CN117479203A

CN117479203A - Method, device, equipment and storage medium for measuring inter-equipment flight time

Info

Publication number: CN117479203A
Application number: CN202210976965.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李俊
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-07-20
Filing date: 2022-08-15
Publication date: 2024-01-30

Abstract

A method, apparatus, device and storage medium for measuring inter-device flight time. The method comprises the following steps: the first equipment acquires a first receiving frequency and a second receiving frequency, wherein the first receiving frequency is the receiving frequency of the second equipment for receiving a first reference signal, the second receiving frequency is the receiving frequency of the second reference signal received by the target equipment, the first reference signal is the reference signal sent by the target equipment to the second equipment, the second reference signal is the reference signal sent by the second equipment to the target equipment, the clock coefficient between the target equipment and the second equipment is determined according to the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency, and further, the TOF between the target equipment and the second equipment is determined according to the clock coefficient and based on the time interval measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal. Time conversion among clocks of different devices is carried out through clock coefficients, influence of clock errors among the devices on TOF is reduced, and accuracy of TOF measurement is improved.

Description

Method, device, equipment and storage medium for measuring inter-equipment flight time

The present application claims priority from the chinese patent application filed 20/07/2022, filed 202210858917.X, entitled "a positioning method", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, a device, and a storage medium for measuring flight time between devices.

Background

In some communication systems, such as the fifth generation mobile communication system (5th generation wireless system,5G), it is often necessary to measure the round-trip time (RTT) between devices to determine the time-of-flight (TOF), and the resulting TOF may be used to determine the distance between the devices, or to further locate the devices based on the distance between the devices. In order to achieve accurate ranging or device positioning, it is particularly important whether TOF can be accurately measured. Therefore, how to accurately measure TOF between devices is a current challenge.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method, a device, equipment and a storage medium for measuring inter-equipment flight time, so as to realize accurate measurement of inter-equipment TOF.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for measuring TOF between devices, including: the method comprises the steps that a first device obtains a first receiving frequency and a second receiving frequency, wherein the first receiving frequency is the receiving frequency of a first reference signal measured by a second device, the second receiving frequency is the receiving frequency of a second reference signal measured by a target device, the target device is the first device or a third device, the first reference signal is a reference signal sent by the target device to the second device, and the second reference signal is a reference signal sent by the second device to the target device; the first device determining a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device according to the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency, the clock coefficient being used for time conversion between the clock of the target device and the clock of the second device; the first device determines a TOF between the target device and the second device based on the clock coefficient and based on time intervals measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

According to the method for measuring the inter-equipment TOF, provided by the first aspect, based on the receiving frequency of the first reference signal measured by the second equipment and the receiving frequency of the second reference signal measured by the target equipment, the clock coefficient is determined, so that the time under the clocks of different equipment is converted through the clock coefficient, the inter-equipment TOF is further determined based on the converted time, the influence of clock errors existing among the equipment on the TOF is reduced, and the accuracy of TOF measurement is improved.

In one possible implementation, the first device obtains a first receiving frequency, including: the first device receives first measurement information sent by the second device, the first measurement information including the first reception frequency.

According to the method for measuring the inter-device TOF, which is provided by the embodiment, the first receiving frequency determined by the second device is acquired, so that the first receiving frequency can reflect the clock of the second device.

In one possible implementation, the first device obtains a second receiving frequency, including: the target device is the first device, and the first device measures the second receiving frequency; or the target device is the third device, and the first device receives second measurement information sent by the third device, where the second measurement information includes the second receiving frequency.

According to the method for measuring the TOF between the devices, which is provided by the embodiment, the second receiving frequency determined by the target device can be accurately acquired in different communication scenes, so that the second receiving frequency can accurately reflect the clock of the target device.

In one possible implementation, the clock coefficient is used to convert time under the clock of the second device to time under the clock of the target device, the clock coefficient is proportional to the first receive frequency, and the clock coefficient is inversely proportional to the second receive frequency; alternatively, the clock coefficient is used to convert time under the clock of the target device to time under the clock of the second device, the clock coefficient is inversely proportional to the first receive frequency, and the clock coefficient is directly proportional to the second receive frequency.

The measuring method of the inter-device TOF provided by the embodiment enables the clock coefficient to realize time conversion between clocks of different devices.

In one possible implementation, the first device determining a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device according to the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency includes: the first device is based on the first receiving frequency f _B,rx First transmission frequency f _A,tx The second receiving frequency f _A,rx And a second transmission frequency f _B,tx Determining a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device; wherein the first transmission frequency f _A,tx For a preset transmission frequency of the first reference signal, or the first transmission frequency f _A,tx A transmission frequency of the first reference signal for the target device; the second transmission frequency f _B,tx For a preset transmission frequency of the second reference signal, or the second transmission frequency f _B,tx And transmitting the transmission frequency of the second reference signal for the second device.

According to the method for measuring the inter-device TOF, provided by the embodiment, the first sending frequency and the second sending frequency are combined, the clock coefficient between the target device and the second device is determined together with the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency, the accuracy of the clock coefficient is improved, and the more accurate TOF can be obtained based on the clock coefficient.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: the first transmission frequency f _A,tx Transmitting the transmission frequency of the first reference signal for the third device, the second measurement information transmitted by the third device including the first transmission frequency f _A,tx The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the And/or the second transmission frequency f _B,tx Transmitting a transmission frequency of the second reference signal for the second device, the first measurement transmitted by the second deviceThe information includes the second transmission frequency f _B,tx 。

By the method for measuring inter-device TOF provided by this embodiment, the first transmit frequency f _A,tx Based on the first transmission frequency f when the transmission frequency is the actual transmission frequency _A,tx The determined clock coefficient can be more converted to realize clock conversion among devices, and the first transmission frequency f _A,tx When the transmission frequency is preset, the actual transmission frequency does not need to be determined, so that the processing efficiency is improved; second transmission frequency f _B,tx Similarly, the description thereof is omitted.

Optionally, the clock coefficient is used to convert the time under the clock of the second device to the time under the clock of the target device, and the clock coefficient K satisfies the following formula (1):

alternatively, the clock coefficient is used to convert the time under the clock of the target device to the time under the clock of the second device, and the clock coefficient K satisfies the following formula (2):

in one possible implementation, the first device determines a TOF between the target device and the second device according to the clock coefficient and based on time intervals measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal, comprising: the first device determines a first time interval t _A And a second time interval t _B The first time interval t _A For the interval between the transmission time of the first reference signal and the reception time of the second reference signal at the clock of the target device, the second time interval t _B Is the interval between the time of reception of the first reference signal and the time of transmission of the second reference signal at the clock of the second device; the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the second device into the time under the clock of the target device, the first deviceThe device uses the clock coefficient K to divide the second time interval t _B To a second time interval t 'under the clock of the target device' _B And according to the first time interval t _A And a second time interval t 'under the clock of the target device' _B Determining a TOF between the target device and the second device; or the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the target device into the time under the clock of the second device, and the first device converts the first time interval t through the clock coefficient K _A To a first time interval t 'under the clock of the second device' _A And according to the second time interval t _B And a first time interval t 'under the clock of the second device' _A A TOF between the target device and the second device is determined.

According to the method for measuring the TOF between the devices, the time interval under the clock of the second device is converted into the time interval under the clock of the target device, or the time interval under the clock of the target device is converted into the time interval under the clock of the second device, so that the TOF is determined according to the first time interval and the second time interval under the same clock, clock errors caused by clock drift between the devices are reduced, and accurate measurement of the TOF is realized.

