WO2024065305A1

WO2024065305A1 - Communication method and apparatus, and readable storage medium and chip system

Info

Publication number: WO2024065305A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/122235
Authority: WO
Inventors: 李源; 王献斌; 张华滋; 王俊; 闫桂英; 马志明
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司; 中国科学院数学与系统科学研究院
Priority date: 2022-09-28
Filing date: 2022-09-28
Publication date: 2024-04-04

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, and a readable storage medium and a chip system, which relate to the technical field of communications and are used for reducing the complexity of a blind detection process and reducing the latency of blind detection. In the present application, a network device generates a first demodulation reference signal sequence and sends the first demodulation reference signal sequence, wherein the first demodulation reference signal sequence has an association relationship with a first downlink control information sequence of a first terminal device, and the first demodulation reference signal sequence has an association relationship with the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence. Thus, a first terminal device may determine, according to a first demodulation reference signal sequence, whether the aggregation level of a first downlink control information sequence is an aggregation level that the first terminal device is prepared to use for decoding the first downlink control information sequence, and if not, the first terminal device may not activate the decoding process for the first downlink control information sequence again, such that the complexity of a blind detection process is reduced, and the latency of the blind detection process is also reduced.

Description

A communication method, device, readable storage medium and chip system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, device, readable storage medium and chip system.

Background technique

The network device can transmit the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to the terminal device, and the PDSCH is generally scheduled by the control information carried in the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), such as the downlink control information (DCI) sequence. Therefore, in order to correctly receive the PDSCH, the terminal device needs to monitor the PDCCH first, and obtain the relevant information required for receiving the PDSCH according to the DCI sequence carried by the PDCCH, such as the location and size of the PDSCH time-frequency resources.

In the fourth generation (4G) and fifth generation (5G) wireless communication systems - new radio access technology (NR) systems, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence is defined for channel estimation. For example, a network device sends a DMRS sequence to a terminal device, and the terminal device performs channel estimation based on the received DMRS sequence, and then the terminal device attempts to decode the DCI sequence sent by the network device based on the result of the channel estimation. The terminal device has a lot of work to try to decode the DCI sequence, such as using the terminal device's identifier (such as the terminal device's radio network temporary identity (RNTI)) to decode the DCI sequence, and performing a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) check on the decoded DCI sequence. If the CRC check passes, the terminal device believes that the content of the decoded DCI sequence is valid for the terminal device, and the terminal device can continue to process the decoded related information. If the CRC check fails, the terminal device considers that the DCI sequence decoding fails, that is, the content of the DCI sequence is considered invalid to the terminal device. It can be seen that the decoding process of the DCI sequence by the terminal device is relatively complex and the workload is relatively large.

On the network equipment side, the NR protocol stipulates that L consecutive control channel elements (CCE) resources can be used to carry DCI sequence information, where L is called the aggregation level and can be 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16. Under each aggregation level, multiple candidate sets can be configured, and the network device can select one of the candidate sets to store the DCI sequence information. The set of all candidate sets is called the search space.

Since the aggregation level of the DCI sequence actually sent by the network device is variable, and since there is no relevant signaling to inform the terminal device, the terminal device needs to blindly detect the PDCCH at different aggregation levels. For example, the terminal device first performs channel estimation on the received DMRS sequence based on aggregation level 4, and decodes the DCI sequence based on the channel estimation result and aggregation level 4. If the decoding fails, the terminal device performs channel estimation on the received DMRS sequence based on the next aggregation level, such as aggregation level 8, and decodes the DCI sequence based on the channel estimation result and aggregation level 8. This process is called PDCCH blind detection. In the PDCCH blind detection method, blind detection requires a lot of calculations, which will bring greater processing complexity to the terminal side. As the number of users increases further, the delay consumed by blind detection will increase further.

Summary of the invention

The present application provides a communication method, device, readable storage medium and chip system for reducing the complexity of the blind detection process and reducing the blind detection delay.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or a module, unit or chip inside the network device. The present application takes the scheme executed by the network device as an example for introduction. In the method, the network device generates a first demodulation reference signal sequence, the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with a first downlink control information sequence of a first terminal device, and the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with an aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence. The network device sends the first demodulation reference signal sequence.

The first terminal device does not know the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence sent by the network device, and the first terminal device needs to try to decode the first downlink control information sequence based on different aggregation levels. Since the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence, the first terminal device can determine whether the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence is the aggregation level that the first terminal device is going to use to decode the first downlink control information sequence based on the sequence of the first demodulation reference signal sequence reaching the first terminal device. If not, the first terminal device can abandon the decoding process of the first downlink control information sequence based on the aggregation level, thereby saving the workload of the blind detection process, reducing the complexity of the blind detection process, and reducing the delay of the blind detection process.

In the embodiment of the present application, the signal received by the first terminal device in the time-frequency domain resource of the first demodulation reference signal sequence is taken as an example to introduce the first signal, and the first signal can be a demodulation reference signal sequence or other signals. The first signal can also be understood as a signal of the first demodulation reference signal sequence reaching the first terminal device.

The user identifier associated with the first signal is the same as the user identifier associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence, the time-frequency domain resources of the first signal are the same as the time-frequency domain resources of the first demodulation reference signal sequence, the aggregation level of the first signal is the same as the time aggregation level of the first demodulation reference signal sequence, and the DCI associated with the first signal is the same as the DCI associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence. Since the first terminal device does not know the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence, the first terminal device needs to try the candidate sets under each aggregation level one by one according to the current situation. For example, the first terminal device tries the candidate set under the first target aggregation level according to the current situation. Specifically, the first terminal device performs channel estimation based on the second demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the first target aggregation level and the first signal to obtain a first channel estimation value. The first channel estimation is obtained based on the first signal and the second demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the first target aggregation level. The second demodulation reference signal sequence is the same as the user identifier associated with the first signal, and the first target aggregation level is different from the aggregation level associated with the first signal. For example, the first target aggregation level is less than the aggregation level associated with the first signal. The first terminal device determines whether to decode the first downlink control information sequence based on the first target aggregation level according to the first channel estimation value.

For example, if the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is poor (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is worse than the preset channel state, for example, the first channel estimation value corresponding to the first signal is less than the preset value), the first terminal device may consider that the difference between the first signal and the second demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the first target aggregation level is large, and it may also be considered that the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence is not the first target aggregation level. In this case, the first terminal device may no longer attempt to decode the first downlink control information sequence, that is, directly stop decoding the first downlink control information sequence, that is, no longer perform operations such as decoding and CRC check on the first downlink control information sequence based on the first target aggregation level. Or it can also be understood that: when the terminal device considers that the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is poor (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is worse than the preset channel state), it may consider that the decoding of the first downlink control information sequence will fail, so there is no need to attempt to decode the first downlink control information sequence, which can save the workload in the blind detection process, reduce the complexity of the blind detection process, and reduce the blind detection delay.

In another possible implementation, the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence further satisfy one or more of the following: the starting positions of the time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources associated with the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are the same; the time domain resources associated with the demodulation reference signal sequence of the low aggregation level in the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are a subset of the time domain resources associated with the demodulation reference signal sequence of the high aggregation level; or, the frequency domain resources associated with the demodulation reference signal sequence of the low aggregation level in the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are a subset of the frequency domain resources associated with the demodulation reference signal sequence of the high aggregation level. That is to say, even if the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence further satisfy one or more of these conditions, in the embodiment of the present application, the first channel estimation value obtained based on the second demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the first target aggregation level will be less than the preset value, so that the first terminal device can stop the decoding process of the first downlink control information associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence based on the first target aggregation level according to the first channel estimation value.

In one possible implementation, the first terminal device performs channel estimation based on the third demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the second target aggregation level and the first signal to obtain a second channel estimation value. The second channel estimation value corresponding to the first demodulation reference signal sequence is not less than a preset value, and the second channel estimation value is obtained based on the first signal and the third demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the second target aggregation level. The third demodulation reference signal sequence is the same as the user identifier associated with the first signal, and the second target aggregation level is the same as the aggregation level associated with the first signal.

If the channel state indicated by the second channel estimation value is good (for example, the second channel estimation value is not less than the preset value), the first terminal device decodes the first downlink control information sequence based on the second target aggregation level. If the first terminal device fails to decode the first downlink control information sequence based on the second target aggregation level, it can continue to try other aggregation levels. If the decoding is successful, the first terminal device can perform other operations according to the information in the first downlink control information sequence.

In a possible implementation, the random seed used to generate the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence. In this way, the first demodulation reference signal sequence can establish an association with the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence, and then the first terminal device can determine whether the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence is the aggregation level currently being attempted to decode based on the channel estimation value corresponding to the first signal, and then evaluate whether to continue to attempt to decode the first downlink control information sequence.

In a possible implementation, the random seed used to generate the first demodulation reference signal sequence has an association relationship with at least one of the user identifier of the first terminal device, the time domain resources associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence, or the frequency domain resources associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence. In this way, the first demodulation reference signal sequence can establish an association relationship with at least one of the user identifier, the time domain resources associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence, or the frequency domain resources associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence, so that it can be more compatible with the existing technology.

On the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first terminal device or a module, unit or chip inside the first terminal device. The present application introduces the scheme by the first terminal device as an example. The method includes: the first terminal device receives a first signal. In the embodiment of the present application, the sequence in which the first demodulation reference signal sequence arrives at the first terminal device is introduced as an example. The first signal is associated with the first downlink control information sequence of the first terminal device, and the first signal is associated with the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence. The first terminal device performs channel estimation according to the first signal, and decodes the first downlink control information sequence according to the obtained channel estimation result.

The first terminal device does not know the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence sent by the network device, and the first terminal device needs to try to decode the first downlink control information sequence based on different aggregation levels. Since the first signal is associated with the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence, the first terminal device can determine whether the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence is the aggregation level that the first terminal device is going to use to decode the first downlink control information sequence based on the first signal. If not, the first terminal device can abandon the decoding process of the first downlink control information sequence based on the aggregation level, thereby saving the workload of the blind detection process, reducing the complexity of the blind detection process, and reducing the delay of the blind detection process.

Since the first terminal device does not know the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence, the first terminal device needs to try the candidate sets under each aggregation level one by one according to the current situation. For example, the first terminal device tries the candidate set under the first target aggregation level according to the current situation. Specifically, the first terminal device performs channel estimation according to the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first signal associated with the first target aggregation level to obtain a first channel estimation value. The second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are associated with the same user identifier, and the first target aggregation level is different from the aggregation level associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence. When the first channel estimation value is less than the preset value, the first terminal device stops decoding the first downlink control information sequence based on the first target aggregation level. Or it can also be understood that: when the terminal device believes that the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is poor (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is worse than the preset channel state), it can be considered that the decoding of the first downlink control information sequence will fail, so there is no need to attempt to decode the first downlink control information sequence, which can save the workload in the blind detection process, reduce the complexity of the blind detection process, and reduce the blind detection delay.

