CN116195325A

CN116195325A - Communication method, device and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN116195325A
Application number: CN202180002852.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 朱亚军; 洪伟; 吴佳霖; 李勇
Original assignee: Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications; Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications; Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-09-29
Filing date: 2021-09-29
Publication date: 2023-05-30
Also published as: WO2023050213A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the disclosure discloses a communication method, a device and a storage medium, wherein the method is executed by network side equipment, and comprises the following steps: transmitting a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to a terminal, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating Downlink Control Information (DCI) to comprise first indication parameters; and transmitting DCI to the terminal, wherein the DCI comprises a first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources. By the method, finer beam training can be performed when the network side equipment really needs to transmit data, so that the cost of the network side equipment for maintaining finer beams is reduced, and the problem of high beam training cost in a higher frequency band is solved.

Description

Communication method, device and storage medium

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, a device and a storage medium.

Background

With the explosive growth of wireless data traffic, the problem of spectrum resource shortage is urgent to be solved. Currently, low-band spectrum resources are gradually congested, and in order to further expand spectrum resources, the third generation partnership project (third generation partnership project,3 GPP) starts from Release17 to a higher spectrum expansion, which means a higher path loss, and more elaborate beamforming needs to be used to cope with this.

However, since the beam used at high frequency is finer, slight movement of the terminal or change of environment may cause retraining of the beam direction, and the existing beam training framework will bring about great overhead for beam training and maintenance to the network side equipment.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a communication method, a device and a storage medium, wherein a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message is sent to a terminal, the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating Downlink Control Information (DCI) to comprise first indication parameters; and transmitting DCI to the terminal, wherein the DCI comprises a first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources. The method can solve the problem that maintaining the beam direction along the existing beam training frame brings great training overhead to the network side equipment.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication method, which is performed by a network side device, the method including: transmitting a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to a terminal, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating Downlink Control Information (DCI) to comprise a first indication parameter; and sending DCI to the terminal, wherein the DCI comprises the first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

In the technical scheme, by implementing the embodiment of the disclosure, a network side device sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to a terminal, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating Downlink Control Information (DCI) to comprise a first indication parameter; and transmitting DCI to the terminal, wherein the DCI comprises a first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources. By the method, finer beam training can be performed when the network side equipment really needs to transmit data, so that the cost of the network side equipment for maintaining finer beams is reduced, and the problem of high beam training cost in a higher frequency band is solved.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide another communication method, which is performed by a terminal, the method including: receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message of network side equipment, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating DCI to comprise a first indication parameter; receiving DCI of network side equipment, wherein the DCI comprises the first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides another communication apparatus, where the communication apparatus has a function of implementing part or all of the network side device in the method example described in the first aspect, for example, a function of the communication apparatus may be provided with a function in part or all of the embodiments of the present disclosure, or may be provided with a function of implementing any one of the embodiments of the present disclosure separately. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In one implementation, the communication device may include a transceiver module and a processing module in a structure configured to support the communication device to perform the corresponding functions of the method. The transceiver module is used for supporting communication between the communication device and other equipment. The communication device may further comprise a memory module for coupling with the transceiver module and the processing module, which holds the necessary computer programs and data of the communication device.

In one implementation, the communication device includes: a transceiver module, configured to send a radio resource control RRC message to a terminal, where the RRC message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that downlink control information DCI includes a first indication parameter; and sending DCI to the terminal, wherein the DCI comprises the first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device, where the communication device has a function of implementing part or all of the functions of the terminal in the method described in the second aspect, for example, the function of the communication device may be provided with a function in part or all of the embodiments of the present disclosure, or may be provided with a function of implementing any one of the embodiments of the present disclosure separately. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In one implementation, the communication device may include a transceiver module and a processing module in a structure configured to support the communication device to perform the corresponding functions in the method. The transceiver module is used for supporting communication between the communication device and other equipment. The communication device may further comprise a memory module for coupling with the transceiver module and the processing module, which holds the necessary computer programs and data of the communication device.

As an example, the processing module may be a processor, the transceiver module may be a transceiver or a communication interface, and the storage module may be a memory.