Optionally, the clock coefficient is used to convert the time under the clock of the second device into the time under the clock of the target device, and the second time interval t 'under the clock of the target device' _B Satisfies the following formula (3):

t′ _B ＝K·t _B (3)；

the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the target device into the time under the clock of the second device, and the first time interval t 'under the clock of the second device' _A The following formula (4) is satisfied:

t′ _A ＝K·t _A (4)。

optionally, the clock coefficient is used to convert the time under the clock of the second device to the time under the clock of the target device, and the TOF between the target device and the second device satisfies the following formula (5):

The clock coefficient is used to convert time under the clock of the target device to time under the clock of the second device, and the TOF between the target device and the second device satisfies the following formula (6):

in a possible embodiment, the first measurement information sent by the second device includes the second time interval t _B The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the And/or the second measurement information sent by the third device comprises the first time interval t _A 。

According to the method for measuring the inter-device TOF, which is provided by the embodiment, the first device acquires the second device through the first measurement information and reports the second time interval, so that the TOF between the target device and the second device is determined based on the second time interval; similarly, the second measurement information includes a first time interval measured by the third device to facilitate the first device determining a TOF between the target device and the second device based on the first time interval.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: the first device sends first information to the second device, the first information comprising a first measurement request for requesting the second device to send the second reference signal and/or first measurement information, the first measurement information comprising the first reception frequency.

According to the method for measuring the inter-equipment TOF, which is provided by the embodiment, the second equipment realizes the measurement of the inter-equipment TOF based on the first measurement request sent by the first equipment, and flexible scheduling of TOF measurement is realized.

In a possible implementation manner, the first information further includes first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to configure time-frequency resources of the second reference signal and/or time-frequency resources of the first measurement information.

According to the method for measuring the TOF between the devices, which is provided by the embodiment, flexible scheduling of resources required by TOF measurement is realized.

Alternatively, the first information is carried in SCI, side-uplink MAC CE or PC5-RRC information.

In a possible implementation manner, the target device is the third device, and the method further includes: the first device sends second information to the third device, the second information comprising a second measurement request for requesting the third device to send the first reference signal and/or second measurement information, the second measurement information comprising the second reception frequency.

According to the method for measuring the inter-equipment TOF, which is provided by the embodiment, the third equipment realizes the measurement of the inter-equipment TOF based on the second measurement request sent by the first equipment, and flexible scheduling of TOF measurement is realized.

In a possible implementation manner, the second information further includes second configuration information, where the second configuration information is used to configure time-frequency resources of the first reference signal and/or time-frequency resources of the second measurement information.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for measuring TOF between devices, including: the second equipment receives a first reference signal sent by target equipment, wherein the target equipment is first equipment or third equipment; the second device sends first measurement information to the first device, the first measurement information including a first reception frequency, the first reception frequency being a reception frequency of the first reference signal measured by the second device, the first reception frequency being used to determine a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device, the clock coefficient being used to time-shift between a clock of the target device and a clock of the second device when determining a TOF between the target device and the second device.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: the second device transmits a second reference signal to the target device.

In a possible embodiment, the first measurement information further comprises a second transmission frequency, the second transmission frequency being a transmission frequency at which the second device transmits the second reference signal, the second transmission frequency being used to determine a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device.

In a possible embodiment, the first measurement information further includes a second time interval, the second time interval being an interval between a time of reception of the first reference signal and a time of transmission of a second reference signal at a clock of the second device.

In one possible implementation, the second device receives first information sent by the first device, the first information including a first measurement request for requesting the second device to send a second reference signal and/or first measurement information.

In one possible implementation, the first information is carried on SCI, side-uplink MAC CE or PC5-RRC information.

The advantages of the method for measuring inter-device TOF according to the second aspect and the possible embodiments of the second aspect may be referred to the advantages of the first aspect and the possible embodiments of the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: the processing unit is configured to obtain a first receiving frequency and a second receiving frequency, where the first receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of a first reference signal measured by a second device, the second receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of a second reference signal measured by a target device, the target device is the communication apparatus or a third device, the first reference signal is a reference signal sent by the target device to the second device, and the second reference signal is a reference signal sent by the second device to the target device; a processing unit configured to determine a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device according to the first reception frequency and the second reception frequency, the clock coefficient being used for performing time conversion between a clock of the target device and a clock of the second device; the processing unit is further configured to determine a TOF between the target device and the second device based on the clock coefficient and based on the time intervals measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

In a possible embodiment, the processing unit is specifically configured to: the transceiver unit is controlled to receive first measurement information sent by the second device, wherein the first measurement information comprises the first receiving frequency.

In a possible embodiment, the processing unit is specifically configured to: the target equipment is the communication device and measures and obtains the second receiving frequency; or the target device is the third device, and the transceiver unit is controlled to receive second measurement information sent by the third device, where the second measurement information includes the second receiving frequency.

In a possible embodiment, the processing unit is specifically configured to: according to the first receiving frequency f _B,rx First transmission frequency f _A,tx The second receiving frequency f _A,rx And a second transmission frequency f _B,tx Determining a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device; wherein the first transmission frequency f _A,tx For a preset transmission frequency of the first reference signal, or the first transmission frequency f _A，tx Is set for the objectA transmission frequency at which the first reference signal is to be transmitted; the second transmission frequency f _B,tx For a preset transmission frequency of the second reference signal, or the second transmission frequency f _B,tx And transmitting the transmission frequency of the second reference signal for the second device.

In one possible embodiment, the first transmission frequency f _A,tx Transmitting the transmission frequency of the first reference signal for the third device, the second measurement information transmitted by the third device including the first transmission frequency f _A,tx The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the And/or the second transmission frequency f _B,tx Transmitting the second reference signal for the second device, the first measurement information transmitted by the second device including the second transmission frequency f _B,tx 。

In one possible implementation, the clock coefficient is used to convert the time under the clock of the second device to the time under the clock of the target device, and the clock coefficient K satisfies the following formula (1):

in a possible embodiment, the processing unit is specifically configured to: determining a first time interval t _A And a second time interval t _B The first time interval t _A For the interval between the transmission time of the first reference signal and the reception time of the second reference signal at the clock of the target device, the second time interval t _B Is the interval between the time of reception of the first reference signal and the time of transmission of the second reference signal at the clock of the second device; the clock coefficient is used for converting time under the clock of the second device intoThe time under the clock of the target device is set to the second time interval t by the clock coefficient K _B To a second time interval t 'under the clock of the target device' _B And according to the first time interval t _A And a second time interval t 'under the clock of the target device' _B Determining a TOF between the target device and the second device; or the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the target device into the time under the clock of the second device, and the first time interval t is set by the clock coefficient K _A To a first time interval t 'under the clock of the second device' _A And according to the second time interval t _B And a first time interval t 'under the clock of the second device' _A A TOF between the target device and the second device is determined.

In a possible embodiment, the clock coefficient is used to convert the time under the clock of the second device into the time under the clock of the target device, the second time interval t 'under the clock of the target device' _B Satisfies the following formula (3):

t′ _B ＝K·t _B (3)；

t′ _A ＝K·t _A (4)。

in one possible implementation, the clock coefficient is used to convert time under the clock of the second device to time under the clock of the target device, and the TOF between the target device and the second device satisfies the following formula (5):

In a possible embodiment, the processing unit is further configured to: the transceiver unit is controlled to transmit first information to the second device, the first information comprising a first measurement request for requesting the second device to transmit the second reference signal and/or first measurement information, the first measurement information comprising the first reception frequency.