In one possible implementation, the first terminal device performs channel estimation based on the second demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the first target aggregation level and the first signal, and after obtaining the first channel estimation value, the first terminal device performs channel estimation based on the third demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the second target aggregation level and the first signal, and obtains the second channel estimation value when the first channel estimation value is less than a preset value. The second channel estimation value is not less than the preset value, and the user identifier associated with the third demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence is the same. The first terminal device decodes the first downlink control information sequence based on the second target aggregation level. In other words, if the channel state indicated by the second channel estimation value is better (for example, the second channel estimation value is not less than the preset value), the first terminal device decodes the first downlink control information sequence based on the second target aggregation level.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first terminal device or a module, unit or chip inside the first terminal device. The present application takes the scheme executed by the first terminal device as an example for introduction. The method includes: the first terminal device receives a second signal, and the second signal has an association relationship with a second downlink control information sequence of the first terminal device. The first terminal device performs channel estimation based on the second signal, and stops decoding the second downlink control information sequence when the obtained channel estimation result meets a preset condition. Wherein, when the channel estimation result meets the preset condition, the channel state indicated by the channel estimation result is worse than the preset channel state.

Since the channel state indicated by the channel estimation result is worse than the preset channel state when the channel estimation result meets the preset conditions, the decoding process of the first downlink control information sequence based on the aggregation level can be abandoned when the channel estimation result meets the preset conditions, thereby saving the workload of the blind detection process, reducing the complexity of the blind detection process, and reducing the blind detection delay.

In one possible implementation, the first terminal device performs channel estimation based on the second signal, and decodes the second downlink control information sequence when the obtained channel estimation result does not meet the preset condition. When the channel estimation result of the first terminal device does not meet the preset condition, it can be considered that there is a high possibility that the second downlink control information sequence is the second downlink control information sequence that the first terminal device needs to receive, so the first terminal device can attempt to decode the second downlink control information sequence, thereby preventing the first terminal device from missing its own downlink control information sequence.

In a possible implementation, the preset condition includes at least one of the following: the ratio between the first value indicating the channel estimation value and the second value indicating the channel noise estimation value is less than the first preset value; the ratio between the third value indicating the channel noise estimation value and the fourth value indicating the coding parameter of the second downlink control information sequence is greater than the second preset value; or the ratio between the fifth value indicating the channel noise estimation value and the sixth value indicating the actual value of the channel noise power is greater than the third preset value. In this way, the first terminal device can evaluate whether the second downlink control information is highly likely to be its own downlink control information based on parameters such as the channel estimation value, channel state information or coding parameters.

In a possible implementation, the preset condition also includes at least one of the following: the first value includes an average value of multiple channel estimation values and/or a square of a channel estimation value; the second value includes a square of a difference between a second signal and a first product, the first product includes a product of a channel estimation value and a fourth demodulation reference signal sequence; the third value includes a square of a difference between the second signal and the first product; the fourth value includes a coding parameter associated value of a downlink control information sequence; the fifth value includes a square of a second signal and a first product, the first product includes a product of a channel estimation value and a fourth demodulation reference signal sequence; or the sixth value includes a square of an actual value of a channel noise power. In this way, the first terminal device can more easily determine whether the preset condition is met based on the above content.

In one possible implementation, the first preset value is inversely correlated with the code length of the second downlink control information sequence. In one possible implementation, the first preset value is positively correlated with the code rate of the second downlink control information sequence. In one possible implementation, the second preset value is positively correlated with the code length of the second downlink control information sequence. In one possible implementation, the second preset value is inversely correlated with the code rate of the second downlink control information sequence. In one possible implementation, the third preset value is positively correlated with the code length of the second downlink control information sequence. In one possible implementation, the third preset value is inversely correlated with the code rate of the second downlink control information sequence. In this way, each preset value can be flexibly set, so that the solution can be more closely matched with the actual situation.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned network device or the first terminal device. The communication device may include a communication unit and a processing unit to perform any of the above-mentioned first to third aspects, or to perform any possible implementation of the first to third aspects. The communication unit is used to perform functions related to sending and receiving. Optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a sending unit. In one design, the communication device is a communication chip, the processing unit may be one or more processors or processor cores, and the communication unit may be an input/output circuit or port of the communication chip.

In another design, the communication unit may be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit may be a transmitter and a receiver.

Optionally, the communication device also includes various modules that can be used to execute any aspect of the first to third aspects above, or execute any possible implementation of the first to third aspects.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned network device or the first terminal device. The communication device may include a processor and a memory to execute any one of the above-mentioned first to third aspects, or to execute any possible implementation of the first to third aspects. Optionally, a transceiver is further included, the memory is used to store a computer program or instruction, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program or instruction from the memory, and when the processor executes the computer program or instruction in the memory, the communication device executes any one of the above-mentioned first to third aspects, or to execute any possible implementation of the first to third aspects.

Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned network device or the first terminal device. The communication device may include a processor to perform any aspect of the aforementioned first to third aspects, or to perform any possible implementation of the first to third aspects. The processor is coupled to a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, when the communication device is a network device or a first terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface. Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In another implementation, when the communication device is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or a related circuit on the chip or the chip system, etc. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

In a seventh aspect, a system is provided, the system comprising one or more of the above-mentioned network devices.

In a possible implementation, the system may further include one or more terminal devices, for example, the first terminal device and/or the second terminal device described above.

In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which, when executed, enables a computer to execute any one of the first to third aspects described above, or any possible implementation of the first to third aspects.

In the ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions). When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes any one of the first to third aspects above, or executes any possible implementation of the first to third aspects.

In the tenth aspect, a chip system is provided, which may include a processor. The processor is coupled to a memory and can be used to perform any of the first to third aspects above, or to perform any possible implementation of the first to third aspects. Optionally, the chip system also includes a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction). The processor is used to call and run a computer program from the memory, so that a device equipped with the chip system performs any of the first to third aspects above, or performs any possible implementation of the first to third aspects.

In an eleventh aspect, a processing device is provided, comprising: an interface circuit and a processing circuit. The interface circuit may include an input circuit and an output circuit. The processing circuit is used to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that any aspect of the first to third aspects above, or any possible implementation of the first to third aspects is implemented.

In the specific implementation process, the above-mentioned processing device can be a chip, the input circuit can be an input pin, the output circuit can be an output pin, and the processing circuit can be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, and various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, output to a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. This application does not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

In one implementation, when the communication device is a network device or a first terminal device, the interface circuit may be a radio frequency processing chip in the network device or the first terminal device, and the processing circuit may be a baseband processing chip in the network device or the first terminal device.

In another implementation, the communication device may be a part of a network device or a first terminal device, such as an integrated circuit product such as a system chip or a communication chip. The interface circuit may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or a related circuit on the chip or the chip system. The processing circuit may be a logic circuit on the chip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a possible architecture of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a possible architecture of another communication system applicable to the embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a possible flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a possible flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems. For example, 5G system, new radio (NR) system, long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), mobile communication systems after 5G network (for example, sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication system, etc.

FIG1 exemplarily shows a possible architecture diagram of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG1 , the system includes a network device and a terminal device, and the network device can perform uplink transmission and downlink transmission with multiple terminal devices respectively. The transmission direction of uplink transmission refers to the transmission direction from the terminal device to the network device, and the downlink transmission refers to the transmission direction from the network device to the terminal device. For example, the network device can send a DMRS sequence to the terminal device, and the terminal device can perform downlink channel estimation based on the received DMRS sequence, and receive a DCI sequence from the network based on the result of the downlink channel estimation.

Based on the system architecture diagram shown in FIG1 , FIG2 exemplarily shows a possible architecture diagram of another communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG2 , the communication system includes a transmitting end and a receiving end. The network device in FIG1 can be used as the transmitting end in FIG2 , in which case the terminal device in FIG1 can be regarded as the receiving end in FIG2 . The network device in FIG1 can also be used as the receiving end in FIG2 , in which case the terminal device in FIG1 can be regarded as the transmitting end in FIG2 .

As shown in Figure 2, the transmitter obtains the information source (the information source can also be understood as the original information), performs source coding on the information source, then performs channel coding on the information after the source coding, modulates the information after the channel coding, and then sends it. Among them, the information source coding and channel coding can be understood as transformation processes. Among them, the information source coding can refer to compressing the information source to obtain a string of uniformly distributed bit sequences, the purpose of which is to represent a information source with as few bits as possible. Channel coding refers to encoding the bit sequence to combat errors in the channel by adding redundancy. For example, channel coding can include polarization (Polar) code, low density parity check code (low density parity check code, LDPC) code, etc. The receiving end receives the information, demodulates the received information, performs channel decoding on the demodulated information (channel decoding can be understood as the inverse process of channel coding), and performs source recovery on the information after channel decoding (source recovery can be understood as the inverse process of source coding), thereby obtaining the information destination (the information destination can be understood as the information after the terminal device performs source recovery).

In the embodiment of the present application, the transmitting end performs RNTI scrambling and CRC checking on the information to be sent, and the RNTI scrambling and CRC checking may occur in the channel coding process. In the embodiment of the present application, the receiving end performs decoding and CRC checking on the received information, and the decoding and CRC checking may occur in the channel decoding process. In the embodiment of the present application, the example of a network device sending information to a terminal device is used for introduction, such as a network device performs channel coding and modulation on the DCI sequence information (information after source coding), and sends it out.

The scheme of the transmitting end in the embodiment of the present application can be respectively executed by the network device or terminal device in FIG. 1 , or by a unit module or chip inside the network device or terminal device, such as a dedicated chip application specified integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable chip field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc. The scheme of the receiving end in the embodiment of the present application can be respectively executed by the network device or terminal device in FIG. 1 , or by a unit module or chip inside the network device or terminal device, such as a dedicated chip ASIC, a programmable chip FPGA, etc.

The nouns and terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are introduced below in conjunction with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 .

(1)Terminal equipment.

Terminal equipment may also be referred to as terminal or terminal device. Terminal equipment includes equipment that provides data connectivity to users, specifically, equipment that provides data connectivity to users, or equipment that provides data connectivity to users. For example, it may include a handheld device with wireless connection function, or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal equipment may communicate with the core network via a radio access network (RAN), exchange data with the RAN, or interact with the RAN. The terminal equipment may include UE, wireless terminal equipment, mobile terminal equipment, device-to-device (D2D) terminal equipment, V2X terminal equipment, machine-to-machine/machine-type communications (M2M/MTC) terminal equipment, and Internet of Things (IoT) terminal equipment. The terminal equipment may also be monitoring equipment, machines, and sensors in industrial automation scenarios, or mobile phones, wearable devices, smart home appliances, and vehicle-mounted terminals in home and life scenarios. In an embodiment of the present application, terminal devices may also support direct communication (PC5) interface communication, that is, support transmission through a side link.

