT technology may achieve massive connection, deep coverage, and power saving for the terminal through a Narrowband (NB) technology, for example. In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal may further include sensors such as an intelligent printer, a train detector, and a gas station, and the main functions include collecting data (part of the terminal), receiving control information and downlink data of the network device, and sending electromagnetic waves to transmit uplink data to the network device.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a global system for mobile communication (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), an LTE system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications (UMTS) system, an enhanced data rate GSM (enhanced data rate for GSM evolution, EDGE) system, and a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) system. The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to other communication systems, for example, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) system, an advanced long term evolution (LTE-a) system, a fifth generation mobile communication (the 5th generation,5 g) system, an NR system, a machine to machine (M2M) system, or other communication systems that evolve in the future, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal device or the network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Memory Management Unit (MMU), and a memory (also referred to as a main memory). The operating system may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processes through processes (processes), such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a windows operating system. The application layer comprises applications such as a browser, an address list, word processing software, instant messaging software and the like. Furthermore, the embodiment of the present application does not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, as long as the execution subject can communicate with the method provided by the embodiment of the present application by running the program recorded with the code of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application may be a terminal or a network device, or a functional module capable of calling the program and executing the program in the terminal or the network device.

It should be noted that the number and the type of the terminal devices included in the network architecture shown in fig. 1 are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. For example, more or fewer terminal devices communicating with the network device may be included, and for simplicity of description, are not depicted in the figures one by one. In addition, in the network architecture shown in fig. 1, although the network device and the terminal are shown, the application scenario may not be limited to include the network device and the terminal, and may also include a core network node or a device for carrying a virtualized network function, which is obvious to those skilled in the art and is not described herein again.

With reference to the above network architecture, a communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described below. Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The functions executed by the terminal device in this embodiment may also be executed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device, and the functions executed by the network device in this application may also be executed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device. As shown in fig. 2, the communication method may include the following steps.

Step S201: the network equipment sends first indication information for determining the first time window and/or the second time window to the terminal equipment.

Accordingly, the terminal device receives first indication information from the network device for determining the first time window and/or the second time window.

The first time window is a time period of PUCCH joint channel estimation, and the second time window is a time period of PUSCH joint channel estimation. The first time window comprises at least two consecutive time units and the second time window comprises at least two consecutive time units. The terminal device determines the first time window and/or the second time window according to the first indication information, and specifically includes: and the terminal equipment determines a first time window according to the first indication information, or determines a second time window according to the first indication information, or determines the first time window and the second time window according to the first indication information. The manner of determination may satisfy any one of the following:

in a first mode, under the condition that the first indication information comprises the retransmission times of the PUCCH, the terminal equipment determines a first time window according to the retransmission times of the PUCCH; under the condition that the first indication information comprises the retransmission times of the PUSCH, the terminal equipment determines a second time window according to the retransmission times of the PUSCH; and under the condition that the first indication information comprises the retransmission times of the PUCCH and the retransmission times of the PUSCH, the terminal equipment determines a first time window according to the retransmission times of the PUCCH and determines a second time window according to the retransmission times of the PUSCH. The start of the first time window may be a first symbol of a first repeated transmission of the PUCCH until a last symbol of a last repeated transmission of the PUCCH, or the start of the first time window may be a first symbol of a slot in which the PUCCH is first repeatedly transmitted until a last symbol of a slot in which the PUCCH is last repeatedly transmitted. Optionally, when the PUCCH is subjected to frequency hopping, all repeated transmissions of 1 PUCCH may be formed by a plurality of frequency hopping groups, where the transmissions of the plurality of PUCCHs in one frequency hopping group are consecutive and have the same frequency domain position, and each frequency hopping group corresponds to an independent time window.

The network device may also send a first parameter and/or a second parameter to the terminal device through higher layer signaling or DCI, where the first parameter is a certain parameter in a parameter set, and the second parameter is also a certain parameter in the parameter set, and the parameter set is preset for the network device and the terminal device, for example, the parameter set is {1,1/2,1/4,1/8,1/16}, the first parameter is 1/4, and the second parameter is 1/8; also for example, the parameter set is {1,2,4,8,16}, the first parameter is 4, and the second parameter is 8.