In a possible implementation, the first information is carried in the side-uplink control information SCI, the side-uplink medium access control layer control element MAC CE or the direct communication interface-radio resource control PC5-RRC information.

In a possible implementation manner, the target device is the third device, and the processing unit is further configured to: the transceiver unit is controlled to transmit second information to the third device, the second information including a second measurement request for requesting the third device to transmit the first reference signal and/or second measurement information, the second measurement information including the second reception frequency.

The advantages of the communication device provided by the third aspect and the possible embodiments of the third aspect may be referred to the advantages of the first aspect and the possible embodiments of the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, including: the receiving and transmitting unit is used for receiving a first reference signal sent by target equipment, wherein the target equipment is first equipment or third equipment; the transceiver unit is further configured to send first measurement information to the first device, where the first measurement information includes a first reception frequency, where the first reception frequency is a reception frequency of the first reference signal measured by the communication apparatus, and the first reception frequency is used to determine a clock coefficient between the target device and the communication apparatus, where the clock coefficient is used to perform time conversion between a clock of the target device and a clock of the communication apparatus when determining a TOF between the target device and the communication apparatus.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: the transceiver unit transmits a second reference signal to the target device.

In a possible embodiment, the first measurement information further comprises a second transmission frequency, the second transmission frequency being a transmission frequency at which the communication device transmits the second reference signal, the second transmission frequency being used for determining a clock coefficient between the target device and the communication device.

In one possible embodiment, the first measurement information further includes a second time interval, the second time interval being an interval between a time of reception of the first reference signal and a time of transmission of the second reference signal at a clock of the communication device.

In a possible embodiment, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive first information sent by the first device, where the first information includes a first measurement request, and the first measurement request is used to request the communication apparatus to send the second reference signal and/or the first measurement information.

The advantages of the communication device provided by the fourth aspect and the possible embodiments of the fourth aspect may be referred to the advantages of the first aspect and the possible embodiments of the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, including: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program for invoking and running the computer program stored in the memory for performing the method as in the first aspect, the second aspect or in each of the possible implementations.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip, including: a processor for invoking and executing computer instructions from memory to cause a device on which the chip is mounted to perform a method as in the first aspect, the second aspect or in each of the possible implementations.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that cause a computer to perform a method as in the first aspect, the second aspect, or in each of the possible implementations.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method as in the first aspect, the second aspect or in each of the possible implementations.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide an apparatus comprising logic circuitry and an input-output interface, wherein the input-output interface is to receive signals from or transmit signals to or from other communication devices than the apparatus, the logic circuitry to execute code instructions to implement a method as in the first aspect, the second aspect or in each of the possible implementations.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a device location based on time difference of arrival provided herein;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an RTT-based measurement TOF provided in the present application;

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

FIG. 4a is a schematic flow chart of a method for measuring TOF between devices according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4b is a schematic flow chart of another method for measuring TOF between devices according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of reference signal transmission according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Schemes for device location based on radio access technology (Radio Access Technology, RAT) may include two implementations based on time difference of arrival (Time Difference of Arrival, TDOA) or based on RTT measurement TOF.

When the equipment positioning is realized based on the TDOA, as shown in the combination of FIG. 1, the TDOA (namely, the difference between the transmission time delay between the terminal equipment and the network equipment 1 and the transmission time delay between the terminal equipment and the network equipment 2) between the terminal equipment and the network equipment 1 and the network equipment 2 can be measured, and then the TDOA is multiplied by the speed of light to obtain a distance difference R21 between the terminal equipment and the network equipment 1 and the network equipment 2, wherein the terminal equipment is positioned on a hyperbola taking the network equipment 1 and the network equipment 2 as focuses and the distance difference between the two focuses as R21; similarly, the distance difference R31 between the terminal device and the network device 1 and the network device 3 may be determined, and the terminal device is positioned on a hyperbola with the network device 1 and the network device 3 as focuses and the distance difference between the two focuses being R31; the focal points of the two hyperbolas are the position estimation of the terminal equipment. However, the positioning is achieved by measuring the transmission delay difference between the terminal device and the plurality of network devices, requiring clock synchronization between the network devices, increasing the implementation complexity of the positioning.

Based on RTT measurement TOF, when realizing device positioning, referring to FIG. 2, terminal device A is at T _A1 Time transmitting positioning reference signal (positioning reference signal, PRS) 1 to terminal device B, terminal device at T _B1 Receive PRS 1 at time, and at T _B2 PRS 2 is sent to terminal equipment A in time, and terminal equipment A is at T _A2 The PRS 2 is received in time. Wherein T is _B2 -T _B1 ＝t _reply The time interval measured for terminal device B, or may be referred to as the response time of terminal device B; t (T) _A2 –T _A1 ＝t _round For the time interval measured by terminal device a. TOF can satisfy the following formula (1')

Further, by multiplying TOF by the speed of light, the distance between terminal device a and terminal device B is obtained. Optionally, the distance between the terminal device a and the terminal device C is determined in a similar implementation, and based on triangulation, a position estimate of the terminal device is obtained.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application is only exemplified by application of the measured TOF to ranging or further positioning of the apparatus, but the application of the measured TOF is not limited.

Although clock synchronization is not required among devices when the positioning of the devices is realized based on TOF, clock drift exists in the devices due to errors of clock crystals of the devices, and the errors of the clock crystals among different devices (such as the terminal device A and the terminal device B) are different, namely, the clock drift degrees among the different devices are different. In addition, the time error caused by the error of the clock oscillator increases with time, for example, the actual elapsed time is t, and the error of the clock oscillator of the terminal equipment a is e ₁ Then at the time of passing under the clock of the terminal equipment AThe interval is t (1+e) ₁ ). Thus, clock drift of the devices results in clock errors between the devices, resulting in lower accuracy of the measured TOF.

Aiming at the problem that TOF cannot be accurately measured, when TOF among devices is measured, the clock coefficient is determined by combining the receiving frequency of the reference signals of the devices, so that time conversion is carried out on clocks of different devices through the clock coefficient, TOF is determined based on the converted time, the influence of clock errors among the devices on the TOF is reduced, and the accuracy of TOF measurement is improved.

The communication method provided by the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, fifth generation (5th generation,5G) mobile communication system, or future sixth generation mobile communication system (6 th generation), etc. The 5G mobile communication system may include a non-independent Networking (NSA) and/or an independent networking (SA), among others.

The communication method provided by the application can also be applied to machine-type communication (machine type communication, MTC), inter-machine communication long term evolution technology (Long Term Evolution-machine, LTE-M), device-to-device (D2D) network, machine-to-machine (machine to machine, M2M) network, internet of things (internet of things, ioT) network or other networks. The IoT network may include, for example, an internet of vehicles.

In this embodiment of the present application, the network device may be any device having a wireless transceiver function. Network devices include, but are not limited to: an evolved Node B (eNB), a location management function (location management function, LMF), a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a Node B (Node B, NB), a base station controller (base station controller, BSC), a base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a Base Band Unit (BBU), an Access Point (AP), a wireless relay Node, a wireless backhaul Node, a transmission point (transmission point, TP), or a transmission reception point (transmission and reception point, TRP) in a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wiFi) system, or the like, may also be a 5G, a gNB in a system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of antenna panels (including a plurality of antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system, or may also be a network Node such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a Distributed Unit (DU), or the like, constituting the gNB or the transmission point.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a distributed unit. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (active antenna unit, AAU). The CUs and DUs implement part of the functionality of the gNB, respectively, e.g., the CUs may be responsible for handling non-real time protocols and services, e.g., may implement the functionality of a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) layer, a traffic data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP) layer, and/or a packet data convergence layer protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer. The DU may be responsible for handling physical layer protocols and real-time services. For example, functions of a radio link control (radio link control, RLC), medium access control (media access control, MAC) and Physical (PHY) layers may be implemented.