In one implementation, the communication device includes: a transceiver module, configured to receive a radio resource control RRC message of a network side device, where the RRC message includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that DCI includes a first indication parameter; receiving DCI of network side equipment, wherein the DCI comprises the first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication device comprising a processor, which when invoking a computer program in memory, performs the method of the first aspect described above.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication device comprising a processor that, when invoking a computer program in memory, performs the method of the second aspect described above.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having a computer program stored therein; the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of the first aspect described above.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having a computer program stored therein; the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of the second aspect described above.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communications apparatus comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving code instructions and transmitting to the processor, the processor being configured to execute the code instructions to cause the apparatus to perform the method of the first aspect described above.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communications device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving code instructions and transmitting to the processor, the processor being configured to execute the code instructions to cause the device to perform the method of the second aspect described above.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the disclosure provides a communication system, where the system includes a communication device according to the third aspect and a communication device according to the fourth aspect, or where the system includes a communication device according to the fifth aspect and a communication device according to the sixth aspect, or where the system includes a communication device according to the seventh aspect and a communication device according to the eighth aspect, or where the system includes a communication device according to the ninth aspect and a communication device according to the tenth aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer readable storage medium storing instructions for use by the terminal, where the instructions, when executed, cause the terminal to perform the method of the first aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a readable storage medium, configured to store instructions for use by the network-side device, where the instructions, when executed, cause the network-side device to perform the method described in the second aspect.

In a fourteenth aspect, the present disclosure also provides a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the first aspect described above.

In a fifteenth aspect, the present disclosure also provides a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the second aspect described above.

In a sixteenth aspect, the present disclosure provides a chip system comprising at least one processor and an interface for supporting a terminal to implement the functionality referred to in the first aspect, e.g. to determine or process at least one of data and information referred to in the above-mentioned methods. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for holding computer programs and data necessary for the terminal. The chip system can be composed of chips, and can also comprise chips and other discrete devices.

In a seventeenth aspect, the present disclosure provides a chip system comprising at least one processor and an interface for supporting a network-side device to implement the functionality involved in the second aspect, e.g. to determine or process at least one of data and information involved in the above-described method. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing computer programs and data necessary for the network-side device. The chip system can be composed of chips, and can also comprise chips and other discrete devices.

In an eighteenth aspect, the present disclosure provides a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the first aspect described above.

In a nineteenth aspect, the present disclosure provides a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the second aspect described above.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments or the background of the present disclosure, the following description will explain the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments or the background of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 is an architecture diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of yet another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 13 is a block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 14 is a block diagram of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

For ease of understanding, the terms referred to in this disclosure are first introduced.

1. Downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI)

The DCI is carried by a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH), which may include uplink and downlink resource allocation, hybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ) information, power control, and the like. The PDCCH is a physical channel for carrying downlink scheduling information.

2. Identification of the beam, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the identification of the beam may be expressed in terms of a resource number of the CSI-RS. Refers to informing the UE what reception beam should be used for reception by indicating the resource number of the CSI-RS that was previously used/measured.

In order to better understand a communication method, a device and a storage medium disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication system to which the embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable is first described below.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system 10 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The communication system 10 may include, but is not limited to, a network-side device and a terminal, and the number and form of the devices shown in fig. 1 are only for example and not meant to limit the embodiments of the present disclosure, and in practical applications, two or more network-side devices and two or more terminals may be included. The communication system 10 shown in fig. 1 is exemplified as including a network-side device 101 and a terminal 102.

It should be noted that the technical solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. For example: a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, a fifth generation (5th generation,5G) mobile communication system, a 5G New Radio (NR) system, or other future new mobile communication systems, etc.

The network side device 101 in the embodiment of the present disclosure is an entity for transmitting or receiving a signal at the network side. For example, the network-side device 101 may be an evolved NodeB (eNB), a transmission point (transmission reception point, TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in an NR system, a base station in other future mobile communication systems, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wiFi) system, or the like. The embodiment of the disclosure does not limit the specific technology and the specific equipment form adopted by the network side equipment. The network side device provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be composed of a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU), where the CU may also be referred to as a control unit (control unit), and the structure of the CU-DU may be used to split a protocol layer of the network side device, for example, a base station, where functions of a part of the protocol layer are placed in the CU for centralized control, and functions of the rest part or all of the protocol layer are distributed in the DU, where the CU centrally controls the DU.

The terminal 102 in the embodiments of the present disclosure is an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals, such as a mobile phone. A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal (terminal), a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), etc. The terminal may be a car with communication function, a smart car, a mobile phone, a wearable device, a tablet (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self-driving), a wireless terminal in teleoperation (remote medical surgery), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), etc. The embodiment of the disclosure does not limit the specific technology and the specific equipment form adopted by the terminal.