The first time window includes a first start time unit and a first duration, the first start time unit may be a time unit of first transmission when the PUCCH is repeatedly transmitted or a first time unit where the PUCCH is located, the first duration may be a minimum duration of a second duration and a third duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, the third duration is a duration determined according to the retransmission times of the PUCCH and the first parameter, that is, the first duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and a duration determined according to the retransmission times of the PUCCH and the first parameter, and the unit of the first duration may be the transmission times or the time unit. It can be understood that joint channel estimation requires the terminal device to maintain power consistency and phase continuity, and when the second duration is greater than or equal to (or greater than) the third duration, the first duration may be determined to be the third duration; when the second duration is less than (or less than or equal to) the third duration, the first duration may be determined to be the second duration. Or, the first duration may be equal to a third duration, and the third duration is a duration determined according to the number of retransmissions of the PUCCH and the first parameter.

The third duration is a duration determined according to the retransmission times of the PUCCH and the first parameter, and may be a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUCCH by the first parameter, or may be a duration obtained by rounding down or rounding up a product of the retransmission times of the PUSCH and the first parameter. For example, if the number of retransmissions of the PUCCH is 28, the first parameter is 1/4, the third duration is 28 × 1/4=7, and the second duration is 9, the terminal device may determine that the first duration is 7, that is, each 7 transmissions is a duration in a time unit in which the PUCCH is repeatedly transmitted 28 times, for example, the first duration is from 1 st transmission to 7 th transmission, from 8 th transmission to 14 th transmission, from 15 th transmission to 21 th transmission, and from 22 th transmission to 28 th transmission. The third duration may also be a duration obtained by dividing the retransmission number of the PUCCH by the first parameter, for example, the retransmission number of the PUCCH is 12, the first parameter is 4, the third duration is 12/4=3, the second duration is 5, the terminal device may determine that the first duration is 3, that is, each 3 transmissions is one duration in a time unit in which the PUCCH is repeatedly transmitted 12 times, for example, the first duration is 1 st transmission to 3rd transmission, 4 th transmission to 6 th transmission, 7 th transmission to 9 th transmission, and 10 th transmission to 12 th transmission. The third duration may also be a duration obtained by the number of retransmissions of the PUCCH and the first parameter through other calculation methods, and these possible determination methods all fall within the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application and are not described one by one.

The second time window includes a second start time unit and a fourth time duration, the second start time unit may be a time unit of first transmission when the PUSCH is repeatedly transmitted or a first time unit where the PUSCH is located, the fourth time duration may be a minimum time duration of the second time duration and a fifth time duration, the fifth time duration is a time duration determined according to the retransmission number of the PUSCH and the second parameter, that is, the fourth time duration is a maximum time duration of Min { the terminal device maintains power consistency and phase continuity, and a time duration determined according to the retransmission number of the PUSCH and the second parameter }, and a unit of the fourth time duration may be the transmission number or the time unit. It can be understood that joint channel estimation requires the terminal device to maintain power consistency and phase continuity, and when the second duration is greater than or equal to (or greater than) the fifth duration, the second duration can be determined to be the fifth duration; when the second duration is less than (or less than or equal to) the fifth duration, the second duration may be determined to be the second duration. Or, the fourth duration may be equal to a fifth duration, where the fifth duration is a duration determined according to the number of retransmissions of the PUCCH and the first parameter.

The fifth time duration is determined according to the retransmission times of the PUSCH and the second parameter, and it may be understood that the fifth time duration may be obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUSCH by the second parameter, the fifth time duration may be obtained by rounding down or up or rounding up a product of the retransmission times of the PUSCH and the second parameter, the fifth time duration may also be obtained by dividing the retransmission times of the PUSCH by the second parameter, and the fifth time duration may also be obtained by calculating the retransmission times of the PUSCH and the second parameter in other manners, and these possible determination manners fall within the protection range of the embodiment of the present application and are not set forth one by one. For a specific example, reference may be made to the example related to the third duration, and details are not described herein again to avoid repetition.