It is understood that the network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), 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 equipment.

The terminal device may be a device providing voice/data connectivity to a user, e.g., a handheld device with wireless connectivity, an in-vehicle device, etc. Currently, some examples of terminals may be: a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function (e.g., a notebook, a palm, etc.), a mobile internet device (mobile internet device, MID), a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) device, a wireless terminal in an industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in an unmanned (self-drive), a wireless terminal in a telemedicine (remote medical), a wireless terminal in a smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in a transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in a smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in a smart home (smart home), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (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, a wireless terminal in a wearable device, a land-based device, a future-mobile terminal in a smart city (smart city), a public network (35G) or a future mobile communication device, etc.

It should be understood that the present application is not limited to specific forms of network devices and terminal devices.

To facilitate an understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a communication system suitable for use in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 3. Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system suitable for use in embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, communication system 100 may include a network device 110 and a plurality of terminal devices (e.g., terminal devices 121 and 122), and network device 110 may include a base station 111 and/or an LMF 112. Wherein network device 110 may communicate with terminal devices 121 and 122 over a wireless air interface, e.g., base station 111 may communicate with terminal devices 121 and 122, and LMF 112 may communicate with terminal devices 121 and 122. The terminal devices can carry out side-by-side communication through a wireless communication technology.

The embodiment of the application may implement TOF measurement of the side link, for example, may measure TOF between the terminal device 121 and the terminal device 122 based on PRS, and the terminal device 121 and the terminal device 122 may be implemented as the terminal device a and the terminal device B in fig. 2 respectively; alternatively, embodiments of the present application may implement uplink/downlink TOF measurement, e.g. TOF between the base station 111 and the terminal device 121 may be measured based on PRS; alternatively, embodiments of the present application may measure TOF between base station 111 and terminal device 122 based on PRS.

In some embodiments, the inter-device TOF may be determined by one of the devices, e.g., when measuring the TOF between terminal device 121 and terminal device 122 based on the PRS, terminal device 122 may report the measurement (e.g., t as described above _reply ) To the terminal device 121, the terminal device 121 generates a measurement result (t as described above _round ) And the measurement results of the terminal device 122 determine TOF.

In other embodiments, LMF 112 may be configured to measure inter-device TOF, e.g., when measuring TOF between terminal device 121 and terminal device 122 based on PRS as described above, terminal device 121 and terminal device 122 report measurement results to LMF 112, respectively, and LMF 112 determines TOF between terminal devices 121 and 122 based on measurement results of terminal devices 121 and 122.

It should be noted that fig. 3 is only an example. But this should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The communication system 100 may also include more network devices, as well as more or fewer terminal devices. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

To facilitate an understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following description is made.

First, in the embodiments shown below, the first, second, third, and various numerical numbers are merely for convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, different frequencies, different devices, different reference signals, different measurement information, etc. are distinguished.

Second, "predefined" may be implemented by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables, or other means that may be used to indicate relevant information in devices (e.g., including terminal devices and network devices), and the specific implementation of this application is not limited.

The "pre-configuration" may be implemented by pre-storing a corresponding code, table or other manner that may be used to indicate relevant information in a device (including, for example, a terminal device and a network device), or may be implemented by signaling pre-configuration, for example, by signaling pre-configuration by a network device, where the specific implementation manner is not limited in this application.

Third, the "protocol" referred to in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, and may include, for example, an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols applied in a future communication system, which is not limited in this application.

Fourth, in the embodiments of the present application, the descriptions of "when … …", "in the case of … …", "if", and "if" etc. all refer to that the device (the first device or the second device hereinafter) will make a corresponding process under some objective condition, are not limited in time, and do not require that the device (the first device or the second device hereinafter) must have a judging action when implemented, nor do other limitations mean that there is any other limitation.

The lateral transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the following is only for ease of understanding and description, and in some implementations of the embodiments of the present application, the embodiments of the present application are described by taking an interaction between a first device and a second device as an example. This implementation may be applied to the embodiment shown in fig. 4a below. The first device may be used to determine a TOF between the first device and the second device. Both the first device and the second device may be implemented as terminal devices, e.g. the first device may be implemented as terminal device 121 in fig. 3 and the second device may be implemented as terminal device 122 in fig. 3; or the first device may be implemented as a network device (e.g., base station 111 in fig. 3) and the second device may be implemented as a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 121 or 122 in fig. 3). Of course, the present application does not exclude the case where the first device is implemented as a terminal device (e.g. terminal device 121 or 122 in fig. 3) and the second device is implemented as a network device (e.g. base station 111 in fig. 3).

In other implementations of embodiments of the present application, interactions between a first device, a second device, and a third device are taken as an example to describe embodiments of the present application. This implementation may be applied to the embodiment shown in fig. 4b below. The first device may be used to determine the TOF between the third device and the second device, e.g., the first device may be implemented as LMF 112 in fig. 3 described above. The third device and the second device may each be implemented as a terminal device, for example, the third device and the second device may be implemented as terminal devices 121 and 122 in fig. 3, respectively; or the third device may be implemented as a network device (e.g., base station 111 in fig. 3) and the second device may be implemented as a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 121 or 122 in fig. 3); or the third device is implemented as a terminal device (e.g. terminal device 121 or 122 in fig. 3), the second device is implemented as a network device (e.g. base station 111 in fig. 3).

It should be understood that this should not constitute any limitation as to the subject matter of the method provided herein. The method provided according to the embodiment of the present application can be executed as a main body of execution of the method provided according to the embodiment of the present application, as long as the program recorded with the code of the method provided according to the embodiment of the present application can be executed. For example, the first device shown in the following embodiments may be replaced with a component in the first device, such as a chip, a chip system, or other functional modules capable of calling a program and executing the program, the second device may be replaced with a component in the second device, such as a chip, a chip system, or other functional modules capable of calling a program and executing the program, and the third device may be replaced with a component in the third device, such as a chip, a chip system, or other functional modules capable of calling a program and executing the program.

Fig. 4a is a schematic flow chart of a method 200a for measuring TOF between devices according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4a, the method 200a may include some or all of the processes in S210a to S270 a. The steps in method 200a are described in detail below.

In the method 200a, at least the following S240a to S270a are included:

S240a, the second device transmits the first measurement information to the first device. The first measurement information includes a first reception frequency.

Correspondingly, the first device receives the first measurement information sent by the second device.

S250a, the first device measures a second receiving frequency.

S260a, the first device determines a clock coefficient between the first device and the second device according to the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency, the clock coefficient being used for time conversion between the clock of the first device and the clock of the second device.

S270a, the first device determines a TOF between the first device and the second device based on the clock coefficient and based on the time intervals measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

The first receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of a first reference signal measured by the second device, for example, the second device measures the frequency of the first reference signal after receiving the first reference signal to obtain the first receiving frequency; the second receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of the second reference signal measured by the first device, for example, the first device measures the frequency of the second reference signal after receiving the second reference signal, to obtain the second receiving frequency.