It may be understood that, the communication system described in the embodiments of the present disclosure is for more clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and is not limited to the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of the system architecture and the appearance of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

The communication method, apparatus and storage medium provided by the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the related art, the beam training mechanism is a two-stage training method, which is respectively a wide beam training of a synchronization signal block (synchronization signal block, SSB) and a narrow beam training performed through a channel state information reference signal (channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS) after access.

When the terminal accesses the network side device, the receiving SSB measures the synchronization signal-reference signal received power (synchronization signalreference signal received power, or synchronization signal based referencesignal received power, SS-RSRP) corresponding to each SSB, and selects an appropriate beam according to the measurement result. In the random access process, the terminal can send a preamble sequence at a random access occasion associated with an SSB index (index) corresponding to the selected beam direction, and implicitly indicates the proper sending beam direction of the network side equipment.

After the terminal accesses the network, the network side equipment configures reference signals for beam training, and different reference signals correspond to different transmitting beams. The terminal selects proper beam direction by receiving the reference signal and measuring the beam quality, and reports the selection result according to the reporting setting, and the network side equipment and the terminal can perform narrower beam training through the mechanism.

However, since higher frequency bands require more elaborate beams for transmission, slight movements of the terminal or environmental changes may result in re-training of the beam direction. Maintaining beam direction along an existing beam training framework would introduce significant training overhead to network side devices.

Based on this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, apparatus, and storage medium, so as to at least solve the technical problems existing in the related art, reduce the overhead of the network measurement device for maintaining finer beams, and solve the problem of high beam training overhead in a higher frequency band.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 2, the method is performed by the network side device, and the method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

S21: transmitting a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to a terminal, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating Downlink Control Information (DCI) to comprise first indication parameters; and transmitting DCI to the terminal, wherein the DCI comprises a first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

The radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) message sent by the network side device to the terminal, where the RRC message includes first indication information, and the first indication information carried by the RRC message may be newly added parameter information or redefined for original parameter information in the RRC message, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network side device may send an RRC message including the first indication information to the terminal, so as to indicate that the DCI includes the first indication parameter, and after receiving the RRC message including the first indication information, the terminal may understand the first indication parameter, and further, the terminal performs a corresponding action according to the first indication parameter, so as to start the three-level beam training mechanism.

The first indication parameter may be a new field in DCI, which is used to indicate a set of channel information reference signal CSI-RS resources. Therefore, after the network side device sends the DCI, the network side device can indicate a set of CSI-RS resources through the first indication parameter of the newly added field, and the network side device can transmit each CSI-RS by using a finer beam, for example: the network side device may adjust the steering vector applied to the transmit antenna array to control the width of the transmit beam to transmit each CSI-RS with a finer wave speed.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network side device sends DCI to the terminal, and may transmit DCI using a wider beam, for example: the network side device may adjust the steering vector applied to the transmit antenna array to control the width of the transmit beam to transmit DCI using a wider beam. The network side device may indicate a set of CSI-RS resources through the first indication parameter.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network side device does not send the RRC message including the first indication information to the terminal without opening the three-level beam training mechanism, and at this time, the DCI may include the first indication parameter or may not include the first indication parameter, and it may be understood that, in the case that the DCI includes the first indication parameter, since the terminal does not receive the RRC message including the first indication information sent by the network side device, the terminal will not understand the first indication parameter in the DCI, and the terminal will not perform a corresponding action according to the first indication parameter, thereby also not opening the three-level beam training mechanism.

Based on this, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network side device may send, as required, an RRC message including the first indication information or send an RRC message not including the first indication information, so as to start a three-level training mechanism when data transmission is actually required, send DCI including the first indication parameter to the terminal, and perform finer beam training.

By implementing the embodiment of the disclosure, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message is sent to a terminal, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating Downlink Control Information (DCI) to comprise a first indication parameter; and transmitting DCI to the terminal, wherein the DCI comprises a first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources. By the method, finer beam training can be performed when the network side equipment really needs to transmit data, so that the cost of the network side equipment for maintaining finer beams is reduced, and the problem of high beam training cost in a higher frequency band is solved.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a flowchart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 3, the method is performed by the network side device, and the method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s31: transmitting a group of channel information reference signals (CSI-RS) to a terminal; wherein, each CSI-RS corresponds to a resource number of one CSI-RS resource in the first indication parameter.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network side device sends a set of CSI-RS to the terminal, and the network side device may transmit each CSI-RS using a finer beam, for example: the network side device may adjust the steering vector applied to the transmit antenna array to control the width of the transmit beam to transmit each CSI-RS with a finer wave speed.