In a second mode, under the condition that the first indication information comprises a first starting time unit and a first offset, the terminal equipment determines a first time window according to the first starting time unit and the first offset; under the condition that the first indication information comprises a second starting time unit and a second offset, the terminal equipment determines a second time window according to the second starting time unit and the second offset; under the condition that the first indication information comprises a first starting time unit, a first offset, a second starting time unit and a second offset, the terminal equipment determines a first time window according to the first starting time unit and the first offset and determines a second time window according to the second starting time unit and the second offset.

Wherein the first time window includes a first start time unit and a first duration. The first start time unit may be a time unit when the first indication information is received, and the first duration is the first offset. The second time window includes a second start time unit and a fourth duration. The second starting time unit may be a time unit when the first indication information is received, and the fourth duration is the second offset. For example, a first time window is taken as an example, assuming that a PUCCH occupies 1 slot, a unit of the first duration is also a slot, for example, a first start time unit is slot 0, and a first offset is 3 slots, and the first time window is a time period from slot 0 to slot 3. Assuming that the PUCCH occupies 1 symbol, the unit of the first duration is also a symbol, for example, the first start time unit is symbol 0, the first offset is 8 symbols, and the first time window is a time period from symbol 0 to symbol 8. Assuming that the PUCCH occupies 2 symbols, the unit of the first duration is also a symbol, for example, the first start time unit is symbol 0, the first offset is 4 symbols, and the first time window is a time period from symbol 0 to symbol 8.

It is to be understood that, in the first and second manners, the first time window includes a first start time unit and a first duration, and the second time window includes a second start time unit and a fourth duration. Optionally, the first time window may include a first end time unit and a first duration, and the second time window may include a second end time unit and a fourth duration, and the specific implementation manner is similar to the first manner and the second manner, which may refer to the above detailed description and is not described herein again.

The first duration and the second duration may be the same duration or different durations. For example, when uploading uplink information, the terminal device may upload the uplink information on the PUSCH or upload the uplink information on the PUCCH. If the terminal device uploads the uplink information on the PUSCH first and then on the PUCCH, the second duration may directly multiplex (continue to use) the information of the first duration, that is, the PUCCH may adopt the duration information of the last PUSCH time window.

The first indication information may be configured by the DCI, for example, a related configuration that may add a time window in an option field in the DCI, or configured by the RRC, or configured by the MAC-CE. The first indication information adopts DCI dynamic configuration, and the duration of the time window can be adjusted more flexibly. For example, since the quality of the channel is time-varying, if the current channel quality is not good, the time duration of the time window may be configured to be longer, and thus more uplink reference signals may be used for the obtained joint channel estimation, so that the joint channel estimation is more accurate, and if the current channel quality is good, the time duration of the time window may be configured to be shorter.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information may be carried in RRC or DCI. For example, the first indication information may include the number of retransmissions, which may be associated with a PUCCH resource, may also be configured to be associated with a PUCCH group (PUCCH group), that is, the number of retransmissions representing each PUCCH resource in the PUCCH group is the same, and may also be configured below PUCCH format, that is, the number of retransmissions representing PUCCHs with the same format is the same.

In another possible implementation, the first indication information may be carried in RRC or DCI. For example, the first indication information may be associated with PUCCH resources, i.e. different PUCCH resources may have respective first indication information; alternatively, the first indication information may also be associated with a PUCCH group (PUCCH group), that is, the first indication information representing each PUCCH resource in the PUCCH group is the same; alternatively, the first indication information may also be associated with PUCCH format, that is, the first indication information representing PUCCH having the same PUCCH format is the same.

Optionally, the network device may further send second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the function of PUCCH and/or PUSCH joint channel estimation is activated/deactivated. The second indication may also be configured by DCI, or by RRC, or by MAC-CE. The network device may send the second indication information to the terminal device first, and then send the first indication information, or may send the first indication information and the second indication information to the terminal device at the same time.