It should be understood that the execution sequence of S240a and S250a is not limited in this embodiment. For example, the first device may receive the first measurement information sent by the second device before the second reception frequency is measured, or receive the first measurement information sent by the second device during the second reception frequency is measured, or receive the first measurement information sent by the second device after the second reception frequency is measured.

It should also be appreciated that the first reference signal may be a reference signal transmitted by the first device to the second device, for example in S220a shown in fig. 4 a. The second reference signal may be a reference signal transmitted by the second device to the first device, for example, in S230a shown in fig. 4a, the second device transmits the second reference signal to the first device.

Alternatively, both the first reference signal and the second reference signal may be PRSs in the foregoing example.

In the above S240a, the second device sending the first measurement information to the first device may also be expressed as that the second device reports the measurement result to the first device.

In S250a, the first device measures the second receiving frequency, which may also be expressed as the first device determining the second receiving frequency. Hereinafter, "measuring" and "determining" are used interchangeably and are intended to mean that they are consistent.

It should be noted that, the first receiving frequency measured by the first device is related to the clock of the first device, and the second receiving frequency reported by the second device is related to the clock of the second device. For example, the error of the clock crystal of the first device is e _A Then at the actual frequency of the second reference signal f _AC,rx When the first receiving frequency measured by the first device isThe error of the clock crystal oscillator of the second equipment is e _B Then at the actual frequency of the first reference signal f _BC,rx The second receiving frequency measured by the second device is +.>It can be seen that the first receiving frequency measured by the first device and the second receiving frequency measured by the second device are also affected by the respective clock drift, respectively, i.e. the first receiving frequency may reflect the clock drift of the first device and the second receiving frequency may reflect the clock drift of the second device. Thus, the above S260a considers determining the clock coefficient between the first device and the second device based on the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency, and canceling the difference between the clock of the first device and the clock of the second device due to clock drift by the clock coefficient, so that the first device can determine an accurate TOF based on the clock coefficient and based on the time intervals measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

For example, the clock coefficient K may be used to convert time under the clock of the second device to time under the clock of the first device, in which case the first device may determine the TOF between the first device and the second device based on equation (5) below.

Wherein t' _B ＝K·t _B (3)；

Optionally, the clock coefficient K is used to convert the time under the clock of the second device to the time under the clock of the first device, the clock coefficient K is equal to the first receiving frequency f _B，rx Is proportional to the second receiving frequency f _A，rx Inversely proportional, e.g.,also for example, a +>Etc.

For example two, the clock coefficient K may be used to convert time under the clock of the first device to time under the clock of the second device, in which case the first device may determine the TOF between the first device and the second device based on equation (6) below.

Wherein t' _A ＝K·t _A (4)

Optionally, the clock coefficient K is used to convert the time under the clock of the first device to the time under the clock of the second device, the clock coefficient K is equal to the first receiving frequency f _B，rx Inversely proportional and the clock coefficient K is related to the second receiving frequency f _A，rx Proportional to the ratio of, for example,also for example, a +>Etc.

In the above example one, t _A A first parameter under the clock of the first equipment An interval between the transmission time of the reference signal and the reception time of the second reference signal, i.e., a first time interval; t is t _B May be an interval between the time of reception of the first reference signal and the time of transmission of the second reference signal at the clock of the second device, i.e. the second time interval. In the above example one, the first device converts the first time interval under the clock of the first device into the first time interval t 'under the clock of the second device by the clock coefficient' _A Determining TOF according to the converted first time interval under the clock of the second device and the converted second time interval under the clock of the first device; in the second example, the first device converts the second time interval under the clock of the second device into the second time interval t 'under the clock of the first device by the clock coefficient' _B And determining the TOF according to the second time interval and the first time interval under the clock of the converted first device.

Alternatively, the first measurement information may include a second time interval. For example, the first measurement information includes a transmit time interval (UE-RxTxTimeDiff) message and the second time interval is reported via the UE-RxTxTimeDiff message. It should be appreciated that the UE-RxTxTimeDiff message may include a time interval between a received subframe in which the second device receives the first reference signal and a most recently transmitted subframe, and that the second time interval may be calculated based on the UE-RxTxTimeDiff message.

It should be noted that the above formula (5) and formula (6) are only examples, and are not limitative. When determining TOF based on other formulas (e.g., TOF formulas in future evolution), the results of the first device measurements may still be converted to corresponding measurements at the second device clock based on the clock coefficients, or the second device measurements may be converted to corresponding measurements at the first device clock, which may include, but are not limited to, frequency, time interval, etc. of the measurements.

In order to make the clock conversion between devices more accurate to further improve the accuracy of measuring TOF, the embodiment of the application can also combine the first transmission frequency f _A，tx And a second transmission frequency f _B，tx With the first receiving frequency f _B，rx And a second receiving frequency f _A，rx Together, a clock coefficient between the first device and the second device is determined. Referring to fig. 5, the first device transmits at a first transmission frequency f _A，tx Transmitting a first reference signal at a first receiving frequency f by a second device _B，rx Receiving a first reference signal transmitted by a first device and transmitting the first reference signal according to a second transmission frequency f _B，tx Transmitting a second reference signal, and the first device then transmits a second reference signal at a second receiving frequency f _A，rx And receiving a second reference signal sent by the second equipment.

Wherein the first transmission frequency f _A，tx For a preset transmission frequency of the first reference signal, or, a first transmission frequency f _A ， _tx A transmission frequency at which a first reference signal is transmitted for a first device; second transmission frequency f _B，tx For a preset transmission frequency of the second reference signal, or a second transmission frequency f _B，tx A transmission frequency of the second reference signal is transmitted for the second device.

First transmission frequency f _A，tx When the preset transmission frequency of the first reference signal is the first transmission frequency f _A，tx The network device can be preconfigured, preset in the device through a code program or defined by a protocol; first transmission frequency f _A，tx When the first device is transmitting the transmission frequency of the first reference signal, the first transmission frequency f _A，tx May be the actual frequency at which the first device transmits the first reference signal as determined by the first device. Second transmission frequency f _B，tx Similarly, the difference is that when the second transmission frequency f _B，tx A second transmission frequency f when transmitting a second reference signal for a second device _B，tx The second device needs to report the second transmission frequency f to the first device for the second device determined actual frequency of transmission of the second reference signal _B，tx For example, the second transmission frequency f may be carried by the following first measurement information _B，tx 。

First transmission frequency f _A，tx And/or a second transmission frequency f _B，tx For the actual transmitting power, the clock coefficient determined can more accurately realize the clock conversion between the devices.

Illustratively, when the clock coefficient is used to convert the time under the clock of the second device to the time under the clock of the target device, the clock system K may satisfy the following formula (1):

when the clock coefficient is used to convert the time under the clock of the first device to the time under the clock of the second device, the clock coefficient K satisfies the following formula (2):

the first transmission frequency f when the first device transmits the first reference signal to the second device _A,tx And the actual transmission frequency f _c,A With a deviation therebetween, anWherein k is _A ＝1+e _A The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the After the second device receives the first reference signal, the first receiving frequency f is measured _B，rx Is->Wherein->For doppler shift, v is the relative speed of the first device and the second device and c is the speed of light.