The terminal receives the set of CSI-RSs sent by the network side equipment and feeds back the resource number of the CSI-RS resource corresponding to one beam, so that the beam resource used by the CSI-RSs corresponding to the resource number sent by the network side equipment can be determined, and the beam can be used when the subsequent network side equipment sends information to the terminal.

It should be noted that S31 may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the other steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in combination with S21 in the embodiments of the present disclosure, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a flowchart of yet another communication method provided in an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 4, the method is performed by the network side device, and the method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s41: transmitting a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH to a terminal; and receiving the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the wave beam fed back by the terminal on the HARQ resource of the PDSCH.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, a network side device sends a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH to a terminal, and then sends a group of CSI-RS, the network side device uses finer beams to transmit each CSI-RS, each CSI-RS corresponds to a resource number of one CSI-RS resource in a first indication parameter, the terminal receives the group of CSI-RS sent by the network side device and needs to feed back information of an optimal beam, that is, feeds back the resource number of the CSI-RS resource corresponding to one beam, so that the beam can be determined to be a beam resource used when the network side device sends the CSI-RS corresponding to the resource number, and the beam can be used when the subsequent network side device sends information to the terminal.

The terminal may feed back the information of the beam on the HARQ resource of the PDSCH, that is, the HARQ resource multiplexing the PDSCH feeds back the resource number of the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the beam.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, after receiving feedback from a terminal, the network side device can be used for subsequent data transmission for the terminal according to the feedback result, so that the network side device can maintain a wider beam when no data is transmitted, and perform finer beam training when data is actually transmitted, thereby reducing the cost of maintaining the finer beam by the network side device, improving the transmission efficiency of the PDSCH, and solving the problem of high beam training cost in a higher frequency band.

It should be noted that S41 may be implemented alone or in combination with any of the other steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in combination with S21 and/or S31 in the embodiments of the present disclosure, which are not limited in this respect.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a flowchart of yet another communication method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 5, the method is performed by the network side device, and the method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

S51: the RRC message further comprises second indication information, the second indication information is used for indicating that the DCI comprises a second indication parameter, the second indication parameter is used for indicating a first uplink feedback resource of the resource number of the CSI-RS, and the first uplink feedback resource is used for receiving the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the wave beam fed back by the terminal.

The radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) message sent by the network side device to the terminal, where the RRC message includes first indication information and second indication information, the first indication information carried by the RRC message may be newly added parameter information, or redefined for original parameter information in the RRC message, and the second indication information carried by the RRC message may be newly added parameter information, or redefined for original parameter information in the RRC message, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network side device may send an RRC message including the first indication information and the second indication information to the terminal, instruct that the DCI includes the first indication parameter and the second indication parameter, and after the terminal receives the RRC message including the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal may understand the first indication parameter and the second indication parameter, and further, the terminal performs a corresponding action according to the first indication parameter and the second indication parameter, so as to start and perform the three-level beam training mechanism.

The second indication parameter may be a new field in DCI, which is used to indicate a first uplink feedback resource used by the terminal to feedback a resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam, so that after receiving the DCI including the second indication parameter, the terminal can feedback the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam on the first uplink feedback resource.

It may be understood that after receiving the RRC message including the first indication information and the second indication information and receiving the DCI including the first indication parameter and the second indication parameter, the terminal may determine, after receiving a set of CSI-RSs sent by the network side device, a resource number of a CSI-RS resource corresponding to one beam, and then feed back, on a first uplink feedback resource indicated by the second indication parameter, the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, after the network side device sends DCI, a set of CSI-RS resources can be indicated by the first indication parameter, the network side device can transmit each CSI-RS by using a finer beam, and the network side device can receive the resource number of the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the beam fed back by the terminal on the first uplink feedback resource indicated by the second indication parameter, and further, the resource number is used for current data transmission for the terminal according to the feedback result, so that the network side device can maintain a wider beam when no data is transmitted, and perform finer beam training when data is actually transmitted, thereby reducing the cost of maintaining the finer beam by the network side device and solving the problem of high beam training cost in a higher frequency band.