As an example but not limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be referred to as wearable smart devices or smart wearable devices, etc., which are a general term for the application of wearable technology to intelligently design and develop wearable devices for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also powerful functions achieved through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include full-featured, large-sized, and independent of smartphones to achieve complete or partial functions, such as smart watches or smart glasses, etc., as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various types of smart bracelets, smart helmets, and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

The various terminal devices introduced above, if located on a vehicle (for example, placed inside a vehicle or installed inside a vehicle), can be considered as on-board devices, which are also called on-board units (OBU).

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also include a relay. Alternatively, it can be understood that anything that can communicate data with the base station can be regarded as a terminal device.

(2) Network equipment.

The network equipment, for example, includes access network (AN) equipment, such as a base station (e.g., access point), which may refer to equipment in the access network that communicates with a terminal device through one or more cells at an air interface, or, for example, the network equipment is a road side unit (RSU). The RSU may be a fixed infrastructure entity that supports V2X applications and may exchange messages with other entities that support V2X applications. The network equipment may also include a base station in a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a base station in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a next generation node B (gNB) in a fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) new radio (NR) system (also referred to as an NR system), or may also include a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (Cloud RAN) system, etc., which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Because the embodiments of the present application mainly relate to access network devices, in the following text, unless otherwise specified, the network devices refer to access network devices.

(3) Symbols.

Symbols include but are not limited to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols, sparse code multiple access (SCMA) symbols, filtered orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (F-OFDM) symbols, and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) symbols. The specific symbols can be determined according to actual conditions and will not be elaborated here.

(4)Time slot.

A time slot is a basic time unit that occupies multiple consecutive OFDM symbols or SC-FDMA in the time domain. For example, in the downlink direction of LTE, one time slot occupies 6 or 7 consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain; in the downlink direction of NR, one time slot occupies 14 consecutive OFDM symbols (conventional cyclic prefix) or 12 consecutive OFDM symbols (extended cyclic prefix) in the time domain.

(5) Downlink control channel.

The downlink control channel is, for example, a PDCCH, or an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), or other downlink control channels, and is not specifically limited. In the embodiments of the present application, the downlink control channel is mainly described as a PDCCH.

PDCCH is transmitted in a control-resource set (CORESET), which includes multiple resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain and one or several consecutive symbols in the time domain, and these symbols can be located at any position in the time slot. An RB includes 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. Each element on the resource grid is called a resource element (RE). RE is the smallest physical resource and contains a subcarrier in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

In the embodiment of the present application, the downlink control channel may include control information. In the embodiment of the present application, the downlink control channel includes downlink control information as an example, and the downlink control information is a DCI sequence as an example for introduction. The first DCI sequence in the embodiment of the present application may be replaced by a first downlink control information sequence, and the second DCI sequence may be replaced by a second downlink control information sequence.

In order to facilitate channel estimation at the receiving end, in addition to sending the DCI sequence on the time-frequency domain resources occupied by the downlink control channel, a demodulation reference signal is also sent. In the embodiment of the present application, the demodulation reference signal is introduced as a DMRS sequence as an example. The first DMRS sequence in the embodiment of the present application can be replaced by a first demodulation reference signal sequence, the second DMRS sequence can be replaced by a second demodulation reference signal sequence, the third DMRS sequence can be replaced by a third demodulation reference signal sequence, the fourth DMRS sequence can be replaced by a fourth demodulation reference signal sequence, and the fifth DMRS sequence can be replaced by a fifth demodulation reference signal sequence.

In the embodiment of the present application, the DCI sequence and the DMRS sequence can be transmitted together through the PDCCH. The process of the terminal device performing blind detection on the PDCCH in the embodiment of the present application may include the terminal device performing channel estimation based on the DMRS sequence, and then decoding the DCI sequence according to the channel estimation result.

(6) Aggregation level (AL).

The control-channel element (CCE) is the basic unit of PDCCH. The number of CCEs constituting PDCCH is also called aggregation level (AL).

Each CCE in the CORESET will have a corresponding index number. A given PDCCH can be composed of 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 CCEs. The number of CCEs that constitute a PDCCH can be determined by the DCI payload size and the required coding rate. A CCE corresponds to 6 resource-element groups (REGs) on the physical resource. A REG can occupy one OFDM symbol in the time domain and one RB in the frequency domain. The length of the sequence obtained after encoding the information included in the PDCCH (such as the DCI sequence) can generally be constrained to several possible lengths. For example, in NR, the length is usually agreed to be a multiple of 108, which is the aggregation level AL.

The network device can adjust the aggregation level of the PDCCH according to the state of the actual transmission wireless channel to achieve link adaptive transmission. The aggregation level of the PDCCH in the embodiment of the present application can also be called the aggregation level of the DCI sequence transmitted in the PDCCH, or the aggregation level associated with the DCI sequence, or the aggregation level associated with the DMRS sequence transmitted in the PDCCH.

In order to introduce the beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present application, a possible implementation method is first introduced below. In this implementation method, the network device can adjust the aggregation level of the PDCCH according to the state of the wireless channel actually transmitted to achieve link adaptive transmission. Therefore, the terminal device does not know the specific aggregation level used by the DCI sequence corresponding to the current terminal device. The terminal device needs to try the candidate sets under each aggregation level one by one according to the current situation. For example, first use aggregation level 4 to perform channel estimation based on the DMRS sequence received at a position of a time-frequency domain resource (the time-frequency domain resource can be understood as the time-frequency domain resource of the DMRS sequence), and decode the received DCI sequence according to the channel estimation result and aggregation level 4. If the decoding fails, the terminal device can continue to perform channel estimation on the DMRS sequence received at other time-frequency domain resource positions based on aggregation level 4. The terminal device can try all the information received at the locations of other time-frequency domain resources that may receive the DMRS sequence based on aggregation level 4. If all the information is not successfully decoded, the terminal device can continue to perform channel estimation on the DMRS sequences received by multiple time-frequency domain resources based on the next aggregation level, such as performing channel estimation on the received DMRS sequence based on aggregation level 8, and decoding the DCI sequence based on the channel estimation result and aggregation level 8. This process is called PDCCH blind detection.

If the DMRS sequence is associated with the user identification, time domain resources and frequency domain resources of the terminal device. The network device can generate a DMRS sequence according to the user identification of the terminal device, the time domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence and the frequency domain resource position. Generally, the length of the DMRS sequence generated by the network device is related to the length of the DCI sequence associated with the DMRS sequence, such as the length of the DMRS sequence generated by the network device is 1/3 of the encoded length of the DCI sequence associated with the DMRS sequence. In the embodiment of the present application, the DCI sequence associated with the DMRS sequence means that the PDCCH corresponding to the DMRS sequence and the DCI sequence are the same, or it can be understood as the DMRS sequence and the DCI sequence sent through the same PDCCH. Since the encoded length of the DCI sequence is associated with the aggregation level of the DCI sequence, the length of the DMRS sequence is also associated with the aggregation level of the DCI sequence. For example, the network device generates two DMRS sequences, such as DMRS sequence 1 and DMRS sequence 2, the aggregation levels of DMRS sequence 1 and DMRS sequence 2 are different, and the user identification of the terminal device associated with DMRS sequence 1 and DMRS sequence 2 is the same. The time-frequency domain resources associated with DMRS sequence 1 and DMRS sequence 2 may be different, for example, the time-domain resources of DMRS sequence 1 are a subset of the time-domain resources of DMRS sequence 2 (for example, the time-domain resources of DMRS sequence 1 are the same as some of the time-domain resources occupied by DMRS sequence 2), and for another example, the frequency-domain resources of DMRS sequence 1 are a subset of the frequency-domain resources of DMRS sequence 2 (for example, the frequency-domain resources of DMRS sequence 1 are the same as some of the frequency-domain resources occupied by DMRS sequence 2), and the starting positions of the time-domain resources and/or frequency-domain resources of DMRS sequence 1 and DMRS sequence 2 may be the same. For example, if the aggregation level of DMRS sequence 1 is lower than the aggregation level of DMRS sequence 2 (for example, the aggregation level of DMRS sequence 1 is 4, and the aggregation level of DMRS sequence 2 is 8), then the sequence of DMRS sequence 1 (for example, the sequence includes X0 symbol bits, X0 is a positive integer) is the same as the value of the first X0 symbol bits of the sequence of DMRS sequence 2 (because the aggregation level of DMRS sequence 2 is high, the length of the sequence of DMRS sequence 2 is greater than X0).

In the above implementation, if the DMRS sequence sent by the network device is DMRS sequence 2 (the aggregation level of DMRS sequence 2 is 8), when the terminal device performs channel estimation with the signal corresponding to the preset DMRS sequence 1 of aggregation level 4 and the received DMRS sequence 2, since the values of the first X0 symbol bits of the DMRS sequence 1 and the DMRS sequence 2 are the same, when the terminal device uses the DMRS sequence 1 and the received DMRS sequence 2 to perform channel estimation, the channel state indicated by the obtained channel estimation value will be better. In this way, the terminal device will mistakenly believe that the aggregation level of the DCI sequence associated with the received DMRS sequence 2 may be 4, and then activate the process of attempting to decode the DCI sequence based on aggregation level 4. The terminal device may attempt to decode the DCI sequence at other locations (other time-frequency domain resources) based on aggregation level 4. When the terminal device fails to decode the DCI sequence (such as CRC check failure), the terminal device will continue to perform channel estimation on the received DMRS sequence based on the DMRS sequence associated with the next aggregation level.

Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a solution, in which the DMRS sequence is associated with the aggregation level. In this way, for two DMRS sequences (such as DMRS sequence 1 and DMRS sequence 2) with different aggregation levels generated by a network device, even if the user identifier of the terminal device associated with DMRS sequence 1 and DMRS sequence 2 is the same, the sequence of the DMRS sequence with a low aggregation level (DMRS sequence 1) (for example, the sequence includes X0 symbol bits, X0 is a positive integer) and the first X0 symbol bits of the DMRS sequence with a high aggregation level (DMRS sequence 2) will be different. Therefore, when the terminal device performs channel estimation with the signal corresponding to the DMRS sequence 1 with a preset aggregation level 4 and the DMRS sequence 2 (the aggregation level of DMRS sequence 2 is 8) received at a time-frequency domain resource position, the channel state indicated by the obtained channel estimation value will be poor. In this way, the terminal device will think that the aggregation level of the DCI sequence received at the time-frequency domain resource position is not 4, and then the process of attempting to decode the DCI sequence associated with the DMRS sequence received at the time-frequency domain resource position based on aggregation level 4 may no longer be activated, that is, the process of attempting to decode the DCI sequence associated with the DMRS sequence received at the time-frequency domain resource position based on aggregation level 4 is stopped (specifically, the DCI sequence associated with the DMRS sequence received at the time-frequency domain resource position based on aggregation level 4 may no longer be decoded and CRC checked). The terminal device can directly continue to perform channel estimation on the received DMRS sequence based on the DMRS sequence associated with the next aggregation level. It can be seen that in this embodiment, the terminal device can save the process of attempting to decode the DMRS sequence, thereby reducing the workload of blind detection and reducing the complexity of the blind detection process.

