WO2023066329A1

WO2023066329A1 - Communication method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2023066329A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/126359
Authority: WO
Inventors: 高瑜; 丁梦颖; 彭金磷
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-10-20
Filing date: 2022-10-20
Publication date: 2023-04-27
Also published as: CN116017728A

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: receiving configuration information from a network device, the configuration information comprising a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource, and associated information of a bandwidth part carrying the SRS and the SRS; receiving a scheduling request from the network device for scheduling the SRS; and sending the SRS to the network device on the bandwidth part. According to the method, the transmission efficiency of an SRS is improved, so that the network communication performance is ensured.

Description

A communication method and device

This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on October 20, 2021, with application number 202111220700.8, and the title of the invention is "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application middle.

technical field

The present application relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and in particular to a communication method and device.

Background technique

In long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system and new radio interface (new radio, NR) system and other communication systems, carrier aggregation (carrier aggregation, CA) technology is introduced, so that multiple carriers can be configured for terminal equipment, improving data throughput.

The Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) is an uplink reference signal, which is sent by the terminal device to the network device. The network device can evaluate the uplink channel by measuring the SRS, and allocate uplink resources based on this evaluation . In addition, SRS can also be used for frequency selective scheduling, uplink timing of terminals, reciprocity-assisted downlink beamforming and other operations.

When the network device configures multiple uplink component carriers (CCs) for the terminal device, the terminal device can usually send the uplink sounding reference signal (SRS) in the configured uplink CC. Uplink data or uplink control signaling. The SRS is used to provide channel estimation reference for downlink data reception of the current CC. When the network device configures multiple downlink CCs for the terminal device, in the configured downlink CCs, the terminal device can usually only receive downlink data or downlink control signaling in addition to sending uplink SRS.

How to ensure effective SRS communication between terminal equipment and network equipment is a problem to be solved by industry enterprises.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present application is to provide a communication method and device to solve how to improve transmission performance during SRS communication.

It should be understood that in the solutions provided in this application, the communication device may be a wireless communication device, or may be a part of the wireless communication device, such as an integrated circuit product such as a system chip or a communication chip. A wireless communication device may be a computer device supporting a wireless communication function.

Specifically, the wireless communication device may be a terminal such as a smart phone, or a wireless access network device such as a base station. A system chip can also be called a system on chip (system on chip, SoC), or simply a SoC chip. Communication chips may include baseband processing chips and radio frequency processing chips. Baseband processing chips are also sometimes referred to as modems or baseband chips. RF processing chips are sometimes also referred to as RF transceivers or RF chips. In physical implementation, part or all of the chips in the communication chip can be integrated inside the SoC chip. For example, the baseband processing chip is integrated in the SoC chip, and the radio frequency processing chip is not integrated with the SoC chip.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, including: a communication device receives configuration information from a network device, the configuration information includes a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource, and an association between a bandwidth part bearing the SRS and the SRS Information; the communication device receives a scheduling request from the network device for scheduling the SRS; the communication device sends the SRS to the network device on the bandwidth part.

It can be understood that the SRS can also be replaced by a channel state information reference resource (CSI-RS), or a demodulation reference signal (demodulation reference resource, DMRS), or a time domain/frequency domain/phase tracking reference signal wait.

In a possible implementation manner, when there are multiple SRSs, the association information is used to associate the multiple SRSs with multiple bandwidth parts bearing the multiple SRSs.

It can be understood that, the association information between the bandwidth part and the SRS may be the correspondence between the bandwidth part and the SRS, and the correspondence may be one-to-one correspondence, or one bandwidth part may correspond to multiple SRSs, or multiple bandwidth parts may correspond to SRS. The association information can be carried in the configuration information through an index or identification, and the terminal can learn which specific bandwidth part corresponds to which SRS according to the index or identification. The corresponding relationship indicated by the index or identification can be saved in advance in the terminal device and the network in a predefined manner in the device. Alternatively, the association information may also be carried in the configuration information through a table, and the table directly or indirectly indicates the correspondence between the bandwidth part and the SRS.

When a carrier has multiple BWPs, each BWP corresponds to its own SRS resource configuration, so that when the carrier is switched, the terminal device can quickly associate with the SRS configuration on each BWP for transmission, ensuring the safety of switching SRS configurations on each carrier flexibility.

Wherein, the multiple bandwidth parts are respectively located on different carriers, or some or all of the multiple bandwidth parts are located on the same carrier, and the configuration information indicates the carrier on which at least one of the multiple bandwidth parts is located, used to transmit the SRS.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information is also used to indicate the sending timing of the SRS on the different carriers.

Implementation method one:

The configuration information may also include an offset, which is used to determine the timing relationship of sending SRS among multiple carriers. Optionally, the terminal device may receive indication information sent by the network device, which is used to indicate the relative or absolute position for sending the SRS on different carriers. For example, the network device can flexibly indicate the offset of the second location relative to the first location, and the user equipment can determine the second location by combining the first location with the above offset according to the indication information, thereby improving the flexibility of resource allocation, or To avoid the conflict of the transmission timing of SRS on different carriers.

Implementation method two:

In order to ensure the smooth flexibility of each carrier in SRS switching, the carrier to be switched indicated by the above carrier information may include a source carrier and a target carrier, so that the system can accommodate more carriers that can be used to send SRS.

In one possible implementation,

The receiving scheduling request specifically includes:

The communications device receives the scheduling request from the network device via a first carrier;

The sending SRS specifically includes:

The communication device sends the SRS to the network device via the first carrier or a second carrier, the first carrier is a source carrier, and the second carrier is a target carrier.

The above solution enables the system to accommodate a larger number of switchable carriers, thereby increasing the flexibility and effectiveness of SRS transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information is also used to indicate that the carrier has at least one or more of the following functions:

Beam management, codebook, non-codebook, antenna switching.

Exemplarily, the network device sends DCI signaling to the terminal device, through which any one or more of the above-mentioned functions required by the SRS are activated, and the required functions can be selected by the network device in real time according to the communication environment or according to the The SRS to be sent or the carrier carrying the SRS is defined in advance. Subsequently, the terminal device can sequentially transmit the SRS with the above-mentioned required functions on at least one carrier. This method can ensure that the network device configures multiple SRS functions in the configuration information, so that when the terminal device switches carriers, one or more of them can be activated through DCI to realize flexible configuration of SRS function switching.

In a possible implementation, it also includes:

The communication device sends a request to the network device, for requesting the network device to configure the SRS transmission resource for the communication device.

Through the above method, the effective transmission of the SRS can be guaranteed, thereby improving resource utilization. Taking the CA mode or cross-carrier scenario as an example, the effectiveness of SRS transmission can be improved, so that the SRS can be used efficiently and flexibly to evaluate the quality of the uplink channel. Furthermore, when the terminal device sends the reference signal, the uplink signal can continue to be sent, thereby reducing data transmission interruption and data loss caused by carrier rotation.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, including: the network device sends configuration information to the communication device, the configuration information includes Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resources, and association information between the bandwidth part carrying the SRS and the SRS The network device sends a scheduling request to the communication device for scheduling the SRS; the network device receives the SRS from the communication device on the bandwidth part.

Wherein, the multiple bandwidth parts are respectively located on different carriers, or some or all of the multiple bandwidth parts are located on the same carrier, and the configuration information specifically indicates the carrier on which at least one of the multiple bandwidth parts is located , for transmitting the SRS.

In one possible implementation,

The sending scheduling request specifically includes:

sending, by the network device, the scheduling request to the communications device via a first carrier;

The receiving SRS specifically includes:

The network device receives the SRS from the communication device via the first carrier or a second carrier, the first carrier is a source carrier, and the second carrier is a target carrier.

Beam management, codebook, non-codebook, antenna switching.

In a possible implementation, it also includes:

The network device receives a request from the communication device for requesting the network device to configure the SRS transmission resource for the communication device.

Through the above method, the network device can effectively schedule the terminal device to perform uplink transmission of the SRS, thereby improving resource utilization.