Continuing the above description, the second device transmits the second reference signal to the first device, and the second transmission frequency f under the clock of the second device _B，tx And the actual transmission frequency f _c,B With a deviation therebetween, anWherein k is _B ＝1+e _B The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the The first device receives the second reference signal and measuresTwo receiving frequencies f _A，rx Is->Wherein,is the Doppler shift. There is +.>Derived from

Following the above description, when the formula is adoptedNamely->To estimate TOF, the actual first time interval is +.>The second time interval of actual measurement isTherefore, the TOF actually substituted into the measurement is: />

Thus, the TOF error between the first device and the second device isDue to e _A Generally 10 ^-6 Of the order of nanoseconds (10) ^-9 ) So the error is almost negligible.

In some embodiments, the method 200a shown in fig. 4a further comprises:

s210a, the first device sends first information to the second device, and correspondingly, the second device receives the first information sent by the first device.

The first information may include, for example, a first measurement request. Wherein the first measurement request is used for requesting the second device to send the second reference signal and/or the first measurement information. The embodiment of the application does not limit the naming of the request, as the first measurement request may also be referred to as a positioning request. For example, the first device may send a first measurement request to the second device, in response to which the second device may negotiate with the first device to determine at least one of transmission resources of the first reference signal, transmission resources of the second reference signal, transmission resources of the first measurement information. For another example, the first measurement request may be for requesting the second device to transmit the second reference signal, and the second device may transmit the second reference signal to the first device in response to the request and transmit the first measurement information to the first device in response to other requests. For another example, the first measurement request may be for requesting the second device to send the first measurement information, in which case the second device may send the second reference signal to the first device in response to other requests or in accordance with a pre-configured rule.

For example, the first information may include first configuration information for configuring time-frequency resources of the second reference signal and/or time-frequency resources of the first measurement information. It is to be appreciated that the time-frequency resources of the second reference signal and the time-frequency resources of the first measurement information may be configured together, or the time-frequency resources of the second reference signal and the time-frequency resources of the first measurement information may be configured independently, e.g., the time-frequency resources may be configured before the second device transmits the second reference signal, and the time-frequency resources of the first measurement information may be configured before the second device transmits the first measurement information after the second device transmits the second reference signal. Of course, if the first device sends a positioning request to the second device, the second device negotiates with the first device in response to the positioning request, the transmission resource of the first reference signal, the transmission resource of the second reference signal, the transmission resource of the first measurement information, and so on, the first device may not send the first configuration information to the second device, or the first information may not include the first configuration information.

Alternatively, the first information may be carried in side uplink control information (sidelink control information, SCI) or side uplink (SL) medium access control layer control unit (medium access control control element, MAC CE) or direct communication interface PC 5-radio resource control (Radio Resource Control, RRC) information, etc. (where PC5 is a communication interface between terminals).

Fig. 4b is a schematic flowchart of a method 200b for measuring TOF between devices according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4b, the method 200b may include some or all of the processes in S210b to S270 b. The various steps in method 200b are described below.

S210b-1, the first device sends first information to the second device.

S210b-2, the first device sends second information to the third device.

S220b, the third device transmits the first reference signal to the second device.

S230b, the second device transmits a second reference signal to the third device.

S240b, the second device transmits the first measurement information to the first device.

And S250b, the third device sends second measurement information to the first device.

And S260b, the first device determines a clock coefficient between the third device and the second device according to the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency.

The first device determines the TOF between the third device and the second device according to the clock coefficient and based on the time intervals measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal S270 b.

The execution sequence between the above-mentioned S210b-1 and S210b-2 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application; the execution sequence between S220b and S230b is not limited in the embodiment of the present application; the execution sequence of S240b and S250b is not limited in this embodiment.

Both the method 200b of fig. 4b and the method 200a of fig. 4a are implemented and advantageous by a first device determining a clock coefficient based on a first receiving frequency and a second receiving frequency and determining a TOF between devices based on the clock coefficients, consistent with any of the embodiments described above. The difference is that in the method 200b shown in fig. 4b, the first reference signal is a reference signal sent by the third device to the second device, the second reference signal is a reference signal sent by the second device to the third device, the third device sends the second measurement information carried by the measured receiving frequency (i.e. the second receiving frequency) of the second reference signal to the first device, and the first device determines a clock coefficient between the second device and the third device according to the second receiving frequency and the first receiving frequency of the second device, and further determines a TOF between the third device and the second device according to the clock coefficient and based on the time interval measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

As previously described, the first information includes the first measurement request and/or the first configuration information. Similarly, the second information includes a second measurement request and/or second configuration information.

It should be appreciated that the first device sends a first measurement request to the second device and a second measurement request to the third device requesting transmission of the first reference signal and the second reference signal between the second device and the third device and causing the second device and the third device to measure a time interval and a reception frequency of the reference signals, and the second device sends first measurement information to the first device in response to the first measurement request and the third device sends second measurement information to the first device in response to the second measurement request.

The first configuration information may be used to configure an adaptive resource of the second reference signal and/or a time-frequency resource of the first measurement information; the second configuration information may be used to configure time-frequency resources of the first reference signal and/or time-frequency resources of the second measurement information.

It is to be understood that the time-frequency resources of the first reference signal and the time-frequency resources of the second measurement information may be configured together, or the time-frequency resources of the first reference signal and the time-frequency resources of the second measurement information may be configured independently, for example, the time-frequency resources may be configured before the second device transmits the first reference signal, and the time-frequency resources of the second measurement information may be configured before the second device transmits the second measurement information after the first reference signal.

In one example of S210b-1 described above, the first device may send the first information to the second device through downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI). Similarly, in one example of S210b-2 described above, the first device may transmit the second information to the third device through DCI.

Alternatively, the first device may send configuration information to the third device and the second device, for example, send the first configuration information to the second device and the second configuration information to the third device by providing an assistance data (NR-Multi-RTT-providesassancedata) message by means of an NR multiple round trip time method.

Alternatively, the first device may request the third device and the second device to report measurement information (including, for example, a UE-RxTxTimeDiff message and a reception frequency) through an NR multiple round trip time method request location message (NR-Multi-RTT-requestlocalformation) to obtain a second transmission frequency and a second time interval measured by the second device, and a first transmission frequency and a first time interval measured by the third device.

The above S240b is similar to S240a in fig. 4a, and will not be repeated here. S250b is similar to S240, where the third device sends the second measurement information to the first device may also be expressed as the third device reporting the measurement result to the first device.

In some embodiments, the second measurement information may include a second receiving frequency, where the second receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of the second reference signal measured by the third device, for example, the third device measures the frequency of the second reference signal after receiving the second reference signal, to obtain the second receiving frequency.

In some embodiments, the second measurement information may include a first time interval between a time of transmission of the first reference signal and a time of reception of the second reference signal at the clock of the third device. Optionally, the second measurement information includes a UE-RxTxTimeDiff message, and the first time interval is reported via the UE-RxTxTimeDiff message. It should be appreciated that the UE-RxTxTimeDiff message may include a time interval between a received subframe in which the third device receives the second reference signal and a most recently transmitted subframe, and that the first time interval may be derived based on the UE-RxTxTimeDiff message.

In some embodiments, the second measurement information may include a first transmission frequency, which is a transmission frequency at which the third device transmits the first reference signal.

The measurement of the second receiving frequency by the first device in fig. 4a and the receiving of the second receiving frequency reported by the third device by the first device in fig. 4b are all possible implementation manners for implementing the acquisition of the second receiving frequency by the first device.