It should be noted that S51 may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the other steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in combination with S21 and/or S31 in the embodiments of the present disclosure, which are not limited in this respect.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a flowchart of yet another communication method provided in an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 6, the method is performed by the network side device, and the method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s61: and transmitting the PDSCH to the terminal on a beam fed back by the terminal, wherein the resource number of the CSI-RS is received.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, a terminal receives a group of CSI-RS sent by a network side device, measures each CSI-RS, determines a beam, that is, determines a resource number of one CSI-RS corresponding to the beam, and feeds back the resource number to the network side device. Therefore, under the condition that the network side equipment receives the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam fed back by the terminal, the PDSCH is sent to the terminal on the beam, so that the network side equipment can adopt the beam fed back by the terminal to transmit the PDSCH, the purpose of transmitting the PDSCH through finer beams can be achieved, the cost of maintaining finer beam pairs for PDSCH transmission by the network side equipment is reduced, and the transmission efficiency of the PDSCH is improved.

It should be noted that S61 may be implemented alone or in combination with any of the other steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in combination with S21 and/or S31 and/or S51 in the embodiments of the present disclosure, which are not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, in the case that the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam fed back by the terminal is not received, the PDSCH is sent to the terminal on a first beam, which is different from the beam fed back by the terminal.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, under the condition that the network side device does not receive the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam fed back by the terminal, the conventional beam indication method is continuously used, the first beam is indicated for the terminal to cope with the situation that the transmission of the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the feedback beam fails, and the PDSCH is sent to the terminal on the indicated first beam with the failed transmission.

In some embodiments, an indication field is included in the DCI, the indication field being used to indicate a first beam to transmit the PDSCH.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, an indication field is included in DCI to indicate a first beam for transmitting PDSCH, so that a network side device may transmit PDSCH to a terminal on the first beam.

In some embodiments, the CSI-RS resources use time division multiplexing TDM, or frequency division multiplexing FDM.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the CSI-RS resources may use continuous time division multiplexing (time division multiplexing, TDM) or discontinuous TDM, or the CSI-RS resources may use frequency division multiplexing (frequency division multiplexing, FDM).

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a flowchart of yet another communication method provided in an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 7, the method is performed by a terminal, and may include, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s71: receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message of network side equipment, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information which is used for indicating DCI to comprise a first indication parameter; receiving DCI of network side equipment, wherein the DCI comprises a first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.

By implementing the embodiment of the disclosure, a terminal receives a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message of network side equipment, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating DCI to comprise a first indication parameter; receiving DCI of network side equipment, wherein the DCI comprises a first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource. By the method, finer beam training can be performed when the network side equipment really needs to transmit data, so that the cost of the network side equipment for maintaining finer beams is reduced, and the problem of high beam training cost in a higher frequency band is solved.

Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a flowchart of yet another communication method provided in an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 8, the method is performed by a terminal, and may include, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s81: receiving a group of CSI-RSs of network side equipment; wherein each CSI-RS corresponds to a resource number of one CSI-RS resource in the first indication parameter.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the network side device sends a set of CSI-RS to the terminal, and the network side device may transmit each CSI-RS by using a finer beam, for example: the network side device may adjust the steering vector applied to the transmit antenna array to control the width of the transmit beam to transmit each CSI-RS with a finer wave speed.

It should be noted that S81 may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the other steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in combination with S71 in the embodiments of the present disclosure, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a flowchart of yet another communication method provided in an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 9, the method is performed by a terminal, and may include, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s91: and measuring the CSI-RS, detecting the reference signal received power RSRP, and determining the resource number of the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the wave beam.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, a terminal receives DCI transmitted by a network side device, decodes the DCI, measures a set of CSI-RS transmitted by the network side device, measures each CSI-RS, detects reference signal received power (reference signal received power, RSRP), and determines information of one beam, namely a resource number of a CSI-RS resource corresponding to the beam.

It should be noted that S91 may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the other steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in combination with S71 and/or S81 in the embodiments of the present disclosure, which is not limited in this disclosure.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a flowchart of yet another communication method provided in an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 10, the method is performed by a terminal, and may include, but is not limited to, the steps of:

S101: receiving PDSCH of network side equipment; and transmitting the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam on the HARQ resource of the PDSCH.

It should be noted that S101 may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the other steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in combination with S71 and/or S81 and/or S91 in the embodiments of the present disclosure, which are not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a flowchart of yet another communication method provided in an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 11, the method is performed by a terminal, and may include, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s111: the RRC message further comprises second indication information, the second indication information is used for indicating that the DCI comprises a second indication parameter, the second indication parameter is used for indicating a first uplink feedback resource of the resource number of the CSI-RS, and the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam fed back by the terminal on the first uplink feedback resource.