In a third aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, where the communication device implements any method provided in the first aspect or the second aspect. The communication device may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication device includes: a processor, where the processor is configured to support the communication device to execute corresponding functions of the communication device or the network device in the methods shown above. The communication device may also include a memory, which may be coupled to the processor, which holds program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, where the communication interface is used to support communication between the communication device and the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication device includes corresponding functional modules, respectively configured to implement the steps in the above method. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software through hardware. Hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions.

In a possible implementation manner, the structure of the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit, and these units can perform corresponding functions in the above-mentioned method example. For details, refer to the description in the method provided by the first aspect or the second aspect. Here I won't go into details.

In the fourth aspect, a radio frequency subsystem is also provided, including:

processor and memory;

Wherein, the memory is used to store program instructions;

The processor is configured to execute the program instructions stored in the memory, so that the radio frequency subsystem implements the method in any one of the above possible designs.

In the fifth aspect, a radio frequency subsystem is also provided, including:

Processor and interface circuits;

Wherein, the interface circuit is used for accessing a memory, and program instructions are stored in the memory;

The processor is configured to access the memory through the interface circuit, and execute program instructions stored in the memory, so that the radio frequency subsystem implements the method in any possible design above.

In the sixth aspect, a baseband subsystem is also provided, including:

processor and memory;

Wherein, the memory is used to store program instructions;

The processor is configured to execute the program instructions stored in the memory, so that the baseband subsystem implements the method in any one of the above possible designs.

In the seventh aspect, a baseband subsystem is also provided, including:

Processor and interface circuits;

The processor is configured to access the memory through the interface circuit, and execute program instructions stored in the memory, so that the baseband subsystem implements the method in any one of the above possible designs.

In an eighth aspect, a wireless communication device is provided, which may include: a storage unit for storing program instructions; a processing unit for executing the program instructions in the storage unit, so as to realize the above-mentioned various technical solutions. Any one of the possible design methods.

Wherein, the storage unit may be a memory, such as a volatile memory, for caching these program instructions, and these program instructions may be loaded into the storage unit from other non-volatile memories when the data scheduling method is running. Certainly, the storage unit may also be a non-volatile memory, which is also integrated inside the chip. The processing unit may be a processor, such as one or more processing cores of a chip.

In a ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, where computer-readable instructions are stored in the computer-readable medium, and when a computer reads and executes the computer-readable instructions, the communication device is made to perform any one of the above-mentioned possible method in design.

In a tenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, and when the computer reads and executes the computer program product, the communication device executes the method in any one of the above possible designs.

In an eleventh aspect, a chip is provided, the chip is connected to a memory, and is used to read and execute a software program stored in the memory, so as to implement the method in any one of the above possible designs.

In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, including a communication device configured to implement any possible design in the foregoing first aspect and a network device configured to implement any possible design in the foregoing second aspect.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of another wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3a is a schematic diagram of carrier configuration of a wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3b is a schematic diagram of a bandwidth part provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow diagram of an SRS switching operation provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions provided by the present application will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and examples. It should be understood that the system structure and business scenarios provided in the embodiments of the present application are mainly for explaining some possible implementations of the technical solution of the present application, and should not be interpreted as a unique limitation on the technical solution of the present application. Those skilled in the art may know that with the evolution of the system and the emergence of newer business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in this application are still applicable to the same or similar technical problems.

In a wireless communication system, devices can be divided into devices that provide wireless network services and devices that use wireless network services. Devices that provide wireless network services refer to those devices that make up a wireless communication network, which can be referred to as network equipment or network elements for short. Network equipment usually belongs to operators or infrastructure providers and is operated or maintained by these vendors. Network equipment can be further divided into radio access network (radio access network, RAN) equipment and core network (core network, CN) equipment. Typical RAN equipment includes a base station (base station, BS).

It should be understood that sometimes the base station may also be called a wireless access point (access point, AP), or a transmission reception point (transmission reception point, TRP). Specifically, the base station may be a generalized Node B (generation Node B, gNB) in a 5G NR system, or an evolved Node B (evolved Node B, eNB) in a 4G LTE system. According to the physical form or transmission power of the base station, the base station can be divided into a macro base station or a micro base station. Micro base stations are also sometimes referred to as small base stations or small cells.

A communication device using a wireless network service may be referred to as a terminal device (terminal) for short. The terminal equipment can establish a connection with the network equipment, and provide users with specific wireless communication services based on the services of the network equipment. It should be understood that, because the relationship between the terminal equipment and the user is closer, it is sometimes called user equipment (user equipment, UE), or a subscriber unit (subscriber unit, SU). In addition, compared with base stations that are usually placed at fixed locations, terminal equipment often moves with users, and is sometimes called a mobile station (mobile station, MS). In addition, some network devices, such as a relay node (relay node, RN) or a wireless router, etc., can sometimes be considered as terminal devices because they have a UE identity or belong to a user.

Specifically, the terminal device can be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (tablet computer), a laptop computer (laptop computer), a wearable device (such as a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a smart helmet, and smart glasses), and Other devices with wireless access capabilities, such as smart cars, various Internet of things (IOT) devices, including various smart home devices (such as smart meters and smart home appliances) and smart city devices (such as security or monitoring equipment , intelligent road traffic facilities), etc.

For the convenience of expression, in this application, a base station and a terminal will be taken as examples to describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application in detail.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a possible radio access network according to the embodiment of the present application. The RAN includes one or more network devices 20 . The radio access network may be connected to a core network. The network device 20 may be any device with a wireless transceiver function. The network device 20 includes but is not limited to: a base station (such as a base station BS, a base station NodeB, an evolved base station eNodeB or eNB, a base station gNodeB or gNB in a fifth-generation 5G communication system, a base station in a future communication system, a base station in a WiFi system, etc. access nodes, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes), etc. The base station may be: a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small station, a relay station, etc. Multiple base stations may support the aforementioned networks of the same technology, or may support the aforementioned networks of different technologies. The base station may include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission reception points (transmission reception point, TRP). The network device 20 may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (central unit, CU) or a distributed unit (distributed unit, DU) in a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario. The network device 20 can also be a server, a wearable device, or a vehicle-mounted device. In the following, the network device 20 is taken as an example for description. The multiple network devices 20 may be base stations of the same type, or base stations of different types. The base station can communicate with the terminal 10, and can also communicate with the terminal 10 through a relay station. The terminal 10 can support communication with multiple base stations of different technologies. For example, the terminal can support communication with a base station supporting an LTE network, can also support communication with a base station supporting a 5G network, and can also support communication with a base station supporting an LTE network and a base station supporting a 5G network. Dual connectivity for base stations.

According to different transmission directions, a transmission link from a terminal device to a base station is marked as an uplink (uplink, UL), and a transmission link from a base station to a terminal device is marked as a downlink (downlink, DL). Similarly, data transmission in the uplink may be abbreviated as uplink data transmission or uplink transmission, and data transmission in the downlink may be abbreviated as downlink data transmission or downlink transmission.

In the wireless communication system, the base station can provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area through an integrated or external antenna device. One or more terminal devices within the communication coverage of the base station can access the base station. One base station can manage one or more cells.

Terminal equipment and base stations should know the predefined configuration of the wireless communication system, including the radio access technology (radio access technology, RAT) supported by the system and the wireless resource configuration specified by the system, such as the basic configuration of the radio frequency band and carrier. The carrier is a frequency range that complies with system regulations. This frequency range can be jointly determined by the center frequency of the carrier (referred to as the carrier frequency) and the bandwidth of the carrier. The predefined configurations of these systems can be pre-stored in the memory of the terminal equipment and the base station, or embodied as hardware circuits or software codes of the terminal equipment and the base station, or determined through interaction between the terminal equipment and the base station.