In order to reduce the complexity of the blind detection process, another possible implementation method is also provided in the embodiment of the present application. After the terminal device performs channel estimation based on the preset DMRS sequence and the received DMRS sequence, it can determine whether to stop the current attempt to decode the DCI sequence based on whether the obtained channel estimation result meets the preset conditions. Wherein, when the channel estimation result meets the preset conditions, the channel state indicated by the channel estimation result is worse than the preset channel state, that is, the terminal device no longer attempts to decode the DCI sequence when the channel state is poor, which can reduce the workload of blind detection and reduce the complexity of the blind detection process. This implementation method can be used separately from the above implementation method, or it can be used in combination. For example, when the terminal device determines that the aggregation level of the DCI sequence is the aggregation level currently attempting to decode the DCI sequence, it can continue to determine whether the channel estimation result meets the preset conditions, and attempt to decode the DCI sequence when the preset conditions are met.

Based on the above content, Figure 3 exemplarily shows a possible flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 takes the interactive execution of a network device and a terminal device as an example for introduction. The scheme on the network device side involved in Figure 3 can be executed by the network device shown in Figure 1, or a module or chip with the function of a network device, or the sending end in Figure 2. The embodiment of the present application takes the execution of the scheme by the network device as an example for introduction. The scheme on the first terminal device side involved in Figure 3 can be executed by the terminal device shown in Figure 1, or a module or chip with the function of a terminal device, or the receiving end in Figure 2. The embodiment of the present application takes the execution of the scheme by the first terminal device as an example for introduction.

As shown in FIG3 , the method includes:

Step 301: A network device generates a first DMRS sequence.

The first DMRS sequence may be used to estimate the channel state of the first channel. The first DMRS sequence is used to estimate the channel state of the first channel, which may be understood as the first DMRS sequence being a demodulation reference signal of the first channel. For downlink demodulation reference signal transmission, the first channel may be a PDCCH.

The first DMRS sequence is associated with the first DCI sequence of the first terminal device. That is, the network device sends the first DCI sequence and the first DMRS sequence on the same channel (for example, the first channel). It can also be understood that the network device sends the first DCI sequence and the first DMRS sequence on the time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the first channel.

The first DMRS sequence is associated with the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence. In the embodiment of the present application, the first DMRS sequence is associated with the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence, which can be understood as the network device needs to generate the first DMRS sequence in combination with the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence. In this case, when the other parameters used to generate the two DMRS sequences with different aggregation levels generated by the network device are the same (for example, the user identifiers corresponding to the two DMRS sequences are the same, and for example, the starting position of the time domain resources corresponding to the DMRS sequence of the low aggregation level is the same as the starting position of the time domain resources corresponding to the DMRS sequence of the high aggregation level, and for example, the starting position of the frequency domain resources corresponding to the DMRS sequence of the low aggregation level is the same as the starting position of the frequency domain resources corresponding to the DMRS sequence of the high aggregation level), or the frequency domain resources corresponding to the DMRS sequence of the low aggregation level are a subset of the frequency domain resources corresponding to the DMRS sequence of the high aggregation level, or the time domain resources corresponding to the DMRS sequence of the low aggregation level are a subset of the time domain resources corresponding to the DMRS sequence of the high aggregation level, the values of the first X0 symbol bits of the DMRS sequence of the low aggregation level (for example, the sequence length is X0) and the DMRS sequence of the high aggregation level are different. It can also be understood that the DMRS sequence of the low aggregation level is not a subset of the DMRS sequence of the high aggregation level. In this way, the terminal device side can determine, based on the received first DMRS sequence, whether the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence is the aggregation level that the terminal device plans to adopt for decoding the first DCI sequence this time.

In a possible implementation, the network device may generate a DMRS sequence based on a gold sequence. Specifically, the DMRS sequence may be generated using the following formula (1):

In formula (1), r _l (m) is the DMRS sequence, c(i) is a binary sequence, which is a pseudo-random sequence and needs to be initialized when generated. The pseudo-random sequence c(i) can refer to the following formula (2):

In formula (2), N _C = 1600, x ₁ (n) can be initialized to x ₁ (0) = 1, x ₁ (n) = 0, n = 1, 2, ..., 30, and x ₂ (n) satisfies

In formula (2), corresponding to the DMRS sequence of the PDCCH, the definition of the random seed c _init can be referred to formula (3):

In formula (3), l is the OFDM symbol index,

is the number of time slots in a frame,

is the number of symbols in a time slot, and N _ID-AL can be called a random seed.

In the embodiment of the present application, the random seed can be understood as a computer professional term, which is a random number with a true random number (random seed) as the initial condition. Generally, the random numbers of computers are pseudo-random numbers, which use a true random number (random seed) as the initial condition, and then use a certain algorithm to iterate and generate random numbers.

In a possible implementation manner, the random seed used to generate the first DMRS sequence (such as N _ID-AL in formula (3)) is associated with the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence. For example, N _ID-AL in formula (3) can be implemented by any one of the following implementation modes 1, 2, and 3.

Embodiment 1: N _ID-AL ∈{0,1, ...,65535}, where N _ID-AL is configured by a high-layer parameter PDCCH-DMRS sequence scrambling code ID.

Embodiment 2: N _ID-AL ∈{0,1, ...,65535}. If a common search space is configured in a broadcast channel (multicast and broadcast services, MBS) frequency resource, N _ID-AL is configured by a higher layer parameter PDCCH-DMRS sequence scrambling code ID.

In the third implementation mode, N _ID-AL is associated with the aggregation level.

In one possible implementation, the random seed of the first DMRS sequence in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by any one of the above-mentioned implementation modes one, two and three. When the random seed of the first DMRS sequence is implemented by the above-mentioned implementation mode three, the random seed used to generate the first DMRS sequence has an association relationship with the aggregation level. In another possible implementation, in the above-mentioned implementation mode three, the random seed used to generate the first DMRS sequence has an association relationship with at least one of the user identifier of the first terminal device, the time domain resources associated with the first DMRS sequence, or the frequency domain resources associated with the first DMRS sequence.

For example, a network device generates two DMRS sequences with different aggregation levels. When the two DMRS sequences satisfy one or more of the following conditions, the random seed used to generate the DMRS sequence with a low aggregation level is different from the random seed used to generate the DMRS sequence with a high aggregation level, so that the values of the first X0 symbol bits of the DMRS sequence with a low aggregation level (for example, the DMRS sequence includes X0 symbol bits) and the DMRS sequence with a high aggregation level can be different. The condition may include at least one of the following: the user identifiers of the two DMRS sequences are the same; the starting positions of the time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources associated with the two DMRS sequences are the same; the time domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a low aggregation level in the two DMRS sequences are a subset of the time domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a high aggregation level; or, the frequency domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a low aggregation level in the two DMRS sequences are a subset of the frequency domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a high aggregation level.

Step 302: The network device sends a first DMRS sequence.

Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first signal. The first signal can also be understood as a signal received by the first terminal device in the time-frequency domain resources of the first DMRS sequence. The first signal may be a DMRS sequence or other signals. The first signal can also be understood as a signal received by the first terminal device after the first DMRS sequence sent by the network device is transmitted. The first signal can also be referred to as a receiving sequence corresponding to the first DMRS sequence. The aggregation level associated with the first signal is the same as the aggregation level associated with the first DMRS sequence.

Step 303: The first terminal device performs channel estimation according to the first signal, and decodes the first DCI sequence according to the obtained channel estimation result.

In the embodiment of the present application, the DCI associated with the first DMRS sequence is referred to as the first DCI. Since the first signal can also be understood as a receiving sequence corresponding to the first DMRS sequence, the DCI associated with the first signal is also the first DCI.

The first terminal device does not know the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence sent by the network device, and the first terminal device needs to try to decode the first DCI sequence based on different aggregation levels. Since the first signal is associated with the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence, the first terminal device can determine whether the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence is the aggregation level that the first terminal device is going to use to decode the first DCI sequence based on the first signal. If not, the first terminal device can abandon the decoding process of the first DCI sequence based on the aggregation level, thereby saving the workload of the blind detection process, reducing the complexity of the blind detection process, and reducing the delay of the blind detection process.

In the above step 303, since the first terminal device does not know the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence, the first terminal device needs to try the candidate sets at each aggregation level one by one according to the current situation. For example, the first terminal device tries the candidate set at the first target aggregation level according to the current situation. Specifically, the first terminal device performs channel estimation based on the second DMRS sequence and the first signal associated with the first target aggregation level to obtain a first channel estimation value. The first terminal device determines whether to decode the first DCI sequence based on the first target aggregation level according to the first channel estimation value.

The user identifier associated with the first signal is the user identifier associated with the first DMRS sequence. The user identifier associated with the second DMRS sequence and the first DMRS sequence (or the first signal) is the same. The time-frequency domain resources of the first signal are the time-frequency domain resources of the first DMRS sequence. The time-frequency domain resources associated with the first DMRS sequence (or the first signal) and the second DMRS sequence may be different. For example, the time domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a lower aggregation level corresponding to the first DMRS sequence and the second DMRS sequence are a subset of the time domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a higher aggregation level (for example, the time domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a lower aggregation level corresponding to the first DMRS sequence and the second DMRS sequence are the same as part of the time domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a higher aggregation level). For another example, the frequency domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a lower aggregation level corresponding to the first DMRS sequence and the second DMRS sequence are a subset of the frequency domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a higher aggregation level (for example, the frequency domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a lower aggregation level corresponding to the first DMRS sequence and the second DMRS sequence are the same as part of the frequency domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a higher aggregation level). The starting positions of the time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources associated with the first DMRS sequence and the second DMRS sequence may be the same. The first target aggregation level is different from the aggregation level associated with the first DMRS sequence. The second DMRS sequence associated with the first target aggregation level may be preset, or generated by the network device and notified to the first terminal device.