It should be noted that S111 may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the other steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in combination with S71 and/or S81 and/or S91 in the embodiments of the present disclosure, which is not limited in this respect.

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a flowchart of yet another communication method provided in an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 12, the method is performed by a terminal, and may include, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s121: PDSCH of the network side device is received on the beam.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, a terminal receives a group of CSI-RS sent by a network side device, measures each CSI-RS, determines a beam, that is, determines a resource number of one CSI-RS corresponding to the beam, and feeds back the resource number to the network side device. Therefore, under the condition that the network side equipment receives the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam fed back by the terminal, the PDSCH is sent to the terminal on the beam, and the terminal can receive the PDSCH of the network side equipment on the beam, so that the network side equipment can adopt the beam fed back by the terminal to transmit the PDSCH, the purpose of transmitting the PDSCH through finer beams can be achieved, the cost of maintaining finer beam pairs for PDSCH transmission by the network side equipment is reduced, and the transmission efficiency of the PDSCH is improved.

It should be noted that S121 may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the other steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, in combination with S71 and/or S81 and/or S91 and/or S111 in the embodiments of the present disclosure, which is not limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, in a case that the network side device does not receive the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam fed back by the terminal, the PDSCH is sent to the terminal on the first beam, and the terminal receives the PDSCH of the network side device on the first beam, where the first beam is different from the beam fed back by the terminal.

In the embodiments provided in the present disclosure, the method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure is described from the perspective of the network side device and the terminal, respectively. In order to implement the functions in the method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the network side device and the terminal may include a hardware structure, a software module, and implement the functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Some of the functions described above may be implemented in a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The communication device 1 shown in fig. 13 may include a transceiver module 111. The transceiver module 11 may include a transmitting module for implementing a transmitting function and/or a receiving module for implementing a receiving function, and the transceiver module 11 may implement the transmitting function and/or the receiving function.

The communication device 1 may be a terminal, a device in a terminal, or a device that can be used in cooperation with a terminal. Alternatively, the communication device 1 may be a network-side device, a device in the network-side device, or a device that can be used in cooperation with the network-side device.

The communication apparatus 1 is a network-side device:

the device comprises: the receiving and transmitting module is used for sending configuration information to the terminal; the configuration information is used for indicating Downlink Control Information (DCI) to include a first indication parameter, wherein the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

The communication apparatus 1 is a terminal:

the device comprises: the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving configuration information of the network side equipment; the configuration information is used for indicating Downlink Control Information (DCI) to include a first indication parameter, wherein the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

With respect to the communication apparatus 1 in the above-described embodiment, the specific manner in which the respective modules perform operations has been described in detail in the embodiment concerning the method, and will not be explained in detail here. The communication device 1 provided in the above embodiments of the present disclosure achieves the same or similar advantages as the communication method provided in some of the above embodiments, and will not be described herein.

Referring to fig. 14, fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 1000 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The communication device 1000 may be a network-side apparatus, a terminal, a chip system, a processor, or the like that supports the network-side apparatus to implement the above method, or a chip, a chip system, a processor, or the like that supports the terminal to implement the above method. The communication device 1000 may be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiments, and reference may be made in particular to the description of the above method embodiments.

The communication device 1000 may be a network-side apparatus, a terminal, a chip system, a processor, or the like that supports the network-side apparatus to implement the above method, or a chip, a chip system, a processor, or the like that supports the terminal to implement the above method. The device can be used for realizing the method described in the method embodiment, and can be particularly referred to the description in the method embodiment.

The communications device 1000 may include one or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be a general purpose processor or a special purpose processor, or the like. For example, a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor may be used to control communication devices (e.g., base stations, baseband chips, terminal equipment chips, DUs or CUs, etc.), execute computer programs, and process data of the computer programs.

Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include one or more memories 1002, on which a computer program 1004 may be stored, where the memory 1002 executes the computer program 1004, so that the communication device 1000 performs the method described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 1002 may also store data. The communication device 1000 and the memory 1002 may be provided separately or may be integrated.

Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further comprise a transceiver 1005, an antenna 1006. The transceiver 1005 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver circuit, or the like, for implementing a transceiver function. The transceiver 1005 may include a receiver, which may be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, etc., for implementing a receiving function, and a transmitter; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc., for implementing a transmitting function.