Therefore, according to the embodiment of the application, the clock coefficient is determined based on the receiving frequency of the first reference signal measured by the second device and the receiving frequency of the second reference signal measured by the target device, so that the time under the clocks of different devices is converted through the clock coefficient, the TOF among the devices is determined based on the converted time, the influence of clock errors among the devices on the TOF is reduced, and the accuracy of TOF measurement is improved.

The apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to fig. 6 and 7.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the apparatus 300 may include: a processing unit 310 and a transceiver unit 320.

Alternatively, the communication apparatus 300 may correspond to the first device in the above method embodiments, for example, may be the first device, or a component (such as a chip or a chip system) configured in the first device.

The processing unit 310 may be configured to obtain a first receiving frequency and a second receiving frequency, where the first receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of a first reference signal measured by a second device, the second receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of a second reference signal measured by a target device, the target device is the communication apparatus or a third device, the first reference signal is a reference signal sent by the target device to the second device, and the second reference signal is a reference signal sent by the second device to the target device; a processing unit 310, configured to determine a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device according to the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency, where the clock coefficient is used for performing time conversion between a clock of the target device and a clock of the second device; the processing unit 310 is further configured to determine a TOF between the target device and the second device based on the clock coefficient and based on the time intervals measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

Optionally, the processing unit 310 is specifically configured to: the transceiver unit 320 is controlled to receive first measurement information sent by the second device, where the first measurement information includes the first receiving frequency.

Optionally, the processing unit 310 is specifically configured to: the target equipment is the communication device, and the second receiving frequency is obtained through measurement; or, the target device is the third device, and the transceiver unit 320 is controlled to receive second measurement information sent by the third device, where the second measurement information includes the second receiving frequency.

Alternatively, the communication apparatus 300 may correspond to the second device in the above method embodiment, for example, may be the second device, or may be configured with a component (such as a chip or a chip system) in the second device, or the like.

The transceiver unit 320 may be configured to receive a first reference signal sent by a target device, where the target device is a first device or a third device; the transceiver unit 320 may be further configured to send first measurement information to the first device, where the first measurement information includes a first receiving frequency, where the first receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of the first reference signal measured by the communication apparatus, and the first receiving frequency is used to determine a clock coefficient between the target device and the communication apparatus, where the clock coefficient is used to perform time conversion between a clock of the target device and a clock of the communication apparatus when determining TOF between the target device and the communication apparatus.

It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and is not described herein for brevity.

In addition, the communication apparatus 300 may also correspond to the third device in the above method embodiment, and is configured to implement the steps performed by the third device, for example, the communication apparatus 300 may be the third device, or a component (such as a chip or a chip system) configured in the third device. And are not described in detail herein for brevity.

When the communication apparatus 300 is a chip or a chip system configured in a communication device (such as the first device, the second device, or the third device), the transceiver unit 320 in the communication apparatus 300 may be implemented by an input/output interface, a circuit, or the like, and the processing unit 310 in the communication apparatus 300 may be implemented by a processor, a microprocessor, or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip or the chip system.

Fig. 7 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the communication apparatus 400 may include: transceiver 410, processor 420, and memory 430. Wherein the transceiver 410, the processor 420 and the memory 430 communicate with each other through an internal connection path, the memory 430 is used for storing instructions, and the processor 420 is used for executing the instructions stored in the memory 430 to control the transceiver 410 to transmit signals and/or receive signals.

It should be understood that the communication apparatus 400 may correspond to the first device, the second device, or the third device in the above-described method embodiments, and may be used to perform the steps and/or the flows performed by the first device, the second device, or the third device in the above-described method embodiments. Alternatively, the memory 430 may include read-only memory and random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. The memory 430 may be a separate device or may be integrated into the processor 420. The processor 420 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 430, and when the processor 420 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 420 is configured to perform the steps and/or processes of the method embodiments described above corresponding to the first device, the second device, or the third device.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 400 is the first device in the previous embodiment.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 400 is the second device in the previous embodiment.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 400 is the third device in the previous embodiment.

Wherein the transceiver 410 may include a transmitter and a receiver. Transceiver 410 may further include antennas, the number of which may be one or more. The processor 420 and memory 430 may be devices integrated on different chips than the transceiver 410. For example, the processor 420 and the memory 430 may be integrated in a baseband chip, and the transceiver 410 may be integrated in a radio frequency chip. The processor 420 and memory 430 may also be devices integrated on the same chip as the transceiver 410. The present application is not limited in this regard.

Alternatively, the communication apparatus 400 is a component configured in the first device, such as a chip, a chip system, or the like.

Alternatively, the communication apparatus 400 is a component, such as a chip, a chip system, or the like, configured in the second device.

The transceiver 420 may also be a communication interface, such as an input/output interface, a circuit, etc. The transceiver 420 may be integrated in the same chip as the processor 410 and the memory 430, such as in a baseband chip.

The application also provides a processing device, which comprises at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is used for executing the computer program stored in the memory, so that the processing device executes the second device of the method executed by the first device in the embodiment of the method.

The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device which comprises a processor and an input/output interface. The input-output interface is coupled with the processor. The input/output interface is used for inputting and/or outputting information. The information includes at least one of instructions and data. The processor is configured to execute the computer program to cause the processing apparatus to execute the method second device executed by the first device in the method embodiment.

The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device, which comprises a processor and a memory. The memory is used for storing a computer program, and the processor is used for calling and running the computer program from the memory, so that the processing device executes the second device of the method executed by the first device in the method embodiment.

It should be understood that the processing means described above may be one or more chips. For example, the processing device may be a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA), an application specific integrated chip (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processing unit (central processor unit, CPU), a network processor (network processor, NP), a digital signal processing circuit (digital signal processor, DSP), a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), a programmable controller (programmable logic device, PLD) or other integrated chip.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor for execution. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, a detailed description is not provided herein.

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be implemented by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in software form. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, or discrete hardware components. The disclosed methods, steps, and logic blocks in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in hardware, in a decoded processor, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in a decoded processor. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the above method.

It will be appreciated that the memory in embodiments of the present application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the application further provides a computer program product, which comprises: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method performed by the first device, the second device or the third device in the method embodiments described above.

According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, there is further provided a computer readable storage medium storing a program code, which when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method performed by the first device, the second device, or the third device in the embodiment of the method.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the application further provides a communication system, and the communication system can comprise the first device and the second device.

As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between 2 or more computers. Furthermore, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with one another in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

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 application.

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.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in 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 may be substantially contributing or a part of the technical solution may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc.

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

Claims

1. A method for measuring inter-device time of flight, TOF, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a first device obtains a first receiving frequency and a second receiving frequency, wherein the first receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of a first reference signal measured by a second device, the second receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of a second reference signal measured by a target device, the target device is the first device or a third device, the first reference signal is a reference signal sent by the target device to the second device, and the second reference signal is a reference signal sent by the second device to the target device;

the first device determines a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device according to the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency, wherein the clock coefficient is used for performing time conversion between a clock of the target device and a clock of the second device;

The first device determines a TOF between the target device and the second device based on the clock coefficient and based on time intervals measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device acquiring the first receive frequency comprises:

the first device receives first measurement information sent by the second device, wherein the first measurement information comprises the first receiving frequency.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first device acquiring the second reception frequency comprises:

the target device is the first device, and the first device measures the second receiving frequency; or,

the target device is the third device, the first device receives second measurement information sent by the third device, and the second measurement information includes the second receiving frequency.