For example, if the channel state indicated by the aforementioned first channel estimation value is better (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is better than the preset channel state), the first terminal device may consider that the difference between the first signal and the second DMRS sequence associated with the first target aggregation level is small, and it may also be considered that the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence is the first target aggregation level. In this case, the first terminal device may attempt to decode the first DCI sequence, that is, perform operations such as decoding and CRC check on the first DCI sequence based on the first target aggregation level. Or it may also be understood that: when the terminal device considers that the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is better (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is better than the preset channel state), it may consider that the decoding of the first DCI sequence will be successful, and therefore attempts to decode the first DCI sequence. If the first terminal device fails to decode the first DCI sequence based on the first target aggregation level, it may continue to try other aggregation levels (for example, it may continue to try the second target aggregation level). If the decoding is successful, the first terminal device may perform other operations based on the information in the first DCI sequence.

There are many situations in which the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is better (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is better than the preset channel state). For example, when the first channel estimation value is not less than the preset value, the first terminal device determines that the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is better. The preset value can be set according to the specific scenario. The preset value may be the same as or different from the corresponding preset value in the example in which the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is poor in the above example.

To give another example, if the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is poor (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is worse than the preset channel state), the first terminal device may consider that the difference between the first signal and the second DMRS sequence associated with the first target aggregation level is large, and may also consider that the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence is not the first target aggregation level. In this case, the first terminal device may no longer attempt to decode the first DCI sequence, that is, directly stop decoding the first DCI sequence, that is, no longer perform operations such as decoding and CRC check on the first DCI sequence based on the first target aggregation level. Or it can also be understood as: when the terminal device considers that the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is poor (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is worse than the preset channel state), it may consider that the decoding of the first DCI sequence will fail, so there is no need to attempt to decode the first DCI sequence, which can save the workload in the blind detection process, reduce the complexity of the blind detection process, and reduce the blind detection delay.

There are many situations in which the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is poor (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is worse than the preset channel state). For example, when the first channel estimation value is less than the preset value, the first terminal device determines that the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is poor. The preset value can be designed according to the specific scenario.

In one possible implementation, the first target aggregation level is less than the aggregation level associated with the first signal. It can be seen that, through the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the two DMRS sequences with different aggregation levels generated by the network device, when used to generate the two DMRS sequences, meet one or more of the following conditions: the user identifiers associated with the two DMRS sequences are the same; the starting positions of the time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources associated with the two DMRS sequences are the same; the time domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a low aggregation level in the two DMRS sequences are a subset of the time domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a high aggregation level; or, the frequency domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a low aggregation level in the two DMRS sequences are a subset of the frequency domain resources associated with the DMRS sequence with a high aggregation level. The values of the first X0 symbol bits of the DMRS sequence with a low aggregation level (for example, the DMRS sequence includes X0 symbol bits) are different from those of the DMRS sequence with a high aggregation level. It can also be understood that the DMRS sequence with a low aggregation level is not a subset of the DMRS sequence with a high aggregation level, so that the first terminal device can determine whether the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence is the aggregation level currently attempted by the first terminal device based on the first signal.

In another possible implementation, the first terminal device performs channel estimation based on a third DMRS sequence associated with the second target aggregation level and the first signal to obtain a second channel estimation value.

If the channel state indicated by the second channel estimation value is good (for example, the second channel estimation value is not less than the preset value), it means that the second target aggregation level is largely the same as the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence, and the first terminal device decodes the first DCI sequence based on the second target aggregation level. If the first terminal device fails to decode the first DCI sequence based on the second target aggregation level, it can continue to try other aggregation levels. If the decoding is successful, the first terminal device can perform other operations based on the information in the first DCI sequence. In an embodiment of the present application, the user identifier associated with the third DMRS sequence and the first DMRS sequence may be the same, and the associated time-frequency domain resources may also be the same. The third DMRS sequence may be the first DMRS sequence.

Based on the implementation methods shown in the aforementioned Figures 1, 2, and 3, Figure 4 exemplarily shows a possible flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 takes the interactive execution of a network device and a terminal device as an example for introduction. The solution on the network device side involved in Figure 4 can be executed by the network device shown in the aforementioned Figure 1, or a module or chip with a network device function, or the sending end in the aforementioned Figure 2. The embodiment of the present application takes the execution of the solution by the network device as an example for introduction. The solution on the first terminal device side involved in Figure 4 can be executed by the terminal device shown in the aforementioned Figure 1, or a module or chip with a terminal device function, or the receiving end in the aforementioned Figure 2. The embodiment of the present application takes the execution of the solution by the first terminal device as an example for introduction.

As shown in FIG4 , the method includes:

Step 401: The first terminal device receives a second signal in the time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the fourth DMRS sequence.

In step 401, the network device may send the fourth DMRS sequence on the time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the fourth DMRS sequence, or may not send the fourth DMRS sequence but send other signals (other DMRS sequences or other non-DMRS sequences). The second signal received by the first terminal device on the time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the fourth DMRS sequence may be the DMRS sequence of the fourth DMRS sequence transmitted to the first terminal device, or may be other signals (DMRS sequence or non-DMRS sequence).

The second signal can be understood as a sequence of signals sent by a network device on the time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the fourth DMRS sequence and received by the first terminal device after transmission. The aggregation level associated with the fourth DMRS sequence is the same as the aggregation level associated with the second signal. The user identifier associated with the fourth DMRS sequence is the same as the user identifier associated with the second signal. The time-frequency domain resources of the fourth DMRS sequence are the same as the time-frequency domain resources of the second signal. The DCI associated with the fourth DMRS sequence is the same as the DCI associated with the second signal.

The fourth DMRS sequence (or the second signal) can be used to estimate the channel state of the second channel. Wherein, the fourth DMRS sequence (or the second signal) is used to estimate the channel state of the second channel, which can be understood as the fourth DMRS sequence (or the second signal) is a demodulation reference signal of the second channel. For downlink demodulation reference signal transmission, the second channel can be a PDCCH.

The fourth DMRS sequence (or the second signal) is associated with the second DCI sequence of the first terminal device. That is to say, the network device sends the second DCI sequence and the third signal (the third signal can be the fourth DMRS sequence or other DMRS sequence or non-DMRS sequence) on the same channel (for example, the second channel), and the signal that the third signal reaches the first terminal device after transmission is the second signal. It can also be understood that the network device sends the second DCI sequence and the third signal on the time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the second channel.

Step 402: The first terminal device performs channel estimation according to the second signal, and stops decoding the second DCI sequence when the obtained channel estimation result meets a preset condition.

Wherein, when the channel estimation result meets a preset condition, the channel state indicated by the channel estimation result is worse than a preset channel state.

In a possible implementation manner, after step 401, step 403 may also be included:

Step 403: The first terminal device performs channel estimation according to the second signal, and decodes the second DCI sequence when the obtained channel estimation result does not meet a preset condition.

Since the channel state indicated by the channel estimation result is worse than the preset channel state when the channel estimation result meets the preset conditions, the decoding process of the first DCI sequence based on the aggregation level can be abandoned when the channel estimation result meets the preset conditions, thereby saving the workload of the blind detection process, reducing the complexity of the blind detection process, and reducing the blind detection delay.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 can be executed separately or used in combination. When used in combination, the fourth DMRS sequence can be regarded as the aforementioned first DMRS sequence, the second signal can be regarded as the aforementioned first signal, the second channel can be regarded as the aforementioned first channel, and the second DCI sequence can be regarded as the aforementioned first DCI sequence. When used in combination, for example, in step 403, the first terminal device determines to decode the first DCI sequence based on the first target aggregation level when the channel estimation result does not meet the preset conditions and the first terminal device believes that the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence is the first target aggregation level. For another example, in step 402, the first terminal device stops decoding the second DCI sequence when the channel estimation result meets the preset conditions and/or the first terminal device believes that the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence is not the first target aggregation level.

It can be seen that the embodiments provided in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 provide several conditions under which the first terminal device can stop decoding the DMRS sequence, so that the non-target terminal device (i.e., the terminal device not associated with the DMRS sequence) can reduce the steps of decoding the DMRS sequence, thereby reducing the complexity of blind detection of the non-target terminal device and reducing the delay of blind detection. Through the several implementation methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the probability of non-target terminal devices activating DMRS sequence decoding can be reduced to less than 10%.

Assume that _Xi is the DMRS sequence of terminal device i (which can be preset), the DMRS sequence sent by the network device is also _Xi , _Hi is the channel gain from the network device to terminal device i, _Yi represents the signal received by terminal device i, and _n represents the channel noise from the network device to terminal device i. Then _Yi can be expressed as the following formula (4):

_Yi = _HiXi ₊ _ni ... Formula (4)

Then, on the transmission resource of _Xi , the signal received by terminal device j is _Yj , and _Yj can be expressed as the following formula (5):

Y _j ＝H _j _Xi +n _j ,j∈{1,N}\i……Formula (5)

In formula (5), _Hj is the channel gain from the network device to the terminal device j, and _nj represents the channel noise from the network device to the terminal device j. N represents the number of terminal devices, or N is the number of potential terminal devices. As a possible example, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal devices may be identified as terminal device 1, terminal device 2, ... terminal device N. Terminal device i and terminal device j are two terminal devices among the N terminal devices.

Terminal device i performs channel estimation based on DMRS sequence _Xi and received sequence _Yi , and further decodes the received symbol sequence (such as DMRS sequence) based on the obtained channel estimation result. The channel estimation value obtained by terminal device i is

It can be estimated by the following formula (6):

The parameters in formula (6) can refer to the relevant contents in the above formula (4) and formula (5). For terminal device j, terminal device j performs channel estimation based on DMRS sequence X _j and received sequence Y _j , and further decodes the received symbol sequence (such as DMRS sequence) based on the obtained channel estimation result. For terminal device j, the obtained channel estimation value

It can be estimated by the following formula (7):

The parameters in formula (7) can refer to the relevant contents in the above formula (4) and formula (5).

It can be seen from the above formula (6) that if the DCI sequence associated with the DMRS sequence _Xi sent by the network device is the DCI sequence sent by the network device to the terminal device i, then the DMRS sequence _Xi used by the terminal device i itself is the same as the DMRS sequence _Xi sent by the network device, that is, the terminal device i uses the correct DMRS sequence and the received DMRS sequence ( _Yi ) for channel estimation, and the channel state indicated by the channel estimation value is better (for example, the channel state indicated by the channel estimation value is better than the preset channel state, and another example is that the channel estimation value is better (for example, the channel estimation value is greater than the preset channel estimation value)). In a possible implementation, it can be understood in the embodiment of the present application that: the channel estimation value indicates the degree of closeness between the preset DMRS sequence of the terminal device and the received DMRS sequence. The closer the two sequences are, the better the channel state indicated by the channel estimation value, or the better the channel estimation value is, and it is also possible that the channel estimation value will be larger.