Optionally, one or more interface circuits 1007 may also be included in the communications apparatus 1000. The interface circuit 1007 is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor 1001. The processor 1001 executes the code instructions to cause the communication device 1000 to perform the method described in the method embodiments described above.

The communication apparatus 1000 is a network-side device: the transceiver 1005 is configured to perform S21 in fig. 2; s31 in fig. 3; s41 in fig. 4; s51 in fig. 5; s61 in fig. 6.

The communication apparatus 1000 is a terminal: the transceiver 1005 is configured to perform S71 in fig. 7; s81 in fig. 8; s91 in fig. 9; s101 in fig. 10; s111 in fig. 11; s121 in fig. 12.

In one implementation, a transceiver for implementing the receive and transmit functions may be included in the processor 1001. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuitry, interface or interface circuitry for implementing the receive and transmit functions may be separate or may be integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing codes/data, or the transceiver circuit, interface or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or transferring signals.

In one implementation, the processor 1001 may store a computer program 1003, where the computer program 1003 runs on the processor 1001, and may cause the communication device 1000 to execute the method described in the above method embodiment. The computer program 1003 may be solidified in the processor 1001, in which case the processor 1001 may be implemented by hardware.

In one implementation, the communications apparatus 1000 can include circuitry that can implement the functions of transmitting or receiving or communicating in the foregoing method embodiments. The processors and transceivers described in this disclosure may be implemented on integrated circuits (integrated circuit, ICs), analog ICs, radio frequency integrated circuits RFICs, mixed signal ICs, application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), printed circuit boards (printed circuit board, PCB), electronic devices, and the like. The processor and transceiver may also be fabricated using a variety of IC process technologies such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (complementary metal oxide semiconductor, CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (bipolar junction transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

The communication device described in the above embodiment may be a terminal, but the scope of the communication device described in the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited by fig. 14. The communication means may be a stand-alone device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be:

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

(2) A set of one or more ICs, optionally including storage means for storing data, a computer program;

(3) An ASIC, such as a Modem (Modem);

(4) Modules that may be embedded within other devices;

(5) A receiver, a terminal device, an intelligent terminal device, a cellular phone, a wireless device, a handset, a mobile unit, a vehicle-mounted device, a network device, a cloud device, an artificial intelligent device, and the like;

(6) Others, and so on.

In the case where the communication device may be a chip or a chip system, please refer to fig. 15, which is a block diagram of a chip provided in an embodiment of the disclosure.

Chip 1100 includes processor 1101 and interface 1103. Wherein the number of processors 1101 may be one or more, and the number of interfaces 1103 may be a plurality.

For the case where the chip is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the embodiments of the present disclosure:

an interface 1103 for receiving the code instruction and transmitting the code instruction to the processor.

A processor 1101 for executing code instructions to perform the communication method as described in some embodiments above.

For the case where the chip is used to implement the functions of the network side device in the embodiments of the present disclosure:

Optionally, the chip 1100 further comprises a memory 1102, the memory 1102 being used for storing the necessary computer programs and data.

Those of skill in the art will further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks (illustrative logical block) and steps (step) described in connection with the embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design requirements of the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation is not to be understood as beyond the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

The embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a communication system, which includes the communication apparatus as a terminal and the communication apparatus as a network-side device in the embodiment of fig. 13, or includes the communication apparatus as a terminal and the communication apparatus as a network-side device in the embodiment of fig. 14.

The present disclosure also provides a readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, perform the functions of any of the method embodiments described above.

The present disclosure also provides a computer program product which, when executed by a computer, performs the functions of any of the method embodiments described above.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product comprises one or more computer programs. When the computer program is loaded and executed on a computer, the flow or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure are produced in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer program may be stored in or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means from one website, computer, server, or data center. The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains an integration of one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a high-density digital video disc (digital video disc, DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), or the like.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that: the various numbers of first, second, etc. referred to in this disclosure are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of this disclosure, nor to indicate sequencing.

At least one of the present disclosure may also be described as one or more, a plurality may be two, three, four or more, and the present disclosure is not limited. In the embodiment of the disclosure, for a technical feature, the technical features in the technical feature are distinguished by "first", "second", "third", "a", "B", "C", and "D", and the technical features described by "first", "second", "third", "a", "B", "C", and "D" are not in sequence or in order of magnitude.