Step S202: the terminal device sends a plurality of first uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUCCHs of a first time window, and/or sends a plurality of second uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUSCHs of a second time window.

Accordingly, the network device receives a plurality of first uplink reference signals from the terminal device on a plurality of PUCCHs of a first time window and/or a plurality of second uplink reference signals from the terminal device on a plurality of PUSCHs of a second time window.

After the terminal equipment determines a first time window, a plurality of first uplink reference signals are sent to the network equipment on a plurality of PUCCHs of the first time window; or after the terminal device determines the second time window, sending a plurality of second uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUSCHs of the second time window; or after the terminal device determines the first time window and the second time window, the terminal device sends a plurality of first uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUCCHs of the first time window and sends a plurality of second uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUSCHs of the second time window respectively.

In the following, a description will be given by taking an example in which after the terminal device determines the first time window, the terminal device transmits a plurality of first uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUCCHs of the first time window. It can be understood that, after determining the second time window, the terminal device sends a plurality of second uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUSCHs of the second time window in a similar manner, which is not described in detail herein.

There are multiple PUCCHs within the first time window, and the terminal device may transmit one or more uplink reference signals on each PUCCH. The parameters of the plurality of first uplink reference signals are the same, and the parameters comprise at least one of the following: transmit power, frequency domain resources, modulation and coding strategy, transmit precoding matrix indication, tx spatial parameters, and timing advance.

The first uplink reference signal may be a DMRS, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), or other signals that may be used for joint channel estimation, and the type of the signal is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the format of the plurality of PUCCHs in the first time window is one of format2/3/4, and the formats of the plurality of PUCCHs in the first time window are consistent. Further optionally, the symbols of the plurality of PUCCHs in the first time window coincide. For example, the duration of the first time window is 8 slots, and there are many PUCCH resources in the 8 slots, which may be used for joint channel estimation only if the PUCCH resources are in the same format or the PUCCH resources are in the same format and have the same symbol.

In another possible implementation manner, for PUCCH resources configured with intraslottfrequencyhopping, only the PUCCH resources in the same frequency domain position may be subjected to joint channel estimation. For example, the frequency domain position of the PUCCH resource of slot 0 is in Resource Block (RB) 0, the frequency domain position of the PUCCH resource of slot 1 is in RB1, the frequency domain position of the PUCCH resource of slot 2 is in RB0, and the frequency domain position of the PUCCH resource of slot 3 is in RB1, so the PUCCH of slot 0 and slot 2 can be used for joint channel estimation, and the PUCCH of slot 1 and slot 3 can be used for joint channel estimation.

Step S203: the network equipment performs joint channel estimation on the PUCCH according to the plurality of first uplink reference signals and/or performs joint channel estimation on the PUSCH according to the plurality of second uplink reference signals.

The network equipment receives a plurality of first uplink reference signals from the terminal equipment and performs joint channel estimation on a PUCCH in a first time window; or the network equipment receives a plurality of second uplink reference signals from the terminal equipment and performs joint channel estimation on the PUSCH in the second time window; or the network device receives a plurality of first uplink reference signals and a plurality of second uplink reference signals from the terminal device, performs joint channel estimation on the PUCCH in the first time window and performs joint channel estimation on the PUSCH in the second time window.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal device may determine, through indication information from the network device, a time for joint channel estimation of the PUCCH and/or the PUSCH, and transmit a plurality of uplink reference signals in the time for the PUCCH and/or the PUSCH, so that the network device performs PUCCH and/or PUSCH joint channel estimation according to the plurality of uplink reference signals, thereby improving uplink coverage performance.

The method embodiments provided in the embodiments of the present application are described above, and the virtual device embodiments related to the embodiments of the present application are described below.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the communication device may be a terminal or a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal. As shown in fig. 3, the apparatus 300 at least includes: a receiving unit 301 and a transmitting unit 302; wherein:

a receiving unit 301, configured to receive first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information is used to determine a first time window and/or a second time window, where the first time window is a PUCCH joint channel estimation time segment, and the second time window is a PUSCH joint channel estimation time segment;

a sending unit 302, configured to send a plurality of first uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUCCHs in the first time window, and/or send a plurality of second uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUSCHs in the second time window, where the first uplink reference signals are used for the PUCCH joint channel estimation, and the second uplink reference signals are used for the PUSCH joint channel estimation.