In this wireless communication system, the terminal equipment and the base station support one or more of the same RAT, such as 5G NR, 4G LTE, or the RAT of the future evolution system. Specifically, the terminal device and the base station use the same air interface parameters, coding scheme, modulation scheme, etc., and communicate with each other based on the wireless resources specified by the system.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of an example architecture of a communication system. As shown in FIG. 2 , the network equipment in the radio access network RAN is a base station (such as gNB) with a CU and DU separation architecture. The RAN may be connected to the core network (for example, it may be the core network of LTE, or the core network of 5G, etc.). CU and DU can be understood as the division of the base station from the perspective of logical functions. CU and DU can be physically separated or deployed together. The functionality of the RAN terminates at the CU. Multiple DUs can share one. One DU can also be connected to multiple CUs (not shown in the figure). The CU and the DU may be connected through an interface, such as an F1 interface. CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol layer of the wireless network. For example, the functions of packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) layer are set in CU, while radio link control (radio link control, RLC), media access control (medium access control, MAC) layer, physical (physical) layer and other functions are set in DU. It can be understood that the division of the CU and DU processing functions according to this protocol layer is only an example, and may also be divided in other ways. For example, a CU or DU can be divided into functions with more protocol layers. For example, a CU or DU can also be divided into some processing functions having a protocol layer. In one design, some functions of the RLC layer and functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are set in the DU. In another design, the functions of the CU or DU may also be divided according to service types or other system requirements. For example, according to delay, the functions whose processing time needs to meet the delay requirement are set in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement are set in the CU. The network architecture shown in FIG. 2 can be applied to a 5G communication system, and it can also share one or more components or resources with the LTE system. In another design, the CU may also have one or more functions of the core network. One or more CUs can be set centrally or separately. For example, the CU can be set on the network side to facilitate centralized management. The DU can have multiple radio functions, or the radio functions can be set remotely.

The function of the CU can be realized by one entity, or the control plane (CP) and the user plane (UP) can be further separated, that is, the control plane (CU-CP) and the user plane (CU-UP) of the CU can have different functions entity, and the CU-CP and CU-UP can be coupled with the DU to jointly complete the functions of the base station.

Fig. 3a is a schematic diagram of carrier configuration of a wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the wireless communication system, the base station configures two carrier sets for the terminal equipment, which are respectively denoted as the first carrier set and the second carrier set. Wherein, the first set of carriers may be used for uplink carrier aggregation; the second set of carriers may be used for downlink carrier aggregation. Alternatively, the first set of carriers may be used for downlink carrier aggregation; the second set of carriers may be used for uplink carrier aggregation. Carriers included in a carrier set may be referred to as component carriers (CCs).

It should be understood that in this application, one carrier may correspond to one serving cell (serving cell) of the terminal device. In a Chinese context, a component carrier is sometimes called a component carrier or a component carrier, and a serving cell may be called a cell for short. Unless otherwise specified, in this application, the terms "carrier", "component carrier", "aggregated carrier", "aggregated component carrier", "serving cell", "cell", "one of PCell or SCell", "One of PCC or SCC" and "aggregated carrier" can be used interchangeably.

A carrier wave is a radio wave of a specific frequency, an electromagnetic wave that can be modulated in frequency, amplitude, or phase to transmit speech, music, images, or other signals.

When the embodiment of the present application is applied to time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), the uplink carrier used by the terminal device for uplink transmission and the downlink carrier used for downlink transmission are the same carrier. The included carrier may be the same carrier as the carrier included in the second carrier set.

Uplink resources can be understood as carriers (including carriers in non-CA scenarios and carriers in CA scenarios), that is, the uplink resources can be the part used for uplink transmission on the carrier, or uplink resources can also be understood as cells (including CA scenarios The part used for uplink transmission in the cell under the CA scenario and the cell in the non-CA scenario), that is, the uplink resource may be the part used in the uplink transmission in the cell. The CC in the CA scenario can be the primary CC or the secondary CC, and the cell in the CA scenario can be the primary cell (Primary Cell, PCell) or the secondary cell (Secondary Cell, Scell). The uplink resource may also be called an uplink carrier. Correspondingly, the part of the carrier or the cell used for downlink transmission can be understood as a downlink resource or a downlink carrier. For example, in frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD), the frequency resource used for uplink transmission on the carrier can be understood as the uplink resource or the uplink carrier; the frequency resource used for downlink transmission on the carrier can be understood as the downlink resource or downlink carrier. For another example, in TDD, the time-domain resources used for uplink transmission on a carrier can be understood as the uplink resources or uplink carriers; the time-domain resources used for downlink transmission on the carriers can be understood as downlink resources or downlink carriers. Alternatively, the duplex modes of different carriers can also be flexibly configured, that is, the duplex modes can be configured as all FDD, or all TDD, or FDD and TDD coexist.

Generally speaking, the bandwidth of a carrier in NR is wider than that of LTE. For example, the carrier bandwidth of NR can be 100MHz, and different terminals have different radio frequency capabilities, and the maximum bandwidth they can support is different. Therefore, the bandwidth part ( bandwidth part, BWP) concept. The bandwidth (bandwidth) may be a continuous resource in the frequency domain. Bandwidth may sometimes be called BWP, carrier bandwidth part, subband bandwidth, narrowband bandwidth, or other names, which are not limited in this application. For example, a BWP includes continuous K (K>0) subcarriers; or, a BWP is a frequency domain resource where N (N>0) non-overlapping continuous resource blocks (resource blocks, RBs) are located, and the RB's The subcarrier spacing can be 15KHz, 30KHz, 60KHz, 120KHz, 240KHz, 480KHz or other values; or, a BWP is the frequency where M (M>0) non-overlapping continuous resource block groups (resource block group, RBG) are located domain resources, one RBG includes P (P>0) consecutive RBs, and the subcarrier spacing of the RBs can be 15KHz, 30KHz, 60KHz, 120KHz, 240KHz, 480KHz or other values.

Figure 3b shows a schematic diagram of the BWP. BWP is a group of continuous RB resources on the carrier. Different BWPs may occupy partially overlapping frequency domain resources with different bandwidths, or bandwidth resources with different numerology, and may not overlap each other in the frequency domain. Take a terminal device that can be configured with up to 4 BWPs as an example, for example, 4 BWPs under frequency division duplexing (FDD), and 4 BWPs under time division duplexing (TDD). One BWP can be activated on each carrier at the same time, and terminals can transmit and receive data on the activated BWP based on the side link.

As shown in Figure 3a, the second carrier set includes 1 CC, denoted as CC 1. The first carrier set includes 4 component carriers, denoted as CC 1 to CC 4. It should be understood that the number of CCs included in the first carrier set and the second carrier set is for illustrative purposes only, and in the embodiment of the present application, the first carrier set and the second carrier set may also include other numbers of CCs.

In the embodiment of the present application, the CCs included in the first carrier set may be continuous in the frequency domain and located in the same frequency band (band). For example, as shown in FIG. 3a, the first carrier set includes four component carriers CC 1 to CC 4 all located in the same frequency band and continuous in the frequency domain.

Further, the CCs included in the first carrier set are TDD carriers. Among the CCs included in the first carrier set, there is at least one CC that is not configured with at least one of a physical uplink control channel (physical uplink control channel, PUCCH) and a physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH). item, a carrier not configured with a PUSCH may be called a PUSCH-less carrier, and a carrier not configured with a PUCCH may be called a PUCCH-less carrier.

It should be noted that, for a downlink CC that is not configured with a PUCCH or a PUSCH, the terminal device may send an SRS therein for performing channel estimation for receiving downlink data on the downlink CC. For example, the above solution can be used in a TDD scenario. When the terminal device sends the SRS through the downlink CC, it needs to interrupt the data transmission in the uplink CC. After the SRS transmission is completed, the terminal device switches back to the uplink CC to resume the uplink data transmission. The process in which the terminal equipment rotates the SRS in multiple downlink CCs is called carrier rotation.

Wherein, the SRS switching operation is sometimes also referred to as SRS carrier switching, SRS switching, or carrier switching. For example, in FIG. 3a, the first carrier set configured by the base station for the terminal device includes 4 CCs. However, the terminal device may not be able to transmit SRSs on these 4 CCs at the same time, so it needs to perform SRS handover operation. For example, a terminal device may first send data or SRS on CC1, then switch to CC2, and send SRS on CC2. Wherein, during the process of switching from CC1 to CC2, the data transmission of CC1 may be interrupted. The longer the interruption time of data transmission, the greater the impact on system performance, so it is necessary to reduce the interruption time of data transmission caused by the SRS switching operation.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of an SRS handover operation. In FIG. 4 , the base station configures three downlink CCs and one uplink CC for the terminal equipment as an example for illustration. As shown in FIG. 4 , a time slot may include 14 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, OFDM) symbols, which are marked as symbol 0 to symbol 13 respectively. The base station configures three downlink CCs for the terminal equipment, namely CC 1, CC 2 and CC 3, and the configured uplink CC is marked as CC 0. First, in symbol 1, the terminal device sends SRS through CC 1; then, after the data transmission of symbol 2 is completed, the terminal device switches to CC 2, and in symbol 3 sends SRS through CC 2; after that, the terminal device switches to CC 2 CC 2, and send SRS through CC 2 in symbol 3; after that, the terminal device switches to CC 3, and sends SRS through CC 3 in symbol 6.