It can be seen from the above formula (7) that if the DCI sequence associated with the DMRS sequence _Xi sent by the network device is the DCI sequence sent by the network device to the terminal device i, then the DMRS sequence _Xj used by the terminal device j itself is different from the DMRS sequence _Xi sent by the network device, that is, the terminal device j uses the wrong DMRS sequence (DMRS sequence _Xj ) and the received DMRS sequence ( _Yj ) for channel estimation, so the channel state indicated by the obtained channel estimation value is also relatively poor (for example, the channel state indicated by the channel estimation value is worse than the preset channel state, and another example is that the channel estimation value is relatively poor (for example, the channel estimation value is not greater than the preset channel estimation value)). In a possible implementation, it can be understood in the embodiment of the present application that: the channel estimation value indicates the degree of proximity between the DMRS sequence preset by the terminal device and the received DMRS sequence. The farther the difference between the two sequences is, the worse the channel state indicated by the channel estimation value is, or the worse the channel estimation value is, it is also possible that the channel estimation value will be smaller.

It can be seen that the first terminal device can determine whether the second DCI sequence carried by the second channel is the DCI sequence sent to itself by the network device according to whether the channel estimation value of the second channel meets the preset conditions. In a possible implementation, when the first terminal device determines that the second DCI sequence is not the DCI sequence sent to itself by the network device, the first terminal device can stop decoding the second DCI sequence, that is, the first terminal device no longer performs operations such as decoding and CRC check on the second DCI sequence. Or it can also be understood that: when the terminal device believes that the channel state indicated by the channel estimation value is poor (for example, the channel state indicated by the first channel estimation value is worse than the preset channel state), it can be considered that the decoding of the second DCI sequence will fail, so there is no need to attempt to decode the second DCI sequence, which can save the workload in the blind detection process, reduce the complexity of the blind detection process, and reduce the blind detection delay.

In another possible implementation, when the first terminal device determines that the second DCI sequence may be a DCI sequence sent to itself by the network device, the first terminal device may start decoding the second DCI sequence, that is, the first terminal device performs operations such as descrambling and CRC check on the second DCI sequence. Alternatively, it can be understood that: when the terminal device believes that the channel state indicated by the channel estimation value is good, it can be considered that the decoding of the second DCI sequence may be successful, and therefore the second DCI sequence is attempted to be decoded.

In a possible implementation manner, the preset condition includes at least one of the following conditions 1, 2 and 3.

Condition 1: a ratio between a first value indicating a channel estimation value and a second value indicating a channel noise estimation value is less than a first preset value.

The first value is associated with the channel estimation value. For example, the first value is the square of the channel estimation value. In another possible implementation, the first terminal device may obtain multiple channel estimation values based on a preset DMRS sequence (such as a fifth DMRS sequence) and the received second signal, and the first value may also include an average value of the multiple channel estimation values included in the first value.

The embodiment shown in FIG4 and the embodiment shown in FIG3 can be executed separately or in combination. When used in combination, if the embodiment shown in FIG4 is applied to the implementation shown in FIG3, when the first terminal device performs channel estimation based on the DMRS sequence associated with the first target aggregation level and the received second signal, the channel estimation value associated with the first value in condition 1 can be the aforementioned first channel estimation value. For example, the first value may include the square of the first channel estimation value.

Similarly, when the first terminal device performs channel estimation based on the DMRS sequence associated with the second target aggregation level and the received second signal, the channel estimation value associated with the first value in condition 1 may be the aforementioned second channel estimation value. For example, the first value may include the square of the second channel estimation value.

The condition for whether the first terminal device stops decoding the DCI sequence provided in the embodiment of Figure 4 can be used in combination with the condition for the first terminal device to determine whether to stop decoding the DCI sequence in the embodiment shown in Figure 3. For example, the first terminal device can stop decoding the first DCI sequence when it is determined that the preset condition is met or the first terminal device determines that the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence is not the first target aggregation level based on the first channel estimation result. In another possible implementation, the first terminal device can start decoding the first DCI sequence when it is determined that the preset condition is not met and the first terminal device determines that the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence is the first target aggregation level based on the first channel estimation result.

The second value is associated with the channel noise estimation value. For example, the second value includes the square of the difference between the second signal and the first product. The first product includes the product of the channel estimation value and the fourth DMRS sequence. For another example, the second value may include the sum or average of multiple first differences, the first difference may be the difference between the second signal and the first product, one first difference may correspond to one channel estimation value, and two channel estimation values corresponding to two different first differences may be different.

In a possible implementation manner, condition 1 may be indicated by the following formula (8), where the first terminal device is, for example, terminal device i:

In formula (8),

is the channel estimation value obtained by terminal device i, _Yi represents the signal received by terminal device i, _Xi is the DMRS sequence of terminal device i (which can be preset), and _Mi is the ratio of the first value to the second value.

The first terminal device can calculate _Mi by formula (8), and then compare _Mi with the first preset value, so as to determine whether condition 1 is satisfied according to the comparison result, or the first terminal device determines whether to stop decoding the second DCI sequence according to the comparison result.

In another possible implementation, the first preset value is inversely correlated with the code length of the second DCI sequence. For example, the longer the code length of the second DCI sequence, the smaller the first preset value may be. For another example, the shorter the code length of the second DCI sequence, the larger the first preset value may be. In another possible implementation, the first preset value is positively correlated with the code rate of the second DCI sequence. For example, the larger the code rate of the second DCI sequence, the larger the first preset value may be. For another example, the smaller the code rate of the second DCI sequence, the smaller the first preset value may be. In another possible implementation, the correspondence between the code length and/or code rate of the DCI sequence and the first preset value may be set, for example, a certain range of code lengths and a certain range of code rates may be set to correspond to a first preset value.

The first preset value may be related to the code length and/or code rate of the DCI sequence. In one possible implementation, the first preset value is inversely correlated with the code length of the second DCI sequence. The code length of the DCI sequence is the length of the DCI sequence after encoding. For example, the longer the code length of the DCI sequence, the smaller the first preset value may be. The shorter the code length of the DCI sequence, the larger the first preset value may be. In another possible implementation, the first preset value is positively correlated with the code rate of the second DCI sequence. In an embodiment of the present application, the code rate of the DCI sequence may refer to the number of bits occupied by the information divided by the length of the DCI sequence after encoding. The lower the code rate of the DCI sequence, the smaller the first preset value may be. The higher the code rate of the DCI sequence, the larger the first preset value may be. Alternatively, the corresponding relationship between the value of the first preset value and the code length and/or code rate may be preset, such as a code length range and a code rate range may be associated with a value of the first preset value. Since the longer the code length, the lower the code rate, the better the decoding performance, and thus the more successful decoding is possible under the condition of a relatively poor channel state, the first preset value should be reduced to stop the process that needs early stopping early. Since the shorter the code length, the higher the code rate, the worse the decoding performance, and thus the less successful decoding is possible under the condition of a relatively poor channel state, the first preset value should be increased to avoid stopping the process that does not need early stopping early.

Condition 2: a ratio between the third value indicating the channel noise estimation value and the fourth value indicating the coding parameter of the second DCI sequence is greater than a second preset value.

For example, the third value includes the square of the difference between the second signal and the first product. The first product includes the product of the channel estimation value and the fourth DMRS sequence. For another example, the third value may include the sum or average of multiple first differences, the first difference may be the difference between the second signal and the first product, one first difference may correspond to one channel estimation value, and two channel estimation values corresponding to two different first differences may be different. The fourth value includes a coding parameter associated value of the DCI sequence. Similarly, when the embodiment shown in FIG4 is used in combination with the embodiment shown in FIG3, the channel estimation value may be the aforementioned first channel estimation value or the second channel estimation value.

In a possible implementation manner, condition 1 may be indicated by the following formula (9), where the first terminal device is, for example, terminal device i:

In formula (9),

is the channel estimation value obtained by terminal device i, _Yi represents the signal received by terminal device i, _Xi is the DMRS sequence of terminal device i (which can be preset), _Mi is the ratio of the third value to the fourth value, Δ can be a preset constant (for example, it can be a smaller value), and Δ _MCS is the coding parameter associated value of the DCI sequence. Among them, the fourth value can be the sum of Δ and Δ _MCS , and the fourth value can also be Δ _MCS . The coding parameter associated value of the DCI sequence can be related to the code length and/or code rate of the coding of the DCI sequence. For example, the longer the code length and the lower the code rate, the larger the coding parameter associated value of the DCI sequence can be. For another example, the shorter the code length and the higher the code rate, the smaller the coding parameter associated value of the DCI sequence can be. Since the longer the code length and the lower the code rate, the better the decoding performance, the more successful decoding can be achieved under the condition of poor channel state, so the coding parameter associated value of the DCI sequence can be larger, and then the ratio of the third value to the fourth value can be smaller. Since the shorter the code length, the higher the code rate, the worse the decoding performance, and therefore the less likely it is to be successfully decoded under poor channel conditions, the smaller the coding parameter association value of the DCI sequence can be, and the larger the ratio of the third value to the fourth value can be. In this way, the probability of early stopping for non-target terminal devices can be increased, and the impact on the error correction performance of the target terminal device can be reduced.

The first terminal device can calculate _Mi by formula (9), and then compare _Mi with the second preset value, so as to determine whether the second condition is met according to the comparison result, or the first terminal device determines whether to stop decoding the second DCI sequence according to the comparison result.

The second preset value may be related to the code length and/or code rate of the DCI sequence. In one possible implementation, the second preset value is positively correlated with the code length of the second DCI sequence. For example, the longer the code length of the DCI sequence, the larger the second preset value may be. The shorter the code length of the DCI sequence, the smaller the second preset value may be. In another possible implementation, the second preset value is inversely correlated with the code rate of the second DCI sequence. The lower the code rate of the DCI sequence, the larger the second preset value may be. The higher the code rate of the DCI sequence, the smaller the second preset value may be. Alternatively, the corresponding relationship between the value of the second preset value and the code length and/or code rate may be preset, such as a code length range and a code rate range may be associated with a value of the second preset value. Since the longer the code length, the lower the code rate, and the better the decoding performance, the more successful decoding can be achieved under the condition of relatively poor channel conditions, so the second preset value should be increased so that the process that needs to be stopped early can be stopped early. Since the shorter the code length, the higher the code rate, the worse the decoding performance, the less likely it is to successfully decode under poor channel conditions, and therefore the second preset value should be reduced to avoid prematurely stopping a process that does not require early stopping.

Condition three: a ratio between the fifth value indicating the estimated value of the channel noise and the sixth value indicating the actual value of the channel noise power is greater than a third preset value.