In one embodiment, the first indication information includes the retransmission times of the PUCCH and/or the retransmission times of the PUSCH, the first time window is determined by the retransmission times of the PUCCH, and the second time window is determined by the retransmission times of the PUSCH.

In one embodiment, the first time window includes a first start time unit and a first duration, and the first time window is determined by the retransmission number of the PUCCH, including:

the first start time unit is a time unit of a first transmission of the PUCCH;

the receiving unit 301 is further configured to receive a first parameter from the network device, where the first duration is a minimum duration of a second duration and a third duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and the third duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission frequency of the PUCCH by the first parameter.

In one embodiment, the second time window includes a second starting time unit and a fourth time length, the second time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUSCH, and includes:

the second starting time is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUSCH;

the receiving unit 301 is further configured to receive a second parameter from the network device, where the fourth duration is a minimum duration of the second duration and a fifth duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and the fifth duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission frequency of the PUSCH by the second parameter.

In one embodiment, the first indication information includes a first start time unit and a first offset; or alternatively

In one embodiment, the parameters of the plurality of first uplink reference signals are the same, and the parameters of the plurality of second uplink reference signals are the same, and the parameters include at least one of: transmit power, frequency domain resources, modulation and coding strategy, transmit precoding matrix indication, tx spatial parameters, and timing advance.

In one embodiment, the first indication information is configured by DCI, or configured by RRC, or configured by MAC-CE.

In one embodiment, the first time window comprises at least two consecutive time units and the second time window comprises at least two consecutive time units.

In one embodiment, the first uplink reference signal and the second uplink reference signal are DMRSs.

For more detailed description of the receiving unit 301 and the sending unit 302, reference may be directly made to the description of the terminal device in the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 2, which is not repeated herein.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus may be a network device, or may be a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device. As shown in fig. 4, the apparatus 400 includes at least: a transmission unit 401, a reception unit 402, and an estimation unit 403; wherein:

a sending unit 401, configured to send first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information is used to determine a first time window and/or a second time window, the first time window is a time period for joint channel estimation of a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, and the second time window is a time period for joint channel estimation of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH;

a receiving unit 402, configured to receive multiple first uplink reference signals from the terminal device on multiple PUCCHs in the first time window and/or multiple second uplink reference signals from the terminal device on multiple PUSCHs in the second time window;

an estimating unit 403, configured to perform joint channel estimation on the PUCCH according to the plurality of first uplink reference signals and/or perform joint channel estimation on the PUSCH according to the plurality of second uplink reference signals.

the sending unit 401 is further configured to send a first parameter to the terminal device, where the first duration is a minimum duration of a second duration and a third duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for the terminal device to maintain power consistency and phase continuity, and the third duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission frequency of the PUCCH by the first parameter.

the second starting time is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUSCH;

the sending unit 401 is further configured to send a second parameter to the terminal device, where the fourth duration is a minimum duration of the second duration and a fifth duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and the fifth duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission frequency of the PUSCH by the second parameter.

For more detailed description of the sending unit 401, the receiving unit 402, and the estimating unit 403, reference may be directly made to the related description of the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2, which is not repeated herein.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 5, the apparatus 500 may include one or more processors 501, where the processors 501 may also be referred to as processing units and may implement certain control functions. The processor 501 may be a general purpose processor or a special purpose processor, etc. For example, a baseband processor or a central processor. The baseband processor may be configured to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor may be configured to control a communication device (e.g., a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal chip, a DU or CU, etc.), execute a software program, and process data of the software program.

In an alternative design, the processor 501 may also store instructions and/or data 503, and the instructions and/or data 503 may be executed by the processor, so that the apparatus 500 performs the method described in the above method embodiment.