4. A method according to any one of claim 1 to 3, wherein,

the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the second device into the time under the clock of the target device, the clock coefficient is proportional to the first receiving frequency, and the clock coefficient is inversely proportional to the second receiving frequency; or,

The clock coefficient is used to convert time under the clock of the target device to time under the clock of the second device, the clock coefficient is inversely proportional to the first receive frequency, and the clock coefficient is directly proportional to the second receive frequency.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first device determining a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device based on the first receive frequency and the second receive frequency comprises:

the first device receives the frequency f according to the first receiving frequency _B,rx First transmission frequency f _A,tx The second receiving frequency f _A,rx And a second transmission frequency f _B,tx Determining a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device; wherein,

the first transmission frequency f _A,tx For the preset transmission frequency of the first reference signal, or the first transmission frequency f _A,tx Transmitting a transmission frequency of the first reference signal for the target device; the second transmission frequency f _B,tx For a preset transmission frequency of the second reference signal, or the second transmission frequency f _B,tx And transmitting the transmission frequency of the second reference signal for the second equipment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe is performed,

the first transmission frequency f _A,tx A transmission frequency of the first reference signal is transmitted for the third device, and the second measurement information transmitted by the third device includes the first transmission frequency f _A,tx The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the And/or the number of the groups of groups,

the second transmission frequency f _B,tx A transmission frequency of the second reference signal is transmitted for the second device, and the first measurement information transmitted by the second device includes the second transmission frequency f _B,tx 。

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein,

the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the second device into the time under the clock of the target device, and the clock coefficient K satisfies the following formula (1):

or,

the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the target device into the time under the clock of the second device, and the clock coefficient K satisfies the following formula (2):

8. the method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first device determines a TOF between the target device and the second device according to the clock coefficient and based on time intervals measured by first and second reference signals, comprising:

The first device determines a first time interval t _A And a second time interval t _B The first time interval t _A For the interval between the transmission time of the first reference signal and the reception time of the second reference signal at the clock of the target device, the second time interval t _B Is an interval between a reception time of the first reference signal and a transmission time of the second reference signal at a clock of the second device;

the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the second device into the time under the clock of the target device, and the first device converts the second time interval t through the clock coefficient K _B Converting to a second time interval t 'under the clock of the target device' _B And according to the first time interval t _A And a second time interval t 'under the clock of the target device' _B Determining a TOF between the target device and the second device; or,

the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the target device into the time under the clock of the second device, and the first device converts the first time interval t through the clock coefficient K _A Converting to a first time interval t 'under the clock of the second device' _A And according to the second time interval t _B And a first time interval t 'under the clock of the second device' _A A TOF between the target device and the second device is determined.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of determining the position of the first electrode is performed,

the clock coefficient is used for converting the time under the clock of the second device into the time under the clock of the target device, and the second time interval t 'under the clock of the target device' _B Satisfies the following formula (3):

t′ _B ＝K·t _B (3)；

t′ _A ＝K·t _A (4)。

10. the method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein,

the clock coefficient is used to convert time under the clock of the second device to time under the clock of the target device, and the TOF between the target device and the second device satisfies the following formula (5):

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein,

the first measurement information sent by the second device comprises the second time interval t _B The method comprises the steps of carrying out a first treatment on the surface of the And/or the number of the groups of groups,

the second measurement information sent by the third device comprises the first time interval t _A 。

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising:

the first device sends first information to the second device, wherein the first information comprises a first measurement request, the first measurement request is used for requesting the second device to send the second reference signal and/or first measurement information, and the first measurement information comprises the first receiving frequency.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first information further comprises first configuration information for configuring time-frequency resources of the second reference signal and/or time-frequency resources of the first measurement information.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the first information is carried in side-uplink control information SCI, side-uplink medium access control layer control element MAC CE or direct communication interface-radio resource control PC5-RRC information.

15. The method of any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the target device is the third device, the method further comprising:

the first device sends second information to the third device, the second information comprising a second measurement request, the second measurement request being used to request the third device to send the first reference signal and/or second measurement information, the second measurement information comprising the second receiving frequency.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the second information further comprises second configuration information for configuring time-frequency resources of the first reference signal and/or time-frequency resources of the second measurement information.

17. A method for measuring TOF between devices, comprising:

the second equipment receives a first reference signal sent by target equipment, wherein the target equipment is first equipment or third equipment;

the second device sends a second reference signal to the target device;

the second device sends first measurement information to the first device, the first measurement information includes a first receiving frequency and/or a second time interval, the first receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of the first reference signal measured by the second device, the first receiving frequency is used for determining a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device, the clock coefficient is used for performing time conversion between a clock of the target device and a clock of the second device when determining TOF between the target device and the second device, the second time interval is an interval between a receiving time of the first reference signal and a transmitting time of the second reference signal under the clock of the second device, and the second time interval is used for determining TOF between the target device and the second device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first measurement information further comprises a second transmission frequency, the second transmission frequency being a transmission frequency at which the second reference signal is transmitted by the second device, the second transmission frequency being used to determine a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein,

the second device receives first information sent by the first device, wherein the first information comprises a first measurement request, and the first measurement request is used for requesting the second device to send the second reference signal and/or the first measurement information.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first information further comprises first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure time-frequency resources of the second reference signal and/or time-frequency resources of the first measurement information.

21. The method of claim 19 or 20, wherein the first information is carried in SCI, side-uplink MAC CE or PC5-RRC information.

22. A communication device, comprising:

the processing unit is configured to obtain a first receiving frequency and a second receiving frequency, where the first receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of a first reference signal measured by a second device, the second receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of a second reference signal measured by a target device, the target device is the communication apparatus or a third device, the first reference signal is a reference signal sent by the target device to the second device, and the second reference signal is a reference signal sent by the second device to the target device;

The processing unit is used for determining a clock coefficient between the target device and the second device according to the first receiving frequency and the second receiving frequency, wherein the clock coefficient is used for performing time conversion between the clock of the target device and the clock of the second device;

the processing unit is further configured to determine a TOF between the target device and the second device based on the clock coefficient and based on the time intervals measured by the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to:

and controlling a receiving and transmitting unit to receive first measurement information sent by the second equipment, wherein the first measurement information comprises the first receiving frequency.

24. The apparatus according to claim 22 or 23, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to:

the target equipment is the communication device, and the second receiving frequency is obtained through measurement; or,

the target device is the third device, and the receiving and transmitting unit is controlled to receive second measurement information sent by the third device, where the second measurement information includes the second receiving frequency.

25. The device according to any one of claims 22 to 24, wherein,

26. A communication device, comprising:

the receiving and transmitting unit is used for receiving a first reference signal sent by target equipment, wherein the target equipment is first equipment or third equipment;

the receiving and transmitting unit is further used for transmitting a second reference signal to the target equipment;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send first measurement information to the first device, where the first measurement information includes a first receiving frequency and/or a second time interval, where the first receiving frequency is a receiving frequency of the first reference signal measured by the communication device, the first receiving frequency is used to determine a clock coefficient between the target device and the communication device, the clock coefficient is used to perform time conversion between a clock of the target device and a clock of the communication device when determining TOF between the target device and the communication device, and the second time interval is an interval between a receiving time of the first reference signal and a transmitting time of the second reference signal under the clock of the communication device.

27. A communication device, comprising: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program, the processor being adapted to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 21.

28. A chip, comprising: a processor for invoking and executing computer instructions from memory to cause a device on which the chip is mounted to perform the method of any of claims 1-21.

29. A computer readable storage medium storing computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 21.

30. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 21.