For example, the fifth value includes the square of the second signal and the first product, and the first product includes the product of the channel estimation value and the fourth DMRS sequence. For another example, the fifth value may include the sum or average value of multiple first difference values, the first difference value may be the difference between the second signal and the first product, one first difference value may correspond to one channel estimation value, and two channel estimation values corresponding to two different first difference values may be different. For example, the sixth value includes the square of the actual value of the channel noise power. For another example, the sixth value includes the sum or average value of multiple actual values of the channel noise power.

In a possible implementation manner, condition 1 may be indicated by the following formula (10), where the first terminal device is, for example, terminal device i:

In formula (10),

is the channel estimation value obtained by terminal device i, _Yi represents the signal received by terminal device i, _Xi is the DMRS sequence of terminal device i (which may be preset), _Mi is the ratio of the fifth value to the sixth value, Δ may be a preset constant (for example, a smaller value), and σ is the actual value of noise power. The fourth value may be the sum of Δ and σ ² , and the fourth value may also be σ ² .

The first terminal device can calculate _Mi by formula (10), and then compare _Mi with the third preset value, so as to determine whether condition three is satisfied according to the comparison result, or the first terminal device determines whether to stop decoding the second DCI sequence according to the comparison result.

In another possible implementation, the third preset value is positively correlated with the code length of the second DCI sequence. For example, the shorter the code length of the second DCI sequence, the smaller the third preset value can be. For another example, the longer the code length of the second DCI sequence, the larger the third preset value can be. In another possible implementation, the third preset value is inversely correlated with the code rate of the second DCI sequence. For example, the smaller the code rate of the second DCI sequence, the larger the third preset value can be. For another example, the larger the code rate of the second DCI sequence, the smaller the third preset value can be. In another possible implementation, the correspondence between the code length and/or code rate of the DMRS sequence and the third preset value can be set, for example, a certain range of code lengths and a certain range of code rates can be set to correspond to a third preset value.

The third preset value may be related to the code length and/or code rate of the DCI sequence. In one possible implementation, the third preset value is positively correlated with the code length of the second DCI sequence. For example, the longer the code length of the DCI sequence, the larger the third preset value may be. The shorter the code length of the DCI sequence, the smaller the third preset value may be. In another possible implementation, the third preset value is inversely correlated with the code rate of the second DCI sequence. The lower the code rate of the DCI sequence, the larger the third preset value may be. The higher the code rate of the DCI sequence, the smaller the third preset value may be. Alternatively, the corresponding relationship between the value of the third preset value and the code length and/or code rate may be preset, such as a code length range and a code rate range may be associated with a value of the third preset value. Since the longer the code length, the lower the code rate, and the better the decoding performance, the more successful decoding can be achieved under the condition of relatively poor channel conditions, so the third preset value should be increased so that the process that needs to be stopped early can be stopped early. Since the shorter the code length, the higher the code rate, the worse the decoding performance, the less likely it is to successfully decode under poor channel conditions, and therefore the third preset value should be reduced to avoid stopping a process that does not need to be stopped early.

It should be noted that the names of the above-mentioned messages are merely examples. With the evolution of communication technology, the names of any of the above-mentioned messages may change. However, no matter how their names change, as long as their meanings are the same as those of the above-mentioned messages in this application, they fall within the scope of protection of this application.

In the embodiment of the present application, sending information to a terminal device can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal device. For example, module A sending information to a terminal includes: module A sending the information to the terminal via an air interface, and optionally, module A can perform baseband and/or mid-RF operations on the information; or, module A delivers the information to module B, and module B sends the information to the terminal. When module B sends the information to the terminal, it can be transparent transmission of the information, segmentation of the information and sending the information, or multiplexing of the information with other information and sending the information. Optionally, module B can perform baseband and/or mid-RF operations on the information and then send the information, etc. Optionally, module B can encapsulate the information in a data packet. Optionally, module B can also add a header and/or padding bits to the data packet, etc.

In the embodiment of the present application, receiving information from a terminal device can be understood as the origin of the information being the terminal device. For example, module A receiving information from a terminal device includes: module A receiving the information from the terminal through an air interface, and optionally, module A can perform baseband and/or mid-RF operations on the information; or, module B receives the information from the terminal through an air interface, and delivers the information to module A. Among them, module B delivers the information to module A, including: transparently delivering the received information to module A, combining the received multiple segments into the information and delivering it to module A, or extracting the information from the multiplexed information and delivering it to module A. Optionally, module B can perform baseband and/or mid-RF operations on the received information and then send the information, etc. Optionally, the information received by module B is encapsulated in a data packet. Optionally, the data packet includes a header and/or padding bits, etc.

The module B can be a single module or multiple modules coupled in sequence, without limitation. For example, module A is a DU module, and module B is a RU module; for another example, module A is a CU-CP module, and module B is a DU module and a RU module.

The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the present application from the perspective of the interaction between various network elements. It can be understood that in order to realize the above functions, the above-mentioned network elements include hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to the execution of various functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this document, the present invention can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present invention.

According to the aforementioned method, FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Referring to Figure 5, a simplified schematic diagram of a device 1301 is provided. The device 1301 is used to implement the functions of the network element of the embodiment of the present application. For example, the network element may be a base station, a terminal, a DU, a CU, a CU-CP, a CU-UP or a RU. The device 1301 may be the network element, or a device that can be installed in the network element, or a device that can be used in combination with the network element, without limitation. For example, the device may be a chip or a chip system. The device 1301 includes an interface 1303 and a processor 1302. Optionally, the processor 1302 is used to execute a program 1305. The processor 1302 may store the program 1305, or obtain the program 1305 from other devices or other equipment (for example, from the memory 1304 or from a third-party website). Optionally, the device 1301 includes a memory 1304. The memory 1304 is used to store a program 1306. The program 1306 may be pre-stored or subsequently loaded. Optionally, the memory 1304 may also be used to store necessary data. These components work together to provide the various functions described in the embodiments of the present application.

Processor 1302 includes one or more processors as a combination of computing devices. Processor 1302 may include one or more of the following: a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a digital signal processing device (DSPD), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a gated logic, a transistor logic, a discrete hardware circuit, a processing circuit or other suitable hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software configured to perform the various functions described in the embodiments of the present application. Processor 1302 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor. For example, processor 1302 may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data. The central processing unit may be used to execute software programs and process data in the software programs.

The interface 1303 may include any suitable hardware or software for enabling communication with one or more computer devices (e.g., network elements of embodiments of the present application). For example, in some embodiments, the interface 1303 may include terminals and/or pins for coupling wires for wired connections or coupling wireless interfaces for wireless connections. In some embodiments, the interface 1303 may include a transmitter, a receiver, an interface, and/or an antenna. The interface may be configured to enable communication between computer devices (e.g., network elements of embodiments of the present application) using any available protocol (e.g., 3GPP standard protocols).

The program in the embodiments of the present application refers to software in a broad sense. Software can be a program code, a program, a subroutine, an instruction set, a code, a code segment, a software module, an application, a software application, etc. The program can be run in a processor and/or a computer to perform the various functions and/or processes described in the embodiments of the present application.

The memory 1304 may store necessary data required when the processor 1302 executes the software. The memory 1304 may be implemented using any suitable storage technology. For example, the memory 1304 may be any available storage medium that can be accessed by the processor and/or computer. Non-limiting examples of storage media include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), removable media, optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media, magnetic storage devices, flash memory, registers, state memory, remotely mounted memory, local or remote memory components, or any other medium that can carry or store software, data or information and can be accessed by the processor/computer.

The memory 1304 and the processor 1302 may be provided separately or integrated together. The processor 1302 may read information from the memory 1304 and store and/or write information in the memory. The memory 1304 may be integrated in the processor 1302. The processor 1302 and the memory 1304 may be provided in an integrated circuit (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)). The integrated circuit may be provided in a network element or other network node in an embodiment of the present application. The dotted line of the memory 1304 in the figure further indicates that the memory is optional.

Furthermore, the communication device 1301 may further include a bus system, wherein the processor 1302 , the memory 1304 , and the interface 1303 may be connected via the bus system.

As shown in Figure 5, the device 1301 can be a first terminal device or a network device, or it can be a chip or a circuit, such as a chip or circuit that can be set in the first terminal device, or a chip or circuit that can be set in the second terminal device, or a chip or circuit that can be set in the network device.

In the case where the apparatus 1301 is used to implement the function of the network device, in a possible implementation, the processor 1302 is used to generate a first DMRS sequence, the first DMRS sequence is associated with a first DCI sequence of the first terminal device, and the first DMRS sequence is associated with an aggregation level of the first DCI sequence. The interface 1303 is used to send the first DMRS sequence.

In the case where the device 1301 is used to implement the function of the first terminal device, in a possible implementation, the interface 1303 is used to receive a first signal, where the first signal is a first DMRS sequence received by the first terminal device after transmission. The first signal is associated with a first DCI sequence of the first terminal device, and the first signal is associated with an aggregation level of the first DCI sequence. The processor 1302 is used to perform channel estimation according to the first signal, and decode the first DCI sequence according to the obtained channel estimation result.

In one possible implementation, the processor 1302 is used to perform channel estimation based on the second DMRS sequence and the first signal associated with the first target aggregation level to obtain a first channel estimation value, the second DMRS sequence and the first signal are associated with the same user identifier, the first target aggregation level is different from the aggregation level associated with the first signal, and when the first channel estimation value is less than a preset value, decoding of the first DCI sequence based on the first target aggregation level is stopped.

In one possible implementation, processor 1302 is used to perform channel estimation based on the third DMRS sequence associated with the second target aggregation level and the first signal to obtain a second channel estimation value when the first channel estimation value is less than a preset value, the second channel estimation value is not less than the preset value, the third DMRS sequence and the user identifier associated with the first signal are the same, and the first DCI sequence is decoded based on the second target aggregation level.

In a case where the apparatus 1301 is used to implement the function of the first terminal device, in a possible implementation, the interface 1303 is used to receive a second signal, and the second signal is associated with a second DCI sequence of the first terminal device. The processor 1302 is used to perform channel estimation according to the second signal, and stop decoding the second DCI sequence when the obtained channel estimation result meets a preset condition, wherein the channel state indicated by the channel estimation result when the channel estimation result meets the preset condition is worse than the preset channel state.

In a possible implementation, the processor 1302 is configured to perform channel estimation according to the second signal, and decode the second DCI sequence when the obtained channel estimation result does not meet a preset condition.