In an alternative design, processor 501 may include a transceiver unit to perform receive and transmit functions. The transceiving unit may be, for example, a transceiving circuit, or an interface circuit, or a communication interface. The transmit and receive circuitry, interfaces or interface circuitry used to implement the receive and transmit functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, the interface circuit or the interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code/data, or the transceiver circuit, the interface circuit or the interface circuit may be used for transmitting or transferring signals.

In yet another possible design, the apparatus 500 may include circuitry that may implement the functionality of transmitting or receiving or communicating in the foregoing method embodiments.

Optionally, the apparatus 500 may include one or more memories 502, on which instructions 504 may be stored, and the instructions may be executed on the processor, so that the apparatus 500 performs the method described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory may further store data therein. Optionally, instructions and/or data may also be stored in the processor. The processor and the memory may be provided separately or may be integrated together. For example, the correspondence described in the above method embodiments may be stored in a memory or in a processor.

Optionally, the apparatus 500 may further comprise a transceiver 505 and/or an antenna 506. The processor 501, which may be referred to as a processing unit, controls the apparatus 500. The transceiver 505 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver device, a transceiver module, etc. for implementing a transceiving function.

Optionally, the apparatus 500 in this embodiment of the present application may be used to perform the method described in fig. 2 in this embodiment of the present application.

In one embodiment, the communication apparatus 500 may be a terminal device, or a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device, and when the computer program instructions stored in the memory 502 are executed, the transceiver 505 is configured to perform the operations performed by the receiving unit 301 and the sending unit 302 in the above embodiments, and the transceiver 505 is further configured to send information to other communication apparatuses besides the communication apparatus. The terminal device or the module in the terminal device may also be configured to execute various methods executed by the terminal device in the embodiment of the method in fig. 2, which is not described again.

In one embodiment, the communication apparatus 500 may be a network device, or a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device, when the computer program instructions stored in the memory 502 are executed, the processor 501 is configured to control the estimating unit 403 to perform the operations performed in the above embodiments, the transceiver 505 is configured to receive information from other communication apparatuses except the communication apparatus, and the transceiver 505 is further configured to perform the operations performed by the transmitting unit 401 and the receiving unit 402 in the above embodiments. The network device or the module in the network device may also be configured to execute various methods executed by the network device in the embodiment of the method in fig. 2, which is not described again.

The processors and transceivers described herein may be implemented on Integrated Circuits (ICs), analog ICs, radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs), mixed signal ICs, application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), electronic devices, and the like. The processor and transceiver may also be fabricated using various IC process technologies, such as Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS), bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and the like.

The apparatus in the description of the above embodiment may be a network device or a terminal device, but the scope of the apparatus described in the present application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the apparatus may not be limited by fig. 5. The apparatus may be a stand-alone device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the apparatus may be:

(1) A stand-alone integrated circuit IC, or chip, or system-on-chip or subsystem;

(2) A set of one or more ICs, which optionally may also include storage components for storing data and/or instructions;

(3) An ASIC, such as a modem (MSM);

(4) A module that may be embedded within other devices;

(5) Receivers, terminals, smart terminals, cellular phones, wireless devices, handsets, mobile units, in-vehicle devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, machine devices, home devices, medical devices, industrial devices, and the like;

(6) Others, and so forth.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. For convenience of explanation, fig. 6 shows only main components of the terminal device. As shown in fig. 6, the terminal apparatus 600 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input-output device. The processor is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the whole terminal, executing software programs and processing data of the software programs. The memory is used primarily for storing software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are used primarily for receiving data input by a user and for outputting data to the user.

When the terminal device is started, the processor can read the software program in the storage unit, analyze and execute the instruction of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs baseband signals to the radio frequency circuit, and the radio frequency circuit processes the baseband signals to obtain radio frequency signals and sends the radio frequency signals outwards in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is transmitted to the terminal, the radio frequency circuit receives a radio frequency signal through the antenna, the radio frequency signal is further converted into a baseband signal and the baseband signal is output to the processor, and the processor converts the baseband signal into the data and processes the data.

For ease of illustration, fig. 6 shows only one memory and processor. In an actual terminal device, there may be multiple processors and memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, and the like, which is not limited in this respect in the embodiment of the present invention.