The above is just an example, and SRSs in different carriers may also be sent in different time slots. For example, in time slot 1, the end-device transmits SRS through CC 1; then, the end-device switches to CC 2 and transmits SRS through CC 2 in time slot 2.

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a terminal device or a base station in the embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, the communication device may include an application subsystem, a memory (memory), a large-capacity storage (massive storage), a baseband subsystem, a radio frequency integrated circuit (radio frequency integrated circuit, RFIC), a radio frequency front end (radio frequency front end, RFFE) devices, and antennas (antenna, ANT), these devices can be coupled through various interconnection buses or other electrical connections.

In FIG. 5 , ANT_1 represents the first antenna, and so on, and ANT_N represents the Nth antenna, where N is a positive integer greater than 1. Tx represents the sending path, Rx represents the receiving path, and different numbers represent different paths. FBRx represents a feedback receiving path, PRx represents a main receiving path, and DRx represents a diversity receiving path. HB means high frequency, LB means low frequency, both refer to the relative high and low frequencies. BB means baseband. It should be understood that the symbols and components in FIG. 5 are for illustrative purposes only, and are only used as a possible implementation manner, and the embodiment of the present application also includes other implementation manners.

Among them, the application subsystem can be used as the main control system or the main computing system of the communication device, used to run the main operating system and application programs, manage the software and hardware resources of the entire communication device, and provide the user with a user interface. An application subsystem may include one or more processing cores. In addition, the application subsystem may also include driver software related to other subsystems (such as the baseband subsystem). The baseband subsystem may also include one or more processing cores, as well as a hardware accelerator (hardware accelerator, HAC), cache, and the like.

In Figure 5, the RFFE device, RFIC 1 (and optional RFIC 2) can together form a radio frequency subsystem. The RF subsystem can be further divided into RF receive path (RF receive path) and RF transmit path (RF transmit path). The radio frequency receiving channel can receive the radio frequency signal through the antenna, process the radio frequency signal (such as amplifying, filtering and down-converting) to obtain the baseband signal, and transmit it to the baseband subsystem. The radio frequency transmission channel can receive the baseband signal from the baseband subsystem, perform radio frequency processing (such as up-conversion, amplification and filtering) on the baseband signal to obtain a radio frequency signal, and finally radiate the radio frequency signal into space through the antenna. Specifically, the radio frequency subsystem may include an antenna switch, an antenna tuner, a low noise amplifier (low noise amplifier, LNA), a power amplifier (power amplifier, PA), a mixer (mixer), a local oscillator (local oscillator, LO ), filters and other electronic devices, these electronic devices can be integrated into one or more chips as required. Antennas are also sometimes considered part of the RF subsystem.

The baseband subsystem can extract useful information or data bits from baseband signals, or convert information or data bits into baseband signals to be transmitted. These information or data bits may be data representing user data such as voice, text, video, or control information. For example, the baseband subsystem can implement signal processing operations such as modulation and demodulation, encoding and decoding. For different radio access technologies, such as 5G NR and 4G LTE, they often have not exactly the same baseband signal processing operations. Therefore, in order to support the integration of multiple mobile communication modes, the baseband subsystem may simultaneously include multiple processing cores, or multiple HACs.

In addition, since the radio frequency signal is an analog signal, the signal processed by the baseband subsystem is mainly a digital signal, and an analog-to-digital conversion device is also required in the communication device. Analog to digital conversion devices include an analog to digital converter (analog to digital converter, ADC) that converts an analog signal into a digital signal, and a digital to analog converter (digital to analog converter, DAC) that converts a digital signal to an analog signal. In the embodiment of the present application, the analog-to-digital conversion device may be set in the baseband subsystem, or may be set in the radio frequency subsystem.

It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the processing core may represent a processor, and the processor may be a general-purpose processor or a processor designed for a specific field. For example, the processor may be a central processing unit (center processing unit, CPU), or a digital signal processor (digital signal processor, DSP). Memory can be divided into volatile memory (volatile memory) and non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory, NVM).

In the embodiment of the present application, the baseband subsystem and the radio frequency subsystem together form a communication subsystem, which provides a wireless communication function for a communication device. Usually, the baseband subsystem is responsible for managing the hardware and software resources of the communication subsystem, and can configure the working parameters of the radio frequency subsystem. One or more processing cores of the baseband subsystem may be integrated into one or more chips, which may be called baseband processing chips or baseband chips. Similarly, an RFIC may be called a radio frequency processing chip or a radio frequency chip. In addition, as the technology evolves, the functional division of the RF subsystem and the baseband subsystem in the communication subsystem can also be adjusted. For example, some functions of the radio frequency subsystem are integrated into the baseband subsystem, or some functions of the baseband subsystem are integrated into the radio frequency subsystem. In practical applications, based on requirements of application scenarios, the communication device may use a combination of different numbers and types of processing cores.

In the embodiment of the present application, the radio frequency subsystem may include an independent antenna, an independent radio frequency front end (RF front end, RFFE) device, and an independent radio frequency chip. RF chips are sometimes called receivers, transmitters or transceivers. Antennas, RF front-end devices, and RF processing chips can all be manufactured and sold separately. Of course, the radio frequency subsystem can also use different devices or different integration methods based on power consumption and performance requirements. For example, if some devices belonging to the radio frequency front end are integrated into the radio frequency chip, and even the antenna and the radio frequency front end devices are integrated into the radio frequency chip, the radio frequency chip can also be called a radio frequency antenna module or an antenna module.

In the embodiment of the present application, the baseband subsystem may be an independent chip, and the chip may be called a modem (modem) chip. The hardware components of the baseband subsystem can be manufactured and sold in units of modem chips. Modem chips are sometimes called baseband chips or baseband processors. In addition, the baseband subsystem can also be further integrated into the SoC chip, and manufactured and sold in units of the SoC chip. The software components of the baseband subsystem can be built into the hardware components of the chip before the chip leaves the factory, or can be imported into the hardware components of the chip from other non-volatile memories after the chip leaves the factory, or can be downloaded online through the network and update these software components.

It should be noted that the network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute limitations on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. It can be seen that with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

Generally speaking, the terminal device generates and sends SRS on a specific physical resource according to the preset known sequence, and the base station can estimate the channel matrix through the received SRS on the specific physical resource according to the known sequence, which is used for uplink Data scheduling or downlink data scheduling using channel reciprocity. Exemplarily, a ZC sequence may be used to generate an SRS. SRS can be located on one or more OFDM symbols in a time slot, can occupy all subcarriers in the system bandwidth, and can also occupy part of the subcarriers in the system bandwidth in a comb-tooth form, thereby improving network resource utilization. System bandwidth refers to the frequency domain range in which base stations and terminal equipment send and receive signals when communicating. The system bandwidth in this embodiment of the present application may be understood as one CC, or one BWP, etc., where one CC may include multiple BWPs.

In a multi-carrier aggregation scenario, the number of downlink carriers may be different from the number of uplink carriers. For example, the number of uplink supported carriers is 1 to 2, and the number of downlink supported carriers is 2 to 8. Assume that the network device configures 4 downlink carriers and 1 uplink carrier for the terminal device. In this case, if the downlink CSI measurement is to be performed through SRS according to the channel reciprocity, the terminal device may need to be switched on the carrier, so that Send SRS to network devices.