For the concepts, explanations, detailed descriptions and other steps involved in the communication device and related to the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, please refer to the descriptions of these contents in the aforementioned methods or other embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

According to the aforementioned method, FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG6, the device 1401 may include a transceiver 1403 and a processor 1402. Further, the device 1401 may include a memory 1404. The dotted line of the memory 1404 in the figure further indicates that the memory is optional. The transceiver 1403 is used to input and/or output information; the processor 1402 is used to execute a computer program or instruction so that the device 1401 implements the method of the first terminal device or network device in the relevant scheme of FIG3 or FIG4 above. In an embodiment of the present application, the transceiver 1403 can implement the scheme implemented by the interface 1303 of FIG5 above, the processor 1402 can implement the scheme implemented by the processor 1302 of FIG5 above, and the memory 1404 can implement the scheme implemented by the memory 1304 of FIG5 above, which will not be repeated here.

Based on the above embodiments and the same concept, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7, the device 1501 can be a first terminal device or a network device, or it can be a chip or a circuit, such as a chip or a circuit that can be set in the first terminal device, or a chip or a circuit that can be set in the second terminal device, or a chip or a circuit that can be set in a network device.

The device 1501 includes a processing unit 1502 and a communication unit 1503. Further, the device 1501 may include a storage unit 1504, or may not include the storage unit 1504. The storage unit 1504 in the figure is a dotted line to further indicate that the storage is optional.

In the case where the apparatus 1501 is used to implement the function of the network device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 1502 is used to generate a first DMRS sequence, the first DMRS sequence is associated with a first DCI sequence of the first terminal device, and the first DMRS sequence is associated with an aggregation level of the first DCI sequence. The communication unit 1503 is used to send the first DMRS sequence.

In the case where the apparatus 1501 is used to implement the function of the first terminal device, in a possible implementation, the communication unit 1503 is used to receive a first signal, where the first signal is a sequence of the first DMRS sequence that reaches the first terminal device after transmission. The first signal is associated with the first DCI sequence of the first terminal device, and the first signal is associated with the aggregation level of the first DCI sequence. The processing unit 1502 is used to perform channel estimation according to the first signal, and decode the first DCI sequence according to the obtained channel estimation result.

In a case where the apparatus 1501 is used to implement the function of the first terminal device, in a possible implementation, the communication unit 1503 is used to receive a second signal, and the second signal is associated with a second DCI sequence of the first terminal device. The processing unit 1502 is used to perform channel estimation according to the second signal, and stop decoding the second DCI sequence when the obtained channel estimation result meets a preset condition, wherein the channel state indicated by the channel estimation result when the channel estimation result meets the preset condition is worse than the preset channel state.

It can be understood that the functions of each unit in the above-mentioned device 1501 can be implemented by referring to the corresponding method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

It should be understood that the division of the units of the above communication device is only a division of logical functions, and in actual implementation, all or part of them can be integrated into one physical entity, or they can be physically separated. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication unit 1503 can be implemented by the interface 1303 of Figure 5 above, and the processing unit 1502 can be implemented by the processor 1302 of Figure 5 above.

According to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code or instructions, when the computer program code or instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes the method of any one of the embodiments shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4.

According to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a program code. When the program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the method of any one of the embodiments shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4.

According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a chip system, which may include a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and can be used to execute the method of any one of the embodiments shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4. Optionally, the chip system also includes a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction). The processor is used to call and run the computer program from the memory so that the device equipped with the chip system executes the method of any one of the embodiments shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4.

According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a system, which includes one or more of the aforementioned network devices.

In a possible implementation, the system may further include one or more terminal devices, such as the first terminal device involved in the embodiment of the present application.

In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, the process or function according to the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by the computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media integrated. Available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVD)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid state discs (SSD)), etc.

Note: A portion of this patent application document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner reserves all rights reserved except for the production of copies of the material in the patent file or patent record in the Patent Office.

The network devices in the above-mentioned various device embodiments correspond to the network devices or terminal devices in the terminal devices and method embodiments, and the corresponding modules or units perform the corresponding steps. For example, the communication unit (transceiver) performs the steps of receiving or sending in the method embodiment, and other steps except sending and receiving can be performed by the processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific units can refer to the corresponding method embodiments. Among them, the processor can be one or more.

The terms "component", "module", "system", etc. used in this specification are used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both applications running on a computing device and a computing device can be components. One or more components may reside in a process and/or an execution thread, and a component may be located on a computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components may be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. Components may, for example, communicate through local and/or remote processes according to signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system and/or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems through signals).

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the scheme of this embodiment. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. If the function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

The above are only specific implementations of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A communication method, characterized in that the method comprises:

Generate a first demodulation reference signal sequence, where the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with a first downlink control information sequence of a first terminal device, and the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with an aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence;

The first demodulation reference signal sequence is sent.
The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first channel estimation value corresponding to the first demodulation reference signal sequence is less than a preset value, the first channel estimation is obtained based on the first signal and the second demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the first target aggregation level, and the first signal is a signal of the first demodulation reference signal sequence that reaches the first terminal device after being transmitted;

The second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are associated with the same user identifier, and the first target aggregation level is different from the aggregation level associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence further satisfy one or more of the following:

The starting positions of time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources associated with the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are the same;

The time domain resources associated with the demodulation reference signal sequence of the low aggregation level in the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are a subset of the time domain resources associated with the demodulation reference signal sequence of the high aggregation level; or,

The frequency domain resources associated with the demodulation reference signal sequence of the low aggregation level in the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are a subset of the frequency domain resources associated with the demodulation reference signal sequence of the high aggregation level.
The method according to claim 2 or 3 is characterized in that the first target aggregation level is less than the aggregation level associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the second channel estimation value corresponding to the first demodulation reference signal sequence is not less than a preset value, the second channel estimation value is obtained based on the first signal and the third demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the second target aggregation level, and the first signal is a signal of the first demodulation reference signal sequence that is transmitted to the first terminal device;

The third demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with the same user identifier as the first demodulation reference signal sequence, and the second target aggregation level is associated with the same aggregation level as the first demodulation reference signal sequence.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is characterized in that the random seed used to generate the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence.
The method as described in any one of claims 1-6 is characterized in that the random seed used to generate the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with at least one of the user identifier of the first terminal device, the time domain resources associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence, or the frequency domain resources associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence.
A communication method, characterized in that the method comprises:

Receive a first signal, where the first signal is a signal that the first demodulation reference signal sequence reaches a first terminal device after being transmitted, the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with a first downlink control information sequence of the first terminal device, and the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with an aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence;

Channel estimation is performed according to the first signal, and the first downlink control information sequence is decoded according to the obtained channel estimation result.
The method according to claim 8, wherein performing channel estimation according to the first signal and decoding the first downlink control information sequence according to the obtained channel estimation result comprises:

performing channel estimation according to a second demodulation reference signal sequence associated with a first target aggregation level and the first signal, obtaining a first channel estimation value, wherein the second demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are associated with the same user identifier, and the first target aggregation level and the first demodulation reference signal sequence are associated with different aggregation levels;

When the first channel estimation value is less than a preset value, decoding the first downlink control information sequence based on the first target aggregation level is stopped.
The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the first target aggregation level is less than the aggregation level associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence.
The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that after performing channel estimation on the second demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the first target aggregation level and the first signal to obtain the first channel estimation value, it further comprises:

When the first channel estimation value is less than the preset value, performing channel estimation according to a third demodulation reference signal sequence associated with the second target aggregation level and the first signal to obtain a second channel estimation value, the second channel estimation value is not less than the preset value, and the user identifier associated with the third demodulation reference signal sequence and the first demodulation reference signal sequence is the same;

The first downlink control information sequence is decoded based on the second target aggregation level.
The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11 is characterized in that the random seed used to generate the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with the aggregation level of the first downlink control information sequence.
The method as described in any one of claims 8 to 12 is characterized in that the random seed used to generate the first demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with at least one of the user identifier of the first terminal device, the time domain resources associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence, or the frequency domain resources associated with the first demodulation reference signal sequence.
A communication method, characterized in that the method comprises:

Receiving a second signal in a time-frequency domain resource corresponding to a fourth demodulation reference signal sequence, wherein the fourth demodulation reference signal sequence is associated with a second downlink control information sequence of the first terminal device;

performing channel estimation according to the second signal, and stopping decoding the second downlink control information sequence when the obtained channel estimation result meets a preset condition;

Wherein, when the channel estimation result meets a preset condition, the channel state indicated by the channel estimation result is worse than a preset channel state.
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the method further comprises:

Channel estimation is performed according to the second signal, and when the obtained channel estimation result does not meet a preset condition, the second downlink control information sequence is decoded.
The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the preset condition includes at least one of the following:

A ratio between a first value indicating a channel estimation value and a second value indicating a channel noise estimation value is less than a first preset value;

A ratio between a third value indicating a channel noise estimation value and a fourth value indicating a coding parameter of the second downlink control information sequence is greater than a second preset value;

or,

A ratio between the fifth value indicating the estimated value of the channel noise and the sixth value indicating the actual value of the channel noise power is greater than a third preset value.
The method according to claim 16, wherein the preset condition further comprises at least one of the following:

The first value includes an average value of a plurality of channel estimation values and/or a square of a channel estimation value;

The second value comprises a square of a difference between the second signal and a first product, wherein the first product comprises a product of the channel estimation value and a fourth demodulation reference signal sequence;

The third value comprises the square of the difference between the second signal and the first product;

The fourth value includes a coding parameter associated value of the downlink control information sequence;

The fifth value includes a square of the second signal and a first product, wherein the first product includes a product of the channel estimation value and the fourth demodulation reference signal sequence; or,

The sixth value comprises the square of the actual value of the channel noise power.
The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that the preset condition also satisfies at least one of the following:

The first preset value is anti-correlated with a code length of the second downlink control information sequence, and/or the first preset value is positively correlated with a code rate of the second downlink control information sequence;

The second preset value is positively correlated with a code length of the second downlink control information sequence, and/or the second preset value is negatively correlated with a code rate of the second downlink control information sequence;

or,

The third preset value is positively correlated with the code length of the second downlink control information sequence, and/or the third preset value is negatively correlated with the code rate of the second downlink control information sequence.
A communication device, characterized in that it comprises a communication interface and at least one processor, wherein the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected via a line;

The communication interface is used to input and/or output signaling or data;

The processor is used to execute a computer executable program so that the method described in any one of claims 1 to 18 is executed.
A communication device, comprising a processor and a memory,

The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions;

The processor is used to execute the computer program or instructions in the memory so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 is executed.
A communication device, characterized in that it comprises a processing unit and a communication unit, wherein the processing unit is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 through the communication unit.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are called by a computer, the method described in any one of claims 1 to 18 is executed.
A chip system, characterized in that the chip system includes at least one processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit and the at least one processor are interconnected by lines, and the processor executes the method described in any one of claims 1-18 by running instructions.