As an alternative implementation manner, the processor may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit, where the baseband processor is mainly used to process a communication protocol and communication data, and the central processing unit is mainly used to control the whole terminal, execute a software program, and process data of the software program. The processor in fig. 6 integrates the functions of the baseband processor and the central processing unit, and those skilled in the art will understand that the baseband processor and the central processing unit may also be independent processors, and are interconnected through a bus or the like. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal may include a plurality of baseband processors to accommodate different network formats, a plurality of central processors to enhance its processing capability, and various components of the terminal may be connected by various buses. The baseband processor can also be expressed as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processing unit can also be expressed as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing the communication protocol and the communication data may be built in the processor, or may be stored in the storage unit in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to realize the baseband processing function.

In one example, the antenna and the control circuit having the transceiving function may be regarded as the transceiving unit 601 of the terminal device 600, and the processor having the processing function may be regarded as the processing unit 602 of the terminal device 600. As shown in fig. 6, the terminal device 600 includes a transceiving unit 601 and a processing unit 602. A transceiver unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiving device, etc. Alternatively, a device for implementing a receiving function in the transceiver 601 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device for implementing a transmitting function in the transceiver 601 may be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the transceiver 601 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. For example, the receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving circuit, etc., and the sending unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitting circuit, etc. Optionally, the receiving unit and the sending unit may be integrated into one unit, or may be multiple units independent of each other. The receiving unit and the transmitting unit can be in one geographical position or can be dispersed in a plurality of geographical positions.

In one embodiment, the transceiver 601 is configured to perform the operations performed by the receiving unit 301 and the transmitting unit 302 in the above embodiments. The terminal device 600 may also be configured to execute various methods executed by the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment in fig. 2, which are not described again.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, can implement the flow related to the terminal device in the communication method provided by the foregoing method embodiment.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, can implement a flow related to a network device in a communication method provided in the foregoing method embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which when run on a computer or a processor, causes the computer or the processor to perform one or more steps of any of the above-described communication methods. The respective constituent modules of the above-mentioned apparatuses may be stored in the computer-readable storage medium if they are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line, and the at least one processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions to perform some or all of the steps of any one of the method embodiments described in the foregoing fig. 2. The chip system may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

The embodiment of the present application further discloses a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device, and the communication method shown in fig. 2 may be referred to for specific description.

It will be appreciated that the memory referred to in the embodiments of the application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory may be a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), a solid-state drive (SSD), a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such. The memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be circuitry or any other device capable of performing a storage function for storing program instructions and/or data.

It should also be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and may also be other general purpose processors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, the memory (memory module) is integrated in the processor.

It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments provided herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

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

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

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

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a U disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The steps in the method of the embodiment of the application can be sequentially adjusted, combined and deleted according to actual needs.

The modules/units in the device of the embodiment of the application can be combined, divided and deleted according to actual needs.

The above embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving first indication information from network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for determining a first time window and/or a second time window, the first time window is a time period of joint channel estimation of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and the second time window is a time period of joint channel estimation of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH);

transmitting a plurality of first uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUCCHs of the first time window and/or transmitting a plurality of second uplink reference signals to the network device on a plurality of PUSCHs of the second time window, the first uplink reference signals being used for the PUCCH joint channel estimation and the second uplink reference signals being used for the PUSCH joint channel estimation.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first indication information comprises a number of retransmissions of the PUCCH and/or a number of retransmissions of the PUSCH, wherein the first time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUCCH, and wherein the second time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUSCH.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first time window comprises a first start time unit and a first duration, and wherein the first time window is determined by a number of retransmissions of the PUCCH, comprising:

the method further comprises the following steps:

receiving a first parameter from the network device, where the first duration is a minimum duration of a second duration and a third duration, the second duration is a maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of a terminal device, and the third duration is a duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUCCH by the first parameter.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the second time window comprises a second starting time element and a fourth time length, and wherein the second time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUSCH, comprising:

the second starting time is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUSCH;

the method further comprises the following steps:

receiving a second parameter from the network device, wherein the fourth time length is the minimum time length of the second time length and a fifth time length, the second time length is the maximum time length of maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal device, and the fifth time length is the time length obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUSCH by the second parameter.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication information comprises a first start time unit and a first offset; or alternatively

6. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the parameters of the first uplink reference signals are the same, and the parameters of the second uplink reference signals are the same, and the parameters include at least one of:

transmit power, frequency domain resources, modulation and coding strategy, transmit precoding matrix indication, transmit data Tx spatial parameters, and timing advance.

7. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the first indication information is configured by downlink control information, DCI, or by radio resource control, RRC, or by a medium access control, MAC, control element, MAC-CE.

8. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the first time window comprises at least two consecutive time units and the second time window comprises at least two consecutive time units.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-5, characterized in that the first and second uplink reference signals are demodulation reference signals, DMRS.

10. A method of communication, comprising:

sending first indication information to terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for determining a first time window and/or a second time window, the first time window is a time period of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) joint channel estimation, and the second time window is a time period of Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) joint channel estimation;

receiving a plurality of first uplink reference signals from the terminal device on a plurality of PUCCHs of the first time window and/or a plurality of second uplink reference signals from the terminal device on a plurality of PUSCHs of the second time window;

and performing joint channel estimation on the PUCCH according to the plurality of first uplink reference signals and/or performing joint channel estimation on the PUSCH according to the plurality of second uplink reference signals.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the first indication information comprises a number of retransmissions of the PUCCH and/or a number of retransmissions of the PUSCH, wherein the first time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUCCH, and wherein the second time window is determined by the number of retransmissions of the PUSCH.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first time window comprises a first start time unit and a first duration, and wherein the first time window is determined by a number of retransmissions of the PUCCH, comprising:

the method further comprises the following steps:

and sending a first parameter to the terminal equipment, wherein the first duration is the minimum duration in a second duration and a third duration, the second duration is the maximum duration for maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal equipment, and the third duration is the duration obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUCCH by the first parameter.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the second time window comprises a second starting time element and a fourth time length, and wherein the second time window is determined by a number of retransmissions of the PUSCH, comprising:

the second starting time is a time unit of the first transmission of the PUSCH;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and sending a second parameter to the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth time length is the minimum time length of the second time length and a fifth time length, the second time length is the maximum time length of maintaining power consistency and phase continuity of the terminal equipment, and the fifth time length is the time length obtained by multiplying the retransmission times of the PUSCH by the second parameter.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the first indication information comprises a first start time unit and a first offset; or

15. The method according to any of claims 10-14, wherein the first indication information is configured by downlink control information, DCI, or by radio resource control, RRC, or by a medium access control element, MAC-CE.

16. The method according to any of claims 10-14, wherein the first time window comprises at least two consecutive time units and the second time window comprises at least two consecutive time units.

17. The method of any one of claims 10-14, wherein the first uplink reference signal and the second uplink reference signal are demodulation reference signals (DMRS).

18. A communications apparatus, comprising:

19. A communications apparatus, comprising:

20. A communication apparatus comprising a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from a communication apparatus other than the communication apparatus, and an output interface for outputting information to the communication apparatus other than the communication apparatus, a stored computer program stored in the memory being caused to be invoked by the processor to cause

The method of any one of claims 1-9 is implemented; or

The method of any of claims 10-17 is implemented.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or computer instructions are stored which, when executed by a processor, cause a computer to perform

The method of any one of claims 1-9 is implemented; or

The method of any of claims 10-17 is implemented.

22. A computer program product comprising executable instructions, characterized in that the computer program product comprises a computer program or computer instructions, which when executed by a processor, causes

The method of any one of claims 1-9 is implemented; or

The method of any of claims 10-17 is implemented.

23. A chip system comprising at least one processor, memory, and interface circuitry, the memory, the interface circuitry, and the at least one processor interconnected by lines, the at least one memory having instructions stored therein; the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause

The method of any one of claims 1-9 is implemented; or

The method of any of claims 10-17 is implemented.