When the number of downlink CCs is greater than the number of uplink CCs, the terminal may not be able to obtain downlink beamforming (Beamforming) gain by sending the SRS. For example, when a TDD carrier is configured, the terminal cannot perform uplink transmission on some TDD carriers due to the limited capability of the terminal. If based on the downlink CSI-RS reported to the base station, the base station cannot accurately obtain the channel of the downlink carrier. At this time, SRS switching (switching) can be performed, that is, periodic or aperiodic SRS transmission can be performed by switching TDD carriers. For example, on a downlink carrier that is not configured with PUCCH or PUSCH, the terminal device can send SRS to perform channel estimation for receiving downlink data on the downlink carrier, so as to use the channel measurement performance of SRS and the interaction between uplink and downlink channels in TDD scenarios. portability, assisting in downlink transmission based on the carrier. In other words, the terminal can transmit SRS across carriers, so that each CC can obtain SRS measurement. Usually, when switching carriers to send SRS, a guard time interval is required. Taking a terminal switching from a PUSCH carrier to a PUSCH-less carrier to send SRS as an example, a period of SRS switching time is required, and the terminal cannot perform uplink transmission to the network device during this period, resulting in blocked communication process and reduced user experience. Furthermore, if the uplink transmission or downlink reception of the terminal conflicts with the SRS transmission of carrier switching within the guard time interval, the terminal behavior needs to be determined according to the priority. Assuming that the terminal does not have the ability to simultaneously receive and transmit multiple carriers, and the SRS transmission on carrier 1 conflicts with the synchronization signal block (Synchronization Signal and PBCH block, SSB) or control resource set (CORESET) on carrier 2, The terminal considers that the carrier switching SRS does not take effect, that is, it cannot switch from carrier 1 to carrier 2 for SRS transmission.

In addition, the SRS can be sent periodically in the time domain, and the sending period and offset are usually defined, and the SRS will be sent periodically in the periodic time domain. The SRS can also be sent aperiodically in the time domain. One possibility is to indicate the SRS sending time or time-frequency domain resources through DCI signaling, and the SRS will be sent instantaneously in the periodic time-frequency domain position. Generally speaking, the terminal device first needs to switch the BWP, and then send the SRS to the network device according to the received DCI or SRS request, which will result in long time for sending the SRS across carriers.

As the amount of uplink data increases, the base station needs to improve the effectiveness of SRS handover in order to obtain uplink channel information in a timely manner, so as to perform channel assessment. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application mainly solves how to ensure the effective transmission of the SRS, so as to evaluate the quality of the uplink channel and improve network performance.

In combination with the foregoing description, as shown in FIG. 6 , it is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In Figure 6, the interaction between a network device and a communication device (taking a terminal device as an example) is used as an example for illustration. The operations performed by the network device can also be performed by chips or modules inside the network device, and the operations performed by the terminal device can also be performed by Chip or module execution inside the end device. Referring to Figure 6, the method includes:

601: The terminal device receives configuration information from the network device.

Wherein, the configuration information includes sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, and association information between a bandwidth part (BWP) carrying the SRS and the SRS.

603: The terminal device receives a scheduling request from the network device to schedule the SRS.

605: The terminal device sends the SRS to the network device in the bandwidth part.

It should be noted that the SRS is taken as an example in the embodiment of the present application, and it can be understood that the SRS can also be replaced by a CSI-RS, or a DMRS, or a time domain/frequency domain/phase tracking reference signal, etc. Among them, the CSI-RS can be used to acquire channel information to perform CSI measurement and reporting of known signals. DMRS can be used for known signals that are used for channel estimation during shared channel or control channel reception.

In the embodiment of the present application, the network device may send the configuration information in various ways, for example, the network device may send the configuration information through an RRC message. The configuration information may be a configuration parameter in the RRC message, such as an uplink configuration (uplinkconfig) parameter, and the configuration parameter may indicate one or more of frequency domain resources for sending SRS, such as BWP and/or carrier, and information such as period, configuration information It can also indicate the sending timing of the SRS, and the sending timing can indicate the time information occupied by the SRS in the BWP and/or the carrier, such as the symbol position and number of symbols of the occupied symbols, or the slot position and number of slots of the occupied slots, etc. Time unit information. The RRC message may be an RRC connection establishment message or an RRC connection reconfiguration message, which is used for establishing or reestablishing RRC sent by the network device to the terminal device in the radio resource control procedure. The RRC message may be, for example, RRC connection configuration (connection setup) or RRC connection reconfiguration (connection reconfiguration) or RRC connection re-establishment (connection establishment) signaling.

Specifically, the configuration information may indicate that the carrier where the bandwidth part is located is used to transmit the SRS. For example, the above configuration information indicates that the carrier sending the SRS can at least adopt any one or more of the following methods:

1. The configuration information further includes carrier information, and the carrier information is associated with the bandwidth part to be used for sending the SRS.

2. The configuration information further includes carrier information, the carrier information indicates the carrier to be used for sending the SRS, and the carrier has a bandwidth part associated with the SRS sending.

3. The configuration information further includes carrier information and a bandwidth part, the bandwidth part is located on the carrier and is to be used for sending the SRS.

Exemplarily, the above carrier information may indicate one or more carriers used to send SRS, when one carrier is indicated, the carrier may be used to send one or more SRS; when multiple carriers are indicated, the multiple carriers may also be Can be used to send one or more SRS. The multiple SRSs mentioned above may be the same or different SRSs. For example, the same or different SRSs may be sent based on different BWPs of the same carrier, or may be sent based on BWPs of different carriers. The same carrier can have one or more BWPs, and each BWP can correspond to its own SRS resource configuration, so that when the carrier is switched, the terminal device can quickly associate with the SRS configuration on each BWP on different carriers for transmission, ensuring that each Flexibility to switch SRS configurations on a carrier.

Further, the configuration information is also used to indicate the transmission timing of each SRS on the respective carrier, and different implementations will be described in detail below.

Implementation method one:

Taking sending the first SRS and the second SRS as an example, the offset may be an offset value and/or an offset direction between the first location where the first SRS is sent and the second location where the second SRS is sent.

Optionally, in terms of the time-frequency domain, the granularity of the offset value can be resource element (resource element, RE), RB, RBG, slot (slot), symbol (symbol), subcarrier (subcarrier) or subbandwidth (sub band) and so on.

Specifically, the granularity of the offset value may be a unit used when calculating the offset value between the first position and the second position. For example, in terms of the frequency domain, the second position is the first position moved up or down by N RBs, and the granularity of the offset value at this time is RB; in the time domain, the second position is also the first position moved up or down Move down N timeslots, and the granularity of the offset value is timeslots. It can be understood that the upward shift means an shift toward an increase in frequency or an earlier time, and the lower shift means an shift toward a lower frequency or a later time.

Optionally, the second position may be corresponding to the first position, for example, if the first position is the starting position of the first carrier, then the second position is the starting position of the second carrier; if the first If the position is the center position of the first carrier, then the second position is the center position of the second carrier; if the first position is the end position of the first carrier, then the second position is the end position of the second carrier. Or, the second position does not correspond to the first position, for example, the first position is the start position of the first carrier, and the second position is the end position or the center position of the carrier. This application does not limit this.

Taking three carriers as an example, carrier 0 is the carrier on which the terminal receives the DCI and sends the zeroth SRS, and carrier 1 and carrier 2 are the carriers on which the terminal sends the first SRS and the second SRS respectively. The offset indicates the time domain position of carrier 1 sending the first SRS relative to receiving DCI on carrier 0, the time domain position of carrier 2 sending the second SRS relative to carrier 0 receiving DCI, or the time domain position of carrier 2 sending the second SRS relative to carrier 0 The time domain position of the first SRS transmitted on carrier 1, and the time domain position of the zeroth SRS transmitted on carrier 0 relative to the first SRS transmitted on carrier 1.

Implementation method two:

Taking at least two carriers as an example, the configuration information includes first carrier information and second carrier information, the first carrier information is used to indicate that the first carrier is a source carrier for SRS handover, and the second carrier information is used to indicate that the second carrier is an SRS The target carrier for handover. It can be understood that the source carrier may be a carrier on which the terminal receives DCI or configuration information, and the target carrier is a carrier on which the terminal sends SRS.