The correspondence relationships shown in the tables in the present disclosure may be configured or predefined. The values of the information in each table are merely examples, and may be configured as other values, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In the case of the correspondence between the configuration information and each parameter, it is not necessarily required to configure all the correspondence shown in each table. For example, in the table in the present disclosure, the correspondence shown by some rows may not be configured. For another example, appropriate morphing adjustments, e.g., splitting, merging, etc., may be made based on the tables described above. The names of the parameters indicated in the tables may be other names which are understood by the communication device, and the values or expressions of the parameters may be other values or expressions which are understood by the communication device. When the tables are implemented, other data structures may be used, for example, an array, a queue, a container, a stack, a linear table, a pointer, a linked list, a tree, a graph, a structure, a class, a heap, a hash table, or a hash table.

Predefined in this disclosure may be understood as defining, predefining, storing, pre-negotiating, pre-configuring, curing, or pre-sintering.

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

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

The foregoing is merely specific embodiments of the disclosure, but the protection scope of the disclosure is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the disclosure, and it is intended to cover the scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A communication method, wherein the method is performed by a network-side device, the method comprising:

transmitting a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to a terminal, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating Downlink Control Information (DCI) to comprise a first indication parameter;

and sending DCI to the terminal, wherein the DCI comprises the first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.
The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method further comprises:

transmitting a group of channel information reference signals (CSI-RS) to the terminal; wherein each CSI-RS corresponds to a resource number of one CSI-RS resource in the first indication parameter.
The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

transmitting a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH to the terminal;

and receiving the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the wave beam fed back by the terminal on the HARQ resource of the PDSCH.
The method of claim 3, wherein the RRC message further includes second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the DCI includes a second indication parameter, the second indication parameter is used to indicate a first uplink feedback resource of a resource number of the CSI-RS, and the first uplink feedback resource is used to receive the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to a beam fed back by the terminal.
The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

and transmitting the PDSCH to the terminal on a beam fed back by the terminal, wherein the resource number of the CSI-RS is received.
The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

and transmitting the PDSCH to the terminal on a first wave beam, wherein the resource number of the CSI-RS is not received, and the first wave beam is different from the wave beam fed back by the terminal.
A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the PDSCH is transmitted on a first beam to the terminal.
The method according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the CSI-RS resources use time division multiplexing, TDM, or frequency division multiplexing, FDM.
A method of communication, the method being performed by a terminal, the method comprising:

receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message of network side equipment, wherein the RRC message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating DCI to comprise a first indication parameter;

receiving DCI of network side equipment, wherein the DCI comprises the first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a group of CSI-RSs of network side equipment; wherein each CSI-RS corresponds to a resource number of one of the CSI-RS resources in the first indication parameter.
The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

and measuring the CSI-RS, detecting Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), and determining the resource number of the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the wave beam.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving PDSCH of network side equipment;

and transmitting the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the wave beam on the HARQ resource of the PDSCH.
The method of claim 11, wherein the RRC message further includes second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the DCI includes a second indication parameter, the second indication parameter is used to indicate a first uplink feedback resource of the resource number of the CSI-RS, and the terminal feeds back the resource number of the CSI-RS corresponding to the beam on the first uplink feedback resource.
The method according to claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

The PDSCH of the network side device is received on the beam.
The method according to any of claims 9 to 14, wherein the CSI-RS resources use time division multiplexing, TDM, or frequency division multiplexing, FDM.
A communication device, comprising:

a transceiver module, configured to send a radio resource control RRC message to a terminal, where the RRC message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that downlink control information DCI includes a first indication parameter; and sending DCI to the terminal, wherein the DCI comprises the first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a group of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.
A communication device, comprising:

a transceiver module, configured to receive a radio resource control RRC message of a network side device, where the RRC message includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that DCI includes a first indication parameter; receiving DCI of network side equipment, wherein the DCI comprises the first indication parameter, and the first indication parameter is used for indicating a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.
A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises a processor and a memory, the memory having stored therein a computer program, the processor executing the computer program stored in the memory to cause the device to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 8.
A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises a processor and a memory, the memory having stored therein a computer program, the processor executing the computer program stored in the memory to cause the device to perform the method according to any of claims 9 to 15.
A communication device, comprising: a processor and interface circuit;

the interface circuit is used for receiving code instructions and transmitting the code instructions to the processor;

the processor for executing the code instructions to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8.
A communication device, comprising: a processor and interface circuit;

the interface circuit is used for receiving code instructions and transmitting the code instructions to the processor;

the processor for executing the code instructions to perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 15.
A computer readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 to be implemented.
A computer readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a method as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 15 to be implemented.