Optionally, at least one of the first carrier information and the second carrier information includes a cell identifier and/or a carrier identifier. The cell identifier is used to identify a cell, for example, a cell index (cell index), a secondary cell index (SCellIndex) or other information that can be used to identify a cell. The carrier identifier is used to identify the carrier, such as component carrier index (CC index), uplink index (UL index), secondary cell supplementary uplink (supplementary uplink, SUL) uplink index (SCellSULIndex) or other information that can be used to identify the carrier. Wherein, SCellSULIndex is an identifier of an uplink carrier, and this application does not limit the representation and name of the cell identifier and the carrier identifier.

Optionally, at least one of the first carrier information and the second carrier information is a new carrier indicator field (new carrier indicator field, NCIF) identifier. It can be understood that the NCIF identifier is used to indicate the first carrier and/or the second carrier, which may also have other names, for example, carrier indicator field CIF, new air interface carrier indicator field NR CIF, which is not limited in this application.

The method of cell identity and/or carrier identity can be used to indicate the source carrier of SRS handover and/or the target carrier of SRS handover.

Exemplarily, the carrier information may be SRS carrier switching information (SRS-CarrierSwitching), which may indicate carrier configuration, such as including a source carrier and a target carrier. Take the parameter configuration on Carrier 0, Carrier 1, Carrier 2, and Carrier 3 as an example, where the source carrier is Carrier 0, and the combination of four switching carriers can be set through the carrier group index (cc-SetIndex) in SRS-CarrierSwitching For example, combination 1 is carrier 0, carrier 2, carrier 1, and carrier 3; combination 2 is carrier 2, carrier 1, carrier 3, and carrier 0; combination 3 is carrier 1, carrier 3, carrier 0, and carrier 2 ; Combination 4 is Carrier, Carrier 3, Carrier 0, Carrier 2, and Carrier 1. Further, the carrier switching sequence is set through the intra-group carrier index (cc-IndexInOneCC-Set) in the SRS-CarrierSwitching, and the above switching combinations of combination 1 to combination 4 may be referred to. For example, for combination 2, as far as carriers 0-3 are concerned, the switching sequence indicated by their respective corresponding intra-group carrier indexes is carrier 2, carrier 1, carrier 3, and carrier 0 in sequence. Further, the serving cell for the network device to send the SRS request to the terminal device may also be set through a cell monitoring (monitoringCells) parameter in the SRS-CarrierSwitching.

Specifically, it is assumed that cc-SetIndex indicates combination 2, that is, the default switching sequence is carrier 2, carrier 1, carrier 3, and carrier 0 in turn. When the terminal device is currently camping on carrier 0, based on combination 2, the actual carrier switching sequence is carrier 0, carrier 2, carrier 1, and carrier 3; when the terminal device is currently camping on carrier 1, the actual carrier switching sequence is carrier 1 , Carrier 2, Carrier 3, Carrier. And so on, no more details.

It should be noted that this application does not limit the indication form of the bandwidth part or carrier in the configuration information. The above-mentioned bandwidth part or carrier can be indicated as an index number or serial number, etc., as long as any identification or mark used to identify the bandwidth part or carrier All within the protection scope of this application.

Optionally, when there are multiple SRSs, the association information is used to associate the multiple SRSs with multiple bandwidth parts carrying the multiple SRSs. Wherein, the multiple bandwidth parts are respectively located on different carriers, or part or all of the multiple bandwidth parts are located on the same carrier. At this point, the configuration information may indicate the carrier on which at least one of the multiple bandwidth parts is located, for SRS transmission.

In the embodiment of the present application, the SRS resource above defines a time-frequency resource for sending the SRS. Each SRS resource is usually configured with one or more of the following parameters:

SRS resource index value: When multiple SRS resources are configured, the SRS resources are distinguished by the index value.

Number of SRS ports: Taking UE as an example, usually the number of SRS ports of a UE can be the number of transmit antennas of the UE. At this time, each SRS port corresponds to a UE transmit antenna; each SRS port can correspond to a space reservation of the transmit antenna. The encoding vector, that is, can correspond to a spatial beamforming method. Usually, the SRS signals of multiple SRS ports on one SRS resource occupy the same time-frequency resource and are multiplexed in a code division manner. For example, SRS signals of different SRS ports use different cyclic shifts (Cyclic shift, CS).

The time domain position occupied by the SRS: configuration information of the time domain cycle or offset.

SRS transmission bandwidth.

CS value: the number of bits that the sequence is cyclically shifted in the time domain. On the same time-frequency resource, when the time-frequency resources of the SRS are subcarriers distributed at equal intervals, different SRS signals of different SRS ports can avoid mutual interference through the orthogonal method of code division multiplexing, which can achieved by cyclic shifting. When the delay spread of the channel is very small, the CS can basically realize code division orthogonality. Through specific operations, the receiving end can eliminate signals using other CSs and retain only signals using a specific CS, thereby implementing code division multiplexing.

Transmission comb tooth degree T and comb tooth displacement β: used to determine the subcarrier position occupied by the SRS within the transmission bandwidth. For example, the transmission comb degree T indicates that within the transmission bandwidth, one subcarrier out of every two subcarriers is used to transmit SRS, and the comb displacement β can be configured as 0 or 1; the transmission comb degree T of 4 indicates that within the transmission bandwidth , one of every four subcarriers is used to send SRS, and the comb tooth displacement β can be configured as 0 or 1 or 2 or 3.

SRS sequence index value: Network equipment usually defines multiple SRS sequences, and assigns each sequence to different UEs to reduce interference between multiple users.

Spatial filtering parameters: used to indicate the beamforming method.

Optionally, the terminal device receiving the scheduling request from the network device specifically includes: the terminal device receiving the scheduling request from the network device via the first carrier. The foregoing terminal device sending the SRS to the network device specifically includes: the terminal device sending the SRS to the network device via the first carrier or the second carrier. Wherein, the above-mentioned first carrier is a source carrier, and the second carrier is a target carrier.

In an implementation manner, the network device may send downlink control information (DCI) including the scheduling request to the terminal device, and the DCI is used to trigger the terminal device to send an SRS to the network device. Combined with the configuration information in the RRC signaling issued by the network device, the terminal device can obtain the time-frequency domain resource for sending the SRS in time, so as to quickly send the SRS. Assuming that the base station instructs the terminal to send three SRSs such as SRS0, SRS1, and SRS2 through DCI, the terminal confirms that SRS0 corresponds to BWP0, SRS1 corresponds to BWP1, and SRS2 corresponds to BWP2 through the configuration information carrying the bandwidth part of the SRS and the association information of the SRS. , so that the terminal can transmit different SRSs based on different BWPs. Further, the terminal can also associate the BWP with the respective carriers through the carrier information indicated in the configuration information, and then combine the carrier transmission timing and/or offset information in the configuration information to determine the timing of SRS transmission based on different carriers. It can be understood that different SRSs can be scheduled through at least one DCI, thereby saving air interface signaling overhead.

Further, the network device sends configuration information to the terminal, and the configuration information may also indicate that the carrier has the following functions: beam management, codebook, non-codebook, and antenna switching. The network device sends DCI signaling to the terminal device, through which any one or more of the above-mentioned functions required by the SRS are activated. The required functions can be selected by the network device in real time according to the communication environment or according to the SRS to be sent or The carrier carrying the SRS is defined in advance. Subsequently, the terminal device can sequentially transmit the SRS with the above-mentioned required functions on at least one carrier. This method can ensure that the network device configures multiple SRS functions in the configuration information, so that when the terminal device switches carriers, one or more of them can be activated through DCI to realize flexible configuration of SRS function switching. The specific definitions of the above functions are described in detail below.

Exemplarily, the DCI includes aperiodic (aperiodic) A-SRS trigger indication information and/or carrier identity. The carrier identifier is used to indicate the uplink carrier or downlink carrier for sending the SRS.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the terminal device is configured with a serving cell or that the target uplink carrier of the SRS handover of the terminal device is located in the serving cell. When the configured SRS is the A-SRS, which uplink carrier the A-SRS triggered by the DL-DCI or group-level (group) DCI on the serving cell is the A-SRS needs to be further indicated. Therefore, DCI can be used to indicate the uplink carrier that triggers the A-SRS.

Optionally, the configuration information further includes an A-SRS identifier, and the A-SRS identifier is associated with an uplink carrier.

When the terminal device is configured with multiple PUSCH/PUCCH less carriers, the configuration information further includes a typeA TPC configuration information element, which is used to configure the carrier group index (CCSetIndex) and Intra-group carrier index (CCIndexInOneCCSet). The TPC configuration information element of typeA can include all PUSCH/PUCCH less carrier information.

When the PUSCH/PUCCH less carrier needs to transmit periodic (periodic) P-SRS, it can be triggered by periodic configuration, or DCI signaling includes carrier group index and/or transmission power control (transmission power control, TPC) signaling; when When A-SRS is configured on the PUSCH/PUCCH less carrier, the DCI signaling includes the carrier group index and/or TPC signaling. For example, the triggering of A-SRS is triggered by the downlink DCI, which contains the uplink carrier index indication information; when When SPS-SRS is configured on the PUSCH/PUCCH less carrier, the DCI signaling includes the carrier group index and/or TPC signaling, and the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) SPS-SRS activation/deactivation signaling is determined by the downlink DCI or MAC control element (control element, CE) to trigger. A terminal device can correspond to a block in the group DCI signaling. The carrier group index in one block of the group DCI signaling is used to indicate the triggered carrier group, and the TPC signaling in one block indicates the SRS power control command on the corresponding uplink carrier.

Therefore, according to the SRS scheduling information carried by the DCI sent by the network device, combined with the configuration information carried by the RRC signaling sent by the network device, the terminal device can quickly associate with the SRS configuration of the BWP on each carrier, so as to send SRS , ensuring the flexibility of configuring the SRS in a carrier switching scenario or a cross-carrier scenario.

For another example, the DCI may indicate a time period and/or at least one downlink carrier. The DCI may also indicate a time period and/or at least one uplink carrier.

It should be noted that the specific duration of the above time period is not limited in the present application, for example, the time period may include at least one time slot or at least one symbol.

In this embodiment of the present application, at least one downlink carrier is configured by a network device. The terminal device may acquire second configuration information from the network device, where the second configuration information is used to indicate the configuration of downlink continuous CA, where the downlink continuous CA includes the configuration of the at least one downlink carrier. The terminal device may receive downlink data or downlink control signaling on the at least one downlink carrier in a downlink continuous CA manner.

It should be noted that the at least one downlink carrier is a PUSCH-less carrier. Usually, a terminal device can only receive downlink data or downlink control signaling in a PUSCH-less carrier, and send uplink reference signals such as SRS.

For example, during the above time period, the terminal device transmits SRS in at least one downlink carrier in turn, that is, the terminal device only transmits SRS in one downlink carrier each time, and then switches to another one after the transmission in one downlink carrier is completed. The SRS is sent in the downlink carrier.

The network device may also configure at least one uplink carrier for the terminal device, and the terminal device may send an uplink signal to the network device through the at least one uplink carrier. The present application can be applied to a TDD mode, and in the TDD mode, at least one downlink carrier and at least one uplink carrier are located in the same frequency band.

In this embodiment of the present application, frequency ranges of at least one downlink carrier and at least one uplink carrier may be continuous in the frequency domain.

For example, the two downlink carriers configured by the network device have center frequencies of 3.5GHz and 3.6GHz respectively, and their bandwidths are both 100MHz; one uplink carrier configured by the network device has a center frequency of 3.7GHz and its bandwidth Both are 100MHz. These three carriers are continuous in the frequency domain and are carriers of adjacent frequency points.

In general, the above SRS resources may have one or more of the following settings:

1. Beam management settings

When the SRS resources are configured as beam management, the SRS can be used to manage uplink beams, including beam training and beam switching. The SRS resource may be located in a resource set. Generally, multiple SRS resources in the same resource set transmit one of the SRS resources at the same time domain position; SRS resources in different resource sets may be simultaneously transmitted at the same time domain position. The number of SRS resource sets used for beam management, or the number of SRS resources in each resource set, is related to the capability of the terminal equipment. For example, the SRS resource set used for beam management corresponds to the transmitting panel (TX Panel) or receiving panel (RX Panel) of the terminal device. In SRS resources, you can configure the SRS transmission beam by configuring the correlation (spatialRelationInfo) parameter between SRS and other RS spatial sequences, such as configuring the correspondence between SRS resources and reference signals, or the correspondence between beams and reference signals, such as the following kind of scene:

(1) Each SRS resource corresponds to scan a beam, such as configured as a single-port polling scan;

(2) Only one SRS resource is transmitted at each time in one SRS resource set, for example, only one beam is scanned at each time;

(3) Multiple SRS resource sets can be used for simultaneous transmission.

2. Codebook Set (CodeBook Set)

Uplink SRS transmission based on CodeBook generally does not use precoding (Precoding), or uses Precoding based on PUSCH. Generally, a terminal is configured with one SRS resource set, and there are no more than two SRS resources in the resource set.

3. Non-Codebook Set (nonCodebook Set)

Based on nonCodeBook uplink SRS transmission, the Precoding used by PUSCH is generally not in CodeBook. Generally speaking, Precoding can be obtained by polling from preset solutions according to terminal requirements. Based on the uplink and downlink dissimilarity, the terminal can obtain Precoding through CSI-RS downlink pilot calculation, or the terminal can determine the Precoding and Rank information of PUSCH based on the scheduling request indicator (SRI). Generally, a terminal is configured with one SRS resource set, and there are no more than four SRS resources in the resource set.

4. Antenna Switching Set

This setting is used for the terminal to receive downlink CSI. Taking the TDD system as an example, the reciprocity of uplink and downlink channels can be utilized, and the terminal acquires downlink CSI through uplink sounding. The number of receiving or transmitting antenna ports of a terminal is determined by the capability of the terminal. For example, a terminal may have 1 transmit antenna/2 receive antenna ports, 1 transmit antenna/4 receive antenna ports, 2 transmit antenna/4 receive antenna ports, and so on. In this case, in order to obtain downlink CSI information, the base station can instruct the terminal to send SRS by switching different antenna ports, and the switching granularity can be different time units such as time slots, symbols, and subframes.

Optionally, the above configuration information is also used to indicate that the carrier used to send the SRS has at least one or more of the following settings:

Beam management settings, codebook settings, non-codebook settings, antenna switching settings.

In the embodiment of this application, when the carrier indicated by the configuration information has one of the above settings, the terminal device can directly select the corresponding carrier for SRS transmission based on the setting; when the carrier indicated by the configuration information has multiple above settings, the terminal device Based on this setting, the corresponding carrier can be selected for SRS transmission, or the corresponding carrier can be selected for SRS transmission according to the SRS request sent by the network device.

It can be understood that the above settings may be carried in the configuration information through indexes or identifiers. Taking the field occupying 2 bits as an example, it can present a total of 4 permutations and combinations from 00 to 11. Wherein, 00 indicates beam management, 01 indicates codebook, 10 indicates non-codebook, and 11 indicates antenna switching. The terminal can know the specific configuration according to the index or identifier, and the settings indicated by the index or identifier can be stored in the terminal device and the network device in advance in a predefined manner. Alternatively, the setting may also be carried in the configuration information through a table, and the table directly or indirectly indicates the above configuration. By indicating the above-mentioned different settings in the configuration information, the performance parameters of the SRS transmission can be effectively improved, thereby ensuring the effectiveness of the communication.

Through the above process, taking the CA mode or the cross-carrier scenario as an example, the effectiveness of SRS transmission can be improved, so that the SRS can be used to evaluate the uplink channel quality efficiently and flexibly. Furthermore, when the terminal device sends the reference signal, the uplink signal can continue to be sent, thereby reducing data transmission interruption and data loss caused by carrier rotation.

In the above-mentioned embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of interaction between various devices. In order to realize the various functions in the method provided by the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application, the network device or the terminal device may include a hardware structure and/or a software module, and realize the above-mentioned functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module . Whether one of the above-mentioned functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

The division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic, and is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation. In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processor, or physically exist separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software function modules.

Similar to the above idea, as shown in FIG. 7 , the embodiment of the present application further provides an apparatus 700 for realizing the functions of the network device or the terminal device in the above method. For example, the device may be a software module or a system on a chip. In the embodiment of the present application, the system-on-a-chip may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices. The apparatus 700 may include: a processing unit 701 and a communication unit 702 .

In this embodiment of the application, the communication unit may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, and may include a sending unit and/or a receiving unit, respectively configured to perform the sending and receiving steps of the network device or the terminal device in the method embodiments above.

Hereinafter, the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7 to FIG. 8 . It should be understood that the descriptions of the device embodiments correspond to the descriptions of the method embodiments. Therefore, for details that are not described in detail, reference may be made to the method embodiments above. For brevity, details are not repeated here.

A communication unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, transceiving device, or the like. A processing unit may also be called a processor, a processing board, a processing module, a processing device, and the like. Optionally, the device in the communication unit 702 for realizing the receiving function can be regarded as a receiving unit, and the device in the communication unit 702 for realizing the sending function can be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the communication unit 702 includes a receiving unit and a sending unit. The communication unit may sometimes be called a transceiver, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit and the like. The receiving unit may sometimes be called a receiver, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, etc. The sending unit can sometimes be called a transmitter, a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc.

When the communication device 700 executes the functions of the terminal equipment in the above embodiments:

A communication unit, configured to receive configuration information from a network device, where the configuration information includes sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, and association information between the bandwidth part bearing the SRS and the SRS; the communication unit is also configured to receive information from the The scheduling request of the network device is used to schedule the SRS; the communication unit is also used to send the SRS to the network device on the bandwidth part.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive the scheduling request from the network device via the first carrier, and the communication unit is further configured to send the scheduling request to the network device via the first carrier or the second carrier. The network device sends the SRS, the first carrier is a source carrier, and the second carrier is a target carrier.

Beam management, codebook, non-codebook, antenna switching.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send a request to the network device, for requesting the network device to configure the SRS transmission resource for the communication device.

Through the above method, effective scheduling and/or transmission of SRS can be realized, and resource utilization can be improved.

When the communication device 700 executes the functions of the network equipment in the above embodiments:

The communication unit is used to send configuration information to the terminal device, the configuration information includes sounding reference signal SRS resources, and association information between the bandwidth part carrying the SRS and the SRS; the communication unit is also used to send the configuration information to the terminal device sending a scheduling request for scheduling the SRS; the communication unit is also used for receiving the SRS from the terminal device on the bandwidth part.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to send the scheduling request to the terminal device via the first carrier; the communication unit is further configured to receive the scheduling request from the first carrier or the second carrier For the SRS of the terminal device, the first carrier is a source carrier, and the second carrier is a target carrier.

Beam management, codebook, non-codebook, antenna switching.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive a request from the terminal device, configured to request a processing unit to configure the SRS transmission resource for the terminal device.

FIG. 8 shows an apparatus 800 provided in the embodiment of the present application. The apparatus shown in FIG. 8 may be a hardware circuit implementation manner of the apparatus shown in FIG. 7 . The communication device may be applicable to the flow chart shown above, and execute the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiments. For ease of illustration, FIG. 8 only shows the main components of the communication device.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and an interface circuit 820 . The processor 810 and the interface circuit 820 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 820 may be a transceiver or an input/output interface. Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include a memory 830 for storing instructions executed by the processor 810 or storing input data required by the processor 810 to execute the instructions or storing data generated after the processor 810 executes the instructions.

When the communication device 800 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 6 , the processor 810 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 701 , and the interface circuit 820 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned communication unit 702 .

When the above communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the terminal device chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiment. The terminal device chip receives information from other modules in the terminal device (such as radio frequency modules or antennas), and the information is sent to the terminal device by the network device; or, the terminal device chip sends information to other modules in the terminal device (such as radio frequency modules or antenna) to send information, which is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

When the above communication device is a chip applied to network equipment, the network equipment chip implements the functions of the network equipment in the above method embodiments. The network device chip receives information from other modules in the network device (such as radio frequency modules or antennas), and the information is sent to the network device by the terminal device; or, the network device chip sends information to other modules in the network device (such as radio frequency modules or antenna) to send information, which is sent by the network device to the terminal device.

It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor.

In the embodiment of the present application, the processor can be random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), programmable read-only memory (Programmable ROM, PROM), erasable In addition to programmable read-only memory (Erasable PROM, EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (Electrically EPROM, EEPROM), registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium known in the art middle. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in the ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a network device or a terminal device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may also exist in the network device or the terminal device as discrete components.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, optical storage, etc.) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each procedure and/or block in the flowchart and/or block diagram, and a combination of procedures and/or blocks in the flowchart and/or block diagram can be realized by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or processor of other programmable data processing equipment to produce a machine such that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment produce a An apparatus for realizing the functions specified in one or more procedures of the flowchart and/or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to operate in a specific manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising instruction means, the instructions The device realizes the function specified in one or more procedures of the flowchart and/or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

Apparently, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the scope of the present application. In this way, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalent technologies, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A communication method, characterized in that, comprising:

The communication device receives configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information includes sounding reference signal SRS resources, and association information between the bandwidth part bearing the SRS and the SRS;

The communication device receives a scheduling request from the network device for scheduling the SRS;

The communication device sends the SRS to the network device on the bandwidth portion.
The method of claim 1, characterized in that:

When the number of SRSs is multiple, the association information is used to associate the multiple SRSs with multiple bandwidth parts carrying the multiple SRSs;

Wherein, the multiple bandwidth parts are respectively located on different carriers, or some or all of the multiple bandwidth parts are located on the same carrier, and the configuration information specifically indicates the carrier on which at least one of the multiple bandwidth parts is located , for transmitting the SRS.
The method of claim 2, characterized in that:

The configuration information is also used to indicate the sending timing of the SRS on the different carriers.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that:

The receiving scheduling request specifically includes:

The communications device receives the scheduling request from the network device via a first carrier;

The sending SRS specifically includes:

The communication device sends the SRS to the network device via the first carrier or a second carrier, the first carrier is a source carrier, and the second carrier is a target carrier.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that:

The configuration information is also used to indicate that the carrier has at least one or more of the following functions:

Beam management, codebook, non-codebook, antenna switching.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

The communication device sends a request to the network device, for requesting the network device to configure the SRS transmission resource for the communication device.
A communication method, characterized in that, comprising:

The network device sends configuration information to the communication device, where the configuration information includes a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource, and association information between a bandwidth part bearing the SRS and the SRS;

The network device sends a scheduling request to the communication device for scheduling the SRS;

The network device receives the SRS from the communication device over the bandwidth portion.
The method of claim 7, characterized in that:

When the number of SRSs is multiple, the association information is used to associate the multiple SRSs with multiple bandwidth parts carrying the multiple SRSs;

Wherein, the multiple bandwidth parts are respectively located on different carriers, or some or all of the multiple bandwidth parts are located on the same carrier, and the configuration information specifically indicates the carrier on which at least one of the multiple bandwidth parts is located , for transmitting the SRS.
The method of claim 8, wherein:

The configuration information is also used to indicate the sending timing of the SRS on the different carriers.
The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that:

The sending scheduling request specifically includes:

sending, by the network device, the scheduling request to the communications device via a first carrier;

The receiving SRS specifically includes:

The network device receives the SRS from the communication device via the first carrier or a second carrier, the first carrier is a source carrier, and the second carrier is a target carrier.
The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that:

The configuration information is also used to indicate that the carrier has at least one or more of the following functions:

Beam management, codebook, non-codebook, antenna switching.
The method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, further comprising:

The network device receives a request from the communication device for requesting the network device to configure the SRS transmission resource for the communication device.
A communication device, characterized by comprising: a memory and a processor, the memory is used to store computer programs or instructions, and the processor is used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory; when the When the processor executes the computer program or instructions, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 is performed.
A computer-readable storage medium, which is characterized in that it stores computer-readable instructions, and when the communication device reads and executes the computer-readable instructions, the communication device performs any one of claims 1 to 12. the method described.
A computer program product, characterized in that computer-readable instructions are stored, and when the communication device reads and executes the computer-readable instructions, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 method.
A chip, characterized in that it includes a processor, the processor is coupled with a memory for executing computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, when the processor executes the computer programs or instructions, as claimed in the right The method described in any one of claims 1 to 12 is performed.